Riley Blake Union Jack Quilt Tutorial

Cheers!  I am so excited to be participating in Riley Blake's Union Jack Blog Hop!  I am in love with the fun colors of this Union Jack panel!  My friend, Karen, loves all things British: Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, the Royal Family, Sticky Toffee Pudding, Fish 'n Chips, Beef Wellington, The Cure & Adele….her husband served a mission in England, AND here is Harper, their adorable baby girl with a trendy British name!  Harper is the cutest baby ever and this quilt is for her.  

This quilt is the perfect size for a wallhanging or baby quilt

Finished quilt 38.5" x 30.5"

Here's how you can make your own "Harper Girl" quilt.

Supplies:

1 Union Jack print

assorted jelly roll strips of prints and white - or yardage to cut strips

Heat n Bond Lite Printable sheets

batting

1 yard backing fabric

1/3 yard binding

Cut the white fabric and assorted prints into 2.5" strips x WOF

I used 1 strip of each of the 8 colors, cut 16 white strips

Now cut each WOF strip in half

Sew into strip sets of (5) total.  I just picked random colors and didn't try and lay out the pattern.  Make 3 sets with white beginning and ending and 3 sets with prints beginning and ending as pictured:

Press toward the prints.

Cut the strip sets into 2.5" sub sets:

Make 2 piles: one with the white on the outside and one with the patterned fabric on the outside:

Now comes the fun part - grab and sew!  Once again, I didn't try and lay out a pattern, I just grabbed 2 strip sets and sewed together.  Make sure the intersections of the seams sandwich together nicely.

Make 9 of these blocks: 5 blocks with patterned corners, 4 blocks with white corners.

Fussy cut one of the Union Jack blocks, leaving a 1/4" seam allowance around the print.

Find a font you like and print it in reverse on one of these Heat n Bond EZ print sheets - you could also use a silhouette, but I am not that advanced!  

 Cut out the letters and peel off the backing paper.  Cut a piece of white fabric 9.25" wide (the width of the Union Jack) x 19.5"   Place the letters and iron in place.  Straight stitch around each letter twice.  

Sew the Union Jack to the white fabric.

Lay out your blocks in this pattern: 2 rows of 3 blocks, then the Union Jack strip, then 1 row of 3 blocks.  Square up the white fabric if there is a little excess on the end.

Quilt as desired

Gracie Girl Quilt Tutorial

These Gracie Girl fabrics from Riley Blake are the cutest!  I created this quilt to give to a dear friend who recently adopted a baby girl.  The quilt should really be called "Harper Girl" because that is the sweet baby's name.  She is a doll.  The tutorial can be found on the Riley Blake Website.  It's a super fun pattern and I love how it shows off the wonderful fabrics!

Mommy & Me Aprons

Sally has been begging me for a half-apron for quite some time.  I fell in love with the Remember fabric line designed by Carina Gardner, who I had the privilege of meeting at Sewing Summit!  Her Riley Blake Fabrics are so beautiful.  I love the vintage feel of this fabric line - it's perfect to go in my vintage-inspired kitchen.  The aprons are pretty simple to make.  Here's what you need:

Supplies:
3/4 yard main fabric
1 yard stripe fabric
1/4 yard pink fabric
1/4 yard pocket fabric
2 yards wide lace
2 yards medium lace
2 yards small lace

For Adult Apron:

Cut main fabric 13.5" x 36"

Cut stripe fabric 3" x 36"

Cut pink fabric 4.5" x 36

For Child Apron:

Cut main fabric 9.5" x 30"

Cut stripe fabric 2.5" x 30"

Cut pink fabric 3" x 30"

Sew the strip sets together using 1/4" seams in this order.  Zig zag each seam to prevent fraying.

Press seams in one direction.

Fold pink raw edge (hem) under 1/4" and sew.

Lay the wide lace with right sides together along the hem.  Sew along the edge of the lace about 1/4" depending on the lace pattern.

Fold under and press.  Top stitch in place.

Next place the medium and small lace along the seams of the fabric strips.  Top stitch in place.

To finish the sides, fold raw edges in 1/4" and sew, then fold in 1/4" again.  Back stitch at the start and stop.  This should also secure the raw edge of the lace and keep it from fraying. 

Prepare the pocket…cut:

Adult pocket: 8.5"x 6.5"

Child pocket 6.5" x 5.5"

Fold the top edge in 1/4" and sew.

Press sides in 1/4" and bottom 1/4".  Fold the top down about 2.5" or to your liking.

It should look like this:

Pin the pocket into place.  Of course you can sew 2 pockets or change up the shape.  I am right handed so I put the pocket on the right side of the apron.  Pin in place and topstitch leaving the top open. 

Prepare the sash:

Adult apron cut (2) 5" x WOF and (1) 5" x 21"
Child apron cut (2) 4" x 38" and (1) 5" x 18" - you can adjust the length depending on how long you want the ties.

The idea is to have a waistband portion (the shorter piece) in the center and two ties (the longer pieces) on each side.

Sew the waist band pieces end to end with the shortest piece in the center.  Press seams open.


Sew a 1/4" gathering stitch along the top of the aprons.  Pull up threads to gather.

Lay the gathered piece along the waistband piece like this - making sure to align centers.  Notice right sides are together.

Pin into place.  Sew just this portion sewing over the gathering stitch.

Press the entire waistband under 1/4" - all the way around, like this:

Fold the waistband over so folded edges align.

Pin into place.  I leave my pins in and turn the apron over and sew using the front of the waistband as my guide.  That way the front of the apron looks perfect.  The seam catches the back of the waistband just fine. Continue sewing the entire way around the waistband with a 1/8" seam.

Done!!

I think they are so cute!!  We've already made a batch of orange rolls today!!