What is Fussy Cutting?

Some feedback I've been getting lately is that many people who read here are beginners or intermediate beginners. {Welcome! *waves hello*} Knowing that I've decided that every now and then I'll write a blog post based on simple skills that can really take your quilting and sewing projects to the next level.

Confession. When I first started sewing I had to google "what is fussy cutting" and I wish someone had written this blog post for me!

Quilt Block Boot Camp

I've joined my first ever quilt bee! I'm part of one of the Beehive Swarms - I'm really excited about it AND I'm swarm leader (omg) so I've decided that I need to do some practice. Accuracy is a weak point for me so the last couple of days I've started putting myself through a quilty boot camp of sorts.

How To Save PDF Patterns to iPad - Tutorial

I hesitated writing this post because I worry that readers will say "duh Ros, can't believe you didn't know this!" But I felt that way before I wrote this post about zippers, and it has become one of my most popular and most pinned posts, so I figure I'll help someone!

Like many of you, the majority of patterns I use for my sewing projects are by independent designers who sell their patterns as downloadable PDF files. Which is great BUT there is a lot of printing and paper wastage.

Until...I was chatting on the phone to my lovely friend Amy and she said "grab your iPad and I'll show you what I mean about that pattern."
Me: "Umm why would I grab my iPad?"
Amy: "Don't you save your patterns as an ebook so you can sit the iPad next to you when you sew?"
Me: "PLEASE SHOW ME THIS STROKE OF GENIUS RIGHT NOW!"

So full credit for this tutorial goes to Amy because she taught me how to do this. It has been a game changer - it is so handy to have the pattern sitting right next to me when I sew without having to mess around with lots of paper.

So basically, you save your PDFs into the iBooks app and you can use them like an ebook. Then the only printing you need to do is your pattern pieces. You can also use this very same tutorial to save your patterns into your iPhone.

First, you need to get your saved PDFs to your iPad. I just attached them to an email and sent them to myself.

Open the email and tap the symbol and your file will begin to download.

Once it's downloaded, tap the PDF symbol and this will open your pattern.

Once your PDF is open, go to the top right hand corner and tap the share arrow.

You will get a few options depending on the various apps you have on your device. I like to keep my patterns all together in the one place, so I choose 'Open in iBooks'.

And that's it! Once you've opened your pattern in iBooks it will automatically save it in there so you can go back to it anytime. Save them all in there, and you will have a lovely bookshelf full of patterns.

 

This will work for any type of PDF file. Using your iPad you can flip easily between pages in the pattern and have it sitting next to you in your sewing space for easy referral.  

Saving the pattern to your phone is also very handy when you go fabric shopping - you can refer to the pattern so you know exactly how much fabric yardage and which notions you need.

Apologies to Android users, this tutorial is for iDevices only but I'm sure there is a way for you to do this on your tablets and phones that is very similar.

 Easy, convenient and uses a lot less paper! Do you save patterns this way too?

Quilted Mat Sew Along

I've been thinking about doing a tutorial for one of these ever since I made my first one back in February. I made first quilted mat just to test out my then-brand-new walking foot, but I loved it so much I've since made a couple more. I started putting together the tutorial, and it was getting quite long. Then I was chatting with a few sewing buddies and we were talking about how getting started with quilting was quite intimidating as the projects are often so large and such a commitment in fabric.

So I thought - why don't we do it together as a sew along? Then everyone can encourage each other, ask questions and show off their finished products!

This project is aimed at anyone who has thought that they would love to make a quilt, but the thought of actually sewing up large sized quilt is just overwhelming!

Advanced quilters are SO welcome to join in too - you guys could mix it up a bit by using small blocks or half square triangles rather than squares!

