We choose a specific set of materials and show you three different projects that you can sew with it. Using mostly precuts, these projects will have you digging through your stash to find the perfect fabrics!

Happy Fathers Day ! The silk necktie has achieved notoriety as the traditional Father's Day gift to Dad from his family. But what if Dad al...

Happy Friday! So today is all about baby quilts. I've gathered 15 of my top baby quilt patterns - all free. But first, I have one of my own quilt finishes to share! Last year I made this baby quilt from a flannel charm pack of Little Ruby. Yep, flannel! My local quilt shop needed a sample made and I was happy to oblige. The pattern is called Moda Love and you can find the free PDF pattern here. All of the fabric on the front of the quilt is flannel, and the backing is this fun textured minky. It's such a cozy little quilt. The only way it could be better is if it was MY size. With 8 inches of snow on the ground I sure could use it about now. This little quilt finished at 40" square. You can find the free pattern for the Moda Love charm quilt here. I added a border to mine to make it just a bit bigger. By the way, at that same website, there's also patterns for the Layer Cake size, and the Mini Charm size. Ready for more baby quilt inspiration? Here you are - my 15 favorite baby quilt patterns and tutorials! Information and a link for each one can be found below the photos. Baby Basket - easy strip quilt pattern from Woodberry Way Wonky Stripes Baby Quilt + Tutorial from Quilts By Emily Striped Chevrons quilt tutorial from Kitchen Table Quilting Mod Triangle baby quilt tutorial from The Cloth Parcel Lone Star baby quilt tutorial from Diary of a Quilter Stairway baby quilt pattern from A Bright Corner Rainbow baby quilt tutorial from So You Think You're Crafty Fresh Eggs free quilt pattern from Jedi Craft Girl & Gigi's Thimble Charming Lucy free quilt pattern from A Bright Corner Little Houses free baby quilt pattern from Suzy Quilts On The Go free baby quilt pattern by Melissa Corry for Moda Bake Shop Zoo Dwellers free baby quilt pattern from A Bright Corner Strip and Flip baby quilt tutorial from Cluck Cluck Sew Fair Isle baby quilt tutorial by Leah Douglas for Moda Bake Shop Moda Love baby quilt pattern from Moda Fabrics Want to see even more? I have a whole Pinterest board dedicated just to baby quits! And be sure to follow it because I'll keeping adding to it as I find new patterns and tutorials to add!

is done!!! I loooooooove this quilt!! The finished size is 40X40. I really think this is the very first quilt I've made that I adore every single fabric in it. Would you just look at those hello betty sunny side up dots???? LOVE them! And my precious flea market fancy scrappage, yum.my!! I used brown thread to quilt the plaid pattern in it: I think I'm going to HAVE to make another one of these, but BIG!!! Yehaw! ~Penny

Make a Throw or a Wall Quilt! Whether you enjoy cycling or simply want a quilt that celebrates warm weather, this charming quilt is a great choice. The charming bicycle and basket full of flowers are all created with standard piecing. The quilt is wonderful in just about any color palette. Play with the bike …

Welcome to this week's Swing into Spring party. As usual, last week's party was filled with the most wonderful and inspiring posts. Here ...

Today is reveal day of our GREEN challenge quilts for the TT group! A real challenge if you don’t like the colour green that much. Working with green fabrics was an exercise I need to explore more.…

A Bonjour Quilts sewing tutorial for a diamond quilt block - make your own scrappy diamond quilt with this quilt block pattern tutorial.

Use your sewing machine to appliqué fabric and add a clean finish to edges at the same time, it's easy with these tips and techniques.

This simple charm quilt was inspired by an old fence on the beach! It is the perfect pattern for any quilter--just use charm squares from your favorite fabric line for a quick and easy throw size quilt! Skill Level: Beginner Finished Measurements: 50" x 60" Fabric/Supplies: 3 charm packs or 105 charm squares (5") 1 & 1/8 yards white solid 3 yards backing fabric 1/2 yard binding fabric Twin size batting Read blog article about this pattern by copying & pasting the following link in your browser: http://ahhhquilting.blogspot.com/2012/05/salt-air-charm-quilt.html

Huge list of sew and no sew projects for fabric scraps. Make gifts, jewelery or home decor items out of the trimmings, crumbs and other items you would normally toss in the scrap bin.

Free bag patterns that are easy to do and stylist at the same time. Check out this gorgeous oval messenger bag with free pattern download.

Quilty inspiration and quilt tutorials

Cassandra Ellis

... designed by me! One slow afternoon when I was at work by myself, I had been staring at the Half Moon Moda fabrics long enough th...

