Blog posts tagged with 'diy'

A touch of delicate romance is a delight year round, not just for Valentine’s Day! Consider other holidays—Mother’s Day, Sweetest Day, birthdays—or just a special token to say “I’m thinking of you.”

This versatile little design can be sewn as a trinket box, sachet, or simply as hearts. You’ll notice the top has a small inner heart, perfect for customizing with another small design or a monogram. The bottom is more plain to reduce sewing time and provide a place for an additional message.

To make lining the box simple, I created 2 appliqués sized to fit into the lid and base. Lining is optional.

This small ring or trinket box is designed so that it may be sewn in a 4x4” or 100x100mm hoop. If you have a 5x7 hoop, you’ll find a longer side piece that can be used instead of piecing two smaller segments together for each side.

Please read all instructions before beginning

Included

• PDF instructions
• PDF Templates for
• Freestanding appliqué inserts
• Shaping lid
• PDF license & color sequences
• 8 embroidery designs

Designs

You’ll notice the focus of this design differs from many of the free-standing lace designs widely available on the internet these days. Those designs are often created by laying down a mesh of fill stitches as a fabric substitute and then stitching satin elements over the top. Such designs are quicker to digitize but they don’t capture the elegance of the old time hand punched lace. I have incorporated areas of “mesh” on both the lid and the bottom to allow personalizing your heart box as desired.

Included designs:

• lgp00201-Lid
• lgp00202-Bottom
• lgp00203-Sides (for 5x7” hoop)
• lgp00204-Sides (for 4x4” hoop)
• lgp00205-Appliqué insert for lid
• lgp00206-Appliqué insert for bottom
• lgp00207-Sachet bag (in the hoop)
• lgp00208-Rosebud embellishment

Supplies

• 1/8” wide ribbon (matching or contrasting)
• Embroidery thread (metallic not recommended due to short stitch lengths)
• Bobbin thread (may match needle thread or use regular bobbin thread)
• Wash-Away stabilizer (I used products from Hemingworth and Perfect Solutions)
• 4x4” square of foam core
• Xacto knife
• Invisible thread for stitching side panels together
• Duct tape
• Wire cookie drying rack
• Thick, absorbent towel
• KK2000 or other TESA (temporary embroidery spray adhesive)
• Cellophane tape
• Straight pins
• Clear drying fabric glue (not hot glue gun)
• Needle with large eye for lacing ribbon
• Artist’s paint brush (small flat used for acrylics is perfect

Optional

• Bobbins wound with matching thread
• Fabric for lining the box (satin, velvet, velveteen, silk are excellent choices)
• Appropriate stabilizer for embroidering
• Medium weight cutaway stabilizer for appliqué stability
• Steam-A-Seam II for appliqué or other fusible web for appliqué
• Heat fusible tearaway (8” wide roll are perfect)
• Hot fix crystals for additional embellishing
• Potpourri for sachet
• Lining fabric for sachet

Cautions

• Resizing lace designs is not recommended.
• For optimum results, do not combine multiple pieces in larger hoop.
• This design was not digitized for metallic threads; you may get more thread breaks due to the shorter stitches.

Process Overview

1. Sew lace designs.
2. Cut out foam core template for shaping lid.
3. Trim stabilizer away close to designs. Rinse out stabilizer and shape appropriately to dry.
4. Optional: Apply hot-fix crystals.
5. Stitch side pieces together end to end to form one continuous loop.
6. Lace side piece to bottom with ribbon.
7. Lace ribbon through the lid rim.
8. Optional: Sew lining inserts, if desired and fit into lid and base.

General Tips for Lace

The quality of your lace depends heavily on proper hooping and machine tensions. If the thread tensions are too tight, the stitches will be pulled more and sections may not align properly, underlay may be exposed, and your design may fall apart in areas when the stabilizer is removed. You can also experience these problems if the stabilizer slips in the hoop.

Sometimes there are just a few errant stitches hanging out and these can be trimmed away with small thread snips.

• Sew in the smallest hoop that will accommodate the design. Do not combine multiple pieces in one hoop.
• For optimum results, hoop two layers of water-soluble fiber-based stabilizer (not film) in the hoop. Make sure both layers are smooth, taut and fully gripped between the rings of the hoop. I prefer duct taping the stabilizer to the hoop (after hooping).

