A Honey of a Hive 6.5” Block {a tutorial}

Materials:

• six 1” background squares
• two 1”x2.5” background rectangles
• two 1.5”x2.5” background rectangles
• twenty-six 1.5” yellow squares for hive
• one 1.5”x2” doorway rectangle
• two .75’'x.75’' yellow squares
• two 1”x2” yellow rectangles
• one 1”x2.5” yellow rectangle
• as many applique bees as you want!

***I nearly always press my seams open.  It’s up to you how you want to press yours.

Making the door:

Draw diagonal lines across the back of the .75”x.75” yellow squares.  Sew to the upper corners of the 1.5”x2” doorway rectangle and trim.

Sew the yellow 1”x2” rectangles onto the sides of the doorway piece.

Sew the top 1”x2.5” yellow rectangle to the top of the doorway.

The doorway is done!

Draw diagonal lines on the back of each 1.5” background square.

Sew each background square to six total yellow 1.5” squares.  Trim the seam allowance and press.

Okay, now we’re ready to make the bottom tier of the beehive! 

Sew together the four squares on each side of the doorway.

Sew the three pieces together to make the bottom tier.

Now onto the middle tier.  Sew together the two rows of yellow squares.

Then sew on each 1”x2.5” background rectangle.  And the second level is done!

Sew together the top tier of the beehive.

When sewing the sections together, I recommend pinning and using a basting stitch first before using a smaller stitch.  If you need to make adjustments to how the angles line up, you can easily pick out the basting stitches and try again.  If everything is lined up correctly after basting, just stitch back over the basting stitch with a smaller, permanent stitch.

Now the fun part…applique on some bees!  I used Steam a Seam and hand-stitched on some antennae and “buzz trails” with black embroidery floss.

Any questions?  Feel free to email me or leave a comment. 

Scrapbuster Modern Cross Pillow {a tutorial}

I’ve been quite focused on using scraps and making pillows the past few months (just look at how many of my blog posts have been about pillows!).  I thought I’d share how I made the most recent pillows, which fit 18” pillow forms.

Supplies:

• 45- 2.5” squares (rainbow, monochromatic, whatever you like!)
• 4- 6.5” square solid squares (I used Kona silver)
• 1 piece of muslin bigger than 18.5” square
• 1 piece of batting bigger than 18.5” square
• 2 backing panels measuring 12.5” x 18.5” if you want to do an envelope closure backing
• 18” pillow form

Directions:

Decide what kind of color scheme you want to use, then lay out five 3 x 3 grids of 2.5” squares for each of the sections of the cross.

Sew the squares together in rows.  You can nest your seams (alternate the direction you press them for each row) or press open.

Sew the rows together.  Press to one side or open.

Now lay out your pillow top.  Sew the sections together the same way.

Here are my two pillow tops waiting to be quilted.

That’s all there is to making the pillow top!  Quilt as desired.

Flowers and teardrops for the rainbow pillow.

Ripple stipple for the purple pillow.

Create an envelope back for the pillow with the two 12.5” x 18.5” backing panels or use an alternate method for making the back.

Bind or serge to finish.

I think this block would be awesome for a bee!  I might even have to make my own rainbow quilt. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Fall Fabric Flower Wreath {a tutorial}

During a trip to Ocean City, Maryland this summer, I saw a beautiful burlap seashell wreath at one of the shops on the boardwalk and figured I could save at least half of the $44 pricetag if I made my own.  So I purchased a few seashells, starfish, and sand dollars, and when we got home I picked up a wire wreath form and some burlap at my local craft store.  And everything sat on the baker’s rack in the kitchen for months.  It’s well past seashell season, so I thought I could use some of the materials to make an appropriate fall-themed wreath instead.  Turns out I think I like this version even better than a seashell wreath!

Materials:

• 18-inch wire wreath frame
• 12” (1/3 yard) burlap fabric (you can also buy a spool of burlap ribbon if you prefer)
• black jute twine
• various fall hued cotton fabric scraps
• pinking shears
• 10 assorted buttons in assorted fall colors
• DMC floss in assorted fall colors
• spool of bow ribbon
• heavy duty starch
• pinking shears
• glue gun

1.  Cut burlap fabric using scissors or rotary cutter in six 2” strips.  Wrap the wire frame with burlap, beginning on the backside.  Glue the first go-around to itself to anchor the burlap securely in place, then continue wrapping, slightly overlapping so that none of the wire shows.  Glue the last go-around to the backside.  If the strip ends on the front, just trim a little bit off so you can glue it to the back.  Continue with the next strip of burlap.  Wrap the entire wire frame.  Trim off any little “threads” of burlap that are sticking out.

