Minky Pillow Case Tutorial



~Plus~ Tips for dealing with the fuzzy minky mess. 

I have had so much fun making pillow cases out of minky, that I thought others would want to see how easy they are.  They make great gifts! 

Supplies:
2/3 yard of minky (60 inches wide)
Coordinating Thread
1.5 inches of sew-on Velcro (optional)

Note:  This fits a standard size pillow in the United States.  (Approximately 19 x 26 inches)

1.  Keep the minky folded in half and smooth it out on your cutting mat.  My cutting mat has a grid that is 24 x 36 inches.  (The cutting process was made easier for me because my cutting table is set up as an island in the center of my room.) 

2.  Square up one of the long edges of fabric. 

Hint:  When I have such a long cut to make I use two rulers.  I hold the right one in place while I slide the other up.  This keeps the edge nice and square. 

Note:  I like to put the trimmings straight into the garbage to keep down the fuzzy minky mess. 

3.  Cut the minky so it is 20.5 inches wide.  (This is really easy for me with my 20.5 inch square Omnigrip ruler.)

I slide it up to finish the cut. 

Note:  If you can't access all the sides of your mat like me, it is better to rotate your mat than to rotate your fabric.  It helps keep down the fuzzy minky mess. 

4.  Trim off both selvage edges. 

It now looks like this. 

5.  Clean up the fuzzy minky mess.  I carefully lift up the edges and wipe it up with a batting scrap. 

This minky actually wasn't too bad. 

Then I take a lint roller to the edges of the minky. 

Note:  Minky does not fray.  It is like giving it a hair cut.  Once you clean up the little "hairs" it is good to go. 

6.  Create a 1 inch hem along both short (20.5 inch) sides.  I folded the edges under 1 3/8 inch and pinned (no ironing). 

I used my walking foot when sewing on the minky. 

7.  Lay the hemmed minky right side up on your cutting mat. Line the edge up with the 26 inch mark on your mat. 

Note:  This is the hem which will show, so if one looks better than the other use it here. 

8.  Fold the minky at the 0 inch mark so that the right sides are together.  It will be longer than the 26 inches. 

Pin both sides to the 26 inch mark. 

9.  Fold the extra flap around the bottom piece. 

Pin in place.  (I still left the original pins in.)

It will look like this:
 

10.  Sew both sides with a half inch seam allowance starting at the end near the opening.  Back stitch at both ends. 

It will now look like this:

11.  Turn it right side out and insert the pillow. 

The pillow will hide nicely under the inner flap. 

Enjoy!

Note:  I made three of these, and they seemed a little floppy on the bed (especially the more plush angry bird pillow case).  So I decided to add a velcro closure. 

~Optional~

13.  Sew 1.5 inches of velcro to the wrong side of the hem which shows.  Center it along the edge. 

Note:  I used a straight stitch because it will be visible on the outside. 

14.  Lay the pillow case flat on the table, and line up the other piece of velcro.  

Carefully pin it in place so it doesn't go through both layers of fabric. 

15.  Carefully sew the second piece of velcro in place.  Be sure not to catch another part of the pillow while sewing.  

Note:  I used a zig zag stitch because it secures it better and will not show.

16.  Put the pillow back in and enjoy! 

I think they look a lot better with the velcro sewn on. 

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial (and that it made sense).  Please leave a comment if you have any questions. 

I would love to see your project if you use this tutorial.  :)

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  I based this pillow case design off of a cotton pillow case I bought at Ikea.  The minky just makes it so much better! 
P.P.S. I will be linking up with Finish it up Friday and Can I Get a Whoop Whoop.

Pillows and More

I have been teaching one of my dear friends to sew, and we have started with pillows.  She has made a throw pillow, a standard pillow case, and a minky pillow case.  This has helped encourage me get to some pillows and other small projects finished. 

These three pillow cases are for my nieces:  C loves the color teal.  (This really is a pretend pillow case, because she already had hers and I never took a picture.)  S's current favorite color is red.  K's favorite color is "rainbow."  I am so happy to say that they love their pillows from Aunt Jasmine. 

After making the pillow cases, I got to work tying some of the baby blankets I had already prepped. 

I was a little behind, because a couple of the babies are already two months old.  At least the blankets are big enough (40 x 52 inches) to last them awhile.  It feels good to be caught up, and I still have 11 more ready to tie. 

