Simple & Modern Baby Quilt Tutorial

This month, Kristy at Hopeful Threads and my lovely friend Melissa from SewBitterSweet Designs are teaming up to run a baby love drive of quilts and blankets to be delivered to the local Children's Hospital NICU & PICU. This is a cause that is very dear to my heart as I have spent countless hours in a Children's Hospital during my lifetime. It can be scary to be in a place with loud machines, needles and strangers walking in and out of your room on a continual basis. Providing a small quilt for these patients not only provides comfort and some sense of normalcy to an awful situation for the children, but also comforts the family as well. This token of love gives the patients & their families strength they need to deal with their medical problems.

Anyway, as part of this drive I have written a very easy and modern baby quilt tutorial that measures at 44x44 which is perfect for the PICU and can easily be altered to a smaller size for the NICU. Even if you choose not to follow my pattern, I hope that you take a few hours out of your schedule this month and make a handmade blanket for the children who have to spend their holidays in the hospital instead of playing at home with their families and friends.

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Supplies:

2/3 yard light peach fabric

1 yard dark peach fabric

3/4 yard light gray fabric

3/4 yard dark gray fabric 

Cutting Instructions:

From light peach fabric:

(3) strips 1.5" x width of fabric 

(2) squares 5.75" x 5.75"

From dark peach fabric:

(3) strips 1.5" x width of fabric 

(3) squares 5.75" x 5.75"

Instructions

1. Sew 6 strips of fabric together lengthwise, alternating between light and dark peach. Be sure to press with seams open. Cut into (5) 5.75" x 5.75" squares.

2. Make half square triangles by placing 1 solid piece of light peach fabric & 1 striped square on top of each other right sides together. Draw a line diagonally down the middle of the peach square & sew 1/4" on both side of the lines. Cut on the drawn line.

3. Press each square. Repeat for all of solid squares.

4. Assemble squares in groups of four as shown & sew.

5. Sew blocks together as shown.

6. Place borders. Be creative -- this is an excellent opportunity to use your scraps and make the quilt to whatever size you so desire - improv is the name of the game! 

7. Quilt & bind as desired.

Viola! Finished quilt in under 2 hours!

Pixelated Peace Pillow Template!

Hi friends! I have been asked by many people to share my letter template for the Pixelated Peace Pillow. You can find the pattern below. I hope you have fun making your pillows & would love it if you could please post pictures of your completed projects on the PurplePandaQuilts flickr page. 

Without further ado...here's the template

Click here for the template!

Tutorial: Pixelated Peace Pillow

Happy Christmas in July! Welcome to my stop on the Christmas in July blog hop & sewing challenge hosted by Christen from Love by Hand. All the details about the Sewing Challenge can be found here.

For this challenge, Chrissy from Sew Lux Fabrics sent me this lovely fat quarter bundle of Winter's Lane, which is 10% off right now, no coupon needed!

I LOVE this line, it is so perfect for the holidays! The reds are perfect shade of red and the prints are holiday without screaming holiday. I think that this line is perfect for home decor and my first thought went to make some holidays pillows.

So without further ado, I give you my pixelated peace pillow project!

Supplies:

66 1.5x1.5 inch squares from assorted winters lane fabrics
1/2 yard of pillow backing/front (I used essex linen from my stash but highly suggest this print if you don't have any on hand)
1/2 yard fusible interfacing

Directions:

1. Cut the following from winter's lane: (66) 1.5" x 1.5" squares (1) 12.5" x 5" piece for letters. From fusible web cut (1) 12.5" x 5" piece. From the background fabric cut (1) 5.5" x 15.5" and (11) strips 1.5"by various lengths. See the below diagram for all the cutting info.

all units are in inches

2. Layout your squares in a layout according to the diagram above. Sew each row together.

3. Next, sew each row together. Then sew the 5.5" x 15.5" piece of linen to the bottom of the patchwork piece. Then trim to 15" square.

4. Now we are going to applique the words onto the pillow top. First, using your word-processor choose a font and print out a stencil. I made my letters approximately 4.5" tall. If there is interest I can post a pdf of my template. ETA: Here is a link to the template

5. Cut out the letters and then iron the fusible webbing to the 5.5" x 12.5" piece of fabric.

6. Trace the letters onto the paper side of the fusible web. IMPORTANT NOTE: Be sure to flip over your letters & trace them so they are a mirror image. This is important because the right side of the fabric (in this case red) needs to be the front.

7. Lay the letters onto the pillow front and then iron them on one by one. Make sure you leave at least a quarter inch seam allowance on all sides.

8. Applique the letters in your preferred method. I use a small zig zag stitch and use the needle down function on my sewing machine.

9. Voila! Your pillow top is finished.

10. Make the back of the pillow in your preferred way & then insert your pillow form. I used a 14 x 14 inch pillow form. If you have any questions, I can post how I did my no zipper back.

I hope that you enjoy this tutorial! I had plenty of fabric left over from my bundle and could easily make 2 more.

Modern Tennessee Block Tutorial

Hello friends! December is my month to design a quilt for the do.Good Stitches group I am a part of on flickr. With the holidays and all sorts of craziness coming up, I decided to whip up a tutorial for the Modern Tennessee Block. It's super easy and takes no time to put together - leaving you with plenty of time to make some holiday cookies.

Anyway, here's the tutorial:

Materials:

(4) 5-inch colored squares
(8) 3-inch light gray squares

Step 1: Cut all your pieces

Step 2: Draw a diagonal line with a pencil on the back of the 3-inch squares

Step 3: Pin a 3-inch square right side down on top of a 5-inch square in the upper left corner, and another 3" square on the bottom right corner.

