Choose Your Own Adventure Quilt Pattern Available at Moda Bake Shop

Hi everyone!  I've been working hard baking up a delightful new quilt pattern for you at the Moda Bake Shop.  My Choose Your Own Adventure string quilt uses two Modern Neutrals jelly rolls by Amy Ellis for the front of the quilt, with leftovers to make a fun modern quilt back too.  What are you waiting for?  Go check it out!

Sweet Valentine's Day Free Quilt Pattern

My friend Corinne has an excellent tutorial on her blog, Must Love Quilts, that's perfect for Valentine's Day.  Isn't it sweet?  I can't wait to make one - triangles have been on my list for awhile now!

Heart Quilt and Tutorial from Must Love Quilts

Heart Quilt by Must Love Quilts

Did you know I'm a chef?

A Moda Bake Shop Chef to be exact!  Go check out my tutorial for quick Honeycomb Wine Coasters at the MBS today.  I'm always so tempted with those cute Honeycombs and was stumped with what to make with them.  So I made something up myself and I do say, they turned out nicely.  Have a look!

Quilted Flat Iron or Curling Iron Cover Tutorial

I went on a trip with the friend who dubbed me Phone Home... and she was bragging to another friend about how great my flat iron cover was and that I made it myself and I'm a genius yada yada (she really gives me too much credit!).  I had to sheepishly correct her and say, actually that's my Vera Bradley flat iron cover and I didn't make it.  So I was thinking about that for awhile and thought, why couldn't I make that?  I have semi-serious sewing skills - I can do it!  

I looked for a tutorial online but didn't really find much to help me out.  I ended up studying the construction and materials of my own, and came up with this tutorial to make your own.  As a side note, for your own, you may want to adjust the fabric measurements to make them a teeny bit larger.  I was working with a scrap that just happened to be as wide as my measurements.  It works great, but is just a tad on the snug side.  This is a long one, but there are plenty of pictures!

The inspiration - my Vera Bradley flat iron cover.

Materials

Materials:

Fabric for outside 8" x 12.5"

Batting  10" x 15"    I used Fairfield Nature Fil bamboo batting just because I    

                           had some leftover.  You'll want to use the kind that is dense

                           enough to quilt without fabric on both sides.

Bias tape or fabric to make it - at least 44"

Ironing board cover silver fabric 8" x 12.5"

Basting spray or whatever you use when quilting

Directions:


Cut out the fabrics and batting.  Spray the basting spray onto the batting and center the fabric on top of it, smoothing in all directions to get rid of bubbles.  


Machine baste the edges of the fabric down all the way around.  Now it's time to machine quilt it - any design you like!  I tried a repeating loopy loop on this fabric.  This was the first time I've quilting without a fabric on the bottom, but it turned out fine with this dense batting.  It should end up looking like this:

fabric & batting open-faced sandwich

Trim the extra batting off the edges of all sides.  Now we'll make the rounded corners.  I took a drinking glass as a template and drew around it, then cut along the line I drew.  Do this to all 4 corners of the cover and the silver lining fabric.

rounding the corners using a drinking glass

Next, I made my own bias tape for binding.  Cut your fabric strips 2" wide and sew them together either using a diagonal seam or a straight across seam.  I did straight across to save time.  Press seams open.  Press fabric in half length-wise with wrong sides together, like this:

If you need a better guide to making the bias tape, here's a good article from Suite101.com.  Scroll down to "Joining the binding strips" and check out the pictures below it.  Set the bias tape aside for a moment.

Lay the outside fabric face down on the table with the batting up, then put the silver fabric shiny side up on top of it.  You can machine baste all this if you want, or you can omit that part.  

Take your bias tape and fold one end of the tape in on itself 1/2" so you have a nice folded edge instead of a raw edge there.  Starting with this folded end, pin the bias tape to the outer edges of the silver fabric.  The raw edges of the tape should meet the outside raw edge of the sandwich, and the folded edge of the tape should face in. Tuck the corners so it lays nicely.  Stitch using 1/4" seam.

All sandwiched & pinned

Bias tape sewn in place

Fold bias tape over to the outside of the fabric and pin in place, carefully rounding corners.  Edge stitch.

Pinning the tape on the outside

It should look like this.  Kind of reminds me of a pot holder!

Close up of corner.  Don't look at my jagged loopies!

Fold in half length-wise & pin along open edges.  We're going to leave one short end and about 2" of the long edge open so you can slip the curling or flat iron inside like a sleeve.  You may want to skip pinning that area so you don't forget (like I might).  Now, sew right on top of the previous edge stitching from the opening all the way to the folded side of the cover.  I backstitched a few times when beginning and ending just to give some extra reinforcement.

Don't forget to leave an opening!  Mine is on the left-hand side.

Extra close-up

Here's what the opening should look like

Voila!  You're done.  Here's the inspiration and the imitation.  Not too shabby, eh?  Like I said earlier,  I'd make the next one a little wider (meaning 9" or 10" rather than 8"), but that's just what I had to work with at the time.  It works great, but is a tad snug.  

I hope this tutorial was clear enough and had suitable photos.  Let me know if I can change it to make anything more clear!  Also let me know if you try it and how yours turns out!

© E Thompson 2010

Vanity Mirror Turned Fireplace Screen

I'm not really sure how this idea popped in my head, but last weekend I decided to turn this vanity mirror I bought for a quarter at a garage sale into a fireplace screen.  My fireplace is a little blah so I thought this would do wonders at sprucing it up.  Plus, it's probably the cheapest project I've ever done.

The trifold mirror was 25 cents because one of the pins was broken, so I stuck a nail in it and viola! fixed (duh).  The fabric was on clearance at Joann's and since I heart houndstooth, I had to have it for $4 for almost 2 yards.  I used Elmer's spray adhesive which is about $4.


First, I made a paper pattern of the mirror pieces by tracing along the trim.  Then I cut out the fabric and messed it up by first making two of one side.  Oops!  (There are a lot of oopses when I craft).  

Next, I took it outside.  That spray glue reeks!  I chose the temporary tacky option since I may change it someday.  So you spray both surfaces and wait 5 min before you put them together.  

Rub out the bubbles and trim up any excess.  There ya have it - a shabby chic fireplace screen! 

Ever heard of nervous crafting?

Here it is, 4 days until the most important test of my graduate school career, and what do I do to prepare?  I shove all the notes under my desk and craft something, of course!

I told you that the ironing board cover pattern might show up again.  I made a quick little craft out of a few scraps of fabric I had laying around.  Sitting next to my computer, sewing machine, and various other places of my room are scraps of folded up paper that serve as coasters.  Sick of the ink-stained crinkly papers, I decided to make coasters!  This project took me about an hour to make 4 coasters.

For this project, I used more bits from the striped sheet from Goodwill, some lime green polar fleece I found somewhere I'd rather not mention :) and a couple of button down shirts given to me by a friend that I couldn't sell or wear.  

First, I cut out 4 squares of polar fleece in the size I wanted my coasters.  Second, I cut the 4 squares of sheet and shirts about 5/8" larger than the polar fleece.  I pinned the right sides together and sewed 3 sides together.  Third, I turned it right side out and made sure the corners were nice and crisp before stuffing the pocket with the polar fleece.  Turn the open edge inside, pin, and topstitch the opening shut.  For my quilting design, I sewed about 1/4" from the edge of the fabric in a square.  Then I sewed the remaining middle section into 9 squares.  Pretty easy, and totally cute!  I think you might be able to make around 2,394 coasters from a flat full size sheet :D