Tag Archives: crafting

Fabric Gift Bag/Scrap Bin Tutorial

Posted in Tutorials and Patterns by

After making the toy bins for my little guy’s toy ( and saving my feet from the inevitable midnight toy stomp), one very smart commenter thought that a smaller version would make a great scrap bin! I thought that was a great idea, and took it a step further. Presenting the Fabric Gift Bag……

Fabric Gift Bag

…that turns into a scrap bin!!

Scrap bin!

The bin finishes at 5″x5″x5″ ( who doesn’t like perfect squares!)

 

Supplies

An 8″x20 1/2″ rectangle of the outer fabric and heavy weight woven fusible interfacing

An 11 3/4″x20 1/2″ rectangle for the lining

A square ruler ( no larger than 6 1/2″) or a hard piece of template material 2″x2″ square.

Your various sewing paraphernalia ( scissors, needles, thread, band-aids, coffee…)

Supplies

Instructions

1. Fuse the interfacing to the wrong side of the outer fabric.

2. Match the shot raw edges and stitch a 1/4″ seam across, backstitching at either end.  ( all seams will be 1/4″)

3. Sew the bottom raw edge from the fold to the seam, backstitching at either end. Trim your seams to 1/8″ and set aside.

4. On the short side of the lining make a mark 3/4″  and 1 1/2″ from the top. Stitch from the top to the first mark and stop. Move to the second mark and resume stitching your seam to the bottom. Press this seam open.

Leave this open. This is the TOP

5. Stitch the bottom seam of the lining ( furthest from the opening in the seam), backstitching at both ends.

NOW THE FUN PART

6. Take your outer fabric with the interfacing side out. line up the 2″ square line with the stitched seams as shown and mark a line around. If using the template line up the corner of the template to the stitching lines on the inside. Mark your lines. Repeat for the opposite side, lining up the fold  and the stitched line with the 2″ line.

Lined up for marking

Marked Lines

7. Cut on the marked lines. Repeat the steps for the lining. It should look like the picture below

Cut out

8. Bring the raw edges of the cut out squares together on either side, matching the center fold and bottom seam on one side and the bottom seam and side seam on the other. Sew the raw edges and trim the seam allowances. Repeat for the lining.

Match the raw edges of the square

Match the bottom seam to either the fold or the side seam and pin.

Sew a 1/4″ seam along the raw edges

9. Turn the outer bin right sides out and place right sides together inside the lining bin, matching the raw edges and the side seam. Sew all the way around the top, leaving a 2″ gap for turning.

Turn right side out

Place inside the lining, matching seams, and sew 1/4″ seam, leaving a 2″ gap for turning.

10. Turn the bin right side out through the opening. Use your favorite stitch to hand sew the opening closed.

Close the gap

11. Push the lining into the main body of the bin snugly and finger press into the seams. You will have 2″ extra of the lining folded overto the main body of the bin.  Press the top fold of the lining and the inside of the bin.

Extra fabric. Press the top fold all the way around

12. Edgestitch around the seam connecting the lining to the main bin.

13. Insert a ribbon or cording through the opening you left in the seam of the lining. I used a hook to push the ribbon as far in as i could, wrangled it off, then inserted the hook in the other direction, hooked the ribbon and pulled it the rest of the way through. It seemed like a good idea at 11:30 at night. Your best bet is to use a tapestry or cross stitch needle ( one with a dull end), and use it to pull a ribbon through, or thread it and knot the thread, pull the thread through the cording or ribbon, and then feed it through using the needle.

Find the opening

Feed the ribbon through.

14. Tie the ends together in a slipknot close to the opening, leaving about a 1″ tail. This will ensure the ribbon is hidden when in Scrap Bin mode.

Voila! You are finished your Gift Bag/Scrap Bin!!

Gift Bag Mode

Scrap Bin Mode

Gift Bag Mode: Pull on the end of the ribbon and draw up the band of fabric. Tie a bow!

Scrap Bin Mode: Release the bow and pull the edged of the band taught. Fold down over the main body of the bin.

I hope you enjoy making a bunch of these for your friends and yourself! They come together very quickly and the possibilities are endless! You could always fill one with cookies and send it my way! Yum Yum!
As always,

Happy Sewing!!

Phew, what a week! Lots to share!

