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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Smudgy Cat and the Road to 1 Million

Hello, and welcome to one of many stops on American Patchwork & Quilting's 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge Blog Hop. As a sponsor of the Challenge, we're thrilled to be sharing a pillowcase made from Kanvas' Smudgy Cat collection, which we'll be donating to The Ronald McDonald House New York. We love the 1 Million Pillowcase concept--they're quick, easy and fun to make, and such a simple way to make a difference in someone's life. We're happy to help AP&Q in its quest to hit 1 million--will you help too?

We used three prints from the Smudgy Cat line along with the Rickrack Band pattern, #21 out of the 43 (!) free pillowcase patterns available on the All People Quilt website. We loved the overall cat print for the main pillow, and the two paw print fabrics provided great contrast for a wavy edge cuff. We think these friendly kitties will warm the heart of whoever receives the pillowcase--who couldn't help but smile at these cuties?!

Here's our pillowcase with a coordinating throw print made from the collection's panel--equally cozy and welcoming, we think!

And a quick peek at a few other fabrics in the collection (see them all here, and they also come in flannel!):

(psst...you'll also find a free quilt pattern using these fun felines!)

Plus the pink colorway:

Be sure to check out the other pillowcases in this hop made using Benartex fabric:

Debby Kratovil, using Cool Girl and Tropical Rainforest

Wendy Sheppard, using Made with Love

And then keep hopping! Visit all of the blogs below to see the various pillowcases that were stitched just for this blog hop, helping in the push to donate 1,000,000 cases.

·    Alison Glass (http://alisonglass.com/blog)

·    American Patchwork & Quilting (www.allpeoplequilt.com/blog)

·    Barb and Mary of Me and My Sister Designs (http://www.meandmysisterdesigns.com/blog/)

·    The Benartex Design Team: Sew in Love with Fabric (http://www.sewinlovewithfabric.blogspot.com) (YOU'RE HERE!)

·    Debby Kratovil (http://debbykratovilquilts.blogspot.com/)

·    Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts (http://www.laundrybasketquilts.net/blog/)

·    Heidi Pridemore (http://heidipridemore.blogspot.com)

·    How To Sew (www.howtosew.com)

·    Jennifer Paganelli of Sis Boom (http://www.sisboom.com/blog/)

·    Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree Quilts (http://figtreequilts.typepad.com/my_weblog/)

·    Karrie Winters of Freckled Whimsy (http://www.freckledwhimsy.com/)

·    Kelle Boyd of Ann Kelle (http://www.annkelle.com/category/blog/)

·    Linda Carlson (www.lindacarlsonquilts.com)

·    Lori Mason (http://www.lorimasondesign.com/news/)

·    Modern Quilt Studio (http://craftnectar.com/)

·    Nicole Daksiewicz of Modern Handcraft (http://modernhandcraft.com/)

·    Northcott: Patti’s Patchwork (www.pattispatchwork.com)

·    Shannon Fabrics: My Cuddle Corner (http://shannonfabrics.com/blog/index/)

·    Tammy Silvers (http://www.tamarinis.typepad.com)

·    Timeless Treasures: Sew Timeless (http://www.ttfabrics.com/blog/)

·    Valori Wells (http://www.valoriwells.com/blog/)

·    Verna Mosquera of The Vintage Spool (http://freespiritfabric.blogspot.com/)

·    Wendy Sheppard of Ivory Spring (http://ivoryspring.wordpress.com/)

Have you made a pillowcase for the Challenge yet? You can find more details and patterns here, as well as information about the 24-Hour Sew-a-thon, scheduled for September 19th and 20th, 2014. Imagine how many pillowcases can be made in 24 hours?! 

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