Aster Manor Pillow

by Roslyn Mirrington of Bloom

The muted prettiness of ‘Aster Manor’ by 3 Sisters combined simply with linen, pearl buttons and ric-rac make up this dreamy little pillow.

Finished size: approximately 12″ x 20″

1 x ‘Aster Manor‘ by 3 Sisters honey bun (3990HB)

0.5 yard linen or linen/cotton blend fabric

1 x rectangular cushion insert, 30 x 50 cm (12″ x 20″)

7 x cream pearl buttons (I used Moda’s ‘Bag of Buttons’)

0.75 yard ivory 0.5″ cotton ric-rac

lightweight fusible fleece (I used Vilene H 630 made by Freudenberg)

piping cord

ecru DMC embroidery floss

From the fusible fleece, cut a rectangle 12.5″ x 20.5″.

From the honey bun, choose 7 strips. From each of these strips, cut a 12.5″ length.

Lay the rectangle of fusible fleece on ironing board, with fusible side up. Lay the first fabric strip along one short edge of the fleece, and fuse.

Lay the second strip on top of the first strip, right sides together. Pin in place.

Using a 0.25″ seam, stitch the strips together to the fusible fleece.

Open the strips, & flip the second strip onto the fusible fleece and press.

Cut a 12.5″ piece of ric-rac. Pin the ric-rac in place on the second fabric strip.

Sew ric-rac in place using a 0.25″ seam.

Lay the third strip on top of the second strip & ric-rac, right sides together. Pin in place.

Flip the pillow cover over. Stitch the third strip in place by stitching just inside your previous row of stitching.

This ensures that the row of stitching holding the ric-rac in place does not show when you flip the third strip back and press.

Using this method, add a further 4 fabric strips to the pillow panel, with a second row of ric-rac between the 3rd and 4th fabric strips.

Making the piping

Cut a 12.5″ strip from one of your honey bun strips. Press the strip in half lengthwise, wrong sides together. Place the piping cord along the fold on the inside of the strip. Pin.

Using a zipper foot, and moving your sewing machine needle far to the right, sew a row of stitching as close as you can to the piping cord.

Trim the fabric strip to 0.25″ from your stitching line.

Pin your piping to the last fabric strip of your pillow panel.

Again, using the zipper foot, stitch the piping to the pillow. Try to stitch just inside the previous row of stitching.

From the linen fabric, cut a rectangle 12.5″ x 13.5″. Pin the linen rectangle to the pillow front. Flip the pillow panel over & sew the linen to the panel by stitching along the previous row of stitching which secured the piping.

Press the linen back across the fusible fleece & fuse.

Button embellishment

Seven pearl buttons are hand-stitched on the sixth strip of the pillow top. Place a small pencil mark 1.75″ in from the top and bottom edge. Mark every 1.5″ between.

Using 3 strands of ecru DMC embroidery floss, work a running stitch along the centre of the sixth strip, stopping at each pencil mark to secure a pearl button.

Making the pillow back

Cut one rectangle of linen fabric, 8″ x 12.5″. From a honey bun strip, cut one 12.5″ length. Pin the honey bun strip to the 12.5″ edge of the linen rectangle, with the right side of the strip towards the wrong side of the rectangle – I know this sounds weird, but stay with me! Stitch with a 0.25″ seam.

With the wrong side of the honey bun strip facing up, press 0.25″ seam under.

Fold the honey bun strip back over to the right side of the rectangle.

Topstitch this honey bun strip, 1/8″ in from either edge.

Cut another rectangle of linen fabric, 17″ x 12.5″. Turn the 12.5″ end of the rectangle in 1.25″ towards the wrong side and press. Turn in a further 1.25″ to give a double hem. Stitch this hem, 1/8″ in from either edge.

Lay the two back rectangles, with the honey bun strip trimmed piece overlapping the hemmed linen piece. Overlap the rectangles until the total width is the same as your pillow front. Pin in place.

