Blend Fabrics – Page 6

Summer Nautical Pillows

August 18, 2014 by Amanda 1 Comment

I know most of the stores have their fall and even Christmas decorations out on the shelves, but we still have one more week of summer vacation left and I am embracing every minute of it! Summer is my favorite! I love being with my children all day and just being FREE!!!!! I had to get in one more summer sewing project. I decorated my family room with a few nautical pops here and there and my couch was begging for some nautical pillows! These sew up in a snap!

Sea Critters Pillow (20″):

Don’t you just love this fabric from Dear Stella? We love sea critters at our house!

Cut the sea critters fabric 13.5″ x 20″

Seersucker Twist Red from Blend fabric 7″ x 20″

cotton batting 21″ or larger

20″ navy blue lace trim

2 yards navy fringe trim

20″ square Denim for the back

20″ or longer Zipper

accent fabric 4.5″ x 20″

20″ pillow form

Spray n Bond for basting

Sew them together using 1/4″ seams. Using Spray n Bond basting spray, baste the pillow top to the batting.

With the two pieces basted you can quilt as desired. Straight lines would be cute, I was impatient and free motion is faster for me 🙂

Trim off the excess batting

Add the navy blue lace trim

Sew the navy blue fringe to the right side of the pillow. I found it easier to use my walking foot. Curve the corners.

Prepare the back of the pillow. I have found this is the fastest way to finish a pillow. For the tutorial on how to do this, click HERE. I cut the back 20″ and then cut 3″ from the top for the zipper placement. The chevron piece is cut 4.5″ and then folded in half.

Now that the back is ready, place the right sided together, with the zipper open, and sew all the way round the pillow using 1/4″ seams. Turn and insert the pillow form.

I Heart Whales Pillow (20″)

This is very similar to my pink I Heart Whales pillow found HERE. Follow those directions for the Heat n Bond Applique.

Cut the solid white 10.5″ x 20″

Cut (2) Seersucker Twist Blue from Blend fabric 5.25″ x 20″

“I Heart” pattern click HERE

Whales from Blend’s True Blue fabric line

Prepare the appliqué pieces (directions HERE). Iron the pieces to the solid white fabric. Sew the blue fabrics to the white fabric using 1/4″ seams.

Using Spray n Bond, baste the pillow top to the cotton batting and quilt. Instead of appliquéing the images on before quilting, I sewed around each image in navy thread during the quilting process to give the pieces a little pop.

I finished this pillow the same way as the Sea Critters pillow with the same navy trim.

I love the backs of the pillows!

Filed Under: appliqué, Blend Fabrics, FEATURED, Heat n Bond, pillow, sewing, Therm O Web, tutorial, whale, whale week

Whaley Whale Quilt Tutorial

August 5, 2014 by Amanda Leave a Comment

Did I happen to mention I love whales and I love this True Blue fabric line from Blend? (haha) The fabrics needed to come together in a quilt and I LOVE how it turned out. Here it the pattern if you would like to make one – it is a quick quilt for sure!!

Finished Quilt Size: 40.5″ x 51″

Whale fabric 1 yard

Blue Wave fabric 0 .5 yards

White fabric – 1 yard

Coordinating prints (5) – fat quarters or quarter yard cuts

Spray n Bond Basting Adhesive

Begin with the whale strips….

Cut (3) 10″ x WOF Whale strips

Cut the blue wave fabric into (3) 4″ x WOF strips.

Free hand cut a wavy edge to each blue strip. You can do it!! Just let the scissors cut where they may. Mine are not perfect, but neither are real waves. Mine are all different heights and depths. Using the Spray n Bond, spray the wrong side of the blue waves and align with the bottom edge of the whale strips. Do this to each of the 3 whale and wave strips.

Top stitch close to the top of the waves in matching thread. I love how the whales look like they are swimming in the waves!

Prepare the block strips:

For each strip set……

Cut (7) white rectangles 2″ x 3.5″

Cut (5) patterned rectangles 5.5″ x 3.5″

Using 1/4″ seams, sew a white rectangle to the sides of each of the 5 patterned rectangles:

Press seams toward the dark.

Cut (2) 2″ x WOF strips of white and sew them to the top and bottom of the rectangle strip set. It should look like this:

Make (4) of these.

Measure the finished length of the rectangle strip and cut the whale strips to be the same length.

Lay the rows out like this and sew the rows together:

I quilted mine with random wavy lines similar to the blue wave strip. This was my first time ever using a Long Arm Quilt Machine! My friends over at Quilt EZ let me have a spin on one of their machines! The stitch regulator is a dream 🙂

Did I mention I love whales?

