BLOG: Quilt Patterns

Make a Wall Hanging! Add a Wonky Churn Dash Frame to Your Favorite Quilt Block

May 31, 2018

Make a Wall Hanging - How to Add a Wonky Churn Dash Frame to Your Favorite Quilt Block - tutorial from Shiny Happy World

If you’re like most quilters – you have a LOT of patterns. 🙂

It’s always great to come up with another use for one of your favorites – especially if you can make an accessory to go WITH one of your best quilts.

You can turn a single block into a wall hanging and hang it just as it is. But it’s extra fun to give that block a special frame to really set it off and make it into a piece of art. 🙂

And it’s even more fun if that frame uses a wonky version of a traditional quilt pattern.

For this wall hanging I used one of my favorite blocks from the Cuddly Cats quilt pattern – no resizing. So it’s a 10 inch block in the center, with a wonky churn dash frame around it. The entire wall hanging is 16 inches square.

Here’s what you need. . .

18 inch square piece of batting (I use Warm & Natural cotton batting.)
10 1/2 inch square background block
scraps (less than 1/4 yard of each color) for the cat applique, the churn dash frame, and the second background around the frame
fat quarter for back of wall hanging

Here’s how to make it using Quilt As You Go. . .

Step 1 – Quilt Your Background Square

Press your batting square. Center your background block in the center of the batting.

Quilt the square to the batting.

I used double wavy stripes on mine. You can find a tutorial for that here.

Step 2 – Applique the Face

Applique the design to the block – being sure to line the lower edge of the applique up with the lower edge of the background block.

cat face and shoulders - appliqued to grey background square

Add a backing to your wall hanging (I used spray adhesive to baste it to the batting) and outline your applique. Here’s a closer look at the placement and the outlining.

You can find a complete video showing how I applique with fusible adhesive here.

Set that block aside while you make the pieces for the churn dash frame.

(That adorable fabric I used for the cat is Hash Dot in Lime from Michael Miller Fabrics, available here.)

Step 3 – Sew Churn Dash Corner Triangles

Cut four background corner pieces each 5 inches square. I used dark grey for mine.

Cut four right triangles with the legs (not the hypotenuse) anywhere between 4 and 5 inches long. The triangles should all be a little different.

Lay one triangle face down over the corner of one square, so that the points of the triangle (at each end of the hypotenuse) just hang over the edges of the square, as shown.

Triangle sewn unevenly to a grey square - making one corner of a wonky churn dash block

Sew the triangle to the square. Your seam allowance doesn’t need to be exactly 1/4 inch.

Step 4 – Open and Press Triangles

Trim away the excess fabric from the corner.

Fold the triangle out and press.

Step 5 – Trim Churn Dash Triangles

Trim the triangle down to a 3 inch square. (There’s a tutorial here showing how to use a square ruler for easy trimming.)

Triangle block for corner of wonky churn dash square - labeled to show required dimensions

Make sure there is more than 1/4 inch between the points of the triangle and the edge of the background fabric square. That will make it impossible to accidentally chop off the points when you assemble the whole frame. 🙂 Yay for foolproof tricks!

Repeat for the other three squares, so you have the four corners of your churn dash block. The sizes and angles of the triangles should all be a little different.

Set them aside.

Step 6 – Preparing Background Rectangles

Cut four background strips 12 inches x 3 inches.

Cut four frame strips 12 inches x 2 1/2 inches.

Sew the frame strips to the background strips and then trim those rectangles down to 10 1/2 inches x 3 inches. Make the seam between the two strips go at a slight angle – and make all the angles a little different to make your finished block more interesting.

You can see my finished rectangles in the next step. See how some are wider than others? And they all slant a bit?

Step 7 – Laying Out the Churn Dash Block

Lay out all the churn dash components as shown.

Laying out the pieces for a churn dash frame around a cute applique cat

Play around with the placement of the frame pieces until you’re happy with how things look.

Step 8 – Sew the Side Rectangles

Sew the side pieces of the frame to the sides of the block, sewing through the batting and backing too. For this and the rest of the project it’s important to use an accurate 1/4 inch seam allowance.

Applique cat with side pieces of frame sewn in place

Press the side pieces open.

