Christmas Time Rag Quilt Tutorial

Are you in the holiday mood yet?? I hope that you are all getting some much needed vacation time from work to spend relaxing and enjoying the season!! 

I promised you a quilt tutorial and a tutorial is what you will get!!

A Rag quilt is a little different than a normal quilt because you quilt each piece as you go. So instead of the large "Quilt Sandwich" with the pieced top, batting and full back; you have many small "Quilt Sandwiches" that are pieced together to form a whole quilt. The "Rag" part comes from trimming the seams after all the piecing is done to have a fringe look on the pieced units. 

The Finished Quilt

This quilt was made for my parents last Christmas, I designed the whole quilt. It turned out to be about 60" by 60" when fully completed. A lot of this quilt was made from fleece and it is soooo snuggly and warm!!

Unfortunately, I used a lot of scrap fabric and some fat quarters to fill in the missing spots so I can't give you exact size measurements... I will get better at this, but I would recommend that you plan out your quilt before you start cutting. Each square of fabric was 5" by 5" and this included the backing (all the same fabric, I used a soft red fleece seen below) and the batting.

This is the soft backing fabric

Start by planning the size of your rag quilt. I initially thought that I would make a lap quilt, but once I got started, the project took on a mind of it's own and then the large two person snuggle quilt was born!! 

I knew that I had a few different pieces of fabric that could work from my scrap pile but I also wanted to find some fun fabric that was personalized to my parents (such as the sports fabric and the lovely letter fabric and the fleece of course!!)

Planning page with the fabric diagrammed out

 As you have probably figured out by now I am a visual person and I love to play things out before I start just so that I know I will be happy with the end project. Well, I never want to cut and then be upset about how the piece looks and waste fabric, so I always doodle a little and sketch the initial layout of my fabric in the quilt. That is the rickshaw drawing above (not my best artwork but it gets the job done ;))

This is half of the quilt top squares all laid out before I start to piece them together

I do not have the remainder of the pictures because I completed the quilt and moved on before I had thought about the blog side of things. My apologies, again I am new to all of this so please forgive me lol :).

The simplest thing is to have all of your pieces cut out before you start. That ended up being about 432 squares ;) 144 squares per layer and there are three layers. Then all you do is piece each together with a simple X stitch from corner to corner, so then you have 144 small quilt sandwiches.

Once you have all of these block laid out and ready to go in the pattern that suits you best, start seaming them together with the back sides together. This way you will have the open seams facing the top of the quilt. Now that you have all of these seems all over the front of the quilt... do you think man this looks like a mess?? well so did I! haha then you know what I did... I got to snipping I trimmed all the seams 1/4 of an inch apart so that it fringed out and looked a whole lot softer and a little more worn, like a well loved blanket (which it has 100% become!).

The small cuts take a lot of time so go slow and take breaks or you may get a few blisters on your cutting hand... I know this from personal experience ;)... Who knew quilting was such a rough sport??? ;)

Now throw this amazing quilt in the wash and then add your personal tag so that people know it is from you and you are good to go!! The perfect rag quilt (I will make another one soon, so that I have some step by step pictures). You get the jist right now and there will be more to come!!

I hope that you have your favourite blankets out there, and if you don't maybe keep this one in mind the next time you get the itch to stitch ;)

Enjoy!!

-Happy Crafting-

-xo-

Snowflakes and Sparkles!!

Heya everyone!! We are all ready for the Christmas season... well almost; I mean we have finished our shopping and wrapping and lots and lots of baking.... but our house is not yet ready for the season, and seeing as we are busy every weekend with parties and visits we need to get our sparkle on!! This tutorial will be a two in one because I have been leaving you hanging for so long!!

Well here we go!!

Snowflakes and Sparkles

Lets get started with the sparkle, I was too excited to get started so I don't have a picture of the supplies but here is the list!!

What you need:
A circle Cutter
Festive paper or glitter paper
Scissors
Glue
Hot Glue Gun
Ribbon


Now I used three different colours of glitter paper and cut out circles using one page of each. Once you have all of your circles cut out and ready to go use you glue to paste together the non glitter sides of the pages. ( if you have double sided glitter pages you are good to go!!)

Your Circles are ready to go!

Cut each one in half

 This is the interesting part! Take your halves and alternating colours you will use the glue gun to alternate the sides. It will look like an accordion once you are done! If you have any questions about this please let me know!!!

Accordion look alike 

 Final Step for your sparkle balls! attach the open sides to one another and it will looks like this! once your ball is all done you will add the ribbon to hang it from the roof :).

Voila it's Perfect!

