little gift

I am always looking for teacher appreciation gift ideas, and make things year round so I am ready for Christmas and end of year! This pencil/supplies container is perfect for any classroom. This size can fit a whole pack of sharpies, and you can still put the lid on!

My 8 year old and I were spending time in the sewing room yesterday, and she came up with this idea for her teacher! We are all about recycling and using up scrap fabric, so this is perfect for us! She was able to do all the stitching, this is that easy to make! We used applique because my daughter loves to applique, but any teacher would love to have their name embroidered on one!

The base is just an empty large Strawberry Quik container.

Measure the height, in this case it was 5.75 inches from base to top. So, I cut a strip from scrap 6.75 inches by the width of fabric, which was 22 inches. All we are worried about to start is the height.

Now, fold in the top and bottom 1/2 inch each and press. You don't need to double fold, as this side will be glued to the container.

Next, take to the sewing machine and add a decorative stitch to the top and bottom. Rena chose this pretty snowflake stitch, because everything in our house is still all about Frozen. 

Next we will add the applique. I printed out a block letter A. Don't forget to print your letter in reverse so when you trace it with wonderunder then cut it out of fabric all is facing the right way!

Use fusible interfacing for the applique. If you are new to applique, fusible interfacing is really easy to use, and keeps everything in place and makes it really easy to sew! Stitch around your applique. 

Position so your applique is center front. Then, grab your glue gun! Glue the front down first, getting the edges really well.

Flip around to the back. Take the right side and trip so it is about in the middle of the container. Glue that side down, getting the edges really well.

Bring the other side around, trim so it is about an inch over the first side, then fold over about 1/2 inch. Glue fabric fold first, then glue down.

Ta-da! How easy was that? Now to find more containers to recover....

Kosmos Baby quilt

Kosmos Baby quilt by Pannay Guigley, quilted by Teresa Pino

I wanted to share the pattern for this baby quilt, Kosmos with you. you can download it here using googledocs, or here on craftsy! It is a PDF file. Please do not copy and share, but redirect people to this website to download.

The story of Kosmos...

Sew, I have been writing patterns for a while and selling a few of my bag patterns on etsy and craftsy, but really would like to publish a few in magazines and such. I consider myself more of a sewing engineer. I love creating patterns because I love figuring out how things work and go together, kind of like a kid taking a toaster apart to try and make a robot.

I am still new to this, and write my patterns by taking pictures as I am putting things together. I have Illustrator and other programs, but still have questions for seasoned designers. When I sit down and try to design things on the computer, I get frustrated and just want to grab my sketchbook and some fabric to work it out. This has lead to a few missed opportunities for me. I want to share my ideas with others, but sometimes don't know how.

So, that brings us to the story of Kosmos. Last Spring I received some fabric from local designer and all round cool artist Jenean Morrison in hopes of showcasing her fabric in a pattern and getting that pattern published. I diligently submitted it as many places as I could. From this submission, I did write the article last month for Sew Mama Sew. But no one wanted the quilt pattern. In the world of submitting quilt patterns, it takes about 2 months for publishers to tell you yes or no. For websites, about 3 weeks. During this time, you are asked not to submit to anyone else. I have been submitting this pattern since the end of April. Now Jenean's new line for fall is set to launch, and I just got my last rejection email yesterday. I'm not too upset, I tried, and even though this wasn't published, I am working on many other things and will keep on submitting. In the meantime, I am trying my best to use Illustrator.

OK, I was a little down this morning. I really love this quilt. It's soft, cuddly, the fabric is so pretty, and my friend Teresa Pino at Quilts2aT did a fabulous job (give her some facebook love ya'll, she is amazing all around). Then I realized I blog. Not often, but I do. So what if I put this up as a free pattern? I love this quilt. There are three different star blocks which are different sizes to make it twinkle.

I love this quilt pattern, I hope you do too! If you do, please share your pictures on my facebook page, or tag #pannayg in the pic on instagram. 

Happy Sewing!