Buttercream and a Sewing Machine

Monday, March 5, 2012

Winner's Bouquet Quilt

For the last couple of years, I have received the best birthday present from my parents. I get to pick out the pattern and fabric to make a quilt! The rules are simple: I must finish the top of my birthday quilt from last year in order to get more fabric for my birthday this year. It keeps me focused on a project for a period of time - especially when there are so many projects that I can't wait to get my hands on!

This pattern is called Winner's Bouquet, and it is by Atkinson Design. It costs about $30 for the pattern because it includes the plastic template pieces. I also purchased a 45mm rotary cutter to use with the templates.

I have been trying to break my habit of always being drawn to the same style of fabrics (usually batiks), and I have been expanding into more novelty prints. I chose all blues, greens, and browns for this quilt. When unfolded on my bed, it kind of makes me eyes pop out because I feel like it is really bright. So, often times, I have it folded as a bed runner at the end of my bed. I am trying really hard to expand my color palette though!

This quilt is king size! I literally poked myself in the neck with pins as I was feeding this thing through my sewing machine. It is a beast!

It is also one of my first attempts sewing curved seams. The blocks themselves were pretty easy to assemble, as there is only five pieces of fabric within each block. They did require pinning in order to make sure all of the seams lined up correctly.

I like the look of having the light blue run throughout the quilt and in the inner border. I feel as though it almost makes it look like a window.

I think what makes this quilt is the stitching that I did on top. My grandma has a long-arm sewing machine, so we always have fun picking out how we want to sew our newest quilt. I feel like 90% of our quilts end up being a stipple stitch, but I knew on this quilt I wanted to do something that shows off each block. We chose to do a puzzle piece design. I think it just completes the quilt!

We measured the length of each block and divided it by two. We cut a half circle with a diameter that was half the length of the block. I traced across a row on the quilt, placing the template on one side of the block seam and then flipping it upside down and placing it on the other side of the block seam. I would then sew across an entire row on the quilt (12 blocks wide), sewing the curves like a wave from one end of the quilt to the other.

Once I completed all of the wavy lines going across the width of the quilt, we took it out of the long-arm machine. We put it back in the machine so now I could go across the quilt with wavy lines the long way (also 12 blocks long).

When completed all of the wavy lines met together at the corners of each block.

For the inner boarder, I did a thin wavy line (not my favorite thing about the quilt).

For the outer boarder, I used the template again, and sewed a wavy line that matches the rest of the quilt.

I feel as though these stitches really finished off the quilt beautifully!

Unfortunately, on the next quilt that I quilted, I went back to a stipple stitch...but I do feel a little bit braver after completing this quilt!

Don't you think everyone should get fabric for their birthday?!?

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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Bopple Ball

Two of my good friends from college had a little girl...last August. We usually see each other every couple of months, but I have continued to forget to give a baby gift. Have you ever had that happen? The good thing is that I can still give a gift to her when she is a baby (6 months later isn't too late...right?) - so there are so many fun projects to choose from. I love making gifts for people because it allows me to be creative for a purpose. I can enjoy the process of making and enjoy the giving of a gift. And then, there are always the fun little project leftovers that you can use for something else (the pattern, scraps, etc.) - just an added bonus!

My grandma bought this Bopple Ball pattern last summer on our annual quilting trip (8 quilt stores in two days - yes!). The other ladies who were riding in the bus with us were jealous of her find, as it was the last of this pattern in the shop. My grandma recently made a bopple ball for my sister's little one (remember - I made those cute little baby shoes!). She actually didn't have that much fun making the pattern, but she is primarily a quilter and this pattern has lots of little shapes to cut, sew, turn, and stuff. I, on the other hand, had a lot of fun putting together this project! I enjoy tedious little projects, and the result was so cute!

I chose to use two coordinating fabrics for my bopple ball (pink and dark brown).

The arms are pink on one side and brown on the other. I lined up the arms so the pink side of the arm would be touching a brown wedge and vice-versa.

There are 14 little arms and 8 wedges going around the bopple ball.

The diameter of the ball is about 8".

Two things make this pattern a little bit difficult:
#1 - The pattern pieces are confusing. The wedge pattern piece says to cut 8 and includes the seam allowance; however, the little arms say to cut 14 (but you really need to cut 28 pieces - one for each side of the arms) and you have to add in a 1/4" seam allowance around the piece. So, once I figured that out it was a lot easier - but it wasn't super user friendly from the start.
#2 - Turning the bopple ball right side out with all of those little arms. If you have patience or need patience, this project is for you!

Other notes: There is a circle of fabric that you can place on each end of the bopple ball to cover up where the seams all meet, but I omitted that. I used two 1/4 yard cuts (not fat quarters) in order to make the bopple ball - a little less fabric than what they asked for. But, I had almost no fabric leftover. I also only used about 16 oz. of stuffing instead of the 24 oz. they asked for - I stuffed it very firm too!

I would definitely make this pattern again. It was fun, and it is so cute! It will be fun for that little girl now, and it will still be fun to toss around when she is 3. Those are the best toys!

Last time I posted a baby gift, I asked about what kinds of baby gifts you like to give. I got some great ideas - including swaddle blankets, tag blankets, and crocheting beanies. Let's keep adding to the list! What else do you like to give to a new baby?

