Handmade Holiday: Mini Tissue Holder Tutorial

Posted in Finished Projects, Gift Ideas by lorimillerdesigns

Here is a cute quick gift you can stitch up in multiples for holiday party favors, stocking stuffers or just a little something for someone special. I used holiday and Christmas fabric but you could tailor them for boys or girls with masculine prints, sporty fabric or another cute novelty print. There is really very little sewing so it is perfect for a beginning stitcher. It doesn’t take much fabric either, so use up some of your scraps or stash.

Materials Needed:

Fabric Scraps in coordinating colors (fat quarters are more than enough)
Coordinating thread
Mini Tissue packages

Cutting:

Solid fabric:

Cut 1 — 4″ x 5 3/4″ rectangle
Cut 2— 4″ x 4″ squares

Print Fabric:

Cut 2 — 4″ x 5 3/4″ rectangle

Sewing:

Iron the two solid squares and the two print rectangles in half the long way, wrong sides together.
Layer the first print piece over the solid rectangle piece, right sides together. The fold should be facing the center and the raw edges should be aligned with the solid rectangle.
Next, layer the solid piece on the end with the fold facing the center and the raw edges aligned with the solid rectangle.
Continuing to work clockwise, layer the other printed piece on the solid rectangle laying on top of the previous piece and with the raw edges aligned to the bottom rectangle.
Layer the final solid square and the end with the fold facing the center. Lift up the other print piece and tuck it under aligning the raw edges with the bottom rectangle.
The pieces will look like this all layered together. Pin the layers together.
Stitch around the entire outside of the cover with a 1/4″ seam.
Clip the corners and turn it right side out.
Take one of the mini tissue packs. I just snip the upper plastic package down the middle so you can get to the tissues. You can maybe just open them and put the little sticky closer out of the way too.
Tuck it into the little cover.
Now you have a cute small tissue cover to tuck in your bag, purse or car.

25Nov2014

Handmade Holiday – Personalized Zip Bags

Posted in Finished Projects, Sewing Accessories by lorimillerdesigns

Last month at my Modern Quilt Guild Retreat, my friend Vicky gifted everyone at the retreat with a personalized zip bag. She tried to personalize the fabrics she chose to match each gals personality too. It was so thoughtful and so cute. It was a wonderful idea and I am not too proud to say that I stole it. I thought it would make great holiday gifts for all of my sewing friends and family. I have a huge stash of sewing themed prints that I have picked up along my travels. It does not take much fabric and who doesn’t love something homemade?!

Here is the bag that Vicky made for me. It features a see thru vinyl zip pocket and on the back there is another pocket.

The pattern is an embroidery pattern where the bag is sewn entirely in the hoop! It is made by Lisa from Pickle Pie Designs.

I have an old Bernina 630e Embroidery Machine and I was able to squeeze it in the mega hoop that I own. All the details for the pattern, size of hoop needed, and types of embroidery machines she supports is on her website. She has a lot of other cute patterns too that you might want to try. You have to have your own alphabet and pattern for any personalization.

You start out by hooping some tear away stabilizer and it stitches guides for your zipper placement.

Just align the zipper and it is all stitched for you! No reason to fear the zipper here!

It satin stitches on your vinyl and attached the upper fabric to personalize.

You switch to your personalized name embroidery and position and stitch it on.

Then she shows you how to add all of the other fabric and stitch it all in the hoop.

She leaves a section to turn it right side out. You just need to pull it out of the hoop, trim and turn it right side out.

This one is for one of my sit and stitch sisters, Wanda. Shhh. It is for our Christmas exchange.

Here is another bag I made for myself to hold all my pens and pencils that I carry around to jot things down when inspiration strikes.

I am going to make a pile of these and fill them with some fun goodies for the holidays.

Do you have some great small handmade items that you are making for this holiday season? Let me know!

10Oct2014

Quilted Halloween Cat Pillow

Posted in Home Accessories by lorimillerdesigns

Can it really be October already? I dug out my Halloween fabric stash and decided I needed to put together a few holiday themed handmade items. I recently ran across a pattern for a pillow using a quilted cat block by Elizabeth Hartman of Oh Frannson! I envisioned it with a black cat theme and I was off to my stash to pull the perfect fabrics.

The Janome Project site has a free pattern that you can get and print out.

