A few years ago, I had the opportunity to participate in making some things for the Mediterraneo fabric line by Katarina Roccella for Art Gallery Fabrics. The fabrics were so gorgeous, I couldn’t wait to get started!

Forgive me for the photo quality. I was trying to get everything sent off quickly but I’ll be updating these with better photos soon!

I really needed some pretty new kitchen accessories and I thought the theme of Mediterraneo would be perfect! So first I decided to make some potholders.

For these four potholders, I decided to let the fabric speak for itself and quilted around the designs so they would stand out. I then bound them with a complimentary fabric.

Next, I decided to get a little more creative. I love how these turned out and think I might need to make a couple more!

Want to make your own? Follow these tutorials below! (Printable PDF)

Single Print Potholders

You will need:

(1) 9″ square front fabric

(1) 9.5″ backing fabric

(1) 9.25″ batting fabric

(2) 9.25″ Insul Bright

(1) 2.25″ x 39″ strip for binding

Place backing fabric right side down. Place on top one of the Insul Bright pieces, then batting, then the second Insul Bright piece and finally the front fabric face up. Baste and then quilt as desired. Trim to 9″ square and bind to finish off.

Pinwheel Potholder

You will need:

(4) 2.5″ x 5″ pieces background fabric

(1) 6.75″ piece background fabric

(1) 6.75″ pinwheel fabric

(1) 9.5″ backing fabric

(1) 9.25″ batting fabric

(2) 9.25″ Insul Bright

(1) 2.25″ x 39″ strip for binding

1. Place background and pinwheel 6.75″ squares right sides together. Mark lines diagonally. See Fig. 1.

2. Next, stitch on either side of marked diagonal lines. See Fig. 2.

3. Finally, cut in half as indicated by the red lines. See Fig. 3.

4. Press seams open and then trim half square triangles to 2.5″.

5. Stitch together as shown below.

Place backing fabric right side down. Place on top one of the Insul Bright pieces, then batting, then the second Insul Bright piece and finally the front fabric face up. Baste and then quilt as desired. Trim to 9″ square and bind to finish off.

Diamond Potholders

You will need:

(23) diamonds

(1) 9.5″ backing fabric

(1) 9.25″ batting fabric

(2) 9.25″Insul Bright

(1) 2.25″ x 39″ strip for binding

Using this diamond template, cut out 23 diamonds of assorted fabrics.

Stitch together in rows as shown below being careful to not stretch the bias edges.

Sew rows together and then square up, trimming to 9″.

Place backing fabric right side down. Place on top one of the Insul Bright pieces, then batting, then the second Insul Bright piece and finally the front fabric face up. Baste and then quilt as desired. Trim to 9″ square and bind to finish off.

I also made these beautiful flour sack dishtowels to match!

To make them, I purchased flour sack towels from Amazon. I pressed them using spray starch and cut them to the same size. Then, I bound them using 1.5″ binding.

I hope you like them! If you have any questions or comments, I’d love to hear from you!

Products I used:

Here is a round up of some Valentine’s Day crafts and treats that caught my eye.

Diy Art

Painting is not really in my wheelhouse but I think these Love Letters from We Lived Happily Ever After are just gorgeous and would love to give them a try.

I’ve always wanted to do one of these string art projects. This one is over at Green Wedding Shoes is really cute!

How about some Scrabble tile inspired coasters from blue I style?

Hand Sewing

I just LOVE these mini hoop hearts by Laurenmakes. They are super simple but striking. I think they are so adorable and they are on the top of my make list right now!

And how cute is this little felt love note hoop by Amy Chappell from Ameroonie Designs at the Polka Dot Chair.

Machine Sewing

I also found a couple of adorable pillows to add to my Valentine pillow collection. First up is this adorable Love You Pillow by Amanda at JediCraftGirl guest blogging at Amy Smart’s Diary of A Quilter.

And how about this cute heart pillow by Anna from Noodlehead guest blogging on U-CreateCrafts.

I don’t really sew plushies but these Love Koi by Sew Desu Ne? on Blueprint are making me rethink that!

I also saw this felt heart table runner at Pottery Barn Kids. This would be so simple and cheap to make and they want $39.00 bucks for it?

