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Let's make a group fundraiser quilt for St Jude!

4/21/2022

Saddle Up St. Jude, we are starting a group quilt and it's going to be FABULOUS!

A couple years ago I organized a group fundraiser quilt to be made by lots of my quilty friends that went back to my hometown area in Illinois to raise money for St. Jude. The charity organization is called "Saddle Up for St. Jude" and each year in November they hold a big auction to raise money to help childhood cancer and this year I would like to do the same thing, only bigger!

Ok y'all, this is how it is all going to work...
I have created a YouTube video to share some tips on making scrappy square-in-a-square quilt blocks so that we can each make a couple blocks and they will all come out exactly the same. The papers will make it much easier for me to put all the blocks together since so they will be super square and perfect and I can't wait to see all the big scrappy quilts they will create for St. Jude! My goal is to try to make two quilts, one with the 3.5" papers and a second quilt with tiny 1.5" papers.
**The only RULE is to keep the center blocks all light in color (white, linen, cream, light grey) while the 4 corner pieces are all the same color fabric, any color is great, I want lots of color variety, use whatever you have in your scrap bin!
**It is ok if you leave the papers on, or take them off, whatever you prefer.
Dont have the foundation papers yet? Click HERE

All you need to do to join the group charity quilt:
1) Watch the video below
2) Make a couple blocks - (we are using 1.5" papers & 3.5" papers only)
3) Mail them to my PO Box below
Bonus- Join my chairy Facebook group to post pictures and meet new friends

Once I receive the blocks I will start piecing them all together, then quilt them on my long arm and finish them with hand binding so they are ready for this years auction on the first Saturday of November 2022.
*All blocks should be mailed by July 31st please!

The finished quilt sizes will all depend on how many blocks I receive, but Shannon Fabrics has agreed to donate some Minky Cuddle backing fabrics so they are super snuggly and beautiful! That's SEW awesome!

Mail quilt blocks to:
Thread Graffiti - Gina Tell
PO Box 4217
Lago Vista, TX. 78645

Here is some information about the Southern Illinois Saddle Up For St. Jude charity, you can follow their Facebook page, and each year in the fall they will post more details on the auction items. The annual auction takes place the first Saturday in November and in the last 11 years the action has raised $294,253.12 total, which includes private donors and the auction. 100% of the proceeds from this benefit go to St. Jude Children Hospital, let's keep that number growing!!

Check out the quilt we made for the
November 2020 Auction!

You can click the links to check out my 2020 Instagram post for more photos, and to download the Rainbow Taffy free pattern. Our quilt made by around 50 people and was included with many other auction items to help raise $37,500 to be sent to St. Jude in the 2020 benefit!

Feel free to share this blog post with friends, and please share pictures on social media with the hashtag #SaddleUpGina #SaddleUpForStJude
I am so excited to do this charity together, thanks so much for stopping by!

If you are looking to add some of the notions I used in my video to your sewing studio you can click my affiliate links to find all of them here, I may make a few extra dollars by being a FQS affiliate, but I will always use it to pass on fun content like this!

Have more questions?
Tap the links below to contact me.
Thanks SEW much!

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Game Night with Gina tell #ginasgamenight

4/4/2022

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What was your favorite board game
when you were a kid?

Board games were a big part of my life when I was a kid, because I am old (lol) we didn't have phones and video games to entertain us, we had game night. I used to love to play Monopoly, UNO, Yahtzee, Scrabble and of course Checkers and Tic Tac Toe. I can remember my brother and I with a pen and paper and a zillion little X's and O's on the long car rides, so I decided it would be the perfect gift for his daughter birthday coming up, maybe he will remember to tell her about the good times he had with his big sister...
Probably not, but it's worth a shot.

I made this entire game set with fabric from my stash, it doesn't require much fabric so it's a super simple little handmade gift that you can do in any colors.

First, I decided that I wanted to use some graffiti fabric that I had for the back side of the checker board since I had a few yards and she and I both love art! It is full of fun bright colors so I picked pink and aqua for the front.

I cut 2.5" strips from the solid pink and aqua fabric and sewed them into strip sets and then trimmed them down to 2.5" - this made it super fast and easy. Or you can cut 2.5" squares and piece them all together, as long as your board is 8 rows of squares across x 8 rows of squares down, it will work!
You'll need 64 total squares for Checker Board:
32 of one color
32 of another color
You will need 9 - 2.5" for the Tic Tac Toe Board:
3 of one color
3 of another color

I wanted to make sure the board was as flat at possible so I pressed all my seams open and used my clapper to keep them super flat while I did my pressing! I have the Riley Blake Clappers but I have heard great things about all the brands Fat Quarter Shop stocks.
**(If you see green letters, that means I link what I used and love)

Next, I added a black border, I cut it out 2.5" and then trimmed it down perfectly square after I did the long arm quilting on it. I picked a panto that stitched out pretty dense so the board would not be flat in some areas and puffy in others, you could also do small diagonal crosshatch on your home machine.

When I loaded it onto the long arm I used some scrap grey fabric for the backing because it would be covered up by my graffiti focus fabric anyway. I picked out the "Dizzy Izzy" digital pantograph with 80/20 batting, & Glide 60wt thread so it would blend in and be super skinny!

