2 easy ways to make an embroidered snap bag

Yesterday on QUILTsocial we talked about using WonderFil’s Eleganza thread to enhance wool applique. I found the Eleganza threads to be lovely to work with and the colors of the Sue Spargo threads were amazing!! On Wednesday we used the Eleganza thread for Sashiko embroidery. So now that we have these two embroidery samples finished, today I'm going to show you 2 easy ways to make an embroidered snap bag.

What is a snap bag you ask?

I first saw the snap bag technique at one of our guild meetings where a fellow guild member was showing how to use an old metal tape measure to make a bag with a rigid opening that would "snap" back into position when closed. These bags are great for gifts, craft shows and for storing anything from rotary cutters to make-up! 

Adding the borders

The first step for the Sashiko bag is to sew borders onto the Sashiko panel. I trimmed the panel to 8" x 10". Next I picked the fabrics that I wanted to use for the borders, back and lining of the bag. Since the panel was made with one of Northcott's ColorWorks solids, I auditioned a few of the ColorWorks Concepts fabrics to use for the borders.

Auditioning border fabrics

I cut two side borders that were each 2" x 8" and sewed them to the two sides of the panel. Next I cut two borders that were 3" x 13" and sewed them to the top and bottom of the panel. I cut one piece on fabric for the back of the bag that measured 11" x 13" and sewed it to the bottom border.

The borders and back of the bag are sewn onto the sashiko panel

Making a snap bag

I made the following video to show the basic steps of making a snap bag. Please watch the video before you follow along with the rest of the steps.

How to make a snap bag - YouTube

In this video, Christine Baker of Fairfield Road Designs shows step-by-step how to make a quilted snap bag for QUILTsocial.com.

via: www.youtube.com

I cut a piece of batting 13" x 21½" and layered it with outside of the bag. As I mentioned in the video if you are making small bags you don't need to do any quilting to secure the layers, but since the bags we are making today are going to be quite a bit bigger, I used  one of my WonderFil Konfetti threads to do a bit of topstitching around the Sashiko panel and across the back of the bag.

Quilting through the outside of the bag and the batting

I cut the lining of the bag from the white ColorWorks fabric 13" x 25" and centered the outside of the bag on the lining with wrong sides together. As shown in the video, I folded and pressed the excess fabric from the ends of the lining over the ends of the bag front. 

The edge of the lining fabric is double folded over the edge of the outside fabric

As I showed in the video the two edges of the folded lining is top-stitched to make the channel for the tape measure to slide into. I bought a dollar store metal tape measure and cut two lengths that were each 12¼" long and rounded the edges as shown in the video. Always use OLD SCISSORS to cut the tape measure - NOT your good quilting scissors! If you are concerned with the sharpness of the ends of the tape measure, wrap each end with some duct tape to protect your fabric. When you cut your tape measure, make sure that you reattach the metal end using some scotch tape to make sure that the rest of your tape measure doesn't retract back into the case - never to be seen again!!

Make sure to tape the end of the tape measure back on to prevent the tape from going all the way into the case

Following the directions in the video, the bag is folded in half with right sides together and stitched about ¼" from the edge. I trimmed the edge and then zigzagged the raw edge to make the seam neat. The next step was to insert the tape measure lengths into the two channels with the unmarked side towards the outside of the bag.

The tape measure section is inserted into the channel with the unmarked side towards the outside of the bag

The second side of the bag is stitched closed, trimmed and zigzagged like the first side.

If you want your bag to have a squared bottom, you line up the centre line of the bottom with one of the sides of the bag and then sew a line across that point. You then sew a second line across the other bottom corner. 

A seam is sewn across the point of the bag bottom

If the bag is tiny, you can just leave the excess triangle of fabric on the inside of the bag. Since my bag is fairly big, I decided to trim the excess fabric and zigzag the raw edge like I did for the sides of the bag.

The point is trimmed off and then the raw edge is zig-zagged

The bag is turned right side out and voila!! The cutest Sashiko bag ever!! You can see that I sewed a fabric label into the side of my bag when I sewed the side seam. I ordered these great labels from a website called "It's Mine Labels". They have a bunch of different sizes and designs and you just enter all of your info online, proof the finished image and then order them. Before you know it your labels arrive and you can start sewing them into your handmade creations!

