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Wine Coasters - Tutorial

It's party time! December is full of holiday events and family get togethers, and with them comes the ever present problem of figuring out which glass is yours. Especially if you've already had a drink or two :) 

Wine charms are the classic solution, but they don't protect your furniture (and they're not as fun to make).

Why not make yourself, or your host a set of wine coasters? I'll show you how.

I got carried away with holiday spirit, and made two different styles of wine coasters. A stitched and cut wool set (above), and a fun mixed print fabric set (below). Both styles are quick to make and use minimal materials.

The wool coasters are made with one pack of 5" WoolWerks squares, and some contrasting thread. I love how they turned out!

I used the Merry n Bright color-way for my set. Each package has enough squares to make five coasters. I used two of my squares to test out stitch patterns, so my set only has four coasters. 

To make the coasters, print the template and stitch through the paper along the pattern (1). Once you've removed the paper (2) all you need to do is trim (3-4), cut your bottom circle, and glue the two together. 

For full, detailed, instructions download the free Wooly Wine Coasters pattern. Materials: WoolWerks 5" pre-felted wool squares, thread, craft glue. 

We carry four color-ways of WoolWerks so you can go crazy making coasters and still have unique combinations. 

Use a small (14mm) rotary cutter and a sharp pair of pointed tip scissors. They will greatly improve your results, and mood. We won't talk about what was said, when I tried cutting my circle out with a large rotary cutter. Also, be sure to use a good quality glue that is made for fabric. Ordinary glue will soak into the wool and not hold the two layers together. 

The fabric coasters are even easier to make than the wool. In simplest terms: you cut 5 circles, sew one seam, clip and flip. I think that qualifies as easy, but they don't look it!

Depending on the fabric combination you choose, the coasters can look modern, classic, or funky. You can choose fabrics to match a theme (holiday, birthday, etc.), your favorite colors, or coordinate with your decor.

We sold out of the fat quarter bundle I used in my coasters, but there are so many options that would look great. 

We have some fun holiday 6 packs, sophisticated white Christmas 6 packs, and a number of beautiful non-holiday options. 

For full, detailed, instructions download the free Fabric Wine Coasters  pattern. Materials: 6 fat quarters, 15" x 20" cotton batting, & thread. 

If you found this post in our December 1st Advent Calendar Newsletter... Hi, So glad you came! Don't forget that materials featured in advent calendar newsletters are 10% off for that day only. 

If you found this post, but don't get our newsletters, and want to, sign up here. December 1st, 2018 only, all materials linked in this post are 10% off. 

Cheers,

Samantha

 

 

 

 

 

Pearl District - November Pick of the Month

Like everyone else my thoughts are starting to turn toward the holidays and entertaining. With that in mind, I choose the Pearl District table runner pattern by Busy Bee Quilt Designs for the pick of the month. It's a great pattern with instructions to hand applique, machine applique, or fusible web the circles to your squares. Jean made this table runner back in June with Chalk & Charcoal charm packs. 

So sophisticated! The quilting adds so much interest to this project. Take a look at our earlier post, for more project details and a hand applique tutorial. 

Materials : 1 Chalk & Charcoal complete collection charm pack,1 Chalk & Charcoal assorted basics charm pack and 1 7/8 yard black quilting cotton for border and backing (Kona black is a good choice).

I digitally put together a few more options to consider. Digital representations are created from photos of the fabric. Fabric scale, repeat, and color may be altered. Pictures are meant to give you an idea of what the project will look like, not a prefect representation. 

First up, I selected 101 Maple Street charm packs. 

I love the classic appeal of this collection. It reminds me of arts & crafts design, and I thought it was perfect for fall, without hitting you over the head with a theme. 

I think it came together nicely with the dark border, but any fabric from the collection could work. 

Materials : 2 101 Maple Street charm packs, 1 7/8 yard Maple Syrup Deep Dish Dots for border and backing.

Paige, our graphics guru, selected a joyful Christmas mix for her version. 

Paige's version used three fat quarter 6 packs. The pattern calls for 18 different fat eights, or fat quarters, making it a perfect project for fat quarter bundles or towers. 

If you go with fat quarters, you'll have enough fabric to make two table runners, or a lap quilt. Be sure to get more backing and border fabric though. 

Materials: 1 Red Holiday 6 pack, 1 Green Holiday 6 pack, 1 Holiday Lights 6 pack, 1 7/8 yard Way Up North for border and backing. 

These two prints from the Way Up North collection are also good options for your border and backing. 

Our last table runner features fabrics from White Christmas by Zen Chic. Karen, one of the lovely ladies on the shop floor, chose and is actually making two runners in this combo to give as gifts. 

Isn't interesting how different the two Christmas options look? I love how bold Karen's version is. Something else I thought was interesting...

