Rag Rug Progress - Miles and Miles of Fabric Strips

I decided to cut my fabric into 1.5" widths for my rag rug. That way I can fold them in half and iron to ensure that the color/printed side of the fabric would show as I make the rug. I didn't want the whitish wrong side of the fabric showing and making the rug look washed out. I am adding white strips anyway to go with the white iron bed and the white in the Sunbonnet Sue quilt.

Here is my progress so far.

The prep does take a long time. I spend about one hour per 1 1/2 yards of fabric just to prep it to get it ready to make the rug. I started out cutting the fabric, but then went to ripping it. Much quicker and I like the effect on the edge of the fabric. I also decided to sew the strips together with a 1/4" seam. I didn't like the bulk of joining the strips with that slit and knot process. The knot ends up visible. Plus, it was much quicker for me to sew the seams together than slitting and knotting.

So, my process is snip the fabric every 1.5" on the lengthwise grain. Rip, sew ends, iron in half and roll into fabric balls. When ironing I would iron a section, then roll, then iron another section, then roll. If you just iron it all and then try to roll it you end up with a twisted mess. So roll sections as you iron.

Well, off to the Southern California Quilt Run with my quilting buddies. Hubby thinks I am nuts. It is storming here and I am taking off. Have a great day!

Rag Rug for Sunbonnet Sue

I've decided to make a rag rug to join Sunbonnet Sue in our Antique heirlooms guest bedroom. The picture I showed in my previous post had a braided rug I found on-line at Walmart, but it was too pastel for my liking. So the hunt was on for some 30's colors of fabics. Of course I have zero 30's fabric in my stash. I didn't want to spend a fortune for fabric for a rug so off to thrift stores to hunt for old sheets. Well, that didn't produce much luck, so I decided since I had to return the other rug to Walmart I would check out their discount bolts. Here is what I ended up with. Most was $2 a yard. I figured I would need about 18 yards of fabric. After Walmart I headed on over to Joann's for some bleached muslin for the white sections of the rug. I got the 110" length to make my strips nice and long and used my 50% coupon.

I want my oval rug to be about 36" x 60" so I substract the width from the length to get my starting chain length. My chain needs to be 24" long. I am starting with white, then a color row and continue to that pattern for the entire rug. White, color, white, color...... I will post some pics as I go along.

TUTORIAL
Here is a link to a tutorial to make a rag rug. Rag Rug Tutorial

I decided to prewash all the fabric to remove the sizing and soften it up a bit. I really wanted to make the rug out of flannel, but couldn't find any at a cheap price, so I opted for cotton and prewashed and even used fabric softener. I have arthritis so I knew this project would play havoc with my wrists, so anything to soften the process will be helpful.

Now off to start ripping fabric. The fabric prep for a rag rug is more time consuming than crocheting it.

Sunbonnet Sue Gets a New Room

The demolition and reconstruction is coming along a bit slowly, but I certainly won't complain! It will sure be worth the wait when it is completed. I will have one big L shaped sewing room...I am getting sew excited!

We emptied out our little office downstairs and moved our antique iron bed and antique dresser/mirror into the "new guest bedroom." This called for Sunbonnet Sue to come out of hiding and take her rightful place on the antique bed.

My husband's great grandmother and grandmother made this quilt, probably in the 1940's I would guess. The top laid unquilted for many years. After they both passed away a family member took all of grandma's quilt tops and had them machine quilted on a longarm. That was back in 1998 and before I ever started quilting. By some miracle I ended up with the gorgeous Sunbonnet Sue quilt. Well, I decided she needed to come out and be enjoyed. I just love her. My mother-in-law says she recognizes a lot of the fabrics from clothing when she was a little girl. My mother-in-law is 83 now.

The antique dresser and mirror belonged to my hubby's other grandmother on his father's side of the family. Sunbonnet Sue came from his mother's side of the family. We inherited the dresser and mirror after my 's beloved grandmother passed away about 20 years ago. 

The little porcelain boy and girl were his grandmother's as well. They are adorable. I always commented to her how precious they were.  I was delighted to have them come and live with us right on grandma's dresser, too! Isn't her dresser and mirror just gorgeous. Now that they are downstairs they will be seen and appreciated by everyone. 