I also finished some sneaky sewing for my sons.  Their minky pillow cases for Christmas are finished!  Monkey gets the orange car one, because he loves orange and cars.  Panda gets the Angry Bird one, because it matches Pooh Bear's Quilt.  Cheetah gets the brown one, because it will match the animal print quilt  he's getting for Christmas. 

I am hoping these will replace some of the pillow pets in our house.  ;) I have written a tutorial to show how I made these fuzzy pillows.  You can find it here.  It also includes some tips for dealing with the fuzzy mess when cutting minky. 

I am also thrilled to say that my husband's Christmas quilt, which I designed, is now in quilt top form. 

It has turned out even cooler than I imagined it would.  I am hoping to have it finished by the end of the week. 

Plus, I got more containers to house my rainbow of modern scraps.  They looked a little empty, so I added some newer yardage I had on hand to keep the scraps company. 

Some of them still look empty.  It makes me want to do some stash building to fill them up until I make scraps. 

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  I am linking up with Let's Bee Social and Needle and Thread Thursday.  (Buttons on sidebar.)

P.P.S.  I am linking up with Jennie of Porch Swing Quilts for her Santa's Sweatshop linky party. 

Stash Busting Update

Who knew that coming up with a way to store scraps of my newer fabrics would lead to a whole stash study.  :) 

On Thursday I decided to buy some bins at the dollar store to keep above my quilt rack in the craft room.  I got this idea from Cynthia at Quilting is more fun than Housework.  She stores some of her scraps in cute fabric buckets above her cutting table.  I originally looked for something I could sew a cover for, but when I saw these bins I brought some home to try it out. 

Turns out that I love them!  I can stack them two high and the lids keep the dust off the fabric.  (Don't ask what the shelf was like when I cleaned it off.)  I need to go back to the store and buy some more. 

This decision led me to separating my "new" scraps from my "old" scraps.  Now all of my smaller scraps which are from fabric purchased after 2012 are in those cute bins.  There are some of my old scraps which are pulled together to make doll quilts in a few of the bins.  And some of my newer scraps are still in boxes on the expedit: Christmas, dots & stripes, and I spy. 

Then I started wondering why I was keeping all of the old scraps.  The thing is that I am very grateful for the stash that I have, but I love modern fabric so much more.  I am trying to use up my stash and am ready to be DONE with some of the fabric.  So I decided to give away most of my older scraps to a local friend.  (I am keeping all of those light 2.5 inch strips for a scrap quilt.) 

I stopped doing stash reports in May, and was curious how much fabric I have really used this year.  My main goal for 2014 is stash busting.  It is always good to check on how you are meeting your goals, right?  So I spent the morning going through my blog posts to figure it out.  (It's wonderful having a record!)  Are you ready for the totals?  I was shocked. 

January:  53.5 yards used, 0 yards added
February:  33.25 yards used, 0 yards added
March:  51.75 yards used, 6 yards added
April:  9.75 yards used, 1 yard added
May:  30 yards used, 20 yards added
June:  13 yards used, 3.5 yards added
July:  7.25 yards used, 12 yards added
August:  7 yards used, 37 yards added
September:  12.5 yards used, 1.5 yards added

Year to Date:  218 yards used, 81 yards added, 
Total:  137 yards less 

I can hardly believe I have used more than 200 yards.  As my husband would say, that is two football fields!  And of the 81 yards purchased I won two yards, I added 15 yards to my general stash (mostly Kona White), and the rest were purchased for specific projects. 

This stash study has made me realize that I am really a project person, and I know how I personally use my stash.  So I spent the day going through my stash, deciding what I would use, and separating the rest.  I now have 4 WIPs (my sneaky sewing), 1 WISP (hand piecing), and about 50 potential projects out of stash and scraps.  Plus, I have a very large pile of yardage and scraps to give to my local friend who has a very tight quilting budget. 

Because I inherited almost my whole stash, I am not attached to all of it.  It feels great to do this destash now that I know what I really will use.  I feel so free.  :D  Here is what my stash looks like now (4 cubes with room to spare): 

For reference, this is what it looked like in January (8 full cubes):

And what it looked like in March after I used 100 yards (6 cubes):

I think that once I use up my older stash that I will mostly buy per project, but I will maintain a small stash.  However, I know I can always change my mind if I want to.  ;)

How are you doing with your goals for the year 2014? 

