10 Reasons Fabric Is Better than Candy

This is worth a re-post every year!

10 reasons fabric is better than candy:

Nite Owls Hop: Door Banner

Who's ready for a little fall fun with some cute owls? We have several blogging designers working with Judy Hansen's Nite Owls line and we're excited to share their projects! Today we're sharing a fun door banner, perfect for some fall decor! At the bottom of this post, find out how you can win a fat quarter bundle of Nite Owls to play with yourself! Don't miss any of our Nite Owls tutorials!

Fussy-cutting the owls for this project is so much fun! The hardest part? Deciding which ones to use! We finished this door banner pillow-case style and left the batting out, but you can just as easily finish it using a quilt sandwich. If you do so, you'll need 1/2 yard of binding fabric (cut four 2-1/4" x 42" strips).

Finished project size: 27-1/2" x 28-1/2"

Materials:

1/3 yard white eyeballs print

1/4 yard green swirl

1/4 yard orange owls

1/4 yard black solid

1/3 yard black trees

1/3 yard gray swirl

1/2 yard purple owl print

1 yard backing fabric

32" square piece of batting (optional)

Fusible web

Cutting:

From the white eyeballs print:

Three 6" squares

One 3-1/2" x 42" strip

From the green swirl:

Three 6" squares

From the orange owls:

One 3-1/2" x 42" strip

From the black solid:

Two 2" x 27-1/2" strips

From the black trees:

One 8" x 27-1/2" piece

From the gray swirl:

Two 4" x 27-1/2" strips

How adorable are these fussy-cut owls?! Have fun choosing which ones to use!

Step 1: Draw a diagonal side on the wrong side of all 6" white eyeballs squares. Layer each marked square right sides together with a 6" green swirl square. 

Step 2: Stitch 1/4" on either side of the marked line. Cut unit on marked line and press both halves open. Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of three half-square triangle units. Position a marked unit right sides together with an unmarked unit, positioning fabrics opposite as shown, matching the seam line. 

Step 3: Sew 1/4" on either side of the marked line. Cut apart on the drawn  line.

Step 4: Press units open to create an hourglass unit. Trim to measure 5" square. (Tip: To ensure you center your hourglass block, line up the 2-1/2" ruler mark where the triangle tips meet in the center of the unit. Make 6. 

Step 5: Sew the hourglass units together as shown.

Step 6: Cut the orange owl and white eyeball 3-1/2" x 42" strips in half. Noting orientation, sew half an orange owl strip to the top of half a white eyeball strip, making sure owls are oriented correctly. In the same way, sew the remaining half orange owl strip to the bottom of the remaining white eyeball strip. Press open, and press toward the same fabric in each strip set. Cut five 3-1/2" wide segments from one strip set and four 3-1/2" wide segments from the second. Note: Making two separate strip sets like this ensures that all your owls will be facing up in the checkerboard row!

Step 7: Noting owl orientation, sew the segments together to make a checkerboard strip. 

Step 8: Roughly cut out your favorite 6-8 owls from the purple own print. Adhere fusible web to the back of each rough-cut owl, and then cut out on owl outline. Arrange owls as desired on 8" x 27-1/2" black trees piece and fuse in place. Use a straight or decorative stitch to applique if desired.

Step 9: Sew together the two pieced strips, the appliqued center strip, two 2" x 27-1/2" black solid strips, and two 4" x 27-1/2" gray swirl strips to complete the quilt top. 

Step 10: Finish the door banner as desired. We used a pillowcase finish (can be done with or without batting) and then stitched along the length of the solid black sashing strips to secure. You can also layer the quilt top with backing and batting and quilt, and then finish with a binding strip. 

Add a hanging sleeve to the back of the door banner and hang to enjoy! 

Want to win a fat quarter bundle of Nite Owls for yourself? Make sure you follow our blog (email and blog reader sign-ups in the right hand sidebar) and leave a comment letting us know you do, as well as telling us which owl you like best in this door banner. (They're all so cute; it's hard to choose!) This giveaway is open through Monday, November 2nd at 11:59 pm EST. 

Catch all the days of our hop!

Day 1: Halloween placemats by Yvonne at Quilting Jetgirl

Day 2: Throw pillow by Connie at Freemotion by the River

Nite Owls Hop: Throw Pillow

Who's ready for a little fall fun with some cute owls? We have several blogging designers working with Judy Hansen's Nite Owls line and we're excited to share their projects! Enjoy today's tutorial, a flying geese and owl pillow by Connie of Freemotion by the River, and then find out how you can win a fat quarter bundle of Nite Owls to play with yourself! Be sure to stop back this week for more Nite Owls tutorials!

Here's Connie!
I couldn't wait to play work with a cute bundle of Nite Owls fabric by Judy Hansen and take part in the Nite Owls blog hop. I don't know about you but.....I love owls.....especially cute ones!

This tutorial is for a fast and easy 18" pillow using the following colors.

Focal print: Owls 120-7051 - 1/2 yard for back of pillow
Focal print: Owls - 120-7051 - fat quarter
Fat quarters of dark orange 120-7071, light orange 120-7081, yellow 120-7082, light purple 120-7091 and dark purple 120-7072

Cutting Instructions:

Owl print fat quarter
     Cut (5) 6 1/2" x 6 1/2" squares

Light Orange print
     Cut (4) 2 1/2" strips x WOF
          Subcut (24)  2 1/2" x 2 1/2" squares

Dark Orange print, Light purple print and yellow print
     Cut (1) 2 1/2" x WOF strip from each color
          Subcut (4) 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" rectangles

Dark Purple print
     Cut (1) 6 1/2" x WOF
          Subcut (8) 1 1/2" x 6 1/2" rectangles

Sew all seams with a 1/4" seam allowance.

Each block will be made with 3 easy to make flying geese sections. Start with (6) light orange 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" squares and mark a diagonal line on them. In the following photo I am using the yellow rectangle, do the same with the dark orange and light purple. Place the light orange square on the rectangle.

Stitch on your marked line, trim and press. Then continue adding the other square.

Directional fabrics can be tricky. Sometimes it helps to fold your square back and lay in on the rectangle to make sure the orientation is correct before stitching.

Each block will have 3 different color flying geese sections and also 2 of the dark purple strips.

Sew your flying geese sections together and then add the dark purple 1 1/2" x 6 1/2" strips to the sides.

Make four finished blocks.

Layout your blocks as shown below with the owl print squares and sew the rows together.

Here is the pieced pillow top.

When I got my pillow top all pieced I realized something didn't look right.....I had planned to have the dark orange flying geese blocks surrounding the center owl block. I actually like this better but......I wasn't going to rip it all out as it is still cute.

I added a 18" x 18" square of batting and backing to my pillow top and then quilted it.  I also did an envelope style closure on the back. I cut one piece 19" x 14" and the other 19" x 11" for my overlap. Press under 1/4" on one of the 19" sides of each piece and then press another 1" and topstitch. Watch the direction on the owl print. Over lap the pieces and place right side down on top of the pillow top and then sew all around the piece.

Here is the finished pillow. I have a granddaughter who loves purple and owls! I'm sure this will go to her house.

I hope you enjoyed the fast and easy tutorial for this cute pillow.

Thanks Connie! Such a cute pillow! Head over to Connie's blog to find out how you can win a fat quarter bundle of Nite Owls for yourself! 

And be sure to visit the blog again tomorrow for another Nite Owls tutorial.

Catch all the days of our hop!

Day 1: Halloween placemats by Yvonne at Quilting Jetgirl
Day 3: Look Whoooo's Here Door Banner

Nite Owls Hop: Halloween Placemats

Who's ready for a little fall fun with some cute owls? We have several blogging designers working with Judy Hansen's Nite Owls line and we're excited to share their projects! Enjoy today's tutorial, Halloween-inspired placemats by Yvonne at Quilting Jetgirl, and then find out how you can win a fat quarter bundle of Nite Owls to play with yourself! Be sure to stop back this week for more Nite Owls tutorials!

Here's Yvonne!
When I saw the Nite Owl fabric line, I was really drawn to the darker prints in the line. I pulled together a Halloween inspired grouping, and I created a fun placemat tutorial that I am pleased to share with you today.

