One Hour Wall Hanging

Someone in my house has been on a napping strike for the past few days.  That, in addition to being super busy this week, means that very little sewing has been done.  Actually, very little anything has been done.  I was getting antsy and needed to make something, so last night I decided to find a quick project that I could make in (hopefully) an hour or less.  I decided to just pull out some fabric and piece something together on my own rather that search through any of my books or patterns.  I knew if I started searching I'd end up spending the entire evening looking at books and trying to make up my mind and then end up not making anything.

I decided to make a small wall hanging for a narrow space upstairs above an end table.  The space isn't wide enough for a picture frame but it looked like it needed something.  Wall hangings are one of my favorite things to make because they're fast, simple, and showcase cute fabric.  I wanted to use some of my new fabric--it's a Japanese fabric by Lecien called Flower Sugar 3.  You can search for it online, but mine is from here.  I love this line, and there have been two other Flower Sugar lines that are similar.  This line is colorful and bright, with vintage floral and gingham designs in reds, yellows, greens, aquas, and pinks.

I had 6 fat quarters, but only used a small amount of each.  You can make this wall hanging by using any coordinating scraps you have on hand.  For this project, you will need:

3 4"X6" scraps of fabric

2 6"X10.5" scraps of fabric

1/8 yd. of coordinating fabric for binding (cut strips fabric 2 1/2" X width of fabric and sew strips end to end, pressing seams open, to make one continuous piece of binding.  You will need a finished strip of approx. 68")

1/4 yd. of coordinating fabric for backing

thin cotton batting, at least 8"X30"

scissors, pins, sewing machine & iron!

Start by choosing the fabric and cutting the scrap pieces.  You can also go ahead and make the binding.  If you need a good tutorial on making your own binding, this is a good source.





Start with one of the 4X6 pieces and pin a 6X10.5 piece on top, along one edge, wrong sides together.  Continue in this order with the remaining pieces.



Sew all the pieces together using a 1/4" seam allowance.



Press seams down to one side.



Place backing fabric on a flat surface, followed by batting, followed by the pieced top, right side up, to make a "sandwich."  Pin in place using regular pins or safety pins.  Quilt as desired (I made it really easy and just stitched in the ditch along each seam).



Trim the quilted piece and align the binding along one side of the top, leaving a few inches of "tail" at the start.  Match up the raw edges and pin in place, stopping about 1/4" before you reach the corner.  Sew along the edge with a 1/4" seam allowance.  Stop 1/4" before the corner and miter the corner.  For a tutorial on this, check this out.





Flip the piece over and fold the binding over the raw edge and pin in place.





Hand sew the binding closed, trim threads, and press the finished piece one more time.  If you want a more puckered, quilted look then try washing the piece on the gentle cycle and toss in the dryer on low.





I finished in just over an hour, hand sewing included!  That's my kind of project.

It seems as though the napping strike has been lifted...I was able to post this entire thing without saving and going back to it 16 times.  I think we'll head to the park when she wakes up.  It's January 6th yet it's 50 degrees and sunny outside--we're taking advantage while we can!



~Stacy