A Snuggly Quilt for my Dad

My dad, like a lot of dads out there, is really hard to shop for.  So this year for Christmas, I wanted to do something for him besides just buying another gift card.

When we got our “Generation Gap” panel in featuring the Pickles comic by Brian Crane, I just knew it would be perfect for my dad.  So, I got out some of my Moda Jelly Roll strips and other coordinating fabrics and got to creating.

The smaller comic strip blocks weren’t completely square so I decided to do a reverse applique technique.  Hope this inspires you to make something for that special dad/grandpa in your life!

~Happy Sewing!

Happy Birthday!

A few weeks ago, my amazing god-daughter turned the big 18!!!  I can still remember the day she was born like it was yesterday.  She has grown into an beautiful young lady, both inside and out.

She was my flower girl when she was 2-1/2 years old 🙂

Since I wasn’t a quilter when she was born, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to make a special quilt for her.  And what a better thing to use than our “Say it With Words” panels.  I chose to use the Prayer Shawl panel because of the great sayings it has.  But I’ll admit that is was also because it was charm pack friendly.  I chose the new LOL charm pack because of the great selection of colors, and her favorite is purple.  That, along with our quilter’s grid and basting spray, made this a wonderful handmade, but quick project (I did the entire thing on a Sunday afternoon).

 Happy Sewing!  ~Jill

Our newest quilter, Claire

Below is the story (short as it may be), written by my 11 year old about making her first quilt.

One day, I made the mistake of saying “I’m bored” at my Granny’s (Karen) house.  It was the 4th of July.  She gave me some grid and charm packs and told me I was going to make a quilt.  It took forever, but I was so happy to finish it.  I love how soft it is!  Sincerly, Claire – The 11 Year old Seamstress.

Here are some pictures along the way.

 Pressing it all down

 

Got it all laid out and pressed!

 Time to start sewing

And, here’s the completed picture!!!

Now, because summers get crazy and the school year is even crazier, she didn’t get much of a chance to work on it.  That’s why it took her until this summer to get it finished.  But I’m so proud of her.  She did the quilting and even the hand-sewn binding.  I guess it will soon be time for her to start another project… but I bet she never tells her Granny she is bored again 😉

~Happy Sewing!

Tutorial Thursday – Table Grace Coasters

A few weeks ago, I posted a tutorial for the Table Grace Table Runner.  Here is the follow-up that I promised.

Supplies:

• (6) small remaining squares leftover from the Table Grace panel
• Fusible Fleece
• Backing fabric
• Sewing Machine
• Thread
• Rotary cutter
• Rotary ruler
• Rotary mat

I used the 6 small remaining squares from the Table Grace “Say it With Words” panel.  Each square measures approximately 3.5″.  You will just cut (2) pieces from your jelly roll (or scraps) 3.5″ long.  Sew the strips to the top and bottom of the square.  Press seams.  Measure overall height of block.  Mine measured approximately 5.75″.  Cut (2) 5.75″ strips from your jelly roll (or scraps) 5.75″ long.  Sew the strips to the sides of the block.  Press seams.  I then took the finished block and trim it to 5.5″ square.

Now, cut (6) square of fusible fleece and (6) squares of backing fabric to match the size of your complete blocks.  Iron the fusible fleece to the completed block.  Then take the front and back of the blocks and put them together, right sides facing each other.  Stitch all the way around, except for about 1.5″ section.  Trim your corners for easier turning.  Now, turn the entire piece right side out through the small section you left open.  I like to us my Pointer Turner by Lee for precise corners.  Press smooth.  Top stitch all the way around, making sure that the stitch closes the space you left open.  And, you are done!  Just repeat for the remaining squares.

Hope you enjoy!!!

Happy Sewing,
Jill

Our First Video tutorial & a Giveaway!

Have you been to one of our shows lately?  If so, you have been witness to Karen demonstrating our FAVORITE quilt product, Quilter’s Grid.

Well, we decided to share this fun, educational experience with the entire world.  We are starting a series of video tutorials that will help in your learning and knowledge of quilting and sewing.

Also, to get you started on the path to faster quilting, we are giving away 1 yard of grid, the Le Bouquet Charm Pack (featured on video), and the Prayer Shawl panel from our “Say it With Words” line of fabric panels.  All you have to do is comment below your favorite quilting notion.  You can get additional entries into the drawing by:

• “Like” us Facebook
• Follow us on Pinterest
• Follow our blog
• Follow us on Twitter

Happy Sewing!

A Tea Party…Tutorial

Hey there!  I wanted to share a Tea Party Play mat that I made for my little one.  She is the quintessential princess.  She wakes up and puts on her tiara and starts her day.  Well, any princess worth her salt has tea parties.  Her Mima bought her a tea set.  I was watching her play one night and thought she needed a little play mat to go along with it.  Here is a tutorial that I came up with on the fly.

