Rangoli

Simple iPad Cover Tutorial

2014-03-17T18:05:00.000-07:00

This is a simple yet elegant cover for iPad. If you know the basics of stitiching, then you are ready to go. I made a cover before 2 months for my iPad. Hubby dear took it to one of his clients' office and his client was impressed. He wanted an iPad cover and hubby passed on this request. The first one I made was a quilt block I learned from a friend and I didn't have patience to repeat it. So I went for this simple design and prayed to God that hubby likes it. And yes, he loved it.

Recently I added a walking foot to my machine accessories and was so happy to use it in this project. With the usual presser foot, it is very hard to quilt all the three layers but with a walking foot, it was so easy. I love this. For thew batting I used the regular sponge sheet. If you want you can go fro cotton batting but it is optional.

Materials Required:

For The Main Body:

1 Main Fabric - 25" * 10"

1 Lining Fabric - 25" * 10"

1 Batting - 25" * 10"

For The Flap:

2 Main Fabric - 10" * 6"

1 Batting - 10" * 6"

A small piece of velcro

A fancy lace which suits the main fabric

Attach one part of the velcro in the main fabric( forgot to click a snap) Place the main fabric and lining right to right and place the batting below the lining.

Stitch 3 sides leaving one side open. The side with velcro must be stitched. The other side must be open.

Now turn the fabric inside out and turn out the corners neatly.

On the flap pieces make a U cut to shape the flap.

Now on one main fabric, place the velcro's other part and stitch leaving 1 1/2" from the edge.

Place the fabrics right to right, place the batting below and stotch leaving the straight edge open. Give small cut marks along the stitch line. Be carefuland avod slicing the stitch.

Now turn inside out.

Fold both the open edges of the flap and main body. Insert the flap inside the main body and pin it.

Though it may not look very neat it is OK.

Stitch along the line.

Now on the lining, draw lines. This is the quilting lines you are going to make to secure all the three layers and make the cover neat. I went for uneven spaces between lines. You can do however you want - vertical lines, criss cross or evenly spaced horizontal lines.

To make the flap different, I made some vertical lines.

Now it is time to quilt. This is my new walking foot. Stitch on the lines .

Keep on folding the quilted side to make it easy for stitching.

All done. I successfully completed all the lines..

Now fold the main body as shown and stitch the sides.

Stitch a lace along the flap's curved edge.

And the iPad cover is ready..

Enjoy!!!

My daughter was so happy to hold it...

How to Make a Cake Bunting

2014-02-06T03:44:00.000-08:00

It was my daughter's birthday yesterday. So I made a rainbow cake for her. I didn't want to spoil the cake by writing on it as I wanted the centre flower to stand out. And here is where a cake bunting comes to the rescue. It looks beautiful on the cake and you really doesn't need piping skills to write down the name. This is the first time I made the bunting and took some time to figure out exactly how it is made. OK, I accept, I am not so bright!!!

It is a simple project and an easy one. I used chart paper to make the diamonds but any sturdy paper will do. And if you can lay your hands on textured paper, then it would be great. As I had some plain chart sheets, I just coloured it with acrylic colours. You will need paint brushes, acrylic colours of two contrasting shades, kebab sticks and some twine.

Keep all the materials handy.

First cut out a strip of chart paper measuring 20" * 5".

Colour it with acrylic paint of your choice. I used a dark blue for the background.

Once dry, fold it into half.

Mark 1" spaces across the centre line. Cut out triangles as shown. The length of the triangles can be your choice.

I needed 18 diamonds to write the message.

With the other colour, write down the alphabets on the triangles.

Stick the ends of the triangle together. Allow it to dry.

Take a strong thread. Thread it through the triangles in order.

Tie it on the kebab sticks as shown.

Place the sticks on the cake.

Here is the view of the rainbow effect in the cake...

Hope you enjoyed it. If you like it please follow me on the blog, and like it on the Face Book Page

Happy New Year 2014

2014-01-12T06:53:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year to all my readers. I know this is a very belated wish but it is better to be late than never. I have been stitching a lot but am never getting enough time to click and post them. I made a frock for my daughter for this New Year and she just loved it.