Filed Under: Blend Fabrics, FEATURED, quilt, Therm O Web, whale, whale week

Whaley Zipper Pouch

July 17, 2014 by Amanda Leave a Comment

If you know me at all, you aren’t surprised that a whale zipper pouch would be apart of “Whale Week”! I have gotten so much use out of my 1/2 yard of True Blue Whales fabric by Blend!!! I love the little anchor charm I found to use as the zipper pull. The lining of the bag is super cute with lifesavers and anchors on it!!

This tutorial is more of an overview, if you want extra details and you are new to making zipper pouches, check out My favorite zipper pouch tutorial.

Supplies:

Fat quarters or large scraps for the outer bag and lining

scraps for zipper tabs

Medium or light weight fusible stabilizer

Heat n Bond LIte

zipper

scrap of ric arc

Cut the denim outer bag, bag lining and stabilizer 8″ x 11″ (2) of each. Fuse the stabilizer to the wrong side of the lining fabric.

Iron the heat n bond lite to the wrong side of the desired whale. Fuse and cut the whale out. Position the whale as pictured below. Sew an accent piece of ric rac.

Cut 2 zipper tabs 1.5″ x 4″. Pres the ends under 1/4″ and then press in half.

Here you can see the 2 zipper tabs. (Sorry about the lighting, it was 11:00 pm).

Measure the zipper and the tabs so you have 1″ on each side of tabs (there will be extra). Sew the tabs to the ends of the zipper. Again, click HERE for more details on this process. Cut the folded piece of the tab and cut out the excess zipper. The goal with this is to reduce bulk in the seams.

Flip the zipper over and match with the top edge of the whale piece. Place one of the lining pieces right side down and align all the edges. Don’t worry about the zipper tabs, we will even them up in a minute.

Sew using a zipper foot. Press and do the same thing to the other side of the zipper so it looks like this:

Top stitch 1/8″ along the zipper. Trim the excess tab fabric. Match right sides with right sides and pin all the way around. MAKE SURE ZIPPER IS OPEN Sew using 1/4″ seam leaving a 2.5″ opening on the side of the lining fabric.

After you’ve sewn all the way around cut a 1.5″ notch out of each corner of the bag.

Match bottom seams and sew a 1/4″ seam:

Turn right side out and top stitch side opening. Yea! It’s done!

It’s the perfect little pouch to tuck inside a beach bag with all the little stuff that might get lost.

Filed Under: appliqué, Blend Fabrics, FEATURED, Heat n Bond, sewing, Therm O Web, tutorial, whale, whale week, zipper pouch

Whale Composition Book Cover

July 16, 2014 by Amanda Leave a Comment

I love composition books and I have written several tutorials for them. I use these cute covered books for everything: journals, notes, reminders, etc. Do you use a sewing journal? I am always writing patterns or changing existing patterns and I take notes as I go. This has totally saved me as I have all the notes in one place. Here is my current sewing journal – with only a few pages left in it:

This is an example of how fabulous my notes and sketches are 🙂 After I have all my notes and the project is finished, I type it up as a tutorial or pattern online. It’s time for a new composition and I’m feeling “whale-y!

This is the composition book I am using – make sure you measurements are 9 3/4″ x 7 1/2″

Supplies:

composition book

scraps of fabric

1/3 yard fabric for lining and flaps

batting

spray n bond basting spray

hair elastic

button

You can create any design as long as it measures 16/5″ x 11″ when you are finished

Anchor fabric 3″ x 16.5″

pink accent fabric (2) 1.25″ x 16.5″

whale fabric 4.5″ x 16.5″

flower fabric 3″ x 16.5″

Piece them together in this order using 1/4″ seams:

Press the seams in one direction. Using basting spray or pins, baste the top to the batting. Quilt as desired. I quilted 1/4″ lines on both sides of the seams. Square up the batting after quilting.

Take the hair elastic and baste it 1/8″ in the center on the left side of the book cover. Like this:

For the lining, cut a piece 16.5″ x 11″

For the flaps cut (2) 11″ x 10″ and press in half

Lay them out like this:

Lay right sides together and pin all the way around. Sew using 1/2″ seam allowance leaving a 3″ opening at the bottom to turn.

Turn right side out and press. Top-stitch the opening closed.

Insert the composition book and mark where you want the button. Remove the book and sew the button on with a needle and thread – inside the flap. It’s hard to see my button because it is blue.

And you’re done!! Perfect gift for just about anyone!!

Save

Filed Under: Blend Fabrics, FEATURED, gift, sewing, Therm O Web, tutorial, whale, whale week

True Blue Whale Skirt & Top

July 15, 2014 by Amanda Leave a Comment

I can’t get enough of these whales from Blend Fabrics!! We are all sporting whale shirts! I think we will be wearing these to Sea World when we go 🙂

The fabric is cute enough that all you need to do is add some Heat n Bond to the back side of the whale, cut it out and then iron it to what ever you want!

