Sunday Giveaway Series

"Goodnight Irene"

in honor of families that have no power

and those of you that have experienced

damage

from 

Irene

our hearts go out to you

this will be a simple giveaway

this architect bridged both sides of the US

"California B++++alow"

"Falling W++ers"

how many of you can tell me who designed this vase?

and more importantly

as quilters...

what color is this?

HappiestDays.

natalie

(UPS delivery person, Robert, will select the winning comment)

and we will send you a Robert Kaufman 

Kona Cotton

Roll Up

2-1/2" strips

black

yum

good design

good design

I love my friends

that remember

how much

i love

 good design

and great architecture

and comfortable

interiors

(did you know I had a 'prior life' before quilting?)

and fabulous lighting

break out of your routine

trust a friend to delight you

I promise,

you won't be disappointed

HappiestDays.

natalie

Sunday Giveaway Series

sunday giveaway series

by way of explanation

here is the original post

info

so many of the things in my home

from my travels

and my experiences

are

f u n c t i o n a l

items

so.

I thot, "we could do a sunday giveaway series

whereby

I asked all of you the function of something

or the age of something

or the purpose of something"

here we go!

 this should be an easy one

please make sure you are an official follower

of the blog

and go to the facebook page

and click that "Likes" button

and then leave a comment about my teal metal containers

I will send you a half yard bundle

of these four

Anthology Fabrics

(I used the two on the left for the pillowcase tutorial)

if the random number generator picks your comment

HappiestDays.

Natalie.

www.beyondthereefpatterns.com

or you can order yardage for your own project

on the shop site

$8.99/yard this weekend only

Pillowcases! a tutorial

pillowcases tutorial 101

I have a wonderful girlfriend who has a wonderful husband

it's his birthday, and I never know what to get him

so once again, and yes, I've done it before

he's getting

pillowcases

two matching pillowcases

thank you to the person who invented this technique

(I did not, and I don't know who did)

I thot I'd share my favorite technique

for a standard 20 x 28 pillowcase

 select two fabrics

one for the body of the pillow, one for the border

if you want a little accent strip, then select three fabrics

(we will not be demonstrating that technique here)

starting with the border fabric, cut 20" x width of fabric

BIG NOTE

(if you have directional fabric or a fabric with a repeat

and you want to fussy cut the fabric

for your 10" strips, you will require more fabric)

turn the cutting mat not the fabric

(another big tip of mine - for accuracy, do not move the fabric, move the cutting mat!!)

and trim to 21" wide

 hey, look at that!

it's a NO WASTE project

keep your selvedge and make a selvedge block

make a coaster, make a hot pad, make a block for a quilt

 now cut this 21" wide by 20" long piece into two (2) 10" pieces

 with your selected pillowcase body fabric

you will cut two 27" lengths of fabric

 again, my tip for fast pillowcases

fold this piece of fabric in half

then cut it to be 21" wide

you know I am always trying to give helpful hints

for accuracy

but this project of simple pillowcases are two pieces (three if you want an accent strip)

and they are big pieces

I would never suggest you cut quilt square pieces

in this manner

 take one pillowcase body and one pillowcase border

open them both up 

body is 27" long x 42" wide

border is 10" long x 42" wide

put the pillowcase border right side DOWN onto the pillowcase body right side UP

pin

 when you pin, be sure to pin close to the edge

because.....

 you are going to roll the body of the pillowcase towards the border

and make sure your 'roll' is no more than about two inches in diameter

and snuggled up close to that pinned edge

 "open" up, or lift the border edge that is not pinned

and continue rolling towards that border edge

 until you have rolled all the way to the pinned edge

 now place the border, right side down, over the rolled up body of the pillowcase

 and tuck that bottom width UNDER the roll

 you're going to line up the two edges of the border, with the rolled up body of the pillowcase

in the center

and pin all three layers together

 now, clean up that machine that you love so much

and that lets you make so much love to give to others

(get your manual out and get personal with your machine!)

 stitch along pinned edge using a 3/8" seam

and...ALWAYS remove your pins as you sew!

 here comes the magic - I know there are a lot of pictures, and a lot of 'steps'

but this part is worth the whole tutorial!

start pulling on that rolled up pillowcase body 

 you're turning it inside out!  

it makes for nice clean borders every time

 finished edges on the inside and the outside of your pillowcase

without an additional seam or having to finish it by hand

 Here's the other tip that makes for accurate, clean, tidy, neat sewing

press, press, press

every step, every seam

every moment spent pressing is time you save when you're sewing

i promise

now we're going to sew the seams

using a french seam

 now you're going to fold your pillowcase in half

matching the border seams

and with wrong sides (of body) together

stitch along the raw edges of the side and bottom of the pillowcase

using a 1/4"  seam 

 press, then turn inside out

 making sure the seams are pushed "out" and flat

(if you pressed carefully, this will be the case)

another hint

start sewing this seam

about 3/4" from the top edge of the border

then sew in reverse to the edge

and sew forward again

why?

your threads will be buried in the pillowcase

not out at the edge, where they could unravel

and you won't have that backstitch/backstay bulk at the edge of your pillowcase

but rather it will be inside of your pillowcase

 now continue to sew just bigger than a 1/4" seam - probably 3/8"

and you will be encapsulating the raw edge of the last seam you stitched

or, as they say, boxing it in

turn right side out

and you have yourself a pillowcase

repeat these steps

and you will have a pair of pillowcases

HappiestDays

natalie

please go to

www.beyondthereefpatterns.com

to purchase the fabrics used in this project

congratulations to.....

congratulations!

jake and vicki

i just know jake is going to love 

this

bundle of fabrics!

I think it's a thing for tomatoes, I can't remember what they're called, where the tomato plant climbs up it. I'd put plates on each rung and serve cupcakes and small desserts.

