How to Sew a Button: And Other Nifty Things Your Grandmother Knew (17 page)

Step 7:
Tie off your quilt. To connect the front and back pieces, double thread a needle with heavy-duty crocheting thread (no knot). On the corner (or in the center) of every patch, dip your needle through the front of the quilt and out the back, leaving a 2-inch tail in the front. Move your needle over ¼ inch and push it through the back and out the front. Repeat three or four times, snip your thread, and double-knot the ends together on the front of your quilt. Woo-hoo! All done! Now, pull it over your bed and take a long nap!

• To get extra fancy, sew a button on top of each tie, or pull a ribbon through.
  

• To learn more embroidery stitches, and find retro-cool patterns, visit
  SublimeStitching.com
  .
  

• Remember that there is no one way to make a crazy quilt. In fact, it’s the “imperfections” that make crazy quilts truly original.
  

Step 1:
Find the perfect spot. If you want to hang it in the dead center of the wall, measure the width of the wall and divide it in half. Mark the spot with a short vertical line (in pencil).

Step 2:
Measure up. Pictures should hang at eye level, so unless you come from an unusually tall or short family, that means the center of the work should sit about 57 inches above the floor. Mark that height (along your vertical line) with a horizontal line to form a “t.”

Step 3:
Hold the center of your picture over that spot, and make a second horizontal line at the point where the top of your frame hits the wall.

Step 4:
Flip your picture over to get a good look at its backside. If it has a hook, measure down from the top of the frame to the top of the hook. If it has a wire, pull it taut, and then measure down from the top of the frame to its peak.

Step 5:
On your wall again, measure down (along your vertical center line) from your top-of-the-frame mark to the point where your wire or hook sits. Mark that point with a horizontal line and
circle it. That’s where your nail (or if you have a heavy frame, the bottom of your picture-hanging hook) will go.

Step 6:
Tap on the wall on your magic spot.

• Does it make a dull
  thud?
  If so, lucky you! That means there’s a stud beneath it. (No, not
  that
  kind. A wooden two-by-four.) Your next step: On your mark, tap in a nail at a 45-degree angle.
  

• Does the wall sound hollow? Then, not-quite-as-lucky you! You’ll need either a picture-hanging hook based on the weight of your piece (the heavier your painting, the bigger the hook) or a hollow wall anchor and a screw. (If you don’t use either, your picture will most certainly fall.) To use the hook, align the bottom of the “J” with your mark and tap in the nail. To use an anchor, predrill a hole, tap or screw in the anchor, and drive in the screw, leaving just enough room to hang the picture.
  

Step 7:
Hang your picture, level it off, and marvel at your handiwork. Now, walk past the picture and see if its eyes are following you. If so, run!

• If you’re not sure if there’s a stud beneath your wall, use a stud finder or look for screw dimples in the drywall.
  

• If you’re hanging a light wire-backed picture from a nail, try this shortcut to eyeball the perfect spot: Put a nail through the bottom of an old yardstick. (Drill a hole first to make sure the wood doesn’t crack.) Hang the picture from that nail, hold the yardstick-and-picture up to the wall where you’d like to see the picture. When you’ve found the right spot, tap the yardstick, so the nail marks it. Remove the picture, nail it for real, and hang it up.
  

Step 1:
Choose your fabric. You can pretty much use any material you like, even scraps, so long as it passes the cheek test. Brush it gently on your face. Is it soft? Does it itch? Will it leave strange indentations on your skin if you fall asleep on it? Will a little drool ruin it? Will a lot of drool ruin it?

Step 2:
Size it up. Decide how big you’d like your pillow to be, add an inch to each side, turn your fabric upside down, mark your measurements in chalk or pencil, and double-check them. Cut with sharp scissors. Repeat.

Step 3:
Place your squares, right side to right side, so the wrong side of the material is facing you. (Your pillow-to-be should be inside out.) Fasten three sides with straight pins, which should run perpendicular to the edges of the fabric.

Step 4:
By hand or machine, sew together all three sides and half of the fourth side, leaving about ½ inch between your seams and the edges of the material. Remove the pins, or—ouch!—you’ll get pricked.

Step 5:
Turn the material right side out and stuff with fiberfill, goose down, last year’s crumpled tax returns, whatever you’d like.

Step 6:
Fold the open edge inward, pin together, and sew shut. Celebrate your pillow with a nice long nap!

• Add dried lavender when filling for a sweet, sleep-inducing scent.
  

• If you choose a patterned material, make sure your patterns match before cutting your fabric.
  

Step 1:
Grab the offending honey, child, or four-legged friend. They probably made the scuff, so they better help buff it. This is clean family fun at its most literal.

Step 2:
Check the finish of your floor, if you don’t already know it off the top of your head. Go to a corner and press your fingernail along the wood. Do you see a soft residue? If so, your floor is coated in wax. Is it hard as a rock? Then your floor is coated with poly-urethane.

Step 2:
On waxed floors, buff the scuff with extra-fine steel wool (000) and solvent-based liquid hardwood floor cleaner. Then wipe clean with a dry towel and rewax. On polyurethaned floors, restore the shine by vigorously rubbing the scuff with a paper towel, old stockings, a tennis ball, or a dryer sheet. Voilà!

• Prevent most scuffs and scratches by placing a doormat at your entryway. It’ll help brush dirt off the bottom of your shoes,
  which, if tracked into the house, may damage your floors. Better yet, kick off your shoes as soon as you get home.
  

• Stick felt pads underneath all of your furniture legs to prevent scratches.
  

• For squeaky wax floors, apply more wax to the loud board. For squeaky polyurethaned floors, sprinkle talcum powder into the offending gap.
  

Step 1:
Wake up early. While your coffee is brewing, fill a plastic pail with lukewarm water; grab a sharp knife, shears, or clippers; and walk out to your garden. Collecting flowers in the early morning, when the stems are fully hydrated and the blooms and leaves are dewy, is the key to a healthy, long-lasting arrangement. A note of warning: No matter how beautiful your neighbor’s garden is, stay on your own side of the hedge. Stolen flowers don’t smell nearly as sweet.

Step 2:
Select your harvest. If the bloom grows on a single stem, like a sunflower or dahlia, make sure it’s fully open before you snip it. (Otherwise it may not open at all once you get it inside.) If a bunch of flowers grow along a single stem, like lilacs or snapdragons, make sure at least one flower or cluster is beginning to open and all are in full color.

Step 3:
Make the cut. Holding your shears at a 45-degree angle, clip the stem about an inch from its bottom and immediately put the flower in your bucket. Repeat until you have as many flowers as you’d like. Don’t feel bad about cutting them either. Trimming
your flowers every once in a while helps your plants produce more blooms.

Step 4:
Bring your flowers inside and select your vase(s). You can use anything from old milk bottles and mason jars to cups or out-of-use watering cans.