how many quilts can a quilter quilt, when the quilter needs to quilt?

It was one of those “oh drats” moments, really. A last minute invitation to afternoon tea saw me adding “make a mug rug” to my Friday to-do list, and somehow it was 2.15 before I reached that part of my list. With 45 minutes until I needed to leave, I grabbed some fabric and started cutting. 35 minutes later, I had a mug rug.

{please excuse the instagram photo, that’s how much of a rush I was in!}

I did simple echo quilting inside the pink pinwheels, and then FMQed feathers down each side panel, before machining down a fold over binding. Which, admittedly, had far more puckers in it than I would normally allow through, but I’m hoping my grandmother appreciated the thought more than the accuracy (or lack thereof).

Monday is poking me in the ribs, and pushing me onwards to get more done. The last full week of school sees a full diary and a long to-do list. Hopefully a night of relaxing and crafting tonight before the real storm of the second half of the week hits. The sooner these holidays come the better! Have a lovely Monday everyone.

DreamCake mug rug {tutorial}

After I posted the mug rug I made for my sister, I had a few people saying they’d never heard of a mug rug, and did I have a tutorial? With the recent arrival of my new DreamCake fabric, I thought it the perfect excuse to make something! This tutorial assumes a level of sewing knowledge, but should hopefully work for beginner quilters – if you have any problems, leave a comment or drop me an email and we’ll see if we can get you sorted out.

So. Let’s gather our supplies. I’ve based this tutorial/pattern around a mini charm pack {gratuitous self promotion :: available in my shop}, but it’s also a good way to use up your scraps. I have also just listed a mugrug kit with everything you need to make two mug rugs – mini charm pack, batting, backing, binding, and a printed copy of this pattern (Fly Away) PLUS a bonus pattern exclusive to the mug rug kit.

You will need:

1 mini charm pack OR 18 small scraps of fabric, 2.5″ wide by 2.5″ (10 of)/1.5″ (8 of)

Small amount of background fabric – 16 1.5″ squares, 2 pieces 1.5″x4.5″, 2 pieces 1.5″x6.5″

Small piece of batting – 7″ x 11″

Backing fabric – 7″ x 11″

Binding fabric -

Pencil/tailors chalk

Pins

Scissors/rotary cutter plus mat

Sewing machine

STEP ONE:

Preparing fabric – mini charm pack:
Open the charm pack and pull out
4 clouds
4 double stripe
2 cupcakes
2 red polka dots
2 grey polka dots
2 aqua stripes
2 red stripes

Set aside the clouds, cupcakes, & double stripe. For the remaining 8 mini charms, trim to 1.5″ wide, giving 8 pieces at 2.5″ x 1.5″.

 

Preparing fabric – using scraps:
Cut from two fabrics – 4 2.5″ squares of each (central pinwheel)
Cut from one fabric – 2 2.5″ squares (feature square in borders)
Cut from 1 to 8 fabrics – 2.5″ x 1.5″ rectangles – 8 in total. (flying geese for the border)

Background
Cut 16 1.5″ squares
Cut 2 4.5″x1.5″ strips
Cut 2 6.5″ x 1.5″ strips

 

 

Backing/binding
From one fat quarter, cut 2 1.75″ strips across the long edge.

 

OR

Strips of fabric 1.75″ wide to make up a total of 40-45″ (one width of fabric is enough).

If using the kit, you will need to cut a total of 4 strips before cutting the backing, to give enough binding for two mug rugs.

OR

Cut a piece of fabric 11″ x 7″

STEP TWO:

Lay out your fabric as shown.

 

 

STEP THREE:

Creating the pinwheel. Lay out the clouds in a square, and check that they are all facing up, and the clouds are all in the right direction (not using clouds? Lay out one set of four 2.5″ squares face up, check if the pattern needs to face a certain way).

 

Take the double stripe, and lay it neatly on top of the clouds, so the pattern is facing down (right sides together), and the edges line up. In mine, I changed the direction on each one – so there is one vertical and one horizontal in each row/column.

Using a ruler and a pencil/tailors chalk, draw a diagonal line on each square from the outside corner to the corner that will be in the centre of the pinwheel, and carefully pin each pair together.

 

Sew along the line. Do not press or trim yet.

