12 Days of Christmas in July 2018

Welcome to the final day of 12 days of Christmas in July 2018, hosted by Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict!  Thank you Sarah for hosting this and letting me participate.

I have been having a lot of fun working on my project, and I have a tutorial for you today.  I hope you will also visit Susan at Quilt Fabrication and Jean at All Points of the Compass to see their projects this year.

When I first got my longarm last November I wanted to see how well it worked with different fabrics so I bought a yard of satin and stitched out a pantograph.

 

 

The satin stitched out beautifully!  I showed everyone in my family because I was so excited with how it turned out.  Then they asked me how I planned to use it.  I had actually thought that through beforehand (for once!) and was able to confidently reply, "Stockings!"

Aren't they beautiful?!  I am so happy with how they turned out and am really looking forward to making some more in other colors (I just pulled silver satin with a Christmas lights pattern off the machine yesterday and I plan to do red satin with a holly leaf pantograph next).  And the most exciting thing happened while stitching out the snowflakes on the blue fabric, I hit one million stitches on my longarm!  Celebrations are in the works, you will have to check back next week to see what we have planned...

STOCKING TUTORIAL

 

The great thing about stockings is that they come together quite quickly, once the quilting part is done.  And because I quilted the satin with a muslin backing I did not feel like it needed a lining, so one less step in the process.  If you are not comfortable quilting satin yourself or are not set up for pantographs, you could always ask your longarmer to quilt some up for you, or you can contact me!  My website www.bluespoolsewingroom.com has my information if you are interested.

 

For this project you will need:

quilted fabric for the stocking body

minky for the cuffs

white fabric to line the cuffs

cord for a hanging loop

 

Disclaimer: this tutorial is a generic how-to, there are no exact measurements or templates.  This allows you the freedom to make a stocking in whatever size suits your needs. :)



I traced my current stocking onto a large sheet of paper and added a quarter inch all the way around to create a template.



You want to be sure to cut out your pieces so they are facing opposite ways.  Put them right sides together and sew a quarter inch seam using a 2.0 - 2.5 stitch length.  Cut notches into the toe and heel curves to help ease the curve when you turn it right side out.  I used my pinking shears to do this.



I also did a zig zag stitch along the edges after sewing the two halves together so it will not fray quite so much.



I decided to use some fluffy minky for the cuffs, and I highly recommend putting painters tape on the fluffy side before cutting to keep down the nastiness that usually comes with cutting this apart.  FYI, putting the tape on the back side does not help.  Ask me how I know...

 

When measuring for your stocking cuff, make sure to measure across the top of your stocking after you sew the halves together, multiply the measurement by two, and add half an inch to that amount for seam allowance.  I also found I needed to add a lining to this as the dark color of the stocking showed through a bit.

 

I cut the lining the same size as the cuff, then sewed along one long edge using a quarter inch seam.

Then I top stitched about 3/8 inch up to keep it tidy.



Then I turned the stocking right sides out, basted the hanging hoop an inch from the LH side (loop will be between the cuff and stocking and pointing towards the inside of the stocking) and then inserted the cuff.



This part is always hard for me to remember which way to put it in, but you insert the cuff as if you were putting it on the outside.  It works every time, trust me!  I sewed the cuff with a quarter inch seam, then turned it right side out and top stitched it about half an inch from the top.

I found that setting my stitch length to 3 allowed me to pull the bits of minky that were held down by the stitches back out and basically hid the stitches.

 I appreciate you visiting my blog today, I hope you have enjoyed all the amazing projects that have been shared over the last 12 days.  If you have missed them, you can find the schedule on the post prior to this one or on Sarah's blog at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

 

Have a wonderful day!

~Brandy

 

 

Schedule for 12 Days of Christmas in July 2018

Hello!  I am participating in the 12 Days of Christmas in July again this year, it already started last weekend!  I hope you will visit us all and come back to see me on Wednesday, there are many fun ideas as well as a quilt along being run by our host, Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

 

Saturday, July 14th

 

Joy @ Days Filled With Joy

Selina @ Selina Quilts

Sunday, July 15th

 

Joanne @ Everyone Deserves a Quilt

Jan @ The Colorful Fabriholic

Monday, July 16th

Carole @ From My Carolina Home

Jamie @ L'Fair Quilts

Karen @ Tu-Na Quilts, Travels & Eats

Tuesday, July 17th

Sharon @ Vrooman's Quilts

Mary @ Made by Marney

Wednesday, July 18th

Cindy @ Stitchin' At Home

Karrin @ Karrin's Crazy World

Thursday, July 19th

 

Christina @ Christina's Handicrafts

Sherry @ Books, Hooks, Sticks, etc.

