Charming Butterfly Valances

One of the things that makes the biggest impact in how cozy your house feels are your window treatments.  I love quilting but my windows were so neglected.  I decided to come up with a way to make EASY curtains that will cozy up any room.  You can use charm packs to tie in your bed quilts or couch quilts or do like I did and try something completely different.  I’ve never used French General fabrics before but I am in love.  Petite Odile is perfect for people who love sewing.

• Exterior fabric  ( Width of window + 5″ x WOF) *if using a wraparound type curtain rod, you need to add 10″ or so instead, depending on how far the rod protrudes on each side)
• Lining fabric (same amount  as exterior fabric)
• Charm squares (Each charm pack gives you about 160″ of casing.   Each window needs about 80″ of casing. You can use any extras to make a small pillow or runner to coordinate.

2″ ribbon (about 5 yards per window)

First remove both selvages from exterior fabric and lining fabric.  Cut a 5″ strip the entire length of both pieces (parallel to where the selvage runs.  These will be your rod pockets.  We will be using 2 layers to add a nice drape and better light blocking since these are quilting cottons and not home dec fabrics.  The bonus is that you can arrange your backing fabric so that it peeks out on the bottom if you like.

Take the remaining large sections of fabric for the interior and exterior.  Sew right sides facing {RSF} on 3 sides.  Leave your top edge unsewn.  Clip corners.  Now flip out like a pillowcase for the main body of your curtain.  Press well and top stitch the sides and bottom edge.  I like to top stitch 2 lines because it looks more professional.

 You will need about a 1/2 charm pack per window for your ribbon casing.  Cut charms in half.

Sew 2 rows of 20 2.5″ coins four your 2 window casings.  Press your seams in one direction (preferably toward the bottom)

Take your bottom edge and fold up 1/2″.  Turn the raw edge toward the fold and top stitch to secure.  Once again,  I top stitched twice just because I like that look.

Fold your casings RSF and sew into a tube.

Pull your tube right side out.  Press your tube so that the seam line centered on the underside of the casing.

Match your bottom edges up with the bottom of your curtain.   I like to arrange my 2 casings so that there is half the curtain between the casings and 1/4″ of the curtains on each side of the casings.  Affix your casings on the window by sewing up the sides.  Don’t sew your casing opening shut and do not sew across the top of the curtain- we will have to run a ribbon through it.  In the photo it appears that I have sewn over the casing that but is just the double stitching matching up.

 Cut off any excess casing at the top (raw edge) of your curtain.

 Take a length of ribbon (I used about 2.5 yards per side and trimmed up later…you can use the extras in the room to tie things together).  Put a safety pin on one edge to act as a guide.  I also used a safety pin to act as a “stopper” at the halfway mark.

Once you’ve threaded your ribbon to the halfway point, stop.  Take the ribbon that is still outside and safety pin it between the casing stitch lines on the back.  This is to keep it out of our way as we are finishing up.

Now take your 5″x length of fabric sections.  Sew 2 the short edges RSF.  Turn out, press, and top stitch.  Fold in half lengthwise hiding your lining fabric.  This is your rod pocket. 

Sew the rod pocket along the top edge of the curtain.  Make sure you catch your ribbon in the seam.  Make sure you DON’T catch the safety pin in your seam.

I serged the raw edge of the rod pocket.  You could also zigzag.  If you don’t want to do the rod pocket, you can just fold over the curtain at the top.  I just did not want my casings to be on the rod pocket – personal preference. Hang your curtain and adjust your ribbons.  I tied one knot before I tied my bow.  then cut off the excess.  You can also treat with fray check if you anticipate handling these much.   Make sure you remove the safety pins before you hang your valances.

A really cute window treatment- so easy I could do it!

 On a smaller window…

or a bigger one…

Now go cozy up those windows!

Mary Lane Brown
{tulip-patch.blogspot.com}

Jack’s Hills Quilt

I came up with the idea for this quilt after making my first scrap quilt: a string quilt. I decided to add white and make half square triangles with the string blocks, which led to a quilt that looked very similar to a roman stripe.

I have a very special treat for you guys…an interview with the one and only Sandy Klop of American Jane fabrics on my blog, The Tulip Patch!

