Tutorial: Toweling into Towels

Have you ever seen our collection of toweling and thought “so cute, but what would I do with it?”  Well, here’s one thing… you can make your own kitchen towels.

SUPPLIES:

• 2 yards of the toweling of your choice.  Check out our selection here.
• Coordinating thread
• Twill tape or trim of your choice
• Iron and ironing board
• Rotary cutter
• Rotary mat
• Ruler
• Sewing machine

STEPS:

1. Take your 2 yards of toweling and fold into equal thirds.  Press the folds.
2. Using your rotary cutter, cut just to the edge of the fold, creating 3 equal pieces of toweling.
3. Fold over the edge the same distance as the side seams and press.
   
4. Fold over again to enclose the raw edge.
   
5. Repeat on the other end.
6. Cut approximately 5-1/2″ of trim (you can alter depending on the size of the hook you want) and fold in half.
7. Slide the raw edges of the trim under the folded seam and pin into place.
   
8. Sew the seams down, staying close to the edge.  

And voila, you now have 3 new kitchen towels!

 

Happy Sewing!  ~Jill

Quilt Tutorial and Giveaway!!!

Good Morning everyone!  I hope you have had a great weekend.  We had some crazy storms come through last night.   Thankfully, everyone is OK.  

I want to share a tutorial today using a jelly roll and one of my favorite Say It With Words Panels.  This is the second quilt that I have made with the What Cancer Cannot Do Panel.  I love these.  While I was making this one, my Mom called to ask me to pray for a couple of her friends that had just been diagnosed with cancer.  I told her what I was doing and said that maybe she should make one for her friends.  I think these are so inspirational!  Now on to the tutorial…

Supplies

1–Jelly Roll–I used Salt Air

1–What Cancer Cannot Do Panel

1.5 yds of Kyoto Batting

1.5 yds of Backing Fabric–I used Salt Air Tiny Bubbles–Mist

Start by cutting your panel.  

Open up your jelly roll and select 12 strips.  I like to lay them out and try different combinations.  This is the final layout I decided on.

Line your first jelly roll strip up with the short edge of the first saying that you want to sew…use a 1/4″ seam and sew down the edge.

Repeat for the other side.

Press your seams towards the jelly roll strip.

Trim the strip.

Here is what it should look like.

Next, sew the jelly roll strip to the top and bottom of the saying.  Trim the edges so that it is all even.

You have completed your first block.

Repeat the steps for the remaining 11 saying blocks.

Now, you want to lay out strips to make columns and rows.

Take the first strip that runs vertical and sew your blocks to it.  Leave some space between the blocks as you sew them…

When you have sewn them all… cut the jelly strip apart lining up all your edges.  This will create your first “column” on your block.

Repeat for your 2nd “column”.

Repeat again for your 3rd “column”.

Again, repeat for your 4th “column”.  Can you see it starting to come together now?

Start assembling your rows now.  Line your first jelly roll strip with the top edge of the first row. Sew and press your seam.

Add your 2nd strip between the first and second row

Repeat these steps until you have added all your strips between each row and after the 4th row.  Trim up your edges.

Now, it is time to create the header for the quilt.  Add another jelly strip to the top of your quilt top.  

Take the part of the panel that has the title.  Cut a jelly roll strip in half and sew it to both side of the words.

Sew this strip to the strip that you just added to your quilt top.  Add another strip to the top of the title piece.    Trim all of your edges so they are squared up.

You have now completed the quilt top.  I love showing pictures of the quilt tops with the sun shining through them.  They remind me of stained glass.

Now it is time to make your quilt.  Layer your backing fabric first, then your batting, then your quilt top.  I like to trim my batting an inch to 2 inches bigger than my quilt top…and then my backing fabric a couple of inches bigger than that.  Trust me, there is nothing more frustrating than being in the middle of quilting and realizing your layers have shifted and they don’t fit together anymore.

I have a confession…I HATE TO PIN QUILTS!  There, now that it is out there for the whole world to see…hehe…I will share my secret weapon.  Quilt Basting Spray!  This stuff is soo awesome.  Just spray it between layers…smooth them together and voila…you have “pinned” your quilt.

I spray my quilt one half at a time.  Always remember to only apply the spray to your batting.  I fold my quilt top and batting back so that I can spray the batting.  Then lay the batting back down on the backing fabric…smooth it…

Spray the top of the batting…then smooth the quilt top down on top of that.  Repeat these steps for the other half of your quilt.

Now, using your quilting foot…quilt your layers together.

When your have finished all of your quilting…run a zigzag stitch around the outer edge of quilt top.  This will bind all of your layers together and make it 10 times easier to add your binding.  Make a binding using scraps and leftover jelly roll strips.

I will be back tomorrow to show you my completed quilt.

Now…on to the giveaway…we wanted you to have the chance to win one of our 

Say It With Words Panels!

To Enter:  Check out the different panels we have and tell us which one you would like to win.  You might also let me know what you think of the tutorial.  I love your feedback!!!