After the quilting, trim both pieces down to the size you like best, then lay your backing piece and your quilted piece good side to good side and stitch all 4 sides down with 1/4 seam and then leave a 4" hole on one side so you can flip it inside out. This is also the hole you will tuck your straps inside if you want to be able to fold it and tie it closed for storage when you are done playing.

It's now time to tuck in your straps and top stitch to secure, you can use anything you have for straps, or not add any at all, totally up to you. You could used canvas straping, fancy rope, bias tape or make your own.

Now it's time to work on the game pieces, I found some plain wood pieces on Amazon and I painted them to match, you can do that too, or just leave them natural color, I just used spray paint that I already had.
ere is what I got:
Checker Pieces and Tic Tac Toe Pieces

Now you'll need a bag to hold your game pieces, right? So lets make a super simple small zipper pouch too!

I cut extra 2.5" squares on purpose so I could make this matching bag, but I also made a YouTube video with some ideas for making one with scrappy strips, super simple with endless possibilities!

I hope you make the kiddos in your life some handmade board games, it sure is a fun little project packed with love and will make tons of memories! Share what you make on social so I can see them, I love that! #ginasgamenight

Please Subscribe to my new YouTube Channel and be sure to follow me on Instagram too!
Happy Sewing!
Gina

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make a Planner Cover with Fat Quarter Shop & Gina Tell

2/1/2022

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The start of 2022 means getting organized, and hopefully adding a lot of fun things to the calendar!

We all know the last couple years have been rough with quarantine and sickness, but 2022 is going to be a better year, I'm sure of it! We are going to start doing fun stuff again, and filling our calendars with events that bring giggles and big smiles! Color is my favorite thing, it makes me feel happy, I love rainbows, flowers and lots of bright saturations of color, so let's get creative and cover our Lori Holt Bee in my Bonnet Planners with our favorite colors!

I made this planner cover above for Kimberly at Fat Quarter Shop to celebrate their 18th year in business, but we had so many people ask for a tutorial so I made a few more to show all the fun ways you can cover your planner or composition book, or any book really!

The newest planner cover I'm making with you, it's from Lori's Spelling Bee Book and it's on page 140, I thought this would be adorable for my planner, my Grandparents had a phone just like this, only yellow, I loved it!! I also made a 6” block from Lori Holts Farm Girl Vintage 2 book below, isn’t this zinnia adorable? But keep in mind you can use a 6" block pattern from any of her books to create a unique cover, even the Spelling Bee Alphabet book if you wanted to make one with your initials. Check out the link HERE to order your planner, the discount is already applied!! It's 40% OFF Woo Hoo!! ❤️??✂️

It was so much fun to go hang out in the FQS film room again, so I really hope y'all enjoy it! I made several samples to show all kinds of different ways to make them, the cool thing about this video is that it will show you how to cover any size book, not just the planner, the pictures below are showing the process of using 2" scrap pieces to cover a composition book. The possibilities are endless, so have lots of fun with it! Watch the full video on the Fat Quarter Shop YouTube channel with the link below!

AND....to celebrate, in addition to the Fat Quarter Shop putting the Bee in my Bonnet planner ON SALE, (it’s 40% off right now so hurry) we both will also have some BIG GIVEAWAYS on our social media with gift cards and lots of fun Lori Holt patterns and notions for the two makers with the most creative planner cover!! Picture below showing all the good stuff I am giving away! Use the links below to come follow me and enter to win! Oh and make sure you post your completed planner cover pictures to social media using the hashtags #FQSPostYourPlanner #GinaTell
Instagram, Facebook and my new YouTube Channel, or click below for links.

I would love for you to follow me on social media too,
lots more fun projects and videos coming soon!
Happy Quilting!
Gina Tell

At no extra cost to you, I earn a small profit on things you buy from my affiliate links,
and I promise to use it to make more fun content like this!

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make a t-shirt quilt - Gina Tell & The Fat Quarter Shop

1/18/2022

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T-Shirt Quilts are a great way to display your memories,
and never loose them!

Hey y'all, hope all of you are staying well! A few months ago I shared a blog about making a T-Shirt quilt for my son, since he was entering high school I had plenty of memories from his elementary and middle school days to make him a nice big quilt for his bed. Well, the Fat Quarter Shop saw my blog and asked me to come into the studio and film with them, how exciting is that? Before Covid happened I used to go into the film room from time to time and help out while Kimberly was on vacation, so it was really great to get back in there and do some things I love! Check out some of my behind the seams pics of the quilt below and then check out the YouTube link to watch the full video!!

Click below to watch the full video on Fat Quarter Shop YouTube channel, and don't forget to subscribe!!

I'd love to hear what you think of the video so please tap like if you enjoyed it, and comment if have questions! Oh and I can't wait for you to make your own t-shirt quilt, so grab your list and order the supplies you need below. Don't forget to tag us and share your t-shirt quilt on social media so we can see them!
#TShirtQuilt #MemoryQuilt #GinaTell

At no extra cost to you, I earn a small profit on things you buy from my affiliate links,
I promise to use it to make more fun content like this!

Thanks Sew Much!!
Gina Tell

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Total Beginner Quilt - Rag Quilt

12/30/2021

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The rag quilt is the absolute beginner quilt!