Do not use a film type water soluble stabilizer. These stabilizers—even the very heavy ones—will perforate during stitching causing a loss of stability!

• Make sure your machine is clean and properly tensioned. Overly tight tensions will pull the stitches more tightly and may cause exposed travel and underlay stitches.
• After embroidering the lace, trim away excess stabilizer and rinse in water (refer to your stabilizer for appropriate temperature). Do not over-rinse; the remaining stabilizer will act as a stiffener to give your design body.
• To dry, smooth out the pieces on a thick, absorbent towel. Roll up the towel and press out the excess moisture; do not wring out lace. Lay the pieces out flat to air dry, shaping if distorted. You may wish to lightly steam press the pieces after drying to flatten if necessary,

The sides and bottom should dry flat, the lid needs to be shaped over the foam core form

Planning Your Project

Before you begin sewing, customize the designs if you wish. For example, add a monogram or small floral design, such as one of the florals from Building Blocks 1, Florals 1 or Building Blocks 6, Delicate Roses. You may also wish to add a small message to the bottom or here again, you can add some other designs. These additions can be sewn in the same color as the rest of your box or in contrasting ones

As a bonus, one of the rosebuds from Delicate Roses has been included with this project collection.

If you are not lining your box and you are sewing in a color other than white, you may want to wind some bobbins with matching thread so the inside looks just as pretty as the outside.

Sewing Lace Box Pieces

Sew one top, one bottom and one of the side piece designs.

Shaping the Lid

1. Make the shaping template.

Print the lid template, making sure it prints at full size. This template is sized to exactly fit within the embroidered lid.

Cut out loosely, spray the back with TESA and smooth onto the square of foam core. Using the X-acto knife, cut out by tracing the printed heart outline. Don’t try to cut all the way through at once.

Once the heart is completely cut out, you may want to wrap short lengths of cellophane tape around the cut edges to reinforce them.

Optional: Wrap the foam core heart in plastic kitchen wrap to protect it from the damp lace. (An especially goo idea if you are making multiples.)

2. Form the damp lid piece over the template.

The solid satin border should line up just along the outer edge. Fold the scallops over the side and hold in place with straight pins.

Optional Embellishment

Once the pieces are dry, now is the best time to apply hot fix crystals or other embellishments, if desired. Small pearls would look especially pretty

Assemble Sides

Using invisible thread and a zigzag stitch (multi-step or standard), butt the side pieces on the short ends and zigzag the sections to form one continuous loop. A stitch width and length of 1.5 to 2.0mm works well.

If you are concerned about getting a nice alignment, tape the ends to a piece of Wash-Away to hold in place during stitching. Trim off excess stabilizer and remove the remaining bits with a paintbrush dipped in water

One seam will match the center top and the opposite seam will match to the bottom point of the heart. If desired, weave a ribbon through the scallops similarly to lid edge.

Attach Sides to Bottom

There are two options for attaching the side piece to the bottom. One is to lace the pieces together using a ribbon (about 1 yard needed). The richelieu bars are designed to line up between the two pieces. Tuck the ends in and hand stitch or glue.

The other method is to join the seams similarly to how the side pieces were done. Using a machine zigzag and stitch from the outside of the box, matching the bars as you stitch

Don’t limit yourself to solid color ribbons or matching colors! There are some beautiful hand-dyed ribbons available or you can use fabric paints or inks to color your own

Finishing Lid

Once the lid has dried, remove the pins and foam core form. Lace a piece of ribbon (about 14” if no bow) through the scallops going over the center bar and under the scallop border. The ends can be hand stitched together on the inside (or glued) or the ends can be tied into a small bow. (I just used glue).

Creating the Lining Pieces

The included templates are used to precut your appliqué shapes for machine embroidery. For the sample here, I fused two pieces of fabric wrong sides together with a layer of medium weight cutaway sandwiched in the middle using Seam-A-Seam II. I also wound a bobbin with matching thread.

