Peppermint Swirl Christmas Tree Skirt

Happy Christmas in July! I’m Heather from Heather Kojan Quilts. I’m excited to share this tutorial for a super fun Peppermint Swirl Christmas Tree Skirt! Start now and you’ll have it done way before the holiday rush. (Tip: Make this in any fabric of your choosing to create a fun table topper for any season. Or, maybe a fun and unique baby quilt or play mat. Simply applique a center circle and you’re good to go!)

So, this is truly made in July, and nary a Christmas tree to be seen. So, here you have the perfect basketball hoop skirt!

Ready to get started?

12 Fat Quarters of Basic Grey’s 25th and Pine (4 green, 4 red and 4 white)
3 yards backing fabric
1/2 yard binding fabric

Batting, 54″ x 54″

Nine Degree Wedge Ruler

I’m using the fabulous 25th and Pine from Basic Grey. I love the feel of this fabric. So luxurious.

You’ll need 12 fat quarters to make your swirl: 4 green, 4 red, 4 white.

Take each of your fat quarters and cut into strips, 2.5″ x 22″. You should get 7 strips from each fat quarter to yield 28 strips of each color.

Next we’re going to make strip sets. Following the chart below, we’ll make 9 unique strip sets. R=Red, G=Green, W=White. Use a 1/4″ seam allowance throughout this project.

Row 1	Row 2	Row 3	Row 4	Row 5	Row 6	Row 7	Row 8	Row 9
R	R	R	G	G	G	W	W	W
R	R	G	G	G	W	W	W	R
R	G	G	G	W	W	W	R	R
G	G	G	W	W	W	R	R	R
G	G	W	W	W	R	R	R	G
G	W	W	W	R	R	R	G	G
W	W	W	R	R	R	G	G	G
W	W	R	R	R	G	G	G	W
W	R	R	R	G	G	G	W	W

Sew your first strip set together, using the chart above. A finished strip set should measure 22″ wide and 18.5″ top to bottom.

After you sew your first strip set, lay out the next strip set beside the first. Try to avoid having the same fabrics next to each other. Label your strip sets 1-9 as you sew them. Press the odd numbered strip sets in one direction, and the even numbered strip sets in the opposite direction. After sewing all of the strip sets, you should have one leftover strip of each color.

Now it’s time to cut your wedges.

You need to get 5 wedges from each strip set. Place the ruler so that the 22″ mark is aligned with the top edge of your strip set. Use your seam lines on your strip set and the lines on the ruler to make sure your ruler is placed correctly and everything is lined up straight. It’s helpful if you can place your cutting mat so that you can walk around it to make the cutting easier. Cut your first wedge. Re-position ruler at the top edge, and cut your second wedge. Repeat to make 5 wedges total. Stack the wedges (I clip them with a wonder clip) and label stack #1. You’ll end up with smaller “waste” wedges as you cut. Save these for creative play later!

Continue to cut your wedges from each strip set. Label and keep in order.

Find a nice open spot of “design floor”. Lay out your wedges in a circle, starting with one, continuing through nine, then repeating with one through nine and so on. Do you see the spiral happening? Cool, right? You’ll only need 40 wedges for this project. Again, set the remaining wedges aside for creative play (mug rugs? table runner?) After you have all 40 wedges laid out, check to make sure the spiral works and that nothing got out of order. (Your ending wedge will not create a continuous spiral with the first wedge.)

Let’s sew the spiral. I like to sew 8 wedges at a time. I pair the first 2, second 2, third 2 and fourth 2 by laying the right sides together. At my sewing machine, I sew the first pair, then 2nd, 3rd and 4th, chain stitching as I go. Because we did alternate pressing, the seams should nest together nicely. I then sew the first two pairs together, then the last 2 pairs together, and finally the 2 four wedge units together. Then I take this unit and return it to the spiral. Repeat for the reaming wedges. Once I have all 5 eight wedge units sewn, I check to make sure the spiral is continuous and nothing got out of order. Then I sew all the units together, including the seam where the end meets the beginning. I mark this seam with a pin.

Pretend there’s only 4 pairs of wedges above!

