Vintage Candy Cottage Pattern

I drafted a pattern for a holiday pillow swap a while back, and I added extra pattern pieces which can be substituted to make the pattern with a year round theme. The Vintage Candy Cottage pattern was once available to purchase on Craftsy, but I now have it available on Payhip. I dusted off my pattern this month to make a pillow for a friend. I used some of my favorite Tasha Noel fabric for the house and border, and quilted with 1/2" diagonal crosshatching and Miss  Kate red and white scallops for the binding. Pillow finishes at 20" square.

The original Vintage Candy Cottage pillow I made for a holiday swap adds candy canes to the yard and wreaths to the windows, along with a patchwork border.

I made a spring mini quilt for a friend last year with 1/4" crosshatch quilting and also using my favorite Tashe Noel floral, this time in aqua for the background.

At some point I would like to make myself a mini to hang in my sewing room, but I have many other things planned before I get there.

Rainbow Meadow Mini Quilt + Giveaway

I am excited to participate in the Shabby Fabric 2015 Blogger Challenge. This blogger challenge highlights the versatility of the pre-fused laser cut Shabby Shapes. You can see the whole selection of available shapes here. For my mini quilt, I selected a set of small 2" butterfly prints and a set of small pindot tulips. I've included instructions with how I made this mini quilt, but it is really more of an improve piece.

Rainbow Meadow Mini Quilt

Finished Size: 20" x 20"

Materials:
6 Shabby Shapes pre-fused laser cut small tulips
Shabby Shapes pre-fused laser cut leaves and stems for 6 tulips (12 leaves and 6 stems)
9-12 Shappy shapes pre-fused laser cut small butterflies (or 6 small and 3 medium butterflies)
1 fat quarter (18" x 21") of background sky fabric
1 strip of 3.5" x 21" green grass fabric
Assorted 1.5" wide strips of rainbow color fabric
Approximately 6.5" square of yellow/orange fabric for sun
23" square of quilt batting
23" square quilt backing fabric
(2) width of fabric strips cut 2.25" (or preferred width) for binding

Mini Quilt Assembly & Finishing:
The layout of this mini quilt is a simple process, less about precision and more about fun. Square up the background sky fabric; orient it so that it is 18" vertically and 21" horizontally. Lay the various components out on top of the background fabric. Trim tulip stems to approximately 3" tall. Align the tulip stems along the bottom edge of the background fabric. Once satisfied with the placement, peel the paper backing off of each pre-fused shape and fuse them in place with an iron. So easy! Attach grass fabric strip to bottom of background fabric with 1/4" seam allowance. If you are concerned about placement of the tulip leaves to prevent them getting stitched in the seam allowance, you may fuse those after adding the grass fabric; I fused them in place 3/8" from the bottom edge of the background fabric prior to adding the grass strip.

I whip stitched by hand around each shape, but machine sewing works great as well. 

To make the sun shape, use a large bowl turned upside and move it around on the corner of the background fabric until you find a size that you like. Trace the shape on freezer paper, cut it out, and iron the freezer paper on to the back of the sun fabric. Add a 1/4" seam allowance, cut the fabric, and press the seam allowance to the wrong size of the fabric. Alternatively, you may leave the edges raw if you prefer. Use pins or water soluble glue to hold in place to applique.

For the rainbow - I laid out my 1.5" strips, using lengths in each color corresponding with lengths needed to extend from one edge to the next and estimated by laying them on the background fabric, but longer strips can be pieced together and then cut down. Once the rainbow strips are pieced, lay in place face down on the mini quilt top and stitch the violet strip in place with a 1/4" seam allowance. Turn under 1/4" seam allowance on the red strip, flip the rainbow right side up and sew in place on the upper right hand corner of the mini.

Once you have all of your shapes appliqued down, baste your quilt sandwich, quilt, and bind as desired.

I gave hand quilting a try on this mini. This is the largest project I have ever hand quilted, and it is not easy for me to master the quilting needle rocking motion. It looks kind of cute, but it's not as flat as I would like; maybe I'll use a hoop next time. More practice is needed.

