Orange - My Least Favourite Colour!

(FYI - before you say I'm a terrible speller, I'm Canadian, so that means British English spelling rules!)

I don't have much in the way of orange fabrics in my collection of quilting cottons, but quite a few more than I had 2 or 3 years ago. And I've never been one to decorate a lot for Halloween. Maybe it's  because when my kids were prime age for trick or treating, we lived in the far north and Halloween meant costumes over snowsuits. And maneuvering kids and treat bags up flights of icy stairs to get to the doors of houses that were built with above ground crawlspaces so they wouldn't melt the permafrost. But probably mostly because the colour of the spooky day is orange and it's not my first go to colour pick!

And so it was with surprise that I found myself with a nice selection of Halloween themed fat quarters when I cleaned up a bit in my sewing room. I brought them with me to my weekly sewing day with a couple friends and I just cut them up into 5" charm squares - all of them, every last Halloween fat quarter. Then, I randomly put squares together in pairs, then in rows of 4 and slowly pieced together a Halloween quilt top.

It's hanging in my dining room right now (just the top, not quilted) and covers up my blue and white quilt (which I LOVE!) We'll see if it lasts through to the end of the month as every time I look at it, it surprises me and gives me a little physical "jolt".

And just to be sure I wasn't surprised when I looked in my fabric stash, I sewed the left overs into coasters. (And I even used up the selvedges!)

Do you have a favourite and not-so-favourite colour? Tell me about them!

--Ann

Tutorial - Fabric Basket

A year or so ago, my friend Marie taught me how to make these unique little fabric baskets. This is a perfect project for those fat quarters that you love, but don't want to cut into little pieces for a quilt! I'm making mine today with some Halloween themed fat quarters I won from Monika at Quiltlover from her Facebook page. I hope she likes what I decided to do with her fabrics!

Fabric Basket - FOR SALE

FABRIC BASKETS
Material list:

• 2 coordinating fat quarters (Fabric A-outside, Fabric B-inside)
• 1 piece batting 12.5" square
• 4 buttons
• basic sewing supplies

This project involves hand sewing - I'm sure after making a few of these, a sewing maven could figure out a few machine short-cuts! My green fabric with the black cats is Fabric A, and my Fabric B is purple. Click on any of the pictures for a close-up!

Layer your fat quarters on top of each other on your cutting board and cut a 12.5" square - or you can cut each one separately - it's entirely up to you!

Prep for sewing by layering from bottom to top - batting, Fabric A right side up, Fabric B right side down. No worries at this point if Fabric A and B are mixed up - it will all work out in the end! Pin with 2 or 3 pins on each side to keep layers together.

Sew with 1/4" or 3/8" seam - I just line up the edge of my pressure foot with the fabric - around the entire outside edge of your layered pieces, leaving a 2-3" opening for turning. Clip corners, and trim batting close to sewn seam to reduce bulk.

Turn right side out, paying attention to the corners - we want these neat and tidy as they'll be very visible in the finished product. Hand or machine sew opening closed - I prefer hand stitching as it is less obvious in the finished basket.

Divide each side in half - put in a pin to mark the centers. And then mark halfway between center and the corners (each side will be divided into quarters).

And now, the tricky part - working with the inside of the basket up, bring the pins marking outside pins in to meet the pin in the center. Using a coordinating thread, stitch these 3 points together. Don't despair if your stitching is less than perfect - it won't be noticeable if your thread blends well with your fabrics. After the third side, you should start to see the bowl of the basket forming! We're almost done!

Now, take your fabric corners and flip over the folded edges made by the previous step. I've tacked those folded edges down as they tend to poke out with the passage of time. This is one of those times that a picture just doesn't quite cut it - you'll get it when you have your basket in front of you!

Sew the point down with a decorative button - I've used these sparkly pumpkin ones that I found in the fabric store, but would love to use these ones I found on Etsy:

Polymer Clay Pumpkin Buttons Cofanetto on Etsy

My basket is done and ready to be filled - I'm off to the grocery store to stock up on Halloween candy to fill mine.

These are great for any occasion - I've made one for my grand-daughter for her hair accessories, one in my sewing room for sewing essentials, but I'm sure you can find all kinds of uses for yours! Have fun creating!

--Ann

Linking up with Tip Junkie - (so sorry, couldn't get the button to load!)