Charm pack baby quilt - tutorial

Charm packs are a great way to have a range of fabrics without a huge expense.... I loved using them for these little baby quilts I have made....

they look totally different in different colours and with a little bit of a change to embellishing...

A coin stack is not a new concept but I thought I would just share how I made this... just incase there is anybody wanting to try one...

You need:

1 charm pack

75cm coordinating fabric (Colour 1) for sashing and borders

30cm coordinating fabric (Colour 2) for binding.... and if you want to do applique in a matching colour (like I have done with the bunnies) get another 10cm....

You will use 40 of your charms for the main quilt...

I put aside 2 charms which I used for the applique "Sweet Dreams"

Slice your 40 charms in half ... so you have 80 2 1/2" by 5" pieces.. and place these in 5 rows of 16 ..... fairly random but it's nice not too have the same fabrics together.....

..... then join your 5 columns of half charms.....

and give it a press .......

that was not too hard was it?  nevertheless it may be time now for a nice cuppa... I like a plunger coffee around now....

next we need the sashing and side borders so cut 5 strips 2 1/2" by 31 1/2" (double check this is the length of your column - each of us has a slightly different 1/4" seam!)

sew your pressed columns to the sashing.... mark the centre of the column and the centre of the sashing and pin that first ... this helps to keep a nice even stitching....

pin and sew a length of sashing between each coin column and on the two sides ....

okay... after all that thinking and measuring you may need some sugar... there are some fresh Anzac biscuits in the kitchen....

wash hands..... please....

your quilt top should look like this now...

next you will cut two top borders.... I used 6" for both, but you can adjust this to suit yourself...

Check the width of your columns and sashing but it should be around 34 1/2"

add any embelishing before you attach... this just makes it easier to manoever the fabric.... I found some lovely rabbit shapes in Michelle's book Briarside Lane for this one... but you could do flowers, or cars... just have a look at your fabric and decide what you like.... of course it is fine to leave it plain too!!

last time I took a photocopy of some of the fabric in the charm pack and blew it up to make up a stitchery design....

Putting on the Ritz fabric range was perfect for my Sweet Dreams as it has sleeping writing on the fabric

I appliqued on the writing.... you can easily get fonts off the computer and write whatever you like.... the baby's name would be fun... (if you know it of course!! - won't do just to make one up!!)

Here are the lovely bunnies hopping through the border fabric.....

okay, now..... embellishing is fun.... now you  need to sew the top and bottom borders on and you have a quilt 'flimsy'....

next sandwich your flimsy together with the backing and wadding ready for quilting...

it's good to be relaxed when you quilt... it's nice to have a bit of wine to sip..... (not too much mind you!!!)

... quilt as desired.....

with the coins it is perfect for stitching in the ditch if you don't free motion quilt...

.... I find it hard not to get distacted by my view... that's where the bird table is....

I do enjoy feathering.....

... then of course it is the binding.... and finally I like a wash and dry before I send it out... makes it soft and wrinkles up a bit (depending on your wadding) ... and of course cleans it of any chemicals and dust....

my residential doll tested it out

you may need sugar after all that

... and it doesn't matter if you get chocolate all over your hands.....

A new bag.....

This months Stitch-A-Long project is this cute bag from "Some Kind of Wonderful" by Anni Downs....

The stitchery took the longest to do.. but it was a lot of fun...

I used a very expensive piece of raw linen that I found...

... and sewed with Pearl 8 - Canna from Cottage Garden threads.... I loved using the Pearl with the bit of sheen and of course no splitting of threads..... it is the equivalent of 3 threads and so was great for this project on the courser linen....

There was a bit of fabric left over including a 4" strip of linen - and since I had paid so much for for the linen I didn't want to waste any ... so I put together this little pincushion

Marina does a little trick with her pincushions to hide the final stitching... making the 'split' for stuffing in the middle of the back ..... 

and then a lovely bit of ribbon (a gift from Marina) to cover the spot... can slip your scissors in there...

Righto, Gotto Go.... next months project has 1/2" hexies....oh, oh, oh.....  I might just procrastinate and start with some prepared stitching and a cuppa ...

Mini Christmas bunting.....

7 months minus one day to go

....until Christmas 2013 .....

... and time for the next 1 Christmas Item hosted by Narelle ....

I made 5 metres of this mini bunting from scraps

bits of Christmas fabric selvages and 1" strips from the scraps - sewn onto a piece of wadding .... 3" by whatever length I had...

sewed the strippy piece onto a plain back (scrap of course!!)

then drew marking lines.... these were at 2" intervals.... to make like mini trees!

... stitch on either side of the drawn lines.....

... then cut on the lines....

... and thread and knot the little trees onto your mini cord...

...... hum, sing, as you thread and knot.....

... all done, ready to hang up.....

.... rather cute I think...

.... scrappy, but cute... which is what I wanted....

.... cost me nothing but a couple of hours of footy time (can you tell I really love footy??????)....

Next month Narelle is visiting this end of the world... we are going to catch up for a cuppa... that will be fun.....

Righto, Gotto Go... still another deadline looming... this months SAL bag... almost done....

We all know.....

....... that Shez is the queen of the tea towels....

I loved getting one of my own from her for my birthday and decided to make up some myself...

... these are for my birthday love stash hosted by Wendy....

8 little hand towels hanging on a rail....

It must be 20 years or so since I have done buttonholes.... so I pulled out this little gadget from my box...

... in my child clothes making days we drew lines and went backwards and forwards fiddling around...

... all I did was put the button in the back of the gadget...

... and put foot to pedal....

... amazing.....

.... now I can be the buttonhole queen....

Fido is not part of my birthday stash... but he would be perfect...

I made this shop sample.... my first stuffie animal.... I love it that Quilters Angel trusts me with new things... isn't he so cute???  Already trained too....

Righto, Gotto Go..... a couple of deadlines are looming....