The Sew Along will start on Monday 20th May and will be scheduled like this:

20th May - tutorial 1 - sewing the quilt top
22nd May - tutorial 2 - basting and quilting
24th My - tutorial 3 - binding the mat

Here is one I made earlier this year for a swap partner (I love that pink and grey combo so much!)  You will need 12 x 5 inch squares. You can either use charm squares that are pre cut (like the mat in the picture below) or you can cut your own, which I did for the pink and grey mat.

This one is the first one I made to be used as a sewing machine mat - I used the yellow, green and orange charms from a Half Moon Modern charm pack. They were left over after I made my Quilted Sewing Machine Cover from the aqua, grey and red charms.

What can you use your mat for? Anything really. This latest one that I made using some Cuzco charms will be a mat for my overlocker. You might like to make it as a small table runner (you could add more charms and make it longer), as a place mat for the dinner table, or a mug rug.

It would be AWESOME if you wanted to join the Sew Along in real time and make your mat with me next week. If not, don't worry, the tutorials will always be here on the blog and you can come back any time you like.

So to get ready for the first tutorial, you might like to get your materials ready. You will need:

• 12 x 5" squares (12.5cm)

• a 20" x 16"  (50 x 40 cm) piece of batting. Cotton or polyester - as it is not a garment to have against skin, I am happy to make these from cheap batting.

• a 20 x 16"  (50 x 40cm) piece of coordinating fabric for the backing (an fq will be perfect)

• 2 yards (2m) of bias binding (tape) - I used a store bought one, single fold 1" wide (2.5cm)

• quilt basting pins (they look like safety pins but with a curved shape. You can buy a packet for a couple of dollars at your local quilting / fabric store)

• thread, rotary cutter and ruler, pins

 Optional - walking foot. If you don't have one, just your regular presser foot will be fine!

I strongly recommend you try and use what you have from your stash! 5 inch squares are a great way to use large scraps. If you need some tips on how to accurately cut them, check out this tutorial. The blue polka dot I have used for my backing is a small piece of voile I've had in my stash forever but thought it went nicely with the blue and pink squares I chose for this mat. The pink and grey one was made from me going through my stash and cutting squares from every pink and grey fabric I owned!

I'd love to see your fabric choices and your progress - share it in the Sew Delicious flickr group!

So what do you think? Are you in?

If you are participating, you can grab this button!

 <center><a href=" http://www.sewdelicious.com.au/2013/04/quilted-mat-sew-along.html " target="_blank"><img alt="sewalong" src=" http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/hh521/sewdelicious/quiltedmatsewalongsewdelicious.jpg " width="200" /></a></center>

Quilted Kindle Case

This year my brother organised for all of us to pool our resources and buy Mum a Kindle for Mother's Day. Exasperated by her plans to go and buy some books last week, he ended up giving it to her a week early!

Mum & Dad live in Queensland and travelled down to Melbourne for the weekend. After taking her Kindle on the plane, Mum expressed her worry that she didn't have a cover for it. Hmm...I asked her what colours she liked - she said, green, yellow, and orange. Off she went to take the girls to the Werribee Zoo for the day and I ran straight to my stash to investigate what I had in those colours! After a couple of very focused hours, I had it completed and ready to give to her when she got home.

Here is the finished result! I used the quilt-as-you-go method, referring to this tutorial by Oh! Fransson to make the exterior panels.

The fabrics I used are: Dot Spots in Lime from Moda Half Moon Modern (a left over charm square),  Citadel Sun Gold and Orchid Tangerine from Cuzco by Kate Spain (charm squares), Elephants in Olive and Hearts in Persimmon from an Umbrella Prints mixed trimmings pack.

I didn't have any cotton batting scraps left - argh - but I am being a good girl and trying not to buy too much at the moment. I had some polar fleece scraps that I cut to size and quilted the cotton onto that! I also lined the pouch with the polar fleece - it is nice and soft and will keep the Kindle well padded, and it will also clean the screen as it is slid in and out of it's case.

I made the back more simple, mainly using a green polka dot, but in hindsight I wish I had have added some yellow strips on either side of the elephants. I didn't have any more of the Cuzco Citadel print left though, as I only had one charm square to begin with.

