Quickest Quilt Yet: Reversible Apples, and Barns and Sheep OH MY!

My daughter has been visiting a nearby farm, first for summer horse camp and now for weekly lessons, for a few years now.  The owners are a husband-wife duo we have come to absolutely adore.  The owner’s daughter just had her first baby.  Back in August.  , Between the end of summer activities and the back to school chaos (right??) I ended up a bit behind on a gift to celebrate the new arrival.

This little quilt was the perfect project for immediate satisfaction (and last minute gift giving!).

From start to finish the top took a total of … five minutes… to cut even edges. The cheater print, Apples Barn Cow,  from the organic Free Range collection on the front made a quick start.  Bah Bah Black Sheep on the back and Polka Oot in Black for the binding round out the rest of the quilt.

When it was done I realized….it was reversible.  BONUS!

  

I drew the lines on the quilt diagonally in both directions with my beloved Frixion pen and sewed the back and front together with the batting sandwiched in between.  An hour later of easy sewing I had a quilt ready for the binding.   Seriously….an hour!

Three episodes of Project Runway later and the binding was hand sewn on!

All told, the quilt took about an hour of assembly, creating the binding and behind the sewing machine and just over two hours of hand stitching.  Not bad for a completed quilt!

 

I didn’t write up a full tutorial but if anyone wants more information just let me know.

Any one else have a QUICK quilt to share?

Linked up with Crazy Mom Quilts for a Friday Finish and Quilt Matters.

April Sew Along: Biggie Yoga Mat Bag and a Glimma Sneak Peak

Well I’m a bit behind on the Sew Along due to not one, not two, but THREE gigantic boxes of product that arrived in the shop a few days ago. I’m STILL getting it all photographed and listed! Check out glorious Glimma by designer Lotta Jansdotter! There are 24 cotton prints, including four solids and SIX canvas prints to choose from. SO pretty!

     

OK, onto the Yoga Mat Bag Sew Along!

You’ve done your cutting; now it’s time to start sewing! Remember these are my notes on this SUPER PERFECT tutorial. It’s not a complete tutorial but a supplement to the one I’m referencing. For the record I LOVE the way she did it! WIth that said…here’s how I did it!

*IF ADDING A POCKET: Right sides together, pin and sew the pieces for the pocket up one long side, across the short side and back down the other long side, leaving one short side un- sewn. Clip the corners, turn right sides out and press well. Top stitch with a 3/4″ seam allowance from the top and then again with a 1/2″ seam allowance down from that line.

*Pin and sew each of the four straps together on one short side. Press the seams open.

*Take one strap from Fabric A and one from Fabric B. Place them right sides together, pin and sew. Make sure to START pinning at the seams, and pin out from there.

*Turn right side out and press well.

From here you can follow the tutorial at the Attach Your Handles section. I used that AMAZING Frixion pen to mark the lines.  If you hadn’t noticed I have a bit of a crush on it!

At #2 – IF YOU ARE ADDING THE POCKET- With your straps in place, lay your pocket on top and center it. Then tuck your pocket  under the straps and pin.

At #6 I made a bit of an adjustment. I marked/sewed the straps 1″ from the top of the bag as instructed in #5. However, she asks you to make a 1″ square. I marked one inch from the top and then 2″ down from that line. Larger strap, larger square.

Carry on with Stitch bag piece and inning pieces together section.  Make sure BEFORE you pin, as they lay right sides together, to pull back each side to see if the straps are lined up.  This is time to make any adjustments needed!

Next installation I will start back up with Create a Gusset. Never made one? No worries! They are really quite easy! The author of the tutorial goes into great detail and I’ll take bunches of pictures to help out!

HAPPY sewing!

p.s. I linked up with Fabric Tuesday over at Quilt Story to share my favorite yoga bag today.

Easter Bunny Wreath – How To!

My good friend Kelly sent me a picture of this lovely little wreath she whipped up just in time for Easter this and I was instantly in LOVE!  She was hesitant when I begged her to share it with you all but I was able to convince her to tell us all about it!  You can see more of her lovely creations at her shop, follow her on Facebook and see where she finds inspiring on Pinterest.  Take it away Kelly!

Hello all!  I’m Kelly from KelsCozyCorner over on Etsy!

Today the sun is brightly shining here in Ohio and signs of spring are in the air (finally)! My shop has been quiet the last few days and I’ve actually had some time to create something for my own home! I was so inspired by all the beautiful yarn covered Easter wreaths I’ve seen on Pinterest, I had to create one for myself!

I started with a 14”straw wreath form and wrapped it with a heather gray yarn.

I was so excited to get started on this I just started pulling from every direction of the skein of yarn…BIG MISTAKE!  No matter how excited you are to get started on a yarn project, ALWAYS make it into a ball.

Here’s a tutorial I found on that process, but it is super easy to do…and will make your project exponentially less frustrating!

To begin wrapping the yarn I placed a small dot of hot glue on the back of the wreath to hold it in place. Place the beginning of your yarn in the glue and let it dry.  Once dry, you can start covering the wreath, keeping your yarn strands close and straight.  I went all the way around and then started over being sure that every bit of the straw was covered.   Once that was complete I started adding the flowers.  Here is a tutorial on how to do felt flowers.

I had this bunny image that I’ve used on several pillows  and thought it would be perfect for this project.  I used a craft knife and cut the image from a small piece of foam board and then covered the foam board with ivory felt to make the bunny look “fuzzy”.  I ended up cutting off his tail end to get him to fit properly and then used floral pins to keep them in place.  I didn’t want to use anything too permanent in case I wanted to use the wreath after Easter.

Now you can make one of your own!  There’s still time!