Wednesday, July 31, 2019

I May Have A Scrap Problem... How About a Tutorial, and a Giveaway Winner?

Hi, all!

Well, another busy month has passed, and not much scrappy sewing has been going on.  The Twelve Days of Christmas in July Blog Hop and Quilt-Along took up most of my time and energy.  For those who are interested, you will find the winner of the giveaway at the end of this post.

BUT - I did make a fun pillow this month using some random yardage from my stash, and I thought it would be a useful tutorial to share with you.


I'm sure that you, like me, have random yards of fabric in your stash - something that was either just to pretty to leave in the store, or that you thought would match something and then it didn't.  Or if you were part of a subscription service, like I was, you probably received fabrics that really didn't work with anything else you had.  (Why I'm not part of a subscription service now!)  And those random yards sit on the shelves, lonely and unloved.  This pillow cover will be a perfect use for those!  

Or maybe you have random fat quarters, leftovers from a larger project or, once again, just too pretty to leave in the store.  Drag them out and see how many of these great pillows you can make!

This is the perfect quick gift for someone.  Need something for that new college student moving into her first dorm room?  Or new parents, to encourage them to read to their children?  It's also perfect for your kids or grandkids, a wonderful place for them to store their current reading or coloring material - and just imagine always being able to find your Kindle!  Senior citizens love them too - a handy little storage spot for whatever you want to tuck inside.  I bet you can think of even more uses!  

Here's what you'll need to make one of these pillows:

One 16" pillow form

4 fat quarters, or three different pieces of yardage at least 18" in length

Batting scraps

Binding

CUTTING INSTRUCTIONS:

One 16.5" square for front of pillow

One  17" square for pocket

Two rectangles 20-22" x 16.5" for envelope backing. These can be in the form of two different or matching fat quarters or a WOF piece of yardage 16.5" wide cut in half on the fold.

One 18" square of batting for front of pillow

One 9" x 18" rectangle of batting for the pocket

About 70" of your preferred width of binding.

CONSTRUCTION:


Using your preferred method of basting (I spray baste), baste the 16.5" square of fabric to the 18" square of batting.  Quilt as desired.  


I did a cross-hatch diamond design on mine, marking the guidelines with my Hera marker.  I do not put a backing on this piece, because I use Warm & Natural batting, which is a good firm batting that doesn't fray or separate.  


If you use a batting that doesn't "hold its own", so to speak, you might want to back this piece before quilting.  It will be inside the pillow, so it doesn't really matter what it looks like.


Using a large square ruler, trim the excess batting off and make sure your corners are square.  


Now it's time to make the pocket piece.  Take the 17" square of fabric and fold it in half, pressing the fold with your iron.  Place the 9" x 18" rectangle of batting between the two sides, pushing it up firmly into the fold.  Baste this piece, then quilt as desired.  


I stitched a straight line right along the top edge, about 1/16" in, then again about 1/4" from that.  Then I quilted vertical lines from the top to bottom all across the piece.  


Trim the excess batting off the bottom of the piece.


Lay the pocket on top of the earlier-quilted square, lining up the bottom edge and trimming off any excess on the sides.  Pin the piece at the bottom corners, top edge of the pockets, and center bottom.

Now we'll work with the backing pieces.  Fold them in half so that you have two pieces 16.5" wide and approximately 10-11" tall.  Press the fold line.  Flip the front of the pillow over so that the backing is now face up.  Lining up the corners and raw edges, lay one backing piece on the bottom half of the pillow cover.


The pressed fold should be up towards the center of the pillow.  Now lay the other backing piece on the top half, lining up the raw edges and corners.  The two pressed edges will overlap each other by about four inches.  


Now pin all the pieces together, starting with the corners and overlap points. Add a couple of pins along the top and bottom to hold all the pieces in alignment.  


You can remove all the pins you placed in the front now, EXCEPT for the ones that hold the top corners of the pocket in place.


I bind all my pillow covers just like a quilt, using the binding stitching to hold all the layers together.  I sew the binding to the back of the pillow cover, starting on the bottom and going all the way around, then flipping the binding to the from and sewing it down by machine.  Once that binding is attached and the pins removed, you've got a finished pillow cover!  No corners to turn at all.  I don't know about you, but I don't have good luck turning corners - I almost always punch a hole through!


There are so many creative ways to gift these pillows!  For instance, upon the birth of a grandchild, you could give your son or daughter one of these pillows with a favorite childhood book of theirs tucked inside it.  Or an adult coloring book and box of coloring pencils fit in nicely, and it's such a good way to keep them close at hand.  

So now, the question is - - - how many of these will YOU be making?

*****

And now for the winner of the 12DCIJ giveaway!  I am accompanied this morning by the Amazing Lilli, who has generously agreed to choose a winner for us....



We ended up with over 4000 entries across all the participating blogs, which is amazing!  When I asked Lilli to choose any number between 1 and the total, she chose to go minimalist - number 6!  Christi S., who gets her email on aol.com is our winner!  As a reminder, here's the pretty prize package...


