Mother's Day Mug Rug

Today I'm happy to say that I'm a guest blogger over on the Simply Solids Blog

When Justine asked me to make something for the beginning of March, I realised that it was only a couple of week"s away from Mother's day, so a gift for a Mum seemed to be the obvious choice.

I love making Mug Rugs. They're bigger and therefore more useful than a simple coaster, but not so big that you only bring them out of special occasions. They're the perfect size for a cake and a cuppa!

The background is a simple 2x3 grid of low volume fabrics. I've provided full scale pattern pieces, ready reversed which you can trace onto iron-on adhesive  (I used Bondaweb) 

Cut them out

Trace the wording ready to embroider

Iron them onto the background

Sew around with a zig zag stitch and add a little embroidery.

And finish as you would a normal quilt.

I went a little over the top with the quilting...straight lines, just over a 1/4" apart! Yes, I was having fun. There were of course a lot of ends to sew in, but with a Clover Easy Thread needle where you just pull the thread in at the top rather than having to thread it, the job wasn't too bad.

Of course you don't have to embroider the word "Mum" you could  make one for a friend., or even for yourself! You can trace any name onto the mug band. Just make sure there's a nice edible treat to go with it!

Do pop over to Simply Solids Blog for full details of how to make it. You can also download the instructions  with full size pattern pieces as a printable PDF HERE

Advent Bunting Tutorial

Aaah! I know what you're saying! "Is that really a Christmassy thing already?" Well, yes, it is!

Today I'm guest blogger over at Simply Solids.

The lovely Justine wanted me to use some Christmas fabrics, and I thought: "What needs to be made well in advance for Christmas?" Well, an advent calendar of course.....you need that right from the start of December, and that's only about 9 weeks away!

This is bunting that has pockets in it so you can add little treats, one for each day.

The pockets are fastened with a ribbon loop and little button, so there'll be no peeking before the day.

You can choose to make just one length, or split it in two as I have done. It makes it a lot easier to hang on a chimney breast, door or a child's wall.

To make the bunting you will need:

7 fat quarters of Christmas fabric

Bias binding tape

Narrow ribbon for the button loops

25 small buttons

A small piece of solid white for the numbers

Bondaweb or other fusible to secure the numbers in place.

The full instructions along with templates for the pennants and numbers and plenty of stage by stage photos can be downloaded here

Orange Peel Cushion Tutorial

Well, today is a very exciting day, as I'm guest blogger over at Simply Solids. I've never been a guest blogger before!!

Justine from Simply Solids sent me a lovely selection of fabrics and I came up with this cushion idea.

It's very easy to make. The orange peel shape leaves are machine appliquéd onto the cushion front, so no curved piecing involved! and it has an envelope back so no zips either!

Do pop over to Simply Solids blog to see the full post. 

You can also download the PDF with full instructions, orange peel template and photo tutorial here

It's a perfect size for using outdoors now the spring-like weather has arrived (along with a good book and a cup of tea, of course!) and as Justine so rightly says - it would make a great Mother's day gift.

Quilted Heart Cushion Tutorial

Right on cue for Valentine's Day, I have a quilted cushion to show you. This was great fun to make and brightened up my sewing room no end. With the radio on and this bright fabric by my side I almost managed to ignore the storms that brought lashing rain and wind howling round the house last night.

I've used the same heart block that I showed you in my last Block Buster Sunday  post and have given it an envelope style back complete with a little border made from the offcuts of the heart blocks.

Just incase you want to make one too, I've written a tutorial for it:

To make one cushion you will need:

Scraps of 6 different printed fabrics for the heart blocks

1/8th yard background fabric for the heart blocks. (I used Kona Snow)

4 1/2" x Width of fabric (WOF) for the grey sashing (I used Kona Ash)

5" x WOF for the red border

19" square of wadding

19" square of backing for the wadding (optional)

3/4 yard fabric for the cushion back.

Follow the instructions here to make four 6" scrappy heart blocks, but when you come to the trimming of the corner pieces, instead of trimming after sewing from corner to corner, sew another line 1/2" further out than the first first. 

Cut between the two lines of sewing. Repeat for the other side of the block. Store these little off-cut pieces safely. They are 8 tiny half square triangle blocks and we are going to use them on the back of the cushion. Yay!  a good way to use up those scraps!

