Here's My Yellow Cherry

Have you heard of the Made In Cherry Quilt-a-long that Pins and Bobbins is hosting?

The pattern is by Sarah Fielke and is available for free on the Lecien blog. Here's a link to it. I have been wanting to make a big star quilt and joined as soon as I saw this QAL. The directions on the Made In Cherry QAL blog are very well written and easy to follow.

I decided to use my Sunny Happy Skies FQ bundle for this quilt. I have a friend who is becoming a Grandma for the first time in February and I thought this would make a perfect Grandma quilt.  

It's a fairly easy pattern, just uses squares and a few HSTs. Of course I used my trusty HST ruler instead of drawing on the back of the squares to get the HST pieces, but other than that I followed the directions precisely. Its a wonderfully written pattern. For those of you that use HST rulers, the HST pieces are cut from the same size strip as the squares you are using. I made the 60" quilt so I cut the HSTs from a 3.5" strip. I found it so easy to just cut a few HSTs from the 3.5" strips while I was cutting the squares.

I even know how I am going to quilt this, although the baby may be a toddler by the time I'm done quilting it. I am going to do a star echo, about 1" apart.

I'd love to see your Made in Cherry quilts. If you are just hearing of this now check out all the other great quilts on the Made in Cherry Flickr page.

Scrappy

Do you like scrappy quilts or a more organized look?

You might have noticed that my quilting style is not scrappy at all. Even when I attempt to have a scrappy look I take lots of time to place each piece in the exact right place. I like to call it 'organized chaos'.

This past fall I somehow amassed a bunch of FQ bundles. Some I got at Sample Spree at Fall Market, some I got from giveaways and some I got from The Fat Quarter Shops Designer Select club while a few I just had to have. While I love FQ bundles they don't lend themselves to an organized look, unless I want to get some background or coordinating fabric. Right now I really want to use the FQ bundles without other fabric added. I see it as a challenge to grow as a quilter.

And therein lies my problem. I just can't seem to do scrappy, even though I really want to. I think it would be fun to just sew and not 'worry' about if a piece goes with the piece next to it. Not only would it be fun, but it might be a little bit more relaxing, who knows.

So I need your help. I need some pattern suggestion, hints on how to make scrappy quilts and lots of eye candy to inspire me to start using those FQ bundles. I am planning on making a quilt with the Yellow Brick Road pattern by Atkinson's Designs. I think it's perfect for the Sandy Gervais Designer Select bundle, made with Sassy fabric . But that's as far as my plans go.

I'm ashamed to list all the FQ bundles I have to use. I have never been one that had a stash, all that unused fabric makes me sad and a little guilty, so imagine how I feel about these FQ bundles. But I am going to swallow my pride and list them anyway.
So here goes...

Bunny Hill - Puttin' on The Ritz Designer Select bundle
Aqua Red by Michael Miller
Anne Kelle - Zoology Designer Select bundle
Fig Tree - Butterscotch and Roses Designer Select bundle
Daisy Dance
Pam Kitty Morning
Bold and Beautiful
Daisy Cottage
Twirl
A Stitch in Color
Pear Tree
Stockholm
No Bullying
Flower Shop I Heart
Amelia
Ruby
Little Apples

So it's your turn now...inspire me please.

 

V-Week Winner!

I hope you all enjoyed V-Week here at Craizee Corners, I know I had fun working with all this happy fabric!

I enjoyed hearing about all your Valentine memories, we have some true romantics among us :)

The winner of the Darling Heart Garden FQ bundle is

Here are your random numbers:

2 

Timestamp: 2012-01-28 15:39:05 UTC

Gwen!

She said "Favorite Valentine's memory.... I think that would be making Valentine decorated sugar cookies with my girls when they were young and still at home... They've all grown up and moved away now... well, I *do* still have *one* at home, but she's in college now... Thank you for the giveaway! :-)"

Congrats Gwen! I have emailed you :)

As always a BIG thank you to The Fat Quarter Shop for their sponsorship and for their great service and fabrics!!!

Yesterday I was a Basket Case

If you are looking for the Darling Heart FQ bundle giveaway click here.

I admit it, yesterday I was a basket case! Not the Craizee kind, although I am that from time to time :). But I took a fabric basket class and yes at times it did drive me Craizee.

I love the classes at The Berry Patch in Fort Worth and take them often. They have just about every type of class having to do with fabric I can think of. From quilting techniques to smocking and from sewing cute little things to embroidery.

In yesterdays class we made an adorable fabric basket. We used the Biscuit Basket pattern by Aunties Two. And since I was in full out V-Day mode I used some of the leftover jelly roll strips from Always & Forever. I was a lot of fun to make, and I always enjoy the classes at The Berry Patch. I always meet new people and see old friends when I go there. If you live in North Texas its definitely worth the drive to go there.

I hope you enjoyed V-Week here on Craizee Corners. I'd love to know if you make any of these projects. 

Don't forget to enter the giveaway for a FQ bundle of Darling Heart Garden from The Fat Quarter Shop. the giveaway ends tonight at 11:59 PM. If you missed it here's the link again. http://craizeecorner.blogspot.com/2012/01/its-v-week.html  

I'm a Snake Charmer Now

If you are looking for the Darling Heart FQ bundle giveaway click here.