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  I am linking up with Can I Get a Whoop Whoop.

Berry Pie: A Finished Quilt

Evidently I can only put a project on hold for so long.  A week and a half after basting this quilt I just had to finish it.  I took a day off from my sneaky sewing to quilt and bind it.  It is probably a good thing I finished this. If I kept putting it off my boys would wonder what was going on.

This is my third giant star quilt that I have made from Jeni's tutorial.  I added a 1.5 inch cream border all the way around.  Then I added a 2.5 inch purple border, and a 5 inch raspberry border.  I like having the borders on two sides, because my family doesn't like square cuddle quilts.  My border widths were determined by how much fabric I had left after making the blocks.  It was a great stash busting project. 

This quilt was my September goal for A Lovely Year of finishes (link #30).  It was also a request from my boys.  They wanted a pink and purple giant star quilt that we could KEEP.  They are excited to have it finished.  Here you can see Panda's happy dance. 

I was excited to work on it, because I used my giant ruler (20.5 inches square) to cut out and trim the blocks.  It was very handy.  I love this ruler which was a gift from my sons for Mother's Day. 

I did the free motion quilting on my Baby Lock Tiara, Princess El.  I am enjoying how I rearranged my craft room.  I still have plenty of space to set up extra tables and quilt large quilts. 

I have learned that while I like quilting with my long arm rulers from left to right (for the feather vine), I like quilting with the borders on the left.  It makes it easier to still hold on to the stitch regulator with my right hand. 

I used matching threads for each of the colors. 

I like how the swirl quilting adds texture, but the threads blend in to the fabrics. 

The backing is a busy floral print, so it is not that noticeable that I used three different colors. 

I quilted swirls (some with curls/hooks) in the center of the quilt, a wiggly line in the narrow border, and feathers in the wide border. 

This time I quilted my feathers a little narrower.  They are about one inch wide instead of two.  I love how they turned out. 

I tried out Amanda Jean's suggestion for ironing the binding away from the backing before stitching it to the top.  I am amazed at the difference it made.  The binding was nice and flat while I was stitching it down to the front. 

I decided to name this quilt "Berry Pie" after Tina said it reminder her of summer bread pudding with berries.  I knew it was the perfect name after I made the label.  Not only is this quilt made with love, but my husband's birthday berry pies are also handmade with love. 

This was such a fun quilt to make, and I can see myself making more giant block quilts. 

Quilt Stats #112
Name: Berry Pie
Pattern: Giant Star plus borders
Quilting Design: Swirls with curls/hooks
Fabric: From my stash
Amount Used: 10.5 yards
Batting: Hobbs 80/20
Size: About 71 x 86 inches
Date Finished: September 2014
What I Learned:

• Ironing the binding before top stitching it really helps. 
• Busy backings are nice when using different colors of threads.
• Unfinished projects really do make me itch to finish them. 
• The skinny feathers look better in the border. 

I just wanted to add that I am grateful my husband added the clothes line for hanging quilts to our deck (which he also built).  It is so nice to be able to hang a quilt for pictures by myself when everyone else is gone. 

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  I am linking up with Can I Get a Whoop Whoop and Finish it Up Friday. 

Christmas Quilts Progress

My giant star quilt has been put on hold while I work on some sneaky sewing.  While the boys have been at school, I have gone from this...

... to this.  All four quilts are cut out, but this stack only has the squares for my sons. 

It is not normal for me to work on so many projects at once, but I have been able to cut them out while the big boys were at school.  I have to sneak in the sewing when they are not around.  My youngest doesn't pay much attention to what I am working on. 

I am able to work on my husband's quilt more openly, because he knows he is receiving a quilt.  He just doesn't know what it looks like.  So he is banned from reading my blog and entering the craft room.  The boys know about Daddy's quilt, but not theirs. 

My husband's cuddly Christmas quilt is my own design.  I knew he wanted a more outdoorsy quilt, but my LQS didn't have a good selection of fabric with elk, moose, ducks, or fish.  They were having a good sale, and so I decided to design my own to make it look outdoorsy without animal fabric.  This is what my design looked like:

I used high quality pencils and crayons on printer paper to make my pattern.  ;)  The next step for my husband's quilt was purchasing the fabric. 

