Tutorial Tuesday: Quilted Potholder

Photo Quilts start at $100
(Enter our contest & you can take 20% off this item)

CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT 

Every week on Tuesday, we will post a tutorial for quick and easy project. The project could be a sewing, cooking or craft project. For two weeks, we encourage our followers to decide how to make the project their own and take a picture.  Email these pictures to feelgoodfalls@gmail.com and we will post them on our blog and Facebook.  As a team, we will decide which project was the best and that person will receive a 20% coupon off a customized Feelgood Falls project.  Maybe you have been eying a t-shirt quilt or a rag quilt or you need some Halloween costumes or special event clothes, this is your opportunity to get a great bargain!  

 THE SKINNY ON THIS CONTEST
Contest Rules for Quilted Potholder

Contest begins Tuesday, July 30, 2013 to Tuesday, August, 13, 2013.  Pictures must be received by 11:59 pm MST Tuesday, August 13, 2013 and emailed to feelgoodfalls@gmail.com.  Pictures must be in jpeg format.  Please include your name, age category (under 18, 18-24, 24-40, 40-60, 60+),  address, phone and email address so that we can award your prize if you win.  

Tutorial Tuesday:  Quick Quilted Potholder

This potholder can be made in a little over an hour and is a quick
project to practice your quilting skills. The printable .pdf to this project is available here.

 You will need:

 Sewing Machine

  Iron

 Ironing board

 Pins/Quilt Basting Spray

 Thread (if you want it to blend in to the fabric, choose one that matches; otherwise, it’s up to you)   Rotary Cutter

Rotary Mat

Rotary Ruler
Water Soluble pen or Marking chalk

   Fabric (2 pieces of fabric cut 21" x 10" (Fabric A - this is the front and back of potholder), 1 strip of fabric (Width of Fabric x 5")

   Batting cut to a 9" square

Step 1:

   After fabric A into 21" x 10" squares, mark the right side of your fabric (one square) about every 1 1/2” to 2” with a water soluble pen/marking chalk.  Save time and mark in the opposite direction as well. This makes squares on the fabric. 

 

Step 2:

  

Making the “quilt sandwich”

Your background fabric is wrong side facing up.  Next the batting, yes, it is smaller than the fabric and this is okay.  Follow up with the top fabric and place it right side up.  True quilters will normally pin or baste this, but we prefer using quilt basting spray.  It is up to you, whichever one you decide.  If you choose to use the spray, just spray the batting on either side and reassemble the “sandwich.”

  Step 3:

Quilting

Following the lines that you made in step 1, quilt the sandwich together.  As you can see from our pictures, we chose a simple running (chain) stitch.  You could at this point play with some of your machines stitches and change the styles or lengths with each pass.  Make sure to quilt both directions.

Step 4:

Square It Up!

The plan now is to square up your potholder.  Even the most experienced quilter will have fabric that shifts on them, so don't dismay.  Square up your potholder to 9" square.  We took off approximately 1/2" from all four sides. Now set aside for a moment or two.

   Step 5:

"Mock" bias tape

With the smaller fabric, cut two strips 2 1/4" by WOF.  Put the right sides together and sew the short edges together (one side per each strip).  Use at least 1/4" seam. Iron seam open, as shown.  Fold the strip lengthwise and iron it. 

   Step 6:

   Making the tab

-   From this strip cut 6-7" off.

   -Make a "mock" double fold bias tape.  To do this, open the ironed fold and fold each side towards the center and iron flat. Fold again along your first crease, right sides together, so your two folded edges are together. Press. You've just made your own double-fold bias tape. Call all your friends and brag. Or, if you're the modest type, simply move on the attaching it.

-   Complete a scant 1/4" top stitch on each side of the smaller strip.  Iron 1/2" towards the center on each of the smaller sides.

Step 7:

Attaching the bias tape....

Attach raw edges of the mock bias tape to the edges of the potholder with pins.  Sew around the entire potholder, close to edge.  As you can see from our pictures below, to obtain a finished edge on your bias tape, fold a portion of the bias tape on itself, and push the other end into it.  For the corners, add about 1/2" extra of fabric.  When sewing, before getting to the corners, stop approximately 1/4" before the corner.  Remove from the machine and move to the next side without sewing the corner.

