sewing • cooking • crafting • all things domestic
Just wanted to check in and let you know that I’m here. I am super-busy right now trying to get my next three patterns published by next month. So, I will apologize in advance for my lack of blogging over the next couple weeks. I was really excited by your response to my handmade business series, so I definitely have some posts on those topics coming soon. But for right now, I have to make sure I focus on getting down to business, so I need to pull myself away from the computer and hit the sewing machine.
We have a photoshoot scheduled for next week for all the pattern covers and I am so excited that we will be using several fans from our The Cottage Mama Facebook page for the ‘boy’ pattern that will be released! We will photograph my little guy, Caspian Finn, as well, but he isn’t standing yet so we have some adorable little guys that will be modeling for us.
I am sewing up a storm trying to make sure we have all the variations of each pattern constructed and making sure the sizing is all correct. There are three variations in each pattern, so that is at least nine garments, with a few more for good measure. My head is swirling with ideas, fabric combinations and lots of pretty trim. I literally just starred at my fabric for 20 minutes yesterday not being able to put a fabric combination together to save my life…….I guess I’ll call it sewers block. But today is a new day and inspiration has been found!
Fabric Line: ‘Sunny Happy Skies’ by Bella Blvd for Riley Blake Designs
Press seams open and clip curves or trim with pinking shears.
Do the exact same thing with the other three exterior petal pieces. So that you end up with two large pieces that have three petals each.
Place the two, three petal pieces with the right sides together and stitch according to picture above. Press seams.
FREE Girls Sun Hat Sewing Pattern from The Cottage Mama
Wow, what an incredible last several days we’ve had! The 45th Annual Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest has come to a close and though Mom didn’t walk away with the $1 million grand prize, we all walked away with memories to last a lifetime! I feel so blessed to have been able to share this once in a lifetime experience with my mom and am so glad she invited me along for the ride!
The 45th Annual Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest was held this year in Orlando, FL at the Peabody Hotel. Each finalist was allowed to bring three guests, but many people came by themselves. Pillsbury paid for the finalists entire trip, but the guest fee was pretty steep. We all got up super-early and flew into Orlando and arrived around noon. Mom and Pepo flew in from Houston and Caspian and I flew in from Chicago, IL. Pillsbury had private transportation arranged for all of us (even the guests)……..I don’t think I would ever get tired of having a driver ready and waiting to pick me up!
When we arrived at the hotel, we checked in our rooms and then went down to registration. The finalists and guests registered and received their name badges. They had a wonderful lunch spread for everyone with things like roast beef and brie sandwiches, pasta salad, jicama salad, terra chips and tons of sweet treats like butterscotch blondies, brownies, chocolate chip cookies and so much more!
After lunch the finalists had a long orientation and then we all attended a cocktail hour hosted by the different grocery stores from around the country. Mom’s store is ‘Kroger’ so we hung out with the folks from ‘Kroger’ and the other ‘Kroger’ finalists. After the cocktail hour we made our way into the semi-formal welcome dinner.
The food at the dinner was amazing!! The salad was to-die-for and the steak was cooked to an absolute perfect medium. The dessert was just delicious and went perfectly with our red wine!
The next morning was the competition. We had to be at breakfast around 6:00AM. Then the finalists lined up outside the ballroom for the historic ‘Grand March’ into the Bake-Off. While the finalists lined up, the rest of the guests, media, and folks from the Martha Stewart Show made our way into the ballroom.
Many people get star-struck around different movie stars, models, ect……..nope, not me……..I was almost paralyzed with excitement from being around Martha Stewart herself!! I must have taken a million pictures of her. And the fact that I was standing next to the Editor of Everyday Food Magazine and talking with Joey Kola (Martha’s sidekick) was so incredibly thrilling!! Martha was so sweet and lovely. She was on the quieter side and seemed genuinely excited to be there.
After the contestants did the Grand March into the ballroom, a deep voice came over the sound system announcing the beginning of the ’45th Annual Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest’. And from that point on the finalists had 4 hours to make their recipes 3 times ~ once for the judges, once for the display table and an optional third time for tasting (for media and other finalists).
The excitement in the room was so electric! There was media everywhere and Martha Stewart’s team was walking around with several different crews filming, interviewing and tasting different recipes. I noticed that the Martha Stewart Show had certain finalists bookmarked and it turns out Mom was one of them. Martha stopped by several times, tasted Mom’s recipe and took a picture of Mom’s blackberries with Martha’s own personal camera.
