No- Sew Fabric St. Patrick's Day Project : Shamrock Wall Hanging

This is a very easy, no-sew project. We are not Irish, so I put another family's name on it... You could also do this for Valentine's Day using a heart in place of the shamrock and using red & pink fabrics, or for Christmas with a holly leaf pattern and red & green fabrics.

If you don't want to do your name, or if your name won't fit, you can do this version:

Supplies:

• Wrapped artist canvas (available at craft store) 8 x 10"    (You could also use a piece of board about 1/2" thick)
• Scraps of fabric
• Assorted buttons
• Ribbon, 12" long piece
• Fusible webbing (found in fabric store or sewing department)
• Glue gun
• Scissors

Write your family name in block letters (or print it out from your computer.) The name should be no longer than 5 1/2", and about 1 1/4 - 2" high (the number of letters in your name will determine how big the letters need to be to fit.)

Flip the paper over and trace so that the letters are reversed.

Trace the reversed letters onto paper side of fusible webbing. For version with name, trace large shamrock (click here for pattern) onto paper side of fusible webbing. For version without name, trace both the large and small shamrocks. Cut out letters and shamrock(s), leaving about 1/8-1/4" around each shape.

Iron letters and shamrock(s) to WRONG sides of fabrics.

(I originally tried using different fabrics for the letters, but then ended up using the same fabric for all of them.)


Cut out letters and shamrock on the line. Peel off the paper backing.

Cut a piece of fabric a couple of inches larger than your canvas. Wrap edges around back of canvas like you are wrapping a present. Glue in place.

Place large shamrock on front of covered canvas, about 1/4" from top of canvas. Iron in place. Arrange letters or smaller shamrock on top of large shamrock and iron in place.

Cut a piece of fabric about 3 1/2" x 12". Place at bottom of canvas, wrapping sides and bottom to back of canvas and gluing in place.

Glue a piece of ribbon to cover the seam. Glue buttons to bottom. Easy!

And now some giveaway updates:
My giveaway ends tonight at midnight. Click here to enter.

(Also, check out the Designer's Link page for this issue of Quiltmaker magazine.)


Lily Pad Quilting is giving away 2 Fat Quarter Bundles of my Happy Town fabric. That giveaway ends on Monday. Click here AND here to enter.

Next week I will be doing some recipes to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Do you have any favorites??
I don't have favorite Irish recipes, per se, but I will say that I have never met a potato that I didn't like....

Have a great weekend!

Wonky House Quilt Block Tutorial

wonky  (ˈwɒŋkɪ)
— adj  , -kier , -kiest
1.	shaky or unsteady
2.	not in correct alignment; askew

Happy Valentine's Day!

(OK, now that we've gotten that out of the way...) I have wanted to make a "Wonky House" block for quite a while- I think they are so cute and fun!  I have made just two blocks so far- I just LOVE how they came out! I would love to make a whole pile for a quilt. But if I don't have time, I think this would make a really cute pillow or wall hanging.

I like the extra scrappiness that the Log Cabin block adds to my little house. The Log Cabin Block can be just a little wonky, or super-wonky, whichever you prefer.

This tutorial will show you how to make the Wonky Log Cabin, and then how to turn it into a house block. Let's get started!

This will make a 12 1/2" block (12" finished size.) You will need various scraps of fabric. I used fabric from my Happy Town fabric line. You will also need fabric for the background- I used white but you can use any solid or tonal.

• Scraps- strips should about 2-3" wide. (You can cut the strips ahead of time, or just cut them as you go.)
• Background- 2 pieces 3 1/2 x 7 1/2"
•                       1 piece 7 x 15"
• Roof fabric- 4 1/2 x 8 1/2"

Start with a square about 2 1/2" big- it doesn't even have to be a perfect square. Trim one side off on an angle. (The bigger the angle, the "wonkier" the block will be.)

Sew a strip of fabric to the angled side. Press and then trim excess fabric.

Turn block 90 degrees and sew another strip to the side.

Trim excess fabric, following the edge of the existing block.

I wanted the yellow strip to be a little narrower, and I wanted my block to be a little more wonky, so I trimmed it off at an angle.

Continue turning the block 90 degrees and sewing on strips, cutting edges at an angle as desired.

Continue until block is at least 7 x 8" big. When you get to this point, don't worry about the excess fabric because we will be trimming the block anyway. (At this point- you could just trim it to the desired size and use it as a Log Cabin block, or continue to make the House block.)

Trim the block to 6 1/2 x 7 1/2".

Sew background fabric (3 1/2 x 7 1/2") to either side of the block.

For the roof, start from the bottom corner and cut up to top, then make another cut from remaining bottom corner. (The angle doesn't matter as long as your cuts go from the bottom corners to the top edge.)

Place 7 x 15" piece of background fabric right side up on table. Place roof triangle right side up on background fabric.

Cut the background fabric, using the roof as a guide.

Discard the background triangle under the roof fabric.
Place shape A right sides together with roof triangle and sew together.

Press. Sew shape B to other side of roof.

Press. Trim bottom edge so it is even with roof bottom.

Sew roof to block. Trim block to 12 1/2".

PS Please stop by A Quilt & A Prayer blog- Teresa is giving away Happy Town Fabric- and look what she's been making (didn't it come out cute??):

This Week's Ornament Tutorial : Fabric Scrap Rosettes

So it's Christmas Eve and you think you don't have time to make an ornament? Wrong! These are pretty quick.... And it's a great scrap project- You know those long skinny scraps left over after you trim the excess backing from your quilt? Perfect! Fat quarters are also perfect for this project. (Oh, and Jelly Rolls will work too, even though they're 2 1/2" wide instead of 3"). You can even use up your scraps of fusible webbing.

If there's no time to make them for Christmas, you could make them in any fabrics and hang them in your window, or attach to gifts as an embellishment. Make Blue & White ones to mimic snowflakes for January, or try Red & Pink fabrics for adorable Valentine's Day decorating.

You will need:
Scraps of fabric
Fusible Webbing
Needle and Thread
Button
Glue
Thread or Cord for hanging

To make the ornament, cut 2 strips of fabric about 3 x 19".

Cut fusible webbing so that it is slightly smaller than fabric strip and fuse, according to manufacturer's directions, to WRONG SIDE of one fabric strip. (You can piece together scraps of the fusible webbing, as I did.)

Remove paper backing and fuse the other strip of fabric to the one with the fusible webbing, RIGHT SIDES OUT.

Trim the strip to 2 x 18".
Accordion fold the strip, pressing the creases with your fingers as you go. The creases will stay in the strip, so when the folded piece of fabric becomes too bulky to hold, you can release it and go on to the next section.

Run a needle and thread through all of the pleats except for the first and last ones. Pull thread so it is snug and tie the thread off.

Sew the edges together. Use matching thread (I used contrasting thread so you could see it better in the photo.)

Attach thread or cord to make a hanging loop.

To make the yo-yo for the center, cut a circle that is 4" in diameter. Make a running stitch all the way around, about 1/8" from the edge. (No need to turn the raw edge under, it will be hidden by the button.)

Pull thread to gather and tie off.

Sew a button to the yo-yo. Glue the yo-yo to the ornament.

If you would like a double-sided ornament, simply glue another yo-yo and button to the back.

Click here for PDF of this tutorial.


This is our third ornament tutorial for the month of December. If you would like to see previous tutorials, see below (click on title to see tutorial):

Patchwork Bird

Glittered Forest Friends