The drawback to lining the lid and including the stabilizer is that the rim of the lid is already very short (to keep it within a 100x100mm sewing field) and this added thickness will make the lid less secure.

Print the template at actual size, loosely cut out a pair of the lid and bottom templates and fuse to the top side of the fabric. (I printed on fusible tearaway in an ink jet printer.) Cut out shapes precisely along the outer edge of each line

At this point, you will need to consider your stabilizer. For example, if you’re using a fabric that cannot get wet, then a water soluble stabilizer will be a problem. (The paint-brush removal technique shown here can often be used on fabrics not suitable for soaking in water.) You will need to select a stabilizer that can be removed cleanly without damaging either the stitches or the fabric. For the steps shown here, I used one layer of Wash-Away.

Sew color one of the design for a placement guide directly onto the stabilizer. Remove the pattern template, lightly mist the back of the fabric appliqué with TESA and precisely place the piece over the stitched lines. Finish the design.

Remove from hoop and trim away the excess stabilizer close to the stitching line both outside of the embroidery and on the back, as shown below.

Heat a small container of water and using a paint brush dampened (not dripping) with water, gently melt away the remaining bits of stabilizer. If your fabric water spots easily, trim as closely as possible to the stitching and keep the brush as close to the stitches as possible. Take care to avoid a really wet brush that will promote moisture wicking into the fabric.

This paint brush method will avoid time spent rinsing, drying, and pressing. It’s really quite easy and quick to do and works especially well when the stabilizer is not entrapped in a lot of stitching.

Do not soak out water soluble products if you have used a TESA and it has not fully dissipated. You can speed dissipate TESA with a medium hot dry iron, however, many fiber based washaway products will shrink with heat. Do not use this method if your fabric cannot handle heat.

If your fabric won’t tolerate the paint brush method, another option is to use nylon organza as a stabilizer and instead of using the double sided fabric, appliqué onto the organza, then simply cut or melt away the organza for a two-sided piece.

The finished appliqués fit snuggly into the top and bottom. You may wish to secure with a few stitches here and there or dots of clear-drying glue.

You can also use the templates to simply cut out a piece of felt or ultra suede to use as a lining.

Sachet

You can easily make a small sachet by embroidering 2 lid pieces. For this sample, I completely rinsed out all traces of stabilizer. You’ll notice that when you do this, you have a very soft, drapable piece of lace.

Stitch a simple bag lining in the hoop by hooping two layers of organza or other lightweight tightly woven, semi-sheer fabric (right sides together) and stitching design lgp00207. Trim away excess with pinking shears leaving a scant quarter inch seam allowance. Turn the bag.

If you prefer to conserve fabric, simply use the lid appliqué template as a pattern and add seam allowances

If you are using a powdery potpourri, close up the opening so that it is just large enough for a small funnel. Pour in the scented stuff and finish closing. Partially lace the ribbon through the heart scallops starting from the center top. Insert the scent bag into the lace sachet and finish lacing

Sandwich the sachet between the two lace hearts and lace the hearts together through the scallops. You may wish to add a ribbon loop to hang the sachet. These little sachets would make wonderful wedding gifts for the bride and bridesmaids.

Troubleshooting

These designs have been tested on my own machines with 40 wt. rayon and polyester and 50 wt. cotton embroidery threads, rinsed and rigorously pulled to check for areas that are not well connected. All samples were sewn with 2 layers of Hemingworth Wash-Away or Perfect Solutions Wash-Away Mesh. If you use the designs as is with similar products, you should get results similar to those shown here.

If your results pull apart, have stray exposed stitches, or other registration issues, the two most common reasons are overly tight tensions and/or shifting of the stabilizer due to the forces of sewing. To prevent the latter, I prefer to use duct tape, as illustrated below.

Other Notes:

Feel free to put your own touch of creativity on your heart box. For example, you may choose to make the sides a different color from the lid and base. You may embellish your lid with ribbon roses.

The lid piece is also suitable as an appliqué on other projects or attach to a greeting card.

Be honest. We all know the perfect person for the “Perfect Man” apron and that person may be either male or female! I’ve also stitched this on sweatshirts without the doily and every time I give one, I hear a chorus of “will you make me one too?”