I will be making a twin-size quilt by adding borders.  If you prefer to leave off the borders, you will have a 54.75x 73 lap quilt (requiring 1/2 yard binding and 3 1/4 backing).  Add borders as shown for a 70.75″x 89″ quilt. 

1 Jelly Roll, Fairy Tale Friends
24 solid layer cake squares (if using yardage, 2 yards)
5/8 yard binding
2/3 yard inner border
2.25 yards outer border
5 1/3 yards backing (I will be using 2.25 yards from two of the short story multi stripes as well as 1/3 yard of another print)
24 10″ squares of paper for foundation piecing (you can also use layer cake squares if you prefer using fabric as your foundation).  You can cut these from large sheets of paper or leftover newspaper.

Cut 22 squares of paper 10″x10″ (the cardboard from your layer cake will make a great template, too).

Draw a diagonal line across the center of your quilt.  Draw another line 1.25″ away from the first line. 

Use a glue stick and place glue on either side of the center line.

Place a jelly roll strip across the middle (lining up one edge with that outer pencil mark). Cut off excess.

Lower your stitch length to around 1.5.

Place a second jelly roll strip right side down on both sides your other strip and sew down each edge.

Press out, trim off excess.  You can easily make this scrappy, but I mirrored my strips instead.  Either way is fine…just do whatever you prefer that day. Continue until you have 3 jelly roll strips on either side of the center strip.

Turn over and trim off excess, using your paper as your guide.

Now mark a diagonal line through the center of each of the 24 10″ squares of solid.  Lay your 10″ square on top of your pieced square.

I ran my pencil line perpendicular to the jelly roll strips.

Sew a line 1/4″ away from both sides of the drawn line. 

Cut along the drawn line.

Remove your paper pieces.  They will tear way like notebook paper.  Just like a perforated notebook, bending the perforations will help you remove the paper more easily.

Set your seam.

And press open.  Press your seam to the dark side. These blocks should be 9 1/8″ finished (9 5/8″ unfinished).  I didn’t trim them down, I jut cut off the dog-eared corners.  Because of the paper piecing, everything was very accurate already.

You can now change your stitch length back to normal. Arrange in 6×8 grid.  These blocks can be arranged in any way that a half square triangle could (zigzags, pinwheels, etc).   I added a 2.5″ (unfinished) stop border and a 6.5″ (unfinished) outer border. 

 

For my backing I used 2.25-yard sections of 2 of the multi-stripe prints from this line.  It was a little shy so I added 1/3 yard of another print (cut into 2 6.5″x WOF sections and pieced together to make a 6.5″x80 section).  This makes a nice turn down detail for the bed.   This is honestly my favorite type of backing- I have backed many quilts in the various American Jane multi-stripes.  It’s interesting but doesn’t require all of the work of a heavily pieced backing plus you don’t have to fight extra seams when quilting.

It looks so nice turned down on a freshly made bed with this little detail!

 

70.75″x89″ quilt, perfect for story time, bedtime, and jump starting your aspiring career in the lucrative field of quilt modeling (because hand modeling is obviously out!).

Now if you want to read a little more about the lady behind these fabrics, pop on over to The Tulip Patch.

Mary Lane Brown
{The Tulip Patch}

Eli’s Wheels Quilt

Photo courtesy of Chris Oliver

Hey everyone!  It’s good to be here on the Bake Shop again.  In the past I have shared tutorials for my favorite vintage quilts, but today I am debuting my first original design here.  I hope you like it!

1 Ruby Jelly Roll

1/2 yard binding fabric

2.5 yards background fabric cut into:

• 16 1.5″xWOF strips
• 1 10.75″xWOF strip (which is subcut into 6 6.5″x10.75″ rectangles)
• 8 5.5″ rows (which are subcut into a minimum of 78 5.5″ unfinished equilateral triangles)   

3 3/4 yards backing fabric

1 Equilateral Triangle Template (5″ finished size)

This jelly roll contains 40 strips.  I chose to use one of the prints from the line as a background fabric, so I discarded that strip.   I also set aside another strip since we are sewing the strips into strip sets by pairs and need an even number of strips. Each jelly roll strip set should yield 2 full hexagons.  To give you a little wiggle room, we are going to use 16 strip sets.  If you make a mistake, simply use some of the other jelly roll strips to create more blocks.  If you don’t make a mistake, just add another row of blocks or make a fun pillow to go with your new quilt.