After I ironed the whale to the T-shirt, I top-stitched around the whale twice. Sally needed a complete whale outfit (I am pretty sure if I had enough fabric I would have sewn myself a whale skirt!!)

I used skirt “A” from the pattern book Little Sassy Skirts.

I have made these skirts over and over. The patterns are easy to follow and everything is done with rotary cutter measurements (a quilters dream!). This skirt is fun because you don’t have to have a lot of yardage, I only had half yards of the True Blue prints and I love the 4 prints all pieced together!

We had such a fun day at the beach! It was beautiful! I love summer and I love whales 🙂

Filed Under: appliqué, Blend Fabrics, FEATURED, Heat n Bond, sewing, t-shirt, Therm O Web, tutorial, whale, whale week

I Heart Whales Throw Pillow

July 14, 2014 by Amanda Leave a Comment

Isn’t this the cutest fabric? It’s from the True Blue fabric line by Blend. Everyeday this week I will be featuring a project using fabrics from this fabric line – all with a whale theme!!

I totally LOVE whales and I have loved them since I was like 4 years old 🙂 I thought this pillow was super fun and I love the colors! My tutorial is over at the Therm O Web blog – so hop over there if you want the instructions to make your own!!

Filed Under: Blend Fabrics, FEATURED, Heat n Bond, pillow, sewing, Therm O Web, tutorial, Uncategorized, whale, whale week

“Manly” Zipper Pouch, aka I LOVE Bacon

June 5, 2014 by Amanda Leave a Comment

Do the men in your life LOVE bacon? The ones in my life do 🙂 Bacon themed items are super popular and what I love most about the bacon trend is Jim Gaffigan’s comedy bit about bacon – if you haven’t heard it -click HERE … you will laugh so hard!! This week at Jedi Craft Girl has been all about the fabric line Ribs & Bibs and Father’s Day
. I love this zipper pouch because it is “manly”. I used a light weight black denim on the outside, a chunky metal zipper, and the taupe utensil fabric on the inside. I used white house paint to stencil the word “Bacon” on the bag. Therm o Web fusible stabilizer gives the bag more stability. This zipper pouch is my new FAVORITE!!!

Here’s how you can make one:

Supplies

fat quarters of outer lightweight denim fabric

fat quarters of lining – I used taupe “grill master”

fat quarter “open pit” for pig motif

Therm O Web Fusible interfacing, medium weight

Heat n Bond Lite fusible applique

White paint

Zipper

Letter stencils or cutting machine

Cut (2) lining pieces (2) denim pieces and (4) interfacing pieces 8″ x 11″

Begin by preparing the stencil I used some extra vinyl I had laying around (that’s why it’s pink) and ran it through my Cricut. I used the font “Playbill”, weed the letters to leave the outline.

Using a masking strip to adhere the stencil, place the Bacon word on the center of the denim piece.

Using a stencil brush, stencil with white paint. I literally used the trim paint from my house.
Let it dry then peel off the stencil. I love how it turned out!

Here are the pieces you should have cut 8″ x 11″

Iron the interfacing to the wrong side of both the lining pieces and both the outer bag pieces – 4 total. Iron a piece of Heat n Bond to the wrong side of the pig fabric. I liked the red pig the best. Cut out around the pig leaving a little white boarder. Stitch around the pig in white thread. Press the front of the bag, heat setting the painted letters.

Now you are ready to construct the bag. Follow this tutorial here. A word of advice if you are using a chunky metal zipper…..It was my goal to not break my needle. I was super careful to hand move the needle when near the zipper – that way the needle can find it’s way around the zipper teeth. I thought I was in the clear and then resumed with the pedal and snap – the needle broke – darn! I bet you can do it without breaking the needle 🙂

I just love this project to pieces! I might need one for myself – my kids all want one too!!

Filed Under: appliqué, Blend Fabrics, Father's Day, FEATURED, Heat n Bond, projects, tutorial, Uncategorized, zipper pouch

The Perfect Potholder {Father’s Day Tutorial}

June 4, 2014 by Amanda 4 Comments

I know the claim “The Perfect Potholder” is pretty bold!! I am a bit of a potholder snob. I can’t stand silicone ones, I don’t like them if they are too stiff or puffy, I also don’t like them if they are too thin. I love the cute quilty ones, but I am always afraid to use them. So I resort to my trusty terrycloth potholders…..behold:

Aren’t they beautiful! haha!! They’ve been used and washed at least a million times and I can never give them up…..until TODAY when I came up with a homemade version that is just as functional yet much more stylish. The trick is that I cut up a hand towel (or bath towel), layered with batting and quilted it. Are you ready for the tutorial? Here we go:

Supplies:

1 bath or hand towel (not kitchen) the thicker the better!

