Home Town Sew Along - Week One - Topiary House Tutorial!!

"TOPIARY HOUSE BLOCK"

Welcome to week one 

and the second tutorial of the 

"HOME TOWN"

Sew Along!

Do you have all of your "tools"

together for building a house today?

Together we are making the 

Home Town Quilt

75" x 84"

The quilt is made with my fabric

 collection called Home Town:)

I hope that you all have all 

received your 

fabric kits by now...

 and that we are all ready to begin!!

If you still need one ...

just do a quick google search for 

"Home Town Quilt Kit"

to find shops who still have some left.

We are also using the

Home Town

Sew Simple Shapes

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 download the sew along guide

if you have not downloaded yet.

As per usual for the first block in my 

Sew Simple Shape Sew Alongs

 that FIRST tutorial is a video.

Because I now have my own  

YouTube Channel

 I have posted the 

 Flag House Block

Tutorial there.

CLICK HERE

to visit my channel and watch the 

tutorial and I hope that you love it!

Pretty please leave me a comment

over there and let me know:)

CLICK HERE

to read my blog post

about the Flag House

 that I did on Monday:)

If you like what you see 

and my other videos there...

click on subscribe and click on the

 bell to be notified whenever

 I post another tutorial:)

Here's the Flag House Block 

that I showed you 

how to make in my video:)

Today we are building the 

Topiary House!!

Here is a list of the

  Home Town 

Sew Simple Shapes 

needed for this block:

1 - Q-1

1 - Q-7

1 - Q-10

1 - Q-14

5 - Q-15

2 - Q-17

2 - Q-33

2 - Q-34

2 - Q-35

2 - Q-61

You will need prepared 

1/4" straight bias strips: 

*2 - for the tree trunks - 7" long

*2 - for the planter tops -

they should be about 2 3/4"long

 after pressing both ends under.

*1 - for rooftop rail fence - 5"long

*2 - for chimney tops - 1 1/2" long

after both ends are pressed under.

*7 - for rooftop fence pickets - 1 1/2"

after pressing one end under

You will need a 1" prepared 

straight bias strip for the front porch.

Press both ends under and

it should now measure 3" long after.

Cut your background  

14" x 16"

and sew it to the 3 1/2" x 16" grass

pressing the seams open.

Now press in half for centering 

the house when pinning and glue basting:)

Let's start construction!

First you will need to sew the

 top and bottom planter fabrics together 

before you sew the Q-61 SSS.

Use a 1/4" seam allowance 

and press the seams open.

When you sew to the interfacing...

place the seam right onto 

the center of the traced cleavage:) 

Then sew and trim.

Guess what?

These are the only two shapes 

in this block that need clipping!

The others are simply sewn and trimmed...

Then turned...shaped and pressed

as per usual:)

Now let's go build our house!

Okay...

I have several measurements 

to show you as I took pictures 

while doing the construction 

of a few things before I 

placed them onto my background 

for pinning and glue basting.

The door and door topper

 together measure about 5 3/4" tall.

The house and roof together

measure about 10 3/4" tall.

Measure up 3 3/4" from bottom of house

 to place the bottom side windows.

Measure 1/2" in-between the 

two windows and both should be

 1/2" from side of house.

Center window is 1/2" up from the 

door topper and top windows should be

 even all the way across the top.

Just confirming 1/2" from side:)

P.S. Sunbonnet Sue is my 

cute construction partner!

I centered and pre-glued the trims

 onto the tops of chimneys and planters.  

Okay now to place the house 

onto the foundation!

The house is 1" down into the grass.

And pinned onto the center

 pressed line of the background.

Measure up 2 1/4" from top of grass

and 1 3/4" away from the side of house

 and pin down the 7"strips

 for the tree trunks.

Both tree trunks are glued!

Center the planter with the trunk

 and place the bottom of the planter

1/2" down from the top edge of grass.

Pin and Sue Glue!!

Place the bottom topiary circle

 1/2" up from the top of the planter.

Next place the top topiary circle.

It should measure 10 3/4" from 

top of circle to bottom of the planter:)

Now you can place the middle circle

by centering it right between 

the top and bottom circles...

easy peasy!

Now it's time to pour the concrete 

for the front porch step:)

Place it 2" inform side of house 

and hanging 1/2" down 

and centered on the door bottom. 

Tuck the chimney right under 

the top edge corner of roof

 and measuring 1 1/2" tall. 

Repeat for other side.

*Take note that I did not glue down

 my roof or chimneys yet 

so that I could tuck both the chimneys

 and the rooftop fence underneath.

Measure up 3/8" from the 

top of roof and place the rail.

Place the center picket right on the 

pressed center fold of background.

Each picket should measure 1" tall...

And be about 1/4" apart.

Roof top fence is done:)

Now you can sit up there and 

watch the parade during Town Days!

Now you can Sue Glue everything down

and then check your measurements 

using the 14 1/2" Trim-It Ruler.

YaY!

My Topiary House is built...

with topiaries planted on each side

 and ready for applique!!!!

Afterwards I'll press from the back and

 trim down to 14 1/2" square:)

In my Home Town everyone took pride

in keeping a well tended garden.

 Each house itself was very well 

taken care of and it was a joy to

watch the seasons change in each yard.

It always made me so happy!

Many of the houses had been there

 for generations and stayed

 within the family...including my own

great grandparents and then 

my great great grandparents houses 

going back four generations.

Thus since the day I was born 

began my love of old houses...

gardening...alll things vintage

 and my own family heritage:) 

Thanks so much for sewing with me today

 and for joining me 

 for the very first week of the 

Home Town Sew Along

I'll meet you right back here

on my blog next time for the 

Pineapple House Block tutorial...

xx

Lori

Other Places to find me:

@Beelori1 Instagram

Lori Holt/YouTube

Bee in my Bonnet Company