Chop Chop Chop

I thought I would show you some of the fabric cutting that's been going on here at CasaGrande but I was feeling a little ADHD taking pictures for this post...

I've been cutting bricks from my collection of 1930's for a lattice quilt. I won't won't have pictures of the sewing for quite a while because I still have considerable cutting to do. After the bricks are done, I'll also need to cut squares from that solid purple as well.

 

I've made some progress on my itty bitty twister. You can see how much it shrinks from the original thru the cutting with the tiny template and on to when the seams are sewn. I am not enjoying these open seams. I like my seams flat flat flat and I just can't get these halfway flat. When I put the finished section up on my design wall I put it up front to the wall so it would stay attached - can you see how it sits up "above" the mat? This morning I sewed the 3 middle rows together.

While working on the itty bitty quilt and some bazaar items, I decided I needed another leader/ender project. I had saved a photo of a quilt online that used 4 patches and 16 patches, hence, my working title for this quilt is "4 + 16". Thought provoking, no?  I can't find the link right now but I plan to post more info on the quilt Thursday and I'll have the link then. I have a lot of blue in my strip bins from making a little boy quilt some time ago so I probably won't need to cut any more 2.5" strips but I will need more 1.5" strips since I designed a pieced border in EQ7. It looks great on the screen but it will take considerable cutting, sewing, subcutting and resewing :)

As I dig thru the recesses of my stash to find "new" fabrics, I also find more selvages. You may recall that I have also been gifted some selvages recently. I pressed them all this morning and I hope to cut the 7" sections I need tonight.

This pile is to be cut for making swags for the Bazaar...some of those fabrics I've been "saving" for who knows what. I'm happy to have found a reason to cut into them! It's hard to see but the top left fabric under the pink bias tape has lingerie and then some matching blue and pink batiks in the baggie. Wouldn't that be cute in the laundry room?

Oh wait...let's not forget that cutting fabric for projects means there is also a pile of scraps to cut to size for the scrap bins :)
 
I certainly have my work cut out for me. Oi, didn't mean for the pun but it's there so I'll leave it.
Happy Tuesday!

Sarah's Simple Swag Tutorial

Remember the St. Patty's Day swag I made a couple of weeks ago?

Well I stocked up on bias tape and made a few more this weekend. I think picking only 7 fabrics is harder than the whole rest of the process :)

You'll need the following:

(1) 3-yard package 1/2" extra wide double fold bias tape

(7) FQs to cut charm squares from...scraps or leftover charms from charm packs also work great and I know you have some lying around!

Cut fourteen charm (5") squares from your fabrics, cutting 2 from each. You could also go wild and use 14 different fabrics. Go WILD - you know you wanna!

No, I do not have a crock obsession. I dont!
One holds oft-used rulers, one is for trash and the third is for CHOCOLATE!

Place two charm squares with right sides together and sew a 1/4" seam around all four sides. I didn't photograph this step but trust me, it has to be 4 sides. Give each of the 7 sewn pairs a light press and move back to the cutting board.

Cut the 7 square pairs into 14 half square triangles by cutting once, from corner to opposite corner.

Trim the points off your triangles and turn them inside out. Be sure to trim the corners first...ask me how I know this! Use a bone folder or stilletto to push out the points and press your triangles flat. I have yet to trim the dog ears in this next photo. This is also a good time to open your tape and give it a good press. Be careful while pressing that you don't stretch the bias tape out of whack.

We are now back to the sewing machine. For my Bernina I am using my stitch in the ditch foot because the bar you see in front will run along the edge of the bias tape. My needle is then moved to the farthest left position.

Find the middle of your bias tape and tuck the first triangle inside the tape with the triangle tip at the mid-point of the tape. Topstitch along the edge of the tape until the edge of the first triangle. Tuck the second triangle into the tape. I don't overlap the triangle tips to eliminate bulk - they just touch within the tape. Continue sewing 7 triangles into this half of the tape and continue topstitching the remaining ~12" of the tape. Move back to the center of the tape and sew the remaining 7 triangles into the other half of the tape.

Admire the pretty colors and shake your head at the white cat fur attached to everything even tho your sniffly QCO didn't even snoopervise this project.

I also used these Black/White/Red fabrics to create another swag. I decided to add an extra red traingle to the center for a total of three red triangles per side and a more symetrical design.

Next up is an Easter swag - I have bunny and egg fabrics to use :)

I bought a kit to make this neato St Patty's Day swag at my LQS - it was the perfect solution to having a variety of fabrics. Now I kinda wish I had bought 2 kits so I could have decorated both door frames...

Taken from studio, looking across living room into dining room.

This weekend I am looking to buy supplies to make one for Easter and YOU can too!

You'll need a package of bias tape (I think they are 3 yards long) and 14 charm squares. The kit had two of each fabric but anything goes here people! I hope to make more for other holidays but my imagination is running wild with other ideas too.

I'll be back next week with a tutorial. It really is simple enough to not need a formal tutorial but I tried to explain it in words-only to a couple people and confused them to pieces. I'm great at that so we will defer until I can get some pictures.