I didn't really use a tutorial for this - I used the Kindle itself to measure the size of the panels I would need - I just added an inch all around.  I based the design of the case on this iPad case tutorial that I have used before - earlier this year I also made this quilt-as-you-go case for my iPad.

Quilt-as-you-go is fast becoming a favourite technique of mine because you can use tiny pieces of fabric and really scrap bust! It's hard to tell the size of this case in the pictures but it is very small - most of those pieces of fabric are only 2 inches in length, they just vary in width. It's also a great way to use up those little pieces of favourite fabrics you can't bear to part with.

Happy Mother's Day Mum! And to all of you who are Mums, Grandmothers, Great-Grandmothers, Step Mums, Foster Mums, Carers and Mums-to-be. Hope you get pampered today - or at least get a sleep in!

Quilt As You Go iPad Case

My husband and I have a rule that we don't get each other Christmas presents. For a few reasons, but mainly because if we really want something, we usually just buy it (or wait until it gets discounted!) So that naughty husband of mine broke the rules this year and bought me an iPad. I was very excited, but also felt a twinge of guilt that I had stuck to the rule and bought him nothing for Christmas.

After Christmas we had lots of family around and it gave me some good time to relax and get a lot of sewing done. One of the first things I did was make myself a case for my new iPad.

I'd seen a few quilt as you go projects around and I really wanted to try it. I used this tutorial by Oh, Fransson! and it was really great.

The panel has a few wonky bits but as far as a first time qayg project goes I think it came out well!

I used fabrics I had in my stash. They are:

Mustard - Love Birds by Michael Miller and the two that look like little flowers in the wind are  pieces from an Umbrella Prints Trimmings Pack.

Blues - Bright Sky Dot, Bright Sky Twiggy and and Bright Sky Tiny Deer, all from Oh Deer! by Momo for Moda.

Grey - small dot and large dot, both from an Umbrella Prints trimmings pack.

I decided the back didn't need to be another qayg panel, so I just quilted a piece of the Bright Sky Twiggy fabric, which I love.

I used the fabulous iPad case tutorial by One Shabby Chick. It is a really great tutorial which I used last year when I made a cover for my sister for her birthday.

It fits perfectly both with and without the protective case I have on the iPad.

I'm finding myself quite addicted to the qayg method - have you tried it? What have you made?

Embroidery for Beginners

The last (but definitely not the least!) post in my Basics Series is this guide to Embroidery, by the lovely Rachael of Imagine Gnats. I've only just started to attempt a few embroidery projects, and I've been quite excited by how easy it is! It is something that I want to do more of, and for those of you who haven't tried it before, Rachael has put together this great guide to get you started!

Let's talk about a sewing basic that everyone can master... embroidery! Embroidery is a fabulous way to add a  personal touch to a project or start your little ones stitching, and it's perfect for beginners and experienced stitchers alike. (note: click on any of the images in this post for more about the projects shown.)

So how do you get started? Well, you just need a few simple supplies: fabric, floss, and a needle. Yep, that's it!

Fabric: you can use any fabric you have handy... linen stitches up beautifully and using a printed quilting cotton is a great way to add another dimension to your project. you can also use felt or pre-made items for your project, like t-shirts, handkerchiefs, and tea towels.

Floss: using a stranded cotton floss allows for easy control over the thickness of stitched lines. Perle cotton, available in different sizes, adds a great texture to your stitches.

Needle: any sharp hand-sewing needle will do, though needles with large threading eyes will make things much easier.

A few additional things that I recommend to make your life a bit easier are: embroidery hoop to keep fabric taut while stitching, chalk pencil or water soluble marker for pattern transfer, and stabilizer such as Stick-N-Tear or Sol-U-Film Lite from Pellon to provide support during stitching.