I had a lot of extra sparkle circles left over so I attached them to curled ribbon and I hung them from the ceiling :)

Small Festive additions :)

Go Get your Sparkle on!! Let me know how it looks and feel free to use bigger circles or even different shapes for the ball!! Let your creativity reign free!!

Tutorial Number 2!!! SNOWFLAKES!!

Sparkle and snow!!

So we still do not have any snow on the ground here... it is starting to look like a green Christmas. That is why I have hung some snowflakes around the house to make it seem a little more festive!! If you love snow as well and are missing it, join right on in and sprinkle the snowflakes around the house!!

The only supplies you need are a pencil, some, paper and scissors!! ( I used some scrapbook paper so one side is white and the other is coloured for a little extra something!)

This is how we fold the snowflake before the design! I used an 8.5 x 10 pieces of paper, fold one edge over and use your scissors to trip of the coloured tail so that you have a full square.

Corner to edge and then trim

Fold the Square from corner to corner

Into a nice triangle

Fold that triangle in half

Fold the small triangle into thirds, as shown here and below!

Now you trim the tips 

Trimming the tips allows you the smooth edge so that you can begin your decorating!  Get your pencils and scissors out and ready to go! Listed below are a few of the decorations that I used an there are so many many more designs on pinterest, just give it a browse!!

I forgot the design for this one!

Design 1

Snowflake 1

Design 2

Snowflake 2

Design 3

Snowflake 3

Design 4

Snowflake 4

Let is snow Let is snow Let it snow!!!

Have a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and I hope that you are well on your way to finishing your decorating and your shopping and that you have many events planned to be with friends and family this holiday season!!

The next post will be about a quilt I made last year! It is a rag quit and it was so awesome to make and I am excited to share it with you so stay tuned!!

-Happy Crafting-

-xo-

Happy St. Nicholas day!!

It was always such an exciting little treat when we were little to place out shoes out side our bedroom door on December 5th to see what St. Nicholas would drop off over night. Some times it was little things like cool new socks with rainbow toes or ruffles, or sport themed face towels with your name on them ( I still have mine by the way). Recently it has been wonderful little treats that travel from far and wide into our shoes and stockings ;).

Our little Treat and my favourite coco mug!

The treats we received this year were Reese peanut butter cups and Toblerone pieces, but the best part about St. Nicholas day is calling the family and seeing what they got. It doesn't matter where you move to or how far you are away from your childhood home, the spirit of family, Christmas and St. Nicholas will travel with you if you just have faith.

Love and family are the most important things

I hope you all are well on your way to finishing your holiday shopping and wrapping and mostly that you are getting into the spirit of the holidays. I don't know about you but we don't have to much snow down here yet and I am hoping that we get some soon!! There is nothing that makes it feel more like the holidays than walking the neighbourhood with falling snow and looking at all the lights on the houses. It is always so beautiful! And the best part is when you get home with your chilly nose and turning on the stove to warm up some hot chocolate and sitting down with the family and enjoying the warmth of your drink and the special times that your loved ones bring.

This is the best end to our Sunday night! A cup of warm hot coco and a few pieces of Toblerone with a Christmas movie playing in the background.

I hope you are all in the spirit and not getting too caught up in the money spent this holiday season. It is about the people you are with, your presence is present enough ;).

Next week you will be getting a tutorial, I am working on so many things right now and I hate keeping them from you, but you know... surprises are just so juicy, you will get to see them all soon!!

-Hope you are having an amazing weekend!-

-xo-

Holiday Spirit and So Much Crafting!!

Our tree is up and ready for the season!

Hi everyone!! I know it has been a whole week since I last posted and that is super odd for me.... well this is going to be a common occurrence during the holiday season. I am going to go down to one post a week so that I have more time for crafting and getting the house together for the holidays.

Now now don't you feel slighted, this will work in your favour soon! I can't say to much because a lot of the crafts I am planning are secret and surprise gifts. If I give them all away to you now, then the recipients will already know! (The surprises are my most favourite part of gift giving!)

Don't worry, you will be getting a full play by play of all of the gifts and tutorials and the amazing crafts that I have been able to create this year. I know that you will not be able to use the tutorials this year for your gifts however you will be able to save the posts and plan them for next year!! I love planning everything and getting all my ideas into play before the holiday season even starts!!

Even though the previous post tells you that I am super busy crafting, it doesn't mean that I don't want to give you a post! So here we go!

