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A Cute Little Mug Rug Tutorial



 Hello there again!

 

Today, I wanted to share with you something very special - a quilted little mug rug. Big enough for your coffee and cookies.

 

 

 

But before you read this, please be aware: I have recently caught a very dangerous bug, and if you are not already infected, I urge you ... do not to read on. :)  The bug is called quilting and as I said, it is very contagious and once you got it, its almost impossible to get rid off.

So, consider yourself warned.

 

If you want to see for yourself, this is a perfect little project you can try quilting.

 

You need:

• Coordinating scraps of quilting cotton (I used Riley Blake Daisy Cottage White Furniture, White Dots, Yellow Stripes and Sunny Happy Skies Pink Lace)
• 1 8x10 inch piece for the back,
• 1 1/2 strip from a Moda Snow jelly roll or a 2.5" x WOF strip of coordinating solid cotton
• 8x10" piece of cotton batting
• Rotary cutter & Mat
• Sewing Machine
• Coordinating Thread
• 4 safety pins
• General sewing supplies

 

I fuzzy cut around a silluette portait (6.5cm x 9cm) that I really love and put the pink lace (each 9cm x 4.5cm) as a border around it by aligning two strips on the two long sides, wrong sides together and stiched it with 1/4" seam allowance. Then I ironed the seams open and put the top and bottom with pink lace strips (each 13cm x 4.5cm) on the same way as to create a frame. Iron open the seams.

 

I added cream coloured strips on each side measuring each 16.5cm long (or high) and one yellow 2.5" strip from Daisy Cottage collection followed by another cream coloured strip. Press seams open and sqaure up on the top and bottom. Add small 10" x 1" on the top and bottom. Press open seams again and square up your mini quilt top.

Now you can layer your quilt top on your cotton batting and put the coordinating cotton piece on the bottom. Smooth it out out and make sure there are no wrinkles in the top or bottom. Baste your quilt top with safety pins or spray.

 Now my favourite part, quilt your mug rug. I dont have a working walking foot right now, but after doing some tension adjustments, this one worked really well. I aligned my foot always on the last seam and worked my way from the middle to the outside.

I ironed a jelly roll strip with the long sides aligned for the binding the way Elizabeth Hartman shows here on her blog.

 

We are finished. You did it and now ...

 

Want to take part in our mug rug swap? Click here to read the rules and sign up. Have fun!!!

 

 

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Heart Pillow Project Israel Started

First of all, my apologies. I owe you the second part of the girl's bedroom make over and I wanted to update you on my quilt experiment. I promise I will try to get those out to you before the Chagim / High Holidays. But all of that got put on the back burner for two very important and urgent reasons:

1) Hofesh HaGadol - Summer Holiday for the kids and my two baby girls stayed home the past few weeks while my husband studied Hebrew in an intensive course. So, I had no time.

2) The Heart Pillow Project which we started a few weeks ago. And I wanted to update you on our great progress.

The Heart Pillow Project is a worldwide project that originated in the United States and helps breast cancer patients to recover from surgery. It helps to promote healing, lets the wound drain faster and it relieves pain but it also gives the woman a tremendous emotional support. A hand-made gift sends love and thoughts of hope and support. It is something soft to hold onto.

My mom has made about 750 heart pillows over the last three years for the German organization - you can read her blog (in German) here: http://herzkissenaktion-im-harz.blogspot.co.il/. So, when she was just visiting me in Israel, she agreed to demonstrate how to make and stuff them. She received a very generous donation of 80 pillow cases to get us started from two local heart pillow groups from Kiel (http://herzkissenaktionkiel.blogspot.co.il/) and Weserbergland (http://herzkissen-weserbergland.blogspot.co.il/). Thank you so much! It was so much appreciated.

 So my mom and I organized a get together to sew pillow cases and stuff the ones we got from Germany. We bought 50 IRMA pillows from IKEA and were so happy to host 9 women from 8 different nations who came together on August 24th and stuff the pillows. Within 3 hours we had 60 pillows finished.

