April Blog Hop: Day 3

Happy Wednesday! Today's tutorial comes from Megan at Brassy Apple. Her blog's tagline is "Refashion, Revamp & Restyle Your Wardrobe & Your Life." We love Megan's blog because it branches out beyond the quilt world--she focuses on fashion, fun craft projects, and great ideas for creating with kids. Be sure to check her out--she's so prolific that we know you'll find something to love! Speaking of love, we adore her cute, crafty teacher thank you gift tutorial that she's sharing here on our blog today. After you're done here, head over to Brassy Apple for a chance to win a fat quarter bundle of the brighter colorway of The Big Apple from Kanvas. 

It's Megan from BrassyApple here! The BIG APPLE fabric line is bright, fun and has so many options for use! I decided on an "apple for the teacher" approach! It's a great way to say THANK YOU at the end of the year or HELLO at the beginning of the year!

1) Container:
Supplies: 
Paper Mache/cardboard book container
fabric - The Big Apple fabric line
scissors
fabric marker
mod podge
sponge brush

Lay your fabric flat with the wrong side up, trace around the book with your fabric marker and cut out fabric to cover the outside of the book.

Apply a layer of Mod Podge in a small section and place your fabric over the top. Repeat on all the outside surfaces of the book until it is covered. Then apply a layer of Mod Podge on top of the fabric to seal it all together.

Let dry and it's ready to be filled!

You could fill it with small cookies, candies, etc or make up some fun, useful gadgets for the teacher to use.
Like making some coordinating magnets!

2) Magnets
Supplies:
Large clear crafting bubbles
magnets
E6000 glue
scissors

Place the craft bubbles on top of the fabric. Trace around them and cut out. Cover the back of the craft bubbles with E6000 glue and place the fabric on the underside right side up. Use the glue to attach the magnet to the back. Let dry.

3) Apple hot/cold pack
Supplies:
The Big Apple fabric line - 1/4 yard 
scissors
sewing machine
rice/wheat (raw & uncooked)
straight pins

Fold your fabric lengthwise in half about 5 inches wide. Cut a half shape of an apple on the fold. Think about cutting a heart shape but with more of a flat bottom to it. If you want to draw it out use a fabric marker. Open it up to see if you like the shape. Then fold, trace and cut another apple out using the one you just cut as a template.

Using a coordinating fabric cut 2 hexagon shaped pieces (or just 2 rectangles) to use as a stem for the apple.

Sew the sides and top of the stem piece. The bottom edge will be inside the apple piece so you don't need to sew it. Place the 2 apple pieces on top of each other, wrong sides together. Tuck the stem piece in the top, pin into place, and sew around all the edges leaving a 2-3" opening one 1 side so you can fill the apple.

Need a cute poem to go along with the Apple? There's one on my blog HERe!

p.s. Don't forget to head over to Megan's blog to enter a giveaway for a chance to win a fat quarter bundle of The Big Apple!

See the schedule for the entire April blog hop here.

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April Blog Hop: Day 2

Today we are thrilled to have Svetlana from s.o.t.ak. handmade sharing a tutorial on our blog for her Big Apple Shoulder Bag. Have you visited Svetlana's blog before? She's got a wonderfully fresh, modern look--some great scrappy projects (an improv log cabin quilt, bright coasters, and a wonderful liberated basket quilt, Gwen Marston-style, to name a few). Check out her tutorial below, and then head over to her blog for some eye candy as well as a chance to win a fat quarter bundle of Kanvas' The Big Apple collection. Here's Svetlana!

THE BIG APPLE SHOULDER BAG

I made this shoulder bag for my teen daughter. It's a perfect size to keep all her "essentials" in while she's out and about with her friends.

Materials needed:

1/2 yard exterior fabric

1/2 yard lining fabric 

1/2 yard coordinating fabric for the strap, ties, and tie casing

1/2 yard fusible fleece

Finished size of the bag is approximately 11" x 13".

All the fabric I used is from the Big Apple collection by Benartex.

