A Dainty Butterfly Block

I first saw this cute butterfly block tutorial on Four Wise Monkey’s blog and had to give it a try.  She is quite creative and has lots of fun projects to check out on her blog.  I liked it this butterfly block, but it had a lot of bulk in the center so I worked up a way to eliminate some of that and thought I would share my method here.  I am new to writing tutorial so I hope this all makes sense, but following my own directions I was able to make these in about 20 minutes and it would be faster if you had them precut and chain pieced them together.  Let me know what you would do with these cute blocks.  I have a few ideas for mixing them with some other blocks for wall hangings or place mats or mug rugs…and on and on as the mind turns.

This will make a 6 ½” block.

Top wings

Cut: 1 – 4” Square of print fabric

1 – 4” square of background fabric

1. Mark a diagonal line on the background fabric and sew ¼” from each line then cut apart on the drawn line.

2. Iron the seam on one square toward the background and one toward the print.

3. Square up to 3 ½”

Bottom wings

Cut: 2 – 3 ½” squares of print fabric

6 - 2” squares of background fabric

1. Mark a diagonal line on the 6 background squares.

2. Place the first square on the top left corner of the wing square and sew on the drawn line. Cut ¼” from the seam.

3. Repeat for the bottom right corner on each block. Press seams toward the background on one block and toward the wing on the other block.

4. Place the last 2” squares on the bottom left of each wing and sew on line. Trim to ¼” and press toward background.

5. Square all blocks up to 3 ½”.

Put it all together

Lay the 4 blocks out as shown and sew together matching center seams. I pressed the last seam down for the least bulk. Draw butterfly antennae and embroider.

Now start dreaming up ideas to use these in projects!

Here is a link to a PDF file I made for this.

Keep Sewin’!

Ferne

A Quilting Break?

Last week the wind blew and it rained, hailed and snowed…not really gardening weather, but great for staying indoors.  Well I was indoors for 6 days and cabin fever never set in except for the little cabins I was piecing for a really cute quilt by The Rabbit Factory called Around the Block.  I am starting this pattern backwards, I should be making the middle, but I wanted to get right to those cute house blocks.  I am making 2 identical blocks at a time because I think I could use them in so many other projects like table runners, mug rugs, pillow toppers and who knows what  else I will think up.  They are sure fun to make! If you look close at the fabric in the tree you will see that it is a print of cabbage leaves and I thought it added a lot of texture to the little trees.  I am pulling all these fabrics out of my newly organized stash.  Having just organized it was a great idea because I found fabrics I forgot I had and now it is all fresh on my mind. 

Well after a couple days of sewing and playing with fabrics and a little cooking and baking thrown in I got an urge to tackle an idea I’ve had in my head for a while.  Ever since I moved in to this house I have wanted to paint a tree on a wall so I got out a pencil and started drawing then collected all my paints together and just got started.  I figured that if I didn’t like it I could always just paint over it.  We just applied for a fictitious name for our new little orchard we are about to plant so this helped inspire my project.  We are growing lots of varieties of fruit trees so my painted fruit tree is sort of a fruit cocktail tree.  I am painting plums, apples and pears in it.  What a fun project to do on a freezing couple of days while you are dreaming of warmer weather to come.  Oh, our little home has become “Humminbird Farmz”…and maybe someday we will be able to sell some of the fruits of our labor, for now though we are enjoying the process of getting it all together.

Cabin Fever can be a good thing!

Ferne

Me and My Janome on a Windy Day

 

Yesterday was one of those days when you just want to stay inside and so I did!  I have been finishing up a lot of quilting projects lately, but today I just wanted to start something fresh and simple.  I was inspired by a little mug rug picture I saw at Shape Moth (a new to me blog that you must check out).  There was no tutorial just a picture and for me that is where the fun begins.  I love figuring things out and doing the math, but the one thing I didn’t quite get was how she did those tiny bees on her mug rug so I just have one big bee on mine.

I also had to spend some time playing with stitches on my machine.  I haven’t had my Janome 6600 very long so I haven’t figured out all the stitches.  On my old Janome I found that I like to use a blind hem stitch with the bite made as small as possible and it makes the appliqué look like I had done it by hand, but I couldn’t quite get the same stitch on the new Janome so I used a button hole stitch and I rather like the result.  I dialed the width down to a 1, but I think it will go even smaller.

I finished my Charming Butterflies quilt.  Lots of free motion quilting practice here.  Some of it looks like a kindergartener did it, but somehow it is so fitting on this quilt.  I have a Fig Tree Jelly Roll Stars quilt top that has been finished for almost 2 years just waiting for me to feel confident enough to quilt it, hopefully I will hit the 5th grade level of quilting soon and tackle it.  I have been following Wendy’s blog at Ivory Spring and she is sharing her wonderful quilting tips there weekly.  Today she shared a tip on how she uses freezer paper to get perfect circles…great idea!

Well, it looks like the wind is giving us a break today so I will probably be heading outside and doing a little yard work.  We are hoping to get a quote today on some deer fencing for our new orchard.  Once that is up Hummingbird Farmz will be on its’ way!  We already have some of our fruit trees ready for planting, lots of fertilizers to add and hundreds of fun ideas to try out in our little orchard.  I am hoping that in the future we can use this little corner of our property as a place for neighbors to gather to share ideas, talents great food and create friendships.  I haven’t met many of my neighbors in the year and half we have lived here, but the ones I have met have many talents and I think it would be nice to be able to broaden our horizons and branch out by meeting and sharing and our location is so central to everyone and it is flat and bare at the moment…so we are going to see what we can do to bring people together here.  I foresee a quilt show, BBQ and pie eating going on here in the future.

