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Today is the last day of April. How did this happen? Eight degrees colder and it could be snowing here in New Hampshire. Gah! Our neighbors are opening their pool tomorrow. . maybe we'll all just sit in the hot tub and stare longingly at the pool.
Last night I made this Neon Ninja Star block for Modern Instabee Hive 15, from Lindsay Conner's book Modern Bee
Here's hoping you had a lovely April. Happy May Day tomorrow!
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Mother's Day is fast approaching. Decorating a small gift box with colorful felt camellias and a few vintage buttons is a lovely alternative to a store-bought ribbon. I used Brenda Walton's new BigZ camellia die with six colors of felt from Commonwealth Felt. Visit the Sizzix blog here for the full tutorial on how to die cut the petals and leaves, and then assemble the flowers.
I love incorporating my grandmother's buttons into projects; I'm so happy she saved them.
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These fun little felt key fobs are easy to make, and they're great for teacher's gifts, Mother's Day presents and stocking stuffers (even though it's a tad early to be thinking about Christmas!). Hop on over to the Sizzix blog here for my tutorial.
Apologies to anyone who has been trying to access my blog for the past two days; Typepad has been down. Everything seems to be functioning well as of this morning!
Hope you had a lovely holiday weekend,
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I'm excited to share that I'm on the Sizzix design team! I've announced this news on Facebook and Instagram, but I was waiting to talk about it here until I was ready to post my first tutorial. Several times a month I'll be doing craft and quilting tutorials for Sizzix and sharing them on their blog as well as with you. I am honored to be a part of this team of amazing creative people. It'll be a fun challenge for me, and I hope you enjoy what I come up wtih. My first project is these cheery little decorative bird stakes to embellish plants and flower baskets.
Materials:
Two sheets of white cardstock
One sheet of plain printer paper
Small alphabet stamps
Faber-Castell Gelatos
Faber-Castell Glaze
Small Dodz adhesive dots
Sizzix BigZ die - bird with wing #2
Sizzix Big Shot
Colorful paper straws
Wire-edged ribbon
Stamp the letters on a piece of plain white printer paper and allow the ink to dry completely. Color each letter as shown using the mango Gelato. Cut each letter out into a slightly wonky rectangle with scissors or an X-acto knife.
Die cut three birds using the Sizzix BigZ die - Bird with Wing #2. Color the birds with the lemon and butter Gelatos.
Arrange the letters as desired on top of the birds.
Using small Dodz adhesive dots under each letter, adhere the letters to the bird. For the bird without words, I created a small wing using the die and an asterisk stamp. Use two small Dodz or one medium-sized Dodz to attach the wing.
Apply a thin layer of glaze over the entire front surface of each bird. Allow to dry.
Use two small Dodz to attach the bird to the paper straws. Tie a piece of wire-edged ribbon around the top of each straw, just under the bird. If you plan on leaving them in a plant that will need to be watered, I recommend wrapping the bottom of the straw in plastic wrap. If you have a disposable latex glove you can cut off the fingers and use those! The straws will stay clean and they won't wick up water from the plant.
The message on the birds can be altered to accomodate any holiday or sentiment. Mother's Day is sneaking up on us! Sizzix has kindly offered a discount especially for my readers. Enter code SZ2B at checkout for a 15% discount; there's an affiliate link in my sidebar that'll take you there.
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Today is my stop on the Riley Blake Designs Union Jack Blog Tour. When I saw these fabulous panels, I knew immediately I wanted to make soft, hand-tied blankets. I made three of them on a Sunday, and had a hard time keeping kids and cats off of them before they were finished.
Blankets are a huge part of play time in our house. They're capes, forts and magic carpets.
They're surf boards, horse tea party backdrops and picnic blankets.
This is the Union Jack Squares Panel in blue. Colton claimed it. Finished size is roughly 39 x 58". I made an identical version for Annabel with the Union Jack Squares Panel in orange. The smaller Union Jack Panel in blue measures 36 x 44". All the Union Jack fabric is available here at Hawthorne Threads. It is all backed in Soft & Fluffy Fabrics in Ivory (59" width) available here at Joann's. Let's get started!
Prewash all fabric. Iron the Union Jack panels. Spread the Soft & Fluffy fabric out right side up on a large, flat surface. Place the panel right side down on top, flattening and squaring it up as you go. Slide a large cutting mat under it.
Trim the edges to even out the fabric panel and square up the backing. The cut should be 1/2" from the edge of the blue and red print. Before moving the cutting mat, pin along where you have just cut.
