Home Dec, Tutorials

Cloth Table Napkins – Tutorial

Guila Greer
These fabric table napkins are becoming very popular and make a great gift. Here’s a quick tutorial for them.

Cut your fabric the finished size of the napkin plus 1/2 inch. I think that I cut 16 1/2 inch squares for these – 2 squares for each napkin.

Note: You can easily get 4 single thickness or 2 double thickness napkins from a yard of fabric if it’s at least 36 in. wide. Most quilting weight cottons are between 40 and 42 in. wide.

I like to use 100% cotton rather than a poly blend for these; feels good and better absorption.
Consider the weight of the fabric when deciding whether to use single or double weight. Also consider whether you want double faced or single faced napkins.

For Double Thickness Napkins:

Pair 2 squares together RIGHT sides facing and sew around the edges with a 1/4 inch seam. Leave a 2 to 3 inch gap for turning. Turn to the right side – poke out the corners (a chop stick works nicely) and hand stitch the remaining opening.

Press.

At this point you have the option of top stitching around the perimeter – and doing a couple of straight stitch lines across the napkin to better hold the front and back together.

I bundled them together using a leftover scrap of the fabric.

Single Thickness Napkins:

Method 2 – if you have a fabric with enough ‘body’. (look in the home decorating section)

Cut 1 16 to 18 inch square for each napkin.

(I actually used regular cotton for the Thanksgiving napkins. They are pretty but a little flimsy feeling.)

Use a serger to do a rolled hem around all edges.

Art, Art Quilts, Fiber Art, Mixed Media, Quilts

In Her Element

Guila Greer

This was such a fun quilt to make. It contains so many different techniques and required so many design decisions that I thought it would be a good one to blog on.

I started this quilt in a workshop about using Lutradur. We did several kinds of painting on Lutradur and incorporated some stamping. I had a piece that I painted in shades of blue Lumiere – thinking ahead to using the finished product in an art quilt with an underwater theme.

I was in MY element being able to conjure up a variety of embellishments to use on this piece.

My favorite is the kelp. I used a pipe cleaner (aka fuzzy wuzzy wire) as the base and wound some yarn from my knitting leftover bag around it. Then I was able to bend the piece the way I wanted it and couched it to the background.

The dark purple fish was made ‘offline’ with some underfabric, netting and a lot of thread painting, then attached to give a slightly 3D look.

The coral was a lot of fun to make. First I painted some lutradur and created the coral shapes with a heat tool. I just burned away to get the shapes that I wanted then stitched them down.

A variety of threads were used in the quilting including my favorite bling thread – #30 Madeira .

 

 

 

 

All the beading was done by hand.

I finished the quilt with a traditional hand stitched binding.

Indispensable Tools, Tutorials

Studio Space and Design Walls

Guila Greer

Until just recently my sewing/art/studio shared space with our guest room. A lot of you  know the drill:  Company’s coming, start wheeling out the portable carts, last minute putting away of supplies (that you can’t find for weeks after your company goes home) and no access to your machine for a week.  So along with my decision to go on “hiatus” from real estate I decided to convert my home office to a dedicated art studio. Number one requirement – a design wall – so sorely needed. Current design wall being the sliding doors of the guest room closet or a sheet on the floor for larger projects.  The futon had to go and the ideal spot for it was my husband’s study.  Of course he didn’t know anything about that but it didn’t take long to convince him that it was a wonderful idea :-).  So I helped clear space for the futon and we proceeded to take it apart.

And that’s when the fun began.

Picture this – a queen size mattress – a relatively narrow door – 2 height challenged people

So we each have an end of the mattress – John’s pulling I’m pushing and he starts doing some deep cleansing “labor” type breathing – saying “now push” breathe – Well I lost it – rolling on the floor lost it.

Shortly thereafter, with the mattress out of the room I left John to tackle the job of dismantling the frame. I couldn’t watch.  It was like watching a scary movie.