The finished shashiko snap bag

No batting needed

For the wool applique bag I decided that I really didn't need to add any batting as the wool background gave the bag body enough substance. Since my wool background was 10" x 20" I cut my lining 10" x 23½". My tape measure was about ¾" wide so if you have a wider tape measure, you may need to add more than 3½" to the length of your lining.

Cut the lining fabric 3½" longer than the outside of the bag

From there I followed the exact same steps as with the Sashiko bag. And here's the finished wool applique snap bag - I just LOVE it!!

The finished wool applique snap bag

Happy New Year!

As this is my last QUILTsocial blogging week for this year, I'd like to thank you for following along with my quilting adventures over the last 12 months using both Northcott Fabrics and WonderFil threads. I just love having the opportunity to work with these and share the projects I make with you. In 2017 we'll have lots more quilting fun and I hope you'll keep tuned and keep sharing our website with your quilting friends. I hope you've enjoyed learning about WonderFil's Eleganza thread this week and especially the 2 great ways to make an embroidered snap bag - hopefully you'll find some time soon to make one for yourself.

Using WonderFil’s Eleganza thread to enhance wool applique

Yesterday on QUILTscial we experimented using Eleganza thread for Sashiko embroidery. I really enjoyed doing the Sashiko embroidery and can't wait to do more.

Let's look at using WonderFil’s Eleganza thread for wool applique, one of my favorite things.

Wool applique 

I absolutely LOVE doing wool applique. I've designed and made many, many projects with wool many of which I have published as patterns or have been featured in magazines. I dyed my own wool and I made wool kits and items to sell in my Etsy shop. The only problem with wool is that it can be expensive to buy, so one of my favorite things to do is to applique wool onto cotton backgrounds as this makes the wool project a bit more economical. 

Usually I do my wool applique with hand dyed embroidery floss, but I have used WonderFil threads before and found them to be just lovely for wool applique and embroidery. Check out these wool applique ornaments that I made using Razzle and Dazzle threads from WonderFil.

Felted wool embroidered circle ornaments by fairfieldroaddesigns Hand embroidered wool ornaments.

Picking a wool applique motif

Some of the Eleganza threads that WonderFil sent me were in cool colors that reminded me of winter. The teals, purple, blue and gray made me think of snowflakes, so I dug through my wools and found some pieces that I thought would work well with the threads. I used my Accuquilt Studio cutter to cut a snowflake shape out of teal and a large circle out of a blue/purple plaid.

I cut a rectangle of cream colored wool that was 10" x 20" and then folded it in half to make a 10" square. I used 505 Spray to stick my shapes to this wool square. I use this spray all the time when I'm doing wool applique as it holds the shapes in place very well and doesn't gum up your needle as you sew. For more information about using 505 Spray check out my Blog post where I make felted wool table runners.

I have a large button collection, so I found 12 purple buttons ranging in size from ½" to 1" and arranged them in a circle around the applique shapes.

The wool applique shapes and buttons are arranged on the background

I then used my marker to mark an "x" where each of the buttons was placed so that I could remember where to sew them when all of my stitching was done.

Using an erasable marker, mark an x for each button placement.

I picked two of the Sue Spargo Eleganza threads to use for my project. The colors in these threads are just beautiful!!

The Sue Spargo Eleganza thread looks like it will be beautiful with the buttons and wool

Eleganza Hints & Tips

WonderFil’s website has so much great information! For all of their threads there are Hints & Tips charts available such as this one for their Eleganza thread:

Embroidery stitches

I got to stitching by first securing my snowflake with a running stitch down the middle of all of the parts. Next I used a blanket stitch to secure the circle to the wool background. 

I sewed all of the buttons to the background using the marks that I had made as a placement guide.

Next came my embellishments using french knots in between each button and the circle and some lazy daisy stitches on the opposite side of each button.

Closeup of the embroidery stitches

Stitching diagrams

Now that the wool applique and embroidery is finished, this piece and the Sashiko sample are ready to sew into snap bags.

Join me tomorrow as I show a fun technique involving lengths of metal tape measure to make a bag that snaps closed. For now though, I've really enjoyed using WonderFil’s Eleganza thread for wool applique and I can't wait to stitch up a couple of the Sue Spargo patterns that I purchased at quilt market - the other Eleganza threads look like they'll be perfect for them!