In my opinion, the rag quilt is the best way to start learning about making quilts. It teaches you about your machine, the basic 1/4 inch seam, and stitching several layers together, but it's very forgiving so you don't have to do anything perfect and it will still look great! Plus making a rag quilt is pretty fast, so you won't get overwhelmed starting out with a project that is going to take months to finish! I'm going to share my techniques for making a quilt as you go rag quilt.

A quilt is made of 3 layers, the cotton fabric on the front, the fluffy batting in the middle, then more cotton fabric on the back side. Typically a quilt is made by putting all the front pieces together first then making a sandwich of the three large layers and then quilting them all together. But with this rag quilt we are going to put the front, middle and back together and quilt as we go for each piece, that makes it a lot easier to move things around as you learn, and since the seams are all exposed and deliberately frayed, the tiny mistakes that are often seen in a beginner quilt are hidden in the soft goodness.

Here's what you will need to make a small kids size quilt like the pic above:

81 - 5"x5" Pre-cuts for the front
81 - 4.5"x4.5" batting
81 - 5"x5" Pre-cuts for the back (I used solids)

Check out some great 5x5 Charm Packs pre-cut at my favorite fabric shop!
Or you can buy one 10x10 Layer Cake pre-cut and cut them down.
Two of my favorite Creative Grid Rulers I used here are Perfect 10 & Perfect 5

*Also: if you would like to make this a little puffy you can add a small handful of Polyfil on top of the batting inside the two pieces (and probably dont do the X in the center of each square) test it out and see what you like.

Here is my pile for the new rag quilt I am working on with you. I've had these cute precuts in my stash and I have a close friend that I am two babies behind on my quilt giving, so I am going to make a small one to throw over the baby car seat. These are great gifts for kids, they can be spit up on, snotted on and curled up with and they will make it through tons of washings!

Check out this quick video to learn more....

Ok, so if you watched the video above about adding the squares all together and you are all done and ready to add the borders here is the info for that. First off, you can make them whatever size you'd like, or not add them at all, this is just what I decided. My quilt is 9 blocks wide by 9 blocks high, so before borders it came out to be about 38"x38" and I did the top and bottom first, then the two side borders. Video below explains my techniques...

Borders: 3.5" x length of your quilt (plus a couple extra inches to be safe)

Mine still needs to be washed a few times to get the full snuggle effect going, but it is still very cute, and looks a lot like the puff quilts that have been so popular lately. You could even stuff a little piece inside your squares as you make them to do a test and see if you like it. Here are some finished pictures, have tons of fun!!

I hope you will give this technique a try and let me know what you think!

Happy Quilting!
Gina Tell

At no extra cost to you, I earn a small profit on things you buy from my affiliate links, I promise to use it to make more fun content like this!

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last minute Holiday wine gift bags

11/18/2021

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Wine gift bags make great gifts for friends!

My husband has a white elephant holiday party at work each year, so I am always thinking of new gift ideas to make. This year I have been much more into wine tasting than previous years because we have a lot of beautiful wineries near our home. I am not a big drinker, never have been, but a nice glass of wine while sitting outside in the Texas Hill Country with my hubby can really be relaxing and fun. We usually buy a bottle or two to take home and I thought it would be really nice to give some local wine as gifts this year to some of our friends close by. Well you can't give a bottle of wine without a cute little gift bag, right? So this is what I came up with....

I guess I should back up and tell you how this started.... It's no secret all crafty people love Hobby Lobby, the store has everything, and I could spend hours in there, and hundreds of dollars too. So as I was walking around the other day I found some cute holiday fabric on sale for $6 per yard, it was so cute so I got a couple yards. I decided to cut some of it into small table runners and quilt it on my long arm and then add a quick machine binding that I had in my stash and poof, it's adorable. Then came the idea for wine bags.

I just recently made Christmas stockings for a friend out of state and I had some white fluffy stocking fabric left over, I thought oh how cute would that be on the top of the wine gift bag? I also use it as a binding on the inside of the bag to cover the raw edges, it made a fluffy protector for the wine, it was easy and adorable. I actually made one, and couldn't stop, I started pulling out fabric left overs from my stash and going a little crazy, I am going to need more wine drinking friends LOL!

This fabric was leftover from my Jelly Snowflake quilt I made a couple years ago, it was a FREE Christmas in July project hosted by the Fat Quarter Shop so I got this for the backing. I just did a simple crosshatch quilting, added a quick binding, and tied a bow. If you are wondering about the Jelly Snowflake pattern, I will link it here, and show photos below.

Oh and while we are talking holiday gifts, check out this adorable Mr. Frosty table runner I made to match my Jelly Snowflake. The pattern is also FREE made by Christopher Thompson aka. "The Tattooed Quilter" and really, really cute! Click the green above for his blog post with the pattern!

Ok, sorry I got sidetracked with all the fun holiday stuff, now lets talk about how to make the wine gift bags...

Since I have a long arm, I cut out one big piece of backing and loaded it to the frame, used some leftover batting and then placed each piece of fabric I had cut out for the wine bags on top. I cut my main bag piece 7"x30" and did simple quilting, below is what it looks like from the back side for 3 bags. If you don't have a long arm, this is a great time to practice FMQ or straight line quilting on your standard machine.

