Shannon Fabrics and Odif Ambassador Challenge: The Crocodile

Welcome to a fun collaboration between Shannon Fabrics and Odif.

Here's what the Cuddle Kit (and raw inspiration for the challenge) looked like, fresh-in-the-box. Everything was pre-cut and instructions for a simple row quilt were included. But, as per usual, I had a crazy idea. I decided to make the Friendly Stuffed Crocodile from Sew 4 Home. 

Because Cuddle fabrics have the potential to shed, I pre-treated the back of each piece with Fabric Booster according to the instructions. It's very important to shake the Fabric Booster first, as it differs from starch, and will shoot white gluey globs if you completely disregard the printed specifications (you know, in case anybody was ever silly enough to do that). It also critical that you protect your iron with parchment paper, or it will make for a very sticky situation (in case anybody was ever silly enough...). And if you're going to use DK5 to deal with that. make sure you cool your iron first. Ok folks, I admit it. I'm a hot mess! But if you don't follow in my footsteps, you'll be 👌. 

In any event, fluff distribution was nearly eliminated.

I sprayed the back of my pieces with 808 Reactivating Adhesive. It affixes with heat, and pieces with it applied can be removed from fabric without leaving residue.

I used Sewing Edge Stops to align my raw edge when sewing the pieces. Even if you are tempted, don't over-stuff the feet. The tutorial knows what it's talking about in this regard, and you'll want to not have them slipping around when you stitch together the body. (I may have learned this the hard way too.)

For the felt eyes, I sprayed the back with 606 Iron On Adhesive to hold them in place for appliqué.

Anyhow, the fabrics are so precious and soft. 

And of course, the kids love this stuffy!

Thanks for joining me!

Confident Stitch Face Mask

I am a proud to be an affiliate for Confident Stitch of Missoula, Missouri. For the month of June, they will be donating 15% of sales to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. They sent me some fabrics that had been on my wish list for a bit. This seafaring print is Siren Song in Twilight from Art Gallery Fabrics. Accompanying this treasure is the OLFA 28mm Quick Change Rotary Cutter, a Sunflower Quilts Thread Cutter, and Organic Embroidery by Meredith Woolnough for Schiffer Publishing.

I also snatched up some Pop fabric by Rashida Coleman Hale for Ruby Star Society in Cream Soda and Art Gallery Lightwave in Ignite from Katarina Roccella's GRID collection. It's chilling with a little trinket I found at Dollar Tree, my Fairy Floss Pink Olfa Splash, and Aurifil thread.

So I made the thing that everyone is making. I don't really enjoy it, but beautiful fabric helps. I used Dana of Made Everyday's pattern and modified it by adding some binding to the sides. I cut the height of the binding 1" longer than the sides of the mask after pleating by 2 1/2", then turned the top and bottom under with a Clover Hot Ruler. I folded it in half the long way with wrong sides together, and then opened it and folded each raw edge into the pressed center line. Instead of ever-elusive elastic, I chopped up some leggings my daughter wore while acrylic painting. I pulled both sides through a pony bead and tied each end to make adjustments possible. I laid the elastic in place and then sewed the binding on which was a bit precarious. I could have used more pins or less haste, or both. Or I could have threaded the knit through the binding, but that thought seemed like risky business too. I'd at least want a bodkin or trusty safety pin.

I commend you mask-makers. Stay safe everyone!

Burp Cloth Tutorial

Welcome! Today I'd like to show you a quick and dirty clean tutorial for baby burp cloths. Some babies are just ickier than others. I believe the polite term for a spitty, grouchy hell-raiser like my first child is "colicky". Anyhow, my sister-in-law has a sweet baby with the same inclination to make you feel like you should wear a rain poncho indoors. I decided to make her a practical gift to accompany the many loads of outgrown things I can KonMari her way. Handmade burp cloths are just the ticket.
I purchased Room Essentials hand towels from Target, and pulled fabric from my collection. (Calling it a stash or accumulation feels less validating. 😉)

I placed the towels on an opened yard of fabric as shown on this very rough drawing. 

Then I cut around the towels leaving some wiggle room, in terms of fabric excess, in case the towels shifted as I sewed them. I spray the fabric with Best Press in a continuous mist bottle before pressing. I used the Oliso Mini Project Iron to press my fabrics. I received mine from the company to review. It is a beautiful compact iron, complete with steam. Fresh out of the box, I feared the steam didn't work, but after priming it a few times (aka to a soap bottle) it did function.

The grip is a bit uncustomary, as you direct the motion mostly with the inside of your palm, instead of wrapping your fingers around a typical handle. The iron capable of reaching high heat, so much so, that it can be warm to the touch where your fingers rest. The company recommends using a lower setting in this case. Rather than having extending feet like the full-size Oliso, this model rests on a trivet. Bear in mind that while the trivet protects your work surface, it does absorb heat and needs to cooled before being touched. Conveniently, the iron tucks into the trivet for storage. The cord can be wound around the trivet, which contains a hole that can be hung at a safe height (which is pertinent with littles around).

