Learn to Make a Fabric Heart Ornament

I invited Liza from @lizataylorhandmade to share how she made a Fabric Heart Ornament.  This is such a cute and easy project, you’re going to love it.  Take it away, Liza!

Hi everyone! I’m Liza from @lizataylorhandmade and I am so excited to be showing you how to make these quilted hanging hearts! It is a super quick project and is great for using up scraps. 

You can also use this project on a cutter quilt! It is a great way to repurpose an old quilt and turn it into something new. I have had the most luck finding cutter quilts online at Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, and Mercari. If you have a quilt like this to use go ahead and skip to the step where you trace the template. 

Steps to Making a Fabric Heart Ornament

Template

1. Be sure to download your Heart Template by CLICKING HERE.
2. Print your template on card stock and cut it out.

Picking Fabric

1. Once you have your template, go to your scrap pile and pick out enough scraps to make (2) hearts, one for the front and one for the backing. I usually lay the scraps out on my cutting mat and rearrange them until I like the positioning.
2. Make sure you have your template handy so you can see if your patchwork scraps are big enough to cover the template.
3. Once you have your positioning how you like it, take the pieces to your sewing machine and sew the scraps together. Press seams open.
4. Now you are going to quilt the patchwork panel. Take a scrap piece of batting and some fabric for the backing (this fabric will go on the inside of the heart so it doesn’t matter what it looks like). Lay each layer flat on top of each other and pin together. Go ahead and quilt it however you would like.
5. With both panels quilted, it’s time to cut out the heart. Lay your template on top and position where you would like it. Trace it with a pen and cut it out. Do this for both the front and the back.

Next, cut a piece of ribbon for the hanging. I cut mine to be 11” long, but you can make it as long or as short as you would like.

Sewing The Hearts Together

1. From here, take the hearts and the ribbon to your sewing machine. Put the heart’s right sides together and fold the ribbon in half. Keeping the ends of the ribbon together, put it in between the two layers with the ends pointing out. The rest of the ribbon will be tucked inside the layers. Pin in place.
   
2. Start sewing at the bottom of the heart. Be sure to backstitch at the beginning and at the end.
3. Sew ¼” around the whole heart, but stop about 2” from where you started. Backstitch to secure.
4. Next you are going to take your scissors and snip all around the heart. I like to snip the bottom point, once in the curves, and down the middle of the ribbon and the middle of the top. Make sure to not snip too far to cut your seam! See the next photos for reference.
   
5. Now it’s time to turn it inside out. Start pushing each side through the gap. Use your scissors to help push through and make the pointed bottom nice and sharp.
   1. I like to use poly foam to fill my hearts. I use about a handful, but feel free to fill it as full as you would like. This is the filler I use.
      

Finishing Your Fabric Heart Ornament

1. Once you have stuffed your heart you now need to sew up the gap. I use an invisible/ladder stitch to do this and DMC perle #8 cotton thread.
2. To do the ladder stitch take your heart and insert the needle from the inside, up through the top layer on the far right side. This will hide your knot in the center.
3. Now take your needle to the bottom layer (make sure to maintain the ¼” fold) and insert from the center and come out about ⅛” over on the same side. Repeat on the top layer.
4. Every stitch will follow the same pattern, always go from the inside to the outside of the heart.
5. Once you reach the end, tie a knot in your thread, insert your needle near your last stitch and come out anywhere on the heart. Give the thread a tug so the knot goes to the inside of the heart and trim the tail where you came out.

You’re finished! Feel free to add some lace or ribbon to it, or even add some embroidery to the front. The possibilities are endless.

If you liked this free tutorial, be sure to check out my other tutorials:

• 3 Ways To Finish A Quilt By Hand
• How To use Bias Binding
• Quilts As Decorative Wall Hangings

Introducing Binding Boards – The Quilt Binding Tool Every Quilter Needs

Let me introduce you to Nicole Christoffersen, who is sharing all about Binding Boards.  In fact, Nicole is the creator behind these boards.  When I saw them, I knew I needed to get one and share about it with y’all.  Nicole, take it away!

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The Story Of Binding Boards

Benefits of Binding Boards

• A fun benefit of the Binding Board is that it doubles as a small, portable pressing station.
• The increased temperature from the reflective heat material helps to create amazingly flat seams like a wool mat does. Unlike a wool mat, though, there’s no wet dog smell or steam moisture seeping through to damage your furniture below.
• And of course, you can finish making a quilt binding in WAY less time than normal.