Giveaway

Now for the fun part! Shabby Fabrics has graciously given each blogger a set of pre-fused laser cut shapes to give away. To win a set of these small 2" tulips in pindots, please leave a comment below (be sure to leave an email). Contest closes Tuesday March 24, 2015 and is open to international entries. Contest winner will be notified via email.

Be sure to check out all the other great bloggers who are participating in this blog challenge.

Rainbow Hexie Mini and EPP Finishes

 

I posted last month about the rainbow (plus pink) mini quilt I was working on, using 1/2" hexies. I haven't been sewing as much this year as I try to reclaim an organized craft and home space, but I managed to finish the quilt a couple of weeks ago.I am so happy with this little quilt. It finished at approximately 10" x 12", which is the perfect size for the wall in my little sewing corner. 

I taped it up on my wall temporarily, but as of yesterday, it has been removed along with all the other minis while I reconfigure the wall space after adding a fresh coat of paint to the room.

I dusted off a 36 degree diamond WIP with Lecien Flower Sugar 2013 that had been languishing in my closet drawer for over a year. I was not pleased with my center points (these diamond points are sharp and I tried to be clever when I pieced them - to my detriment), but with the addition of a center circle applique, I found a way to love and finish this project.

I hand appliqued the diamonds to Carolyn Friedlander's Architextures scribble fabric while watching the Super Bowl, straight line quilted, and made a 20" pillow with covered zipper back. It fits in perfectly with the other pillows on the sofa. Stay tuned - there will be many pillows made this year.

My final recent EPP finish is a little hexagon heart pillow. I thought this would be a fun way to continue moving through some of the 1/2"hexies I basted from my scraps. I hand appliqued the heart to Riley Blake Le Creme Swiss Dots (one of my favorites!), did some easy straight line quilting, and added a covered zipper back. This little pillow finishes at 10" square.

Well, I suppose I appear to be doing a little sewing lately. I'll have a separate post on a project that took a week or so from quilting...

Tooth Fairy Pillow Pattern

People sometimes say that the youngest child is the one to get all the hand me downs and to have the baby book without any entries. With the big age gap between my children, that isn't really the case for our family. I sew a lot more than I did when my older girls were younger, and I am now a stay at home mom with all the kids in school (the oldest is in college). This means that everyone has more handmade by mom, and that we finally have a tooth fairy pillow in the house rather than a little plastic Barbie present box. My 12 year old has one tooth left to lose, so she will get to use it one time. My six year old has four loose teeth, so she will likely get to use it very soon.

I sent a friend of mine the tooth template I made as well as my construction notes, but I thought I would share them here for anyone else interested in making one. This isn't a full tutorial, so basic sewing and embroidery skills are necessary to make it. My daughter, E, insisted that she needed a zipper pocket on her pillow (although I guess this is more of a pouch since I didn't stuff it...). I liked the idea of a front pocket, so we ended up with both - a front slip pocket and a back zip pocket.

Materials:

Exterior: 
(2) 5" squares of fabric
(2) 5" fusible interfacing or fusible fleece

Front Pocket:
(2) 3" x 3.5" rectangles of fabric
(1) 3" x 3.5" rectangle of fusible fleece (I used Pellon Shape Flex SF 101)
Fuse one pocket panel

Tooth applique: Approximately 2.5" square of white felt
DOWNLOAD PATTERN PIECE HERE - print at 100%
Embroidery floss: I used two strands of dark brown to embroider face details

Lace Trim (optional): approximately 23"

Ribbon hanger: 11" of 3/8" wide grosgrain (adjust length and type of ribbon as desired)

Back Zip Pocket (optional):
(2) 2.75" tall x 3.5" wide pocket lining pieces
(1) 2.75" x 3.5" fusible interfacing
(1) 2" x " 3.5" fusible interfacing
4" zipper (trim down zipper stop end to make zipper tape 3.5" wide total)
Interface the zipper lining side that will be attached to exterior and have zipper. Add the second strip of 2" x 3.5" of interfacing to the top of the same lining piece

Instructions:

Tooth:

Use tooth pattern piece to cut wool felt.

