The most successful projects are collaborative efforts.  Mary Hansen brings rolls of fabrics and ideas every week and I love it.

We’ve made a few throws together and we continue to explore new ways to put our materials together.

Mary brought two cotton sateen fabrics by Jim Thompson.  They both have a subtle ombre effect.

For this blanket we wanted to try to use a down comforter inside.  Mary found one that is very light weight, it has hardly any fill at all inside.

I am making this throw out of exactly two yards of material so the size is 54″ x 72″.  The queen size comforter needed to be cut smaller and I was surprised to find that the grid could be cut easily along the existing quilt lines to fit my requirements.

I sewed the comforter to my blue side leaving 1/2″ seams and I basted them together at the intersections of the quilted grid.

Then on to my details……….a shirred box edge and double flanges.  I cut 2″ strips of the orange cotton.

I shirred it with the ruffler foot on my sewing machine and backed it with muslin to make a neat and tidy strip.

I made tiny flanges with mitered corners out of the aqua and sewed them to both my fabrics.

I pinned and sewed to the blue side first.

Then I sewed them together just like a giant pillow.

Dodads!  We love dodads because all the layers need to be held together.  Mary picked a soft neutral color of embroidery thread and I found some dowels.  I wrapped and tied them.

Both sides are beautiful, makes me want to snuggle.

These are the pillows I made last month which are going on the bed with the throw.

The fabric is Colony by Scalamandre.  Notice that the pillows have the same tiny aqua flanges.

This is the duvet I made for the same bed.  I didn’t get to see this yet with the down comforter inside.

This beautiful linen is from Jane Shelton.

Kathi

I’ve seen many memory jar projects made into lamps.  This one, designed by Mary Hansen is exceptional.  She found the blown glass jars and took them to our friends at Landbridge Lighting to have them built into lamps.

Mary collected the shells and rocks and sticks to put inside.

The tops of the glass jars are uneven and needed a very tricky cap and fitting to finish.  Of course, there’s no shiny brass on the interior of these lamps.

I ordered the perfect size and shape of frame from Aro Wire to make the lampshades.  These lamps are going on bedside tables and an oval shape works very well here because it takes less space than a round.

We picked two linen fabrics, one medium weight from Travers to make the body and a lighter, more sheer one from Great Plains to sew into the cuff at the bottom.

The linen in the cuff needed to be backed with a solid cotton because it was a little too sheer.

I always try to look at things with a different eye.  In this case, I thought I would try to do a cross stitch with embroidery thread instead of the usual self trim on the rib seams.

To trim the seams at the top and bottom of the cuff I cut 2 inch bias pieces of another linen.  This one is from Henry Calvin and is much lighter and more sheer than the other two fabrics.  I divided the two inches into thirds and picked the fringe.

I folded it in half and made a running stitch with wool yarn.

I like it!

Kathi

Mary Hansen brings more fun projects every week.  For her client’s guest bedroom we’re making a throw to fold at the end of the bed and three pillows.  Mary chose a dark turquoise linen from JAB to be the main color for this ensemble.

We are lucky here in Seattle to have a fabric store which stocks a varied selection of fabrics.  We can always find interesting accents that we need.  I find myself often at Nancy’s Sewing Basket when I can’t find what I’m looking for at the design center.

Mary found the orange and turquoise cotton print which we used on the back of the throw and on the borders of the two pillows.  She had the linen and the print quilted and washed before she brought them to me.

For the centers of the two pillows I added orange yarn to the quilted lines, couching it with a pink wool yarn.

I added another bit of color to the fronts with the Pindler orange matelasse.

And a fringey bit from the washed selvedge edge of my striped backing.

These are the backs of my two pillows.  Mary found the orange stripe at Nancy’s Sewing Basket but the white was too white so it went into a Rit dye bath, then I quilted it and put it through the wash and dry.  I always save the fringy bits and use them for trimming.

The matelasse needed something extra so I sat down with a movie and did a little embroidery with my wool yarn.

The Fabricut orange cotton is perfect for the flanges but I wanted another hit of color so I doubled down my trim and made a covered cord with the citrus yellow.

I made the boxed edge using the Pindler orange matelasse.

The throw needs a hit of the citrus yellow so I snipped and sewed twenty rosettes.

One more pillow, a long rectangle will sit in front of the two other pillows.  The embroidered white Brunschwig & Fils cotton needs turquoise trim in the seams so I cut lengths of the JAB linen, fringed it and put it through the wash and dry.

Thanks Mary, what a fun project!

Kathi

It took way too long but I finally got around to making a lampshade for my copper lamp.

When I took a jewelry making class at Pratt last year I knew I wouldn’t be making jewelry.  I wanted to learn how to cut and hammer copper.  The result of my two classes is this lamp.

A new material, new tools and very difficult technique.  I wish there was more time in the day, more days in the week, more weeks in every year.

There are so many classes I would like to take.

Each one of these pieces could be a pin or a necklace.

Soldering is really hard.  There’s a whole class to take to learn to perfect this one task.

I was happy to be able to finish this many parts for my lamp sculpture.

