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How to Make Easy Landscape Blocks

April 13, 2017

applique baby triceratops with a volcano in the background

Most of my quilts don’t use landscape blocks.

I usually zoom right in on the animals’ faces. 🙂

I like to make it look like they’re looking (and smiling) at YOU.

I frame them in the block so they look like little portraits.

Maurice - cat applique pattern from Shiny Happy World

But that wasn’t going to work for the dinosaur quilt pattern. For dinosaurs I really needed to show the whole body.

That works just fine with my usual solid-color blocks as backgrounds.

green spotted applique apatosaurus on a purple quilted background

You could totally make the dinosaur quilt using all solid blocks like this and it would look great!

But as I was drawing them, I kept envisioning my dinosaurs in an actual landscape. I wanted the pterodactyls to be flying in the sky, above dinosaurs stomping across the earth. And I kept envisioning volcanoes and clouds and palmy prehistoric plants – and those needed to be rooted in the ground and stretching up to the sky.

I wanted landscape blocks.

So I did a lot of thinking about how to make these landscape blocks. I wanted a young, jagged, volcanic panorama – and I wanted it to be easy.

Dinosaur Panorama - four applique dinosaurs and one volcano on landscape blocks

I didn’t want all the blocks to be the same, and it seemed kind of silly to provide pages and pages of patterns for what are essentially squares with slashes across them. 🙂

So I came up with an easy method to make these blocks.

no measuring
no fussy templates
an even mix of uphill and downhill blocks
an even mix of earth and sky

Here’s how to do it.

See how easy that is?

My fabrics here are very bright and vibrant batiks but you could achieve the same landscape effect with a totally different feel by using a selection of pastel green and blue solids.

purple spotted T-rex on a pastel quilted landscape block background

See? Wouldn’t that make a sweet baby quilt?

You could also use blenders. I especially like to pair the blueberry blenders with the avocado blenders.

Those dinosaur eyes are pretty tiny. Too tiny to applique easily – so when I was designing the dinosaur quilt pattern I tested out a bunch of fabric markers and paints to see which ones worked the best on quilts. You can read about the results – and get my recommendations – here.

Here are links to all the posts about cutting your blocks.

Here are links to all the posts about quilting your blocks.

Finished with this topic?

Return to the Let’s Make a Quilt main Table of Contents.

Move on to the lessons about how to applique.

Happy quilting!

Free Pattern! Big Stitch Felt Coasters

April 11, 2017

Big Stitch Polkadot Coasters - a free pattern from Shiny Happy World

Practice your running stitch with these big stitch felt coasters.

This project is all about those big stitches!

It’s simple, fun and easy.

It’s all hand-sewn – perfect for stitching while you binge-watch your favorite show. 🙂

My friends at Sulky were watching my progress on this big-stitched lap-sized quilt. . .

Quilt-in-progress from Shiny Happy World's Big Stitches and Patchy Patchwork class

(It’s a WIP from my Big Stitches and Patchy Patchwork class.)

They knew I was using Sulky Petites 12 wt. thread for all the big stitch quilting, and they knew this was a BIG project. They asked me if I’d consider designing a smaller project for people who just wanted to give big stitch quilting a try.

Of course I would!

I loooooove stitching in spirals and I had been kicking around the idea of making some round coasters. This is what came out of it!

Materials

2 9×12 sheets of wool-blend felt (I used the color licorice)
scraps of fabric (I recommend solids so your stitches really show up well.)
Sulky Soft & Sheer
12 wt. Sulky Petites

Other Tools and Supplies

fabric glue stick
#8 embroidery needle
pinking shears (optional)

Step 1

Trace a circle onto the Sulky Soft & Sheer. You can trace a jar lid or a roll of tape – anything coaster-sized.

circle traced on Sulky Soft & Sheer stabilizer

I forgot to measure my circle before I shipped the finished coasters. I think it was about 3 ¼ inches?

Step 2

Roughly cut around the circle, leaving at least ¼ inch of stabilizer all around the circle. Layer with a scrap of fabric, right sides together, and sew directly on the traced line.

making coasters - circle sewn on stabilizer with pink fabric

Sew all the way around the circle.

