11.17.2010

Needle Case Tutorial

 

Start with a 9 x 5.5 inch piece of solid fabric or strings/selvages foundation pieced. You can find more information about foundation piecing selvages on the Selvage Squares tutorial.



You'll also need a 9 x 5.5 inch piece of felt for the cover lining.
 
 
Place the pieces right sides together and sew a quarter inch around the perimeter, saving about an inch and a half as your opening on a long side {avoiding corners}. Be sure to reinforce both sides of the opening since you'll be using this area to turn your fabrics.



Carefully turn, starting at the corner farthest from your opening. Use a point turner to keep your corners crisp once it's been completely turned (right sides of fabric should be showing at this point).


OPTIONAL: I like to clip the edges of the corners to minimize bulk. They'll look a bit rounded if you choose not to do this step.

Press both sides, taking care to tuck under the 1/4 inch felt fold at the opening. This will be your mark for closing by hand.


Blind stitch your opening closed.

 Next, you'll cut 2 pieces of felt 8.5 x 4.5 inches for the inner pages of your needle case. Fold in half and press the center line (this is your line of sewing). Do not worry about final edges out of alignment. You'll use your pinking shears to finish the edge soon. Center your pages along the pressed mark of both pieces of felt and the felt lining. Sew in place.


 
Fold the pages together and bring the sides of the cover up to check placement.


You'll be removing about a 1/4 inch from the ends of the pages with your pinking shears. If you do not have pinking shears, you can cut them with scissors but you may want to mark your cutting line.


 Next, find the center of the booklet and place a button near the edge of the cover opening.

 Choose a ribbon about 5" long that will work well with your cover button as your closure. Pin the ribbon checking the placement.
Sew the ribbon in place with a few quick stitches on your machine.


  Clip the ribbon ends and dab a bit of Fray Check to the raw edges. 








Seeing Scarecrows



There's nothing like fussy cut scarecrows and rows of corn to remind you of a midwestern autumn. Pieced triangle 8 came together smoothly.

Heather

11.14.2010

Triangle 7

Well, this was an interesting one...there were no paper piecing instructions for number 7. Hmm. I wonder how often that pops up. I drafted my own instructions and am pretty pleased with this one.



Happy Quilting,
Heather
=)

11.12.2010

Triangle 6

Triangle Six, done! Whew!! I had to redo the bottom portion and was happier with the applique on the first version but having pre-cut some background fabric without enough wiggle room, it was too short on the sides of the point. I think from here forward I'll be using a rectangle for the background...or at least, that's my plan.

Happy Quilting,
Heather

11.10.2010

Just one triangle done


I worked on this one at a quilt club meeting and was too busy chatting to watch my center line. Needless to say it's a little off. When I came home I attempted to finish a yellow one quickly and need to redo the bottom portion so I'm calling it a day. Maybe over the weekend things will go smoother.

A few more countries to add to our list:

Belgium
Luxembourg
Scotland * 
Singapore
Uruguay
Uzbekistan


 *The UK is generally in the top 5 number of readers but I'm not sure of the breakdown by country so for now we'll say England and Scotland since they have been confirmed. If you're in Ireland or Whales (or any other country not yet included), please feel free to comment or to email heatherl02 {at} yahoo {dot} com to be added to the list of readers countries.

As some of you are aware, we'll be having a holiday celebration of our "friends around the world" with a short presentation about each country on our list beginning at Thanksgiving. It's a wonderful learning experience for the kids and a fantastic discussion the adults can enjoy, too.

Best Wishes & Happy Quilting,
Heather