a quilt for the plaid baby

One of my favourite quilty friends, Kaelin of The Plaid Scottie, welcomed a beautiful and healthy baby girl, Merida, into the world this past week!  There are a group of us who chat daily on Facebook about quilting and basically every other issue known to man (and some I am sure no one else has ever dreamed up), and we have been excitedly awaiting this moment since the pee hit the stick ;)  Even before Merida was conceived, Kaelin had put her order in for the Coolbreeze sweater I showed you here.  But in addition to that, the group of us decided to, naturally, make her a quilt.

Angela quarterbacked the whole thing (and I pinched all the finished quilt pictures from her site, with her permission of course).  After much discussion we opted on a paper pieced square in a square block that could showcase our collections of cute and precious fabrics, perfect for an I Spy quilt!  Oh what fun watching this come together!

There were about 10 us making this quilt for Kaelin and her "plaid baby" as she is known to us; Angela, Cherie, Cara, Michelle, Kelly, Ali, Amy, Rene, Elena, Tracey and myself.  Merida's nursery theme is "The Fabulous Mr. Fox" so there is definitely and abundance of fox-themed fabrics present.  These are the blocks I contributed!

A big shout out to Angela for quilting and binding this baby to perfection!

We are all so thrilled for Kaelin, and wish her and her new little family all the best.  And we hope Merida inherits her mother's appreciation and love of good fabric!! I am sure this is a good start ;)

Bag Lady Week: Quilted Hexie pouch tutorial and a giveaway by the Plaid Scottie!

Kaelin from The Plaid Scottie is here!

I love Kaelin- we are kind of kindred spirits in that, aside from sharing our obvious passion for all things quilty, we both seem to suffer from a similar degree of obnoxiousness and inappropriate behavior ;) Which is great because whenever I hear a really funny fart story, I know just who to tell! (psssst- Go ask her about her recent visit to "Hancocks" Fabrics!!)

Okay, I should also mention that Kaelin has an amazing blog, named in honor of her very cute pooch, Sir Whiskers MacTavish, and is currently hosting a Double Wedding Ring quilt along! That's not for sissies, people! She also does periodic "Scottie Watch" blog posts with all sorts of clever information from the quilting world. Kaelin has an etsy shop with fabrics as well as her pattern for her new Grab 'n' Go wristlet pattern. I was a lucky enough to test the pattern for Kaelin recently and can tell you it is wonderful. In fact, you can find out yourself- in addition to providing today's awesome tutorial for you all, Kaelin has offered to do a giveaway of her pattern for one lucky reader! To enter, just leave a comment below saying what other patters you would be interested in seeing :)

NOTE: THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED



Quilted Hexie Pouch Tutorial

Howdy ho neighbors! I'm Kaelin from The Plaid Scottie and I'm collaborating with my favorite Canadian Kristie to bring you a Quilted Hexie Pouch for her fabulous Bag Lady Week! The finished pouch measures about 7.5" x 7.5"

SUPPLIES
First of all, you'll need to sew together a small panel of 2" hexies - 23 to be exact. The finished hexie will be about 1.5". If you need paper piecing templates for that size, you can create free ones here. Just type in 0.75" in the "Hexagon Size" box and hit "Download PDF". The panel will have five rows with this many hexies in each (starting with row 1): 5 - 4 - 5 - 4 - 5. Refer to the 2nd photo down if you need a visual. If you've never made hexies before, then you can check out my other tutorial here for instructions. The finished panel should measure 5.25" x 5.75". In addition to that you'll need:

(1) 9" zipper

Exterior Fabric (I used linen)
(2) 1.25" x 5.75" pieces
(2) 6.75" x 1.75" pieces
(1) 1.5" x 8.25" piece
(1) 8.25" x 8.25" piece
(1) 2" x 14" piece, with a medium-weight interfacing fused on the back (for wrist strap)

Lining Fabric (I used Orange Kei Dots)
(1) 1.5" x 8.25" piece
(1) 6.75" x 8.25"
(1) 8.25" x 8.25" piece

Flannel (I used white, but you might want a different color depending on your fabric choices)
(1) 1.5" x 8.25" piece
(1) 6.75" x 8.25" piece
(1) 8.25" x 8.25" piece

Note: You might notice throughout the photos that I have interfacing on the back of my exterior fabric. You won't need interfacing if you use regular quilting cotton, because the pouch is sturdy enough without it. I only used interfacing because I was working with linen and it keeps the fabric from stretching and distorting.

Alright. Let's get this party started. Grab you hexie panel. It should be sewn together just like the picture below.

Once you have your hexie panel sewn together, you'll need to square it off by trimming the ends. The top and bottom are fairly easy - just lop off the pointy ends. But on the sides, you'll need to fold out the seam allowances on the hexies in the short rows (the two rows with only 4 hexies).

Once the seam allowances have been pressed out, line up your ruler with the edge of the seam allowance and trim off the excess.

Grab your two 1.25" x 5.75" pieces and sew them onto the top and bottom of your hexie panel.

Press your seams to set in place.

Attach the two 1.75" x 6.75" pieces to the sides and press to set.

Grab your three flannel pieces and coat with a spray adhesive like 505. You can pin, but with something this small, it's much much easier to spray baste. I keep a cardboard box lid in my sewing room just for spraying small projects like this.