 

Cut 16 1.5″ strips from your background fabric.

Take your remaining 32 jelly roll strips and match them up into coordinating pairs.  Take 16 of your strips and sew a 1.5″ strip RST alongside the jelly roll strip.  Make sure you stagger this background  1″ from the beginning of your jelly roll.  This is important!  It will help you get an extra cut from your jelly roll and give you two blocks vs. one block for the same amount of work. 

Place each strip set background side down.  Press over the seam to set it (this will keep your lines crisp and keep your seam line from being wavy).  Now open your pair and press toward the jelly roll.

Now Stagger your second jelly roll strip 1″ down from your background strip  and attach it RSF to the background strip.   When finished sewing, press your strips open with the seams facing the Jelly Roll.

Your strip sets will be staggered on the edge like this to help maximize your fabric.

This is how your cut triangle will look.  From the apex of the triangle, Your background fabric will hit the 2″ finished and 3″ finished hash marks.  I used a sharpie when I was cutting to make a little dot on those lines…it is so easy to get confused!

Continue cutting until you have 12 triangles cut from each strip set.  Just flip the triangle all the way from one end to the other.  Be careful not to contort or twist your wrist when cutting triangles. I set up my mat on the edge of a desk/table and walk around the mat to make cuts instead of straining my wrists.  I got a lot of wrist pain once using a quarter square triangle ruler and I don’t want to repeat that. If you have an Olfa brand cutter, you will notice a set of ridges on your cutter.  These are registration points indicating where to put your thumb or forefinger (your preference) for the least stress on your wrist tendons.  Cool, huh?

Arrange your triangles into 2 hexagons like so.

We will sew our hexagons into 2 halves then join the halves at the center.  Join the first 2 triangles edge to edge then you will need to offset the third triangle in the half hexagon by 1/4″.  You can use your dog ears to line up your offset :

I really recommend setting your seams to give you nice, crisp seams.  With all those bias edges, this step is very helpful.  Setting seams means pressing your sewn line before opening up your block and pressing the block.  If you are nervous working with bias edges, you can do the following things:

• starch your fabric (not necessary)
• piece with a walking foot (not necessary, but can help especially in longer bias edge seams)
• touch the fabric as little as possible…absolutely crucial.
• set your seams (I find this very helpful, I love a crisp seam line).
• if you are unsure of how much to offset your blocks to get the seams to match, sew the first few triangles with a basting stitch (longest stitch length).  If you’re happy with your pieces,  go over your seams with a regular stitch length.  If you mess up, it is much easier to take out long basting stitches and it will be less tugging with a seam ripper…tugging distorts your blocks.  After a block, I felt comfortable to just dive in with a regular stitch.  I also pieced with my regular 1/4″ foot. 

Now you have your half-hexagons.  Before you sew your hexes together into whole hexagons, here is an alternate layout I chose not to use for these particular fabrics (half hexes would be sewn together like a tumbler quilt):

Instead of this, we’re going to proceed with sewing the half hexes into complete hexagons:

You will notice there are dog ears in the center where your half hexagons will meet.  You can trim these before you begin or use them to line up your hexagons and trim them afterward.

Now cut 8 5.5″xWOF strips of your background fabric.  Sub-cut each strip into equilateral triangles (5.5″ unfinished, 5″ finished…remember these triangles are measured by their height, not the length of the sides).

Here is how it looks under the ruler.  Use the guidelines on your ruler to measure, not just the edges.

Now attach 2 equilateral triangles of your background fabric to opposite sides of your hexagon.  This makes a rhombus shape.  Set the seams and press open.

Here is your rhombus shape. I am calling this an Eli’s Wheel block.  It reminds me of a ferris wheel which in turn reminds of me 5 minutes of pure terror (or hilarity, depending on whom you ask) spent with my son on a giant ferris wheel overlooking one of the Great Lakes.  You should have 32 blocks.  Your quilt will have 7 rows laid out like so:

Row 1: 5 rhombus blocks
Row 2: 4 rhombus blocks
Row 3: 5 rhombus blocks
Row 4: 4 rhombus blocks
Row 5: 5 rhombus blocks
Row 6: 4 rhombus blocks
Row 7: 5 rhombus blocks

Now we will sew our blocks into rows.  Do not sew your rows together just yet: we will need to add setting pieces to the side.