 Cut three 1 1/2" wide WOF strips from the light grey fabric.
Use these to sash the blocks, first horizontally

Then vertically

Cut two 2 1/2" wide x WOF strips of the outer border fabric and create a border all round the cushion front.

I make a proper quilt sandwich at this stage, placing a 19" square of lining fabric down first, then the wadding and then the cushion front on top and baste with pins in the normal way.

I think the lining fabric protects the wadding and makes it easier to take the cover off and on again when you want to wash it, but its fine to just use the cushion front and wadding if you prefer.

Quilt the top in the normal way. I quilted diagonal lines 1"apart.

Trim the cushion front to 19" square.

Take the little off cut half square triangle units and trim the to 2 1/2"square. 

Join together in one long strip and add a 2 1/2"square of border fabric to either end.

Cut 3 rectangles from your background fabric:

1.  25" x 19"

2.  19" x 14"

3.  19" 9 1/2"

Centre and pin the offcuts border to the long edge of the 19" x 9 1/2" rectangle.

Attach and press open.

Join the 19" x 14" rectangle to the opposite edge.

Fold in half and press.

Top stitch on either side of the border.

Place the right side of the piece you have just completed against the right side of the cushion front, so that the raw edge is level with the top edge of the cushion front with the back border towards the middle.

Take the final rectangle of backing fabric and fold in half and press so that it measures 19" x 12 1/2".

Place on top of the other section so that the raw edges of the back piece are level with the base of the quilted front (folded edge towards the centre).

Pin all layers in place.

Sew around all four edges with a 1/2" seam allowance. Trim the corners.

Turn the cushion cover the right way out through the envelope opening.

Fill with a cushion, snuggle up and enjoy !!

It is Valentine's Day after all :-)

Block Buster Sunday #4 Scrappy Heart Block Tutorial

It's Block Buster Sunday, and it's nearly Valentine's Day, so I thought I'd go all lovey and choose a heart block to share today. This is  a scrappy heart, so root out all those scraps. They don't have to be colour co-ordinated, any multi colours will do. And the good news…. this is a really easy block to make!!

I've given cutting instructions for 2 sizes, a 6" finished, and a 9" finished block.

For a 6" finished block you need:

2     1 1/2" x 3 1/2" strips of patterned fabric

5     1 1/2" x 6 1/2" strips of patterned fabric

4     1 1/2" squares of background fabric

2     3 1/2" squares of background fabric

For a 9" finished block you need:

2     2" x 5" strips of patterned fabric

5     2" x 9 1/2" strips of patterned fabric

4     2" squares of background fabric

2     5" squares of background fabric

Note: The photographs show the construction of a 6" block

Use a 1/4" seam throughout

Sew the 5 long patterned strips together. It doesn't matter which way you press the. seams

Draw a diagonal pencil line from across the centre of each of the small background squares.

Place on the 2 smaller patterned strips as shown.

Sew along the pencil lines. Trim the outside edge to a 1/4" seam allowance.

 Press  open.

Sew the 2 sections together along the shorter edge.

I press this centre seam open rather than to one side, so that it lies flat.

Attach to the top of the 5 strip unit.

Draw a diagonal pencil line through the centre of the 2 remaining large background squares.

Place one in the bottom left corner of the unit as shown.

Sew along the pencil line. Trim the outside edge to a 1/4" seam allowance. Press open.

Repeat for the other side. Make sure the pencil line slopes down to the centre base of the unit to create the point at the bottom of the heart. The 2 background squares should overlap 1/4" from the base of the unit.

Press open and trim the block to 6 1/2" square if necessary.

Easy, Peasy eh? I love this block.

I'm part way through a tutorial for a cushion cover (that's "pillow" for US peeps) using this block.

Poor light stopped play, but it should be ready in the next couple of days, so check back soon if you're interested.

Block Buster Sunday #3 Card Trick Block Tutorial

Hi, Welcome to another block tutorial.

This week's tutorial is for the card trick block.
I know a lot of people love this block and when I returned to quilting a few years ago, it was one that I definitely wanted to try. I would rate this as an intermediate level block. It's construction is relatively straight forward, but you do need to concentrate on fabric placement and when you are trimming the components. It's not a block to make after a couple of glasses of wine!!