Trim each one down so you have a 7x30" piece, you can actually get away with probably 25" if you want the top of the wine bottle to show (insert personal preference here)

Ok, now fold it so the right sides are together on the inside and sew both sides, the bottom is your fold so you wont have to sew that part, see pic below...

Now lets square off the bottom. That means I marked 1" in from each side of the bottom with a frixon pen (pic 1 below), and then stitched down the line (pic 2 below), then cut off the excess (pic 3 below)

I used a 1" strip of the white fluffy santa fabric to cover the inside seam, (pic below) I just folded it over the raw edge and stitched it down, very simple & it looks cute, and it will add some extra cushion for your wine bottle. Or you can do a few other things here. You can leave it alone and let the raw edges show, you can use a serger to put a serged edge on it, you can make matching cotton binding, or you can make a quick liner to put in it. If you pick the liner option you will want to cut it just a tiny bit smaller than your exterior cut (6.75x30)

Flip it so you can see your work, it's cute! Lets make the fluffy part for the top now...

Cut a 3x12" piece of fluff, with good sides facing together sew the fluffy white Santa fabric on the short side (pic above). Then make sure your bag is right side out, & put your fluffy piece inside the bag top with the fluffy side facing in like the first pic below, then use clover pins to hold it in place, take it to the machine and stitch down... Then fold it over the top of the bag and poof you made an adorable bag! I like to put my wine bottle inside and then tie a ribbon around the top to tighten. Or you can stick a handle strap on it in this last step.

If you don't want to use the white Santa fluff on the top, you can also just add binding. I made mine 2" and stitched it down with the machine, I didn't have time for hand biding, but if you do that would be really great too. Don't worry about being perfect either, they are adorable handmade gifts even if your stitches are not perfect! Just have fun with them, and do what works best for you!

They are just too cute! Make sure you share them on your social media and tag me so I can see what you made #ginatell #threadgraffiti #ginaswinebag

I would also love for you to subscribe to my NEW YouTube channel I just started, I have 2 new videos if you have time to watch.

Click here to go to my NEW YouTube channel

Happy Holidays and Lots of Love,
Gina

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new babies mean fun handmade quilts!

10/9/2021

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Today's post is all about one special new little boy... Max

I became Aunt Gina about 20 year ago, and it has always been one of my most favorite things! When I met my husband I was gifted 1 beautiful niece, and 2 adorable little nephews, and they were my world. I love them all so very much, and watching them grow up and become adults has been one of the dearest things to me! When they were small my husband and I lived in Texas and they all lived in the Midwest, so I looked forward to vacations down to the coast all year long. Sometimes we would stay in hotels, sometimes we would take RV's down and stay in the campgrounds on the beach, but no matter how we traveled, we had tons of laughs. Well.... earlier this year I learned that I was going to become GREAT Aunt Gina, because my oldest nephew is having a little boy! You know the first thing I thought of was quilts and blankets, little baby booties, booger suckers and stuffed animals, but mostly quilts!! ha ha So it got me thinking about fabric and patterns and I had no idea what to do first. Nothing seemed cute enough or original enough, I kept changing my mind because nothing really came from my heart if I was using another designers patterns.

One of my personal rules I follow as a maker is to never create the same thing twice, every handmade project I start has to have at least a little touch of me, and they always have a story behind them. Some of the stories are very deep, with a lot of meaning, most of the time the story is not super obvious from the outside, but if you ask me the meaning, you better pull up a chair because it wont be a short story. Quilts are my canvas, and this time it had to be very special!

So it finally hit me, my most memorable times being Aunt Gina, were the times that I got to be a big kid with them. I love animals, sunshine and outdoors, but most of all, the beach! The times we all spent together in the sand were the best, no stress, just relaxing with the fish. So that's what I tried to create, in the form of a quilt. The kids would stay up late and we'd look for frogs at night with the flashlight, spend time in the aquarium, and throw food to the seagulls, it was the perfect time under the palm trees! Being Aunt Gina is the best, and I hope that someday I can share those same memories with baby Max as he grows up!

I used fabric from my stash to create this beachy-love quilt using a variety of block patterns from great designers, and a few I created myself, and then I did the layout with no pattern, on the floor in my studio, late into the night one weekend. If you see green words that means I linked what I used.

Here is how it all started, the frog and the crab blocks...

These two blocks, along with a few others, came from a couple of my favorite quilt block designers. Ellis and Higgs & Burlap an Blossoms. I always check both of them out when I am looking for individual block patterns!

I also got several of the block patterns from Elizabeth Hartman's Awesome Ocean Pattern, then I made some simple patterns for the fish, bubbles, and kelp to fill in. Oh and the letters came from the Pillow Talk book that I have in my library by Laundry Basket Designs. Here's a late night pic from the floor of my studio while I was trying to come up with the layout...

Once I finally got the top all put together, I loaded it to the long arm, and added some bubble texture, I picked out Naomi's Bubble Bath digital pantograph, and I was really pleased with it. Little back story, I first put yellow binding on this one, and after I got it on I didn't like it, so I pulled it all off and added red polka dot. I am such a dork LOL But I liked it much better!

