A Couple of Tutes...OR...One Bloomin' Long Post....

Ha!  This will probably be a tutorial you all have tucked neatly under your belts.  You are all very talented and experienced quilters and crafters.  But the lovely Molly came to me last night and asked me to teach her how to make a yo-yo.....so here goes.....

 I use a set of round cookie cutters (biscuit cutters for my UK friends) for making yo-yo's....but I also find them useful for other purposes when you need circle shapes.

Choose a circle...but be warned these yo-yo's get very small so pick a circle larger than you think you will need.  Trace the circle on the wrong side of your fabric and cut out on the line...

Then turn under the raw edge slightly less than a quarter inch....and with your threaded needle in hand {double strand and knot at the end} stitch a running stitch....turning the edge under as you go.  If you make your running stitches a little larger - the hole in the center will be smaller....if you make your running stitches smaller - the hole in the center will be larger :)

When you have reached the spot where you began stitching....gently pull the thread to gather the stitches....

Pop it inside out so the right side is on the outside now....it will look like a teeny little pilgrim cap!!!

Pull the thread so the center closes....and now you have a yo-yo!!!   Take a couple of tiny stitches in the folds to hold it secure....and you are done :)

Now the other tutorial I have planned is the cute little house block...probably something you know how to do as well....so I will forgive you if you just want to pass on by to the next much more exciting blog ;)

I do this block in stages - the roof and sky and the house and ground.  The block I am making is a 12 inch square block.  I usually over-size everything and then cut it down later.  So this block will be 12 inches before adding the borders.

I begin on the house part without the roof....for this block I cut the white {background fabric} 6 inches by 5 inches - this is for the left side of the house.  I cut the left side of the house {the side with the window} 6 inches by 3 1/2 inches....

I cut the left house side into two pieces to add a window and sides {house fabric} to go onto both sides of the window....bottom of the house under the window is 2 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches....and my window is 2 inches by 2 inches....the sides are 1 1/2 inches...remember I over-size so I can cut it down if I want to....

   

I took a piece of ribbon for curtains and folded it so it would fit across my white window ...and stitched the curtain onto the window square at the top....

  

Then I add the sides to frame the window....then the top above the window and the bottom underneath the window.... see I will trim this up nicely so the sides are even....

The door is done pretty much the same way...although for this house I wanted an arched door....so I curved the top of my door {convex} and the piece of house that goes above the door I curved {concave}...make the concave piece a little larger than the convex piece so you can ease in the arch....and mine turned out a little bit wonky....these are teeny pieces!!!

looks frightening doesn't it?

Once your door is done, add the other side of the house and the other piece of background fabric....

I added a window to the door in just the same manner...Now, on to the roof....

I want an angle in my roof and the background fabric on both sides of the roof....so to get the right angle, place the background fabric underneath your roof fabric.  For the left side of the house I have the left side of the roof just over the background fabric enough to catch both pieces when I angle it.  Position your straight edge at an angle and cut...most of the background fabric will be off to your left....just the opposite for the other side of the roof....

Another tip about the roof....you want the measurement of the bottom of the roof to be just slighly larger than your house measurement.  It looks okay if the roof is a little larger than the house but not if the roof is smaller....

Now your house is in three pieces....the roof and background sides - the house and background sides - and the grass....sew them together!!!

Molly did the embroidery and I will add some borders....hope I didn't bore you too much:)

mary