I was part of a monthly bee, Sew Bee It, through my local quilt guild, St. Louis Modern Quilt Guild.
If you are not familiar with a bee, basically it is a small group, usually up to 12 members.  Each member gets assigned a month and during that month all the other members make a block or blocks of her choosing.  They may provide fabric or part of the fabric and the rest is pulled from your stash.

One of the blocks in our bee this round was an improv bird block.  Improv is not really in my comfort zone and especially having to look like something when it’s done so I procrastinated big time.  Turns out not only was it easy, it was really fun and went together fast.   We only needed to make one but with it being that quick and easy, I made a second.  

And then, of course, living in St. Louis and being a Cardinals fan, I had to make one for myself.   I used some leftover scraps of Baby Jane by the Comstocks for my cardinal and low volume and text prints for the background.

Want to make one for yourself?  This is the tutorial from Pie Lady Quilts. I modified the head to look more like a cardinal.  I also added extra fabric around the perimeter so my finished square would measure 12.5″.

The block I contributed for my beemate, @stlcaverly, became this beauty!

Isn’t it great?!

Have a great day!

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:

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!

This mum is such a fun block to make so I thought you might like to make it, too! And it’s a good way to make a dent in your scraps.

You’ll need some EZ Steam II or equivalent, a sharpie, some small sharp scissors, a backing fabric, scraps, and this template
. Don’t print it yet! Keep reading below.

You will want to decide what size you want your finished mum before printing. This one I printed at 70%.and it measures 9.5 inches .

This one at 85% measures 11.5 inches.

And honestly, I’m not sure what percentage I used for this but you can play around and go as large or small as you want.

Once you decide what size, print out your template. If you can, print on cardstock so they have a little more weight and are easier to trace around. If you plan to do multiple blocks, say for a quilt, I would suggest getting stencil mylar or template plastic to make tracing much easier.

I like to letter my pieces on this full mum printout and then I cut out one of each piece and label it. As well as write how many I need of each piece.

The next step is to trace your pieces on your fusible. Be sure to use the grid side to trace. I forgot and it was a little bit of a pain. However, if you mess up like I did, put the traced side down and use something firm press all over to kind of make the fusible stick to the traced side and be careful when peeling.

They don’t need to be perfectly smooth as the scissors will help with that when you’re cutting them out. I like to fit them as closely as I can so I don’t waste any.

Cut pieces out, peel the unmarked side, and press on to the wrong side of the desired fabric scraps.

You can make each piece the same color or use random scraps. The top left and bottom right keep the pieces the same colors. The top right and bottom left, I used random scraps but in the top right, I followed kind of a color wheel. And the center is random except sticking to one color.

Now, take your time and carefully cut out your pieces.

Before peeling and sticking, arrange all your pieces on your background and make sure you like the placement and spacing.

And then peel and stick.

When they are all adhered in place, press carefully with a hot iron, placing the iron on top and then picking it up and moving it. Do not iron back and forth or you may mess up your edges.

Now, finish as desired! You can stitch around each piece or you can free motion quilt and make sure you catch most of your piece. Think about how often it will be washed. The more washing, the more chance of fraying so you’d want to be sure your edges are all stitched.

On this quilt, I free motion quilted a meandering pattern over all the petals making sure to catch all my edges in the quilting. It has been washed a lot and the pieces have held up really well.

I did the same with this mini quilt.

I started to stitch around each petal on this mini but honestly, I hate it. I got bored of it and ended up free motioning all over. I also added mini log cabins as a border. I think I may do a medallion quilt like this.

I’m thinking of making another mini with log cabins for this one.

And maybe pillow covers with these two with some sort of border. I love the color wheel mum!

If you make one, I’d love to see it! Use #fourrobbinsscrapbuster

Enjoy!