Next step was to turn that now beautifully empty wall into my dream design wall.  I had purchased some fiber board and proceeded to put it up using double sided tape to adhere it to the wall.

Measure your space carefully before you buy the fiber board.  It comes in a variety of sizes and I decided on the 30″ by 20″ size, easier to handle and more versatile so far as filling the space. You can get it in one of the chain crafts stores.  I was lucky to find it on sale.       You also want to note where your electrical outlets are so that you don’t cover them up.  I started at the top because I didn’t want to run out of wall space with leftover fiber board to trim if possible. I figured that I would use the space at the top more readily than near the floor anyway.

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My other purchase was a length of white cotton flannel yardage. I calculated the width of the board and multiplied by 2. Then I cut the yardage in half so that I ended up with 2 lengths the width of the design board.  I used a staple gun to attach the flannel to the fiber board being careful to keep it taut and straight.

The last touch was to add a sturdy curtain rod across the top.  This will be used to hang quilts for photographing.  This design wall is now in constant use and I have found the hanging rod to be a necessary tool as well.

If you have any questions about how I did this please leave me a comment and I’ll do my best to provide an answer.

Grandchildren, Humor, Life

My 10 Year Old Granddaughter Gets Her First Email Account

Guila Greer
My 10 year old granddaughter Abby has been wanting her own email account for ages (big sis has one)  and yesterday her parents allowed her to go ahead and set one up.  Like most grandmas do, I think everything they do is hugely cute and clever (in this case it is, LOL)  and really need to share the back and forth conversation we had.  Just to link this to quilting 🙂 both girls have been the recipients of quilts that I have made over the past several years and are ongoing inspirations!

from Abby to me:  Saturday morning early 9/24

im so happy that i have a gmail account now, its

abby on her account! can you belive it?

anyways i was wondering,, could you mabey give me some emailing tips?thanks grandma honey!

Guila Greer to Abby
     Sep 24 (2 days ago)

Abby I am so excited that you have your OWN account – this is SOOOOOOO  great.
I’m going to be picked up by friends to go to a quilt show in a few minutes so I can’t give you the tips right now or the news but I’ll be back later!!!!!

love love love
Grandma Honey

Abby Greer to me
show details Sep 24 (1 day ago)

When you get home and check your email account I want you to now i love you,  hugs and kisses (or xoxoxo).

A little later in the afternoon

Abby Greer to me
Sep 24 (1 day ago)

hey are you back yet grandma honey?

Guila Greer to Abby
                Sep 24 (1 day ago)

Hi Abby, I just got back!!!

Abby Greer to me
                    Sep 24 (1 day ago)

YAY!!!!!

Guila Greer to Abby
                        Sep 24 (1 day ago)

OK, so ya want some email tips.  OK here we go.

The thing you need to be most concerned about is a VIRUS.  These most often come in the form of an attachment.  This might even be disguised as coming from someone you know.

So, don’t open an attachment that you are not expecting without checking with a grownup.

Something else you don’t want is a lot of SPAM.  So if you get a spam email ask someone to show you how to BLOCK that spam so next time it will go right to your spam folder.

Never give private information in an email from someone who isn’t a good friend or family member. (Or even from them if it looks “funny”.)   It could be someone doing what is called “PHISHING” for private info for Identity Theft.
Again -if in doubt, ask a grownup.

Make sure you re-read what you send before you hit the send button: once it’s gone, it’s gone!

Sometimes if you’re not sure what you want to say (let’s say you’re angry with a friend and you want to tell them to jump in the lake).  It’s good to write a “draft”  (click on Save Draft) – then go back to it and review before you decide if you really want to send it.  You may have changed your mind.

What questions do you have for me?

I’m going to take a 20 minute power nap.  then I’ll check in again.

love, love, love you!!!!!  🙂       ❤ ❤ ❤

Honey

thanks i’ll keep those things in mind. hugs kisses and food.

