Art Gallery Fabrics - The Creative Blog

Hello Makers, 

46 days until Christmas and I am rocking and rolling this year, taking my time finding the best handmade makes to fill my home and to fill the homes of family and friends. If you haven’t jumped on the holiday making bandwagon yet this blog post might get you to jot a few sewing projects on your to-sew list. So, get a pen and paper ready as I show you some great ideas to set your table for the holidays and fill your home with handmade holiday makes and decor. 

Adorn your Tables with Table runners

A table runner will instantly transform your table, acting as a main focal point to uplift and liven the room and all the decor around it. Here are my top four favorite table runner patterns below. 

North Table Runner

    Fabrics used: Sparkler Fusion and Pure Solids

With a bit of appliqué and some triangle piecing, you can have this festive beauty finished in no time. Just imagine the magical reindeer parading down the length of your table among the glistening stars. 

The triangle border frames the majestic creatures so elegantly that not only will your guest be talking about how great your stuffing is but also where you got your beautiful table runner. 

Keep the quilting simple by using some basic straight line quilting to put more emphasis on your adorable appliqué. My favorite part of this table runner that makes it unique and stand out is the reindeers that are patchwork appliquéd. Which is great for using up your leftover scrap fabrics. 

Quilo Table Runner 

    Fabrics Used: Earthen and Pure Solids

The Quilo Table Runner made with Earthen fabrics reminds me of an ice-blue Winter Wonderland. The refreshing ranges of blues used in this table runner adds a nice calm and tranquil feel to your table. 

By using templates to create your half rectangle triangle units in the center of your runner to form the large obtuse triangles all in a row, gives off such a bold and sophisticated statement. 

Creating a double border of flying geese adds to the triangle feels of this runner adding great movement and depth. 

Red Braid Table Runner

   Fabrics Used: Cozy and Joyful Fabrics

You can’t go wrong with a braided quilt pattern design! With strips wide enough to fussy cut cute Christmas elements from the fabric, this intricate but easy to follow design is a great fast finish project! What’s great about this design is it’s easy to create as short or as long as you would like to fit your table. Quilt some organic wavy lines to add movement and texture to the structured braided design. 

Seasonal Runner 

Fabrics Used: Merry and Bright

Another great make to add to the list is the Seasonal Runner, I love all the Half Square triangles that make up the 10 "x" inspired quilt blocks in this runner. Using AGF Linen for the background of this runner showcases each blocks elegance and charm. Just quilting the backing and leaving the insides of the blocks without quilting will really make the center of your blocks stand out! 

The Perfect Pot Holders and Placemats 

If table runners aren’t your style maybe try your hand at a smaller size project like placemats or potholders. Place your homemade platters and dishes on handmade potholders. Make each guest feel special with a nice placemat setting just for them. 

Bauble Blocks

    Fabrics Used: Cozy and Joyful 

Turn these festive quilt blocks into placemats making each ornament in different holiday fabric! These blocks may only measure out to be 12” finished but add a border around your block to make it the perfect square placemat to welcome your guest to their seat. Whip up all the blocks you need in one afternoon and have fun quilting each one with a special holiday motif!

Quilted Potholders and Oven Mits

Fabrics Used: Foresta Fusion 

There is nothing faster to make than a solid fabric potholder. Cut two squares of your choice of holiday fabric, some batting, insul-bright batting, and some scrap fabric for the loop, and you're ready to make a quick and easy potholder to place your delicious holiday spread on. 

While you're at it, make yourself a pair of oven mitts to match to quickly pull things out of the oven and off the stovetop! 

Here is a quick bonus project I threw into the mix. Be super extra this year and make a matching apron to wear over your holiday apparel. 

    Fabrics Used: Foresta Fusion 

Of course, our apron needs a bit of patchwork and big roomie pockets! 

The Finishing Touches 

Fabric napkins are definitely the way to go this year. Embellish each place setting with a fabric napkin to elevate your dining experience. Choose from two great easy tutorials below. 

 Causal Mitered Napkins 

    Fabrics Used: Blithe Fabrics and AGF Denim Studio 

       The Neva Napkins  

      Fabrics Used: Sparker Fusions and AGF Denim Studio 

Ornaments 

    Fabrics Used: Merry and Bright

Add this fun fabric ornament to your ceiling to create a chandelier display above your table. 

  Fabrics Used: Merry and Bright

Make these plushie fabric ornaments to give away as holiday party favors to each one of your guests to take home and put on their tree. To share a bit of handmade with all of the people you love. 

