sewing

Mediterranean Quilt

May 5, 2013 by Wendy Cohen 9 Comments

It is always fun to make a quilt for me…I love the process. It is is even better when you are inspired by someone else…someone who selects some of their favorite fabrics and wants you to make them a quilt. One of my best (and favorite…shhhh don’t tell anyone) friends from college asked me to make her a quilt. She has always loved bright fabrics and mediterranean style. She picked out some great fabrics. I had fun with all the fabrics … front and back of the quilt. I start out by sewing large strips together…

I then flipped some of the strips and added some accent borders. I also decided to add a special monogram to the front of the quilt. I like how it turned out.

Here’s the front of the quilt…nice and bright!

You can see the front of the quilt and the back of the quilt here together. The back had more of a blue mediterranean feel.

Here’s the entire back of the quilt. This is a solid fabric panel…a cheater fabric they call it. Looks great as a back.

I used some new variegated Aurifil thread that I just purchased. It is a special Tula Pink thread collection. You can find it here.

I used an orange / yellow variegated thread to quilt the top which worked great; the one in the top right of the photo.

Here’s the final product…it’s already well on it’s way to it’s new owner…hope she loves it!

Stay tuned later this week for some more quilts and a few cookie recipes!

Have a great week!

Filed Under: applique, color, create, quilt, sewing Tagged With: aurifil, colorful quilt, mediterranean, mediterranean quilt, monogram quilt, monogrammed quilt, quilt, tula pink, tula pink aurifil

9 Comments

Spring Table Runner

April 8, 2013 by Wendy Cohen 12 Comments

This super cute spring table runner has been in the works for the past month. I finally finished it up last week and it is ready to show off. I do not claim this super cute pattern all myself. You can find this super cute pattern at Shabby Fabrics. They get all the credit for this cute table runner.

I happened to purchase it as a kit at the Road to CA quilt show in Ontario. It was the first kit that I ever purchased from them. I have to say that it was so well put together and organized; every single fabric labeled and nicely organized. Fantastic!

I worked at first on the applique sections at each end of the table runner. I used the machine applique method that is demonstrated in the tutorial here.

I took the photo here so that you could see the front of one of the panels and the back of the other panel. I use blanket stitch and matching thread as much as possible.

Here’s the machine piecing in progress for the small squares that make up the bulk of the table runner. Yes, I pin every single square on each side of the each and every seam. I think it makes for a better end product.

I have now assembled the entire table runner and am just starting to sew on the ric rac across the top of the applique piece.

TIP: Do not pull the ric rac too tight when sewing it on…it will pucker the other fabric around it.

Here are the finished photos of the table runner. I did simple line quilting on the squares and then did some meandering quilting around the applique pieces.

A super cute backing fabric and binding.

Here’s the entire quilt! Super cute and very spring!

This quilted table runner can be yours (if you don’t want to make it yourself)…it is available on my etsy site right now!!! Here’s the link.

Happy Spring! Hope it is starting to warm up in your part of the world. Today, we are getting one last blast of winter here in California.

Filed Under: applique, create, etsy, flowers, garden, Gifts, home decor, quilt, sewing, Tutorial Tagged With: applique tutorial, flower table runner, machine applique tutorial, quilted table runner, shabby fabrics, shabby fabrics table runner, spring table runner, summer table runner, table runner

12 Comments

Customize Your Kitchen Towels!

March 31, 2013 by Wendy Cohen 2 Comments

Have you ever wanted to use some of your adorable quilt fabric in your kitchen, but didn’t know how? Maybe not! But, if you do, I have a simple and cute way to use it!

First, track down some nice and absorbent kitchen towels that are cost effective. I usually grab this four pack of towels at Target for $3.99.

I then take two strips of fabric (3″, 4″ or 5″) that are about 1.5″ longer than the width of the kitchen towel. The strips of fabric can be as wide or shallow as you would like. I then sew the strips together and press the seam.

Then, you fold each edge in and press in place. You will want to measure up the fabric strip to your towel at this time to make sure that the fabric is just slightly smaller than the towel.

Then, fold in and press the rest of the fabric so that it looks like this. You will have each edge folder over and pressed in so that you have no raw edges. The edges are usually pressed in about 1/2″ to 3/4″.

Place the fabric section onto your kitchen towel and place exactly where you would like. Start at one corner and using the blanket stitch sew around the entire section of fabric.

I do not pin anything usually. Be careful as the dish towel is a bit stretchy so just make sure you keep everything aligned as you sew. Of course, you could pin it.