Joining our rhombi will also involve us offsetting our pieces by 1/4″.  You can also use those dog ears along the edge to help you line up your blocks. 

You see I’ve lined up my dog ears.  You can also see the bottom block peeking out.   When you correctly line up your 2 blocks to sew, it kind of looks like a tent with the “pretty side” of the fabric lining the tent.  Sew along the top of the “tent.”

Set your seam and open up…Voila!

Press.  Continue joining your blocks into rows.

The beginning and end of each row will need another 5.5″ setting triangle.  Attach the setting triangle to the hexagon on the beginning and end row. 

 Sew your seam and then press open.

Now cut off the excess.  You will leave 1/4″excess past the point on your hexagon.  On the rows that have 5 blocks, this is all you have to do.  On the rows with 4 blocks, we will add an additional setting piece, a 6.5″ x 10.75″ rectangle.  Cut a 10.75″xWOF strip of your background fabric.  Sub-cut that into 6 rectangles that measure 6.5″x10.75″. 

According to my MATH, the pieces should be 6.5″x10.5″, but that just was a little shy (maybe due to the bias edges) I’d rather be conservative and cut a little extra.  You can always trim down from 10.75″ if you find this piece is too tall.

Attach the rectangle to each end of the three 4-block rows.

Now sew your 7 rows together to form a lovely 60×70 quilt top.

Backing

Approximate fabric requirements for backing: 3 3/4 yards.

Construct 2 strips the width of the fabric and length at least 66.5″  Sew Strips together to form backing. 

Baste backing, batting, and quilt top to form quilt sandwich.  Quilt as desired.

Binding

Fabric required: 1/2 yard.  Cut 7 strips of width 2.5″ or 2.5″ (your preference).  Sew into a continous binding strip.  Attach to the front of your quilt with machine and turn over and finish by hand using a ladder stitch or whipstitch.

60″x70″ lap quilt (with extra fabric to make coordinating pillows or a slightly larger quilt)

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial.  If you make one I’d love to see it!  You can see my other tutorials and projects on my blog. 

Mary Lane Brown

{tulip-patch.blogspot.com}

Road to Tennessee

Today I am going to show you a very easy, versatile project. This is a vintage pattern called “Road to Tennessee.”  I will be giving you alternate layout options and size options, depending on how many charm packs you have on hand.  I also have a sweet giveaway going on over at my blog (check below for the link).

4 charm packs
1 yard background fabric (I used the off white from Hometown)
1/2 yard binding
3 3/8 yards backing.

Because this pattern is so easy to adjust, I am including a chart of fabric requirements for as few as one charm pack or as many as 8.  Please note this tutorial is for the 4 charm pack option.  I will include alternate layout options at the end of the tutorial.

 

 

Cut 2″ squares from your background fabric.  For this size we will need 288 background squares (# of blocks x 2= background squares needed).

Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of each 2″ square.

Place a 2″ square on opposite corners of each charm square.

Sew along the drawn lines.

Trim off all excess 1/4″ from the newly sewn lines.

Press open to reveal 1 finished block.  Repeat with all your charm squares.

This step is not necessary, but I separated my blocks into 2 piles…dark/busy and light/simple.  This was just to try to distribute color more evenly.

Sew your individual blocks into v shaped pairs.  I sewed my lighter colors on the left side and the darker colors on the right side.

Press toward the lighter color and when you flip the blocks together, the seams will nest.

Now sew your pairs into O shapes and press open.

Sew into rows. and sew rows together.


Baste your quilt sandwich

Approximate fabric requirements for backing: 3 3/8 YD.


Construct 2 strips the width of the fabric and length at least 60.5. Sew strips together to form horizontal seams in the backing.


Binding

Fabric required: 1/2 YD. Cut 6 strips and sew together into a continuous binding strip.  Attach to the front of your quilt by machine and secure using a ladder stitch on the backside of the quilt. 


