Karin Jordan Studio

Tutorial: Liberty Pattern Weights

I used to spend a lot of time swearing at patterns that wouldn't stay flat. Okay, maybe not a lot of time, but more than I wanted to. It's frustrating! Wrapping paper, freezer paper, my giant roll of photo paper—also annoying. Enter pattern weights. These are filled with crushed walnut shells a k a lizard litter, so they double as pincushions. 

This set is for a swap, and I thought adding appliquéd letters would be neat. I pulled four different Liberty prints from my stash, and decided upon an off-white quilter's linen for the other side.

The font I chose is called Drop of Fun; I printed the letters at 248 pt (left) and traced them in reverse onto Pellon 805 Wonder-Under (right). Trimming more closely around the traced letter will use less precious Liberty. Fuse the Liberty to the Wonder-Under, allow to cool and carefully cut out the letters with a sharp pair of scissors. 

I die cut the circles (four Liberty and four quilter's linen) using my Big Shot Pro and the Bigz Pro Die - 6" circle. 

Each letter was then fused to a circle of quilter's linen. . .

. . and then appliquéd. I love the bird in the K! Right sides facing, sew around the perimeter of each matched set of circles with 1/2" seam allowance, leaving a 1.5" opening. I trimmed around the edge with pinking shears, but notching the edges also works. Turn right side out and press, being careful to turn the edges of the opening under so it'll be easier to hand stitch it closed. I pulled the rubber end off my turkey baster and used it as a funnel. I poured roughly one cup of crushed walnut shells into each pattern weight and then blind stitched each one shut. 

 Ta da! What a fun present for the sewist who has everything! 

 Liberty side up is pretty, too. 

So this recently happened. What's the expression? When life is nutty the first thing you need to do is add a puppy to the mix? Meet Lulu. If you follow me on Instagram, you will already have 'met' this sweet six-month-old girl. She was in a kill shelter in Florida until about two weeks ago when she was transported up to Mary's Dogs Rescue here in New Hampshire. She is getting used to all the mounds of snow, and we feel so lucky to have such a wonderful new family member. Watch out Dog Under My Desk — there's a dog under my desk. Maybe I'll suddenly have some serious bag sewing mojo! 

        

Tutorial: Quilted Heart Heat Pack

I've always loved Valentine's Day, not for the chocolate and flowers and 'traditional' things but because it's a fantastic excuse for a jolt of color in an otherwise dreary month. It's also three days before my birthday that falls around a three-day weekend. Woohoo! I dove into my scrap drawer last week to make this heart-shaped heat pack. It's filled with long-grain rice and can be heated in the microwave (about a minute and a half is good) or chilled in the freezer. Please visit the Sizzix blog for the full tutorial. 

For the back I fussy cut a unicorn out of Unicorns in Purple from the Far Far Away2 collection by Heather Ross for Windham. You should have seen Annabel's eyes grow larger as my desk was covered in pink and purple scraps with hearts and unicorns. . . :) We're preparing for a blizzard here, so I'm hoping to curl up with some quilts and the new heat pack. The top of the heart goes nicely over tight shoulder muscles!

        

Melon Double Wedding Ring Quilt & a Sizzix Giveaway!

Hi! Remember me? I've taken the past few weeks at a slow blog pace but have been hard at work on some fun projects, such as this Melon Double Wedding Ring Quilt using the new Sizzix dies by Victoria Findlay Wolfe and Handcrafted fabric by Alison Glass. Between this and my Schnitzel & Boo mini swap project that I've shared process shots of on Instagram, I guess I could say I'm into curves!

I will admit — double wedding ring anything would have been further down on my bucket list had it not been facilitated by the ease of die cutting the fabric with the Sizzix Double Wedding Ring and Double Wedding Ring Large Melon dies. I used my Big Shot Pro with Extended Accessories to quickly and accurately die cut all the curves. Yay! When cut correctly, the curves sew together so nicely.

To make this 50 x 50" quilt takes 168 strips that are 3 1/8" wide x 6 1/2" high, and 16 low-volume pieces for the background. I had nine prints of low-volume fabric that I was able to get all the pieces from, which meant die cutting some full pieces and some half pieces.

I was a nerd and laid it all out first so it would appear random but balanced. 

For each melon shape, sew five strips together using 1/4" seam allowances, as shown above. Press seams open. There are 32 melons shapes in all, eight of which will be cut in half to form the border.

I made a melon-shaped template out of a piece of white cardstock. It is 6" high at the widest point and 13" wide from point to point. If you plan on making a truly scrappy quilt, this will come in handy to ensure scraps will fit the die with full coverage.

Fold the sewn strips in half and finger press the crease. Line the ends of the crease up with the points of the melon die. 

Roll the Sizzix sandwich (cutting pad, die with blades facing up, fabric and cutting pad) through the Big Shot Pro. 

Yay! Footballs! Anyone a Seahawks or a Patriots fan? I grew up rooting for the Hawks but have lived in New England for so long. . . My husband reminded me to remember my current zip code. Also, the Ducks didn't win the title, but what a season! Victoria says she uses the term melons and footballs interchangeably. ;)

Anywho, after you've die cut all the melons / footballs, die cut 16 center shapes using the Double Wedding Ring die. Nine of these shapes will remain in tact. Six will be cut in half and one will be quartered for the border.

