Color Wall

This is my new favorite spot in the shop – the color wall.  We’ve gathered all of the great chevrons, dots and stripes together in one place!

Stars And Stripes Table Runner

Great news!  We have more kits available for the Stars and Stripes Table Runner.  These kits sold out quickly during the shop hop so don’t wait to come in and get one.

The pattern is also available here at the shop and is free with any purchase.  It’s a quick and easy table runner and you still have plenty of time to whip one up in time for the big holiday weekend!

While you’re here, be sure to check out our shelves of Americana prints-

And for more patriotic sewing and crafting ideas, check out our Patriotic Projects pinterest board!

Christmas is Everywhere!

As I’ve been in various shops and stores over the past few days I have to say how surprised I am that a lot of them are playing Christmas music already!  Christmas is everywhere!  We don’t have the music yet, but we certainly have the Christmas décor! 

This adorable ruffle pillow is from the “Long Live Vintage” book from Adornit

I love how the raw edges are left on the ruffles:

And in the shop we have everything you need to make your own Christmas ruffle pillow – including the cute wooden buttons!

Cute Halloween Table Runner

Today I thought I would share with you this really cute Halloween table runner that we have on display this month!

The pattern is called “Ms. Bindweed’s Boots.”  The table runner’s finished size is 15.5” wide and fits a table up to 76” long with a 15” drop.  The adorable witch’s boots hang off of both ends of the table runner and the pattern gives you the chance to add a lot of charm with the details:

We have the patterns in stock as well as a great selection of Halloween fabrics to make it easy for your to create your own pair of “Ms. Bindweed’s Boots!”

Do you already have a Halloween table runner?  No problem!  There’s a Christmas version of the table runner pattern.  This one is called “Jingle Boots” and we have these in stock on the pattern wall.  So cute!

Halloween!

Time to start thinking about Halloween projects (if you haven’t already!)  We have a variety of Halloween project tutorials and ideas available here on our blog.  See that “Handmade Halloween” button in the sidebar?  Click that and it will link you to any project/tutorial that is Halloween related!

We’ve got our display hutch stacked to the brim with even more Halloween ideas:

How about whipping up some cute Halloween pillow cases for your favorite ghouls and goblins?

We make it easy for you – pillowcase kits are ready to go!

And we have the patterns to make this cute pumpkin wall hanging:

The pattern for this quilt can be found in the book from Adorn It that I wrote about here. 

And see the cute ruffle pillow that is leaning up against the bottom of the quilt?  That is also from the Adorn It pattern book and that pillow uses the leftover fabric from the quilt!  Such a clever design!

Stop by and get inspired!

Posh Pumpkins Project

We’ve recently changed some of our displays to reflect the upcoming season.  Is everyone ready for fall, back-to-school time and Halloween?  We are!  One of our new display items is this quick and easy project using Posh Pumpkins (Moda). 

The pattern is called “Peak Color”.  It makes a 27” x 29” mini quilt that you could use as either a wall hanging or table topper.  I love it because it’s not specifically for Halloween or Thanksgiving, so you really can use it from September all the way through to the end of November. 

Here at the shop we have the patterns, charm packs and other necessary fabrics for you!  I was able to get the quilt top done in about 90 minutes.  Honestly, the most time consuming part of the project was cutting out the twelve circles but that can be done while watching your favorite movie. 

Stop by the shop and get everything you need to get started on this cute fall project!  See you soon!

By the way, we love to see the projects you make!  Share something you've made using fabrics from our shop -- send it through email (fabricmillblog@gmail.com) or on facebook page!

Winter’s Lane

Winter’s Lane (Moda) is here!



I just love the rich reds, spearmint blues and charcoal greys. 



The line also includes a panel in two colorways that makes a pillow and pennant banner.  The pattern is available free online here.

Start now and have your fun projects done just in time for the holidays!

Fallen Leaves Table Runner tutorial

I have another quick and easy burlap project for you – and this one is even easier than the last one! 

This is my “Fallen Leaves” table runner:

Everything you need to create one of these is at our shop!

I began by cutting a 12” by 40” piece of burlap.  I chose 12” because that is slightly thinner than the width of my bookcase.  You can choose whatever size you want – a square one would be great! 