Step 4: Sew on the lines and trim, leaving a quarter inch seam

Step 5: Press and arrange blocks into an x.

Step 6: Sew block together and square up to 9 inches.

Voila! Thanks ladies for making these blocks for me - you are awesome. =)

Tutorial: Fantastic Fall Table Runner

Today I am excited to share with you a tutorial for this fantastic fall table runner. I used chicopee by Denyse Schmidt with some Essex Linnen.

Materials:

2" wide strips in various lengths of 11 different prints (I used a fat quarter stack of DS prints - there is still plenty leftover)
2 2" x 33.5" fabric pieces for border
2 2" x 20" fabric pieces for border
38" x 21" piece of fabric for backing
2" wide strips in various lengths for negative space
1 fat quarter for binding fabric
58" x 21" piece of batting
Thread
Rotary Cutter

**note: I used a yard of fabric for the backing, negative space, and borders with a little bit left over**

Instructions:

1. Choose an order for your fabrics.

2. Cut and iron all the pieces. See the diagram below for the measurements I used - or you can feel free to turn this into an improv project and sew strips of various lengths together to create a similar effect.

3. Make rows by sewing A to B, D to E and then AB to C and DE to C.

4. Repeat for each row. I found it helpful to stack the pieces of each row on top of each other and pin. I also numbered each row.

5. Sew the rows together.

6. Press and add borders. First, add the longer sides and then add the shorter sides.

7. Make a quilt sandwich by layering the backing (right side down), batting, and table runner top (right side up)

8. Pin baste.

9. Quilt as desired. I used a metallic gold thread and quilted in horizontal rows .75" apart. I really love the shine the thread gives to the finished project.

10. Bind - I bind by machine. Katie has an excellent tutorial if you need help.

11. Voila! Now you are finished and you can enjoy your new fantastic fall table runner!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial -- and if you'd like to make one just like mine, check back tomorrow --  I will be giving away a fat quarter stack of chicopee.

Just Read! Kindle Case Tutorial

Hey gang, here is a super easy tutorial for a stylish carrying case for you Kindle. Even though the directions might seem complicated, I started and completed this project in under an hour.

Note: My case is for the 6” Kindle. 

Materials:

1 7”zipper  (I used a bigger one and cut it down to size)

1 decorative strip of fabric 1.5” x 9” (or a bunch of scraps that are at least 1.5" wide)

2 pieces of fusible fleece 7” x 9”

2 pieces of lining fabric 7” x 9”

1 4.5” x 9” piece of fabric for front

1 2.5” x 9 piece of fabric for front

1 7” x 9” piece of fabric for back

1 2.5” x 7” piece of fabric for loop

Embroidery floss, needle & embroidery hoop

Instructions:

1. Cut and iron all pieces for your project.

2. If using scraps for the decorative fabric & loop, sew the scraps into 2 strips, one 2.5” x 7” for the loop and one 1.5” x 9” for the front. 

3. Piece together the front of the case by sewing the decorative strip of fabric to the two other front fabric pieces. Trim to 7" x 9". 

4. Time to embroider. Measure approximately one inch to the right of the decorative strip and 4 inches from the bottom. Lightly write, with pencil, the saying “just read.” I found it helpful to use a ruler to make sure it was straight.

5. Using 2 strands of embroidery floss, back stitch over your pencil marks. Be sure to knot your thread on the back when finishing to avoid it coming loose in the future.

6. Fuse the front piece to a piece of fusible fleece, right side up. Repeat with the back.

7. Make the Loop. With right side of fabric facing down, iron and fold the top and bottom of strip in a quarter of an inch. I found it helpful to use starch during this step.

8. Next, fold it in half and iron again. This will ensure that there are no raw edges on the loop. (The ends are okay because they will be sewn into the bag)

9. Topstitch down each side of the fabric, creating a flat strap.

10. Take the zipper and make several stitches very close together across the closed zipper teeth at 7” from the top end of the zipper tape. To do this set your machine at the widest zigzag stitch it has and a length of. 01mm. Turn the hand wheel one full rotation to make sure the needle will clear the zipper teeth. Repeat multiple times. This will create a new stop for the zipper, allowing you to cut off the excess.

11. Lay the front fabric right side up and place the zipper, face down, on top of it, lining up the edges. Next lay a piece of lining on top of the zipper, right side down. Essentially you are creating a sandwich with the zipper in the middle.

12. Pin and stitch together close to the teeth. I highly recommend using a zipper foot. Turn the 2 fabric pieces so that they are wrong sides together. Press both edges away from the zipper.

13. Lay the backing piece right side up, next place the piece you just sewed with the zipper on top (thus the 2 outside pieces will be right sides together, with the first lining on top).  Line up the edge of the zipper. Now place the second piece of lining on top, right side up.

15. Pin and stitch together close to the teeth. Again, I recommend using a zipper foot. Open the zipper at least halfway so you can turn it later.

16. Next, we are going to stitch the sides. Insert the loop by sandwiching it between the 2 outside fabric pieces and place it at a downward angle. Pin in place. Now you are going to stitch along the sides and the bottom, with a quarter inch seam. Important Note: Don’t stitch the lining that will be in the next step.

17. Sew the lining. Be sure to unzip the entire zipper!! Stitch along the sides and bottom of the lining, leaving a hole in the bottom of the lining for turning. Turn the lining right side out. Fold the bottom unsewn part under a quarter inch and stitch along the folded edge.

18. Voila! You have an awesome fully lined carrying case for your Kindle!

This post is part of the Remember September Project at Hopeful Threads & Sew BitterSweet Designs.