Quilts in the Pumpkin Patch-- Day One!

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Welcome to the Quilts in the Pumpkin Patch Blog Hop.

Would you like to make a Quilts in a Pumpkin Patch wall hanging?

THE FIRST HOP STOP IS RIGHT HERE! 

Hello Kitty Mug Rug

Aren't the tiny clothes pins cute?  Perfect for hanging tiny quilts in the "Quilts in a Pumpkin Patch" wall hanging!  Finished size is 13 1/4 x 12" so all you need is a few fat eighths or even some scraps for this one!
UPDATE:  I'M ENTERING THIS MINI QUILT IN AMY'S QUILT FESTIVAL AT AMY'S CREATIVE SIDE.  CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE FESTIVAL.

FOR THE TUTORIAL, CLICK ON READ MORE.

For the other Hop Projects click on the links below:

September 19th:  Sheri - Sunshine in the Attic

September 20th: Maggie - Maggie's Empty Nest

September 21st:  Susie - Susie's Sunroom

September 22nd:  Celine - Espritpatch

September 23rd:  Yevette - Evindie

September 24th:  Judy - Judy's Fabric Addiction

September 25th Elaine - Summercrafter
September 26th Patricia - Quilting Lines

There are just 3 Parts to make:  The Tiny Quilts, the Pumpkin Patch,  the Borders and finishing up.  Here is the tutorial:

STEP I.  THE TINY QUILTS

 1.  Start with 1 inch strips and sew pairs of two together, (keep strips long).  Square off ends  (GO TO READ MORE for more of this tutorial)

2.  Sew the squared ends together (it's easier to work with these small pieces if you do it this way)

3.  Lay your ruler down so the diagonal line on the ruler goes through the center and cut so you have a 1 1/2 inch square "4 patch".  Make 4 of these and sew 2 together and then those two together to form a 3 1/2 inch tiny quilt ready for it's borders.

4.  Add 3/4 inch borders and square it up.

5.  Sew right sides together, leaving a a 2 inch opening (to pull the right sides back out again), press, and stitch the opening closed.  
 NOTE:  In this tiny quilt, I included batting, but on subsequent little quilts, I didn't use batting because it's slightly puffy looking, but you could if you want-- it's your choice.  Also on the other little quilt you see on the line, I used 3/4" strips and made 4 tiny "9 patch" blocks for the quilt top.

In this photo, I wanted to show you this magnifying light I have mounted to my sewing table.  I love it because sometimes it's so hard to thread a needle or pick something out and it's nice to have!

6.  Quilting:  I hand stitched an "X" through each little block and around the border (as seen here through my lighted magnifier).  On all the other little tiny quilts, I just "quilted" by machine.

STEP II:  THE PUMPKIN PATCH

1.  Cut squares or rectangles for your pumpkins.  
One 3 inch square 
Three 2  inch squares
One 2 x 2 1/2" rectangle.  Use 1" (or  3/4 inch) squares of the fabric you've chose for your pumpkin patch background to "snowball" the corners-- you can see that I marked the bottom two squares with a diagonal line to sew on (or you could just fold it and sew on your folded line)   

Note:  On some of my pumpkin bottoms, I didn't snow ball it but left it square, to make the pumpkins less uniform in shape.  Also you could put less pumpkins in your "patch" if you want to.

2.  Pumpkin stems:  Out of brown cut 3/4 x 1" pieces-- actually a better method just occurred to me.  Cut two strips of green 1 3/4" x 5 1/2" and out of brown, cut a strip 3/4" x 5 1/2".  Sew the two green strips to each side of the brown strip.  Press. 

3.  Cut five, 1inch sections -- one for the top of each pumpkin.  Center the stem on top and sew the two pieces together for each of your pumpkin blocks.  Press.  Square up.

4.  Add green fabric to the tops of the pumpkin blocks so they are all the same height as your largest pumpkin block (don't forget to add 1/2" for the seam allowance) .  Press.  Square Up.

5.  Sew your Pumpkin blocks together.  Press.  Square up.

6.  Side borders.  Cut 3 1/4" x 1".  Sew.  Press.

7.  Bottom border Cut green strip 9 3/4 x 1"  (note:  if you look closely, you'll see that I did the bottom and then the side borders, but because of the way I photographed it, I told you to do the side borders 1st.  It doesn't matter, but the dimensions I gave you work for side borders 1st.)   Sew.  Press.  Square up.

8.  Top border:  Cut 2 1/2" x 9 3/4" in a different color green to give the "patch" dimension and a horizon.  Press.  Square up.

9.  Sky:  Cut blue rectangle 4 1/2 x 9 3/4".  Press.  Square up.

10. Clothesline posts units:  Cut 2 brown strips  1 x 8 1/2"  Cut 2 blue strips: 1 x 1 1/2".  Sew together.  Press.

11.  Putting in the clothes line:  I used a twine like thin cord but would recommend a perhaps a pearl cotton thick thread, or something that when you sew across it, the stitches catch the line in to keep it secure.  As you sew the post units to the patch, make sure the line is placed straight across from side to side, and sew it into the seam allowance and then back and forth across the line to make it as secure as possible.  It will probably stretch a little so don't leave much slack, if any.  Note:  I got my little clothespins at JoAnne's for $2.49 for 24 pins.

STEP III:  Borders and Finishing Up

1.  Square up your pumpkin patch and then add the borders.  (Mine was 10 3/4 x 9 1/2" at this point.)  The orange inside border is 1 x 9 1/2 " to sew to each side and 1 x 11 3/4" to sew next to the top and bottom. 

2.  The fall leaf outer border is 1 1/2" x 10 1/2" for each side (sew onto sides first) and 1 1/2 x 13 3/4" to sew onto the top and bottom. 

3.  Press and square up.

4.  Cut a piece of batting and backing the same size as the front

5.  Place the rights sides of the front and back together with the batting on the bottom.

6.  Sew all the way around, leaving a 3" opening for turning the right sides out.  Trim the batting right up to the stitching and trim the corners to reduce the bulk so the corners will be nice and square.

7.  Turn Right sides out and Press and stitch up the opening.  (As I press, I roll the backing back enough so I can see just a tiny bit of the front as you can see in the picture.)

8.  Quilt it however you wish.  I did some free motion on my regular sewing machine.  Don't forget to add the little triangle corners that allow you to insert a dowel and hang with ease.

9.  If you bind it, you don't have to finish the edges of the triangles, but if you use the turning right side out method, you need to press the edges in on your 3 inch square and then press in half and stitch onto the upper corners.

Here you can see how I've inserted the dowel and hung it up on the fence with a push pin.

I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial!  Come back tomorrow to see Maggie's autumn surprise!