A beautiful bundle of Wintertide, the newest Christmas line from FIGO fabrics!  Christi, I'll be emailing you to get your snail mail address ASAP.  Watch for it!

Hugs!

Sarah

Monday, July 29, 2019

Make-A-List Monday - A Fresh Start!

Hi, all!

It has been a long time since I published a Monday list, so I'm just going to start fresh!  The 12 Days of Christmas in July Blog Hop went well, but now it's time to get back to the real world (and make some of those fabulous projects, too!)

Here's what's on my list for this week:

1.  Organize the notes I made over the weekend about next year's quilt-along quilt.

2.  Organize the notes I made over the weekend about next year's pre-Hands2Help quilt tutorial series.

3.  Update a portfolio of t-shirt quilt designs to send to a prospective customer.

4.  Write a tutorial for Wednesday's blogpost.  You won't want to miss this one - a great gift idea for anyone!


5.  Quilt the wedding ring table topper.

6.  Start work on a gift quilt.

7.  Quilt a UFO - any UFO!

8.  Keep up with any quilt ministry needs that come up.

We had a long car drive this weekend, over to Richmond and back, so I had time to start putting pencil to paper on ideas for next year's projects.  It's amazing how much better these things go if you plan ahead!  I'm excited about how well they are coming together.

And I'm considering writing a blogpost with tips for hosting and/or participating in a blog hop.  Any interest in that?  I learned a lot with this year's hop, and found out that it was sheer luck that it went as well as it did before!  

So now, the question is - - - what are YOU working on this week?

Hugs!

Sarah


Friday, July 26, 2019

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? A Fun Little Pillow...

Hi, all!

It's finally Friday!!  Seems like forever since we've had a Whoop-Whoop Friday around here, but I hope you've enjoyed the 12 Days of Christmas in July Blog Hop and Quilt-Along in its place.  But now, since it's Friday, we all know what that means - it's time for us to get our whoop whoop on!  Are you ready? I know I am - so let's get started!

*&*&*&*&*&*&*

Writing twelve days of blog posts in a row can be quite a challenge, and as I finished the last one (finally!) I realized that I still needed a post for today (erk!).  What in the world would I share?  You can't just whoop about having survived writing twelve straight days of blogposts (although that's totally whoop-worthy, IMHO!).  Then I remembered a little project I had my eye on, and realized it would be perfect!


How about a reader's pillow?  This is a great gift for a kid, complete with a color-coordinated book - and I know a little boy who loves green who might just be getting this for Christmas!


But why limit it to kids?  Maybe you like to do some adult coloring in the evenings - this is a great place to stash your coloring book and some nice colored pencils.  I can see other uses for it, too - maybe a diary or journal for a preteen, or a place for a well-loved stuffed animal to sleep during the day - maybe you've got some other suggestions?  I'd love to hear them!

I'll be posting a tutorial for this pillow next Wednesday, as I get back in the regular swing of posting.  This is a great stash-busting pillow, as you'll see when you read the tutorial!  And just think of the jump you could get on Christmas!  This pillow took me about an hour and a half to make, and that included auditioning fabrics.

So - - - can I get a whoop whoop?

*&*&*&*&*&*&*

And now it's your turn!

What's got you whooping it up this week?


What's making you do a little happy dance?

Share!  We want to dance right along with you,

And it's always more fun to dance with friends!

The party will stay open until Sunday midnight.

Hope to see you there!

Hugs!

Sarah

Thursday, July 25, 2019

12 Days of Christmas in July Blog Hop and Quilt-Along - Day 12!

Hi, all!

Can you believe it - we've made it to the 12th day of Christmas in July!  So many wonderful projects have been shared, but we're not done yet - today we'll be hearing from Christina at Christina's Handicrafts and Joanne from Everyone Deserves A Quilt (don't you love that name?).  More "gifts" to open - isn't Christmas the best?

For your convenience, let's share the line-up once again...


SUNDAY, JULY 14TH

MONDAY, JULY 15TH

TUESDAY, JULY 16TH

WEDNESDAY, JULY 17TH

THURSDAY, JULY 18TH

FRIDAY, JULY 19TH

SATURDAY, JULY 20TH

SUNDAY, JULY 21ST

MONDAY, JULY 22ND

TUESDAY, JULY 23RD

WEDNESDAY, JULY 24TH

THURSDAY, JULY 25TH



And remember, too, there's a giveaway!  FIGO Fabrics has donated a fat quarter bundle of their new Christmas line, Wintertide...


...and one lucky reader will get to take it home!  All you have to do is fill in the form below with your full name and email address (don't worry, I won't use it for anything beyond notifying you if you win!).  Entries will close on Tuesday, July 30th, and I'll announce the winner here on Wednesday, July 31st - New Year's Eve in July!


Be sure to click "Submit"!!

You get an entry for visiting the stops on the hop, too, so drop by each new day's blog posts, enjoy the post and leave a comment (comments make us happy!), then fill out the entry form on their blog too.  If their blog hop post doesn't have an entry form feel free to come back here and leave an entry after checking out their "gift" for you!

