What do you mean Christmas?

Well folks, Halloween is gone, Thanksgiving will be here in just a few more days and then comes that wonderful Holiday Christmas!  While we never want to forget the reason for the season, this is a time when crafting abounds as we crafters search for ways to provide presents for all on our list!  This is the time that I am making lots of lap quilts as you have seen in previous blogs, pillows, aprons, napkins, potholders and this year I'm making some pillowcases also!  This past week has been my pillowcase week and the cases I have made have been made from stash, so dig through that stash for your larger pieces of fabric  and even your 3" strips.  There are so many pretty fabrics available with kid themes that you also have a wonderful selection at the fabric stores.  One thing I really strive to do is get 100% cotton material so it is all very much washable and easy to get stains out of if necessary!

 

 

Well on to how to make these wonderful little gifts....

 

What you will need:  Fabric for the body of the case 27" x wof (width of fabric)  Now we all know that fabric comes in different widths but this is talking about your standard width of approximately 42 to 45 inches.

 

Fabric for the cuff: 9" x wof

Accent piece of fabric:  3" x wof

 

How much simpler can we get.  3 pieces of coordinating fabric.  Now if you go to the fabric store to purchase the fabric and you know you are going to make more than one pillowcase and you want to stretch those dollars, if you purchase 1 yard of fabric, you can get a body and a cuff from that fabric so you can make coordinating pillow cases by getting 1 yard for the main fabric on one pillow case and have the cuff for the coordinating pillowcase from that 1 yard of fabric without waste!  If you purchase the same accent piece of fabric you will need only 6" x wof for both pillowcases, but switch it up any way you want and you can even use the same accent piece for 4 pillowcases and just purchase 1/3 of a yard of accent fabric.  (Just be sure that your fabric store is cutting the fabric straight)  Sorry but I have gotten home after purchasing 1/3 yard of fabric and found it was 12 inches on one side of the cut and 9 inches on the other!  Did not make my day I can tell you.  Actually took some back to the fabric store because of it, and that was a major hassle!

 

So cut your fabric....

 

1.  The body of the pillowcase

 

2.  The cuff of the pillowcase

 

3.  The accent piece for the pillowcase

4.  Fold the accent piece in 1/2 so it is 1 1/2" wide and press with wrong sides together.

5.  Layout the cuff of the pillowcase, right side up.

6.  Lay the accent piece with the raw edges aligning with the raw edge of the cuff on the top edge.

7.  Align the body of the pillowcase fabric wrong side up with the raw edge also along the top edge.

8. Fold the excess length of the body of the pillowcase up so it is smaller than the cuff piece.

9.  Fold the bottom part of the cuff up matching the raw edges forming a tube and pin the raw edges together catching both edges of the cuff, both edges of the accent piece and only 1 edge of the body of the pillowcase.

10.  Sew a straight seam down the length of the tube you have created.

11.  Turn the tube right side out.

12 Press being sure to turn the accent piece toward the cuff.

Don't worry that all of your fabric has not been the same width.  Just try to keep it as straight as possible on 1 side.

13.  Trim the edge of the case to remove uneven edges and selvedges.

Now you have a nice straight edge to sew.

16.  Fold the case in half , right sides together matching the cuff and accent pieces.

15.  Making sure to pin your edges at the accent piece so they will stay straight then sew a seam around the two raw edges of the pillowcase.

16.  Those pesky corners need to be trimmed so you get a nice corner. 

(TIP:  When getting ready to turn a corner stop a couple of stiches early and turn you material half way around the corner, take 2 stitches and then lift the pressure foot and turn the rest of the way around the corner.  You will have a sharper corner that is more easily turned after trimming.)

17.  Turn the pillowcase right side out and press.

18.  Now to make a nice finished seam once again sew around the two edges where you made the previous seam and all raw edges will be encased so there is no raveling when it is being washed.

 

As you can see I have made several of these pillowcases for gifts for family.  Kids seem to really love them because this labels the pillow as their special pillow.  Parents love for kids to get them because they don't require batteries and they do not make noise!

 

 

Now if you really want to share the Christmas spirit you can make up a few extra of these and donate them and particularly now with the hurricane Sandy victims items like this are needed as well as making them for your local childrens hospitals (check with them first) or you can give them to any of your shelters, because they can always use bedding items, or some of your other organizations like the Salvation Army or Red Cross.  Just call and check with them and see what they tell you before making up a large number.  You make even want to talk with your local guild and see about a community project.  I wish you all a wonderful day and hope you enjoy the preparations for the holiday season.