It is a pretty straight forward pattern that is simple and easy to piece together.

There are just two main parts to the cat.

The finished block is 6 1/2″ square.

I decided to make 9 blocks for an 18″ finished pillow cover.

I quilted the pillow top using straight lines and my walking foot.

Here is the top all quilted. I like to wash it before I finish it up.

For the back, I used two pieces of the orange fabric 19″ x 13″.

I folded over 1″ twice to hem the overlapping opening. I stitched close to the edge.

I stitched again by the fold so that it stays a little nicer, especially when you wash it.

I place the front the the overlapping backs, WRONG sides together and pin them.

Then I finish up the pillow with about 84″ of 2 1/2″ binding.

It turned out so cute with all of those halloween black fabrics. The orange fabric is a nice tone, not too bright.

Elizabeth also has some great pictures and tutorials from her own quilt along with the cat quilt block here.

What halloween themed items are you making this month?

16Sep2014

Quilting Arts Holiday Blog Hop 2014 and a Giveaway!

Posted in Sewing Accessories by lorimillerdesigns

Welcome to Lori Miller Designs! I am very excited to be participating in the Quilting Arts Holiday Blog Hop 2014. All of the contributors have joined the hop and you can find great give-aways, tips and ideas for holiday gift giving along the way. The magazine features a slew of great holiday gift ideas that you can whip up for the special people on your gift list this holiday season. I really enjoy making handmade gifts for my friends and family, especially for the holidays. These unique, one of a kind gifts seem to be well received and I like infusing a little love into each item. In recent years, I have started making multiples of similar gifts to give away. These small, useful items are on the agenda for everyone on my list.

This year I am making these cute Gingerbread House Pincushions featured in the magazine. It is a great little project for gift giving to your creative sewing and quilting friends for the holiday and it is not too early to start getting ready. All of the directions are included in the magazine and you can sew up these cute little confections in a jiffy. Make a bunch of them using my ideas below to create gifts in multiple quantities.

Nifty Gifty Tips

Start planning early. Figure out what kind of item or gift you want to make in early fall so you can gather patterns and materials and have time to stitch them up. I like to start in September and pace myself so I am not pulling my hair out as the holiday gets closer.

Customize the gift. Just because you are making many of the same item does not mean that you can’t tailor them to individuals and make them special. Personalize them with names or with your choice of fabrics. Try a fabric with a theme or hobby or favorite color that matches the individual or their décor.

Practice. Take an afternoon and completely sew through one version of the gift to have a feel for the time it will take, any special notions you will need, and to make notes on the pattern that will make the assembly go faster. Also, it may eliminate a few surprises if you get in a hurry.

Set up an assembly line. When you do similar items at once, I think the work simply goes faster. Group the tasks together. Consider cutting everything out at once, then stitching and piecing, then quilting, and finishing. If you are appliquéing or sewing, try to sew all of the things with that particular thread color so you are not constantly changing the spool.

Don’t get too ambitious. Ask me how I know this one. I made these lovely rainbow baskets for my sewing friends last year. I used all scraps to make the 2 ½ inch squares, but these were huge and the quilting took forever, I thought I would never get them finished. One friend even got a few pins instead of buttons as I rushed to gift them. Oops. May I suggest you find a simple but useful item, big is not always better.

Stock up on supplies. Be sure to have extra thread, needles and notions handy. Needles break and threads run out and if you are in the stitching zone, you don’t want to have to stop to get a needed supply. Stock up and be ready.

Have fun! Sew with a friend. Turn on your favorite music, invite your crafty friend over stitch and EAT the day away. You will not believe what you can accomplish, and the fun memories you will have, when you share the day sewing with a friend.

To celebrate my pattern being published in the magazine, one lucky reader will receive this Gingerbread House Pincushion in a giveaway.

Contest Closed.Thanks to those who entered. Winner is Josie Davis, congratulations.

Here is the Holiday Blog Hop Schedule:

Friday, September 12, Vivika Hansen DeNegre

Saturday, September 13, Lyric Kinard

Sunday, September 14, Claude Larson

Monday, September 15, Linda McLaughlin, and Kathy Kerstetter

Tuesday, September 16, Lori Miller

Wednesday, September 17, Melanie Testa and Liz Kettle

Thursday, September 18, Susan Brubaker Knapp,

Friday, September 19, Lisa Chin

Saturday, September 20, Sarah Ann Smith

Sunday, September 21, Catherine Redford

14Sep2014

Fall Leaves and a Thank You!