Step 3

Trim around the edge, leaving a narrow seam allowance.

making coasters - sewn circle, cut out with pinking shears

I like to use pinking shears so I don’t have to trim notches to remove bulk.

Step 4

Pull the layers apart and cut a small slit in the center of the Sulky Soft & Sheer.

turning a circle of pink fabric right side out

Step 5

Turn the dot right side out through the slit.

Circle of fabric turned right side out with stabilizer backing

Smooth the curved edge and press it flat.

finished circle with neatly turned edges

See? A nice, neat circle with perfectly turned edges.

Step 6

Glue the circle to a scrap of felt using fabric glue stick.

Making Felt Coasters - pink fabric circle glued to a square of grey felt.

Step 7

Using running stitch and a single strand of Sulky Petites 12 wt. Thread, sew the circle to the felt all the way around the edge.

Making Polkadot Felt Coasters - sewing a pink circle of fabric to grey felt using a running stitch and matching thread.

There’s a video here showing how to embroider running stitch.

Step 8

Once you get all the way around the outside edge, start spiraling in to the center of the circle.

Making Polkadot Felt Coasters - stitching a pink circle down to grey felt using running stitch

Step 9

Using a glue stick, glue a second layer of felt to the back of the first.

Making polkadot felt coasters - almost finished.

Step 10

Cut out the final coaster circle through both layers of felt at the same time for a perfectly even edge.

Cut just a little bit beyond the edge of the fabric dot so that you can see the felt color around the edge.

Step 11

Using running stitch and a single strand of Sulky Petites 12 wt. Thread to match the felt, sew the felt edges together.

close up image of Big Stitch Felt Coasters, showing the detail of the stitching

Finished! Now make more in every color of the rainbow.

Felt polkadot coaters made with big stitch quilting

Pretty, pretty big stitch felt coasters!

Happy stitching!

Using Fabric Markers and Paints for Small Eyes

April 5, 2017

detail of applique dinosaur face with shiny black eye

For years I’ve been recommending fabric markers and paints as an option for people who don’t want to applique small eyes, but I’ve never recommended a particular brand.

Until now.

On a recent trip to Joann’s I grabbed one of every black fabric marker and paint they carried. Then I brought them home and tested them out on some dinosaur quilt blocks.

First, let’s talk about the markers. That’s definitely the easiest option for eyes.

Dinosaur eye made with a Tulip fabric marker - recommended by Shiny Happy World

Of all the brands I tested, I liked this Tulip fine-tip marker the best.

Tulip fabric marker - recommended by Shiny Happy World

It has a bullet tip, which is nice. I used the fine tip to outline the eye, and then filled in the center using the broader side of the tip. It took two coats (I let it dry between coats) to get the really opaque coverage I wanted – but that wasn’t a problem. Here’s a close-up of the finished eye.

Nice tip. No bleeding. Good coverage.

Now – what if you want to get a little fancy with a 3D eye?

Applique Dinosaur eye made with Scribbles fabric paint - recommended by Shiny Happy World

About a year ago I got an email from a customer telling me she had done her eyes using fabric paint, and I’ve been wanting to test that out ever since. I think she had used a puff paint, but I wanted to try the shiny finish, thinking that would add a nice spark of life to the eyes.

I tested out several brands and this one from Scribbles was my favorite.

Scribbles fabric paint - recommended by Shiny Happy World

The black was truly black, not just dark grey. It had a nice shine on it after it dried, and the bottle has a VERY fine tip which made it easier to control. It does take a little skill to use these squeeze bottles – I recommend practicing on some paper before you try it on your almost-finished blocks.

Here’s a close-up of a finished eye.

Dinosaur eye made with Scribbles fabric paint - recommended by Shiny Happy World

A couple of things to note. . .

This finishes to a nice smooth dome – but be aware that the dome is a lot taller when the paint is wet. It will compact down as it dries.

