Thursday, June 28, 2012

Christmas in July Fabrics

Hey Everyone, are you getting geared up for the sew along starting Monday?? Well we are and want to make sure you are prepared. If you haven't ventured over to the Flickr group, go check it out. All fabric requirements are listed there. Also, MonaPut did a GREAT job in creating a Pinterest board and you can view the fabrics HERE.

Look out for Monday, July 2th - Heather at Fiberosity will be kicking it off!

And don't forget about our giveaway going on HERE.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Dena Design Giveaway -- Pretty Little Things



The month of June has flown by but we still need to get your thoughts on the Pretty Little Things in your life.  Much like the new FreeSpirit Collection Pretty Little Things (24 SKUs, available now) by Dena Designs, this fun and whimsical fabric is the perfect combination of hand painted florals and geometric prints.  Let the fresh aqua, pink, yellow and orange colors inspire your creativity.  What would you make from six, one yard cuts of Pretty Little Things.  Tell us before midnight Monday, July 3 and six random comentators will get just that chance . . . to create some pretty little things. 


Monday, June 25, 2012

Dena Designs Tray Tutorial


Everyones summer is jam packed with pool parties, beach trips and outdoor fun. It is hard for one to take on such an extensive sewing project during the summer months which makes little projects like this quick and easy but very satisfying. So here we have an adorable tray that can be created to bring out that delicious lemonade out on the deck while you are waiting on those burgers to be cooked. Enjoy, and thanks to Melissa for bringing us this tutorial!

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Christmas in July Block-A-Thon Details!

                                 
Hey everyone! We will be kicking off the Christmas in July Block-A-Thon in just a few weeks and wanted to give you all of the juicy details! Below is the amazing list of bloggers that will be participating and showing you how to create some amazing blocks. So be sure to check out their sites and watch here for their block tutorial. It is a jam packed month with lots of blocks, but if you do not get them done in the short amount of time, we will be putting together an E-book that you can click through that will have all the blocks and tutorials inside. Very easy for catch up!

TWO GRAND PRIZES include ALL the fabrics to create the Christmas in July Quilt. They will be randomly selected at the end of the QAL in a comment manner.

Post your progress in our Flickr group that you can find HERE.
Also, if you are joining in, grab our button on the sidebar to post on your blog!


List of Bloggers!

July 2th - Heather at Fiberosity
July 5nd - Pat Sloan
July 6th – Melanie at Melanie Dramatic
July 9th - Pam at Pam Kitty Morning
July 11th - Kelsey at Kelsey Creates
July 13th - Katie at Swim Bike Quilt
July 16th - Kim at Persimon Dreams
July 18th - Amanda at Sasikirana
July 20th - Jane at QuiltJane
July 23th - Kristy at St Louis Folk Victorian
July 25th – Kimberly at Fat Quarter Shop
July 27rd - Lee at Freshly Pieced
July 30th - Jennifer at MJ and Co
August 1st – Mishka at Quilting Gallery
August 3rd - Tiffiny at Free Patchwork Quilt Info
August 6th - Tacha at Fat Quarterly
August 8th – Megan at Canoe Ridge Creations
August 10th – Jocelyn at It’s Sew Emma
August 13th – Final Quilt Reveal!

Friday, June 15, 2012

Christmas In July-Block A Thon!!!


ANNOUNCING our Christmas in July, Block-A-Thon! Starting the first week of July we will be hosting a quilt a long using some amazing FreeSpirit and Rowan fabrics to create an awesome Holiday quilt. We have a list of talented bloggers that will be showing you tutorials for each block in the weeks of July. John from Quilt Dad and Kristy are doing a great job in helping this project!

Check back NEXT WEEK to see the blog schedule and previews of what the amazing blocks look like! There will be a flickr group to upload your progress and also some AMAZING prizes in store. Grab the button on our side bar to show people your Block A Thon!

Tuesday, June 05, 2012

Dena Designs and Pretty Little Things!

Editor's Note: Dena Designs recently introduced a new FreeSpirit Collection called Pretty Little Things (24 SKUs, 100% cotton, available June). Fun and whimsical, this collection features a combination of hand-painted florals with fresh geometric prints in aqua, pink, yellow and orange. Inspired by sweet hand-made projects, these are perfect patterns for creating pretty little things. Enjoy this post from Dena!


I have a small stash of inexpensive photo albums and scrapbooks that I bought years ago. They make really special customizable gifts for close friends and family. You will be pleasantly surprised how easy and fast it is to cover one of these books in your favorite fabric.

Gather:
• An inexpensive scrapbook or album
• Enough fabric to cover it, plus 1” extra all around

• Patterned paper for the interior front and back cover

• Scissors

• Small decorative frame to attach to the album cover

• Photo for the frame

• Paper or fabric tag

• Ribbon

• Hot Glue

• Spray Adhesive

Sizzix Die Cutting Machine and Dies (optional)
Create:
1. To cover your album with fabric, you can often disassemble the albums to separate the front and back cover, but we think that takes too long! This is the easy-breezy way to get the job done. Begin by cutting your fabric that you will use to cover your album.

2. I like to use spray adhesive to cover my album – just make sure you spray outside! Lay both your fabric and album open face down on a clean surface. Spray the back of the fabric and the front and back of the open album. Then, pick up your album and lay the sticky side down centered onto the flat fabric. Apply pressure all around the edges to adhere. Close the album. Smooth out any wrinkles – if there are big ones you have a few seconds to reposition your fabric before the glue dries.

3. Open the album again, and cut the corners of the fabric ¼” away from the corners of the album on the diagonal. This will make neater folds when you’re wrapping the fabric around to the inside of the album. Also cut two slits along the edge of your fabric the same width as the spine of your album. This is so you can fold this flap of fabric into the spine of your album for a neat edge.

4. Spray more adhesive along the interior edge of your open album cover, and begin to fold the extra fabric up, so it’s neatly wrapping from the outside to the inside of your book. Do this for all the edges on the front and back cover, as well as the little tabs on the spine.

5. Now take some patterned paper and use that to make neat end pages for the front and back covers of your album. This will cover the frayed edges of the wrapping fabric. Simply cut it about ¼” to ½” away from the interior edges, spray adhesive the back, and stick it down. Do this for both the front and back.

6. Now, to embellish the front cover, I had a little gold frame that I found at the flea market, and I printed a photo to fit perfectly inside it. You can use a frame like this, or a die cut paper frame for your photo – whatever you have on hand! Hot glue this to the center of your cover.

7. Die cut a tag in white fabric with a Sizzix die cutting machine, or with scissors. Make holes or slits in either end and string a thin ribbon through. Hot glue one end of the ribbon under the front cover, and the other end of the ribbon around to the back of the album.

8. Take a marker and write the name of the person that your album is for. Now you have a totally unique album or scrapbook!
I love using this fabric covering method for all kinds of projects. Try it on journals, address books, boxes, and more!


Monday, June 04, 2012

Winners, winners everywhere! Night Shade winners announced!

Wow, what fun stories y'all (our southern venacular) shared with us.  Several of you were trolls (must have been a trend), political figures, Elvis, super heros, large monkeys, cartoon characters and even a plate of spaghetti (gotta' confess that one made me hungry)!  Creativity abounds with our FreeSpirit blog followers. Sew, go forth and share the creativity especially our six randomly selected winners; normasclay, hiyacinth, Kaylee, Stacy, Jennie P and Meredith.  Congratulations!

Now let's perpare for June, the month of graduations, summer vacations, weddings and Dena Designs! Tell your friends to follow us because we are fun, fun, fun and we love to share our fabric with you.  Stay tuned!