Create a unique quilted look that involves absolutely no sewing at all! This Faux Quilted Bulletin Board is made with foam and fabric scraps and is a beautiful focal piece for your room! My tutorial even includes a free pattern for you to download! The husband works for a company that gets large parts in
I loved the look and feel of my first feather inspired super cute faux chenille blanket that I thought I would take it up another notch and make a queen sized faux chenille blanket with a quilted f…
Three weeks ago we wrote our first post about Jeans Therapy (quilts from recycled denim). Today we are finishing the series with a wonderfu...
Do you quilt with two layers of batting? For this quilt-as-you-go quilt I used for some blocks cotton+a fluffy polyester batting and this gives such a wonderful definition to my quilting. But this time I wanted to use cotton+wool and I wanted to mimic the trapunto look without stitching trapunto. So here is a small […]
I loved the look and feel of my first feather inspired super cute faux chenille blanket that I thought I would take it up another notch and make a queen sized faux chenille blanket with a quilted f…
Faux piped binding is one of those sewing techniques that looks time-consuming and intricate. We’ll let you in on a little secret–it’s not! See for yourself! We wouldn’t be surprised if your next quilt has faux piped binding!
Do you quilt with two layers of batting? For this quilt-as-you-go quilt I used for some blocks cotton+a fluffy polyester batting and this gives such a wonderful definition to my quilting. But this time I wanted to use cotton+wool and I wanted to mimic the trapunto look without stitching trapunto. So here is a small […]
These 4 tips for quilting with minky or faux fur will help you create a luxuriously soft backing for your next quilt.
Well here it is...a tutorial for one of my favorite techniques...Faux Cathedral Windows. This method is very different from the traditional method. It is done from beginning to end by machine and uses a fraction of the fabric needed when doing the traditional method. I also think that when done in the way I'm about to show you, the end product comes out more polished looking in a fraction of the time it would take to do this using the traditional method. It is a great method for beginners as it is a simple straightforward process yet engaging enough for the long quilter too. For this tutorial I'm going to show you how to make a pincushion like the one shown above. SUPPLIES (8) 2 1/2" squares in various prints for "foundations and windows" (8) 2 1/2" squares for "frames" Roxanne's Glue Baste-It (1) 4 1/2" square for pincushion back (2) 4 1/2" squares of fusible fleece (not pictured) Polyester Fiberfill (2) buttons (not pictured) STEP ONE Press your eight "frame" squares in half on the diagonal and press and then select four squares from the print pile for your "foundations" (Pic 1). Pic 1 STEP TWO Using your Roxanne's Glue Baste-It, apply small dots of glue to one foundation as shown in Pic 2. Pic 2 STEP THREE Place one pressed "frame" onto the foundation matching corners and press into place (Pic 3). Pay special attention to make sure all corners and points meet squarely. Pic 3 Repeat with the other half with another "frame" so that your unit now looks like Pic 4. Pic 4 Repeat this step with the remaining three "frames" and "foundations". STEP FOUR Next sew 1/8" seam around all four glue basted units as shown in Pic 5. Pic 5 STEP FIVE Arrange your four units as shown in Pic 6 and sew into a four-patch (Pic 7) and press. Pic 6 Pic 7 NOTE: To reduce bulk in the center of your four-patch, it is important to spin the seams (Pic 8). Pic 8 STEP SIX Apply dots of glue to three corners of each of the four remaining print squares (Pic 9). These will become your "windows". Pic 9 Next, place the "windows" atop each side of your four-patch unit, making sure their edges are 1/8" inch from the folded edge of the "frames"(Pic 10). Press each "window" in place. Pic 10 STEP SEVEN Trim away the fabric hanging off the edge (Pic 11). Pic 11 Then apply a few glue dots to the trimmed edge (Pic 12) and press. Pic 12 STEP EIGHT Apply several glue dots to the edge of the left "frame" of one "window" (Pic 13). Pic 13 Turn over the edge and press in place so that the outer end of the curve starts/stops 1/4" from the outer edge of your four-patch unit (Pic 14). Pic 14 The inner end of the curve should just meet the center of the four-patch unit (Pic 15). Pic 15 Repeat this process for the other three "windows". It should now look like Pic 15. STEP NINE Repeat the process from Step Eight for the right side of each "window". Make sure to overlap the left curve when pressing down the right curve so that it leave no raw edge exposed (Pic 16). Pic 16 STEP TEN Using the thread color of your choice (matching or not), straight stitch down the edge of each frame as