Sue Spargo patterns to use with the rest of the Eleganza Thread

Using Eleganza thread for Sashiko embroidery

Yesterday on QUILTsocial we talked about 4 ways to transfer embroidery designs to fabric. When I'm doing punchneedle embroidery I often just place my design under the fabric and trace it using a fine marker since the weaver's cloth that I use is fairly easy to see through. Today I'm going to use Eleganza thread for Sashiko embroidery on a darker fabric, so I'll have to use one a different technique such as one of the four that we discussed yesterday.

What is Sashiko?

Sashiko is a traditional form of embroidery from Japan. Most of the samples in existence today are from the late 19th century but some records show that similar techniques were used for garments in the 17th century.

This form of embroidery, which is also popular in quilting, uses straight or curved geometric designs stitched in a repeating pattern. The Japanese word sashiko means little stabs and refers to the small stitches used in this form of needlework.

Originally Sashiko provided the practical purpose of strengthening and giving warmth to homespun fabrics in clothes worn by the lower social class citizens of Japan. The simple running stitch was used to conserve and repair garments at a time when cloth was not widely available to farmers and fishermen. The skill was passed down from generation to generation and was learned at a young age. Later on, the skill would also be used to judge a young woman's suitability for marriage.

Nowadays Sashiko is used to embellish garments and quilts and the designs can range anywhere from simple grids, to ornate nature scenes.

Getting Started Stitching Sashiko - YouTube

Here are various ways to start stitching using the Sashiko style. Options are discussed as well as the tools required and...

via: www.youtube.com

Sashiko: Traditional Japanese Sashiko Design & Instruction

Practising my Sashiko

I decided to practise my Sashiko first using a fairly simple grid design. Instead of tracing this design from paper, I just used my rotary cutting ruler and my Frixion pen to draw diagonal lines across my fabric.

I had some of the Northcott ColorWorks leftover fabrics, so I picked one of the turquoise fabrics and cut a rectangle approximately 8" x 10". I drew one line on an angle across the fabric and then used my ruler to draw parallel lines 1½" apart. I then drew one line at a right angle to these and other lines parallel to it 1½" apart.

A Frixion pen works well for marking the stitching lines

Picking the Eleganza thread

One of the WonderFil Eleganza threads was a pale gray, so I picked it and threaded my needle with a section about 20" long. I didn't have an actual Sashiko needle, so I selected one that was fairly long with a large eye so that I could easily thread it. After tying a knot in the one end I brought my needle up from the back of the fabric and started to stack some stitches on the needle.

Stacking the stitches on the needle

As mentioned in the video above, the Sashiko stitches are supposed to be consistent in size and the space between the stitches is supposed to be slightly smaller than the stitch itself. No two stitches are to cross or meet. When I pulled my thread through, my stitches looked okay, but I can tell that I need a bit more practice!

Closeup of the Sashiko stitches

Sashiko is meant to be stitched in continuous lines acoss the fabric so you don't have to knot off at the back of the fabric very often. When I got to the end of my first line, I turned and continued stitching on one of the lines that met it at the end. I'll continue stitching in this manner until all of the lines have been done.

The Sashiko stitches are worked in continuous lines

The Eleganza thread is lovely to stitch with! It pulls through the fabric nicely, doesn't fray or get into knots. Once I got the hang of the Sashiko stitching I found it to be nice and relaxing and could see how this type of embroidery would be great for a novice stitcher. It works up quite quickly and is easy to do. It also has a modern look to it. I think a quilt made with Sashiko panels would be lovely!!

Making a more complex Sashiko design

After a bit of practice, I wanted to try my hand at a design that was a bit more complex. As I said on Monday, if you google "Sashiko" designs or patterns you'll see hundreds of pattern ideas that you can download or buy. You can print them on your printer and then use one of the methods I talked about yesterday to mark them onto your fabric. I have a bunch of quilting templates that I use for machine quilting on my Gammill, so I picked one of them and used it to trace stitching lines onto a second rectangle of the solid fabric.

A machine quilting arc template was used to draw the stitching lines on the fabric

I used the same color of Eleganza thread to stitch the lines on this sample. Once all of my stitching was finished, I just used my iron to apply heat to the fabric and the marking lines disappeared.