Posted in Work in Progress by lorimillerdesigns

Well, September is certainly here with the cool fall weather and I am not quite ready for the leaves to change colors. While I am holding onto the green a little longer outside, inside is all about quilting some autumn leaves. First up, a beautiful pieced maple leaf quilt. I am working on this special project for my mom. (Shhh – she does not know so don’t spill the beans). She really admired a maple leaf quilt when I was back in Des Moines visiting her and we went to a see quilt show. She said she just loved all the tones and colors in the fall leaves. I tucked that hint away and started to work on her quilt. I found a great pattern on All People Quilt called Tumbling Leaves.

I enlisted my sit and stitch group to help stitch some of the leaves over the past year and this fall I am trying to get them all pieced together. I used all of my fall colored stash fabrics in green, yellow, red and orange.

I am about half way through putting the blocks together. I am trying to just do a random order with not too many of the same colors together. I can’t wait to share the quilt with you when it is all finished.

The second part of the post has to do with my Pattern, Quilted Pile of Leaves. This wonderful fall themed project pattern is one of my best sellers. I really appreciate the support and wanted to give you all a big Thank You. It means a lot to be able to share my creativity with you. I was delighted to receive a thoughtful note from Cindy Young who had gotten the pattern and was beginning to stitch up her own Pile of Leaves.

Photo Courtesy of Cindy Young

She sent me some pictures of all of her handy work and even shared a few tips that some of you may find helpful. She uses the flexible cutting boards to make her plastic templates for quilting and for these fall leaves in particular. She says they are very economical and sturdy. She also decided to use Insul-Bright from the Warm Company insulated lining for her leaves so she could use them on the table and protect the finish from hot dishes.

Photo Courtesy of Cindy Young

Here you can see what a big pile she made and she also started to create even more shapes that turned out darling. Beautiful fall leaves and wonderful tips! Thanks Cindy!

What fall projects are you working on?

9Sep2014

My version of Kimberly Einmo’s Chainsaw Quilt

Posted in Work in Progress by lorimillerdesigns

When in Grand Rapids last month, I took a class from Kimberly Einmo. She is a wizard with jellyrolls and precuts, and is now branching out to modern quilts and applique! She taught her chainsaw quilt class. It looks kind of like a saw blade, hence the name. I cut up all my pink, coral, peach, tangerine and lavenderish fabrics in my stash to make my own layer cake and jelly roll.

You make the individual blocks. They have that lovely jagged edge.

Then you spin them around and put four of them together to create the saw blade shape.

Kimberly’s quilt has borders and half square triangles, but I decide to make some extra chainsaw blocks and make the whole quilt out of them. (You can find the pattern in her book, Jelly Roll Quilts & More).

I just got the top pieced, but I think it came out striking. I am thinking it wants some quilted circles, what do you think?

This could be a fun baby quilt with 16 blocks, it would sure stitch up fast.

2Sep2014

Upcycled Quilty Folding Chair

Posted in Home Accessories by lorimillerdesigns

A few weeks ago I was spending a quiet weekend by myself at our “Up North” Michigan cottage. It is so peaceful there and we are fortunate to live on a small inland lake. I went into town for a few things and had to stop at the little local Goodwill store, you never know what bargains you will find. I discovered a glass bread dish (perfect for some banana bread) and 3 well used folding chairs. I looked at those chairs for a bit, I did need some extra seating in the cottage and they really had good bones. The price sold me and I hauled my treasures out to my car. I stopped at the local hardware store and picked up two cans of discontinued spray paint in a lovely stone grey for $3. Here is my adventure with those chairs.

My official before picture of one of the folding chairs. Each chair had a cushioned back and a padded seat, a bonus.

A price of only $5.99 each didn’t hurt either.

When I got it home, I removed the back and cushion. You can see it was definitely worn and rusted a bit.

I took a 150 grit sandpaper and sanded down the whole chair. I wanted the spray paint to really stick well.

Then I wiped it down with a damp cloth to remove all of the loose debris.

Next I began to spray paint the whole chair with my bargain spray paint. I made sure to just shake it up extra good and I did not have any problems. I painted in short light strokes so the paint would not drip. I have decided spray paint is amazing. After it dried, I flipped it over and painted any spots I missed. It really dried pretty fast. You can easily do this in a few hours.

