Winterkist Blog Hop

WOW! I am SOO excited to share my project with you today.  If you are visiting for the Winterkist Blog Hop put on by the lovely Katie of There & Back, Welcome! I hope you'll stop and stay a while! :) (For a little shameless self-promoting, there is a lot of fun things going on! Today is the from blank pages... linky party where you can share the beginnings of your projects. There is also The Master List of linkies, where you can link up your own linky parties to help get the word out. The Charming Travelers is still traveling and has made a stop over at Pinks Sweet Treats. You can check out the map here to see all the stops it's made along the way! There's also Quilting For a Cause, The One Stop Giveaway Shop, and my biggest new event, the Friendship Quilts Blog Hop! Coming in September. Click on any of the links to find out more.)

Ok, sorry about that, I just couldn't help myself! I hate to skip the introductions, and hope you'll stop and leave a comment and introduce yourself too. :)

Now onto the good stuff...

Out of all my photos, this picture is the most accurate for how saturated and vibrant the colors of the fabric is! Aren't they fantastic?! (my floor on the other hand is not this orange... still learning how to use my camera.) ;)

I made some 2-in-1 serving mats/bowls! LOVE I love anything that can double as something else. And I know these will definitely get used and loved. I was going to make some of my Grandma's amazing Christmas cookies to show off how these would work, but this week as been SO busy so there is no way for that. I'll share those pictures come Christmas time. ;)

I went ahead and shared the beginnings of my project in today's linky, so you can go read all about it here. Now I'm going to share with you how I made it! YAY! Tutorial time! :)

When I started this I wondered if I'd gone mad, but it actually came together really fast! There is a process with it that I found, so I am going to have a rediculous amount of photos to try and help you be successful. (I know... I did this twice and the second time went MUCH smoother with a lot more smiles and way less ripping my hair out! lol.)

First, the stats:
I made two mats, 1 - 12.5" x 12.5", 1 - 12.5" x 19.5"
A Fat 8th of 6 different fabrics was plenty for the two combined. I also used a lot of Kona White, maybe a Fat Quarter - more or less.

I also had the fabric for the back, some fuseable fleece, heavy weight interfacing, and velcro, but those are not a part of this tutorial. (though I will quickly show you how to assemble everything for the dual mat/bowls. This tutorial is basically only how to assemble this design. You can change it however you want to finish with your desired size.

I cut my fabric into strips that were 3.5" wide and then cut the strips into 2" wide pieces. = 3.5" x 2" will give you 3" by 1.5" finished pieces. Cut however many you will need. I also cut a few pieces that were 2" x 1.25" for around the edges. All white squares were cut 1.25" x 1.25". I'm really leaving this open for you to make yours as big as you want.

***If you make your pieces bigger or smaller, here's how to figure it out:

1. Decide on the FINISHED size of one piece (mine are 3" x 1.5") 
2. Minus the width from the length (3-1.5= 1.5)
3. Divide your answer by 2 (1.5/2= .75)
4. This final answer is the size you will need for the filler squares (my white pieces)
5. Add .5" to each number and that is how big you should cut your pieces - the UNFINISHED size (my FINISHED size: 3 x 1.5 = 3.5 x 2 UNFINISHED)

Any Questions???

Ok, now to the pictures:

Arrange all your pieces in such a manner. (I already skipped to the first step in this photo, but you get the idea.)

Sew the white squares to each of the border pieces (2" x 1.25" pieces)

Notice the pattern, and how I picked the center pieces, and sewed the white squares to each corner.  BUT WAIT! DO NOT sew all the way through the white squares. You need to leave 1/4" UN-SEWN along the long side of the piece.

See on the sides where I left 1/4"? Do sew through to the other end.

THIS IS SO IMPORTANT TO FOLLOW THROUGHOUT THE PATTERN!!!!!

Next, go ahead and sew the boarder pieces to it's neighboring piece along the long sides.

Sew the left side of the pink piece to the white/green/white piece. 

Sew the top of the green piece to the white/grey/white piece.

(don't leave 1/4" open. DO sew all the way through your pieces. see picture below.)

THE FOLLOWING STEPS UNTIL *** WILL BE ONE PROCESS THAT YOU WILL REPEAT MULTIPLE TIMES. I AM MARKING THIS SECTION SO YOU CAN EASILY FIND IT TO GO BACK TO IT

Now go to one of the center pieces that has the four white squares. Bring in the perpendicular pieces (the pink) and we will connect these to the white squares. BUT NOT TO THE GREY!!

Orient your fabric how it will be when it's sewn together.

Flip the WHITE piece over (folding the grey piece) so it is Right Sides Facing the pink fabric, like so

IF you are starting from the center of the pink piece, Line up your sewing foot so you are 1/4" in from the edge of the white piece.

Sew ALL the way through to the edge of the fabric

It will then look like this when you unfold it

Here it is from the back. See, 1/4" unsewn

Flip it over, RS (right side) Up, and arrange your layout again. Now we will repeat with the other white square

Flip the white piece over (folding UP the grey piece) so it is RS facing the pink fabric. Line up so your corners and edges are all flush.

On this piece we are starting from the edge, so line up your sewing foot even with the edge of the fabric

But this time STOP 1/4" in from the edge of the white.

I LOVE the 1/4" markings on my 1/4" foot for this purpose!!

Here's what it looks like

Now the pink is connected to each WHITE square, but is NOT sewn to the grey piece. DON'T sew them yet.

