Tutorial - Origami Windmill Doll Cushion

A fun project that takes about 90 minutes. (This is my prototype so it will probably take less time next time round.)
I used scraps to make mine.
Materials
4, 3" cream tone on tone squares
4, 31/2" background fabric squares
11/2" strips of both fabrics to sew together for the back
Stuffing
Neutral color sewing thread.

For this project you are going to be using up some scrap fabric. (Most of us have scraps from other projects.)
Before we do any sewing we are going to play at the iron.
You will need your 4 small squares for this.
Step 1 - Fold square in half, diagonally and press flat.
Step 2 - Take left bottom corner to right bottom corner and press flat.
Repeat this for each windmill section.

This is a "precaution step". Lay all your windmill sections out to make sure you have them going in the right direction.

Lay the 4 "windmills" on top of your fabric squares. Make sure they are lined up properly along the sewing edges

Now you are going to sew your sections together using a 1/4" seam.
Sew the top section then press the seam out FLAT ( I did a regular iron to one side and it became too bulky.)
Now sew the bottom section together and press the seam out flat.

Now sew across the center seam.
Iron all the seams flat.
Trim any outside edges that are not even.

This is how the front now looks after the edges have been squared up.
Be aware that where everything meets in the middle has a lot of layers. If I was to do it over I would choose a thinner fabric for the pinwheels.

The back was created using 11/2" wide strips.
Put the front and back right sides together.
Sew 1/4" seams all round, leaving an opening on one of the sides with no fabric seams.
Snip the corners at 45 degree angle and turn right sides out.
Optional - iron edges flat.
Stuff and hand stitch the opening shut.

'tis a gift - Song Bird tutorial

The idea for this section is to make it an anything can happen kind of day.

Since I am working on my "In The Good 'Ol Summertime 2009" swap I decided to do a mini tutorial.

It has turned into a very mini tutorial because I was sleeping beauty today with a stinker of a sinus headache (one of the drawbacks of living in Tennessee) and I'm only sharing a few of the steps in my thought process.

Tutorial - making the pattern pieces

I made the main block pieces out of tracing paper and added 1/4" seam allowances.

The applique pieces are cut from copies of the pattern.

I decided to do a "mock up" of the block in calico just to make sure the pieces all fit together properly.

Tutorial - sewing together

(Sorry , it loaded sideways).

The center panel is on point with 4 outside triangles to turn it back into a square.

Sew two opposite triangles to the center fabric.

Iron flat.

Sew the remaining triangles to the center fabric.

Iron flat then trim to the square.

Tutorial - Playing with the paper pieces

(Aaargh it loaded sideways.)

The book does not have full patterns for all of the designs. I made two or three paper copies of the block so I could cut out all the applique pieces. Each is numbered which makes it simple to follow the main layout. Just to make it a little more interesting all of the leaves are different sizes.

Tutorial - Applique option

There are a number of options for cutting out applique pieces. I chose to do the following.

Lay the pattern pieces face down on the back of the fabrics.
Draw round each piece with a dark micron archival pen.
Cut out the fabrics INSIDE the lines.
Lay out the pieces on the calico and make sure all the pieces are there. This also helped me to see if I like the colors together.
Store all the small pieces in a marked envelope. I plan to use them again.

I'm giving myself some options with regard to the applique. I've opted for raw edge since there are so many small fiddly pieces but I have not decided yet whether I want to stick them down first. This also means I have no "seam allowance" as would be the case for a turned edge.

I'm going to wait till I finish the rest of the block together before sewing the pieces down.

Tutorial - Play around with colors

I like the colors I picked out for the applique but the big decision is what to do with the background.

It's fun (at least for me) to cut out different colors and PLAY. If they don't get used in one project they will get used in something else.

After some trying out it became apparant that I needed to lean toward warm colors.