Draft Guard Tutorial

I have had some requests for a tutorial on this super simple draft guard I made for our furnace room door. So, here it is!


MATERIALS NEEDED:
1/2 yard fabric
polyfill stuffing
rice
thread
drinking glass
tape measure

CONSTRUCTION:
1. Measure the circumference of the glass you have chosen, and cut the fabric accordingly, adding 1/2 inch for seam allowances.
ex.: if the circumference of the glass is 8 inches, then cut a 8 1/2 x WOF strip.

2. Measure the doorway you are using the draft guard on, and trim the fabric strip down, leaving 3 extra inches on each side, accordingly.
ex.: if the doorway is 35 inches wide, then cut fabric to 41 inches.

3. Press under short edges of the fabric 1/4 inch. Roll over another 1/4 inch and press. Stitch down. Repeat for other short edge.

4. Fold fabric in half, right sides together, long ways (hot dog way, if you remember from elementary school), and stitch down with a 1/4 inch seam allowance.

5. Turn right side out.

6. With thread, measure in about 2 inches from one end and tie off. I used several knots and wrapped the thread around the fabric several times.

7. Stuff the tube you've now made with the polyfill stuffing. Make sure to put some rice in periodically to weight the draft guard. On my prototype I forgot to put the rice in until the end, so mine looks a little lumpy on the back side.

8. Once you have stuffed your draft guard to the desired fullness, tie off the other end like you did in step 6.

And there you go. In 8 simple steps you have a quick and easy draft guard!

Charm Pack table runner quick tutorial

Today I threw together two really fun charm pack table runners. Hopefully I will be able to quilt them by Christmas, as they are for wedding gifts the weekend after Christmas.

In case you are wondering how a charm pack table runner can be "thrown together" it is quite simple.

Step 1:
Pick out your fabric. If you are using a pre-cut charm pack, it should say how many squares are included. One of the packs I used had 38 squares, the other had 40.

Step 2:
Decide how big you want it to be. I wanted to utilize as many squares as possible from the pack, so I found the common factor (a little rusty on my math...but whatever times whatever equals the closest number to the number of squares in the pack).

For the pack with 40 squares I had several options: 4x10, 5x8, 6x6 (not using 4 squares), 3x12 (not using 4 squares), 2x20... I went with the 5x8. I didn't want it to be too long, in case the recipient didn't have a long table.

For the pack with 38 squares I also had a few options. However, since 38 can only be divised by 19 and 2, I had to go with something that didn't use all the squares: 4x9, 6x6, 3x12. I went with a 4x9.

Step 3:
Lay out your squares into rows, and arrange as is pleasing to you.

Step 4:
Sew blocks together into rows using a 1/4 inch seam.

Step 5:
Sew rows together to create a quilt top.

Step 6:
Decide if you want a border or not. If you want a border, measure your quilt. I used a border on both of mine, and I wanted it to be 2 inches, finished. I cute my strips 2 1/2 inches wide, and 2 of them were the exact length of the quilt. The other two were the length plus 5 inches (2 1/2 on each side for the other two borders). Add your borders to your quilt.

Step 7:
Layer top, batting, and backing. Quilt as desired. I think I might either quilt in the ditch or do a meander or floral pattern across both of mine. I will be sure to post pictures when they are finished!

This is a really quick and easy pattern, and makes a great quick and easy gift for any occasion!