Pin, pin, pin and then move the mat. The Soft & Fluffy tends to stick to the mat a bit along the cut edge, so leaving the mat in place helps enormously while pinning. There's a tutorial for my Zakka-inspired pin cushion here. It's filled with crushed walnut shells.
By the time I got to the second long side I realized I could use the mat at an angle for one long cut. There will be some fuzzies stuck in the cutting mat. These can be easily removed with the rough edge of a dry sponge. The kids had fun 'cleaning' the mat!
Following the edge of the print, use a walking foot if you have one to sew a 1/2" seam all around the blanket, leaving a 4-5" gap to turn right side out. If you're using a regular foot, add additional pins and go slowly. Remove the pins and turn right side out. Press edges flat. On a large, flat surface (I found this part easier to do on a smooth surface instead of a carpet), flatten, smooth and straighten the blanket into a nice rectangle. Pin the edges and the center of the blanket.
Topstitch along the edge of the fabric panel, roughly 1/8" or whatever you're comfortable with. Make sure to carefully stitch the opening closed.
The smaller blanket does not have ties. I hand tied the larger panel blankets with embroidery floss in coordinating colors. I laid the blanket out on the floor, pin basted and tied one in the center of each Union Jack. There are many good tutorials online on how to hand tie a quilt or blanket, such as this one here at Craftsy.
We are big fans of Paddington. This pop-up book was brought to me when I was little by friends of my parents who were visiting from London. The bear has also been with me for many years. Who wouldn't love a bear in wellies who innocently gets himself involved in all sorts of mishaps? I made the large, flanged floor pillow in flannel a while ago. The tutorial can be found here.
Don't forget to check out the rest of stops on the Riley Blake Union Jack Blog Tour!
Tuesday 4/1 – Paula at The Sassy Quilter
Thursday 4/3 – Jina at Jina Barney Designz
Tuesday 4/8 – Karin at Leigh Laurel Studios (you are here!)
Thursday 4/10 – Marni at Haberdashery Fun
Tuesday 4/15 – Julia at My Fabric Obession
Thursday 4/17 – Molly at Rose and Odin
Tuesday 4/22 – Amanda at Jedi Craft Girl
Thursday 4/24 – Madame Samm at Sew We Quilt
Tuesday 4/29 – Julia at Riley Blake Designs
Thursday 5/1 – Ginny at Darling Adventures
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When the book Modern Bee came out, I thought it was a cool how hives started popping up all over. I snoozed on it and by the time I was ready to join one, there were already 14 full groups! I am part of hive 15, and I feel fortunate to be among such lovely quilters.
For our first month we were to make two Ziggy Stardust blocks, with any Denyse Schmidt fabric. Karen, our queen bee for the month selected these two prints from the selection I gave her. It was a complete coincidence that the prints are called Ziggy Medallion. It was meant to be!
The star portion of the block is small; the half square triangles are 1" finished. I put in-process photos on Instagram as I was working. The star portion is smaller than my hand. We are also making signature blocks. My Micron pen was dying so my handwriting is a bit sloppy, but it'll a nice, personal touch when all the blocks are compiled from far and wide.
There are a ton of things I'm working on; my to-do list is huge. I'm squeezing smaller projects in between the larger ones as I can't share much of what I'm up to at the moment (in case anyone is concerned that I'm slacking off). Suffice to say that the next few months are going to be 'good busy'!
I'll be back on Tuesday with a tutorial for the Riley Blake Union Jack Blog Tour. Have a wonderful weekend!
xo Karin
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The Riley Blake Designs Union Jack Blog Tour kicks off today, and I am thrilled that I was asked to participate. I'll have a fun (and super soft!) project on the blog on Tuesday, April 8th.
Tour Schedule:
Tuesday 4/1 – Paula at The Sassy Quilter
Thursday 4/3 – Jina at Jina Barney Designz
Tuesday 4/8 – Karin at Leigh Laurel Studios
Thursday 4/10 – Marni at Haberdashery Fun
Tuesday 4/15 – Julia at My Fabric Obession
Thursday 4/17 – Molly at Rose and Odin
Tuesday 4/22 – Amanda at Jedi Craft Girl
Thursday 4/24 – Madame Samm at Sew We Quilt
Tuesday 4/29 – Julia at Riley Blake Designs
Thursday 5/1 – Ginny at Darling Adventures
Enjoy!
xo Karin
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