October Scrappy Project

I love making pot holders from scraps. It doesn't take much fabric and they make such wonderful gifts. We're coming into that time of year when we're always thinking, "what should I get for a hostess gift or co-worker, neighbor, hair stylist, teacher, dog groomer :) ", the list goes on and on!

Here's a fun way to make a great set of matching pot holders. For this tutorial, I'm using a super basic sketch of a pear, but I also like to make these by tracing around a cute cookie cutter. Then I can give them as a gift with the matching cookie cutter.

Back with a vengance....and a great tutorial!

Hello SassyFans!

I am so thrilled to be back and blogging here on our SassyBlog - it has been a long hiatus! In fact, I imagine most of you don't even know me. I am the other half of the SassyPacks team - the daughter, the beginning quilter, the one who spends nearly all her time in our quilt studio saying "that seems too hard."  :)

I haven't been blogging here for the past year or so as I have been on sort of a personal journey - and a literal one, I suppose! I recently had the privilege of spending about 8 months living in Nicaragua, helping to open a clinic for women and children. While I got to take a little quilting with me, I just didn't have much time to blog here, so I am thrilled to be back in the US, where I can quilt and design and blog at will.

When I left for Nicaragua (if you want to see what I was up to, check out Clinica Verde), I basically ditched my old life - sold nearly everything and made a clean break.  Now that I am back, I am resettling into a more familiar life, and once again setting up a living space.  When I was pitching the remnants of my old life, the first - and I do mean FIRST - things to go were the cluttery things....knick-knacks, decorative items, candles, dust collectors, all of them.  Turns out, now that I am back, I am left with a home full of functional furniture and zero personality.  Thus springs the inspiration for today's tutorial - using your beautiful fabrics as wall hangings.

New Iron

My iron died a few days ago; it just stopped heating up. Of course, you can't quilt without an iron. So off I went to look for the perfect new iron. My idea of the perfect iron is probably really different than most quilters.

I'm on the hunt for cheap! Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly impressed with a $200 Rowenta - but I know myself! I know I won't empty the "tap" (eek!) water when I turn it off. I know I won't buy distilled water for it. I won't wipe it down or shine it up, either!

Oh, the little angel

I got up long before the sun this morning to go out to my daughter's house and take my granddaughter to daycare. My daughter had an early morning flight for an out-of-town meeting and her husband, a teacher, had a meeting before school this morning.

I sat in the playroom outside her bedroom reading a book while I waited for her to wake up. She'll be 2 years old the middle of November and she sleeps in a toddler bed now.

As the sun started to dawn, I heard her talking and rustling around. I opened her door, peeked in and she exclaimed "Grandma!!" (oh my melting heart).

Then, as I picked her up, she said, "I want Grandpa."   Crash.

Scrappy Fall Colors - A Wall Hanging

This month's scrappy project started out as a lap quilt, but I liked the look so much I thought it would make a better wall hanging.

It's a bit of a departure from our usual quick scrappy projects. Although it's an easy pattern, there are quite a few smaller pieces and an accurate 1/4" seam allowance is important.

Scrappy Sneak Peek

This month's Scrap Busting project is almost done, so I decided to post a sneak peek. It's a fall wall hanging that I think you'll really like. Start sifting through your scraps for fabric that remind you of autumn and all those gorgeous leaf colors.

We'll be posting the tutorial in a day or two.

On the Road!

SassyPacks is hitting the road!

We are on our way to San Diego today, to participate in the San Diego Quilt Show.  We absolutely love going to  quilt shows - because we are an on-line store, we don't often get to meet our fabulous customers and fans.  Hearing the things you love, the challenges you face, and the ideas you have is what makes our jobs so much fun.

We are going to be debuting lots of new products at the quilt show, so if you are in the neighborhood, stop by and visit.  If not, stay tuned here and on our Facebook page to see some of the exciting new projects, kits, and bundles we will be offering in the coming months.

September marks three years since we launched SassyPacks.com, designed to bring you the best in contemporary fabrics, modern quilt projects, and tons of tips, tricks and ideas to inspire everyone from beginning to expert quilters.  With our website, Facebook, and this blog, we have had the chance to share our love of quilting with you, and see all your amazing projects and ideas.  It has been a great ride, and we are looking forward to quilting with you all for many more years.

