Anyone Can Quilt

My easy but slightly long and tedious pot holder tutorial

If you're anything like me, you love giving handmade gifts.  Well, at least to the people who love and appreciate them.  Many of us have stories of giving ill received handmade gifts.  But for now, let's pretend that every gift we lovingly make with our sweet little hands is treasured forever, and given it's own little bed and cozy blankets.  Moving on.

I love pretty pot holders; I also have a new obsession with english paper piecing (EPP).  I love hand stitching those little hexagons!  All of that hand stitching does take awhile though, and we're all pinched for time.  So, I decided to make some applique/EPP pot holders!  They are precious, if I do say so myself, which I just did.  Moving on again.

If you're an experienced quilter, you can look at my pot holder and easily make some of your own, but I'd like to add a little tutorial for beginners.  By little I mean the long and tedius kind that I liked when I was learning to sew.  If you're not comfortable tackling the EPP part, just skip it, and make some of these with cute fabrics and they'll be awesome!  

Here's what you'll need:

*Hexagon flower to applique

*9" square fabric for the top

*10" square cotton batting

*10" square insul-brite (this is great insulated batting, but if you don't have any just use another layer of cotton batting.

*10" square batting

*2 1/2 by wof strip of binding

First thing's first.  Go ahead and make some hexagon flowers like this one here.  I made flowers with these 1" hexagons (meaning that each side measures 1").  If you'd like to make some and don't know how, google 'english paper piecing tutorials', there are lots of good ones!  

 

Cut a 9" square out of your foundation fabric.  I used a nice rustic cotton fabric, I like the texture it has.  Then take out the papers from your hexagon flower, and pin your flower to your 9" square.  I folded over the foundation fabric and finger pressed (pinched!) the center of each side to mark the middle.  Then it's easier to place your flower in the center.

Once it's pinned on, go to your machine and stitch around the edges.  I just stitched close to the edge using my edge stitching foot.  I love my edge stitching foot, it's my friend.

When your flower is all stitched down, it's time to layer and quilt your precious pot holder.  You'll only be quiting the top and your cotton batting.  Pin the top to the batting and quilt away.  I chose to quilt this one with lines.  I had to stop and back stitch whenever I got to the hexagon, but it wasn't too much of a pain.  You can sew right over the hexagon if you're feeling frisky, I won't judge.

There, all quilted.  Now we get to layer the rest and get the binding on!  Layer your little pot holder sandwich with backing face down, then your layer of insul-brite, then the quilted top piece.  Pin the layers together to stabilize it, and start sewing the binding on.  I'll show you how I like to sew on my binding so I have a nice looking little hangy loop at the corner.  

 

Start sewing your binding on with a 1/4" seam allowance at what will be your top corner, with the edge of the binding over hanging the top edge a little.  We'll trim the over hang a little later.  This is different than how we start sewing the binding along an edge away from the corner in quilts.  It's just special for the hangy loop. 

Sew around like normal, but STOP a couple inches before the end!  This is where we'll take it out of the machine and fold over and pin the start of the binding.  Just go with it, it's all about the hangy loop.

Stop when you're a couple inches from the start... Grab your scissors and trim the bottom edge real quick, so it's flush with the seam allowance.

Fold over and pin.  Then keep sewing to the edge so that you sew over and back stitch right over the binding that you just folded over.  Now remove from your machine and take a trip to your iron.  You know you've missed each other and you want to spend quality time. 

Once the binding is sewn on, go ahead and trim with scissors the excess batting and backing.

You'll now press the long tail of your binding so it's all folded nicely, then you'll pin all of the binding to the back like a crazy person before you stitch it closed at the machine.  

 

 

Like a crazy person.  

Now flip it over and stitch in the ditch right to the inside of the binding.  Check it once you start sewing to make sure your stitches are catching the binding on the back.  

When you get to the end, where the excess tail starts, move your stitching over to the right a bit so that it is sewing on the binding, so your stitches will close it up.

 

Sew to the end.  Now measure about 4" down the tail from the pot holder and tie a knot.  Then trim the remainder off at an angle so that it looks real purty.  You can use some fray check on the raw edge if you want to feel cool.

The last step is to hand stitch your little hangy loop closed.  Just loop it around and stitch it closed behind the knot.  I like how the knot looks on the front.  It's cute.

And done!!

Now go make some pot holders for your non-apathetic about handmade gifts people!! x

 

 

I swear I have not been in the witness protection program.

Oh my, time has been flying by.  I haven't intentionally given up on my little blog.  I'm actually surprised to see that it's been over a year since I last posted!!  What the french??  I have no excuses, just the usual busy mom ones.  I'm sure you can all relate.  Wait a minute, I do actually have something to blame.  It's Instagr*m.  (I'm afraid to put the word on here, cause it insights tons of IG spam, which is totally annoying) You know what I'm tallking about.  It's the lazy blogger's blog post!!  I love it.  I love getting to see what my friends are working right when they post it, it's cool, dude. 