And I can't wait to put 'small desserts' 

on my garden pieces

because

clearly

they didn't make it into the garden

they are a lovely memento of a wonderful time spent

in Boise, Idaho

I don't know about you, but I see quilts when I look at this...

how about you?

HappiestDays

natalie.

www.beyondthereefpatterns.com

Sunday Giveaway - a little late

sunday giveaway

(okay, I'm a little off schedule)


So, if you'll remember
the 
sunday giveaway series is about the following:

so many of the things in my home

from my travels

and my experiences

are

f u n c t i o n a l

items

so.

I thot, "we could do a sunday giveaway series

whereby

I asked all of you the function of something

or the age of something

or the purpose of something"

here we go...

please leave a comment 

to be entered in the 'drawing'

for this fq bundle

of colorful fabrics

your comment should answer two questions

1.  how were these metal sculptural elements 

originally used?

2.  in what unique way would you use them (other than for what they were intended)?

cmmon.

get creative here

think of something really 

wacky

wild

wonderful

whimsical

let's have some fun.

HappiestDays.

natalie

www.beyondthereefpatterns.com

Sunday Giveaway Series

Sunday Giveaway

(every sunday afternoon)

okay, well, at least for a little while

(because we'd like our readers to become followers)

I started noticing

that most of the things in my home

have a story behind them

wait.

I'm not saying that well at all.

so many of the things in my home

from my travels

and my experiences

are

f u n c t i o n a l

items

so.

I thot, "we could do a sunday giveaway series

whereby

I asked all of you the function of something

or the age of something

or the purpose of something"

here we go!

 having said that

here is the first question

(not so fast, I know it's a juicer)

do any of you know the name of this pattern?

  and for the next question

can you guess what I made each of my neighbors

that they found on their doorstep

this morning?

and finally.

you guessed it

do pigs fly?

(just kidding)

my favorite photo in the kitchen

was found in waterloo nebraska

what task is the woman in the photo performing?

answer all three questions

(or make up your answers)

and as long as you're a follower

I will send you a beyond the reef pattern

h u l a   c h i c k e n

(hint)

if your post is chosen by the random number generator

HappiestDays.

Natalie.

ps

I will post every sunday afternoon

I will announce the winner every tuesday afternoon

won't you tell a friend

and help me log a few more

followers?

21 Madison Cottage - a tutorial

International Quilt Market

Long Beach

CA

21 Madison Cottage

(marcia, marcia, marcia)

(tropical punch)

here is the tutorial for the lovely quilt that was hanging in the

beyond the reef

booth

thank you once again to

Madison Cottage Design

Kenna Ogg

(available for a limited time only; pattern coming soon)

This is a 'no waste' quilt

so be sure to read all instructions carefully.

Measure twice, cut once

please

your quilt will require 21 fat quarters, two must be a highly contrasting light/white

binding will require 5/8 of a yard

the backing will require 4 yards

Creative Grids 60 degree ruler
batting of your choice

quilt size is 63 x 75

After admiring your 21 fabulous fat quarters, press all of the fat quarters. 

Square up one of the +/- 21" edges and trim, minimally.

 From each fat quarter

cut three (3) 5-1/2 inch strips, perpendicular to the selvage you just trimmed

so that you have three (3) 5-1/2" x +/- 21" pieces

 You are going to need a 60 degree ruler - our favorite is the Creative Grids ruler.

do not stack your strips to cut your triangles

cut each of the 5-1/2 inch strips separately

(yes, I really want you to only cut one strip at a time) 

place selvage edge on the right, and cut edge on the left

place 60 degree ruler 

with 5-1/2 inch line on the bottom of the strip

and flat point on the top

as far to the left as you are able

to make a whole triangle

cut on both sides of the ruler

 rotate the ruler so that the 5-1/2inch line is on top of the strip

and the flat point is on the bottom

cut again

repeat this, until you have cut five (5) triangles

square off that remaining selvage edge

place your 60 degree ruler on your fabric

with the left center line on the edge

cut angled side

and trim

this will be a side triangle

here comes a really important part

of the instructions

out of your three (3) 5-1/2 inch strips

you are going to cut two of them fabric right sides up

and one of them wrong side up

and you are going to trim the selvage

 and trim the side triangle

the same way you did before

but

this will give you right and left

side triangles

from which to choose

when you lay out your top

on your design wall

from each fat quarter

there will be fifteen (15) triangles

and three (3) side triangles

both right and left

you should now have twenty one (21) different stacks of triangles

that you just cut from each fat quarter

stack them by color

pick up one triangle from each color stack

and lay them out to create a row of your quilt

a row will be made up of 21 different colored triangles

(don't worry about adding the side triangles yet)

continue laying out 21 different colored triangles

until you have completed fifteen (15) rows in this same manner

fifteen rows

15

twenty one triangles per row

21

lay out the white and the sand

colored triangles 

to form 

diamonds

scattered about your quilt

once you have a pleasing layout

add a left and right triangle to each row 

arranging them to your liking

stack your rows and label them

start sewing triangles together to form rows

the flat point of one triangle

fits just inside the triangle next to it

(right sides together)

sew 15 rows

match tips of triangles together as they are pinned

sew rows together

sew just through the top of triangle

where seams intersect

continue to use scant 1/4 inch seam allowance

and sew all rows together

after sewing all rows together and pressing your quilt

stay stitch approximately 1/8 inch from the edge

this will protect your seams and your edges until your quilt is finished

thanks to all of you that purchased the kits for this quilt

at 

International Quilt Festival

Long Beach

there are bundles available

and Creative Grids rulers available

in the 

beyondthereef

shop

HappiestDays.

natalie.