Noel Mini Quilt/Mat Tutorial

Here is a super quick tutorial for those of you who have bought 'Sew Very Christmas' pattern set and wanted to make the mini quilt with the 'Noel' and 'Candy Tree' patterns.
1. Make 1 set of Noel letters and 4 candy trees following the pattern instructions.  Place a tree under each letter and join-the width of the letters and the trees are the same.  Join each pair of letters/trees together to make the centre of the mini.
2. Add sashing.  I added background solid sashing in grey starting at the sides- 2 strips each measuring 2" x 5 1/2", and then 2 strips across the top and bottom each measuring 2" x 11 1/2".

3. Add a further sashing border in a colour print.  Add the side strips first, 2" x 8 1/2" and then the top and bottom strips each measuring 2' x 14 1/2".

4. Make a quilt sandwich with batting and background fabric cut and inch larger than your mini quitl top.  Spray baste/ pin or sew baste layers together.  Quilt as desired.

5. Add a single layer binding- see my tutorial here for binding and here for mitred corners.

Your mini is complete!  We would love to see your Sew-Ichigo project makes, you can add them to our Flickr group.

Y-seam tips: Version 2

Today I'm going to walk you through how to sew a Y-seam using one of Kerry's spool blocks (in which the pattern will be available in a few short days!)  In this version, I will not be using freezer paper, and part of the block will be semi-foundation pieced.

Kerry has given some really great info in Version 1 on how to spot Y-seams in a finished block and how to do Y-seams using freezer paper, so make sure and check her version out as well!


What you will need:

Your fabrics, the pattern (which has the side Y-seam portions cut off the spool), pencil, rotary cutter, mat, and a small clear ruler.

First, foundation piece the spool.  When you sew this part, start and end sewing exactly where the line on the pattern starts and ends.

Once you have the spool pieced on both ends, use your ruler and a pencil and draw a line 1/4" out from the edges of the spool.

then use your rotary cutter to cut the spool out along the penciled line.

Trace your side template pieces onto fabric

and then use your ruler and rotary cutter to cut them out 1/4" past the penciled lines.

Now lay the side template onto the spool, lining up the side and top and bottom edges with the spool.

Pin in place if you wish (I didn't) and flip the piece over and sew just to the side of the paper pattern from the top stitch line to the bottom stitch line.  Repeat on the other side.

Now flip the piece over and pin the two edges together on one corner, indicated by the black arrow.   The red arrows indicate which edges you are pinning together.  When pinned, you can see that the piece is pulled up on that corner.

Starting sewing at the outside edge corner until you reach the stitching corner indicated by the blue arrows.   Stop sewing exactly where the the side stitches stop.  Repeat for the other three corners.

Press your side seams open on the back, and you are done!

Quickie Tip: Matching Tick Marks

One of the things that really helps me when I am paper piecing is matching the tick marks.  I use these on foundation piecing to join the sections together and in freezer paper template piecing on every piece.  I don't think I could join diagonal lines accurately without them in freezer piecing!  On the Sew-Ichigo patterns you will find these red tick lines on the lines where sections join.  You can see a cropped image of two pattern pieces below and their corresponding red ticks.

This is how I join foundation paper sections together.  I place the seams together and push the pin straight through the end of the tick mark so it goes straight through the front...

and the point comes out in the matching place on the flip side.

I then pin at right angles to this to hold the seam.  If it is a short seam I leave the vertical pins and just hold it tight all the way to the sewing machine foot.

This is the same pinning from a different angle.

You may prefer to sew those section seams without the paper- it does add bulk.  You just trim the paper back to the edge of the pattern piece, the tick line is still there, a pin as before.

With freezer paper piecing, the technique is just the same; push through the tick line so that is comes out the other side...

On the corresponding tick mark.

I recently read a post at The Sewing Directory by Lynne of Lily's Quilts where she describes exactly the same process for quilt blocks, she uses the points in the block instead of ticks .  It all leads to beautiful blocks, and that is what we are all aiming for!  

I have added a print gadget to the bottom of all posts so you can choose a range of options to print  out our tips and tutorials, handy!  If you want the same gadget, you can find it here.

Cover up your KitchenAid

What you will need:

• finished kitchenAid block- pattern available here in the 'kitchen classics' pattern set
• finished vintage label block,stamped with "kitchenAid"- pattern available here in the 'kitchen classics' pattern set
• lining fabric:  two pieces 14 1/2" X 15" (front and back lining), one piece 7" X 41 3/4"(gusset lining)
• outside fabric for front: two pieces 14 1/2"X 4 3/4",  6 1/2" X 5 1/4", 6 1/2" X 3 3/4"
• outside fabric for back:  14 1/2" X 15"
• outside fabric for gusset:  7" X 30",  two pieces 2 3/4" X 1 5/8", 7" X 9"
• binding fabric: 43" X 3 1/2"

Notes:

The basic construction of this cover consist of two panels, one front and one back, and then a gusset strip down the middle.  I've put my KitchenAid block on the left side because of where my KitchenAid sits on my counter, but you could easily change it to the right side if that suits you better.  Also I've placed the label on the end of  gusset so that you can see it as it sits on the counter.

My KitchenAid is the professional model, so the measurements are for that model.  The measurements I took for it are as follows:   4.5" wide at the top, 10" wide at the base, 16.5" tall, and 12.5" from front to back.  If you have one of the smaller models, you may need to make adjustments to your pattern pieces to reduce them slightly so it fits better.  My cover fits so it is about 1/2" off the counter along the bottom edge.

All seams are 1/4" unless otherwise stated.

Directions:

Sew lining together: 

1.  Pin the long side of the lining gusset to one of the 14 1/2" edges of the lining front panel,  placing your last pin 1/4" from the end of the front panel.

2.  Sew together, stopping at the last pin and back stitch.

3.  Turn the corner with the gusset by folding the gusset and pinning.

  

4.  Pin the gusset along the 15" edge placing your last pin 1/4" from the end.  Start sewing at the first pin, making sure to backstitch at the beginning and end pins. 

5.  Repeat step 3 and then sew the last part of the gusset to the panel making sure to backstitch at the beginning.

Sew the outside front outside panel together:

Using this diagram, sew section A to the kitchenAid block, then section C to that.  Then sew sections C and D to the sides of the center section to make your front outside panel.

Sew the outside gusset together:

Using this diagram, sew sections E and F to the sides of the vintage label block, then section G to the top of this and section H to the bottom.

Sew the outside cover together:

Use steps 1-5 for the lining, to sew the outside cover together.  Then place the wrong sides of the outside cover and the lining together, lining up the seams.

Bind your bottom raw edge: 

There are several tutorials out there for binding, so I'm not going to reinvent the wheel here.  A lovely tutorial I've used often is this one.  The only change I've made is I've made it wider, and I sewed the entire thing down by machine.

Your KitchenAid cover is complete!