How Do You Use A Binding Board

To use a Binding Board, first press about a 10-12” section of the binding in half. Place this pressed section on the Binding Board and insert the included push pins on both sides of the fabric.  The pins should be far enough apart to set your iron between them.  This creates an opening that’s exactly the width of the finished binding.

Then place your iron in the opening you left for it and gently pull the binding through. Using your left hand to guide the fabric strip in half can help to make sure you’re getting a double fold binding (standard quilt binding), rather than a single fold binding. Continue pulling the binding through until you’ve reached the end. Tada! Pressed binding in a fraction of the time.

Binding Board In Action

Binding Board Love

Where Can You Get A Binding Board

Make a Whole Cloth Quilt with 4 Layer Gauze

Learn to make a quilt with 4 layer gauze.  This is one of the easiest quilts you could ever make, and you will love it.  Here are the 2 quilts I made using 4 layer gauze.

What is 4 Layer Gauze

Gauze is a light, thin, loosely woven fabric.   4 layer gauze is simply, that: 4 layers of gauze attached together.  The 4 layers are basted together every ½” or so with almost undetectable basting stitches.  That’s why the fabric looks flat at first, but when washed it gets that crinkly look.

What is a Whole Cloth Quilt

A whole cloth quilt is a quilt that is made of just one (or two) single layers of cloth.  There is no cutting or piecing.  It truly is the easiest quilt to make.  In fact, a single layer would almost not qualify to be called a quilt, except I did a little hand quilting, so we will call it a quilt.  The only thing I did beyond hand quilting for both versions, was a binding.  But besides that, it is so simple!

How To Make A Whole Cloth Quilt With 4 Layer Gauze

To make a whole cloth quilt with 4 layer gauze:

1.  Choose what fabrics you want to use.
   1. If you pick want different fabrics for front and back, pick which fabric you want to use.
      1. I have seen people buy bed sheets they like and use the two sheets as the front and back of a whole quilt cloth.  It’s an easy way to avoid piecing fabrics together to make it large enough.
   2. You CAN use just one layer of cloth, like my 4 layer gauze.
   3. You can use batting if you want, it’s personal preference.
2. Decide how you want to quilt your whole cloth quilt.
   1. This can be any way you like!  If you have 4 layer gauze, you actually don’t need to do any quilting at all.
   2. You can do hand quilting, machine quilting, decorative, straight line.  Anything you want!
3. Pick out fabric for the binding. 
   1. Your whole cloth quilt WILL need a binding.
   2. Download my binding cheat sheet here to see how many strips of binding you need based on what size quilt you make.
      
   3. My favorite binding tutorial is HERE, from Alison of Cluck Cluck Sew.
4. Quilt your Whole Cloth Quilt
   1. If you are putting two fabrics together, you NEED to quilt so as the fabrics stay together.
      1. Check out my blog post on 3 WAYS TO FINISH A QUILT BY HAND.
   2. If you are using (1) 4 layer gauze fabric as a whole cloth quilt, you actually don’t even need to quilt it.  Can it still be called a quilt at that point?  I’m not sure . . .  However, I loved adding hand quilting to mine just for the look.
      
5. Wash your Whole Cloth Quilt
   1. This is the fun part!  If you use 4 layer gauze for your quilt, after you wash it, the texture becomes amazing!  It gets crinkly and soft and oh, so wonderful!

Fabrics I Used and Where to Find Them

For my Whole Cloth Quilts, I mentioned I got my gauze from Field and Cloth.  That is a small shop, however, and they only had a small supply of the 4 layer gauze.  Here are a few other places to find some:

• Etsy.  Type ‘4 Layer Gauze’ in the search bar and you will find independent shops that carry 4 layer gauze.
• Birch Fabrics.  They just started carrying Organic 4 layer gauze.
• Shannon Fabrics.  In the search magnifying glass, type GAUZE.  Shannon fabrics is THE place to find soft and cuddly fabrics, by the way. Love her stuff!

For the front of my whole cloth quilt, when I used decorative fabric, I decided to use Magical Mushroom by Erin McManness of Paper Raven Co for Cotton and Steel Fabrics.  Her entire line is AMAZING and a current favorite.  But I picked this particular color because it’s soft, goes with my home decor, and I just had to have it.  You know the feeling, am I right?

