scrappy pillow tutorial using leaders and enders.

Lori Holt of Bee In My Bonnet, first introduced me to saving scraps of all different sizes, and then how to use them up in multiple ways.  In all seriousness, it changed my little quilting life!  I am a scrappy quilt sort of girl and this concept allows me to take full advantage of every last little piece. 

For your scrappy pillow you will need :

128 - 1 1/2" x 2 1/2" strips

18" x 18" piece of batting

18" x 18" piece of fabric for quilting sandwich

1/2 yard of fabric for envelope backing

I keep a selection of 1 1/2" x 2 1/2" strips near the sewing machine that are used as leaders and enders while working on sewing projects.  Sewing two of them together, using a 1/4" seam, I end up with a 2 1/2" square.

The seams are pressed open and slowly but surely my little squares begin to add up.  2 1/2" squares are super versatile and you can create such fun projects with them.

Take two of the 2 1/2" squares and sew them together, in the opposite direction, the left seam is vertical and the right seam is horizontal - press to the left.  Make two.  Sew the two strips together, nesting your seams of top row and bottom row and press.  

Tada! 

You now have your first 4 1/2" square!  

Another fabulous square size that is super versatile!  

Make 16.

 

layout and sew blocks together in a 

4 block by 4 block layout, press

you will have a 16 1/2" pillow cover

Layer pillow cover, batting, and backing fabric.  

Quilt as desired.  

I quilted my pillow cover, with a walking foot using a basic straight stitch.  Easy peasy! 

Envelope pillow backs are my go to for the pillow finish!  

 Thanks for visiting today!

I hope you have enjoyed my tutorial.

xoxo

a quilt for my little sister.

Hello dear blog readers.  I hope you are doing well.

I am so happy to share my leaders and enders quilt  with you today.  It will be like a great big hug for my little sister who lives many miles away, until I can get back home and hug her myself!

Making this quilt out of little snippets of favorite fabrics was so much fun.  I loved looking at each strip and remember where they came from, left overs from a baby quilt, a favorite charm square I cut to fill a spot, projects sewn.

Kathy did a beautiful job quilting and I truly could not ask for a better quilter who is also a dear friend!  I just love her to death!  :o)  

Thank you for dropping by my little blog today.  I haven't been around quite as much as I would like.  But I will drop in just as often as I can.  

I treasure the friendships I have made over the years in this little spot and hope that you will always know how dear you are to me.  wink.

quilty fun on instagram - lots of pictures.

Lori Holt shared a super fun and easy tutorial on her instagram, that I am following along with.  It is never too late to play along and you can find lots of inspiration under #scrappycrossroads.

I am getting caught up on bee blocks.  With a couple more to go.  It has been so much fun participating in the bees knees quilting bee.  I hate that I need to step away, but it is all in finding balance.

Did you happen to see Me and My Sister Designs blog hop for their latest pattern makin' it cute??  Oh mercy, these flowers are so cute!  I ordered the pattern and stalked my poor mailman until it arrived.  Then made it immediately.  Mine is a magnet on the fridge and I smile every time I see it.

Kathy did the cutest quilting on my dottie table topper!!  I was able to get the binding sewn on the other day!  Happy happy happy!  wink.

With all the cutting of fabrics, I am building a nice little stash of 2 1/2" strips and squares, plus 1 1/2" strips and squares, for my next leaders and enders quilt. 

The first one I made is heading to be quilted and then to a new home.  I sure hope you are having a fabulous summer!  The days seem to go by so fast!  Thank you for dropping by my little space here in blogland.  xo

june.

  big news.

i turned my sewing machine on yesterday.

poor thing, felt i needed to reintroduce myself.

sewing is such a joy of mine and when life gets crazy it is the first to go on the back burner.  so needless to say, not a lot of sewing has been going on around these parts.  

that is, until yesterday.  

breathing in a big sigh.

i managed to get all but three rows sewn for my leaders and enders quilt.  momma mia, has it really been four months since i posted about it?!  oy.

life.  the nerve of it.

have a fabulous week!

xoxo

leaders and enders.

Lori Holt has a fabulous tutorial on her blog for leaders and enders.  

Not only does it save on thread, I have also been able to make a huge dent in the 1 1/2" scraps I have been saving, plus making a super fun scrappy bonus quilt!  

I have adopted Lori's techniques for saving scraps, storing fabrics and am also adding more to my stash, a little bit at a time.  Here is the link for Lori's instructions and here is another one for her youtube video.

It didn't take long for my little stack of courthouse steps leader and ender blocks to grow.  There are now 55.  The bonus quilt will be made with 99 blocks, unless I just can't bear to stop there.  wink.

ps.  all the images were taken with my phone and posted on instagram ( big red puffy heart )

a little of everything.

I am having so much fun sewing the Quilty Fun Sew Along blocks!  These little courthouse steps have stolen my heart!  I would love to make a whole quilt of them like Lori's!  I even made a pincushion out of one.  It is the perfect size!

My dear friend Renee and I are sewing together across the miles.  We both have a fat quarter bundle of Santa's Workshop (I got mine here) and have both made two blocks.  Check out Renee's blocks here.

I raced outside today to try and get some pictures of my favorite tree.  With hundreds on our property, it must sound hard to choose just one.  Though there are several I am very fond of, while they are all shedding their leaves for the season, this one displays the prettiest shades of orange and red.  I literally wait for it.  It is such a beautiful show and lasts such a short amount of time.

I hope you are having a wonderful week!

Don't forget to enter this fabulous fabric giveaway!  Winner will be chosen tomorrow!