Back at the sewing machine, I do a little stay stitching around the inside and outside circle to keep the stitches from “popping”, about 1/8th inch from the edge.

Cut your backing fabric into two pieces, 54″ in length x width of fabric. Trim selvages and seam the two pieces together. You’ll have a piece of fabric 54″ x 80″ (approximately). Trim to 54″ square.

Layer your backing, batting and skirt top. Baste as preferred.

Time to quilt! I used my walking foot and did straight line quilting on each side of the seams. I started and stopped each line of quilting where wedge one and forty meet (where I placed that pin earlier.) Be sure to do an 1/8th of an inch stitch around the inner and outer circle edges as well.

With your scissors, trim around the outer circle. Cut right down the seam where wedge one and wedge forty meet, then continue to cut the inner circle.

Make your bias binding. You’ll need approximately 240″ of bias binding. 1/2 yard will give you more that plenty! Lay out your 1/2 yard of fabric. Use the 45° line of your ruler to lop off the bottom left and top right corners of your fabric, approximately 10″ from the point. I do this so that I don’t have super short pieces of binding fabric. Keep the 45° angle going, and cut binding strips 2.5″ wide. If you want to make the optional ties, reserve two lengths, approximately 22″ long.

To join your strips, place two pieces together, matching the right angles.

Place right sides together. The strips will be at a right angle. Be sure to off set the corner by a 1/4 inch, as shown in the picture. Sew strips together with a 1/4″ seam. Continue to join all the strips until you have enough binding. Fold binding strip in half and press. Voila! Bias binding!

Optional ties: Take one piece of the bias binding strip approximately 20-22″ long. Fold in half length wise. Press. Unfold, then press so that each long edge meets the center “line” that you just pressed. Fold each short end under 1/4″ and press. Re-fold and press entire tie. Stitch along the long edge and short folded edges, close to the open edge. Cut into 2 lengths, approximately 10″ each. Repeat with second strip.

Pin ties in place with raw edges together, approximately 4″ from inner and outer circle. These will get sewn into the tree skirt as you sew on your binding.

Bind your quilt. Congratulations ~ your first Christmas finish of the year!

One Peppermint Swirl Christmas Tree Skirt, 45″ diameter.

Heather Kojan
{heatherkojan.blogspot.com}

Midnight Stars Quilt

Jan10

Hi All! I’m Heather and I’m eager to share this tutorial with you! I’m a big fan of Basic Grey. When I heard that they were coming out with Little Black Dress 2, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with this beautiful fabric. Midnight Stars is 4 super sized stars, combined to make a nice sized lap quilt.

2 Layer Cakes of Little Black Dress 2

5/8 yards black print accent

5/8 yards black dot on cream binding

4 yards backing.fabric
Batting, at least 80″x 80″

Start by taking your layer cakes and separating them into dark and light piles. For this quilt, we’ll need 32 of the darkest prints and 32 of the lightest prints. Reserve the more “medium” prints for the backing. In this quilt, I wanted a little more black in the quilt, so I cut two additional 10” squares from the black accent fabric.

Tip if you’d like to make this quilt with another fabric line, use one layer cake and choose 36 layers for the stars. Take 2 ¾ yards background fabric and cut into 36 10” squares.

Take all 32 dark squares and cut in half on the diagonal. Take remaining 18 light squares and cut in half on the diagonal.

Choose 14 Light squares for the four corners of each star. Where the four stars come together in the center, you’ll only use 2 squares, cut in half. Lay these all out on your design wall (or, design floor in this case!)

Using the finished quilt as your guide lay out your quilt top. Take your time, making sure to balance light and dark, until you’re happy with your layout. For the center square within a square, cut 4 grey layers in half on the diagonal and arrange as shown. I think it took me almost as much time to arrange the top as it did to sew it!

Here’s how one quarter of the quilt should look before it’s sewn. (This block is actually made from leftovers from the layer cakes. It will become part of the quilt back.)

Now to sew!

Use a ¼” seam allowance throughout. It doesn’t need to be a perfect 1/4 inch, but a consistent seam allowance will give you great results!

