My Happy Place Sew Along - Week Two!!

"SEWING SCISSORS"

"KNITTING BLOCK"

"CROCHET HOOKS"

Welcome to week two of the 

"MY HAPPY PLACE"

Sew Along!

Join me here each week 

when I will be doing tutorials

 on the blocks for the quilt.

 I will be posting each Monday 

right here on my blog 

and you can follow my tutorials 

any time during the week that 

 is convenient for you.

For this sew along...

We are making the 

My Happy Place Quilt

74" x 88"

I've been sew excited to begin...

This is going to be fun!!

The quilt is made with my newest fabric

 collection called STITCH...

Along with several Bee Backgrounds:)

I have had several questions 

from those of you who are new 

to my sew alongs about if you 

should have your kit cut separately

 into each individual block.

My answer is:

That is what I do because 

it makes the sew along and

 each week go very smoothly.

Chances are that if you 

have the blocks cut and all 

ready to go each Monday

you will be able to keep up!

Of course...

with all of that being said...

you can do it as you go 

if that's what you enjoy more.

It's all about having fun and 

making your own choices.

As all of my 

Sew Simple Shapes Sew Alongs go...

We are using the shapes

for the pattern of this quilt

and of course the Sew Along Guide and my tutorials each week.

The set of shapes that we are

 using for this quilt are called

MY HAPPY PLACE

I have already posted the

 "BEE PREPARED"

 post which details all of the supplies

 for the sew along and how it works.

I have also given the link there 

for the free PDF Download 

of the Sew Along Guide

CLICK HERE

to read that post.

As per the sew along guide 

cutting instructions...hopefully

 you were able to have 

everything for this weeks blocks 

 all cut and ready to go.

This weeks tutorials 

are here on my blog

and let's get started on them!

For the Sewing Scissors Block 

you will need:

2 - L15

2 - L16

2 - L21

You will need to 

have your background cut:

11" x 14"

and you will trim it to 

9 1/2" x 12 1/2"

AFTER

it is appliquéd:)

 

Don't forget to trace one of the

 L21 scissors blades in reverse:)

Pair up the traced interfacing 

with the fabrics and 

stitch stitch stitch!

Trim your red sewing scissors shapes

 with your red sewing scissors:) 

LOL

Outside curve seam allowances

 do not need any clipping before turning...

However this inside curves on the

 scissor blades will need clipping:)

Cut an X in the oval shapes

 but just do one long cut 

for the blades because of their narrow shape.

I turned and shaped the blades 

and then used my 

Quick Press Seam Roller

 on the edges...

And then pressed it with the iron.

Using all three of these tools

 plus the iron helps to 

shape up these blades very nicely!

All ship shaped and ready for glue basting:)

Before basting I pressed my background 

in half so that I could easily

 center the scissors when laying them out.

The bottom of my blades measure 7" wide...

And my scissor handles measure 7 1/2" wide.

From top to bottom measure 10 1/2" 

Now to sew on one large red button.

Remember you can choose when to 

sew your button onto your scissors.

SEWING SCISSORS BLOCK

will finish at  9" x 12"

AFTER 

it is sewn into your quilt.

After appliqué you will trim it down to

the unfinished size of

9 1/2" x 12 1/2"

I haven't appliquéd my blocks yet

 but I am going to go ahead and 

sew on all of the buttons onto each

 of my blocks before I applique

 so that I can take pictures

 of each block to show you:)

Now let's prepare the 

Knitting Block

You will need 

1 - L3

Sew Simple Shape

2 - 5/8" x 21" strips

for 1/4" straight bias

Your background will 

need to be cut 

12" x 16"

and trim it down to 

10 1/2" x 14 1/2"

unfinished size 

AFTER applique

Layout your 9 squares 

onto your design board like this...

And sew them into a 9 patch block 

using an accurate 1/4" seam allowance.

Press your seams open so that

 your applique will lie flat:)

Use the lines on the circle shape

 and mark them onto your traced circle...

