Singed Satin Rose Slide Headband: Tutorial and Template

I recently finished up a project using some red costume satin.  I had quite a bit of scrap left over and decided to make a little headband for my little niece.  I'm sure that you've seen the singed satin flower pins and clips before, but I thought that the technique would be perfect for a holiday headband.

For the tutorial read more.

Tutorial-Gotta Go! Portable Plastic Bag Case

I've got another tutorial for you.  Today I'm going to show you how to make this simple plastic bag storage case....though it could be used for a number of different items, I'll be using it to store old grocery sacks in my diaper bag.  Grocery bags are great to have in a diaper bag, you can wrap soiled diapers in them, or throw wet or soiled clothing in them while you are out of the house.  I'm sure that those of you with pets use them frequently for clean up as well.  No pets?  No babies?  Do you get carsick?  Keep a small case full of plastic bags in the jockey box of your car for those windy roads and long drives.

This small fabric case will help reduce the bulk of the plastic bags, and reduce the noise that they cause when you have to pull them out of your bag to search for you wallet or car keys.

I may even use it for storing extra nursing pads.  You don't really want those floating around in the diaper bag....just waiting to fall out at an inopportune time.

Want to make one?  Keep reading for the full tutorial.

Rocket Ship Applique - Accuquilt Go! Baby Tutorial

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I am now part of the Accuquilt Go! Blogger incentive program.  Accuquilt contacted me, and asked me to both review their new Accuquilt Go! Baby fabric cutter and dies, and  also share some tutorials with my readers.  I very willingly accepted their offer.

I must say when I first heard from them I was thinking "hmmm...do they know that I've only made a couple of quilts in my lifetime".  I soon discovered that the Go! baby is very versatile, and can help streamline any type of sewing or craft related projects, it is NOT just for quilters.

My Go! baby fabric cutter is lightweight, portable, and extremely compact.  I especially love the fact that it is compact.  I have a small sewing area, and I don't have a lot of extra room to store my "toys".  Clark even refers to it as my "small machine".  One of the things that Accuquilt says about their products is that they are easy to use and very friendly to quilters/crafters that suffer from arthritis or other joint pain that prevents them from enjoying their crafts.  The Go! baby really cuts with ease, and Clark likes to help me by turning the handle as we cut out shapes. 

Not only is it easy to use, but it does everything that it says it will do.  I have used it to cut multiple layers of fabric, felt, and even faux leather (projects coming soon).  So as I'm sure you've gathered, I am very much in love with my new Go! baby fabric cutter, and would recommend it to any and all of you. September is the perfect time to start dropping hints about your holiday wish list.

Click on the badge above to get 22 free project patterns, just for subscribing by e-mail.  Even if you don't have one of their cutting machines yet, these projects are sure to provide you with some inspiration.

Now on with the tutorial.  For this Rocket Ship Applique tutorial, I used my Accuquilt Go! Half Square-4" Finished Triangle die.  When I was selecting my dies I knew that this would be a very versatile die.  Have you seen all of the fantastic chevron quilts out there?  If you haven't there are several tutorials done by Accuquilt bloggers that feature this same die.  I wanted to show the versatility of this die, and focus on the fact that you don't have to be a quilter to use this cutting system.

Go! Half Square-4" Finished Triangle

As you can see the die features clipped corners, and features quarter inch seam allowances.  It really takes so much of the work out of cutting.

Keep reading for the full tutorial on this fun and more dimensional rocket ship applique.

New Friends: Turtle Softies

Ashley from Make It and Love It, recently posted a free (for personal use) pattern and tutorial for these adorable Turtle Softies.  I couldn't help but make up a couple for my boys.

Baby Numero Dos, will have a softie to match his car seat canopy. I used the aqua minky for the underside of the turtle, and the pieces of the shell.

 Clark told me that he wanted to have a green turtle, after going through my fabric scrap pile, we ended up with a green and brown turtle.  The underside of the turtle is brown fleece, the legs and head are brown flannel, and the shell is made up of quilter's cotton.  This little softie is a great project to use up smaller sized fabric scraps.  I don't know why I find so much satisfaction in using up fabric scraps, but I do.  So not only can you use up scraps with this project, but it comes together very quickly, and is perfect for a boy or girl.

You can find Ashley's original post here.