I decided not to put minky on the backing, even though it's so soft and snuggly, I always feel like cotton backing is more traditional and might last longer, so I picked out this Tree of Life yardage. But, I did make a small minky throw blanket to stuff in the diaper bag for the cold car rides, stay tuned, that's coming up soon below...

I have an old Brother embroidery machine, so I had to break it out to add his full official name to the back side, isn't it cute?
Now lets talk diaper bags.
This bag pattern is something I came up with years ago as I was in a big bag making phase, it's super simple, and I like that, I get frustrated with big long bag patterns, they are not for me. I put a yard of Moda Cross Weave on the long arm, quilted it with the Cobblestone digital pantograph and then cut the side pieces, and bottom, it makes it so simple. Oh and I used the black Kraft-Tex paper for the straps and zipper tab, it's a fun product, comes in several colors & it feels like a thick paper, but you can wash it and it holds up like fabric, and after some handling it looks a little like worn leather.
There is afun book with several Kraft-Tex bag ideas too, check it out!

Thanks for stopping in to see a little bit of me "behind the seams!"
It sure was fun to make all of it while thinking of all the memories of being Aunt Gina, feel free to comment with your thoughts or questions. Follow me on Instagram for all kinds of great weekly posts, or click below to visit our favorite online quilting shop!
Happy Quilting!

Fat Quarter Shop Quilting Fabrics and Supplies

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Gina's Bordered Half Hexies - All Done!

10/6/2021

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Hey y'all! I'm just hopping on to share a quick tutorial for you. Just a little something I made here for a baby gift recently, and it was so fun and easy I thought maybe someone else might like to try it! It's a simple half hexie, with borders!!!

Here's how it all works....

First, I decided I didn't want to use my 5" half hexie, or a 10" half hexie ruler, one was too small and the other too big, so I made one with template plastic. You can also Google printable half hexies and just scale them down as you print them so they are around the size that you want, and then use the print out to cut the template plastic, there is no wrong way to do it. I picked out 8" (that's what you see in the pic above) and here is how I made it.

I just pulled out a piece of cardboard, from a cereal box, and I cut it out based on the measurements on my cutting mat, then I took that over to the template plastic and made the final cut. Here is the exact template plastic that I purchased, and I really liked it!

Then to make things fast and simple, I purchased a layer cake, this is a 10" precut and it is perfect for this size template, you will even have extra to put in your scrap bins or use it for a pieced backing. I used Paintbox Haze for my background fabric because I had an entire bolt I previously purchased, but you can use any light background, or even a grey would be great too, my very favorite is Zen Grey, or here are some great low volume backgrounds to pick from. Oh an my favorite thread is Aurifil chalk, I buy the big cones and they last a really long time, Fat Quarter Shop has thread on sale right now too, so you might want to stock up!

The fabric cutting is super simple, this is a great beginner pattern, so don't get worried, you got this!
A.) Cut 2 of your Half Hexie template shapes from each layer cake piece
(I only used the dark fabric and left the lighter ones for my scrap bin)
Background fabric will go on 3 sides of each of your template pieces,
you'll need to cut 1.5" strips from your yardage, then subcut into 5" and 7"
B.) each half hexie will need 2- 1.5x5" for the sides
C.) and 1- 1.5"x7" piece on top.

First sew the two side pieces on and trim off extra to be the same as the template, then sew the top piece on and trim extra, video below will explain in more detail. (Wondering what machine I'm using? Link below to my exact Juki model, I have had this machine for about 12 years now, I LOVE it!!!) I usually arrange my blocks on the floor or you can use a design wall, then stack each row in the order you picked, or order some design boards, the are great to take blocks from the floor to the sewing machine and zoom, zoom, sew your rows, then attach all the rows.

After several layouts on the floor I ended up doing 10 rows with 6 half hexie in each row so I cut 120 of 1.5"x5" pieces and 60 of the 1.5"x7" pieces, but you can make yours as small or as large as you'd like. You can also skip the bordered portion and just sew all the half hexies together in rows, you'll have a quilt finished in a weekend if you skip it. Just have fun! I was thinking this would be adorable to throw over a car seat with minky on the back.

Ta Da, it's all together, and I decided I am going to make bias binding so I will leave the angles on the top and the bottom, but you can just cut the top and bottom to make it square all the way around, tons of options! Video below with instructions on how I cut bias binding...

Next up, it's my favorite part... Quilting!! I picked out Bubbles Original digital quilting panto, because I love bubble quilting on baby quilts, plus this one has miny on the back and I didn't want the quilting to be too dense, so it would still be snuggly. After I pulled it off the long arm, I used my favorite folded corner ruler to trim the curved edges, it's great I use it for all kinds of things, you need one!

I also decided to make a little fabric box to match. I saw one in a magazine recently and it gave me the idea to use 10 of the leftover layer cakes pieces along with some Soft and Stable so I could deliver the gift to the shower in a little box that could be used later for toys. I also love to use Soft and Stable on diaper bags and other bags, its easy to load on my long arm, and get great textures for the bag panels.

If you enjoyed this fun idea, please comment and let me know, if you decide to make it, please share it on social using #ginashalfhexies so I can find them in a search. Don't forget to check out the bias binding video below...