Which project is your favorite? I hope all these project ideas have got you ready to sew for the holiday season. All you need to do is turn on some Christmas music, grab a hot beverage, and pull together all your holiday fabrics. 

If you create any of the patterns mentioned in this blog post using AGF fabrics we would love to see your creations. Make sure to post on social media using the  #artgalleryfabrics so we can find your makes. Do you have any other great holiday table setting ideas?  Make sure to share it in the comments below. 

Happy Holiday Sewing, 

Meli

Hello Fabric Friends,

I am smiling ear to ear because winter came early this year in Minnesota! Snow was already on the ground with there still being two weeks left in October! Though I am not enjoying the uncomfortably cold temps I am getting into the holiday spirit which means it’s time to start getting ready for the gift giving season if you haven’t started already! Though I don’t do as much as I would like, I always make a few handmade gifts for my friends and family each year! I recently learned about Furoshiki, which is the art of Japanese fabric wrapping.

Fabric Used: Cozy and Joyful Rayon- Candied Roses

I was so excited about the idea of wrapping my handmade gifts with fabric because not only is it eco friendly but it also creates the most gorgeous and elegant presents. The person you are gifting the present to will be impressed by your wrapping skills and can reuse it in so many ways. In the Fabric Wrapping video I created I show you three ways I will be reusing my fabric wraps.

You can use a wide variety of fabrics as your fabric wrap, besides for our AGF Rayons I  would definitely give our quilting cottons a try as well! I was amazed by the way our AGF Rayon draped and tied so beautifully. No more traditional paper fabric wrapping for me. I was never very good at it anyways and clean up in Christmas Eve will be so much easier! :) 

Fabrics Used: Trouvaille Rayon - Posy Blaze

Watch my video to learn three different ways to wrap your gifts this year! Let me know which one is your favorite and how you would reuse your fabric wrap!

    Fabrics Used: Cozy and Joyful Rayon- Plaid of my Dreams

Happy Sewing ,

Meli

Hello Makers,

Team flying geese or Half Square Triangles? Both choices can create tons of different quilt designs and sewing projects. Today I am excited to talk about my new series on Youtube, dedicated to the beginner quilter. Learn how to choose fabrics from my Sewing with Color video and once you got your fabrics picked out it's time to learn some basic quilting units. In my next two videos I show you how to create Half Square Triangles (HST) in three different ways and Flying Geese in two different ways. 

I love that in quilting there are multiple ways to create the same thing, you can pick and choose the options that work best with you and your quilting project! Download and print a copy of your HST and Flying cheat sheets from the video and have fun watching my brand new videos below!

Got any tips about creating HST’s or flying geese? Share your knowledge in the comments!

Happy Sewing,

Meli

Hello Sewing Friends,

The way we run our lives have drastically changed in the past several months. I never thought in my lifetime that I would have to worry about whether or not I have a mask in my bag before I leave the house in order to go about my day. If grocery shopping wasn’t already stressful enough now we have to make sure we have our masks, stay 6 feet apart and try not to touch to many things and itch our faces!!!  In the long term all of this is not hard to follow if it means we can get rid of this virus once in for all. Here at AGF we are makers and we love to add our special touch to everything we make. We love quilting so of course the ladies from the production team designed a great pieced mask tutorial for all of us to follow! Download the mask pattern and follow along with me in the video below!

In todays video I make a my own version of the mask using scrap fabrics from my stash! This is a great fat quarter friendly project even though it asks for 25” long strips you can get away with using fat quarters or WOF strips you have in your scrap bin. If you don’t want to make a scrappy mask you can use a solid print or solid fabric to create your mask, its totally up to you and who you are making the mask for.

I made one for myself and of course my sister asked if I could make her one too, I can never say no to her. I love making things for people so I was excited to make her one! She asked for Fall inspired colors so I digged through my scrap bin to find colors that reminded me of Fall! I love pink, especially dark magenta type pinks, I think its such a flattering color to wear! So I pulled an assortment of pink prints and AGF solids for the mask I made for myself. Here we are below being our silly goofy selves!

Here are the fabrics I used:

My Mask- 

PE- 489- Miami Sunset

PE-439- Raspberry Rose

PE-471-Sweet Macadamia

FUS-J-308- Let’s Chalk Joyful

CAP-VC-5007- Tender Grid

My Sisters mask- 

SPT-95228- Dance Steps Maize

PE-457- Dried Carrot

PE-408-White Linen

PE-440- Macchiato

I loved that the production ladies designed this mask using  strips in varying widths and placed the pattern pieces at an angles to create dimension and movement! I am going to have so much fun making more masks for family and friends using this super cute easy tutorial! My Mom has requested one in blues! So this is what us up next on my to sew list! I would love to see how your mask making turns out so make sure to share your masks on social media using #AGFtutorials or email me your project at melissa@artgalleryfabrics.com!

