Templates for a New Fabric Box

After the pretty little things I made (here and here) for Christmas I just had to make a box, too.

I made an octagonal one...

and I covered the top edges with organza ruffle trim.

Making boxes is addictive! Different colors, different fabric combinations, different shapes and sizes, different edge treatments...

Fast2Fuse interfacing made it pretty stiff...

If you want to make yourself one, download the templates.
Follow my tutorial to prepare the pieces.

Zig-zag one of the short edges for all the rectangular pieces.

then cover these edges with ribbon, trim or lace.
I like to use ruffles, they hide nicely the raw edges.

Cover both sides.

Than attach the faces to the base. This will be the outside of the box.

Inside part.

Creating the corners.

Sorry for the bad pictures, my camera doesn't like red color.

I hope you like it! I will make at least one more !

Piecing Fleece

One of my friends sent me a few strips of fleece and yesterday I made a blanket for my little nephew.

These are 5'' squares.

I stitched them with long stitches and the widest seam allowances.
I pieced the blocks and finger pressed the seam allowances open then I stitched them down. No bulky seam allowances on the back side.
Some of the blocks distorted more than others so that I adjusted the size of all blocks.

Then I pieced the blocks and I stitched down the seam allowances in the same way. The piecing was unexpectedly easy!

I added even borders than backing. I did not measure anything, just placed the top on the backing (wrong sides together) and cut around the top edges.

Instead of adding binding I just zigzaged twice the edges together with wide and dense stitches. While stitching I stretched the edges and I got this nice waved effect. And there are just a few rows of stitches for keeping the layers together.

It was a very quick project. Not a perfect patchwork but a colorful blanket to keep the baby warm and cozy and happy !

Flowers and Quilts

I love spring for its tulips...

I love summer for its roses ...

and I love fall for its chrysanthemums.

In the long winter, we enjoy this quilt I made for my sister Nina. I have to make a new and improved version of this quilt to match the new quilt I recently made for her.
I will show you in a few days "Nina's Garden" quilt - my new pattern.

Temari Balls

I love Temari balls ! Have you tried this craft ? I learned about it last year, when I saw a few pictures on Flickr.
If quilting will give me someday a little break, this could be my new addiction. If you don't need a new addiction in your crafting life, close this post!

I already made the first step - I bought a book. I made a few researches and I read good reviews of this book so I bought it.

A good friend sent me a few styrofoam balls and some threads and I am ready to start...The author says it is not a hard technique and a ball can be made in one-two evenings.

If you are interested, there are a lot of information on this websites:

http://www.temarikai.com/

http://www.japanesetemari.com/

http://www.temari.com/

Here is a fabulous tutorial:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wklager/sets/72157624019553398/

and here are amazing balls made by the tutorial's author:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wklager/sets/72157603778336289/

If you still need more pictures, here are:

Temari on Google Images
Temari on Flickr

Happy browsing!

Christmas Ornaments

I am in love... with this pretty little thing I made last night... but especially with Fast2Fuse interfacing...
This was the first try so I made it small...

Fast2Fuse is a firm and heavy interfacing, is fusible on both sides. After I pieced the front, I used it to cut the interfacing and the backing.
I fused the backing to the interfacing and finished the edges with zigzag stitches. Then I fused the pieced front, added the center circle (glued with Wonder Under) and stitched it through all the layers.Then I secured the edges of the front piece.

I love the firm look and feel given by the interfacing and I love that it doesn't need quilting at all.

A Christmas table decorated with coasters and placemats would be so charming... but who have so much time to made them ?

A few ornaments or gift tags would be wonderful too, and they do not need too heavy interfacing, but it must be fusible on both sides...

Happy weekend !

Sneak Peek of My New Pattern

These are the small and quick versions, made in Christmas fabrics.

Bored by free motion quilting, I quilted them with the walking foot and loved it.

Hopefully I will finish it soon!

An Aid for Free Motion Quilting

Super easy - free motion quilt following the fabric's pattern !

This fabric is from the Mixmaster-Scribbles line by Patrick Lose for Robert Kaufman. I love, love, love all the Mixmaster fabrics designed by Patrick Lose.

It was fun and easy to quilt this piece!

This fabric is from the Ginkgo collection by Kona Bay.

I love striped fabric too, it is so easy to quilt it.

I could not find more suitable fabrics for this purpose in my stash but here are a few I found in the Hawthorne Threads shop.

It is of a big help if you find a fabric in the desired color, pattern and scale. It can be used as accent pieces or background in blocks or as borders.
I hope you can find some fabrics to help you with free motion quilting.
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Speaking of fabric, do you know this fabric search engine, http://www.quiltshops.com/?
If you are looking for a certain fabric, it is useful. It allows you to search more than 200 quilt shops at once for any item. You can search by fabric manufacturer, collection name…and the result can be displayed with thumbnails.