Showing posts with label Summer Sewing Contest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Summer Sewing Contest. Show all posts

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Random

Oh my, there's lots going on in blog-land right now! First and foremost, the Summer Sewing Contest over at Ellison Lane Quilts closes for entries today, so consider entering some of your recent finishes if you haven't already!
Ellison Lane Quilts
I entered my Hopscotch in the quilt category, my Logo Card Holder in bags & accessories, and daughter dear's sewing machine cover in home decor. Can't beat taking a chance at some great prizes!

I just saw notice of the 100 Quilts for kids event sponsored by Katie at Swim, Bike, Quilt. I participated last year and was able to donate one finished quilt and one quilt top with backing and binding to our local Project Linus. So I hope to join in again this year.
Swim, Bike, Quilt

And finally, what's this about Christmas?? Yikes! Not really ready to think about that, but Elizabeth of Don't Call Me Betsy is sponsoring a Christmas in July blog hop, so I'll definitely be following that and maybe, maybe doing some sewing along.

I also wanted to show off the lovely quilts Alecia just finished up for the FAITH Circle of do.Good Stitches. I made a gray zig-zag strip as my contribution.
Zigzag row for April's Faith circle quilts
And here are the finished quilts! Sweet, yes? These zig-zag quilts were our April project, and Alecia's post about them is here

1. do. Good Stitches {Faith} April quilts

And, I got my Japanese x and + swap blocks in the mail yesterday. I think I have 28 blocks now! I need to get them all out and take a shot of them all together. Sure hope there's a round three in this swap!

Lastly, I'm not really one to talk on and on about how many followers I have, but can I just make a comment that I think 300 is a very very nice number? All thanks to you.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Logo Card Holder :: A Tutorial

One aspect of joining the online quilting community and blogging that I did not anticipate was the mail. The incoming and the outgoing have increased dramatically. By participating in quilt-alongs, bees, and swaps of one sort or another, and just plain getting to know other quilters, it's become rare for a week to go by without me needing to label a project for mailing, share my blog info, or write a quilty note. And to be perfectly honest, after 18 months, I was kind of tired of using post-its. 

So, after having it sit on my to-do list for months, I finally got around to ordering business cards. And then, just for fun, some MiniCards. And while I was at it, why not some note cards? So all of a sudden, I had a variety of logo cards here and there, and I needed a way to organize them and keep a supply fully accessible in my sewing room. So that's where the idea for my Logo Card Holder originated. At some point I decided that it would be handy to take to Sewing Summit, and of course, if I added a little notebook, that would be even better yet. So here you are - a portable little organizer for your logo cards, though easily adaptable to your own needs. I hope you have fun with it!

Supplies Needed
  • Approximately 4 fat-quarters coordinating fabric or assorted scraps
  • Lightweight interfacing
  • 2” piece Velcro
  • Coordinating thread
  • 3 1/2” x 5 1/2” Moleskine notebook
All seams are 1/4”

Cutting Instructions
Cut out fabric pieces for large and small covers and strap.

For main organizer:
8” x 11” piece for main front
8” x 11” piece for main lining
2 - 6 1/2” x 8” pieces for main pockets

For moleskine notebook cover:
6 1/2” x 8 1/4” piece for cover front
6 1/2” x 8 1/4” piece for cover lining
2 - 5 1/2” x 6 1/2” pieces for cover pockets

For strap:
6 x 14” piece 

Cut out interfacing for large and small covers and all 4 pockets.
For main organizer:
2 - 7 1/2” x 10 1/2” interfacing for main front & lining
2 - 3” x 7 1/2” interfacing for pockets

For moleskin notebook cover:
2 - 6” x 7 3/4” interfacing for cover front & lining
2 - 2 1/2” x 6” interfacing for cover pockets

Interfacing is cut 1/4” less on all sides of main front, main lining, cover front, and cover lining pieces. Carefully center each interfacing piece on wrong-side of appropriate fabric piece and adhere per product instructions.

