Quiltin' Maniac

Ta-Da!













































Now, somebody give me some tylenol and I don't want to see my machine for about a month!

Craft of the Week: Quick Quilts

I love these kind of quilts. They are totally simple, easy to make, lap blankets. They will brighten any room, add decor to blah, and keep you warm during these frosty winter nights. I bought a bunch of these "charm packs" last Christmas, on sale. I finished piecing four by the end of January, and am now sewing like a mad woman to get them done!

You buy them in pack like this. They are five by five (inch) squares, of a "line" of fabric. I love Moda, they make some of my favorite patterns. You could select any of your favorite fabrics though, cut them into five inch squares, and follow the rest of the instructions.

I use 88 squares, 8 by 11. Lay the pieces out randomly, just pay a little attention to what color is where. There is not rhyme or reason to these. That's one of the things that makes them so cool. The fabric patterns themselves "make" the quilt. I love to see them all come together.

Label your pieces with small stickers. Label row and number, like a1, a2, a3... I just caught onto this trick and it's making my life SO much easier. (I'm making eight quilts! I know, I'm a crazy woman. And I might be dead before they finished.)

I stack the pieces, numbered, on top of each other. All the same direction, then start sewing them out of my lap; a1 to a2. Then grab a3 and a4. You will be chain sewing these together in twos, all the way through k7 and k8. Then grab your sewn pieces a1/a2 and sew a3/a4 together. See? It's a little math like, eeek - sorry. You sew 2 together, then four, then eight; then you take all 11 of your strips of 8 and sew them together. Ta-daaaaa!

Cute huh? Now you need to sew on your borders. You will have a "stop" border, then a larger border. Finish up with your binding.

Buy three fabrics that you really like in the quilt. I chose my favorites.

For a complete quilt you will need:

8x11 0r 88 squares (5")

Stop border: 3/8 yards of fabric, cut into 2 1/2 inch strips, the length of the fabric.

Outer border: 7/8 yards of fabric, cut into 5 1/2 inch strips, the length of the fabric.

Backing and cotton batting: 3 yards each

Binding: 1/2 yard (or 3/4 yard if cutting on a bias), cut into 2 1/2 inch strips, the length of the fabric.

Total quilt size: 51X65

You can make these any size. They are totally adorable and easy. Make one soon, and tell me all about it!

Bumper Pads and Bindings

Here are some photos of the bumper pads I made. It's really very easy, as I am sure many of you know. I have a hard time finding just what I want, and of course, I am cheap. Uh, I mean frugal, yeah, that's it. At any rate, making them myself, I get just what I want.

Bumper Pads

1. You can buy bumper pad batting. It is at least an inch thick, which I don't really like. But it is layered when you buy it, so I just separate it to the thickness I like. (You could also just layer quilt batting as well.) The one bag was enough to make two sets, and I could probably make one more if I really wanted, which I don't.

Anyway, pick out the fabric you like and measure the piece 2x the height of the batting, then sew your pieces lengthwise to the desired length. ( you're going to put the fabric on like a giant taco, with the batting the guts and the fabric the shell) Wrap the fabric around the batting and pin, then sew the top closed all along the top edge. I like to then sew, "quilt," on the pad itself. I did stripes on another one, and I stippled on this one using contrasting thread. (stippling is this random sewing design, if you didn't know

This is a picture of Ruby's bumper pads and bedskirt I made for her. Same technique.

2. Then you bind the edges. Basic binding instructions are listed below. I am sure you all have your own way to bind, this is the best way for me. Use whatever you know or works best for you.

3. Finished binding.

4. I LOVE ribbon! So I used alternating brown and blue ribbon for my ties. Pick the length of tie you want, double it and fold it in half on the pads in the right spot. (take it to the crib and measure just to be sure - learned that the hard way.) Fold the ribbon down the front and back and sew across the top, go over it a couple of times to secure it.

5. TAH-DAH!!

Binding

1. I used three inch strips of fabric for this binding. Cut a sample of fabric and try what you think would look good. You have to fold the fabric in half, twice. (width wise) So basically with a three inch strip, I got a 3/4 inch binding. Measure the length of the pad and the ends, and double that. (so you have measured enough for the top, bottom, and both sides) You'll have to sew your three inch strips together because most likely they'll only be 45 inches long, and you will need more. (a lot more!) I think mine took 6 strips of 45 inch fabric sewn together.