Posted in Cathedral Window QAL, Other, Quilt-A-Longs, Tutorials and Patterns, Works In Progress by

Hello everyone! It has been a very busy week here, so I haven’t had time to do much blogging. I say week but in reality the last 15 days have been go go go!Between play-dates and appointments and pick ups and drop off I have had time to finish up all my 3×6 bee blocks and get them in the mail, catch up on my Modern Mystery Quilt, keep up with the Cathedral Window QAL, and make/hunt down some props for my little man’s 6 month photo session today. Throw in some grocery shopping and a sudden change in the weather read: from Indian Summer to torrential rain overnight  and voila! Lots of excuses not to vacuum….. =)

I realize that this is the west coast, and normally by the start of October the rain has moved in, but it was so beautiful for so long. Thanksgiving weekend was so warm people were still out in shorts. We were going to go to the Pumpkin Patch and have ourselves a grand old time yesterday, but record rainfall coupled with a rainfall warning quashed that faster than you can say “eh?” I did get to try Harry’s snowsuit. I don’t think it fits quite right yet……but it sure is warm!

Do I look impressed?

Can you tell I don’t like the rain? I’m from Northern Alberta. It may be -40, but at least the sun is shining and your not soaked! Anywho….onwards!

It seems lately that everything I make heads out the door. I feel like I have been sewing like a madwoman but have nothing to show at the guild meeting tonight.

Here, this is my stack of finished blocks that need more to complete whatever I was going to do with them, 1/2 of the checkerboard for a show quilt,  and all the pieces to a mystery quilt that I can’t for the life of me figure out how the end result will look….*chirp chirp*

However, I do have a cute little project that I whipped up last night as a photo prop that I can take with me. If Harry is going to be a dragon for Halloween, he needs a Princess to kidnap (and probably try to eat).

She looks so happy, just wait until the dragon starts gumming her head =)

The dress fabric is my favorite colorway from Treasures of the East by Hoffman. The teal/aqua colorway was the challenge fabric in 2010. I also picked some up in the fuchsia and sunset colorways. I can’t seem to find them anymore, so If anyone comes across either colorway, please let me know! Poppins Quilt Parlour in Penticton, BC still has the challenge fabric for anyone looking to nab some. They do phone orders!

I drew her face on with Sharpie markers. I think she looks suitably princessy!

You can find the pattern here as well as the tutorial. I just winged it with mine.

I was also doing some pinning while watching TV the other night. This is why you don’t leave your pin box where the cat can get to it!

Luckily I found them all (magnets are wonderful wonderful wonderful!) and I have yet to be stuck with a pin! It did inspire a pincushion design however, but more on that to come!

Tomorrow I will be posting my Scrappy Star block pattern, no tutorial yet though, so please be patient with me! I start a temporary job as a nanny for my friend who just welcomes their little boy yesterday morning. I have all the fabrics for her new baby quilt, I just need to get to it!
Happy Quilting!

Bottled Rainbows Quilt by Maureen Cracknell Handmade

Posted in Other by

Today I would like to share a quilt from Maureen Cracknell Handmade. Maureen’s blog is one of my favorites. She always has something creative, fun and inspiring to share with us. That she does it with 3 children makes it even more amazing!

Maureen Cracknell Handmade, Bottled Rainbows

Image courtesy of Maureen Cracknell Handmade

The Bottled Rainbows tutorial is one that many modern quilters know. It inspired one of our VMQG Challenges last year, and the resulting quilts are always beautiful and colorful. Maureen took Bottled Rainbows to the next level by using shapes and motifs instead of just squares and rectangles. You can read more about Maureen and her Bottled Rainbows Quilt here : Maureen Cracknell Handmade: My Bottled Rainbows Quilt : :. I love her construction techniques. You can also find the original Bottles Rainbows Post and Tutorial here.

Thank you Maureen for allowing me to share your work!

 

Cathedral Window QAL

Posted in Cathedral Window QAL, Quilt-A-Longs, Works In Progress by

Yesterday marked day one of the Cathedral Window Quilt A Long Blog Hop! Sara of Sew Sweetness gave us our first tutorial, the Layered Cathedral Window,  and I love how her block turned out! I have decided to use a consistent color scheme throughout the QAL. I am going to be using Limes, Aquas, Teals and Yellows. There are 9 blocks in this QAL, so I hope I have enough fabric! Ha ha ha, like that’s really a problem for me…

Here is my finished block! I ended up ripping 2 portions apart and placing the fabrics in a different order, but I am so happy with the result. There is some definite movement in this block! I love the lime green! It is an almost impossible to find Robert Kaufman Blender. I ordered it from Australia 2 years ago (the only place I could find it) for $20/meter! But I love it so much! I will use it in all my blocks, though maybe I should have picked a different color, Cathedral Windows do use up a lot of fabrics! There are 5 layers to sew through on each side of this block. I pressed my seams open using my heaviest iron, lowering my board, applying a TON of pressure, and STEAM. The result is a nice flat block with no seam bubbles! Hurray!