The Finished Whole Quilt Cloth

Here are my end products.  I hope you get a chance to make a whole quilt cloth.  It’s super fast and easy, and great to have!

Be sure to check out my other tutorials

• How to Make a Rag Quilt
• Making Perfect Turned Edge Applique Circles
• Free Gingham Quilt Pattern and Tutorial

Learn How To Make A Rag Quilt – The EASIEST Beginner Quilt

The Easiest Beginner Quilt

Do you want to learn how to make a rag quilt?  It is one of the EASIEST quilts you can make, plus everyone will love it.  You can make a quick baby quilt, or make a larger size for yourself.  I was lucky to use Day Dream, Patty Basemi’s first line of fabric for Art Gallery Fabrics. 

WHAT YOU NEED to make a Rag Quilt

To make a rag quilt, you will need fabric, batting, a sewing machine, thread, and scissors.  I will give you fabric requirements for 2 sizes of Rag Quilts: a baby size and a lap size.

FABRIC FOR BABY SIZE RAG QUILT (30″ x 40″)

1 ⅜ yards of decorative fabric OR you can use fabric from your stash.  You only need (48) 6″ squares total for your front fabric.  This is a great way to use your stash!

1 ⅜ yards for backing fabric.

30″ x 40″ piece of batting, or (48) 5″ squares of batting.

FABRIC FOR LAP SIZE RAG QUILT (50″ x 60″)

3 3/8 yards of decorative fabric OR you can use fabric from your stash.

3 3/8 yards for backing fabric.

50″ x 60″ piece of batting, or (120) 5″ squares of batting.

Cutting Fabric for Rag Quilt

BABY (6 blocks x 8 blocks) – 30″ x 40″

1. Cut (48) 6″ squares from backing fabric
2. Cut (48) 6″ squares from decorative front fabric
3. Cut (48) 5″ squares from batting

LAP (10 blocks x 12 blocks) – 50″ x 60″

1. Cut (120) 6″ squares from backing fabric
2. Cut (120) 6″ squares from decorative front fabric
3. Cut (120) 5″ squares from batting

Sewing Fabrics for Rag Quilt

1. 1. Layer (1) backing square, wrong side up, (1) batting square, and (1) decorative front square, right side up.  Place the fabrics wrong side together so that the decorative parts of the fabric face out.  Take care to center the batting.

      

      

2. Repeat this for all of your fabric sandwich squares.  (48) Total for baby size.  (120) Total for lap size. 

Making Rows for Rag Quilt

1. Place (2) fabric sandwich squares together with the backing fabric touching.  This is different from most other quilts, as you will have your finished seams on the front of the quilt.  I made the mistake of sewing my squares with the decorative fabrics touching.  See my photo below of how that turned out.
   This shows the backing fabrics touching.

Here you can see where I have the seams going to the BACK of the quilt. I had to unpick this and redo them so the seams came to the front of the quilt.

1. Sew one side of the squares together with a ½” seam allowance.  Open.  Your seam is facing the front of your quilt, which is exactly what you want.

   

2. Keep adding additional squares, one at a time, with backing fabrics touching, to make (1) long row.  All seams should be on the front of the quilt, sticking out.
3. Baby: sew 8 rows of 6 blocks.
4. Lap: Sew 12 rows of 10 blocks.

Making Quilt Top for Rag Quilt

1. Pin (2) rows with backing fabric touching.  Place pins at each corner to make sure the corners match.  Seams should go in opposite directions, but you don’t need to worry too much about this.  This quilt is very forgiving when it comes to which direction your seams go.
2. Sew row together with ½” seam allowance.  Open. Your seams should be facing the front of your quilt.
3. Keep sewing rows together with backing fabric touching to make the quilt.
4. Sew all around the outside edge of your quilt using a ½” seam allowance.
5. Take scissors and cut your seams on the front of your quilt.  Make sure to stop at the seam and do not cut onto the quilt top.
   I spaced my snips about ½” apart, but you do not need to measure.  Just use your eye and whatever distance apart you prefer.
   
