Halloween Pillow

Last night our family went to pick pumpkins. As we walked around the pumpkin patch in the chilly air, I finally came to the realization that Fall is here, and Halloween is just around the corner. I guess I've been somewhat in denial about Halloween being just a few weeks away.  Even though my one year old keeps dressing up in his Yoda costume (or Do-da, as he calls it) I still kept thinking we had a long time to go until Halloween.

I am part of a local Modern Quilt Guild and this month we are doing a Halloween pillow swap.  I thought and thought about what I wanted to do and finally came up with this simple little pillow.

For this project you will need:

• pillow form, or stuffing
• 2 fat quarters
• scrap fabric for banner and numbers
• 12 inches trim
• numbers 3 and 1 printed off in font of your choice at 500pt
• rotary cutter, scissors, and triangle ruler (optional)

To start off I printed off my numbers (Noteworthy font in Pages) and cut them out.  I laid them backwards on the wrong side my fabric and traced them then cut them out.

Next I trimmed up my fat quarters to 18 1/2 inches square, as my pillow form was 18 inches.

Then I used my triangle ruler to make 3 1/2 triangles.  You will need four triangles. If you don't have a triangle ruler you can use the method I described here.

First place the 31 in the bottom left corner.  Appliqué on with stitch of your choice.  I chose to do a straight stitch at 4.0 stitch length.

Next, lay out your triangles to form a banner.  Appliqué.

Attach trim of your choice above the triangles. I decided to use a contrasting thread to attach my trim and ended up not liking it as well as if I'd used a matching thread.

Stitch your pillow top to the bottom leaving the bottom open enough to insert pillow form. Press, turn right side out, and press your seam on the bottom that you left open. Hand stitch shut.

Easy, peasy! Enjoy.

Burlap and Lace

Have you seen the super cute burlap and lace table runner that has been making the rounds on Pinterest? I instantly fell in love with the idea of mixing rustic burlap and dainty lace. This table runner functions great for Fall festivities, but really could be used year round. I think this would make a super cute table runner for Thanksgiving, and if I end up hosting this year, it will definitely be on my table.

For this project you will need:

• 1/2 yard of burlap
• 2 1/2 yards lace
• 1 package double fold bias tape
• thread to match lace color 

  This table runner will measure 15" wide by 45" long.  To start out, you will fold your burlap in half, selvage to selvage. Make sure you have no folds or creases in your fabric and be careful as you cut because burlap tends to shift easily. After evening up the burlap on one side, measure over 15 inches and cut.  This is the table runner.

Once you have your 15" wide strip it is time to pin the lace along each side.  Make sure you overlap your lace (as pictured below) so you are sure to catch the edge of it when you sew. I started and ended my lace on half scallops.

Next you will pin on the double fold bias tape. Carefully pull out the pins you used on the lace and move them to the bias tape as you come to that point. When you come to the end of the table runner, fold your bias tape back 3/4", then pin it onto the table runner so the fold ends by the selvage of the burlap.

After you have everything pinned on, its time to sew! Make sure to adjust your machine to a 4.0 stitch length (this is a standard top stitch length).

Sew as closely to the edge as possible making sure to catch all layers, especially the underside of the bias tape.  Its okay to go slowly so you can make sure your top stitching looks nice.

Once you come to the end of the bias tape, put your needle position down, and rotate the table runner 90 degrees.  Continue stitching up the side of the lace and back stitching once and the very end. Clip threads. Repeat on all four corners.

 That's it!  You are done!  If you want to tack down the inside of the lace you can continue stitching along the edge of your lace, or you can use a fabric glue like Aleene's Fabric Fusion to tack down the edge of the lace.  Press your table runner and then decide which way you want to put it on your table...

I still can't decide.  And yes, I pressed it, burlap just wrinkles very easily:).

A Little Subway Art

Lately I've been shopping around for some subway art for my little boys' room.  After I painted the stripes, I knew it was time to get serious about finding the perfect subway art. I'd loved this stretched canvas I bought at Target about two years ago, but I thought it was looking a little childish and nursery like.

After combing the internet (mainly Etsy) for some Star Wars subway art (my boys sure love Star Wars right now), I realized that I was going to have to budget a whole lot more than I wanted to. So I decided to design my own and I came up with these:

 I printed them off at 8x10's and framed them with IKEA Ribba frames.  The total cost of the project was just under $24...and $20 of that was the frames. You could definitely do this project for under $10 by choosing different frames or using some you already have. Another bonus of designing my own subway art is that as my boys grow, and their tastes change, I can quickly change up the art to match their current likes.

You can make your own subway art with these free printables.  Just right click on them, save them to your computer, then upload to your favorite photo printing service ( I used Costco).  These crop down best to an 8x10.  Also, mine printed out a little darker than they look on screen. Enjoy!