It was a busy weekend! Managed to sew up two more Mendocino mermaid blocks last night! That makes 13, so I'm over half-way done! I'm excited but also a little sad, I really love working on these! :)
This is probably one of my favorites. I just love the colors in this one!
The brown ones are not quite as easy as the others. It's such a weird color of brown!
Because of all the dust created by ripping sheets, it was essential that I finally have a sewing machine cover. I used this tutorial that I found on Pinterest and some of Erin McMorris's newest line, Summersault. I'm happy with how it turned out, but I think I was a little too generous in my measurements, it's pretty roomy. Oh well, it's cute and does it's job! :)
A great day of thrifting this morning! I'm happy to say this haul is from only 3 stores!
I had forgotten that I finished this set up without snapping a photo! The rest of the pieces were all packed up for the move when I finally found the 502. LOVE this set so much!
We've already made this recipe twice in just a few days. It is SO good. The best pizza dough recipe I've tried and this tastes exactly like the cheesy bread our favorite pizza place made. Now that we've moved away, I thought we'd be without it, but this is just as good if not better!
George has been a little under the weather the last day or so. I mentioned his crazy shedding on Friday, it had gotten even crazier! We kept brushing him, but he ingested a little too much fur and since bunnies can't take care of hair-balls like cats, he was a tad uncomfortable with tummy and potty problems. So we took him to the vet yesterday. I'm happy to say he is doing much better now! He hates getting his medicine, but he is acting just like his old self now, which is such a relief! :)
Today I love the..
Smell of: Warm butter
Sound of: Harry Potter 6 audiobook
Taste of: Cheesy garlic pizza
Sight of: Sunny afternoon
Feel of: George
Good Things about Today:
- Great thrift run this morning!
- George is doing great today!
- Productive morning and afternoon!
- Beautiful weather!
Monday, August 29, 2011
Friday, August 26, 2011
This Week
Started working on my Mendocino Mermaid quilt again! Made two blocks, block 10 and block 11 yesterday! :)
Also started a new quilt this week, using Wonderland by Momo! Love this line so much! Framing charm squares using honey bun strips!
Stood in line for forever at the post office today, but it was totally worth it because they finally had the Disney PIxar stamps in! Yippee! Aren't they so cute?!
It was a great week of vintage sheet thrifting! These fun new prints are in the shop, with stripe bundles coming back soon!
Finally was able to add charm packs back into the shop! The GO! Baby cutter has been getting a super workout over here! Look out for a big giveaway next week! :)
Look what arrived on my doorstep yesterday!! My sweet flickr friend Sandy surprised me with it! I love, love, love it! So close to finishing up this set! Thanks again Sandy!
George has been great! He is such a little sweetheart. He is shedding like crazy right now! I need to find a bunny brush, hehe.
Hope everyone has a great weekend! Stay safe east-coasters! :)
Today I love the..
Smell of: Fresh laundry
Sound of: Harry Potter 6 audiobook
Taste of: Popcorn
Sight of: Empty inbox!
Feel of: Comfy futon
Good Things about Today:
- Got a lot of shop stuff done today!
- Beautiful sunny day!
- Got emails and messages answered!
- Meeting a childhood friend for dinner tonight! :)
Also started a new quilt this week, using Wonderland by Momo! Love this line so much! Framing charm squares using honey bun strips!
Stood in line for forever at the post office today, but it was totally worth it because they finally had the Disney PIxar stamps in! Yippee! Aren't they so cute?!
It was a great week of vintage sheet thrifting! These fun new prints are in the shop, with stripe bundles coming back soon!
Finally was able to add charm packs back into the shop! The GO! Baby cutter has been getting a super workout over here! Look out for a big giveaway next week! :)
Look what arrived on my doorstep yesterday!! My sweet flickr friend Sandy surprised me with it! I love, love, love it! So close to finishing up this set! Thanks again Sandy!
George has been great! He is such a little sweetheart. He is shedding like crazy right now! I need to find a bunny brush, hehe.
Hope everyone has a great weekend! Stay safe east-coasters! :)
Today I love the..
