Personalized Quilt Banners : :

Last week I shared in my Instagram Stories this fun personalized quilt banner project that is so perfect for this Alphabet painted letter panel by Bari J for Art Gallery Fabrics! This print is a must have for your fabric stash -- from simple monogramed tea towels to alphabet quilts and everything in between, my ideas for this print are endless!





To make these little letter quilts I mostly use up scraps -- batting scraps, fabric scraps and quilt binding scraps. I start by trimming up natural fiber batting rectangles to measure around 9" x 11". It's important to use natural fiber batting such as cotton, bamboo, silk or wool anytime you qayg so you can use a hot iron and press right onto the batting. Next I spray baste or use a little glue to stick each fussy cut letter to the center or slightly off-center to each batting square. Then using a variety of fabric scrap strips I use Quick Quilt As You Go and the log cabin style to make each letter quilt. I finish by backing each, attaching the backing fabrics by adding a little quilting, and then I finish with machine quilt binding. Easy and fun!



For the Quinn banner I made and shared in my stories last week, I combined each letter with a variety of my own painted florals and new Love Story prints!



This sweet banner is for my niece to match her big sister Sylvia's banner that I made for her Birthday party this past Summer. I'm excited for the girls to have these to hang in their bedrooms and to hang on special occasions that celebrate each of them!



To attach each little letter quilt I used a long length of leftover Soulful fabrics binding. I used pins to hold each letter quilt in place and sewed to attach, making sure to catch the inner edge of the binding on both sides.



On both ends of the banner I made a simple loop for hanging. I love how this Quinn banner came together!





For Sylvia's banner I used mostly scraps leftover from pillows I had made in Sew Caroline's Chalk & Paint collection for AGF, along with scraps from my own collections, Wild & Free and Fleet & Flourish!





I hope these personalized quilt banners inspire you to sew with these fun fabrics! I'm so behind on sharing here all that I've been sewing these past couple of weeks. I look forward to playing catch-up over the holiday!

xo Maureen

A Birthday Gift Set : :

Haila & I spent this past Saturday morning sewing up a special gift set for her best friend's birthday and I had to show it off today!



She loves the drawstring backpack I made for her last week and REALLY wanted her friend to have one, too!

Inspired by the personalized drawstring pouches we made together earlier in the Summer, Haila chose Bari J.'s gorgeous Joie De Vivre collection and began her project by fussy cutting her friend's initials, A.R. from the Joyeux Alphabet panel. This time, I just had to guide Haila while she created a log cabin style block using my quick quilt as you go method to be the front of the backpack. She's getting so good!



Haila wanted to embellish this backpack with the same lace details that I had added to hers. The combination of these colorful fabrics, denim, and lace is so pretty!



For the lining she chose this sweet, pink Joie De Vivre floral. She did such a great job!



I think I'm most proud of how well she quilted the reverse side of the backpack. Her stitch consistency has come such a long way since that very first simple, quilted pillow we made together when she was just beginning to learn. I love it!



A little matching pouch from the scraps made such an adorable set!



The little pouch measures a 5.5" x 7.5" and the drawstring backpack measures 12" x 15" finished. Since these turned out so perfect, I'm thinking I might pass the bag-making torch off to Haila for a little while, so I can get back to more quilt making! I'm hoping to start a new one today using April's new Observer collection, I shared a little peek of my plan just now on my Instagram!

You can find these lovely Joie de Vivre fabrics in stock at Fat Quarter Shop and Llama fabrics!

♡ Maureen  

Personalized Drawstring Bags : :

It's become tradition that when my niece comes to visit, Haila, Ceci, and I plan a sleepover sewing session to tackle a new little project. Last vacation it was pillows, this time we decided on a pair of Drawstring Bags, personalized with their initials, with a quilt as you go twist!



These adorable bags started with Bari J.'s new, gorgeous Joie De Vivre Joyeux Alphabet panel. We fussy cut and framed each letter, creating little log cabin style blocks using my quick quilt as you go method!





The girls each picked fabrics to pair with their letter and I love what they chose -- a Blossom Lavish print in aqua blue for Ceci & a sweet Garden Paperie print for Haila!





These drawstring bags were so much fun to make! If you're looking for a sweet, functional projects to stitch up with a young sewer in your life, I definitely suggest you add these to the list! You can find the tutorial, with just a few slight modifications, at Svetlana's blog s.o.t.a.k Handmade!





♡ Maureen