Dalmatian Cover & Spring Dreaming

I've settled in Ontario for the winter & will go go back home with the spring thaw. Everyone is announcing an early spring, I sure hope it's true. I've been looking at all the UFO projects here & the ones that I brought back to work on, so I must buckle down & stay focused.
It will help make the time go fast & ward of the homesickness, so far so good!

Rug hooking can hid all the marker marks, this is my sketching of the design in my head as I designed the chair cover from the center design.

I finished the rug hooked chair pad that I made from the shading class in Richibucto NB.

                                      It looks great on the chair from the thrift store find!

I played with all the left over wool worms the the project until they were gone. then I used my favourite yarn, Briggs & Little to finish it off. I just need to put a backing on it & voila! A UFO done!


Dalmatian Cover

The hooking of this project brought on another project to do! Time after time I was scratched, poked, & picked by the barbs around the frame, so a cover was needed...

A cover for my rug hooking frame, here is how I did it. ;-)

I looked for a dense fabric & found one of my faves, a piece of scrap from, the synthetic Dalmation fabric I had used years back, making a baby's hat & coat. I love Dalmations !!! & have had over 20's of enjoyment with them. Their dots just make me happy & their powerful happy tails have damaged many a fragile item on a coffee table or whipped my leg making me yell from the pain of the lashing!

I loved the soft feel as my hand glided over this fabric, reminding me of their velvety texture of fur. The Dalmation fabric it is!
I would also need a lining & batting to protect the synthetic fabric from those nasty barbs.
I used the width of the 60" fabric & cut & pieced the lining to that length.

The lining used was a poly/cotton & I zigzagged the batting to it, then added the Dalmatian fabric. Your top showing fabric is to be cut 3 1/2" wider than the 5" poly/cotton-batting piece. You'll need that to use for your 1 1/4" elastic casing, you'll not want the added bulk. I used 1/2" elastic as the thickness would need a strong elastic to hold the gathered fabric.

Center the lining & pin casing down, this is easier to do before it's sewn into a circle. Leave a couple of inches unpinned at the ends. Sew the end pieces together to make a circle, take the time to sew the seam down at this point. Hindsight...I did not & had to open the seams to push the pin through as it was caught up on the seam!
Sew the casing down, leaving an opening for the pin to go through with the elastic.

                                        I used a zigzag stitch to stitch the casing down.

Then using my 40 plus year old diaper pins! Yes, those pins came with a locking device on them so you can push & not have them open. Only those that diapered their babies with 'cloth diapers' would be familiar with these diaper pins. lol
Bill is so funny always announcing that  I still have everything I ever owned...I don't have the things that don't have memories or function to them, they've been given away or recycled at the Goodwill.
I am glad to have those diaper pins for applications like this though!

 See how my joining seams are not stitched down...that will come to haunt me later! lol

 With on side stitched & and opening left, put a pin to remind you where the opening is!
Sew the other side the same way, also leaving an opening for the elastic to go through the casing.

                                                           All done...now the elastic...

                The elastic length will be several inches shorter than the diameter of the frame.

 Place it on the frame & pull evenly till you have it fitted on the frame. Not so tight that you cannot get it off the frame though.

                    Keeping the elastic even & the fit wanted, pin in place & remove.
                 Sew elastic together & stitch the casing closed by machine or by hand.
                                                                 It is done!

 No more scraps from the barbs for me! I'm just wondering if those 'dots' are going to drive me crazy?! I'll let you know after I'm done with 'This years Santa'. I'm starting it now so I have a head start on Christmas this year! lol When I was looking at the finished cover I laughed & thought of my Grandma Haynes that would always have a steering wheel cover made of lambs wool on her steering wheel. You just don't see those on the steering wheels any more, do you?! lol

Spring Dreaming ;-)

I know it's January but my senses need spring! I planted these hyacinth bulbs last November & look at them now! I can't wait to smell that sweet smell of spring.
When I planted them I was not wearing gloves & when I opened the pack of bulbs within one minute I was soooo itchy on my throat, jawline & earlobes! So if your ever opening bulbs be sure to wear gloves with this type of bulb as some people are sensitive to the powder they give off.

                                              Yes, it looks like a spring showing of bulbs!
I can't wait till spring, if all goes well at the Carroll Cottage, there's 346 bulbs that will be blooming this spring. How exciting is gardening...thank you Heather for introducing me to this wonderful world of bringing things to life! Spring has a whole new meaning now.

Thank you for visiting & I hope the rug hookers find the tutorial on making the cover useful. I'm missing my Thursday, fellow Miramichi, rug hookers already, from the Lion's Center.

Thought for the week by Leonard Nimoy...

A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory.