The Quilt Pattern Magazine - Projects for ALL Skill Levels

Launched in January 2011, The Quilt Pattern Magazine is a wonderful online-only publication with a nice mix of projects for every skill level. Although the title contains the word "quilt", the magazine has plenty of variety. And not only are there quilting/sewing projects galore, you'll also find articles, tutorials and even crossword puzzles!





With a subscription to The Quilt Pattern Magazine, you get:
  • Access to each issue online for two months, during which time you can download it to your computer for enjoyment forever.
  • Access to the social network, Pattern Pastiche.
  • Templates for various projects in each issue.
And no clutter! What could be better than that?

I've been a subscriber since the beginning and plan to continue. I love the variety in each issue and the fact that I can read and store the magazine on my computer and then print projects only if needed. Sure saves space and paper! Plus, how many times have you been unable to find a specific project once the magazine is shelved? I know it's happened to me plenty!

I've made a few projects during the past year+, some of which would be perfect for quilting and sewing with kids. Just to give you a small sampling of what you can expect from The Quilt Pattern Magazine, here are photos of some finished projects...
Heart potholder -
a perfect gift!
Fun and easy throw pillow.















...and some UFOs, as well.

Blocks that didn't come together
as I intended - so they'll be
individual throw pillows some day...
Throw pillow or small table cloth
in progress.

More experimental fun!
Playing around with color and contrast.



The Quilt Pattern MagazineSo head on over to The Quilt Pattern Magazine and check it out!

How to Make a Simple Quilt Top

Make a simple quilt top with a preprinted panel.

You can help your child make a simple quilt top by using a preprinted panel as the center. Make the quilt top the size you want by adding one or more borders.

There are many cute panels available and most are part of a line of fabrics designed for mixing and matching.

So shop online or pay a visit to your local quilt shop or fabric store today!

What you will need:
  • preprinted panel
  • fabric for the borders
  • scissors, measuring tape and straight pins
  • sewing machine and thread
  • iron and ironing board

Select and Prepare the Panel and Other Fabrics

  1. Choose a preprinted panel and coordinating fabrics for the borders.
  2. Prewash and dry all the fabrics, including the panel.
  3. Iron the panel and border fabrics. WARNING! This is an adult-only job!
  4. Trim the edges of the panel even and square, if necessary.
Add One or More Borders to the Panel

  1. Measure the panel sides and cut two border strips in the desired width to this length.
  2. Sew a border strip to each side of the panel with a ¼-inch seam and press the borders away from the panel, neat and flat.
  3. Measure across the top and bottom of the panel, including the side borders.
  4. Cut two border strips in the desired width to this length and sew them to the top and the bottom of the panel with ¼-inch seams.
  5. Press the top and bottom borders away from the panel, neat and flat.
  6. Repeat this process with other border fabrics until the quilt top reaches the desired finished size.

Congratulations - your quilt top is done!

Please note: Simple tutorials for finishing your quilt are coming soon and links to those articles will be added here.

How to Make a Simple, Luxurious Tied Quilt

You can make a simple yet luxurious tied quilt in less than a day. You don’t need any batting and can finish the quilt by hand or by machine. This cozy quilt is a great project for kids and makes a perfect gift for any occasion. Delight your friends and family on birthdays or at Christmas. This quilt is so simple, you may even want to make one for everybody on your list!


Things you will need:
  • Plaid flannel sheet, twin size
  • 2 yards furry or poodle fleece
  • Coordinating yarn
  • Yarn needle
  • Scissors
  • Ruler or tape measure
  • Thread
  • Hand sewing needle or sewing machine
  • Cardboard (optional)

1. Select the Sheet
Choose an evenly woven plaid flannel sheet in any color combination desired. An even weave is important as the lines will be used to guide tie placement and trim the outside edge.

Poodle fleece
2. Select the Fleece
Choose furry or poodle fleece in the color desired, either to coordinate or contrast with the plaid flannel.

3. Select the Yarn
A regular acrylic yarn in a color as close to that of the fleece is best.
Choosing yarn that closely matches the fleece ensures that it will be completely invisible on the furry fleece side of the quilt.


