Tuesday 18 February 2014

Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew - February Link Up and Coffee Lovers Set

Paula and I are delighted to welcome you to the second of our monthly Ho,Ho,Ho and on We Sew Link Parties. With the Winter Olympics in full swing and the first snow of the winter here last week, it doesn't seem so strange to  be planning a Christmas project :)





Thanks to the lovely bloggers who linked up last month with Paula at Mud, Pies and Pins, and thanks especially to Kristy and Alyce who provided the great pattern giveaway for January, which was won by Karen

This month's giveaway is another wonderful prize donated by Helen of Bustle and Sew, if you win this prize you will have plenty of inspiration for this year's Christmas and Holiday gifts. Helen has very kindly donated a copy of her Handstitched Christmas eBook!





There are 15 great Christmas patterns for you to try in the eBook, and with patterns ranging from Carol singing mice to Reindeer Tote Bags, there is bound to be something to take your fancy :) You can find details of all the patterns in the ebook here

To be in with a chance of winning the eBook, all you need do is link up below a Christmas project that you have completed this month. A random winner will be picked from all of the entries linked by the end of the month.

If you are struggling to think of a project to make how about this Coffee Lovers gift set?



Coffee Lovers Gift Set
The set comprises of a Place Mat, Mug Cosy and Cafetiere/French Press/Coffee Plunger Cosy and would make a lovely gift for a Coffee-loving friend or relation. This one is destined for my Sister-in-Law!

To make the gift set you will need the following supplies;

1FQ Christmas fabric for the exterior of the Cosies and star of the placemat
0.5yard fabric for the backing of the placemat and lining of the Cosies. (You will have enough fabric to use for the binding and button loops if you wish)
1F8th of 2 contrast fabrics for the placemat front and binding
Scrap of ribbon (optional) for button closure
0.5yard Insul-Bright heat-resistant wadding/batting
3 red buttons

The Cafetiere/French Press/Coffee Plunger and Mug Cosies are made in the same way, the only difference is in the dimensions.

Creating the quilted fabric

Measure the width and height of your Mug and Cafetiere and cut pieces of your exterior fabric to match these dimensions plus 0.5" all round. Cut pieces of the wadding and exterior fabric to the original dimensions plus 1" all round. Layer up the pieces in the following order;

  • Top          - Exterior Fabric
  • Middle     - Heat-resistant wadding, shiny side down
  • Bottom    - Backing Fabric
Pin baste the fabrics together and quilt.

 I quilted a FMQ holly design using Aurifil 50wt shade 2892, can you tell that I am having fun experimenting with the modified FMQ foot??

I found it helped to draw the motif out on a notepad beforehand and refer to it when I was stitching.

When you have quilted your fabric pieces, trim them to the dimensions of your Cafetiere and Mug. For information my pieces were trimmed to the following dimensions;

  • Cafetiere - Height 6" Width 11"
  • Mug        - Height 3.25" Width 9.25" 

Button Loops

I made two different button loop closures, a ribbon loop closure and a fabric loop closure. If I was making the set again I think that I would make both closures fabric loop closures as it seems sturdier. If you choose to make a ribbon loop closure you will just need a length of ribbon that is twice the gap between the edges of your cosy plus 0.5" and thin enough to fit between the handles of the mug or Cafetiere.

If you are making a fabric loop closure you will need a piece of fabric 1.5" wide and to the same measurement as the ribbon loop given above.

Fold the fabric strip in half lengthways wrong sides together and press, then open out the folded strip and fold the raw edges into the centre fold and press again. Fold the strip in half again lengthways giving you a fabric strip that now has one closed folded edge and one open folded edge. Topstitch along the length of the open folded edge.

Fold the topstitched strip in half widthways and with the raw edges side by side flatten the top fold to make a V-shaped fold. Stitch across the bottom of the V

You can see this more clearly in the photo above.

Binding 

Cut and piece together sufficient 2" binding strips to bind your Cafetiere and Mug Cosies. Fold the pieced strips in half lengthways and press.

Mark the halfway point of one short edge and pin the button loop or ribbon closure to the backing, matching the raw edges. Stitch the loop closure to the cosy using a scant 0.25" seam to ensure that the stitching will not show when the binding is attached.