Smell of: Fresh laundry
Sound of: Harry Potter 6 audiobook
Taste of: Popcorn
Sight of: Empty inbox!
Feel of: Comfy futon
Good Things about Today:
- Got a lot of shop stuff done today!
- Beautiful sunny day!
- Got emails and messages answered!
- Meeting a childhood friend for dinner tonight! :)
Giveaway Winner!
Thank you to everyone who entered the Vintage Pillowcase Laundry Bag Kit Giveaway! I'm glad that so many of you enjoyed the tutorial! :)
Without further ado, Ms. Random.org choose:
#103, which is kristinorth! She said:
I'll be in touch soon!
Without further ado, Ms. Random.org choose:
#103, which is kristinorth! She said:
I'll be in touch soon!
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Giant Vintage Star Quilt Tutorial
As promised, a tutorial for my Giant Vintage Star Quilt! This quilt takes advantage of a single quilt block, blown up huge! It takes a traditional block, the Starflower block, and makes for a very modern quilt! Perfect for new and seasoned quilters alike! For more on my process and inspiration, see here!
First, you need to decide what kind of color layout you'd like! You may choose to use as few as two colors or as many as eight. You could also use as few as two fabrics or as many as sixteen! I've drawn out a few options here as examples:
This is the layout I used, 8 different colors using 16 different fabrics.
A little less busy, 4 different colors.
And finally, just two colors.
However many colors you decide on, you also need to decide on how many fabrics to use. The traditional starflower block uses a single fabric for each 'petal'. In my quilt I used one color in each petal but two different fabrics. You may choose to do whatever you'd like for your quilt!
Materials
8-16 fat quarters
2 yards of background fabric
4 yards of batting (72"x72")
Twin bedsheet or 4 yards of backing fabric (72"x72")
1/2 yard of binding fabric
Seam Allowance: 1/4"
Finished Quilt Size: 68"x68"
Cutting Instructions
From each print cut: (1) 18" square
From background fabric cut: (4) 18" squares, (4) 17.5" squares
1. First, you want to decide how much variety you want and what kind of color scheme you'd like. That will determine how much fabric you need and how you'll construct your quilt. If you don't mind prints repeating in your quilt, you can use 8 fat quarters. If you don't want any repeats and want more variety like mine, you need 16 fat quarters, but you'll only be using half of each fat quarter.
2. Think about how you want to lay out your colors. This will determine which prints you pair up together. I've included this blank quilt diagram that you can print and color in your layout if you'd like!
3a. If you're using 4 or 2 colors AND 8 fat quarters, you'll be constructing your blocks using the traditional half-square triangle (HST) method. You need a total of 8 print/background HSTs and 4 print/print HSTs. So, create 2 pairs of print squares, and 4 pairs of print/background squares. You can use my Half-Square Triangle Tutorial if you need help with that!
3b. If you're using 8 colors OR 16 fat quarters, you'll be putting together your half-square triangles a different way. You need to cut your 16 print squares and four 18" background squares in half across the diagonal. You'll end up with a total of 32 print triangles and 8 background triangles. Take half of your print triangles and set them aside for another project, you won't be needing them to create this quilt top. Now, pair up 8 print triangles with your 8 background triangles. Take the remaining 8 print triangles and pair them up with each other. Sew each pair of triangles to create 12 half-square triangles.
*To make that diagonal cut, I temporarily taped two 24" rulers end to end!
4. Once your half-square triangles are finished and pressed, they may need trimming down to 17.5"
5. Lay out your blocks, arranging your blocks like the diagram above to create the starflower petal shapes. Piece together and press your blocks towards the darker fabric.
Now baste, quilt, and bind! You can reference my basting & quilting tutorial and my binding tutorial if you need to!
Voila! You're done! Creating other designs in giant form is easy when you're using fat quarters. Simply find a block pattern you like, and make your starting squares 18"! I'm going to use my left over triangles to make a companion quilt, perhaps in a windmill pattern!
I am going to try and work on kits, but I'm not sure how many I will be able to create, as they require a large amount of a background sheet (which I don't usually buy many of) and an entire twin sheet for the backing. However, you could purchase vintage sheet fat quarters and use a regular solid for the background!
