Cheats Half Square Triangles Using Charm Squares

I love half square triangles, but sometimes they can take a while to make.

But here is a quick way to make them using charm squares.

What I used:
8 Charm Squares

Yield:
16 half square triangles

Place two charm squares right side together and stitch around ALL of the edges with a 1/4 inch seam allowance.

Cut in half on the diagonal.

Cut in half again.

Ta da! You now have half square triangles!

All you need to do now is press and trim them.

Then arrange how ever you like.

I love this method as you can make HEAPS of HST's in a fraction of the time.

Super Easy Needle Case

What you need:

• 4 Charm Squares
• Felt
• Thread
• Scissors
• Sewing Machine (or you could hand sew)

How to:

 Sew two charm squares right side together and press the seam.

Line up and pin pieced charm squares and sew around all edges don't forget to leave a gab for turning.

Turn right side out, press and top stitch around the edges.

Cut felt so size and sew down on the middle of the charm square 'book'

Ta da, your done.

5 Ace Lunch Bag Tutorials

We are now half way through the school year and the kids lunch bags are looking a little worse for wear so I thought I might try my hand at making them some new ones.

Of course I headed for Pinterest to track down some awesome tutorials.

Lunch Bag Tutorial- Lemon Squeezy Home

Lunch Bag Tutorial- The Long Thread

Mushroom or Owl Lunch Sack- A Lemon Squeezy Home

Lunch Bag- Martha Stewart

Reusable Lunch Bag- Craft Buds

I still haven't decided which one I will make... Possibly a mushroom and an owl one. I'll share my progress as soon as there is some. 

Have you made any lunch bags?  

No Sew Monogrammed Hoop Art Tutorial

On Sunday I shared that I am trying to add as much colour to our home as I can. And one way was by making some wall art.

I made this one over the weekend and am sharing how I made it today over at And Sew We Craft.

But the plan is to create a monogrammed hoop art wall with all our intials. And I thought I would do it a quicker way instead of hand stitching all the letters down. So I broke out the heat and bond I have been saving for a rainy day and got to work.

What you need:

Iron on Adhesive
Fabric for letter
Background Fabric
Iron
Scissors
Letter Stencil (or simple draw freehand)
Pencil
Embroidery Hoop (mine is a 5 inch hoop)

How to:

Follow instructions on your Iron on adhesive to adhere your letter fabric to it.

Draw your letters on to fabric and cut out

Mark on your background fabric where you would like your letter to go.

Peel of backing and iron on fabric following the instructions on your iron on adhesive.

Put fabric on your hoop.

Trim excess fabric.

And your done!

Now I just have to repeat for my other 4 letters, but I am still waiting for the rest of my embroidery hoops to arrive so I still have some time up my sleeve.

{Tutorial} Super Easy Place Mats {Part 2}

Yesterday I showed you how I made the 'quilt sandwich' for my place mats now I am going to show you how I made the scrappy single fold binding for them.

What you need:

Charm Squares or scrap fabric
Rotary Cutter or Scissors
Ruler

How to:

Cut strips to 2.5 inches wide.

Sew the strips together end to end

Fold sewn strip in half  and iron flat.

I made a rookie mistake here! So please disregard the fact that I have stitched the binding onto the back! You should be stitching it on the front. I have no idea why I did it this way!

Now it's time to sew your binding to the front of your place mat. Start in the middle of one of the long side remembering to keep a longish tail for joining the binding. 

 When you get to a corner fold the binding away from the place mat at a 45 degree angle and then fold it back in line with the edge (hopefully the next photo explains it better)

Now start to sew down your binding. When you get to your corners, sew up until the corner then flip the folded binding in the other direction so that you don't sew down the overlapped binding for the mitred corners.

 Flip the place mat over and pin/clip the binding in place making sure to fold the corners correctly. Then start sewing it in place. You could hand stitch it if you like, but I'm too impatient for that.

 And your done!

Now it's time to do the rest :)

The coasters pictured are made using this tutorial. And for Part 1 of this tutorial go here.

{Tutorial} Super Easy Place Mats- Part 1

This tutorial is very photo heavy so I am breaking it up into two parts. Today we will be making the top of the place mat, the 'quilt sandwich'  and quilting it. Tomorrow I will walk you through how I made the scrappy binding and the binding of the place mat.

Please note I made a rookie mistake with these place mats. I have no idea why I did it the binding the way I did! But I stitched it down on the back first instead of the front... as I said ROOKIE mistake! I'll explain it all better in the next part of this tutorial.

What you need:

18- 5 inch x 5 inch squares in print fabric (I used Good Fortune Charm Squares)
18- 5 inch x 5 inch squares in plain (I used a linen fabric)
Fabric for backing- I used some quilters calico

How to:

Choose your fabrics and arrange how you would like them to be sewn.

Then sew right side together with a 1/4 inch seam allowance starting on the top row, moving left to right.

Press seams either open or to the side, which ever your prefer.

Pin the two completed rows matching up the seams and then sew the rows together.

Press seam.

And now you have the top of your place mat finished in super speedy time. 

Do the same with the remaining squares. Below are my 6 tops waiting to be basted and quilted.

When making smaller projects that require batting I try to use up my batting scraps. I showed how I join them the other day over at And Sew We Craft.

Cut your backing to size and layer it right side down. Place batting on top then place the quilt top (the place mat) right side up.

Now because the place mat is only small you won't necessarily need to baste it. I did for the first one but then didn't bother for the remaining five.

Quilt which ever way you like. I free motion quilting mine because it is pretty fast and I was on a limited time frame. 

Then all you have to do is square up you quilt sandwich by trimming up the edges.

Then repeat with the other 5.

Meet me back here in the morning and I'll show you how I made the scrappy binding and how I finished them. 

Part 2 can be found here!