Closeup of the Sashiko panel

Making a snap bag using Sashiko

Tomorrow on QUILTsocial I'm going to use the Eleganza threads to do some wool applique and embroidery and then on Friday we're going to use both of these samples to make really cute little snap bags. I've really enjoyed using WonderFil's Eleganza thread for Sashiko embroidery and I plan on doing more Sashiko in the future - I hope you enjoyed it too!

4 ways to transfer embroidery designs to fabric

Transferring designs to fabric

Yesterday on QUILTsocial I talked about 3 great uses for WonderFil’s Eleganza thread – Sashiko, hand embroidery and wool applique. All of these techniques lend themselves to quiet hand stitching time which is especially nice during the busy holiday season. But in order to do some of these techniques you have to be able to follow a pattern that is marked on your fabric. For quilting, stitching and embroidery there are MANY, MANY different ways to mark your fabric. Today we're going to talk about 4 ways to transfer embroidery designs to fabric.

A hand embroidered quilt label by Carla Canonico from her QUILTsocial blog post on June 26, 2016

Marking quilt tops for machine or hand quilting

When I’m machine quilting I almost NEVER mark the quilt top. There are a couple of reasons for this: 1. I’m always in a hurry and don’t want to take the time to do it and 2. Sometimes it’s really hard to follow that marked line LOL. But, I do know that lots of people like to mark their tops before they quilt them so when I’m teaching my machine quilting class at our local quilt shop I do take a bit of time to go over the different types of fabric marking products and their benefits and drawbacks. Here's the list of products I handout to my class:

Pounce: This is chalk in a bag. Pounce or pat the bag on a stencil, leaving a chalk design on the fabric. The chalk disappears easily, so mark as you go with a pounce.

Mechanical pencil: Use hard lead (0.5mm) and mark lightly so that stitching or quilting will cover it. They mark very lightly, don’t have to be sharpened all the time and they don’t smudge. Only mark them as dark as you need to see the mark when you're quilting, as darker lines may never entirely disappear after washing. These are good only on light fabrics. 

Colored pencils: There are many quilters’ pencils on the market usually in white, silver, and yellow, the choice depending on the color of the fabric being marked. These work just fine with two significant drawbacks. They have to be sharpened constantly and they break inside when tapped or dropped making it impossible to keep them sharpened. Clover makes a mechanical pencil with yellow or silver lead that works like the mechanical pencils mentioned above.

Soapstone marker: If kept sharp, these markers will show up on light and dark fabrics. These make a nice line and come out easily. They're available in quilt shops and need to be sharpened in a hand cranked pencil sharpener. They leave a pale gray line.

Soap sliver: Sharpen the edges of leftover soap for a marker that washes out easily.

Chalk pencil: The chalk tends to brush away, so it's best to mark as you go with these pencils.

Wash-out pen, pencil or graphite marker: These markers maintain a point and are easy to see. Refer to the manufacturer’s instructions to remove the markings and test them first on the fabric scraps to make sure the marks will wash out. Note:Humidity may make the marks disappear, and applying heat to them may make them permanent.

Chalk roller and chalk wheel: Powdered chalk in this wheel makes a simple, fine line. These work fine if you're going to quilt the object right away. The chalk is easy to see, comes in different colors, and brushes right off.

Hera markers: Use a Hera marker on black quilts that have simple quilting patterns. You don't have to wash the quilt when finished. They work very well if you're going to quilt immediately.

Frixion pens: come in a variety of colors and leave a nice sharp line. The lines are removed by applying friction or heat BUT the lines may reappear in extreme cold.

A free hand embroidery pattern from www.french-knots.com

Marking embroidery lines on fabric

Oftentimes the best technique to transfer a design onto fabric depends on the color and thickness or weight of the fabric. Many of the marking tools that I mentioned above can be used with the following techniques.

Tracing

To transfer a design on paper to a light weight, and light-colored fabric you can place the design under the fabric and using your preferred marking tool copy the design by tracing it directly onto the fabric. If you have problems seeing the design through the fabric you can use a light box or tape the paper and fabric onto a sunny window. Here's a little video that I found on YouTube that explains how to do this. If I decide to use a white fabric to do some sashiko embroidery with my Eleganza threads, I'll probably use this method to trace my design.