At no extra cost to you, I earn a small profit on things you buy from my affiliate links, I promise to use it to make more fun tutorials like this!
Thank you!!
Happy Quilting,
Gina Tell

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T-Shirt Quilt time!

6/1/2021

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It's a great time to make a T-Shirt Quilt!

Hey y'all, I'm back to share some tips on making a quilt using old t-shirts.
T-Shirt quilts are a great way to clean out your closets and drawers, and still save all the memories that come with each shirt, and I'm going to show you what works best for me.

Our son just graduated from 8th Grade, so I decided it was time to pull out all the shirts I have been saving through his childhood and make a quilt for him. I saved around 50 shirts for this one, so when I have that many I will always arrange them in a variable placement like the photo shown above, rather than in rows with sashing in between. *I'll share some previously made quilts below explaining that layout in a little more detail.

Once I have decided what kind of layout I will be doing, the first thing I start is to cut the shirts up. At first this seems like a terrible idea, cutting into such precious shirts, but it makes lot of smiles in the end, I promise!
**When you see green words, that means I linked the products I use.

First: Have a good pair of scissors and a brand new rotary blade handy when you start this project, 50 shirts will dull a new blade! You can do this step a couple different ways, you can either take your scissors and cut from the shoulder seam of the shirt down to the bottom on both sides, or you can simply place a template on top of both layers of the shirt and cut with your rotary blade. If the shirt has things on both sides you want to use in the quilt then you will want to use the scissors and cut the front away from the back and then use the template to center the cut over both designs. I got this June Taylor template years ago, and it has held up well and works great, it also comes in a tshirt quilt kit if you want to try that route, or you can use the Creative Grids 15.5" for multiple quilty things...

Next:
Now that all the shirts are cut it's time to put some interfacing on the back of them. This step is not necessary, I have known people that do not use it, but I find it is MUCH easier to handle the shirts if they do not have all the stretch. The interfacing will add a layer to the back side of the shirts to make them heavier and sturdier so you can cut them square and get better results overall. There are a zillion different kinds of interfacing out on the market, I use Pellon 906F, I buy big rolls of it because I used to make a lot of t-shirt quilts, but you can also buy it by the yard at your local craft shop. The idea is to cut the interfacing just a tiny bit smaller than the shirt you are putting it on so you can avoid the extra adhesive around the edges that will get on your iron. I used an iron the first couple times I made a tshirt quilt and then decided I would invest in a heat press to save time, it is well worth it if you plan on making more than a few of them! Since I got mine so long ago, I can't share the exact model, but I will share a similar model that is the same size and should work very similarly. Check it out....
Here is a short video of the heat press in actions, I really love how fast it makes things!

Ok, we are getting to the fun part now! The layout with 50 shirts has no right or wrong answer, you just make it work the best way you can, and just go with it. I usually try to put all the shirts in piles based on similar size, then you can sew them into sections. But first, I lay them all out on the floor and figure out what shirts I want in the middle. Remember if you are putting this on a bed, the shirts on the corners are going to hang over the side, so put the important ones in the middle. Below is a picture of mine, I ran out of floor space in one room so I moved around until I found the space, haha you just have to laugh and have fun with these. Once you get an idea of what layout you want then start sewing them into sections. If you look at my picture below, I sewed the red one on the top right to the white one below it, and then again to the red one under that, then I worked in the row to the left of it and then I added the third row from the left. So those 11 shirts are all sewn together, then I just continue to make quadrants. If you notice on the left side under the red pizza shirt, I needed a few inches to make that section long enough, so I added a 3" Raiders fabric in. Its just like a puzzle, you have to trim some down, and add some in sometimes. Don't be scared to make it work for you!

Now that all your shirts are finally together, you will begin to feel like a ROCKSTAR, and it's ok if some of the sides are not exact, mine never are, even though you put that interfacing on them, there is still a little stretch. You can square the edges up after the quilting, just try to leave some blank space on the sides of the text so you don't cut off any important shirt parts in your trimming.

When I quilt T-Shirt quilts, I always pick pretty simple panto designs, or I do simple free hand meander. With so much going on with the shirt text, I don't like to see really heavy quilting over the shirts. This time I picked out the Paradox digital design, it's perfect for anyone, and stitches out pretty fast. Here are a few pictures while it was on the long arm frame. People ask me all the time if I use batting, the answer is always yes. I have never made a quilt without batting. I use Pellon 80/20 batting for almost all my projects, I have been using it for years, and I love how it washes, and its great for snuggles! I buy my big rolls at a wholesale company now, but I used to get the rolls on Overstock, during big holiday weekends they always have great sales with free shipping! Woo Hoo!

Once your quilting is done, it's time to trim and bind. I usually trim mine so there is about 1/8" of batting left all the way around, and I used 2.5" binding. If I am machine binding, I will use the walking foot to help with the weight and bulk, then I add the binding to the back, then fold over to the front so I can see my final stitch better. If I do hand binding I add it to the front, then fold over to the back. This time I did machine binding...

Looking for fabric or notions? Check out The Fat Quarter Shop's huge selection

If I have 12-20 shirts then I will usually place the shirts in rows all cut out the same size and add sashing in between. Here are a few examples of what I mean by that. These shirts were all cut 15.5" with the template I mentioned above, then 2.5" sashing in between, sometimes I add a border, sometimes I don't, just depends what I am looking for.