Now, what to embroider? A great place to start is with words. Stitching a name is an easy way to personalize a sewing project, whether a quilt or a stuffed animal, or you could even add an initial on the pocket of a t-shirt.

Find a pattern: the great thing about words is that a pattern is always readily available from your own computer. Simply type your words, choose a font and size, and print.

Transfer pattern: a simple way to transfer your pattern is to tape the printed words to a window in bright sunlight. Place your fabric over the pattern and trace onto fabric using a chalk pencil or water soluble marker. (step-by-step photos of this method from Clover & Violet / alternative transferring method for stitching on felt from little dear tracks)

Start stitching: a basic backstitch is a great place to start, particularly when stitching words. for a fabulous how-to, check out running and back stitches, part of the wild olive embroidery basics series.

Finishing: after your stitching is complete, you'll want to iron your work (using iron on reverse side so as to not flatten your stitches) and remove any pattern transfer markings.

Another fun idea (and a great way to get the little ones involved) is to stitch around the outlines of the print on a favorite fabric. Stitch a lot or a little and then make something out of your embellished fabric. You could make a pillow or a christmas tree ornament, or even use the fabric as a quilt block or in a patchwork skirt.

My links:
imagine gnats: my favorite embroidery links
embroidery-to-go bag, free pattern from Pellon
how-to: turn drawings into embroidery, imagine gnats for Fiskateers

Thanks for reading, and happy stitching!!

xo, rachael

Thank you so much Rachael! For more about Rachael and her fabulous projects, you can visit her at her blog, facebook, twitter and pinterest! Rachael also deisgns her own embroidery patterns and you can buy her embroidery kits here.

I hope you enjoyed my Back to {Sewing} Basics series, and I'm really looking forward to getting back to sharing some more personal posts, recipes and sewing projects with you! I am currently nominated for the Circle of Moms Top 25 Aussie blogs competition, and I'd love your vote - it will only take a second and you can vote HERE. Thanks for all your support!

Quilting for Beginners

One of the reasons many people start sewing is because they would like to make a quilt. I am quite keen to make one now too, but I'm not overly sure about the process. Luckily my lovely friend Jenny from Mend and Make New is guest posting today for my Back to Sewing Basics series, and her fabulous post is all about how to make a quilt! I will be studying this post very closely! Jenny is a very talented seamstress and makes beautiful clothes and other gorgeous things for her children Noah and Isabelle. Make sure you pop over and visit her at Mend and Make New for lots of sewing inspiration!

 It seems that many beginner sewers aspire to sew a quilt. A lovely, well made quilt has an heirloom quality to it – something to be treasured and past down. Yet despite these aspirations, it seems many sewers (both beginner and even those with more experience and skill) are daunted by the prospect.

I’m here to tell you that you need not be daunted by quilting. If you can sew a straight line (or are willing to learn how to) and can follow simple step-by-step instructions – you can do it!

The quilt I made for my daughter Isabelle (pictured above) is one of the first things I sewed when I got back into sewing as an adult; and it is one of my favourite and most professional looking projects that I’ve completed to date.

If you’re still daunted by the prospect here are a couple of other things you can do:

1) Start small – this is the beauty of quilting – your project can be as little or as big as you want it to be. If even a cot quilt seems to big, perhaps start with a dolls quilt, patchwork cushion cover or something similar. This will help get your confidence up.

2) Start with a simple design – straight lines and squares (more on this soon.)

Hopefully by now you have the confidence to plunge into your first quilting project, here’s what you need to know in order to get started:

The basics:

a) Materials required

I will explain the use of some of these further, later in this post.
The one thing that I left off accidently is my quilting pencil – a very helpful tool that I use to draw my quilting lines on during the ‘quilting stage.’ This pencil’s markings wash off.
And of course you need batting and bias binding too.

b) Quilting demystified – jargon and the stages.

A standard/traditional quilt is essentially made up of three components:

1) The ‘quilt top’ - The design on the top made up of lots of quilt blocks in rows and often surrounded by a border.