I admit it...I am a new snake charmer :)

No I don't mean real snakes (just the fact that I can type that word is a big step for me) but I did charm some charm squares into a cute quilt top.

I used the Snake Charmer pattern by Little Louise Designs. The great thing about this pattern is that its available as a PDF from The Fat Quarter Shop! This is my favorite way to purchase patterns. I can save them to IBooks on my Ipad and have it ready whenever I need it.

Instead of a charm pack, I used 7 FQ's from my Darling Heart Garden FQ bundle and made it a little wider and longer. The pattern is so easy that adding to the quilt is easy. There's no real quilt math to do.

And it uses one of my favorite techniques, connectors. If you missed my connector tutorial you can find it here.

You might have noticed that it's not all the way done yet, there's 2 reasons for that (aka my excuses):
1. I have been slaving away trying to finish my son Tyler's quilt before he goes back to school. I'm very sad to say that I did not accomplish that goal, but I'm very close. All I have left to do is the binding. It's a new Original Craizee Corner pattern so I can't share it until I get it all finished and written up. But Tyler loves it and I hope you will too.
2. I decided on a single fabric border and didn't order it until Sunday. Here's what I am using for the border.

This fabric is from the other colorway in the Heart Garden line called Beloved Heart Garden. I want the border to pull any red out of the snakes to make it pop more.  

But I do plan on finishing this quilt this weekend. I am going to send it to my Mom for Valentines Day. 

I also want to share an email I got from a follower yesterday. Alyce wrote me:

Awww, so pretty!!
I just wanted to share my creation from last night inspired by your mug rug yesterday!
http://justsewblossom.blogspot.com/2012/01/valentines-mug-rug-candy-love-hearts.html

I was so excited to learn that Alyce used Monday's tutorial to make her own mug rug. She modified it a bit, which I think is awesome and something I do often. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, well this just about knocked my socks off! As a blogger you never know if anyone's really reading the blog or if you are reaching anyone. This totally made my day, along with the other great comments y'all left this week. If you make any of these projects I'd love to hear and see them too :) 

Here's my question for today, what would you make if you won this awesome FQ bundle of Darling Heart Garden from the Fat Quarter Shop?

Come back tomorrow for another V-Week project. I have to tell you a secret...It's not done yet. I am taking a class tomorrow and that will be the last project for the week.

Valentine Table Runner & Where I'll Be

If you are looking for the Darling Heart Garden FQ bundle giveaway click here.

Do you cook for your someone special on Valentines day? I do. I plan the menu for days and make a big deal of it. We eat at the grown ups table with real plates and silverware and everything :)

I don't know how this happened, but with all the table runners I have made I've never made a V-Day one. Well that has changed. I now have this table runner to use every year!

It's made the same way as the Mug Rug from Monday.

I can't give you the tutorial just yet, that has to wait till February 1st when I kick off the Valentines Day Showcase at Sew Bitter Sweet Designs. 

Another guest blog post I have coming up is on February 8th. I'll be sharing another tutorial for a fun Valentines project at Sew Sweetness' Blog.

And my Valentines projects will end with a Red/White project as part of the Quilters With Modern Tools blog hop. If you are not familiar with this group head on over the Insights From SewCalGal blog and check it out.

But if you just can't wait for the tutorial here's a hint...
The center is 8.5" and the strips are from a jelly roll.

I hope you are enjoying this series, I know it makes me happy to work on these projects with all this great fabric filled with hearts and stuff.

Valentine Goody Bag

If you are looking for the giveaway click here.

Have you joined any swaps this year? I joined a few and one of them is a bag swap. Since I am in heart mode I decided to make my swapee a heart themed bag.

One of the Valentine fabric lines that The Fat Quarter Shop has is Smitten by Barb Tourtillotte. I just love the way she mixed red, pink and aqua with a fun theme.

When I saw this line I immediately knew what I wanted to make with it.

This bag is so easy to make, you don't even need a zipper foot.

You will need to make an 11" x 12" front and the same size back. Be creative anything works, as long as it measures 11" x 12"

You will also need
1 - 14" zipper
2 pieces of batting cut 12" x 13"
2 pieces of fabric for the inside of the bag cut 12" x 13"
1 - 1 1/2" x 8" piece of fabric that matches the zipper

Make a quilt sandwich with the inside fabric wrong side up, the batting and the front of the bag facing wrong side down (just like for a regular quilt). Repeat with the back. Pin around the edges and quilt.

Trim the front to 10" x 11". Then place the front on top of the back and trim the same size. If you have side seams make sure they are trimmed the same distance from the top and bottom so when you sew the bag together they match.

Preparing the zipper

Take the 1 ½” x 8” piece that matches the color of the zipper and press it in half width wise. Then open it up and press the sides to the center. This will be a double folded piece of bias tape. Cut into 2 – 4” pieces.

Sew across the zipper to keep the 2 pieces in place and then trim close to the seam you just sewed.