Shown here, the project can be sewn in a 5x7” hoop with three hoopings. If you have a larger hoop, you can consolidate a few hoopings.

The doily is not embroidered, it is simply a purchased one that I’ve zigzag stitched with my sewing machine using invisible thread. To keep the project moving along quickly, I used a purchased apron, which you can find easily on-line.

There are four variations on the appliqué gingerbread guy design and there are variations of the lettering to include “The Perfect Woman.” Also, there is a version of the phrase that uses the word “grief” instead of “crap” for those sensitive to the latter word. (What can I say? I’m not…)

Skill Level

Basic embroidery skills.

What You’ll Learn

• How to plan and layout a multi-placement design project.
• How to appliqué using templates.
• What order to sew combined designs.
• Why you should avoid color sorting. Supplies
• Gingery Christmas design collection by Lindee G Embroidery
• Purchased or pre-made apron
• Purchased doily (can be any shape desired; mine is square). The large gingerman is about 4.5” tall so find one the size you like.
• Temporary embroidery spray adhesive (TESA)
• Scissors, sharp double curve embroidery scissors best
• Embroidery threads as desired for designs
• Mono filament thread to stitch doily to apron
• Fusible web product for appliqué (I prefer double-stick pressure-sensitive products like Pellon Easy Steam or Steam-A-Seam II)
• Printed templates from collection for selected appliqués
• Appliqué tacking iron
• Ruler
• Stabilizers: Tearaway (I used washaway tearaway because it isn’t as crisp so it rehoops better), fusible tearaway for template printing
• Chalk marker or other tool for temporary marking
• Embroidery software to print designs for placement
• Cellophane tap

General Instructions

These instructions assume you already know how to appliqué using the template method. If you’ve never done machine embroidered appliqué using precut pieces instead of stitching down a larger piece of fabric and then trimming it away (what I call the “blob” method), please read the included Appliqué Basics first! Applique Basics will cover how to prepare your appliqué pieces for use in this project as well as explain the full process for machne embroidered appliqué.

Project Instructions

1. Select designs and prepare.

Start your project by selecting the designs you’ll be using.

Print your embroidery designs from your software with cross hairs for placement. I printed mine in gray scale on a laser printer; you don’t need color for this step. Cut them out so they can be used for placement planning.

Print the appliqué template and prepare and cut out your appliqué design

2. Mark vertical center on apron.

Using your chalk marker and ruler, draw a line down the vertical center of your apron. I like chalk because it is fine enough, visible enough, and temporarily permanent enough for staying visible no matter how long it takes to complete the project while being easily removable when the time comes. Also, pressing with an iron does not impact its removability.

3. Plan placement and mark horizontal guides.

Arrange your cut out embroidery patterns along with your doily on your apron using the vertical line as a guide. You may wish to tape the templates temporarily at this point to keep them from shifting during the next step

Notice in the photo that the horizontal center of my ginger guy aligns with the horizontal center of the doily. Don’t be surprised if your doily is not perfectly symmetrical!

While you can combine designs in your software if you have a large enough hoop, I didn’t. I simply sewed each design individually as you’ll see in the next few steps. (It’s actually easier!)

4. Mark horizontal guides.

Using the cross hairs on the printed design patterns, draw horizontal lines with your ruler and chalk. Remove the pieces from your apron and connect the lines through the center.

5. Prepare the apron for embroidery.

Baste a large piece of stabilizer to the back of the apron using your sewing machine. This piece should be large enough to fully hoop with the apron and accommodate all the designs.

I used tearaway for easy removal. Although there is quite a bit of stitching, it is spread out over a wide area and there is no dense stitching. Also, purchased aprons are quite stable. If you are stitching on another fabric that may not be as stable, consider a different stabilizer.

6. Attach doily to apron.

There are several ways to attach the doily to the apron. I first fused the doily in place using fusible web and hen I zigzagged around the outer edge with my sewing machine using invisible thread in the needle. This gives the best of both worlds and keeps the doily looking sharp over laundering without eventually peeling off. You may choose to do one or the other, however, the fusible web may not fully secure the crocheted edges of the doily.