4. Prepare the Materials
Wash and dry the flannel sheet to prevent future shrinkage. Cut to desired finished quilt size using plaid lines as a guide. As the fleece is 58 inches wide and 72 inches long, the absolute maximum size the flannel can be cut is 52 inches by 66 inches. Cutting the flannel a few inches smaller than that each way will provide more leeway for trimming the fleece and turning the edge.

Lay the fleece out flat for a few hours or overnight to relax wrinkles or creases. For severe creasing, try tumbling the fleece in the dryer for 10-15 minutes without heat, if necessary.

5. Sandwich the Layers
Lay the fleece out flat, wrong side up, and gently smooth from the center to the edges. This can be done on a bed, the floor or any flat surface that is large enough to allow the fleece to lay completely flat and provide easy access to at least 3 sides. Do not worry if the fleece is not completely square. This will be taken care of later.

Lay the flannel, right side up, on top of the fleece and smooth, being careful not to shift or distort the fleece. At this point, the layers can be basted together, if desired. As the flannel often “grabs” the fleece, basting may be completely unnecessary.

Tied together
6. Tie the Quilt
Using a yarn needle threaded with the matching yarn, take a stitch through both layers every 4-6 inches along the plaid lines. For best results, put the needle back through both layers and bring it out again in about the same spots, forming a double stitch. Tie a square knot and trim the ends to about an inch or so. For best results, start in the center and work your way to the edges, smoothing both layers as you go. Continue until the entire quilt is tied.

Place a large piece of cardboard underneath the area being tied to provide a firm surface and prevent the needle from catching on the bedding or carpet.

7. Trim the Fleece
The flannel sheet was trimmed to the finished quilt size prior to sandwiching the layers together. Using the ruler or tape measure, trim the fleece on each side to be 3 or 4 inches larger than the flannel.

Finished edge
8. Turn the Edges and Sew
Working on one side at a time, fold the fleece toward the side with the ties so that the crease is even with the edge of the flannel. Fold the fleece under itself to meet the crease and pin in place. Hand or machine stitch close to the inside edge of the folded fleece. Repeat until all sides are sewn down. NOTE: There will be extra bulk at the corners so stitch slowly if sewing by machine.

Finished!
Give the finished quilt as a gift or keep it for yourself. The flannel and fleece combine to make a truly luxurious yet simple quilt!

Homemade Iron-on Decals

Homemade Iron-on Decals
Photo used with permission
from FilthWizardry.com
Thanks, Lindsey!
Did you know that you can decorate your kids’ clothes and other sewing projects with HOMEMADE iron-on decals?

That’s right – according to Lindsey over at Filth Wizardry, you can make permanent decals from plastic shopping bags. So check out her post for all the details and be sure to also read her follow-up posts linked to at the bottom. Lindsey has a lot of cute ideas and great photos, so browse around Filth Wizardry to get many cool ideas.

And when you’re done there, check out the simple and cute skirt-from-a-t-shirt how-to over at Mama Smiles. What a great project for a sewing beginner! In fact, why not make the skirt and then decorate it with your own decals?

Bread Bag Raincoat

Sewing treasures from trash isn’t new. After seeing the potato chip bag apron I featured recently, Sally over at Sew Wonderful sent me a link to a bread bag raincoat made back in the 60s from Wonder Bread sacks. Thanks Sally! You'll have to follow the link to see the picture as I've been unable to contact the person from whom I'd need permission to post the photo.


Got any cool sewing or quilting trash-to-treasure ideas or stories? Please share them here!

Potato Chip Bag Apron How-to

Photo by Debra Atlas
used with permission
This clever potato chip bag apron was one of the winners in the “Treasures from Trash” recycling competition held at the Shasta District Fair. How cute is that? And what a great use of bags that would otherwise be thrown away! This is a perfect project for sewing with kids - fast, easy and cheap. Also, what a nice gift for any summer occasion, such as Father’s Day or for use during the Fourth of July. So what are you waiting for?

