i have to say...

sew along with me!: binding your quilt

We are so close to being done!  All we need to do is the binding.

The binding frames the quilt and makes it all come together. 

Your first step in binding the quilt is to measure the sides of your quilt.  This tutorial will work for any quilt of any size, since you just add the length of the sides together and from there you figure out how much fabric you need.

Let's say that you quilt measures 12" X 12".  That means that you have four sides equaling 12" a piece.  To figure out the length all the way around the quilt you multiply 12 X 4 (12" X 4 sides) and you will come up with 48".

That means that you will need approximately 48" of binding, but we need to add more to make sure we don't come up short.  For a small quilt I generally add about 10", and for a large quilt I generally add about 20".  For our small quilt, we will add 10", giving us a total of 58" needed for binding.

Since almost all quilting fabric is between 42 and 45" wide, we are going to use the smaller measurement of 42".  We need a total of 58", so will need two pieces of 42" wide fabric.

I like my binding to be small, so I cut those strips 2-1/2" wide.  Once I have them cut I like to cut off the selvage edges so that they don't show up on the front of my quilt on accident (the fabric strips shown are folded in half):

Another picture of the ends cut off:

Now I take my two pieces and place them right sides together.  Then I sew the short sides with a 1/4" seam:

Iron that seam open:

Now iron your entire strip in half lengthwise:

Now you start to pin your binding in place. Please note that I don't pin the 1st 3" of the binding.  That is because I don't start sewing right at the edge of the binding.  I sew about 3" in:

Pin up to the edge and then make this fold and iron it at the corner:

Now fold that over like this and iron in place:

Now fold that edge over and pin like this:

Now you will start to sew the first side of your quilt.  Starting at your first pin (3" in from the edge), sew using a 1/4" seam until you get to the fold at the corner (see the next picture for an example):

Notice that I stopped at the fold:

Now fold that fabric piece to the other side and pin, like this:

Starting at that fold, sew until you are about 2" from the next corner:

This is where you started sewing at that first corner:

Now, do that all the way around the quilt until you have done all 4 corners and sides, stopping about 3" from the spot that you started sewing at:

Butt those pieces up together and iron in place like this:

Pin those pieces together on that fold line:

Now sew along that fold line:

Here is your seam:

Trim that fabric to 1/4":

Now you will finish sewing around the quilt by sewing over that seam (sew the full 3" that was left unsewn previously)

This is what your block should look like at this point:

Now iron all of the binding towards the outside of the quilt:

And fold it over to the back, making sure that you are pinning the binding just a little bit over the seam line:

When you get to the corner, pin like this:

And then like this:

Your corner will look like this:

Do this on all four sides of your quilt, and then iron all the way around:

This is what you will end up with:

Now you turn the quilt to the front and "stitch in the ditch" directly into your seam:

This should catch all of the fabric on the back of the quilt.  If it doesn't, simply hand-sew that part closed. Once you do this on a few quilts, you will be very good at catching it all!

Here is what your back will look like:

And your front:

I hope that didn't cause confusion!  It's one of those things that is easier to understand when you can watch someone do it. Please let me know if something didn't make sense!

And you are officially done with your quilt!  Awesome!

This evening at 7:00 Mountain Standard Time, I will post a link for the sew-along chat room here on my blog, my facebook page and the Flickr discussion area.  We can troubleshoot any problems and answer questions there.  We can also just hang out and  chat for a while!  You will need a Facebook account to get into the chat area. 

My hubs has been out of town all week long and will be home this evening, so I will have to cut the chat to one hour only.

I hope you join in the fun this evening! I have never done a chat room before, so this will prove to be an experience for me.  :)

sew along with me!: simple straight-line machine quilting

 Machine-quilting.

It can feel a little intimidating.

But what you need to do is to jump in and try it.  It's really  not that hard.  I promise!

Your first step is to place your walking foot to your sewing machine.  Your sewing machine manual will most likely have instructions on how to do this.

The walking foot is needed to guide all of the layers (backing, batting and quilt top) at the same rate under the needle.  This prevents the "pulling" that can happen with a regular sewing foot.  A walking foot will cost about $15 and is usually available at a sewing machine store, or online.

When I quilt straight lines, I generally use my walking foot as a guide by butting it up against the seams on my quilt.  This is a very convenient method.  Also, if you are starting in the middle of your quilt (we will start on the middle of our quilts since we will be quilting the squares) you will sew a backstitch at your starting point and at your stopping point. 

Starting with the middle square, you can quilt along the seam of each one like this:

Go slow until you feel the rhythm of quilting.  This may take a while.

Be sure to remove your pins before you sew over them!

Notice that I don't cut my strings while I am quilting.  Those can be taken care of when I am done:

Here is the quilt top all quilted:

Remove all of your safety pins from the quilt top.

Here is a closer view:

Now this is the fun part!

Trim your edges even with your quilt top, being careful not to cut into the quilt top:

Now it's all quilted and ready for binding:

Be sure to leave your questions here in the comments, or over in the Flickr group discussion area.  I will leave answers in the same place that you post the question.  Post your progress pictures on Flickr too!

