Halloween Bunting Tutorial!!

Sorry I didn't get this up yesterday.  I got sick really suddenly Friday night, slept most of Saturday except for a Target trip, and then I slept the rest of the day away.

I'm feeling better today though and since Halloween is only a week and a half away, it's about time I got this put together!

In cutting strips for my Halloween quilt I had those end of the row extra pieces that I wanted to do something with and came up with this.  There are lots of ways this can be fancied up or personalized so I encourage you, if you make this, to feel free to make it your own.  That's the fun part!! 

Here's what you'll need:

-fabric scraps (we'll be folding them in half so keep that in mind if you choose something with a design you want to feature).
-ribbon (figure out how long you want your bunting to be and cut ribbon accordingly.  For me this means, look at the wall it's going on and then guess, or hold up the ribbon and cut.  Not very scientific but that's ok).

1.  Iron scraps in half, right sides together.

2.  Stitch 2 sides closed, be sure your opening is at the top if you have an "up" to your print.

3.  Turn right side out and iron flat.

4.  Stitch around all sides.
 (I didn't follow my own advice on this one, and it probably isn't a huge deal if you don't stitch up the top first, as you'll stitch over it when sewing it to the ribbon.)

5.  Grab your ribbon and on a flat surface place, or pin, your pieces on one side of the ribbon.  This will be the back, so keep in mind when placing any pieces that have designs or prints you especially want to feature.  This is also helpful in deciding how big your bunting will be and therefore, how much ribbon you'll actually be using. 

6.  Make a loop knot, for hanging, on each end of your ribbon.

7.  Stitch each fabric piece to the ribbon in any order you want, and continue until you are out of ribbon or out of fabric, or until you come to the loop.  Just keep an eye out for the end so you don't have to unpick stitches. 

 

(I asked him to smile for me and this is what he did...But! He was a great helper and handed me each piece so I got a very random distribution and only edited so that two of the same weren't next to each other)

8.  Trim any loose threads, turn over so ribbon is on top of fabric.  Hang up your bunting and enjoy!! 

i am so excited for when i won't rent a house anymore...so i can pick the wall colors....

If you have any questions, of if anything about this is confusing, let me know and I'll do my best to help!  Hope you all have a great week!!

Don't forget the giveaway for my 100th post is open until Wednesday night so go here to enter!!

Shoo Fly Block Tutorial!

My first tutorial!

(Just a head's up:  I just noticed that there is another tutorial for a 12.5" version of this block on Svetlana's blog here.  She makes beautiful quilts, so hop over there if you'd like a bigger block. My tutorial here makes a block that turns out a little more than 10" square)

Disclaimer: I am not an expert, this is just the way I put this  block together.  If you use this tutorial and find I've made a mistake in calculations or instructions please leave a comment letting me know so I can correct it.  And if you make this block from my tutorial I'd love to see it! (and I am taking my pictures with an iPhone so I hope these pictures are clear enough for the instructions)

I used this Shoo Fly block for my month as queen of the Traveling Circles bee.  I had one package that went flying somewhere it wasn't supposed to go, so I'm putting the instructions up so those last couple blocks can be made, but I thought you might like to know how to make this.

I'm giving directions for making one block.  Then, you can do the math as to how many blocks you want to make your quilt! 

FOR ONE Shoo Fly BLOCK you will need:

(2) 4 1/4" white squares (for hst/corners)
(2) 4 1/4" print squares (for hst/corners)
(1) 3 3/4" white square (center)
(4) 3 3/4" print squares (for sides)


1) Pair each 4 1/4" white square with a print square of the same size.  Put right sides together and, with your ruler, draw a line through the middle diagonally (corner to corner)

2) Stitch 1/4" of each side of the line, cut on the line, and press your hst.  You can press open or to the side, whichever you like.

3) Now you have 4 hst's.  Trim each one to 3 3/4".  This is the most tedious part of the whole block because you have to do 1 hst at a time. 

4) Lay out your block and assemble.  I do this by sewing together the three rows (left to right), and then putting those three rows together.

Press your seams as you go, and then you should end up with a nice Shoo Fly block that measures about 10 1/4" square.

ENJOY!!

Oh, one last thing.  Just for reference, the pattern I got this block from was for a quilt 6 blocks by 9 blocks and was about 58" X 88".  It was a free pattern somewhere but I haven't been able to find it...if you know the one, would you let me know so I can link to it?  Thanks!! 

I am making mine 8 blocks by 10 blocks so it will obviously be larger, but I haven't done the math as to how big it'll turn out, but I'll be sure to share it when I'm done!!