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.
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 Iwould 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! :)
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!
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!
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 usingstrips 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!
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, whetheryou 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!
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!
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!
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!
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!
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!
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!
Created from our very own AGF Studio, we’re transporting you to a magical jungle with SELVA!
In this collection, you’ll discover where sleepy sloths swing from their branches, sweet elephants walk in rows, tropical foliage grows and a lively color palette that makes it the perfect combination to sew anything for kids. These gender-neutral colors and designs can be used in nurseries to create quilts, pillows, tummy time mats, wall hangings, and rugs. Of course, all those "young at heart" can also create decor with these fabrics. Imagine having a jungle-theme living room with some fun throw pillows featuring this darling jungle print or fierce felines!
Available in 16 quilting cotton prints, Selva is also available in 3 cozy knits.
To see all of the jungle-inspired projects that we've created as well as other makers, check out our Selva Fabric Lookbook!
We created this FREE quilt pattern "Wild Gems" for you, just click the below link:
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Learn Three Furoshiki Japanese Fabric Wrapping Techniques - Zero Waste Gift Giving