Step 9 – Sew the Top and Bottom Strips

Sew together the corners and strips for the top and bottom rows of the frame.

applique cat with top and bottom strips of frame sewn together

Press your seams in toward the strips – away from the corner triangles.

Step 10 – Finich Sewing the Churn Dash Block

Sew the top and bottom rows to the center of the block, being careful to line up the seams.

Applique cat with a wonky churn dash frame - all finished except the final trimming and binding

Press the whole block flat.

Step 11 – Quilt, Trim, and Bind

Quilt the frame if you want to. (It doesn’t need it structurally, so just do it for looks if you like.) I stitched in the ditch around the outside edge of the frame and that’s it.

Trim away the excess batting around the edges and bind your mini quilt.

This video shows my favorite binding method.

If you like, there’s a tutorial here showing how to add a hanging sleeve to the back.

Finished!

Hang it on the wall and enjoy!

You can use the same method to make a fancy framed pillow cover. 🙂

Want to see more ideas for things you can do with a quilt pattern? Check out this round-up.

Here are several free patterns that work with my basic 10-inch applique squares – no resizing needed!

Here are several free patterns that work with just some simple resizing. This post about making coasters has info about resizing an applique pattern that can be applied to any of these projects.

Free Bib Pattern
Simple Christmas Stocking
Mini Bunny Tote Bag
Turn Any Quilt Block Patterns into Cute Coasters
Cozy Bear Coasters
The Big Bag (applique on the pocket)
Cloth Book for Babies

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

Happy stitching!

Penelope Panda – a free applique pattern

April 30, 2018

The Bunches of Bears quilt pattern has thirteen different bears in it.

But you can never have enough bears! And it didn’t have a panda so I decided to make one more block – and make it free. 🙂

Here’s how to make it.

This video shows all the steps for working with fusible adhesive – if you’ve never done it before you’ll find it helpful.

Below you’ll find two video tutorials, followed by the downloadable pattern templates and complete written instructions with step-by-step photos.

This long video shows in complete detail how to assemble the panda block.

This short video just has a quick overview of how to layer the pieces together, with no additional explanation.

Step 1

Download the template pieces. If you’re using paper-backed fusible adhesive and cutting by hand, use this link to download the PDF. If you’re using an electric cutting machine, use this link to download the SVG.

If you’e using an electric cutting machine like a Cricut. . .

Upload the file to your machine.
Resize if needed. (To fit a block that finishes at 10 inches square, the image should be 7.5 inches wide.)
Ungroup the pieces and assign colors
- Cut the belly and the face from the lightest color fabric
- Cut the shoulders, ears, and eye patches from the darkest color fabric
- Cut the eyes and nose from solid black
Cut.

Step 2

Trace or print the pattern onto the paper side of the fusible adhesive.

I use printable Heat & Bond Lite fusible adhesive so I just printed out the page. No tracing!

The image has already been reversed, so just trace or print. If you’re tracing, be sure to trace the facial features and placement guidelines too. You’ll need those for Step 5.

Step 3

Rough cut around each shape and fuse it to the back of your fabric.

Note – if you’re making your panda in realistic colors, use the large eye template pieces to make light-colored eye backings do the dark eyes show up on the dark eye patches. Use the small eye templates for your solid black eyes.

If you’re making a panda in fantasy colors, use the large eye templates for your solid black eyes, and discard the small eye templates.

There’s a video here with more information about helping make sure dark eyes show up well on a dark background.

Step 4

Cut around each piece neatly. Cut directly on the solid lines.

Step 5

Remember back in Step 2 when I told you to make sure you traced the facial features? Now you’re going to do that. Hold the face up to a window so the light shines through it. You’ll be able to see all the dotted placement lines, and the adhesive will stabilize the fabric so you can trace on it without it crinkling up.

Trace the lines to show where all the applique pieces are placed – the eye patches, eyes, nose and mouth are especially important. The belly piece is one you can probably place well without a guide.

Optional – trace the lines to show where pieces overlap, to help you position the ears on the head and the head on the shoulders. These placement lines are less important – you can play around a lot with the placement of these parts.

