Fancy Folded Star Pot Holder

Hi again everyone! It’s Maria from Not Only Quilts and I’m so happy to be back here at Moda Bake Shop to share my third tutorial with you all. This time we’ll be making a really fancy pot holder!

“Just a pot holder?” you say. “How boring!”

Well, this pot holder is anything but boring; it’s fancy and fun to make. =)

And the folded star technique you learn here can be used for so many other things: make it bigger for a pillow cover or make it smaller for an adorable ornament!  It’s the perfect way to use a few spare fat quarters for a gift. I recommend you read the entire tutorial before beginning this project.

6 Fat Quarters (Flurry by Kate Spain)
Disappearing marker
Color matched thread
Cotton batting

Step 1 – Selecting fabrics
Choose 4 FQ’s (Fat Quarters) that coordinate nicely: these will be your star.

And choose 1 FQ for backing, and 1 FQ for drawing, and sewing on.

Step 2 – Cutting
* Cut (1) 10″ x 10″ square from your backing fabric and (1) 10 x 10″ of your drawing and sewing fabric. For one of these squares I substituted the drawing and sewing one with an ugly fabric from my scrap bin as it won’t be visible when we’re done). That’s all we need and the rest can be placed in your scrap bin.

* We will cut each of the 4 FQ’s we selected for the star into (16) 3″ x 4″ pieces.
First cut (3) 4″ strips from the 18″ long side of your FQ. We do it from this side to get as much leftover fabric as possible. Then sub-cut these strips in 3″ sections until you have 16 (you will get 18 from the strips through). Repeat this for all 4 FQ’s.

* From the fabric that you choose as your bottom fabric (see step 5), cut two 5″ squares. Split them in half diagonally so you end up with 4 triangles.

* Use the leftovers from one of the star FQ’s for binding.

Step 3 – Drawing
On your background square, with a ruler and a pen, draw lines from corner to corner, and then from middle to middle, like this.

Step 4 – Ironing
Bring your 64 rectangles over to your ironing board. On the 4″ long side, fold down about a 1/4 inch towards the wrong side of the fabric and iron it. Do this for all rectangles; it gets a little repetitive, yes…

Step 5 – Select layout
Now we’re going to select the layout of our star. Here are some of my test versions. You should have 8 pieces in the layout, 2 of each fabric. I ended up going with #1 because it felt nicely tied together when it started and ended with the same color and slowly faded to blue and back to green.

Step 6 – Creating the star base
Now we’re going to start making the star. First we need to get all the pieces in place, keep the test version you decided to go with next to you when doing this for reference, as it’s easy to accidentally get the fabric in the wrong order.

Start with the vertical line; place your centerpiece exactly by the horizontal line the fold at the line, right side up while still centered over the vertical line. A scant ½” down, place your next piece and pin in place, this distance has to be the same all around your star so it’s very important you keep it still.  In my photo below, you can see my reference pile next to it. =)

Place the rest of the pieces a scant 1/4″ down from each other’s edges and pin in place. Try to keep this measurement the same all around your star since your star will be wonky otherwise.

Repeat for the other side of the line until you have this. Make sure the top pieces on each side touch but don’t overlap. This is very important.

Draw a line in the middle of your pieces (5″ in from the edge) using a disappearing marker and sew along the line using your walking foot – otherwise you risk your pieces shifting. Choose a thread that blends in nicely with your bottom fabric (in my case, the solid green) because it will be most visible there.

Remove the pins from your first row so you can flip the fabric from side to side. Complete your second row using the exact same measurements, carefully folding away the already stitched in place row and keeping your top piece touching them, but not overlapping, like this.

Draw your centerline with the disappearing marker and sew in place. This time you have to first sew one side, and then the other so backstitch a few stitches in the center.

Now we’ve come to the diagonal rows. This is where it get’s a little bulky but as long as you take your time to make sure that the center of your top fabric really meet the others without overlapping, you will be able to get a beautiful star.

Do this for all 4 diagonal lines. Draw a centerline (you can draw it from the middle fold to the drawn line on your background fabric) and sew in place.  Voila! You’ve sewn all of your pieces in place. Now it is time for folding! =)

Step 7 – Folding your star
This step might seem complicated but it really isn’t, it just requires patience and maybe one or two practice folding rounds. So the first time, you might want to just pin in place and see where that leaves you because it can be a little tricky to get the folds even the first time.

Many of the written descriptions below can seem very confusing, however, just click the photo below them and enlarge it and it should become crystal clear what I’m trying to get across. =)

Separate two piles of fabric by flipping them to the sides, like this.

Starting on your right hand side, take the top piece, fold it over, wrong side towards wrong side so you get a triangle with a little leftover at the bottom. Enlarge the photo below and you’ll see exactly what I mean.

Lie it down towards the scrap fabric like so.

And fold it back over towards the seam again, right side to right side and the first fold is done!

While holding onto your right side fold, do the same thing to the left one. Fold it wrong side towards wrong side.

Lie it down towards the scrap fabric and then fold it back over towards the seam on the left side.

And the first star center is complete! Now we only need to do the single folds for the rest of the pieces.

On the right side (always start from the same side), fold it down, wrong side to wrong side like we did with the first two pieces.

Then simply lay it over your already folded pieces.

Fold the left one the exact same way.

While holding the one’s you’ve already folded in place, fold the next layer too.

Pin in place.

And then sew a sort of V shaped row of stitches, high enough to secure all three layers but away from the parts that will be visible when folded, like this.

Fold two more and stitch again.

And repeat. Make sure you remove all pins after sewing because it will be very difficult to retrieve them afterward. =)

For the last fabric, only pin in place… don’t sew yet.

Repeat 8 times, until the star is ready. Admire your hard work a little before continuing.

Now you can add batting and backing, sew around the edges, and cut a circle to make a round potholder. I preferred a squared one so I’ll be attaching some corners to it.

