The Secret…

…to hanging perfectly straight photographs (or any other type of pictures)…

I promised I’d share my secret and so here it is:

 

:: the ingredients ::

 

no more nails and some 1” x 1/2” batten

a level, preferably a long one!

 

:: the method ::

I cut the batten into roughly 6” pieces (making sure they would all fit behind each of my different size frames) then drew a level for the top line of my bottom row.  Using the no more nails, I stuck the batten pieces roughly in place of each photo – I lined them up on the floor below to give me some idea (plus I’d laid them out previously to get my final layout).  I had to wait patiently for 24 hours before I could then hang my frames on the battens.  They are literally just balanced on the batten!

Then I drew another level above this row (I balanced the level on top of the frames and drew along it!). I then rested each of the top row of photos on top of the level and marked it with a pencil to show where to stick the next bits of batten.  24 hours later and up they went! 

:: the result ::

 

I used what I had to hand (read, my camera memory card) to ensure an equal space between each photo and for the two lots of double height frames on the top row, I repeated the process of hanging the lower photo and then marking position of the batten for the top ones.

So, you see, nothing fancy, just good old display tactics! 

Thanks Allison, for the tip!

Change of plan...

So, last year I embarked on my biggest crochet project to date.  A Babette Blanket.

As is always the case, I seem to get fixated on a yarn and a pattern and then try and bring them together in the hope that things work out.

This mixture didn't.  I started off enthusiastically, but the bigger the blanket grew, the heavier it became.  And I mean heavy!  So it all got neatly tucked into a basket and slowly became forgotten about.  Then, a few weeks ago, the guilt of having such a lot of yarn potentially going to waste got the better of me and so I refreshed my memory with what I had done so far and as I was laying out all my blocks on the sofa it struck me that this one was the exact size of the big cushions on the sofa!  It was a light bulb moment.  I started to rehash the other blocks (on my Dad's hospital bed!) to make a pair of cushion fronts.

Over the last few weeks, in between quilting, gardening and taking parents out on day trips, I have been crocheting the back of the first cushion using the remainder of the yarn.  I still love the back of the granny square cushion I made No2 last year so that's the path I have been going down for the first one.  But have a slightly different plan for the second one, which is yet to be started.

My plan for the weekend is to get the first one finished and let the big sofa revamp begin!

Learning as I go...

Spookily, Tracey wrote about the very same post as I had read some weeks back and posted about it today.  I am more than hopeless at joining in stuff around Blogland but I was intrigued by the idea.  I particularly liked the notion of sharing the moments of indecision.  I am not a prolific quilter or sewist so I do often post about WIPs and more often than not, there will be many mentions of quilts or other projects long before I reveal the finished item.

You may remember me referring to an order a few weeks ago for a new cover for a food mixer.  Not having a pattern to follow other than being rather unceremoniously handed an ancient cover, I decided to record the process in trying to replicate one that would please my customer.  It pleased me because I used a lot of one of my favourite fabric ranges - Katie Jump Rope by Denyse Schmidt, plus some Carolyn Gavin Wild Thyme.

I decided to chain-piece some strips of fabric together.  I think they were about 3" wide and I sort of had in mind how much 'total' fabric I'd need to reproduce the cover.

At some point I realised I needed more fabric and so added in another strip.

Once they were joined into one panel, I sliced it in half and joined the two halves together.

Then repeated that process again so that I was left with 2 1/2" squares.

Still with me?  The original cover was thin and flimsy and so I thought a sturdier, quilted cover would be easier on the eye.  I used some off cuts of wadding and quilters muslin as a backing.  I decided this was a manageable size project to have my first attempt at machine-quilting.  Nothing fancy, just 1/4" either side of the seam, but I really like the effect.
 
 

 
I then used the original cover as a template and cut out the pieces to form the cover.  I wasn't sure whether to bind them together or sew seams.  I tested a scrap of off cut to make sure the seams wouldn't be too bulky but I didn't think they were so I opted to sew seams and then played with the zigzag stitches on my machine to prevent the seams from fraying.
 
 

 
It was simply constructed from just three pieces - 2 sides and a panel running up the sides and along the top.
 
 

 
I finished the bottom edges of the cover with some binding and here it is:
 
 

 
 
Even with all the indecision, this was a relatively quick project and hugely satisfying to go in blind, as it were.  It gave me the opportunity to practice some techniques that are given in tutorials all over the quilting blogosphere on a much smaller scale.  Who knows, maybe one day I'll machine-quilt a whole quilt...