The frock was inspired from a gown I saw on Pinterest. The body was made with printed cotton and the skirt part with satin. At first I wanted to do a step wise post but as I had only half a day to finish this frock, I couldn't concentrate on clicking the steps. Next time I will post another frock with instructions. Till then, Bye!!!

Tote"lly Desi- A Secret Tote Swap at Desi Quilters

2013-12-08T21:16:00.000-08:00

It has been long since I posted here. But still I am actively stitching a lot and teaching a lot. In the Desi Quilters group, there was a Tote Swap and I took part in it. Every member created a mood board/ picture collage with what they like and it becomes the inspiration for her secret partner to make a tote for her. We were not aware of our secret partner until we finished the project. Only at the time of shipping the tote, we know about the partner who made a tote for us. I was assigned with Damayanthi and had to make a tote for her. And I was not aware of the member who made a tote for me.

Here is Damayanthi's mood board:

To buy materials, I took my Ipad to the shop. Then with the help of this mood board I bought some fabrics. Made a simple tote according to this mood board.

Here is my creation for Damayanthi according to her mood board.

And here is my mood board:

Caroline was my secret partner and she made a wonderful tote for me

She also sent me a lot of hand made goodies along with the tote.

Thanks a lot Caroline. I am loving it all.

We had a nice time making the tote and I hope my partner enjoys the tote I made...

Pinky Pin Cushion - A simple DIY project

2013-09-20T18:54:00.000-07:00

It has been nearly 5 months since I updated this blog. I made this pincushion several months back and took all the step wise snaps for the DIY project. But with so many other things to do, I completely forgot about this blog and the pin cushion. I made one similar to this for a challenge in Desi Quilters. This one is bigger than the one I made for the challenge. This was made from the bits of cloth after stitching a chudidar. So if you have some bits from some other project, then you can use it to make this lovely cute pin cushion. It is also very easy to make and will be very useful if you are going to quilt or stitch regularly.

Select three different fabrics which match each other. Choose according to your wish. The main fabric is cut into a circle of radius 6".

The other fabric is cut into a circle of radius 3 1/2".

For the ruffles, cut a strip measuring double the circumference of the smaller circle and 1 1/2" wide.

Now cut out batting (I used a sponge sheet) to the size of the inner circle.

Trim out 1/4" along the circumference of the batting/ sponge.

Now place the sponge in the centre of the bigger circle on the right side and pin it to secure.

Now join the strips of the ruffle fabric. Place one stripe perpendicular to the other leaving 1/4" on both the strips as shown. Draw a diagonal line across the square as shown.

Stitch along the line and trim off excess fabric.

Now when you open it you will see the neat finishing.

Now fold one edge and fold the strip into half. Pin it as shown.

Leaving 2-3" from the pinned edge, make pleats along the smaller circle's circumference, placing the stripe on the right side.

At the ending side, leave 1 1/2" without stitching.

Insert the unfinished edge into the starting edge, make a small pleat and stitch. This will give you a neat finish to the pleats.

See how easy it is to finish this way. It looks neat too...

Now pin the inner circle on the sponge.

Stitch the inner circle on the large circle, inserting the sponge into the stitch fold of the inner circle.

Once the sponge is inserted it is very easy to stitch.

Completed circles look like this.

Now with a needle and thread make a running stitch along the circumference of the larger circle.

Pull both the ends to gather it.

Now fill the circle with synthetic cotton filling and knot both the threads to make the cushion.

Now take a 3-4" square piece of lace or any cloth, place on the unfinished portion of the pin cushion and hand stitch it in place.

Your pinky pin cushion is ready for use. Hope you enjoyed this tutorial...

Sunny Bee Blocks For Desi Quilters

2013-04-19T18:55:00.002-07:00

This post has been in my mind for so long but I think I am blogging very rarely here. As I was so busy with my recipe blog, I completely skipped updating this blog. I have been part of Desi Quilters for long and there is a group called sunny bees. Nearly 20 members of DQ are enrolled for this. Each month a member becomes the sunny bee and she asks others to make a block for her. Once all the blocks by the members are received, she puts them together to make an interesting quilt. I got enrolled as I thought it was fun and it is also a nice way to learn different techniques in quilting. I have sent out six block to sunny bees and this month I am the sunny bee. But this post is about the six block I made for friends.