Step 8 – Finish the front
Now we’re going to take the 4 triangles we’ve already cut and use them to make our piece square. I made them big so no matter how you’ve folded, they should cover your ends. I can’t give you exact measurements here as it depends a little on how far apart you’ve placed your pieces and how you’ve folded. So here we do a little trial and error. Place your triangles wrong side up far enough up to cover the folds of your star but low enough to cover the corners when folded down, again a couple of pictures are more explanatory I think:

Before stitching, flip over your pinned triangles to make sure they cover all they should, like so:

Stitch along your pinned rows to get them in the correct position. Trim off the triangle edges sticking out.

Step 8 – Back, batting and quilting
Add batting (I use just one layer of normal cotton batting, this potholder has so many layers of fabric, you really don’t need any extra protection from heat when using it) and backing to your little potholder. Baste and quilt as desired, I choose to do a simple echo of the star shape.

Step 9 – Binding
I know most of you already know how to do this, so then just skip this part and bind with your preferred method. But I remember from making my very own first potholders how difficult it was to get a decent looking edge and hanger on the darn thing, so in case there’s anyone else out there like me a few years back, this section is for you =)

Cut two  2″ long strips from your desired binding fabric from the 18″ end, join them to make one continuous binding strip.  We’re going to make single fold binding, so 2″ wide is wide enough.

Fold the strip in half, wrong sides together and iron it, then open it up and iron the edges towards the center fold, something like this. I know mine doesn’t match perfectly (I got lazy and made it with my bias band maker).

Start in one corner of your potholder. On the wrong side of your potholder, pin your binding wrong side up from the very end and start sewing from the top. Use a 1/4 inch seam allowance.

Sew until you’re a 1/4 inch away from the bottom edge. Backstitch and clip your thread.

At the corner, fold back your binding to a 45 degree angle, like so:

Fold it back at the right edge down towards the next side you’re about to sew. Again, this sounds more complicated then it is. Just look at the photo and then you start your stitching 1/4″ from the edge where the little arrow is, it will be exactly in line with your last row of stitching. Be careful not to catch your fold with your stitching when backstitching.

Continue around 3 corners but don’t do the last one, so you’ll end up with these flips on 3 corners.

When you come to the last corner, stop an inch or so before the end. Take the starting point binding and pin it in place around the front.

Sew the final inch or so all the way to the edge.

You should have a fairly long piece leftover at this point. You can now shorten it to 4″ sticking out over the edge.

Fold over your binding and pin in place, making sure you get pretty 45 degree corners as you go. I’m normally very lazy and never pin my bindings, but for this part of the tutorial I wanted to show the recommended way of doing it when you’re a beginner – to ensure an even and nice looking binding as it easily slips away from you when machine sewing it in place if you’re not used to it. =)

Before you sew it all in place, take the hanger piece sticking out and fold it back over itself, right sides together, and 1/8″ from the edge, sew a few stitches back and forth to close it.

Flip it back and into the fold with the seam like so.

Now start stitching at the end of the hanger, closing it off as you go and follow it all the way around. Stop a few inches from the end and flip the hanger underneath the end so you make the little loop with the same seam as you end the binding.

One ~10″ big, super fancy folded star potholder! A lovely but usable decoration for your own kitchen, or the perfect gift for the person who has everything!

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this tutorial as much as I enjoyed making it! If you end up making one of these, I’d love to see it! Please send me an email {maria@idztech.com} with a picture, as I’d be so happy to  feature it on my blog =)

Maria Wallin

{Not Only Quilts}

Christmas Traditions Advent Calendar

It’s Christmas in July!!!  Hi everyone, it’s Melissa from Happy Quilting 🙂  Don’t you just love the Christmas season???  So full of joy and magic, and of course, lots and lots to do 🙂  Each year I find our schedule gets more and more packed as we add in new Christmas Traditions.  Last year, I sat down on Nov 30th and wrote down a list of all the Christmas joys, traditions, parties, etc that we didn’t want to miss out on.  Then I looked at the calendar and started plugging things in.  It worked out pretty great and took away so much holiday stress and most importantly kept the Christmas Spirit in the home.  So this year, I want to keep that same spirit alive but of course, turn it into some quilted goodness.

So with that in mind, I came up with the Christmas Traditions Advent Calendar.  Each day from Dec 1st to the 24th, you will find a little scroll tucked underneath the flap (or you can do a pocket if you prefer, there are instructions for both) .  Each morning Mom, Dad, or one of the kids get to pull out the scroll and find out what Christmas Tradition we will do that day.  Some are big, (like seeing the lights, building a snowman, or going caroling) and some are small, (like reading a Christmas story, having hot chocolate with marshmallows, or singing our favorite Christmas songs together.) But most importantly, we don’t miss out on any of our favorite Christmas Traditions and we keep the holiday spirit in our home all month long 🙂

So would you love to make a Christmas Traditions Advent Calendar??  Well great, just pop on over to Burgundy Buttons where Leah has worked up an adorable Christmas Traditions Advent Calendar Quilt Kit just for you 🙂  And as always, at great Burgundy Buttons prices.  Hurry, supplies are limited!!

And as always, if you have any questions you can email me at happyquiltingmelissa (at) gmail (dot) come.  And if you make this project I would love to see it.  Email me a picture or add it to my flickr tutorial page 🙂 And you can always find me at my blog Happy Quilting to see what I am up to 🙂

2 Flurry by Kate Spain Charm Packs
2 White Bella Solids Charm Packs
1/2 Yard of Red Snowflake Print #27089 21
1/2 Yard of  Green Snowflake Print #27089 23
1/8 Yard of Blue Snowflake Print #12
1/2 Yard of White Peppermints Print #27087 14  (binding)
1 Yard of White Christmas Print #27084 13   (backing)
Heat and Bond Lite  (some yardage and at least 35 cut 5 x 5 squares)
Red and Green ribbon.