Each finalist had a runner that was there to help them get ingredients or help them with any issues they might have. Mom really liked her runner, ‘Cody’ and she also made friends with the finalists on either side of her. She tried Pam’s ‘Loaded Nacho Burgers‘ and said I needed to link to them on the blog because they are SO good……Mom said she’s actually going to make them tonight for dinner! So if you would like to check out the recipe for ‘Loaded Nacho Burgers’, click HERE.
My little man, Caspian Finn, slept through the first several hours of the Bake-Off in his stroller (he was a little under the weather). Once he finally woke up, I took him out of the stroller and put on his Doughboy hat that I made for him. I made a basic chef hat in white and embroidered ‘Doughboy’ on the front. And let me tell you………Caspian was a HUGE hit! He had media swarming him……Martha Stewart’s crew, Pillsbury, General Mills, Better Homes and Gardens, ect……The President of Pillsbury even asked me to take him over to have his picture taken with the real Doughboy. We had so much fun!
After the competition was complete, we were able to view all the different recipes on the display table. Mom had obviously had an amazing time and was on such a high from everything.
We spent some time that afternoon relaxing and talking about her experience. That evening was the celebration dinner where they had transformed one of the ballrooms into a night club. It was really fun and they had all kinds of stations preparing different foods such as Pad Thai, Lamb and Buffalo Sliders, Shrimp and Pork Quesadillas and much more. We didn’t stay too long because they had an awesome band playing, but it was too loud for my little man.
The next morning we went to breakfast and got ready for the Martha Stewart Show. The Martha Show set was set up in one of the ballrooms and the show was broadcast live from the Peabody hotel and aired on the Hallmark Channel. The whole show was about the Bake-Off Contest. And while Mom did not win any of the prizes we saw her and her recipe in the television footage and Caspian and I were featured on the show as well!! Pretty cool, if I do say so myself.
After a slight feeling of disappointment that Mom didn’t walk away with the $1 million dollars, a few hugs from her own little Doughboy certainly made her feel better!
The people at Pillsbury and General Mills did a fabulous job with this entire event. I can see why they only put this on every other year…….it is a lot of work! We made so many friends and got to talk to so many lovely people. The 45th Annual Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest is one that we will remember for the rest of our lives and as the folks from Pillsbury said, Mom is now officially part of Bake-Off history.
You can purchase the cookbook with all of the Bake-Off finalists recipes at most major grocery stores (usually located where you check out) or check out the recipes online. Also, I know many of you love to cook, so I would highly recommend you start thinking about a recipe for the 46th Bake-Off Contest that will take place in 2014 and definitely try to enter. I know Mom already has two pages of recipe ideas going…….yes, it was that much fun……..she certainly wants to go for it again!
Here we are on the final day of the ‘Will it go round in circles?’ quilt pattern and tutorial. Today we will bind our quilt. This binding tutorial is a great one whether you are binding a quilt or even a simple baby blanket. Keep on going……..you’re almost finished! And now here’s my mom (Grandma Jane)………….
Part 5: Binding
34. Binding–Stitching all complete? It is time to bind your quilt. Yea! We are almost finished! I like to machine stitch the binding on to the quilt and then finish it up with hand stitching.
35. Place the ends of two binding pieces right sides together as shown. Use a fabric marker to draw a line diagonally across the pieces, pin and stitch along the drawn line. Trim to ¼ inch and press. Attach a third piece in the same way. Continue joining all the pieces together—making one long piece of binding.
36. Fold the binding WRONG sides together and press along the length of the binding.
37. Leaving a 9-10 inch piece free, place the open edges of the folded binding along the edge of the quilt top—I usually start on the bottom edge of the quilt as the finish will be somewhat less obvious. Some quilters trim up the excess batting and quilt backing that extends past the quilt top right now but I really prefer to wait to do this later so that I am not battling to make sure I catch all the edges of the quilt sandwich in my stitching.
38. Using your walking foot, stitch the binding on the quilt using a ¼ seam. I do not pin this step—just place the binding along the edge as I go –sometimes adjusting a little to keep it smooth and without puckers.
39. To make a nice, neat mitered corner, stitch to ¼ inch away from the first corner. Lift your presser foot, rotate the quilt up slightly, put presser foot down and then take just a couple of stitches angled out to the corner edge. Clip your top and bottom threads.
40. Turn the quilt, fold the binding up and then down as shown, and start stitching again along the edge of the second side of the quilt. Repeat for the next three corners and sides.
