All Stars Pillow with Millennial Girl by Jennifer Bouron for Nerida Hansen Fabrics

Millennial Girls is a sweet fabric collection by French Artist, Illustrator and Surface Pattern designer Jennifer Bouron for Nerida Hansen Fabrics. Made in certified organic Cotton, this collection features two stunning colour ways with fun, on trend motifs.  This collection is all about all the things it means to be a Millennial Girl - Poodles, Yoga, Cafes, Flowers, Friends, Sunglasses, Music and Smoothies.  

I have worked up a Pillow Tutorial for you using these bolder colours from the collection, paired with some Kona Cotton Solids.

Here is a fun cushion to make to brighten up any spot - a chair, a bed or a reading nook.  Take your favourite prints and solids and get making with this fun and bright Tutorial for you to make your own All Stars Pillow.

All Stars Pillow

20.5in x 20.5in

1/4in seam allowance included

Requirements -   ½yd (45cm) Background fabric (White)

                            Fat ¼ or 20cm each of 4 Prints

                            Fat ¼ or 20cm each of 4 Solids         

  6in (15cm) Binding

                            24in x 24in of Batting

                            ½yd (45cm) Backing fabric

                            Machine sewing thread

                            Erasable marking pen

                            Rotary Cutter, ruler and mat

                            General sewing supplies

                            Size 20 Cushion Insert

Cutting Fabric - 

From the Background fabric, cut 16 – 3in x 3in squares and 16 – 3½in x 3½in squares

From each Print cut 4 – 3½in x 3½in squares

From each Solid fabric colour cut 4 - 3½in x 3½in squares

From the Binding fabric cut 2 – 2½in strips for the binding

From the Backing Fabric cut 2 – 16½in x 20½in rectangles

Instructions - 

Step 1 - Cut Fabrics as per cutting instructions.

Step 2 - To make 1 Star Block you will need the following – 4 Background fabric 3in squares, 4 Background fabric 3½in squares, 4 – 3½in fabrics squares from 1 print and 4 – 3½in fabrics from a solid fabric.

Step 3 - To make the centre pinwheel block - draw a diagonal line from corner to corner on the wrong side of 2 of the same 3.5in square prints using your erasable marker. Place a marked square on top of the solid print with right sides together. Pin to hold.

Sew down each side of the marked line using a ¼in seam.  Cut through the diagonal of the square on the marked line and press seam towards the darker fabric.  Repeat for the other pair of squares.

Step 4 - Trim these squares to 3in.  This will make 4 HST (Half Square Triangles) units in total.

Step 5 - To make the outside star points – take the 2 remaining squares from print 1, the 2 remaining squares from the solid print and the 4 – 3½in Background fabric squares.  Draw a diagonal line from corner to corner on each of the fabric prints.  Pair each up with a Background fabric square and pin to hold. Sew down each side of the marked line using a ¼in seam. 

    Step 6 - Cut through the diagonal of the square on the marked line and press seam towards the darker fabric.  Repeat for the other 3 squares.  This will make 8 – HST units in total.

Step 7 - Layout the following fabrics to make the rows

Row 1 – Background fabric 3in square, Solid/ Background fabric HST, Background fabric /Print HST, Background fabric 3in square.

Row 2 – Background fabric /Print HST, Print/Solid HST, Print/Solid HST, Solid/ Background fabric HST

Row 3 - Background fabric /Solid HST, Solid/Print HST, Solid/Print HST, Print/ Background fabric HST

Row 4 - Background fabric 3in square, Print/ Background fabric HST, Background fabric/Solid HST, Background fabric 3in square.

Arrange the star so that the same colour print matches up at the points.

Step 8 - Sew each of the 4 squares in each row together pressing alternate rows in the opposite direction.  This will mean that when you sew up each row the seams will “nest” and lay nice and flat.  Press rows downwards.  Your block will measure 10.5in (unfinished)

Step 9 - Repeat steps 2-8 to make a total of 4 star blocks. Sew up the squares of your pillow by sewing each of the 2 Blocks together the make a row.  Press the seams in the same direction.  Sew each of the rows together pressing alternate rows in the same direction. 

     Step 10 -  Baste and Quilt your Pillow top – centre the pillow top over the batting, pin to baste then Machine quilt your pillow top.  Trim Batting to size.

St  Step 11 - To make the Envelope Back – take the backing rectangles, fold down the backing fabric ½in down from the 20½in end.  Press in place.  Now turn over and pin this folded edge down 1in, pin and press in place.   Machine stitch down both the folded edges to hold in place.  Repeat this for the second backing piece. Take your completed cushion top and the completed back envelope panels.  Place the Front of your cushion down onto the bench (so you can see the wadding), place your first back panel on top of the wadding facing you, matching the raw edges of the side of your cushion front and the raw short edge of your backing.  Then lay your second backing piece down along the opposite raw edge also so that the right side is facing you.  Pin around the outside edges and sew these three layers together by sewing just in from the raw edges to hold in place to make it easier to sew on your binding.

