The Quilty Barn Along - Fast and Easy Pinwheels Tutorial for the Vintagey Farm Girl Tractor Block !!!...

It's been a while since I've posted about my

Quilty Barn Along 

I posted when I finished the top of my quilt…

and sent it off to the quilters:)

Because I am getting my quilt back 

from the quilters anytime now…

I thought I would share

 with you how I finished

my vintagey farm girl tractor label 

for the back…

and hopefully give you

 a few ideas on your label

 if you haven't done it yet!

The purpose for my quilt label was;

1. To document the name of the quilt along

2. Say who made the quilt

3. Year the quilt was made

4. To be a cute addition to the theme of the quilt:)

I thought it would be fun to embroider the info 

coming from the smoke stack of the tractor.

I just wrote the info with my mechanical pencil 

and my stitchy stunt double Kassidy embroidered it for me. 

The steering wheel is done with 

a satin stitch using 4 strands of floss:)

Of course she used my Stitchy Kit:)

Thanks Kass!!!

After the embroidery was complete…

I chose the backing and the binding for my quilt.

I used this cute baby chicks fabric in yellow

 by Whistler Studios for Windham Fabrics.

I'm going to use Sew Cherry red gingham

 (fabric designed by me for Riley Blake) for the binding.

I think it will look great with the red barns!

I wanted to add some colorful patchwork to the tractor block…

something that would make it look like

 a little quilt on the back of a big quilt!

I added a red inner border first.

If you remember…

the vintage farm girl tractor block 

unfinished size is 18 1/2" x 22 1/2".

I used 1/8 yard of red fabric by Cosmo Cricket for Moda.

I cut 2 strips 1 1/2" x 22 1/2" 

and sewed to the top and the bottom of the block.

Then I cut 2 1 1/2" x 20 1/2" and added to the sides.

I pressed my seams towards the red inner borders.

I used 1/4 yard of Classic Moda chicken wire fabric.

 I cut 4 - 2 1/2" x 24 1/2" 

I sewed 2 of them to the top and bottom first…

then added the remaining 2 on the sides.

I pressed towards chicken wire.

I decided to make my 

fast and easy pinwheel blocks

 for the patchwork border.

I thought they would represent 

the movement of the tractor wheels turning…

and also be cute and colorful

 around the tractor and 

against the yellow backing fabric!

I grabbed my 2 1/2" strips and squares basket from my quilty stash

to choose the fabrics.

I decided not to make any yellow pinwheels...

 so that they would not be lost against the

 yellow chick fabric on the back of the barn quilt:)

The colors that I used for the pinwheels

 are all in my barns on the front of the quilt….minus the yellow.

Red, aqua, green, brown, pink and gray.

I made 30 - 4" finished pinwheels.

I cut them all from my 2 1/2" quilty stash basket.

I just needed a 10" strip of fabric to cut 4 - 2 1/2" squares.

I cut and paired up the colored squares background squares.

For each pinwheel I cut;

 4 - 2 1/2" color print squares

and 4 - background print squares.

I chain pieced them and stitched

 a color to a background from corner to corner.

Trimmed off the excess about 1/4" past my stitching line...

and pressed them towards the colored triangle.

In no time I have 4 fast and easy

 1/2 square triangles to sew into a pinwheel!

I pressed these seams open for less bulk 

in the center of the pinwheel block and

 so that the pinwheel will be nice and flat:)

at this point it measures 4 1/2" square.

***TIP make sure that all 30 of your pinwheels

 have the dark and light triangles on the same side:)

The back of my block.

I continued sewing and chain piecing pinwheels until I had 30:)

I joined 6 of them and sewed to the sides…

and then joined 9 for the top and the bottom:)

I love me some scrappy happy pinwheels!!!

a classic block that I never get tired of sewing:)

Have a quilty kind of day!

xx

Lori

Mod Podge Guitar Tutorial!!! ...

Are you wondering why Kass is playing 

a guitar 

that looks like its manufactured

 using our

Gracie Girl Collection???

Read on to find out:)

Back when my daughter Kassidy Grace and I

 were playing with our Gracie Girl pre-yardage...

and having fun making several new quilts...

we knew that we would be doing a guitar quilt for her room.

That quilt turned in to this pattern called

Gracie's Guitars

We loved the colorful fabric guitars so much...