A huge thank you goes out to Bree at My Crafty Crap for hosting this QAL, and to all the sponsors for the wonderful prizes! You can find the QAL rules, blog roll, and prizes there.

I can’t wait for the next block!

Happy Sewing!

Rainbows For Maranda

I am part of a couple mommy groups, and one of the other mommies came across this. I contacted Patricia, and the little girl is in her friend’s Brownie Troop.

I know I get some international readers, so I would like to encourage everyone to take part. It will cost you nothing but a stamp! Lets help make a little girl’s dream come true!

Could everyone, including you big kids, draw a simple picture of a rainbow and mail it to Patricia Verhelst Box 355, Radville, SK S0C 2G0 Canada, by next week and I will send them all in together. There is a little girl in Saskatoon who is sick who wishes to get a rainbow from everyone in the world. Please write your name and where you are from on it. Lets make a wish come true if it was your child you would want that! Thanks everyone and please copy and paste this to help spread the word!This little girl’s name is Maranda, she is 10 years old and I’m really hoping everyone will do their best to make her wish come true!

During my clinical training, I did a month long rotation through the BC Children’s Hospital. Even three years later, that month has stuck with me, even more so now that I have a child of my own. It takes something so simple to make these kids happy.The odds seem so stacked against them, yet they shine through the adversity with bravery, strength and smiles for those who care for and about them. I will always remember my time there, and I know it shaped part of who I am professionally with my patients and at home.
Please, share this with your friends, family, and other bloggers!

Here is the address again:

Patricia Verhelst

Box 355

Radville, SK

S0C 2G0

Canada

And now for something fun…

Posted in Tutorials and Patterns by

My husband has recently quit smoking! I am very proud of him. He has been chewing a lot of gum to get through, so I bought him one of those big bottles of tablet style gum. Unfortunately its too big to lug around while he is working, so I made him a Gum Packet! I whipped it up in about 1o minutes. It’s super cute and hold 10 pieces of gum.

You can make one easily using scraps from your stash. You need:

2 pieces 5″x4″

1 strip 4″x4″ and a second strip 2″x4″ ( I used Kona White)

A button

a 1.5″ piece of 1/4″ elastic or elastic thread. You could also make a small loop out of fabric, make it about 2.5″ long to compensate for no stretch.

Instructions

Fold the 2 white strips in half and press. you will have a 2×4 and a 1×4 strip

Place the 1×4 strip on the right side of one of the 5″x4″ pieces, matching the raw edges along the 4″ side. Stitch across 3/4″ from the folded edge.

Place the short white strip on top of the tall white strip and pin.

Draw the lines for the ‘gum pouches’. Draw a line 3/4″ from the left side, then 3 more lines 5/8″ apart. Stitch on the lines from the top of the first folded strip to the bottom, backstitching at the fold for stability.

Fold the elastic in half and match the raw edges of the elastic to the raw edge of the gum pouches. Adjust the elastic so that it is in the middle of the gum pouches. The loop should be pointing to the folded edges. Sew the elastic in place securely by backstitching multiple times in the seam allowance ( within 1/4″)

Place the 2 4″x5″ pieces Right Sides Together.  Sew around the outside edge, leaving a 2″opening at the top (the top is the side with no gum pouches)

Trim the bulky corners around the gum pouches, and flip the Packet inside out. Close the opening with a whipstitch.

Press the Packet firmly, and edge-stitch around the entire Packet. Fold the packet in half lengthwise, RST. It should now measure 2 1/4″x 3 1/2″ and the gum pouches should be hidden behind the flap. Edge-stitch at the fold.

Sew your button to the center of the “flap”. The elastic should stretch over the button to keep the Gum Packet closed.
Tada! You are finished and have a funky fun packet for your gum! This will fit the regular size stick gums and the tablet gums.

The inside hold 10 pieces of gum

Fun Gum!

Since I whipped it up before hubby went to work I don’t have any tutorial pictures. You can always email me with questions!

Happy Quilting!