The first is the block for Bhavani Siddharth. She gave instructions for a sunflower applique block. She also mentioned the colours and the background fabric needed and I stitched it accordingly. As this was my first block, I was tensed but I think I ended up with a decent looking block.

The second block was for Prasanna Narasimhan who gave us instructions for a sun block. It was stitched on a black back ground and it was quite easy to put together.

The third is for Nikhat who gave us one of the toughest challenges. IT was curved piecing which I have never tried. But her instruction were so perfect that I got it correct during my very first attempt. And I learnt a technique. This is the advantage to be part of this group. You learn something new every single day.

The fourth block was for Sunitha who asked for a log cabin. She didn't have so many rules and we were free to select the colour. But this is where I went wrong. As I searched the web for a log cabin I came across a pattern and I made it immediately. But It was more like alternating squares than log cabin. So Sunitha asked me to make another block which resembled a log cabin.

And here is my second attempt which Sunitha accepted.

The fifth block was for Medha Devdas and this was the toughest block ever. IT was the tumbling blocks. She gave us perfect instructions but putting together the pieces was very hard. I had to redo the block thrice to get a decent looking block.

The final block which I sent out last month was for Manju Narain. Hers was a pieced rose block. She gave us exact instructions and all we had to do was to take a print out of the pieces, cut the pieces on fabric and stitch as instructed. It was an amazing and easy to put together block and it turned out nice.

I hope all the sunny bees liked my blocks. I will meet you all in my next post. Till then Take Care...

Hearts Quilted Mat

2013-03-01T22:42:00.002-08:00

At Desi Quilter's they announce a monthly challenge with a theme. So last month's theme, as it was February, was heart. We needed to quilt a piece with hearts in it. I enthusistically designed the mat and started putting it together. It was a small project but very interesting. After cutting out all the hearts and joining the base squares, I was stuck at the quilting part. Something went wrong with the machine and I couldn't stitch the hearts to the base. I tried and tried for two whole days and I was so frustrated, I put the whole project aside and decided not to participate. So the last date was gone and then I felt like trying it again. This time I made some adjustments in the machine and started quilting. Even this time there was problem but not as intense as the first time. So after struggling with the machine and my quilt for two days, I completed the mat finally.

I saw the idea of stitching the hearts on Pinterest. The edges are let as it is with out finishing and when washed they will fray and give a nice effect. I haven't washed it yet but I hope it looks good after washing.

I made a small pattern around the heart with white thread. They look kind of cute, isn't it??

Cut out a square measuring 5 1/2" on a chart paper and draw a heart inside it. You can fold the paper in half and draw only half of the heart. Cut it out.

Place the heart on the material you have decided on. Draw the outline and cut 5 hearts.

Now draw three more concentric hearts inside the first heart. First cut the outermost line, trace it on the fabric chosen and then repeat with the next two lines inside.

You will end up with 5 sets of four hearts which can be placed inside one another.

Cut out 6" * 6" square on the base fabrics. I cut out 5 pink ones and 4 purple ones.

Now join the squares as shown. Iron it out neatly with seams on one side.

Now cut out batting and backing fabric larger than the base square by 3"

Sandwich the batting between the backing and the base square and pin.

Now stitch along the lines.

Pin the largest hearts on to the pink squares.

Stitch along the outline. Place the other hearts and stitch along the outlines. I also quilted around the heart with an easy design.

The purple boxes were filled with a rangoli pattern.

Now cut off the excess batting and backing.

Finish off the edge with a 1 3/4" binding.

Close up of the heart...

I used white thread in the bobbin and the back looks like this. I need to improve my quilting...