I LOVE this one by Center Street Quilts. I might need to make one of these!

Sweet Treats

How about some delicious treats? I love a quick and simple yummy treat and this bark from Lauren at Delish looks amazing.

And who doesn’t love a yummy Rice Krispy treat? These from Midwest Living look so good!

I’ll wrap up this post with these Cookies ‘n Cream Strawberry Cheesecake Bars from Creme de la Crumb look amazing! I think I may be able to get Sam into making these with me!

You can find my treat bag tutorial here.

My Valentine pillow covers sew up quick! You can find the patterns here. They are on sale all through February.

And if you’re looking for a little bigger project, try out this Flying Home pattern. It is 30% off all month long.

I’ve also been meaning to make a Valentine version of my Christmas Cards quilt using some reds and pinks and calling it Love Notes. Can you see it? You can find the pattern here.

I hope these ideas have you inspired! I know I am, and I think I have a few ideas of my own!

Krista

Shop Related items

They are perfect for beginners and advanced sewists alike. They are scrap friendly and you can complete them in just a couple of hours! The patterns are all live in my FourRobbins Etsy shop and are available as an instant PDF download.

This first pattern is the Patchwork Heart Pillow Cover. This one is perfect for using up lots of scraps. Just pick your color palette and start sewing! The patterns include all your cutting and sewing instructions as well as finishing your pillow cover with a hidden zipper and adding binding for a nice, clean finish. You can make them as is for a standard 16×16 pillow or add a border to accommodate larger pillow forms. As for the pillow inserts, I’ve gotten them at Joann Fabrics using a 40% off coupon as well as on Amazon.

Next is XOXO Hugs & Kisses pillow cover. I made this one in reds and blacks but you could really make any of these pillows in other colors to keep around all year or in favorite colors for a bedroom pillow. Hmmm… I just might have to make some in blues for MY bedroom.

Next, is my favorite, Rainbow Heart pillow cover. I love a rainbow! I was thinking of doing some of these in some ombre, with colors or tones that shade into each other. Stay tuned.

I hope you love these fun patterns as much as I loved creating them! You can find them on sale for 20% off their already low price through February 14th! Enjoy!

I wanted to make some more for my house and to put in my shop and thought I’d share as coasters are such a great way to use up scraps – fabric and batting – in a useful way. Plus they are super quick and easy to make.For these, I stitched together long strips of scraps in different widths from 1.25″ to 2.25″ to measure about 5+ inches wide. Then, I subcut them to 2″ x 5″. The top strip is 1.5″ x 5″ and the bottom is 2.5″ x 5″. Stitch together and press.

Cut out a backing and batting the same size. Place the front on top of the batting and then the backing right sides together with the front.

Stitch 1/4 inch seam all the way around, leaving about a 2″ wide gap so you can turn right side out. Trim your corners.

Turn right side out and push out your corners and press.

Fold fabric 1/4″ under at the space you left open. Press.

Stitch 1/8″ around all four sides.

Leave as is or quilt as desired.

Now, you can also use some Pellon Lite EZ Steam II to applique leaves. (See my Applique Tree Mini Quilt Tutorial for more on using EZ Steam).Note: if you are using purchased leaves rather than fabric, never iron them directly or they will melt. When pressing, press from the EZ Steam side or back side always!

If you’re using fabric, trace your shape, whatever shape you want. If you are making multiples, stack your fabric and cut out two or three at a time.

Arrange your leaves as desired. Press into place by pressing from the back side to adhere your EZ Steam.

Assemble your coasters as above.

Again, as above, turn right side out, push out your corners and press. Fold your open edge 1/4″ under and press. Stitch 1/8″ around your coaster and quilt as desired.

You can do the same thing with your hexies to make flower coasters. Cut batting and backing into the same shape. Remove your papers and assemble as above.

Stitch 1/4″ around leaving a gap. I would suggest leaving the gap on a petal instead of where I did. This was a little bit of a pain to get my corners right and everything pressed under.

Turn right side, press out your corners. Turn your open edge 1/4″ under and press. Stitch 1/8″ around your coaster and quilt as desired. Sorry my quilting is a little wonky here but I did this coaster and the leaves real quick this morning so I could add them to this blog post!