If you are interested in how I made the quilts with the T-shirts and sashing, here I another video I did with Fat Quarter Shop, there are tons of options when making these wonderful memory quilts!

I hope you are inspired to pull out some old shirts and make something that will last for years to come! I would love to hear your feedback, share your pictures on social and tag me, I love to see your projects! #ginatell #threadgraffiti #TShirtQuilt #memoryquilt
Happy Quilting!!

3 Comments

Jolly bar 3 Quilt Along

5/17/2021

1 Comment

Who's loving this quilt along sew far? I love Jolly Bars, they are 5x10 precuts, and they make great fast quilts! This is the 3rd Jolly Bar Book to come out, and I have made several things from each of them, they are a must have for your library! To celebrate the Jolly Bar Book Volume 3, Fat Quarter Shop is hosting the Jolly Bar 3 Quilt Along, that means we all get to make an adorable table runner together! All you need is the new Jolly Bar Book series – Volume 3 a Jolly Bar and some background fabric, the fabric requirements and all the details are below. The Jolly Bar Book Volume 3 includes 20 quilt patterns designed just for our exclusive 5″ x 10″ Jolly Bar precuts,

Starting Monday, April 5, 2021, we’ll be sewing a different block each week for eight weeks. The piece we’re making uses a sampling of blocks from the book, and all together they make an exquisite tablerunner that measures 22.5″ x 80.5″.
** I added some alternate options below because I wanted my runner a little smaller.**

Fabric Requirements

One Jolly Bar
1 ⅞ yards for Background, Sashing & Borders
Fat Quarter Accent Fabric (Paradox Blocks)
⅝ yard for Binding
2 ¼ yards for Pieced Backing
Jolly Bar 3 Book

DOWNLOAD A PDF OF FABRIC REQUIREMENTS

I decided that since I love all things rusty orange, blacks and greys that I would use Smoke & Rusty by Lella Boutique, it has a fun modern fell, and it will match my house great!
I added an alternate pattern option to the bottom (keep scrolling down) since I wanted my runner to be a little shorter. Check out what I did a little different, and feel free to ask questions if you have them. My runner came out 22x65, here is a sneak peek...

Week 1 - April 5th *Treasure Trove Block

Download Block 1 Instructions HERE

Week 2 - April 12th *Homecoming Blocks

Download Block 2 Instructions HERE

Week 3 - April 19th *Springtime Bliss Blocks
(I'm using on the back)

Download Block 3 Instructions HERE

Week 4 - April 26th *Paradox Block (I'm using on the back)

Download Block 4 Instructions HERE

Week 5 - May 3rd *Westward Blocks (I'm using on the back)

Download block 5 Instructions HERE

Week 6 - May 10th *Friendship Bracelet Block
(I'm making 2 and using them on the front)

Download Block 6 Instructions HERE

I'm making two blocks to go on the front instead of the backing, I wanted my runner shorter so this seemed like a better option for me. See below for alternate cutting options.

Week 7 - May 17th *Tablerunner sashing & borders

Since I made my runner shorter (22x65) I decided to make my sashing pieces 1.5" and I really liked the finished size.

Download Block 7 Instructions HERE

Week 8 - May 24th *Tablerunner Backing, Quilting, & Binding

Download Backing Instructions HERE

Since I made my table runner different, the size for my backing will be shorter, but you can still used the above layout, you just wont need as much fabric on the right and left side of the center block. I explained down below how I figured my backing in the alternate pattern section.
I upload my logo to Spoonflower, put the image on repeat until I get the desired size and have it printed on white cotton fabric, then I cut them and use them as labels in my quilts.

DOWNLOAD PDF BLOCK PATTERNS HERE

Alternate Size Options:

When I started this sew along I wasn't sure if I was going to want the table runner to be as long as the original pattern suggested, so I made some changes to make mine a little shorter.
Here are the changes I made...
First, I decided that I really liked the block that was featured on the backing because the Smoke and Rust fabric collection only had a few pieces of the rusty orange in the bundle, and I wanted to use them on the front. So instead of making week 4 block (Paradox) and week 5 block (Westward) on the front, I decided I would make two of the week 6 blocks (Friendship Bracelet) block instead. But since they are only 12.5" blocks I needed something added to them to make them fit, so I added 6 HST and a sashing strip.
*Tip: So depending on the cutting of some patterns, there are often a lot of corner pieces that are cut off and not used after the trimming, so I made a little video and took a few pictures to give a little mini tutorial to show you how I better use that leftover.

So now that you have my HST tip, you can use it on future projects. I almost always do this when I have the opportunity, and then I can trim them down to the size I want and use them on the backing or make matching pillows, y'all know I love pillows! *In the video I sorta stumbled as I mentioned the cutting part, you will only cut once, right down the middle between the two lines, pictures shown below...