shown in Pic 17. Be sure to sew to the ends of each point to permanently secure them. Pic 17 It should now look like this (Pic 18). Pic 18 STEP ELEVEN Next, iron the two 4 1/2" fusible fleece squares to the wrong side of the 4 1/2" backing square and the finished Cathedral Window unit. Pic 19 With right sides together sew a 1/4" seam all the way around leave a 2" opening on one side and trim the corners (Pic 20). Turn right side out. Pic 20 NOTE: Be sure to backstitch and the beginning and end of this seam. STEP TWELVE Lastly, stuff your pincushion and sew it closed (Pic 21). Pic 21 Add buttons if desired and you're done! Front and back views As you can see this is a quick and easy method for doing Cathedral Windows. The windows are easily adjustable to any size...just like my large Cathedral Window Pillows which used 8 1/2" squares to make a 16" pillow. One thing to note about how I made these pillows. Instead of using 8 1/2" squares in the windows and having a bunch of waste trimmed off, I cut one 16 1/2" square (the measurement of one side of the Cathedral Window unit) and then cut it on the diagonal twice to create the four windows. This rule would hold true with a unit size. I encourage you to play around with your color placements to. Be it coordinated or scrappy it doesn't matter. Go wild! Last thing to note about this technique, for a symmetrical finish you need to work in multiples of Cathedral Window units (aka four-patch units). Otherwise you'll have one edge of your project looking one way and the other looking completeley different. You can put those four-patch units together creating the "X" like I showed you or you can turn them one quarter turn and create a diamond with the lines created by the folds. Either way works. And don't forget to continue spinning your seams throughout. I hope y'all have found this tutorial useful. If something is unclear or you need further clarification, feel free to send me an email with your questions and I'll answer your back and tweak the tutorial post if needed. Till next time...
I made this video tutorial to demonstrate how easy it is to make flange binding but also to finish the quilt for my book tour QAL. The fabric needs for my Confetti quilt binding on page 23 of Turna…
Create a unique quilted look that involves absolutely no sewing at all! This Faux Quilted Bulletin Board is made with foam and fabric scraps and is a beautiful focal piece for your room! My tutorial even includes a free pattern for you to download! The husband works for a company that gets large parts in
I loved the look and feel of my first feather inspired super cute faux chenille blanket that I thought I would take it up another notch and make a queen sized faux chenille blanket with a quilted f…
Do you quilt with two layers of batting? For this quilt-as-you-go quilt I used for some blocks cotton+a fluffy polyester batting and this gives such a wonderful definition to my quilting. But this time I wanted to use cotton+wool and I wanted to mimic the trapunto look without stitching trapunto. So here is a small […]
I made one of these faux chenille blankets when I was pregnant with my son and used it as the backdrop for all his monthly baby pictures;...
This is a well used bath mat ..... it's really good and absorbent and even if it is scruffy and a bit ugly it is a favourite as it works so...
One of the blogs we love to read is Exuberant Color by Wanda S. Hanson. The name sums it up: "exuberant" means "joyously unrestrained and...
The vinyl/ faux leather can be used without any interfacing in some bags; in this case, a heavyweight fabric for lining is desired. It depends on the look you want for your bag. You can opt to add interfacing for added body and structure but also to add a lovely texture to it. I wanted […]
The vinyl/ faux leather can be used without any interfacing in some bags; in this case, a heavyweight fabric for lining is desired. It depends on the look you want for your bag. You can opt to add interfacing for added body and structure but also to add a lovely texture to it. I wanted […]
Ripples PAPER longarm quilting pantograph design by Lorien Quilting More Details A single row is 9.25 inches wide - printed with one row - 144 inches long Click here to go to our main Panto Directory Page. Click here to see more items of interest to machine quilters. Don't know what a "panto" is? Click here to find out what the heck a "panto" is.
No Sew No Glue -Wall Quilt Art: Do you love patch work?....see an amazing wall quilt you would love to hang on your wall...but just don't have the sewing skills or the time...to do that? I've seen and admired so many quilts...but just couldn't picture myself...cutting and se…
I've done the quilting! I kept it free and loose! blogged
We have a huge stash of free patterns in our Free Quilt Inspiration archive and we are excited to share them with you. T o go to a patte...
