Hello friends! I’m excited to introduce you to the Holland Duffle! It’s an up-sized version of my best-selling Holland Pouch pattern that has the same ease of construction (no bias binding or curved seams!) and includes outer pockets and long handles for toting around.

The Holland Duffle finishes at 15″ long, 9″ deep, and 9″ tall, has clear, easy to understand directions and full color, step-by-step graphics to help you along the way. You can find the Holland Duffle pattern in my shop HERE.

If you’re as excited as me about this new pattern, please come sew along with me in the Holland Duffle Sew Along! We’ll be starting Monday, March 20th and will have small assignments every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday until March 31st when we finish our duffles.

You can sign up for the Holland Duffle Sew Along by clicking on the link below:

Holland Duffle Sew Along Sign Ups

In the meantime, let’s gather our supplies and get ready! I can’t wait to sew along with you!

-Kristina

Hello friends! Last year, I designed and made this fun Irish Chain quilt with a scrappy, low volume background. I originally offered the pattern to my newsletter subscribers, but am now including it here for everyone to download! Yay!

This Scrappy Irish Chain quilt was made using nineteen fat quarters from the Hush Hush low volume line from Riley Blake along with with yardage of a favorite Confetti Cotton solid of mine: Curry.

The combination brings a modern twist to the traditional Irish Chain quilt pattern and I hope you will enjoy making this pattern as much as I did!

You can download the Scrappy Irish Chain Quilt Pattern by clicking below:

Scrappy Irish Chain Quilt Pattern

Happy sewing!

Kristina

Today, I’m sharing a tutorial for a crocheted edge flannel baby blanket. My grandma taught me how to crochet around flannel baby blankets when I was a teenager. Since then, I’ve made dozens of these sweet baby blankets and they’ve become a favorite present for family and friends expecting a bundle of joy.

My grandma always took her flannel yardage to a friend with a specialized hemstitch machine to prepare the fabric to be crocheted. Her friend did a beautiful job, but since I didn’t have access to someone with a hemstitch machine, I started to look into doing the hemstitching portion myself.

I found that a Hemstitch Needle, or sometimes called a Wingtip Needle, was just what I was looking for to be able to do the hemstitching on my own domestic machine. A Hemstitch Needle has flat, sharp, blades on the sides to create a larger opening in the fabric. If you combine the Hemstitch Needle with a decorative stitch that goes in and out of a hole multiple times, it creates a reinforced hole large enough for a crochet hook to go through.

It turned out to be the perfect solution to making my own crocheted edge baby blankets and I’d love to share the process with you!

Supplies Needed:

* 1 1/4 yard of two flannel fabrics (in this tutorial, I’m using Bears on Bikes from the Riley Blake Designer Flannel Collection
* Hemstitch Needle for your sewing machine (found HERE).
* Crochet Thread (I’m using Lori Holt Chunky Thread found HERE).
* Crochet Hook (the size needed will depend on how big your hemstitching holes are and what thread you choose. For my blanket here, I used a size 3 crochet hook).

To prep the flannel baby blanket for the hemstitching, layer the front and the back flannel fabric, right sides out, then cut to a square (I prefer to use 1 1/4 yard cuts of flannel and then make my blanket about 42″ x 42″ square, but a smaller size square–or even rectangle–will work just fine, too). After basting the two layers of flannel together with safety pins, sew a large square (about 20″ x 20″) in the center of the flannel to keep the layers from shifting as the blanket gets used and washed.

Using a circle template or a round object (about 6-8″ diameter works great), round the corners by marking then trimming the corners. The blanket is now ready for hemstitching.

To get the hemstitching stitches how you want, I suggest getting a scrap piece of flannel and testing different decorative stitches on your machine to determine what stitch and stitch length to use. You want the needle to go in and out of the center hole several times to create a nice, reinforced hole that a crochet hook can fit in. There are likely multiple decorative stitches on your machine that will work, so no need to worry if you choose a stitch that doesn’t look like mine below.

After hemstitching around the entire outside edge, trim the excess fabric to about 1/8″ away from the hemstitched line. Be very careful to not cut into any of the thread from the hemstitching.

The flannel blanket is then ready to be crocheted! For this fun Bears on Bikes Designer Flannel from Riley Blake flannel, I chose a coordinating Lori Holt Chunky Thread in Sweet Mint. The Chunky Thread is thicker than a perle cotton that might normally be used for crocheting around a baby blanket, but it has a really nice weight and I love the look of the thicker thread on the crocheted border.

For the first round of crochet, I like to do a single crochet all the way around. Depending on the stitch length of your hemstitching and the weight of your thread, you can crochet in every hole, every other hole, or do multiple single crochet stitches in the same hole. For my flannel blanket here, I did a single crochet in every hole. Since I was using a thicker thread, I could have also crocheted in every other hole and it would have worked great.

