Achievement Unlocked: Quilting - Kitchen Rug!

Happy New Year! I've started the New Year off right: by finishing a craft project that was on the table for TOO LONG.

First, the inspiration from Pinterest: 

Source: sewwequilt.com via LibraryElfDesigns on Pinterest

A lovely quilted kitchen floor mat from SewWeQuilt (links above). Now, the issue at hand was what fabric would I use? How big would mine be? We definitely needed a floor mat by the sink.

I had also gained a bag of upholstery fabric scraps that someone else had in mind for a quilt of some sort ages ago (I think last January). So, I started poking through the pieces and found quite a few that would work wonderfully for my general kitchen theme. I cut them into 5 inch or so squares (might be 5.25 inches) and spent a lot of time trying to decide just how I'd lay them out. After that, I used The Workhorse (my 1950s Singer machine) and put the blocks together, put on a backing (light blue terry cloth fabric I had) and quilted it. Here's before the binding:

Look at how nice that all works, although, I think it is technically upside down in this pic. Notice the egg!
Copyright LibraryElfDesigns

Full disclosure: I have NEVER put a quilt together from start to finish. You may remember the Patriotic Quilt I am/was working on. That's a quilt top so far. Tops I have made...mostly. Not sure I've done any blocking/borders/what-have-you yet. I find the idea of hand quilting not something I want to do. Machine quilting, yes. Hand quilting, not so much. I know the Patriotic Quilt could use something (I'm waiting on something from my stash that'll work).

Anyway, since this was my first time quilting from start to finish, I needed help. This Pinterest Pin, titled "Beginning Quilting Series" in my Pin, proved very, very helpful:

Source: diaryofaquilter.com via LibraryElfDesigns on Pinterest

With the help of the "Binding 101" section, I put the binding onto the rug and ta-da! Finished rug! I only needed a little bit of hand sewing because the one corner was too much for the machine.

TA DA! It is frugal and pretty!
Copyright LibraryElfDesigns

There are a few things I learned from this that I need to make note of for next time. So here are...

Lessons I Learned

• The upholstery fabric was great, but the seams are a bit bumpy so standing on it isn't comfortable (ok. I've only done this for about 5 whole minutes so I could be wrong). Next time, I really should do more than the two layers I chose to do out of laziness.
• Next time, don't start the binding in the corner...
• ...but the binding method from the above pin was the EASIEST binding ever. I thought it would be a very difficult task, but not with that machine binding technique.  
• It needs something on the back to stop it from sliding. I have some ideas, just wanted to get that project off my table to free up room for the craft table.
• I can now say I've done a quilt! Even if it is slightly a cheater quilt. I love feeling frugal and thrifty and having something that looks great.
• I would definitely make another rug like this.

A Pinterest Pledge - Intriguing

I haven't spent any time looking at the issue of Pinterest and copyright. It both annoys me and makes me think about copyright so I just kind of go about my business, making sure that what I pin is properly credited and such. I don't pin a lot unless it is done by me.

At least, mostly. I get into the app sometimes and just go "OH! LIKE! PIN!" a few times and that's that.

As I was browsing my blogs though, I saw this Pinterest Pledge from Sew, Mama, Sew. I "pinned" it and have promptly spent an hour cleaning up some of my sewing pins. It is a bit much to go through all my pins. Some did disappear due to lack of proper credit. Most I saved by spending time finding the right place to credit and changing the Pinned Link to reflect that. I'm hoping that I can poke at this and fulfill this pledge.

It is an interesting thing though. I also found another craft blog had a similar mention about Pinterest in that she cleaned hers up and made it easier to search (I wish I could remember which blog it was). In terms of the discussion surrounding Pinterest, I find it interesting how libraries are jumping on the bandwagon, but not seeming to discuss the copyright issues. But again, I've been ignoring the Library Pinterest discussion in favor of what things I can actually pin. It will be the crafting community, I think, that will change the direction of things so to say.

So in the meantime, I'll pin what I pin, but make sure I cite it and either have it close to the source, or from a secondary, trusted source (i.e. through Craftzine.com). I'm also trying to make sure that the site either has the pin button or is just properly credited. Sew, Mama, Sew has the best pins. You pin it and ta-da! Title, blog post, blog series, blog name are all there. It is really handy!

Feel free to enlighten me. I just wanted to share the pledge as I think it applies somehow....I think...but then my head is still clogged...