Saturday, February 19, 2011

Frog Quilt

I'm always looking for inspiration for my projects. Sometimes the most ordinary things can be the most inspiring. Coco Chanel made a necklace using the paper clips that were laying on her desk. The inspiration for this wall hanging came from a shower curtain. I traced one of the frogs and two of the flowers from the shower curtain on to a piece of tracing paper to make a pattern. Although it may not look like it, the frogs and the flowers were made from the same Bali print fabric.





Directions for the Frog Quilt:

1/2 yard Bali print fabric I chose a multi-colored blue, green, pink and yellow print and positioned the pattern pieces on different areas of the fabric to get the multi-colored effect.

1 yard print fabric that compliments the Bali print fabric

1/2 yard of white fabric

1/2 yard of gold fabric

quilt batting

Heat and Bond


1. Trace frogs and flowers of your choice onto a piece of tracing paper. Trace the pattern that you just made onto a piece of Heat and Bond.

2. Pre-wash and dry all of the quilt fabrics. Fuse the frogs and flowers onto the Bali print fabric following the manufacturers instructions. When fusing place the wrong side of the fabric face up on the ironing board and lay the Heat and Bond piece on top of the fabric.

3. Cut a piece of white fabric 16 inches high by 14 inches wide. Place the frogs and flowers on the white fabric and fuse in place. I placed the frogs on opposite corners and the flowers along the center.

4. Cut two strips of gold fabric 2 inches wide by 19 1/2 inches long. Cut two more strips of gold 2 inches wide by 13 3/4 inches long. Sew the 13 3/4 inch strips to the sides of the white fabric using 1/4 inch seams. Next sew the 19 1/2 inch strips to the top and the bottom of the white fabric.

5. Cut two pieces of print fabric 17 inches long by 3 1/4 inches wide and two pieces 26 inches long by 3 1/4 inches wide. Sew the 17 inch strips to the gold borders at the top and bottom of the quilt. Then sew the 26 inch strips to the gold borders at the sides of the quilt using 1/4 inch seams.

6. Cut a piece of batting and a piece of print fabric three inches longer on all sides than the top of the quilt. Layer the quilt top, batting on top of the print fabric. The batting should be layered on top of the wrong side of the print fabric. Quilt the outline of the frogs and the flowers. Stitch around the gold borders. Trim the excess fabric and batting away. Cut two strips of print fabric 1 1/2 inches wide by 28 inches long and two strips 1 1'2 inches wide by 19 inches long. Fold in half lengthwise and press. Fold under 1/4 inch on the end of the binding and sew along the side edge of the quilt. Trim the excess fabric away leaving 1/4 inch of fabric to fold under. Fold the binding over the edge of the quilt and sew in place by hand along the back edges of the quilt. Repeat the process with the 19 inch strips, sewing them along the top and bottom of the quilt,

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Hello Kitty Valentine Card

I just love Hello Kitty because she's so cute and sweet. She's just perfect for a Valentine's Day card. The best part about this card is that it uses the left over card stock pieces from other projects.






Directions for the Hello Kitty Valentine's Day Card:

Cricut George and Basic Shapes and Hello Kitty cartridges
Dark pink, light pink, white, black and green card stock
Cream satin ribbon
K & Company Felt Valentine Roses (available at Michaels)
K & Company pink print Valentine's paper
Got Flowers? Iced Flowers- Aqua
Small brads- I used a flower shaped brad for Hello Kitty's bow and a round one for her flower
Martha Stewart Heart Border punch and Rose Leaf paper punch
Microsoft Word
Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder
Sanding pad


1. Type Be Mine in Microsoft Word using the Monotype Corsiva font at 36. Change the font color to red and print Be Mine on white paper. Trim to approximately 2 inches long by 1 inch high.

2. Using the Cricut George and Basic Shapes cartridge cut a heart at 4 inches out of dark pink card stock. Emboss the heart using the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder. Lightly sand the raised dots to highlight them.

3. Cut Hello Kitty 2 at 3 inches out of black card stock. Press the fur key and cut Kitty's face and paws out of white card stock. Press the clothes key and cut her dress out of light pink card stock. Cut it again out of the dark pink card stock. Press the clothes and shift keys and cut her bow out of dark pink card stock. Assemble Kitty using the dark pink pieces for her shirt. Color her nose with a yellow marker. Place a flower shaped brad in Kitty's bow. Use a small aqua flower for the flower in her hand. Attach a small round brad to the center of the flower. Cut a small piece of green card stock for the flower's stem.

4. Use the Heart Border punch to punch a border out of dark pink card stock. Save the small hearts left over from the border. You will use these to accent the card.

5. Cut a piece of pink Valentine paper 5 inches wide by 7 1/2 inches high. Glue a piece of cream satin ribbon 1 inch from the bottom edge of the paper. Tie a small bow and glue it to the ribbon. Glue the dark pink heart border along the right edge of the paper. Fold a piece of white card stock in half lengthwise and crease it with a bone folder. Glue the pink Valentine paper to the white card stock leaving a white border around the top and bottom of the card. Apply foam dots to the back of the heart and attach it approximately 1 3/4 inches from the bottom of the card. Attach foam dots to the back of Kitty and center her on the heart. Press her in place.

6. Place a red felt rose in the upper left hand corner of the card. Punch two leaves out of green card stock using the Rose Leaf paper punch. Glue the leaves under the edges of the rose. Glue Be Mine at an angle above the heart on the right hand side of the card. Glue the small dark pink left over hearts in opposite corners of the Be Mine greeting. Randomly glue the hearts around the pink Valentine's paper.