Category Archives: tutorial

Organizing…

February 13th 2015

I love to organize don’t you? I feel so full of purpose and productive when everything is in it’s place, especially in my craft corner. As of late though, it’s evolving more into my sewing studio as I quilt more and design patterns. Logically, I am creating more with fabric and less with other crafty mediums, so I rearranged my space to make room for fabric and took out what I don’t use that much.

Now my fabric is better organized and easy to see so I don’t forget what I already have. 🙂 (Yeah right!)

Here are my seasonal fabrics and pre-cuts and organized by size scraps or theme.

Here I have mostly fat quarters, color bundles and solids and miscellaneous designer fabrics.

Here I have all of my Mary Engelbreit fabric, all of my Bonnie and Camille fabric and a variety of fabrics from Joann’s separated into premium fabric and “not so much.”

I also got one of these IKEA carts, built it myself, for storage on the go or to keep my desk free from clutter.

Another part of organizing is managing the scrap bin, notice the second row? So with the help of Joan Ford’s book “Scrap Therapy” and Lori Holt’s methods for storing scraps, I got to work. You wouldn’t believe how much you can cut in ten minutes!

Look how nice and neat my squares look.

This fabric orderliness has really helped me stay focused and start using what I have in my stash and maybe save some money. I was really excited to break into my Daysail bundle (which now fits in the cabinet) to jazz up one of my patterns with current fabrics.

This collection is so pretty it’s perfect for Summer Sewing!

Like whipping up one of these little numbers!

I found her on Instagram, check out her tutorial for this darling little tote!

The Valentine Fabric that kept giving and giving

February 6th 2015

It all started with some great fabric I wanted to use for Valentine Day projects just because the colors and themes are so pretty a Valentine is not required! I was eager to start because anything I made I knew would be beautiful.This little pillow is where it ended but certainly not where it started.

Remember how I wanted to do some

If you will recall, I started with this sweet bundle of fat quarters I got over at Stitchin’ Stash on Etsy.

The first thing I cut were these for an upcoming pattern (#7)

From some of those leftovers, I cut strips for this wreath (which is still in progress).

When I trimmed the wreath, because it was too floppy, I got these tiny squares and they were too cute to toss.

I thought these scraps could still be salvaged and displayed on some burlap frames I had.

With the remaining squares, I cut triangles about 1 inch or less, estimation not perfection here. I love pennants aren’t they adorable? That square is about 6 inches. I started to sing that song from camp so many years ago “His banner over me is love….”

And that’s when the pillow was born, a little embroidery, scrap strips, some poly and there you go.

To make PILLOW you will need:

6 inch square of linen or tightly woven burlap

6 inch square of fusible interfacing

6 inch square muslin and/or batting for behind embroidery

11 inch backing piece

One 2 or 2 1/2 inch strip by WOF

Scrap triangles, embroidery thread & hoop

Optional: disappearing ink pen, micron pen, spray baste

Press the 6 inch square of linen or tight knit burlap onto the fusible interfacing. Stitch the triangles on as you desire. You can dot them with glue to keep them in place or sew as you go. First across the top, then back in “V” shape to keep points down. With disappearing quilter’s pen, draw lines in open area with a ruler to keep letters straight. Write your message on the lines using a micron pen or similar. Put the square in a hoop to embroider using a back stitch. See video here. Attach the muslin, neutral square with fusible or use basting spray on batting. Sew strips to top, bottom (trim and press) repeat with sides of the square. With right sides together, sew around the front and back of pillow squares, leaving a 3 inch gap for turning, stuff and close. If you need a visual tutorial leave a comment and I’ll make one!

I still have 2 more pillows to go and am still wondering if I should keep the same verse Song of Solomon 2:4 “His banner over me is love,” or change to Jeremiah 31:3 “I have loved you with an everlasting love” or 1 Corinthians 13:13 “But the greatest of these is love.”

And you know those “strings” you get when squaring and trimming fat quarters? Yep, saved those too!

Happy Birthday America!

July 4th 2014

I love the idea, sights and sounds behind the Fourth of July. It’s really the epitome of festive togetherness and genuine summer fun. At least that’s how I imagine it. To celebrate, I just wanted to share my Red, White and Blue projects and maybe a tutorial!

Flag for dad, see more here.

Binding.

I finished this runner last summer. I stitched his name on it.

