Blog | Stitchin' Post

Quick Strip Quilt - Variations

One our most popular posts continues to be our Quick Strip Quilt tutorial, so we wanted to share a few variations on that fast and easy quilt. We've created four new and equally simple variations, all made from our Oregon themed batik strip rolls. For basic quick strip quilt technique, and detail photos of all the steps see our original post. 

Aren't they a pretty bunch?

Our first, and simplest, option is to follow the original quick strip quilt instructions, but in the first step sew the short ends of your strips together at a 45 degree angle. You can subcut and repeat the process for more color variation, as in the original, but we felt these quilts didn't need it. 

The quilt above is made with our Douglas Fir roll, with strips placed randomly.

This quilt uses the same technique, but arranges the colors placing the lights in the middle, with mostly green on one side and blues on the other. The quilt is made with our Blue Pool roll. 

We did the same with our Rainbow roll, putting the strips in rainbow order. This one would be such a wonderful children's quilt with all it's bright colors.

In the last version of this technique, we placed all the strips from the Walk in the Woods roll in an order to simulate a picture of just that, walking through the woods.

Our next quilt uses the Sage Meadow roll, and saves the variation until the end. After completing the basic Quick Strip top, measure from the top left of your quilt 19” to the right and cut from top to bottom. Then measure the same amount down and cut from side to side. This divides your quilt top into four parts, two of them square and two rectangular. Rotate both squares 90 degrees, then sew all the pieces back together. 

Our Oregon Sunset roll quilt is all about those gorgeous colors. Strips are divided into five groups - two light, two middle, and one dark. The dark strips are sewn together to form the center, then the middle groups are sewn together and attached to each side of the dark. The lightest strip groups are sewn together and cut until you have long strips approximately 8 1/2" wide. Sew each strip on the outsides and you're done.

This last quilt is made from a free pattern called Jelly Roll with a Zinger and uses the Coastal Fog roll. It's another longtime Stitchin' Post favorite and a simple way to jazz up a strip roll.

Hopefully all these quilts inspires you to try one of these fast and fun beauties for yourself. 

Simple Sashiko Projects

Some days you want to enjoy the peace of sewing without a lot of thinking. Ambitious projects, new techniques, and stretching your creative muscles all have their place, but so do simple projects. These elegant placemats, napkins, and coasters are wonderful examples of the beauty of simplicity. 

Whether for yourself, or a quick gift, it's the fabric that makes these projects shine! The placemats below are constructed from two colors of French Sashiko for Moda (one for each side). The fabric is a heavier cotton with contrasting sashiko stitching. The texture is so lovely!

This set of placemats couldn't be any easier. Mats are simply two 18 1/2" x 14 1/2" rectangles sewn right sides together and turned. Push out the corners with a chopstick or turning tool (don't forget to clip corners before turning), then press and hand stitch the opening closed. Last, top stitch around the mat one inch in from the edge. You are finished!

For our mats we used two different fabrics, once for each side. The blue side is French Sashiko in Indigo and the cream side is French Sashiko in Pearl Indigo. We have two other colors of this fabric with the added stitching and three solids (Indigo, Oyster, & Pearl). The solids would be wonderful to add your own stitching to or to use as backing if you don't want reversible mats and/or coasters.

The napkins are made from the fabric Ebb & Flow in Pearl Ocean, using our Placemat & Napkin Pattern by Valori Wells. The simple stripes look fantastic with the stitching in the placemats, and really make the set feel pulled together. 

The reversible coasters above are made with two 4 ½” squares and constructed in the same manner as the placemat. They would look great on any coffee table and are so fast to make. With a half yard of each fabric and an hour or two, you can make 18 coasters! Keep them on hand for the next time you need a gift or want to brighten a friends day. 

Our final project, the grey and cream placemat shown above, is made from another textural woven fabric collection called Boro Foundations from Moda. We followed the Placemat & Napkin sewing card pattern by Valori Wells to make the mat. The black and grey combo looks crisp and modern, while the pattern and texture of the fabrics soften the look and make it something special. 

If you're interested in making these projects or your own with these special fabrics, you can find the French Sashiko collection here and the Boro Foundations collection here. The Placemat & Napkin pattern is available in PDF or printed versions.

Happy Sewing! 

DIY Felt Hydrangea Bouquet

Here in Central Oregon, spring flowers are just starting to poke through the ground. We couldn't wait for them to bloom and bring a little spring cheer, so we made our own flowers. Our bouquet has the added advantages of never wilting, needing water, or activating anyone's allergies. 

Hydrangeas are always a favorite, and they look so good in fabric people think they are real. Set a knock out Easter table with a bouquet or two--or if you aren't hosting, bring a bunch as a gift. While a beautiful bouquet is always wonderful, you could also attach finished flowers to a headband, cover a tote bag in them, or add some to a pillow. 

The key to this project is high quality wool. You need the fabric to be dense enough to hold its shape but still have enough drape to look soft and flexible, like real flower petals. Our flowers are made with Sue Spargo wool . We love it for its wonderful feel and rich color.

Our Hydrangeas may look real, but they're made from wool and floral wire, with a bit of ink for shading. To make a full bouquet does take a bit of time, but is simple enough for older kids and beginning crafters. No sewing skill needed. We created a full video tutorial to walk you through each step, and put all the supplies you need together in a kit so you can't go wrong. Plus, kits cost about the same, or even less than, a single fresh flower bouquet and you won't have to throw them away after a week. 