Embroider face detail onto wool felt

Front Pocket:

Center tooth on interfaced pocket piece

Applique in place

Add optional trim at the top, folding down the trim to the inside

Place both pocket pieces right sides together and sew with 1/4" seam allowance, leaving a space at the bottom to turn

Trim pocket corners

Turn right side out and press well

Center on front 5" exterior piece and topstitch in place

Optional Back Zip Pocket:

I am not including instructions for how to make an inset zipper as there are many tutorials out there. U-Handbag inset zipper tutorial has a good tutorial.

On the double interfaced piece, 1/2" from the top, draw the zipper placement box making sure to center on the pocket lining fabric

Attach the pocket lining fabric to the 5" back exterior panel 1/2" from the top edge, matching center of lining to center to exterior.
Follow tutorial instructions to make lining.

Add zipper.

Ribbon Hanger:

Baste ribbon hanger in place on front exterior panel. I lined my ribbon up with the outside front pocket edges.
Make sure to baste match the raw ends of the ribbon to the raw edge of the exterior piece, just as you would a bag handle.

Optional Lace Trim:
I don't actually measure the lace before attaching, I just take a longer piece and work my way around and then trim the excess. Turn lace edge under twice on the end to enclose raw edge. Pin and baste lace trim in place around front exterior panel, with the lace facing in, matching the raw edge of the exterior fabric to the gathered (non lacy) side of the lace trim.

The Pillow:
With right sides together, stitch the two exterior panels together, leaving an opening at the bottom to turn. Use the basting stitch on the seam as a guide for seam allowance. The lace I used needed a 3/8" seam allowance to cover the edge all the way. Go slowly and make sure not to catch the ruffled side of the lace in the seam allowance.
Trim corners.
Turn and press well.
Stuff if desired.
Close pillow opening with ladder stitch.

I meant to take a nice photo of E holding the little pillow for scale, but apparently the only time I think of such things is after I drop her off at school and her college age sister, R, is about to run out the door for class. So this morning, I grabbed R on her way out and asked her to pose. Rather than highlighting the sweetness of my little one, this pic managed to highlight the different ages and stages from oldest to youngest in our family. :)

Vintage Modern Tiny HST Mini Quilt

The first finish of 2015 is a little Bonnie and Camille Vintage Modern HST mini that was largely complete in December. I had to set the top aside for a few weeks to focus on holiday sewing, and to focus on organizing the closets (a task that has taken far too long).

The layout of this mini is almost a happy accident. I didn't have a plan when I started, and the whole process was somewhat organic. I had approximately 176 leftover flying geese units to work with. I pieced, pressed, and trimmed all of them to 1.5" before I started laying them out. To be honest, I dislike trimming HSTs, particularly the teeny tiny ones where every fraction of a centimeter shaved off in error means mismatched points. I decided not to care as much about matching points as I am usually inclined to be; it made the trimming go by faster (and of course, faster is still hours and hours).

I played with making an organized layout and was pleasantly surprised when my first layout worked. I had the most HSTs in tonal pink/red houndstooth and laid them out in a pinwheel/X shape. Each V shape echoing the center pinwheel was determined based upon how many HSTs there were of a given print. To make the red and aqua work, I had to mix prints, but tried to make the mix organized and purposeful.

There are so many tiny little seams in this mini quilt, it kept rolling up on itself. I stored the top under a stack of textbooks to keep it flat until I could baste and quilt it. I straight line quilted the mini in Vs and used some leftover vintage modern red and white houndstooth bias binding I made last year for a pillow.

I love this little mini. 144 1" HSTs. Finished mini size: 12" square

It matches the much larger HST pillow I made exactly one year ago using leftover flying geese triangles after making a Swoon quilt.

Hexie Works in Progress & Getting Organized

This year, I am committed to organizing my home and fabric stash, and more importantly, staying on top of it. I know there are people who diligently cut scraps into usable pieces and then put them away in color coded bins. I am not one of those people. I fill a waste bin behind my sewing table as I sew, and when it is full, I stuff the fabric into one of many closet drawers designated for scraps, and then I dig through the drawers when I have a project in mind.

Because I like working with little scraps, I have a tendency to save too many little odd bits. Every scrap has potential. I decided to take some of these irregular bits and cut them into 1/2" hexies. At some point I will cut some squares for tiny patchwork, and perhaps make some more 1/4" hexies. It feels pretty good to process the fabric, however, even though I fly through the actual cutting process with my less than scientific method of cutting, it is severely taking away from my actual sewing time.

