Craft Along - Week 4

Hi everyone,

It's Friday again already and time for the big reveal of the Mystery Project. By this stage you should have made something that looks like a mini quilt. I suppose if you wanted to you could bind it now and use it as a table centre or  table runner but that's not what it is going to be. Remember we have a zipper and some material still to use.
So I won't keep you waiting any longer, let's get started on the finale.

PRINTABLE INSTRUCTIONS
Mystery Project Craft Along - Week 4
Lay your patchwork piece on the last piece of fabric (lining) and trim it to the same size.
Open the zipper and pin one side of it to the patchwork piece along one end, so that the right side of both the zip and patchwork are facing, and so that the teeth of the zip are facing away from the edge. Repeat with the other side of the zip on the other end of the patchwork.
NB: Place the zip so the little metal stopper at the open end is just off the edge of the patchwork piece. The zip is also longer than the patchwork piece so that it is easier to sew. It will be trimmed later.


Sew approximately ¼" from the edge along both ends of the patchwork to attached of the zipper.
NB: This is easier with a zipper foot if you have one for your machine but the first time I did this I used my ¼" patchwork foot.
Pin and sew the lining along the same edge, so the zipper is sandwiched between the patchwork and the lining.

Turn it in the right way so that the lining and patchwork are wrong side facing and you can now see the zipper.
Pin the layers together and top stitch close to fold to hold everything flat.


VERY IMPORTANT: Make sure you partially close the zipper to about half way now.

Turn everything in the wrong way again and fold so the patchwork is folded at on end, the lining is folded at the other and the zipper is in the middle with the teeth facing the lining.
Pin along the sides. Sew along both sides but leave about a 4" gap in the lining seam on one side. This is so you will be able to turn out the right way later.


As you may have guessed by now you have made a bag and if you want a flat bag you can turn it out the right way now and you're finished, once you slip stitch the side seam in the lining closed. I chose to square off the bottom of the bag so that it will stand up.

Mark along the folds of both the lining and patchwork with pins, chalk, fabric pen or pencil.
Fold all four corners into triangles so that the side seams line up with the folds.

Measure 1¼" from the corner and mark.
Sew across the triangle at right angles to the seam/fold mark.

Cut the corner off, leaving about ¼".

Turn the bag out the right way through the gap you left in the lining.
Slip stitch the lining closed and tuck it into the bag.
And the grand TA DAH.

A handy sized bag. Lovely to keep for yourself or it would make a great Christmas present seeing as that isn't far away.
I have been working on other variations as well.

I made a 4" sawtooth star block with a ¼" border in place of the square in a square block.
These are not colours I usually work with but I thought I would step out of my box and try something different. I quite like how it turned out.
So you could have fun experimenting with different options too, maybe some embroidery, another patchwork block, a different applique or you could personalise it with someone's initials.
I hope you've enjoy this Craft Along, I've enjoyed the challenge of putting it together. If you have been joining in you might like to post a photo in a comment on my Facebook page. I would love to see your versions of the project and hear any feed back, good and bad.
The idea for this bag came from this tutorial on the blog Sew Delicious, so thanks Ros for the inspiration. Go and check out Ros' blog it has lots great tutorials and many of them are suitable for beginners or would make quick easy presents.
Okay that's it for today, I'm rushing off to craft group now.

Hope you've had fun

Thanks for popping by and until next time 

TOODLES

I would love your feedback.

You can either comment here or on Facebook 

or

You can follow me on

Facebook or Instagram @oneearlybird 

Doodling to Garden Art

Hey how's it going,

I'm a little bit excited. I should be out in the garden but I just had to share this. You know how I was singing the praises of my handy husband a couple of months ago HERE, well he has done it again and I'm super happy with the results.

I have a tendency to get ideas and then just doodle them down on any scrap of paper I can find. Quite often that is the last of it but not for this little 3 inch sketch.



I had originally been thinking of a gate design but then could work out how to attach it to a post without it losing it's aesthetic appeal, so it got tucked away amongst the numerous pieces of paper that tend congregate on the kitchen table.

I discovered it one lunchtime recently and decided it had merit as a garden feature. While discussing it, one of Ross' mates who was with there, suggested if I still wanted to use it as a gate why not have it pivot in the centre. BRILLANT. So the "leaf gate" got put on the to do list, and I just had to work on the dimensions.

I drew up a more workable drawing the other day and Ross has been working on it. This morning it has been put in position.

 

Looking out of the garden into what will be an arboretum of sorts.

Looking back into the garden.

Looking through the long arbour from the verandah you can just see it in the photo but it's easier to see in real life.

Did I mention how happy I am with how it turn out. Love it. When it rusts it will be perfect. Now I just have tidy up around it and decide what sort of fence to put either side. At the moment there is a steel post and wire paddock fence there and it will probably have to stay in the short term. These decisions can't be rushed.

Now I'm off to have a cuppa and then out into the garden to pull some weeds and lay some mulch. Garden Getabout is less than 4 weeks away. I'll be back on Friday with the final step of the Mystery Project Craft Along.



 

Thanks for popping by and until next time 

TOODLES

I would love your feedback.