Other baby gift ideas:
Baby Kawaii Kimono Shoes
Baby Log Cabin Tag Quilt

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Monday, February 27, 2012

Tutorial: The Fabric Strip Clutch

One of my goals this year is to get around to some projects that I have been meaning to complete. I saw a zippered clutch similar to this at Anthropologie last spring, and I decided that it was something that I wanted to try and make. So one year later...

This clutch is so much fun! I chose to use a thin, pin-striped fabric for the main body of the clutch, with a black interior. I chose a pop of color with the yellow zipper (one of my 50 zippers I am using this year!), and I inset the zipper. You may notice a flower and some swirls on the outside of the purse. This is an embellishment that I added to the exterior of the purse using some careful planning and a thin strip of fabric. I cut the strip of fabric with the stripes going horizontally, so the stripes would really pop! I am going to show you exactly how I made the whole clutch - including the inset zipper and the fabric strip embellishment! After making the floral design, I got excited about all of the possibilities of how to use strips of fabric in different ways. I hope you will make this clutch and send me some pictures of how you used strips of fabric to embellish.

Supplies:

5-1/2"x10-1/2" - cut 2 of fusible fleece, cut 2 of outer fabric (in my case, the striped fabric)
1"x10-1/2" - cut 2 of lining fabric (in my case, the black fabric)
5"x10-1/2" - cut 2 of lining fabric
10" zipper (use my tutorial on fixing the length of a zipper to get it to the perfect size!)
1/4" wide strips of outer fabric to form flowers, prepped with a thin bead of Fray Check down each side
a scrap of fabric for the zipper pull
a bowl/mug for a template to make rounded corners
basic sewing supplies (thread, sewing machine, scissors, pins, etc.)

Directions:

*All seam allowances are 1/4" unless otherwise noted.

#1 - Iron the fusible fleece on the wrong side of the outer fabric (repeat for other piece of outer fabric).
#2 - Using a bowl/mug, trace and cut two rounded corners on the bottom of both pieces of outer fabric.

#3 - Using chalk (or a fabric marker), draw a design on one side of the clutch. Start on one edge and form one continuous line, ending on another side of the clutch (you should not pick up your pencil while making this line). This took me several tries, and I found it was best to practice on a piece of paper a few times before I drew on the clutch. You will need to remember the path you took, because you will follow the same path when you sew your strips of fabric on top.

#4 - Taking a long strip of 1/4" wide fabric (long enough to make it along your whole design), start on one edge. Put your presser foot down, and slowly sew down the center of the strip of fabric following your line as a guide. You can see here how I started on one end and slowly turned the clutch as I sewed. One of my favorite features on my sewing machine is the needle down button. When I use this feature, anytime I stop, my needle stays down in the fabric. I can then lift the presser foot and rotate the fabric a little bit. When making the flower, I took a couple of stitches, and then rotated the fabric just a little bit. My flower has 6 petals.

Here is what the clutch looks like from the front when completed.

On the back, you can better see my stitch lines.

#5 - If you choose to sew strips of fabric on the back of the clutch as well (like I did), you will want to do that now.

Here is a view of the stitching I did on the back of the clutch.

Both outer sides of the clutch are ready to go! Good job!

Now we are going to install the zipper and finish the clutch.

#6 - Pin the 1"x10-1/2" piece of lining fabric on top of the outer clutch piece (right-sides-together). Repeat on both sides. Sew along the top edge of both clutch pieces.
When referring to the outer clutch piece from now on, the top of the outer clutch piece will be this 1"x10-1/2" piece of lining fabric folded open.

#7 - Round the bottom two corners of both 5" x10-1/2" lining pieces using your bowl/mug.

#8 - Make sure your zipper measures to 10". Use this tutorial if it is a little bit short or a little bit long, in order to adjust the length so it fits this project.

#9 - Pin a three-layer sandwich. The two pieces of "bread" are the outer clutch piece and the lining fabric (with right-sides-together). The zipper is the peanut butter in between and should be facing the outer fabric. When you are pinning the three layers together, pin the zipper to the 1"x10-1/2" lining fabric that you sewed onto the outer fabric. Center the zipper, leaving a 1/4" gap on each side of the zipper.

#10 - Sew along the top edge, making sure to sew all three layers together.

#11 - Now pin together another sandwich. The two pieces of "bread" are the other outer clutch piece and the other 5"x10-1/2" lining fabric (with right-sides-together). The peanut butter is the zipper piece (that is now connected to a layer of lining fabric and outer fabric). Place the zipper piece face down, facing the other outer clutch piece of "bread". You will be sewing through three layers of fabric: the black edge that was sewed onto the outer clutch piece, the raw edge of the zipper, and the top edge of the other lining fabric piece. Make sure your zipper is centered, leaving a 1/4" gap on each side of the zipper. Clear as mud, right?

#12 - Sew along the top edge. You now will have all of your fabric pieces connected.

#13 - Open your zipper about halfway. Lay your clutch so the two outer fabrics are facing right-sides-together, and the two lining pieces are facing right-sides-together. Pin all the way around the clutch. You will see that I have two pins close together on the left side. I start at one set of double-pins (backstitching), and sew all the way around the clutch and end at the other set of double pins (backstitching). I do this so I make sure I am leaving a gap in order to turn the clutch right-side-out. Sew around the clutch, leaving a gap so it can be turned right-side-out.