Supplies
8 Fabric pieces from Gypsy Girl Layer Cake
1/2 yard of coordinating fabric for sashing
1 yard of fabric for backing
1 yard of Fusible Fleece
!/2 yard of fabric for binding…I used 45″ Gypsy Girl Wishing Well Blue 
1/4 yard of Wonder Under

I was making this up as I went along…so not all the fabrics were pictured at first.

Start by picking 4 pieces of the layer cake to make your hearts.  I used a heart shape cookie cutter I had as a pattern.  

I just cut a piece big enough to trace the heart onto from each of the 4 pieces.  If you look real close you can see the Wonder Under underneath the fabric.  Cut pieces of that to be ironed on to the back of your squares and apply with a hot iron.

Trace your heart onto each of the 4 pieces of fabric

I used a black marker so you could see my tracing.

Repeat for all four squares

Next you want to iron each heart onto the remaining layer cake pieces.

For the sashing…I cut 2.5″ strips from my coordinating fabric.  I cut the strips a little larger than the layer cake squares.  I like to trim and square up after I have sewn things together.  So, since the squares are 10″  I cut the strips 11″ tall.  Start with 2 2.5″ x 11″ strips.

See how the strip is a little longer that the square.

Sew the strips into the middle of 2 square using a 1/4″ seam.  Again, the strips will be longer than the squares.  Press your seams towards the squares.

Trim the piece so that all sides are even.

Now you want to cut 3 strips 2.5″ x 23″.  Sew these strips to the top middle and bottom of your squares.

When I was pinning my piece together…I laid my bottom piece on top of the top piece so I could line the center sashing up.

Here is a close up of lining up the centers.  Sew the strips on and again, press all seams towards the sqaure pieces.  Once you have done this, trim off any excess fabric and square up sides.

Cut 2 2.5″ x 28″ strips.  Sew these to the sides of your mat.  

Trim and Press

Place your mat on top of your fusible fleece.  Trim the fleece so that it is an inch longer on all sides than the mat.  I do this to all for some give during quilting.

Fuse the fleece to your mat top.

Layer your backing fabric and mat together and start your quilting.  I went with a very simple design.  I felt like I wanted each square to be like a placemat.

Here is a close up of what I did.  I placed a zig zag stitch around each heart…and also added a little machine embroidery to each corner.

As far as the edges of the mat…I like to place a zig zag stitch around the perimeter.  This holds all the layers together and makes it much easier to add your binding.

Add your binding to your mat.  I am sorry, I didn’t get pictures of how to add binding.  I am going to work on a tutorial of how I do that.

Now your mat is done and your princess can have countless hours of tea parties with all her friends.

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial.  I also hope this will help all of your princesses have many tea parties.

Have a FANTASTIC day!

Faith, Hope, and Love

Well, I have been at it again.  Playing with our Say It With Words Panels.  Today I wanted to show you the Faith Hope and Love Panel.  When I first saw this one I was really unsure what I wanted to do with it.  I had never made anything on point.  I dragged my feet, just a little, but I did.  So let me start by showing you what I had to work with…

First off…

Faith Hope and Love Panel.

Next…

Joy by Kate Spain Layer Cake

Then…and this was my favorite part…

Swarovski Crystals 4mm

When we went to the Dallas Quilt Market this spring, it seemed just about every quilt had these on them.  I would never have thought about putting crystals on a quilt.  They add a completely different depth to the finished project.

They are so easy to apply using this little tool…

Crystal Crafter Applicator

So…now for my finished project…

I was going for a Christmas tree look.  If you look closely, you can see where I applied the crystals.  When you step away from this quilt and look at it, it just sparkles.  

I would love to hear what you think of the quilt.  Hope you are having a great start to your week!

A Honey Bun Pillowcase!

Good Monday Morning!  For the next 3 days we are offering 10% off of all of our fabrics.  I wanted to show you a pillowcase tutorial that you could quickly make up with some of the great fabrics that I know you will want to get.

Supplies

1 honey bun–I used Bungle Jungle

1.5 yds of main fabric–I used Christmas Red Dottie

Ric Rac–I used Medium Aqua

.5 yd of lightweight interfacing

Have you ever noticed that when I am using a honey bun or jelly roll that my pictures never have them rolled up?  It is because I can’t wait to open them up and see what is inside.  It is the little kid in me…it is like Christmas every time I get a new one…just can’t wait.

Choose 22 strips.  Lay them out and get the look you are going for.

Sew your strips together.  The easiest way to do this is sew 2 together at a time.  Then add them all together to form one piece.

