Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Ta Da!

I recently read an article which stated that this is the time of year when many of our New Year's resolutions begin to fade and dissolve into the universe.  The article suggested that we gently prod ourselves with smaller goals on our way to reaching the ultimate goal that we had set for ourselves way back in January (seems like years ago, doesn't it??).  So, I went to the Land of Unfinished Pieces and Percolating Ideas and decided to choose just one of them to bring to life; my plan is to slowly complete a "To Do" project and turn it into a "Ta Da!" piece.
I will begin by stating that I am being dragged, kicking and screaming, into the 21st century; our son, Sean, teases me because I still use a phone book to look up telephone numbers.  Therefore, it should not surprise you to see that my first "Ta Da!" project is a legal pad cover; in this age of electronic note-taking devices,  I'm hoping that some of you will remember legal pads.  Please humor me.
Thank goodness there is a company out there who makes a pattern for these covers; this one is designed by Cotton Dreams and was purchased through Fabrics 'N' Quilts.
I chose a Jane Sassaman fabric for the outside cover and coordinated it with other fabrics for the lining, pockets, and binding.  After fusing the cover pieces together with Timtex, I used one of Jane's ideas and created a cardboard template to use in quilting a wavy design over the entire cover (I actually drew a sine curve onto graph paper to use as the shape -- math teachers never completely retire . . .).
After inserting the pockets, the binding was added by machine and hand-stitched to the inside.
And because I wanted to make the folded cover lie a little flatter, I found an even better use for the phone book; Sean should be pleased.
Diane





11 comments:

imquilternity said...

LOL! That's a great use for the phone book. I love your legal pad cover and the fabrics and quilting design you've chosen. Such beautiful work and good for you for completing a "to do" project!

I have to agree with you - I'm fighting a lot of the new technology too. No iphone, no ipad, no Twitter, Facebook only to connect with good friends and family, no texting, etc. I just want to have time to live my life and not be tied to a "gadget". I love legal pads and, in that same vein, I just bought myself a new weekly/monthly planner which I'm using to keep track of my life by writing it down. It's relaxing. Hope all is well with you.

Terri Stegmiller said...

This turned out great! I'm right there with you so I won't humor you...although I'd say I've got one foot in the new world and one foot lagging behind.

Diane Wright said...

Nice: To Do to TA DA! I hope to remember that...

The Yellow Book was an inspired touch ;^)

Thanks for sharing.

Tangled Stitch said...

Birds of a feather Diane, I'm born in the wrong century too. The piece is just breathtaking! love it!

Anonymous said...

This is great! First, it's beautiful. Those Jane Sassaman fabrics are wonderful. Next, your explanation of the whole thing: the sine curve, the new use for a phone book, your choice of project (I thought it was going to be an iPad cover), and finally: your switching of vowels and adding a punctuation mark. Are you sure you weren't also and English teacher?

Tangled Stitch said...

Definitely a kindred spirit, not a dinosaur

Robbie said...

Diane, I have passed on the Liebster Blog Award to you. You can read on my post today:http://robbiespawprints.blogspot.com/2012/03/liebster-blog-award.html

Love your work and I know others will enjoy as well!

Linda Bacon said...

Beautiful work, as usual! I love the To Do to Ta Da!!!

Linda Bacon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Linda Bacon said...

because I goofed and posted it twice! So much for me and technology...!

abigail said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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