41. Stop stitching at least 10 inches from where you began attaching the binding.
42. Sewing the two ends of the binding together is my very least favorite part of this because for some reason I always struggle to get it to fit evenly. I came across this neat little tool, cut Rite Bind Up, on-line and ordered one from www.quiltersparadiseesc.com I have used it several times and it is definitely helping me do a better job. It comes with great directions and pictures.
43. Press the two ends of the unsewn binding so they meet and match up.
44. Unfold the left side of the binding so the wrong side is up and using a fabric pen mark the creased edges as shown on the wrong side of the fabric. Lay the tool on top of the wrong side of the fabric as shown, matching the markings on the tool with the fabric pen lines on the fabric and cut along the angled edge. Repeat for the right side of the binding piece.
45. Sew the two ends of the binding together, right sides together in a ¼ inch seam. Check for a good fit and finish stitching the binding to the quilt. Whew, done!
46. Now trim the edges of the quilt on all four sides. Cut off the excess batting and quilt back fabric, at least ¼ inch away from stitches. Cut carefully—I position on the quilt on the ironing board so I can pull the fabric somewhat taut with my left hand as I trim with my right.
47. Now my favorite part—hand stitching the binding to the quilt back!! I know some quilters really do not like this and prefer to machine stitch the binding but for some reason I find this very relaxing to have a little hand work to do. I machine sew upstairs in my sewing room away from where my dear hubby, Pepo, usually hangs out in the downstairs den with the big TV. This is a great project to work on as I sit next to him and watch TV with him or make him carry on a “meaningful’ conversation with me. (He is rolling his eyes about now…he is not a big talker.) Anyway, I love the feeling of getting close to finishing a project and seeing what the quilt is actually going to look like. I really like to think about the person that I am making the quilt for as finish this last step.
48. Fold the creased edge of binding up over the edge of the quilt to the quilt back. I love these quilt binding clips—so easy and much better than pinning.
49. I start sewing the binding down on the bottom of the quilt and work right to left with my stitches. Using a single strand of thread, make a knot and pull needle through on the underside of the binding, catching slightly the batting and quilt back fabric and exiting right in the crease of the binding.
50. Take a small stitch out from the binding crease into the line of stitches you made when machine stitching the binding. Insert the needle through the quilt back fabric and batting, taking care not to catch the quilt top, and make a stitch towards the left about ¼ inch in length. Pull the needle up through the crease of the binding and repeat moving along right to left.
51. When you approach the corner, hold the binding down and take several stitches up into the corner. Fold the binding over from the next side—making a nice mitered edge and take a couple of small stitches in the angled fold. Continue stitching, taking care to keep your stitches along the creased edge as small as possible so they do not show.
52. Whew! It’s finished and is ready to toss in the washer on COLD gentle cycle. An absolute must in my book is to use a Shout Color Catcher. These little sheets are miracle workers in “catching” any color that may bleed from your fabric—especially when working with white and any dark colors like red, orange or blue. I have been known when really nervous about bleeding colors to throw in 3 or 4 of the little sheets and I have not had a problem yet.
53. Take your quilt out of the washer as soon as the washer stops so wet fabric does not get any other chance to bleed. Toss in the dryer to get it all warm and cozy. It is fun to see how it crinkles up along the quilting lines. I think I like the look of my circle quilt on the sofa in my sewing room. Piecing the back gives a nice surprise when you flip it over too. I didn’t get a label on this quilt yet and maybe we can talk about that on another day.
This has been such fun talking and sharing on Lindsay’s blog. I hope I have been able to share a little something that you didn’t already know. Most of all I wanted to share how much I love the idea of a cozy, warm gift of a quilt to be used to “cover in love and hugs” a special person. It’s a way to give a hug from miles away and who isn’t going to treasure that for many year to come? Like I said, I think I am keeping this circle quilt for me as a reminder of all those crazy, wonderful circles in my life!
P. S. My next adventure is going to be competing as one of 100 finalists in the 45th Pillsbury Bake-off Contest in Orlando, Florida on March 26th. Martha Stewart is hosting and will be announcing the Million Dollar winner live on her show on March 27th on the Hallmark Channel 11 am EST. Pepo, Lindsay and Baby Caspian will be there with me so keep a look out for us!
Wish Mom luck at the Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest this weekend! Caspian will be sporting his Pillsbury doughboy hat that I made for him, so we should be pretty easy to spot during the competition. Although, I’m not sure Martha Stewart would appreciate him wearing his hat to her show, so we may leave that it the hotel room during the taping of her show. But anyway, just look for the brown haired mama with a super-chubby, completely adorable, bald baby boy! Can’t wait!!