6. When all seams have been cut, wash and dry your rag quilt.
7. Enjoy your fluffy fraying rag quilt!
   

   

   

   

If you liked this free quilt tutorial, be sure to see my other free tutorials and patterns:

• Free Gingham Quilt Pattern
• Free Playtime Pattern
• 3 Ways To Finish A Quilt by Hand
• How To Hang Your Quilt As Decoration

How to Make Turned Edge Appliqué Circles

While the concept of Turned Edge Applique has been around for ages, it has more recently gotten much easier than it was in the past! In this post, you’ll learn how to easily make perfect appliqué circles to add an extra flare to your next quilting project.

Hi, I’m Emily from Homemade Emily Jane here to show you how I make perfect turned-edge appliqué circles in a fun, modern way. Grab some scraps of fabric and join me in making a few of these circles – you’ll soon be hooked!

Gather Your Supplies:

• Fabric Scraps & coordinating thread
• Applipops
• Liquid Starch (Sta-flo is recommended, but Elmer’s Glue can work too!)
• Hot Iron
• Sewing Machine

I was personally always a bit intimidated by appliqué circles, because I had this idea in my mind that they were hard to make and needed to be hand sewn. Thankfully, neither of those are true! I recently learned how to make perfect turned edge appliqué circles using a small metal device that made all the difference for me and attached them to my project using a sewing machine.

The secret to my success is through using a small device called Applipops. These small round metal circles work as a template as well as an ironing tool to help make perfect circles. Let me show you how they work! You can watch this video or follow along in the images below.

You can use code  EMILYJANE to save 10% on applipops.com. 

How to Make Perfect Appliqué Circles

The first thing to do is decide what size circles you want to make for your project. Applipops come in sets of sizes that make it really easy! You can get them in ½” increment sizes or ⅜” increments. I personally got 2 of each set. The project I’m making to demonstrate this technique is a small quilt block that features 9 circles. To add a fun modern aspect to the design, I decided to make 3 large circles, 4 medium size circles, and 2 small circles.

Once you’ve decided what sizes you want to make, grab the scraps of fabric you plan to use for the circles. Arrange your fabric inside two circles that lock it into place.

Trim about a ¼” around the edge of the smaller circle. (this is the part that gets turned under) The right side of your fabric should be showing on top of the smaller circle.

Flip your circle over so the wrong side is up, and dampen your raw edges with starch. Sta-flo liquid starch is recommended but I’ve found that you can also use glue in a pinch. I tried it with Best Press and it worked a little bit, but I had much more success with glue.

Gently and evenly arrange your raw edges towards the center of your circle. Make sure the puckers are as even as possible and there aren’t any sharp points around the circle. 

Use the hot iron to press it all into place. The heat from the iron will dry the starch. Once the starch is dry, take the iron off and let the circles cool down. Since the applipops are made of metal, and metal conducts heat, they will also get very hot. Be careful not to burn yourself! 

Once cooled, you’ll be able to separate the circles and pop the center circle out of the fabric. 

Press your fabric one more time without the applipops. Repeat this process to make your desired amount of turned edge appliqué circles.

Appliquéing the Circles into Place 

Attaching your circles onto your fabric is actually quite easy! Begin by pinning your circles into place on a piece of background fabric. You could also use fusible web to temporarily adhere them, but I found pins to be just fine. 

Next, get your sewing machine ready. I recommend threading your sewing machine with a thread that matches your circle. You can use a normal straight stitch if you like, but I prefer a blanket stitch. If you can adjust the speed on your machine, make it super slow. 

Carefully and slowly begin stitching around the edges of one of your circles. 

When using a blanket stitch I try to line it up so that the straight stitches are “in the ditch” between the circle and the background and then the sideways stitches come out onto the circle to tack it into place. If you’re using a straight stitch you’ll want them all to be on your circle, an ⅛” or less away from the edge. 

Repeat the stitching process around the edges of all your circles.

Finishing your Appliqué Circles Sewing Project

Consider turning your small appliqué project into something like a mug rug, pot holder, or zipper pouch!

More Quilting Tutorials

If you enjoyed this sewing project tutorial, be sure to follow Emily on Instagram, Pinterest, or YouTube, and check out some of the other free quilting tutorials on HomemadeEmilyJane.com:

• FREE EXPLORE QUILT PATTERN
• COMPLETE QUILT BINDING TUTORIAL (by hand & by machine!)
• HOW TO CHOOSE QUILT BATTING
• 7 SCRAPPY SEWING PROJECTS