Fat Quarter Bibs and Ribs fabric – still loving it!!

Scraps of cotton batting

fabric for the binding

Therm O Web Spray n Bond

Begin by cutting the towel 8.5″ square

also cut the batting and fabric the same size, 8.5″ square.

Use the basting spray to baste all the lawyer together with the batting in the middle.

Quilt as desired. I made 4 of these and did vertical lines, diagonal lines and then criss cross. Using a cup, draw a rounded corner on each of the corners and trim along the line.

Cut the binding on the bias 2.5″ x WOF, or enough to sew around the potholder. Sew the binding to the back of the potholder then pull the binding around and machine sew the top of the binding down.

Seriously, tears of joy were shed over this project. I cannot contain my excitement!! It actually feels just like my old trusty potholders – YIPPEE!!!

Now that I knew they were a success, I got a little creative. Try rounding all the corners but the top left corner like this:

Then sew the binding like this:

Take the little tail and give it a twirl to make a loop to hang or to just be decorative or to just finish the binding nicely.

They are the perfect addition to my collection of Father’s Day Gifts!!

Filed Under: Blend Fabrics, Father's Day, FEATURED, gift, Therm O Web, tutorial, Uncategorized

Got Ribs? {Father’s Day Apron Tutorial}

June 4, 2014 by Amanda Leave a Comment

The BBQ Father’s Day gift theme continues today with this BBQ apron using the Ribs & Bibs fabric line. BBQ and Ribs are a big part of our family traditions. I am so excited to give this apron to my dad who prides himself on his slow-cooked ribs. I’ve cut some corners on this project by ordering solid black chef’s aprons from Amazon – a 2 pack is about $10 and they arrive in 2 days! Here’s how you can make one:

Supplies:

Solid black chef apron

Fat quarter Checker Board Red

Fat quarter Open Pit White

Pig from Dinner for Two

Therm O Web Heat n Bond Lite EZ print sheets

Print the pattern in reverse on the Heat n Bond EZ print lite printer sheets – they make appliquéing letters a snap!

got ribs fathers day apron tutorial

Iron the letters to the wrong side of the checkerboard fabric.Then cut the letters out with scissors – this part takes a little while.

Iron a piece of the Heat n Bond Lite to the wrong side of the pig. Cut out the pig leaving a boarder of white.

Peel off the backing paper. Center the pig and the letters on the top portion of the apron. Iron in place. Top stitch around each letter and the pig. Yes, it’s a little tedious, but think of all the time we saved by not sewing then apron 🙂

Prepare the pocket by cutting a rectangle 15.5″ x 9″

got ribs fathers day apron tutorial.jpg_8

Press the sides and bottom in 1/4″

On the top edge of the pocket, sew a 1/4″ hem and then roll it to make a 1/2″ hem.

Pin the pocket into place and topstitch around the sides and bottom. Top-stitch again 1/4″ away from the first seam. This helps prevent fraying inside the pocket where there is a raw edge.

got ribs fathers day apron tutorial_11
Finally, find the center of the pocket and sew a straight seam to make 2 sections of pocket.

I made my husband close his eyes while modeling this apron so he wouldn’t see it – he is getting one for Father’s Day too!! got ribs fathers day apron tutorial_16

Filed Under: Blend Fabrics, Father's Day, FEATURED, gift, sewing, Therm O Web, tutorial

Surf & Turf Towels {Father’s Day Tutorial}

June 3, 2014 by Amanda Leave a Comment

I just can’t get enough of the Bibs & Ribs fabric! Today’s tutorial goes nicely with yesterday’s napkins. There are lots and lots of dish towel tutorials out there…..they are all super cute with ruffles, lace, and trim. That just doesn’t work for the guys. These towels have no “fluff” and they are very manly.

Supplies:

Dish towels, pre washed & dried

fat quarter Lobster Tails

fat quarter Dinner for Two

Therm O Web’s Heat n Bond Lite

Begin by ironing the towels. As with most store-bought dish towels, they are not perfectly square or rectangle. Do your best to press the towel so it’s straight on the end.

Cut a strip of lobsters.

Cut an equal sized strip of Heat n Bond Lite. Fuse it to the wrong side of the lobsters.

Peel off the backing and iron it along the edge of the towel. (normally I would cut the fabric and press the seams under, but we are focusing on quick and the Heat n Bond does just the trick!)