Kansas City Here We Come!

Posted: Monday, May 14th, 2012

We are heading out in the morning for Spring International Quilt Market in Kansas City.  We are taking a booth-cation this Market and are not setting up a booth.

However, our new patterns will be available from all major distributors or you can order from us and we will ship next week. Our new ruler is available from Checker Distributors and our new Monogram Buttons are available from Dill Buttons and Checker Distributors.

Even booth-free, we will be very busy... Here is our schedule:

Thursday, May 17th
Schoolhouses:
"Creative Grids Circle Savvy Ruler" with Karla Alexander
12:45 - 1:15, Room 2504B
Come see how to use and demo our new ruler. We will have a trunk show of projects using the ruler and prizes!

"Get Rich Quick" with Roseann Kermes
1:20 - 1:50, Room 2504B
Learn to make the most of your employees, products, events, communication and more. Turn your inventory for fast profit.

Friday, May 18th
Circle Savvy Demos: 12:30 - 2:00 p.m.
Checker/Creative Grids Booth

Saturday, May 19th
Take & Teach: 8:00 - 9:30 a.m.
"The Next Generation of Circle Cutters" with Karla Alexander

Circle Savvy Demos: 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Checker/Creative Grids Booth

Sunday, May 20th
Monogram Button Demo: 9:45 a.m.
Checker Distributors Booth

Circle Savvy Demos: 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Checker/Creative Grids Booth

We have several new products coming out this Market. We have 5 new patterns, 4 of which use our new Creative Grids Circle Savvy Ruler!

Ring Toss includes baby and lap sizes and is fat quarter friendly - so cute!

Solar Flare also uses the Circle Savvy Ruler and fat quarters. Lap, twin, queen and king sizes included. We LOVE these new batiks from Island Batik!

On The Spot features simple applique and quick cutting. Pattern includes lap, twin, queen and king sizes. Ask your sales rep from Michael Miller Fabrics for the Kitting Guide for this quilt!

Insider Trading uses the Circle Savvy ruler, is fat quarter friendly and includes lap, twin, queen and king sizes.

Inner Glow also uses fat quarters and has instuctions for lap, twin, queen and king sizes.

We are VERY excited to debut our new Monogram Buttons with Dill Buttons. These buttons are designed with nine holes to stitch letters and numbers. There are 45mm and 60 mm circles, as well as 54 mm rectangles. The holes are consistent - making it fun and easy to stack buttons for a layered look. We've chosen 12 fresh colors to coordinate with today's fabrics. Don't miss our demo Sunday morning in Checker's booth!

Whew! Did I miss anything??

Can't wait to see many of you in Kansas City!!!

Welcome to our New Space!

Posted: Thursday, April 12th, 2012

Please join us for an
Open House at our new studio!

Friday, April 27th
4:00 - 8:00 p.m.

Swirly Girls Design
3005 E. Boundary Terrace, Suite E
Midlothian, VA 23112

We are near the corner of
Old Hundred Road/Charter Colony Parkway & Genito Road.
(We are in the building across from the Brandermill Association)

GETTING TO US:

From the West End: Take Rt. 288 South to Old Hundred Road. Turn left on Old Hundred Road. Stay on Old Hundred through the large intersection at Genito Road. Take the first left after the intersection onto E. Boundary Road. Take the first left onto E. Boundary Terrace and we are the second building on the right.

From Downtown Richmond: Take the Powhite Parkway (76) South to Old Hundred Road. Turn left on Old Hundred Road. Stay on Old Hundred through the large intersection at Genito Road. Take the first left after the intersection onto E. Boundary Road. Take the first left onto E. Boundary Terrace and we are the second building on the right.

From Chester: Take Rt. 288 North to Hull Street Road West. Turn right on Old Hundred Road. Stay on Old Hundred past the traffic circle. Turn right onto E. Boundary Road. Take the first left onto
E. Boundary Terrace and we are the second building on the right.

 From Midlothian: Go south on Charter Colony Parkway (turns into Old Hundred Road). Stay on Old Hundred through the large intersection at Genito Road. Take the first left after the intersection onto E. Boundary Road. Take the first left onto E. Boundary Terrace and we are the second building on the right.

Adventures in Reupholstery, Part 2

Posted: Sunday, March 25th, 2012

Adventures in Reupholstery 2

While we are busy getting ready for Spring Quilt Market, we are working on several new patterns and products that we can't reveal quite yet... Until then, we are posting things going on in our lives outside of quilting (yes, it happens).

Christine told you about her reupholstery project last week and now it's time for me to share. We both bought our chairs at Salvation Army. Christine's went from this...



to this...



Didn't she do an amazing job? It's beautiful!

Well, most of you know that Christine and I have different personal styles. She leans toward the elegant and stylish while I am more... mmm... quirky.

Here is my chair as we found it at Salvation Army:



and in class:



I'm not sure which photo shows the actual color, but they are both awful!

I began by removing the fabric and revealing some nasty pig hair underneath (it is under the muslin).  Once I got to work I didn't do a very good job of pulling out my camera to document each step - sorry!



I took my chair home that week to finish removing the fabric and to paint the wood. As usual, Spike helped.