Grandmother's Flower Garden Teddy Bear

Did you notice the teddy bear leaning on the green pillow? My sister-in-law made that out of one of grandma's very loved and worn out quilts. She said the quilt was beyond repair. I didn't see the quilt prior to it becoming teddy bears, but I am happy to have one of the teddy bears made from the very loved quilt. It appears to have been a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt. Oh how I would have loved to have seen it in quilt form! 

Look at the little heart tag attached to the teddy. Precious gift. My sister-in-law is not a quilter, but she likes to sew. I am still working on converting her over!!!

When my grandkids stay the night with us they sleep in the old iron bed, so they are learning to appreciate antiques and also learning about their ancestors. I have seven grandkids ages from 24 to 13 - I am hoping the quilting bug will hit some of them. Since I retired in 2010 I have had the time to teach my youngest granddaughter to sew. She loves it so far and I keep my fingers crossed that she won't tire of it.

Chevron Quilt Top Finish

I finally finished the Chevron quilt top. I used some Riley Blake fabric I bought back in 2008. My New Year's goal is to try and use up fabric I have. That is sure a challenge when there is so much beautiful fabric out there calling my name!!! The gray is a medium Kona Gray I already had as well. I really need to get a new camera. The quilt is much more vibrant than in this picture.

 

We are still working away on the quilting room remodel, so I haven't had much time to sew or blog. All the walls are down and new drywall and texture up to repair the holes left from taking out the walls. The carpet is out and now shopping for new flooring. We are also redoing the bathroom upstairs at the same time. We put in a new Jacuzzi tub - can't wait till I can soak in it!

Paper Hearts Fabric Audition

I found some fabric that might work with the Paper Hearts pattern. Take a look and see what you think. I will be making it a full size bed quilt instead of the lab size in the pattern.

I am thinking of using the dark gray and light gray for the background fabrics and the hearts out of all the different pinks. I only need nine pink fabrics and I have ten here, so one has to go. Which one???? I am still not sure if I like them all together or not. That is hardest part of quilting for me. Selecting the right fabrics.

So, which pink fabric would you would take out?

Paper Hearts

In the midst of all this deconstruction and most of my sewing stuff inaccessible I have spent time online - DANGEROUS. I found an adorable quilt with hearts by Tula Pink called Paper Hearts. It is perfect for one of my granddaughters who loves hearts and loves pink. Now time to choose fabric!

Like I really need to start a new project, but you know how that goes...

Here is a picture of the quilt.  Modern look is perfect for a teenager. Hunt is on for the perfect fabric! Isn't that the most fun of quilting???

The Walls Come Tumbling Down

Oh my, what a mess. One side of each wall is now demolished. There is rubble everywhere - broken drywall, insulation and lots of dust! We had insulation between all the inside walls to help keep noise levels down when all the kiddies were home. I somehow didn't visualize THIS much of a mess.

Remember the closet and cutting table wall and door I showed you yesterday. Well look at them now - they are nearly gone. Just down to the studs. Those will get ripped out tomorrow. I am standing in one bedroom taking the picture seeing completely into the bedroom with the closet being removed. The other bedroom is behind the closet wall on the right. All the walls are not down yet.

And this is the view from the hallway showing the door openings to all three of the kids bedrooms. The door on the right was our son's bedroom (then our guest room). The door straight ahead to the left was one daughter's room (now where my sewing machines, fabric stash and ironing board reside). And, the door straight ahead to the right was our other daughters's bedroom where my longarm and cutting table now reside.

They haven't finished removing all the drywall yet. As you can see above, only one side of the drywall is off so far. They have to reconfigure where light switches will be moved to.

My hubby brought the big tractor to the front of the house and the workers used an upstairs window to dump all the rubble into the tractor bucket. This saved them many trips up and down the stairs. They are very pleased he has a big tractor!

Memories, memories, memories.Ah bittersweet.

A special day for my hubby, too.

 Today is my hubby's 62nd birthday.We can't believe he is social security age already. Another milestone. Where did all the time go????

What a sweetheart to spend his birthday doing this for me. I am so lucky! We did go out for pizza with the kids and only one granddaughter. Their work and college schedules make family get-togethers tough now.