So here we are…….we’ve got our quilt top pieced together and our quilt backing ready to go. Now for the most exciting part, actually quilting our quilt. Mom (Grandma Jane) has some really great information and tips in Part 4 of the ‘Will It Go Round In Circles?’ quilt pattern and tutorial. If you’ve ever been a little nervous about quilting, don’t worry, Grandma Jane will show you the way…….
Part 4: Quilting
19. How to “sandwich” your quilt—I like to lay the backing and the quilt top out on the floor to check for placement. I decided I wanted the pieced section to be even with my second row of circles. Use safety pins to mark the sides for this placement. I also always mark the middle of the top, bottom and sides of my quilt top and backing with safety pins for help when positioning when I sandwich the quilt.
20. Fold the quilt top in half RIGHT sides together and fold in half again.
21. Fold the backing in half WRONG sides together and fold in half again.
22. Cut your batting in the size directed—you need at least 4-6 inches extra on each side top and bottom so it is cut larger than your quilt top. I usually buy a queen size batting at JoAnn’s when I have a coupon or when they are on sale. The queen size will make a good size lap quilt and a couple of baby quilts depending on size with leftovers that you can baste together for other projects. Mark the middle of the sides, bottom and top of the batting with safety pins for placement later.
23. I sandwich and pin baste my quilts with curved quilting pins on top of my dining room table with a cardboard pattern cutting board and my rotary cutting mat on top to protect the table. I take extreme care not to scratch the table finish. (This was my new hubby’s table before we got married last year and a scratch would not score me any points!) I have tried the floor for putting the quilt together but I have a knee that doesn’t cooperate so I go the careful table route!
24. Carefully unfold your quilt back right side DOWN on the table and smooth out. Fold your batting in half length wise and place on top with center fold down the middle of the quilt. Match the safety pins that you marked the middles of your batting and quilt back. Unfold batting to cover the quilt back and smooth out, starting in the middle and working out.
25. Unfold the quilt top, centering the center fold and matching up the safety pins in the middles of the tops and sides of backing, batting and top. Match up where you marked for the pieced backing—you do want that to be straight across the top. Peak under to make sure everything lines up.
26. Now smooth, smooth, smooth! Get out all the wrinkles that you can!
27. Using the curved quilting safety pins, pin baste together all three layers. Place pins every 4 -5 inches. Once I pin baste the entire area of the quilt on the top of the table, I gently move the sandwich to either side of the table and finish up the basting. I kind of scoot the cardboard and rotary mat around also to make sure my table top is still protected. Trim off the edges leaving about 2 inches all the way around the quilt.
28. Roll the sides in towards the middle of the quilt and fold to carry to your machine. I like to quilt the length of the quilt first as this is always going to be less bulky because there is less fabric than rolling up the other direction.
29. Quilt Stitching—now in my dreams, I will someday be an awesome free-motion quilter—even took a class recently with my friend, Diane. However, until I practice a lot more—I will stick with some simpler quilting. A walking foot for your machine is a must—helps evenly “walk” over the three layers of your quilt. I did not use one the first two quilts I made and noticed a huge difference the first time I used one. For my circle quilt, I decided to go with a little tip the gal who taught the free motion class showed us. You can adjust your machine to get this curvy sort of stitch and use your walking foot to change up a basic straight line quilting. I wanted something a little softer to go with the ideas of the circles and so this was perfect. This is the setting I used on my machine.
30. Starting at the top, stitch down the middle of your quilt. (See those cute quilting gloves? They look funny but really do help you hold onto your fabric as stitch.) The first few lines of stitching when you are trying to move the bulk of your sandwich through the machine are the hardest. Hang in there. Best not to let your quilt sandwich hang down off your table as that creates more resistance. I like to sling the quilt up over my left shoulder and then move it through the machine. The more table space you have to the left and back of your machine—the better but we have to work with what we have got.
31. Work your way out to the right side with each subsequent line of stitching. I used the walking foot guide to stitch 1 ¼ inch to 1 ½ inch from the previous line of stitching. This way you are reducing the bulk of the quilt that you are trying to manage in the neck of your machine. It gets so much easier as you reach the edges of the quilt. Keep the left side of the sandwich rolled up as you go so it doesn’t fall off the table, drag and cause resistance. Make sure you remove your safety pins as you go—stitching over a pin and getting it caught in the walking foot will make you jump to attention very quickly! Not fun!
