Monday, January 31, 2011

Fabric Storage Bin for Baby Gift

I’ve learned so much by reading others' online tutorials I thought it was time to try my hand at one.  This is my first attempt at a tutorial so… please be kind!  




You will need:
2 fat quarters of your choice, one for the outside and one for the lining
1 “fat quarter” of batting
2  strips of heavy-weight Pellon, 2"x20" (opt)*

Trim the FQs to 16"x20"  (do not discard strips cut off the FQs; these will be used for the handles.)
Trim batting to 16”x19.5”
Center batting on outer fabric and smooth.



Fold one 16" side toward the other 16" side, right sides together and pin (optional) on the shorter sides, which now measure 10" each.



Stitch ¼” inch seams; repeat with lining fabric.

 

Mark a 2.5 inch square on each corner of the fold, and cut out; repeat on lining.



 

* I used a 2-inch strip of heavy-weight Pellon on the top edge of the lining fabric to give me a firm, sharp lining edge.  This is optional but I’ve made these bins w/o the Pellon and I don’t like the lining edge quite as well.


Now comes the difficult-to-explain-in-words part.  Open the cut-out square and bring edges together; pin.  Repeat on other end of outer fabric w/ batting.  Repeat with lining.



  

Bottoms together, match the openings of the outer fabric/batting to the lining and pin together.



Sew the outer fabric/batting to the lining to close the cut opening; repeat with other opening.  (“Why?” you ask? Because this will attach the lining to the outer fabric and the lining won’t be all loose and bunchy on the inside.)


 Turn the outer fabric/batting to the outside and your lining will be in the inside.


Fold the lining fabric over ¼” and pin.  Fold the outer fabric over the batting and pin.  Pin lining to outer fabric/batting.  I like to pin the lining just a tad below the edge of the outer fabric/batting… I think it gives a more finished edge but again… completely up to you.


Using the left over strips, make two “handles.”  I used a strip of batting to give a little body to the handles but make the handles however you choose.  Mine were about 10” long and 1.5” wide with the two fabrics.






Pin the handles to the ends of the bin between the outer fabric/batting and the lining.  I pinned the ends about a thumb’s width on each side of the end seam.



Once you have everything squared away, sew the lining to the outer fabric/batting.   



Press the top edge to give give the bin a clean professional look.  The finished bin is approximately 9” long x 6” wide x 7” high without the handles.



I like to fill the bin with diapers, a traveling case of baby wipes, and a tube of Boudreaux's Butt Paste. (I include the half-package of diapers that don't fit in the gift bag.)  You could fill it with whatever you'd like, of course.  The bin is machine washable and dry-able and you can make the bin w/o handles and any size you'd like for other purposes.  

You could piece fabric strips to make fat quarter-sized fabric, add rickrack or other trim, embroider initials or a name on the outside...  you're only limited by your imagination!




Sunday, January 30, 2011

Reuse/repurpose

When I started quilting, House Dragon helped by telling me all about she organizes her quilting things and I certainly used some of those ideas.  However, HD has special boxes for projects and I wasn’t sure I wanted a bunch o’ boxes, especially since the computer/sewing room is so small and already has too much in it!

My LQS, Linderella’s Quilt Works, uses beautiful translucent shopping bags and I didn’t want to throw them away. So, I started using them to store fabrics together as well as completed blocks.

…and decided to hang them up rather than stack them, since the bags tended to slide off each other.


It’s so easy to move the fabric bags on the rod and find what I’m looking for… and I like not spending money on storage.  I’d rather spend it on more fabric!



Saturday, January 29, 2011

Saturday Fun

Emma and Chloe are coming over to spend the afternoon with me while the big kids do some shopping and have an early dinner out.... so, with errands to run this morning, there'll be very little sewing going on around here today.


Wanted to share there are a couple of cool give-aways you might like to enter:

The Quilty Home site is giving away a charm pack of HOOPLA!



SewCalGal is offering two chances: 1) a AccuQuilt Go! or 2) an AccuQuilt Go! die of your choice!




Hope you have a wonderful Saturday...

Friday, January 28, 2011

Dumb-de-dum-dum

The 4-patch blocks went together well but, even tho I was careful about a ¼” seam, some squares appeared to be cut smaller… very weird.   A good thing I had planned on extra ones.  (The odd sized 4 patch blocks will be put to another use… I’m thinking: mug rugs!)


I don’t know why I didn’t think to cut a 4.5” strip of fabric to make the larger squares when I had the pinks unfolded to cut the 2.5” strips…  dumb-de-dum-dum.....  *rolling eyes*

Anyhoo…  made it through the cutting process again and started sewing the double 4-patch blocks together.  Of course, when I’d finished… I just had to lay them out on the living room floor!



After admiring the layout for a while, I started sewing the blocks together into rows..



Somehow, that’s not as much fun as making the 4-patches…



Thursday, January 27, 2011

A New Appreciation of Precuts

I never truly appreciated jelly roll strips until I started cutting 2.5” strips from all the pink fabrics…  unfold, line up edge, even off if necessary, measure, cut strip, fold back up, repeat…. over and over and over and over and so on.  The strips of the tone-on-tone white wasn’t nearly as difficult since it involved: unfold, line up, cut, cut, cut, cut, cut, cut, and refold.

Then came the sewing of the strips…


Then the slice and dice…



Everything ready for the 4-patch blocks!  Tomorrow is another day....



Wednesday, January 26, 2011

The Next Quilt

After completing the baby quilt, it was odd not to have a quilt project in the planning stages.  I had been thinking about and planning for the Grandbaby Quilt Project for over a year and now... nothing in the works.  So, what do I do?  Why yes!  I went surfing!  I enjoy Google-ing "quilts" or "blue quilts" or "vintage quilts" and seeing what images come up.  A great way to spend a few minutes while waiting for a meeting to start or a class change.
 
Then, one day in mid-December, I came across the blog for Fat Cat Quilts and this lovely king-size quilt:


and was intrigued by the flower border...
Shopped my stash and scrap bins and found I had insufficient pinks to make this so...  YES!  I had to buy more fabric!   *lol*

I did the math for the quilt while I waited for the pink fabrics to arrive...





Even started to work out the pieced flower border...




Then the fabrics showed up on my doorstep...



Even though I ordered the pinks online, I wasn't disappointed in a single print or color.... and I loved the fabric therapy that ensued!

Calculations made, fabric on hand...  ready to go!