Appleton Dance

A friend at the Greater Ann Arbor Quilt Guild told me about this method for setting the Disappearing Nine Patch block so make a four-patch with sashing and cornerstones ( sample tutorial at Pennylane Patchwork ). To make a Disappearing Nine Patch, sew a nine-patch block and then cut it into four equal pieces and then rearrange the pieces. In this faux-sashing setting, you lay out the original nine patch with a dark square in the center and place the same light-colored squares at the north, south, east and west positions. The corner positions should be filled with fabrics that contrast with each other because these will become a central four-patch after cutting the nine-patch block apart. (My initial choices, above, were not so great because there is not enough contrast between the four-patch blocks that are initially placed at the four corners of the nine-patch.) Lay out the block with the cornerstones in each corner of the block, and you have a ready-made four-patch with sashing. ...

Alisa ordered the "Coffee & Croissant Bag" from the U-Handbag site and I made one using the material from an old sheet. I love this bag! The directions were very good, but inserting the handle was too much for my machine and I had to have the machine adjusted after making two of these bags. (I am interested in learning a technique for sewing multiple layers of fabric by hand instead of ruining my machine.) The handbag how-to directions were clear and included both metric and English measurements. Instead of the "Puffy Padded Calico" required in the materials list, I substituted "Soft & Stable" By Annie . This U-Handbag site is really nice, with lots of patterns, articles, and special materials for making purses and totes, but it only takes PayPal payments for orders. 

Nametag/Document pouch to wear around your neck Cynthia Wilsher of the Greater Ann Arbor Quilt Guild shared her pattern for her "Gotta Have It Bag" that she uses to hold her guild nametag. The little bag has three pockets and a clear pouch on the front to hold a nametag or entrance ticket to an event. I made eight of these bags for the goodie bags we distributed on our friends trip to the Shipshewana Quilt Festival in Shipshewana, Indiana on June 26. The construction technique is fast and easy and the little bags are fun to make from scrap fabrics. I changed the design to make my bags slightly larger than the original, about 5 x 7-inches; I also added interfacing and used a different finish for the binding. I rewrote the directions and photographed the process; see below. All the how-to photos were taken by Alisa. Materials: Cut from clear plastic 5.5 x 3.5-inch piece (Note: you can use document covers available at office supply stores, or you can use hea...

I've been working on the "Hot Cross Stars" a Cut Loose Press design by Kathy Seal of The Quilt Patch in Tecumseh, Michigan  using the   4.5-inch 90-degree double-strip ruler by Creative Grids. . Kathy Seal demos this process on YouTube at " Quilting Tutorial: Hot Cross Stars and More Double-Strip Ruler Quilts"  .  This process is another of those techniques that transforms fabric quickly by stitching fabric strips together then cutting the stitched strips using the special ruler. You end up with patches featuring three fabrics that can be arranged in various design blocks. The block I made is Kathy Seal's "Hot Cross Stars". I made these scrap patches using fabrics from my stash and displayed here on my design wall. The technique is very, very fast and easy and so much fun! Close up of four "Hot Cross Star" patches. Close up of single patch (red and blue). Close up of single patch (red and green). I'm using the patches ...

Materials Note: Use upholstery-weight fabric, heavy cotton duckcloth or denim, OR two layers of lighter cotton, OR lightweight fabric reinforced with iron-on interfacing. Use a number 16 heavy-weight needle in sewing machine. Fabric 19 x 22-inches to cut two identical pattern pieces for the pillow top and bottom. Fabric (identical, or to coordinate with the pillow top/bottom fabric) 8 x 70-inches for pillow gusset 7.5-inches 5/8-inch wide fusible hook and loop tape for closure 8 inches woven belting for handle or make strap from 4x8-inch scrap of fabric reinforced with fusible interfacing (Fold fabric longways, press, fold edges to center, press. You will have a folded strip of fabric 1x8-inches. Unfold. Cut interfacing 2 x 8-inches long and fuse to center of fabric. Fold-in edges, fold down center and press. Topstitch 1/4 -inch from both edges to form handle.) 4 pounds buckwheat hulls OR 16-oz bag Morning Glory Cluster Stuff fiber to stuff pillow Directions ...

My friend Kathy S. made this cute appliqued banner for her daughter's wedding this summer. She said: The pinks and green fabrics were just cotton duck fabric. The navy and yellow were outdoor fabrics. I got the design from my computer clip art -- just enlarged it to make it work for the flag and made a pattern from newsprint. . . . The finished dimensions are 29" x 42" but I would add a few inches to both the width and length if I were making this again.

I fell in love months ago with this baby blanket at Aesthetic Nest .  When I found out my sister-in-law was expecting I couldn't wait to make one as a gift.  Because I didn't know the sex of the baby I thought that a navy, white and pale yellow combo would be perfect. I ordered up my supplies from Fabric.com .  One and one-half yards each of  Premier Prints ZigZag Twill Blue , Solid Flannel Navy , Solid Flannel White  and Solid Flannel Yellow . (See also "Cotton chenille" post.) Anneliese's tutorial is great, I followed it exactly...except for the part where I had it quilted by a friend with a long-arm machine after I realized that sewing zigzags across 45" square of thick twill layered with flannel wasn't going to work on my machine. (Thanks Gail!). I layered the white, yellow and blue flannel over the wrong side of the chevron twill fabric and trimmed the whole thing to about 48" square.  Once the quilting was done, it was a snap to sn...