Oh, Deer!

I'm at least the 5 millionth person to knock off this Anthropologie Blooming Reindeer but it's so cute I was willing to be unoriginal for the sake of being stylish:-)  This year I'm trying to dial my holiday decorating back a notch so it doesn't look like Rudolph puked up Christmas everywhere.

The construction was pretty straightforward...  if I hadn't needed to make 3 trips to Quilter's Way for things I kept forgetting I could have had this done in under 2 hours.  First, I Googled deer silhouettes and then picked the one I liked best.  I'm pretty lazy when it comes to the whole tracing and cutting thing so to streamline the process I put Steam a Seam 2 on the back of my Liberty fabric and then printed the silhouette on a full sheet label (I prefer the clear so you can fussy cut your image) which I then stuck to the right side of my Liberty fabric.  I carefully cut out the deer head, removed the label, and the ironed it on to my background.  There's a printable double sided fusible product called Print N Fuse that I'm going to try if I decide to make a bunch of these.  Even though Steam a Seam comes in sheets it does NOT go through the printer well...  trust me, I've tried!

At that point you don't actually have to sew it but I went with a button hole stitch around the applique.  I'm still in love with the 12wt. Aurifil and saw this as another perfect excuse to buy some more.  I used coordinating 50 wt. and fussed around a bit with the tension to get it perfect.  I love the extra dimension it adds!!!

I decided to get fancy and used this awesome zipper closure tutorial by S.O.T.A.K Handmade.  Since I was using an 18" pillow form I just sized everything up and then trimmed the back down to fit the front when I was finished.

Linking up to the fabulous Finish it Up Friday by Crazy Mom Quilts.

Pillow Stats:
Finished quilt is 18" x 18"
Fabrics: June's Meadow by Liberty of London.  Steel Yarn Dyed Essex Linen by Robert Kaufman.
Thread: Aurifil in Red (2250) 12wt for top thread, 50wt in bobbin.

Anthropologie Hack: Chalkboard Table Runner

I recently happened to venture into Anthropologie and spotted this awesome chalkboard runner.  Their runner is just paper but it got me thinking about the chalk cloth I bought ages ago and still hadn't used.  I paired it with this beautiful ink Peppered Cotton and even took some pictures of my process so you can make your own:-)

Determine your desired finished size and how wide you want your outer border.  The basic technique is the same as for my Self Binding Linen Napkins but I've added some math so you can customize the size.  In my case, I wanted this to fit my kitchen island so my finished runner will be 24" x 78" with a 3" border.  

Cut your chalk cloth:

width = Finished width - 2 x border width + 1"

example width = 24" - 2 x 3" + 1 = 19"

length = Finished length - 2 x border width + 1"

example length = 78" - 2 x 3" + 1" = 73" 

Cut your outer fabric:

width = Finished width + 2 x border width + 1"

example width = 24" + 2 x 3" + 1" = 31"

length = Finished length + 2 x border width + 1".

example length = 78" + 2 x 3" + 1" = 85" 

* All seam allowances are 1/2"

Before you use your chalk cloth you'll want to "cure" it.  I put my kids to work with some sidewalk chalk and my cut piece of cloth.  Oilcloth Addict has a great tutorial on how to do this.  

From there the process is the same as the napkins.  Starting with 1 side, match the centers of the two fabrics and stitch along the side using 1/2" seam allowance.  It's best not to use pins on chalk cloth as they will leave permanent holes.  I also switched to a denim needle and increased my stitch length.  

Repeat on the remaining 3 sides starting and stopping where you meet a seam allowance.  Leave a small hole in 1 side for turning.  You will have odd wing like things sticking out from each corner, that's the way it should be.

Miter the corners by lining up the sewn seams and drawing a line from the folded edge to the seam line.  Sew along the drawn line and trim 1/2" from the sewn line for all 4 corners.

Turn you table runner right side out through the hole.  Poke the corners out using a chopstick and evenly distribute the border around your runner.  You can press the outer border flat but do NOT iron the chalk cloth directly or it will melt.  Topstitch around the edge of the border making sure you close the hole left for turning.  

Throw a party and show off your latest creation:-)

There are some great tips on working with chalk cloth in general at the split stitch and Oilcloth Addict.

Sharing the fun with Crazy Mom Quilts on Finish it Up Friday!!!