With raw edges together pin and stitch the binding strip around the exterior edge of the cosy, mitring the corners as you go.





Fold the binding over to the back of the cosy and handstitch the binding, catching the button loop closure or ribbon closure as you go.


Attach a red button to the middle of the opposite short edge on the exterior.

Wrap your cosy around a Cafetiere and Mug and enjoy a long, hot mug of coffee!



To finish off your gift set though, how about a quilted placemat to match?


Piecing a block for the placemat

From your fabrics cut the following;

Christmas fabric
  • 8 x 3 and 7/8" triangles
  • 1 x 6.5" square
First contrast fabric
  • 8 x 3 and 7/8" triangles
 Second contrast fabric
  • 4 x 3.5" squares
  • 2" x 54" binding strip
Join the Christmas fabric triangles to the First contrast fabric triangles and then join the resultant squares to another pair to make 4 pairs.

The Christmas fabric triangles will only be joined at the points to make the points of the star as shown above.



To two of the pairs join a second contrast fabric square at each end of the pair.


Join the remaining pairs to opposite sides of the 6.5" square, making sure that the star points are facing in the right direction to complete the star.

Quilting the placemat

Layer and baste the placemat pieces and quilt. I outline quilted the star shape just for a change :)

Binding 

Square up the block and then bind the placemat in the same way that you bound the cosies except without the incorporation of the button loops.



Admire your work then squirrel the set away for Christmas and congratulate yourself on ticking a gift off the list so early :)

If you are looking for some Christmas-themed fabric for your makes, the 50% off sale is still on at The Fat Quarter Christmas Cloth store, just saying :)

I plan to add a bag of Christmas Coffee and maybe some handmade truffles to this set when the time comes!

This is also one of my finishes for Q1 of the FAL!

Finish Along 2014


So, now it is your turn. Link up your Christmas/Holiday/Gift projects to be in with a chance of winning this month's giveaway.

The Link Party will remain open until 23.59GMT on February 28th, so you still have lots of time to make and link up a project. As ever, grab the button from the sidebar and spread the word, the more projects linked up the more inspiration there will be! A comment here and there to your fellow linkers wouldn't go amiss either :)





Linking up to

Sew Cute Tuesday


IMG_6373
Fresh Poppy Design

16 comments:

  1. that is a very nice gift set and what fancy quilting!!! great job!!

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  2. Very nice set and good idea for linkparty!
    Thanks for hosting!
    Have a nice day!

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  3. What lovely Christmas fabric, Fiona and awesome quilting with the holly!!!

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  4. Sister-in-law is a lucky girl! I love the fabric choice and how you have layered it.

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  5. such a great gift, and gorgeous quilting :-)

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  6. OOH Fiona You are enticing me . I love those little coffee cup cozies. Might have to join the band wagon here.... I have been wanting to make Helen's Reindeer tote and didn't get to it last Christmas. She offered it as a free pattern last year. I would love to see what else she has in the Christmas e-book. Thanks for your little boost of encouragement. We have lots of snow on the ground.... still plenty of winter here.

    I appreciate your visit to The Girlfriend Gap and leaving a sweet comment :) Thank you. Janita

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  7. Your set looks lovely! No idea on the project. I can't keep a secret so if I make something for someone I'm more likely to tell which means it won't be Christmas gift anymore :-)

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  8. Hmm, I'm scrambling to get mother's day done right now, I'll get back to you in December ;o)

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  9. Definitely a great gift idea. I really love your holly quilting. So fun.

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  10. What an adorable set! We have a French press & that would be the perfect prezzie for my sweet better half! :-) Thanks for sharing!

    http://www.busyneedle.ch

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  11. Any sort of finish would be nice!! Love the coffee collection !

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  12. Sorry, but Flikr cut off Santa's head. Please follow link on Cindy1959 to see the full quilt.

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  13. Oh wish I had time for this! I'll bookmark it and see what I can do in June when the kids are not in school and I'll have more time.

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  14. What a great tutorial, Fiona! Those are sweet gifts. Your SIL will love them!

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  15. What a lovely set! I've been promising my husband a cozy for his coffee press and I haven't got around to do it. You have inspired me to finally make him one.

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  16. Loving these cosies and fabulous tutorial too! Have a great weekend. Marie x (mlismore@optusnet.com.au)

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