I tried – and was unable – to pick off the eye after it was dry. Just a little testing for kids who like to pick at textures like this. 🙂

You won’t be able to iron over the applique after you apply the paint – your iron will melt it. So you need to fuse down all the applique pieces, then outline stitch, then paint the eyes. You could possibly paint the eyes before outlining, but some of the edges of the dinosaur heads are pretty close to the eyes and I was afraid the rubbery eyes would grab at my presser foot and keep things from flowing smoothly.

Yes – it’s more than a little nerve-wracking to add paint to an otherwise finished block. I wasn’t joking about practicing on paper first. It took me a few eyes to get a feel for how it squeezes out of the bottle.

So there you go – my favorite fabric markers and paints perfect for small eyes if you don’t want to do tiny applique. 🙂

There’s a round-up of all my different ways to do the eyes here.

And you can find that dinosaur quilt pattern here. 🙂

Here are links to all the posts showing how to applique with fusible adhesive – my favorite method. It’s fast and easy and (with the right materials) it holds up beautifully to rough use and repeated washing.

How to Applique with Fusible Adhesive – a very basic intro
How Durable is Applique with Fusible Adhesive?
Fusible Applique the Easy Way – the way I currently work – use with any of my patterns that include SVG files
How to Use a Light Box to Layer Your Applique – perfect placement every time
How to Applique with Fusible Adhesive – photo tutorial – use with any of my patterns that do not include SVG files
How to Applique with Fusible Adhesive – video tutorial – use with any of my patterns that do not include SVG files

Here are links to special posts about eyes.

Here are links to some extra fun things you can do with your applique.

Other Applique Methods

Finished with this topic?

Return to the Let’s Make a Quilt main Table of Contents.

Move on to the lessons about outline stitching.

Happy quilting!

How to crochet the 2nd round in amigurumi

March 31, 2017

Today, I’m going to talk about how to crochet the second round of your amigurumi!

You see, I spend a lot of time talking about how to start off with the first round. Whether it’s using the magic ring method or the sloppy slip knot… the first round gets all the attention!

And then, Jen told me she was having trouble on the second round. Of course! We never talk about the second round, even though it’s just as tricky! So, here we go!

(Want to see a video version of this tutorial? You’ll find it here.)

For today’s tip, I’m using the pattern shown here, but almost all amigurumi patterns are the same! It starts with 6 stitches for the first round. So, let’s say we’ve completed our first 6 stitches:

Don’t turn your work! You’re going to crochet the second round going around just the way you’ve been going. The hardest part about crocheting the second round is finding the next stitch you should use. I’ve highlighted the next stitch in red:

How did I know it was the next stitch? It has to be! I want to have 6 stitches in my first round, so I count my 6 stitches (backwards, starting from the hook):

So, now I know what my next stitch is! What is that little weird extra bit that might trick you into being a stitch? The arrow is pointing to that weird piece in this picture:

That’s just a confusing chain left over from the original chain 2. Don’t crochet into it… skip over it and pretend it isn’t there!

Now you know which are your 6 stitches, crochet twice in each one. Now you’ve finished your second round! The rest will be a piece of cake!

You might also want to read my post on using stitch markers… it’ll help you keep track of your stitches!

Best,
Stacey

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Free Embroidery Files for Machine Stitched Eyes

March 29, 2017

I know the eyes are the trickiest part of my applique patterns.

I’ve got a video here showing some tips for outlining them, and I have a tutorial here showing a cheater-pants way to stitch the very small Paper Doll quilt eyes on many regular sewing machines.

But I’ve heard from several of you who have embroidery machines and want embroidery files to satin stitch those eyes – including the larger ones.

That would be awesome! But I don’t have an embroidery machine and I have no idea how their files work. 🙁

We were chatting about this in one of the video Q&A sessions, and Ceil followed up after the session by putting me in touch with Titania Creations – someone who specializes in designing patterns for embroidery machines.

Thanks Ceil!

Titania Creations created a set of files for oval eyes that I’m giving away for free here.

Yep – free!

The eyes are all ovals in various sizes – from 1/8″ tall (great for the Paper Dolls quilt pattern) up to 1 1/4″ tall (great for the Silly Sloths quilt pattern).

