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If you make a Sew Awesome Craft or any pattern, craft or recipe from sewhooked, I’d love to see a photo. Email me or add it to the sewhooked flickr group.
Filed under: The Linus Connection, talk to me tuesday, vlog | Tagged: charity, crochet, linus connection, quilt, ttmt, vlog | Leave a Comment »
Isn’t it a beauty?
My all-time favorite quilt store, Honey Bee, is participating in American Patchwork & Quilting’s 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge. The first batch of gorgeous handmade pillowcases that Honey Bee has collected is going to the Texas Baptist Children’s Home, located in Round Rock, Texas.
I knew as soon as I heard about it that I wanted to participate.
Early on in the pillowcase drive, Honey Bee had a demo for the “Hot Dog” pillowcase method, which rumor has it is super-duper easy.
Only, I missed the demo. Oops. You see, it was on a Friday at lunch time. Every Friday, I have a date lunch with my awesome hubby, so obviously going to a free pillowcase how-to demo was not going to win out over date lunch!
Well, I’ve made pillowcases before, so I wasn’t too fussed about it. Then, a couple of weeks later, my sewing friends and I had a sewing day at our friend Linda’s house. Osie, who happens to be one of the Goddesses of Honey Bee, was working on pillowcases for the drive and took a few minutes to show us how the mystical “Hot Dog” works.
Hot dog! Seriously, hot dog! This is the easiest, fastest and cleanest-looking pillowcase method I’ve seen. Including the pillowcase used in this tutorial, I’ve now made 11 of these bad boys. So easy, so fun…and excellent for stash busting!
Pillowcase 1 – 10, on their way to Honey Bee, all made from fabrics I had in my stash.
This was not my invention and there are a couple of tutorials floating around out there, but this is too good not to post again. This is my take on the instructions. I hope you enjoy, make lots of pillowcases and donate them to charity! (Oh, okay, you can keep one or two for yourself!)
Pillowcases donated through Honey Bee! The last I heard there were over 200!
Read more on the Honey Bee Blog.
They’ve even made it easy by offering pre-cut kits with
free how-to sheets for the Hot Dog method!
You’ll need:
Three lengths of fabric in three coordinating colors. Makes one standard size pillowcase.
You can vary the bun/hot dog size up or down, just make sure that the total yardage between those two is 36″ – 38″. 9 – 12″ for the bun is ideal.
If you use two yards of coordinating fabric, plus 6″ of a third, you can make two coordinating pillowcases with opposite colors!
My colors for this tutorial – a pre-cut kit from Honey Bee. Isn’t the fabric just delicious?
Hot Dog, Bun & Mustard! Once your fabric is cut and pressed and you’re ready to go!
Roll out your BUN, right side up.
Press the MUSTARD in half
Place MUSTARD with raw edges matching along one side of the BUN.
Place HOT DOG on top of MUSTARD, face down. Align raw seams. Add a few pins to hold in place.
Roll the HOT DOG (hey, now it looks like a hot dog!) to within a few inches of the pinned edge.
Fold the BUN over the HOT DOG and pin along the raw edge, making sure to catch all layers of fabric.
Stitch along raw edge using a 3/8″ seam allowance.
Remove any pins and birth your HOT DOG! Roll BUN back, gently tugging the HOT DOG out of the center.
Continue tugging and rolling until the HOT DOG is all the way out.
Your pillowcase should now look something like this.
Smooth out the fabric, then press the BUN and MUSTARD, tugging gently so it’ll lie flat. I like to press on both sides.
Square up your pillowcase by removing the selvage.
With WRONG SIDES together (yes, I said wrong sides!), align the MUSTARD and corners of the pillowcase.
Pin in several places.
Stitch around raw edges using a 1/4″ seam allowance (yes, yes, really, right sides out, wrong sides together!).
Turn the corner and sew across the bottom.
Trim corners (raw edges only, please!).
