Renewing Mrs. Sew & Sew: My Tutorials

Quilt Labels

I have been quilting for awhile now and I have always been told to label my quilts when I complete one.

*Because you never know where the quilt will end up. The recipient of the quilt may pass the quilt on or the quilt may be willed to someone else after they have passed on.

*The quilt may become lost or get left behind by mistake.

I first started out labeling my quilt's with a patch on the back made (usually) with the same piece of backing fabric and embroidery mostly by machine sometimes by hand.

This is the label I put on this quilt. It was entered into a show so I had to have a pretty clear label affixed to it.

I started making a few more charity quilts and I realized how much time it took me to make a label to go onto a quilt. So I need to find a better way and a more cost efficient way to label my quilts.

I got on Etsy first and looked for someone to buy labels from. There are a lot of Etsy sellers out there that make quilt labels that look absolutely beautiful but I still need to think about cost. So my next step was Pintrest because I just knew there had to be other quilters like myself that need a more cost efficient way to make quilt labels.

So here are some links I found to other bloggers that have made labels.

This lovely lady gives some examples of things she has tried and the best that work HERE

This one is the one I followed the most HERE

This one tells you how to create them in Word. I used Print Shop but if you don't have that you will need to use Word. HERE

So here is my tutorial on how to make your own quilt labels.

You will need:

Ribbon of your choice. (I used 100% polyester)
Tee Shirt transfer paper for your printer (I used Avery brand)
Iron
Scissors

First you need to design your label with you graphic and the wording you like. Make sure you click reverse for Tee Shirt Transfer so it will print your designs backwards.

Then cut a piece of ribbon to accommodate your design. I used 1.5 inch ribbon in 100% polyester it is shiny.

Iron a crease in the center of your ribbon.

Lay the cut out designs on the ribbon to make sure they fit. Make sure your wording is going the same way if your doing a two sided label.

Turn them over making sure not to get them out of order or turn one upside down.

Iron them down good making sure your iron is very hot but don't let it sit in one spot too long. (the crease you put in before will be ironed out that is o.k.)

Make sure you let it cool for a little bit. You WILL burn your fingers if you don't!

Remove the paper backing. Note: If you try to remove the paper and it looks like gum is pulling away put it back in place and iron it again it didn't get hot enough for it to adhere to the ribbon. The paper should peel off fairly easy.

Front

Back

Put it in while sewing you binding on.

Here is your label.

This is one I did the reverse binding method on.

Here it is on another quilt I made last year.

I hope this helped you find an easier and faster to make labels for your quilts. If you need any help or have any questions you can drop me a line at flquiltershell (at) gmail (dot) com

Handmade Body Butter

I have had a few people ask me to share on here about how I made my Handmade Body Butter gifts that I shared with you all on another post not long ago HERE. I finally got the time to sit and write it up. If at any time you get confused please shoot me an email and I will try and explain it a little better.

flquiltershell (at) gmail dot com

First I will direct your attention to the two recipes that I used. I say two because you all know I never follow the pattern when making anything I read over how the author did it and then promptly lay those aside and do it my way! So....why would I follow a recipe to the letter?! lol that's just not me.

I first found a recipe on Bulk Apothecary and I liked it well enough but I got to thinking I know there has got to be some fellow bloggers out there that have made Lotions and Body Butters before so I set out to find them. So....were do I look well pinterest of course!

I found a very good tutorial from April over at gluten-free-zen and so I pinned it first. Then I just kept looking as any good pinner would do. Then I found another from Susan over at rawmazing. And I pinned that.

I have sense pinned many more on my Pintrest account if you would like to explore them all before you make a decision about which recipe you would like to make you can see them on my "Crafts" board HERE

What you will need:

1/2 Cup Shea Butter

1/2 Cup Cocoa Butter

1/2 Cup Coconut Oil

1/2 Cup Pure Jojoba Oil or Almond Oil

(I used Almond oil)

Tip: If you do not want the natural sent of the Shea and Cocoa butters and Coconut oil to blend with your essential oils you choose you need to buy the refined products. I bought raw because I was using the Vanilla as my essential oil.

Essential Oils Of Your Choice
(I did 20 to 25 drops Vanilla )

Measuring Cups

Double Broiler (Or large pot & glass bowl)

Stand Mixer with whisk beater

Paper Towels

Containers to store body butter

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Measure Shea, Cocoa Butters and Coconut oil and add it to you top boiler or glass bowl.

Keep the temperature on medium low and stir until melted. Do Not allow liquid to boil.

Stir mixture as it melts.

Remove top boiler or bowl when contents are melted.

Allow the oil mixture to cool for half hour

When mixture is cooled stir in Almond (Jojoba) oil and Essential oil(s) of your choice.

Cover top of the bowl with plastic wrap. Put bowl in freezer for another half hour or until the mixture is set.

Add set mixture to stand mixer.

Beat in mixer on low stopping every so often scraping down the sides of the bowl.

Don't rush this step keep stopping to scrap the bowl. This could take up to another half an hour to complete this process. Process is finished when you lift beater bar and peeks form.

TIP: I got to the end of my container of coconut oil so I split it between the last two batches of body butter made. It was about a quarter cup per batch. This made the body butter thicker but, you get even less product.