Today at the shop I shared a demo on how to make this cute little folded fabric star. It's a great use of scraps and can be a little ornament or quick holiday gift. My friend,
Heather Kojan had taught me how to make it a couple of years ago, and I thought it'd be fun to share it. You can find a really comprehensive tutorial on how to do it at the
Betz White Blog ~ check her post out, it has great photos and nice descriptions of what to do. Instead of re-creating the wheel, I'm just going to give an over view of what I did, but refer you to her blog for a better tutorial :)
Start with a 3" strip of fabric from four different fabrics, each approx. 14" long. Fold them in half lengthwise and press to get a center line. Then fold the two raw edges in to that center and press again. I used a little spritz of Best Press to help it hold it's shape to work with it.
Then fold each of these strips in half.
Weave the four strips together by having each strip wrap around the outside of one strip and go on the inside of another. Then pull them tight together to look like the photo above.
Fold each of the strips back over the center. I worked in a counter clockwise direction starting with the lighter gold strip, folding it from the right to the left side, and I finished with the green strip folding it up.
Then tuck the last strip (green in this case) under the loop formed by the first strip (light gold in this case). I used a stilletto to tuck it under. A bodkin, chopstick or tweezers would work here too.
Next you'll make the star points. Miter the corners by first folding the green strip to the right hand direction, then again in the down direction.
Then fold the whole thing in half from right to left.
Use a clip here so you can let go of your point while you work on tucking the strip in. Binding clips, wonder clips, a binder or paper clip, or a straight pin can work for this task.
Then gently tuck the green strip under the light gold loop. You can gently pull the strips that are still sticking out to tighten everything up at each step. Repeat this process for four star points on this side. Then turn your star over and repeat the points step for the four points on the other side.
After all the star points are formed and tucked, use small sharp scissors to cut the extra end of the strip that sticks out flush with the fabric it's tucked under for each star point.
You can run a little thread or ribbon through it to create a hanger if you want to use your little stars as Christmas ornaments.
Check back later this week as I'll be participating in Fabri-Quilt's
Inspired by Fabric Blog Christmas Project Blog Hop with a quick, easy Holiday decor project to have finished before Christmas ~ I'll be using the Peace on Earth collection by Ro Gregg shown
Here :)
Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn
My cute little finish from yesterday is this Presents Table Runner from Wooden Spool Designs (I just love their stuff). It is a cute little project that can be done up quickly if you do a machine blanket stitch, like I did. (But even by hand this wouldn't take too long). 
It only measures 7" x 32" so it makes a cute little accent on the table. I used a combination of wool and homespun fabrics, and we have a kit for it on our shop website.
Now that our summer holiday weekend is over, it's back to Christmas in July. Here are a couple of little quilt tops that I've finished this week. They are both from Kalico Kreations. The first one is called Stocking Stuffers.
This little guy is from a pattern called Snow Day. Both of these make up really easy and you can use scraps. We also have kits in the shop of these and will be having our big Christmas in July Sale this weekend ~ come in and check out all the new items!
Here's another great link to a blog called Freda's Hive that is sharing Great Ideas for a handmade Christmas 2009. The idea is that if you start now, you can do a little bit each month to have handmade gifts for your loved ones by next Christmas. Check it out, I'll keep the link on my sidebar here for future reference.