Faux piped binding is one of those sewing techniques that looks time-consuming and intricate. We’ll let you in on a little secret–it’s not! See for yourself! We wouldn’t be surprised if your next quilt has faux piped binding!
When I finished my faux chenille pillow, I was so excited to post about it (and kind of tired of looking at it at the same time 🙂 ) I took pictures after just one wash. I was also kind of worried about how it was going to finish fraying, and I liked it so much the way it was, I didn’t want to mess with a good thing. But…then I saw a few stray strings and started pulling, and next thing I knew, I had spent 2 hours pulling strings while I chatted with my husband and the entire pillow was completely frayed. And know what? I LOVE IT EVEN MORE!! Here’s a close up of the before and after. It’s just so FLUFFY! (anyone seen Despicable Me?) And, in the mean time, I’ve also realized that I never shared my inspiration for this pillow so now’s my chance. I first got the how-to on making the faux chenille from MADE and I want to thank Kimbo at A Girl and A Gluegun for reminding me of where I saw it (for the life of me- I never remember where I see things, I just file them away in […]
Once in a while it's good to do a bit of stash busting. Last summer I made a series of 7 triangle quilts. T...
These 4 tips for quilting with minky or faux fur will help you create a luxuriously soft backing for your next quilt.
Once in a while it's good to do a bit of stash busting. Last summer I made a series of 7 triangle quilts. This summer I got inspiration from a quilter friend, Astrid and her lovely "chenille" pillow and throw. Probably not proper to call this a quilt, it's 8 layers of fabric that's stitched together and then cut through 7 of the eight layers. A true stash buster if you ever saw one! So, my drawer of brown Kaffe Fassett, leftover Cherrywood, a few homespuns and more, was turned into this 6 pounds throw. Yes, 6 pounds or 2.7 kg of fabric. That made some space in the fabric storage. Next up was the pastel blue with a bit of added orange. A smaller size, it weights 4.5 pounds or 2.0 kg of fabric. Both using 12.5 " squares, the brown throw measures 60" by 60" and the light blue is 48" by 60". I had my first go at machine stitching the binding onto these. So happy to have my heavy duty Pfaff sewing machine for this job. Not all machines will tackle sewing through 16 layers of fabric! Part of the process is washing and tumble drying the throw. Texture improves with every wash and dry. Softer with use... Stash busting mission of 2013 completed. A sore thumb from cutting all the slits. And more room for rummaging through the remaining stash. Happy with the result, I might use this technique to make a few hot pads for christmas presents this year.... What's your best stash busting trick?
I am three days past my due date. Jadon is free to come when he's ready, but my to-do list is getting pretty short lately! My summer school teaching position ended about a month ago. The baby room is finally all set up. I have several meals ready in the freezer for after Jadon is born. The apartment has never been cleaner. With all this extra time, I've had the opportunity to tackle a few little projects. Yesterday, I finished a baby blanket made out of my husband's ripped jeans and a few of his old button-down shirts. Here's the finished product: A much larger version of this blanket currently covers my own bed. I had to save nearly 20 pairs of my family's jeans in high school in order to have enough material for a queen size. When it was finished, I decided to use the extra pieces to make a little pillow. When guests see our bedroom, many ask how the blanket and pillow were made. So, here's a little tutorial for a simple 4x4 design: Use a circular object to trace and cut several pairs of jeans into standard size circles. I used a small bowl. The circles you see here are about five inches in diameter. Cut a piece of paper into a square that inscribes the circles. Use the paper to trace squares on the inside of your jeans. Take two of the circles and line them up back-to-back. The squares should be facing out, and the sides and corners of the squares should be lined up. Sew along one of the square sides. You will be left with little flaps of extra fabric. Depending on how large you want your project to be, you will continue to sew the sides of the squares together until you have several long chains of circles. Now you're ready to sew the long strips together. Use the remaining lines of the squares to carefully line up your pieces and sew the chains of circles to each other. This will create a lovely little flower design with the extra flaps of fabric. Now cut little squares from some other fabric. I used my husband's old shirts. The squares should be about the same size as the ones you drew on the jean circles. However, I have found that cutting them slightly smaller works just fine, too. These little squares are going to lay inside the extra flaps of jeans fabric (are you starting to visualize the finished product?). Sewing these flaps down takes a few steps. First, you are going to anchor down the flaps and square fabric with long, straight seams. Just make sure that you carefully hold down the flaps as you're sewing so that all of the fabric lays flat. Continue to sew straight lines for all the vertical strips. Repeat the same process going horizontally. With all your squares and flaps anchored down, it's on to zig-zagging! Starting at one end of your project, you will follow the edges of the flaps with a zig-zag stitch. The finished zig-zag will look like this. Repeat the zig-zagging for all the flap edges, both vertically and horizontally. Here's one side of the finished zig-zags. And here's the other side. Notice how the zig-zag stitching is not perfectly symmetrical. Some of my zig-zags are more evenly spaced than others, too. That's the charm of homemade! And that's your finished project! If you're wondering how many circles you'll need to create these project, here's how many I used: Baby blanket: 11 by 13 (143 total jeans circles) Queen size blanket: 25 by 25 (625 jeans circles - start saving jeans now!) Pillow (one side): 5 by 5 (25 jeans circles) Now if Jadon would just make up his mind on a birthday, we could put this blanket to use!