Transferring a Design to Fabric - YouTube

How to use a light box or window to transfer a design to cloth

via: www.youtube.com

Tracing Paper

To use tracing paper or transfer paper, you place a piece of the paper, color-side down on your fabric and place the pattern on top of the paper. Transfer the design to the fabric by tracing the pattern using a stylus or empty ball-point pen. Many times the papers come in yellow to use with dark fabrics and blue to use on light-colored fabrics. This technique can be used for any fabrics that are too thick to see through such as wool or denim.

Tracing Paper "Chacopy" - 5 Sheets For use with tracer pen (#7843500) to copy work onto craft & sewing projects. Includes 5 pages in blue, green, red, white and yellow.

Iron-on Designs

Paperbacked iron-on transfer designs are available in a variety of colors and styles. Be sure to follow the manufacturers directions before using. Keep in mind that heat transfer methods usually create a permanent image that must be completely covered by stitching to be invisible. This type of product has been available for YEARS!! I'm pretty sure that the embroidered pillowcases that my grandmother made were done using this type of transfer product. If I can find some at my local craft store it would be fun to do a couple using my Eleganza threads.

Reindeer Games - Hot Iron transfers

Stencils

Stencils are great for repeat patterns and for mixing and matching for a unique style. You can also use just parts of a stencil to create a unique design. Tracing stencils works best on medium-weight fabrics such as cotton, lightweight denim, silk, linen, rayon and various synthetic blends. To use a stencil, position it on the right side of fabric and secure in place using tape. Use your preferred marking tool to trace the design following the cut-out areas of the stencil. If the fabric has any stretch to it, you may find it easier to make small dots with the along the cutout lines, rather than drawing a solid line.

Blue Birds 4" - The Stencil Company Can be used for embroidery or quilting.

There are also many other techniques that have been developed using computer printers, special papers and other interesting tools. There's always something new being developed so the next time you're in your local quilt or craft shop ask them what’s new! Many times when I’m doing hand embroidery I just make the pattern up as I go, but for my Sashiko project in a couple days I’m definitely going to be using one of these 4 ways to transfer embroidery designs to fabric.

Join me tomorrow as we continue our stitching fun with WonderFil's Eleganza threads.

 

3 great uses for WonderFil’s Eleganza thread

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas with your friends and family. Today is Boxing Day in Canada, so lots of people are busy braving the hordes of people to score a crazy deal on treasures they didn’t get for Christmas. But not me. I’m relaxing at home, eating leftover turkey, reading the new magazines I got in my stocking and investigating 3 great uses for WonderFil’s Eleganza thread.  

The Eleganza threads

Eleganza Thread

A couple weeks ago WonderFil sent me a selection of their Eleganza thread and I can’t wait to try it out. According to the WonderFil website Eleganza is a 2-ply 100% long staple Egyptian cotton thread, double-gassed and mercerized.

WonderFil's website says that the process of double gassing involves burning off the lint from the thread two times, resulting in a much softer and cleaner finish.The result is a wonderfully smooth and lustrous surface that allows the thread to glide beautifully through all types of fabrics and fibers. The thread’s tight twist creates beautifully firm stitches while its surface sheen produces a luxurious finish to embellishment stitchery.

The thread is offered in 100 different colors ranging from saturated solids to subtle tone-on-tone and random dyed contrasting variegates. According to the website, it's perfect for hand work or embellishment projects, it's especially good for wool applique, hand embroidery and sashiko. My interest has been piqued!!

 

WonderFil Threads - Eleganza Available in 100 colors in the WonderFil colour line and 90 colours in the Sue Spargo colour line, Eleganza™ is a perfect match for your next hand work or embellishment project.

The Sue Spargo collection

When I was at Quilt Market in Houston in October I met Sue Spargo in her booth. I’ve always loved her heavily embroidered wool applique projects and patterns and we bought a couple copies of her book to bring home with us.

CREATIVE STITCHING BOOK from Sue Spargo Sue's book 'Creative Stitching' includes step by step concise written instructions, along with clear illustrations, for 50 of Sue's favorite stitches.  Included are close up, color, photographic examples of each of the stitches used. The beginning of 'Creative Stitching' gives you a detailed look into the needles and threads Sue uses, and throughout the book are never before seen color photographs of Sue's work. 'Creative Stitching' is spiral bound t...