Flip the potholder over and pin the bias tape to the front and sew the bias tape to the potholder.  Traditionally, you would hand sew this, but we opted to machine sew it. 

Step 8: 

The Tab!

Sew the tab, one side per side of the potholder. We wanted it to be secure, so we did a square and then an "X" inside the square. 

The Finished Potholder

 

Happy National Thread The Needle Day!

July 25th marks National Thread the Needle Day. This made us think about the first time we threaded a needle and what sewing means for us.  Generations of people have been using various materials as needles and thread to put two objects together.  According to the website Sewing Mantra, prehistoric needles made of animal bones, ivory and antlers were used (1).   In ancient times thread was made from animal parts including veins, catgut which is intestine fibers from a sheep or goat (2), and tendons.  For us personally, the idea of sewing two pieces of fabric together with a piece of goat gut makes our stomachs turn.  Today threads are made from a variety of materials such as cotton, polyester, rayon, silk, and wool.  We could even purchase water soluble thread that will dissolve in water to temporarily put two fabrics together (3).  Something our ancestors would be so impressed with.  This is the history of sewing for us:  

Holly Ward

Holly Ward

Sewing wasn't second nature for our most advanced seamstress. In high school, Holly Ward was so bad at sewing that she actually flunked home economics. Sewing wasn't a priority for her at all until her children were little.  She wanted to make dresses and pinafores so she enlisted the expertise of her sister Vicki to learn the ins and outs of sewing.  Now that her girls are grown, Holly enjoys sewing curtains and home decor in a country Victorian style. 

The Be Attitudes Quilt

Hillary Morris
For Hillary Morris turning fabric scraps into family heirlooms is her favorite part of working at Feelgood Falls.  A quilter at heart, her favorite project she ever made was "the be attitudes" quilt that she made her mom one Christmas.  "It took me an entire year.  I started January 1 and took right up to Christmas Eve.  The finished project was so amazing.  It was worth every stitch,"  said Morris.  In our family, Hillary is known as the girl who in any medium could make beautiful art.

Mandy Brands
(with the girl who started it all)

Mandy Brands 

Growing up with a mom like Holly, Mandy had exposure to sewing machines but like her mother didn't show much real interest until her first daughter was born.  "My oldest daughter has never really fit well in commercial clothing.  As a toddler, she had a thin waist but was taller than most of her peers.  One day I decided that I was going to learn to make her a pair of pants," Brands said.  Brands laughed as she recalled the horror of those first ill-fitting pants but with practice feels confident making garments and designing home decor. 

Maybe sewing isn't your passion but you can still celebrate Thread the Needle Day.  The saying thread the needle could also mean to "walk a fine line between two things or issues, or to do something difficult" (4). 

Bibliography

1.  Origins of Sewing - Sewing History.   Sewing Mantra.  http://www.sewingmantra.com/index.php/sewing/origin-of-sewing-sewing-history/

2.  Catgut.  Wiki.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catgut

3.  Thread (yarn).  Wiki.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thread_(yarn)
4.  Thread the needle.  Holiday insights. http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/July/threadtheneedle.com

Tutorial Tuesday: Make a Mug Rug Set!

CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT 
Every week on Tuesday, we will post a tutorial for quick and easy project. The project could be a sewing, cooking or craft project. For two weeks, we encourage our followers to decide how to make the project their own and take a picture.  Email these pictures to feelgoodfalls@gmail.com and we will post them on our blog and Facebook.  As a team, we will decide which project was the best and that person will receive a 20% coupon off a customized Feelgood Falls project.  Maybe you have been eying a t-shirt quilt or a rag quilt or you need some Halloween costumes or special event clothes, this is your opportunity to get a great bargain! 
 

Tutorial Tuesday:   Make a Mug Rug Set! 

If you have an hour, you can make a set of mug rugs for yourself or for gifts.  These quick and easy coasters are a snap to make but look like you have slaved away for hours. 