You can find all the files here.

Here are the details. . .

Sizes

01 = 1/8 inch tall
02 = 1⁄4 inch tall
03 = 1⁄2 inch tall
04 = 3⁄4 inch tall
05 = 1 inch tall
06 = 1 1⁄4 inch tall

Machine Formats

PES – Brother / Babylock
XXX – Singer
JEF – Janome
VIP / VP3 – Pfaff / Husqvarna
HUS – Husqvarna
EXP – Melco / Bernina (Bernina also uses .ART but this is not available commercially)
DST – Tajima / Industrial machines. Any machine can use DST format but most home embroiderers don’t like to use it because it does not retain any colors.

So if you need a 1/2″ tall eye and you have a Janome embroidery machine. . .

Go to this link.
Double click on folder 03 for the half-inch eyes.
Download the file ending in JEF.
Wave a magic wand to get that file onto your embroidery machine.
Stitch your eyes.

You can see that my knowledge of this process breaks down at Step #4. 🙂

I’m hoping that if anyone has a question they can ask it in the Shiny Happy People group and someone who actually HAS an embroidery machine will be able to help. 🙂

Oh! And these files can also be used to machine-embroider eyes on softies, for those of you making them for kids too young for the safety eyes. Hooray!

How to Applique with Fusible Adhesive – a very basic intro
How Durable is Applique with Fusible Adhesive?
Fusible Applique the Easy Way – the way I currently work – use with any of my patterns that include SVG files
How to Use a Light Box to Layer Your Applique – perfect placement every time
How to Applique with Fusible Adhesive – photo tutorial – use with any of my patterns that do not include SVG files
How to Applique with Fusible Adhesive – video tutorial – use with any of my patterns that do not include SVG files

Here are links to special posts about eyes.

Here are links to some extra fun things you can do with your applique.

Other Applique Methods

Finished with this topic?

Return to the Let’s Make a Quilt main Table of Contents.

Move on to the lessons about outline stitching.

Happy stitching!

Weekly Planner: free printable! (+ suggestions!)

March 24, 2017

Planners are a big deal. They can get really fancy. And there are planner people to follow on instagram. Whoa.

It’s a little overwhelming!

I’ve always struggled with finding the right planner for me. I love having a paper planner, but I always found it hard to find the right one. Some have a page for each day (I don’t have nearly enough going on!) and some are monthlies (I need more than an inch to write all my appointments for a day!). I just want a lovely, weekly planner. With room for a to-do list. And a way to separate those things I have to do on Tuesday from the things I have to do sometime this week.

So, I designed my own

I know! It’s such a Stacey-thing to do!

I posted a photo to instagram, and you guys LOVE it! And want to do it yourself! Sure, why not?

Download the Printable!

Now, I know this planner won’t be perfect for everyone. After all, I made it just for me!

Let me tell you a bit about the features. One page is the ‘weeklies’, an overview of the week. I have a box for the weekly to-do list (things that I can do anytime, but need to get done that week), a checkbox task (things that need to be done every day, but it doesn’t matter when… like posting to facebook or checking email) and a meal planning area.

You can download the Weeklies page in pdf format, here.

Then I have another page called the ‘Dailies’… things I schedule in for every day. You can see there is a blank space for the date, and a space to write a major task to work on each day. Below the date, I include appointments or items that have to be done that day (like 10am dentist appointment). I left a little space in the corner of the page for goals or mantras to keep in mind for the week. And I shaded out Friday and the weekends… a reminder not to schedule too many things for then!

You can download the ‘Dailies’ page in pdf format, here.

Make the Planner + Suggestions!

To make your planner, simply print both of these pages on 8.5″ x 5.5″ paper and have it wire bound! It’s a convenient size! I used 20lb paper (which is quite thin), so the resulting book isn’t too thick even though I printed out through the rest of 2017.

The wire binding means it lays open nicely on the table and you can see both pages at a glance. If you want to get creative, you can throw in extra pages (like a monthly calendar) on your own! Google ‘calendar printables’ for oodles!