2) The ‘batting’ – The wadding the middle that gives the quilt it’s substance. You’re local sewing/ quilting shop should stock various different types of batting. The more expensive ones will most likely be made of natural fibres – cotton, wool, or bamboo, whereas the polyester or poly-cotton blends should be cheaper. They also vary in thicknesses.

3) The ‘backing fabric’ – This is essentially the bottom of the sandwich (with the quilt top being the other piece of bread and the batting being the filling). It is worth checking the width of your selected fabric (compared to the width of your quilt) before buying it, to see if you will need to join two pieces together. For most larger quilts you will need to do this, but for smaller ones this may be able to be avoided.

In my view there are essentially four stages to making a quilt:

1) Preparation - selecting a design and fabric, washing fabric.

2) Making the quilt top – cutting and ‘piecing’ (sewing) together the blocks.

3) Quilting – sandwiching the batting in the middle of the quilt top and backing fabric and sewing them together. (You can choose to do this yourself or get it professionally done.)

4) Binding – sewing the binding on to make the edges all finished and nice and neat.
Then you’re done!

We’ll explore these four stages a little more here, and I’ll share with you a few helpful tips and time-saving techniques (and refer to other helpful links where necessary.)

1) Preparation

Get a quilt design you like. You can either find these online (ask Mr google or Pinterest.) Or design your own. Either way as a beginner quilter you probably want to be going for something simple with mainly squares and rectangles. In my opinion simple is often better and more effective anyway.
All of my quilts so far have been my own designs. This is not at all hard to do – but I would recommend that you draw a plan.

In the world of quilting everything is pretty much done using inches, and most quilt blocks are built on a (finished) 6 inch square.

I use 1/4 inch seam allowances, so if I want a finished 6 inch square I will cut it 6 1/2 inches square (to allow for the 2 x 1/4 inch seam allowances on each side.)In the case of the quilt my Mum and I made for my sister (above), this is what we did for the larger blue and floral squares, while the smaller rectangles we cut 3 1/2 inch by 6 1/2 inch to give a finished 3 by 6 inch rectangle.
I generally don’t worry about getting the exact size of the finished quilt sorted until later; as I will add borders later to get the size I want.

Once you’ve finalised your quilt design, you need to select your fabric. Most fabric stores will have a selection of pre-packaged co-coordinating fabrics for quilters. Or you can choose to pick the fabrics yourself (usually my favoured option.)

When selecting your own fabric, one helpful tip I’ve found is that on the selvedge of the fabric you often find something like this above, which shows the colour tones used in the fabric. Once you have selected your feature fabric you can take this into the fabric shop and match coordinating with it.
If you have one or two pretty busy fabrics, then perhaps consider getting something with a simpler design (plain or with subtle spots or stripes.)And don’t be afraid of white space – it can be very effective in quilts. 100% cotton of similar thicknesses is best.

Once you have purchased your fabric wash it on a cold gentle wash (wash bright and light colours separately.) I recommend washing it in a pillowcase to limit fraying of edges.) Washing your fabric before hand ensures that it doesn’t shrink and pull unevenly on your finished product.
Once your fabric is washed and dried, iron it ready to be cut.

2) Making the quilt top
This is the most time consuming stage of your project and often the cutting process can feel the most tedious. Cutting accurately very is important so that all your corners match up crisply. This is why we use a rotary/ roller cutter.

I fold up my fabric so can cut through a few layers at one and then line up a corner of this fabric with the markings on your self healing mat, to give a right angle. (You may need to neaten the raw edge of the fabric first, if it is not already cut in a straight line.)

Then you line up your quilting ruler to give the size you need to cut. In the example given here, (a vintage picnic blanket) I want to cut a width of 3 1/2 inches. (As you can see the corner of my fabric is at ‘1’ on my mat not ‘0’ so I’ve cut at the 4 1/2 inch mark.)Before you cut check that the ruler is lined up properly both at the top and bottom.