After the first round, I usually like to do a decorative crochet stitch to add a little extra interest. For this Bears on Bike blanket, I chose a sweet little scallop. The crochet stitches for the scallop are:

1 single crochet, skip one, 4 double crochet, skip one, repeat until end.

There you have it! Pretty simple and it makes for a super sweet handmade baby gift!

Happy stitching!

Kristina

Today I’m sharing some tips and tricks for basting and quilting the Holland Pouch quilted panel. You can find The Holland Pouch pattern HERE then follow along with the steps below for additional information on making the quilted panel.

If you’re looking for easy machine quilting designs, I have a short video on instagram with several simple ideas. You can watch the video by clicking HERE.

I’m excited to see your Holland Pouches! As you share photos of your pouch, please tag me on Instagram and use the hashtag #thehollandpouch so I can find your photos! And, as always, if you have any questions, please ask them below! 

Happy Sewing!

Kristina

Have you tried sewing curved seams yet? I feel like it’s one of those things that people dread until they try it, then they decide “Hey, that wasn’t so bad after all!” I have long been a fan of curved piecing and love to spread the awareness of how misunderstood sewing curves can be. So after I thoroughly enjoyed sewing this fun Scrappy Circles quilt, I decided to turn it into a free tutorial!

If you haven’t tried curved seams yet, this is the perfect time to grab some scrap fabric and give it a go! After looking through the step-by-step photos in the tutorial below, you’ll see that they really aren’t anything to be scared about. And with this Scrappy Circles design, each quarter circle finishes at 7″ x 7″, which is a great size to start with!

Just a few details before we get to the tutorial:

For my quilt, I used an AccuQuilt Die Cutting machine with the GO! Drunkard’s Path 7″ Die. It makes cutting a breeze, but it’s certainly not the only way to cut out the curved pieces. For those that don’t have access to an AccuQuilt machine, I also have a printable template that you can print out and use. Yay!

The fabric in my Scrappy Circles quilt is Lori Holt’s Bee Plaids line from Riley Blake Designs. The retro color scheme and various plaid designs worked perfectly with the Scrappy Circle quilt. And since the quilt top is meant to be truly scrappy, there’s not a lot of planning that needs to go into it–just grab the fabric pieces and start sewing!

Let’s get to the tutorial and start sewing!

Drunkard’s Path Scrappy Circle Quilt Tutorial

Finished Quarter Circle Block Size: 7″ x 7″
Finished Full Circle Block Size: 14″ x 14″
Finished Quilt Size: 56″ x 70″

Fabric Requirements:
(20) 1/4 yard cuts
Binding: 5/8 yard
Batting: 64″ x 78″
Backing: 3 3/4 yard

If not using the AccuQuilt GO! Drunkard’s Path 7″ Die, download 7″ Finished Drunkard’s Path Scrappy Circle Template below:

Scrappy Circle 7in Block Template

Note: When using the printable template above, make sure your printer is set to print at “Actual Size” or “100%” (not “Fit to Page” or “Scale”). There is a 1 inch line on the pattern page that can be used as a reference to make sure the templates have printed out at the right size. Cut out the template pieces on the solid line (which includes the seam allowance). You can create sturdier template pieces by transferring the paper pieces to template plastic or a thick piece of cardboard.

Cutting Instructions:

1. Using either the GO! Drunkard’s Path 7″ Die or the Template provided above, cut out (4) A units (inner circle) and (4) B units (outer curve) from each of the (20) 1/4 yard cuts. This should yield a total of (80) A units and (80) B units. Note: since the pattern pieces are symmetrical, you don’t need to worry about whether the right or wrong side of the fabric is up when you cut (yay!).

2. From the binding fabric, cut (7) 2 1/2″ x WOF strips.

Assemble the Blocks:
1. Lay out one fabric A unit and one fabric B unit. If using the printable templates, fold each unit in half along the curve and finger press to mark the half-way point along the curve. If using the AccuQuilt shapes, the darts along the curves mark the half-way point for you.

2. Flip the B unit onto the A unit (right sides together) and place a pin through the center points of both fabric pieces.

3. Work your way to the outer edges of the curve by placing pins through both pieces of fabric. The inner circle piece should lay flat while the outer circle piece will start to ruffle. Make sure the outer circle piece is laying as flat as possible at the seam line–ruffling further out is just fine.

4. Slowly sew a scant 1/4″ seam along the curved edge. Remove pins as you go and make sure that the outer circle background fabric is laying flat along the seam (you don’t want it to end up with a pucker in the seam).

5. Press the seam toward the inner A unit. The quarter circle unit should measure 7 1/2″ x 7 1/2″.

6. Repeat the same curved seam process with the remaining A units and B units to yield a total of (80) quarter circle units.

