Uh-oh! It would seem my OCD has taken over - AGAIN! I've started creating things and I just can't stop!
I have just started selling Riley Blake Designs fabrics in my eBay store and their web site has a nice "How To" section. I was intrigued by a video showing how to QUICKLY and SIMPLY make a hot pad using 10" squares. Lucky for me, I just so happened (yeah, right!) to have a new 10" die on order from Accuquilt, so I HAD to make this potholder!!
The video calls for 5 unique 10" fabric squares, so I dashed out to my Patriotic fabric shelf and scooped up 5 coordinating prints. I cut an 11" strip from each bolt and placed all 5 fabrics on my shiny, new die, which has blades for cutting 2 10" squares at a time (times the number of fabric layers). Since each strip was double layered, I ended up with a total of 20 squares (4 each). Oh joy!
I
also cut an 11" strip off my bolt of Insul-Bright batting, which is
specifically designed for making hot pads and other items that need
to be heat-resistant. I made 4 10" squares.
I followed the directions on the video and in about 15 minutes I had completed this cute hot pad. Great! I will make a set for my mom for Christmas! One more gift checked off my list. Hooray!
I sure have a short attention span these days! From my son's quilt, to the new baby/Christmas gift for a friend of mine...
I have this adorable Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer fleece print listed in my eBay store, and I knew I just HAD to make SOMETHING with it! With less than a yard left on one of my bolts, I felt it was time.
I scrounged around my store for a nice, fluffy print to back it with and ended up with this darker red fun fur fabric.
It's my first time working with fun fur fabric, and I must admit that it's not my favorite. It took a while for me to figure out that it kept getting caught up in the sewing machine foot. Once I realized that (Doh!) it was simply a matter of pressing it down with my fingers as it fed through the presser foot. Problem solved!
After I sewed the two layers together, I pondered how I would secure the interior of the blanket's front to its back. Oh wow! The PERFECT opportunity to try my hand at free motion quilting (for the first time ever)!!! The pattern has a lovely, thick black outline, so it was so easy to simply trace some of the characters on the print. The thread is practically invisible on the front, and it would take an archaeological dig to find it on the back side!
The end result is going to be great! The two layers will be secured to each other and baby can lay on the blanket without feeling anything but the soft, cozy fleece (and the fun fur, of course!). Hooray!!
I like the blanket, but I'm not sure I'm going to work with that fun fur again any time soon. I have red fur EVERYWHERE in my studio! Ack... time for shop vac!!