Danice @ Homespun Hannah

Friday, July 20th

 

Kristi @ Confessions of A Fabric Addict

Wendy @ Pieceful Thoughts

Saturday, July 21st

Marian @ Seams To Be Sew

Meloney @ Mel's Quilting Blog

Sunday, July 22nd

Anja @ Anja Quilts

Moira @ Quilted Snail

Monday, July 23rd

 

Brenda @ Songbird Designs

Amy @ Sea of Estrogen

Bonnie @ In Stitches With Bonnie

Tuesday, July 24th

 

Kathy @ Kathy's Kwilts and More

Summer @ Summer Lee Quilts

Wednesday, July 25th

 

Susan @ Quilt Fabrication
Brandy @ Pampered Pettit
Jean @ All Points of the Compass

Henry Glass & Co. Desire to Inspire and other things happening

Hello friends!  I just realized I haven't been on here to tell you about a number of exciting things that have been going on in my life.

 

 

 

First off, John and I officially started the longarm business in January!  How exciting is that?  Our business is called Blue Spool Sewing Room.  I am having a lot of fun with my Handi Quilter Infinity and will definitely be getting pictures up.  If you want to check out our business page please visit www.bluespoolsewingroom.com.

 

Secondly, I was chosen to take on the challenge over at the Henry Glass Fabrics blog and I had so much fun working with the Just Beachy collection!  I finished a beach quilt, a swim bag, and a pillowcase.  They put up my projects this morning, you can click this link to see what I said there and the photos I sent them.

 

Here are some behind the scenes from working on my projects:

 

 

I decided I wanted to make a star quilt and make it octagonal like the pink one in my header picture above.  I auditioned fabric and attempted to fold in into the shapes so I would have a fairly clear idea as to what it would look like.  You'll notice that I ended up not using the colorful dots after all.

 

 

I decided early that I wanted to use two layers of batting since we plan to sit on it.  I also tried to think ahead as to what I would do for quilting.  I knew I wanted to give an impression of a starfish so after staring at photos of starfish I figured a ribbon candy pattern would look neat on the black and give the texture I wanted.  Also, as much of a pain as it may be, stitching-in-the-ditch is definitely important for making blocks look right after quilted.  I made it my goal with this quilt to not use any computerized designs, so all of this quilting was freehand!  I am glad to see that I am getting better everyday.  Practice practice practice!

 

I used jean yardage to back this quilt and I just love how the turquoise thread looks on it.  Also what looks like a huge wrinkle in the upper left-hand corner is just from me holding up the quilt while I took the picture. :)

Super excited when I reached the halfway point!

 

John and I had planned a trip to Eureka, CA a couple weeks ago which worked perfectly for me having a deadline to get my beach quilt finished.  We were able to get out and take some fun pictures first thing in the morning and only had to fight the wind a little.  We found this spot that had a nice tree and quick access to the water as well.

 

I caught John sneaking a peek...

Superstar!

 

This is me walking into the wind, considering how heavy this quilt is with it's two layers of batting and jean back it lifted in the wind pretty easily.

When we got home I went to work on my new swim bag for water aerobics.  Mom and I are still trying to attend every Monday and Wednesday.

 

I wanted zippered pockets on each end so I can put my keys and wallet away and not have them floating in the bottom of the bag.

 I chose to use mesh as the upper portion of my bag so I can see what I have in there easily, plus it looks neat.

 



Thomas helped me make the tops of the bag, I wanted to plush them up a little so the mesh doesn't wear down on the fabric, at least I hope that is how it works.  Plus it gives a nice finished look.

I was so excited when I finished and the bag stands up by itself!

It holds everything I need and more!  It will also be perfect the next time we go to the beach to hold two towels and the beach quilt, plus sunscreen, shoes, and water.  I am pretty happy with how my bag turned out.  When I get some instructions written up for it I will be sure to let you know.

 

It didn't take long for Belle and Thomas to find the quilt when I brought it home from working on the longarm, but if it is kitty approved it must be good!  Oh, and that gray stripe there under Belle is a burp rag I made for my sister-in-law, we have a nephew coming in June!

 

I hope you enjoyed some of these behind the scenes photos, I still have quite a bit of fabric left from what was sent me so I am going to crank out some more projects over the summer and I will be sure to share with you.  Thank you for stopping by!

 

~Brandy