Step 6

If you’re doing Quilt As You Go (I did) then you can quilt your block before adding the applique. So easy!

Cut your background fabric and a piece of 100% cotton batting 11 inches square.

Layer the block with a piece of 100% cotton batting. Quilt any pattern you like!

Find all the Quilt As You Go tutorials here.

If you’ll do the quilting later, simply skip this step.

Step 7

Peel off the paper backing and arrange the pieces on a background block. Tuck the ears and the shoulders behind the head.

Remember - those dotted lines indicate where pieces tuck behind other pieces.

Fuse the pieces in place.

Step 8

Outline all the pieces with black thread and a simple straight stitch – or choose your favorite decorative stitch.

This video has some tips for outlining those tight curves.

I like going around all the pieces three times for a sketchy, scribbly look. This post has some tips for that.

This post has tips for using decorative stitching.

This post has some information about outlining using thicker thread.

Done!

If you’re making a one-block project, go ahead and finish it up!

If you’re making a bunch of panda blocks to join into a quilt - have fun!

This video shows how to trim your finished quilt blocks.

This video shows how to sew your blocks together using the QAYG method I use.

This post has tips for quilting on a cuddle fleece back.

And this video shows how to bind your quilt.

What can you do with just one block pattern? Tons of things!

Check out this page I’ve been slowly building – 100 Things to Do with an Applique Pattern. 🙂

Have fun! And share a photo of what you make! You can share it in the Shiny Happy People group or tag it with #shinyhappyworld on Instagram.

If you like this free pattern, sign up for the Shiny Happy News! Subscribers get a weekly newsletter full of sewing tips and tricks, free patterns, special discounts, and other things to make you smile. 🙂

Happy sewing!

Free Santa’s Village Signs to Make a North Pole Quilt

December 18, 2017

I’ve been working on a super fun North Pole quilt by adding a bunch of cute Santa’s Village signs to houses and buildings made with the Shiny Happy Houses quilt pattern.

It’s been so much fun!

Now you can do the same thing!

Get the Shiny Happy Houses quilt pattern here.

Click here to get the free pattern for all the signs – there are 26 – plus a page of blank signs so you can come up with your own fun names. 🙂

The pattern for the signs includes instructions for how I do the lettering. It’s easy!

I wanted everything in my quilt to look like it was made of candy so it’s a lot of bright colors on spun-sugar pastel backgrounds. 🙂

Happy quilting!

Best,
Wendi

Mrs. Claus – free applique pattern

November 29, 2017

There’s a new free applique pattern for you! Merry Christmas! 🙂

This Mrs. Claus pattern is the same size and style as the other free Christmas applique patterns (10 inch finished blocks). There are four now so you can make a square wallhanging!

Here are links to the other three. . .

Download the Mrs. Claus pattern pieces here.

Here’s how to make her!

Step 1

If you’re using Quilt As You Go, quilt the background to the batting. I’m showing mine from the back so you can see the stitching more clearly.

Step 2

Print or trace the pattern pieces onto the paper side of fusible adhesive.

I love these printable sheets of Heat & Bond Lite because I’m lazypants and don’t like to trace.

The pieces have already been reversed, so no need to flip anything.

Step 3

Roughly cut out the pieces, leaving a little extra all the way around each piece. Leave a little extra extra wherever there’s a dotted line. That edge will tuck under other pieces for a clean finish.

Fuse the pieces to the back of your fabric, following the instructions on your fusible.

Step 4

Trace the features onto the front of the face fabric.

If you hold it up to a window, you’ll be able to see the lines very clearly through the fabric.

I trace just inside the lines marking the position of any applique pieces – like the eyes.

I trace directly on any lines to be stitched – the nose and mouth.

I just use a fine tip black Sharpie.

Here’s what it looks like without the light shining through.

Step 5

Cut out all the pieces neatly.

Cut directly on the solid lines. Leave a little extra seam allowance past the dotted lines.

Step 6

Peel off the paper backing and layer up all the pieces.

Remember – those dotted line edges will tuck behind other pieces. For example – the bottom of the bun has a dotted line, showing it tucks behind the top of the head.

