Fun Projects for Fall

Hello! I hope that your learning adventures are off to a good start! 
It has been a long and very hot summer here, and I am looking forward 
to cooler weather and planning a few fun projects that tie in with 
our areas of study.

One of the most popular projects that I have undertaken has been my 
creation of bandana quilts for our children. Now I have other friends 
and family members waiting in line for their quilts! It is fun, 
inexpensive and EASY for those of us who are not exactly sewing-
oriented. :-)

You use 12 - 16 bandanas, depending on the size of the bed that you 
are planning on covering. These days, you can find a wide variety of 
bandanas in stores like Hobby Lobby and Walmart. From camouflage to 
jelly beans, and even great new colors for the standard paisley 
bandana - the choices are many. I've seen cowgirls, cowboys, horses, 
flags, airplanes, trains, fish, wildlife, space planets, and many 
more. Try to choose bandanas that have nice square corners and are 
uniform in size. 

I sew the bandanas together in rows of three or four across, 
depending on the size of the bed. I use rows of three for a double 
bed. Then I sew the rows togther - remember, I am not a terrific 
seamstress, so these simple straight lines work well for me! Now, 
I've got the main top part of the quilt complete - very easy. 

For the backing and border, I find a solid color or simple pattern 
(no lines) that complements the bandanas. For example, if you are 
using American flag bandanas, there is a Federal blue cotton fabric 
with small gold stars at Walmart - perfect match! It is 44-45" wide, 
so I have to plan on sewing two pieces together to get the width that 
I need for a double bed quilt. This also provides a wide enough piece 
that I can wrap the blue over the side and use it for the top border -
 very easy. I also learned that the quilting safety pins that are 
bent (Walmart) are WONDERFUL to use when laying out the quilt and 
backing and batting to hold it all in place before assembling the 
quilt.

I use cotton yarn thread to tie down the quilt at various points 
across the quilt, to keep the quilt and batting from bunching up when 
washing. 

OK - is this making any sense? I hope so - it is fun to plan and 
create, and not too tedious for this craft-challenged mom! 

I hope this helps, and let me know if you have any questions. Oh, and 
if you want a very soft quilt - back it with flannel. I did this for 
my daughter and she loves it. If you are looking for wide material in 
both cotton and flannel, check out fabric.com - their prices can be 
great, and then you don't have to sew any pieces together for the 
back of the quilt!

Blessings,
Amanda B.
www.unitstudy.com