Hopefully that all makes sense! Let me know if you have any questions or concerns!
First, you need to decide what kind of color layout you'd like! You may choose to use as few as two colors or as many as eight. You could also use as few as two fabrics or as many as sixteen! I've drawn out a few options here as examples:
This is the layout I used, 8 different colors using 16 different fabrics.
A little less busy, 4 different colors.
And finally, just two colors.
However many colors you decide on, you also need to decide on how many fabrics to use. The traditional starflower block uses a single fabric for each 'petal'. In my quilt I used one color in each petal but two different fabrics. You may choose to do whatever you'd like for your quilt!
Materials
8-16 fat quarters
2 yards of background fabric
4 yards of batting (72"x72")
Twin bedsheet or 4 yards of backing fabric (72"x72")
1/2 yard of binding fabric
Seam Allowance: 1/4"
Finished Quilt Size: 68"x68"
Cutting Instructions
From each print cut: (1) 18" square
From background fabric cut: (4) 18" squares, (4) 17.5" squares
1. First, you want to decide how much variety you want and what kind of color scheme you'd like. That will determine how much fabric you need and how you'll construct your quilt. If you don't mind prints repeating in your quilt, you can use 8 fat quarters. If you don't want any repeats and want more variety like mine, you need 16 fat quarters, but you'll only be using half of each fat quarter.
2. Think about how you want to lay out your colors. This will determine which prints you pair up together. I've included this blank quilt diagram that you can print and color in your layout if you'd like!
3a. If you're using 4 or 2 colors AND 8 fat quarters, you'll be constructing your blocks using the traditional half-square triangle (HST) method. You need a total of 8 print/background HSTs and 4 print/print HSTs. So, create 2 pairs of print squares, and 4 pairs of print/background squares. You can use my Half-Square Triangle Tutorial if you need help with that!
3b. If you're using 8 colors OR 16 fat quarters, you'll be putting together your half-square triangles a different way. You need to cut your 16 print squares and four 18" background squares in half across the diagonal. You'll end up with a total of 32 print triangles and 8 background triangles. Take half of your print triangles and set them aside for another project, you won't be needing them to create this quilt top. Now, pair up 8 print triangles with your 8 background triangles. Take the remaining 8 print triangles and pair them up with each other. Sew each pair of triangles to create 12 half-square triangles.
*To make that diagonal cut, I temporarily taped two 24" rulers end to end!
4. Once your half-square triangles are finished and pressed, they may need trimming down to 17.5"
5. Lay out your blocks, arranging your blocks like the diagram above to create the starflower petal shapes. Piece together and press your blocks towards the darker fabric.
Now baste, quilt, and bind! You can reference my basting & quilting tutorial and my binding tutorial if you need to!
Voila! You're done! Creating other designs in giant form is easy when you're using fat quarters. Simply find a block pattern you like, and make your starting squares 18"! I'm going to use my left over triangles to make a companion quilt, perhaps in a windmill pattern!
I am going to try and work on kits, but I'm not sure how many I will be able to create, as they require a large amount of a background sheet (which I don't usually buy many of) and an entire twin sheet for the backing. However, you could purchase vintage sheet fat quarters and use a regular solid for the background!
Hopefully that all makes sense! Let me know if you have any questions or concerns!
Monday, August 22, 2011
Giant Vintage Star Quilt
This was one of the quickest quilts I've ever made. Saturaday night, I was poking around on Pinterest and was led to this article featuring these two barn quilts, located in Adams County, Ohio. I first read about barn quilts on Ryan Walsh's blog, I'm Just a Guy Who Quilts, when he featured a barn quilt calender here. I had seen one before in Holmes County, Ohio, but hadn't thought much about it. I was immediately inspired by this take on a barn quilt, and started thinking about translating the concept into a quilt.
This quilt is made up entirely of one giant quilt block. The block is generally known as the Starflower block. It's a block I was already familiar with and fond of. I didn't hesitate and dug right into my vintage sheet stash. I thought at first I might go the same route as the barn quilts and go with a monochromatic color scheme, but I ended up choosing a rainbow of colors instead!
