Finished or Not Friday {a Linky Party!} + Brick Cottage Lane Quilted Window Valances!

Welcome to Finished or Not Friday where you can share your finished {or not} projects!

My finish to share this week is six window valances in the Brick Cottage Lane pattern!  They are mini quilts with a pocket rod added for hanging.  They are so cheerful, and I ♥ them hanging in my living room!

Last week's most viewed link was Twiggy and Opal's Crosscut Quilt!  What a great use of low-volume fabrics and pink!

It's your turn to share your finish {or not}!  What's welcome at this party?  Any in-progress or finished project made with fabric, yarn, or thread is welcome!  Include the Finished or Not Friday button or a text link that links back to this week's link-up in order to share the fun.  No, I won't delete your link if you don't, but hey, adding a link in your post is just being friendly, so be friendly and share!!

I will pin your links to my Finished or Not Friday Pinterest board to get your link more exposure.

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Linking to:
♥ TGIFF ♥ Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?!? ♥ Fabric Frenzy Friday ♥ Off the Wall Friday ♥ Main Crush Monday ♥ Monday Making ♥ A Round Tuit ♥ Linky Tuesday ♥ Fiber Tuesday ♥ Midweek Makers ♥ Let's Bee Social ♥

An InLinkz Link-up

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Miss Kate Sliding Glass Door Curtains {Sewing For Me!} + A Link-Up!

The first project in my Sewing For Me campaign is new dining room sliding glass door curtains.  The previous curtains were in a log cabin pattern in deep reds and black and were very dark.  They were very eye-catching but weren't my style anymore since I've moved away from primitive fabrics and decor.   My husband suggested something brighter with yellow.  I'm pretty sure they aren't what he had in mind, but I ♥ them!  They are so bright and cheerful!

The curtains are made from 6.5" unfinished squares {6.5" Accuquilt strip cutter} and white backing with no batting or quilting.  I pressed the seams open for a cleaner look when light shines through it.  The fabrics are Miss Kate by Bonnie and Camille for Moda with a few dots thrown in because I ♥ dots!

Would you believe this is a repurposed Craftsy kit?  Yep, some of the fabric is from the Miss Kate Turn Over Quilt Kit!  I often buy Craftsy quilt kits even if I don't like the pattern and use the fabric for other projects since the price per yard is so good!

My favorite way to hang curtains is with clip curtain rings.  The rings slide on the rod, making it easy to open and close the curtains.  The rings come in various sizes and colors to fit any decor.  

Your turn to link up anything you're sewing for yourself during the month of December!

An InLinkz Link-up

Linking to:
♥ Fiber Tuesday ♥ Main Crush Monday ♥ Let's Bee Social ♥ Fabric Tuesday ♥ Needle & Thread Thursday ♥ Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?!? ♥ Finish It Up Friday ♥ Whoomp There It Is! ♥ Creative Goodness ♥ Sew Modern Monday ♥ 

Get a Free Quilt Pattern!

Get a free pattern when you sign up to receive the latest info on what's happening in my studio, new quilt patterns, subscriber-only sales and Giveaways, quilty window shopping, and other fun news!

Click here to sign up!

Custom Amish Shadows Quilted Window Valances with Coordinating Pillow Cover

Also in the works this month have been two custom quilted window valances in the Amish Shadows pattern.  I received three custom orders in one day the week before Thanksgiving!  Something about that time of year inspires people to order custom quilts - it happens every year for me.

My customer had a quilt an Amish lady made several years ago and wanted window valances to coordinate in her home.  She cut out a patch of the quilt so I'd have exact fabrics to match!  I just about spewed cocoa on my computer when I read she had done that!  {#@%$!!}  Then they come in the mail, and I realized she was serious!  I was so happy to have a Moda Bella Solids color chart on hand to match them just about perfectly!

As with many custom quilts, this is the first time I've made this pattern.  With the exception of applique and some really time-consuming patterns, I always say, "Of course I can make that!" and I set out to learn how.  

I used Missouri Star Quilt's YouTube tutorial, Summer in the Park Revamped, to create these blocks using strip piecing.  You can find the written pattern in Missouri Star Quilt's BLOCK magazine.  The downside for using this method to make these blocks is that it creates an even number of blocks with the colors on the opposite side.

With the extra blocks I made a coordinating pillow cover. 

Quilted window valances make a beautiful addition to any room.  

Quilt Stats:

• Pattern:  Amish Shadows
• Size:  38" wide x 15" tall
• Fabric:  Moda and Kona Solids
• Backing:  Natural muslin.
• Quilting:  Straight lines on diagonal
• Binding:  Double fold in black, attached by machine.
• Value:  Simple and unique!

These window valances were a custom order in my Etsy shop.

Linking to:

Quiltville
Crazy Mom Quilts

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Bee My Honey Table Runners or Window Valances { x Two }

I love to collect odd works of art for the shelves above my windows in the living room.  The weirder the better!  The tall chicken in the red skirt, bowtie and hat was a gift from one of my sisters!  

Oh, yes, we're here to talk about quilts!

Two matching Bee My Honey table runners or window valances.   

 They coordinate with the Twisted Irish Chain Lap Quilt I recently made.