Nite Owl Halloween Placemat Tutorial 

Materials

Fabric Selection (120-7071, 120-7083, 120-7072, 120-7113, and 120-7102) 

Focal Print (Owls) – ½ yard

Background Print 1 (Orange) – ½ yard

Background Print 2 (Purple) – ½ yard

Backing Fabric (Swirls) – 1 yard

Binding Fabric (Trees) – ½ yard

Cutting Instructions

Focal Print (Owls)

·       Cut (3) 4 ½ʺ x Width of Fabric (WOF) strips

o   Subcut (24) 4 ½ʺ x 4 ½ʺ squares

Background Print 1 (Orange)

·       Cut (2) 4 ½ʺ x WOF strips

o   Subcut (12) 4 ½ʺ x 4 ½ʺ squares

·       Cut (5) 1 ½ʺ x WOF strips

o   Subcut (24) 1 ½ʺ x 3 ½ʺ rectangles

o   Subcut (24) 1 ½ʺ x 4 ½ʺ rectangles

Background Print 1 (Purple)

·       Cut (2) 4 ½ʺ x WOF strips

o   Subcut (12) 4 ½ʺ x 4 ½ʺ squares

·       Cut (5) 1 ½ʺ x WOF strips

o   Subcut (24) 1 ½ʺ x 3 ½ʺ rectangles

o   Subcut (24) 1 ½ʺ x 4 ½ʺ rectangles

Piecing Instructions

Half-Square Triangle (HST) Blocks

Using (12) focal print 4 ½ʺ x 4 ½ʺ squares and (12) background print 4 ½ʺ x 4 ½ʺ squares, make (24) 3 ½ʺ x 3 ½ʺ squares. Place one focal print 4 ½ʺ x 4 ½ʺ square and one background print 4 ½ʺ x 4 ½ʺ square right sides together. Mark a diagonal line from corner to corner on the wrong side of the background fabric and sew a ¼ʺ seam allowance on either side of the marked diagonal line. Note that to keep the focal print “right side up” during piecing, half of the diagonal lines should go from the upper left to the lower right, and half of the drawn diagonal lines should go from the lower left to the upper right as shown in the image below.

Cut along the marked diagonal line to form two HSTs, pressing the seams open.

Trim to 3 ½ʺ x 3 ½ʺ square, noting that the HSTs are generously sized to allow you to frame the focal print in the HST to your best advantage.

To complete one 4 ½ʺ x 4 ½ʺ block, orient your HST with the focal print right side up. Sew a 1 ½ʺ x 3 ½ʺ rectangle to the side of the focal print. Press seam open. Sew a 1 ½ʺ x 4 ½ʺ rectangle to the remaining exposed side of the focal print. Press seam open. The image below shows how each HST orientation is pieced into a 4 ½ʺ x 4 ½ʺ block.

Block Piecing Diagram

Layout (12) 4 ½ʺ x 4 ½ʺ blocks into (3) rows and (4) columns. Sew rows together into rows, pressing seams open. Sew rows together, pressing seams open. The placemat top should finish at 12 ½ʺ x 16 ½ʺ. Use whatever layout pleases you, or follow the layouts shown in the pieced placemats below.

Suggested Placemat Layouts

Repeat with remaining blocks to piece (4) placemat tops.

Finishing the Placemats

Cut placemat backing to be at least 14ʺ x 18ʺ. Layer backing (wrong side up), batting, and quilt top. Baste the layers together using your preferred method. Machine quilt as desired.

From your binding fabric, cut (6) 2 ½ʺ x WOF strips. Cut (2) strips in half and join (1) full WOF and (1) half WOF strip together to create (4) double folded 60ʺ binding roll.

Trim placemats square, leaving 3/8ʺ beyond each triangle point (see image above) and bind using your favorite binding technique.

 

I hope you enjoy the Nite Owl Halloween Placemat tutorial!

Thanks Yvonne! Love the floating triangles in these! Head over to Yvonne's blog to find out how you can win a fat quarter bundle of Nite Owls for yourself! 

And be sure to visit the blog again tomorrow for another Nite Owls tutorial.

Catch all the days of our hop!

Day 2: Throw pillow by Connie at Freemotion by the River
Day 3: Look Whoooo's Here Door Banner