Cut 2 strips that are 11″ wide x the width of the fabric that you have sewn together.

Now, sew the 2 strips together end to end.

Add your interfacing to the wrong side of the strips.  The only reason I did this, is so when the pillow case is washed, the seams won’t get all bunched up and weird.  You can completely skip this step if you like.

Cut your main body of fabric to 21″ x width of fabric.

I folded my sewn together strips of fabric in half and laid them down on the main body of the fabric, then trimmed the main body to the same size as the strips.  It is hard to give an exact measurement here because of how your strips come together.  Just make that both are the same size and you shouldn’t have any problems.

Choose another Honey Bun strip.  Press it in half along the entire length of the strip.

Sew a piece of the ric rac along the entire length of the strip.  I placed mine really close to the edge of the fold so when I sewed the case together you could see all of the ric rac.

Layer your 3 pieces together.  Make sure your fabrics are all unfolded.  Place all right sides of the fabric facing up.  You want to start with the stripped fabric…then the main body…then the strip that has the ric rac.

Line up all your edges. 

 I place 3 pins along the edge just to hold everything together.  Trust me it is a pain to sew it all together and the realize that you have missed places because the fabric has shifted.

Roll up your main piece of fabric.

Now, fold up your stripped fabric and pin the edges together.  You want to make sure that the main fabric is not in the way.  When you roll it up leave yourself about 2 inches of room so you can pin the edges together. 

*On a side note.  See that really awesome pincushion?  That is a Grabbit Magnetic Pin Cushion.  If you don’t have one…GET ONE.  I love how powerful the magnet is on this.  With a little one around, I don’t have to worry about my pins falling off and her finding them with her little foot.

Sew along your edge using a 1/4″ seam.

Grab your main fabric and start pulling it out of the end of the tube you just made. Don’t forget the pins that you put in to secure your layers.  I did…it hurt…learn from my mistakes…lol.

  

Keep pulling until you have turned the entire tube inside out.

This is what you should have.

Press your pillowcase with wrong sides together.

Using a scant 1/4″ seam sew along the 2 open edges.  Once you have done this, turn your case inside out.  Press again.

Now you want to sew down the edges that you had sewn in the previous step. Use a 1/2″ seam.  This gives you a French seam and you have no open seams on your pillowcase.  Turn it right side out again and press.  WooHoo!  You just made a pillowcase.

  

Here it is completed.  Now, my question for you, would you like to see a tutorial of how I made the adorable little pillow in front?

I had told you on Friday that I would show you all of the things that I was able to make with the honey bun.  Here they are…

So, what do you think?  Personally, the little bag with the flower is my favorite!  I think I will have to make ups some more of that one.

Now, head over to Home a la mode…check out all of our fabrics…and get to sewing.  Remember, if you use my Discount Code it will give you an extra 5% off your order.  That means you can get 15% off of your fabric.  That sounds like a pretty good deal to me!

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!

A Simple Coaster Tutorial

 Hey there…I wanted to show you an easy tutorial that would make a great gift out of a charm pack.  

Patchwork Coasters without all the work.

 I started with a Deep in the Heart of Texas charm pack.  I was checking to see if we still had these…it looks like we don’t but you could easily use a Deep in the Heart of Texas Fat Quarter Bundle or any of our other charm packs or precuts.  Just make sure you cut your fabrics to 5″ x 5″ squares.

 You will also need fusible fleece.  

 Separate your charms into 4 stacks of 5 pieces.   

 Cut a 5″ x 5″ square of fusible fleece for each stack.

 Iron your fleece to the wrong side of the fabric piece that you want as the bottom of the coaster.

 Take the other 4 pieces, fold them in half and press.

 Now you want to start “stacking your 4 folded pieces onto the back piece.  You want to lay the pieces down so that half of each strip is showing.  I took several pictures to demonstrate this step, above.

 Repeat the stacking for each stack of 5.

 Sew your pieces together using a 1/4″ seam allowance.  Then cut the corners at an angle.

 Now you want to turn your coaster right side out.  Open the center and pull the back through the hole created by the 4 folded pieces.

 Keep pulling the piece through.

 This is what it will look like.

 You want to work your corners out so they are more square.  See that really pretty Classic Crystal Point Turner?  I absolutely adore this tool.  I always used scissors or a pencil and always wound up poking out my corners.  I would recommend that everyone needs one of these.

 Get your corners squared as much as possible and press your coaster.  You are now DONE!  Wasn’t that easy?

 Repeat for the other 3 stacks.  

 I had enough of the charm pack left to go ahead and make 8 coasters.  I have a certain someone in mind who I think will love this coaster set.

Here is the back of the coasters.  Just as cute as the front.

Enjoy the tutorial and I hope you are all having a fantastic day!