Christmas in July Sewing Challenge : Aspen Frost Projects

Hey y'all!  I wanted to stop in and share the great projects that have been shared in the Christmas in July Sewing Challenge hosted by Christen at Love by Hand.

Christen contacted me several weeks ago about sponsoring the challenge and so we put together three FQ bundles (Aspen Frost, Winter's Lane, and In From the Cold) for the challenge. For each collection, two different bloggers will share a fun tutorial for the challenge. This week, Aspen Frost was up.

Christen made this awesome Present Placemat.  Check out the details and her tutorial here.

And Sarah at Stitching and Bacon made these cute Tree Trivets.  Her quick and easy paper piecing project tutorial can be found here.

I think both projects turned out so cute!  And its even more fun that I know both Christen and Sarah in real life.  We had a blast sewing together at Sew South and we'll even be sewing together next weekend with some other fellow Sew Southers!  :-)

You can also get involved with the challenge by entering your own project!  Read all the details here.

All the bundles for this series are available now and are 10% off through 7/14/13.  Stay tuned ... Winter's Lane challenge projects are up next!  :-)

Happy Sewing!  :-)

Tutorial : Hand Quilted Journal Cover

Hi everyone!

I was recently asked to participate in a hand made series over at Clover & Violet, so I put together a tutorial for hand quilting a sketch book cover.

You can read more about the hand quilting process here at Clover & Violet.

To make the cover, I modified the Swatch Book Cover Pattern from Michelle Patterns to fit the size of a standard composition book cover.  Since I followed her directions for construction, I don't want to share them here as a "tutorial" but will give you the measurements and modifications I made to create my book cover.

Modifications to Michelle Patterns Swatch Book Cover Pattern: 

• I chose to omit the flap closure for this particular project. 
• I used a 1/4" seam to baste the lining and flap pockets together. 
• I used a 1/2" seam when I attached the front to the lining/pockets and left a 3" opening along the bottom instead of one of the sides.
• I used a 1/8" seam to topstitch around the entire piece to finish. 
• I used interfacing on the Crossweave (top and pockets) as well as on the lining, but didn't clip the corners before fusing (although I would next time to avoid some bulk).  Since I had quilted my top panel to flannel, I omitted the additional layer of sew-in interfacing called for in the pattern.
• Measurements:  Top and lining measurements are 11.5" x 16.75" presew.  Pockets were cut 10" x 11.5" (fold along long edge for a 5" x 11.5" folded flaps). 

The pattern is well-written and easy to follow and includes instructions and pattern pieces for two sizes of Moleskin Cahier notebooks.  

To learn more about how I quilted the Moda Crossweave with Perle cotton check out my tutorial at Clover & Violet. 

For this project, I used Moda Crossweave in Natural, a Honey Honey by Kate Spain print for the lining, and Perle in Medium Sea Green and Light Violet.

If you're interested, my sample is available for sale here. 

Thanks for stopping by today!

Happy Sewing!  :-) 

Scrappy Gift Tag Tutorial

So getting sick the week before Christmas is a crafter's nightmare for sure.  Yep ... I came down with the crud on Saturday and haven't done much since.  I think I am finally back on the upswing but we'll see how the rest of the day goes.  

I did play around the weekend before last with a little scrappy gift tag idea.  Here's a quick tutorial for you ... 

Ok, so a card stock rectangle and a strip of green cut with pinking shears (solid works great since we'll see both sides).  My strip is about 1/2 inch or so wide. 

Fold and press the strip into a tree shape.

Lay the tree on the card stock and stitch it down.  (Tip: Use an old need when sewing on paper.)

I used a corner rounder and a oval punch to finish up my tag. 

Then cut out some little circles from another scrap to make ornaments.  I used some cherries - the circles are so small it won't matter that its not Christmas-y.

Place the ornaments where you want them and then just do a quick straight stitch back and forth over each ornament to tack them down. I did rough up the edges of the tree with my fingernail to fray the fabric a little and give some more texture to it.

Then write a message on the bottom, add some ribbon to tie on the package and you are all set!

Hope you enjoyed this quick little tutorial.  :-) 

Happy Sewing! :-) 

Design Challenge : Portfolio and Wallet - A Great Gift Tutorial!

My name is Jennifer from Ellison Lane Quilts.  Today I'm delighted to be guest posting at Sew Lux today. I've had my eye on this super fun Jennifer Paganelli zebra print bundle for a while now. They just kept calling my name, and I knew I wanted to do something fun with them.