There is one print in this picture that it turned out I didn’t use –  Just FYI 🙂

It is easiest if you sort your charms into color coordinated piles now  (that top one of the red pile isn’t really “red” but put it with that pile anyway 🙂  The charms with the ovals I did not use, however there are times when you can use them, I just choose to go without them.  I will mention it when they can be used.

STEP 1 – APPLIQUÉ


So obviously, this project has a lot of applique in it 🙂  Start by grabbing your green and red charms.  Sort them into two piles of red and two piles of green that are identical to each other (there are 2 charm packs here so you will have some repeat prints in each pile).  Set one red and green pile aside to be used later.

You now should have 12 green charms and 12 red charms (yes we are still calling that green, blue, and red print a red charm).  You need to cut out 24 Christmas appliqué’s for the 24 days. Half will be in red and half will be in green – see how well that works out?

Start by placing a square of Heat N Bond (texture side down) onto the wrong side of the fabric of your first charm.  Press with iron.  Now using the templates at the bottom of this tutorial, draw the image of your appliqué onto the Heat N Bond.  Lastly, Cut out the image and remove the paper side of the Heat N Bond.  Repeat this process for all 24 charm squares (I did 3 of each Christmas image).

Next you want to do the number appliqué.  I choose to do these on the Bella Solid Charm squares but if you like, you can do them on the white print flurry squares.  It is your choice.  We will do the numbers in the same fashion as the Christmas images with one big exception.  Use the template from the bottom of this tutorial of the numbers but when you draw the images, make sure you draw the numbers backwards so that when you turn the number over, it will be facing the right direction.  You can get 4-5 numbers out of each charm square.  You want to cut out the numbers one to twenty-four.

Now it’s time for a little sewing.  I am sure your fingers can use the break from cutting 🙂  Place a Christmas Image appliqué onto a White Bella Solid Charm square and center it. You can just eyeball this.  Press the appliqué to fuse it to the charm square.  Repeat this process for all 24 Christmas image appliqué’s.

Now you can move over to your sewing machine.  You will want to sew around each Christmas image appliqué to secure it to the charm square.  I choose to do a blanket stitch but you are welcome to do a straight stitch for raw edge appliqué or a zig-zag stitch.  Whichever you prefer.  I also choose black thread to really make these appliqué’s pop, but once again, you do what you like 🙂  Repeat for all 24 squares.

So now you have your 24 appliqué charm squares and you are ready to number them. I just realized I took this picture before I actually did the blanket stitch, oops 🙂  Now you want to figure your layout before attaching the numbers.  I choose to alternate the green and red pattern with that “special” red being day 24.  Once you have a layout you like, you are ready to start adding numbers.  (Side note . . . I did my numbers in numerical order but you can mix them up if you prefer)

You attach the numbers the same way you did the Christmas Image appliqué’s.  I found it best when layering the numbers, to completely sew around the first number before ironing on the second.  It just made less starting and stopping 🙂   You guessed it, Repeat for all 24.

Now you are ready to do the last set of appliqué which is the Merry Christmas banner at the bottom. Using the letters template including in the Printer Friendly Version, cut out the words “Merry Christmas” from the 1/8th of a yard of the blue snowflake print. I didn’t take any pictures of this as I figure you are a natural by now 🙂

Move onto making the backing for the Christmas banner.  Grab 9 White Bella Solid charm squares and sew them together using a 1/4″ seam allowance end to end.

Press your seams open on the banner.  Now trim off 1 3/4″ off of both ends of the banner to get the appropriate size.

Now you are ready to place your appliqué.  I found it easiest to lay my ruler one inch up from the bottom of my banner as a line to place everything on.  (I did have the “y” sink down below, just don’t go down to far as you have to sew a 1/4″ around this)  Once you have everything placed perfectly, press to secure your appliqué.   

Use your desired method of stitching to secure your appliqué to the banner.  Once again, I choose black thread to really make this pop!  Oh, and don’t worry about those seam lines, you can’t see them once this is quilted. And that is the end of the applique!!!

STEP 2 – MAKING FLAPS or POCKETS


With your appliqué all done, you are ready to move on to making the flaps or pockets for your calendar  Start by finding the red or green print charm square (those you set aside earlier) that matche the Christmas image appliqué of the square you are working on.  Place the two squares right sides together.  Now pin around the edges.  Repeat for all 24 charm sets.

Now to sewing.  Use the following guide for sewing. You are leaving the opening in the top to turn the piece inside out.   Once again, you want to be 1/4″ from the edge.  And make sure to backstitch at the beginning and end so your stitches don’t pull out when you turn the entire thing inside out.  Repeat for all 24 🙂

Now turn your flap or pocket right side out using the hole that was left in the top.  Make sure to use a pen or small pointed tool to push out all your corners and seams.  Repeat for all 24.

Tuck the raw edges under at the top (they will fold naturally) and press the entire square.  Repeat for all 24.  You can now set these aside for a little bit.  Aren’t they just adorable?!

STEP 3 – MAKING ROW PIECES


Now you are ready to make the backing that you will be attaching your flaps or pockets to.  Start by grabbing 11 charm squares out of your ‘blue” pile .  This is where I choose to leave out the solid blue and the blue snowflake print from the appliquéd, just a personal choice.  You are going to cut the 11 charm square into four 2 1/2’ x 2 1/2″ squares.  Just cut in half vertically and then without moving the pieces, cut in half horizontally.  Repeat for all 11 charm squares and then set the squares aside.

Now you need to cut the rows to do some strip piecing for the sashing. You will be doing the next 2 sets of instructions for both the red and green yardage 🙂  Align the folded edge of your yardage along the 0 horizontal line on your mat.  Align your ruler up along the marks on vertial marks on the top and bottom of your mat and cut a nice straight edge to start with.  Now measure over 1 1/2″, align your ruler along the top and bottom again and cut a 1 1/2″ strip.