32. Once you have quilted the first half from the middle and out to the right side, flip the quilt over so the bottom is now at the top. Stitch again in the middle, 1 ½ inch from your very first line of stitching, using your guide, working from the new top down. Work your way out to the other side with subsequent lines of stitching. I like my curvy stitches-what do you think? Beauty of this, too, is that no one can tell when you get off a little bit. No need to be perfect when quilting! No one will ever see your mistakes once you wash and dry your quilt.
33. Once the main body was quilted, I “stitched in the ditch” around the two borders. This can be a little tricky—you just stitch as close as you can—ideally right in the “ditch” between the two pieces that are sewn together.
Part 3: Quilt Backing
15. Quilt Backing—I sub cut layer cake pieces for the pieced backing but as above in the cutting instructions. You can cut strips however you like—it’s great way to use up scraps. Lay strips out to get the look you like. Then sew 16 of the 2 ½ inch x 10 inch strips (right sides together) along the long side. Press seams to left side. Sew the other 16 together, press seams to left and then join two sets together. (Doing the two sets allows easier handling instead of sewing strips one at a time).
16. Sew short ends of two narrow back border pieces together. Repeat for other two. Press seams. With right sides together, sew borders to top and bottom edges of pieced backing strip. Press seams up. Trim excess border even with pieced backing.
17. For main backing, cut 3 ½ yd fabric piece in half x WOF for two pieces 63” x 40” and trim selvages off along LOF (length of fabric).
18. Sub cut one piece LOF into 63 inches X 26 inches. Sew this piece with right sides together to the top of the pieced backing strip. Sew the 63 x 40 piece to the bottom of the pieced backing strip. Press seams up and press backing well. Your quilt backing is finished!
Part 2 (Quilt Top Continued):
7. Now with all 56 squares, complete, lay out the squares again and make sure you like your color placement. Sew your blocks together into rows of 7 blocks each with a scant ¼ seam. I love Diary of a Quilter Amy Smart’s helpful tutorial on the “scant ¼ inch seam” (click HERE to view her tutorial). The first couple of quilts I made I did not realize that I was sewing more than a ¼ inch and I think it can make a difference.
8. Press all seams of the blocks to the side after you finish each row. I typically press odd numbered rows to the left and even numbered rows to the right. Pressing as you go is SO very important and a step you cannot skip in quilting or with any kind of sewing for that matter. Remember to “press”—running/pulling the iron back and forth can stretch your seams and fabric.
9. Now pin two rows together, carefully matching your seams. As you pin and match your seams—aim for right along the stitching. You will feel your pin slip in smoothly if it is in the right place. Some resistance may mean that you need to try again to align properly.
10. Stitch the two rows together. I typically leave the pins in the fabric until I am just about to the pinned seam, lift slightly to make sure it is aligned, pull out the pin and keep sewing.
11. This is where those nicely pressed seams come in to play as they nest so well together. Press the seams for the rows in one direction—I usually press the seam towards the top of the quilt. Press well on both sides—front and back.
12. I Like to join two rows at a time, press and then join to another two row panel just to make it a little easier to handle. Continue until all 8 rows are sewn together and press seams and front well.
13. For your borders, sew short ends of narrow borders (right sides together) with ¼ inch seams. Measure sides of quilt and cut two pieces to fit. Sew border (right sides together) with ¼ inch seam on both sides of quilt top. Press seam towards border. Trim ends/edges. Apply border in same way to top and bottom.
14. Repeat for wide border pieces. Sew sides and then top and bottom. Trim and square up edges. Your quilt top is finished!
Thanks again, Mom!
If you all have any questions, please leave a comment and Grandma Jane will be on the blog to reply.
This week we have a very, I mean very, special guest here with us on The Cottage Home ~ my mom (aka Grandma Jane)! I am so excited that Mom agreed to guest blog and share her amazing talent and skills with everyone. My mom is definitely not one to toot her own horn, but I’m not kidding when I say that she has serious talent in the sewing arena.
Grandma Jane is sharing a free quilt pattern and tutorial for everyone. Today she will share the first part and will post every day this week until we have sewn the quilt from start to finish. Sound like fun? If you’ve ever been interested in quilting, make sure you follow along (or sew along, for that matter).
And now, without further ado, here is The Cottage Mama’s Mama, Grandma Jane:
Will it go round in circles?
How much fun it this? Here I am on my daughter, Lindsay’s, blog and have been invited to do a tutorial! Pretty amazing since a couple of years ago I had no idea what a blog was until Lindsay explained her plan for The Cottage Home. Wow! I have been so impressed with the sharing of creativity and the learning opportunities out there on blogs with all the sewing, crafting, cooking and project ideas. I must admit I spend a little too much time looking at all the great ideas/inspiration on blogs—don’t even get me started on my new love of Pinterest!