Hey all, The other day I found a piece of fabric in a secondhand store: It's not clearly visible in the photo, but it's actually a sturdy piece of an oilcloth tablecloth. So it's got that waxy surface and overall stiffness of an oilcloth even though it's completely matte. I thought it'd make a fine sling bag. Or a backpack. Or maybe both? At the same time. So then I drafted an idea for a nice summer-appropriate (=waterproof) bag. With these measurements, the finished bag is 36cm tall and 38cm wide at the widest part. If you want to make yours bigger or smaller, adjust the pattern. So, if you want to make this backpack for yourself, you'll need: - About 0.5 meters of sturdy fabric for the outside of the bag. - About 0.5 meters of lining fabric of your choice (I just used scrap pieces left over from other projects). - Some iron-on interfacing if your fabric(s) aren't sturdy enough. I used interfacing for the lining and pocket pieces. - A zipper that's at least 60cm long (mine was 65cm). - A zipper that's about as long as the longer side of the backpack (in the picture 33cm). I simply cut a longer zipper to match the side. - Two or three shorter zippers, about 15cm long. The amount depends on how many pockets you want to make. I had two for the front and one for the inside of the bag. - Some paper, pen, scissors and a ruler (to draw the pattern). - Basic sewing supplies (pins, scissors, sewing machine that is capable of sewing straight stitch, thread etc.) First I drew and cut out my pattern. It fit nicely on two standard A4 sheets taped together. I placed the pattern on fold on the oilcloth fabric and cut out two pieces. I also placed the bottom piece on fold and cut one. Next I cut two long, narrow pieces for the straps. The measurements were 85x5cm. So about 20cm longer than my zipper that's embedded in the strap. Then I used the pattern to cut out two lining pieces and one bottom piece. I also cut out three pocket pieces. I put iron-on interfacing on all these pieces. As for the pocket size, I simply placed my zippers on top of my front piece to see where I wanted them to be. Then I measured the distance from that point to the bottom of the piece, subtracted approximately 2cm, and then doubled the number (because the pocket piece is folded in half to form the pocket bag). The pieces on the front have diagonal upper edges because the zippers are placed diagonally as well. The bigger pocket piece above the two is for the pocket inside the bag. So then I had all the pieces and the sewing could begin. I started with the separating strap. I folded the raw edges in lengthwise and then folded the whole thing in half again. The oilcloth didn't like ironing (I tested on a scrap piece), but if you're using a fabric that can be ironed, definitely iron the folds in place, it makes this part a lot easier! Starting from the end of the zipper, I sandwiched one side of the zipper in between the folded fabric. Once I got to the point where the zipper ends, I simply kept folding and pinning the strap alone. I sewed the folded fabric to the zipper. (I don't have a zipper foot but if you do you should definitely use it here! I've just never gotten around to buying one and by now I'm so used to sewing zippers with a regular sewing foot that I can't be bothered to purchase one anymore...) Then I just repeated the process with the other side. At this point I sewed the darts at the bottom edge of the four main pieces. *** Next I got to making the pockets. I started with the big one that would be on the inside of the bag. I measured the zipper and on the wrong side of the pocket piece I drew a box that was slightly longer than the zipper and about 1cm wide. I left about 2cm above the box for seam allowance. I eyeballed the center line and the "arrows" in the corners. I pinned the pocket piece to the lining piece, right sides together. I sewed around the edges of the box. Then I cut through both the pocket fabric and the lining along the center line and into the corners. Through the hole I then stuffed the entire pocket piece onto the wrong side of the lining fabric. I tugged and pulled the corners in place and then ironed the whole thing so it settled neatly. I placed the zipper on the wrong side of the fabric so it was centered in the rectangle hole. I put pins on the right side. I attached the zipper by sewing along the edges of the box on the right side of the fabric. Then on the backside, I folded the pocket piece in half, creating the pocket bag. I sewed along the pocket edges like this: Sew ONLY the pocket edges together, fold the lining fabric out of the way or else the outline of your pocket is sewn into the lining as well! It might be a bit difficult around the zipper ends if they are very close to the edge of the pocket bag, but just make sure you're not sewing into the lining. And then the pocket is done! I repeated the process twice on the front piece with the diagonal zippers. Sewing two pockets like this is just as easy as sewing one, you just need to remember to keep the pocket pieces out of each others' way so you don't accidentally sew the pocket bags together! *** So all the individual pieces now ready, it was assembly time! I took the outside back piece (the London print one with no pockets sewn in) and the lining back piece (the one with the bigger pocket), plus the one