If you want to use my alternate pattern, you'll need to add:
6 - 4.5" HST (half square triangles)
2 - 2.5" x 12.5" sashing pieces (sew between the block and the HST)
I used 1.5" strips for sashing and borders pieces (A-D-C in week 7 instructions)
Backing: Because I made my table runner a little shorter, my backing was made using 3 blocks in the center and then filling in around that. I simply laid my table runner top on the floor, and figured that I would need 8.5" on top and bottom of my blocks to get enough extra to load to the long arm. I then placed that piece center on the runner top, and measured out to the left and right to figure how much I would need to either side. All pieced backings will be a little different, the best way I have found is to lay my top down and figure things from the center and measure my way out.
Binding: I usually use 2.5" strips for my binding, then I machine stitch it to the top with the sewing machine, press flat, then fold over the back side, hold with wonder clips and hand stitch it down using matching Aurifil 50 thread and Lori Holt Binding needles.

My alternate option comes out to be 65" long, rather than the original 80".
OH, and if you look at the picture above, I alway leave the little tails on the border strip, then I trim them down so they are perfectly square after I take it off the long arm. I dont do this on quilts, but I always do on smaller pieces that are going on tables, I want them to look perfect up close on a table.

And just to make things a little more fun, I will share with you some of my behind the seams pictures of the quilts that I got to load to my the long arm for the book. I was lucky enough to quilt the quilts featured on the book covers and inside the book too!

I have some quilty friends sewing along with me, you should follow along for lots of inspiration, since we will all be using different fabrics.
Visit the Fat Quarter Shop blog for lots of links for all the bloggers sewing along too!

Gina Tell (@gina_tell_threadgraffiti), Thread Graffiti
Jen Belnap (@thesmittenchicken), The Smitten Chicken
Jeresther Thorpe-Page (@Sew_SweetSeeBee)
Lisa Johnson (@intheboondocks), In the Boondocks
Mona Phelps (@mona.phelps), Bluegrass Stitches
Pat Sloan (@quilterpatsloan), Pat Sloan
Patty (@elmstreetquilts), Elm Street Quilts
Sondra Davison (@sondradavison), Out of the Blue Quilts

Please follow along on Facebook and Instagram for updates, and be sure to hashtag your progress with #JollyBar3QAL on Instagram and Facebook so we can see and share your work!

Until next time, Happy Quilting!!!
Gina

1 Comment

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Hey y'all,
I'm Gina Tell...

Thanks for checking out my blog! I started quilting around 2003 when I first moved to Austin Texas, and I knew absolutely nothing about a sewing machine! My journey started with lots of mistakes, and questions, because social media tutorials didn't really exist at that time. I will be telling some of the ridiculous stories of my early sewing days, some handy sewing tips, and sharing some of the fun sewing projects I do for the Fat Quarter Shop!

Since I share affiliate marketing strategies with all my awesome quilty friends, naturally my content may contain affiliate links for the products I use and love. If you take action (i.e. subscribe or make a purchase) after clicking one of these links, I'll earn some extra sewing money, at no additional cost to you, which I promise to use while creating more fun and helpful content like this.

Saddle Up St. Jude, we are starting a group quilt and it's going to be FABULOUS!

Check out the quilt we made for the ​November 2020 Auction!

Have more questions? ​Tap the links below to contact me. Thanks SEW much!

What was your favorite board game​when you were a kid?

Now you'll need a bag to hold your game pieces, right? So lets make a super simple small zipper pouch too!

The start of 2022 means getting organized, and hopefully adding a lot of fun things to the calendar!

T-Shirt Quilts are a great way to display your memories, ​and never loose them!

Click below to watch the full video on Fat Quarter Shop YouTube channel, and don't forget to subscribe!!

The rag quilt is the absolute beginner quilt!

Check out this quick video to learn more....

Borders: 3.5" x length of your quilt (plus a couple extra inches to be safe)

I hope you will give this technique a try and let me know what you think! Happy Quilting! Gina Tell

Wine gift bags make great gifts for friends!

Today's post is all about one special new little boy... Max

Here's how it all works....

It's a great time to make a T-Shirt Quilt!

Week 1 - April 5th *Treasure Trove Block

Week 2 - April 12th *Homecoming Blocks

Week 3 - April 19th *Springtime Bliss Blocks ​(I'm using on the back)

Week 4 - April 26th *Paradox Block (I'm using on the back)

Week 5 - May 3rd *Westward Blocks (I'm using on the back)

Week 6 - May 10th *Friendship Bracelet Block ​(I'm making 2 and using them on the front)

Week 7 - May 17th *Tablerunner sashing & borders​Since I made my runner shorter (22x65) I decided to make my sashing pieces 1.5" and I really liked the finished size.

Week 8 - May 24th *Tablerunner Backing, Quilting, & Binding

Download Backing Instructions HERE

Alternate Size Options:

Hey y'all,I'm Gina Tell...

Archives

Check out the quilt we made for the
November 2020 Auction!

Have more questions?
Tap the links below to contact me.
Thanks SEW much!

What was your favorite board game
when you were a kid?

T-Shirt Quilts are a great way to display your memories,
and never loose them!

I hope you will give this technique a try and let me know what you think!

Happy Quilting!
Gina Tell

Week 3 - April 19th *Springtime Bliss Blocks
(I'm using on the back)

Week 6 - May 10th *Friendship Bracelet Block
(I'm making 2 and using them on the front)

Week 7 - May 17th *Tablerunner sashing & borders

Since I made my runner shorter (22x65) I decided to make my sashing pieces 1.5" and I really liked the finished size.

Hey y'all,
I'm Gina Tell...