fabricologist

fabricologist

Monday, March 10, 2014

I Am Thinking "Ruffles"

Today is my day to not only Think Ruffles, but to show off some ruffles.  I became very excited when Madame Samm first proposed this blog hop. I love any blog hop that is a bit out of the usual. Ruffles...so pretty and feminine.  And our head cheerleader, Amy, at Sew Incredibly Crazy...yeah, crazy like a fox! She is doing an amazing job keeping this hop on track. Thanks to both of them. Now, on to my contribution.


 The first thing I thought of was a ruffled pillow. I had a lot of 2.5 inch strips left from a Deb Strain Jelly roll from a few years back. Perfect.
 And even though it's kind of Valentine's looking, surprise, my hubby liked it. I think he could see the potential in all these ruffles.
 Rows and rows, until I ran out. So I called it done. I think you could do this with about any color. The texture is amazing, so if you have a jelly roll lying around, ruffle it.
 Then, I wanted to make another one, but different. I have been on a quest to use my stash this year and I had some Summersville 2.5 inch strips left from another jelly roll. All blues and greens, so I made my ruffles.
 Then, I attached them in a concentric circle. When I ran out, I found a small bit of the orange from the same line and I thought it was the perfect center.
 I love the texture of this one. The orange wasn't quite big enough, so I seamed it, matching the pattern as best I could.
I really love this one. Again, it is the textures that grab me.  And for the back, which barely closes, I used up the last bit of the ruffles.
My last project has been simmering in my head since the beginning. I wanted to do an apron with ruffles.  But then, at work one day I saw this young woman in a skirt with some really cool box pleats. The skirt was a light brown, but there was and orange color in the pleats that showed when she walked. So how to marry that idea with ruffles?
My pictures of this project are a bit piecemeal. I had no model available, so I made do and the pictures are more of the details. I used a grey dot, Confetti Dots by Dear Stella for the main body of the apron.
 I had some lime green Sketch leftover from some past project and another dot fabric by Dear Stella that looked like plant beds. Those became my pockets and waistband/apron ties with ruffles added to both.
 In my box pleats is the cutest little sheep print fabric ever. This has been sitting in my stash for about a year, waiting for the perfect project.
 Here is another shot of the waist from the front, with the ruffle and the box pleats.
 And even though it is not a smooth transition, I felt it needed ruffles at the bottom hem line. I only put them on the grey dot, since I didn't want the ruffles to hold the pleats completely open.
The pleats allow the sheep to peek out occasionally.
 Here is the bow in the back of the apron. I draped a fleece blanket around a body pillow and tied the apron around it for these picture.
One last shot of the sweet pockets. This is the perfect spring apron. I love making aprons, as it is a departure from quilts that is nice to have once in a while. They are pretty quick and lend themselves to lots of different design elements. Hope you enjoyed my show and tell today. Please hop on and see the other wonderfully talented ladies with whom I share my day.

March 10th
 
                                                                    GrammieQs

55 comments:

Thearica said...

I had visions of doing a pillow exactly like your Deb Strain jelly roll pillow!!! I kid you not.. but I didn't..It was too cool opening your blog up to see one done! :)

Stacey Napier said...

Wow, this is ruffle-tastic!! I am drooling over the ruffl-y goodness of those pillows. Great, amazing work!!

Scrapatches said...

I love all your projects. The apron is adorable with the cute sheep print peeking out of the pleats. The circular pillow is my favorite. I also made a pillow in this manner for this hop. All your fabric choices are perfect for these projects. Thanks for sharing ... :) Pat

Amy said...

I love all your perfectly placed ruffles. The pillows are lovely. The circular flower is my favorite and any one would love to wear that cute apron with the peek-a-boo sheep. Just cute as a button!!

Judy B said...

What beautiful ruffled creations! Yes the circular ruffling won my heart 2! Thank you for sharing.

jan said...

My Goodness! I love all three of your projects! The Summersville pillow is so cute and I love the apron!
Great job!