You can write in the numbers and dates, but I splurged and bought these adorable number stickers. They fit perfectly. I also love these fun travel stickers. And of course I have my knitting stickers by Symposi Press.

It’s so much fun!

I hope you enjoy! And tell me about your planner!

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Quilting from the Center Out to the Edges – a video tutorial

March 21, 2017

detail of modern quilt block in grey, orange, and purple with diagonal quilting lines

What does it mean to start quilting in the middle and work your way out?

I get this question a LOT – so I made a video showing the answers.

That’s right – answers. Plural.

Because the answers are different depending on whether you’re quilting by hand or by machine!

See?

Here are all my posts about layering and basting your quilt, and the final round of quilting.

Here are all my posts about hand quilting and Big Stitch quilting. I don’t use these techniques with fusible applique or Quilt As You Go, but I LOVE using Big Stitch Quilting with my cheater fabric.

How to Tie a Knot
Hand Quilting Basics – traditional hand quilting
Hand Quilting without Marking
Big Stitch Quilting
How to Quilt All the Way to the Edge

Finished with this topic?

Return to the Let’s Make a Quilt main Table of Contents.

Move on to the lessons about binding and finishing your quilt.

Happy quilting!

How to Assemble a Quilt that Uses an Alternate Grid – video tutorial

March 8, 2017

quilt showing applique woodland animals - fox, raccoon, owl, deer squirrel, bunny, bear, etc.

Quilts that “break” the traditional simple checkerboard grid can be really fun and dynamic, but if you’ve never worked with an alternate grid before, figuring out how to assemble the blocks can be kind of tricky. Take a look at the Noisy Farm quilt.

You can’t just sew all the blocks into rows and then sew the rows together!

Instead of rows or columns, you break these quilts into chunks – and there’s an easy way to figure out how. That’s what I show you in this new video. 🙂

See? Now that you know how easy it is, try breaking the grid on your own! You could take the Playful Puppies pattern – a simple grid. . .

applique quilt featuring lots of cartoon puppy faces

. . . and add a bunch of half-blocks with puppy sounds using this free alphabet pattern. Arf! Woof! Yip!

Copy the layout of this Woodland Critters quilt. . .

Woodland Critters quilt pattern from Shiny Happy World

And you could have a really fun and dynamic version of the puppies quilt all your own! Noisy Puppies!

Here are a few more posts you might find helpful. . .

Find links to all the posts about pattern size and layouts here.

Quilt Sizes and Supplies Needed

Play with Your Layouts – Multiple Possibilities for One Quilt Pattern

Sashing

How to Make Applique Bust Out of Its Frame

Alternate or Broken Grid layouts (adding half and double blocks)

How to Make an Applique Rag Quilt

How to Make a Polaroid Quilt

How to Make a Wonky Churn Dash Frame for Any Block

Finished with this topic?

Return to the Let’s Make a Quilt main Table of Contents.

Move on to the lessons about choosing your fabric.

Happy quilting!

QuiltCon 2017

March 2, 2017

I went to QuiltCon for the first time and it was So Much Fun!

QuiltCon is a modern quilt show – so it was right up my alley. I didn’t get into any of the classes – but next time I’ll be more organized and I’ll be online the day those registrations open. They had a great slate of instructors there!

So for me it was a shopping and soaking up inspiration weekend. 🙂

The quilts in the show were amazing! Here are some of my favorites. . .

Bling by Kat Jones was the big show winner. I’m completely in awe of it. Isn’t it amazing? Abby Glassenberg recorded a podcast with Kat during the show and it was really interesting to listen to her talk about it. You can listen to that here.

Arches by Leah Pahlmeyer was inspired by her time in Alhambra, Spain. I just love the repetition of shapes, the solids, the simple quilting.

I loved Cursive by Paige Alexander – it made me look closer and closer. The quilting is like those practice pages of letters we used to do in grade school. 🙂

You all know I’m a sucker for stripes, so of course I loved Inner Monologue by Anne Sullivan. I love everything about this! Here’s a closer look at the stitching detail – a mix of machine and hand stitching.