I started sewing way back in 8th grade home economics class in Colby, Kansas, with inspiration and lots of help from my sister, Sarah, who was into sewing her own clothes. (Do schools even offer home economics and sewing anymore?) Our mother didn’t sew… her creativity and artistic talents shined in many other respects (that’s a whole story in itself) but we didn’t expect her to do anything more complicated than sewing on a button.
Through the years I sewed clothes for myself and clothes, toys, costumes for my children—oh, yes, the costumes…Did you know The Cottage Mama was a musical theater major her first year of college? That path included many, many (did I say many?) costumes for the stage sewn by this “stage mama” through the years. Lindsay changed directions to a degree in finance…. but let me tell you this girl has the voice of an angel that makes me tear up and get a giant lump in my throat every time I hear her sing.
Lindsay has been an incredible inspiration for me to get the creative juices flowing and she encouraged me to get sewing again last year with a Christmas gift of several Kate Spain Fandango charm packs and an Amy Butler book. My dear friend, Diane had also invited me to join her church quilt ministry group. Margaret, the leader of the ministry and also the “Head Quilting Nerd,” as she refers to herself, got me hooked the first night of class as she talked about the beauty of the longevity of the gift of a quilt. The thought of creating a gift that could be handed down through the generations was incredibly appealing to me. So please understand I am a newbie at this quilting thing but am glad to share some ideas with you.
I have really been drawn to circles in quilt designs lately and when I saw the new Salt Air by Cosmo Cricket for Moda Fabrics, I thought it was perfect. I also was looking for a reason to use my new AccuQuilt Go Baby that I gave myself for Christmas. (Do you ever do that?)
Funny thing happened when I started working on my quilt. That 1970’s Billy Preston song, Will It Go Round in Circles, kept popping into my head. A blast from my high school past for sure. I know that sounds funny—why not the beautiful Circle of Life song from The Lion King? (That would be much more “grandma-like.”) Nope! Billy’s rock and roll song kept going through my head over and over and over again.
The more I thought about that song, I started thinking about how life is so very full of circles! (This is about where my kids kind of roll their eyes and say—“you are so corny, Mom.”) I admit it–I am a pretty sentimental type…I just can’t help it.
But really…think about it—we have that expected cycle and “circle of life”–we grow, create our own lives and families, and we eventually come around 360 degrees and watch our children grow and start their families. We find ourselves in the places our parents and grandparents were. That circle comes “round” lots sooner than we ever thought it would.
Then we have those crazy happy, wonderful, twirly circles-you know the kind of circles that give you that dizzy, excited feeling you got as a kid when you twirled and twirled and spun with arms spread wide with pure true joy…falling in love, getting married, holding our children and grandbabies….pure joy!
Busy, busy madly running circles—the mode we get in when we are raising our families, working, and just trying to keep up! Exhausting, tiring…sometimes feeling like a hamster running round in a little wheel.
Knock you off your feet spinning circles …the kind that hit you hard and spin you around sometimes when you are least expecting it….an illness, a death, divorce, problems with our kids, losing a job… heartaches…difficult to get up and go on sometimes…but we do.
Circles of support… family, friends, co-workers, church…true blessings and gifts….they may change through the years but always present and precious.
So….will it go “round” in circles? Yes, it will….all sorts of circles …all sorts of directions…at all sorts of speeds. Here is my simple circle quilt that reminded me of this…. Think I am keeping this one for me.
I followed this basic pattern over at the Moda Bake Shop (tons of ideas and free patterns) but changed it up a little to make a larger size lap quilt and am going to give you some of my very basic sewing tips. I usually “tweak” things as I go along any way and rarely keep entirely to a pattern.
Background: 3 yds neutral color fabric (Moda Bella Solids Cream)
• Cut (12) 7 ½ inch x WOF (width of fabric) strips
• Trim off selvages. Crosscut in 7 ½ inch squares. Each strip will yield (4) cut squares and one piece on the fold that you will open, press and cut into another 7 ½ x 7 ½ square. (Total 5 squares per strip)
Circles: (56) 5” charm squares, scraps, or approximately 1 ¼ yd to cut your own squares. (Moda Salt Air by Cosmo Cricket).
• If cutting your own–Cut (7) 5 inch strips x WOF, trim off selvages and crosscut into 5 inch squares. Each strip will yield 8 cut squares.
Fusible web backing: Enough to cover all (56) 5 inch squares depending on width of the fusible backing. (I used Lite Steam-A-Seam).