I’ve been reading through the book and trying out some of her stitches, so I was especially excited to see that WonderFil has a whole line of Eleganza threads that Sue has designed. 

WonderFil Sue Spargo Collection WonderFil™ has teamed up with Sue Spargo, author, teacher, embroidery expert and artist, to bring you a new line of colors in our Eleganza™, Razzle™, and Dazzle™ thread lines! These colors have been selected by Sue Spargo to offer an array of beautiful and inspirational choices, including variegated colors that are only available in her line.

Wool applique

I LOVE wool applique and had lots of fun a couple years ago using WonderFil’s Razzle and Dazzle threads to make projects such as this little table runner that I made for Valentine’s this year as well as the table runner that I made for my first blogging week for QUILTsocial back in June 2014. The Razzle and Dazzle threads looked AMAZING on the wools but I did have some trouble with the threads fraying as I kept stitching with them. A little thread conditioner worked wonders to fix that problem, but I have a feeling that I’m not going to have issues like that with the Eleganza threads.

Ladybug Parade wool applique banner

Hand Embroidery

I did a lot of hand embroidery back when I was a kid, but never really got back to it until recently. The WonderFil threads enticed me to try my hand at some basic embroidery stitches, mostly on my wool applique pieces. A few years ago my husband and I took the train to Halifax and since I was going to have lots of relaxation time I decided to take along some wool and to try my hand at learning some new embroidery stitches.

I pinned a bunch of references on Pinterest and brought along some pieces of wool and my Razzle and Dazzle threads and ended up with quite a few different embroidery samples. One of the several samples that I liked the most was this little piece that I ended up making into a little zippered bag.

Now that I have my new Sue Spargo embroidery stitches book I’m going to experiment a bit more using my new yummy Eleganza threads.

Embroidery stitches made with WonderFil's Razzle and Dazzle threads

Sashiko

Although I’ve often admired Sashiko embroideries I’ve never actually tried it myself. Sashiko is a form of Japanese embroidery which is usually worked on indigo fabric with white thread. It can range anywhere from a simple gridwork to ornate designs depicting scenes from nature. Just Google “Sashiko images” and you'll be amazed at the different designs that are available. I’m going to do a bit more research and later this week I’m going to try my hand at this lovely technique. 

Different examples of Sashiko patterns

The Slow Stitching Movement

Usually for a week of blogging on QUILTsocial, I design and complete a fairly large project and break it down into manageable steps that we can complete each day for the week. It’s usually a pretty fast paced project, but it’s always fun to see the entire project through to its completion. I think for this week we’re going to take it a bit slower! We’ve all just been through the hectic pre-Christmas hustle and bustle and I for one am looking for some quiet, reflective time. The Slow Stitching Movement was launched by international quilting personality Mark Lipinski to help creative people like us to slow down, enjoy the process, and create fiber art that we’re really proud of. Because Eleganza thread is so suited to handwork I feel inspired to take it a bit slower and to make a few smaller projects that showcase the 3 great uses for WonderFil’s Eleganza thread.

 

Making a curling rock garland

The last week before holidays tends to be a quick dash through crafting supplies to make some last minute gifts. In yesterday's post we finished quilting the cute quick curling rock coasters with the help of PFAFF's passport 3.0. In today's post I'm using two sets of coasters to create another personalized gift.

 

Curling rock garland

Decorating for the holidays includes adding special details to the fireplace mantle. I combined two sets of curling rock coasters with some ric rac to make a garland - a perfect sporty touch for the winter season. 

Two sets of curling rock coasters and ric rac

PFAFF's passport 3.0 makes quick work of putting together a second set of curling rock coasters. I used different fabric this time for the light gray fabric. The topstitching on the second set was done again in red and yellow with neutral thread in the bobbin. 

After making a second set of curling rock coasters, the only other supply you'll need for the garland is some ric rac or ribbon. I measured my mantle and found a piece of red ric rac the right length in my stash - it was meant to be! My garland finishes at approximately 56". 

Attaching the ric rac to the coasters.

Based on the size of my ric rac and the length of my mantle, I decided to space my coasters about 3 ric rac bumps apart. If you look in the photo you can see what I mean (I hope!) At first I left more space but then all eight of the coasters didn't fit. You'll have to measure and decide if you need all of the coasters on your garland or if you need to space them farther apart.