Share the good times!

Ferne 

Gardening Apron Tutorial

With thoughts of Spring on my mind and a job in a nursery where we are getting ready for Spring, I thought it would be a good time to make myself a few new gardening aprons.  I made a few before and have found them very useful both at work and at home so I thought I would share how I put them together here and then I will know where to look back for directions when I am ready to make more for myself.

I found I can make one with 3 fat quarters or 2 half yards of fabric plus about a half yard of flannel.  I like to use 2 contrasting fabrics so that the pockets stand out a bit and then I use the same fabric for the ties and waistband.  The flannel is used between all layers so the color doesn’t matter, it does give the apron a nice weight and makes it a little more absorbent for those gardening mishaps.  This apron would also work well as a cooking or sewing apron and the pockets are handy for many tasks.

Step 1 - 

Cut 1 – 16” X 20” of each fabric and the flannel

Cut 1 –3” X 21” of fabric you want for waistband

Cut 2 – 3” X 36” of fabric for ties (these can be pieced if needed)

Cut 1 – 1 1/2” X 21” of flannel for waistband

Step 2 –  Layer the 16” X20” pieces in this order

• Flannel
• Pocket fabric front side up
• Background fabric front side down (facing pocket fabric)

Step 3 - Sew around 3 sides leaving the top where the waistband will be attached open.  Trim corners then turn and iron.

Step 4 – Fold pocket up, I usually turn it up about 5 1/2”.  Then top stitch on sides  making sure to back stitch tops so it won’t pull apart when there is weight in the pocket.  I measure in about 6” from each side and top stitch these down creating 3 pockets on my apron.  You could adjust this to fit your needs.

Step 5 – Attach a 3” X 21” waistband piece and the 1 1/2” flannel on top of that to the  open end of apron.  Fold up and iron.

Step 6 – Sew the ties to each end of waistband piece.  Fold over the top and bottom edge of each tie and the top of the waistband and iron a hem, don’t forget to fold down the end of the tie first.  I use about a 1/2”,  then fold ties in half matching folded edges and fold down waistband and pin in place.  Top stitch ties on folded sides (no turning!) and top stitch waist band in place.  You could hand sew waist band if you prefer, I have done it both ways and am happy with both.

Now put it on and start planting and look good doing it!   Be sure to check out my previous post for ideas on planting pots of salad greens…

Ferne

P.S.  I don’t know how to create a pdf file so to copy this tutorial just highlight the parts you want and copy them to a word file.  Anyone who wants to teach me how to make a pdf file please feel free to leave me some tips!

Grow a Salad Bowl

This is a little different than most of my posts on this blog, but is still about creating and with Spring on my mind what better time to think of planting a few vegetables.  Here you can grow a pot of lettuce somewhere semi protected and with Spring right around the corner what better time to get started!

Supplies:

· Container

· Potting Soil

· Fertilizer

· Plants and/or seeds

Containers – You can get creative here as long as it is at least 6” deep and has a drainage hole. The wider the better so that you can fit more plants or use several smaller containers and make a salad bowl grouping.

Soil and Fertilizer – Use a good potting soil with organic ingredients. You have several choices for fertilizer, I like to use Osmocote or EB Stone Starter fertilizer to mix with the soil when I plant. Then I water plants in with Root Stimulator to get them off to a good start right away while you are waiting for the other fertilizer to kick in. If you feel that your plants need a little pick me up later in the season you could fertilize with a liquid fertilizer like Dr. Earth 3-3-3, it is organic and mild, perfect for container feeding.

Seeds – Lettuce grows pretty quickly from seed and there are a lot of varieties available. The downside is having to wait and see if it all came up where you want it to be. Lettuce seed is small so it is hard to place in just the right spot. Lettuce prefers cool weather, but can freeze if it is too cold for too long. Radishes can be added to your pot, but remember that they have to be pulled so leave space for them to be pulled where they won’t take any other plants with them. A fun herb to add from seed is Chervil. You could intermingle Chervil with the lettuce and they won’t disturb each other. It has a small lacey leaf with a flower similar to a parsley flower, both are edible. Chervil doesn’t transplant very well so it is a good choice to plant from seed. It also prefers cool weather, in warm weather Chervil flowers quickly and then doesn’t produce any more leaves. Chervil doesn’t hold its flavor well when dried so is best used fresh, can be put in salads or used in vegetable and fish dishes. Chervil and loose lettuces are Cut and Come again vegetables which means they will keep growing and producing more leaves after being cut back.

Plants – You can get many types of lettuces in 6 packs and some mixed lettuces include mustards which are very good raw in salads or cooked in other dishes. Spinach and/or chard are also great choices for growing in a salad bowl. Always keep in mind the size of the mature plant and give them room to grow. To add color and keep things fun you can also add flowers like pansies, violas, and calendulas which are also edible and provide a lot of interest in a salad. Herbs also make a wonderful addition to a salad bowl and some great ones for containers are thymes, parsley and of course, chervil. In the warmer months nasturtiums make a wonderful addition and both the leaf and flower add a peppery flavor to a salad.

Give your salad bowl a few weeks to get rooted in and it will be ready for picking for a beautiful homegrown salad or graze off your bowl for a healthy snack…

Enjoy!

Recommended Plants

6 packs or 4” pots:	Seeds:
· Lettuces	· Chervil
· Spinach	· Nasturtium
· Chard	· Radish
· Mizuna	· Chives
· Thyme
· Parsley
· Sage
· Viola
· Pansies
· Calendula