Line up the lower edge of her shoulders with the bottom edge of the block. You’ll trim away the excess when you trim your block down to size so you don’t see that cut edge.

Fuse the design in place, again following the instructions on your fusible package.

Step 7

Stitch around all the pieces to secure the edges. Stitch right over your traced lines for the nose and mouth. (This video has tips for stitching those tight curves.)

I like to use a simple straight stitch in thick black thread. I think the cartoony outline suits my simple designs, but you can use matching thread and any stitches you like.

This post has more info if you’re trying to figure out in what order you should stitch the pieces.

Step 8

Trim it down to size and you’re finished! I recommend starting with an 11 inch square and trimming it down to 10 1/2 inches if you’re making a quilt or a wall hanging – but you can also use this design to make some placemats (free placemat pattern here) and that will need a different starting block size.

Happy quilting!

Best,
Wendi

Think BIG! Fun and Easy Giant Applique Class

October 30, 2017

Think BIG is here!

It’s a brand new class covering everything you need to know to do GIANT applique.

How to enlarge any applique pattern to any size you like – including an easy formula
How to work with that giant pattern
What to do when the pattern pieces are bigger than the biggest fusible adhesive you can buy
What to do when your applique is way bigger than your ironing board

You’ll get general information that you can use for any applique of any size for any project – but you’ll also get all the pattern pieces and instructions to make four fun projects.

Make a BIG poster.

You’ll get the giant cat pattern, the alphabet, and the instructions to make a big poster.

I made this reminder to hang in my new studio – but you can make anything you like! This would be a great project for a new baby. Make a baby quilt, then enlarge your favorite block from the quilt to make a matching poster with baby’s name and birth date!

Make a BIG pillow.

You’ll get the giant fox pattern plus all the instructions to make a big pillow. Mine is 26 inches square – but the class includes instructions to enlarge to any size you like. Make a big floor pillow to match one of the blocks in your favorite applique quilt!

Make a BIG bunny baby quilt.

This bunny quilt is fast and easy. You can make it in a day! The corner bunnies are “normal” 10 inch blocks and the center medallion is a whopping 30 inches square. The class includes instructions for easy peasy Quilt As You Go construction. You could easily adapt the pattern to work with any applique design in your stash, to match any nursery theme – but you’ll get the bunny pattern in both sizes.

Make a BIG napping quilt.

Whoa! Look at that giant version of my Augie Dog! It’s way WAY bigger than the original. 🙂

You’ll get the full-sized puppy pattern plus complete instructions to make a 50 x 60 inch napping-size quilt – my favorite size for curling up on the couch. Using Quilt As You Go doesn’t make much sense for a quilt made of one HUGE block, so I include a video with tips for quilting it.

Of course, the class includes instructions to enlarge any block to size for a quilt like this. I’ve already had one reader suggest a quilt with a single “doll” from the Paper Dolls quilt, enlarged to be the same size as your child or grandchild. What a brilliant idea!

By the end of the class you’ll be able to adapt ANY applique design to ANY size you like – and add huge fun to all your favorite patterns. 🙂

Happy quilting!

Best,
Wendi

Scary Squares vs. Mix & Match Monsters – What’s the Difference?

October 19, 2017

As of today I have two different monster quilt patterns in the shop. Scary Squares and Mix & Match Monsters.

There are a lot of similarities between the monsters (because I drew them all) but these are not the same pattern!

Scary Squares is the easier pattern. It includes full-sized applique patterns for twelve different monsters, plus all the instructions and links to videos you need to make your quilt. The pieces for each monster are exploded and labeled and ready for you to assemble in the usual way. This one is great for beginners.

Mix & Match Monsters includes 24 pages of mix and match monster parts. The pieces are all carefully sized and proportioned so you can combine them in a bunch of different ways to make a kajillion different monsters.

How do you know which one is right for you?

If you’re new to Quilt As You Go and applique with fusible adhesive, or you just want a monster project that’s fast, easy, and fun – with all the design decisions already made – then the Scary Squares pattern is the one for you. Get it here.