 

Set out your squares, and fold back the double stripe on each to check a) the clouds are the right way up and b) the stripes are running the right way.

 

Trim the excess, around 1/4″ from the seam, and press open.

Take one square and lay it face down on it’s neighbour, lining up the edges. Pin the ends of what would be the joining edges, and sew with a 1/4″ seam allowance. Repeat for remaining two squares. Press open.

Lay the two joined pairs on the table again to confirm everything is in the right spot. Put the right sides together, and along the middle edge, pin together, at each end, and where the seams you sewed in the last step meet (they should line up pretty well exactly). Sew along this edge with a 1/4″ seam. Press open.

 

 

Adding the borders. Taking a 4.5″x1.5″ strip, lay it on top of the pinwheel, lining up the top edges. Pin. Take the other strip, and line up with the bottom edge. Pin. Sew both strips on with a 1/4″ seam. Press open. (I found pressing the seam toward the white made for a flatter finish).

Take one 6.5″x1.5″ strip, and laying on top, line up left edges and pin. Repeat with other piece on right hand side. Sew with 1/4″ seam. Press.

And that’s the centre done!!

STEP FOUR:

Making the side borders.

Take one of the small rectangles, and place a 1.5″ square of background on top, lining it up top/bottom/right hand side. Using a ruler and pencil/tailors chalk, draw a line from the top right hand corner to the bottom left corner. Sew along this line. Trim the fabric on the right of the seam, around 1/4″ from the stitching. Press open.

 

Place another 1.5″ square on background on top, lining it up with top/bottom/left hand side. Draw a line from top left corner of square to bottom right. Sew along the line. Trim fabric to the left, around 1/4″ from the seam. Press.

One flying goose! Repeat this for the seven remaining 2.5″x1.5″ rectangles. You may wish to do this in batches, ie, add all one side, trim and press, then add all the rest. Your choice!!

 

STEP FIVE:

Lay out your border pieces, with the square in the middle, and two flying geese either side, points facing toward the feature square. Double check you are happy with direction/layout.

Put pairs of flying geese together, pin at the ends and see with a 1/4″ seam. Press open. Do this for all four pairs.

Take one pair, and put right side together with the feature square. Pin ends. Sew with 1/4″ seam. Press open.

Take the second pair, line up with feature square and pin. Sew with 1/4″ seams. Press open.

Ooo, a border! Repeat for the other side.

STEP SIX:

Take one border piece, and lay on top of the centre pinwheel, lining up the top, bottom, and the joining edge. Pin the ends and centre, and sew with a 1/4″ seam. Press open.

Repeat with second border.

Looky! The top is done!

STEP SEVEN:

Sandwiching the mug rug.
From the fat quarter, you would have cut 4 1.75″ strips for the binding. Using the mug rug top as a template, cut a piece approximately 1/2″ bigger than your mug rug on each side.

Lay your backing piece on a clean flat table, with the print facing down. Smooth it out to remove all lumps, bump, and wobbles.

On top of this, carefully lay down the piece of batting, smoothly gently to ensure it is smooth.

Centre your mug rug top and carefully lay it down and smooth out.

Place one pin in the centre, without lifting the three layers more than necessary. Carefully add more pins, roughly 2″ apart.

Quilting time! This can be as simple or as fancy as you like. If you are a beginner quilter you may like to stitch along the seams/outside of the pinwheel and around the triangles of the flying geese.

STEP EIGHT:

Binding – this tutorial explains it better than I can!

 

STEP NINE:

Boil the kettle, grab some bikkies and enjoy your new mug rug!

 

 

Shameless self promotion – a mug rug kit containing everything you need to make two mug rugs – a mini charm pack, a fat quarter of your choice, background fabric and wadding, plus instructions for this mug rug + a kit exclusive mug rug – is available in my etsy shop.

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bento box baby

One of the great things about the Christmas holidays, is having husband home for a couple of weeks. The boys love having outside daddy time, and as such, I’m freed up to get all creative-like while baby girl is sleeping. One of the projects that I finished before New Years, and have just been too slack to blog, is a little Bento Box pram quilt for little miss. For no other reason except to give me an excuse to sew with pink!