While my chairs dried, I started to make my quilty coverings. I really liked the idea of a sail boat motif for the cottage, so that is what I started with. I used my stash of low volume grey prints as a neutral palette around the boat. These are all one inch finished squares.

I used some batting and a backing of muslin and I quilted the design. Then I covered the back cushion with it and screwed it back onto the chair. The greys blended perfectly with the stone color spray paint.

For the seat, I took all of my teal and dark blue scraps and cut out 1 1/2 inch squares and randomly sewed them together. Now, this part did take quite a while. I liked the look of the small blocks, but you could use larger squares and it would go a lot faster. If you look closely, you will see another little sailboat motif echoed on the seat. I quilted this seat cover with batting and a backing of muslin too. I just used straight line quilting with a walking foot, nothing fancy. I chose a darker set of colors for the seat since it would get a lot of use.

For the seat, I had to staple it onto the seat with very short staples. I pulled it as evenly as I could and worked carefully around the seat.

The corners were a little tricky, I just tried to position staples where I only had to go through one layer of fabric.

Here is my finished upcycled chair, it turned out so cute. I plan on spraying it with ScotchGuard to make it easy to clean. These chairs look brand new!

28Aug2014

What I have been working on lately

Posted in Finished Projects by lorimillerdesigns

I am really trying to finish up a few old projects in between starting new ones. I don’t ever seem to be at a loss for something to sew.

SONY DSC

I finished up this quilt for a graduation gift for our good friends daughter who was graduating from highschool She said she wanted a teal color and this is what I came up with. The pattern is Mellow from Natalia Bonner and Kathleen Whiting’s book, Modern One-Block quilts.

These are pretty big blocks and they sewed up quicker than you would think. SONY DSC

This is a duffle bag I made out of fabrics from the Michael Miller Modern Quilt Guild challenge. I started with a Simplicity pattern and then added a shoulder strap, the zipper pocket and a few other pockets. It really was a fun project to do with the quilt as you go style. I was able to incorporate all the fabrics. 036 - Copy

This was a journal cover I made entirely from scraps. It was a challenge at our modern quilt guild to take some scraps and make something of them for the next meeting. We all then swapped our creative treasures. I belong to the Detroit Area Modern (DAM) Quilt Guild.

Here is another journal cover i just finished. I am really liking these small pieced figures and then the small channel quilting to set it off.

I love this little apple! And that is the latest finished little quilty things.

28Aug2014

AQS Show – Grand Rapids

Posted in Uncategorized by lorimillerdesigns

(L – R) Me, Loreen, Wanda and Tina

I joined three of my sit and stitch sisters for a trip to Grand Rapids for the American Quilter’s Society Quilt Show. This is the third year for the show and it is a fun trip for a group of quilting friends.

I also got to meet a wonderful teacher, Kimberly Einmo, and take her Chainsaw Quilt Class. I had spoken to her on the phone but we had never met. She is a fun, enthusiastic person and a wonderful teacher.

You start out making these rotary cut blocks from a layer cake and jelly roll.

Then you put them together in this way to look like a saw blade. I used every pink, peach, purpley, salmon colored fabric in my stash and made my own layer cake. Hopefully it will not be too pink. I am still working on the squares.

The pattern was from Kimberly’s book on the left, “Jelly Roll Quilts & More”. It uses some ingenious rotary cutting to get the shape.

Here is my first day’s haul from visiting the vendors, there were a lot of cute things but I restrained myself. I can’t wait to stitch up the thimble blossom mini’s.

1Mar2014

Playing Catchup with Holiday Placemats

Posted in Home Accessories by lorimillerdesigns

Wow, it has been several months since I started this adventure and the holidays and life in general has kept me busy. But I did take some pictures, so I am going to catch up! Bear with me as I post a little history to get current. I am going to start with these fun holiday placemats.

For the holidays, I dug out my Clover Yo-yo maker, and made a pile of peppermint yo yos.

I stitched and strung groups of them together.

Then I added them to some plain red placemats I made out of solid red kona.

A cute holiday placemat is born. But wait, there is more.

I took my old pattern for gift cards and made them up for silverware holders.

They are completely lined so they have a contrasting cuff when you fold them over. I used this apple green candy cane print.

