Monday, June 9, 2014

A Ruffle Tote for Quilt Market

Hi friends! How was your weekend? I hope you made some time to be creative! My workshops at Stampers Corner in Elk Grove were so FUN! Thanks ladies, you all did such an awesome job. Love all your creativity!

Here is the "Ruffle Tote" featuring Eclectic Elements fabric. This project happens to have more hours then any of the other projects I made, not that it was more difficult, the project just started in a totally different direction. It was well worth all the hours because I love the way it turned out.
The tote has 2 big ruffle going up and down each side. 

Torn edges on the ruffles give it a raw deconstructed look.

Here's the main part of the bag, just randomly pieced. 

Love the "Subway" print for the top band of the tote. 

Repeating the pieced look for the handle helped tie it all together. 

This is where the tote started. It was definitely worth all the work.

Thanks for stopping in! 
Richele



Friday, June 6, 2014

Coaster Winner!

Thanks for all the comments I truly appreciate you all! 

The LUCKY winner for the set of coasters is….

Meme  June 2, 2014 at 9:46 PM

Wow! 
Thanks so much for showing us how to make them! Great instructions.
You made some pretty AWESOME items for quilt market. Thanks so much for sharing!

Please email me at californiaartgirl@me.com and I'll get them in the mail!

I'll be teaching all weekend. 
If you're in Elk Grove stop by Stampers Corner and say hi. 
Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!
Richele

Monday, June 2, 2014

Eclectic Elements Fabric Bowls and Coasters

Hi friends! Hope you've all had a great weekend. I have another project from Quilt Market to share with you today. 

Remember this photo from Instagram several weeks ago?

Yes I made bowls!

Bowls with handles. 


and little bowls without! 

So this got me thinking…how cool would it be to make...
some coasters the same way. 

Supplies you will need... Eclectic Elements fabric, 1/4" nylon cording (clothesline), thread, a sewing machine that has a zigzag stitch, and a clothes pin or binder clip is also helpful. 
Eclectic Elements fabric comes in several different ways. Of corse you can get it in the typical yardage. But these pack are very handy…Design Rolls 
(2 1/2" x 43"), Fat Eighths (9" x 21"), Fat Quarters (18" x 21"), Charm packs and more. For this project the Design Roll is perfect. All you would have to do is tear them in half lengthwise. 

Home Depot sells the cording by the foot or in packages. The cording needs to be soft enough that you can sew through it. 

Tear several strips of fabric approximately 1" wide by the width of the fabric. 

 Cut a piece of cording 48" long for each coaster. This will help maintain a consistent size. Starting at the end of the cord, wrap the fabric around the cord in a counter clockwise direction. Make sure it's tight. You can use a clothes pin or a binder clip to hold the end while you sew. 

Start by coiling the wrapped cord in a counter clockwise direction and zigzag them together. The start is the toughest part. The zigzag stitch will need to catch both sides that you are joining together. You can use a wider zigzag stitch if you're having trouble. You my need to raise the presser foot to get the coil to move and turn for stitching. Once you go around a few times it will get much easier. 

To join the torn strips, just overlap them and continue to wrap. 

Continue wrapping and sewing.

When you get to the end of the cording trim the end of the cord at an angle. Wrap the strips until the cording is completely covered. 

For the finish, pin the end as shown and zigzag stitch past the end then reverse stitch until the end is secure. 

How easy is that! These will be so fun in my family room and they could make a great gift...right! 
I made two sets, one set to give away to a lucky winner and I mailed one set to some very special friends. So...leave me a comment by midnight PST Thursday, June 5th and I'll pick one lucky winner on Friday. Good luck! 

Have a great week everyone!
Richele

If you're looking for the fabric just click on the link below!