So please - help us grow! Tell a friend about SassyPacks.com, forward your favorite blog post to your guild, and post your awesome quilt pics to our Facebook page.  Send us your questions, challenges, and mental blocks - we are here to help.  If you want to see SassyPacks at a quilt show in your area, drop us a note in the comments or email us here. 

Thanks for a super three years - hope to see you all soon!

Scrappy Fall Wall Hanging

Yikes! The end of the month again, and we are just finally getting our next Scrappy Quilt-A-Long Project up! Well, the good news is this project comes together super fast -- in just a few hours, as a matter of fact :)

This simple wall hanging is a perfect example of using a few bold, modern fabrics to make something seemingly traditional – like subtle cream-on-cream prints – look so fresh and fun.  The bright leaves seem to dance across a brick wall, blowing in a crisp fall breeze.  What a great way to use up a few miscellaneous scraps that just don’t seem to fit with anything else!

Finished size:    28 ½” x 18 ½”

What You’ll Need:

• Assortment of creams and off-whites
• 6-8 different bold, bright scraps (florals, geometrics, etc.) - depending on how many leaves you want
• Fusible appliqué paper
• Brown fabric for backing and binding (or piece various dark scraps together to create a one-of-a-kind backing or binding) 

A Scrap Quickie!

I'm little embarrassed to admit that I've never made a disappearing 9-patch quilt before. To be honest, the block never really appealed much to me. But I made a small D9P for our July scrap-busting project and I have to say, it was a fun, fun quilt to make! I'm now a big fan of this block.

This 39-1/2" X 39-1/2" kid sized quilt was super fast to put together. You could make it this size for a quick shower gift or a great table topper, or add more blocks and make a lap or bed quilt. The blocks finish at 13" and we used only 9 blocks for this one.

Sale - 40% Off

There are still a couple of days left to load up on fabric by the yard at SassyPacks! Through Saturday, take 40% off all fabric by the yard, including sale fabrics.

At around $4 or $5 per yard, this is a great time to build a nice stash of fabrics or even pile up a few larger cuts to be used later as backing for your quilts!

Enter coupon code "Fourth" at checkout to receive the discount.

Click here to jump to the store: www.sassypacks.com

Not so much "scrappy", but . . .

I've really fallen behind on my scrap busting commitment. As June comes to an end, I haven't even started this month's project. In fact, I haven't done any quilting this month except for one project. Even though it's not a true scrap buster, I think there may still be a couple of people who are interested in this. So I'd like to share what I did.

12 X 12 - Charm Scraps

This month's scrap buster project is really quick and easy, but I think you'll love it. And it's just in time to make a last minute Mother's Day gift!

Cinco de Mayo Sale!!

Check out our giant sale! Right now get 30% off all fabric by the yard with coupon code "MAYO2012" and also look for special discounts on select kits and bundles!

Click here to start shopping!

Prairie Points

Now that we have a completed quilt top, we're ready to finish! Layer the quilt top with the batting and backing. Pin, spray or baste as you normally do, except do not include the border in the pinning/basting process. (If you have a border wider than 3 or 4 inches, you may want to quilt part of it. Just be sure to leave the outer 2 - 3 inches unquilted.) Now quilt as desired - I did a simple free-motion meander stitch. Do not quilt the border (or outer 3 inches) yet.

Then square up your quilt and trim all three layers even with the top layer.

Next, flip the quilt over and pin the unquilted part of the backing away from the edges The batting stays with the quilt top:

Set the quilt aside while we prepare the Prairie Points. Use the (80) 4" squares cut from the focus fabric and scraps to make the Points. Begin by folding a square in half, wrong sides together, diagonally; press. Fold in half diagonally again and press:

Once all the Prairie Points are pressed, begin laying them along one edge of the quilt, starting in one corner and matching the raw edges. Lay them out randomly, but keep in mind you have a lot more focus fabric points than any other so use them often.

Prairie Points overlap each other. One side of the folds is closed and one is open. The open side in my picture is the side on the left. The next point will be inserted in between the folds on the open side:

Lay 23 points along the long sides of the quilt and 17 along the short sides, spacing them evenly (you can just eyeball it!). Insert each point in between the folds of the one to its right like the picture above.

When you turn the corner, they just butt up against each other, as shown below:

Once you have one side evenly spaced and the points all properly laid out, pin each one to hold it. Now you can continue on with the remaining 3 sides or stitch the pinned side first. Stitch 1/4" from the raw edges, making sure you catch all layers except the backing fabric.