7. Position designs for this hooping.

Replace the templates you removed earlier and tape them into place, only using the ones that will fit your hoop. I have a fairly large hoop shown below and have arranged the top lettering and the ginger guy. The bottom lettering will be sewn in the next hooping and I’ll position that when ready.

If you have a 5x7 hoop, you’ll need to plan 3 hoopings and rotate the hoop for the center appliqué

8. Hoop for first stitching.

Center your hoop over the center of the design and hoop making sure the apron guides align with the center marks on your hoop.

To keep the ties from getting caught in the stitching. I’ve tied them up. You may also want to tape or pin them out of the way.

9. Turn on your appliqué tacking iron.

You’ll need your mini iron in just a few minutes. Turn it on now to make sure it is hot when you are ready to fuse the appliqué

10. Align needle over design center.

Load the ginger guy design and using the arrows on your machine’s control panel, move the hoop until the needle is over the center of the intersection. You can manually drop the needle and sink it into the paper to be sure.

Remove the ginger guy template before stitching!

11. Sew first color.

The first color in all of the gingerbread appliqués in this collection is the placement line, which is simply a running stitch to define where to put your pre-cut fabric. Notice in the photo below that the top lettering paper template is still in place

12. Place appliqué.

Remove printed template from front of appliqué piece and back protective sheet from fusible web. Carefully and precisely align the precut appliqué within the stitched guides.

13. Fuse the appliqué in place.

With your tacking iron, lightly fuse the appliqué into place to prevent it from shifting during the tack down stitching. I fuse the center areas more firmly and the outer edges lightly enough to be able to peel up in case I need to trim off any excess.

14. Continue sewing the tack down then stop machine.

I prefer to slow my machine down during this step in case there is any fabric slippage. The tack down stitch is a zigzag, which I feel secures the fabric better while avoiding any pleats and puckers that are more likely to occur with a straight running stitch tack down.

Manually stop the machine when the tack down has completed a full pass around the design.

15. Inspect your design.

Now is the time to check for any fibers that may have raveled off or for any fabric that extends beyond the outside edge of the zigzag stitching. Trim those off now for a professional result when the satin cover sews later. It is nearly impossible to cleanly trim them close enough later.

16. Align needle for lettering.

When the first design is finished, load the design for the top lettering and align the needle over the cross hairs on the paper template. Remove the template and sew the design.

17. Prepare second hooping.

Remove your project from the hoop and tape the template for the bottom lettering into place. Rehoop aligning the apron’s guide marks with your hoop’s center marks. Position the needle and sew the final design.

Because I have a large hoop, I was able to place the hoop so that the top was between my two areas of stitching rather than over previous stitching. Although the ideal position for sewing is the center of the hoop, I was not concerned about registration issues on the letter so chose this position to protect previous stitching.

If you watch the lettering sew, you’ll see that one line goes from left to right while the next goes back from right to left. Keyboard lettering does not do that but you can certainly digitize letters that way!

18. Embroidery is complete

Tips & Cautions

1. Do not color sort!

If you are combining designs in software or at your machine, you’ll get the best results if you sew each design individually. There are some machines that will automatically “color sort” designs for you at the machine and this “feature” cannot be overridden.

Color-sorting will look through your designs and combine repeated colors where it thinks it’s a smart thing to do. In my opinion as a digitizer, color sorting is seldom a smart thing to do because it can often increase registration problems while reducing finished quality. I’d rather spend a few extra minutes changing colors than end up with a project that I’m not happy with!

2. Sew larger designs first and lettering last.

Larger more intense designs put more distortion on the fabric and can pull the fabric out of square. If you sew lettering first, the baselines may end up crooked from all the pushing and pulling from the dense stitching. Although that’s not an issue in this project, it’s a good thing to know.

3. Sew from the center out.

You may already know this from quilting or other crafts. Working from the center of the project to the outside tends to reduce puckering. If you followed these instruction, you’ll notice we started with the ginger guy, who not only is in the center but is the largest element in the design. Again, not a big deal in this project but a useful tip in other ones with more intense designs.