 

Without moving your already cut strips, keep moving over 1 1/2″ until you have cut nine 1 1/2″ strips.  Now align your ruler along the horizontal line at the top of your strips to trim off the selvage edge.  Repeat for the green.

Now for some strip piecing.  Strip piecing is a great way to speed things up and save time.  Take a green and red strip and place them right sides together.  Sew a 1/4″ seam all the way down the side of the strip.  There is no need to pin, you can just align as you go.  If the ends don’t come out perfect, no worries 🙂  Just keep feeding strip sets through until all 9 have been sewn.

Now clip the threads between sets and press your seams.  You can press to one side or open.

Lastly, you are going to cut your strip sets into the sashing sizes.  Start by trimming a little off the end just so you start with a nice straight line.  Now measure over 5″ and cut.  You will be able to get 8 sashing pieces out of each strip set.  You need 66 sashing pieces, so cut 8 out of 8 strip pieces and 2 sashing pieces out of the final 9th strip piece.

STEP 4 – SEWING ROWS TOGETHER

Now that all your pieces are cut, you are ready to put your rows together.  First are your border rows.  There are 2 layouts for these and you will be doing three rows in each layout.  Notice, they look similar but the red and green are opposite.  Be careful not to mix them up 🙂  

Start by laying the first piece in the row onto the second piece in the row with rights sides together.  There really isn’t need to pin as you are dealing with such small pieces and no seams but you can if you like.  Sew a 1/4″ seam along the edge.  Continue adding on piece by piece of your row in this fashion until the row is complete.  (I found it easiest to stack up my rows so I didn’t have to go back and forth a lot 🙂  Repeat for all 6 rows (3 sets of the 2 layouts) and then press the rows.

Next you are going to sew the background rows.  You will need 4 of these rows.  The layout is as follows.  The red and green on the ends don’t matter here because you can just flip it as needed.

You will sew these 4 rows in the same fashion.  Lay your first piece of the row onto the second piece with right sides together.  Sew a 1/4″ seam.  Then continue adding on piece by piece until the row is finished.  Once again, stacking helps. Repeat for all four rows and then press.

Lastly, you need to add the borders onto the Merry Christmas banner.  Now before doing this, (if you are doing the same color alteration as me) just double check that your #19 is going to coordinate with this side.  Meaning, my #19 is a green print, so I want an inner red border around it. I need to make sure that the row below has a green outer border.  Hence the Green strip closest to the M in Merry.  (If I totally just confused you just look down at the first picture under step 5 to see what I am talking about).

You attach these two row ends the same as you did your other rows.  Lay the two pieces onto the edges of the borders with right sides together.  Sew a 1/4″ seam and then press.

Now all your rows are done.   You should have 1 Merry Christmas banner, 4 background rows, 3 sashing rows that start in red on top and 3 sashing rows that start with green on top.  You with me 🙂  Great, let’s move on!!!

STEP 5 – SEWING TOP TOGETHER

Okay, so now you are ready to layout your top.  Once again, double check that your appliqué prints are going to be the opposite color of your inner squares.  You can also choose to mix up the color squares if you like, so the top and bottom inner squares are green and the sides of the inner squares are red.  It looks great both ways 🙂  

Sew the top together the same way you pieced the rows together. Take your first row and lay it on top of your second row with right sides together.

Make sure to match each of your seams. This is of prime importance to make sure they come together nice and crisp.  Once you have pinned your seams, go ahead and pin along the rest of the row.  If you find you have some bulk from lining up those seams, go ahead and slide the bubble down and put in a horizontal pin.  This helps to get rid of that bulk but still keep nice crisp seams 🙂  Once you are all pinned, sew 1/4″ seam along the pin line, making sure to remove pins as you go.  Press.

Now just move onto the next row.  Lay the third row onto the now sewn together first and second rows with right sides together.  Pin, sew, and press. Keep repeating until you have sewn all of your rows together.

…and here is what you should have!!!  A beautiful background just ready for those adorable little flaps or pockets.  So lets get to them now!!!

STEP 6 – ADDING FLAPS or POCKETS

Go ahead and grab all those cute little numbered charms you set aside.  Don’t they just look adorable all lined up?!!  

FOR THE FLAP – Go ahead and pin the charm square along the top of the white background square.  Sew a line across the top of the square about an 1/8″ in.  This closes up the hole and secures it to the background. Remember to backstitch at the beginning and end of the line.   I choose to do a super small zig-zag stitch here instead of a straight stitch just so that it was anchored well (I know I will have little hands tugging on them).  You can do a decorative stitch, straight stitch, whatever you like 🙂  Once again, repeat this process for all 24 Christmas charm squares.

FOR THE POCKET – First you need to close up the hole in the top of your charms.  Sew a line across the top of each of your 24 charms keeping about an 1/8′ from the edge.  Once again, you can use a decorative stitch, straight stitch, whatever you like 🙂  Repeat for all 24 squares.

Now you are ready to attach the pockets.  Align the pocket flap onto the background white solid.  Pin along the side edges of the pockets.  Now sew a line about 1/8″ in (once again, using whatever stitch you like keeping strength of seam in mind) according to the picture below.  Remember to backstitch at the beginning and end.  Repeat for all 24 squares.

And there you have it!!!  Your Christmas Traditions Advent Calendar top is done!!!  I just love it!!!!!

STEP 7 – FINISHING UP

So now the fun part… finishing it up!!   First you want to make your quilt sandwich.  Grab your yard of backing.  Make sure to give it a good press first (this helps to keep bubbles out of the backing).    Tape your backing down to a flat surface with wrong side up.  Then lay down your piece of batting followed by your Advent Calendar top. Having some tunes for this next part might be nice 🙂  

Now onto basting!!!  Start in the center and pin moving outward and smoothing as you go.  I pinned in each of the blue squares and the center of each of the background white squares.