Of course, I have to have a little hand sewing project going on to keep me motivated, so I started pulling rainbow colors. I wanted to make a little rainbow mini or pillow using fabrics similar to the rainbow sew together bag I made for a friend last year.

I didn't want to do the exact same layout, and I didn't want to spend as much time with gradation of color, but I wanted a similar feel. I did a lot of coloring and decided on this layout. My husband would rather I made a pillow than a mini, so I may add some rows to the side to make it more square, or I may just add a border; we will see. The pic at the top of the post is most likely my final layout - made with minimal fussing; I swapped out a few fabrics that seemed off, but they are most are right where I stuck them out the outset.

Once I am done with this project, I am back to working on a big hexie project that has been in my closet untouched for months - a lap size quilt with 2" hexies. It is probably 60-70% complete, and most of the hexies I need to finish it are already basted. I worked like a madwoman on this quilt for about five weeks and then had to take a break because my hands were screaming at me. I put it in the closet, and you know, out of sight, out of mind. 

Here is my first progress pic, taken on July 9th.

Here is my last progress pic, taken on August 7th.

Organization is going well. I have all of my strips, strings, selvages, and binding scraps nicely stacked/bagged. I discovered I have enough scrappy trip strips to make a second lap size quilt. I broke down and bought some matching storage shelves for fat quarters and yardage to replace the mishmash storage I had before. I am determined to sew as much of the stash as I need to in order to keep from overflowing these shelves, and to keep returning the fabric to the designated cube when I complete projects.

Finally, I leave you with a meme generated by my daughter to memorialize the night that my husband came home hours earlier than expected and found me sitting on the floor of my closet with all of these fabric in piles around me, folding and sorting my entire stash. Let me tell you, it looks like a lot more fabric when you are sitting in the middle of it on the floor.

Handmade Christmas Gifts & Swaps

And finally, handmade Christmas gifts and swaps.

There are so very many swaps on Instagram and Flickr that I want to join, but more than anything, I wanted to have time to swap with my friend Gwen; I absolutely adore all of her creations and she has been such a good friend to me.

Gwen made me the most adorable Ho Ho Ho pillow. I forgot to take a photo of the back, but it is the green owl and presents print, and so clever. The side button closures are the perfect finishing touch. This pillow has already been very well loved by all in the family - a favorite to snuggle on the couch.

You may notice that there are several fabrics in the pillow that are also in the hexie Christmas stocking I made. Gwen mailed me some fun Christmas scraps to add to my stocking - she has the best holiday fabric, truly. As a little thank you, I used leftovers from the generous scraps she sent, along with some of my own, and made her English paper pieced hexie mug rug/mini quilt.

Backing is one of my favorite Kate Spain prints.

I also made Gwen a mini version of my Crate and Barrel Winter Solstice Pillow copy. 

Finally, I made her a medium size canvas Nova Tote using a Swoon block on the pocket.  This bag is not really in the theme of a Christmas swap, but I wanted to make something that can be used all year. The Priory Square contrast bottom is interfaced with fusible fleece. I am so in love with this navy Priory Square print, and Joel Dewberry herringbone is one of my favorite binding fabrics. Inside, I added a DS Prints navy and blue floral lining, and a 9" inset zipper pocket.

I made some pouches for quick gifts. Right now, I love to make patchwork zipper pouches. I say quick, but I got carried away cutting mini charms for this pink quilt. I keep trying to find the motivation to cut some from other color scraps, but it hasn't happened yet.

For my Crafty Tuesday holiday swap, I made a Kate Spain Solstice patchwork zip pouch. I used charm squares subcut into mini charms. I used some of the leftovers to make hexies for my stocking.

The last pouch I made, I used strips of Anna Maria's Pretty Potent line and lined with another AMH print. This was fun to construct. I usually use two panels for the exterior, but on this one I pieced my strips lengthwise and folded in half as one panel. It was a puzzle to attach the zipper and lining, but not difficult at all. 

The very last bit of sewing I did in December was another Sew Together Bag. Fabric is All My Heart by Iron Orchid Designs for Blend Fabric.

 

 

The typewriter pincushion is my favorite detail:

And that's a wrap on December sewing.