 

 



Little Quilts

Goodness, I wonder if I am the only person who is constantly saving my scraps of fabric with the ideal that I will use those things sometime and they pile just keeps growing and growing until it become unmanageable?  For some reason I don't think I am the only one.  Now I have had friends that have actually tried to put a label on my savings habit (of which I am very proud) and one told me one day that she had looked it up and I wasn't a tightwad I was just frugal!  Now I thought that was a huge laugh.  I'm not much into putting labels on everything anyway so it didn't bother me.  I know that I am planning to retire this year from the daily work force and be able to stay at home.  Were it not for the savings habit, I would not be able to do this (and I still question every day or two if this is the right thing or not) until I turn 65 at least and maybe even later than that! 

In addition to my piles (baskets actually and bags) of scraps I have a virtual mountain of books that I have been collecting for years and telling my husband that I was saving those for retirement so I would have plenty of patterns to make quilts by during retirement!  These books are stacked on my staircase.  East step holds between 5-10 books and magazines and assorted patterns that I have purchased when I saw something that I really liked all with the intention of saving for my retirement!
I guess it could also be said that I am a pack rat because of all these books and patterns!

Regardless, I found another book at the quilt shop yesterday.  I just love my local quilt shop and the people who work there.  Sew Bee It in Ringgold, Georgia is just a wonderful shop full of friendly people and I always have an enjoyable time when I go up for a visit, which I do often.  As you can well imagine we are on a first name basis there!

Back to my story.  I found a new book "Small Pieces, Spectacular Quilts" by Mary Elizabeth Kinch and Biz Storms.  I was drawn to the book by the cover picture which is a Pumpkin Peel Pattern.  The quilt is beautiful but I have to say I was not impressed with the directions.  This is definately a pattern for someone with experience.  In particular I don't like instructions that just say "cut wedges of varying widths".  I find this too general for directions except to experienced quilters.  I also wish they had included some indication of the quilting level required for each project.  I want people to have a successful outcome when they start to quilt and if they start a project that is very difficult and they do not have the experience needed they will get discouraged and I hate to see that happen to anyone.  I met a lady in Knoxville, Tn who wanted to learn how to quilt and the quilt she started on was a Baltimore Album.  The shop owner did try to tell her that her choice was not something that was normally recommended for a beginning quilter but she decided that she was going to try that one anyway!  I never did hear if she finished her quilt or not but fear it may have been too daunting a task for a beginner.  To be honest, I don't even feel up to trying a Baltimore Album but it is because I am not a fan of applique.  I am more of a person who likes to make progress quickly.

With all of that said you are likely wondering why I bought this book! Well, I have to try everything at least once it seems to see how it goes. One year I decided to do some paper pieced quilts for the ladies in the family. Sorry to say the pattern I choose was one that was very intricate and very time consuming and finally they were put away into the void of UFO's. Years later I pulled out the partially finished piece and squared up what was there and added borders and made myself a wall hanging. I will not tell you how much that wall hanging cost me, but it was more than I would normally spend for a full size quilt! Now after getting this book I'm starting another quilt with too many pieces. We'll see how it goes and if I finish a complete quilt or wind up with another wall hanging. In this one each 3" block has about 19 pieces. The squares are 1/2" finished and made into 4-patches and then the patches are put together with sashing between each one to make a 16 patch of 4 patches which are sashed together to form the large quilt. Boy that's a lot of work just trying to explain the pattern. I'll try to get a couple of pictures to show you how this thing goes together before I publish this post.

Not the best picture I have every made but this is one of the blocks!

This is one forth of the above square.

Of course this one is where I am putting the tiny four patches together to form the above block.

And this is the tinies with just the 2 squares together and in the top left corner is one I have put into a 4 patch.



  

(Okay I did good.  I got the pictures before publishing the post)  Wish I had more of it done, but as I said sometimes I am a little slow but I am still working on this.  I did mention to a friend of mine that maybe I should use the blocks I have put together to put on the back of some potholders that I'm planning on doing for Christmas and she cringed in horror and said, that is just too much work to put into a potholder!  She may be right.  So I'll continue to see how it goes!

 



Typically I will go on a writting binge and write several post and then put them up one at a time.  Which is where I am right now.  I do everything by binges, quilting, writing, cleaning!  Is anyone else like that?  At any rate since I am so very blessed with so many scraps, I'm trying my hand at this once again.  So thankful that I have had the opportunity to collect so many scraps and still have the health and resources to continue quilting.  Here's wishing you all a happy quilting week and I'll talk with you later!