I pin around the edge and stitch around the perimeter (about 1/2" from the edge of the towel), leaving a 6" gap in the middle of a long side for turning.

Then, I carefully trim the excess fabric even with the towel without clipping a chunk out of the towel (most of the time 😊). Here are my beauties --- the navy Olfa Splash and the coordinating large mat!

Then I do the Flip-O (certainly a technical term, hence the capitalization).

Next comes pinning the gap.

Topstitching 1/4" from edge around the entire perimeter will resolve the opening and give the piece a finished look.

Easy peasy!

Galaxy Quilt Secrets Revealed: Invisible Machine Appliqué

Welcome to those dropping by from the Aurifil blog! If not, check out my guest post on AURIbuzz where I was challenged by OLFA and Aurifil in the Slice & Stitch Challenge, a monthly event during which one Aurifil Artisan and one OLFA Ambassador each share how they put an OLFA tool and a specific weight of Aurifil thread to work.

I had the privilege of using 80 wt Aurifil and the OLFA Rotary Circle Cutter.

Don't tell anyone, but this was really not challenging. Both are soooooo easy to use. Getting them out of my tight grasp after I've experienced playing with these awesome notions in conjunction--- now that would be a challenge!

As promised, I'll divulge some the techniques I explored during the process of creating my Galaxy Quilt, and how you can apply these methods to your own projects. Today I'll be sharing strategies for invisible machine appliqué. Over the course of the coming weeks, I'll be adding weekly posts explaining more of the techniques, so be sure to following Quilting Mod, or subscribe by e-mail. Before I give you the scoop, here are my astronauts making the foreign planet inhabitable by introducing OLFA and Aurifil.

Invisible Machine Appliqué

The Galaxy Quilt gave me an opportunity to try methods from Machine Finished Hand Applique with Beth Ferrier on Bluprint, as recommended by Nancy Arseneault when I admired her beautiful work at Quilt Fiesta. Beth has an out-ot-print book, Hand Applique by Machine, also. I outfitted myself with the gear, which included foundation stabilizer, turning rods, tweezers and a glue pen with refill. Budget alternatives are freezer paper instead of foundation stabilizer, a precision screwdriver set or chopsticks instead of the rods, economical tweezers, and a school glue stick.

When using freezer paper, I tore two identical lengths and ironed one on top the other with the waxy side downward. The double layer is stiffer and preshrunk so it doesn't get smaller after I apply it to the fabric with the heat of an iron. I then used the OLFA Circle Cutter to cut a circle the exact size I'd like my planet. I adjust the OLFA Circle Cutter 1/4" larger using the guage to cut my fabric. I pressed the freezer paper circle in the center of the wrong side of the planet fabric with the waxy side toward the fabric. When I used the foundation stabilizer, I applied the stabilizer circle to the wrong side of the fabric with glue stick, and used a dry iron to dry the glue. While I've heard there's a fusible side to the foundation stabilizer, I found nothing to  indicate this.

To assist the seam allowance in turning under without creating lumpy pleats, I cut slits in the seam allowance almost to the stabilizer or freezer paper, but not quite. 

Run glue around the seam allowance, one small section at a time, so it doesn't dry before you get it turned over. If you have the turning rods, I recommend using the forked end to hold the foundation in place near the seam you're turning. Use the slanted side of the other rod to push the seam allowance over a bit at a time.

Spinning the appliqué shape on an OLFA Rotating Mat is helpful so that getting an ergonomic angle doesn't require lifting the shape from the mat and repositioning repeatedly.

I found the foundation stabilizer to be less stiff than freezer paper. At times, the stabilizer would fold onto itself and make the outer curve flatten into a straight line. The freezer paper does not have this problem; however, it must be removed unlike the stabilizer, which is meant to remain in the quilt and will turn into fiber as the quilt is washed in the future.



If the use of glue was liberal, it can be slightly challenging to remove the entirely of the freezer paper without fraying the edge of the fabric. Press the edges of the planet over again after removing the freezer paper.

Stitch the planet to the background using an 80 wt Aurifil thread that matches the planet and a zigzag stitch with a length of 2 and a width of 1. Stitches should alternate being on the planet and just barely on the background. Reduce the length to .3 to start and stop. If freezer paper was used, I recommend using a stabilizer on the wrong side of the background.

To add a ring to a small planet, the shape can be traced onto the foundation stabilizer with a Frixion pen and cut out. Glue to the desired fabric and trim 1/4" around the shape.

The ring only needs to extend 1/4" behind each side of the planet since it will be hidden underneath the planet.

Turn the edges that won't be hidden by the planet over using the tools or a precision screwdriver and/or chopstick.

I'll be back next week with more details on the techniques involved in the creation of the Galaxy Quilt, so be sure to follow via e-mail or your favorite blog reader.