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You will need:

• Assorted scraps
• some background fabric
• Pellon Lite-EZ Steam II or other two-sided lightweight fusible web
• sharp scissors
• batting
• backing
• binding

Now, you can absolutely make a template and draw a perfect tree and leaves if that is what works for you but I didn’t do that. This project really is a great opportunity to practice a little improv and exercise that right brain.

Make sure your background and tree fabrics are pressed to start but don’t worry about your scraps.

First, roughly draw out your tree on the paper side of the EZ-Steam. Don’t worry too much about how perfect your drawing lines are. When you cut, the scissors will naturally work out a smooth line and you can trim what isn’t. And even though it looks not so great on the paper, it’s exactly the tree I cut out in the photo above and it turned out pretty cool.

Cut out your tree roughly. You’re going to adhere this to fabric and cut it out again and you’ll get more precise during this step.

Gently and carefully peel off one side of the paper and adhere your tree to the wrong side of your tree fabric. No ironing – we’ll do that at the end when our design is done.

And now cut it out.

Here it is with the back peeled off – a nice fabric sticker tree.

Now, position your tree on your backing fabric wherever you want it. Press down to adhere when you’re sure it’s good!

Now, cut little leaves out of your EZ-Steam. Again, you’ll be cutting again once you adhere them to the fabric so don’t worry about cutting them out of the EZ-Steam too neatly.

Add to fabric just like you did for the tree.

Cut out and clean up the rough edges. Place them around your tree but don’t peel the backing until you like your arrangement.

Once you like how it looks, peel your labels and stick away.

And then press to really adhere them for good. Ignore my iron. It is ugly and my good one died. I really need a new one but not sure yet what to get. Suggestions?

Once everything is nicely adhered, it’s time to make your quilt sandwich and baste.

Remember, cut your batting a little bigger than your top and your backing a little bigger than that. Doesn’t have to be perfect because you will be trimming it down once you finishing quilting.

Remember that fabric that you loved when you bought it but now not so much and you’re not sure what to do with it? That will make a good mini quilt back. At least, that’s what I do!

You can use spray or pins or whatever works for you. I like pins. Don’t pin your applique pieces. This is small enough that you don’t need to go crazy and we’re going to be focusing on appliqueing all the pieces down first.

Time to quilt. And here’s where again, you can take your time and go around each leaf like I did for this smaller tree.

Or, you can free motion and get creative. I love how this turned out. I went quickly and went up and around the leaves three times: once for the center and twice more going around the edges. If this will get washed a lot, play close attention to get close to all your leaf and tree edges to prevent fraying but the EZ-Steam really helps with that, too.

I love how the lines between the leaves almost look like branches.

And then I just did some random up and down on the tree.

Finally, I did the background in a kind of horizontal stipple. Once you’re done quilting, trim and square up (make sure you’ve cut your sides, top, and bottom in an even square or rectangle).

My binding strips are 2.5 inches. I sewed my binding to the back instead of the front so I could do machine binding. I also trimmed close because I want the binding on the front a little wider than on the back, kind of like a frame.

I folded it to the front and lightly glue basted it in place. Just add a tiny bit of glue and press.

I’m not super good at machine binding yet and here I do get frustrated when my lines are not straight and perfect. So rather than freak out and pull stitches when my binding wasn’t perfect, I decided to make it “folksy” like my leaves. I went around the binding three times.

And here it is! I think it turned out really cute!

If you make one, I’d love to see it! Post it using #fourrobbinsscrapbuster so I can find you!

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Getting Started

The first thing you want to do is to prepare your fabric. For this bag, my fabric measures 5-1/2 inches wide by 14 inches long. I’m using Kona Snow but you could use muslin or novelty fabrics or whatever you like. First, I like to go ahead a press approximately 1/4 inch in on each side to the wrong side of the fabric so I know where my seam is going and I know how much room I have to play around with applique, embroidery or whatever else I want to do.

Next, fold the top down 1/2 inch. Press and then fold down another 1/2 inch. Then fold in half, wrong sides together, and press your bottom seam.