This vibrant southwest quilt showcases 5 machine embroidered appliqués designed digitized by Lindee Goodall. The quilt was designed, pieced and embroidered by Lindee and quilted by Barbara Angerhoffer. The central piecing is framed with a turquoise 1” border surrounded by a dark 3” border of mini Kokopelli black on brown print and finally set off with a solid black binding. Finished size is approximately 36 x 36”

Skill Level

• Basic embroidery and computer skills
• Basic quilting skills (rotary cutting, piecing, applying borders, binding)

What You’ll Learn

• How to create professional looking appliqué using precut pieces and your embroidery machine
• How to quickly make perfect half-square triangles in the hoop

What’s Included

• Designs for appliqués and two sizes of half square triangles in the hoop
• Templates for hand or machine cutting appliqués
• Instructions for machine embroidered appliqué
• Project instructions (this document). Cutting and quilt assembly diagrams are at the end.

About the Pattern

The five machine embroidered appliqué designs were originally created to fulfill a request by my friend James Raymer at Dalco Home Sew. After researching many southwest designs, I drew the artwork to represent common elements in native artwork then digitized them. I was so pleased with them (I have a southwest decor theme in my home) that I decided I’d make a wall hanging to showcase them. I designed the quilt in Adobe Illustrator and with the help of my quilter friend, Jeanette Smith, we picked fabrics. Once I started printing out the pieces at actual size, I realized just how tiny some of those little triangles were! So to maintain accuracy, I digitized a grid for sewing half-square triangles with the embroidery machine. These designs are included with this pattern.

I didn’t start out with the idea that I would publish the pattern but after numerous requests, I dug out my Illustrator files, and here we are! The yardages are approximate but on the generous side; I mostly worked from my stash and pieces contributed by Jeanette.

Now that the license agreement with Dalco has expired, the appliqués are united with the quilt pattern and half-square in-the-hoop triangles as one project.

Foolish Assumptions

This pattern provides quantities and dimensions for the individual pieces and a visual guide for assembling.

Borders

These instructions assume basic quilting and embroidery knowledge. You should know how to rotary cut, piece, apply borders, and bind a quilt. No details are provided for quilting. Details are provided for machine embroidered appliqué in a separate document.

Seam Allowance

Scant quarter inch throughout.

Seam lines marked on pattern pieces are 1/4 inch, seam lines marked on grids are scant quarter inch.

Supplies

• Fabrics for quilt and appliqué (I used all cottons)
• Embroidery threads
• Stabilizer
• Wash-away fiber stabilizer or tear away
• Temporary embroidery spray adhesive (TESA)
• Heavy duty spray starch
• Construction thread
• Batting
• Supplies for appliqué (fusible web, tacking iron)

Appliqué Embroidery

Machine embroider blocks before piecing quilt. If you haven’t done machine embroidered appliqué before or haven’t done it using precut appliqué pieces, please refer to the separate instructions PDF, Appliqué Basics.

I recommend prewashing all fabrics used for the quilt and appliqués. I also like to prep them with starch to improve stability for both embroidering and piecing. Spray the fabric but don’t saturate, turn the fabric over and press until dry with a hot dry iron. Repeat with at least two sprays on each side always pressing from the side opposite of the one you sprayed. This will force the starch into the fabric fibers making them more stable.

I prefer hooping fabric so that it is secured between the rings of the hoop with the stabilizer. If you are cutting squares of fabric and basting them to the stabilizer for embroidery, be sure to cut them at least 1” larger. Embroidery tends to distort the fabric even when properly stabilized. Hoop the stabilizer, baste in the hoop directly onto the stabilizer, then smooth down your block securing with TESA and a second basting stitch. Hoop carefully so that embroidery is centered in the block. After embroidering, remove excess stabilizer and trim block to size, keeping design centered in block.

Half Square Triangles

There are many ways to piece half square triangles. If you have a favorite method, then use that one. This wall hanging has 24 very small ones (finished size 1 1/8”) and 32 small ones (2 5/8” finished size). Handling tiny pieces can be cumbersome so you may wish to try one of the grid methods explained below.