zipper still left (mine is super long but I cut it shorter after sewing it in the seam). I placed the zipper on the right side of the oilcloth piece, with the zipper facing down. I then placed the lining fabric right side down on top of that. So then you have your outer fabric right side up, zipper face down and teeth facing in so the zipper edge goes along the raw edge of the fabric, and the lining on top of all that right side down. Sew along the edge so you catch both layers of fabric and the zipper in between. So when you flip it open after sewing, it looks like this: I then flipped the lining under and top-stitched along the edge to make the seam lay flat beside the zipper. I opened the zipper and did the same thing for the remaining two pieces: zipper face down & teeth in on the right side of the oilcloth, then lining on top of those right side down. (Add lining face down on top of the zipper.) I sewed along the edge, flipped the pieces over and top-stitched. I also shortened the zipper. (If you need to cut a zipper shorter, remember to sew a stopper onto the end so you don't accidentally open the zipper too far, because you probably won't be able to fix it anymore!) So then I had this: I attached the strap next by sewing it onto the back piece like this. (Sew it only to the main fabric, flip the lining out of the way here!) Sew along the red dotted lines. (Just so you know, this post is not sponsored by Lenovo ThinkPad. :D) Circled in the following picture is an important tool for the following steps: It's a safety pin, which I used to temporarily attach the strap onto the oilcloth fabric so I wouldn't end up accidentally sewing the strap onto something I didn't want during the last steps. (You want to use a safety pin rather than a regular pin, or you might end up pricking yourself while turning the bag inside out in the end.) Oh, I almost forgot the bottom pieces! Well, let's do those now: I sewed the oilcloth bottom onto the back piece on one side. Similarly I attached the lining bottom on one side of the lining only. The other side of the bottom piece will be attached when the bag is assembled next. Okay, so next comes the confusing flipping part. Open the zipper before doing this! Otherwise you won't be able to turn the bag right way round once the seams are sewn! I flipped the left-hand oilcloth piece to the right so it was right sides together with the other oilcloth piece. From underneath the bottom oilcloth piece, I then flipped the lining onto the left so it was underneath the left-hand lining piece. So then I had this entanglement with the lining pieces on the left, right sides together, and the oilcloth pieces on the right, right sides together. And a zipper that was open (but it's not visible in the picture because it's sandwiched between the layers). I matched the corners of the lining pieces together as well as the corners of the oilcloth pieces and pinned them. I pinned along the bottom edges and the sides. Note that you want to pin along the edge of the bottom piece that wasn't sewn before! (So essentially, match raw edges.) So then I sewed along the edge around the entire weird contraption, leaving a gap of about ~10cm in the bottom of the lining side. This is so the bag can be turned inside out. Around the zipper, fold all seams towards the main fabric (in my case the oilcloth), it helps the lining to stay inside the bag and makes for a neater finish. All done and ready to be turned around! Turning the bag inside out can be frustrating, especially if the materials you used are thick! After a few minutes of tugging, pulling, twisting and turning, I had this: This is where you realize why the zipper needs to be open. Otherwise you'd never be able to turn the bag the right way round. But before doing that, I needed to deal with the gap in the lining. So I folded the raw edges in and top-stitched close to the edge. Now if you want to be pedantic you can hand-sew the gap closed using a hidden stitch. And normally I might have done so, but right now hand-sewing is kind of a no-no seeing as my left thumb is MIA (you may have noticed the gauze wrapped around my thumb in some of the photos). I cut it open while cooking about a week ago and I'm kind of missing the end of my thumb entirely... So hence, top-stitching by machine - and absolutely no hand-sewing right now, thank you very much! *** Then it was only a matter of pulling the outside to the outside and pushing the inside in... and that makes no sense as a sentence, but it'll be quite clear once you've gotten this far. The backpack / sling bag is done! (So, I love to brag about how cheap my secondhand DIYs are, and this time's no different :D) - Oilcloth piece 3€ (I used maybe half? So ~1.50€); secondhand - Lining scraps ~1€; secondhand - Zippers 1.60€; secondhand - iron-on interfacing ~2€ = about 6 euros. Six euros for a unique bag? That is also almost entirely made of secondhand materials? Awesome. *** I hope you've found this (somewhat long) tutorial helpful. If there's anything you didn't understand or you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask in the comments! Also, if you make your own backpack using this tutorial, I'd love to see the results! Drop me a comment, send me an email or tag your creation on instagram using the hashtag #sewscoundrel. love, Satu / Sew Scoundrel