Once your project is all basted, you are ready to quilt it.  I really had some fun with the quilting and decided to share but remember, you do what you like.  For the sashing I wanted to give a ribbon look.  I sewed the top line first and then went back and echoed the line crossing over every once and a while to create the ribbon effect.  I used white thread so when I crossed over on the blue squares it wouldn’t show up much 🙂  Oh, and make sure not to sew any of your flaps down. They pretty much stay out of the way, but I thought it was worth mentioning 🙂

For the background of the banner I wanted to do something that really made the words pop!!  So, nothing pops quite like little pebbling.  And I love that it has the added benefit of looking like little snowballs!!!  It also really makes those seam lines in the background impossible to see.

Lastly, and this is optional, I wanted to repeat the images in quilting in the background squares that are on the front of the flaps or pockets.  So using a water-soluble pen and the templates from the appliqué’s, I drew the image and then pebble quilted around it to make the image pop 🙂

Once you have your quilting done, you are ready to bind your project.  Grab your 1/2″ yard of peppermint print and cut it into at least  four 2 1/2″ strips.  Turn those into your binding and attach.  If you have never done a binding before there is a great tutorial here to help 🙂

And last, if you are doing the flaps, add a piece of ribbon to the back of each background fabric.  Once again, I just used a small zig zag stitch to ensure these were really on well.  Now you are ready to write up your Christmas Traditions.  For the scrolls I just used squares of paper about 2 x 4, you can use fancy Christmas Paper as well, that would be adorable.  Write your traditions, plan your days, and enjoy your Christmas holiday!!!

One amazing Christmas Traditions Advent Calendar perfect for keeping your family in the Christmas Spirit all month long!!!  The Calendar measures approx. 34″ x 40″ and will make the perfect addition to your Christmas!

Melissa Corry

{happyquiltingmelissa.blogspot.com}

Gift Box Quilt

Hello All! My name is Angela and I blog over at Cut To Pieces. I’m so pleased to be able to share with you all my very first Moda Bake Shop quilt! But not my last 😉 It was very fun to be able to use Kate Spain’s newest Christmas Line, Flurry. This is actually the first Christmas quilt that I have ever made and I was delighted to have an excuse. But don’t worry if Christmas Fabrics are not your thing! I have lots of other fabric options to show you below. So keep reading.

This twin sized quilt is a very versatile design that looks fabulous with any fabric. I actually think it would be a great design for a quilt for a male, which can be hard to find. And the beauty of this quilt is that it is all made from the same block pattern, so it goes quickly! I pieced the top in one weekend. So put off all of your quilt projects and tackle this one. I promise you won’t be disappointed. 😉

• One Fat Quarter Bundle of Flurry by Kate Spain (or Two jelly rolls!)
• 3.125 yards of Bella Solid Navy
• 3.5 yards of Aqua Snuggles fabric (60″ wide) for the backing
• 1 yard of Flurry Snowdrift Peppermint Swirl for the binding

Each block in this quilt is made exactly the same way. So all of the cutting and sewing instructions are the same for every block. Each block is made up of (9) pieces of fabric, all either a different size or a different print. There are 35 blocks that make up the quilt.

Cutting:

The Navy Bella Solid:

Fold the yardage in half selvage to selvage.

Cut (11) 4.5″ wide strips across the width of the fabric.
Cut (24) 2.5″ wide strips across the width of the fabric.

•select (4) of the 4.5″ wide navy strips and from those cut (35) 4.5″ x 4.5″ squares. You can get 9 pieces per strip.

•select (7) of the 4.5″ wide navy strips and from those cut (35) 8.5″ x 4.5″ pieces. You can get 5 pieces per strip.
*This measurement is fairly exact, so you may want to give yourself an extra strip if necessary.*

•select (3) of the 2.5″ wide navy strips and from those cut (35) 2.5″ x 2.5″ squares. You can get 16 pieces per strip.

(cutting a strip into 2.5″ inch squares)

•select (9) of the 2.5″ wide navy strips and from those cut (35) 10.5″ x 2.5″ pieces. You can get 4 pieces per strip.

•select (12) of the 2.5″ wide navy strips and from those cut (35) 12.5″ x 2.5″ pieces. You can get 3 pieces per strip.

(shown here are the three sizes of navy pieces that are 2.5″ wide)

The Fat Quarter Bundle:

Choose 21 Fat Quarters from the Bundle. Select 14 of those 21 to be double blocks and 7 to be single blocks. Do this by choosing a layout. Lay the fabrics out, 3 across and 7 down. Place them in such a way that you have a pleasing balance of color, scale and print. All three will keep your eye moving.

When you are pleased with your arrangement, proceed with cutting.

For the 14 fat quarters that will double (ie the ones that you are making two blocks of), cut (3) strips 2.5″ x length of the fat quarter (generally 22″).

•select (1) strip and cut (2) 10.5″ x 2.5″ pieces.

•select (1) strip and cut (2) 8.5″ x 2.5″ pieces.

•select (1) strip and cut (2) 4.5″ x 2.5″ AND (2) 2.5″ x 2.5″ pieces.

For the 7 fat quarters that are single blocks, cut (2) strips 2.5″ x length of the fat quarter (generally 22″).

•select (1) strip and cut (1) 10.5″ x 2.5″ piece.

•select (1) strip and cut (1) 8.5″ x 2.5″ AND (1) 4.5″ x 2.5″ AND (1) 2.5″ x 2.5″ pieces.

*note: if using jelly rolls for this, simply skip the step that requires you to cut the fabric into 2.5″ strips and go straight to cutting the actual pieces required. You will need (2) jelly rolls to achieve the displayed quilt.*

Piecing:

Sew each block together in the alphabetized order from A to I, always pressing toward the newest piece added to the block.