Easy Potato Chip Bag Apron Instructions

You can easily make a cool apron from empty potato chip bags! Just follow these simple steps:

  1. Cut off the tops and bottoms of the bags
  2. Slit each bag down the back
  3. Wash the bags thoroughly with soap and water to remove grease, salt and chip debris, and then rinse and wipe them dry with a dishtowel
  4. Turn the bags face up and cut the fronts to the sizes desired
  5. Sew the bags together with strips between the bags (as shown), or just sew the bags directly to one another to create a large enough piece for the apron front
  6. Layer your potato chip bag “quilt” with denim or other heavy cotton, wrong sides together, and trim the edges to the size and shape desired
  7. Bind the edges, and add ties to go around the neck and back.
Voila! A cool apron for indoor or outdoor use!

No-Sew Option

And what if you don’t have time to sew? You could just tape the bags together, finish off the edges and attach the ties with colored duct tape.



Also, here are a few kid-friendly recycling books on Amazon that you might like:
Don't Throw That Away!: A Lift-the-Flap Book about Recycling and Reusing (Little Green Books)ReMake It!: Recycling Projects from the Stuff You Usually ScrapThe Three R's: Reuse, Reduce, Recycle (What Do You Know About? Books)

Sewing with Kids Using Inklingo

Try Inklingo today!
Linda over at Inklingo has created a cute School House block especially for sewing with kids! How cool is that? For those who don’t know, Inklingo creates printed quilt pieces. Yes, that’s right – you print the quilt pieces on the fabric. And not only do you have all the cutting lines, you have sewing lines, too!

Anyway, back to the new School House block. All you need is three fabrics. Then you iron them to freezer paper and run them through your inkjet printer. Voila! Quilt pieces printed right on the back of the fabric! Then use the included Puzzle Page to get the pieces laid out correctly and start sewing. First, you’ll make four rows, and then sew the rows together. Finally, embellish your block with buttons and trim if you want.

And it gets better! Linda has also included tips specific to sewing with kids. AND if you visit her blog and leave a tip or comment, you just might win $25 – but hurry because the winner will be announced on Mother’s Day, which is May 8th this year. As of this morning (4/19/11) there’s already 14 comments with valuable tips so be sure to read through them all and add your own.

Happy Sewing!

Simple Sewing Machine for Kids

Janome 11542
Well, here it is - a simple sewing machine for kids! This little beauty is a refurbished Janome 11542, recommended by Crafty Gemini in response to my Perfect Sewing Machine for Kids? post. It rates 4.5 based on nearly two dozen reviews at Overstock.com, and cost less than $65 with shipping. After reading the reviews and researching my other options, I chose this machine for my granddaughter’s 10th birthday based on features, weight and price.


My list of wants included:

  • Drop-in bobbin
  • Zigzag
  • Convenient reverse
  • Easy to thread
  • Durable
Nice features that weren’t on my list:

Make an Easy Travel Pillow Case

Pajama pants before . . .
I have a pair of pajama pants that don’t fit, but I love the feel of the fabric – very soft and smooth. I also have a travel pillow with no case. Well, guess what? You can make a really quick and easy travel pillow case from a pajama pants leg!

This is the perfect sewing project for even a very young child as it takes just one seam. That’s right, one seam and it’s done. How’s that for instant gratification?


Pillowcase How-to

Before you cut, stuff the pillow inside the opening of the leg to make sure it fits.

Civil War Quilts Block 2

North Star by Barb Fife
North Star is the second block in the Block of the Week series at Civil War Quilts. Be sure to read the snippet of history and view the cradle quilt made of this block.

As you can see, this block has lots of possibilities. In the cradle quilt, the center square and star points are cut from the same fabric. The example pictured here uses contrasting fabrics. What I see is that the large center square is perfect for fussy-cut focus fabrics, which are always a favorite when sewing and quilting with kids.

Fork Pins 35/Pkg By The Each
A quilting must-have!
North Star requires one center square, four corner squares and four flying geese (try Speed Piecing Method A). And to make matching the seams easy, try using fork pins (image is an amazon affiliate link). You just nest your seams together and the two prongs hold them perfectly in place while stitching. I discovered fork pins a year or so ago and couldn’t live without them now!
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