You can either comment here or on Facebook 

or

You can follow me on

Facebook or Instagram @oneearlybird 

Craft Along - Week 3

Hey everyone,
Well where did the last week go, it's Friday already. My grand plans for a second post went out the window. I did take some photos for one but that's about it. I have been spending a lot of time head down bum up in the garden. With daylight saving starting last week I find it takes a while to get use to the light time difference and I still work until darkish, forgetting that it's now 7.30 or so. Then it's a rush to get tea ready, eat and bed. I do like it though as it's an extra hour to get stuff done, YAY.
Anyway I'm guessing that you're here today for the next instalment in the Mystery Project Craft Along. After the last weeks computer drama it's nice to be back on the desktop where I have access to everything. Thank goodness it was only a power supply issue within the computer so that fixed I'm a happy chappy. I have put a link on last weeks post for the printable instructions as promised.
How did you go last week? The ladies at Craft Group seem to enjoy it and found it easy enough. This week should be easy and enjoyable too.
This week you will need:
  2 x square in a square
  7 x coordinating strips
  wadding/batting
  homespun/calico
  embroidery thread

PRINTABLE INSTRUCTIONS
Mystery Project Craft Along - Week 3
Lay the 2" strips out so that you are happy with how they look.
Sew the 2 strips on each side together and then the 3 middle strips together and iron.

Trim the 2 pairs of side strips to 18½"
From the 3 strip middle piece crosscut 2 x 2" strips and 1 x 6½" strip (see below)

Sew the bottom of the heart blocks to each end of the 6½" strip and sew the 2" strips to the top of each heart block and iron.
Sew the side strips to either side of he centre piece and iron.

Lay the homespun/calico down then the batting and then place the patchwork piece on top.
Pin the layers together well and quilt as desired.(See note below)
Trim the batting and backing.
Zig zag around the edge with a long stitch to hold the layers together. This will make the next step easier.

NB: I quilted in the ditch around the square in a square block and the inner square, then ¼“ from the seams on all the strips with the sewing machine. I also used 3 strands of the embroidery thread to do some feature quilting on the inner square.
Pull the threads through to the wrong side, tie off and trim. There is no need to sew them in because they won't be seen when the project is finished.

That's it for this step. Probably a bit more work than last week, depending on how much quilting you decide to do. Do you like how it's looking? I hope so. Next week will be the final step and you will find out what you're making.

Hope you're enjoying yourselves.

Thanks for popping by and until next time 

TOODLES

I would love your feedback.

You can either comment here or on Facebook 

or

You can follow me on

Facebook or Instagram @oneearlybird 

 

Craft Along - Week 2

Hey Everyone

Yay it's Friday and today I have the first step of the Mystery Project Craft Along for you.
I was planning to have this posted a lot earlier but I've had bit of a computer problem this morning, our desk top (our main computer) won't turn on. I hope it's not too serious. Thank goodness for the laptop so I can still finish this post on time. I've had to rework it though as I was going to provide a printable version of today's instructions but they're on the other computer so I've had to add extra instructions here. Hopefully the desktop will be fixed over the weekend and I'll be able to add the link then. Anyway the most important thing is I'm still here and I already had most of this done, I think I would have had a minor meltdown if I had to start from scratch.
So have you got all your materials? Is your sewing machine ready to go?  If you're new here, and would like to join in, you can find the material list on the previous post.
This week you will need the
  2 x light squares
  8 x dark triangles
  2 x 3"med/dark squares
  fusible webbing
  embroidery thread
  sewing thread

Before I start:
I have tried to simplify things but I have assumed you have some basic knowledge of patchwork and applique. If you are having trouble understanding anything just send me an email and let me know.
All seams are ¼" unless otherwise stated and I recommend you read through the instructions before you start.

PRINTABLE INSTRUCTIONS

Mystery Project Craft Along - Week 2
Sew 2 triangles onto either side of the light coloured squares and iron.

Sew 2 more triangles onto the other sides of the square and iron.

You should now have 2 square in a square blocks (see above right) measuring 5"x 5".
Trace 2 hearts onto the paper side of the fusible webbing.
Roughly cut out the heart, leaving about ¼" all around.
NB: The heart is in the instructions but here is how I made it. Cut a 2½" square of paper & fold it in half. Draw one side of a heart shape starting and finishing on the fold. Cut along the line and unfold. Hey presto you have a heart to trace around.

Iron the hearts to the wrong side of each of the 3" squares with the paper side up.

Don't ask me why this picture downloaded upside down, it's just what happens sometimes.

Cut out the hearts and peel off the paper. 
HANDY HINT: If the paper is hard to peel off score across it with the tip of your scissors then gently pull the heart so the paper splits along the scored line. It is then easy to removel the paper.

Position the hearts on the square in the blocks and trim the hearts if you feel they need it. When you're happy with the way they look iron them in place.

Using the embroidery thread blanket stitch (also known as buttonhole stitch) around the heart. I used stranded embroidery thread and used 3 strands or you could also use a single strand No 8 pearl c

That's it for the first step. How are you liking it so far? I hope you're finding it fun and you will join me again next week.

Fingers crossed, hopefully next week the computer will be fixed and things will be back to normal, if not I'll be having a major meltdown.

Oh and I nearly forgot, the winner of the giveaway was Jackie, she was the only one to leave a comment so there's a kit for this project headed her way.

Looking forward to crafting some more with you next Friday

and hopefully I'll be able to slip in another post before then as well.

 



Thanks for popping by and until next time 

TOODLES

I would love your feedback.

You can either comment here or on Facebook 

or

You can follow me on

Facebook or Instagram @oneearlybird