DIY Fabric flowers for frocks

2013-02-10T21:09:00.001-08:00

Instead of buying decorative pieces for the frock you are stitching, you can make some yourself just like what I made for my daughter's gown. It is a simple flower to make but gives a nice look to the frock. First you need to make square bases for the flower. Then the petals are made and attached to the base. The centre is fitted with a ready made decorative piece for a neater look. Then it is very easy to stitch the flower on frocks, gowns or hair clips..

Cut the fabric into 2" squares.

Keeping two squares right to right, stitch three sides. Then invert it and finish off the fourth side. This forms the base for the flower.

Now fold a square into half.

And again into half so that you end up with a triangle.

With a hand needle, make a running stitch binding all the four layers of fabric in the triangle. Knot the thread on one side.

Pull the thread and the triangle gathers into a beautiful petal.

Knot it up so that the petal is secure.

Make any number of petals you want. A small flower needs 6 petals and a larger flower may need 14 petals.

Stitch 4 petals to 4 corners of the base square.

Stitch four more petals in between the first four.

Now place the centre piece and stitch

This is the gown I stitched for my daughter for her birthday. I made one large flower and two small flowers.

My First Try at Foundation Piecing

2013-01-21T04:51:00.001-08:00

My daughter has been pestering me for a mat after she kept the mat I prepared earlier in school for her yoga practice. When there was a Quilt Along (QAL) last month at Desi Quilters, I thought of making a mat with the technique. Nima of Made To Treasure taught us the basics of foundation piecing. She provided us with the design For free down load of the design you can visit her blog. All we had to do was to take a print out of the design and stitch it according to her instructions.

After I brought home the printed copies, I started out to stitch the mat. But the mat came out small. So I added three extra rows and ended up with a 28" square mat. The last row was supposed to be small rectangles pieced together. But half way through I became so lazy and finished it with a pink solid piece on both sides of the small rectangles. Anyhow the result looked promising. Then came the toughest part of my mat making. I had to arrange the quilt top, batting and backing and quilt it. I recently bought the darning presser foot and used it to quilt. At first the lines went crazy but some time later, I was able to control the stitch. Though it is not very neat, for me the mat has come out beautiful. I need to improve my quilting and buy a walking foot to quilt straight lines. My daughter liked it very much.

These are the foundation pieced pieces.

Nima also taught the technique of mitering the corners.

The toughest piecing. Needed lots and lots of patience to complete this.

My finished quilt top.

I took care to press all the seams so that the back looks neat after finishing.

The finished quilt top. Ready to be quilted.

I made backing with the scraps I had after stitching my daughter's dress.

Black And White Scottie Dog

2012-12-27T02:20:00.001-08:00

I came to know about this scottie dog when Madhu of Desi Quilter's group posted a snap of the dog she made for her friend. That was so lovely and My daughter would love it. So as my daughter is at her aunt's place, I wanted to make this as a surprise gift for her. I know that she would shower me with her kisses when she sees this beautiful dog. This also serves another purpose for me. For this month's Desi Quilter's Challenge, we need to make a quilt with black, white and a printed fabric. So I think I hit two birds with a stone. This is also my entry to the challenge. I searched the web for a tutorial and came across a free download for the pattern at dsquilts. I followed the tutorial and ended up with this lovely looking dog. The toughest part was the joining of the side strip. I struggled to get it neat and it was worth the effort. I recently bought a 1/4" pressure foot and it was of great help when joining squares. The squares came out neat and aligned beautifully.

The dog uses squares black and white along with a long black stripe.

Black- 2 1/4" square -26 nos

White- 2 1/4" squares-26 nos

Black stripe 55" long and 2 1/4" wide

Printed cotton stripe 26" long and 6" wide for the collar

Cut all the squares and the black stripe.

Arrange the squares as shown. You need to make another piece which is the mirror image of the given pattern.

First join the near by squares in the same row. Press the seams flat.

Now join the rows. Press the seams flat.

Make the other side which is the mirror image of the first side.

Join the stripe along the sides and finally join both the sides of the stripe.

Now join the stripe with the other side leaving 5" for turning over.

Bring inside out through the opening.

Stuff it neatly with synthetic cotton.

Finish off the opening with a hand stitched zig zag stitch.

Knot it up.