Stay-stitch the backing pieces together at the overlap, top and bottom, using 1/8″ seam.

Making the ties

Choose a honey bun strip for your ties, and cut into four equal lengths (approximately 10.5″ to 11″). Fold each strip in half lengthwise, right sides together and press. Stitch across one short end and along each long side using a 0.25″ seam. Turn the tie right side out and press. Make four ties.

Pin two of the ties to one side of the back panel, centred at 4.25″ and 8.25″ from the top. (The raw edge of the tie will be against the ruler).

Stitch across the end of the tie to secure.

Fold the ties back over themselves and pin.

Topstitch the ties in place as shown below to enclose the raw edge.

Repeat for all four ties.

Completing the pillow

Place the pillow front and back right sides together. Keeping the ties well out of the way, stitch around the entire pillow using 0.25″ seam. Overlock or zigzag the seam to strengthen if desired.

Turn pillow cover to right side through the back opening. Put cushion insert inside cover and your pillow is complete. The front side should look something like this:

The back of your pillow should have two nifty little bow ties.

Each honey bun will yield approximately 10 of these pillows.

Journal Covers

by Roslyn Mirrington of Bloom

Just in time for Christmas giving, cook up a journal cover (or ten!) from a single honey bun. The two covers in this tutorial are made from Minick & Simpson’s elegant new line, Wiscasset.

1 x ‘Wiscasset‘ honey bun (Product code: 14640HB)

1 x fat quarter of coordinating fabric for lining

lightweight fusible fleece (I used Vilene H 630 made by Freudenberg)

For Journal #1:

12″ coordinating ribbon

DMC six strand embroidery floss in the following colours:

• #347 very dark salmon
• #611 drab brown
• #760 salmon
• #3750 very dark antique blue

For Journal #2:

1 x fat eighth linen fabric

1.25 yard coordinating ribbon

I have made these journal covers to fit an A5 art diary which is 6.25″ wide, and 8.25″ long. If your journal is a different size, the method of construction will remain the same, but you will need to alter the measurements to fit.

Journal Cover #1

Step 1: The pieced panel

From the fusible fleece, cut a rectangle 9″ x 21″.

From the honey bun, choose 8 strips. (If you would like the option of an embroidered strip, choose one tone-on-tone strip for your embroidery). From each of these strips, cut a 21″ length.

Using a sharp, lead pencil and a light box (or the nearest window), transfer the embroidery design onto the tone-on-tone strip. You can find a pdf version of the embroidery design here. The fabric itself inspired this simple design, but feel free to make up your own design at this point! Of course, this embroidered strip is entirely optional. If the embroidery doesn’t appeal to you, simply leave this strip unadorned.

Lay the rectangle of fusible fleece on ironing board, with fusible side up. Lay the first fabric strip along the top edge of the fleece, with top edges aligned and fuse.

Lay the second strip, right sides together, on top of the first strip. Pin in place.

Using a 0.25″ seam, stitch the strips together to the fusible fleece.

Edit: Your seams actually need to be slightly less than 0.25″ or a ‘very scant’ 0.25″. (The finished width of each strip should be a little more than an inch).

Open the strips, & flip the second strip down onto the fusible fleece and press.

Continue adding strips in this way, pinning, stitching, flipping & pressing until you have added all eight strips.

You may find at this point that the fabric strips have stretched a little as you have sewn, and you have messy bits at either end of your pieced panel (see below). Simply trim these ends back to square with the fusible fleece.

Similarly, you may have some excess fleece at the bottom of your pieced panel. Again, trim the excess fleece back to the fabric strip.

You should have something that looks like the photo below. At this point, the pieced panel should measure 8.5″ x 21″.

Correction: The pieced panel should be 9″ long (not 8.5″) by approximately 21″ wide.

