Another Fun Easter Basket ~ Amy Carrington

How to make a cute, quick Easter basket with two fat quarters plus a 5” x 18” piece for the handle, some leftover batting, and an 18” square piece of interfacing.
I found the pattern for this Easter basket on The Crafty Gemini’s website and you can whip it up in an hour or two. I love following along with video tutorials. Here’s a quick overview:
Choose bright, cheery, coordinating fabric. These prints are from the Prairie Collection by Moda.

Cut each piece into an 18” square. Iron the fusible fleece to the wrong side of the interior fabric. And spray baste (or pin) the batting to the outer fabric and quilt. You can quilt lines or free motion quilt. I chose to free motion quilt mine.

Sew pretty sides together, leaving an opening to turn. Then it’s a matter of squaring off the corners and folding down the sides.

To make the handle, you’ll need a strip of batting, approx. 1-1/2 x 18” and fabric approx. 5” x 18”. You can choose one of these fabrics, or use a combination of both, as I did. I just sewed my scraps from the original fat quarter together.

Attach the strap to the basket, fill it with treats, and there you are. Happy Easter!

~Amy Carrington

More Easter Basket Fun ~ Sandee Pacific

I so enjoyed making this Easter basket with the Dot Dot Dash fabrics Loulou's Fabric Shop sent me. Honestly it's the perfect colors and patterns for spring!

I followed the Easter basket pattern on flutterkat.com, you can whip it up in an hour. Her instructions are amazing. If you've never boxed corners before you'll be a pro when your done!

See these are all the pieces, so easy. Only thing is I should have used a firmer stabilizer or even fusible fleece would've worked great.

Please check out this pattern, you won't be sorry!

Happy Easter!

Sandy Pacific

We Have a New Blog!

Yes, we do! We have a new blog platform and it obviously is a work in progress but we are pretty darn excited about it. Yippee!

Yes, yes you can! You CAN so sew this! You got this! We got this! We got this together! Have you ever fallen in love with a sewing project and said to yourself, "there's just no way I can tackle a project like that"? Or, have you ever been mid project and thought, "what the heck have I gotten myself into?" Or, after hours and hours (okay, maybe it was only a few minutes) of seam ripping have you ever thought, "That's it, I'm done, where's that WIP bin?"
Well, I have. Actually, that's probably more the norm than not. I think we are all harder on ourselves than we ought to be. I have adopted a new motto and I'm sharing it with you, "I Can So Sew This." I can so sew this, you can so sew this, we all can so sew this! SO, go sew it! (After you peruse our blog, and visit LouLou's Fabric Shop of course to stock your stash. HeeHee!

Oh yeah, I almost forget! We want to see all of the fun stuff you are sewing! Share your projects using #icansosewthis and #loulousfabricshop to be automatically entered into our Customer Appreciation Giveaways! Customer Appreciation Giveaway, you ask? Yes, we are giving away fun fabrics, notions and sewy (I don't think that's a word) things just because we love our sewy, quilty community and friends and we love seeing what you are creating! We randomly select winners from those using #icansosewthis and #loulousfabricshop and ship off fun surprises for you to create even more with. In turn, it means you post more inspiring creations! It's a win win for us and for you!

Follow us as we grow and develop our new blog!

AND, one more thing....we have transferred over posts from our previous blogs but unfortunately there is not way to transfer your comments. Don't be alarmed if you left a comment on our old blog to enter our March Monthly Giveaway. You will not be left behind! We, sewy peeps leave no man (or woman) behind! You have already been entered into the giveaway.

Sew Pro Easter Basket Hop ~ Celeste Harrington

I was so excited to get a LouLou’s Sew Pro Staff request for making an Easter 
Basket!! I adore Easter and bunnies! I had a lot of fun perusing the different 
patterns and tutorials out there for making adorable fabric baskets! One of my 
very favorite patterns was the free tutorial by Amy Smart of Diary of a Quilter. 
The official tutorial can be found at the Riley Blake website.

I received this adorable fabric in the mail from LouLou’s Fabric Shop. These 
coordinating fabrics are from the adorable line by Lella Boutique called 
Gooseberry. All the prints in this line are adorable, but this aqua and pink 
combination feels just perfect for Easter and springtime.

You will love this basket for so many reasons! First of all, it goes together so 
quickly and so easily. The tutorial instructions are clear and easy to follow. Also, 
it is a perfect little basket for all sorts of occaisions. You could make bunches of 
these for gifts for friends and family!

I used the aqua Gooseberry print for the outside and the handle and the precious
pink on pink print (with little animals on it-so adorable) for the lining. You only 
need a ¼ yard of each fabric for the basket. You might even be able to squeeze it 
out of less. It is given some shape with by adhering Fusible Fleece to the outer 
fabric and Shape Flex to the lining.

The sewing is very straightforward. This is a great project for all levels!
I added a little straight stitch quilting to the outside pieces as suggested and I love 
the texture and finished look it provides. That’s well worth the few extra minutes!

~ Celeste Harrington

March Monthly Giveaway!

Winner: Judy Haynes & Friend Donna Gamble

Rumor has it that many of you have been anxiously waiting for the arrival of Sweetwater's Volume ll! You are not alone! We are in love with this reproduction! How would you like to win a yard or two...or four? This month we are giving away yardage, not to only one of you, but to you and a friend! It's always more fun to sew with a friend, right? Two yards for you and two yards for your sewing buddy. You can mix and match by the 1/2 yard cut or you can choose 2 yards of the same.

To enter: Tell us who you sewing buddy is and why? How does he/she inspire you? I know you probably have a sewing posse that inspires you, but for giveaway purposes, it can only be split two ways. You can however, enter multiple times with different sewing buddies. 

Also, visit us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to enter there too!

Ta ta for now! Happy sewing!!

Sandee's Lucky Clover Block

Lucky Clover Block - 7" finished block size  Fabric requirements: 4 - 3" squares green fabric 12 - 1 1/4" squares white fabric 2 - 1 1/2" x 5 1/2" strips of green text fabric for top and bottom sashing 2 - 1 1/2" x 7 1/2" strips for side sashing Scrap green for stem Wonder Under scrap for stem Disappearing ink pen Block construction: Mark a diagonal line on each white square with disappearing ink Sew 3 white squares onto each green square as shown. Trim 1/4" from seam line, press seams open. Sew all four blocks together, then attach top sashing and side sashing. You can leave as is or make a stem like I did. I drew it on a piece of Wonder Under, which I then ironed onto a scrap of green, trimmed, then ironed onto the block. I appliqué stitched around the stem. I turned this into a mug rug!