I also cut two 14” pieces of jumbo yellow ric rac.

Then I drew some simple leaf shapes onto a piece of paper.  I found that I liked the leaves that were 3.5”, 4” and 4.5” long.  I placed my Heat n’ Bond lite over my leaf drawing and traced several of each size onto the paper side of the fusible web.  

I ended up with 17 leaves total.

I cut out around each leaf (not right on the line, I left about 1/4”) and pressed each one onto a piece of fall colored fabric (I used the scraps from this Thanksgiving banner).  I then cut out each leaf (right on the drawn line) and removed the paper backing.

I spread out the burlap, placed the ric rac and scattered the leaves around until I liked the way it looked. 

I pinned each one in place just to hold it there while I moved it all over to the ironing board.

Then I ironed all of the leaves in place.  This burlap had kind of an open weave and I was concerned about the adhesive from the leaves getting through to the ironing board, so I put a piece of paper beneath the burlap.  No problems whatsoever. 

Then came the fun part!  I used my free motion quilting foot and using a brown thread I quilted around each leaf 4 or 5 times.  I allowed the lines to be a little messy to give the “scribbled” look.  It was so much less stressful than trying to get a nice, exact line around each curved edge of all 17 leaves.  What a headache that would have been.  And it would have taken me twice as long.  This was FUN!

The last step was to stitch on the ric rac.  Here is the finished table runner- already at home on the top of my bookcase!

Tutorial: Burlap Thanksgiving Banner

Can you believe Thanksgiving is next week?  Wow - that snuck up on me!  When we put away our Halloween decorations two weeks ago my house felt so bare.  It's a bit early to pull out the Christmas decor, and I have absolutely NO Thanksgiving decorations.  So I grabbed some burlap (yes! We have burlap!) and some fall-ish fabrics and put together this Thanksgiving banner.  It's a quick project - really!  And I love the look of the burlap.

Burlap Thanksgiving Banner Tutorial

by Andy Knowlton

www.abrightcorner.com

Supplies Needed:

• Burlap (if it is 40" wide, you will need 1/2 yard)
• several 1/8 yard cuts of your favorite fall prints**
• Heat n' Bond lite (or similar fusible web product)
• twine or string for hanging
• printed letter template (download and print here)

**the fabrics I used for the banner pictured are:

Red:  red daisy from "Delighted" (Riley Blake)

Orange #1:  orange circles from "Decadence" (Riley Blake)

Orange #2:  orange daisy from "Country Harvest" (Riley Blake)

Green:  green circles from "Decadence" (Riley Blake)

Brown:  good swirls brown from "Good Life" (Riley Blake)

Yellow: yellow herringbone from "Apple of My Eye" (Riley Blake)

Other supplies to gather:

• thread
• pencil
• scissors - nice and sharp!
• iron
• rotary cutter and mat 

Steps:

1.  From the burlap, cut 10 rectangles that measure 6" x 9".  note: the burlap is trickier to manage than fabric is.  I first cut my burlap into rough rectangles and then trimmed each one individually down to 6" x 9".

2.  On one of the 6" ends of each rectangle, fold in half and crease about 1.5" in.  Lay on cutting mat along the guide lines (the printed lines on your mat).  Place your ruler at the top left corner and at the 1.5" mark along the folded edge of the rectangle.  Cut along that edge, using your ruler as a guide. 

Unfold.  Repeat for all rectangles.  

3.  On each burlap rectangle, fold down 1" along the top edge.  Press with iron.

4.  Sew the folded flap down by stitching in a straight line about 3/4" down from the folded edge.

5.  Next you'll need the printed letter template (3 pages) and the Heat n' Bond lite (or similar fusible web).  Place the fusible web over the template and carefully trace each letter onto the paper side.  Cut out letters using scissors.  At this step the letters do not need to be cut out perfectly - leave some space around each letter.

6.  Decide which fabric you would like to use for each letter.  Following the manufacturer's instructions, fuse each letter to the WRONG side of the fabric.  Using sharp scissors, carefully cut out letters - this time cut right on the lines. Remove the paper backing from each letter.

7.  Lay out the burlap pieces and arrange the letters.  Once you like the placement, carefully move them to the ironing board - you can use a pin or two to keep them in place.