Narrow Borders: front 3/8 yd and back ¼ yd (Moda Bella Solids Tomato Soup)
• Cut (6) 1 ½ inch strips x WOF for front. Trim selvages.
• Cut (4) 1 ½ inch strips x WOF for back borders. Trim selvages
Wide border: ¾ yd (Moda Bella Solids Buttercup)
• Cut (6) 3 inch strips x WOF. Trim selvages
Binding: 5/8 yd (Moda Bella Solids Tomato Soup)
• Cut (7) 2 ½ inch strips x WOF. Trim selvages.
Pieced Backing Strips:
• Cut (32) 2 ½ inch x 10 inch strips. ( I sub cut 8 layer cake pieces into 4 strips each)
Backing: 3 ½ yd (Moda Butterscotch and Roses Ruby Acorn Mosaic)
Batting:
• Cut one piece at least 64 inches x 72 inches. (I like Warm and Natural)
Let’s get sewing……..
1. Color selection–I decided that though I loved all the fabrics in the Salt Air line, that I would use only the small to medium scale prints that had red and/or yellow in them. Some of the larger scale prints might have gotten lost in the circles and I wanted the front to be a little simpler with limited red/yellow/blue color scheme.
2. I used my paper cutter to speed up the cutting of the fusible web into 5 inch squares. Apply fusible web per instruction to the back of all fabric squares. I then used my AccuQuilt to cut my circles but you could use any circle shape to draw around and use as a template. Because the AccuQuilt Go Baby die for the 5 inch circles was a tight fit, I used painters’ tape to hold the 4 squares that I ran through it each time, placing fabric exactly and very carefully over the die circle. Worked like a dream! Being able to cut multiple circles at a time is an advantage of the Go Baby!
3. After my 56 circles were cut, I arranged them in the rows/columns that I liked and numbered them using my painters tape. (Love that tape—helps keep my rows in order and arrows keep me pointed in the right direction) Arrange 7 across by 8 down.
4. Cut your back ground squares as above in cutting instructions. You need (56) 7 ½ x7 ½ inch squares.
5. To center the circles on the squares—I lightly finger-pressed the squares into fourths and then did the same for the circles. I then used the lines as guides to line up the circle in the middle of the square. Press/iron and adhere the circle to the square according to the fusible web instructions.
6. Time now to appliqué around the circles. Yes, 56 circles may take a little while but it gave me lots of time to think about the circles and people in my life….and yes, by the time you have them all finished, you will be a real pro at appliquéing around a circle– in case you needed any practice to begin with? It is sort of a no-brainer sewing step and it gave me lots of time to talk and chat at my evening quilt group as my machine went round in circles. I used the basic blanket stitch on my machine but you certainly can use a tight zigzag. Catch the edge in the stitching to ensure it is not going to fray.
One of my goals for this year was to share a little bit more insight into how to start and grow your handmade business. I realize that many of you reading are not interested in the least about starting a handmade business, but for those of you who are, I just want you to know that I am here to help you along the way. You can pretty much ask me anything.
I’ve done a lot of hard work myself, but I’ve also had some very wonderful individuals that have provided me with information and guidance and I am happy to share what I’ve learned with you. I believe there is plenty of business out there for everyone and that given the same set of tools and knowledge we will all forge a different path through our creativity and art.
So there are quite a few topics to cover, but today I’m starting out from the beginning with……my story.
I guess you could say creativity runs in the family. My Grandma, Marge Harrison, was an amazing painter and art gallery owner, my Grandma Peggy has always been incredibly creative with different handmade businesses throughout the years, my mom is an amazing creative force in my life as well as several of my aunts and my Dad instilled the love of music through his guitar playing and singing. Needless to say, I have always been into the creative arts. I started dancing at the age of four, singing in second grade and acting in middle school and was very serious about becoming a musical theater performer on Broadway. I auditioned for many different colleges around the country and was accepted into the prestigious University of Cincinnati – College Conservatory of Music as one of the 26 musical theater majors.
I went through my first year of school and came to the conclusion that musical theater was not the life I wanted for myself. My parents got divorced that year and money became more of a concern to me and I just wasn’t quite sure how I could truly make a living as a performer. And with that thought in mind, I decided to switch over into something more stable. I transferred to DePaul University in Chicago (where my high school sweetheart (now husband) attended) and three years later received my Bachelor of Science in Finance (yes, quite a switch from musical theater). Brett and I were married a month after my graduation and I began my career.