The picture above shows the size of one completed purple hydrangea kit. Add a second kit or mix colors for a larger bouquet (like in the first picture).

Now for all the details... 

Supplies:

• Hydrangea Kit or
  • 2 - 9" x 11" quality felted wool fabric (we used Sue Spargo Wool) in two colors for each group of flowers
  • 1 - 6" x 9" piece of green felted wool fabric for leaves 
  • floral wire
  • floral tape
• hot glue
• all-purpose ink 
• paper towel

Tools:

• Sharp Scissors
• Pinking Shears
• Low Temp Glue Gun
• Wire Snips
• Round or Needle Nose Pliers
• Fantastix (to apply ink)

Once you've got all your materials together this video will lead you through the process of making your flowers one step at a time. 

In the video we show you how to free-cut each flower and leaf, but if you prefer, you can make a template to trace and then cut from. Download the template page, and trace onto a sheet of template plastic or card stock. Download the templates here.

Your last step is to gather the flowers into bunches and wrap with floral tape. Real hydrangeas grow in clusters and grouping your stems makes it easier to arrange and helps them stay put in a vase. For each kit we make four clusters of flowers. One large, one medium, and two small. To make a cluster start with a single flower and build your arrangement around it. You want to approximate a half dome shape. Start making your final arrangement with the large cluster and arrange your other clusters around it. Be sure to vary the height of your flowers when making clusters and the height of your clusters when doing your final arranging. Once you have your clusters arranged you can secure them with more tape or use a green rubber band if you want to be able to take them apart later. 

Here's a few close-ups of our finished flowers. See how subtle the inking is, but how much it adds to the look. You can also see how using two similar colors of wool gives the flowers a more natural look. 

We hope you enjoy this project. Share your finished bouquets  in our Show Us Your Stuff Facebook group or use tag #stitchinpost on Instagram.

Let us know if you liked this kit and tutorial. We have some other flower types we could offer if there is enough interest. 

Happy crafting!

No Knit Yarn Hats

Christmas is only a few days away! Most of us are super busy with last minute preparations; focused on wrapping, baking, and simply getting through it all. So our last project of Christmas couldn't be easier, plus you probably already have everything you need to make it. These adorable yarn hats only take a few minutes to put together and make charming package toppers or a quick last minute ornament to give. 

Let's get right to making one...

You'll need: yarn, card stock or toilet roll, glue or double sided tape, thread, and some scissors

We used worsted weight red and green yarns from our stash, card stock in similar colors to the yarn and strong scrapbooking double sided tape. Just about any scrap yarn you have will work for this project, but if you go for a super thin or thick yarn you may need to change the dimensions of your base circle.

Cut your materials (makes 1 hat):

    card stock  3/4" x 6" or toilet roll 3/4" wide round

    yarn 14" lengths

Using double sided tape or glue, form your card stock strip into a circle (overlapping the ends 1/2") making the hat base. Fold a yarn piece in half and wrap it around the base, pulling the cut ends of the yarn through the loop made by the fold. Repeat until the entire hat base is covered. The number of strips you need is dependent on your yarn weight. Keep adding yarn pieces until the base is fully covered, pushing them together as you add them. We used about 46 strips per hat. The more you add, the better your finished hat will look. 

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Once the base is entirely covered with the yarn, gather up the all the cut ends of yarn and tie tightly (with more yarn) about 2 1/2" above bottom of hat. Trim ends to make the pom pom. Add thread or ribbon to hang. 

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Fill your hat with yarn or batting to get that rounded shape. We used the yarn trimming scraps from the last step and found that because we used wool yarn they stayed inside on their own, but you can also finish your hat by gluing on card stock or a piece of fabric trimmed to fit the hat opening. 

Have fun and Happy Holidays!

If you're looking for more last minute holiday ideas, check out some of our previous blog posts:

Wrap It Up

DIY Fabric Chain

Three Scarves You Can Make in an Hour

Favorite Holiday Cookies

Sew Your Own Pillowcase Using the Burrito Method

Chances are if you've been sewing for any length of time, you've made a pillowcase or two. They are always useful, and an inexpensive and quick way to spruce up your decor. Make one in a holiday theme to add some fun to your guest room or give one to a special young person. Find the perfect fabric to match someone's interests, and you'll have a delightful and personal gift for a friend or hostess. 

Traditionally sewn pillowcases are great, and a perfect first project for beginners. We want to show you how to up your game with the burrito method. This technique is so slick! Once you get the hang of it, you'll be turning out immaculately finished pillowcases as fast as you can choose the fabric.

Our pillowcases are constructed with three fabrics (body, cuff, and trim). Valori's pillowcase pattern has all the cutting instructions and directions for a standard style pillowcase. Use it to get started, then follow our updated instructions for a fantastic finish with no visible edges. Yup, clean lovely seams inside and out. It looks so professional, you'll love it! 

Since this method is easiest understood by watching someone do it, Jackie agreed to show you how it's done...

We put together some holiday themed kits to make it easy for you to spread a bit of holiday spirit. They are all so cute it's hard to choose. 

We also made up kits featuring the Cotton + Steel fabrics featured in our video. 

You can find all the kits here. 

If you're in the area, stop by the store for a large variety of pillowcase kits. We are always making up new ones, but because we only make a few of most selections, the kits don't all make it up on our website.