I took my extra charms and added a few other Moda prints to show you some alternate layout options:

 Xquisite

Xs and O’s

Medallion

My buddy Andie from Andie Johnson Sews took pity on a computer challenged gal like me and did a mockup of this quilt in 3 Bella Solids:

Love that!

Photo courtesy of Chris Oliver

Here is another version I did in Modern Workshop by Oliver&S using 3 charm packs:

One super snuggly 54″ x 54″ quilt.   I hope you liked this tutorial.  If so, hop on over to my blog and see what else is goin’ on!  Right now I am giving an accuquilt GO! Baby and 3 dies to one lucky reader.

Special Thanks to Chris Oliver for braving the 110 degree Texas heat to take my header photo! 

Mary Lane Brown

{The Tulip Patch}

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}

Sunkissed Jewel Box Quilt

Hi y’all! I’m here today to share a lovely traditional pattern. When I made my first Jewel Box Quilt, I didn’t even know what it was called. I went off of a picture of an antique quilt. My ignorance was bliss because instead of making it the traditional way (1 complicated repeating block), I made this quilt using 2 simpler blocks. This quilt is traditionally made in jewel tones, but I think it looks even better in the dusty pastels of the Sunkissed line.

1 Layer Cake (Sunkissed 5440 LC)
2 Bella Solid Charm Packs (White)
1.5 yds Bella Solid (White)
1/2 yard inner border (5443 21)
1 1/4 yds outer border (5446 11) * If using a directional print, be safe and order 1.5 yards *
5/8 yard binding fabric (5447 11)
5 1/4 yards backing fabric (5444 11)

If you choose a background fabric that Moda does not carry in charm packs, purchase 3 yards total of background fabric (instead of 2 charm packs + 1.5 yds of yardage).

The Cutting

First things first… remove the white on white print from the layer cake.  It just doesn’t provide enough contrast for this design (but it would make a wonderful label for your back).

Take your remaining 41 layer cake squares and subcut them into:

(2) 2.25″x10″ strips
(2) 5″x5″ squares
.5″x10″ scrap (discard)

Take your white background fabric and cut into (82) 2.25″x10″strips.  If you are using Bella Solid yardage instead of charm packs, you will cut the rest of your white fabric into (82) 5″ charms.

Cut your inner border fabric in 2.5″ inch long strips.  You will need to join your strips for them to be long enough.

Cut your outer border in 5″ long strips.  You will need to join your strips to make them long enough.  You will need to pay special attention if you have chosen a directional print.

The Construction

Take 82 solid white charms and draw a diagonal line down the center.  Place one on top of each of your 82 printed charms.  Sew a seam 1/4″ away from both sides of the drawn line.  Cut on the drawn line and press seams toward the print.  Trim each half square triangle to a 4″ square.   You should now have 164 half square triangles.  Reserve 4 Half Square Triangles for the corners of your quilt.

Take your remaining 160 Half Square Triangles and Sew them into pairs to make (80) 7.5″x4″ triangles (see above).  Reserve 14 of your newly made triangles for the edge of your quilt.  You will have 66 triangles remaining.

Sew the remaining 66 triangles into 33 Diamonds like above.  Each diamond should measure 7.5″ square.  Now let’s get started on the alternating blocks.

Sew your (82) 2.25″x10″ white strips and your (82) 2.25″x10″ printed trips into pairs. 
Press toward the printed fabric.
You will have 82 white/print strip pairs.

Take 40 pairs and sew them together at the prints.  Take the other 40 pairs and sew them together at the white strips (see above).  You will have 20 strip sets sewn together at the print and 20 strip sets sewn together at the white.  You will have 2 pair left over…reserve those in case you have a cutting error and need to replace a block.

Cut each of your newly sewn strip sets and cut them down into (4) 2.25″x10″ sections. 

Pair up your strip sections like so into.  You will have (80) 4×7.5″ blocks like this (these look like two 4 pack blocks sewn together.  Reserve 18 of these blocks.  You will have 62 of these leftover.

Sew these together in pairs so that the interior is made of 4 printed blocks. This will give you 31 blocks that measure 7.5″(before being sewn into the quilt top) that look like this:

Arrange your blocks in alternating fashion.  Start with your diamond blocks.  You will have 7 columns and 9 rows.  If you stopped right here, you would have a 49×63 lap quilt.

