Happy Spring! Happy Mother's Day!

Kim Diehl showed us this adorable tea towel that she made and we loved it. What a quick project for a gift. Mother's Day is this weekend and what about those teacher's gifts that you are going to go shopping for soon? We asked her for a pattern and not only did she come through with one, she included a sinfully yummy recipe for Snickerdoodle Swirl Bread!

HAPPY SPRING!

My Hearthside Seasons fabric collection has just hit the shelves in quilt shops, and I couldn’t be more excited about it.  This line is so versatile – perfect for fall and winter quilts, but it was designed to mingle with your stash and easily blend into your projects all year round. 

With Mother’s Day just around the corner, I thought I’d share a quick and fun gift idea that you can whip together in a jiffy.  Using the appliqué patterns provided in the free Autumn quilt project for Hearthside Seasons, I stitched up this adorable little kitchen towel. 

Here’s a quick run-down of what I did, and what you’ll need if you’d like to make this project:

Materials

One purchased kitchen towel, 20” x 28”

HeatnBond Lite (or a similar fusible product)

Scraps of assorted richly colored prints (of course, I used the Hearthside Seasons line!)

3/8” bias bar (helpful, but not a deal breaker)

Thread in assorted colors to match your prints, or a single complimentary color

Liquid basting glue for fabric (water-soluble and acid-free)

Making the Towel

1. Press the towel to remove any folds or wrinkles, and then fold it in half vertically and press a center crease.

2. Download the Hearthside Seasons Autumn quilt appliqué patterns, and use a pencil to trace 1 cockscomb flower, three almond-shaped leaves, four stars, two oak leaves, and three berries, placing the shapes about 1/2” apart on the paper side of the product.

3. Cut out the shapes approximately 1/4” outside the drawn lines, and then cut away the centers approximately 1/4” inside the drawn lines. 

4. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions provided with your fusible product to fuse the shapes onto the wrong side of the fabrics, using the pictured towel as a guide. Cut out the fused fabric shapes exactly on the drawn lines.

5. From one green print, cut a bias strip, 1 1/4” x 8”. With wrong sides together, use a scant 1/4” seam allowance to stitch along the long raw edges to make a tube. Use a bias bar to press the tube flat, centering the seam to hide it from the front of the stem. Dot the stem underneath the seam allowance with liquid glue and use a hot iron to press it flat.

6. Using the pictured towel as a guide and the pressed towel crease for centering, work from the bottom to the top to lay out the appliqués to form the design. Dot the seam of the prepared stem with liquid glue and position it on the towel, tucking the raw ends under the berries, and trimming away any excess length. Use a hot iron to fuse your design in place.

7. Set your sewing machine to a satin stitch and work from the bottom layer to the top to stitch the edges of each fabric shape, with the outer portion of the stitches dropping into the background just beyond the appliqué edges to encase them.

8. Last, choose one of your sewing machine’s decorative stitches, and use thread in a complimentary color (make sure your bobbin is full!) to add a stitched border around the edge of the towel, using the hem line as a guide. 

How easy was that?  And because most moms enjoy a sweet treat once in a while, especially when they don’t have to bake it themselves, here is the recipe for a sinfully yummy Snickerdoodle Swirl Bread that I recently baked for my family.

Tuck these little loaves into a gift bag, spill your pretty towel out of the top, and give it to your mom with a big hug.

Happy Mother’s Day, and happy stitching!

Kim ~

Thanks, Kim! Happy Mother's Day to you and to all of our fabulous designers and fans.

-hg