If you look at the Scary Squares pattern and think, “I like the eyebrows on that one monster, but I want to add them to this other one, and maybe add the horns from that guy onto this guy, and use some faux fur while I’m at it. Oh – and I think this guy needs a contrasting belly and that guy could use some stripes and I wonder if I could add some springy, curly hair to this one, and wouldn’t it be fun to make it look like that one is busting out of his block. . .” then the Mix & Match Monsters pattern is the best choice for you. 🙂 Get it here.

Happy quilting!

Best,
Wendi

Tutorial – Make a Tablet Cover

July 17, 2017

This post is originally from November 2013. I updated it in July 2017 to add the quilted batik tablet cover I made for my iPad Pro.

The day before I left for Quilt Market I decided that a really efficient use of my time would be to make myself a tablet cover using some of my new patterns. 😛

Here’s the result.

pink tablet cover with green applique dog

I posted it on Facebook and I got a bunch of requests for a pattern.

How about a free tutorial instead?

First you’ll need to measure your tablet. Of course, they’re all just a little bit different.

Add one inch to each dimension – length and width. This is your cutting size. If your tablet is 8″ x 11″ your cutting size is 9″ x 12″.

Cut four pieces of fabric to your cutting size. Two are for the outside and two are for the lining.

Oh yes – it’s lined.

Applique whatever you like to the two outside pieces, using whatever applique method you prefer. Click here for a free workshop teaching Quilt As You Go and applique with fusible adhesive – my favorite method.

The puppy is Harold – one block in the Lovable Mutts quilt pattern.

Of course, you can use any applique pattern you like! You can find tons of individual block patterns here.

For those who don’t like applique – how about embellishing it with some stitching? I’ve got a bunch of easy embroidery patterns here.

Or just make it out of the most fabulous fabric you can find!

For the new iPad cover, I used a fabulous hand-dyed batik fabric from Malka Dubrawsky of Stitch in Dye and added Big Stitch quilting around all the circles.

These are the tablet cover front and back, all quilted, trimmed to size, and ready to assemble.

Shop for Malka’s fabulous fabric here.

Learn how to do Big Stitch quilting here.

Back the outside layers with some thin cotton batting and hold the layers together with some machine quilting (if you didn’t already quilt it as part of your embellishment). For the cat/dog cover, I just followed the line of the zigzags in the fabric. Easy peasy! Since the tablet is lined you don’t even need to back the batting.

So. You’ve cut your pieces, added any fanciness you like, and quilted in some padding. Time to start sewing it all together. This is super easy.

Sew your front to your back, right sides together, using 1/4″ seam allowance. Sew down one side, across the bottom, and up the other side. Don’t forget to backstitch at the beginning and end of your stitching.

Do the same thing with your two lining pieces except leave a 3-4 inch opening in the bottom for turning the whole thing right side out later.

Turn both the outside and the lining right side out and press.

I’ve got my turning stick poked through the opening I left in the lining. See how I pressed that too? That’ll make it a cinch to sew up when you’re done.

Now turn the outside inside out again. Leave the lining right side out.

Measure a strip of elastic 3 inches long. I used soft fold-over elastic in a pretty color but you can really use any elastic in any size or color.

Fold the elastic in half and pin it to the center of the front of your cover. (Fold the cover in half to quickly find the center.)

loop of pink elastic pinned to a work in progress

I like to leave a little extra hanging over the raw edge.

Slip the lining (right side out) inside the cover (inside out). Line up the side seams and pin or clip the layers together around the top. The elastic loop should be sandwiched between the two layers.

layers of batting and fabric clipped together

You can really see my quilting lines here on the batting.

Sew the outside to the lining all the way around the top using 1/4″ seam allowance.

I go back and forth over the elastic a couple of extra times. It’s a stress spot and I like to reinforce it.

Now comes the fun part.

Pull the lining out of the bag. Then pull the whole thing through the opening in the bottom of the lining. Sew up the opening in the lining using either whipstitch or ladder stitch and tuck the lining down into the bag.

Flip down the elastic loop to see where you need to position your button and sew the button in place.

Done!

pink quilted tablet cover with a blue applique cat

Here’s the back of my cover. Of course I had to decorate the back too!

And here’s a full view of the batik cover.

blue quilted tablet cover with batik and quilted circles

It’s the same font and back. 🙂

Here are several free patterns that work with my basic 10-inch applique squares – no resizing needed!