Step 2: The embroidered strip

If you are choosing to embroider your journal cover, it is time to stitch! Using a simple backstitch and 2 strands of thread, stitch the flowers. I have used DMC #347 very dark salmon for the flowers, #760 salmon for the flower centres and #611 drab brown for the leaves and stems. The spots are colonial knots using 2 strands of #3750 very dark antique blue.

Step 3: The ribbon marker

Mark the centre top of your cover. Pin a 12″ piece of coordinating ribbon to the top edge of the cover, 1.5″ from the centre, towards what will be the back of the cover.

Machine stitch this ribbon to the cover, 1/8″ in from the edge.

Step 4: Finishing the cover

Overlock or zig zag the short sides of the rectangle to neaten. Turn these sides under by 0.25″ and stitch.

With the right side of your journal cover facing upwards, put pins at the centre top and centre bottom. Measure 6.75″ either side of each centre, and mark with pins.

Turn in each of the short ends such that the fold lies at the point you have pinned 6.75″ from centre.

Measure your journal cover at this point. From the fat quarter of coordinating fabric, cut a lining rectangle with the same measurements. (The lining should be somewhere near 13.5″ x 8.5″; you can overlock the short ends of this rectangle, but it is optional).

Pin the lining rectangle in place over the journal cover. Make sure your ribbon marker is tucked in out of the way.

Stitch the top and bottom seam using a 0.25″ seam allowance. (I also overlocked these seams, just for strength & neatness).

Now for the exciting bit! You should now be able to turn the entire journal cover in the right way & press. Hopefully, the outside should look something like this:

And the inside should look something like this:

Insert journal and enjoy!

Journal #2

Step 1: The pieced panel

From the fusible fleece, cut one rectangle 9″ x 21″.

From 21 honey bun strips, cut 4.5″ lengths.

From linen fabric, cut two rectangles 2.75″ x 21″

The coordinating lining fabric will be cut to size later.

Using a 0.25″ seam, sew the 4.5″ honey bun strips together to form one long piece.

With the fusible side of your fleece up, mark lines with a pencil 2.25″ from each long edge.

Place your pieced honey bun strip between these lines and pin. Fuse the strip to the fleece, with the point of your iron. Take care not to press beyond the fabric strip or you will end up with a sticky mess on your iron!

You may find at this point that the fabric strips have stretched a little as you have sewn, and you have excess fabric at end of your pieced panel (see below). Simply trim these ends back to square with the fusible fleece.

Pin one of the linen rectangles, right sides together, to the top of the honey bun strip.

Stitch this seam using 0.25″ seam allowance.

Flip the linen back across the fusible fleece and press. Repeat with the second linen rectangle.

Using a matching thread, topstitch three rows of straight stitching, 0.25″ apart to the top and bottom side of the honey bun strip.

Pin your length of coordinating ribbon at the centre of your journal cover.

Stitch the ribbon in place.

Finish your journal cover by following from Step 4 of Journal Cover #1. Insert journal and tie the ribbon in a bow to close. Trim ribbon ends to desired length.

Have fun with these journal covers & be sure to send me a photo if you make one! There are more variations of these covers over at my blog, here and here. Best wishes, Bloom.

One Honey Bun (40 strips) will yield 10 of Journal Cover #1 OR 15 of Journal Cover #2.

‘Sweet Menagerie’ nine-patch quilt

by Roslyn Mirrington of Bloom

This easy-to-piece quilt is made from Tula Pink’s delicious new line, ‘Hushabye’. In her inimitable style, she has cleverly hidden a menagerie of cute creatures in her fabrics ready for you to discover.

1 x jelly roll Moda ‘Hushabye’ by Tula Pink (23040JR)
1 x jelly roll Moda Basics ‘Milk’ (9900-98JR)
0.5 yard coordinating fabric for border
fabric for backing & binding

Sorting fabric strips

Sort the ‘Hushabye’ jelly roll fabrics into:

• 24 x strips for block borders
• 2 x lightest strips for ‘lights’ for nine-patch blocks
• the remaining strips will be used as ‘darks’ for nine-patch blocks.

