Cat Pillowcase

We recently received some adorable cat fabric in my shop.

A customer came in looking for a gift for her niece. She wanted a kit for an easy project and we settled on a pillowcase. Her niece likes cats and we set about picking out the fabrics. It looked so cute that I decided to make one too and make more kits.

So, so cute! It made me look at the well-loved pillowcases on my own bed. I have an entire store of fabric yet I'm still using the same pillowcases I've had for years! That needs to change. Hopefully I will be able to pick out fabric for myself some time this week so I can make myself some pillowcases this weekend.

Pickup Trucks :: A Finish

I planned to try to get a better photo of this one but it doesn't look like that is gonna happen.

The pattern is Honor by Villa Rosa Designs. It's a great pattern for featuring a horizontal panel. We've made up three versions of this pattern using three different panels. This is the only one I have a picture of right now though. The finished size is 57" by 76".

Trick or Treat Bag

I made a few Trick or Treat bags as store samples and thought it might be a good idea to do a quick tutorial for them.

You will need 1/2 yard of two fabrics. From the exterior fabric cut (2) 16" by 13" rectangles. Do the same with the lining fabric. If your fabric is directional, the top edge should be one of the 16" long edges. From one of the fabrics cut (2) 5" by 16" rectangles for the handles.

Fold each handle in half lengthwise and press to create a 2.5” by 16” piece. 

Open this back out and fold each raw edge in towards the fold and press again. 

Then press in half along the original center fold to create a piece that is 1.25” by 16”. 

Topstitch all four sides. Repeat for the other handle.

On one of the 16” by 13” exterior rectangles, find the center of the top edge (one of the 16” sides) and mark it with a pin. Pin each end of one of handles 2” out from the center. 

Baste in place. Do the same for other exterior rectangle and the other handle. 

Lay your two exterior rectangles with handles basted in place, right sides together. Using a 1/4” seam allowance, sew the two side seams and the bottom seam. Leave the top open.

Lay your two lining rectangles right sides together. Using a 1/4” seam allowance, sew the two side seams and the bottom seam leaving a 3” opening for turning in the bottom seam.

Box the corners measuring 1.5” from the corner and drawing a line. 

The line should measure 3” long. Sew on the line 

and cut off the corner leaving a 1/4” seam allowance.

Turn the exterior right side out. Leave the lining wrong side out. Place the exterior inside the lining aligning the side seams and the top edge. The fabrics of the exterior and interior should be right sides together.

Sew around the top edge using a 1/4" seam allowance. Turn the bag right side out through the opening left in the bottom seam of the lining.

Topstitch the opening in the bottom of the lining closed. 

Topstitch around the top edge of the bag.

Now you are ready to go Trick or Treating!

Moda Love :: A Finish

Another finish this week! This one was pieced several months ago. Click here to read that post. A link to the pattern is posted on my shop website. Click here to go to that page.

We will be teaching this as a class in my shop as one of the options for our Beginning Quilting class.

The back looks really neat too.

Sweet Meadow Quilt :: A Finish

This was a quick sew. The fabric arrived in my shop a week ago. We promptly cut kits and I got it pieced the same day.

The center is a panel which really speeds up the process. The quilting was also fast since I chose to do a simple all-over meander. 

The back looks great too.

The entire quilt is flannel and it is oh so soft! It measures about 41" by 48".

Chubby Tubbies

I recently discovered a new-to-me fun bag pattern, Chubby Tubbies.

The pattern makes four sizes of bags.

They nest so nicely inside each other.

The pattern requires 5 fat quarters, four zippers and some type of batting. I used Soft 'n Stable. I opted to quilt mine before assembly. I love how they turned out! I used one of our new fabric lines, Haiku from Moda, for these.

Goose on the Loose :: Block 7

Below is my sample of the block for this month.

To make your flying geese units using the Wing Clipper, you will need (5) 4.5" squares of scrap fabrics for your geese, (20) 2.5" squares of background fabrics for the sky around the geese. If you need a refresher on how to use the Wing Clipper Ruler, click this link to go back to my post for block 2 which contains a video and link about the Wing Clipper.

To make your flying geese units using the Flip, Flip, Finish method, you will need (20) 2" by 3.5" rectangles of scrap fabrics for your geese, (40) 2" squares of background fabrics for the sky around the geese.

No matter which method you choose, you will need (4) 2" by 8" rectangles of background fabric and (1) 3.5" square of background fabric.

Make your (20) flying geese units using your preferred method. If you made extra flying geese last month, just pull them out. If necessary, trim your flying geese units to 2" by 3.5".

Sew your flying geese units together in groups of five, all "flying the same direction." I will refer to these units as "five geese units" throughout the rest of this tutorial.

Layout your block units as in the photo below.

Sew one 2" by 8" rectangle of background fabric to one side of your flying geese units. 

Hint: If you lay your five geese units face up on your table with the geese "flying towards" you, then you need to sew your background rectangle to the right hand side of the five geese unit.

Now your block looks like below.

The block now goes together using partial seams. I will walk you through the process, but if you want to watch a video on how to do partial seams I recommend this one by Laura Nownes:

Click here if the video does not show up for you to directly to it on YouTube.

Start by sewing half of the center square to one of your five geese units. I started with the bottom five geese unit.

Flip the center square back right side up. 

Then add the right hand side five geese unit. The first seam you sewed, the partial seam, should line up with the seam between the second and third flying geese unit. Pin this seam.

Sew the entire seam and the block now looks like this.

Next add the top five geese unit and your block will look like this.

Fold your first, partially attached five geese unit out of the way and pin the left hand side five geese unit in place.

Sew it on and your block now looks like this.

Now go back to the bottom five geese unit, pin in place and finish sewing it on. If you start sewing at the spot where you stopped, along the center square, you should not end up with a pucker at that point. 

In the photo below I started sewing at the spot right below the "A" in "AlamosaQuilter.blogspot.com"

Now give your block a good press and you are done!

As usual, leave a comment if you have a question. I will answer you personally if possible or leave an answer as another comment if you are a "no-reply" blogger.

Hey Dot Bag

I've been looking forward to getting the newest Zen Chic fabric line in my shop.

It arrived last week! I promptly picked up a charm pack and a half yard of one of the prints to make myself a new bag.

I took it outside to photograph it and my "helper" showed up to inspect my work.

She wondered if it would make a nice cat bed?

Not really.

But she did approve it for human use. 

The pattern is a simple, basic bag. I used the Moda Bake Shop tutorial, Charming Handbag. I've made several of these bags. For this one I used Soft and Stable for the batting. The lining is completely interfaced as are the handles. I used invisible sew-in magnetic snaps for the top closure. If you look closely in the second photo above you can see the square on the lining where I sewed them to the wrong side of the lining. These have become my favorite magnetic snaps to use for bags.

Love & Peace :: A Finish

I'm really happy with how this one turned out. To see it before quilting, click here.

I won't always have the time to do this much quilting on a shop sample but I love how it turned out. 

Here is a closer look.

It does hang straight although it doesn't look it in the photos. The wind was blowing just enough to ruffle the edges. I took several photos but the quilt was not still in any of them.