The minky bear paw fabric is what inspired my design.  Here it is all cut out and on my design wall.  I totally love it!

I wanted the quilt to have an ombre look to it, and I think I achieved it.  I just have to say that trimming 2.5 inch half square triangles is not my favorite thing to do. 

I am so excited that I have been able to get this much done.  I hope I can still make time for more sneaky sewing. 

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  I am linking up with Let's Bee Social and Needle and Thread Thursday. 

My Quilty Little Secrets

Notice that I didn't say "10."  Please feel free to stop reading whenever you like.  ;)

Part 1 ~ I have "Quilter's OCD."

1. My craft room has to be spotless every day before I start sewing. 
2. I like working on one project at a time start to finish, but I like an ongoing hand sewing project.  UFO's give me a rash and make me itch. 
3. I love cleaning the lint out of my machine, and do it frequently. 
4. I change the needle in my machine regularly. 
5. I never sew over pins. 
6. I always close and lock my rotary cutter when I put it down. 
7. I love, Love, LOVE quilty math. 
8. I always want to know the finished size of quilts, which is why I include the statistics for my finished quilts. 
9. I am trying to "use up" all my fabric so I can buy for each project individually. 
10. I love patterns that tell how to press seams, because I like to press them to one side and have them nest together. 
11. I love an accurate scant quarter inch seam. 
12. I love perfect points. 
13. I love the whole process of making a quilt, but my favorite part is finishing!
14. I am a fabric snob, meaning that I only buy good quality fabric from my LQS. 
15. I am a thread snob, meaning that I love Aurifil and other good quality threads. 

Part 2 ~ However, some things are "Good Enough."

1. I avoid using pins.
2. I cheat when sewing on borders, but they still lay flat. 
3. I iron gently and use steam. 
4. I sew my bindings down by machine or by hand.  This decision depends on the quilt, my mood, and time limits. 
5. I only unpick when I absolutely have to. 
6. I have no desire to try paper piecing, even if you do get better points. 
7. I'm not very interested in English Paper Piecing either. 
8. Doing applique bores me. 
9. I can't wear shoes when I use the sewing machine. 
10. I always use quilt basting spray. 
11. Mistakes in quilts are good, because they keep you humble. 
12. I love Best Press, but I dilute it with water. 
13. It is more important for some things to look square than be square.  (Like with some directional or geometric prints.)
14. I don't know if my quilts are modern or traditional.  I just know that they are quilts and I love them. 
15. Quilting rules (even my own) are made to be broken.  For example:  I am working on multiple Christmas projects at the same time: One for each boy (including Hubby).   

There is one quote (whish I knew where I read it) which really shows my quilting philosophy.  "Perfect isn't flawless.  Perfect is finished." 

If you made it this far, thanks for reading to the end.  ;)  Also a big thanks to Amy at 13 Spools for starting this fun thing, and thanks to my friends who have posted their own list.  Check out Amy's linky party to see what other quilters confess to. 

XX,
Jasmine

The Month of August and September Goals

August was a super busy family month, so there was not much quilting (or blogging) going on.  However, I was able to finish my August goal which was to complete a floral quilt for my Sister-in-law.  I named it Garden View. 

Then I started a pink and purple quilt at the request of my sons.  I was able to finish the top and it is now basted and ready to quilt. 

So my September Goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes is to finish this pink and purple quilt.  Does anyone have a suggestion for a name? 

I really hope that things settle down now that both Cheetah and Panda are in school (although Panda is only in school half day).  However, I know that may take some time.  Panda and Monkey both have birthdays and Cheetah is in soccer. 

I need to get into a good quilting rhythm, because I just bought fabric for four quilts for my boys (hubby included) for Christmas.  They all have minky on the back, and I bought more minky for my sons to make fuzzy pillow cases.  I am so excited to work with new fabric, and not just fabric from my stash.  :)  Although the rhythm will be extra tricky, because I will need to work on these when the recipients are not around!

In addition to the four quilts for my boys, I also need to make one more lap quilt, some pillow cases, table runners, and hot pads for Christmas.  Better get busy!

Have you started sewing any Christmas gifts yet?

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  I will be linking up with Let's Bee Social this week.  Click on the link on my sidebar to see what everyone else is up to.