I spent a year and a half working in commercial banking but knew pretty early on that I needed to do something else. Sitting at a desk analyzing numbers was definitely stifling for this creative soul. So I got my real estate license and began selling residential real estate up until I had my first child, Savannah Rose. I have always been into decorating my home and prior to Savannah’s birth, I wanted to sew a few things for her nursery – a table runner, a table skirt and some large pillows. I went over to my Grandma Peggy’s house and she guided me along the way using her sewing machine. After that half day spent with my Grandma, I knew I wanted a sewing machine of my own.
I had grown up around sewing. My mom used to make us the most amazing costumes for Halloween, dance, and theater, but I never had the patience as a child to truly learn how to use the machine. I was mostly focused on performing, though I always appreciated all the work my my put into everything she made for us.
Four months after Savannah was born, I got my first sewing machine for my birthday (July 2008). I started out wanting to sew a few dresses for my baby girl. I read the manual for my machine and worked my way through my first commercial pattern using the tips that my Grandma had given me and the things I had seen my mom do growing up. I was pretty pleased with my first dress……especially the fact that I sewed a zipper (picture below)!
From there, I continued to sew little outfits for Savannah as well as burp cloths and bibs. I was sewing every chance I got and I really believe that practice makes perfect! I even started dabbling in drafting my own patterns. But for Savannah’s 1st birthday I wanted to make her a really pretty, fancy dress. I purchased two prints from Amy Butler’s ‘Midwest Modern’ fabric line and went about creating Savannah’s birthday dress. From the time I cut into that gorgeous Amy Butler fabric, I was totally hooked on those bright, patterned fabrics! I had several people ask me if I would ever consider selling my items and I did from time to time, but nothing formal.
As I continued to sew, I decided that opening up an etsy shop would be a really fun thing to do as a stay at home mom, but never got around to making it official. I wanted to make sure I had a serger (so my items would look professional) and had my business branding (logo, clothing label, ect) in order before I got started. I guess that’s the finance major in me…….I just wanted all my ducks in a row. In October 2009 I started this blog, The Cottage Home, to share the projects and recipes I was working on with family and friends. And in January 2010, I finally made it official and opened up, The Cottage Mama.
I was very nervous about listing things on Etsy since I didn’t really know what I was doing, but I listed six different items and felt really good about finally taking the plunge. I went to bed that night and when I woke up, I checked my email and I had sold something!!!! It was seriously one of the most exciting moments. I couldn’t believe that a random person had liked my creation enough to buy it. I think I needed that. I need the affirmation from someone, other than my family and close friends, that my work was good enough to sell.
From January 2010 until September 2011, I pretty much sold ready-made and custom clothing online and in September 2011 released my first two printed sewing patterns. I plan to release the next three sewing patterns and a series of hand-embroidery patterns in May 2012. There are lot of new projects on the horizon for The Cottage Mama, but some of which you’ll have to wait to hear about when they are ready.
So how did I get noticed on etsy? How did I grow my blog? Who designed my logo/blog? How did I purchase my web domain? How do I have a small business and still take care of my children? When did I incorporate my business? Why did I decide to go into selling patterns? Do I have a business plan? How do I manage my finances? What business books and publications do I read? How did I start working with different fabric manufacturers? Where do I buy my fabric, clothing labels, size labels, mannequins, notions, ect.? Do I buy wholesale or retail? Do I sell my items wholesale?
These might all be questions that you would like answered, but these are all questions that will have to be answered in later ‘The Handmade Business’ posts. These are questions that have come to me via email or through The Cottage Mama Facebook Fan page. If you look at my time-line from when I started my business to where I am now, you will see that I haven’t been doing this for very long, but I have figured out ways to make it work and have grown my business beyond my wildest dreams. I hope knowing this will help inspire those of you wanting to turn your hobby into a full-fledge business to realize that it is a very real possibility.
Lindsay Wilkes is the owner and designer behind The Cottage Mama. She creates timeless, vintage inspired sewing patterns for children’s clothes. She is also a fabric designer for Riley Black Designers / Penny Rose Fabrics, author of the book ‘Sew Classic Clothes for Girls’ and can be seen teaching nationwide and online in her video series ‘Lessons with Lindsay’ sponsored by Baby Lock Sewing and Embroidery machines.
Welcome! My name is Lindsay Wilkes and I am the owner / designer of The Cottage Mama, a boutique children's sewing pattern company and the author behind, 'Sew Classic Clothes for Girls'. The Cottage Mama blog is where I share my love for sewing, cooking and crafting and all things domestic. If you like what you see, you can read more about me HERE.