Grid Method, Automated: Half Square Triangles in the Hoop

If you have an embroidery machine with a larger hoop, this method is fast and accurate. Two embroidery designs are included for doing half square triangles in the hoop. The smaller half square triangles (lgp01006.*) can all be done in a 5 x 7 hoop at one time. The larger blocks (lgp01007.*) require a larger hoop (175 x 175mm). Each of these has 3 color stops:

1. Placement guideline for positioning fabrics in the hoop
2. Fabric tack down and cut lines for quilt pieces (this is a longer running stitch)
3. Seams (use regular sewing thread instead of embroidery thread

Embroidery Instructions

For stronger seams, use sewing thread instead of embroidery thread for needle and bobbin. You may also wish to adjust the tensions for a more balanced sewing type stitch rather than embroidery, where the top thread is pulled to the back. Although the entire design can be sewn in one thread color, you may find it easier to cut the pieces apart if you use a different color for the cut lines. DO NOT SCALE THE EMBROIDERY DESIGN OR IT WON’T WORK FOR THIS QUILT!

Do not scale the embroidery design or it won’t work for this quilt!

1. Hoop tear away or wash-away stabilizer.
2. Sew color one, placement. This placement line is slightly outside the cutting line.
3. Cut two pieces of fabric to the size of the cutting line. With right sides together, TESA the two pieces, TESA one side of the fabric sandwich and smooth into place within stitched guideline. It doesn’t matter if the fabric extends beyond the line but it must at least meet the line. Color 2 can stay the same as color 1. Color 2 will zigzag tack the fabric to the stabilizer outside the cutting line. Then the cutting lines will sew. The cutting line may not entirely trace the perimeter of the design but there will be enough of an edge to align your ruler for rotary cutting.
4. Color change 3 sews the seam lines. Choose a color that you would use for piecing.
5. Finish sewing the design.
6. Remove from hoop and use a quilting ruler and rotary cutter to cut along stitching lines of color number change 2 (make sure not to cut the seam lines…).
7. Press seams open or to one side as desired for project. Trim off points.

Half Square Triangles, Grid Method 2

Using the provided templates as a pattern, mark a grid on the wrong side of one of the fabrics you’ll be using.

Print the template pages at actual size for an accurate pattern. Acrobat may set the default Page Scaling to Shrink to Fit. Make sure to change it to None in the print dialog box.

Print on light-weight fusible tear away lightly fused to a piece of printer paper in an ink jet. Fuse pattern to back of fabric, sew on stitching lines, tear off stabilizer.

For the smaller half square triangles, the pattern will make all 24 pieces at once. Place fabric A and fabric B right sides together, sew as indicated by the dotted sewing line and then rotary cut on the solid lines. Press open and trim off points.

Use a light mist of TESA to hold the two fabrics together without shifting.

For the larger half square triangles, the pattern will make 8 blocks. Make 3 sets of color C with color D for 24 blocks. Make 1 set of color B with color C for 8 blocks. Cut, press, and trim as with the smaller blocks.

Assembling

Refer to the layout on the following pages for a visual guide to assembling the quilt.

Borders

Cut strips for inner narrow border 1 1/2” wide. Cut strips for wider border 3 1/2” wide. Measure the vertical center of the pieced top and cut the inner side borders to that length. Attach side borders. Now measure the horizontal center of the pieced top and cut the top and bottom inner border to that length and attach to top. Repeat in a similar fashion for the outer borders.

Once borders are attached, your quilt top is now ready to be quilted. After quilting, add a hanging pocket if desired, and bind. Remember to add a label!

Usage of this Pattern

You may sell sewn versions of this quilt as you wish. The copyright applies to sharing, selling, or otherwise distributing printed or digital copies of this pattern or the embroidery designs—don’t do it! You may also teach this pattern as long as each student buys their own copy of the pattern. All attempts have been made to ensure these instructions are accurate. These are the pieces I used to make the quilt shown on the cover. Never the less, no guarantees are made.

Add Borders

Grid Pattern for Small Half Square Triangles

Instructions

Layer fabric A and fabric B right sides together. Trace template onto fabric. Sew on the dotted lines. Cut on solid lines, press open, trim off points. This pattern will make all 24 of the small half square triangles.

If you print this page at actual size, the template is accurate. Measure the small squares. They should exactly 1 5/8” (1.625”).