Embellish Your Bag!

For this bag, I decided to do some applique. First, I cut out a 2-inch circle. I like to take just a tiny bit of invisible Elmer’s glue on my finger and apply it to a few spots on the back of the applique piece and then press with a hot iron. That way my shape stays in place while I stitch and I don’t have to mess with pins. Stitch around the edge. Note: Make sure your seam allowance is open and does not get caught in your stitching.

Next, I cut out a little heart and repeated the glue, pressing, and stitching.

I cut out strips to make an X. I did my glue and press with the first strip and then the second and then I stitched into place. Again, be sure your seam allowance is open and doesn’t get caught in your stitching!

Assemble Your Bag

Stitch up each side using 1/4″ seam allowance back stitching at the top and bottom. Stop approximately 1 inch below the bottom pressed seam line so your top tubes don’t get caught in your seam. Backstitch athe pressed top seam. Clip bottom corners.

Press side seams open. Press your top tube down again .

Finally, turn right side out. Stitch along the bottom edge of each top fold to create a tube in front and in back to place your ties.

Finish the Bag

Using a pin to secure the end of the ribbon or cord. Feed one end of your ribbon into the tube and out the other side and then into the second tube and out the other side so that your ends are both coming out of the same side of the bag. You are basically making a U with the ribbon, with both ends coming out on the same side.

Tie ends together. Repeat with cord or ribbon going the opposite direction.

Have Fun and Add Your Own Style

These are so great for party favors and valentines. You could use them in a table setting with personalized names and little gifts inside. You could also use them for Advent gifts and put numbers on the bags. Here is a fun little assortment using different fabrics and different ties (ribbon, cord, and twine).

Finally, I embroidered this bag with some cute hearts. This bag starting fabric measurement was 5 inches wide x 11 inches long. I used a water soluble marker to draw my hearts and 12 weight Sulky thread for the stitched hearts.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial. They really are quick and fun to make! I’m working on a dozen of the stitched heart bags right now!

Have a great day!

Krista

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They really are pretty easy to do if you can sew a straight line and have some basic paper piecing skills.

First, determine the width and length of your block and cut your piece of paper accordingly. If you want to do a strip, cut out multiple strips of the same width. Second, I like to cut a template of the size and shape triangle I want to use.

Determine placement of your first triangle and using pencil, trace onto your template. Continue across block or strip alternating the direction of your geese.

Next, draw a horizontal line along the bottom of each triangle.

Then, choosing the side that makes the shortest, most direct path to the line about, draw a line from the goose to the line.

Mark your template so you know which order to sew what.

I like to fold each line before hand so it’s easier when I’m sewing.

Begin paper piecing. Be sure to stitch only the bottom edge of the triangle and not all the way across the block.

Also, your background fabric needs to cover all the way up to the line above (bottom of the next flying goose and NOT just the top of the goose triangle.

For this, I did four and a half strips to make the right border for this quilt.

I hope this makes sense. If you have any question, please let me know!

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I don’t know about you but I am excited to be starting a new year. It’s funny how a date on the calendar can make such a difference but the future today seems wide open and full of possibilities.

For the last couple of years, I have found it helpful and motivating to go over all my finishes, goals, and works in progress and then set goals for the new year.   I find it gives me direction and focus and that I get much more accomplished.  This year I’m a little late due to some blog issues.

You may have noticed a lack of blog posts since November. I was having some problems with my blog host and platform and my renewal was this week so I decided to switch now before moving would be too difficult and even more time consuming. I am grateful to be up and running again though I still have posts to republish and will hopefully have them all back within the week. I love the new space and format! But please let me know if you notice anything out of wack!

So on with my 2019 review! First up, of course, quilts! I started the year off with finishing a custom quilt for my aunt, Polly. She loved my first traveling quilt.so I made her a collage quilt with things she likes. She has traveled the world so lots of travel themed blocks. I think it turned out so beautiful!