Join the stripe along the side keeping the fabric right to right.

Turn inside out and press at the seam.

Stitch off both the ends.

Tie it around the dog's neck and secure it with a stitch. Stitch two buttons for eyes and a flower at the knot.

Patch Work Ball 2

2012-11-01T01:50:00.000-07:00

This patch work ball is the second one of the two patch work balls in the QAL(quilt along) organised in the group. Amalie who taught us this Pentagon patch work ball taught this triangle patch work ball and she asked us to hand stitch the pieces rather than machine stitching them. It uses paper piecing .I used this technique in the previous pentagon ball. You need a little patience to make this and it will be done in a day. I used two printed contrast fabrics. You are free to use any number of fabrics.

You need 10 pieces of triangles in each fabric and it makes a total of 20 triangles. First cut out 20 triangles measuring 2 1/2" on the three sides. Make use of your high school geometry lessons to draw out the triangles. After cutting out 20 pieces in the chart paper, cut out triangles from the fabrics. The fabric pieces must be larger than the paper pieces by 1/4" on all sides. If you are not comfortable with 1/4" then make it slightly larger.

Cut out the chart paper and fabric triangles.

Place a paper triangle inside the fabric triangle. Fold it as shown.

Now fold both the sides towards the centre and press it with your fingers.

Secure the fabric with thread. Knot it when all the three corners are done.

Now you get a neatly finished triangle.

Finish the other 19 triangles the same way. Arrange the triangles as shown. This is the way you are going to stitch up the sides.

Join adjacent sides using whip stitch. While joining be careful not to stitch the paper pieces. The needle should run only through the fabrics.

The stitched triangles look like this. Keep the stitches tight so that very little of the thread shows.

Stitch as arranged. Now you need to stitch the sides of triangles next to each other.

When you stitch together the adjacent sides, the ball will be formed.

This is after stitching up the lower triangles.

Now join all the remaining sides except two sides. That is for flipping and filling.

Remove the paper pieces.

It looks lot better with out the paper pieces.

Turn it inside out.

Stuff the ball with the cotton or synthetic stuffing.

Thread a needle and insert it at the joint. Take a stitch to one side.

Take a stitch on the other side. Keep on repeating the stitches in the zig zag fashion.

Align the corners correctly for a perfect finish.

Finish it with a tiny knot. The patch work ball is ready..

You can view the works of all the other members of the group at the Desi Quilters Blog

Strip Quilted Mat

2012-10-17T08:09:00.002-07:00

There are challenges for every month in Desi Quilters. The rules will be given at the start of the month and we need to make a quilt according to the given rules. For the month of October the challenge was to make a strip quilt. Any quilt involving strips qualify for the submission. I saw the method of paper piecing a strip quilt blog at FITF blog. I used that method for the 8 blocks which form the centre of the mat. Both sides of the centre piece are strips of different colours matching the centre piece. The quilt is completed with batting, backing and binding. This is the first time I am using batting and I was nervous. Though the finished mat looks good, it needs some fine tuning. May be I will get the finishing works perfect in my next quilt.

The quilt measures 34" * 36" and I will be using it for meditation after yoga. The fabrics used are printed cotton. The backing used is also printed cotton and the batting is also cotton. I finished the quilt with a 3" wide binding.

Cut out strips of fabric. I used four printed and one solid white. For the blue strips, I used 1 1/2" strips and the yellow and orange strips measured 2". The white strip measured 1 1/2". Cut out 8 paper squares measuring 8" * 8 ".

In the centre of the paper, stick the white strip diagonally using gum stick.

Stitch the darker blue strip placing it right to right on the white strip.

Open the seam and iron it out.

Now place the lighter blue strip right side facing the darker strip and stitch.

Open the seam and iron.

Continue until you reach the corner of the paper.

Stitch the orange and yellow strips to the other side of the white strip.

Now turn the block and trim the fabric to the size of the paper square.

Your block looks like this.

Now remove the paper from the block. It will be easy to remove as the paper is perforated with the stitch.

Press the block and it is ready to be stitched.

To get an idea of the finished quilt, arrange the pieces on the floor. Now stitch all the pieces together.

