Don't look now!

Honey Bunny ... part 2

I turned my Honey Bunny applique into a small cushion but you could do lots of different things with yours ... like put the design on a library bag or kids tote. It would look very cute on one of my art smocks or if you wanted to make a cushion but wanted one a little larger then you could add some simple borders and adjust the size of the pillow back - ie. increase the length of the side edges by 1/2 of the total measurement that you have increased the cushion by (don't increase the length of the edges where the zip will be fitted!)... does that make sense??? Clear as mud right???

These instructions will show you how to insert a zip and create a flap to cover it ... I am no seamstress by any stretch of the imagination however these instructions will give you a good and neat result.

Last little bits and pieces that you will need if you want to turn yours into a little cushion ....

10" x 13" rectangle of fabric for cushion back

4" pink check for binding

8" zip

Final Steps ...

1. Cut your centre applique panel back to 10" square - make sure you double check your measurements before you cut to avoid tears!

Construct the back ...

2. Cut one 10" x 5 3/4" rectangle from cushion back fabric - top half of cushion back

3. Cut one 10" x 6 1/2" rectangle from cushion back fabric - lower half of cushion back

4. Mark the centre points of one 10" side of each of each cushion back piece & the zip. Lay the lower half of the cushion back out right side up and the zip wrong side up along one 10" side of the lower cushion back matching centre points and raw edges. Pin in place. Using your zipper foot sew along the edge of the zip & fabric as close to the zipper teeth as possible.

5. Lay the zip & fabric flat and press. Sew a row of top stitching close to the fold securing the zip & fabric in place.

 

6. Lay the top half of the cushion back right side up on a flat surface. Place the other edge of the zip wrong side up along one 10" edge matching center points & raw edges. Pin in place. Sew along the edge of the zip & fabric as close to the zipper teeth as possible. 

7. Lay the cushion back flat right side up. Press. Mark 1" up from the fold line that you have just created. Fold along this marked line and take the fold down over the zip creating a flap over the zip. Pin in place - mark the end points of the zip.

 

8. Beginning at one edge sew close to the fold until you reach the beginning of the zip. Pivot and sew up across the end of the zip until you reach the point just below the top edge of the zip. Pivot again and sew along the length of the zip, securing the flap, stopping at the end of the zip. Pivot and sew back down across the zip end. Finally pivot again and sew back along the final edge close to the fold. Refer below...

  

9. Lay out the cushion top wrong side up. Place the cushion back on top of the cushion top right side up. Pin in place. Baste in place around the entire edge of the cushion 1/4" from the edge.

10. Cut two 2" strips of binding from the pink check fabric. Join the two sections using a mitered seam. Trim the seam to 1/4" & press open. Press binding strip in half length ways. Pin binding to the right side of the cushion top matching raw edges and leaving a 3" to 4" tail of binding free. Pin in place and sew in place using a 1/4" seam finishing 1/4" from the side edge. Securing your stitching at the start and finish points.

11. Fold the binding back creating a 45 degree fold. Fold binding back over the fold matching raw edges with the next side of the pillow top - refer to the photos below;

  

12. Sew along the edge continuing in the same manner until you reach the side where you began. Pin the corner & side in place and overlap the start & end points of the binding by 2" and trim to these points.

13. Open out the binding. With right sides together position the first binding edge along the side edge of the tail end of the binding - see below.

14. Mark a 45 degree line as shown below. Sew along line.

15. Open the binding out and ensure that it sits nicely in place. Once you are satisfied trim seam allowance to 1/4" and finger press open. Reposition binding in place along the edge of the pillow and sew in place. 

16. Turn the folded binding edge to the back of the pillow top and sew it in place by hand manipulating the corners to sit nicely. 

Yay! You're finished!!!!

I hope you have fun making this little cushion! It comes together very quickly and is a great little project to try out your raw edge applique on.  Janet emailed me a shot of her version yesterday ... there are no flies on this woman I am telling you!!!! You will find the finished version in the photo album. Janet is also having a giveaway so make sure you take a look!

Ranette has also been busy!

So I guess you guys remember this from my last post ...

 

Meg's Garden is in issue number 71 of Australian Homespun Magazine ... for those of you who find it difficult to get your hands on this magazine you can order it on line from here and have it sent to you ... and it will be in your hot little hands in no time at all!!!

I always have a lot of people ask me about my sock monkey's. I don't sell these and I wont be making a pattern or doing a tutorial on them ... but this woman does sell them and just between you and me her's are a whole lot nicer than mine!!!!

Talking about amazing women ... check out what what Lynn has been upto ... it is looking great isn't it!!!!! She has also made a great little quilt that you should take a peek at too! Valerie has made a beautiful wall hanging using the Flower Garden pillow applique shapes and there are some new photos form some blogless girls that I will also add to the photo album.

OK I must go ... I have spent way too much time here in my typepad world this past few days. Next week I am going to start some Mother's Day gifts for our school stall and get to work on a quilt for one of the boys that I have been dreaming about for quite some time!

I hope you have had a great Easter and enjoyed the wonderful relaxing family time that comes at this time of the year. I will leave you with one last photo ...

...our kids forgot to leave the Easter Bunny a snack this year ... obviously this really pissed the Easter Bunny off as she pooped on our coffee table!!!!

Have a great week!

Kellie

PS. OK, just one more photo ... of Joshua & his very best friend in the whole wide world ... who were two very cute rainbows in our local festival's parade a couple of weeks ago ...  

   

The ins and outs of bindings, hanging pockets and striped binding strips!

