Tonight I was thrilled to have a little pillowcase making party at my house with two lovely young ladies . . . my daughter Haley and our family friend McKenna. About a week ago, McKenna had told me she wanted to learn to sew and to “perfect her sewing skills.” Wow . . . now that’s a girl after my own heart. She’s a busy 12 year old involved in lots of activities, but she wanted to make time to add sewing to her hobbies. So we marked a date on the calendar to have a sewing evening. When I mentioned this to my daughter Haley, she jumped right in and said she would join us. And just like that, the first Carried Away Quilting workshop was born!
After talking to McKenna, I thought a lot about which project we should tackle first. My old “teacher training” was starting to kick in. I ran through the skills we should touch on . . . pressing, using rulers, cutting, and basic machine use. In my mind, the top sewing skill to be mastered would be achieving a consistent seam allowance. But I also wanted this workshop to be easy and fun. I wanted McKenna to complete a project in one night, be proud of her work, and be inspired to continue to sew more. Making a pillowcase seemed like just the ticket.
We gathered at our house shortly after supper, and after a little giggling (mostly on my part) we got right to work. We used a free tutorial by www.prettyprudent.comcalled “The Easiest & Cutest Pillowcase Ever.”
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| McKenna concentrating on that seam allowance! Great work! |
It actually was very easy and they really did turn out cute! In fact, I can see myself making some of these for gifts. Holiday pillowcases would be really fun stocking stuffers! McKenna chose a basketball fabric with a polka dot cuff. Haley’s pillowcase features the beautiful “TrueLuck” line by Stephanie Ryan for Moda. The girls even did a french seam, creating a nice finished product. Didn’t they turn out great?
I also had the opportunity to give McKenna the “Hour Basket” I made for her. We girls can never have enough storage solutions! She has already tucked some of her fat quarters in the basket. The “Hour Basket” is a super quick and fun project. The free tutorial is available on the Kelby Sews blog. If you are on Instagram, you can check out hundreds of samples of hour baskets using the hashtag #hourbasket. Tons of fun!
Thanks for reading! Here’s hoping you get carried away quilting often!
~Taunja
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Were is the pattern for the basket.