See you tomorrow for the binding tutorial!

sew-along with me!: how to "sandwich" your mini-quilt

Well, as you might have noticed, I am using a different mini-quilt for this little tutorial.  It's because the pictures I took using my last quilt just weren't very good, so I decided to show you how to sandwich your quilt with this one.

Sandwiching is very simple.

All you need to do is gather a piece of batting that is  approximately 1" larger on each side than your quilt top, and a piece of backing fabric that is 1" larger on each side than your quilt top.

Be sure that your quilt top and your quilt backing piece are ironed nice and flat.

You now lay them out like a sandwich:  First lay your quilt backing on the floor or table, rght side down.  Spread it nice and flat with your hands.  Add your batting piece on top of that.  Spread it out smooth with your hands.  Add your quilt top over that, spreading it out nice and flat with your hands.

Notice that SMOOTH and FLAT are key words.  Try not to leave any wrinkles in your fabric, because you don't want them getting caught in  your machine-quilting.

This is what you will have when you have done all that:

Now you baste the 3 pieces together with safety pins. I place them no farther than 5" apart:

This is what you will end up with:

It's called a quilt sandwich!

Please note that for a larger quilt I would tape the backing fabric to the floor like I did here.  That's not necessary with a smaller piece since you have  a lot more control over your three layers.

Coming up next: simple machine-quilting.

See you soon!

sew-along with me!: courthouse steps mini-quilt trio

 It's day one of our sew-along!  Are you feeling ready?  I am!

Let's get started!

***If you have any questions, please feel free to ask here in the comments, or over on the Flickr page in the discussion area.  I will answer your question wherever you post it.  Also, be sure to post your progress pictures in the Flickr group too!

A few little things about me and sewing: I am terrible at cutting threads.  In my opinion it's a waste of time until the end of the block.  You will note this in the photos.  I iron a lot when I quilt.  I consider patchwork to be a beautiful but imperfect art.  Most of the time my seams are a little "off" and even when I use the same sized pieces, my finished blocks will not measure the exact same size.  For me, this is part of the charm.

Now on to the tutorial.

The fabrics you cut up will make 3 mini-quilts.  For each quilt will need a pile like this and it will create a block like the one shown (the strips will be sewn on each side of the center block):

Take one of your colored pieces and place it right sides together with the center square, as shown:

Sew them together using a 1/4" seam.  The 1/4" seam on my sewing machine is just short of the edge of my presser foot.  Be sure to stick with whatever seam allowance that you start with:

Here is what you will end up with:

Trim the excess fabric at the edge of the center block:

Now take that same piece of colored fabric and place it right side together with the center block, as shown:

Sew together using a 1/4" seam allowance:

Now trim the colored fabric against the edge of the center block and iron flat with the seams facing the outer edge.  I want you to be sure and iron after each fabric is added.  This helps to keep your project flat and helps you to sew your pieces on straight. Plus it just looks nice:

Now pick one of your neutral fabrics and place it on the edge of your sewn pieces, right side together, as shown.  Sew together using your 1/4" seam:

Trim the neutral fabric against the edge of your sewn pieces:

Now attach your neutral against the other side of your sewn block as shown, right sides together, using a 1/4" seam:

Trim excess fabric once again:

Iron nice and flat, keeping the seams facing the outer edge of the piece:

You probably get the idea at this point.  You will alternate colored pieces with neutral pieces until your block is completed.  Be sure to double check your fabric placement each time you are about to sew on a new piece.  It is very easy to accidentally sew on the wrong print.  I did it twice while building my blocks.:

Remember to iron after each addition of fabric "sides":

After a short period of time, you will end up here.  Iron nice and flat:

Now all you need to do is repeat this process two more times and you will end up here, which is today's finish line!:

I hope that your sewing time is fruitful and successful!

See you tomorrow for "sandwiching" tips and machine-quilting how-to's!

 

it's fat-eighth tuesday!

Hop on over to my Facebook page to take part in this giveaway.  Simply add a comment on the "Fat 1/8th Tuesday" post to enter.  Hit the "SHARE" button and add another comment.

These lovely pinks, greens and greys are available in my shop in fat 1/8th sets, as well as fat 1/4 sets.

Be back in a little while with the sew-along tutorial!

getting ready for tomorrow's mini-quilt sew-along!

Tomorrow is day one of our mini-quilt trio sew-along!  I just wanted to remind you all so that you can gather your supplies and be ready to go.

Everyone is invited, and you can certainly particitpate at your own pace.

I want to just mention a couple of things, especially to those of you who are new to sewing or quilting.  First of all, sewing should be fun.  It's an enjoyable hobby and a skill that will grow as time goes on.  Every one who sews has projects that get put in the trash (I have done so recently) and ones that don't turn out as visualized.  Just keep practicing and enjoying the process. 

