Hungry Bears and Bear Hugs . . . . 

                                             . . . . . gifts for the kitchen!

With summer coming, life in the woodlands is filled with activity. The deer are eating the new sprouts, squirrels are zipping around the tree trunks, birds are chirping their lungs out, and the bears are coming out of their hibernation. It only seemed fitting to celebrate critters this spring with our new kitchen collection --- matching bear apron with bear oven mitts.

The Hungry Bear apron features a bear-faced yoke on Vanilla House's signature Four Corners apron style. The instructions show the interesting technique of attaching the yoke to the apron. The bottom half the bear face is appliqued on to the apron panel and the top half the face is a turned edge by the back-side fabric.

The Bear Hugs also feature the same bear face on a double-hand or single hand oven mitt. Again, interesting techniques are taught through the instructions to learn how to edge turn the top of the bear face yet raw edges on the lower part of the face that are finished with bias binding. 

Both projects make excellent kitchen gifts for the bear lover. We hope you  enjoy making these sweet projects with the step by step instructions, each step illustrated in complete detail.

See www.VanillaHouseDesigns.com for pattern ordering details. 

Five Great Projects in Klassy Kitchen

Our Klassy Kitchen pattern offers five projects that are such great gift ideas. Techniques shown in the pattern are well illustrated and easy to make. The apron shown below would work well for a hostess gift. The pocket adds tons of accent. The whole apron maybe takes an hour to make.

Handmade place mats, especially for wedding gifts, is always well received. You could add some glassware, silverware, or even some dishes to go with the placemats.

One of Vanilla House's favorite gifts is a mixing bowl, oven mitt, and a gift bag containing Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix. Who wouldn't want that?!

Gift Bag with Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix inside. Printable bag topper included.

Last but not least, coordinating an organizational accessory like the Pocket Hangers is always a big hit!

Coordinate your Klassy Kitchen -- spectacular in every way!

Are you Sloth Full in the Kitchen?

Sloths are the cutest critter Ever! And Vanilla House has published a new set of oven mitts with appliques reflecting this latest trend of slothfullness. The basic oven mitt itself is wonderful -- easy to assemble and works great  -- very comfortable. 

Important products used in the oven mitts: 

Soft Fuse Premium fusible web by Shades Textiles for the appliques. We chose this brand for several reasons. Foremost, the paper does not separate from the webbing prematurely. Nothing like having the paper fall off the webbing before you get it cut out. Another huge factor is the paper removes from the webbing easily after you get the applique cut out. How many hours have you spent trying to get the paper off your fused applique, often destroying your applique in the process? If you fuse as recommended, 3-4 seconds, the paper side comes off easily. We recommend the "scratch in the center of the applique with a pin and use the 'ripped spot' to grab the paper and pull" method. 

Insul~Bright thermal fleece by The Warm Company. We use this product because we like the metalized polyester film sandwiched between batting layers. The film not only helps prevent the heat transfer to your hand, but the metalized layer helps prevent moisture from penetrating the layers which can facilitate too much heat transfer also. So, good product! We have published more information on Insul~Bright here.

Sloth Full P232

The appliques are also easy to add (edge-stitched), the more intriguing part being the 'thumbside' of the mitt which shows the sloths paws and claws.

The Inside Scoop on Insul Bright Thermal Batting

Oven mitts, hot pads, and casserole covers are popular projects using Insul-Bright Thermal Batting from The Warm Co. We started using Insul-Bright a few years ago and discovered the real scoop on the product. We do love it but there are some tips you should know.
The biggest tip is really ironic ---- don't iron or press it too much. We discovered this by pressing a layer of Insul-Bright onto cotton fabric during one of our sewing projects. Then we pressed them -- mostly out of habit to simply press everything. With a really hot iron, the Insul-Bright seems to shrink up a bit causing the cotton fabric to distort or ripple.
Insul-Bright reflects heat back from a its layer of metalized polyester film sandwiched between layers of polyester fibers. It's meant for holding onto hot things from the oven for rather brief periods of time, not the firm, intense heat of an iron. So if you need to iron/press any part of a project containing Insul-Bright, go lightly and it will solve the problem. 

These oven mitt panels have fusible web on the back side. Fuse them to the Insul-Bright lightly -- 3 to 4 seconds per spot.

The other curious thing about Insul-Bright is one layer is not enough to protect you from the heat source. Even they say so. You can use one layer of Insul-Bright on the 'back of hand' and 'thumb side' of an oven mitt, but in the 'mouth' part (the part of an oven mitt that comes into contact with a heat source and protects you from it), you should always use two layers. The Warm Co. recommends using one layer of Insul-Bright and one layer of cotton batting like Warm 'n Natural Cotton Batting. It is fine to do so, but when writing my patterns, it is too much of a hassle to write in this extra feature. So in the case of an oven mitt, I just have you cut two layers of Insul-Bright and it works fine. 
You might ask 'why not use two layers on all panels?' --- well, it simply gets too think to sew all the layers together.