I have lots to share, but for now I'm excited about finally finishing my Union Jack quilt!  Charles was helping me to baste it.  Actually he was no help at all, he kept streaking back and forth across the quilt, being a fluffy menace.

 

It's about half way quilted.  I saw wavy quilting at Peace and Quilt that looked so nice!  Like the little flags are blowing in the wind.  Mine doesn't look quite as nice, and it's taking forever to quilt.  Forever.  But I'll keep on keepin' on... I will be victorious!!

Well, it's my first post in over a year, so as not to strain myself I will now take my leave. Thank you so much for visiting, seriously, thank you!!  I've got some blog make-over plans for the new year that I'm pretty excited about.  

I'll show you the quilt when it's all done!! x

A great big mish mash of mish mashiness.

Hi everybody!!  First of all, so sorry I've been gone so long.  Secondly, THANK YOU for being so kind to Lauren!  She had so much fun writing the last blog post.  She gets such a kick out of all of your comments!  Seriously, she smiles from ear to ear, and now she wants to start her own blog.  That's my girl!  

Fall is in full swing.  I love it so much.  It's been stormy here on the Oregon Coast.  So many people complain about the rain.  I love it though.  

I also love Pumpkin Spice Lattes.   I've been trying to not go overboard with them.  Sort of....

Is it disturbing that I have to take a picture of each one?

Ya, I thought so too.

Those weren't both mine!  This day, Lauren and I got yummy drinks (hers decaf), then sat in the car with this view.  I knit while she drew in her sketch book.  A perfect morning.  

Speaking of Lauren, she has grown up so much.  

My beautiful girl.  She turned 14 last month, she's taller than me, she's a beautiful dancer, she's a great artist, her favorite subject in school is math, and she has a boyfriend.  I know what you may be thinking.  Some people hear that she has a boyfriend and get a 'why would you let her have a boyfriend' kind of look.  But he's not just any boy.  He's smart, funny, kind, respectful... basically he's just a wonderful kid.  If Lauren wasn't going out with him, we'd try to adopt him.  We've known him and his wonderful family for years, and even went to visit them this summer.  If the boy doesn't mind his picture being shown on my blog, and the two of them don't mind me telling you a little bit about them, I will next time.   

So, here's what I've been up to lately...

Fabric shopping at Joanne's.  My Joanne's is an hour away, so I have to stock up!  There also may or may not have been massive Etsy fabric shopping.  

Lots of doll quilt making, and doll mattress making.....and doll sheet making.  My little Etsy shop has been keeping me busy.  Which I am so thankful for because then I can buy more fabric!  

I love setting up the Blythe dolls for photo shoots.  I even found a tiny etch a sketch that one of my girls had from years ago!

Little things like this make me so happy.  So do my Vampoodles.... here you go Lisa!

They're totally weird and I love them!  They glare at me while I'm sewing, it's awesome.  

I also customized a Blythe doll to look like Wednesday Addams, naturally. 

Ok, enough weird dolls.  

I'm working on cleaning and reorganizing my sewing room.  I'm working on fabric storage at the moment.   It's enough to drive me to drink I say.

Yikes.

It's starting to shape up.

Time to get back to school.  He is not helping.  

Next time I'll have to tell you all about my mom's visit.  We went to Washington for our annual quilt retreat.  We had such a wonderful time, even though I had a sprained ankle and mom fell off a curb because she's not used to her new bifocals.  Good times all around. 

Happy November everybody! x

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Surprise!!

What's... this? A guest post?

Hello! I know most of you come to this blog to read about quilting, and stuff like that, but this time you're in store for something a little different.

My name is Lauren, and I'm Sarah's daughter. I'm fourteen years old, and I know next to nothing about quilting. Not nothing.... I mean, I've lived with a quilter my entire life. But certainly not enough to write a blog post on the subject. So instead, I decided to write about my mom! That's the natural thing to do... right?

So here goes nothing....

 14 Relatively Unknown Things About My Mom

1.She's really crazy and funny when she wants you to take cough medicine.

 I've  had a cold for about two weeks now. It's no fun. The medicine I have to take is absolutely revolting. I hate it . It's nasty stuff. It usually takes me a little while to pshych myself up to drink the stuff. One night, Mom and I were standing in the kitchen while I was trying to take my meds. It was late, it was cold, and mom didn't want to be there much longer. So, in an effort to hurry me along in the process of drinking that horrible liquid, she started to motivate me by saying : " Up and..... BACK! Down the....... HATCH!!!"

2. If she hurts herself, she must show you ... repeatedly.

Not just once or twice, oh no.

Every chance she gets.