The top came together really quickly and rounds off at 68" square. I backed it in one of my favorite vintage sheets.
It's quilted with free motion doodle loops, which is the most natural quilting pattern for me. I would love to start branching out and trying other patterns on perhaps some smaller projects though!
I grabbed a striped sheet for the binding to finish it! I almost had another sob story like the mishap with my Sherbet Pips quilt, but it resolved itself nicely. I accidently got stabbed by a pin while basting and unknowingly got blood all over the quilt top. Thanks to Oxiclean, it all came out! :)
Want to make your own? I've written up a tutorial, you can find it here.
Doesn't it look pretty with my Sparkling Cider Quilt?
This quilt is made up entirely of one giant quilt block. The block is generally known as the Starflower block. It's a block I was already familiar with and fond of. I didn't hesitate and dug right into my vintage sheet stash. I thought at first I might go the same route as the barn quilts and go with a monochromatic color scheme, but I ended up choosing a rainbow of colors instead!
The top came together really quickly and rounds off at 68" square. I backed it in one of my favorite vintage sheets.
It's quilted with free motion doodle loops, which is the most natural quilting pattern for me. I would love to start branching out and trying other patterns on perhaps some smaller projects though!
I grabbed a striped sheet for the binding to finish it! I almost had another sob story like the mishap with my Sherbet Pips quilt, but it resolved itself nicely. I accidently got stabbed by a pin while basting and unknowingly got blood all over the quilt top. Thanks to Oxiclean, it all came out! :)
Want to make your own? I've written up a tutorial, you can find it here.
Doesn't it look pretty with my Sparkling Cider Quilt?
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Vintage Pillowcase Laundry Bag Tutorial
Today I'm sharing a super quick and easy drawstring laundry bag tutorial! Perfect for storing your dirty laundry while you're traveling! This tutorial uses a vintage (or new!) pillowcase, so most of the work is already done for you! This can be tackled by sewers of all levels, even beginners! I've included lots of photos to make sure it's clear! You could make it even easier by using ribbon or string, but I think the handmade "string" we'll be making adds a nice touch! :)
Need a pillowcase? The shop is bursting with vintage pillowcases! There may just be a giveaway at the end of this post as well!
Materials
1 pillowcase
1 fat quarter or 1/4 yard of coordinating fabric
Seam ripper
Safety pin
1. Cut two 2.5"x22" strips (or one 2.5"x44" strip if using yardage).
2. Join 22" strips using a 1/4" seam allowance with right sides together. Press seam open.
3. On each short end, fold over 1/2" and press.
4. Fold entire strip in half lengthwise, pressing as you go.
5. Unfold strip and fold both edges into the center fold line you just created, press.
6. Fold in half lengthwise and press. Topstitch along the open edge, stitching close to the edge. Backstitch at start and end.
7. Grab your pillowcase, and find the seam on the hem.
8. Measure your hem (mine was 3.5"), divide that number in half, this is your center. Mark a line .5" on either side of the center, giving yourself a 1" wide space.
9. Using your seam ripper, carefully rip the stitches between the two lines.
10. Depending on the seam allowance used by the pillow's manufacturer, you may need to flip under the seam allowance to create a clear opening. Use a pencil or turner (fancy word for a clean chopstick, hehe) to help. Pin in place if need be.
11. Extend your marked opening lines around the entire pillowcase. Use the top of the hem as a guide, using your cutting ruler and your marking tool of choice.
12. Sew on the line all the way along, backstitching at the start and end. Repeat on the second line.
13. Attach a safety pin to one end of your handmade "string". Insert the safety pin into the opening you created.
14. Wiggle it through all the way around to the opening.
15. Even out your ends and tie together in a tight knot close to the ends.
Voila, you're done!
To enter, simply leave a comment! If you'd like, let me know what you're working on at the moment! Please make sure that your email is viewable in your profile or that you leave it in your comment! One entry per person please! Winner will be drawn by Random.org on Thursday, August 25th at 9pm CST.
Happy Sewing!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)