A. Navy 2.5″ x 2.5″ square
B. Print 2.5″ x 2.5″ square
C. Print 4.5″ x 2.5″ piece
D. Navy 4.5″ x 4.5″ square
E. Navy 8.5″ x 4.5″ piece
F. Print 8.5″ x 2.5″ piece
G. Print 10.5″ x 2.5″ piece
H. Navy 10.5″ x 2.5″ piece
I. Navy 12.5″ x 2.5″ piece

Pieces A and B

Place right sides together and sew.

For faster piecing, you may find it helpful to do some chain piecing, particularly at the beginning.

Pieces A and B with C.

Place right sides together and sew.

Press seam toward piece C. (always towards the newest piece)

Pieces A,B,and C with D

Place right sides together and sew.

(try not to notice that I didn’t press my seam here the way that I am telling you to.)

Press the seam toward D.

Pieces A,B,C,D with E.

Place right sides together and sew.

Press seam toward E.

Pieces A,B,C,D,E with F (stop me when I’m boring you!).

Place right sides together (big shock…) and sew.

Let’s skip ahead a couple, shall we? Eventually you attach that last piece onto your block!

Each block finishes at 12.5″ x 12.5″ unfinished.

Sew the (5) blocks in each row together, taking care to match your seams at the double block. Press the seams open.

Sew each row together, pinning as necessary. Press open the seams.

Two Rows Together.

Putting the 4th row on.

The whole quilt top together!

A detailed shot of the top:

Backing:

I used Moda’s Snuggles Fabric for ultimate comfort in the cold winter months. You may have thought that this fabric was just for baby blankets, but let me tell you. Adults love it too!

This fabric comes in a 60″ width, so you will have some extra left over if you piece the back together. But that will guarantee you have enough fabric on all the sides for quilting. You will need 3.5 yards, cut in half and seamed together across the middle width of the back.

You can certainly back the quilt with a quilting weight cotton as well which is typically a 45″ width. You will need 5 yards cut into (2) 2.5 yard pieces and seamed together along the long edge of the fabric.

Completing the Quilt:

Use your favorite basting method to baste together the backing, batting and quilt top. I chose to use a slightly lofty wool batting in this quilt to make it extra warm in the cold winter months.

Then quilt as desired. I had the fun of sending this quilt to a professional long arm quilter (my very first time!) mainly due to time constraints with my recent move 1000 miles across the country. But I had her quilt it the way that I intended to quilt it myself on my conventional home machine. I chose a simple echo quilting pattern that emphasizes the lines of the quilt pattern. I love how it turned out, but I’m a straight line kind of gal. The beauty of this quilt is that there are really so many different options for quilting. I also considered an all over cross hatch pattern, a simple meander pattern, and even a bow like pattern on the “top” of each “gift box”. So there is definitely a little something for everyone.

I bound my quilt using (7) 2 3/4″ wide strips sewn together on the bias. I fold that in half all along the length and stitch to the edge of the quilt. Then I flip the folded edge to the back of the quilt and hand sew in place. Just a simple double fold binding method. I used a slightly wider strip than usual because of the loft of the wool batting. If I were using a flat cotton batting, use a 2 1/4″ wide strip.

Color/Fabric Alternatives:

I know that not everyone is going to want to make a Christmas Quilt, but don’t let that stop you from trying this pattern out with other fabrics. There are endless possibilities of fabric combinations that make for some very interesting and modern quilts. Here are just a few mock ups that I have put together.

Try a monochromatic quilt with a solid background.

Can’t get enough of rainbows? Give one of these versions a try!

Want to try out a new line coming out? Here’s what a little Hometown could look like.

And just because I’m such a fan of aqua, I had to show you an option with an aqua background. 😉

One twin sized quilt measuring 60″ x 84″.

Inspired yet? I hope so! I’d love to see any versions you make of this quilt. You can share them on Flickr in my group Cut To Pieces and of course the Moda Bake Shop group.

Come on…how can you resist this quilt?

Angela Pingel
{cuttopieces.blogspot.com}

Flurries Wall Hanging

Hello, again from northern Virginia!  I’m Polly from Aunt Polly’s Porch, with a fun wall quilt just perfect for your front door to welcome Christmas to your home!

I used the adorable “Flurry” collection from Kate Spain!


1 jelly roll
5/8 yard for background
1/2 yard for borders
1/2 yard print for fussy cutting ornaments
3/4 yard backing
1/2 yard for bucket and binding
batting
paper-backed fusible

4 buttons for snowflake centers
thin ribbon for ornaments
white rick rack for the snowflakes
red rickrack for inside border

Pull out the green strips from the jelly roll to use for the tree and cut them in half.

Arrange eleven of them in a pleasing order and sew them together along the long sides.  You may use the same fabric several times if you like!

I pressed my seams open, but it’s your choice!  🙂

Cut a piece of fusible 16” by 22”, fold it half lengthwise and cut out a fun tree shape.  I wanted mine to look sort of Seuss-ish!!  You can draw on the paper side to try out different tree branch looks then cut it out on the one you like the best!!

Fuse it onto the wrong side of the green strippy piece.

Cut the tree out 1/8” inside the edges.

Cut the background 19” by 36”.  I used a 3” by 10” brown scrap from my stash for the tree trunk as there was no brown jelly roll strip in this collection. Press a strip of fusible onto the wrong side of the brown fabric scrap, then cut out a 2” by 9”  rectangle for the trunk.

Cut out a 6” square piece of bucket fabric.  My bucket is 5” tall and 6” across the top edge and 4” across the bottom edge.  Use a ruler and draw the shape on the back, then cut it out. Fuse it onto the wrong side of the bucket fabric and cut it out 1/8” inside the edges.

Cut or tear four 4” wide strips selvage to selvage for the borders.  Sew them onto the 4 sides of the background. Center the treetop, trunk and bucket on the background and fuse in place.  You can either straight stitch around the raw fused edges or you can blanket stitch them.