You will need:
Fabric (5 - 5"x 5" squares)
Rotary Cutter
Ruler
Cutting Mat
Pins
Sewing Machine or Serger
Thread (doesn't need to match, it will never be seen)
Iron with board

Step one:
Cut out all fabrics to 5"x5". You will have four squares to each color. The dark blue fabric is fabric A, the white fabric is fabric B, the red and blue fabric is fabric C, the light blue fabric is fabric D, and the tan fabric is the bottom fabric.

Step two:
Your top fabrics now need to be made into triangles. Best way to do that is take a preheated iron and fold wrong sides together point to point and press.

Step three:
Arrange your triangles on the bottom fabric starting with fabric A. The bottom fabric needs to be right side up facing the upper fabrics. The corner of the right angle of the upper fabric needs to match one corner of our bottom square. Turning clockwise place fabric B halfway over the top of fabric A matching the corner of the right angle to a corner of the bottom square. Turning clockwise again place fabric C halfway over fabric B matching the corner of the right angle to a corner of the bottom square.

 

Step four:
With fabric D, overlap Fabric C but weave Fabric D under Fabric A like you would close a box. If you are using two contrasting colors, it should look like two hourglasses with the matching colors on opposing sides. Pin.

 
 

Step five:
Sew around the entire square with a 1/2" seam allowance. Make sure to catch all of the fabrics. We find it easier to sew from the bottom.

Step six:
Trim raw edges. 

Step seven:
Turn right side out.
 

Step eight:
Press flat. 
Congratulations, you now have a completed mug rug.

Contest Rules for Mug Rug
Contest begins Tuesday, July 23, 2013 to Tuesday, August, 7, 2013.  Pictures must be received by 11:59 pm MST Tuesday, August 7, 2013 and emailed to feelgoodfalls@gmail.com.  Pictures must be in jpeg format.  Please include your name, age category (under 18, 18-24, 24-40, 40-60, 60+),  address, phone and email address so that we can awarded your prize if you win.  

Parachute Bag made with Bandanas

SEW let's get to the heart of the bag!

Take two bandanas (can be found in the bottom of your drawer in your dresser or at a craft store!). 

You will be repeating this for both bandanas.  We opted to do each separately, but you can do it at the same time, its totally up to you.

Most bandanas are equal in size, about 22.5" square.  It doesn't matter how big or small it is, just as long as both bandanas are equal in size and square.

Fold your bandana in half (right sides together) and iron flat.  Mark 6 1/2" from fold.  Stitch the sides 6.5" from the fold of fabric.

Now take one size of the opening and bring the two corners together.  It should look like this: pin together and do the same for the other side as well. Mark the 6 1/2" from fold.  Stitch the sides 6.5" from the fold of fabric for both sides.  

Now, your piece should look like this.  All four sides are sewn 6.5".

REPEAT THIS PROCESS FOR THE OTHER PIECE OF BANDANA.

Here are your two pieces.

Next, you will iron your seams open.  And your corners would be clean, like so.

When making clean corners;
FIRST, fold the corner over.
SECOND, follow the seam line on one side and fold over.
THIRD, repeat the second step for the other side.
FOURTH, your corners should look like this.

AGAIN, REPEAT THESE STEPS FOR THE OTHER BANDANA.

When you are finished ironing the seams and cleaning up your corners, take your "outside" fabric and turn it right side out.

Insert your liner. MATCH ALL THE CORNERS.

Pin the outside and the lining opening together.

Topstitch as close to edge as possible, all the way around the opening.

The body of the bag is done! Set aside.

Now you need two pieces of trim or ribbon. It should be at least 23.5" long. 

Fold one side about a half of an inch up and sew it to the tip of your bag, like so. 

Add the end of the ribbon to the opposite corner, and repeat for other ribbon. 

It should look like this when complete. 

Your bag is now completely finished and reversible. 

Now fill it up with stuff for the pool or snacks. (Ours holds the needlepoint we are working on). 

We can't wait to see yours. Post them on our Facebook page once you created your very own parachute bag!