Scrap Bag/ Jelly Roll Lanyard
by Erin Blutt
Materials:
- 2 strips from a Moda Scrap Bag or Jelly Roll
- Fusible interfacing
- Key fob/ lanyard hardware (1.25” dimension)
- Stitch Witchery (optional)
Cutting:
My top piece (the green) I cut down to 2” wide x 31” long. If you are using strips from a Jelly Roll, you will need to cut your top piece down to 2” and your bottom piece down to 2 ¼”. Trim both Jelly Roll pieces to 31” long.
Cut a piece of fusible interfacing (I use the one for medium weight fabric) that is 2 ¼” x 31” long. Mark a line down the center of the fusible interfacing on the NON-fusible side.
Following the instructions that came with the fusible, adhere it to the wrong side of your bottom strip. Then, fold each side into the pencil line and press, which will create a 1 ¼” strip. Press folds well. 
Cut a second piece of fusible interfacing that is 1” x 31” long. Center this on the wrong side of your top fabric and fuse the two together. Press ½” in on each long edge. A quick way to do this is to use a piece of cardstock and line it up with the edge of the fusible interfacing, fold the fabric flush with the edge, and press.
For the next step, you can either use the Stitch Witchery or pins. If using the Stitch Witchery, cut a 31” piece. Lay the bottom strip down, place the Stitch Witchery on top in the center, and then center your top piece. Press pieces together. If not using the Stitch Witchery, pin top strip to bottom strip with wrong sides together.
At your sewing machine, top stitch using ¼” seam allowance on your TOP strip. Backstitch at each end to secure. Square edges up with rotary cutter.
Grab your key fob/lanyard hardware, fold strip in half with top fabric facing out and place into the groove. Use a piece of scrap fabric to protect the metal, and squeeze together with a pair of pliers.
Put the key ring on, and you know have a super cute gift for your favorite teacher! Teacher Appreciation Week starts May 2nd, so you have plenty of time to make a few of these up for your kids to take in!
Crazy Hunky Dory in Frames
by Tracey Jacobsen
What a happy day it was when I saw a little “Burgundy Buttons” link on another blog, and clicked it…
Layer cakes are hard not to love, and I’ve purchased a few from Burgundy Buttons this year.
I first spotted the Crazy 9-patch block when Elizabeth from Oh Frannson! made her crazy nine-patch lattice quilt. I knew a layer-cake would be perfect for this block, as it eliminated most of the cutting!
Here’s my version of the Crazy nine-patch.
- 1 Layer cake (Hunky Dory featured)
- 1 ½ yards sashing material (mellow yellow tonal blooms featured)
- 1 yard Bella solids in snow or white (frames)
- 3 ½ yards backing
Optional:
- 8 ½” Square ruler
Cutting:
Cut sixteen 1 ¼” x WOF strips of white framing fabric
- Subcut in to thirty-two 8 ½” x 1 ¼” strips
- Subcut in to thirty-two 10” x 1 ¼” strips
Cut thirteen 3 ½” x WOF strips of sashing fabric
- Subcut five of those in to twenty 10” x 3 ½” strips
*Please Note*
- You will always be moving the pieces from the narrow pile.
- Take care to keep fabric in the same order as you construct your blocks
Choose 9 layer cake squares per set of 9 blocks. (I made up 4 sets, for 36 blocks; however, you do not need all of them for this quilt). Make sure there is as much contrast/variety as possible in your fabric selection. I chose all four sets at the same time, to keep the blocks balanced.
Sort your nine squares so that there is contrast between each fabric.
First cut:
Second cut:
Make another vertical wonky cut about 1/3 of the way over from the right. This time, move two (2) pieces of fabric from the narrow pile to the bottom, and sew your fabric together. I found chain piecing helped me keep all my blocks in sequence. The sequence is very important to ensure that you end up having one little scrap from each starting square of fabric in your completely nine-patch. Press seams open, and line up your blocks.Rotate your blocks 90 degrees.
Third cut:
As shown, make a third wonky cut, roughly perpendicular to your first two, about 1/3 of the way over. With this cut, you move three (3) pieces from the narrow stack to the bottom, and once again, sew them together. 
After stacking your pieces together yet again, and lining up seams as well as possible (wonky blocks are forgiving; it’s OK if it’s not perfect), make one last cut about 1/3 of the way in from the side opposite where you just cut. Move the top six (6) pieces of the narrow stack from the top to the bottom, and sew them together. 
Trim each block to 8 ½” square. It helps to use an 8 ½” square ruler if you have one.
Framing:
Using your white framing pieces, sew an 8 ½” piece to the top and bottom of each block. Press seams, and sew a 10” strip to the left and right of each block. I chain pieced this step to save time. Sashing:
Each block with frames measures 10” square. Using your sashing pieces, sew a 10” x 3 ½” strip to the left of each block, and the right of the fourth block of the row. Join the blocks together. Each row should be: sashing , block, sashing, block, sashing, block, sashing , block, sashing; the numbers on the back of the blocks really helps for this step.Press seams.
Sew together two of your 3 ½” x WOF sashing pieces end to end. You can either measure the total length of your row or simply sew the extra-long horizontal sashing strip to the top of your row, and trim the excess, ( You can then using the excess to join to the next long horizontal strip before joining your rows together). Add a horizontal length of sashing fabric to the top of each row, as well as bottom of the fourth row; sew your rows together and your quilt top is complete! 
For the back:
I used some of my left-over fabric squares and crazy-nine patch blocks to create a pieced back. The back is then joined with Moda Bella Snow and Aqua.
Label…Baste…Quilt…Bind…Wash…Dry…Love…
Quilt measures approximately 50 inches square.
I think it would look great in Botany, Chirp, Tweet Tweet, and any other fresh or fun fabric.
If you have questions about this tutorial, email me at TraceyJay@gmail.com