 

It’s a handy little size to pop in the nappy bag, for emergency changes, or for somewher for Butterfly to squeeze in her tummy time when out visiting. Or even just hanging out on our deck, watching her big brothers playing.

 

 

Another weekend is here already, and with the house clean, and the boys playing happily outside, I’m hoping to get the sleeping babe in my arms transferred to her cot, and then finish her top – just button holes to go! Then some scrapping. Some painting. Some renovation admiring, dreaming, planning. Stories and playdough with the boys. Maybe a spot of baking. Packing every minute with as much fun as we can.

 

Happy Saturday everyone!

The Island of Sodor :: the quilty version

There’s a very special little boy a few hours north of here, that holds a very special place in my heart. A sweet, chubby cheeked little boy, who, just like my boys, loves to play trains.

It was his birthday recently. Ok. It was his 1st birthday at the beginning of the year. You may remember my laments about FMQing back then. We were off for a visit, and wanted to give it to him in person. I busted my chops, got it quilted, binding attached, and hand-stitched for three hours in the car. But failed.

So back home came the quilt. With four inches of binding to be stitched down. But the more I looked at it, the less I liked the look of the quilting. Or the 5000 ends that needed stitching in. So with a bit of help & advice from Emma, I unpicked & re-did the quilting. Not as fancy as what I’d planned, but more in keeping with my level of “skill”.

And so, it’s done. My first bargello quilt. I was aiming for a “Bay of Sodor” feel, with the green meadows for the trains to play, and a beach, for Toby the Tram to ferry his passengers to and fro. I’m reasonably happy with the results. With more time (and fabric!), I would do the strips thinner for more “natural” looking curves, but I was limited in the number of seams I could do, and still produce a reasonable sized play-lap quilt from a single width of fabric.

Today, we’ve been shopping. There’s a layer cake calling my name. An urgent work project keeping me away. Some housework to do. A cubby house has taken over my loungeroom. Plans and dreams have taken over my head space. And time, what’s that? Five minutes more would be nice. Or maybe just a cup of coffee and some of that orange cake we baked yesterday. Mmmm…. coffee…. Short week Wednesday, love the possibilities. Let’s do this!

so this sucks.

Right now, there are two things that suck. The first is my FMQ ability, or lack there of. The second is unpicking said FMQ.

I have 24 hours before this quilt needs to be done. Yikes. I should probably be unpicking rather than posting about how sucky the unpicking is, shouldn’t I? Ok. Deep Breath. Let’s do this.

Back to real life…

Two weeks ago, we were waking to a beautiful sunny day. Our first day of holidays, of playing & laughing, reading & cuddling. Then, Christmas came & went. Visting family, catching up with friends. Suddenly it was New Year. And in the blink of an eye, those two weeks seem like two hours, and we are back to real life today.

A little side bonus of having daddy at home was unencumbered fabric shopping. After a morning of running errands together, buying magazines, looking for a cricket set, regularly casting an eye sky-ward to check if the rain was gone yet, I shyly suggested we maybe could go via the fabric shop on the way home. With assurances of pre-planning, of a brief, 5 minute stop, we all piled out of the car and into the store. The children were quickly ensconced in the play area, and I started pulling bolts of fabric from the shelves. Yep. Yep. Mmm, not sure. Nope, deinately not. Husband prowled around, dividing his time between the children and me. How many are you buying? How much is this going to cost? Don’t you have enough yet? Will you be much longer? I simply rolled my eyes & sent him back to the children. Maybe the store should install a husband’s play area, he seemed to find the outing much more stressful than the children!

And my haul? A delightful rainbow of fabrics, fading through one colour & melting into the next.

And my little bundle all sliced up & ready to become a bargello quilt

The main part of the quilt quickly came together, and I must admit, I am quite pleased with the results, especially as itw as my first attempt at bargello. It is currently hanging behind me in my studio, waiting to be trimmed, and a border added. Then, when I feel brave, I’m going to FMQ it. The whole lot. Mmmm…

With life slowly coming back to normal, 2010 is starting out on the right foot. 6 loads of washing done & hung. Sandpits played in. Bikes ridden. Stories read & cuddled shared. Lego towns built. All the little moments that make life so wonderful. While they sleep, I’ve got a creative itch that needs scratching. With what, remains the question. Sewing? Painting? Scrapping? Maybe justa  quiet moment with a coffee and a book. Hello Monday, good of you to play nice. Let’s do this!

