You Can Machine Piece A Clamshell Quilt -Tips To Help
I think I’m over being intimidated by new things. At least as far as quilting or sewing is concerned. I’ve looked longingly at clamshell quilts for far too long. These little pieces of rounded seashell shaped fabric began their siren call one Pinterest session long ago and it was an irresistible sound….
I’ve succumbed and over the summer I completed my first Clamshell Quilt. How did I do it? Is it something to be scared of? How did I make the cuts? Did it take forever? Did I feed my children at all during this long tedious quilting marathon?
Well, let’s see if I can unpack this all for you.
First of all. If there is a good clamshell quilt tutorial out on the wonderful wide world of web, then I have yet to find it. I’m of the ilk that there are always people who are more talented, more knowledgeable and certainly more skilled than I am at just about everything. However, a clamshell quilt tutorial must have not been on their list to share with us all because I had to go this one alone.
I’m going to share some tips with you because I don’t want anyone to go through what I did. I couldn’t get it started. The first two rows were painfully awkward. I want to spare you the insecurity….AND DID I MENTION I MACHINE PIECED IT? That’s the best part. I really don’t have time for hand piecing right now. Does anyone?
The key to a good start is using the accuquilt clamshell die because it cuts out points for you to line up your clamshells. If you don’t have one, you make marks but they are hard to see when you are sewing. For the first row you need the shells to be joined only at the bottom but the second row has to help out to hold up the row.
Here is a diagram:
Here are the tips:
1.) PINNING IS ESSENTIAL
2.) CLIP THE CURVES
3.) PRESS THE SEAMS IN ONE DIRECTION
At first it looks like a disaster. There is no quick joy found in this first foundational piecing of rows. You will wonder if you are doing it right. It’s floppy and shapeless.
Just press on my dear quilting friends. Because once you get past those first two rows you can start sewing the clams on in one fell swoop along the curve from point to point.
At this point, I throw on a good audio book and lose myself in the tedious pinning of points and just keep sewing. YOU MUST PIN!!! PIN PIN PIN and rejoice in the fact that you can sew the whole curve without stopping and the shape of the quilt is taking place. Each row grows more and more satisfying to add on.
I don’t think while I do this, and sometimes I rip it out of there is too much left over at the end of the clamshell. The reason being your whole quilt will go crooked… it will be a little beyond wonky. You can have a little leeway at the ends but I’d rip it out and realign if you have more than 3/8″ hanging off.
In the end you have to cut all the edges of the quilt off square to bind it. This part hurts me. Becuase all those little clams…..it feels wasteful. But it has to be done. RESIST THE URGE TO SEW A BORDER. THIS WILL MAKE YOUR QUILT LOOK KITSCH. And we can’t have that. Not after all we’ve been through to get this beautiful thing off the ground.
It sure does look cute, though, without a border, the scallops reaching from end to end. This kind of quilt has so much potential. From ombré, to mermaid, to dainty pink and white little girly room quilts. To dark and elegant….
Give it a whirl! It’s worth the try! I promise!!! Happy Quilting.
{I used the large Accuquilt Clamshell Die to make this quilt. Shown next to my sketchbook diagram are the smaller sized clamshells.}
Easy Kids Wreath DIY
Sometimes the kids just drive you up the wall during summer break with all their energy. Not me. I’m perfect. We just wake up in good moods and sing with the birds like Disney characters. Just kidding. Sometimes the boredom overwhelms on rainy days….and they can’t think of anything to do but bother each other. So here’s a little happy project to help.
I’m never bored. I have 12 million sewing and craft projects I want to do at all times. Seriously people. But my kids. They could finish up 12 million projects in about 2 weeks. In a moment of desperation and creativity we made the insanely long trip to Hobby Lobby and purchased about $15 worth of fun. If I could run a Hobby Lobby Store here in Lynchburg or create my own amazing craft supply business I would. But there just aren’t a lot of investors begging me to do this….I keep checking my front door. Every morning I am hoping for the Mary Poppins of my life to arrive. Maybe I should get a custom doormat….or write an “advertisement.”(*please say this in your head in a British accent.)
If you want to make a cute wreath with your kids that is easy enough not to frustrate them and quick enough not to lose their patience, then this is your go to project. I like to have my girls make things like this for presents too. Holiday mini wreaths for teachers or grandparents are a good gift.
You’ll want to get the following materials gathered.