The tutorial shows you how to make the block with four different fabrics for the "cards" because this, to me, is the iconic block, but there is considerable fabric wastage with this. You would be better to make 2 identical blocks and that way you avoid the wastage.
Please note that when I took the photos for the tutorial I cut my larger squares at 5 1/2", not the 5 1/4" that I think is the better size, and is the size given in the cutting instructions. It makes the trimming easier. Some of the photos therefore show more fabric needing trimming than is actually the case.

I have given cutting instructions for three sizes of block 6" finished, 9" finished and 12" finished

For a 6" finished block you need to cut:
4    3 1/4" coloured squares (one each of your chosen fabrics)
4    3" coloured squares (one each of the same fabrics as above)
1    3 1/4" background squares
4    3" background squares

For a 9" finished block you need to cut:
4    4 1/4" coloured squares (one each of your chosen fabrics)
4    4" coloured squares (one each of the same fabrics as above)
1    4 1/4" background squares
4    4" background squares

For a 12" finished block you need to cut:
4    5 1/4" coloured squares (one each of your chosen fabrics)
4    5" coloured squares (one each of the same fabrics as above)
1    5 1/4" background squares
4    5" background squares

Pair each of the smaller coloured squares with a smaller background square. Draw a pencil line along the diagonal.

 Accurately match the squares and sew 1/4" seam line either side of the pencil line. You can chain piece these. Cut along the pencil line and press open to create 8 HSTs (half square triangles)

Discard one of each colour (or save for the second block) and trim to 2 1/2", 3 1/2" or 4 1/2" depending on the size block you are making.

Take the 4 larger coloured squares and cut each into 1 HST and 2 QSTs (quarter square triangles)

Cut the remaining large background square into 4 QSTs

Sew one of each coloured QST to a background QST, ensuring that the right angles are together at the base and that the coloured piece is on the right hand side.

Trim the overhangs. Lay out all your pieces as shown.

Sew the 4 QSTs in the centre of the layout, first into 2 HSTs 

then join to make  a single QST block. Trim to 2 1/2", 3 1/2" or 4 1/2" depending on the size block you are making.

Sew the remaining HSTs to their adjacent pieces.

Trim to 2 1/2", 3 1/2" or 4 1/2" depending on the size block you are making.

This is where concentration is needed. You need the diagonal seam lined up with the 45 degree line on the ruler and the 4.5" mark (or the correct measurement for your block size) on the edge of the ruler level with the QST seam line.

You will now have 9 equal size components of your block, and hopefully it's plain sailing from now on!!

Join the pieces in each row.

Then sew the rows together to complete the block.

You're done !! It's pretty spectacular, isn't it!
Now, it' time for that glass of wine!!

Because it's such a dramatic block, I think this needs to shine, rather than be one of many in an overall design. Below is a quick mock up of a suggested layout using the block.
I've created an off centre column of card trick blocks with narrow sashings of the individual colours, leaving a lot of negative space where I could continue the modern look with straight line quilting, or possibly diamonds?
I like creating and posting the mock ups. It gives me an good resource to go back and look at if I ever need inspiration for a quilt.

The 2 colour version is simpler to construct and more economical with fabric.

You will need:

For a 6" finished block 

2    3" squares of colour A

1    3 1/4" square of colour A

2    3" squares of colour B

1    3 1/4" square of colour B

2    3" squares of background 

1    3 1/4" square of background

For a 9" finished block 

2    4" squares of colour A

1    4 1/4" square of colour A

2    4" squares of colour B

1    4 1/4" square of colour B

2    4" squares of background 

1    4 1/4" square of background

For a 12" finished block 

2    5" squares of colour A

1    5 1/4" square of colour A

2    5" squares of colour B

1    5 1/4" square of colour B

2    5" squares of background 

1    5 1/4" square of background

Pair up one of the smaller colour A squares with a same size background square and do the same for one smaller colour B square.

Draw a diagonal pencil line on each and create 4 HST squares as before. Trim to 2 1/2", 3 1/2" or 4 1/2" square depending on the size of block you are making.

Cut the 2 remaining smaller squares in half diagonally.

Cut the 3 larger squares into quarters diagonally.

Lay out out the pieces as shown below and complete your block as described for the four colour version.

I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial and may someday have a go at making card trick blocks.
The Block Buster Sunday tutorials do seem to be growing in detail, but I am enjoying exploring the blocks and the layouts that can be achieved with them.
It probably means, though, that they appear fortnightly or every few weeks, if they are this detailed. That way I may actually get some quilting done, rather than just talking about it!!