Some other helpful suggestions. 1-Insul-Bright does not have a right or wrong side. 2-You can pre-wash it, but I never do and it seems fine. It does wash well inside your oven mitt if you choose to wash them. 3-You can not use Insul-Bright for microwave projects and is too noisy for clothing. 4- But the noisy part of Insul-Bright can make interesting stuffed toys or soft books for babies. 5- Use zig zag stitching for sewing layers together -- it smashes down the edges so the seams allowances are easier to work with, especially if you are sewing bias binding around the edges. 6-Set your cut oven mitt panels on the sheet of Insul-Bright and use the panels as templates to cut out your Insul-Bright.

Use the oven mitt panels as templates instead of the paper templates -- a much simpler and neater method.

What a real sewing studio (should) look like:

I see all these 'pretty' pictures online of sewers' studio space all neat and tidy and guess what, I don't believe it! A real sewing studio should be a mess. 

Guess what's coming.....

You are invited to a Fish Fry!

It's been while. Every time I am working on new patterns, I seem to take a leave of absence from posting. I just don't know how to perfect the patterns and do anything else that distracts me. But I will have some posts all together here for the next while, revealing the latest three releases. They are ready and no other pattern projects in the feed dogs!
So here's Fish Fry.....oven mitt! The wrap-around oven mitt is great for retrieving hot casserole dishes from the oven! There is thermal fleece on the side that touches the heat source and heavy-weight interfacing on the back-of-hand side. The back-of-hand side convexes a bit, making it real easy to slip the oven mitts on in a hurry!
Versions include the double-handed mitt and a single-hand mitt! One size fits all!
 

And as always in Vanilla House patterns, the instructions are very thorough, with an illustration per every step.
This pattern is available in your local independent craft store (soon), or you can buy direct from our website, either a paper pattern by post or download an epattern (vhE222).

More projects for the Sisters Quilt Show!

Two more projects made up for the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show! -- showing a the Stitchin' Post! Wish I were going this year!

Here's the description of the Quilt Show from their website:

"Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show™ (SOQS) is internationally recognized as the world's largest outdoor quilt show and quilt sale displaying more than 1300 quilts representing fiber artists from around the world.
More than 10,000 visitors from all 50 states and 27 foreign countries flock to Sisters on the second Saturday in July. Master quilt makers teach classes and workshops during Quilt Week and exhibit their quilts at our annual Quilt Show. In addition, hundreds of quilts are displayed in our "show-and-tell" exhibits - first time quilters, youth, quilts made by men - throughout the town of Sisters. Quilt exhibitors range in age from 10-92."

Here's the last two projects I sent to the Stitchin' Post.Thanks to Jean Wells for letting me participate in a small way!

Manhattan Bag! P220! Love her fabric choices!

Ergo Oven Mitt! P217! The weird-shaped oven mitt!

It's Time! For Quilt Market!

Okay everyone! It's time for Quilt Market! Booth 1232! Are we ReaDy? -- I don't think you are ever completely ready but I feel unusually unworried this time! It is about our 25th Quilt Market so we should have this down. Of course, on our 24th Quilt Market, I didn't get copies of our order form. You would think after 23 Markets, I wouldn't forget something like that on the 24th Market. So wonder what I am forgetting this time!!?
Anyway, you haven't heard from me much lately because ---- pre-show, for weeks, I concentrate completely on the patterns. But here are a few of the new releases (more later) ---- TA DA:

"Boho 4 Corners" ----- P216.

A Bohemian version of Vanilla House's signature Four Corners Apron. Scooped neckline, big pockets, lined, one size fits all!

"Ergo Mitt! oven mitt!" ---- P217

Weird-shaped oven mitt ergonomically designed to fit your hand so your thumb does not dip into that hot dish! Two sizes included! Right and left option! Loop or no loop!!!!

"Zip Folios" ---- P219

Sophisticated zipper pouch for your important office papers. Lined, inner pockets. Size 13" x 15". Three appliques included and nine more appliques available to download with the address found inside the pattern.


Okay, all for now. I will add the other three patterns tomorrow! And eventually post all the pics of fabric options! There's tons to come!

Clothworks subs fabric out! Great Job!

Clothworks occasionally takes one of our patterns and Photoshops out the cover fabric and subs in one of their new fabrics that is being released. Here's their latest sub out! I think they did an amazing job - so good, it makes my original fabric look boring! Sweet Temptations! and Fish in the Oven (mitt!)!