SUPPLIES:
- grapevine wreaths 6 – 8″ size
- 2-3 varieties of small floral bushes
- Glue Glun – low temp mini
- wire snips
PICKING OUT FLOWERS- A word on picking out flowers. Hold them up together, do they coordinate? Are they natural or fake looking in color? No navy blue carnations, please. 🙂 Look for natural and small blooms that are realistic and made of the same materials. For example, do not buy the foamy type of flowers to mix with the acrylic silk fabric type. Choose colors that blend. NO stark contrasts for a spring wreath. Perhaps a holiday wreath could handle some poppy contrast but not a light and airy spring wreath. (We chose pale pink mini double begonias and small lavender colored Queens Anne’s Lace.)
Step One: Snip all your florals apart with the wire snips. Any child over the age of 4 should be able to do this but they need to leave about an inch of stem per bloom. Make sure each flower and leaf is a separate piece if possible.
Step Two: Divide evenly amongst the previously bored, now overly excited children who are probably on repeat, “Can I help? Can I do it?Can I help? Can I do it?Can I help? Can I do it?Can I help? Can I do it?Can I help? Can I do it?”
Step Three: Instruct the kids to place larger blooms around the wreath fairly evenly first, then fill in with smaller ones. Last add leaves to fill in holes and add the finishing touch. Use a tiny glue gun to secure. I let my kids do this with a low temp glue gun. Sometimes I have to go back and secure them later when they aren’t looking. 🙂
Ta Da!!! Done. Congratulations Momma…..YOU just entertained your children for 12 whole minutes. Plus you helped them see beauty and create their own little piece of it. Your welcome. Precious babies. I wish I had as much energy as they do. Why is it that the parents who need the energy to take care of the children have less than the children?
Quilty Pillows
QUILTY PILLOWS
Sometimes you buy some fabric and it sits in your stash for 2 years because you can’t bear to cut into it.
For this beautiful Arizona fabric, however, that was not the case. I knew these gorgeous cottons were destined for quilty pillows and a large comfy couch quilt but…
Sometimes you get fabric and it sits in your stash for 2 years becuase your life is in storage, you have baby number #5 and you move across the country….
This past summer I had a blast sewing up different styles of quilt blocks I had never made before. I especially love the Aztec Tile block pillow. There were 182 2″ square blocks involved in piecing this pillow!
The Upside Down
THE UPSIDE DOWN
The Way it is for Worshipers of Christ The King
Have you watched Stranger Things? A young boy, is captured by an evil creature/spirit animal from a supernatural realm that runs parallel to his small town. When Will is rescued from this realm and brought back to his own, he can still see what is happening in the Upside Down because he is inhabited by the Spirit of this animal. Will can see lucidly behind reality to another one that is happening at the exact same place and time, but no one else can. It’s pretty fascinating, and it’s not altogether unlike my own experience as a believer who now has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit…
I’ve been stuck for a month in the Book of Daniel, reading the story of three men over and over again. These men worship the King of Kings. And the way God treats them makes my soul shake and my throat hurt with tears. I see the mechanics of how God sometimes works in their sweet and miraculous story. I too have seen His hand of deliverance in my own life.
If you’ve never read the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednago, then please do so! It starts in Daniel Chapter 3, when God, who places rulers and authorities in their position (Romans 13:1-2), inclined King Nebuchadnezzar to make an image of gold. Nebuchadnezzar then commands the people of Babylon to worship the golden idol.
So backing up, remember God had appointed these three Jewish guys (through Daniel), to the Kings Court over all his affairs. If you are a Christian, you live by a different set of wisdom than the rest of the world. Your worship of the King directs your steps. Your path is lighted by eternity and your eyes see past the shadows of temporary glory to a far surpassing glory as a Heavenly Citizen. So if your earthly King requires you to do something sinful, like say worship another god, then that’s where your submission to the earthly King must stop. You do this because you live in the “Upside Down”. The Kingdom of God has an entirely different economy.
So here’s the rub. These three guys are given a command by their earthly king to worship a false god. “And the herald proclaimed aloud, “You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace.” Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.”
Everyone except Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
So God appointed some rats. The Chaldeans were more than happy to maliciously rat out these Jews in order to make themselves look good to the King and get those Jewish boys who thought they were above the law into the punishment they surely deserved….
This illustrates two very important truths that every worshipper of Jesus will come to recognize throughout the Bible.
1. God appoints you. He puts you where you are, in the position that you are. There isn’t a minute of your life out of his loving and sovereign care. Do you trust Him? Do you believe He is good? You matter, and where you are, who you are with, is no accident.
2. God appoints trials to rise up. For your good and His glory. He sovereignly sent those malicious Chaldeans to tattle to the King. He has purposes for these trials. Good purposes. When we share in His sufferings, we become more like him.