Using built-in stitches to embellish the seams of pieced strips of fabrics gives a faux applique look to the seam. See video on how to stack your stitches for a clean line of decorative stitching.
If you missed Part 1, GO HERE. If you missed Part 2, GO HERE. Here’s where we left off in Part 2... 1. Cut the backing fabric into two pieces, 13” x width of your pillow top. In this instance, I cut two pieces of fabric, 13” x 17 1/2”. 2. Roll the long edge of each piece over 1/4” and press. Roll the edge over 1/4” a second time and press. Top stitch. These will be the finished edges of your pillow backing. 3. We are making an envelope style pillow backing. Overlap the two finished edges on your table surface, WRONG SIDES up. Move the two pieces of fabric back and forth until the width of the two pieces equals the width of your pillow top. (i.e. 17 1/2”) PIN the two pieces together at the top and bottom. *Note: in the picture, the fabric is WRONG sides up. 4. Place your pillow top, RIGHT SIDE up on the wrong side of your backing fabric. Match the edges and pin around the pillow. Do NOT leave an opening for turning. SEW using a 1/2” seam allowance. Reinforce where your backing pieces overlap. I usually sew around the edges of the pillow twice, directly over the first seam to reinforce it. 5. SNIPPING- There are many different brands of spring loaded scissors. Some I like better than others. Two of my favorites are “Galaxy Notions” and “Fiskars Craft Snip”. I begin by snipping around the edges of my pillow. The 1/2” seam allowance allows for plenty of room to clip. Be careful not to clip the seam!! Sewing twice helps in case this happens. The space between each snip varies but averages 1/4- 1/2”. The edges of the pillow will be more difficult to cut through than the edges of your circles because there is a lot more fabric to get through. 6. Once you have cut around the entire pillow top, clip all of the circle edges. 7. Rough up the edges of your pillow top and the snipped circles using a stiff cleaning brush. This is entirely optional. I believe most people just throw their rag quilts directly into the wash after snipping. This is just one of my little tricks. I like my quilts and pillows to be as full as possible so I give them a good “brushing” prior to washing. When you’re done, shake off the excess fabric. Warning: This is a messy process. Sometimes I do it outside on the patio table. It also kicks up a lot of fibers so if you are sensitive, you may want to wear a dust mask to minimize an allergy attack. 8. Give your pillow a few good shakes, I do this outside. Wash and dry it and you’re done! I usually iron my pillow back after it comes out of the dryer, it gets a little wrinkled. You’ve got to wash and dry it to get the full frayed effect. Make sure you clean your dryer lint trap once it’s done. It will probably be pretty full. That’s it!! Put it on your pillow form and you’re done!! Thank you, I hope this was an enjoyable project. If you have any feedback or comments, please let me know at: [email protected].
Some of the kids in our family are blessed with lots of kitties while others are only dreaming about playing with furry friends. For these kids I bought some cute fabric panels years ago and now it was the time to use them. I wanted to sew pillows for them but not regular pillows. I […]
The vinyl/ faux leather can be used without any interfacing in some bags; in this case, a heavyweight fabric for lining is desired. It depends on the look you want for your bag. You can opt to add interfacing for added body and structure but also to add a lovely texture to it. I wanted […]
Faux chenille after washing and fluffing It's that time again in the C&G course when I have to demonstrate faux chenille. I really enjo...