What are we going to do with 60 pillows? We are going to hand them out  to hospitals to give to patients after their surgery. Recipients of the Breast Cancer Emergency Relief Fund (The Lemonade Fund - http://www.facebook.com/IBCERF) will also recive a pillow from us. And we are working with many more organizations to see how we can get the pillows to the women who need them.

Please support us by liking our Facebook Page http://www.facebook.com/#!/HeartPillowProjectIsrael, by coming to our next event (will be posted on the Facebook page) or donating fabric or filling material.

Girls Bedroom Make-over - Part 1: Curtains & Pillow Case

I wanted to make-over my daughter's room to show what large impact a little fabric can have in one room.

I was hoping to be finished in one week, but due to several trips to the pediatrician and the moked, I made very little progress. So we will make a two-part series. This week I made curtains and a snugly pillow case.
CAN YOU TELL SHE LOVES PINK? :)

You will need for the decorative curtains:

• Riley Blake Solids - Pale Pink: 1.10cm x WOF for a standard size Israeli Window, but please measure again before ordering / cutting your fabric.
• Riley Blake Woodland Tails Pink Friends: 25cm x width of fabric
• Coordinating Thread

Cost for both curtain panels: 64NIS
Tip: If you want to make wider curtains you should allow for at least 10% more than half of your window to calculate the width of your curtain. Always consider at least 1.5cm extra for seam allowance on each seam.

(Instructions are for the narrow, fabric saving version; please adjust accordingly if you make the wider version)

Cut a 1,10m piece of solid fabric parallel to the selvage in two equal halves. Cut a 25cm piece of print fabric in half by aligning the short selvage ends. Trim selvages. Iron all four pieces.

Align right on right the short end of the solid piece with the long end of the print piece and pin. Stitch along the raw edge with a 1/4" seam allowance, the finish the raw edge with zigzag and trim all threads. Iron the seam towards the print piece and top stitch.

Fold on the bottom of the print fabric 1/4" over and iron. Repeat to create a clean finished seam. Pin and stitch. I used a wide zig zag stitch to create a fun seam, but you can also use a straight stitch.

Seam the sides and the top using the same technique.

Fold over 7 cm on the top of the curtain panel. Iron, pin and stitch to secure the loop for your curtain rod. You can also use simple curtain clips. I bought mine at IKEA. It makes it easier for me to take down the curtain and wash it.
You might want to iron it before you hang it up.




You need for the pillow:

• 55cm x 65cm Riley Blake Flannel - I used Woodland Tails Pink Dots (We are going to have soon a variety of flannels, please be patient :))
• 55cm x 85cm Riley Blake Woodland Tails Pink Friends - I used my left over fabric and made a bid and a wash cloth. :)

This size will fit a standard 50cmx60cm IKEA pillow. BTW, the first time my daughter slept on her new pillow she got food poisoning and threw up all over it. I washed it at 60 degrees and it came out fine. Usually I wash my Riley Blake cottons at 30 degrees.
Cut out your pieces and iron them. If you can arrange to cut your Pink Friends fabric from the printed selvage, you could leave that on and use that as the seam for the inside piece.
The flannel will be the back of the pillow and makes a nice snugly winter side and the cotton is a cool summer side.
Seam one short side of the flannel and one short side of the cotton (if you are not using the selvage trick) using the technique from above.
Align your fabric pieces right on right matching the short ends on the right side. Your seams and / or printed selvage should be on the left side.

Fold the longer end of the cotton left on left so that you can see the right side of the fabric. Now you have an inside out pillow case. Back-stitch and the sew around the three sides that are not seamed. Clip to two corners and zig zag around it to finish the raw edge.
Turn inside out and enjoy your pillow case!

Tutorial Small Kindergarten / Gan Back Pack

I have a 14 month old baby girl who just started in the amazing Gan where her older sister has been going for the last 2 years. My husband walks into my sewing room and says so by-the-by: "You need to make a Gan bag!" Aehm, I have major sewing ADHD! You cannot just walk in here, while I have about 68 other projects planned in the next 2 months and tell me to make a Gan bag...