Cut out batting and backing fabric to the size of the finished piece.

Pin all the sides and centre before stitching.

Stitch the sides and along the lines of the blocks.

Finish the quilt with the binding.

The backing fabric seen after folding over the quilt.

Patch Work Ball 1

2012-10-12T01:57:00.000-07:00

Being a part of the Desi Quilters group has a huge advantage. I learn new techniques every single day. This patch work ball is from one of the QALs(quilt along) organised in the group. Amalie who taught us this Pentagon patch work ball asked us to hand stitch the pieces rather than machine stitching them. It uses paper piecing .This is the first time I am hearing about paper piecing technique. I wanted to be through with the technique before I started the actual stitching. So I browsed through websites and landed at a lovely blog Sunshine's Creations where there was a step wise tutorial for the technique.

Next came the selection of fabrics. I went for polka dotted fabrics. The ball needs 12 pentagons. The sides of the pentagon decides on the size of the ball. I made a small ball. The pentagons measured 2 1/2". You can make it according to your preference. First cut out a pentagon ( use your geometry knowledge) from a chart paper which acts a stencil for the fabrics.

Cut out 6 pieces from the white fabric and 6 pieces from the green fabric. Now you need to cut 12 pentagons measuring 2" at the sides.

Prepare all the pieces and stencils ready before you start.

Place the paper pentagon in the middle of a fabric pentagon.

Fold and secure one corner with thread.

Fold the next corner and secure it with the same thread.

Secure all corners and the final result will look like this.

One pentagon is ready.

Finish off all the pentagons.

Now arrange 6 pentagons as shown. You need to stitch all the sides of the white pentagon to the adjacent green pentagons.

Use a button hole stitch. Make it sure that you don't stitch along with the paper. Then it would be very difficult to remove the paper at last.

Two pentagons successfully joined.

All the five pentagons joined to the centre pentagon.

Now sew the sides of green pentagons adjacent to each other.

You will get a cup like shape.

Finish off the other half.

Now it is time to join the two parts. Place them as shown. and stitch.

Leave two sides with out stitching for turning.

Remove the paper pieces from each pentagon. It will be very easy to remove.

The ball with fabric after removing the papers.

Flip inside out.

Stuff the ball with synthetic cotton filling.

Use a zig zag stitch to join the sides.

Match corners perfectly while stitching.

Finish off with a knot.

The pentagon patch work ball is ready.

Traditional Cathedral Window Wall Hanging

2012-09-22T01:22:00.000-07:00

This is the next QAL ( Quilt Along) at the desi quilters. This was supposed to be over last month but due to some illness, I couldn't take up the project. Chumkie who taught us the other two methods of Cathedral Window Quilts ( I did cushion covers using the technique), taught us the traditional method to do a cathedral window quilt this time. It was a lot of fun. First I decided to make a cushion cover but at the final moment changed it into a wall hanging. I loved this method than the other two I have posted already. You can see the tutorial by Chumkie at her blog ( click on the link)

I used 7" square piece of off white fabric for the back ground and 2" square for the window pane. I also added some stones to make the wall hanging.

DIY Cushion

2012-07-25T09:04:00.000-07:00

I wanted to do a small cushion for my daughter. She likes to hug it while travelling by car. So I did these minin cushions which measures 9 1/2" square. You can design it as per your wish. It is very easy to make. I made covers for the cushions with the cathedral window quilt I made as part of Desi Quilter's Quilt Along(QAL) Project.

Whit cotton fabric is the best choice for cushions. Buy white poplin and cut four pieces each measuring 10" * 10". The finished cushion will measure 9 1/2". The extra 1/2" goes for the seams.

Keeping two pieces right sides facing each other, stitch along the edge with a 1/4" seam.

Leave a gap of 4" on one side for inverting and stuffing.

Cut the corners for sharp finishing. Be careful not to snip the seam.

Invert the fabric inside out through the opening. Use a sharp pencil to make sharp corners.

Stuff the cushion with synthetic cotton filling. Start from the lowest part and fill it tightly to get a neat finish.