This is a super simple tutorial for a Tree Skirt. As most of you know my partner and I moved into our first hours this year!! (Woooohooo!!!) As such, this is also our first Christmas here and our very first Christmas with a full sized tree!!! Needless to say that I was not fully prepared when we set everything up with our tree.. Well, I have already allotted my time for other crafts and we were left without a tree skirt. ( I know I know I could have just gone to a store and purchased one... well that is just not me!) If I can make it myself before buying it.. well that is the route I will take!

So what did I do? I improvised ;)

I know that all you crafters out there have an amazing amount of extra fabric or large fabric scraps. So do I! If you don't see where I am going with this, it is a no sew project! I had an extra yard or so of dark green velvet and I absolutely love this fabric and we have now placed it around the tree to cover the base!

Bare and not so polished

Gorgeous Velvet!

Doesn't this look amazing!!???!!!

This is what it looks like with some of my wrapped gifts :) Super simple and Super Elegant!

The sky is the limit with what kind of fabric you would like to use. My best friend was my inspiration for this and here is a quick shot of her burlap tree skirt! Looks amazing doesn't it!!

You will be getting a Tree Skirt Tutorial eventually, ( Next year I will have a fully completed and polished Tree Skirt, so just be ready to craft!!

I hope you are all getting your plans in order and your gifts together. Remember that as amazing as the gifts are, it is the family that you spend the holidays with that means the most! Have an amazing weekend and enjoy your time together. Your next post is just around the corner!!

Happy Crafting

-xo-

Mesh Christmas Wreath!

The big day has arrived!! The wreath tutorial is here!!!

I am so excited to show you this tutorial! The final size of this wreath is over 20 inches wide so you can make yours smaller... or bigger for that matter!! Just make sure that you can get out of your door ;) or that it can close haha.

Without further ado... lets get started.

Supplies:

- Mesh fabric in the width and roll colour you wish. (width and thickness can vary so choose the one you would like)

-Wreath form - with ties or pipe cleaner

(mine was a 16 inch preform, you can use any circular frame that you have available as well)

-Measuring tape

-Scissors

-Additional decorations or ribbons for details

-Your Imagination!!

Now that you have everything set up and ready to go!! Take that leap with me!.

Tutorial:

1.Unravel the beginning of the colour that you want to be your base colour (main colour). 

2.The ends will be a little rough. To avoid the ends from peaking out take the corners and bring them together, then tuck the top so you have a little bulb on the end of your fabric... like this!

Ends of fabric together

Nice little bulb, looks much better!

3. Take the bulb and tie it to the wreath frame. I worked my way from the inside out so that I knew how much fabric I would have left over. After you have secured the little bulb of fabric, turn the edges of the fabric in on itself and push or "fluff" the fabric before securing it on the next pipe cleaner.

Fluff the mesh to make your wreath more full!

Whole view

4. Now continue to do this all around the inner layer of the wreath! Woohoo!! It is starting to take shape Check it out!! Now take your time and don't rush and don't forget you can move and shift the fabric even after it has been secured.

Check it out!! Looks great!

5. Once you have reached the bulb again, secure the fabric and twist it to make sure that it is not super noticeable when you switch levels with your fabric :). Continue on with this pattern all around the other layer!! 

Secure first level and move on to outer ring.

The outer level is done!

You are done with your first colour!!! Amazing job!!! I hope you are loving the way it looks!!

6. Bring out your second fabric and create your bulb to secure to the inner ring. Try to tuck the fabric under the first colour to hide the bulb.

Join the colours

7. The second colour is different in the way you secure the fabric. instead of moving the fabric in a circle (which would overlap and cover the initial colour). Alternate levels with the secondary fabric, moving from the inside level to outside and so on. Continue this around the whole Wreath and make sure that the fabric is evenly spaced.

Almost done!!!

8. Have you noticed how you can still see all of the ties? or the pipe cleaners?? Well that is not very attractive and it does not make for a very nice looking wreath. So your final step before decorating will be to hide all of the ties, you just tuck them down below the fabric and you are ready to go!!

Ties are out

All Crisp and Clean!

9. Now your base is all completed and ready to decorate! Feel free to move the fabric a bit more and make everything symmetrical.

Final tweaking before the decorations!

10. Let your imagination run free!!! You can add ribbon or ornament, you can add bells and snow flakes or snowmen. You can even use glitter and plant stems or cranberries (fake of course). For this wreath I used green ribbon, gold and silver ornaments and the ribbon flowers from the tutorial here!

Not up on the door but you can see all aspects!

This is how it looks all hung up.. Amazing right!!! I love coming home to this on my door!!

So many ideas for the years to come!!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and that you have lots of inspiration for your own!! Show me pictures I would love to see how you have done with your wreaths!!

As always... Happy Crafting!

-xo-