Cutting

From the 24 strips you have chosen as your block borders, cut 2 x 10.5″ lengths, and 2 x 6.5″ lengths.
From the 2 lightest strips, cut a total of 28 x 2.5″ squares (7 sets of 4).
From the white jelly roll strips, cut 68 x 2.5″ squares (17 sets of 4).
From the remaining Hushabye strips, cut 120 x 2.5″ squares (24 sets of 5)

Piecing the blocks

A total of 24 blocks is required. All seams are 0.25″.
To make the nine-patch block centre, lay out 5 x 2.5″ Hushabye squares and 4 light/white squares, in three rows of three. Sew the squares together to make up the rows. Press the seams towards the darker squares.
Sew the rows together to form a nine-patch.

Sew a 6.5″ border strip to either side of a nine-patch.

Then sew a 10.5″ border strip to the remaining sides of the nine-patch.

Make 24 blocks in this way. The finished block size should be 10.5″ square.

Assembling the quilt top

Lay all 24 of the 10.5″ blocks out, with 4 blocks across and 6 blocks down. Arrange the blocks until you are satisfied with the layout.

From five white jelly roll strips, cut 18 x 10.5″ lengths. Sew the blocks together in six rows of four, piecing a 2.5″ x 10.5″ white strip between each block.

Take your remaining white jelly roll strips, remove selvedge edges and join short ends together to make one very long, continuous strip.

Measure the width of your rows of blocks. In a perfect world, this measurement will be 46.5″.

From the long, white continuous strip, cut 7 x 46.5″ strips. Sew the rows together, piecing a 2.5″ x 46.5″ white strip between each row and at the top and bottom of your quilt.

NOTE: As you sew the rows together, take care that the blocks are vertically aligned. Before joining subsequent rows of blocks, I extend a line from the previous row of blocks through the white tramming, and mark the lower edge with pencil (see picture below). I then pin the next row of blocks to these marks. This ensures your blocks line up perfectly.

Measure the length of your quilt. It should measure 74.5″. From the long, continuous white strip, cut two 74.5″ strips. Sew to the sides of your quilt.

Adding the borders
1. Pale blue border
Cut seven 2.5″ strips across the width of your 0.5 yard of coordinating fabric. Remove the selvedge edges and join the short ends together to make one long, continuous strip. From this strip, cut two 50.5″ lengths and sew to the top and bottom of your quilt. Cut a further two 78.5″ lengths and sew to either side of your quilt.
2. White border
From the long, continuous white strip, cut two 54.5″ lengths and two 82.5″ lengths and sew to the top, bottom and sides of the quilt, as for the pale blue border.
3. Pieced border
From the remaining Hushabye prints and white strips, cut 72 x 2.5″ coloured squares and 72 x 2.5″ white squares.
NOTE: Be sure at this point to use any small pieces of the white jelly roll before you cut into your long continuous strip. You will need 306″ of white to finish the final border. You should have ample, but just double check before cutting!
Starting and ending with a white square, join 15 white squares and 14 coloured squares in an alternating strip. Make two of these strips and add to the top and bottom of your quilt.
Starting and ending with a coloured square, join 22 coloured squares and 21 white squares, as before. Make two of these strips and add to either side of your quilt.
4. Final white border
From the long, continuous white strip, cut two 62.5″ lengths and two 90.5″ lengths and sew to the top, bottom and sides of the quilt.
Back, quilt and bind your quilt as desired. I used every last inch of fabric to piece the backing.

Belinda Betts of Eucalypt Ridge Quilting brought this quilt alive with her wonderful quilting. The quilting design is called Retro Feathers by Anne Bright.

1 x cute & cuddly ‘Sweet Menagerie’ nine-patch quilt, approximately 66.5″ x 90.5″.