I participated in a traveling quilt bee, #quilttravelrepeat6. I did my additions to two of those quilts next.

Kerry’s was first. I added the left column and the flying geese on the right. Her quilt moved on the next person.

I was last on Marie’s just after Gayle. Gayle and I moved things around just a bit to give it a little more white space. I added a couple crayons, the heart, thread spool, pluses, sewing machine and scissors, the arrow and star at the bottom, and the flying geese on the bottom left. She went on to add colums on each side and along the bottom, making it big enough for her bed, and won 1st Place in the Bee/Traveling Quilt category in St. Louis Modern Quilt Guild’s 2019 quilt show, This is Modern.

I decided to finish up some WIPs, which were beginning to get out of hand. I had a long over due wedding quilt to finish. I tried googling to find the pattern Inused but to no avail though it seems there are a lot out there. It is a variation on a log cabin called a tulip log cabin.

And I got my traveling quilt back and finished it up. I love it! And it won 3rd Place in the Bee/Traveling Quilt category in St. Louis Modern Quilt Guild’s 2019 quilt show, This is Modern.

I had this Raindrop quilt top finished, made from fabric gifted to me by my friend, Paula. It turned out really cute! The pattern is called Candy Coated Raindrops by EuphoriaJessica

I finally finished piecing my triple star quilt. This pattern is from the book Modern Bee. The fabrics are a mostly Terra Australis by Emma Jean Jansen with a little extra orange and blue thrown in.

I do all my own quilting on my domestic machine. With this one I decided to take my time and get detailed, which you can see in my original post.

I finished up this Japanese quilt block top and gifted it to my dear friend, Becca.

Then I had a lot of random quilt blocks. The charity project for my guild, St. Louis Modern Quilt Guild, for 2019 was Project Linus so I made a few quilts.

Some left over hearts from some charity drives that unfortunately never made it to the mail.

Test blocks from my Crossing Waves Quilt. You can find this pattern in my Shop.

These were blocks from the freebie table at a guild meeting.

And these were test blocks from my Star Crossed Quilt, which you can also find in my Shop.

I took some quilt blocks from a quilt as you go by Pile of Fabric that I hadn’t finished and made minis to hang on the wall.

I did this mum block tutorial.

And I finished this mum mini, which I love! I used Blueberry Park fabric and Kona from Robert Kaufman.

And I did these to hang above the guest bed to match the quilt. I guess it could be a table runner, too.

With the blocks I had left, I decided to make a sampler quilt. I wasn’t too sure about it but when it was finished, I loved it! Its a rainbow mix of color and shapes, right up my alley!

I reworked my original Twists and Turns Quilt and made it easier to follow in this fun version I called Scrappy Twists and Turns. The new instructions and pattern markers are also included in the old version. You can find both patterns in my Shop.

I took a really fun class with visiting Heather Jones and designed and made this improv quilt. You can read more about it and make your own in this tutorial post.

I made another fun mini, which has now sold, and I need to make another for myself! You can find the tutorial here if you would like to make one, too!

I designed this quilt to gift our guild president, Jessica, with. You can read more about it here.

Finally, I finished the year with two new Christmas quilt patterns. The first is O Christmas Tree. It is beginner friendly and quick to finish and you can find it in my Shop.

Next, is, you guessed it, Flying Home for Christmas. I loved this design so much, I wanted to make one. Now, it is put away and I want to make a non-Christmasy version for myself! You can also find this pattern in my Shop.

Well, that’s it for the quilts. It was a very productive year! I didn’t really even realize until I started looking through my feed. Planning and goal setting have definitely made a huge difference for me. I’ll share more on that as soon as I finish up my year end review!

Now, your turn! What do you think of the new website? What was your favorite quilt? What would you like to see more of in 2020? Is there something you would like to learn? How do you plan and organize your sewing year? Do you use the Quilter’s Planner? Excel? Something else? I’d love to hear from you!

Have a great day!

Krista