Quilters Quarters Fridge Magnet
Quilters' Christmas Crackers
Quilters Quarters Basket Necklace
Finger Pincushion
Victorian Housewife
Giving a Quilt Away
Beaded Wreaths
Quilter's Salsa
Pop-top Santa Clauses
Leftover Batting
Letter Block Fabric
Prayer Rock
Quick Baby Gift
Yo-Yo Snowmen
Yo-Yo Christmas Ornament
Empty Thread Spools
Cat Mat
Shoe Pants
Hanky Baby Bonnet
Easy Coasters
Holly Garland
Idiot Ball (Styrofoam Ball Ornament)
Scrap Wreath
Take six 2-inch squares of different fabrics and pink the edges (optional, but neater) and roll each one tightly into a little roll, gluing down loose edge. Glue all six together into a bundle. Tie a small piece of ribbon around the bunch, into a bow. Take a small piece of paper with pinked edges and write "Quilter's Quarters" on it. Take a small gold pin and push through paper into fabric bundle. Then glue a magnet to the back. It looks really good if a few of the squares of fabric are a little longer or shorter, so they are more realistic looking in the bunch.
These are traditional crackers (the kind with the snapper inside, usually placed at the dinner plate at Christmas; and also seen placed in the branches of Christmas trees), except these are handmade. They consisted of a cardboard tube (recycled from the loo) covered with a piece of calico, the ends snipped with pinking shears and tied with cord/ribbon in a bow. They had a little Christmas seal in the middle for decoration. INSIDE were a couple of fat quarters rolled up, a small candy, a few "quilty" looking gummed labels/stickers. And a little "fortune" or saying to do with quilting and wishing the recipient a Happy New Year. You could put other little items in, like needles, thimble, thread, quilt pin or ??
Take a tiny basket. Take a bunch of your fabric scraps, roll them into tiny little bundles, and then hot glue the end to the rest of the roll. Tuck a bunch of those tiny rolls into the tiny basket. Then tie a long ribbon around the handle of the basket (long enough to make a necklace). Voila! Quick and easy, and not even that expensive!
You could probably even hot glue a magnet to the basket instead and make a magnet.
Take a metal screw-off lid from a pop bottle. Poke two + holes (facing inward) take a small length of cord and tie one knot at one end-pull through one hole. Leave a small loop then pull through the other hole and knot off-take a small wad of batting. With a glue gun glue in place. Cover with a small scrap of fabric and put lace on the outside edge. Pincushion for the finger - good for applique or whatever.
Victorian "housewife" - a tie-on pocket, just think a fanny pack without a zipper and deep enough to hold scissors and spools.
Cross stitch on aida cloth instructions for use with every quilt I give away. Stitch the instructions and back/bind with matching material, put ties on it and pin it to the quilt. Of course, the instructions depend on the size, for baby ones put something like this:
I am 100% cotton, I will get softer the more you wash me. Wash me in cold water. Fluff me partially dry and then hang or lay out to finish. Please use me often.
Let the recipient know that the point of the ties on the instructions is to hang in the laundry area. Then anyone in the house knows how to wash it, by just the matching material.
The bigger ones obviously for adults need to know that the best way to launder them is in a front loading machine at the laundromat that doesn't have a center agitater, and tell them the consequences that might occur if they don't follow these instructions.
Materials:
String the beads and lace onto the pipe cleaner. Put on a few beads, then put the pipe cleaner through two holes in the lace, folding it back on itself, then more beads, then more lace, etc.
I usually use this order: green-red-green lace green-red-green lace... the lace is folded like paper for a fan - the result will be that on one side the beads are covered by the lace, and on the other side the beads can be seen, siting in the "valleys" of the lace folds.
Once the pipe cleaner is nearly full, bend it into a circle and twist the ends together. Add a ribbon loop for hanging and a bow, if desired.
Take a Mason Jar (pint size), fill it with buttons, embellishments, beads, seed beads, star sequins, snowflake trim, etc. Cover the lid with a piece of fabric tied on with ribbon. Attach a card which says:
Quilter's Salsa
Spice up your quilting projects
For the woman who appreciates fine vintages
The name isn't really appropriate anymore, but it's cute :-)
Materials:
String the beads onto the wire - eye-nose-eye - and secure the wire to the ring, so that the beads run across the inside of the ring. Play with the wire a bit, so the nose hangs below the eyes.
Cut the yarn into about 5"-6" lengths (or whatever looks right). Fold each length of yarn in half, and loop it around the ring, attaching it to the ring with a lark's head knot. Use red yarn above the wire (for the hat) and white yarn below the wire (for the beard).
Tie all the red yarn together to make the peak of the hat. You may wish to comb out the white yarn for a fluffier beard. Add a loop to hang.
Note - if this is a project for small children, the beads can be added by an adult after the yarn is looped on - It's just easier to hide the wire if you put it on first.
I always save all of the batting trimmings from my quilts--expecting to use them for miniatures, etc. However, last week, I discovered that they make wonderful packing materials (especially trimmings from high-loft batts) when sending gifts! Lots better than styrofoam peanuts! What else do quilters do with their "leftovers"?
Bits of batting make good buffers in my drawers of fine china. I say that with pride, since I now have some, inherited from my grandmother! Probably anything that's breakable and put away for storage could use a batting buffer.
I use small scraps for quilted pins, ornaments and minature blocks. Narrow scraps I hoard in a bag to use as stuffing in pillows, stuffed animals, dolls. Hint: when using batting scraps to stuff you need to pull them apart. Other wise it makes for lumpy stuffing.
I wrap mine up in a ball, tie it a couple of times with leftover salvages and use it to shine the stainless steel sink. Works great.
My DH uses my scraps (only the polyester ones) in the filters of the fish tanks instead of buying the commercial stuff. He also uses old panyhose legs for the charcoal in the filters.