Guila Greer to Abby
2:14 PM (7 hours ago)

You’re welcome Abby!!
So, are you enjoying being able to email people?  I’m sure you must be.  If you want to email Poppy his email address is:  johnxxxxxxxxxx.com

We just finished having a yard sale – wasn’t too bad, made a few buckaroos, haha.

hugs, kisses and food to you too 🙂
love you lots!!
Honey

Abby Greer to me
show details 2:35 PM (7 hours ago)

Thanks i’ll keep that in mind, too.you rock grandma honey! weell, i’ll see you later, i guess.
Life

A Very Special Shopping Trip

Guila Greer
I got to do something last night that was pretty ordinary for most but deliciously special for me.  My oldest granddaughter (14) was complaining that she had no one around to help her with cosmetics – choosing makeup and the like.  The immediate issue was that today is picture taking day at her school (entering high school) and she had a big ole blemish developing on the side of her nose.  She complained that her mom had no knowledge and no interest in makeup (true – my DIL has rarely used any).   I haven’t been using much either for the last few years but there was a time that I was and like riding a bicycle you don’t forget how to apply eyeliner.
Of course, at 14 she doesn’t need any makeup but she’s so keen on it and such a girly girl.
So I took her shopping and we bought everything from Clearasil to liquid eyeliner.  And did a lot of talking.  I shared little bits of grandmotherly wisdom and we had some laughs too.
Today I will take her to her new school and we will go on the tour.  When it’s her turn for the picture taking she will be confident and ready.
You can’t create special times like this – they just happen when they happen.
Art, Art Journal, Haiku, Poetry, Poetry and Photography

Journey – August Haiku Art

Guila Greer

I had been thinking about the change that I made a couple of months ago to working full time on developing my art and wondering if this was something I should have done years ago.  Since making this decision I have been so energized.  Not only is creating art something that I WANT to do but I feel that it’s something that I HAVE to do. I feel that I’m really in my element now.

Should I have done this i.e. made the switch – years ago?  I could write pages about why not but the short answer is – No.  Do I regret all the years spent doing other things?  Was the time wasted?  Absolutely not.

And here’s where the August prompt word makes its appearance in such a timely fashion.  The word is “Journey”.  I thought of Life’s Journey.   About how EVERYTHING that we do has an impact on us.  How everyone we meet leaves their mark.  How we may look at some events as distractions or detours from our chosen path but that ultimately all these experiences (positive or negative) contribute to who we are.  And often they equip us with the emotional skills that we need to forge ahead.  I have confidence now that I didn’t have 20 years ago; I have certain practical skills to handle the business side of art; I have a sack full of life experiences to draw upon and I have gained perspective and understanding about what is important to me – especially at this time.

Journey

 

detours? distractions?
unplanned stops, uneven road
part of the journey

 

 
 Techniques for “Journey”
  • color wash
  • random stamping using household utensils and distress ink 
  • road map collaged on
  • manila tag painted and overpainted with distress inks
  • attached to page with ribbon and brad
  • messages in ink on art paper applied randomly to tag and page.
Art Quilt, Art Quilts, Fiber Art, Haiku, Poetry, Poetry and Photography, Quilts

Balance – July Haiku Art

Guila Greer
Balance – what comes into your mind when hearing this prompt word?  I thought of my 10 year old granddaughter Abigail balancing on her unicycle and of the determined look on her face as she struggles to maintain her balance on the low wire.  I thought of commonly used expressions such as “balance your checkbook” or “eat a balanced diet”.
Ultimately – what balance means to me these days is the attempt to put the mind and body into a balanced or integrated state as we do through Yoga practice.
This is the 2nd of a series about Yoga practice.  It incorporates the words: “Shanti” which means peace and “so hum” .  This is a mantra that we use for focus while doing deep breathing.
The Haiku
close your eyes breathe in
jasmine scented air swirling
find your center – stay
Shanti 2