Okay, you can and here we go. After a quick search on Pinterest, I decide I don't like any backpacks there. I start throwing some ideas around, but its no fun by myself so I consult with my mom quickly and we decide to start with an oval bottom and go from there.

You need:

• About 0.5 meter of quilting weight cotton (I made two from 1 meter) - I used Riley Blake Sunny Happy Skies Yellow Main which goes on the outside
• About 0.5 meter Home-Decor weight Fabric (I got dark pink Minna from IKEA) which goes on the inside. Its not really a lining, but gives it stability. 
• Coordinating Thread
• Thick double-side interfacing
• One-sided thin interfacing
• Small, long scrap of batting
• Some twill tape or ribbon, small elastic band
• Free Pattern
• Sewing machine & Standard Sewing Supplies

General Guidelines:

•  If you are using a directional print always make sure your fabric is facing the right direction.
• 1/4" Seam Allowance unless otherwise indicated.
• Pin before sewing. I use flower head needles and pin not along the seam but in a 90 degree angle to it. Remove pins as you go.
• Always check your stitches on the top and bottom. If its bad, change the needle and / or adjust thread tension according to your sewing machine's manual.
• Iron before you sew. It makes a better quality product for sure.
• Always back-stitch at the beginning and end of your stitch to secure your thread.

1) Cut out all pieces according to the pattern.

You should end up with:

• 3 main body piece (1 main, 1 "lining", 1 thick interfacing)
• 3 oval bottom body piece (1 main, 1 "lining", 1 thick interfacing)
• 3 top cover piece (1 main, 1 "lining", 1 thin interfacing)
• 1 bottle pocket
• 1 front pocket
• 2 large strips for shoulder straps and 1 small one in main fabric and coordinating batting
• 1 long piece for casing on the top

2) Iron your pieces.

• Iron the fabric of the boby part on the thick interfacing with high heat, and repeat with the oval bottom part.
• Iron the thin interfacing on the wrong side of the main fabric of the lid part.
• Iron the 3 straps in sort of a bias tape form so that the batting is completely covered and no raw edge is showing
• Fold and iron 0.5cm on each of the short ends towards to inside (to prepare a seam) of the casing piece and fold in half aligning the long sides. Iron.
• Iron the pockets so the fabric is without wrinkles.

3) Now that you have prepared all pieces, its time to start sewing. I started by doing all small parts first.

Front Pocket: With the fabric facing right on right, sew from one bottom corner up, across and down. Clip the corners and turn inside out. Iron. Turn the bottom raw edges inside to create a finished seam. Iron. Pin and sew it on the main body piece by aligning the middle of both pieces. I folded the main piece in half (aligning the short sides) and folded the pocket piece so it was easier to find the middle of both. The bottom seam of the pocket should be about 1inch away from the raw edge of the body piece. Sew on pocket.

  
Casing: Seam the casings short ends on both sides. Fold in half and sew on the main body piece on the top - all raw edges are facing up. We will later fold the casing up and put a twill tape or elastic inside.




Shoulder Straps and Handle: Place batting (I used thin natural cotton) inside and fold fabric over so no raw edge is showing. Quilt with about 0.5cm distance between each line starting on the fabric folded in the middle to secure it. Repeat for other strap and handle. Trim all threads and ends.  

Bottle Pocket: With fabric facing left on left (the fold of the fabric is still the top), sew across about 2 cm from the top. Take a 10cm thin elastic band and thread it with a safety pin through the casing you just made. Zig Zag stitch the elastic end on one side secure and serger with a tight stitch along the raw edge to finish it. Fold and iron about 0.5cm under the fabric to make a seam.

Now, the tricky part. Place the pocket on the main body piece on the desired side. The finished edge you just created should be about 2cm from the front pocket. The Pocket should "hang over" the raw bottom edge of the main body piece by about 2 cm (see picture).