So get hopping, folks - then come back here to see the final reveal of this year's quilt-along quilts!

*******



As you know, this quilt-along started as a wall-hanging project, and this is how my small version turned out.  This picture shows it unwashed and unblocked, so there are so issues with it hanging flat, but I'm currently fixing that - it's drying under the fan lying on my guest bed right now.  


I'm pretty happy with the way the points turned out on this version. My earlier version (unseen and unquilted at the moment) didn't fare as well, although I still think it looks nice.  The "make-it-oversized-and-cut-it-down" trick worked great for this one!  


And then there's the medallion version of this quilt!  I am really in love with this one.  The center is the same size as the wall hanging above, then I made some blocks to encircle it and make it larger.  You could go fancier with more intricate blocks or more rows - I was constrained by time, so went with the fairly simple Christmas trees and checkerboard borders.  All that used up stash, too!  


Look how cute those trees are - and all I did was find green fat quarters in my stash that blended well with the green in the center.  I also added in the aqua scraps from the center, and another I had in the same color family.  I think it keeps them light enough that they don't overpower the background or the center medallion!


The background for the trees is more of the center medallion fabric - a choice I might reconsider if I made this again, because I didn't have enough of that fabric to finish out the border.  I used a tone-on-tone snowflake print to fill in around the tree blocks.  But I think in the grand scheme of things it isn't too noticeable!


And it blends so nicely with the house and yard, doesn't it?  Snow is not often seen around here (especially in hot July!) so I think I'll settle for that.

I'd love to see what you've been working on if you've been following along with the quilt-along, so I'm putting a linky party below for you to link up if you choose!  I know many of you have said that time is short now to make one, and if that's you, know that the posts will remain active, and I'll also add them to the 12 Days of Christmas In July Page just under my blog header for easy access.

*******

It's been an amazing twelve days, hasn't it?  If you're behind on visiting all the blogs involved, remember that you have until July 30th to visit and enter for the giveaway (although you'll be able to visit them after that date too, but the giveaway entries will be closed).  I'll be announcing the winner of the Wintertide fat quarter bundle on Wednesday, July 31st - AND I'll have a tutorial for one more great Christmas present that day too!  So be sure to stop back by then and check it out!

Hugs!

Sarah

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

12 Days of Christmas in July Blog Hop and Quilt-Along, Day 11!

Hi, all!

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me... a whole lotta stuff!  Do you know that if you add up all the gifts just given on that one day (the 11th), it's 66 gifts?  And all of the gifts for twelve days is 364 - over half of which are birds.  Do you still think they were true loves after all that?  (Enquiring minds want to know!)

I hope you're enjoying all the little "gifts" that have been shared over the past ten days!  And guess what - there's more!  Today we'll be hearing from Carole at From My Carolina Home and Karrin from Karrin's Crazy World.  I can't wait to see what's going to jump on to my "must make" list today!

Here's the lineup, once again:

SUNDAY, JULY 14TH

MONDAY, JULY 15TH

TUESDAY, JULY 16TH

WEDNESDAY, JULY 17TH

THURSDAY, JULY 18TH

FRIDAY, JULY 19TH

SATURDAY, JULY 20TH

SUNDAY, JULY 21ST

MONDAY, JULY 22ND

TUESDAY, JULY 23RD

WEDNESDAY, JULY 24TH

THURSDAY, JULY 25TH


And remember, too, there's a giveaway!  FIGO Fabrics has donated a fat quarter bundle of their new Christmas line, Wintertide...


...and one lucky reader will get to take it home!  All you have to do is fill in the form below with your full name and email address (don't worry, I won't use it for anything beyond notifying you if you win!).  Entries will close on Tuesday, July 30th, and I'll announce the winner here on Wednesday, July 31st - New Year's Eve in July!


Be sure to click "Submit"!!

You get an entry for visiting the stops on the hop, too, so drop by each new day's blog posts, enjoy the post and leave a comment (comments make us happy!), then fill out the entry form on their blog too.  If their blog hop post doesn't have an entry form feel free to come back here and leave an entry after checking out their "gift" for you!

So get hopping, folks - then come back here to see today's step for the quilt-along...

*******


With all nine blocks done, it's time to join them together in to your quilt top!  I sewed mine together in three rows, carefully matching those triangle corners so my points stayed nice.  OK, some of them aren't perfect, but you can't tell, can you?  Do your best and know that small imperfections won't show after it's quilted and washed!


And look at that - you've got a finished quilt top!  It's a great size for a wall hanging or for a table or piano topper - and if you're really brave, you could cut into it and turn it into a fine tree skirt!  Or you can do like me and turn it into a medallion center of a larger top.  Mine is coming right along - I found a lovely white and red polka dot for the backing, extended with a little bit of that great red stripe, which is also the binding.  Can you tell I love red stripes?


Come back tomorrow for our final day of blog hopping, and also the glamour shots of my new quilt!    I'll have a link-up party if you want to share pictures of your progress, too.

One more day!

Hugs!

Sarah