Take the 4 HST and the 1/2 blocks you reserved earlier.  Arrange them around your quilt top to make it appear as if the design will continue.  Attach these blocks to each other then to the quilt top (the side with your HSTs in the corner will go on last).

Attach your inner, then outer borders.

Backing

Approximate fabric requirements for backing: 5 1/4 YD.

Construct 2 strips the width of the fabric and length at least 94.5. Sew strips together to form vertical seams in the backing.

Baste your quit.


Quilt as desired.  I used a leafy vine free motion design.

Binding


Cut 9 strips of width 2.5″.  Form 1 continuous binding strip and attach to your quilt then hand stitch to the other side.

1 73″x88″ twin sized quilt

Visit me over at my blog, The Tulip Patch,  to see a jewel box quilt in another colorway, view the back of this quilt, and get details on a layer cake giveaway!

Mary Lane Brown

{The Tulip Patch}

Hot Java French Press Insulating Sleeve

The Moda Bake Shop is full of Jelly Rolls, Honey Buns, and Layer Cakes…now it’s time for some coffee to wash it all down.  I’m going to show you how to make an insulating sleeve for your French press (which makes the BEST coffee in my opinion) to keep your coffee piping hot.  Even if you don’t drink coffee or have someone who’d like this as a gift, I hope you enjoy learning about the one seam flying geese block…that’s right, ONE SEAM! 

1/4 yard fabric or fat quarter
1-2 layer cake slices OR 8 charm squares
14.5″ x 5.5″ batting scrap (can use insulated batting if desired…do not use your good scissors on it, though!)

3.75″ piece of hook and loop tape (5/8″ width used here)

Cut the following from your 1/4 yd piece:
14.5″ x 5.5″ for backing (x1)
2.5″ x 5.5″ strip for ends (x2)
3″ x 5.5″ rectangles for your geese (x4)

Now cut (8) 3″ squares for your geese backgrounds.  I chose 2 prints, but if you want the same print, you can use just 1 layer cake slice.

Now I am going to show you how to create the One Seam Flying Geese Block.  I didn’t invent this method; it is probably older than I am.  I chose it because I love the look and the little pockets are just the right size for your sweetener or sugar packets.

Layer in the following order:
Bottom:  3″ background square, right side facing UP
Middle: 3″x 5.5″ rectangle, folded with wrong sides facing (right sides out)
Top: 3″ background square, right side facing DOWN

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

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.

Trim up the bottom of your block if you need to from behind (using your background fabric as your guide).

Sew your units together.  You can sew them into diamonds, but I chose to have them pointing the same directions. 

Attach your 2.5″x 5.5″ strips to each end and press.

Center your hook and loop tape 1/2″ from the edge.  You will want your hook and loop tape to be on opposite sides.  Stitch around the perimeter of your hook and loop tape and make sure your top thread matches your hook and loop tape for the most finished look.

Layer in the following order:
Bottom: Batting
Middle: Backing (Right side UP), Velcro on the Left Side
Top: Pieced Side (Right Side DOWN), Velcro on Right Side.

Pin this sandwich together and sew around the edge, leaving 3″ on one side for turning out.

Snip corners.  You may want to cut a notch out of your batting at the opening (size of opening x 1/4″ deep).

Turn out and close your opening with an invisible stitch.  I used a ladder stitch.

Quilt or top stitch as desired.  Keep in mind if you quilt over your geese, the pocket will no longer open.

1 French Press Insulating Sleeve that will keep your coffee warm and your French Press protected in case of falls.  If you launder your sleeve, make sure your hook and loop tape is fastened together in the wash or all the lint will weaken the grip. 

Stop by The Tulip Patch to see what else I have been brewing up!

Mary Lane Brown
{The Tulip Patch}

Tunnel Visions

Hi folks! I’m Mary from the Tulip Patch and today I have a vintage pattern redo for you. This pattern is based on the Box Quilt from Quilter’s Cache. I modified the pattern size and composition to make it layer cake friendly and re-arrangeable. I love it when a pattern from over 50 years ago still looks fresh and cute. Talk about timeless!

