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.

iPad or Kindle cover!

Hello all!

I finally have some time to get some “new project” sewing done so I went through my Pinterest pile of projects to try out (and subsequently pinned a bunch more….) when  I came across this tutorial and thought in would give it a try.  Anna Joy Pham has four options for you to select from for Ipad/Kindle sleeves.  I selected “The Ruby” design.

The tutorial calls for three prints but this gorgeous linen print just arrived in the studio today and I couldn’t help but make it feel welcome by putting it to good use right away.

So I cut the fabric two different directions to give it a bit of interest.  I cut the two OUTSIDE piece at 3″ by 13.5″ as she suggested but I opted to cut the inside strip at 2.25″ by 13.5″.

I LOVE making fabric covered buttons and any excuse to do so is more than welcome!

Other than that I followed the tutorial closely and it was pretty darned easy.  I always need to do  yoga breathing when I’m turning the item through those little tiny holes by that’s just me.  Next time I will make the suggested 2 inch hole in the inside liner more like four inches….  That’s just me….easier is better.

Look how cute the stripes look as a surprise inside!

Anyway the options are endless.  Any techie friend (and aren’t they all) would appreciate one of these little goodies.

Oh and it took me about 2 hours but I was interrupted about a gazillion times.  The next one shouldn’t take longer than an hour.  I think WAY too hard the first time I make anything.  I’m sure that is what why I can’t just make one of something.  The third or fourth time around the project is so much more fun and I can take liberty with it!

Any how.  Make one (or two or three)!!  You can do it.

Happy day,

Jodi

Babies…popping up like tulips!

Seems like spring is when I start to see babies popping up all over like tulips!  I haven’t had a wee one in quite a while which makes me even more eager to sew something up for new arrival.  One of my favorite things to make are little baby booties. They are just almost edible they are so deliciously cute.

You don’t need a lot of fabric and they are relatively quick to make.  I used this tutorial but there are a TON of them out there (here is another link with multiple options). When I gift them I usually pair them up with some burp clothes, bibs or a handful of hand embroidered onesies.

These took me about an hour and a half to complete, from start to finish, but it’s hard to say exactly because I worked on them just a little at a time.  I used these amazing fabricsthat arrived in the shop the other day from Birch Fabrics (here and here).  These are organic so they are easy on even the most sensitive baby skin.

I used a hand sewn snaps even though the tutorial calls for Velcro.  In this case, my button is decorative but you could make a button hole and use that as your closure if you wish.

There is a little bit of hand sewing involved, however it’s on the inside of the booties so no one is really going to see it and, of course, there is always the option of hand sewing the snap fasteners.

DON’T forget (like I did!) to turn the base of the bootie pattern over or you will end up with two left feet.

I’d love to try a few different styles.

Do you have a pattern you’ve made and would recommend?