Saturday, June 19, 2021

Echo in Plum Pudding Fabrics!

Have you been following the Plum Pudding Blog Tour? 

Plum Pudding is the new signature line for Island Batik and I was eager to join the blog tour with Sherry from Powered by Quilting. I'm excited that it's my day to show off what I've made with this gorgeous fabric! I'm a big fan of batiks, and the palette for this collection is fantastic--low volume, deep blues, wintry prints...what could be better? 


When I saw the Plum Pudding fabrics, I thought immediately of my Echo quilt pattern, which uses low volume prints. But then I decided to switch things up and use the darker blues in the "background" and the low volume and lighter prints for the main design of the quilt. I think it looks almost like an eight-pointed snowflake!

The Echo quilt is made up of four jumbo log cabin blocks. Which means once the blocks are complete, the quilt is practically done--only four blocks to join!

I love the texture from the machine quilting. I started out quilting straight lines centered horizontally, vertically and diagonally. Then I quilted every other eighth with straight lines.  And then I just.couldn't.sew.any.more.straight.lines. So I did the alternating eighths with wavy lines using the free motion foot. I really like the contrast the two types of lines created! 



Since there's no snow on the ground in June, I had my quilt holders stand in front of a group of pine trees (which you can barely see in this picture!). Pine trees seemed a little wintry to go with my snowflake quilt.

The Echo quilt is available in my Etsy shop and is 20% off through June 26th using code ECHO20.
Find it here.

Make sure to visit all the other designers on this Plum Pudding blog hop!
June 19 - Lisa at Love to Color My World (that's me!)

And one more quilt shot...into the sunset!

You can also find me:
To find all of my quilt patterns, visit my Etsy shop
Find me on IG here.
Find me on Facebook here.
Sign up for my newsletter in the right-hand sidebar or here

Wednesday, June 16, 2021

Summer Coasters Tute with Liquid Vinyl

It's finally summer! I don't know about you, but my family has started eating outside on the deck whenever we can. When Thermoweb sent me a jar of Liquid Vinyl, I knew I wanted to make some weather-resistant placemats for our outdoor meals (bonus with kids--they can be wiped down after they're spilled on!) I used the BBQ Block Party prints from PBS Fabrics, paired with matching solids, to make these placemats. I love the fun prints in this collection--so summery, and perfect for outdoor dining!
Head over to the Thermoweb blog to find my tutorial for these placemats. 


I used the leftover fabric from my placemat project to make these hourglass coasters.


Use the tutorial below to make your own!

You'll Need: (for 2 matching coasters)
(1) 6" print square
(1) 6" solid square
(2) 5" backing squares
(2) 4-1/2" squares HeatnBond Fusible Fleece
HeatnBond Liquid Vinyl
Thermoweb Pressing Paper

Here are my two 6" squares for my coaster:


Making the Coaster:
Step 1
Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of the 6" print square.


Step 2 Layer the marked square and solid square right sides together and stitch 1/4" on both sides of the drawn line. 


Step 3 Cut on the drawn line. Press both HST units open, pressing the seam allowance toward the solid fabric.


Step 4 Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of one HST, perpendicular to the seam line. Layer the HSTs right sides together, with the print fabrics opposite each other. Nest the seams and pin in place.


Step 5 Sew 1/4" on both sides of the drawn line. Cut on the line and press both units open. 


Step 6 Trim hourglass unit to measure 5" square. Make sure to align the diagonal line on your ruler with the seam to ensure that your hourglass is centered and the seams intersect each corner. 


Step 7 Position the fusible fleece square to the wrong side of the hourglass unit, centering it so the hourglass unit extends 1/4" on all sides. Fuse in place.


Step 8 Layer the hourglass unit right side up with the backing square on top, right side down. Stitch around all sides using a 1/4" seam allowance and leaving an opening along one side for turning. Tip: Backstitch at the beginning and end of your stitch lines so stitches don't pull out while you're turning the coaster right side out. 


Step 9 Trim corners and turn the coaster right side out (see tip below). Poke the corners out as much as you can. Press the coaster, making sure raw edges are tucked in. Machine quilt the coaster, starting 1/8" from coaster edges to close the opening from turning. 


Turning tip: Before turning the coaster right side out, press the raw edges around the opening as shown. This will make it easier to create a straight folded edge along the opening that you can topstitch shut. 

Step 10 Repeat steps 6-9 with second hourglass unit, backing, and fusible fleece to make a second coaster. 

Step 11 Following manufacturer's directions, applying 1-3 coats of Liquid Vinyl to both sides of the coasters to make them water resistant. Use Pressing Paper to iron coasters between coats as instructed on the directions. 


Enjoy your coasters! And make sure to stop by the Thermoweb blog to find the placemat tutorial!



You can also find me:
To find all of my quilt patterns, visit my Etsy shop
Find me on IG here.
Find me on Facebook here.
Sign up for my newsletter in the right-hand sidebar or here