2. This is how long your strip should now be.


3. Fold the sides of the binding into the middle, and iron. (so your edges are now touching each other, meeting down the center of the fabric) USE a water bottle to spray it! This will make your life SO much easier. The water stiffens the crease and it will hold better.

4. After you do the entire length once, then actually fold it in half and spray and iron again.

5. Finishing. For quilts I do some hand work here, but for this I would just use my machine. Unfold the piece, just so it is now in half. (width wise) Line up the center crease with the closing seam on the batting, this is now your center point. Sew the binding on the batting, with a very minimal seam allowance. (I use like 1/8 of an inch) So you are keeping the crease and the edge of the batting lined up, but are sewing almost 3/4 of an inch away as you are sewing on one side of the binding. Leave about 2 inches at the end, once you come full circle.

6. Corners are a little tricky, they may take some practice. But you can do it. Just do your best. I find it almost easier to get the general shape of the corner, then go in after and finish these by hand. A few minutes of hand work could save you a TON of grief on the machine.

7. After you have flipped the pad over and sewn almost all the way around on the other side, giving you a very clean, finished look, you now have to close off the end. With that 2 inches of extra fabric at the end, you now need to fold it under 2 or 3 times. Fold it back to where the binding starts. Then pull it snuggly around both sides and sew it closed.

Tip: Pay attention to your thread showing onto lighter fabric on the opposite side you are working on. This happens easily, just keep an eye on it.

Cake Class and Icing Recipe

Earlier this summer I taught a cake class at my house. We had a pretty good show, and I think the ladies had a lot of fun. It was just the basics of fondant, but I think they all learned something new nonetheless. I am posting a couple pictures from the class and the icing recipe I promised so very long ago.

BEFORE

I have had quite a few requests for more lessons. If you are interested leave me a comment or email me at teresa_tennis@hotmail.com. I am more than happy to teach specific requests. So if there is something you have always wanted to learn, let me know. I totally loved seeing all of the fun ideas each of you came up with. Each one was so creative and unique. Thanks for the fun time!

DURING

Icing
1 cube softened butter
½ cup Crisco (no substitutions here or on the butter, quality makes it the best)
Between 2 Tbsp. and ¼ cup water
Dash of Salt
1 tsp. vanilla
3 drops of almond oil (if you must, use almond extract)
Start with half a bag of powdered sugar, and go from there.

Cream the butter, Crisco and water. (start with just a bit of water, you can always add, but you can’t take out) Add the salt, vanilla, and almond oil. (You can get almond oil where most cake items are sold. The flavor is so much better with this. I think you could use a teaspoon of almond extract, but it may be a bit more.) Add the powdered sugar now. From here you will keep adding powdered sugar and water until you get the consistency you want. Double this recipe for a whole 9 inch round cake, double layer, including the icing being used as the filling.

AFTER

Love those cakes!

Let's have more cake fun soon!!

The Birds

Love my birds! I saw these hanging in the storefront of the Yoga studio. They were in a mobile and very cute. The pattern is available at http://www.spoolsewing.com/blog/2008/05/16/bird-mobile.

I took some photos of the process if you have any desire to make your own. I am in love with them. I made 28! Yes, 28. I am not totally sure what I am going to do with them, but my kids and their friends love them and put in their special orders. I have a ton of extra fabrics. I make bags and always have lots of cute scraps, this is a great way to use them. (do you see your fabric here?) Dr. Chubby, (Baby, to you) loves chewing on his as well. As you know, I LOVE ribbon. How could I not use ribbon? So I did make wings on one. I thought it was pretty successful. If I ever have a few extra minutes I want to make a mobile for The Littles room. Very cute for a boy and a girl. I think they would be adorable at Christmas as well.

1. Fold fabric in half, trace and cut. (only a single layer for the tail.)

2. Separate, and pin at the tails, right sides together. (do not sew the tails shut)

3. Sew up each side, then the head, meeting at the converging point of the body.

4. No need to trim strings, they're all inside. Turn your bird right side out, I use the eraser end of a pencil.

5. Stuff your bird. Use a good filling, and stuff right into the beak and head first. Once the body is done, it's too late to work on the head area. I like them very full, but the other ones I've seen weren't as full. (then again, their kids weren't trying to eat them)

6. Hand stitch the tail shut. The others were machine done, but it only takes a second to hand do it and I think it looks much nicer.

Enjoy! But be careful or you'll have a whole flock, like me.