I wired all my pieces to a column and my friends at Landbridge Lighting built the lamp and wired it.

I made a simple drum shape with a fabric from Pindler & Pindler and trimmed it with a picked fringe made from the same fabric.

Kathi

It’s not difficult to find old needlepoint pieces at the flea markets.  They are stripped from antique chairs and sold “as is”………  usually dusty and smelly.

We love them because they make fabulous pillows.

Joni found these and asked me to make pillows for her new couch in the media room.

This pair deserves some very special trim and I found just the thing at Samuel & Sons.

I backed the border trim with muslin and made the tiniest possible seam to sew it down.

Then I hand-sewed the pompom tassels to the fronts and backs with wool yarn.

Joni had this comfortable reading chair upholstered in a coral velvet and the black needlepoint compliments perfectly.

I found an oversize black silk and linen check and a small piece of pink Scalamandre velvet on the magic shelf.

I can’t help myself………….. I made more pompoms.

There was not enough of the pink velvet to cut a whole circle so I have to improvise…………I’m buttoning it across the back.

I tied the pompoms onto loops of Samuel & Sons trim.

I found some vintage black fringe that I sewed onto the seam between the needlepoint and the shirring.

I made big covered buttons.

Here are a few more needlepoint pillows from earlier projects.

I love anything with dogs on it.

Or cows!

Or any animal for that matter.

These went to my client in Palm Springs.

These too.

I love to do this fancy work.

Kathi

Mary is designing a guest bedroom for her client and asked me if I would quilt a throw for the bed.

Mary chooses fabrics like no one else.  It’s always a surprise to see what she comes up with.  The lavender check is a linen and cotton blend from Chelsea Editions, the trellised border on the bottom left is linen from Rose Tarlow, the green is Boussac and the paisley print from Brunschwig.  I’m going to make rosettes too, the sample one I made in the picture is from a piece of vintage french cotton.

So, how are we going to put all these beautiful fabrics together?  I’m starting by quilting the check to a backing of orange cotton.  I basted the layers together with a lightweight batting and machine quilted along the lines of the check.

After the quilting is finished I cut the flanges out of the paisley.

I cut the Rose Tarlow trellis into strips and backed it with the green Boussac.

I sewed the borders so they crossed at the corners.

Rosettes…………..40 of them, 20 for the front and 20 for the back.  I snipped and sewed………….

then put them through the washing machine, sewn into a bag so I wouldn’t loose them.  When I took them out, I thought, Oh no!!………I’ve ruined them!  But I picked the lint and fluffed them up and they came out just fine.

The rosettes add the finishing touch.  Notice that the paisley is hand-stitched with blue wool yarn.

And, of course, it’s as pretty on the back as it is on the front!

Remember the pillows I made a couple months ago?  The blog post here.  It’s not likely that I’ll see this bedroom because it’s not in Seattle so we just have to visualize all these parts that I made.

Another pillow for the bed……………Mary chose a tapestry from Kravet, linen from Clarence House, some vintage trim and cord from Mokuba.

It all went together like this……….the white crewel is the bedspread.  The lavender throw is folded at the end of the bed.

I made pompoms for the corners and crocheted the Mokuba cord to sew all around.

The upholstered chair in the room is kind of mauve and needs a pillow too.

We repeated the Kravet tapestry and added the grey textured weave from Malabar and some dyed wool yarn and more Mokuba cord.

I like to crochet this chunky cord.

I made the knotted balls with the same cord.

Instead of sewing a trim in the seam, I pinched it and sewed a running stitch with wool yarn.

I sewed the little balls on.

And finished it off with french knots in the corners with the wool yarn and one more pompom as a zipper pull.

Mary found a green ceramic lamp for the guest room and I made the lampshade with the mother of pearl button trim that we love so much.

Thanks Mary, what a fun project!

Kathi

Joni is a rare friend and client of many years.  She allows me to create freely and if I ask to buy some special trims she says “sure, go right ahead”.

She asked me recently to make some new lampshades for her master bedroom.

I’d been wanting to make a new embroidery for a lampshade and this was the perfect project.  I started by cutting strips of my linen to make vertical panels and I drew some bare outlines of flower shapes.

I did the outlines and then filled in the colors freehand.

I wanted the panels to cover the ribs of the lampshade frame.

When the embroidery was finished I decided to edge them with a layer of picked fringe.

I used trim from Samuel & Sons at the top and bottom edges.

What a pleasure it was to finish this!

On the two bedside tables, Joni has this pair of Staffordshire dog lamps.  We had made this pair for her son’s bedroom about five years ago and now they have found a new home.

When I originally made them they had a darker trim, a layer of black linen trim from Brunschwig and a layer of brown Samuel & Sons.  This was too heavy for the new room so I pulled it off.

I’m repeating the picked linen fringe with a blue wool yarn running stitch.

I’m trying this out.

But………. I like it better with the addition of the original brown Samuel & Sons trim.  Now they are perfect, much lighter.

In the dressing room, Joni found this pair of ceramic lamps.

Recently this pair of vintage lampshades came my way and they are perfect.

I stripped the frames and we chose a linen sheer from Larsen that has yellowish silky tufts.