Each melon went right back up on my design wall after die cutting to ensure everything stayed in order.

After all the die cutting was completed, there was time to play with the layout a little.

To assemble the quilt, it is broken down into curvy rows that are sewn together. Follow the numbered pieces, above, to put each row together.

Glue basting curves is a popular technique, but for this I finger pressed the center of each piece, matched it up with its mate and simply pinned the middle along the crease. Sewing slowly, I finger pinned as I went, carefully matching up seams little by little. I only used the seam ripper a few times.

Once the rows are pieced, begin sewing the rows together from left to right. (Note: in the photo above I'd started sewing rows together as I finished them.) It goes together faster than it might seem, I promise!

Sizzix is giving away a Grand Prize (hint: A Big Shot Pro and all three new dies by Victoria Findlay Wolfe - no, seriously). Please don't miss this amazing Rafflecopter giveaway worth, well, a lot of money.

There are twelve stops on the blog tour. Each designer has come up with a unique project that showcases the versatility of the Sizzix Big Shot Pro and Fabi Quilting line. Don't forget to check them out — the variety of projects is pretty darn cool!

January 16th Jamie Fingal of Twisted Sister

January 16th Tracy Mooney of Generation Q

January 17th Elizabeth Timmons of Andpins

January 17th Nicole Daksiewicz of Modern Handcraft

January 18th Ebony Love of LoveBug Studios

January 18th Holly Hughes of Holly Gets Quilty

January 19th Marni Weaver of Haberdashery Fun

January 19th Leslie Tucker Jenison

January 20th Karin Jordan of Leigh Laurel - you are here!

January 20th Sue Bleiweiss

January 21st Jenny Doan of The Cutting Table

January 21st Victoria Findlay Wolfe of Bumble Beans

It was hard to cut into Handcrafted, but I'm so glad I did. I've decided to send this quilt top out to be quilted on a long arm; stay tuned to see the custom quilting! 

        

Tutorial: American Girl Infinity Scarf

I was completely busted while taking these photos. In my attempt to get this doll scarf made and put under the tree before Christmas, I decided to take a few quick photos before wrapping. . . Annabel got home early and caught me! So we didn't wrap it and her doll Elise got an early present. The vibrant Nani Iro fabric, leftover from making this circle scarf, goes perfectly with her bright orange jacket. 

 Start with a single piece of fabric, 5 x 16" ish — it can be slightly wider or as much as an inch shorter. 

Right sides together, fold it in half lengthwise. With a 1/4" seam allowance, stitch along the top (raw edges) starting 2" from one side and stopping 2" before the opposite end. 

Turn the scarf right side out. If it's easier this can be a circle scarf with no twisting, but I chose to do a full twist. 

 After the twist, align the short raw edges — see the photo above where they meet in the middle.

Stitch along the edge with 1/4" seam allowance.

There will be a several inch opening. Press the edge flat and either hand or machine stitch the opening closed. I hand sewed the opening on the adult-sized scarf and machine stitched this doll scarf.

Easy peasy. In ten minutes or less, your American Girl doll will have a stylish new scarf!

There are a few other American Girl tutorials on my blog, including an easy pillowcase dress and a patchwork doll quilt. Annabel (5) is currently learning to hand knit and is working on a tiny scarf. It's fun watching her marvel at the knitting as it grows. 

       

Farewell 2014; Shifting into 2015 Mode

Hi and Happy New Year! I almost didn't do a 2014 wrap-up post, but the more I thought about it I decided it would help my mental shift into 2015 and it felt odd to jump right into a new tutorial. It was fun to go through all my projects and see how I've evolved as a designer and a maker in the past twelve months. A lot of wonderful things happened last year. I learned a crazy amount (almost expected a 'brain is full' light to start flashing!). I joined a second design team, made new like-minded friends (local and far away) and found a groove with this blog that I'm happy with. I wrote many tutorials, and earned a 'top blogger' badge from FaveQuilts in addition to adding my favorite fabric shops as sponsors. 

In 2014 I rerealized how much I like making functional items, and I also took up knitting again after a few year hiatus. Thank you, Honey Cowl, for sparking my interest again. My first project for Quilt Market happened, and I took part in quite a few fun blog hops.

Along with the good of last year there was also the bad. A friend lost her daughter at the hands of another person. I am in complete awe at the grace and spirit that this family has conjured up to shine through this tragedy. There will be a 2015 memorial quilt. I hold this with me as I go about my day-to-day routine. There is so much good going on right in front of us that one of my 2015 goals is to be more present in everything I do, especially during family time. 

Bee blocks were a hugely wonderful addition to my year. The women in the Modern Instabee and do. Good Stitches groups have been an inspiration and the many blocks taught me new techniques. I was happy to send them off to their new homes with love. And then there's the Supernova Swap; what a great swap mate Jess has been for what I realized was my first swap. 

There's a lot in store for the coming year. I'd like to continue to push myself; I cannot wait for QuiltCon and the workshops I'll be taking. I'm considering taking the month of February to complete a few WIPs that I haven't been able to finish due to the many other deadlines that have been keeping me busy. We'll see! For now, I'm content to have had a lovely holiday at home with my family, and I think my head is screwed on straight for tackling 2015, hopefully with grace and spirit.