Turn the pillowcase wrong-side out. Look how nice the BUN looks next to the HOT DOG!
Press the side and bottom seams flat.
Stitch using a 1/2″ seam allowance.
Look at that, you made French Seams…no raw edges!
Turn right side out and press.
See how nicely the MUSTARD lines up? Did you notice that your condiment made a lovely little flap, too?
It looks good outside and in!
And hey, action shot!
Now, let me know if you’re as addicted to these as I am! This beauty is number 11 and I know I’ll make more. In addition to donating to the 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge, they also make great gift bags for quilts!
If you make a Sew Awesome Craft or any pattern, craft or recipe from sewhooked, I’d love to see a photo. Email me or add it to the sewhooked flickr group.
Filed under: charity, sewing | Tagged: fabric, hot dog pillow case, hot dog pillowcase, hot dog pillowcase method, hot dog pillowslip, how to pillowcase, pillowcase instructions, pillowcase tutorial, sewing | 8 Comments »
For more information about The Linus Connection, please visit our website or blog orbecome a fan on Facebook.
Filed under: The Linus Connection, charity, craft, crochet, talk to me tuesday, vlog | Tagged: charity, crochet, harry potter paper piecing, linus connection, ttmt | Leave a Comment »
In which I announce the winner of the Batiks On Black quilt block drawing!
Congratulations to you know who!
Filed under: Block Drawing, paper piecing, quilting, talk to me tuesday, vlog | Tagged: batiks on black, talk to me tuesday, ttmt | 2 Comments »
For many years now, I’ve been a volunteer for The Linus Connection*, a small local non-profit charity that makes blankets for children in need in Central Texas. I’m a blanket maker, sorter and volunteer Webmistress for linusconnection.org. I’ve served a term on the Board, and was the newsletter editor for a time. Suffice it to say, Linus is very important to me!
Just as many other charities are suffering due to the current economy, Linus is suffering, too. Our demand has risen, while the number of blankets has decreased. When our numbers decrease, that means children that need a little extra security in a difficult time are going without. It’s a very hard call to decide who doesn’t get the security of a handmade blanket. If I had my way, every child touched by severe illness, injury, abuse, homelessness or other crisis situations would know the comfort and love of a handmade blanket.
My blog is a place I share my ideas, patterns, recipes and tutorials with the world for no charge, but this time I’d like to ask for a little something back. Throughout 2010, I will be collecting quilt blocks and yarn squares through my craft blog to assemble into Linus blankets.
If you are a quilter, please consider participating in Log Cabins for Linus! Make 12″ log cabin blocks (12.5″ unfinished) in 100% quilting cotton of any log cabin pattern, any color, any style you like.
Here are some patterns to get you started:
If yarn is your forte, then Go Get Granny is for you! I’ll be accepting 12″ knit or crochet blocks made in acrylic yarns of any color or style and will join those into afghans.
When you’re ready to send your block, email me for my mailing address and I’ll send it your way. Donations to The Linus Connection are tax deductible, so if you need a receipt, please include a note with your block and I’ll make sure one gets to you.
All blocks donated will be shared here on the sewhooked blog and on Talk To Me Tuesday as completed blankets before being donated to The Linus Connection.
I encourage you to post photos of your blocks to the Go Get Granny & Log Cabins for Linus flickr group. You can also see blankets I’ve donated since 2002.
Anything you can do is greatly appreciated.
For more information about The Linus Connection, please visit our website or blog or become a fan on Facebook.
Disclaimer: This is my effort to increase blanket numbers for my own favorite blanket making charity, The Linus Connection, located in Austin, Texas. This effort is not in any way organized by TLC. All blankets will be donated to The Linus Connection by me, Jennifer Ofenstein. If you have any questions please contact me or leave a question in the comments.
*The Linus Connection is a small, local non-profit located in Central Texas and is not affiliated with Project Linus.