These are fun to make and great to gift and a good way to use up some of those scraps! If you make some or have some other fun coaster ideas, I’d love to see them! Tag me on social media @fourrobbins

Have a great day!

In getting organized, I discovered just how many scraps I really have so (yikes) so you can expect to see a lot of scrap buster tutorials in the future!

Since I’ve been on the fall pillow kick, I thought I would make a couple of quick applique pillows to add to my #fourrobbinspillowofthemonth collection. And I love leaves!

• Birch leaves PDF
• Maple Leaf PDF
• Sharp Scissors
• Scrap Fabric
• Backing Fabric
• Lite EZ Steam II

Cut out your leaves to use as templates then follow the instructions from my mum tutorial substituting your leaves for the mum petals. It will show you step by step how to use the EZ Steam for your pieces. I cut out the large birch leaf and then just two (2) of the other smaller ones to cut out the six smaller leaves. For the maple leaves, my pillow has about 21 leaves. I quilted these with a layer of batting behind but no backing. I used Aurifil 50 wt. #2340, which is a golden tan color. The birch leaves idea came from this beautiful free photo by @chrislawton

I tried to follow a similar look with my quilting.

Next, for the maple leaves, I laid them out in a heart shape. To quilt, I free motioned hearts over and over in multiple sizes and then free motioned fall over and over as well.

To finish the pillow backs, you can use my hidden zipper pillow back tutorial or turn them into minis to hang up.

I think they turned out so cute!

If you make one, I’d love to see! Post using #fourrobbinsscrapbuster on social media!

For a 16″ pillow form, you will need:

(1) 9″ x 16″ rectangle

(1) 12″ x 16″ rectangle

(1) zipper 16″ or longer

First, take your 12″ x 16″ rectangle. Fold and press 1/2″ along the long side, then press down 1/2″ again. Your piece should now measure 11″ x 16″

Next, fold and press 1″ along the long side of your 9″ x 16″ rectangle, then 1″ again. It should measure 7″ x 16″.

Now it’s time to add the zipper. Pin or glue baste zipper along long edge of 11″ x 16″ piece and stitch using zipper foot.

Now, take your 7″ x 16″ piece and place on top, right sides together. Unfold so only the first 1″ fold edge is against the top of zipper.

Pin and stitch with a 1/8″ seam.

Fold up and you will see the second 1″ fold is now hiding your zipper.

To keep it that way you’ll need to stitch. So back in your machine and line your zipper foot up with your zipper and stitch along the top edge of the zipper on top of the flap as shown. For me, this means stitching right in the center hole of my zipper foot rather than to the left or right as shown below.

Unzip your zipper, making sure your zipper pull is inside pillow back area.

Position the zipper in a closed position with the tab still safely inside the pillow back area and stitch 1/8″ from edge across zipper and then trim excess zipper. This will keep your zipper pull from coming off while you finish your pillow.

Now you have your hidden zipper pillow back ready to go.

To finish up, you can either put your pillow back and face right sides together.  Be sure your zipper is open so you can turn right side. Stitch 1/4″ or 3/8″ seam as desired. Turn right side out and press.

Or you can baste wrong sides together, stitch 1/4″ around, then bind to finish. This is my favorite way. I think the binding just gives the pillows a little pop.

There you have it! If you have any questions, let me know! If you do something different, I’d like to hear!

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I love how the colors and how they turned out!  

For each placemat, you will need:

• (25) assorted 4 inch squares 
• (1) 15.5 inch x 20.5 inch batting
• (1) 16 inch x 21 inch backing fabric
• 1/8 yard binding fabric

Arrange squares in desired layout, cutting 7 of the squares in half as shown below. Begin stitching into diagonal rows.

Sew the rows together. Press seams and then trim to measure 15 inches by 20 inches.

Make your quilt sandwich by placing your backing fabric right side down. Place batting on top of that and then finally the front fabric face up.  Baste and then quilt as desired.  Trim to 9″ square and bind to finish off.

These are quick to make. I really enjoyed making them and hope you do, too! If you do, I’d love to see them. Tag me at #fourrobbinsdesigns on social media.

You’ll also want to check out the Mediterraneo Lookbook at Art Gallery Fabrics at the end of this week to see so many more beautiful projects!

Printable PDF

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