S   Step 12 - Take the binding strips and join them end to end.  Press the seam open.  Then press the entire strip in half lengthways with wrong sides facing.  Start about half of the way along one side of the pillow, sew the binding strip to the right side of the pillow, mitring the corners as you go.  Stop about 6in from where you started.  Join the ends and cut off excess.  Continue sewing the binding to the pillow top.  Fold over the binding and slip stitch into place along the back-seam line.

If you are looking to add these fabulous fabrics to your stash - then head over to Nerida Hansen Fabrics and pick yourself up a bundle or yardage of this cute as collection.

Happy Quilting

Jemima x 

How to sew your Quilt Binding continuously around the corner - Tutorial

Its funny how the little things in quilting can be overlooked!  I teach lots of students how to Quilt and sometimes it those "smaller" tips or the things you think people know how to do, that students find often the most helpful.  When I teach and show students about "How to sew your Binding - continuously around the corner" this always raises eyebrows and usually big gasps of "why didn't I know this!"  After sharing this tip the other day on my Instagram Stories - (@tiedwitharibbon) it turns out that a lot of people didn't know this little trick so I thought I would share it with you.  

(This tip is only one part of the Binding process and not a full tutorial on how to bind your Quilt. You can find one I have done here)

When I first learned how to quilt - I used to sew my binding to the front of my quilt and then as I got to the corner (where I was going to mitre it) I would stop 1/4 of an inch before the end, take the quilt out of the sewing machine, make the mitre with the binding, pin it in place, then place it back in my machine to continue to sew before reaching the next corner and then repeating.  That was until I was shown this way about 6 years ago and I have never done it any other way since....

Note: I prefer to sew the Binding onto my Quilt with the batting and backing excess still as one piece - I don't trim this off before binding and I have even asked my Quilter not to trim the excess batting and backing of my quilts so I can Bind them this way.

I also like to colour match my thread!  Use threads to blend with the Top Thread to match the Binding fabric colour and the Bobbin Thread to match the quilt Backing fabric colour.

Step 1 - Use an Erasable Fabric marker to square up your quilt by marking a line around your quilt that makes the quilt Square, making sure to take into account your 1/4in seam allowance.

Step 2 - Starting along one side of your Quilt take your made Binding and sew the Binding strip to the right side of your quilt.  To Mitre your Quilt corners in one continuous sequence stop 1/4in before you reach the corner of your quilt.  

Step 3 - Put the "Needle Down" into the quilt, lift the Presser Foot and rotate the quilt around 90 degrees.  Place the Presser Foot back down.

Step 4 - Reverse Stitch back to the edge of the quilt top (I find this is about 3 stitches on my machine).  Place your "Needle Down" again.

Step 5 - Lift your Presser Foot up and fold the binding at a 90 degree angle away from your Quilt top covering the angle you have created.  

Step 6 - Line up the raw edges of your Binding along the raw edge of your Quilt top.  Place the Presser Foot back down and sew along the next side of your Quilt.

Step 7 - Continue to sew your binding all the way around your Quilt.  Once you have sewn it all the way around you can then trim the excess batting and binding.  The reason I do not trim this before binding is so that you can leave enough to fill to the centre binding line, before being folded over and sewn to the back seam line of your quilt.

I hope you find that Helpful - leave a comment below. I'd love to know what tips and tricks of quilting you would love to find out about.

PS - Thanks to Carol Brady of The Quilting Cottage for your awesome Long Arm Machine Quilting of this quilt.

Fabrics - RJR Fabrics Cotton Supreme Solids

Thread - Aurifil #5005 (top) and #2615 (backing)
Machine - Pfaff Performance 5.0

Happy quilting

Jemima x 

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Star Filled Skies Pillow Tutorial - Weekend Quilting Bonus Project!

In my book - Weekend Quilting (available here) one of the projects is a Lap Quilt called - Star Filled Skies.  When I created this design, due to the number of colours and prints I used, there were some blocks left over that were not used in making the quilt.  I decided after some discussion with my Editor that I wanted to keep the pattern written with the extra blocks otherwise the cutting instructions would have become fiddly and more complicated.  I also admit that I like a few extra blocks to play with the colours and placement of patterns to achieve the perfect layout.

So after keeping the extra blocks it was decided that I thought it would be great to use them to make a Pillow from these leftover blocks to have a Quilt and Pillow set.  Below is a Tutorial for how to construct the Pillow.  You will need a copy of Weekend Quilting to make the Star blocks (or have them leftover from your Quilt).  

Star Filled Skies Pillow

16.5in x 16.5in

Requirements

Leftover blocks from Star Filled Skies

(1 medium and 4 small stars)

1/4 yd Background Fabric

1/4 yd Binding fabric

Cotton Thread

20in x 20in Square Batting

1/2 yd Backing Fabric

18in Zip

18in Cushion insert

(I always upsize my insert by one size from the finished 

size of the pillow for a "plump" looking Pillow)

Cutting Instructions

From your Background fabric cut:

4 - 3.5in x 6.5in pieces for the pillow top

2 - 2.5in x 12.5in pieces (left and right borders)

2 - 2.5in x 16.5in pieces (top and bottom borders)

From your Backing fabric cut:

1 - 4.75in x 16.5in piece for backing top

1 - 14.25in x 16.5in piece for backing bottom

From your Binding fabric cut:

2 - 2.5in strips x WOF (width of fabric)

Step 1 - Layout your spare blocks as above and place the background pieces as shown around the stars.