At home I'm working on an advent panel from the same fabric line and decided to add almost the same red. Great minds think alike ;)

Materials: 1 Zen Chic 6 pack Cream, 1 Zen Chic 6 pack Light Grey, 1 Zen Chic 6 pack Black, 1 7/8 yard Quilter's Linen Crimson.

If you prefer something a bit more understated you could add a solid black or any of the fabrics from the White Christmas line. I also thought Hudson-Field from Camelot Fabrics would make a nice border and backing fabric with it's small red accent. 

Pearl District is a wonderful pattern and I hope you're inspired to try out one of our versions or come up with your own. Please share photos with us if you do. I love seeing all the creative ideas and talent our customers have!

Cheers,

Samantha

 

Delilah Block of the Month Club

 

Our friend, Shannon, is teaching the Block of the Month "Delilah" club by Jen Kingwell and she has some tips and tricks to help with the March block.  We have been told that next month's block has a lot of Y Seams and some of these tips will still be important next month!

 

1) Notions 

Shannon recommends some notions to make it easier when cutting around the templates:

    Rotating Cutting Mat

    25mm Rotary Cutter

    Non-slip adhesive rings

2) Fabric Library

Remember to use the Delilah Fabric packs throughout your quilt and not just for that month's block.  You are building a fabric library for your quilt.  Template sizes vary month to month; some are large and some are very small.  Charm Packs are also a good option for the high variety of fabrics to give the "Jen Kingwell" look.

 

3) Variety

When choosing fabrics, Jen uses a mixture of small, medium, and large prints throughout her quilts.  So the key is variety of scale when selecting prints.

4) Read

Be sure to read the instructions to know how many blocks to make with the current month.  They vary each month from making one block to making nine blocks with the current templates.

 

5) Cut the Corners

For the most accurate shape, cut the corners first then the straight lines.

6) No Slip!

Shannon likes to add clear circle/non-slip adhesive rings to the back of her templates.  She prefers True Grips by True Cut/The Grace Company.  You can use them for rulers or templates and you can see through them.  The stickies are very thin.  Avoid using the thick ones that raise the ruler or template off the cutting surface.  This product makes it easy to cut out the templates with a rotary cutter without slipping.

 

7) Y Sew Difficult?

We love this tutorials about Y-Seams:

 

8) Curves

This is the technique that Shannon uses to sew curves, which this month's block is full of!

9) You are not alone!

We have created a Facebook Photo Album that we will share all photos of the Delilah blocks that are sent to [email protected]

 

 

Happy Sewing!

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Fun with Kaufman Pre-cuts

If you love pre-cuts as much as we do...you are going to be so excited about the wonderful pre-cut bundles and rolls that we are featuring from Robert Kaufman.

These beautiful Fat Quarter bundles are gorgeous in color-story. From left to right we have Burning Up, Pretty Peonies, Sweet Peas, Field of Iris and Slate Rock. Each color bundle has 22 (18" x 22") fat quarters for a total of 5.5 yards of glorious color!

 

I am pretty sure there are some Jaybird patterns perfect for these! You know how that girl loves Fat Quarters.

These little lovelies are "Skinny Strips" ...there's always a "skinny" one in the group, right? Well these rolls are 1 1/2" x 41" strips totaling 2.8 yards. But let me tell you a little secret about these "skinny" gals. They are absolutely PERFECT for sashing.

 Just look at how Jackie utilized the white strips in her Tula100 quilt. And she didn't have to cut any strips!

 These "beafy" guys are the Roll-up (2 1/2") strip. We could go on and on about all the wonderful things you can do with 2 1/2" strips...first there are Jaybird rulers! next..fantastic for binding. But we digress.

And not to be forgotten...the always popular 5" charm squares and 10" squares

Available in black, ash, neutral, silent film, dark, bright and pastel.

Leave the cutting to Kaufman and enjoy your sewing!

 

 

 

Congratulations Kathy!

Kathy brought in this sweet little quilt she started in December!  The quilt features paper-pieced blocks of farm animals mixed with charm squares surrounding a paper-pieced barn in the center. Complete with an embroidered label on the back...To Owen~  It is a gift for her new grandson, due to arrive in May 2012!

 

BUT WAIT...THERE'S MORE!

 

Notice the big smile! 

The label on the back of this sweet quilt says
To Noah~  
Yes...TWINS! 

Congratulations Kathy~ and beautiful job on both quilts!

Charming Quilt by Karen M.

Karen M. stopped by the store last week to show us
her sweet-as-can-be baby quilt made with 5" Charm Squares!

Karen used  Pinwheel Baby Quilt pattern from the Moda Bake Shop website/blog.
The quilt is absolutely adorable and I just love the Prairie Point border!
Great job Karen~ thank you for sharing it with us!

New Block of the Month Clubs starting this month!