SEE! No seams going through the pink fabric with the grey.

Don't get ahead of yourself and sew these together. It will save you a LOT of hassle if you stay patient and wait for that part.

*** Why it is important to leave the 1/4" open. When you try to sew the white squares to the adjacent fabrics, and you DON'T leave that 1/4" on the edges, it will be a nightmare! and your work will not lie flat. Trust me. ***

This is impotant too... so I'm sharing another picture. :)

*************************

Repeat this process connecting the other pink piece to the grey piece on the opposite side. Repeat until all the pieces with the four white squares are sewn in this manner.
This is what it should look like

the first row

both rows

*** If you are making your project with much more pieces and rows, follow this same process, the difference would be that you may have 20 pieces across, and maybe 6 rows instead of just the two I show here. It's all the same, just keep going until your sections are all together like this. It's all about patterns and following the patterns. Like putting together a puzzle. :)


Notice how the pink piece in the center now looks the same as the sides of the grey piece did? Repeat the previous steps to join those center green pieces.

It's the same thing for the row below

Again, when you sew on the white piece, make sure to leave the 1/4" open at the bottom edge of the white. You've probably already noticed how easy it is to get the pieces sewn. You really want to stop right at 1/4". If it's too narrow you run the risk of sewing your other colored piece of fabric in there. If it's too wide, then you'll have holes as well as the risk of stitches coming loose. It's tricky.

Here's what it looks like. 3 of the edges sewn! You're getting there! :)

So you can see what you should be looking at now

Remember, we're ONLY sewing on the white pieces here.

Repeat until you have all the vertical pieces sewn in.

*** If you are working with more columns than just the one I have, repeat this process with all the vertical pieces. You will have holes in between them all, but we're getting there.


Next you'll slide in the grey piece (compare with the picture above)

Here's where it changes just a little bit. Orient your pieces.

Notice how here there aren't just the white pieces, but you have a complete strip that fits along the side of your loose piece? We will be sewing along that whole side now.


Flip over the top pieces (have you notice how I ALWAYS sew with the white on top?!) Line up your fabrics so they are flush.

Now bring out the pins

I have been finger pressing all of my white seems open. Here is where this is really good to do! The only thing I ironed, which you can still do, are the very outside border pieces. Otherwise It's all been finger pressing. Thus why pins help here too.


Start sewing right from the edge

And keep sewing right through to the other end. No need for 1/4" spaces here.

Tah-dah! :)

Repeat with the other long side

Notice how the green part is still not connected to the grey.

Well, fold those over and sew that up! Use pins to help keep it lined up.

You don't have to start on the very edge since those white squares already have seams in them, but it doesn't hurt to at least sew over some of it to help reinforce them. MAKE SURE YOU STAY ON THE LINE! OR ON THE INSIDE OF THE FIRST SEAM! (as in on the side of the seam allowance. Otherwise it will make it funny on the front and you could get some weird puckers.

It should now look like this

close up

Repeat with the grey piece on the other side.

*** If you are working with a larger project, keep filling in these holes until you get to the ends.

Continuing on that same center row, attach the pink piece.

Orient it,

Line up the corners/edge and sew to the white/grey/white strip all the way through.

It will look like this

Fold that piece down and line it up with the green fabric and pin it. Sew.

It should look like this

Repeat with the top, and the other end.

You will have this

it's coming together!

Now onto the next pieces

Just like before, sew these too sides together

Should look like this

Go ahead and sew the other side of it to the green piece

Repeat with all the other similar pieces in the similar places. :)

Now to sew on those last corner pieces.

Sew the long edge first with the white/green/white edge

Wahoo! All your pieces should now be connected. But you're not quite through. We still need to sew up all the holes.

Go ahead and sew up all the holes EXCEPT the ones with the pins. (Can you see the pins?  There are four: orange in the top left, green in top right, purple in bottom left, blue in bottom right - even though I say left and right, they are still in the center-ish) Save those for last. It will make it easier.) Be sure to use pins to help keep everything straight!

Since all the seams around these holes are sewn, it's easy for the edges to have a curve. Try and straighten it as much as you can while you sew.

HORRAY!!! You are FINISHED!!!! A HUGE PAT ON THE BACK! IT'S BEAUTIFUL! (Yes, I'm talking about yours because I know it will be!)

I think I am going to put this into a PDF... this is a LOT of pictures. :) 

Anyone want to test out my instructions and let me know how they work for you??? I would love it if you share your creations in my flickr group too!! :) I LOVE seeing what you make! :)


I was going to share with you how to turn it into the mats/bowls, but I think I'll share that tomorrow since this is already quite a bit to process. :) Obviously with the boxes you can make them with solid fabrics and not just this design, so I hope you'll come back.

Thanks Katie for letting me join you on this awesome blog hop! Make sure to stop by everyone else's blogs to see the other wonderful projects (here's the schedule again!). And be sure to comment to be entered into the weekly giveaway!! You're choice of a FQ bundle from the Fat Quarter Shop!

After all of this I am definitely in love with this line... now to go get the other colors. :)

p.s. Do you want to get these (similar) results in a MUCH simpler way? I have put the "VERY SIMPLIFIED VERSION" of this on my To-Do list of tutorials to post. I'm sure some encouragement for it will help push it to the top of the list. ;) just saying.

Thanks for stopping by!!