Terry@ a quilting blog said...

Great projects..the apron is adorable!!! Ruffled pillows are so much fun to make (I recently made a couple for my entry bench)…thanks for sharing :)

Jill Rimes said...

Wonderful projects!!

Anita said...

Lovely projects! My favourite is the pillow with the circular ruffle.

vicky myers said...

Great projects, my favourite has to be the circular pillow too:)

MalinisQuilts said...

WOW! Love your pillows,amazing ruffle details! The apron is cute too!

Britt-Inger said...

I love love your circular pillow. Thanks for sharing your creativity.

Shari said...

Love your pillows, especially the round one. Love your apron too, how very crafty!

Elizabeth Coughlin said...

What a beautiful collection of ruffled-goodness! I really adore the circular pillow.

Anonymous said...

Well, you were very ruffle-productive! Beautiful projects, but my fav ist definitively the pillow with the circle ruffled all around!!!

Carol Swift said...

I love those pillows and your apron is so cute! Great job with ruffles!

Dorian said...

Cute projects! What a great idea for an apron.

Shirlee Fassell said...

WOW you really went to ruffle town!! Great pillows and apron!

Sparky said...

Good Day Charlotte…oh my you are a ruffler….I adore them all…the pillows are fantastic….ohhhh surely if anyone does not like ruffles, they need to drop in to you for inspiration...

StitchinByTheLake said...

Charlotte your pillows are adorable - I bet my granddaughters would love one like those! And I love the aprons. I love all aprons but this one is especially adorable. :) blessings, marlene

Kay said...

I really like your cushions, especially the round design. Thanks for sharing.

Marjorie's Busy Corner said...

Love those cushions!!! lol. just love the round one...and your apron is very nice

Carol said...

Wow! The pillows are all very wonderful with all those ruffles! The apron is lovely--how clever you are! Thanks for sharing.

Linda said...

Your pillows are so cute! I love the ruffled apron with the peek-a-boo pleat! So clever!!

Daryl @ Patchouli Moon Studio said...

Great pillows and a darling apron!

Carla said...

Charlotte, you make me want to go make a pillow or TWO! I love them. Perfect use of ruffles. Your apron is wonderful with the box pleats. So creative. Loved your post in the hop.

Carolyn said...

All I can say is WOW! Being someone that loves anything red, I immediately fell in love with your ruffled pillow! So many ruffles, and so, so pretty! Love your second pillow, too, and the apron is over the top. Thank you for sharing your talent. :)

Linda C said...

Love the ruffled pillows, the concentric one best. That pop of color at center makes you think of a flower blossom. I guess after such a horrid winter we are all ready for a taste of flowers and spring?? Way to go on the apron too with all the ruffled opportunities there.

Margaret said...

I love that ruffled pillow. You are very inspiring. Thanks for sharing

Purl Buttons said...

Congratulations on your WOW award! I liked your pillow immediately and then wen to to see the NEXT pillow which I liked even better. And then you completely floored me with the apron. I wear an apron every day and my next one will have box pleats! Thank you for the great idea.

Calicojoan said...

Oh my gosh, those pillows are way to much fun. Love your colors. What a great apron too. Your made do model did a fabulous job! ;-)

LittleHouseontheDairy said...

Love the circle of ruffles on the pillow! Gorgeous!

Lana said...

This is a DEFINITE fav! I loved the pillows...so creative! and that Apron!!! perfect!
question...did you surge all the tops of those ruffles on the ruffled pillow?

Vroomans' Quilts said...

All your projects are just wonderful, but I do love the first pillow the most.

OhioLori said...

LOVE your Pillows!!! The greens & blues one is my favorite! Apron is cool too...have a friend that would love it! She always wears Aprons....I am the messy one..never remember to wear em! lol

Marcy said...

Gorgeous pillows! I love, love the apron. All your pretty ruffles are just perfect!

Heidi [Banks of Frog Creek] said...