#quiltinaday

I’m always quite envious of those annoying productive types who seem to punch out a king-sized foundation peiced quilt, then FMQ’d in various colours & layers of complicated designs, and get it all done in the blink of a toddlers nap time.  Plus blog it. With mulitple perfectly staged photos. You know who you are.

But yesterday, I made a decision. To make a quilt in a day. If my little project was going to find it’s intended purpose with it’s intended recipient, it needed to be finished by 1pm today. So started the “quiltinaday” project.

After a moderately quick stop at the fabric store (well, quick by fabric-store-standards!), the children were fed, watered and put to bed, the air-con in the studio turned to “Arctic” (hey, it’s was very flippin’ hot here yesterday, then add in the iron, plus me working up a sweat churning out this quilt…), and it was time to get cracking.

The key to success in this project was simplicity. I decided on a simple 3-fabric disappearing nine patch, which I could strip piece. And, so, that is how I managed to go from:

1.42pm Monday

to this:

12.38pm Tuesday:

It’s not a masterpiece, but it is already well-loved. Quilting is just straight lines, rather than the FMQ that I think would really bring this design to life. It is only a small lap quilt, around 42″ across, with very nice bamboo batting. So lovely & soft, that stuff is. The little cream border between the green inner border and pink outer border is actually a flange sandwiched in the seam, inspired by the very talented Emma.

I did it. I made a quilt in 24 hours.Proof that dreaming big actually works. Just don’t ask about the state of my house… So, this afternoon, instead of painting, or drawing, or sewing, or any other variety of creating to make messes in my nice clean studio, I am playing catch-ups. And nursing a ruptured eardrum. Ouch. Maybe I’ll just pass out in front of the air-con and watch a movie with the boys. Thanks for playing nice, Monday. That was a fun project. Let’s do it again sometime.

Houston, we have a quilt!

 

Well, not a quilt, but it’s getting there! I’ve got almost all the fabric for Baby Bear’s cot quilt cut (I need to go buy some more of the red, fingers crossed my LQS has some left!). If it looks familiar, that’s because it’s the same fabric as Bear’s Jacobs Ladder quilt. I’m hoping to swing a bit of sewing time to start peicing it today. And yes, I know it’s a bit late to be making a cot quilt for a 6 month old baby, but in my defence, our cot converts to a toddler bed, so the quilt will get quite a bit of use. I do need to get it done now, as it is getting quite nippy at night, and it won’t be long before the small one needs more than winter pj’s and a sleeping bag. The plan is to have it sandwiched by the end of this week and get it quilted over the weekend… hmmm… best laid plans and all that!

 

It’s shaping up to be a productive day. The house is clean, the washing up done, and I’ve even managed to cobweb a couple of rooms. I’ve had half a cup of tea, read some stories, a couple of rounds of ‘The Duke of York, and it’s not even nine o’clock yet! On the horizon for today – a wander to the shops for said fabric, a spot of duck feeding, maybe a babycino if the small one behaves, and then swing by the library on the way home and grab some new books for the 50/50 challenge. Some quilt peicing, a painting that came to mind this morning, a coffee I can finish, a new batch of bath fizzers, and 5 million loads of washing.  What a list! Let’s do this!

Baby gifty crafty things

My cousin recently had a baby, so as part of her gift, I made her a change quilt (I was a bit absent-minded and forgot the nappy pocket – oops!).

 

And to wrap it, I grabbed a piece of brown paper I had lying around, and, coating toddler sized feet in various shades of blue paint, let the boy run wild!

I did try getting some baby prints on there too, but the small one wasn’t too keen, so he lay on a towel nearby & watched the fun. Unfortunately, the toddler failed to grasp the concept of “sit still and don’t touch anything with your feet”, so our back concrete is now also decorated. Oops. Hopefully it will come off… Or else we can just enjoy blue concrete until we get around to doing up the back yard!

 

Bear really enjoyed making this paper, so I’m tempted to grab an old sheet & so paint & let him go wild – then use the sheet to either make a tent, or just chuck in “cubby house building” pile – depending on motivation levels!