Now comes the fun part- decorating the tree.  I auditioned several different colors of rickrack and liked red the best.  But I waited to sew it on until after the quilt is quilted.  Press fusible onto the wrong side of the ornament fabric

and then fussy cut duplicates of different motifs from your fabric to use for ornaments on the tree.

I cut out quite a few different ones and auditioned them on the tree but found them too small for my liking as they disappeared on the busy treetop.

So, I drew a simple shape on the fusible and pressed it on the wrong side

of a few different jelly roll strips and tried them, too, on the tree and found them better than the others, but still too busy… sigh… 

So, then I drew the same simple shape on the fusible again and pressed it on the back of a more solid red fabric. After cutting them out, I auditioned adding some of the smaller fussy-cut motifs on top of the red ornament and then tried those on the tree and finally found the one I liked the best!

I removed them and made the quilt sandwich and quilted the wall hanging in a simple meander, changing threads to match…red for the bucket, green for the tree, brown for the trunk and white for the rest.  I then fused five of these ornaments on the tree, leaving ample space between them for the snowflakes!

I cut 3” pieces of white rickrack for the snowflakes- three pieces for each snowflake.  I pinned them onto the tree between the ornaments.

Then I stitched around the edges of the fused ornaments and down the center of each rickrack strip that formed the snowflakes.

I added light blue buttons in the center of each snowflake and small red bows at the top of each ornament.  I also fused on 4 of the smaller candy canes, then stitched around those edges, too.

Then I selected a colorfully striped jelly roll strip for a bow on the bucket.  I used pinking shears to cut the strip in half lengthwise before tying it into a bow, trimming the ends and tacking it on the bucket with a button in the center!

And then I stitched the red rickrack down the seam where the borders are sewn onto the quilt.  Now all that is left is binding.  I cut (4) 2 1/2” wide strips of fabric selvage to selvage, stitched them together, pressed them in half and sewed them onto the quilt edges with a scant 3/8” seam allowance.  If you want to add a hanging sleeve, you can!

Don’t forget the label on the back!!  And voila!!  You are finished!!  🙂

one 26” by 43” cute as can be Christmas wall hanging or door quilt!!

I hope you enjoy making this quick little project that is just perfect to welcome Christmas into your home and heart!  It’s so quick and easy you could even make a few for gifts!!

Yogi and I hope you like this design and wish you will drop by and visit us soon at Aunt Polly’s Porch! Have a happy “Christmas in July”!!

{Aunt Polly’s Porch}

Easy Advent Calendar

Hi!  I’m Mary from The Tulip Patch with a fun Christmas project…get started now and save the stress later!

My three boys love advent calendars and I have always wanted to do one for them but have been intimidated by all the pockets and finishing work.  I discovered the trusty one seam flying geese block and finally felt confident to try.  This is so easy and best of all, you can fill the calendar with what you want…healthy snacks, bible verses about the Christmas story, small toys, whatever!

Each calendar requires:

• 24 Charm Squares (Flurry by Kate Spain)
• approx 100″ binding (1/4 yard will yield approximately125″ of 2.5″ binding or approximately 165″ of 2.25″ binding)
• 20″x29″ rectangle of backing fabric (will give you 1″ over overhang on all sides)
• 12 5″x9.5″ rectangles for the pockets (1/2 yard will yield 16 pockets easily)
• A fusible web product such as Wonder Under, Steam a Seam, or Heat&Bond

Ric Rac (about 2 2/3 yd per calendar)

Cut your flying geese fabric (I used the solids from the Flurry Collection along with Moda Bella Solid in White into 12 5″x9.5″ rectangles.  Save all extra fabric for creating your calendar letters. 

With this particular charm pack, I first removed all the solid squares and saved them for making calendar letters.  I was able to do 3 calendars with 2 charm packs.

Now let’s make our one-seam flying geese blocks to serve as our pockets.

Layer in the following order:

• Bottom:  5″ charm square, right side facing UP
• Middle: 5″x 9.5″ rectangle, folded widthwise with wrong sides facing (right sides out) Your fold should be at the top and the ends of your folded rectangle should line up with the bottom of your charm squares.
• Top: 5″ charm square, right side facing DOWN

Now sew a 1/4″ seam on the side.  The fold of your rectangular fabric should be 1/4″ from the top. 

Repeat until you have a whole pile of one-seam flying geese ready for pressing.  Each calendar requires 12 one-seam flying geese blocks.  Each block makes 2 pockets.

Press ONE of your side seams down.  Do not press the fold of the rectangular fabric or you will end up with a crease in your geese.

Take your finger and spread your geese fabric out and press.

Now turn your block over and trim any excess geese fabric from the bottom of the block.

Now you can add letters if you wish.  I like to do this before I sew up the top because it is a more manageable size if you plan on securing the numbers with stitching.  I am going to be using raw edge applique & heat bond.  You could also choose to label your calendar with embroidery, fabric crayons/markers, needleturn applique, wool/felt applique.  Here is how I chose to do my letters:

Take your leftover fabric and adhere it to a fusible web product according to manufacturer instructions.  If you have a die cutter that will work on fabric, you can use this to cut your letters easily.  I happened to find one on sale and thanks to Darlene from Insights from SewCalGal for emailing me back and forth until I figured out how to work it! 

If you do not have a die cutter, use a number stencil to trace your numbers backwards on the adhesive side of the fabric you have just treated with heat and bond.  Cut numbers out and then peel any adhesive paper from each number. 

Apply with an iron to your blocks..double check your layout because once these numbers are down, there is no going back.  You can use a blanket stitch or zigzag stitch to secure your numbers.  My calendar will only be used as a wall hanging so I chose to only secure my letters with tight machine quilting and the fusible adhesive.