Here are several free patterns that work with just some simple resizing. This post about making coasters has info about resizing an applique pattern that can be applied to any of these projects.

Free Bib Pattern
Simple Christmas Stocking
Mini Bunny Tote Bag
Turn Any Quilt Block Patterns into Cute Coasters
Cozy Bear Coasters
The Big Bag (applique on the pocket)
Cloth Book for Babies

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

Happy sewing!

Shiny Happy World + Michael Miller Fabrics = The Perfect Collaboration

May 25, 2017

Every once in a while a fabric company asks me to work with them on a project – usually for a booth at Quilt Market. When it’s the right company and the right project these collaborations can be really fun. Every once in a while lightning strikes and they’re so perfect that it’s almost magical.

The Dear Stella collaboration that resulted in this free Sloth Lovie pattern, the Silly Sloths quilt pattern, and the Bear and Bunny Lovie Patterns was one of them. It was so much fun and led to so many great projects! The way I feel about this project can be summed up in the video I made for the quilt pattern.

Be sure to listen with the sound on for maximum cuteness. 🙂

I’m in the middle of another magical partnership – this time with Michael Miller Fabrics.

Maybe you saw some of their posts tagged #mmfpets during Quilt Market?

I had SO MUCH FUN making these guys!

Did I mention they’re BIG?

Really big.

Each block is about a yard wide!

When Michael Miller approached me about the project and shared a sketch of their booth, I actually squealed out loud. The concept was just so cute!

They had a bunch of BIG paper doll blocks, with outfits made in soon-to-be-released fabric collections. I would be making their pets – also in brand new fabrics. 🙂

It’s so much fun (and feels so sneaky) to play with new fabrics before they’re even released! Here are some of my favorites from this project. Each image links back to the Michael Miller site if you want more info. (Maybe you want to ask your local fabric store to be sure to bring in your favorite.)

Daisy Garden from Michael Miller Fabrics

Little Stripe in Sunny from Michael Miller Fabrics

Gingham Play from Michael Miller Fabrics

So the whole booth concept was super cute, the fabrics were super cute, and their idea to incorporate my applique patterns was super cute. Of course I said yes!

Before I even started the project, I was already thinking of ways that YOU might want to use some big applique patterns. My plan was just to tell you to enlarge the blocks and then make some suggestions for what you could do with those supersized cuties.

But once I got into actually making the blocks, I realized it wasn’t quite as simple as that. It’s still pretty easy – and boy do they come together quickly! But there were a few Problems To Solve and Quirks To Work Out – so I decided to put it all together in a new online workshop.

No – those aren’t miniature scissors. Those are my regular shears, put in there for scale. 🙂

Update – this class is no longer available, but I’m working on bringing many of the lessons over here as free tutorials.

But that’s not all!

Since the purpose of the blocks was to show off new fabrics, I needed to add some extra doodads and accessories for the pets. That way I could incorporate more fabrics!

That was so much fun that I KNEW you guys would want to play too.

I decided to create a new applique pattern with loads of different hats and eyeglasses and bows and mustaches and speech bubbles and more. I just finished my drawings and I’m going to start making up some sample blocks soon so you can see how they work with all the applique patterns you already have.

Update: That pattern is finished now. It’s called Fancy Doodads and you can get it here!

So there it is. A perfect partnership – one where every step of the process is a joy and takes me in directions I never even thought of – including back to you. Many thanks to Michael Miller Fabrics for making it fun!

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!

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!

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 stitching!

Here’s what you need. . .

Step 1 – Quilt Your Background Square

Step 2 – Applique the Face

Step 3 – Sew Churn Dash Corner Triangles

Step 4 – Open and Press Triangles

Step 5 – Trim Churn Dash Triangles

Step 6 – Preparing Background Rectangles

Step 7 – Laying Out the Churn Dash Block

Step 8 – Sew the Side Rectangles

Step 9 – Sew the Top and Bottom Strips

Step 10 – Finich Sewing the Churn Dash Block

Step 11 – Quilt, Trim, and Bind

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Step 7

Step 8

Done!

Materials

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