I will announce the winner tomorrow morning!!!  

Good Luck to Everyone!

Simple 1-2-3 Patchwork Quilt Tutorial

I want to share a very simple quilt that actually packs a wallop presentation wise.  This is the 1-2-3 patchwork quilt.  Very easy! Very Simple!  If you are just starting in quilting…you will love making this quilt.


Supplies


3/4 yd. of 3 coordinating fabrics  I used Airborne, Faded Blue Dottie, and cream chenille
2 yds batting 
2 yds backing fabric (I backed this quilt with the cream chenille)
fabric for binding.  I just used scraps left over from my squares.

Cut your fabrics into 6″ squares.  Figure ahead of time how many you need for how big of a quilt you want.  We wanted a baby quilt so we went with 7 x 9 grid.  This means I would need 63 squares.  Divide that by the number of fabrics you have (3) and that will give you how many squares of each fabric you will need…in this case (21).

Next lay your squares out in a 7 x 9 grid.  Put them out in a 1-2-3 pattern.  Follow that simple pattern and it will lay out very quickly.

Now you want to sew each row together.  I start by doing the vertical seam first.  Once I have done that, then i sew each row together horizontally.

I love how the chenille adds some texture to the quilt top!

Layer your quilt top, batting and backing fabric together and pin.  Now you are ready to quilt your pieces together.

I went with a basic diamond pattern.  This is the first round of quilting.  It  didn’t quite look right, so I decided to add more lines…

I like this MUCH better…don’t you?

Make your binding.  You want to cut strips of fabric that are 2.25″ wide.  Make one long strip that will go all the way around the perimeter of your quilt.  Remember to allow for corners.  Once you have your strip, fold it in half and press.  

  
You are now ready to attach your binding.  Always, Always, Always finish your binding by hand stitching it down.  You will get a much more professional finish in the end.

My quilt finished off at 39′”x 49″.  The perfect size for a little one to crawl around on.  You can make this any size your want.  My hubs is actually trying to talk me into making one for our king size bed.  I told him it would take a lot of bribery on his part.  Let’s see if he comes through.  


If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.  Stop by Home a la mode and check out our great fabrics for your next patchwork quilt.

Quilter’s Coasters

Have y’all seen our Say it With Words fabric panels?  I have been playing around with them for a couple of months now.  They really are a lot fun and you can make just about anything with them.  I wanted to show the most recent project I did using our Things Quilter’s Really Think IV panel

I also used the Sassy Jelly Roll and for the backing I used 54″ Dottie Fabric in celery.  In the picture above you can see where I had already cut the fabric panel apart into the individual sayings.

I used a basic log cabin pattern with strips from the jelly roll to surround each saying.

I couldn’t decide if i wanted to use them as a quilt or cut them up individually.  I am soooo in love the Sassy fabrics….love, love, love them…aren’t these colors gorgeous.

I decided to cut them up into individual squares.  With this panel you get 24 different sayings. 

I finished them all of by adding a grommet to the corner of each.

These would make great little gifts for all of your quilter friends.  There are so many ideas that you could try with these panels.  You could make a quilt.  Break them up and make a wall hanging.  I think these will be cute broken up into groups of 4 and given as coasters.

I am having so much fun with these panels.  Look forward to see many more in the the coming days.

I hope you are all having a GREAT day!

Let’s Go Sew!
Kristin

Charm Pack Coasters

Hey there!  Well, I have decided to try my hand at offering you a simple tutorial. 

These little cutie coasters are made using 8 pieces of fabric from a charm pack.  Choose 8 squares (if you don’t have a charm pack just cut 5″ x 5″ squares from your choice of fabric) Cut 4 pieces of batting that are 5 1/4″ square Layer your pieces in this order: 2 pieces of your fabric right sides facing together then a piece of batting.  Sew your layers together using a 1/4″ seam.  * I used my walking foot just took keep things from slipping.  Make sure you leave a 2″ opening on one side so you can turn your square right side out. Cut your four corners on an angle..this will help you have a crisper corner. Turn your square right side out. Once you have turned your square you will see that your corners are kind of rounded.  I am not a big fan of that.  I like nice crisp corners so i used the wonderful tool known as the Classic Crystal Point Turner. See how much prettier the corners are now?…I love this tool!  I really am not sure how my life existed without it.  I use it everytime I am turning items.  LOVE LOVE LOVE it.  (ok that was my little woohoo for the day :o) ) Now once you have turned everything you will have a small opening.  Press press press.  Make sure that your opening sides are lined up.  This might take a some negotiations with your iron but you can make it happen. Now you are are ready to sew around your edge to close the opening.  I like to sew as close as possible to the edge so I can make sure to catch all the fabric.  Now is also the time to do any kind of quilting you like.  I like to vary my quilting.  Now you are all done.  You can just throw them on your coffee table or tie a ribbon around them and give them as a great Thank You gift. Let’s Go Sew! Kristin