Interfacing is cut 1/4” less on three sides of main pocket and cover pocket pieces. Carefully place each interfacing piece on appropriate pocket piece, allowing for 1/4” seam allowances on left edge, top, & bottom. (Right edge of interfacing piece will align with center of pocket piece.) Adhere interfacing to all pocket pieces per product instructions. Fold each pocket piece in half and press.

Top-stitch all pocket edges.

Pin pockets of notebook cover to right-side edges of main lining and baste in place. Repeat for pockets of cover lining.

Mark left main pocket with removable marker as desired to fit the cards you wish to store. (To allow top & bottom slots to fit regular-size business cards and center slot to fit mini-cards, I measured & marked 2 3/8” and 2 3/4” from both top & bottom, then 3/8” in from left side on center slot only.) 

Stitch on lines you have drawn, to create card slots.

Pin main front and main lining, right sides together. Stitch all around, leaving hole to turn. Clip corners before turning right side out. 

Press well and topstitch close to edges of cover.
Repeat to finish notebook cover. You now have two separate completed pieces.

Due to the thickness of the multiple fabric layers of the strap piece, it is not interfaced. Fold and press in half lengthwise, then fold and press long edges in to meet in the center. Fold and press in 1/4” on each long end.
Fold strap so raw edges are all enclosed and press well. (The strap is now 4 layers thick.) Top-stitch as desired. (I sewed several lines along the length of the strap.) Stitch one half of Velcro piece to each end of strap, stitching on alternate sides, as shown.

Draw a removable line down center of both main lining and cover lining. Align them, centering cover between top & bottom of main organizer. Pin in place.

Flip project over and pin strap in place, lining up strap to right edge of organizer, centering strap between top and bottom.

Flip project back over and sew all layers together along lines, removing or carefully sewing over pins as you choose, being careful to keep all layers aligned. If desired, reinforcing stitching at top and bottom of cover as you sew over those edges.

Your logo card holder is complete!

This tutorial is part of the Let's Get Acquainted Blog Hop. If you make a Logo Card Holder or are inspired by this tutorial, please feel free to post a photo in my flickr group ~ Quilting with A Quilter's Table. Thanks!


Linking up with T.N.T. ThursdaySummer Sewing Contest, little quilt monday, Fabric Tuesday, and Craftilicious.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Bloggers' Quilt Festival :: Hopscotch

Amy's Creative Side

Nothing like a last-minute finish for the Bloggers' Quilt Festival! I've planned for a while now to enter my Hopscotch quilt, and the festival was well under way as I put the last stitch in her binding. But {whew!} here she is!
I made Hopscotch as a gift for a friend, and admittedly, the palette is not a natural for me. Using Camille Roskelley's pattern, I knew in addition to a variety of colored prints, I'd need a neutral and a contrast fabric for the triangle points. The white was an obvious choice as the neutral, but I wavered a bit (bright lime or teal?) before settling on Kona medium gray. I wasn't piecing long before I was confident of my choice.
As far as triangle quilts go, this was a first for me. Veering off the pattern a bit, I chose not to use templates, but cut my own "jelly roll" strips, and then used just rulers - including a 60-degree triangle - to cut the pieces to size. This method worked fine for me, and I got the hang of the piecing fairly quickly. Pressing seams open is really important with this block, and not trimming the 'ears', as they really help in matching things up.
Piecing the blocks together, Hopscotch really started coming to life. I got the top done on a rare sunny day and loved the stained glass effect I was able to catch.
Oh, and it was also windy . . .
The backing I chose was Domestic Bliss by Liz Scott for Moda, which I liked as it really highlighted the gray  used in the blocks (and soon to be binding), but also repeated the 'diamond' motif.
Due to the unique design of this quilt, I decided to have my long-arm quilter, Darlene Girton of Girton Creations use her gift and she suggested this triangle-in-a-triangle design. 
Oh, was it a great choice.
And Hopscotch got finished just in the nick of time - a new palette, a new block shape, lessons learned, and good quilty fun.

Linking up with the Bloggers' Quilt FestivalFabric Tuesday, and Summer Sewing Contest.


This project was on my original post for 2nd quarter, so I am linking up with Quilter in The Gap's 2nd Quarter Finish-A-Long linky party!