   Note: if you are making a boy's quilt, the Prairie Points are often left pointing toward the center like this and a binding is added to finish the edge.

Take the quilt to your ironing board and flip the points toward the outside, turning the raw edges under as you do. Press them well all the way around:

Unpin the backing and press fabric smooth. Now we just need to turn under a quarter inch and hand-stitch the backing to the Prairie Points, covering up the seam:

You may have to use a couple of extra pins and kind of work the corners to get them square. Just keep smoothing the fabrics and making sure you're not pulling one side too tight. Once you've hand-stitched the backing in place, you can go back and quilt the border. And it's done!

Please consider posting a picture of your finished Scrappy Rails to our Facebook page!

12 X 12 - Scrappy Rails

This month's scrap buster is a kid's scrappy rail fence quilt with prairie points. (To see the other quilts in our series, start here!) This quilt is approximately 36" X 48" (or 40" X 52" including the prairie points).

This post will include instructions for completing the quilt top. The prairie points and finishing will be detailed in the next post.

Here's what you need:  
1/3 - 1/2 yard of a focus fabric
1/2 yard of white or other neutral fabric
1/8 yard of a coordinating stripe
assorted scraps to coordinate with focus fabric

        (see post from 3/28/12 for more on selecting fabrics for this project)

**I created a "starter kit" for a customer who wanted some of the fabrics I used. If you're interested in these colors, a kit with a total of 2-1/2 yards can be purchased here for $20. These are the fabrics:

12 X 12 - April's Scrappy Quilt

For our April scrappy project, I thought it would be fun to do a kid's quilt. And make (or learn to make) Prairie Points! This project leans a little toward the girlie side, but we'll discuss a slight variation that works great for a boy. Anyway, I wanted to give you a little advance notice so you would have plenty of time to plan your fabrics.

The main design/block for this quilt will be a rail fence (with only 3 rails), like this:

This is a great "skill builder" block because you need to use an accurate 1/4" seam to ensure that you end up with a 6-1/2" square (unfinished) block. After the first few blocks, you should have your 1/4" seam perfect and then just breeze through the rest of the blocks!

This quilt  also has 2 sections with a little bit of applique. Each of these sections will replace 3 of the rail fence blocks, so if you're adamantly opposed to applique, you can just make more of the blocks or even substitute a larger piece of the focus fabric.

12 X 12 - Scrappy Pet Bed

I started this scrappy project as a way to use little "garbage" scraps. Pieces that are too small to use - like the skinny strips you trim off a block to square it up;  or a big pile of thread scraps. For more about this project or any of our 12 scrappy projects in 2012, click here.

The how-to for the liner can be found here. Once the liner is full, you'll need a nice scrappy, quilted cover for it.

12 X 12 - Boxed Pinwheels

Our scrappy quilt for March started out a little different than it ended up.  However, I'm pretty happy with the result:   (For the background story on our scrappy quilt along, click here.)

Before we get into the how-tos, here's a brief recap of why I changed mid-process. I originally wanted a quilt made up of pinwheels and 9-patches (alternating between each). I got all the pinwheels done and put up on the design wall, then started making the 9-patch blocks. I'm very impatient and after I had a few finished, I raced over to add them to the pinwheels so I could admire how good it was going to look. I like to put something up on the wall and then try to not look until I get way back. So I put up the blocks, walked to the other side of the room, and turned to look . . . at this:

12 X 12 Scrappy Hexagon Quilt

This is another scrap busting quilt in our 12 scrappy projects in 12 months (12 X 12) series. For a little more information, click here.

There are so many options when it comes to English Paper Piecing - hexagons, diamonds, blocks, tumblers and more. Several websites have free downloads for paper piecing templates and there are online stores that sell precut shapes. A quick search on google will help you find both.

I think this is a great hand sewing project if you're not in a big hurry to finish it. I'll be working on mine over the course of months (maybe longer!!). I've chosen 7/8" hexies that I'll put together in a diamond shape, like this:

Faux Piano Key Border

Here's a great use for wide-striped fabrics. I chose the center fabric of this little table topper because I wanted to free motion quilt around the flowers. (I don't like to practice on a scrap that I'm just going to throw away - so I make small things and practice that way.) Anyway, this seemed like the perfect, super-quick border for this mini quilt!