Pot Pinchers is now an Epattern!

I thought is was time to put up our most famous oven mitt! Hopefully, by the time of this post, we will have just put up vhE156, Pot Pinchers, as an Epattern. I converted it awhile back but will take some time to edit it before it goes up! This is one pattern -- the finished oven mitts -- that I use a lot myself!! Can't live without them!!

The next new pattern - Beat the Heat! oven mitts!

Still not sure why so many people make oven mitts --- probably to have them in the great foody fabrics that are available. I'm lovin' the foody fabric! Check out the olive fabric below. Awesome!

Out of all my oven mitts, this has to be the easiest one to make and second in line for the handiest one (Pot Pinchers P156 takes first place in handiest!). But Beat the Heat is quite the perfect oven mitt. And I have designed quite a few oven mitts [just counted -- fifteen others!]  Makes up really fast  -- though I find putting the trim around the opening a little more involved but the rest literally goes by in a heart beat.

Traditional Paper Pattern OR Epattern!

More fabrics for more spring projects!

Try out these fabrics for some new oven mitts I am designing! I loovve food fabrics -- again, from Fabric Depot. But I can't decide what I like the best -- the bacon fabric or the olive fabric. 

Yum!

The most popular gift!

A number years ago, meeting with a local quilt shop owner, was advised to make an oven mitt pattern. Wondering who in the world makes oven mitts, she informed me that the most popular pattern ever (at that time) was an oven mitt pattern. I had been making soft sculpture patterns for years, and my first thought was "I have been working too hard"!! So off to make my first oven mitt pattern. And hey, guess what? Tons of people love to make oven mitts. Who am I to judge!!
A very popular oven mitt pattern of late is Handsies for Pansies. I think it is the name! It's a great name!!
So just in time for Christmas, make your oven mitts. The foodie fabrics are FABULOUS for oven mitts!!

Handsies for Pansies - P193

 

[Bias] Tape Makers, etc......

There is a lot going on here -- let me explain . . . . . . .

I love putting trim on projects - always looks good. Bias trim that goes around edges that are curved, like my Pot Pinchers (P156), (takes more fabric since it is cut on the bias) and regular trim (not cut on the bias) can go on straight edges (uses a lot less fabric to make). Using tape makers, the trim can exactly coordinate with the fabric of your project (versus buying the closest possibility from ready-made trims). 
There are different sizes for different widths of trim. The pastels can attach the fusible Steam-a-seam as your press your trim. The basic colors like the red one doesn't! If you are going to buy a tape maker, go ahead and buy a pastel just in case you ever want to attach Steam-a-seam to your trim.

The tape is by The Warm Company and the tape makers by Clover.

 

Pot Pinchers have coordinating bias trim around the edges. This trim uses the 50mm tape maker and is folded again after the pressing in the tape maker.

The trim on the top of the pockets is straight and does not need to be cut on the bias.

Favorite Stuff! .....series!

Thought I might post some of my favorite tools on the next few posts. After 20 years of business, I surely have some I really like.

505 Spray Adhesive

I love using 505 Spray Adhesive for various procedures. It's great to use when making oven mitts. When attaching several layers together -- the inside and outside layers, and two layers of Insul Bright fleece, spray the layers to keep them together. Without the adhesive, you have to pin the layers together. And they will still torque a bit at that. But with the adhesive spray, they hold together great as you baste  around the edges of the layers.
What's the box for? The over-spray is pretty sticky, so I keep a box around to set my project in and spray inside the box. Just keep an old box around the studio!
This company has all sorts of different sprays for different purposes.

Making Christmas gifts - such a great sentiment!

This ensemble is called 'My Other Kitchen' (P157). Great for Christmas gifts. Apron (reversible), dish towel, food gift bag white chocolate chip scone mix, oven mitt, wall pocket hanger, and placemat with napkin. The scone mix is my favorite item. Make the mix (uses white chocolate chips from the grocery store)  --  put the mix in a plastic bag, then place in the fabric gift bag. The topper template comes with the pattern; make a copy. The instructions for putting in the egg, etc is on the back of the topper. Add a spoon or gift card!
It is a great gift for neighbors at Christmas.

Made up in blues - the favorite color of most people.

It is always fun to see a project made up in another fabric.

Handsies for Pansies!

 Handsies for Pansies! Get it ? --   Hands for Pans! Sometimes, you have to spell it out!

These oven mitts are not so cumbersome as others  -- because they are shorter on the hand! It is pattern P193.

Hot pepper fabric  - love it!

Love the eggplant and turnip fabrics!

Or the turnip and broccoli fabric! 
The foody fabric choices available is what makes oven mitts so fun to make!