I have been planing this tutorial for sometime and I hope that you find it useful. Most patchwork and quilting magazines and books provide explanations regarding how to apply a binding to your quilt. Dear Fi also posted a great tutorial a little while ago, so there is plenty of information to access out there when it comes to finishing off your quilt.

So why bother with another tutorial you may ask ... well I finish off my bindings differently to the way that most instructions are detailed. It is not something that I have invented. It has been done this way by many, for a long time. It is a little more fiddly than the regular way but it will give you a better finish ... have a go and let me know what you think!

In this tutorial I have included;

• How to add a hanging pocket

• How match up stripes when joining binding strips with a mitered seam

• How to finish off a your binding with a mitered join 

Adding a Hanging Pocket;

On medium to large sized quilts I make the finished width of my hanging pockets 4". Depending on how you want to mount your quilt you may want to make this slightly smaller for small quilts. Just remember that the finished width will be half the cut width minus 1/2". 

1. Once you have squared up your quilt you will need to measure the edges of it and record it somewhere where you won't loose it. Cut a strip of fabric for the hanging pocket that is;

8 1/2 " wide by the length of the top edge of your quilt

2. Turn over the edge of each short end of the strip of fabric 1/4" and press. Turn the edge over again another 1/4" and press. Secure the hem with a straight row of stitching. 

 

3. Fold the strip in half length ways and press.

4.Locate the center of the long edge of the sleeve and mark it with a pin and do the same with the top edge of your quilt.

5.With the back of your quilt facing up, lay the pocket on top of the quilt matching up the centering pins, ensuring that the raw edges of the pocket line up with the edge of the quilt. 

6. Pin the pocket in place. You will notice that the pocket is now approximately 1/2" shorter on each ended than the quilt top due to the hems that we just made ... this is perfect!

The pocket will now be secured when the binding is sewn on ... but first lets join our binding strips!

 

How to match up stripes when joining binding strips with a mitered seam;

I don't know about you but I love striped bindings and when the stripes match up it's even better! :)

1. Make your binding strips - I usually just cut my binding along the straight grain of my fabric and I generally cut them to a width of 2 1/2".

2. To calculate the number of binding strips that you will need;

• add the measurements of the edges of your quilt and add an additional 20"

• divide

this measurement by the length of the individual strips that you cut and this will will give you the number of strips you will need in total. 

3. Place the two ends of the binding strips that you plan to join, right side up, side by side in front of you.

4. Find the same print repeat point in both pieces of fabric - mark these points with a pin. (see below) 

 

5.With right sides together place one length on top of the other matching the pins - see below bottom left hand corner of the overlapped fabric.

 

6.Using a ruler with a 45 degree angle marking - line up the 45 degree angle with the edge of the bottom piece of fabric and the diagonal of the top strip, as shown below, mark this line lightly with a pencil.

 

7. Pin and sew securing the start and stop points of your seam. 

 

8. Open the seam out and check that the stripes match up - if they do trim your seam allowance to 3/4" and press the seam open.

  

  

9.Once all of the binding strips have been joined fold the strip in half and press.

  

How to attach your binding and finish it off with a mitered seam

1.Take one end of the binding and position it on one side of the quilt top matching raw edges. Begin slightly off center leaving a tail approximately 10" long.

2. Pin the binding in place along the remaining length of that side. Mark 1/4" from the end of this side with a pin.

 

3. Using a walking foot sew down this seam maintaining a 1/4" seam allowance. To help me maintain this seam allowance when I am using my walking foot I mark the distance 1/4" from from my needle with a strip of masking tape. I then use this edge to line up with the edge of my quilt.

 

4. Finish this seam and secure your stitches at the 1/4" point that you previously marked in step 2.   

   

5. Remove your quilt from your machine and fold the binding to the right. Use your ruler to ensure that this fold is at a 45 degree angle - see below. Pin in place. 

  

6. Fold the binding back to the left ensuring that the fold matches up with the edge of the quilt. Pin in place. Pin the binding to that side of the quilt, again marking 1/4" from the end point.

 

7. Sew down the length of the side od the quilt stopping at the 1/4" point and proceed as per previous corner. 

8. Continue in this same way until you reach the side where you began. Secure the binding with pins and sew. Finish stitching 10" short of your starting point. Secure your stitching.  

  

9. Over lap the binding by the exact width of your binding - in this case it is 2 1/2". Trim the excess binding. 

  

10. Fold the quilt over right sides together. Take one end of the binding, place the short edge along the long side of the other binding end - matching up as shown below.

11. Mark the 45 degree diagonal with a pencil - this will be your stitching line. The first couple of times that you do this you may want to pin along this line and check that everything fits nicely before you sew the seam. 

  

12. Once you have sewn the seam, lay the seam flat and refold the binding and check that it sits nicely along the edge of your quilt.

  

13. Once you are satisfied with the fit, trim the seam allowance to 3/4" and pin the binding in place. Complete the seam.Unfortunately, the stripes at this seam won't match unless the Gods are smiling on you :)!

  

14. Turn the binding to the back of the quilt and blind stitch in place.   

 

15.When you fold over the binding at the corners fiddle with it until the miter sits nicely. Secure with pins and blind stitch it in place.

16. Once you have finished sewing the binding, blind stitch the bottom end of the hanging pocket.

17. Stitch the ends of the hanging pocket making sure that you only sew down the side that touches the back of the quilt - leaving an opening through which a hanging rod can be placed. 

 

18. Add a label and your done!!!

 

I hope that this is helpful.

I will 'see' you all again on Sunday this week ... I'm spicing it up a little :).

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Kellie