Grab your 6.75" x 8.25" flannel piece (leave the other two where they are) and place your hexie panel on top of it. Press to adhere.

Quilt the flannel and hexie panel. I used free motion, but you can quilt it however you like - straight line, etc.

Here's a view of the back so you can get a better look at the quilting.

Grab your other two pieces of flannel and match them up with their corresponding exterior pieces. Quilt.

Now find your 6.75" x 8.25" lining piece. Layer as follows: Lining (right side up), zipper (right side up and centered), hexie panel (wrong side up). The zipper should be running across the top, 8.25" side.

Make sure the zipper pull is hanging off the end, and pin the layers in place.

Sew together using a 1/4" seam allowance.

Fold the lining back and press both sides in place. You might have to tug the fabric down a little before ironing.

Top stitch (about 1/8") from the edge.

Grab your remaining exterior and lining pieces and repeat the same process (layer lining (right side up), zipper, and exterior (wrong side up) - just like you did on the other side of the zipper).

Pin in place and sew 1/4" seam. Unfold, press and top stitch.

Move the zipper pull over a little, and sew the two sides of the zipper together to keep them from pulling apart too far. If you look below at the right end of the zipper (the part that's hanging off), you can see my stitches where I sewed across the zipper. When you're done, go ahead and open the zipper 2/3 of the way.

Now grab your 2" x 14" interfaced piece. Fold in half and press.

Unfold, and tuck the edges in toward the center seam you just made.

Fold in half along the original center seam you made and top stitch down the open end. It should be about 1/2" wide and look like the photo below.

Fold the strap in half and place the raw ends about 1" below the zipper. Fold the lining back so it doesn't get caught in the seam, and attach the strap to the exterior with an 1/8" seam. Doesn't have to be fancy - it's just to hold the strap in place until we sew the pouch together.

Next you'll layer as follows: remaining 8.25" x 8.25" lining piece (right side up), exterior hexie panel (right side up), remaining exterior panel (wrong side up). Pin and sew all three pieces together along the top side only using 1/4" seam.

Now fold your exterior panels back so that they're right sides together. Sew a 1/4" seam along the bottom only.

Repeat for the lining panels, leaving about a 3" opening in the center.

Now fold all the layers back together so that they make a wholesome and delicious fabric sandwich.

Sew ALL four layers together along the sides, starting 1/4" from the top and ending 1/4" from the bottom. I brought out big momma walking foot for this job because of how thick the layers are together, and I recommend you do the same. When you get to the zipper, sew over it, and then back up and run over it again to make sure it's good and dead secured. You'll actually end up going over it three times once you go forward, hit reverse, and then go forward again. Do this for each side of the pouch.

Your pouch should now look like the photo below. Trim the corners and excess zipper, then turn the bag right-side out through the opening in the bottom of the lining.

Then sew the opening shut with a teeny tiny seam.

Finish turning your bag right-side out and you're done - YAY!

Thanks, Kaelin!

Pattern Review: Grab 'n' Go Wristlet by The Plaid Scottie

Have you met my buddy Kaelin at The Plaid Scottie? If not, you should pop on over and say hello. She's a bit of a firecracker (my kind of gal), makes amazing stuff, and is always one for a funny story. Can't wait to meet her in person at Sewing Summit for some good drink-out-my-nose laughs!

Anyways, when Kaelin asked if I would give her new Grab 'n' Go Wristlet pattern a test run, you better believe I jumped at the chance. These pretty little bags have a sweet pleated panel across the front and a button accent...y'all know how I feel about buttons, right? The pattern includes wristlets in two sizes, a generous purse size and a smaller size she lists as a coin purse but I think makes a lovely small bag. Being the delicate flower I am (snort!), I opted to make the smaller purse.

For my fabrics, I used some chocolate brown suiting that I had bought eons ago. It has a bit of a heavier weight to it and I love the color for fall. I paired it with some gorgeous Anna Maria Horner Little Folks Voile...yes, Friends, I cut into it again! Therapy must be working ;) For the lining I used a pretty Rowan shot cotton that perfectly compliments the violet tones in the voile.

The pattern was very clear and well written. Good photos and illustrations to help with each step. The only mods I made (I never truly follow a pattern) were to omit the lobster clasp for the wrist strap....simply because I didn't have one on hand and was too lazy to go out and buy one. I did some extra top stitching on the pleats to secure the slippery voile. I also used the brown fabric for the button band instead of the pleat fabric as suggested; in my opinion, it helps to make it pop. I also didn't put the interfacing in the button band, and I wish I had used a lighter one for my wrist strap...I went with the full fleecy type and it was a bit bulky. But comfy on the wrist! It's all good.

Anyways, I love the pattern and am very happy with how my wristlet came out. It is meant to be a gift, but I think I see one for me in my future.....If you would like to get your own Grab 'n' Go pattern, it is available in Kaelin's shop. AND, Kaelin will be one of the contributors to my upcoming Bag Lady Week, where she will be doing a free tutorial for a quilted hexie coin purse, along with a Grab 'n' Go pattern giveaway for a lucky reader!! Looking forward to more fun with Kaelin :)