These Faux Chenille Baby Blankets are the perfect quilt to snuggle your baby in, or to give to another baby that has captured your heart. These easy to follow instruction will show you that you too can sew one, even if you are only a beginner!
This month's Ambassador Challenge for Island Batik is sponsored by one of our industry partners, Aurifil thread. We were sent a selection of weights and colours in our Ambassador box back in January, and an additional packet of thread arrived later this spring. It included these 3 spools of 40, 28, and 12 weight to be used in our challenge. Our instructions said, "Fabric is your canvas and Aurifil thread your paint! Create a one of a kind art quilt or project with Aurifil thread." This project took a great deal of thinking. Normally, we design to showcase the fabric but this time the thread needed to take centre stage. We had been sent cuts of solid colour batiks, and I decided to use the plain white as my background. I printed some New York Beauty blocks from EQ8 on plain white paper and started colouring in doodles with a box of markers to see if I could make this work. We all know if you can draw it, you can stitch it, so I pulled some of the same colours from my thread stash and set to work. This is my working sketch from EQ8; the blocks are drawn to 6". The only unappealing part of this project was tracing the block outlines onto my fabric. I wanted to get stitching, and this was going to slow me down!! My solution was to cut both freezer paper and the white batik into 9" x 12" pieces, and iron the freezer paper to the back of the fabric. It was then trimmed to 8-1/2" x 11" and fed through my printer. It was a super easy (lazy!) way to transfer the lines. I printed one block first as a test and did this much stitching before I decided it was going to work. (I'm not big on practicing!) The freezer paper was removed from the fabric and the blocks were joined with 1/4" seams as per regular patchwork. I used my favourite Hobbs wool batting for the middle, and another layer of white batik on the back. My bobbin was loaded with 50 weight Aurifil in 2024 white. To say this was fun is an understatement! I changed my needle as often as my thread, opting for a size 12/80 for my 50 weight, a 14/90 topstitch for the 40 and 28 weights, and a 16/100 topstitch for the 12 weight. The 12 weight thread fills in beautifully, even with just rows of straight stitching. The project took about 2 weeks to stitch, and I loved adding new bits every day. Below you can see how fine the 50 weight (purple) used in the swirl inside the spike, appears next to the 12 weight (black). For the white background bits, I simply stitched feathers in white 50 weight. I toss my emptied Aurifil spools into a container, so I fetched two to use as finials. They slid onto each end of a 3/8" dowel for the perfect finishing touch. In all, I used 26 different colours and 4 different weights of cotton thread. Thank you to Aurifil thread, Island Batik, and Hobbs Batting for supplying the products used in this challenge.
Today's shoot was pretty laid back and there wasn't very much to do...so I was chatting with a couple of the guys who have kids and I sold two of the toddler briefcases and possibly a couple of faux chenille throw pillows. If I can keep this up then hopefully I'll be able to just sew soon. Keeping my fingers crossed and excited because these toddler briefcases make numbers three and four that I've sold. I'm making improvements with each one too. Thinking of a way to make an awesome boy one and incorporate cars into it. Here's a close up pic of one of the faux chenille pillows. I did an "X" pattern on the square ones. And all of the lumbar pillows stacked up in a chair.
We've been working on another one of Ana White's amazing plans. The Apothecary Media Console. I originally wanted it in green, but after the amount of work that I forsaw with the painting, I went with a safe antique white. I don't regret it. It's a lot easier to change accessories than to repaint a massive piece like this. The Golfer modified it to fit our needs. It's longer than Ana's plan and the center cubby in the top is wider to accomodate a sound bar in the future. Also, we went with 4 cupboard all the way across, mostly because he didn't want to tackle drawers. He used wood and mdf. I love that the top portion is hardwood so that we had the option to stain where the baskets and sound bar will go. The top is made of 4 beams stained to match the interior. I painted the outside with white paint that matches our baseboards. The glaze made it look a little more creamy. The faux drawer fronts were painted, then lightly sanded. . . this process repeated twice and then twice more with the polycrylic. They're as smooth as butter! Take a look at the pb version, then ours. Can you tell the difference? I can't. I love ana-white.com!
Hope you all enjoyed the club meeting yesterday, here's the Show n Tell. To the side here is a close up of Lynne's quilt. I like how the raw...
Faux stained glass. Fun fix for your bathroom or other windows. Instant and beautiful solution to your privacy issues in dwellings where you require privacy but…
