Top 5 Reasons We Love the South!

1. Sweet tea: This cool, refreshing, sugary goodness is a staple of the South.

Photo: http://www.countrysbarbecue.com/2012/07/sweet-tea/

2. Gone with the Wind: Fabulous dresses. Clark Gable as the dashing Rhett Butler. Civil War drama. Star-crossed lovers. Arguable one of the best American films ever (and not too shabby of a book, either--thank you, Margaret Mitchell!)

Photo: imdb.com

3. Year round pleasant climate: While much of the United States is FINALLY starting to see spring, you can bet that the southern half of the country didn't have to drag out snow shovels in April (or March, or February). Instead, they've been enjoying these for months:

Photo: www.dutchbulbs.com

4. Our new Belle of the South fabric collection: Magnolias--what could be more quintessentially Southern? Two focal prints, three medium florals in contrasting colors, and an array of smaller prints to round out the line. 

Belle of the South fabric collection

5. This one's a bit of a teaser: Watch for a Blogging Design Ring tutorial featuring Belle of the South coming soon!

Black and White Winner!

It's Friday (hooray!) and we have a winner from the Black and White collection giveaway with Jackie's "Celebrate!" tutorial.

Random generator chose:

Congratulations, Charlotte! We've sent you an email to get your mailing address. Can't wait to see what you make with these black and white beauties!

Tutorial: Tasty Treats Part 3

Today Christina from 2 Little Hooligans is back with her third and final Tasty Treats tutorial: cupcakes!

Hi, I'm Christina from 2 little hooligans and I'm back again to share the third and last tutorial for my little fabric bakery items. 

Today I am going to show you how I made these cute little cupcakes.                                                          Each cupcake consists of a rounded body with a removable cupcake top. You can mix and match these little cupcakes however you want. And to make them even cuter you could add some embellishments to the tops. How cute would some little fabric flowers look on top? And just like with the cakes these are machine washable. I would just recommend air drying them.                                                               The fabric I was given to work with was Peggy Sue from Ro Gregg, as well as some of the Marblehead fabrics. Isn't is simply beautiful?! I was given 1/2 yards of each fabric, which is pictured below. I recommend buying half yards to work with if you are going to make a few cakes (from my other tutorials) as well as some cupcakes. But if you are just going to make the cupcakes, then fat quarters and large scraps will be just fine.

Materials Needed: (to make one cupcake)

* Fat quarters or large scrap pieces of fabric.

* 1 bag of batting (don't worry, you will not use a whole bag)

* 8 1/2" of 1/2" wide or smaller anti-roll elastic

*Regular mouth canning jar lid to use as a template for the cupcake

*Templates for the cupcake top (see links below)

Start by printing off the template for the cupcake top. You will need to print off all three pages. Page 1, Page 2 and Page 3. They are labeled as nesting baskets at box, but just ignore that. They are the same templates that I used to make these. I did notice that when I printed the templates off that the margins on the circle templates were a tiny bit off. Don't line up the circles right next to each other. Just line them up as close to a complete circle as you can. To make the cupcakes you will be using the smaller circle template only. Once you have printed off the circle templates, piece them together and then cut out the smallest circle. 

 Now figure out which fabrics you want to work with. You are going to need one main fabric for the cupcake and then another fabric for the cupcake top. The kids love being able to mix and match the tops. So think of them while you are making it.

Cut the following pieces out of fabric:

*Two circle pieces from your main fabric. Use a regular mouth canning jar for the template.

*One piece of your main fabric cut 17" x 3"

*Cut two circle pieces from the smaller circle template (use a different fabric then what you used above)

                                                        Gather the 17" x 3" piece of fabric. On the right side of fabric measure and iron at 1" increments. You want the ironed points to be on the right side of fabric. You are doing this to make little pin-tucks. They will give the "cupcake wrapper" more detail. Pictured below is the wrong side of fabric. It shows you what the wrong side of the fabric will look like once ironed.                                                         Using the folded edge as your guide sew on each folded edge. I used a sew seam slightly smaller then a 1/2" but if you do use a 1/2" sew seam that is fine too. I made sure the piece of fabric is large enough for you to do so. Iron flat again. Make sure all of the edges are going in the same direction.                                                           Now sew the seams down so that they do not "flap."                                                         

Now gather the two smaller circles and the long strip you just made.                                                          Start pinning the strip around one of the circles. Right sides together.                                                           Now find the spot where you started pinning the long strip of fabric around the circle. Measure in about 1" from the end on the strip piece. This is where you want to start sewing around the circle. Stop stitching around the circle about 2" from where the strip piece will meet. Now pin the remaining fabric around the circle until the strip piece meets. From the middle of where they meet measure your 1/2" sew seam and then trim away any excess fabric. Now sew the two ends of the strip piece together. Now that the ends are sewn together you can finish sewing the strip piece onto the circle piece. Trust me, it is way harder to explain then to do! Now repeat the steps above with the other small circle piece. This time just remember to leave a 1" opening for turning right side out.                                                            Turn right side out and iron. Working in small batches, fill the cupcake with batting. Hand stitch the cupcake closed.                                                                                                            Now to make the cupcake top. Cut out two pieces of fabric using the small template that you printed off. Sew right sides together. Leaving a 1" opening for turning right side out.