Then nestle the cut zipper piece inside the bias tape you just made and sew very close to the left side of the fold. No need for a zipper foot here. Trim the bias tape even with the edges of the zipper.

Cut the zipper 1" less than the top edge of the front panel. Make sure the zipper pull is inside before you cut.

Repeat to finish the other side of the zipper. Here's a pic of a zipper from another project (sorry I forgot this pic)

Adding the zipper:
Note – you do not need a zipper foot for this but I do recommend you use your all purpose foot and not your ¼” foot. You will be doing a zig zag stitch and the ¼” foot might not be able to do a zig zag stitch.

Lay the front of the bag outside piece up on your surface. Put the zipper with the pull side down along the top edge of the front of your bag. Make sure the zipper is centered along the top (about ½” in from the sides).

Sew along the top edge halfway between the zipper teeth and the edge. Backstitch a few stitches at the beginning and end of the seam.

Now it’s time to finish that raw edge. Set your machine to the zig-zag stitch and sew. The left side of the stitch will be on the fabric and the right side will be right past the fabric so the entire raw edge will be covered. When done select the straight stitch again.

 

Flip the zipper up so it is above the front of the bag and with a straight stitch sew a line right below the zipper, making sure to catch the finished edge of the zipper underneath.

Repeat with the other side of the bag, being sure to attach the zipper to the outside part.

You will then have a piece that looks like this:

Finishing the bag:

 

Before you go any further make sure the zipper is at least ½” opened.

With the insides of the bag facing out (or right sides together) pin along the sides and bottom of the bag. Make sure to match up any side seams. Sew along the sides and bottom. Backstitch a few stitches at the start and finish. Finish these raw edges with a zig zag stitch just like before.

 

 

Making the gusset: 

Fold the bottom right seam up to the right side seam and pin. Make sure the seams are lined up so they match. 

Measure 2" from the point and draw a line from side to side. Repeat on the other side of the bag. Sew along the lines, trim 1/4" away and finish the seam with a zig zag stitch.

Turn the bag right side out and there you go!

Here's the bottom and side views.

The great thing about this pattern is that it can be used to make any size zipper bag from a IPod or cell phone case to an IPad case to large accessory bags. The skies the limit.

Come back tomorrow for another V-Week project. 

It's V-Week!

Welcome to Valentines Week here at Craizee Corners! I thought I would live up to my name and really get 'Craizee' this week. I have some valentines projects to show you and in plenty of time to get your Valentine projects done.

And what would a special week be without a special way to win some wonderful V-Day fabric of your own? Fat Quarter Shop has graciously given me a FQ set of Darling Heart Garden to give away!

Isn't this fabric yummy? But this is not the only V-Day fabric that Fat Quarter Shop has, there's several other lines so be sure to check it out.

Today's V-Week project is a mug rug. I love mug rugs and I am in several swaps so this one will be going to someone special.

Love Braids

You will need
1 - 3 1/2" square white
2 - 2" x 3 1/2" rectangles each of dark pink, white, light pink and red. (Piece A)
4 - 2" squares of red
2 - 2" x 14" of red

1. Sew a red 2" square to 1 dark pink 2" x 3 1/2" rectangles (piece A). Press towards the dark pink. Repeat with 1 white, light pink and red. These will be called piece B.

Note - All seams are pressed away from the 3 1/2" square from now on. I finger pressed everything until the end. 

2. Sew a dark pink piece A to one side of the White 3 1/2" square.

3. Sew the dark pink piece B, that you just made, to the adjoining side of the square. 

4. Add the white piece A, starting at the red square point. Sew it to the same side as the dark pink piece A.   

5. Add the White piece B the same way as in step 3.

6. Continue adding the other 2 sets of pieces until all 4 are added.

7. Press the mug rug now. Here's a pic of what the back should look like.

8. Now it's time to trim the mug rug. Line up the ruler 1/4" away from where the 2 pieces meet, which should be where the inside point is (where the seam ripper is pointing. Do this on both sides.

9. Sew a 2" x 14" red rectangle onto each long side. Start sewing with a 1" overhang so you have room to trim. Press

10. Trim the excess off of all diagonal corners. Use the corner of the square as a guide to make sure the angle is correct. Line up a line on the ruler with the bottom straight edge of the mug rug and line the right side edge of the ruler with the right side of the square. Trim all 4 pieces this way.

11. Quilt and bind as normal.

Easy right?

Now for the giveaway!

To win the FQ Bundle of Darling Heart Garden you must be a follower, but you do not get an entry for that, it's just a pre-requisite.

1. Go to the Fat Quarter Shop Valentines page and tell me which FQ set you like the best.

2. Tell me your favorite valentines memory.

There you go 2 ways to enter!

Entries will be accepted until Friday January 27th at 11:59 pm. Mr. Random will pick a winner on Saturday morning once my coffee has kicked in.

If you would like to tweet, facebook or blog about this I'd love it too. Spread the word...the more the merrier. Although I would love it if you helped me spread the word, you do not get an entry for it. You will get my thanks :)

Come back tomorrow to see another V-Week project.