I attached my coasters to the ric rac with safety pins - two each. You could sew the ric rac onto the coasters with neutral thread so it won't show on the front of the coasters. I'm only pinning mine because one set of coasters is a gift. I just might be making another set so I can make a garland to gift too!

 

Curling rock garland and mantle.

The arrangement of the coasters on the garland is also up to you! I decided to start with a yellow rock coaster from one set then red and yellow from the other set. My husband said he'd have done all the red curling rock coasters then all of the yellow ones. I really don't think you can go wrong - have fun with it!

PFAFF passport 3.0

With the help of PFAFF's passport 3.0 I was able to start and finish some last minute gifts. I hope the features and projects I shared this week inspired you this holiday season. It's always fun when the making of gifts is as enjoyable as the giving of them! The curling rock garland is a fun project to wrap up my holiday gift making season. Here's to another year of joyful quilting:)

The ⅛" guide on the PFAFF passport 3.0 presser foot for precision

Quilted coasters are a quick gift to make. In yesterday's post I used the stitch and flip method to easily construct the units for the curling rock block. In this post, I'll use the ⅛" guide on the PFAFF passport 3.0 presser foot for precision to finish the coasters.

PFAFF passport 3.0

To finish the coasters I'll be using the straight stitch - the basic sewing stitch that the passport 3.0 is programmed to start up with ready to use when you turn it on. I suggest a neutral thread color for sewing the coasters together.

Coaster making supplies

To make the four curling rock blocks into coasters you will need a few more supplies:

4 - 5" tall x 5½" wide pieces of fabric

4 - 5" tall x 5½" wide pieces of  batting

The back of the coasters is your chance to choose fabric to match the recipient's decor, use a holiday themed print, or have fun and pick fabrics that could rival some of the curling outfits that you've seen on TV!

Envelope method

I use the envelope method to make the coasters. Start by making a coaster sandwich with the batting on the bottom, the backing right side up followed by the curling block right side down on the top.

Put a pin in each side to secure the layers together. To turn the coaster right side out I left a turning gap along the bottom edge of the curling rock block. I find it easier to leave a gap where there are no seams across the block - remember to backstitch when you start and stop sewing to make it even easier to pull the coaster through the opening.

passport 3.0 measurement guides

I use the needle down function to keep the needle in the coaster fabric at all times. The red ¼" guide on the bobbin cover is long enough for me to see while sewing and lines up perfectly with the grooved line on presser foot 0A. Do you see the indented dot on the presser foot? It's also a ¼" guide - when it lines up over the fabric I know I can turn the corner and maintain an accurate seam allowance.

To sew the coaster layers together, start along the curling rock bottom side and go around the entire coaster, remembering to leave a turning gap at the end. 

 

Turning gap pinned

When finished flip over the layers to make sure all three were caught in the seam. Then clip off the triangle seam allowance at each corner to make the turned corners round. Pull the coaster inside out and push out the corners with your finger or a skinny tool like a chopstick (I use a plastic letter opener.)

Finger press the turning gap closed. I like to put a pin in to secure the layers. I also start my topstitching along this edge of the coaster.

Topstitching thread choices

I sewed together all four of the coasters before doing my topstitching because I knew I wanted to change my thread colors. Topstitching is your chance to add some more personal detail to the curling rock coasters. I decided to use red thread on the red rock coasters and yellow on the yellow rock ones. You could do the same or choose a neutral color to blend into the background. I kept my bobbin thread neutral so that it would blend in on my coasters' backing fabric.

Topstitching guides

I used the basic machine sewing stitch for my topstitching. The best part was discovering the little red dots on the presser foot are a ⅛" guide. I used the red dot to help me keep my topstitching line even and used the ¼" guide on the bobbin cover to double check. Keeping my topstitch so close to the edge meant that I was sure my turning gap was closed and secure and wouldn't come out in the wash!

Repeat to topstitch all four curling rock coasters, changing topstitching thread if desired.

Curling rock coasters

The precision of the PFAFF machines is something you need to experience. My piecing is so precise and the finished coasters look so perfect! The passport 3.0 was a perfect partner in making these quick curling rock coasters. I hope you enjoyed the tutorial and made some for yourself - to give or to keep.