Carpenters Wheel quillow

The name quillow may be new to you - it means a quilt that folds into a pillow - or cushion. I love these and made some for each of my daughters as they went to university.

The carpenters wheel block, made with 2" squares and half square triangles, (dies used - 659831

http://www.sizzix.co.uk/product/659831/sizzix-bigz-die-half-square-triangles-2-1-2-assembled-square and 657607 -http://www.sizzix.co.uk/product/657607/sizzix-bigz-die-square-2-finished-2-1-2-unfinished, with the Big Shot Machine - http://www.sizzix.co.uk/product/660200/sizzix-big-shot-machine-only-white-gray) is a 16" square - so cut an 18" square in wadding and backing fabric. Layer the backing, wadding and cushion front together, pin and then quilt together.

Trim the wadding and backing to the same size as the cushion front.

Cut another piece of backing fabric the same size and

Trim the wadding and backing to the same size as the cushion front.

Cut another piece of backing fabric the same size and place on top of the cushion front and stitch around 3 sides (now you could leave the backing off when you are quilting but I like to quilt with a fabric on the back not just the wadding - but that's just personal choice)

Turn the cushion right side out and press.

For the quilt part I have used 1.8m by 112cm wide,of a plain black and a small print, and cut a piece of wadding to match.

As I don't want to add a binding to the quilt I layered on fabric right side up, on the wadding.

The cushion is placed in the middle of one end, matching raw edges, and then the other quilt fabric is placed right side down, over the top -

Pin through all layers and stitch together, using a 1/4" or 6mm seam allowance, and leaving an opening of 12"/ 30cm in one side.

Turn the quillow right side out, and slip stitch the open edges together.

Quilt as desired - leaving the cushion free at the end -



To complete flip the cushion onto the quilt, so that the pieced front is against the quilt, pin the sides to the quilt - and stitch in place, leaving the top edge open -

 

(this photo should show black - but I'm not sure what happened to the colour!!)

Turn the quillow over so that the pocket is underneath, fold the sides in to match the width of the cushion, then fold the length into 4, to match the cushion side.

All that remains is to turn the cushion right side out, with all of the quilt inside - and that's it folks -

A useful cushion, that doubles as a quilt for a cold evening.

Next week I'll show off one of our new dies - and then the following week I'll be at the Knitting and Stitching show at Alexandra Palace - so maybe I'll see some of you there.

Angela

Pinwheel Pencil case

Hello again, I thought it would be nice to do some patchwork this week and decided to use the smallest half-square triangles to make a pencil case -

 

 

 

You will need –

5” x 20” in 2 co-ordinating fabrics, 1 light and 1 dark, for the pinwheels

6” x 40” navy fabric for the outside and lining of pencil case                                                                               

1 x 10” navy zip

Big Shot™ Machine  http://www.sizzix.co.uk/product/660200/sizzix-big-shot-machine-only-white-gray or Big Shot™ Plus machine http://www.sizzix.co.uk/product/660020/sizzix-big-shot-plus-machine-only-white-gray

Sizzix® Bigz™ Die Half-Square Triangles, 1” finished 659983 http://www.sizzix.co.uk/product/659983/sizzix-bigz-die-half-square-triangles-1-1-2-assembled-square 

Using the Big Shot machine and the die cut 40 triangles out of each of the patterned fabrics.

Stitch 1 light and 1 dark triangle together to make a square, repeat with all the triangles.

Press the seams together towards the darker colour

Stitch 1 pair of squares together – see photo below.

 

Press the seams and then stitch 1 pair of rectangles together to make a square, taking care to match the points in the middle.

Join the squares together in 2 sets of 5 to make 2 strips.

 

Cut the navy fabric into 2 pieces 2 1/4" x 10 1/2", 2 pieces 4" x 10 1/2" these 4 pieces are for the outside, and 2 pieces 6" x 10 1/2" for the lining.
Stitch a 2 1/4" and 4 " piece either side of a pinwheel strip, and press. Repeat to make the 2nd side.
To put the zip in - lay it across the top edge of one of the outside pieces -

lay a lining piece on top, matching the edges, and stitch, with a 1/2" seam - when opened to the right side it will look like this -

Repeat with the other side of the zip. Now open the zip at least half way.
Lay the outside pieces, right sides together, pin, matching the raw edges.

Stitch around the 3 sides, back stitching at each end to secure the seam.
Repeat with the lining - but leave a 5" opening in the bottom edge.
Trim off the extra length of the zip at both ends.
Turn the pencil case right side out -

Stitch the open edges together, and tuck lining inside the pencil case.
Not quite such a quick project as I thought it would be - but still fun, and if I start now I might make enough for all of the grandchildren for September term at school.
I'm off now to enjoy a cup of tea in the garden, while the sun is still shining.
See you next week.
Angela
 

Star Quilt: Part 3

Dies used: Half-Square Triangles, 4 1/2in Finished Square
                 Square, 4in Finished (4 1/2in Unfinished)
                 Star, Nested

The piecing for my eldest son, Aidan's quilt is now finished.

I mentioned in my previous post that there was an issue with the quilt top that needed ironing out and so after the piecing was done resolving that was next on the list. I ordered the background fabric online and so didn't examine it thoroughly before buying it but I knew that the many little line drawings of everyday objects that covered it would fascinate and appeal to Aidan. So far so good. It was only when I began to cut it into squares and half-square triangles on my Big Shot that I noticed an unexpected picture that wouldn't really be at home on an almost 8 year old boy's quilt. I'm not going to go into detail here about the not-particularly-suitable items that were depicted (I have gone into more detail on my own blog http://twoowls.typepad.co.uk/ ) but after some thought, concluded that they should probably be covered up.

Applique was the obvious choice of cover-up method and a star shape to echo the patchwork design seemed most appropriate. I fixed some iron-on adhesive (fusible web) to the reverse of some scraps that were just big enough to cover the smallest, central star on the Stars, Nested die and cut out a neat pile of perfect little stars.

After removing the backing paper from the stars, I then pressed them in place over each of the unwanted pictures wherever they occurred on the quilt top. Considering the stars were added purely to solve a problem, they really add something to the overall look of the quilt top and it looks better for them.

Each star now needs to be sewn around to ensure that they are firmly held in place and they will also be quilted over later for extra security.

From now on I will be posting every other week and so hopefully this quilt will be finished in time for my next post - it has to be really as it's Aidan's birthday in 10 days time!

Happy sewing!

Star Quilt: Part 2

Dies used: Half-Square Triangles, 4 1/2in Finished Square
                 Square, 4in Finished (4 1/2in Unfinished)


Hello and happy Monday!

Sewing has been happening in fits and starts over the last week as my youngest (and most energetic) son has had an extra weeks holiday from pre-school and so superhero games have been top of the agenda instead.

Out of 15 blocks, 10 almost 11 are now done and decorating the wall above my sewing machine (along with the Counting Sheep blankie from the current issue of Love Patchwork and Quilting).

All of the fabric is cut out and ready go for the remaining blocks but just as things were speeding along the thread ran out. Typical.

It's starting to take shape though and so far thankfully it meets with my eldest son, Aidan's approval. Phew!

That said, there is a small issue with it though that will hopefully be ironed out over the course of the coming week and I'll post about it next time.

Sizzix project : Little Bird for Kid's room

Hello crafter,

Spring is near and there is a great desire for sunshine!

Today we present a new project for kid's room....that like "ourselves" have the head in the stars and balloons!

NECESSARY:

- Sizzix big shot machine only

- Sizzix Thinlits Die set 3PK  - Happiness Fhrases

-