1. cutting

exterior fabric: cut two 12" x 14" rectangles

lining fabric: cut two 12" x 14" rectangles

coordinating fabric for the strap and ties: cut one 4" x 30" strip for the strap

                                                                   cut two 3" x 10 1/2" strips for the casing

                                                                   cut two 2" x 34" strips for the ties

fusible fleece: cut two 12" x 14" rectangles

                        cut one 4" x 30" strip for the strap

2. attaching casing for the ties to exterior panels

Following manufacturer's direction, attach fusible fleece to the wrong side of both exterior panels, set aside for now.

Fold the 3" x 10 1/2" casing strip in half along the 10 1/2" side, right sides together, pin to keep layers from shifting, and sew along all 3 raw edges, leaving 3" opening in the middle of the long side.

Trim the corners, turn right side out, press. (note, you still have a 3" hole where you turned the casing right side out, you'll stitch it closed in the next step while attaching the casing to the exterior panel of your bag)

Place the casing on the right side of the exterior panel 2" from the top, 1" from each side of the panel. Pin. 

Stitch along both long sides of the casing, using 1/8 seam allowance. Backstitch at the beginning and end. Make sure not to stitch along the short sides of the casing !!!!

Following the same directions, make the second casing and attach it to the second exterior panel.

3. assembling the exterior of the bag

Place both exterior panels on top of each other, right sides together, making sure your tie casings are on top. Pin, stitch around the 2 long and a bottom side. Backstitch at the beginning and end. 

Clip the corners, press the seams open, and turn right side out. Set aside for now.

4. assembling the lining

Place both lining panels on top of each other, right sides together. Pin, stitch around the 2 long and a bottom side. Backstitch at the beginning and end.

Clip the corners and set aside for now.

This is what your exterior and lining of the bag will look like at this point.

5. making the strap
Attach fusible fleece to the wrong side of your 4" x 30" strip of fabric for the strap.

Fold the strip in half along the 30" side, press. Now open the strap, fold both long ends over to meet in the middle, press. Bring the ironed under ends together and pin.

Topstitch along both long edges and then fill in more stitching about 1/4" apart to give your strap a nice texture.

6. attaching the strap to your bag

Line up the short edge of your strap with the top of the exterior of your bag ( the seam where the front and bag exterior panels meet is where the middle of your strap is). Pin in place.

Using 1/8" seam allowance, stitch in place.

Repeat on the other side to attach both sides of the strap. The picture shows what your bag should look like at this stage.

7. attaching lining to your exterior

Now place the exterior of your bag (right side out) inside the lining (right side in). Make sure the tops of both lining and the exterior are lined up. Pin all the way around the top raw edge.

Stitch all the way around, leaving about 5" opening in the middle for turning the bag right side out.

Turn the bag right side out through the hole in the opening. Push the corners out and adjust the lining inside the bag.

Pin the opening closed, topstitch around the top of the bag, removing the pins as you go. (you can do a double topstitch as I did)

8. making ties
Using the same method as for making the strap in step 5, press the 2" x 34" strip of fabric in half, bringing the edges in the middle and folding them in.

Pin if you like, and topstitch along the folded edge as shown in the picture.

Make two ties using this method.

9. finishing up the bag

Thread one fabric tie through the casing on the exterior of the bag, thread the other tie on the other side. Make a tight knot on each raw edge of the tie. Pull the ties together and make a loose knot on both sides.

Congratulations, you're finished! Now, wasn't that fun? 

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial. Svetlana

p.s. Don't forget to head over to Svetlana's blog to enter a giveaway for a chance to win a fat quarter bundle of The Big Apple!

See the schedule for the entire April blog hop here.

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April Blog Hop: Day 1

We are so excited that Susan Phillips over at Living with Punks is sharing a tutorial using our Cabana II fabrics today! If you haven't visited Susan's blog before, spend some time browsing around. You'll love her pom-pom pillow, silhouette wall art, and embellished clothing ideas!

Head over to Living with Punks today to see Susan's Cabana Shorts tutorial. Adorable, aren't they?

We're holding the Cabana II bundle giveaway right here!

Check out these nautical beauties--which do you like best? 

Here's how it works:

1. Sign up to follow the blog via Google Friend Connect or via email (right hand sidebar) and then leave a comment here, telling us that you have done so. If you're already signed up, great! Just let us know.
2. Like us on Facebook and then leave a comment here, telling us that you have done so. If you already have, great! Just let us know.

The giveaway is open through Thursday, April 18th at 11:59 pm EST. We'll 

announce the winner Friday morning. 