As you can see now I’m left with some long strips of 3 1/2 inch wide fabric. I need 3 1/2 inch squares, so normally I would just go along the line and cut at 3 1/2 inch intervals – but I’m going to show you a time saving technique that you may be able to use.

Instead I’ve cut an identical 3 1/2 inch long strip in a contrasting piece of fabric. Then I sewed them together with right sides facing (using a 1/4 inch seam allowance) and pressed the seams open*.
Then I cut this at 3 1/2 inch all along the strip(thus saving time!)

NB: This time saving technique will only be useful for you however, if you have a repeating pattern where the two fabrics are next to each other throughout your design

I found it extremely useful when making Isabelle’s quilt (top photo). I was able to flip one of the pieces round (as also demonstrated below) to give the diagonal design.

You basically keep making your blocks and join them together with other blocks until you have a full row. Then make another, join the two rows together and you so on and so forth … and you will see your quilt grow before your eyes!

I have already stressed the importance of accurate cutting. Other things that will help your corners line up and your quilt to look professional are ironing and pinning. *As I said above, I press my seams open, although I understand that a lot of other quilters press there seams towards the darker coloured fabric. Do what you suits you best. Regarding pinning – I pay special attention to meeting up vital corners and junctions and make sure that I pin at these points.

Once you have finished all your rows, add any borders that you require to give the desired size (I usually google or measure old quilts/duvets to get the size I want.) And la voila you have finished your quilt top!

3) Quilting

Before you can begin quilting you first need to ‘sandwich’ your batting in between your quilt top and backing fabric. I find it easiest to do this on a large clean bit of floor. (It also pays to remove curious babies and pets at this point!)

First lay down your pre-washed and pressed backing fabric with the wrong side up on the floor (remember you may have had to join a couple of pieces together to get the right size.) Ensure that this is very smooth. Then place your batting on top, followed by your quilt top, right side up. smooth all layers out. The backing fabric and and batting should be bigger than the quilt top. You can trim around the edges later.

Once you have it how you like it start pinning through all layers of the quilt with safety pins. These serve to hold all layers of the quilt together until it is quilted. As this is a very important job I say the more pins the merrier!

Once you have all your pins in you can now trim the batting and backing fabric down to size. in line with the quilt top.

Then draw your quilting design with a quilting pencil and ruler. I personally love to quilt on the diagonal through squares and find it easy to keep this straight.

My Mother-in-law tells you shouldn’t have more than a hand’s gap between any two lines of quilting so that your quilt holds together really well. She also tells me it is good to quilt a large bit in the centre to really ‘anchor’ your quilt to start with. Obviously remove your safety pins as you go.

Use a long stitch and take it slow to avoid puckering (and unpick if necessary!) If your making a large quilt it can be tricky at times dealing with so much fabric, but persevere, it’s worth it!

Some people choose to get their quilts professionally quilted, obviously there is a cost to this but the results are amazing and can save you a bit of work (and possibly stress) – so this always is another option.

If you want to avoid the cost of batting, you can always cheat as I did on my son’s quilt (above). I used a woollen blanket from the op-shop which served as both batting and backing.

4) Binding

Hold on, you’re on the home stretch!
Some people choose to make their own bias binding – and if you wish to do so there is a really good tutorial here.

I personally am a bit lazy and prefer to buy nice wide binding from my local fabric store.

There are few different options when it comes to sewing on your binding.

I personally like to follow this but finish the back by hand sewing using a blind stitch.

I would also recommend this tutorial if want to use rounded corners instead.

Once your binding is complete, congratulations! You have just created a quilt, a work of art, a family heirloom! Well done!

(And well done making it all the way through this post! There is so much to talk about when it comes to quilting!)

Thanks for having me Ros!
Jenny x

Thanks so much Jenny! You can find out more about Jenny and her beautiful sewing projects on her blog, on Facebook, Pinterest and Flickr.