This will help you to center 

your traced circle over your patchwork:)

Sew directly onto your 

marked lines and trim:)

(View from the back before turning)

Turned...shaped and pressed!

Now you have a cute patchwork 

yarn ball all ready to go.

I ran my 2 strips through the 

1/4" bias tape maker 

and then I decided to do the same 

for the straight bias for the 

Crochet Hook Block 

that we will also be doing this week.

If this is your first time 

or you need a refresher 

on how I do this...

CLICK HERE

to watch one of my videos 

where I talk all about my 

bias vs straight bias strips

 for my sew alongs and I show you

 my process of running the strips

 through the makers. 

I pressed my background in half both ways.

Okay...now for glue basting! 

First I placed the yarn 

right in the center of the background.

Then I placed the two strips 

for the knitting needles underneath

 in a criss cross like this.

Notice that I used the corners

 of the background fabric to line up

 the angle of the knitting needles.

That's a good guide to go by 

in keeping them even.

For the bottom end of the knitting needles

 I'm taking advantage and using the end

 that goes through the bias tape maker

 first because it kind of is always a

 little narrower and tapers in a bit.

I'll end up sort of "pinching" those ends

 to more of a point and trimming off

 the selvedge part when I stitch them down

 so that they are looking a bit more 

like the end of a knitting needle:)

As far as the measurement goes

 it will end up 4 1/2" from the yarn ball

and pointing towards the corner of the background fabric.

At the top I just measured up 4" 

and clipped off the remaining.

This is where my buttons will be

 sewn for the knitting needle tops.

The entire knitting needle length

 will measure about 15" long when

I am finished with the applique.

Go ahead and save the pieces 

that you trim off for the 

Cross Stitch Block 

to use for the screw in the hoop.

We will only need a few 

short pieces and these will work perfectly!

I took a photo of pinching the 

bottom ends of the knitting needles 

so you could see what I was talking about:)

I'm using the red buttons again

 for the top of my needles.

 Of course you will use your own

 personal preference or if you

 didn't happen to get a lot 

of red buttons in your bag.

As I have said before...

these buttons are scooped up and 

put into the bag and sold by weight 

and not by even amount of colors.

I'm really excited about these buttons.

 I designed them to look like the 

 vintage buttons that I collect 

and I'm really happy 

with how they turned out! 

KNITTING NEEDLES BLOCK

will finish at  10" x 14"

AFTER 

it is sewn into your quilt.

After appliqué you will trim it down to

the unfinished size of

10 1/2" x 14 1/2"

Here is what you will need 

for the Crochet Hooks Block:

2 - L23

1 - 5/8" x 21"

for 1/4" straight bias.

You will also need to cut 

your background 4" x 12"

as it says in the guide:)

Time for sewing the crochet hook handles!

After trimming...

you will need to clip the inner curves

 near the top of the handles.

I shaped these in the same way 

that I did the scissor handles 

because they are long and narrow as well...

Then ironed them and used the clapper

 so that they are nice and flat:)

For the hooks I cut 2 strips 3 1/2" long 

and pressed one end under.

I cut 2 more strips 1" long and

 pressed them in half for the hook ends.

This is how I laid out...

pinned and glue basted the hooks ends.

They measures about 9 1/2" long

 from end to end of handles:)

Glue basted and ready for applique!

You can save the leftover

 straight bias strip

 and put it with the 

Seam Ripper Block 

just in case you decide that you want to

 use it in place of the satin stitch.

CROCHET HOOKS BLOCK

will finish at  2" x 10"

AFTER 

it is sewn into your quilt.

After appliqué you will trim it down to

the unfinished size of

2 1/2" x 10 1/2"

I hope you enjoy making your 

3 blocks 

for this week.

We are now on our way

to making the quilt...

YaY!!

Next week on the schedule is the

Sewing Machine Block 

I'll meet you right back here on Monday!

xx

Lori

Click on the links below 

to visit each week of this sew along:

"Week One" 

 

Lori Holt of Bee in my Bonnet

"Vintage 1966"