Because she wants you to feel bad for her. And of course you do, but after being shown her injury twenty times....

3. She sometimes yells at people when she's driving.

Yes, I realize that lots of people do this.

Mom doesn't say anything bad.

She says things like " Get out of the way B-hole!" then she turns to me,

" That b-hole better get outta the way!"

She actually says " B-hole" . Not butt hole, she'd never say that.
Okay, maybe she would.

4. She's the only mom who stays to watch us at dance.

My sister and I dance quite a bit. I have dance five days a week now. Needless to say, we're at the dance studio a good amount of time. Mom's out there everyday, sitting on the bench, cross stitching in hand, watching us dance. None of the other moms are ever there. They don't watch their kids dance. I mean, sure, they're there sometimes. But no one has yet to come close to spending as much time at the dance studio as mom does.

5. Any story from her childhood is set in third grade.

Okay, so not any story.

But a good chunk of them. So much of them... almost all of them. Her stories usually go a little something like this

Mom:" One time when I was a kid...."

Me: " Was this in third grade?"

Mom: " ......Yes."

6. She is obsessed with Thor.

You know ,Thor.

The mythical Norse god of thunder.

She doesn't just like Thor... she has a Thor doll, a Thor pez dispenser, and lots of other assorted Thor goodies.Of course she does.

7. She's always watching old movies.

Always. It bothered me a bit when I was little... but they've started to grow on me....

8.She HATES shopping of any kind.

Actually, she doesn't hate shopping for yarn or fabric so.....

8A. She HATES shopping ....... unless it's for fabric or yarn.

9.She's absolutely horrible at video games.

This is a big one for my little sister. She's really good at video games.

Mom.... not so much. When she's playing a game, she has a hard time maneuvering both her head and her torso at the same time....

10. She has an irrational disdain for old fashioned police cars.

They make her sick.

11. " Can I get a few of those snacker things.... what are they called?"

"...Snackers."

This was an actual conversation between my mom and the drive through lady at KFC.

12. She loves Honey Boo Boo.

This is actually fairly new.

For those of you who aren't in the know, Honey Boo Boo is a seven year old pageant girl.

She was in the show " Toddlers and Tiaras" . Apparently, people liked her , because now she has her own spin off show.

Personally, I'm not that interested in the show. Sure, she's a cute and funny kid.... mom on the other hand, says she wants to adopt Honey Boo Boo.

13. She has lots of weird dolls.

Lots of them.

Just the other day, she got a package in the mail . The interchange between her and me went a little something like this :

Me: " What's in this?"

Mom : " It's my blue vampoodle. Did you happen to see the envelope that has my tiny elf baby?"

14. An often used phrase of her's : " I cut your grapes in half!!"

She says this whenever she feels the need to remind us of the kindness she did us by cutting our grapes in half when we were babies.

" I kept you alive!"

Well folks, that's my list.

I had fun, and I hope you did as well.This list could have gone on longer, but I think this will suffice.These are some of my favorite wacky things about my mom. I love my wacky mom.

So in the hopes that she doesn't rebuttle by sharing embarrassing stories from my childhood, I shall bid you all adeu.

Until next time,

Lauren ( AKA Big sis)

Instagram is fun.

Do you all have Instagram accounts on your iphones yet?  You probably do, cause I'm generally behind the times.  It's so much fun!  Basically it lets you take pictures with your phone, and you can share them instantly with your friends/followers.  When you follow people you get to see their photos instantly too, and you can leave comments for each other.  Kind of like a real time mini blog!  Oh, and it's a free app.  My username on Instagram is Anyonecanquilt, in case you'd like to find me.  Then you can see what I'm up to on a daily basis, when I'm too lazy to blog!  I tend to take pictures of Rosie in blonde wigs.  And of course you wouldn't want to miss out on pictures like, say...

... my precious nephew with his party cup at a barbeque last weekend.  We all wrote our names on our cups, and naturally, he chose to write this.  Or perhaps....

This lovely, and I'm assuming, one of a kind, latch hook rug of a seafaring captain and his pipe, looking off wistfully into the distance.  This lovely gem was seen just this morning while we were garage saling. 

Here's my garage sale score for the day!  A shoebox full of vintage rickrack for a whopping $5. 

Here are a couple of our friend's lovely garden.  It is so beautiful, I can't stand it.

There may also be occasional photos of Mr. Precious in a box... with a crazy look in his eye.  Don't do it Mr. P.  Whatever you're thinking, just don't. 

Anyhoo, it's really quite fun, and I'd love to see what you're all up to!!  I'll leave you today, with this photo of me.  It's a bit faded, and circa 1977-78. 

Yes, my mom was a fan of little pink sponge rollers.  And I was a fan of my Baby Beans doll.  Can't wait to see you on Instagram!! x