‘Simply-a-Bloom’ Quilt

by Roslyn Mirrington of ‘Bloom‘

This quilt is perfect for a new quilter as it uses the simplest of block construction & appliqué techniques. It is made with Bonnie & Camille’s gorgeous new line, ‘Simple Abundance‘.

1 x Bonnie & Camille ‘Simple Abundance‘ layer cake (55010LC)

2.5 yards Moda ivory Bella Solid (9900 60)

2/3 yard binding fabric

backing fabric

fusible web

Cutting

Choose two of the lightest prints in your layer cake. Cut each of these prints into 5″ squares to yield eight squares. Seven of these squares will be used as appliqué backgrounds.

From the remaining layer cake squares, cut two 2.5″ x 5″ rectangles, one 5″ x 5″ square and two 2.5″ x 9″ rectangles, as shown in the diagram below.

From the cream fabric, cut:

• two strips, 6″ x 90″ (vertical borders)
• two strips, 6″ x 55″ (horizontal borders)
• six strips, 2.5″ x 55″ (horizontal sashings)
• twenty eight rectangles, 2.5″ x 9″ (vertical sashings)

You can download a cutting diagram for the cream fabric here.

Piecing the blocks

Choose seven coloured 5″ squares to use for your appliqué (I chose tone-on-tone prints for this step). Set these squares aside for later.

At this point, you can audition your fabrics by laying them out on the floor until you are happy with the arrangement. Or you can piece the blocks randomly. Your choice!

To make the blocks, stitch two 2.5″ x 5″ rectangles to opposite sides of a 5″ x’5″ square using a 0.25″ seam. Press.

Stitch two 2.5″ x 9″ rectangles to the sides of the block. Press.

Make 35 of these blocks. Include 7 blocks which have a light background square at the centre – these will be your appliqué blocks.

Appliqué blocks

Examine your fabrics closely and choose a simple motif that might be used for your appliqué blocks. I chose the very simple four-petalled bloom from this print:

I scanned the fabric on my computer, selected the shape & enlarged it so that it was 3.75″ square. If you’d like to use this design, a pdf file is available for download here. Otherwise, be brave & choose your own motif that relates to the fabric you are using.

Using a pencil, trace your chosen appliqué motif seven times onto the paper side of fusible web, leaving a 0.25″ space between shapes. Cut out the shapes roughly – don’t cut on the pencil line yet.

Fuse each shape onto the back of your selected fabrics.

Cut out each shape carefully on the pencil line.

Fuse the appliqué to the cream background squares, taking care to centre the motif. Machine appliqué motif onto block using a blanket stitch in a matching thread.

Assembling the quilt top

Arrange the blocks in seven rows of five blocks. Sew the rows together, piecing a 2.5″ x 9″ white strip between each block.

Measure the width of your rows of blocks. Trim the six 2.5″ x 55″ horizontal sashing strips and the two 6″ x 55″ horizontal border strips to this measurement.

Join the rows of blocks, piecing the horizontal sashing strips between each row. Take care to line up the blocks vertically as you join the rows.

Join the horizontal border strips to the top and bottom of the quilt.

Measure the length of your quilt. Trim the 6″ x 90″ border strips to this measurement. Join the borders to the left and right sides of your quilt.

Back, quilt and bind your quilt as desired. I used any remaining layer cake fabrics to piece the backing.

My quilt was beautifully and expertly machine quilted by Belinda Betts of Eucalypt Ridge Quilting. Thanks Belinda! The quilting design incorporates blooms & birds and is called Aves b2b by Anne Bright.

1 x ‘Simply-a-Bloom’ quilt, approximately 62″ x 83″.

Thank you so much to Moda for the opportunity to be involved with Moda Bake Shop. It is an enormous privilege and pleasure to post ‘Simply-a-Bloom’ as my first MBS project!

Enjoy!

Bloom, Australia