I used this small brush to rough-up the varnish down inside the decorative wood trim.



Then I primed and painted the trim.  The chair is upside down here - you can see how bad the springs are.



After removing the cambric on the bottom of the chair, I thought I had a signed and numbered original from a famous craftsman.



But, it turned out that it just said "arm chair" - go figure!



I added webbing over the top of the stretched webbing on the bottom of the chair. This made a HUGE difference in the appearance under the chair.



I spent the next several weeks of class putting new fabric on the chair.



I'm pretty sure this was not a beginner project, but I sure love the result:







Spike approves (yes, he's a big boy):



We are now in our second upholstery class, working on some new projects. I love being able to reuse an old piece of furniture, give it new life and of course, justify fabric shopping!

Have you done any reupholstery or upcycling? We'd love to hear from you and see pictures.

Have a great day,
Susan

Adventures in Reupholstery

Posted: Monday, March 19th, 2012

Adventures in Reupholstery

As quilting has evolved from my hobby, into my passion, and then my career, I realized I needed to explore new hobbies. With that in mind, both Susan and I signed up for Reupholstery class through our county continuing education department last Fall. Rather than start with one of the many pieces of furniture at home that desperately needs updating, I bought an inexpensive chair at Salvation Army.

The chair was sturdy, I could paint the exposed wood arms and legs, and I liked the bamboo-like detail of  the arms.

 

Over the course of the next few months, I discovered why it costs so much to have furniture reupholstered! I knew that I would be removing the fabric (thank goodness, that pink was awful!). But then there are all those layers underneath, and each has an overload of tacks or staples holding it in place.

First the fabric,





 

then cotton batting, adhered to some disintegrating foam, burlap, and then the springs.



It's a little scary in there...

 

Oh, and the webbing underneath needed to be replaced – what’s with the copper strapping?



My springs were definitely sprung!



 

Thanks to wonderful instruction from Sarah Ginter, I slowly learned to rebuild this chair:

New Webbing:



Remounting Springs:



The famous “8-way hand-tied” springs, using Italian hemp – doesn’t that sound fancy!



Somewhere during all this, I painted the exposed wood on the chair. Not once, but three times before I got the color I really liked. Note: you can get custom -mixed paint colors at your local home improvement store in 8 oz. sizes for under $3.00!

Add a layer of burlap,



and there is a layer of Dacron, then finally the fabric.

There’s surprisingly little sewing that happens during reupholstery. I did make a few yards of cording, and some double cording, but there is a lot more stapling than sewing. The fabric is in my favorite colors – blues, greens – anything beachy.

Getting all those fabric pieces cut and fit properly is trickier than it appears – and I did sign up for this class again, to finish my chair. With some patience, and lots of assistance and encouragement from Sarah, I completed my chair a couple weeks ago.

 





I haven’t found the perfect spot for this chair in my house yet. It needs to be somewhere that my two little dogs are not. My 21 year-old son moved out, into an apartment, last weekend and he just finished emptying his old room. I’m thinking this could be the new guest room – and I can decorate around my new chair!

Well, one chair down, and I’ve started on another. As this one is in better shape internally, I’m already to the rebuilding stage. Stay tuned for further reupholstery adventures!

Christine

We are hosting a Chalk Paint Workshop!

Posted: Thursday, March 8th, 2012

Have you discovered the wonder of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint?? They claim to have the best paint in the world and they may be right! (www.anniesloan.com)

We are hosting a chalk painting class at our studio in Midlothian on Saturday, April 28th from 10 a.m. - 3 pm. Janet Metzger from The Empty Nest in Warrenton, Virginia will be our teacher. Janet is a Stockist for Annie Sloan and has mastered using this paint. This one-day workshop will teach you all of the basics: mixing, layering, distressing, crackling, waxing and more!

The class fee is $75 and includes everything you need for the class, plus lunch. Just show up in an old t-shirt and we will get right to work. Janet will bring small pieces for you to practice on and you will have several samples to take home for reference.

I have used the paint for a few projects and it is amazing to work with. It works on most surfaces and requires NO PRIMING. Clean up is a breeze - it just washes right out! 

Here is what Annie Sloan says about her paint:
Chalk Paint is a very special paint for very many reasons
1. It's the BEST paint for painting furniture by a long way
2. No need to prime or prepare
3.Extremely low VOCs so it is good for the environment
4. You can use it on any surface, indoors and out
5. You can use the paint by diluting it with water to make a wash to show the wood grain
6. The colours are mixed intelligently and the web site shows how you can adapt your colours for your use
7. It's a girls' paint, but boys can use it too.
8. It's flexible so you can be creative and change your mind
9. It allows your walls to breathe so it is perfect for cottage walls
10. You can use it as an impasto ( thickly) - leave the lid off to thicken
11. We've been making it since 1990 so it's tried and tested

Below is a hutch that I bought on Craig's List for $100. I removed the doors, painted it and now use it in my sewing room.

Before...

After...

I love the end result and I love this color: "Provence".

Please email or call me to reserve your space in the workshop. Hope to see you there!

Susan
804-647-8770
susan@swirlygirlsdesign.com