Isn’t that a cute Holiday place setting?

Enjoy!

1Mar2014

I Love Bread

Posted in Home Accessories by lorimillerdesigns

I love bread. I have a very old bread-making machine that keeps chugging along and I usually make it in the dough cycle so I can finish the goodies up in the oven. It does the mixing, kneading and rising for me. This was about Thanksgiving time and I was inspired by an heirloom bread cloth my Mother in Law had given me, but it was very plain. I decided to make two new ones, one for me and one for her with some added embroidery pizzazz. I got to play with fancy stitches and needles on my sewing machine too.

I started out with this basic pattern.

I just used white cotton kona for the fabric, wish I would have had some white linen. I used a fancy heirloom stitch on my machine and a very large wing needle to hem the entire thing. I sewed right along the seam so the stitch caught it.

I sketched out a couple of designs and started to embroider on one of the flaps. this is a cute orange pumpkin and oak leaves.

Here you can see the fancy stitches better and my embroidery. I just used a simple stem stitch for the whole thing.

For my heirloom bread cloth, I stitched a tree with colorful fall leaves all in a chain or lazy daisy style stitch.

It was a perfect gift to send for Thanksgiving since we could not be together. And I made a big batch of dinner rolls nestled in my cloth for us here in Michigan.

16Oct2013

In My Studio: Making the best fleece neck pillows ever

Posted in Finished Projects, Gift Ideas, Home Accessories, Uncategorized by lorimillerdesigns

I discovered a FREE PATTERN at http://www.sew4home.com for the best little neck pillow ever! It looks like a big dog bone!

I made one out of some leftover fleece and it sewed up so nice and was sooooo soft. I dug out a huge bag of fleece scraps and took it up to our cottage in northern Michigan for the weekend. It was cool and rainy…a perfect day for sewing. Here is a peek into my weekend of work.

Here is part of my pile-o-fleece dumped out on the bed.

I started just cutting out as many pillows as I could.

Here is my glorious stack of pillows all cut out. These are my brilliant idea for christmas gifts for everyone this year.

I wanted to leave one pillow at the cottage, so I stitched up the sides of this cute little sheep that matches my robe.

There are no fabric stores very handy by the cottage, so what to do to stuff my pillow?

How about a $2 pillow from the only local store, Kmart. So yes, I cut open that pillow and used the stuffing for my little relaxing neck pillow.

So I stuffed that little pillow full of my ingenious stuffing.

Here is my little pillow all stuffed and ready to be stitched closed.

I grabbed the rest of my pillows to take home to sew whenever a need a little break. I think the family will be delighted with these gifts and I destashed a huge amount of fleece. I even kept a small pile of the scraps to use just like felt for applique, there were so many colors.

What fun things do you make with your fleece scraps?

Welcome to my Creative World!

I am Lori Miller and this is the official launch of my creative blog. I finally decided to take the plunge and start to get something out here even though it is not perfect yet. I have enjoyed sewing for as long as I can remember. I have been sewing fun little gifts for family, friends and myself. I took up quilting about 10 years ago, but I really like to make smaller quilted items to get a quicker sense of accomplishment.

I have started making some of my goodies for my shop, Lori Miller Designs, and I thought this blog would be a fun way to document some of my stitching adventures and share the things I love.

I figure this will be a work in progress as I read WordPress for Dummies and check other how to manuals for my blog from the library. Oh how I love the library! So much goodness all in one place. And of course, read all of the goodies on the internet.

Welcome and stay tuned on my blog, definitely a work in progress.

Lori Miller Designs

Making playful and clever designs for the modern stitcher

Tag Archives: “Lori Miller Designs”

Handmade Holiday: Mini Tissue Holder Tutorial

Materials Needed:

Cutting:

Sewing:

Handmade Holiday – Personalized Zip Bags

Quilted Halloween Cat Pillow

Quilting Arts Holiday Blog Hop 2014 and a Giveaway!

Fall Leaves and a Thank You!

My version of Kimberly Einmo’s Chainsaw Quilt

Upcycled Quilty Folding Chair

What I have been working on lately

AQS Show – Grand Rapids

Playing Catchup with Holiday Placemats

I Love Bread

In My Studio: Making the best fleece neck pillows ever

Welcome to my Creative World!

Materials Needed:

Cutting:

Sewing:

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