I have a problem with loose papers trailing about all over my kitchen and sewing room. I desperately needed a way to keep them tidy and accessible so today I'm sharing my portfolio tutorial with you.

LOTS of pockets and even a bonus business card holder. Great for work, home or school, this portfolio would look smashing in a variety of prints!

So let's get started shall we?



Supplies:
6 Fat Quarters in coordinating prints
1 yard of medium to light weight fusible interfacing
cotton batting 19" x 21"
coordinating thread
sewing machine
iron, scissors, rotary cutter
wallet template
fabric glue stick (optional)

1.Cut your batting 19" x 21" or at least 1" bigger than your fat quarter.  Baste your batting to your fat quarter and quilt as desired. I chose to do wavy lines.

2. Trim your quilted panel down to 20" x 12.5."

3. Now, cut the fusible interfacing to 19" x 11.5" and follow the package directions to fuse the interfacing to the batting side of the quilted panel.

4. Now, press your lining and pocket fabrics.

• Cut the lining piece to 20" x 12.5"
• Cut the large pocket piece to 18" x 20" 
• Cut the middle pocket piece to 14" x 20" 
• Cut the small pocket piece to 10" x 20" 

Fold all of your pocket pieces in half length wise and top stitch along the top of the fold. 

5. Cut three pieces of interfacing: 

• (1) 19" x 8.5" 
• (1) 19" x 4.5" 
• (1) 19" x 6.5" 

Open up the folded pockets and fuse the interfacing to the wrong side of one side of the pocket piece. 

6. Layer your pockets on top of the lining piece, making sure the interfacing panel sides are on top. 

7. Pin. Place the quilted top, right sides together on top of the pocket panel and sew around all of the edges with a 1/2" seam, leaving a 3" opening  on the side for turning. Backstitch and the beginning and end of the opening. 

8. Remove pins, clip your corners and trim the bottom seam allowance to 1/4." Your seam will be very bulky across the bottom because of the layers. Press your fabric and use a little glue stick to fold under your hem from the gap.

9. Fold your portfolio in half to find the middle and stitch a line from the top to bottom to create to halves. Backstitch at the beginning and end. 

10. Top stitch all around. Go slowly over the bottom as it will be bulky but you can do it. 

Voila! Your portfolio is all done!

Now, you can make a coordinating business card holder that easily slips in the small pocket. 

First you need to print this template. 

Supplies: 

Batting 6" x 10.5" 

1 small piece of velcro

(2) pieces of coordinating fabric 5" x 9.5" 

fabric glue stick

template- printed and cut out

1. Quilt your outer fabric as desired.

*note the location of the velcro*

2. 1" from the bottom of your outer fabric, sew on a bumpy piece of velcro.

3. 1/2" from the top of the lining fabric, sew on the soft piece of velcro. 

(I use the glue stick to hold the velcro in place before sewing.)

4. Place your fabric right sides together and pin, Trace the curve pattern from the template on the batting, remove then sew around all sides with a 1/4" seam, leaving a 2" gap on the side for turning inside out. Backstitch at the beginning and the end.

Sew around the curve leaving a 1/4" seam.

5. Clip the corners, cut around the curve, and turn inside out, using a blunt tool to poke out the corners. Press and topstitch along all edges, making sure you close the gap.

6. Fold the bottom up 3", pin and stitch along the topstitching on both sides, backstitching at the beginning and end. 

That's it! All done! 

Now you have a stylish and useful portfolio and mini wallet to help organize your life. 

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial! Be sure to check out all my other tutorials and fun happenings on my blog Ellison Lane Quilts! 

Have a great day! 

Fabric Flowers

Hey there friends!  I hope you got out and voted today.  :-)

I did a little sewing the other day and made a notebook cover with a fun embellishment and thought I'd share it with you.

I used some linen-look fabric that I had left over from a different project and a floral print that I've had in my stash for awhile.  The basic twisting for the flower is based on Vanessa's technique (I took her Craftsy class).

For the notebook cover pattern, I used the Swatch Book cover pattern from Michelle Patterns - skipping the flap part.  I made a little template so I could draw a circle on the cover and use it as a guide for stitching on my flower.  I added the leaves after, but would add them first next time.

I really love it and have some other ideas for embellished notebooks.  What do you think?

Hope you had a wonderful day!

Happy Sewing!  :-)