When I get stressed with a project, it's time to put it down and let it rest for a day or two.  A great way to avoid stress is to strive to do your best, but don't shoot for perfection.  Trying to do it perfectly, especially when you are just starting out, generally leads to frustration.  If this is your first time quilting, go slow, enjoy the process, learn what you can, and laugh at the imperfections.

That's what I do, anyway!

In case you missed it, here is the supply list (these supplies will produce 3 mini-quilts approximately 12" square):

Basic sewing supplies such as:  a sewing machine, scissors, pins, thread, seam ripper, rotary cutter, mat and ruler.  Also, an ironing board and an iron will be needed.

Safety pins and a walking foot for your sewing machine

Three 1-1/2" solid squares for the center square on each block (I used  yellow)

Eighteen 1-1/2" X 42" strips of neutral fabric in various lengths (the shortest will measure 1-1/2" and the longest will be up to 14") 

Eighteen 1-1/2" X 42" strips of fabric (six prints each of three different colors.  I used blue, orange and green) in various lengths (the shortest will measure 1-1/2" and the longest will be up to 14")

Three 14" X 14" squares of Warm and Natural batting (or low-loft quilt batting of your choice)

Three 14" X 14" squares of backing fabric (one color for each mini-quilt)

Six 2-1/2" X 42" strips of fabric for the binding (two strips will be used for each mini-quilt, so pick your colors accordingly)

You may also want to join the Flickr group and sign up on Facebook (for Thursday's chat).  Both sites are free and simple to use.

Well, that's about all I can think of.  If you have any questions, leave a comment and I will respond in the comments. 

Have a great day!

 

sale of the week: patterns

This week all of my patterns will be on sale at 75% off through January 14th!  It is a perfect time to stock up for all of your crafty projects!  And please note that when you purchase more than one, the shipping is free.

Have a great day! 

shop notes: urban cowgirl

Urban Cowgirl by Urban Chiks is in the shop  And she is a cutie!  Y'all really need to check this one out.

Have a lovely day!

so, you've always wanted to make taquitos

This may not be the best time to post this recipe since most people are on the "gotta lose some weight" track right now, but I though "what the heck!".  I like to go against the flow, so why stop that now?

This year for Christmas dinner, we made taquitos, rice and beans, with guacamole, salsa and sour cream.  Yum!  It was one of the crunchiest Christmas dinners in our family's history!

Since this is one of our favorites, I thought I would share a little how-to with you.  As usual, it's done in my typical "a little bit of this and a little bit of that" way.  Since my daughter is a vegetarian, we experimented with a no-meat version and had great results.  Everyone liked them!

First up, you need to gather a few ingredients:  one whole chicken (cooked and shredded), one can of black beans (rinsed and drained), one medium baked potato (cubed), about 60 corn tortillas (use half that amount if you only wish to make one kind--chicken or potato), and some vegetable oil.  Also, some basic spices.

To prepare the chicken: I use the meat as is (salt and pepper added during the cooking process), but you can add spice if you like.  Cumin, chili powder, garlic powder and oregano would work well.  Personally I like to get the spice from the guacamole and salsa.

To prepare the bean mixture: Combine the beans and potatoes in a bowl.  Add about 1 tsp. chili powder, 1/2 tsp. cumin, 1/2 tsp. garlic salt and some pepper.  Mix until combined.

Now you need to prepare the tortillas for frying.  And you do that by frying them.  Yes, these are fried twice.  Do not let that scare you.  These are worth eating!

Add about 1-1/2" of oil to the pan.  All you need to do is to heat up your oil until adding a tortilla to it causes this to happen:

Fry each tortilla for approximately 20 seconds.  All you want is for it to become flimsy.  Do not fry it until it is hard.

***NOTE:  I NEVER LET MY KIDS TOO CLOSE TO THE PAN WHEN I AM FRYING.  IT'S DANGEROUS AS THE OIL WILL POP OCCASIONALLY.

Once the tortillas have all been dipped in the oil, you want to roll them up.  On each tortilla add about 2-3 tablespoons of filling:

And roll them up like so:

Now back to the frying pan.  You will place a few taquitos in the pan for about 3-4 minutes.  You want them to be lightly browned before you remove them from the pan.  Don't let them get too dark since they will continue to cook a little bit after they are removed.

Here is what your pan will look like:

When you are done you will have a lovely pile like this (well, your pile should be much larger--around 60 taquitos!  Freeze some, if you need to.):

Taquitos are great for company and times when you need a lot of food.  They also freeze and reheat well.  Serve them with guacamole, sour cream and salsa.

Enjoy!

***To make your own guacamole, simply mush up a couple of avocadoes and add the juice of one lime, some chopped onion and garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. 

it's so pinteresting!

***This is an adorable way to hang things up.

***Remember to pull those weeds!

***As usual, Rita makes something lovely.

***This is really cool.  Be sure to click on the link.

***Have you ever wanted to make your own extracts?

***Simple and refreshing.

***This makes my coffee yummy in the morning.  Even when I used non-fat condensed milk.

Have a great day!