Novelty Prints Blog Hop: Day 1

Welcome! We're so glad you're here! This blog hop is all about novelty prints from Kanvas--fun designs that make you smile--and our talented designing friends are offering up great ideas for using them! Be sure to stop back each day for a new tutorial.

First up is Lisa from Stubbornly Crafty. She chose prints from not one, not two, but three different collections, and they go together so well! She uses a reverse applique method to assemble her patchwork pillow front. Enjoy Lisa's tutorial, and then head over to her blog for a chance to win some of these fun prints for yourself.

I am so glad to be back and playing with super adorable fabrics from Benartex. I chose a few fabrics from different lines (Smudgy Cat, Mouse in the House, and Love is all Around) that I thought worked fabulously together.
Here are my picks:

• Confetti Hearts Red
• Mousing Around White
• The Big Cheese Yellow
• Smudgy Paw Red
• Tossed Smudgy White

To make the pillow top, you'll also need a 12 inch square piece of cardstock and a 14.5 inch square of felt.

Let's get started. Cut your fabrics into 2.5-inch squares (you may want to fussy cut the cats). You'll need 49 squares in all.

Using 1/4 inch seam allowance, sew your squares together in rows of seven.

When you are finished sewing rows you should have a total of seven. Arrange the rows to your liking.

Next we'll be sewing the rows together. To get all the corners to align on your squares, iron the seams of your rows in opposite directions.

You can then butt up the seams to each other to get a nice crisp fit. Pin and sew each row and then iron the seam open before moving onto the next row.

This is what it should look like when you are finished. Seven by seven measuring 14.5" square.

Next, grab your felt piece and a 12x12 piece of cardstock. Draw a heart on the paper and cut it out.

Center your heart cutout on your felt. You can do so by measuring 1 1/4 inches in on each side. Pin it in place.

Trace the heart onto the backside of your felt and cut out the heart shape, making sure not to cut the outside edges.

Place your felt (right side up) on top of your pieced top and pin.

Top stitch around the inside of the heart and around all four corners of the outside of your pillow top to tack the felt in place.

And that's it for the pillow top. Now finish off as desired. You can do an envelope style, add a zipper, sew a pillow form inside, binding, etc. I used more of the Smudgy Cat print to make a zippered back and then bound the pillow using the paw print fabric.

Thanks for sewing along with me!

Thanks Lisa! Head over to Lisa's blog to find out how you can enter to win a fat quarter bundle of the prints she used here.

Don't miss our other novelty print tutorials!

Day 1: Reverse applique pillow by Lisa from Stubbornly Crafty

Day 2: Boxy make-up bags by Jennie from Clover & Violet

Day 3: Drawstring camera bag by the Benartex blog design team

Day 4: Pillow organizer by Wendy Sheppard from Ivory Spring
Day 5: Children's vests by Debby from Debby Kratovil Quilts

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