Great projects! The circular ruffled pillow is my favorite :)

Createology said...

Your ruffles are wonderful. Each pillow fabulous. This apron is unique and amazing. Ruffles are Fabric Smiling. Thank you sew very much for Hopping...

Leah said...

Such wonderful projects! Those pillows are fantastic!!

LJ said...

Wow, you really did up ruffles to a 'T'! I've fallen in love with the pink one as pink is my favorite color. But it's neat that you came up with the circle ruffles, too. The apron is sweet and the addition of the box pleats and the peek-a-boo fabric was great.

allthingzsewn said...

Hi, great ruffles, very neat. I especially like the fact that you added a little something to the back of your pillow, a quint finishing touch. And I love the finishing of the little pockets on the apron. I think these things say sew much.

Jane's Quilting said...

Your projects are all so pretty....You can be very proud!

Suze said...

The Valentine pillow is perfect with the red/white fabrics. My best(est) quilting friend and I have a running battle about red and blue. She's a red person and I'm a blue person - lol. I don't think she has any blue fabric and I have lots of red fabric. I love the concentric circles. Of course, a math major would love the circles, eh? And, I love the ruffles on the back. I absolutely adore the apron. I love sheep fabric anyhow. My brothers each raised purebred Hampshire sheep for 4-H projects and now one of them's wife is a pastor, so I love sheep, sheep, and more sheep. I had a green skirt very similar in color with a pleat in the front when I was in junior high. I loved that skirt. I love the box pleat so the sheepy fabric shows through. Of course, the ruffles help the pop of the apron, too!
I laugh when I see your vanity license plate. I used to have one that was a nickname that my dad called me. I moved to OK back in 1974 - of course, the native American tribes are a big deal here. Some of us kid that we are native American - we were born in the United States - doesn't that make us Native American? AND my license plate even says "Native America". Of course, most of the actually Native Americas drive cars that have tribal plates on them. I often wonder how many people really look at their plates. I love your vanity plate. Again, thanks for participating.

Mary said...

What a beautiful job you did on the pillows and apron. Congratulations on being in the top two today. Thank you for sharing.

Brenda said...

Like the pillows, especially the second one. Am not usually a fan of ruffles, but the circular setting with the linear prints just grabs me somehow. And the clever use of the sheep fabric inside the pleats of the apron is magnificent. The pleated ruffles are a great finishing touch. Understated, not all "ruffly."

Lindsey said...

Your pillows are gorgeous! I love the fact that you did a circular pattern for the one--so pretty and like you said adds a lot of great texture! :) Your apron looks so lovely as well! Thanks for all the inspiration!

-Lindsey

maggie said...

You did a great job with the pillow, but I am in love with your apron! So nice.Thanks for sharing.
cheers
maggie

maggiemine42@gmail.com

Michelle said...

Your projects are so cute and your ruffles are so perfect. I really love pleated ruffles. Great job! A side note though being Cherokee and from the same town and state as the commenter above, I'm amazed how one can see your cute specialized tag and related to 'being Native American'. That was a hard one to pass by but I wanted to spare you. :-)

Nancy said...

How adorable all your projects are. I like the concentric circle pillow, but each of the others is great. And you did a wonderful job of designing the apron from your head. Thanks for sharing.

Siouxzq64@gmail.com said...

Great pillows but I loved the apron with the peak a boo or should I say peek a baa and the ruffles.

MoeWest said...

Great projects! I love your apron design! The ruffled pillows are very pretty!

Sherry said...

Your pillows are fabulous! Sooo many ruffles! Your apron is pretty cute too, thanks for sharing and inspiring us to get ruffling.

Missy Shay said...

I am going to pin the pillows and the apron, they are great!

Bear Creek Quilting Company said...

Very pretty and great idea for ruffles! Pillows are so much fun and decorate any room. Thanks for sharing. ~Shari

Janarama said...

Great projects! I'm especially drawn to the pillows. Just beautiful