Homemade Christmas | Week 1 - Pillowcases

It’s only 11 weeks until Christmas. Eeek! Where did 2019 go? This year I’m trying to be more organised than I have been in past years, and I’m planning to make a lot of my Christmas presents (any family members reading this - please act surprised when you open your presents on Christmas morning!).

Over the next few weeks I will be sharing some easy and effective tutorials and patterns here on my blog as I’m sure there’s lots of people out there looking for gift ideas that are a bit different. Perhaps you are on a tight budget for presents this year, or maybe you are looking for ways to help use up your fabric stash and make room for all the amazing new fabric that will be arriving in 2020. Or are you trying to shop small this year and avoid the crowds at the shopping centres? Hopefully you will find these tutorials and patterns useful!

First up - pillowcases. I love the Envelope Pillowcase Tutorial by Aqua Paisley Studios and I have made these pillowcases many times now. They are a great way to use up those large scale prints that get lost when they’re cut into smaller pieces for a quilt, or you can use fun prints to make some unique pillowcases for kids. You can use up to four different fabrics in your pillowcases and it’s lots of fun to play around with different colour combinations. The way these pillowcases are constructed means that the inner pillow is completely covered up and has no chance of being seen!

The cute foxes in these pillow cases are from the Forest Spirit Range by Felice Regina (@iamlunasol on Instagram) and you can find this range in our online store here. You can also buy complete fabric kits to make the pillowcases for just $19. My kids are already fighting over who gets which one so I guess I’ll be making more! But next I will be making a more grown-up set using this gorgeous large-scale print by Shannon Newlin. In the past I have also used Anna Maria Horner fabric to make pillowcases - they are used whenever there is an Anna Maria Horner quilt on my bed.

I hope you get to make some pillowcases of your own! Thank you to Samantha of Aqua Paisley Studios for giving me permission to share her tutorial with you.

Emma x

Giant Log Cabin Quilt - Tutorial

I loved making this quilt. I loved using the bright colours and different scale prints by Anna Maria Horner. And the mixture of traditional quilting cottons and Loominous woven fabric just added a whole extra level of texture! It's backed in a silky Anna Maria Horner wideback. It's just the best quilt. Although I'll probably say that about my next finish too.

This quilt top came together really quickly and was finished in early October 2017. It was then folded away until March this year when I quilted and hand-bound it in record time so that it could be used as a display at my first quilt show stall. 

I've had a couple of queries about a pattern for this quilt so I thought I'd have a go at writing up a tutorial. I'm sure there are lots of other giant log cabin quilts out there as it is such a traditional block. Please respect the work that I put into creating this tutorial/pattern, and ensure that you direct people here to my website/blog to obtain their own copy of this tutorial/pattern. I'd love to see your own versions of this quilt so please tag me (either @hillstitches or @hillstitchesfabricshop) when you share it on Instagram. 

If you look closely at the photo above, you will notice that there are three different blocks in this quilt. I did this to mix things up a bit and it keeps your eyes moving around the quilt. Plus a bit of asymmetry keeps things interesting.  I'll refer to each type of block based on where the skinny strip is located. There is one block (lets call it Skinny Inner) which has a thinner border right next to the starting square. Then there is Skinny Middle, which has a thinner border in the middle round, and then Skinny Outer, where the outer strip is the thinnest strip. Does that make sense?

I'm also going to assume that you will have an understanding of how a quarter log cabin block is constructed, how to use 1/4" seams etc. 

I used several Anna Maria Horner Floral Retrospective factory cut Fat Quarter bundles to make this quilt, and added in a few co-ordinating fat quarters from the shop. There is always room for more Anna Maria Horner fabric in your stash so clicking here will take you straight to all the Anna Maria Horner fabric available at Hillstitches. 

I used at least 20 fat quarters in this quilt, and there was some fabric left over.  You may wish to use more than 20 fat quarters if you would like an even scrappier-looking quilt.  I'm one of those people who cuts and sews one block at a time, and I sometimes join blocks as I go so that the colours are balanced throughout the quilt. Each completed block is 18 1/2" square (18" square in the finished quilt).

SKINNY INNER BLOCK

Centre square - cut one square 5 1/2" x 5 1/2"

Round one (skinny round) - cut one strip 3 1/2" x 5 1/2", cut one strip 3 1/2" x 8 1/2"

Round two - cut one strip 5 1/2" x 8 1/2", cut one strip 5 1/2" x 13 1/2"

Round three - cut one strip 5 1/2" x 13 1/2", cut one strip 5 1/2" x 18 1/2"

SKINNY MIDDLE BLOCK

Centre square - cut one block 5 1/2" x 5 1/2"

Round one - cut one strip 5 1/2" x 5 1/2", cut one strip 5 1/2" x 10 1/2"

Round two (skinny round) - cut one strip 3 1/2" x 10 1/2", cut one strip 3 1/2" x 13 1/2"

Round three - cut one strip 5 1/2" x 13 1/2", cut one strip 5 1/2" x 18 1/2" 

SKINNY OUTER BLOCK

Centre square - cut one block 5 1/2" x 5 1/2"

Round one - cut one strip 5 1/2" x 5 1/2", cut one strip 5 1/2" x 10 1/2" 

Round two - cut one strip 5 1/2" x 10 1/2", cut one strip 5 1/2" x 15 1/2"

Round three (skinny round) - cut one strip 3 1/2" x 15 1/2", cut one strip 3 1/2" x 18 1/2"

I hope you have fun making your own Giant Log Cabin quilt, don't forget to tag me @hillstitches/@hillstitchesfabricshop so that I can see the photos of your finished quilt!

Emma x