Sometimes things don’t look good because they are not good. People spreading lies about you that aren’t true and ruining your life are not good. People getting abortions and killing innocent babies are not good. The hard things in life are the hardest to deal with because we want a God who gives us all good circumstances, with no pain. We don’t want to share in His sufferings. We don’t want to deal with abortion. How could God let that happen? We don’t want to talk about sexually abused children. How could He allow this? We don’t want that because we don’t understand a Sovereign God who works all things for our good. We are not patiently looking into eternity. We want it fixed now. His ways are not our ways, they are higher and in the end, HE WILL MAKE ALL THINGS RIGHT. All the murderers who call evil good will answer for their sin, and all the sinners saved by grace will be justified by the King who took all that sin upon Himself to make it right.
Let’s continue with the story. Next, the King verifies that these malicious Chaldeans are telling the truth. Now at this point He has to be a man of his word, because his own glory and reign are at stake.
13 “Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king.14 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? 15 Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good.[c] But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.[d] 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated.”
3. God sustains us during our trials. I think we can see how God is not cruel, nor is He evil, though He does allow it for our good. We see this in His sustaining grace. Even before the Lord rescued these men, they proclaimed His glory. “If not, we will not worship you, O king.” They said this to King Nebbuchadnezzar’s face. They said this because the Lord was with them. Everything becomes clear in a crisis. What really matters is made evident. We find strength for the hard things that we did not know we had because God is providing it in that very moment.
I really LOVE THIS NEXT PART>>>> v.22 Because the king’s order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
The men who threw them in were burnt up. Killed. TOAST. You take part in defaming God’s name, and it isn’t pretty. Justice is not always this swift, but in this case, part of the miracle was the great contrast of the mighty men being killed just by a near flame while the whole time these Worshipers of the one true King were not harmed. Their clothes did not even smell of smoke. The fire had no power over their bodies.
4. God will always make things right. So get out of the way. You don’t need to worry or manipulate your situation. Wait for God’s deliverance. The men who threw the Worshipers into the fire got dealt the death penalty for not standing up for what was right. They worshiped a false god. They aided and abetted evil. God took care of it. In the end He will make it right. Should you fight for justice? Yes. But should you do it out of fear or trust? I think those are two very different fights.
5. God’s glory will always be revealed in our suffering. I am willing to bet it was pretty hot and scary in that furnace. Suffering for the King produces a vibrant miracle in the life of a believer. It refines us like precious metal in a fire. We are able to see God’s worthiness, and what He has done for us, and all of a sudden, it’s not upside down, to step into a fiery furnace and place our trust in that God. God always gets the glory in these unexplainable situations.
25“But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods. 26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!”
See God getting the glory there? One minute King Nebb is demanding his own glory, the next he is declaring that there is indeed a MOST HIGH GOD!
What happens next is quite Upside Down.
27 “And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them. 28 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside[f] the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. 29 Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.” 30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.”
6. God delivers His Worshippers. Whatever your earthly situation, be encouraged. God will deliver you. if you bow down at His throne, then this fiery trial that has come upon you is no accident. Don’t panic. Be obedient and wait on His deliverance. Offer your body to serve and worship the ONE TRUE GOD. We can be sure it will come.
Place your trial in the light of eternity. Trust in the MOST HIGH GOD. He is mighty to save.
“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” James 1:12
As I walk through season after season with my God, I have begun to see a glimpse of the Upside Down when a trial first arises. In Stranger Things, when Will sees a glimpse of the Upside Down, I get goosebumps because that is how it is for Worshipers of the King. We can see behind the shadow of this world, with Spiritual eyes. This is how it is for us. Start looking, friends. Start seeing.
MORE STORIES OF DELIVERANCE:
2 Kings 6:17
Luke 13
Beautiful Illustration of this passage by the amazingly talented Megan Ganovski!
Beyond thankful for the amazing editorial guidance of Lori Chally….
Magnolia Wreath Tutorial
Hey friends! I’ve got a lovely Magnolia Wreath Tutorial up on the blog today for you. I first came up with this several months ago for my Makers Cottage Night. I really wanted to make a tutorial for all the friends who requested it that live far away but I struggled with finding a good backdrop large enough for a wreath.
I’ll be throwing caution to the wind and using a much too small poster board for this while awaiting my newly ordered one to arrive.
