Wednesday Sewing - Fat Quarters Part I

Today is part one of what to do with those fat quarters we all collect or with left over scraps of fabric.  I tend to accumulate a good sized pile of fat quarters during the year and use them up making small gifts and stocking stuffers once I begin working on Christmas.  They're just so handy to pick up and are often on very good sales!

In case you're not sure exactly fat quarters are -- they're a quarter of a yard of fabric, but measured in a different way.  Let's say you have a yard of 42 inch wide fabric.  If you cut off a quarter yard in the usual way, you'd have a long, skinny piece measuring 9 x 42 inches.  It's hard to make many things out of a piece that size.  With fat quarters, you divide the fabric as shown below, so you end up with an 18 x 22 inch piece.

I'm playing around with free motion quilting lately - it's not really hard, but takes a different frame of sewing mind!  The five projects I have today all use quilting - next week I'll have more quilted projects and will also show you what I know about using free motion to quilt them.

The line up today is round coasters, headbands, luggage handle covers, wine bottle caddies, and potholders!

Round Coasters

1.  Using the small circle from the patterns here, cut 2 pieces of batting, 2 pieces of felt, and one piece of Steam-A-Seam 2.  Cut 1 piece of fabric, using the large circle pattern.

2.  Sew around the outside of the fabric circle using a running stitch.

3.  Gently pull thread to gather the circle just slightly to make a shallow "cup."  Into the cup, place the two pieces of batting and then one of the pieces of felt. 

4.  Pull the thread more tightly to gather the edge of the fabric over the pieces inside.

5.  Quilt the top.  I hand quilted along the "ribbon" lines.

6.  Take one paper cover off of the circle of Steam A Seam 2 and stick to the bottom.  Remove the other paper cover and place the remaining felt circle on it.  Iron into place.

7.  Sew the edges together using a blanket stitch (if you're unfamiliar with this process, see this past blog post here).

Headband

1.  Cut two headbands from fabric, using the pattern here.  Place on a fold and add 1/4 inch to each side.  Cut one piece of fusible fleece.  This is available at fabric stores - Pellon makes a good one.

2.  Iron fusible fleece onto the wrong side of one fabric piece.

3.  Pin wrong sides of fabric together and sew along the two sides using a 1/4 inch seam allowance.

4.  Turn right side out - this can be a little tough, use a pencil and a pair of tweezers to help.  Turn the edges of the two openings under 1/4 inch and iron.

5.  Iron and quilt.  I used a free motion random machine quilting.

6.  Cut a two inch piece of 1/2 inch elastic.  Insert one end into one opening and sew into place.  Insert the other end into the other opening and sew into place.

7.  Leave the two ends unsewn - if you sew them together, the headband won't stretch when you put it on.

Luggage Handle Covers

1.  Cut two 6 1/2" x 5" pieces of fabric and one 6" x 4 1/2 " piece of fusible fleece.

2.  Fuse fleece to the wrong side of one piece of fabric.

3.  Pin together three sides and sew a 1/4 inch seam.

4.  Turn right side out, fold open edges under 1/4 inch and iron.  Sew very close to all edges.

5.  Quilt.  Cut one piece of fusible velcro to fit on the shorter side.  Fuse the soft part to one end of the top and the rough part to the opposite side of the bottom.

Wine Caddy

1.  Cut one 12" x 13" piece of fabric, two 13" x 2 1/2 " pieces, one piece of 11 1/2" x 11 1/2" fusible fleece, and one piece of 12" x 2" fusible fleece.

2.  Fuse the larger piece of fleece to the wrong side of the larger piece of fabric and the other piece to the wrong side of one of the handle pieces.

3.  Pin wrong sides of the handle pieces together and sew both long sides with a 1/4 inch seam.

4.  Turn handle right side out.  Quilt handle and bag.  I used a flower and leaf free motion design.

5.  Fold large piece in half and sew the long side and one of the shorter sides using 1/4 inch seams.

6.  Make a line 1 inch from the point of each corner.  Sew and trim.

7.  Turn ends of handle under 1/4 inch and press.  Pin handle ends into bag, overlapping about 1/2 inch.  Sew in place and go over the sewing a second time.

Potholder

1.  Cut two pieces of 10 inch square fabric, one piece of 6" x 1" fabric, and two pieces of 9 1/2 inch square fusible fleece.

2.  Iron a piece of fleece to each of the squares of fabric.

3.  Pin three sides of the potholder together and sew in a 1/4 inch seam.  Fold smaller piece in half and sew the two sides.

4.  Turn potholder right side out, turn ends in 1/4 inch and press.   Turn smaller piece right side out, fold in half and pin into one corner as a loop to hang the potholder up by.  Sew on top close to each edge.

 

5.  Quilt the potholder.  I machine quilted mine in stripes.

Yum - chicken for dinner!

Happy Creating!  Deborah