Isn't Mrs.Owl so happy?! 

 The HUGE red B no longer resides on the shelf.  She recently jumped off in the middle of the night, scaring the dog to death, and I can't quite figure out how to get her to stand up without falling down again.

Quilt Stats { x 2 }:

Pattern:  None really, 16 patches with some half-square triangles thrown in.

Size:  12.5" x 52.5" generous table runner length

Fabric:  Bee My Honey by Moda and Kona Snow

Batting:  Cotton

Backing:  Solid white with wide rod pocket for hanging

Quilting:  Allover small meandering stitch in white thread on Mrs.Bernina, my old 830 which was my grandmother's.

Binding:  Double fold, attached by machine in a Bee My Honey multicolor coordinate.

Value:  Won't you Bee My Honey?

These quilts are for sale in my Etsy shop, Busy Hands Quilts!

Linking to:

Crazy Mom Quilts

I'm On the Lookout For This Lace!

I have long loved lace curtains but took a break from them since building this house and decorating with a primitive style - primitive as in darker, muted colors, not primitive as in lace.  We had a lace valance in the living room of our previous house for 11 years, so after that amount of time I was done with lace curtains.

...Fast forward through nine years...

Primitive Log Cabin Valances

{I still have them if you want them!  Six in all, 10x54-ish} 

Annie's Farm Stand Pinwheel Valances

Current Bee My Honey Valances

{made this summer, not posted about yet} 

Don'tcha love my weird chickens?

Today!

This week's thrift store find was 10 lace panels.  I snatched them up for $20, planning on cutting them up and creating valances for across the top of the windows, not swags down the sides.  But then I fell in love with them as pictured above!  My heart says YES!!  And they look super cozy welcoming from the street, too!  

The problem with hanging them as shown without cutting them up is there are six windows in the living room, and 6 x 2 = 12, not 10.  Plus, they're really not wide enough for the windows and need a center valance to create more gathers. And there are no ties, but I figure I can create those out of ribbon or yarn.  

This looks like a fairly standard lace, but I spent yesterday online trying to find curtains in this lace but found nothing similar.  I'm not crying a river yet.  I'm headed to some other thrift stores since this must just be plain old lace.

Here's a close-up if you happen to have some lying around in a closet?!?

The largest flowers are 3.5".  It is ivory in color.

Craftsy is celebrating reaching 5 million members!  

That's amazing, and I am SO happy to be one of them!

Quilting

Knitting

Crocheting

Spinning

Weaving

Sewing

Food and Cooking

Cake Decorating

Embroidery

Jewelry

Paper Crafts

Photography

Painting

Drawing

Gardening

Woodworking

Wow!  I didn't know Craftsy had all that either!

Linking to:

Custom Valance in Ooh La La Fabrics

The customer who purchased a custom Happy Scrappy quilt in Ooh La La fabrics wanted a coordinating window valance.  The only parameters I was given was the window's size, nothing else.  "Surprise me!" she said.  She said the same thing when it came to designing the pillow sham for the Happy Scrappy quilt.  I find this approach much easier to work with than trying to meet ten different requirements, especially when I am working with leftover scraps of fabric.
This is what I came up with, and I hope she likes it!  It has a rod pocket for hanging, but for ease, I put it on the hanging hooks in my entry way for this picture.  With it hanging on a regular rod, the yellow fabric on top will be shirred together and look better than the way it is hung below.   The strips of fabric at the top and bottom of the valance are the same as the pillow sham. The window valance measures 14.5" long x 42" wide.  The backing is white so the street-side of the curtain is neutral.  
I am happy to make custom pillow covers, shams, window valances, and table runners to coordinate with the quilts in my shop ... just ask!  I like most things in the room to coordinate, too!

Custom Quilted Window Valances in Primitive Colors

Just finished are two custom quilted window valances in the primitive colors of black, tan, mustard, and pumpkin.  They were made completely from my stash!  Yeah!
I have a love/hate relationship with hourglass blocks!  I love the way they look when set together in fours to make pinwheel blocks, but they are a bit labor intensive.
A peek at the back rod pocket.  This time I remembered to put the pocket on before adding the binding!  This way only one seam needs to be hand tacked down, rather than two seams.  They are not stitched down, yet!  I think I will watch a Celtic Thunder music DVD tonight and stitch away!
I use unbleached muslin on the back so they look neutral from the street if they happen to show through the window, plus, the muslin won't fade in the sunlight.
Quilt Stats:

• Pattern:  Hourglass / pinwheels
• Size:  10" x 36"
• Fabric Top:  Quilt-shop quality fabrics, almost exclusively Thimbleberries, along with Moda Bella black
• Batting:  100% cotton Hobbs
• Backing:  Unbleached muslin
• Quilting:  All over meandering stitch in black thread on my old Bernina 830, a treasure from my grandma.
• Binding:  Double fold, attached by machine with 45-degree mitered corners with quilt-shop quality fabric.
• Value:  Prim!

These quilted valances were made as a custom order in my Etsy shop.  If you would like custom quilted window valances in most any pattern, color, and size, please convo me through my Etsy shop, Busy Hands Quilts!