Shall we get started? It’s really pretty easy and Hobby Lobby has everything you need! Make sure you use the weekly 40% off coupon in their app! If you time it right, you can buy the leaves when the greenery is on sale and use your coupon for the wreath part. That makes this project cost roughly $15…
Supplies:
- One large bunch of Magnolia leaves from Hobby Lobby
- One 18” grapevine wreath
- Wire clippers or pliers
- Glue gun
- Glue sticks
Directions:
- Cut each stem off your bush. Each stem has three leaves. Each of these bushes should have 10 stems.
- Next, take each stem and turn all the leaves facing up. Spread them apart by slightly bending the wires inside the stems. They should lay flat.
- Now get your wreath! It’s go time! Carefully find a spot to slide in your flattened 3 leaf stem horizontally. The goal is to make sure these puppies are as flat against the wreath as humanly possible.
- This process will get trickier as you begin adding your next stems and spacing them evenly around your wreath. So keep sticking them in HORIZONTALLY. Don’t be afraid to get a little harsh with your stems if needed. They are pretty sturdy.
In the picture below, I’m showing you that to get even spacing on your stems, you’ll want to go about 2.5-3” apart for point of entry. 
- Once you have all your stems placed, try to make sure the overall outside shape of your wreath is a circle. This may involve bending some wires to tame a wild leaf here and there. Scrunching and pulling are acceptable techniques! Avoid oval shapes or one leaf noticeably farther apart from another. Keep ‘em flat!
- Flip it over! Arrange leaves to be evenly spaced once more. No gaps or “ovally-ness.”
- At this point you are likely to discover that some leaves just will not stay in the perfect place. Here is where you grab your glue gun. Don’t use a mini cool temp one. Use a big momma. It’s like $3 extra and sooo much more efficient when it comes to wrangling a wreath. In this step your likely to need a little patience or Netflix. Hot glue takes a minute or two to cool and set. You’ll want to press down and hold each leaf until set because if you don’t, the finish will get ripped off the leaves and damage them. Make sure to secure each stem entry point as well.
- Last step but most important! To get that “simple” look you want to press your wreath. Leave it facedown and put something on top of it. Like a textbook or a big pot. Leave it for an hour-ish. Go paint some shiplap or something.
TaDa! Your done! Easy Magnolia Wreath Tutorial. So easy, right? Thanks for reading! Comments or questions? Leave them below in the comments box and I’ll get answers for you.
The Hermione Pattern: Top, Tunic, Dress PDF Sewing Pattern
I don’t really know how I could name this sewing pattern anything else but The Hermione. I listened to the HP novels {for the first time ever!} while envisioning this design, drafting it on pattern paper, and then making the first sample. Ironically, I was sewing other things while most of the design gears were turning in my mind, but that’s how it goes. Mindless doing with the hands busy begets the brain space for creative mode to flourish. Do I need to back up and dwell on the crazy fact that I was 35 years old before I read Harry Potter? We can talk about it later….
What I have here is a really quick, super flattering PDF sewing pattern for women! This pattern is truly magical like it’s namesake. Top, tunic, or dress in 2 hours. What is not magical about that? There are no fancy complicated things going on here. First you have a boatneck, which is elegant, and tends to dress up an outfit. The top has a cuffed dolman sleeve, which makes the piece come together quite quickly. { Confession: I used to think Dolman sleeves were super ugly, and basically people were just too lazy to make a real sleeve. I am here to admit I was wrong! I am sorry. Phew. Glad I got that off my chest. Am I the only one? } The waist line is an empire height, which can be easily lowered, if you need a more on trend drop waist look, but as a mother who kind of struggles with a diastasis recti, I like this line up higher. It is flattering if you have a bit of a mummy tummy or not.
This top hits me at the top of the hips, and was drafted for my 5’9″ height. You can easily shorten or lengthen the top, tunic or dress. It’s slightly gathered and has a tulip hem. Seriously, this pattern is very easy to adjust! I provide tunic and dress lengths on the pdf printable pattern but you may want to construct the top and then measure for a custom length from the bodice.
I’m so excited to release this pattern. It was finished this July, but after testing I really needed to make a lot of adjustments. I am BEYOND grateful for the women who joined my new Facebook Testing Group in September and helped me fine tune the pattern. They are amazing! I could not have done it without them. I need to go back and make my first pattern even better now with their expertise!
Check out my Instagram feed for sew and tells of the pattern! @handfulofarrows #hermionepattern
You can join my testing group HERE. I’d be just over the moon to have you! I have lots of patterns to draft and test in the future.
You can buy The Hermione Pattern in my Etsy shop HERE!
Here’s the size chart and few important facts like measurements, yardage, etc… (I’ve included links on the pattern to a FBA Dolman tutorial if needed.)
Thumbtack
Accuquilt