Mother Nature

Yesterday morning we had some heavy fog roll through town. You know, the kind that picks a long narrow path and just hovers there. We were up really early (my husband had a 5:30 am flight). The sky above our house was clear and full of stars. On the way to the airport, we drove through this thick, eerie fog. But once the sun came up, it quickly burned away.

Later that morning I took our dog to the dog park, which was right in the middle of the fog path. Everything there was still heavily frosted and beautiful. So I grabbed my iPhone and snapped a couple of quick pictures:

But this is the picture I really wanted to share. This fence had all these little frost-cicles going in every direction! I wonder if that's caused by wind?

Very pretty.

12 X 12 - Super Scrappy Pet Bed

Here is the second of our 12 scrappy projects for 2012 - or "12 X 12". To start at the beginning, click here.

This scrap busting project has a great bonus! We'll be using "garbage scraps" that would otherwise go in the trash and landfills, to fill our pet beds. Yay us!

Guest Posting!

This might be a really good time to jump over to the Valentine's Day Showcase on SewBitterSweetDesigns and see our guest post!

English Paper Piecing

I mentioned in my last post that I want to start a hand project so I have something portable or that I can work on in the evenings. I love English Paper Piecing and really want to do a hexie scrap quilt. If hexagons aren't your favorite, there are lots of other shapes too.

A Scrappy Finish

I'm sitting here all snuggled up under a freshly washed scrappy quilt typing up this post. I really wasn't that crazy about it as I was finishing the quilting part, but it is kind of growing on me. 

12 X 12 Backing Ideas

I finally finished the quilt top for our first scrap busting project! Are you with me - or getting close?

As I was mindlessly sewing these pieces together, I was thinking about backing. Here are some of my thoughts on backing:

12 X 12 Small Scrappy Rectangles

Oops! I forgot to post the construction details for the smaller versions of this quilt. If you are making this quilt in the smallest size - 39-1/2" X 48", you need to make 7 rows of 9 larger rectangles alternating with 8 skinny rectangles. (refer to the 1/11/12 post for more details, if needed) Then you'll fill in between those rows with the little 1-1/2" pieces - make 6 of those rows.

For the medium sized quilt (44" X 55"), you'll have 8 rows of 10 large and 9 skinny rectangles. Make 9 of the 1-1/2" rows to fill in between.

12 X 12 Scrappy Rectangles construction

Ready to start sewing these together? (For the background on this quilt-along, click here.) There are a lot of pieces, but it's actually a relaxing kind of stitching. You know - just a lot of straight lines, all the pieces are short and match easily. We just have to get everything together and then start chain-piecing. (Since we're stash-busting, this is a great time to let our minds wander off to how we're going to re-fill our storage bins with an even better stash!)

Valentine's Day Showcase

Our blogging friend, Melissa from Sew BitterSweet Designs is hosting a Valentine's Day Showcase and has asked us to participate! Of course, we jumped on it - it was a request too sweet to pass up!

Each day for a week leading up to Valentine's Day, she'll have a guest blogger (like us!!) post something fun. It may an easy project or a cool tutorial or maybe even something tasty. We'll just have to wait and see what's in store.

Meanwhile, get your sweetest fabrics ready for a really fun week!

12 X 12 Scrappy Rectangles question answered

A blog follower asked this question today:

"Question- is there any way i could cut this in half? like child/baby size I'm slowly learning quilting but have tons of scraps from sewing that i'd love to use up but I know not enough for this size. If there is a way -could you possibly help me out with the amount per each etc? thanks so much" 

Well, Jessica (and anyone else wanting a smaller size), we are happy to help!  Listed after the jump are options in 2 sizes so you can decide which you like. On a side note, the full-size project doesn't actually use up as many scraps as you might hope think it will!

12 X 12 - Scrappy Rectangles Next Steps

Let's get this show on the road! For anyone just joining us, click here to get the whole scoop! As you know, in our previous post, we had you get started sorting your stash into color groups. If you're still sorting fabrics, that's fine. I'm going to go ahead and get this first project started. Anyone can join us/start at any time. Here's what we're going to make with our stash scraps:

This quilt finishes at 59-1/2" X 69-1/2". It's made up of 3 different sizes of rectangles and one small square - super easy!

12 X 12 - Getting Started

Our twelve scrappy projects for 2012 will be detailed in posts tagged "12 X 12" throughout the year. Want to know more about our Scrappy New Year Quilt-along? Click here.

Today, we are going to start collecting and prepping scraps for two projects - a scrappy pet bed and a super simple scrappy quilt.