Step 2 - sew a background piece to either side of your centre star and in-between your top and bottom smaller stars.  Press your seams open.  

Step 3 - Sew each of the rows together, pressing seams open.  This block now measures 12.5in x 12.5in

Step 4 - to each of the sides sew the left and right border pieces.  Press seams open.

Step 5 - sew the top and bottom border pieces to your pillow top.  Press seams open.  Your finished Pillow top will now measure 16.5in x 16.5in.

Step 6 - Take your pillow top and baste to your Batting.  Quilt however you choose.  I decided to machine quilt mine using the outside straight lines of the stars to quilt along side.  You could even hand quilt your Pillow top.  Trim your excess batting.

Zipped Cushion Back and Binding - Follow the instructions outlined in Weekend Quilting using the Chapter - Putting it All Together to show you how to make the zipped Pillow back and how to add binding to your Pillow.

Happy Sewing

Jemima x 

#weekendquiltingthebook, #weekendquilting

Foldover Clutch Tutorial

Requirements

Fat 1/8th Feature Fabric

Fat 1/4 Lining Fabric

Fat 1/8th Faux Leather

8in (20cm) Trouser/Jeans Zip

Fat 1/8th Fusible Medium-Weight Interfacing

Thread

Pins

Optional - Tassel

Note: I used Faux Leather for this project - you can, of course, use real Leather or even fabric like Chambray or Linen.

Cutting Instructions

Cut 2 - 7.5in x 9in pieces from Feature fabric

Cut 2 - 5.25in x 9in pieces from Faux Leather

Cut 2 - 12.25in x 9in pieces from Lining fabric

Cut 2 - 7.5in x 9in pieces of Interfacing

1/4in Seam Allowance 

Step 1 - Take the Feature Fabric pieces and with the iron, fuse the Interfacing to the wrong side of the feature fabric.  Take one Feature Fabric piece and one Faux Leather piece and with right sides together (RST) place the raw edges together.  Pin and sew in place.    When you pin faux Leather, place your pins into the seam so that you do not leave holes in the leather or you can use Wonder Clips to hold in place while you sew.

Step 2 - Gently press the seam towards the feature fabric.  Make sure to turn your iron heat down and do not press directly on the side of the leather but rather the back side.  Repeat steps 1-2 for the other pieces to make the back.

Step 3 - To sew the zip, take your front side panel and place it down with right side facing UP.  Place the zip - right side DOWN along the top edge of the front panel piece. 

On top of the zip place one of the Lining piece with right side DOWN.  Pin to hold the three layers together.

Step 4 - Pull the zip open about 1/3rd of the way along.  Sew along the raw edges of the fabric and zipper to sew in the zip.  You may need to put your Zipper Foot on your machine.  When you have nearly reached the zip put the "Needle Down" into the fabric and then place the Foot up and pull the zipper closed (then put your foot back down) to sew past without hitting the zip.

Step 5 - Turn your fabric out and over the right way.  Pin the Zip and Front and Lining Fabrics together and Top Stitch along the edge of the fabric to hold the Front and Lining fabric into place.  By Top Stitching this will ensure that you do not catch the lining fabric into the zip when you open it.

Step 6 - Repeat for the Back side by firstly placing the Lining fabric with the right side facing UP.  Then place the completed Front Panel on top of the Lining fabric with the right side facing UP.  Then place the Back piece on top of the front Piece.  Line up the top raw edges and Pin.  Sew in place as you did for the front. Top Stitch the Back top edge.

Step 7 - To sew the Foldover Clutch together - place the Front and Back sides together and the Lining pieces together (RST).  Make sure to OPEN the ZIP!!! Pin around the outside edges of the clutch lining up the corners, side seams and zip ends.  Begin sewing 2/3rds the way along the bottom edge of the Lining and then all the way around your clutch till you get back to about 1/3rd.  You can see I have marked where I start and finish with Blue Pins leaving this gap in the Lining for turning out.  Once you have sewn all the way around clip the corners and turn your Clutch out the right way and make sure you have "poked" out the corners.  Sew the opening in the Lining closed.

Step 8  - Gently press the clutch at the side seams and then fold over the top edge and press in place where you would like it to fold.  I like to do this about half way down the leather.  

These are great fun to make for yourself and as gifts.  Fill them with your favourite things and off you go. You can add Tassel's or Zipper Pulls or even pieces of Ribbon through the Zip pull.

If you have a go I'd love to see your makes - tag me - @tiedwitharibbon or use the #foldoverclutchtutorial so I can see your creations.

Happy Sewing

Jemima xx