Now assemble your blocks.  I used a 3 column,  4 row layout.  You could also use a 4 row, 3 column layout for a long skinny calendar…choose what is best for the space you are planning to hang your calendar. 

Baste & Quilt as desired.  DO NOT quilt over your geese.  Quilt between them.  Trim up your quilt top after quilting.

Add a ric rac as a binding flange if desired.   If you hang your calendar with sewing pins like I do, the ric rac will hide those nicely.  Simply cut 4 pieces of ric rac to correspond with each side of your wall hanging and attach with your machine.  Finish your wall hanging by binding.

If you would like to make a traditional hanging sleeve, you can visit this MBS tutorial to learn how.

One 20″x30″ advent calendar to help the little ones you love count down to Christmas…

and start some family traditions.

If you enjoyed this tutorial then pop on over to the Tulip Patch to see what I’m up to.

Mary Lane Brown
{Tulip Patch}

Oh, Christmas Tree Quilt

Hi, I’m Amy! Also known to some as Alliekatmom. I am back with my second Recipe for you. I I want to share with you this half square triangle (HST) Christmas Tree quilt, made with Kate Spain’s new line Flurry. This quilt is much easier to make than it looks. It goes together quickly and accurately. I hope you love it as much as I do.

1 Flurry charm pack
1 1/4 yard of Bella solid white
1 3/4 yard of Flurry Wonderland Gumdrop 27084 13 for backing
1/2 yard of Peppermint Swirl Gumdrop 27087 24 for borders
1/2 yard of Solid Red Ribbon 27082 for the binding

The first step is to choose 30 prints from your Flurry charm pack. I chose 10 from each color…trying to stay away from the ones with the white backgrounds so it would show up better against my solid background fabric.

You will also need (for your wonky star):
2- 5″ charms which you will cut diagonally twice (yielding 4 triangles=total of 8)

** You may use more charms for more of a variety here.
1- 2.5″ square for the center of your wonky star

Then you need to cut your white backing fabric. Here are the cutting requirements.
30- 5″ squares (four 5″ strips of fabric should cover these)
2- 16.5″ x 4.5″ strips
2- 29″ x 4.5″ strips
2- 41″ x 4.5″ strips
2- 17.75″ x 6.5″ strips
8- 4.5″ squares
8- 2.5″ squares (these are for your wonky star)

** Borders are up to you! I added the borders by measuring both the top and bottom and dividing by two to get equal border lengths. They are 3.5″ wide. Sew the borders to the top and bottom and then measure the sides and divide by two….this will get you the side borders.

If you have a 1/4 inch ruler, you may use it here and follow this technique for your HST’s. If not just draw a line down the center of your square (diagonally) and sew 1/4 inch on either side of that line.
With your 1/4 ruler, draw a line on either side with a pencil. Do this for all 30 squares.

When finished with the lines put the fabric front sides together, keeping the pencil lines facing out and on top.

Sew down both sides of each HST. I suggest chain piecing (keep feeding the HTS’s in and do one side then with them all still attached to each other, do the other side).

When finished sewing both sides of the HST’s, cut them in half…diagonally down the middle.

Then iron them open, pressing seams away from the solid white background.

Trim each of your HST’s to 4.5 inches.


** If you wish to make a smaller quilt, or a wall hanging then you can make your HST’s as small as you want by either making them smaller here or starting with smaller squares and then squaring them up to the nearest half inch.

Once all your HST’s are trimmed to 4.5″ squares….You can begin assembly of the top.

First lay out the HST’s in rows as it shows above. Take time to get the layout and placement you like best.

Begin sewing your rows together.

Start by sewing the top 4 rows together, pressing your seams so that each row of seams are going in opposite directions. For example, in the top row your seams will all be pressed in the left direction, the second row all the seams will be pressed towards the right. This will make piecing the rows easier. Or if you prefer, you may press your seams open.

Next sew the 4 rows you just pieced together.

Match up each seam and pin before sewing together.

I like to pin them this way so that my needle doesn’t get in the way while I am sewing. It works just as well as pinning the other way. Pinning is important if you want your points to match up.

** Tip: In the picture above you can see where my sewing lines meet and make an X, this shows you where to sew and where you 1/4 inch is. As you are sewing, make sure you sew just on the outside edge where that X is, getting as close as you can to the X. This will give you perfect points.

Finish sewing your 4 rows together.

Sew the 16.5″ x 4.5″ strips to each side of the row.

Sew the next three rows together following the same procedure as the first 4 rows.

Sew the 29″ x 4.5″ strips to each side and then attach these rows to the top 4 rows.

Sew the next three rows together and attach them to the top completed rows. Then you will sew the 41″ x 4.5″ strips to each side.

You have one more row (the bottom row) to sew and attach to the completed rows. This completes the tree part.

Next you will make the wonky star for the top of your Christmas tree.

Take your 2.5″ white square and put your printed triangle as shown above (you can make it as wonky as you want, just be sure that when you fold it over it will cover the white part of the square completely) and sew a 1/4″ seam on the diagonal line. Press and trim away the excess.

Lay your second triangle over the one you just sewed. and sew your 1/4″ seam. Press and trim the square to 2.5″.

Follow these steps 3 more times.

Layout all of your 2.5 inch squares like the picture above. You will have one center block, 4 corner blocks of white, and 4 star point blocks. Sew these together as you normally would.

Attach the 17.75″ x 6.5″ strips to each side…centering on the top of the quilt attach it to your Christmas tree.

And your top is finished.
I added 3.5″ inch borders to the quilt, quilted with straight line quilting…echoing the HST’s and only quilted in the white areas to make the tree stand out more.

Back and bind as you normally would.

One Oh, Christmas Tree Quilt! Measuring 46.5″ x 57″

I hope you have enjoyed my tutorial and don’t forget to stop by and tell me what you think on my blog.

Amy Rivera
{alliekatmom.blogspot.com}