                                                          Turn right side out and iron flat. Top stitch all around circle.                                                          Take your 8-1/2" piece of elastic and pin it about 1/2" in from the edge. Now you want to start sewing (with a zig-zag stitch) while you are pulling on the elastic and much as you can. This is a little tricky. Just take your time and work in small sections. I usually sew a few stitches and then pull the elastic tight again. Make sure your needle is down and in the fabric when you go to pull the elastic tight, if not it will pull your stitches and fabric out of place.                                                           Trim off the excess elastic on the end.                                                                 Now place on top of your cupcake.                                                                     Aren't they cute? The girls love being able to mix and match with all the different tops and bottoms.

                                                                                            

Don't forget to check out these other tutorials for the handmade fabric bakery:                                                                               Ruffled Cake Tutorial                                                                                       Tiered Cake Tutorial                                                                               I hope you have enjoyed our little handmade bakery as much as we have! If you have any questions or comments please contact me at twolittlehooligans@yahoo.com.

Are you up for a Challenge? Marblehead 2013

They're not batiks; they're not solids. Ro Gregg's Marblehead prints are just right, and they're issuing you a challenge! What will you make with these textured, vibrant prints?

We are excited to announce the 2013 Marblehead Challenge!

Here's how it works:

•               Sew something using Marblehead fabric and enter it in our Challenge. Projects should include at least 50% Marblehead fabric.

•               A high-quality digital photo is required for entry, along with the information listed on the entry form.

•               Deadline: October 1, 2013.

•               Multiple entries per person are welcome.

•               Entries will be judged by both the public (on our blog and Facebook page) and by a panel of carefully selected judges.

•               Winners in the four categories (see below) will receive prize packages and be featured on our blog and website.

Choose a category for entering your project:

1.            Quilts made from an original design (not a published pattern) with a perimeter greater than 150''

2.            Quilts made from a published pattern with a perimeter greater than 150''

3.            Small projects made from an original design (not a published pattern). These can be small wall hangings and table toppers (perimeter less than 150''), bags, wearables, etc.

4.     Small projects made from a published pattern. These can be small wall hangings and table toppers (perimeter less than 150''), bags, wearables, etc. 

Over the next few weeks we'll be posting inspirational projects made with Marblehead fabrics, sharing a full copy of the rules and the entry form, information on our judging panel, announcing the prize packages, and more. In addition to blog posts, you'll always be able to find information about the Challenge in the tab by the blog header.

Start thinking about your entry!

See the entire range of Marblehead fabrics below:
Original Marblehead
Marblehead Global Brights
Marblehead Pleasing Pastels
Marblehead Northern Woods
Marblehead Glistening Christmas II
Marblehead Rose Stained Glass
Marblehead A Star Is Born

Tutorial: Celebrate!! Mat and Coasters

Today Jackie Kunkel from Canton Village Quilt Works is sharing a very cool project with a technique using tulle. We love it and think you will too! After you've read through Jackie's tutorial, don't miss the fat quarter bundle giveaway at the bottom of the post!

Hi, I'm Jackie from Canton Village Quilt Works, here to share a pitcher mat and coaster set that I made using Fabri-Quilt’s Black and White fabric line as well as Marblehead Global Brights.



You will need:

• Black and White fabric 
• Marblehead Global Brights 
• Tulle, 
• Glue pen
• Batting

1. Begin by cutting “wonky” strips form your black and white fabrics. Strip are no larger than 1.5" in width and are wonky. Subcut them into pieces about 12" in length.

2. Begin piecing strips together.

3. Continue this process until the fabric that you have is larger than 9.5" square.

4. Create a second piece in the same manner. Now you will have two pieces.

5. Take your bright fabrics and cut tiny little confetti like pieces in many different colors.

6. Place them on each piece of black and white pieced fabric until it is pleasing to your eye.

7. Take a glue pen and glue them in place, until both pieces are filled the way that you like it.

8. Cut two pieces of batting just slightly bigger than your pieced black and white unit.

9. Choose your backing fabric and also cut it about the same size of the batting.

10. Layer them as shown in the photo.

11. Cut your tulle to about the same size as your layered pieces and place it on top of the fabric.

12. Pin baste the 4 layers.

13. Quilt! I did a square spiral.

14. On one quilted piece, take a 9.5" ruler lay it down and cut around the edge for a cut piece of 9.5".

15. On the other quilted piece, take a 4" ruler and lay it down and cut out 4 coaster size pieces.

16. Bind all pieces. I used a different color of Marblehead Global Brights for each piece to make it more festive.

17. The VOILA! You can now sit down and relax with a cool, beverage!

I hope you enjoyed! I know you did!

Jackie

To go along with Jackie's tutorial, we are giving away a fat quarter bundle of the Black and White collection. 

 

Here are 2 ways to enter:

1. Sign up to follow our Inspired by Fabric blog using either the "Follow by email" button or the "Follow through GFC" buttons in the right hand sidebar, and then leave a comment on this post letting us know. (If you already do follow--thank you! Just leave a comment letting us know.)

2. "Like" our Facebook page and then leave a comment letting us know. (If you already have--thank you! Just leave a comment letting us know.)

The giveaway is open through Thursday, April 25th at 11:59 EST. On Friday, we will randomly select a winner from the comments below and post the winner's name here on the blog. If we don't hear back from the winner by Monday, April 29th, we will pick a new winner, so be sure to check back!