Fun bag for Summer essentials. Free pattern if you sign up for my newsletter up there on the right.

Tutorial for ribbon pillow available here!

Cowboy heart tutorial available here!

These fun patriotic projects go right along with this month’s Across the Pond hosted by The Patchsmith.

Take a look at some other great project ideas on her blog The Patchsmith. You can also stop at Susie’s Sunroom, (this was her theme idea) and her sister Amy over at Amy made that has more to see as well! Won’t you click on over?

Even though I already have this bundle I have some time to figure out what to do while the other one arrives in the mail!

Happy 4th of July!

How to make continuous binding

June 17th 2014

I love the look of continuous binding not to mention the decrease in bulk and that part that has a “peek-a-boo” where the two ends would join awkwardly…didn’t like that at all! I was REALLY determined to learn how to make continuous binding.

The method that gave me the most understanding was the one found in Kristyne Czepuryk’s book S is for Stitch.

After a couple of rough tries, I really got the hang of it and actually enjoy the process, like a little “hurray for me” every time I do it!

I do it this way on everything I quilt: quilts, mug rugs and even bags!

Here is how I manage it:

First leave an extra long end when you start to attach the binding.

Once you’ve sewn around the quilt you should have a good piece of binding tail left from the other end. Make sure the starting piece of binding lies flat and even with the quilt when you are ready to join and finish the binding.

Fold back the second piece at the point where the first piece stops.

Mark the 2 inch point away from the folded end with a pin.

Cut at the 2 inch mark.

Flip your quilt so the end is up, it’s more natural to align binding ends this way!

Align your binding ends, as you would if you were sewing binding strips together on the bias or diagonally.

Pin opposite corners together to hold in place.

Draw a line from left top corner to right bottom corner on the wrong side of fabric.

Sew along the marked line.

You may remove pins when sewn.

Before trimming, straighten binding to make sure it’s a good fit and you’ve done it correctly. Trim 1/4 inch from seam.

Finger press seams open.

Re-align binding along the end of quilt and continue to sew the binding to the quilt.

Occasionally, there may be a pucker. No worries, when you flip the binding to back it will disappear underneath!

Fold binding to the back and hand stitch in place. I would love to show you the large version but this quilt is a “hush-hush” project until further notice.

You can see the continuous binding here, where the colors change. So cool!

How to use leftover batting: a tutorial

April 14th 2014

Today I have another trick to share with you about leftover batting strips. Tricks always help us do something easier or faster or in this case more resourcefully!

Have you ever thought “how can I use this leftover batting” after you finish a quilt? I always wondered about that as I would cut away the extra strips from quilts I made. I hated to throw them away. So I would just fold them gently and put them away “just in case.”

Because they vary in size, you may think it’s more complicated, but I have managed to salvage leftover batting strips in all these projects below!

A wall hanging.

A little tote.

A runner.

A table topper.

Here is one way to up-cycle your leftover batting strips for other projects. My strips varied in size from 3 inches wide to 6 inches (roughly.)

1) Trim the ends first so they are straight.

2) Fold every strip in half (one at a time) and line them up on the mat.

2) Make sure that the front and back of the folded batting meet at the line you will use for cutting so you cut through both evenly. (sometimes the front or back will be wider or narrower) Do this for the left and right sides of the batting. Repeat for each strip. It’s okay if the batting is slightly uneven at the ends. You will trim off the excess.

3) Lay the strips side by side (touching) until the whole size is approximately what you need. Lay your project over the batting and make sure there is at least a 2 inches around each side of the quilt top, Trim the really long pieces as necessary.

4) Determine the number of strips needed, Set your machine to Zig Zag stitch with the longest and widest settings. Using the slowest speed, guide two pieces of batting through the machine until they are joined. Guide them so that they MEET in the center under the foot, but DO NOT OVERLAP. You may have to stop occasionally to re-align the batting under the foot. Do this until all your strips are joined.

5) Make quilt sandwich and quilt as desired.

I have also done this by hand using extra large diagonal stitches but I was really pleased with this machine version. I promise as you can see in the picture above, the batting laid perfectly flat and once you quilt it, the batting placement is reinforced with the quilting.

I get a little thrill whenever I pull this off, it feels so sneaky because you totally can’t tell! I hope you found this tutorial helpful for salvaging your batting leftovers!

Summercrafter

Craft. Quilt. Unwind.