Take each of your half square triangle pairs, and sew together on the diagonal. This is a long bias edge, so handle carefully. Press seams to one side, to the dark when possible. I usually will sew 4 of these at a time, chain stitching.

Trim each hst unit to 9.5” Use the diagonal line on your ruler to trim each block accurately. After sewing, pressing and trimming, I return the blocks to my design wall (or design floor in this case!) I find that if I do more than 4, there’s a good chance things will get turned around. We don’t want that!

Trim all of the 10″ corner layer cake squares down to 9.5″.

Your can piece this in one of two ways: you can piece it as four giant blocks, or you can go row by row.

For our sample, I sewed row by row. Sew column 2 to column 1, chain stitching. After sewing these, I returned them to the design floor (again, I really don’t want to mess up the order!) Continue to sew column 4 to 3, 6 to 5 and 8 to 7. Continue to sew until all the rows are sewn together. Once all the rows are sewn, to keep things in order, I take a pin and place it in the top left corner of each row. I alternate which way I place the pin, so I know which way to press the seams. For the odd rows, press one way. Press the evens in the opposite direction. I do pin where the blocks line up. Where the star points meet, go slowly, pin, pin, pin and take your time. Try not to cut off any points. Are mine perfect? Not all of them, but most of them are close enough.

If you prefer, you can sew each large block first, then sew the four blocks together.

Sew your blocks together in rows. Again, alternate the direction in which you press the rows, so that you’ll have nice interlocking seams when you sew the rows together to complete the four blocks.

Sew your four large star blocks together.

Hey, guess what? You finished the top! My dog, Chase thinks you’re awesome!

Want to make a fancy backing to go with?

Take the remaining 10 squares leftover from the top. I cut 4 10” squares from my black accent fabric, then chose 4 matching black dot/tan squares and 8 grey squares. Lay them out as above, and sew the block.

From you backing fabric, cut one piece of fabric 36.5” x width of fabric. (Your star should measure 36.5”. If your star measures differently, use that measurement.) Cut this into two pieces. I didn’t want my star to be exactly centered, so I cut at approximately 30”, making two pieces: 36.5″ x 30″ and 36.5″ x 12″. Sew these pieces to each side of your star. From remaining backing fabric, cut two pieces 45” x width of fabric. Remove selvages, and sew these pieces together, to create one piece of fabric approximately 45” x 82″. Cut this unit into two pieces along the long length. Again, I didn’t want mine centered, so mine are about 30” x 82” and 15” x 82”. Sew the 30” piece to the top of the star unit, and the 15” piece to the bottom of the star unit. Your backing is finished!

Layer your quilt top and back with batting. Baste and quilt as desired. Thanks to my friend Maria O’Haver for doing such a beautiful job on the quilting!

Cut binding fabric into 8 pieces 2.5” x width of fabric. Join on the diagonal to create double fold binding. Attach to top of quilt. Hand sew to back of quilt.

My favorite quilt photo shoot location!

Woo, woo! A new quilt!

You did it!

Thanks for following along with me. I’d love for you to stop by my blog and say “hi”!

www.heatherkojan.blogspot.com

1 Midnight Stars Quilt, 72″x 72″

Heather Kojan

{www.heatherkojan.blogspot.com}

Candy Bars and Candy Boxes Pillows

Dec29

Hi All! I’m Heather and I blog at here. I hope Santa left you some candy (Moda Candy, that is!) in your stocking, because we’re going to make some pillows today.

To make 2 pillows, you’ll need 2 Moda Candy packs, 2 fat quarters background fabric and 2 fat quarters pillow backing fabric.

2 Moda Candy Mini Charm Packs (From Outside In by Malka Dubrawsky)
2 Fat Quarters Background Fabric (Seed Grey)
2 Fat Quarters Print Fabric (one for each pillow back)
2 20″ squares of batting (optional)
For each pillow, one 18″ zipper (Longer is fine! I used a 20″ and trimmed down.)
Glue stick
2 18″ pillow forms

Let’s start with Candy Bars.

On you design space (wall, floor, table, whatever you have) refer to the picture and arrange your candy pieces into groups of three. Move them around until you’re happy with your arrangement. These will make your pieced “bars.” (See that piece in the top right corner ~ the one that’s the same as the background fabric? If that bugs you, see *** below.)