It’s here, spring and my newest pattern, the Super Tote! I’m very excited to have the pattern ready and I

Top US quilting blog, Diary of a Quilter, is sharing a Quilted Coasters Tutorial with you. Click here now to check it out!

Happy 4th of July to all my US readers! Remember the fabric I ice dyed a couple of weeks ago? I used it for a leaf art project that I'm using for coasters! Everyone thinks of Phoenix as having dry heat and that's true for the first part of summer. But when the monsoon flow comes up from Mexico, starting around the first part of July, it can feel like Dagobah from Star Wars! Usually no one's that worried about using coasters because glasses don't sweat - until monsoon and then they pour. I've tried several different types of coasters, but none do a good job of keeping all that water soaked up. I have high hopes for these! Plus they're washable and reversible. Materials: *leaf fabric - 100% cotton will absorb well *fusible felt *green, brown, golden yellow, and copper sewing thread - I used regular thread *leaf pattern found here 1. With an iron, lightly attach a piece of fusible felt to the back of your fabric. Don't attach it securely yet - we'll be pulling up the edges in a couple steps. 2. Pin the cut out leaf pattern to the felt/fabric combination and cut out. 3. Pull the felt away from the edges of the leaf and trim off about 1/8 inch. This is so the felt won't poke out the edges when we sew around the leaf. When you're finished, iron to attach the felt firmly. 4. Cut another leaf shape from your fabric and pin it to the felt/fabric combination. 5. Using a very small zigzag stitch, sew around the edges of the leaf. Trim close to the stitching. 6. Now comes the fun part! Put the feed dogs on your machine down, put on the free motion quilting foot and thread sketch leaf veins. If you haven't tried this before, see this past post. It'll point you to a couple of tutorials. First I went around the outside of each leaf and then sketched in some veins in green thread. 7. Next I made a thick vein in the center from brown. 8. I then added bright highlights with golden yellow thread. 9. And finally I added a few new veins with copper thread and then highlighted a few of the other veins with it. These were inspired by summer leaves - I think I might need to make some autumn leaves too! Happy Creating! Deborah

Contest "Imagine" I had the honor to be part of the jury of the 2014 contest. Here are some of the selected quilts, impossible to show them all! J'ai eu l'honneur de faire partie du jury du concours 2014. Voici quelques quilts sélectionnés, impossible de les montrer tous! Chang Misun, Corée du Sud, 250 Imagines of the Sewol Ferry Marita Lappalainen, Finlande, Sweet City Maria Stoller, Switzerland, ...all the people... Blandina Daria, Italy, Diconnection Trees Diane Melms, USA, Jubilo Marianne Burr, USA, Cosmic Communication Teresa Gai, Italy, Dreaming Sabine Schneider, Germany, Behind Windows Reiko Saito, Japan, Imagine the Future Suze Termaat, The Netherlands, Imagine Monika Schiwy-Jessen, Germany, Breaking Through 1rst Prize of the Contest Gyöngyi Varadi, Hungary, Exoplanet Rahel Elran, Israel, Premordial #2 Carrefour 1 Carrefour 3 Carrefour 4 Carrefour 5 Carrefour 6 Carrefour 7

The Lobelia Dress sewing pattern gives us oversized batwing sleeves, a cinched waist, and the result is the cutest mini dress!

A few days ago I saw this image on Pinterest. And loved it. First off, I'm a huge fan of log cabins, in all their varieties and, secondly, I love the way she used a variety of fabrics without any one fabric seeming to fight for attention. Side note: If I were you, which I'm not, but let's pretend, I'd click on that image and get taken to the maker's flickr page where I would see many lovely creations. Now, I have a lot of images in my Pinterest Inspirations Board, 882 to be exact, so I can't respond to every image that moves me, but I wanted to respond to this one. And, in the course of doing so, discovered or rather had the opportunity to re-interpret something old in a new way. Confused yet? I am. Anyway, I started by re-imaging the log cabin/courthouse steps pattern in my own fabrics. Unlike the original, I opted to limit my palette to 4 fabrics. The fabrics weren't particularly special or cohesive, just 4 different prints from my Simple Marks Summer collection. I'd love to say that I was overjoyed with the result and include scads of pictures documenting the process and product. I'd love to say that, but it wouldn't be true. I liked some things about the way the pieces fit together and made a secondary image, but I didn't like the lack cohesion that I thought the prints used created. The fabric didn't support the structure of the pattern. So, I decided to try the same idea, but with fabrics that, though they're technically prints, have essentially the same structure. Stripes. Stripes cut into strips that when pieced together make even more stripes. This solution and the finished result made me think about how much I love working with stripes. So, I thought I'd feature some other striped projects I've made in the past. BTW- This is just a selection of my striped creations because when I started searching my flickr page for examples, I discovered there way too many to include in one post and that the most recent striped item will need to be the focus of tomorrow's post. I guess I really, really, like stripes.

Learn how to face a quilt with this step-by-step tutorial with photos. This technique reduces bulk in the corners and facings lay flat.