We had a fantastic Preview Party last weekend!  Thanks to everyone who came by the store to register for fall classes (and to wish me a happy birthday...Love you all!) 

One of the most talked about quilts of the day was Lawry's new "Hidden Stars" quilt. 
This is Lawry's new Saturday Sampler BOM Club, which starts September 10th. 

Club members will receive fabric for the star blocks and the alternate squares (the 6 big squares through the center of the quilt.)  Club members personalize their quilts by providing fabric for the block backgrounds, fabric for the sashings (shown as blue stripes in the sample above), fabric for setting triangles and for borders.

Club members may choose from two different styles of fabric: 

                  Contemporary                 or                      Batik

Meeting dates are on the 2nd Saturday of each month:
Sept 10, Oct 8, Nov 12, Dec 10, 2011
Jan 14, Feb 11, Mar 10, Apr14 and May 12, 2012
  (8:30 to 9:15 am)

 

Other clubs starting in September include:

Folk Art Cat BOM Club with Jackie Erickson
2nd Mondays (1 to 3 pm)
Session 1- Sept 12, Oct 10, Nov 14
Session 2- Dec 12, Jan 9, Feb 13
Session 3- Mar 12, Apr 9, May 14

Heirloom Block of the Month Club with Jackie Erickson
2nd Mondays (4 to 6 pm)
Session 1- Sept 12, Oct 10, Nov 14
Session 2- Dec 12, Jan 9, Feb 13
Session 3- Mar 12, Apr 9, May 14

(picture is from pattern cover, different reproduction fabrics will be included in club packets)

 

Lucky Charms Club with Tamra Dumolt
3rd Tuesdays (9 am to Noon)
Session 1- Sept 20, Oct 18, Nov 15
Session 2-Dec 20, Jan 17, Feb 21
Session 3- Mar 20, Apr 17, May 15

The special excitement of Autumn in the air, as we get back into the classroom and share memories of Summer with our friends.  We hope to see you soon!  ~Tamra

Pictures from Kid's Quilting Camp 2011

          Grace        Natalie           Emma              Shelby                 Emily

Friday was the last day of Kid's Quilting Camp for Summer 2011~ we had a good time together!

The girls made "Magic 9-Patch" quilts, using 5" squares (...yes, I had to work in Charm Squares somehow!) The girls sewed together nine 9-Patch blocks. Then I cut all the blocks in half both directions, the girls rearranged the blocks and sewed them back together again!  I did all the cutting in this class, but we had a discussion about rotary cutter safety, do's and don'ts. We added borders, layered quilt sandwiches, did a "pillowcase-turn" finish, turned the quilt right-side out, closed up the hole by hand and had a discussion about how to quilt the layers together.  Everyone went home with a nearly finished lap-sized quilt, ready to be quilted (in just 15 hours of class time together!)  AWESOME!  Great job girls~  Tamra

Click here to see our complete Facebook photo album.

"Catkin" fabric by Julie Paschkis is here!

Julie Paschkis's new line of fabric, "Catkin," is here and we have the entire line! The fabric has Julie's very distinctive folk art feel~ with swirly, floral designs and fantastic cats throughout. 

 Also, Jackie has made Stitchin' Post Custom-Cut Charm Packs from this group of fabric:  

You won't find these little 5" charmers anywhere else.

If you are a cat lover, it would certainly be a
"cat"-astrophe to miss out on this fabric!

Honeycomb Hexagon~ the beginning!

Last week I started a new (not charm pack!) project and decided to take you all on a Quilt Along Adventure, if you are are the adventure-seeking type.   

Before she commits to joining me on this project, Jeanne S. has asked to see a picture of the finished quilt~ Honeycomb Hexagon.

Because I don't have a finished quilt yet, this picture is right out of the book, Fresh Quilting: Fearless Color, Design & Inspiration by Malka Dubrawsky.

 

 

I had the pleasure of taking five days of R&R at the beach this week, so I took this new project with me to get started.  Packing was easy: stack of fabric, plastic template, a fabric marking pen and cutting supplies (I prefer to use a rotary cutter, a small ruler and small cutting mat, but you could also use scissors.)  This is what I have now:  

128 colorful hexagons about the size of my hand, with stretched out fingers. These are not teeny, tiny, handsewn, English paper-piecing hexagons!  This is a very do-able machine sewn quilt! I still need to cut out 22 cream-colored hexagons, but I just love happy feeling of these colors, without diluting the stack.

By the way, for my charm pack junkies, Jackie has made Stitchin' Post Custom Cut Charm Pack from this group of mixed fabrics.  We're calling it "OJ for Breakfast."

I'll keep you posted on progress.  Don't forget to subscribe to our Blog's Feed, so you don't miss out on any steps along the way.  Happy Sewing!

~Tamra