Filed under: The Linus Connection, charity, craft | Tagged: 12" blocks, 12" squares, charity, crochet, donation, knit, quilt, quilt block, quilt square, The Linus Connection, yarn | Leave a Comment »
The awesome organizers over at help_haiti on Livejournal have found a great way to get fandom (all fandoms!) involved in raising money for charity while getting fun stuff in return.
Crafters, graphic artist, writers and all sorts of other awesome people are donating their time and talents in return for charitable donations. You can bid in the comments of the item you’re interested in and once the auction is closed on noon (EST) January 20, 2010, the items will be paid for by donating to charity! Share your receipt and get awesome goodness in return. The charities win and you win, too!
I’m offering up one Custom Designed 5″ Paper Pieced Quilt Pattern. You can read the full details here. Be sure to bid in the comments at this link. I cannot accept bids here.
Also check out these awesome auctions by two of my crafty friends:
Amber (hp5freak) is auctioning off a 3′x3′ custom crochet blanket. She makes gorgeous and unique HP-themed blankets. You can see those here.
Mary (dragonsinger954) is the maker of many a fine Molly Weasley sweater. She’s offering a custom-made one up right here. You can see examples of her many lovely Molly sweaters here.
Also, the Queen of The Leaky Cauldron herself is auctioning off one autographed copy of Harry, A History. It’s a good thing, too, because you can’t have mine!
Happy bidding and thanks for supporting this wonderful cause!
Filed under: Fandoms, Star Trek, Torchwood, charity, doctor who, harry potter, twilight | Tagged: auction, charity, crafts, donation, fandom, haiti, harry potter, help_haiti | Leave a Comment »
This one is not to be missed…the biggest challenge ever at Harry Potter Paper Piecing with an unbelievably awesome prize! Click on the above image for full details.
Filed under: challenge, harry potter, paper piecing | Tagged: challenge, harry potter, paper piecing, prize, quilting | Leave a Comment »
Filed under: Wordless Wednesday | Leave a Comment »
I can hardly believe this is the 40th week of Talk To Me Tuesday!
1 Million Pillowcase Challenge
Honey Bee Quilt Store
Hot Dog Pillowcase Instructions
Green Bag Repair
Batiks On Black
hp_paperpiecing Complete Your Quilt Top Challenge
Rock Creek Quilts
The Linus Connection
Harry Potter Crafts
Leaky Crafts
If you make a Sew Awesome Craft or any pattern, craft or recipe from sewhooked, I’d love to see a photo. Email me or add it to the sewhooked flickr group.
Filed under: craft | Tagged: talk to me tuesday, ttmt | Leave a Comment »
I have oodles of those 99 cent green bags that the local grocery store sells. It takes about 8 of them to carry groceries for our family of four home. Most of the bags are three or so years old, and they’ve definitely seen some wear since I avoid plastic bags whenever possible.
Since it’s the start of a new year and it’s too darn cold to do much outside, I thought now would be a good time to give them a bit of an overhaul!
This is more mending than craft, but it’s easy and helps maintain my reusable bags.
First, I checked for broken or damaged inserts that help keep the bottom firm and the bag upright. Several of them were completely trashed. After fishing around in my recycling, I came up with a couple sturdy cereal boxes.
The boxes were the perfect size, so I just trimmed them up with scissors, rounded the corners and popped them into the bag. Wallah, brand new bottom inserts!
Next, I checked for split or damaged seams. Most of them were okay because I fairly regularly check for popped stitching caused by one too many cans! There was one that had lost it’s stitching and was starting to lose the trim that holds the front and bottom together. A quick zig zag stitch using whatever thread was on my machine, and it’s good to go!
If you make a Sew Awesome Craft or any pattern, craft or recipe from sewhooked, I’d love to see a photo. Email me or add it to the sewhooked flickr group.
Filed under: craft, recycled craft, sewing | Tagged: craft, green bag, mending, recycle | Leave a Comment »
H P Paper Piecing