I was planning to use the trim plain around the bottom, but at the last moment I thought I would experiment with the addition of a ruffle and layer the Samuel & Sons trim on top.

Very pretty!

At either end of the dressing table are a pair of sconces that needed shades.

I love to make tiny lampshades because I can make them out of the smallest bits of fabric. I had a discontinued memo sample from Schumacher but it was too white.

I mixed up some rit dye in a big bowl.

That did the trick………….it’s no longer white.

I underlined each piece with a beige cotton.

And finished them with trim from Janet Yonaty.

Also in the dressing room, Joni wanted to set this lamp on a narrow shelf.  I just happened to have one tiny last piece of a Rose Tarlow linen left from an earlier project.  Coincidentally, Joni had chosen the same Rose Tarlow wallpaper to do the walls here.  You can’t see in the photo, but I added a little embroidery with french knots to the floral pattern in the stripes.  The trim is Samuel & Sons.

The lamp in this nook has a shade made with a shirred silk from Scalamandre and the trim is Samuel & Sons.

A similar lamp in the nook by the tub received the same treatment with Scalamandre silk but the trim here is antique.

What a pleasure it was to deliver these yesterday!

Kathi

I knew it would take another year for Chris to find the time to build the door for the partner’s shed.  But it seems a year is no time at all any more.

This must have been summer 2010.  What a great idea we had, to build a partners shed on the fence line that both neighbors can use.  Kendall’s in charge, he designed it and had the steel fabricated.

It’s slow going, here we are the next winter getting the roof panels up.

That’s all for 2010, the roof is on.

Summertime 2011, the next phase is to build the walls.

Chris got most of the siding on last year.

2012 is the year of the door.  It’s just ready to come out of the veneer press.
Chris used salvaged wood from an old silo as veneer.

And a patchwork of redwood scraps for the band

The door is hung on a track and slides to the right.

We’re happy to have this project nearing completion.

We love our garden.

Good job Chris, thanks for making the garden more wonderful.

Kathi

I don’t often get to visit the places where my work lives.  I mostly have to imagine where my client will place the pillows and how the lamp will look on the table next to the bed.

This is where romance lives for one lucky young woman.

I had the opportunity to make another monogram.  I sketched the “K” on paper and we chose an antique hand woven linen to make the pillow.

I transfered the lines to the linen with colored paper and a tiny tracing wheel.

I can do anything I want…………..how about stripes?

I totally love it.

That only took a couple days.

We wanted to make a long bolster and I had lots of scraps of old sheets with embroidery.  I started cutting strips and sewing them together.

I don’t usually put a zipper in a bolster but this time I knew I had to because the dogs are allowed on the bed.  Actually it worked out very well because I built in a beautiful casing to hide it.  The bolster can roll around all over the bed and it looks great on all sides.

Did you notice my white rock lamp on the bench next to the bed?

And this!

Camp blankets are so cozy and I love them because they go through the washer and dryer.  I did this one at least ten years ago.  I sewed on a deep border using a vintage bark cloth.  Then I hand crocheted the brown cotton picot edge.

In the living room I made new pillows for the couch.

Remember the lampshades trimmed with mother of pearl buttons that I made a couple months ago?  Two of them found their way to this cottage, one of them is here in the bedroom alongside a sconce whose shade is made with the same antique linen.

Trimmed with a little pleated skirt of grosgrain ribbon.

White on white on white…………

The other alabaster lamp is tucked into the music cabinet in the living room.  It really pops in the black interior.

Kathi

What pretty summer colors in this Thibaut embroidered cotton.

Sarah asked me to make a pair of lampshades for her floor lamps in the library.   She emailed me photos of the room and a few around her house so I could get a feel of the colors she likes.

I’m always happy to shop for fabrics for my clients who live outside of the city.  I sent her a big box of fabric samples to try.

She chose this embroidered cotton from Thibaut.

After I sewed the fabric to the frame I went shopping for trim.  I found a few that I liked and we agreed on the Janet Yonaty.

I didn’t try to center any of the pattern, I just cut it randomly.  I easily got these two lampshades from two yards of material.

Sometimes when I’m sewing the fabric to the frame it doesn’t pull as tight as I would like so  I add a row of hand stitches to the seam and pull it more perfectly tight.  You can see those stitches here.  They will be covered with a self trim that is glued to each rib.

The trim just arrived and I’m excited to finish them.

They are as beautiful on the inside as they are on the outside.

We love our bamboo jungle.  It’s so cool to see it start to sprout every june.

Chris can drive right up to his shop at the back of the house.

One step out the shop door into the garden.

Shorty and Tiny have the run of the yard protected front and back by gates.  The squirrels jump from tree to tree and run along the the top rails of the fence to tease them.

Back and front, up and down, in and out………….I love the summer when the doors are open all day and they can sit out on the deck and bark at the people and dogs walking by.

I made another lampshade trimmed with mother of pearl buttons.  Mary Hansen chose this green ceramic lamp and the yellow cotton for her client’s guest bedroom.

I sewed the fabric to the cuff first………………

then started sewing the buttons

Kathi