Assemble the Quilt Top:

1. Layout the blocks in ten rows, each with eight blocks (8 x 10 grid) as shown below.

2. Assemble the rows, pressing in alternate directions. Sew the rows together, pressing all seams down.

3. Baste, quilt, and bind the quilt top as desired.

There you have it, a perfectly scrappy, circle quilt! Thanks for following along and if you’ve been on the fence about sewing curved seams, I hope this will give you the confidence to try. If you make your own Scrappy Circle quilt, please tag me on social media so I can see. 🙂

Happy sewing!

Meet The Holland Pouch! I created The Holland Pouch pattern because I wanted a go-to quilted pouch pattern that was simple and fast: something that a even beginner could feel confident making. My requirements were: no bias binding, finished edges inside, and only straight line sewing (no curved seams). The Holland Pouch pattern meets all of those requirements and I’m so excited to share it with you!

The Holland Pouch pattern has three size options, each of which only uses three fat quarters of fabric. The pattern includes full color, step-by-step graphics walking you through every step of creating your pouch, plus extra instructions for using directional fabric (we don’t want any upside down prints now, do we?).

Since I want the Holland Pouch to be doable by sewers and quilters of all skill levels, I’ve included a little extra information on the supply requirements below. Please let me know in the comments if you have any other questions about the supply list. I want to don’t want any questions unanswered!

Supply Requirements with Links to Products (below)

I love the feel of Soft & Stable as the stabilizer/middle layer of my pouches and bags. It’s a foam stabilizer, so it provides great structure and dimension. Soft & Stable is layered in between the top/main and lining fabric, then can be basted and quilted as if it were batting.

Batting is a great alternative to Soft & Stable, and The Holland Pouch pattern is perfect for using up batting scraps you probably have laying around! To get a little extra structure to the finished pouch, I’ve found that adding two layers of batting works really well. The two types of batting I purchase most frequently are Warm & Natural and Hobbs Heirloom.

Fusible interfacing comes in handy when you want some extra weight and strength to a fabric, but you don’t want or need any extra bulk. My favorite brand is Pellon SF101, which you can find on Amazon or at your local craft store (I purchased a 10 yard bolt from JoAnn Crafts and it has lasted for years!).

For pouch and bag patterns, I have really loved using the larger #4.5 size handbag zippers. The zipper tape is a bit wider, which gives you more room to work with, and the zipper pulls are bigger and easier to grasp. I have purchased many, many colors of By Annie Zippers and also love the YKK Long Pull #4.5 size zippers available from Zipit on Etsy. Both of these companies sell the #4.5 size zippers as either a set size (18″, 24″, 30″, etc.) or as “zippers by the yard.” When I first started making bags, I was unsure of even how to use zippers by the yard, but now I’m hooked! When you purchase a zipper by the yard, you’ll get a long coil of zipper tape with a handful of zipper pulls. Then you can cut off the amount of tape you’ll use and manually add on a zipper pull for that length of zipper. I feel like I’m using my supplies more efficiently that way because I can cut off the exact length that I need.

If you have standard size zippers on hand, you can absolutely use those instead! I’ve made a few Holland pouches with regular zippers and not only do they work great, but they are also more readily available at your local craft stores. Zipit on Etsy also has a large selection of standard size zippers in a wonderful array of colors (and great prices, too!).

You can find The Holland Pouch pattern in my Etsy shop by clicking the link on the button below.

THE HOLLAND POUCH

I’d love to see your own Holland Pouches! Please tag me on social media with your photos (@centerstreetquilts on instagram) and use the hashtag #thehollandpouch so others can easily find your Holland Pouch, too.

Happy sewing!

Have you checked out my free Christmas Tree Table Runner tutorial yet? A couple weeks ago I had an idea for a fun multi-directional Christmas Tree block and knew it would be perfect for a table runner since there are right-side-up trees when looking at it from either side. After all, we want to enjoy our table runners from both sides of the table, right?!?

I had so much fun making the first table runner that I quickly whipped up another one–this time in basics from Riley Blake Designs. I chose my favorite red, green, and low volume prints, and while none of the fabrics are specific to Christmas, they work fabulously together for a festive table runner. That’s what I love about using basics: they are so versatile!

Within the Riley Blake Basics options, I used many different prints from the Kisses, Swiss Dots, Pin Dot, Textures, Bee Cross Stitch, Shabby, and Stripes collections. From the start, I knew I wanted the 1/4″ Red and White Stripe print as a border (I actually used it on both of the table runners I made!). It’s graphic, bold, and definitely reminds me of candy canes. Perfect for a Christmas table runner!

For the quilting, I used a digital pantograph called Midnight Sparkle and just love how it goes so well with the fabric and block design.

As I was making this table runner, I couldn’t help but remember why I LOVE sewing table runners: they are so quick and fulfilling! You can complete the entire project in a weekend (or day if you don’t have interruptions). 😉

You can find the free tutorial HERE and make a Christmas Tree Table Runner of your own!

Happy sewing!

Kristina