She wanted to have a real guitar made out of Gracie Girl:)

And I said…
I can make that happen!

(Ben and Sophie fishing)

I gave my oldest son Ben a call...

(who is an awesome guitarist BTW)

When he was growing up…
he went to every thrift shop
 within a hundred mile radius with me…

while I searched for treasures:)

So I knew he could help me find what I needed...

 an acoustic guitar that needed
a little love but with "good bones"

Even though I LOVE to go thrifting…

I really didn't have time that week.

(too busy getting ready for quilt market)

and I knew that if there was one to be found…

he had the skills to find it for me:)

I was so happy when he brought this good old Fender acoustic over…

the very same day that I asked him!

(he is so good to me!)

He had found it in a thrift shop near his home
on his way home from work:)

Mr. Honey cleaned it up and removed 

all of the hardware for us
and he taped a piece of paper
 on the inside to protect it.

He sprayed a good coat of KILZ primer...

so there was no sanding

 of any kind necessary.

YaY!

(Love me some KILZ)

Then he hung it from a ceiling hook in Kassidy's room to dry overnight.

I painted the guitar with BEHR 
paint from Home Depot.

"Embellished Blue 510D-4"

Which is BTW…
 the same color that I painted 
my piano a few years ago:)

I just brushed the paint on ...

using a few good small brushes that I like to use for

 small thrifted treasures and for getting into small areas.
(I left the very front of the guitar where the fabric would go unpainted)

We used this kind of Mod Podge…

Sponge brushes...

and a 3 1/2" 
Gracie Girl 
Bitty Stacker.

After we Mod Podged...

we hung it to dry on the same ceiling hook:)

If you have never used Mod Podge before…

you can click here to find out

 everything you need to know:)

We started in the center where I

 drew a 3 1/2" square just to

 keep things straight.

We overlapped the edges of the squares a bit.

 I trimmed off the fabric hanging off

 of the sides so that it was

 even with the guitar top edge.

I used small sharp embroidery scissors.

 We finished by brushing a coat of

 Mod Podge on the surface of

 all the fabric pieces.

 Mr. Honey replaced all of the hardware and restrung it:)

  

And now we have a real Gracie Girl guitar…

to match the quilt!!!

We had a lot of fun doing this project together.

That's what crafting is all about…right?

F.U.N.

Isn't it amazing what a little paint and glue can create?

I grew up using Mod Podge and I still use it a lot to this day.

  I guess I've never out grown the

 desire to play with

 glue and scissors.

I hope this tutorial gives you an idea or two!

xx

Lori

Quilty Fun Sew Along - Week 3 - Courthouse Steps!!!...

Here are my courthouse steps blocks that I made for the

 Quilty Fun Sampler Sew Along

Click here and here 

if you haven't joined up yet!

Grab your Quilty Fun book and turn to page 90...

and let's get started on week 3!

I've been looking forward to week 3 because I 

LOVE me some courthouse steps blocks…

And I LOVE Rachel who happens to be hosting this week!

CLICK HERE

to go see her cute blocks,

download the companion PDF,

and to see the prizes for this week!

The reason that I love the 

courthouse steps block 

(besides being so cute)

is because it goes together so easily...

And it's a perfect opportunity to use up some

 2 1/2"squares and 1 1/2" strips from my quilty stash:)

Do you remember 

THIS POST

where I showed you how I organize and keep my scrappy stash?

I also showed you that I was making

courthouse steps blocks for my current 

Leaders and Enders project.

I've still been making them...

and I have quite a pile now.

I just counted this morning and I have 78 so far:)

YaY!

Aren't they cute?

78 may seem like a lot but I am going to be making 

a BIG quilt.

"A snuggle up with the whole family while

 watching a movie in the family room size quilt"

I've also cut a few 1 1/2" squares here and there from leftovers…

And added them to my vintage muffin tin that I keep next to my machine.

I'm going to use them as the cornerstones 

when I sew the blocks together.

I will use a white or a light background for the sashings.

I promise you will have fun making the courthouse steps block!

You just need to make 2 for the

 Quilty Fun Sampler ...

But I'm telling you…

they are addicting!!!

And you just might end up sewing

 about a bajillion of them like I am:)

Have a quilty kind of day

and Sew it like you mean it!

xx

Lori