2.  Tie off the jute twine at the top of your wreath.  Then wrap in an “x” design around the entire frame.  When you get back to the top, make several loops and tie securely, so you have a hanging loop.  Hot glue this loop in place.

The wreath should look like this.

3.  Now for the fun part!  Grab your fabric scraps and pick out an assortment of fall hued fabrics.  I chose mostly yellow, orange, brown, and green, but mixed in a bit of cream and black because I want this wreath to work for both fall and Halloween.  The black jute twine and cream & black fabrics give the wreath a bit of a spooky/edgy feel. 

You will need a total of 40 fabric circles, so repeated fabrics are fine!  Start by starching the heck out of your scraps.  You don’t want the flowers to look limp or wrinkly. 

Find 4 different sized circular household items (I chose the ribbon spool, a spool of washi tape, the bottom of the starch can, and the lid of the starch can.) 

Trace each size 10 times on fabric (for a total of 40 circles).  You can use a magic marker or fabric marking pen.  Just write lightly so the ink doesn’t show through the fabric.

Cut out with pinking shears.

4.  Start making your flowers by layering 4 circles together.  Pick a button and sew together through all four layers of fabric with DMC floss.  Thread that contrasts with the button color adds more interest to the flower.

5.  Make a bow with your ribbon for the bottom of the wreath.  I just totally winged it, but there are plenty of tutorials online for making wreath bows.  Glue your bow to the bottom of your wreath, then arrange your flowers around the rest of the blank space.  When you are happy with the arrangement, glue the flowers to the burlap with a dime-sized glue dab in the center of the back of each flower. 

6.  Hang wreath on front door!

What a gorgeous way to brighten up your front door for fall!

This is scrap project #4 of 52.  Have a wonderful weekend!

Fabric-Covered Button Hair Ties {a tutorial}

Have you ever explored the world of fabric-covered button hair ties on Etsy?  I’ve spent lots of time admiring them and even bought several kinds for my daughters.  But I wondered, how could I make them myself?

Actually, it’s quite easy!  All you need to purchase is a button covering kit from Joann’s or your local sewing store and some hair elastics.

Picking the kit is the most intimidating part of the entire process, which one do you choose?  There are so many options!  I suggest going with either a 3/4” or 3/8” button covering kit for your first go-around.  They retail around $4 for the most basic kit that includes 3-5 buttons depending on the size you pick.  More elaborate kits come with shank backs and blank backs.  Just remember, you will need a kit that has shank backs, so check to make sure the kit says “shank backs” or has a picture of them and that it is NOT a refill kit.

So you’ve got your kit, your scissors, a marker, and scraps.  You’ll also need hair elastics.  I prefer the larger circumference thin elastics.  You can also use the thicker elastics, but that involves removing the wire from the shank back, which I’ve never had much success with.  The smaller or larger circumference thin elastics are easy to use.

The most recent kit I bought did not include a plastic template for cutting the fabric.  Instead, the pattern was on the cardboard back of the case.  Cut out this template.

The plastic template on the left is included in some button kits.  I recommend this over just the paper template.  I’ll show you why.

I tried to line up the semicircle over the center of the red turtle I want centered on the button.  After tracing, I flipped the template over and traced the other half of the circle.

And here’s what my circle looked like.  Not too bad, but the turtle isn’t exactly centered.

If you can find the kit with the plastic template, you can dead-center the turtle in the middle of the template easily.  Trace around the outer circle.

Here’s the difference.  The top circle was made with the paper template, the bottom circle was made with the plastic template.

Now the fun part, find the two parts to your button—the front and the back.

You can see here the front of the button fits snugly in the mold.

Insert your fabric right side down and press in the smooth side of the button top.  Fold in the excess fabric.  No gluing is needed.

Then press your back into the mold so the shank is on the outside.  Grab your pusher…

…and press hard.  It might help to do this on a flat surface so you can put some weight into it.

And voila! A fabric covered button will emerge when you push it back out of the mold.

Now the easy part!  Pick an elastic and thread it through the shank.

Pull one of the loops through the opposite loop.  It doesn’t matter which side you pick.  Pull tight.

And now you have a custom fabric-covered button hair tie!  You can make a pair if you wish.

Have fun looking through your fabric to see what other small prints you can use to make more.

Then make as many as you can for your daughter, granddaughter, next-door-neighbor’s daughter, person at work’s daughter, cousins, birthday party favors, etc.

When you decide you want to make even more, take a look on Etsy.  You can buy large volume refill kits for a fraction of the cost at a conventional store.

If you have any questions about the tutorial, just leave a comment or send me an email.