I'm excited to be participating with so many other bloggers today with my contribution to the Handmade Holidays Blog Hop 2014. I'll be sharing a "Hello" Mini-Quilt, the perfect gift to give to your favorite hostess to help her welcome guests into her home.
Welcome to the final day of the 4th Annual Handmade Holidays Blog Hop!
We hope you enjoyed the projects from the last 2 days! A few years ago we were looking online for handmade gift ideas and thought it would be great if there was a resource dedicated JUST to handmade gift ideas. Enter the Handmade Holidays hop!
We've gathered over 100 of our creative blogger friends in the craft industry as well as some of our fellow product manufacturers to bring you a plethora of inspiring gift ideas you can make now to give to your friends, family, and colleagues. Pin and bookmark these ideas for this holiday season and to use throughout the year! Each day of the hop features approximately 30 gift projects and you can "hop" from one blog to another to check them all out.
Hello Mini-Quilt Instructions
I love a good mini-quilt and they make wonderful gifts. This one sews up really fast since the base of the quilt is just simple strips. You could purchase yardage specifically for this, or just use some scraps.
Materials Needed:
Scraps at least 21 inches long or Fat Quarters in 5 different background fabrics
1/2 yard contrasting fabric for Hello and binding fabric
21x27 inch piece of American Spirit Cotton Batting
1/4 yard Stick by Fairfield World
You could also make it a variety of sizes. Start by cutting strips of your chosen length in various widths from your fabrics. I chose to make mine about 21 inches wide because I could use fat quarters. My finished quilt was about 21 x 27 inches. I wanted a salmon and silver color scheme and used four different fabrics. You'll want some wide strips and some narrow ones to give your quilt some visual interest. Don't be afraid to cut a few extra strips, so you've got some extra to play with.
Arrange your strips in an order you like. Remember that as you sew, it will "shrink" in length when you "lose" your seam allowances. Your quilt is going to look "too long" at this point for it's width.
Sew your strips together using 1/4 inch seam allowance. Since my fat quarters weren't exactly the same width, I had uneven ends. You'll want to trim those up with a quilting ruler.
You should end up with something like this.
Now we're ready to applique our "hello" onto the quilt. I just used a font I liked on my computer to make my hello. You can download a copy of mine here.
I applied the hello to my quilt using Stick Interfacing (part of a new line from Fairfield World...look for it in stores soon. Disclaimer: I'm a Master Maker for Fairfield World and they provided me with free samples of their products, and compensate me for sharing my experiences. All opinions and ideas shared are my own.) I always love to have something in quilts that seems to break boundaries, so I made sure my hello went over one of the seams.
Stitch around the edges of your "hello" with a tight zigzag stitch. (Mine was about a little over 1/8 inch side and the stitch length is about half way between 0 and the next larger stitch.)
I don't backstitch at the beginning or end. Instead I leave the thread tails long and pull them through to the back and tie a knot.
From here your quilt top is finished and and you can finish your quilt the way you normally would. I chose to quilt mine by first stitching around my "hello." Then I stitched about 1/4 inch on each side of my seams, but stopping where I ran into the hello. I also used the same contrasting fabric in the binding that I used in the Hello. I also used American Spirit Classic Cotton Batting for the insides. (Disclaimer: I'm a Master Maker for Fairfield World, and they provided me with free samples of their products, and compensate me for sharing my experiences. All opinions and ideas shared are my own, and I think they make amazing batting.)
Who would you make one for?
Are you ready for lots more creative handmade gift ideas and projects?? Follow along on our blog hop! Simply click on each of the links below to be taken to that post with additional information and photos on how to create a handmade gift project. Have fun and pin away!
Clearsnap
Westcott
Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L
Ellison Educational Equipment
ICE Resin
Neat and Tangled
Therm O Web
Walnut Hollow
Elizabeth Craft Designs
Rowland Technologies
Graphic 45 Hydrangea Hippo
Pink and Main
The Buckle Boutique
Tami Mayberry Art & Design - Tami Mayberry
Jamie Dougherty - Jamie Dougherty Designs
Elizabeth Craft Designs - Raquel Mason Meagan - The Charming Farmer
Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L - Angela Ploegman
Carolyn Dube - A Colorful Journey
Pink and Main - Mistyana Wright
The Buckle Boutique - Niki Wilson
It’s Sew Lorine - Lorine Mason
Therm O Web - Andy Knowlton
L. Grace Lauer - Uniquely Grace
Clearsnap - Meihsia Liu
Oh Snap Lizzie - Lizzie Sanchez
Graphic 45 - Katie Zoey Ho
Charity Wings ICE Resin - Tatiana Allen
Polly Carlson - Pieces by Polly
Ellison Educational Equipment - Jan Hobbins
RoseRedd Paper Studio - Rochelle Washington
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Follow our Handmade Holidays Gift Ideas Pinterest board for even more inspiration!
Follow Jennifer Priest of RainMaker Media Works + Hydrangea Hippo's board Handmade Holidays on Pinterest.
A huge thank you to our sponsors for this hop - please visit their blogs & websites below and follow them. And be sure to come back tomorrow for another 30+ amazing Handmade Gift Ideas!
Clearsnap || Ellison Educational Equipment || Walnut Hollow || Graphic45 || Westcott || ICE Resin || Therm O Web || Rowland Industries || Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L || Pink and Main || Elizabeth Craft Designs || The Buckle Boutique || Neat and Tangled
Additional Sponsorship provided to bloggers by:
Sakura || Fairfield Processing
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