 The Autumn Leaves table runner kit is ready, just in time for fall... at least in Australia, right? :-) Or maybe you really like to get a jump on things! It coordinates with the Autumn Leaves wall hanging, and comes with everything you need except batting and thread. Also, there are two more days left for you to get in the drawing for a free kit of your choice, see the previous post or my facebook page for details! 
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A batch black eyed Susan cards I made in memory of my Aunt Sue, her favorite flower, for her siblings and husband. A few years ago I had made her a Kindle case with a similar design, I'll stick a photo of that in too.
  
  I have been travelling, so I don't have anything new to put on here, so I am borrowing from someone else! Helene Corbett, in a facebook group that I am in (Art Quilts 101) made this great journal cover, and gave me permission to post it here. So fun! Here is her great description as well :-) " I just picked a few colours & went mental on my machine . :-) Ive used some hand dyed scrim (pink & blue pieces) & the background cotton fabric was dyed using spinich. The flower is made with melted satins & beads. The butterfly was rescued from a pillowcase that my Mum in law was throwing out & the journal itself is made from recycled paper..... And I didnt realise until now how eco-friendly it is" If you want to make your own, check out my tutorial here! (Basic tutorial, not her design)   I never used to be a journal person, but these days I have them all over the place, all for different purposes. I have been making quilted covers for them, partly so I can tell them apart, ha! But possibly my favorite journal is the one that accompanies Ann Voskamp's book, One Thousand Gifts. I have a fairly nasty chronic illness (Lyme disease), although it is often treatable now that I know what it is, and this book has been such a blessing to me! If you are not familiar with it, the overall concept is that if we are always looking for things to be thankful for, our whole outlook on life changes. It is a constant reminder of God's grace, which builds our faith even when things look difficult. So, with her permission, I am offering a free tutorial to make your own journal cover to match the book if you would like. It mostly uses the tutorial I already have for quilted book covers, but there is a page for the parts that are specific to this one. I hope you find this book and this process of seeking God's grace everywhere you look to be as amazing of a blessing as I have! It is a great cure for anxiety, for sure. The previous blog post is about another free tutorial/pattern, for a quilted greeting card with a coffee mug and a pocket for a coffee shop gift card. The combination of the book, a covered journal, and the coffee card would be a great gift for someone going through a difficult time! Click here for that tutorial. Regular quilted journal cover tutorialOne Thousand Gifts journal cover tutorial |
Beret Nelson's On The Trail Creations Blog Page
Beret NelsonI am a homeschooling mom of three fun kids, who are now old enough that I have a little time to pursue my passion for sewing! After several years of making quilted cards and art quilts, I'm now designing kits and patterns. Some of them have even been in Keepsake Quilting! I teach classes at local quilt shops, and would love to do more traveling and teaching eventually. I also have many tutorials, including some on YouTube. I am blessed to live in Alaska where I am surrounded by the inspiration provided by the beauty of God's creation! 
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This was a fun, quick project that uses kind of a confetti quilt technique for the petals. I also used Inktense for the words. I like that because I could stitch just outside the letters instead of on them, so they pop up more! Here are some process photos:
First, I drew the letters on paper,traced them on the fabric, and colored them with dry Inktense pencils.
Then activated the ink. Aloe vera gel or fabric medium work best on fabric, water tends to ‘bleed’. The letters are much brighter! Also, you can see my fairy frost background fabric better in this photo.
Now for the fun part! To make the fabric the petals are cut from, I started with a piece of lightweight fusible interfacing. I knew my petals would go into the seam on the edges, so I didn’t want it too stiff. With the glue side up, I covered it with some strips of fabric. You can go straight to the confetti pieces, but I think this saves time and thickness. Fuse them to the interfacing.
Then I added some random pieces, placing them mostly over the edges of the first fabrics to break up those long lines.
Ooooops! It looks like I forgot a photo... The next step is to add tulle, but you can see the fabric pieces under it. I didn’t use fusible web on the small pieces. You could, or just dab them with a glue stick. As for the tulle, you can do one layer, more than one, or wrinkle it up, which is what I did. I zapped it with a bit of 505 spray, but mostly used lots of pins!
Then, using a walking foot, I stitched some lines in random directions to hold everything together. You can also use free motion. I recommend a closed hole foot so the toes don’t catch in the tulle. After it was nailed down a bit, I added lots more lines, until I felt like it could be cut up without falling apart.
The back looks cool too! The thread color only changed because my bobbin ran out 😁
Next, I cut out petal shapes and a center and started arranging them. It was hard to picture what it would look like trimmed, so I took a photo and cropped it on my phone. Really helpful for placement!
The cropped photo made it more obvious that my top petal was too short, so I adjusted that by pulling it up a bit. I took a couple more photos and cropped them until I liked it.
Hmm, I see I missed a couple more photos... I stacked my top with batting and muslin (pre-backing), zig zag stitched around the petals, quilted the background and around the letters, and did some decorative stitching on the center. I then trimmed it square, but left a ‘bump’ where I planned to leave the hole for turning. This makes it much easier to fold those edges under! I placed the final backing on, right sides together, stitched all the way around except for the hole for turning, and clipped the corners. Two more tips! One, the backing does not have to be cut precisely, just use the edges of the quilt top as your guide for stitching, then trim the excess. Leave a ‘bump’ by the hole on that too! Two, it helps a lot to press the seam allowances by the hole before turning. (Photo below) A great trick I recently discovered!
After it’s turned and pressed, I usually cheat and close the hole with fusible web.
Let me know if you try it!
After it’s turned and pressed, I usually cheat and close the hole with fusible web.
Let me know if you try it!