**If you are a no-reply blogger, either leave us a way to contact you in your comment, or be sure to check back on Friday. If you win and we don't hear from you, we can't send you your fabric!**

See the schedule for the entire April blog hop here. 

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April Blog Hop!

On Monday we're kicking off a new feature--our April blog hop!

That's right--we've got 4 fantastic tutorials with some of our favorite bloggers lined up for this week!
Plus, each stop on the hop will include a chance to win a bundle of the day's featured fabric line.

Be sure to stop by Monday through Thursday to see the tutorials and visit our talented blogging friends. 
(Plus find out how to enter each giveaway!)

Here's the line-up:
Monday: Susan Phillips from Living with Punks
Tuesday: Svetlana Sotak from s.o.t.a.k. handmade
Wednesday: Megan Pyrah from Brassy Apple
Thursday: Wendy Sheppard from Ivory Spring

We know you'll love what these designers have to share--they'll be showing a great variety of projects featuring some of our current fabric lines. 

See you Monday morning! 

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A Box Full of Color

What happens when a designer has a full palette of our Naturescapes fabrics to play with?

You get this!

Wendy Sheppard designed this beauty, called "Stained Glass," and it's featured in the spring 2013 issue of Simple Quilts magazine.

We asked Wendy to tell us more about her design (and share a few more photos!): 

How did you come up with the design idea?  

I was going for something simple with a boxed in look.  I thought that framed four-patches fit the bill nicely.

What do you like best about the design?  

The colors for sure - I like to look at scrappy quilts that draw the eye to their various parts because of the colors.

How did you choose the background color?

White, cream or gray are my usual go-to background colors.  For this particular quilt, I didn't want the stark white contrast, and didn't feel like I wanted gray either.  So, the cream was my safe choice that provided a bit of contrast, but not too loudly.

What attracted you to the fabrics?

I liked the look of textures in those fabrics, and Benartex sent me the ENTIRE range of fat quarters to play with.  It was pure bliss. 

What do you like best about the fabrics?  

The fabrics sewed up nicely.  I liked the tighter fabric weave which made the fabrics fray less easily.

How did you decide to machine quilt this and why?  

I wanted to create a secondary look to the quilt using quilting.  Instead of reinforcing the 4-patch block look, I decided to quilt a variation of the orange peel motif with feathers so that at first glance, the quilt looks much more complicated than just a variation of a 4-patch quilt.

Read Wendy's post about her quilt (and see some additional beautiful pictures!) here.
Want to make your own? Find the kit for this quilt here.
Find Simple Quilts magazine here. 

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And the Winner is...

The results are in, and we're ready to announce the 2013 Fan Favorite fabric collection!!!

Drumroll, please....

And the winner is:

 Congratulations to these vibrant batiks!

(You can also see the entire collection here)

Thanks so much to everyone who voted over the last two weeks!

And we promised fat quarter bundle winners. We had over 75 comments, so we're giving away three bundles from our winning fabric collection. Our three randomly selected winners are:

Cheryl, BJ, and Kathy, please email us at sewinlovewithfabric (at) gmail.com with your mailing address by April 10 at 11:59 EST. If we don't hear from you by then, we will have to choose an alternate winner.

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Down to the Final Two!

We're so close to naming our Fan Favorite fabric line! 

Just a few days of voting left. 

And now, for our Final Two:

Botanical Garden Balis

Lush, vibrant triple-dyed batiks that shine and sparkle. 

And a little quilt inspiration:

Grape Crush by Stitched Together Studios

Find the free pattern here.

Ellie Ann by Eleanor Burns

Classic floral beauty in three fresh colorways.

And a little quilt inspiration:

 Rambling Rose by Janet Page Kessler

Find the free pattern here.

Which fabric collection will you vote for? 

Help us name the Fan Favorite fabric line! Cast your vote on our Facebook page starting April 4 at 2pm EST and running through April 7 at 11:59 EST. 

**After you vote, leave a comment below letting us know which line you chose and why. For every 25 comments left here on the blog between now and April 7 at 11:59 pm EST, we'll give away a fat quarter bundle of the winning fabric line to a randomly chosen commenter. One comment per person, please--additional comments will be deleted.

Good luck to both Botanical Garden Balis and Ellie Ann!

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