Sew down the seam you just created to secure one side of the pocket. Then you pin in place the second side of the pocket. Its a good idea to put a bottle inside to make sure it will fit later. Adjust the elastic band to the right tightness and sew down to secure the second side.  While the bottle is inside take the middle point of the raw edge of the pocket and align with the raw edge of the main body piece. Pin in place. Then fold the rest of the pocket piece as shown to create space for the bottle later to stand. Sew across to bottom to secure to pocket. Trim excess fabric and threads.

Top Flap: Place the right side of the main fabric on the right side of the "lining" fabric. Sew around from Point A to B as shown in the pattern. Use pinking shears to trim off some bulk. Turn inside out, iron and top stitch along the line. Stitch across to other end and serger the raw edge.

4) Assembly of the back pack

Yeah, almost done! Place the bottom piece right on right on the middle of the main body piece aligning the raw edges. Pin in 90 degree angle about a quarter of the bottom (from the half point of the straight line to the half point of the oval). Back stitch and then sew along slowly to about the half point - finish with a back stitch.

When you get to the back part of the back pack just after the curve, dont forget to slip in your quilted straps and secure them tightly. You can even back stitch over the length of the straps to make it more secure.

Check your seam bottom and top and correct if you need to. If everything is good, start pinning from where you just finished to the mid point again. Stop about 1 cm to the end of the main body piece (the back of the back pack that you will sew together later).

Repeat the same for the other side. Be sure to go slow, pin correctly and check your seams. Turn inside out to check the seams there.



Now that you have finished the bottom, align the raw edges of the main body piece, pin and stitch all the way down. Go around the oval and the seam you just created with tight zig zag to finish it as nice as you can since this bag does not have a lining.

5) Attach straps, handle and flap:

Place the straps and the handle on the top edge where the casing meets the main body piece (the handle is pinned here wrong, please place it like the straps). Place the flap right on right on top of the straps and handle aligning with the edge of the casing (lining fabric is facing up, the backpack is basically opened). Sew across. Fold the flap over so you see the back of the backpack and the top of the flap. Top stitch over the flap to conceal the ends of the straps and handle. Sew Velcro of the bottom of the flap and on the front of the back pack over the front pocket with a X-stitch.

You are finished!!!

Please use this tutorial only for private use, if you want to sell products made from this pattern, you will have to buy a limited license. You can email me at info@sewadorable.co.il.

Now, I would love to hear your feedback and drop me a line when you made one.

All the best, Hannah from Sew Adorable

Wrap-Up Israel Quilt Association Conference

We just came back from 3 long days exhibiting at the Israel Quilt Association's Annual Conference in Bait Vegan Jerusalem which took place July 2nd-4th. This conference marked not only the 20th anniversary of the IQA but also the opening of the Quilt Exhibition "Jerusalem - Many Faces".
You can see the details to where to visit the amazing quilts here. And Sew Adorable got to sponsor the second prize - a 800NIS shopping spree at our shop.

The conference had much to offer to members and non-members alike. Members were able to participate in workshops and classes and non-members had access to the vendor area as well as the traditional crafts room. And we made our big debut there. It was so much fun and a great introduction for us to the Israeli quilting world. Thanks to everyone who stopped by, offered support, well wishes and congratulations!

We got great feedback from many quilters who loved our adorable, high quality fabrics, panels and the minky! Not one person could pass by without touching and admiring it. We sold out of it, but don't get scared we are getting more in soon.
Here are some pictures: We came with many bolts of cuteness but also a large variety of precuts: fat quarters, layer cakes, charm packs, honey buns, and jelly rolls.

What did you think of the convention? Let us know what you liked best.

Oh and for the month of July, if you sign up to be a member and you made a purchase at the convention, we will treat that purchase as if you already had membership. Just show us your receipt. This way you don't miss out on any club points. 

All the best,

Hannah from Sew Adorable

Blogs relating to this topic:

http://zahavaquilters.blogspot.co.il/2012/07/new-fabric.html#links