From the background fabric, cut five 2.5” x 22” wide strips. Sub cut these strips into 2.5” x 6.5” long pieces. You’ll use 13 for this pillow top. Reserve the extra 2 for the Candy Boxes pillow.

Place the background candy bars into place on your design space. Your layout should look like this:

***Take your backing fat quarter of fabric. Cut it down to 18”x 19”. Set aside. See that nice little remaining strip? Cut yourself one extra 2.5” square for the Candy Bar Pillow.

Whew, crisis averted.

Using a ¼” seam allowance, sew the three piece units into candy bars. (Chain piecing makes this go super fast!)

Sew the rows together. Press seams away from the background fabric.

Sew your rows together, matching seams.

Your pillow top should look something like this:

Candy Boxes

From the background fabric, cut four 2.5” x 22” strips. Sub cut these strips into six 2.5”x 6.5” bars and thirteen 2.5” x 2.5″ squares.

Take your candy pieces and background bars and squares and arrange as below (use your reserved two background bars from the Candy Bars Pillow.) Or, if you’re only making the Candy Boxes pillow, cut an additional 2.5” x 22” background strip and sub cut into 2.5” x.6.5” bars.

Uh oh, wait a minute. You’re two candy pieces short of a full candy box. (Or three, if you count that one background piece of candy.)

Okay, nobody panic. Here’s what we’re going to do. Take your second piece of backing fabric. Trim as in *** above, and cut a two additional 2.5″ square candy pieces (also cut one from the other backing fabric for more variety.)

Okay, go back to arranging the blocks. You should have five 9 patch blocks with a seed grey center. You should have four alternating grey seed blocks with a patterned center. Sew the nine patch blocks together in rows. Press. Sew the rows together. Press. For the alternating blocks, sew a background square to each side of a patterned square. Press. Sew the rows together. You should now have nice 6.5” blocks.

Sew your blocks together in rows. Press. Sew rows together. Press.Your pillow top should look similar to this:

And here’s both pillow tops together.

Decision time. To quilt, or not to quilt. Your choice. I decided to do some simple straight line quilting. I like the added structure and texture it adds. However, if you’re in a time crunch or just not feeling it, skip the quilting.

Time to make the pillow backs. We’re making a hidden zippered back with awesome flap/flange back. Complicated title, simple to make.

From your background fabric, for each pillow cut a piece 4” x 18”. Fold in half, length wise, wrong sides together and press. This is your flap/flange.

Take your backing fabric. Cut in half, to make two pieces 9.5” x 18”. (Or, cut into two pieces 6″ x 18″ and 13″ x 18″ or wherever you want your flap/flange to be!)

Take your zipper and run a small line of glue from your glue stick on the top side of the zipper. Flip the zipper over on top of the flap fabric. The zipper will now be right side facing the flap with the glued edge meeting the raw edges of the back and flap. The glue stick gives the whole unit a little more stability, a little less “wiggle room.” I use Wonder Clips to hold the layers together.

Your zipper should be face down, aligned at the left.

At you sewing machine, switch to your zipper foot. Sew the length of the zipper. When you get close to the zipper head, leave your needle down and raise your presser foot. Wiggle that zipper head down a bit, past where you’ve already sewn to get it out of the way. Continue sewing the zipper.

Press well.

Use your glue stick and glue the remaining top side of the zipper. Lay the top half of the pillow back on the bottom half of the pillow back, right side together, and matching the edge of the zipper with the cut edge of the backing. Sew as above. Press well. You now have a pillow back with hidden zipper and awesome flap/flange! Yeah you!

Finishing: Trim your pillow top and pillow back to 18″ square. Lay your pillow top, right side up. Lay your pillow back on top of pillow top, right side down. Make sure your flap/flange is laying down nicely to cover your zipper. Unzip your zipper 3/4 of the way (this is your turning/escape hatch!) Pin all the way around. Stitch around all four sides. Clip the corner of your pillow to reduce bulk. Turn right side out. Press. Stuff with pillow 18″ pillow form (it should be nice and snug!)