8.  Following the manufacturer's instructions, press each letter in place.  If you are using an open weave burlap, you may want to place a piece of paper behind the burlap to protect your ironing board cover from any adhesive residue.

9.  Top stitch each letter in place.  I used a brown thread and a straight stitch.

10.  Thread the twine through each burlap piece.  (To help with this I tied one end of the twine to a large safety pin.  The pin slid right through!)

Your banner is ready to hang!  As I said above, the Fabric Mill does carry burlap, as well as all Heat n' Bond and all of the fall colored fabrics you need!  

Trick or Treat

What a great time we had a the shop hop last week!  It was so fun to meet so many of you and hear what you are working on.  

Now the countdown to Halloween has begun - 1 week left!  There's still time to put together a few more projects to get your house ready for the big day.  We are out of kits for this cute wall hanging, but the pattern is still available.  This would be great hanging in your entry way or decorating your table top for this last week of October!

We also have just a couple more of these Monster Quilt Kits.  So, so, cute!  

(The finished quilt measures 43" x 51") 

Right now all of the Halloween fabrics are $3 off per yard so it's the perfect time to stop by the shop and get the fabric you need to make some trick-or-treat bags or a spiderweb table topper (instructions for both are free here on our blog!  Click on the "tutorials" tab.)

Spiderweb Table Topper Tutorial

Time for another tutorial to help you get your house ready for Halloween!  This is a delightful Spiderweb Table Topper that is easier to create than you may think.  

This project's finished measurements are 30" from one edge to the parallel edge, and 34" from one point to the opposite point.

Supplies Needed:

1/6 yard each of 6 different fabrics
1 yard backing
1/4 yard binding
Also needed:  a long ruler that has a 60-degree marking on it

Steps:

1.  From each of the 6 fabrics, cut two strips that are 3" x width of fabric. Sort the 12 strips into two groups of 6 so that there is one of each fabric in each grouping.

2.  Next, sew each set of 6 strips together using a 1/4" seam.  The recommended method is to sew two strips together, then press the seam open.  Sew the next two together and press that seam open.  Then sew the last two strips and press open.  Now sew the three sets together, again pressing the seams open.  This method helps prevent warping of the final strip set.  

Each set of strips should measure 15.5" x width of fabric (42" - 44")

3.  Find the 60 degree marking on your ruler:  (I highlighted the 60-degree lines on my ruler so you could see them a bit better.)

4.  Line up one of the 60-degree lines with the bottom edge of your fabric strips.  Make sure the top right edge of your ruler crosses just inside of the edge of the top strip (see photo below)  Carefully cut fabric.

5.  Keeping fabric strips in place, flip ruler over and find the 60-degree line going in the other direction.  Line up that line again with the bottom edge of the fabric strips. The bottom right side of the ruler should be 1/4" to the left of the point where you started your last cut (see red circle in photo below.)   

Carefully cut fabric.  To check your 60-degree triangles, use the measurements in the photo below (18" at the widest edge and 15.5" tall through the triangle center.  It's okay if this is a little off.)

For the next triangle flip your ruler again and move it over (keeping the bottom edge of the strips lined up with that 60-degree mark) so that the top right edge of the ruler is about 1/4" to the left of where your last cut ended.  Triangle #2 is a mirror image so to speak of triangles 1 and 3.  See the diagram below:

6.  From each set of strips you will get three triangles.  Cut all 6 triangles and arrange as desired:

7.  You will be sewing these triangles together into two sets of three.  (Three triangles to form the top half and three triangles to form the bottom half.)  As you sew triangles together, match up the seams and pin at each match-up point (see photo below.)  Press seams open.

8.  Once you have the top and bottom halves sewn and pressed, place the two halves right-sides-together (matching up seams as you did above) and sew using a 1/4" seam.  Press.

Your spiderweb top is complete!  Layer with the backing and the batting and then quilt however you would like.  I chose to do some straight-line quilting that echoes the seam lines of each strip.  

The binding is done the same way you would bind a quilt.  Don't let the points intimidate you :)  I thought it would be a little tricky, but I used bias binding and it finished up nicely!

If you make a spiderweb table topper we'd love to see it!  Leave a comment on this post with a link to the photo (on your blog, flickr account, etc).