The finished cushion looks like this.

Thread a needle. Knot it up. Start form one side of the opening. Insert the needle from inside to out on one side.

Now insert it on the other side inside out.

Continue this zig zag stitch until you come to the other side of the opening.

Pull the thread to close the opening. Finish with a knot.

The cushion is now ready.

Quilted Coaster

2012-07-21T02:11:00.000-07:00

This is my first quilted coaster. I tried it in a monochromatic theme. I will give the step wise pictures for doing this coaster. I used three printed cotton fabrics and a solid for binding. As I am new to quilting, I followed the tutorial of binding from Crazy Mom Quilts Blog. You can refer it to know about the technique.

First I drew a pattern on a white sheet which measures 6" * 6". For the different fabrics I used different colours so that I can get an idea of the finished quilt.

As the theme is monochromatic, I chose the fabrics with shades of blue.

For 1 coaster you need:

Dotted Blue Fabric:

3 1/2" *2"- 4pieces

2" *2"- 4pieces

Dark Blue Dotted Fabric:

2" *2" - 4pieces

Light Blue With Floral Prints:

2" * 2" - 8pieces

Place a dark blue square on the rectangle right sides facing together and draw a horizontal line as shown.

Stitch along the line and leave 1/4" and cut the remaining fabric.

Open the triangle and press it.

Place another square on the rectangle right to right as shown.

Stitch on the line and cut the fabric leaving 1/4".

Open out and press. You get one flying geese. Prepare the other three.

The two squares must be fixed like this.

Join the squares with a 1/4" seam, open and press.

Join it with the flying geese like this.

Arrange the four squares on a table.

Join the two pieces adjacent to each other with a 1/4" seam. Open and press.

Then join the two rectangles. Open and press.

Cut a backing fabric to the same size as the block.

Keep wrong sides facing each other and stitch all the sides.

Cut the binding with the solid fabric. Stitch all over the sides mitering the corners

Finish back with a blind stitch.

Coaster is ready.

Quilted Mat

2012-07-19T09:17:00.000-07:00

The 4 star blocks I prepared for the QAL in Desi Quilters group is assembled into a mat. I gave a 1 1/2" border with a white fabric and finished it with a yellow binding. The back has a blue cotton fabric. This is my first quilt project and I am happy that it came out nice.

These are the individual stars I prepared earlier.

Flying Geese Star

Marble Star

Ohio Star

Variable Friendship Star

Star Blocks-Quilting

2012-07-18T06:43:00.002-07:00

After completing the first star block, I attempted the remaining three star blocks. These are the next QAL(quilt along) blocks from the Desi Quilters blog. The step wise instructions are given by Elvira of Chez Vies.

Marble Star: Instructions can be found at DQ Blog.

Ohio Star Block: Step Wise Instructions Here

Variable Friendship Star: Instructions Here

I have successfully completed the QAL for July so far. Now I need to make some cushion covers using these 4 stars. I will share with you once the project is done.

Quilting- Flying Geese Star Block

2012-07-14T22:30:00.000-07:00

I studied Fashion Designing but now I am a home maker. I have been thinking of starting a blog which concentrates only on arts and crafts for long. For the past two years I have been blogging about food in my blogs Gayathri's Cook Spot and Gayathri's Kitchen Basics. When Veena introduced me to a group of enthusiastic quilters in Face book, I became interested because I am new to quilting. The group is called as Desi Quilters. When I read the blog there were so many QAL(Quilt Along) projects for this month. This month's QAL is done by Elvira of Chez Vies blog. I tried the first block and it came out very nice. So I am starting this blog to share with you my experiences with quilting and other arts and crafts.

Elvira's Flying Geese Star Block:

Materials Required:

Blue Printed Cotton Fabric

4 pieces measuring 3 1/2" * 3 1/2"

1 piece measuring 6 1/2"*6 1/2"

Yellow Printed cotton Fabric

1 piece measuring 6 1/2"* 6 1/2"

White cotton fabric

4 pieces measuring 3 1/2"* 3 1/2"

The step wise tutorial can be found at the Desi Quilters Blog.