Happy Sewing, 

Meli

Hello Makers! 

Who loves making pillows? Are you new to quilting and sewing? Pillow's are a perfect project to tackle as your first project. Even if you are an expert quilter, pillows are a great fast finish that can be quite rewarding. I love making them as gifts as well as making a variety of pillow covers for all the different seasons. Changing out your pillow decor really helps to liven up a space throughout the year! 

Pillows are a great Fat Quarter friendly project, today I am sewing with AGF Studios Terra Kotta Fabrics and some AGF Pure Solids to match. You can choose to make a solid fabric pillow or if you want to get a bit more creative and quilty, feel free to cut strips in different widths and have fun choosing which strips you will sew together to create your pillow top.

When I first started quilting I was such a perfectionist and took forever to finish a project. The more experience I got I realized its not about perfection, though perfection will come with time it’s really about learning as you go and finishing a project from start to finish. You will always find the flaws as the person making it but I promise you, whether  you are gifting your make to a family member or keeping it for yourself, when you look back at the project a year from now… you will be like why did I beat myself up about this, looks pretty darn good!

All the materials you will need are listed below. Have fun following along to the video and I want to see your amazing makes so make sure to use the hashtag #AGFTutorials or email your pictures to marketing@artgalleryfabrics.com!

Materials to construct a 16” finished pillow:

Pillow Top Pieces:

One 17” square of fabric

One 19”  square Batting piece

One 20” square of fabric (pillow top backing)

Envelope Backing Pieces:

Two 17”x 22” rectangles

Two 17” x 11” rectangles of batting

Fabrics used:

AGF Studio Terra Kotta Fabrics

AGF Pure Solids

Other Supplies You May Need:

Rotary Cutter

Clear Quilting Ruler

Iron

Quilting and sewing thread

Pins

Did you know we have tons of free sewing patterns to add to your to sew list. Endless amounts of quilts, handbags, home decor and of course PILLOWS! I don’t know about you but I can never get bored of making pillows. Now that you have your first pillow project under your belt and know the basics to construct a pillow with an envelope backing I highly suggest you continue with more pillow projects to get your sewing mojo going. Next time you can try different type of piecing, or try your hand at a different quilting motif. There are so many possibilities! Below I listed a few fun pillow projects you can sew up next. Make sure to check out our free sewing pattern section on liveartgalleryfabrics.com to see more!

Other Pillow projects to try:

Scaped featuring Flowerette by AGF Studio

Any half square triangle fans out there? To make this pillow whip up some 2 1/2" HST's and squares of fabric and piece together this beautiful 16" pillow! Flowerette Fabrics mixed with one of our fabrics from the AGF Denim Studio which adds such a cooling, relaxing texture to this design! 

Spell On You featuring Spooky and Sweet by AGF Studio

With minimal piecing make these festive Halloween pillows using Spooky and Sweet fabric panels! These large graphic designs are great for large scale projects like pillows or even clothing! 

Blooming featuring Trouvaille by AGF Studio

The Blooming pillow may look super complex and intricate but with a simple strip piecing technique and cutting magic you can make this stunning design! AGF Studios Trouvaille fabrics add a pop of colorful florals thats sure to add happiness in whatever space you add this pillow! We also added some AGF Floral Elements to the mix which is the perfect blender to choose to marry well with Trouvaille fabrics! 

Quilla featuring Patcha Capsule by AGF Studio

Here is another simple strip piecing project we created but we used a triangle template to cut out sections of our pieced strips and sewed them back together to create this geometric framed design! AGF Studios Patcha Fabrics has some super cute designs great for sewing for kids and sweet doodle like blender prints that we mixed and matched with our Decostitch blenders! 

Happy Sewing, 

Meli

Fabrics that make you smile, are my kind of fabrics! This is why AGF Studio’s lastest collection called Selva is my favorite new fabric to sew with. Not only are the prints super adorable and playful but the colors are lively, fresh, and gender-neutral. 

This collection is perfect for creating kid decor, clothes, and accessories. With its efficient fussy cutting capabilities, I have been happily busy making fun quilty projects.  For the next addition to the AGF Quilt Block Collection, I sewed up the ”Prism Puzzle” Block! With so many moving parts to this block and a cute assortment of animals, I am really loving how it turned out! 

Enjoy the video tutorial below! :) For more fun sewing projects made with Selva Fabrics make sure to check out the Selva Fabric LookBook! 

Happy Sewing, Meli