First you cut a 10 inch square or circle doesn't matter which with pinking shears . Then you get a rock and bunch the cloth up around the rock and tie it pretty with ribbon. A couple of colors with narrow ribbon looks good. You can hot glue a flower to the center but it isn't necessary. Then you attach the following poem:
I'm your little prayer rock
and this is what I'll do.
Just put me on your pillow
until the day is through.
Then, turn back the covers
and climb into your bed.
And "WHACK", your little prayer rock
will hit you on the head.
Then you will remember
as the day is through.
To kneel and say your prayers
as you wanted to.
Then when you are finished
just dump me on the floor.
I'll stay there through the night
to give you help once more.
When you get up next morning
"CLUNK" I'll stub your toe.
So you will remember
morning prayers before you go.
Put me back upon your pillow
when your bed is made.
Your clever little prayer rock
will continue in you aid.
Because your Heavenly Father
cares and loves you so.
He wants you to remember
to talk to him, you know.
I reduced this on the copier and laminated it, punched a hole in the corner and attached it to the bow. And there you go with a quick inexpensive all purpose gift.
My daughter recieved as a present (and we've made dozens more of them as gifts) a real neat burp "rag". It was a pre-folded, cloth diaper with the baby's name embroidered on one end, the meaning of the name on the other end, and a decorative stitch aroung the edges. That way, when you take the baby somewhere that there are other babies, such as the church nursery, you get your diaper back. You do have to put a stabilizer such as Totaly Stable or freezer paper on the diaper and stitch slowly as the layers have a tendency to slip if you go to fast.
These are simple and cute (sort of a cross between country and quilty) and best yet, are easy to carry in a ziploc bag in your purse to work on while waiting for concerts to start, while picking up kids, in doctor office, etc. I just guessed at size of circles, and am using a 2" circle (which makes into a 3/4" head), a 3" circle (which makes into a 1 1/4" middle), and a 4" circle (which makes into a 1 3/4" bottom circle) for the snowmen. I am using muslin scraps for the snowman. Make the three yo-yos, using doubled thread for strength, tack together with a slight overlap between three yo-yos in your traditional snowman lineup. I am cutting a tophat out of black felt and gluing on top yoyo for a hat, and cutting a scrap of red and green fabric (a small plaid) in about a 3/8 to 1/2" strip x 4" size and tying it around the neck of the snowman. Put a hanging string through top edge of tophat and makes an ornament for either tree or decorating packages with that is about 3-3 1/2" tall. Also will go into xmas cards for sending small gifts to distance friends that are unbreakable and light. For a quilter or sewer, they are basically free because we can use scraps to make them, and they are turning out cute.
Put 3" the circle of fabric on top of the 6" circle. Sew together with a bell or a button at the center. You have an EASY Christmas ornament. Metalic fabrics look very nice.
The above compliments of Charmaine Stack (cstack@galaxy.gov.bc.ca)
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This is no work of art -- a bunch of fabric or catnip here and there over the surface. It can be done in about one and a half hours.
For the traveler: Shoe Pants are like a minature pair of pants with the hem area sewn closed. The have pockets on the front or back as you desire. The shoes go into the legs of the Shoe Slacks and your socks or hose go into the pockets.
Supply List:
Overall measurements when completed (and extra to cut in brackets)
Assembly Directions:
Here's how to make an infant bonnet from a hanky, worn as a bonnet for a special occasion, then it is used for a hanky on the then grown up babies wedding day.
DIRECTIONS #1:
DIRECTIONS #2:
DIRECTIONS #3: These directions were posted for $ .50 beside a pile of handkerchiefs at a store.
Voila! A coaster! Fast and easy and usable right away! Great in holiday fabrics . . .
______ ______
| | |
| A | B |
|______|______|
| | |
| D | C |
|______|______|
_________
|\ /|
| \ A / |
| \ / |
| \ / |
| B / \ C |
| / \ |
| / D \ |
|/_______\|
Using scrap fabrics, sew as many 3" wide strips of fabric together to make long strips (usually about 10 feet long). The more color variations the better. Then sew another strip of the fabric the same length and width (3" wide x 10 feet long). With wrong wides together, sew one inch from one edge. Open fabric up and set in a 10 foot long piece of jute. Sew right next to that (a zipper presser foot works great). Then turn fabric over and do the same with another piece of jute from the opposite edge - same distance. The jute will be used to "gather" the fabric, making the garland. Holding onto the jute thread, push (gather) all the fabric together. Hang around doors or windows or your tree.
A very easy project is making "Idiot Balls" - so named because anyone can make them. You need a stryofoam ball, fabric pieces, a nail file and an eye (as in hook and eye). Assorted trim, like ribbon, optional.
The patterns made can be anything, but I prefer random shapes. Start by cutting a shape with about 4 sides, each side being about 1 inch or so (this can be varied greatly). Place the fabric on the ball, and use the nail file to push all the fabric edges into the ball. No raw edges should show; they should all be pushed in. Cut another piece of fabric (same or different), and place it next to the first. Push these edges in so that one edge of the first piece shares one edge of the second. Continue filling up the ball with pieces of fabric. Screw the eye in to hang the ornament. Add ribbon or other embellishments if desired.
When done, it will look like a each of the fabric pieces "puffs" out of the ball. This is easy enough to do that children can do it - provided they are old enough to use a nail file safely.
Buy a wreath form (styro or straw). Cut 3 inch squares of material
with pinking shears (you need a couple yards at least, and different
prints can be used). Using a screwdriver, poke each square into the
form by holding the screwdriver at the center of the right side of
the square and pushing it firmly into the form. Continue square by
square until the entire wreath is filled. Stick a bow or other
ornaments on it.
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