Yum!

Speaking of big stitches – look at Mend by Melanie Tuazon! It makes me think of huge running stitches!

This is Moonie McMoonFace by Melissa Averinos. That title just makes me smile. 🙂 She does a lot of improv face quilts and this was her first attempt to make one that she could release a pattern for that people could reproduce. I love it!

My Cat Is a Jerk by Monica Solorio-Snow was made after she took one of Melissa’s improv face classes. I love it! And I think I really want to take one of these classes sometime. It would be loads of fun!

This one is completely different – Organic Mid-Century Mod by Laura Bennet. Beautiful!

Sunday Best by Michelle Wilkie really caught my eye. She made this in bits and pieces every Sunday over a period of months.

Vertigo by Elaine Poplin knocked my socks off and made me dizzy. If you look closely you’ll see that it’s four simple circles – but the way they’re offset and the angles of the squares that make up the rings make the whole thing spin. Wow.

There were more show quilts that I loved – but I accidentally took videos of a lot instead of photos. Oops!

My favorite booth quilt was this one at Michael Miller Fabrics.

Look closer!

Most of the quilt is quilted so densely that it makes the less-quilted parts really stand out. Just awesome!

Michael Miller makes the fabrics I used in my two newest fabric bundles – Box of Crayons and Dots.

And here’s my favorite purchase.

The fabrics are hand-dyed batiks from Malka Dubrawsky and the threads are gorgeous 8 wt. (that’s even thicker than 12 wt.) rayon threads from WonderFil. You’ll be seeing more of these soon. I can’t wait to play with them!

Happy stitching!

Best,
Wendi

Norah Gaughan’s Knitted Cable Sourcebook: Review

February 14, 2017

This book. Norah Gaughan’s Knitted Cable Sourcebook. Drool.

I saw it. And I bought it.

I don’t buy a lot of craft books. (Seriously, all of my books fit on one shelf!)

But I bought this one and love it. And I added my old cable stitch dictionary to my ‘Spring Cleaning’ pile. Because I don’t need it any more.

(does this inside cover give you an idea of all of the amazingness inside?)

I had read a lot of amazing reviews about this book, but I’m a bit of a skeptic. I thought, ‘oh, they’re probably just saying nice stuff because Norah Gaughan is really famous’. (geesh, that makes me sound really awful, doesn’t it? It’s just that in my job, I see a lot of books.) And the cable on the cover is nice, but it didn’t make me pass out from the amazingness.

But once my book arrived I discovered that my skepticism was unwarranted. It actually IS really amazing.

The introduction isn’t very long, but it’s packed with pretty juicy information. The topics covered include:

Using a double point needle as a cable needle
Left vs. Right slants
How to slip stitches onto a needle & how to work the held stitches
Cable terminology
How to read cable charts
Tips for keeping your place on a chart
A full explanation of Norah’s own Stockinette Stitch Equivalent System (SSE), so you can swap different cable stitches into different patterns
How to fix a mistake in a cable
How to count cabled rows

I read the introduction and felt like, ‘Wow. That has everything I need to know.’

The cable designs (many not previously published) are just stunning. Look at this one.

What?!?

Very few are this complicated… most of the stitch patterns are two notches above ‘simple’, but stunningly beautiful and hovering significantly below ‘crazily complex’. Which is exactly what you want in a stitch dictionary.

I fell in love with the Seed Rib Half Drop (#84 in the book) and cast on for a scarf immediately.

Isn’t it gorgeous? (The cable pattern, I mean… not my knitting!) It was so enjoyable to knit… I felt like each cable was a little piece of knitter’s candy. I just kept wanting to get to the next one!

The book also contains 15 projects, which are all quite lovely and creative projects using cables, in addition to the more than 150 stitch patterns in the book.

Whoa. This book is just plain fabulous. Treat yourself.

Those links are affiliate links. That means I earn a tiny commission if you buy after clicking through. 🙂

Materials

So, I designed my own

Download the Printable!

Make the Planner + Suggestions!

I hope you enjoy! And tell me about your planner!

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