1 layer cake (Hoopla)
1/2 yard binding fabric- (32235 27)
1 1/2 yards background fabric – (32246 34)
3 yards backing fabric – (2 yds 32412 27; 1 yd 32416 33)

For this particular quilt, you will need 35 tunnel blocks.  Each layer cake can produce up to 42 tunnel blocks.

Cut 35 4″ squares of background fabric.  We will be using these to construct Half Square Triangles (HSTs).  Cut 35  3.5″x4″ rectangles from your background fabric.  These will form the center of your block.

Separate your fabric pieces into 2 piles.  One pile will be for busy, bold, or dark fabrics.  The next pile is for subtle prints or light colors.  The bold pile will be used to create your tunnel exteriors.  The subtle pile will be your tunnel interiors.  Each bold fabric can create pieces for 2 tunnels.  Each subtle fabric can create pieces for 3 tunnels.

 

Cut the pieces from your bold stack into:
(2) 3″ x 3.5″ pieces
(2) 3″ x 6.5″ pieces
(2) 4″ squares

You will have a 2″x4″ scrap piece remaining

Take your 4″ printed square and your 4″ background squares and create 2 matching HSTs per block.  I made 70 HST pairs for my 35 block quilt.

Trim down your HSTs to 3″ square.

Cut your subtle fabric pieces for your tunnel interiors.  Each square will yield:
(3) 3″x3.5″ rectangles
(3) 3″x6.5″ rectangles
(1) 1″x10″ scrap

Arrange the pieces to create your block.  Try to pair of fabrics that have some contrast for the best optical illusion.

Sew each row together.  Press your inner row seams outward.  Press the seams on your top and bottom row inward.

Sew your top, middle, and bottom rows together and press.  Trim into a 8″x8.5″ block.
Arrange your blocks and sew into rows, then sew rows together.  I used a 5×7 block layout. 
Now cut 4.5″ strips from your background fabric.  Sew as borders on your quilt.

Construct your backing & binding.
Baste, quilt, bind, enjoy!

A bright and cheery 45.75″ x 64.25″ quilt

If you’ve got some time, stop by my blog and see what’s going on over there!

Mary Lane Brown
{the Tulip Patch}

A Ritzy Cracker Quilt

Hi! I am Mary and I’m so happy to share this tutorial with you. The Cracker Block is a traditional quilt block that can looks great in everything from reproductions to beautiful designer fabrics like Fandango. It is a really versatile, fun block with a ton of layout options.

2 42 piece charm packs from the same line (Fandango by Kate Spain)
1 yard background fabric (Moda Bella Solid, Ivory)
1/2 yard binding Fabric (Fandango Raya Sierra)
3 yards backing fabric (Fandango Sarabande in Sand)
Batting for a 44″ x 52″ quilt
Thread

Take one charm pack and cut each square in half diagonally. Take the second charm pack and cut each square in half horizontally.

Take your background fabric and cut 42 2.5”x5” rectangles and 42 4.25” squares. Cut your 4.25” squares diagonally to produce 84 triangles in your background fabric.

Attach the horizontal charm pieces on either side of a 2.5” x 5” strip with a ¼” seam. Press seams as desired.

Now take your diagonally cut charm of the same print and center a triangle at each end of your strip section. Attach with a ¼” seam.

Press your seams open to reduce bulk later on. Trim dog ears.

Now center an ivory triangle over each side of the strip section. Attach with a ¼” seam.

Press these seams open and trim your block to 7 ¾” square.

Now you have a finished cracker block! Finish your other blocks and arrange as desired.

This is a really versatile block that can be arranged many ways. Some ways are:

Slanted

Zig Zag

Circles

Tic-Tac-Toe

X’s

Once you have the layout you like, sew your blocks together. I sewed them in 6 columns and 7 rows to use each block.

Create your binding strips and backing. Baste, bind, quilt.

Makes one 44″ x 52″ quilt.
Double your recipe for a really big quilt!

I hope you enjoy this tutorial.  If you make a quilt with it, let me know… it’d thrill my soul! Come visit me at The Tulip Patch to see this pattern in different fabrics and enter a giveaway I am hosting to celebrate my first Moda Bake Shop post!

Mary Lane Brown
{The Tulip Patch}