Neck Bean Bag – A free tutorial

Before life turned wild, I had shot some photos of the Neck-Heat-Bag that I made as a birthday present for my mom. Sarah asked for a tutorial and here it is:

Download the free pattern (handdrawn, nothing fancy…), print it at 100%, tape it together and cut it out.

You’ll need:

• 45cm x 70cm cover fabric (100% cotton)
• 45cm x 70cm inner fabric for the bean bag (100% cotton)
• some cm of velcro
• beans (I used rapeseed/canola but you could also use Wheat, Rice or Oatmeal)
• basic sewing supplies

Cut out the fabric TWICE (following the mark for the FRONT) and ONCE on the fold (using the inner mark for the BACK as your guide)

Fold in the straight edges twice…

… like so. Topstitch along the edge.

Lay out the fabric left sides together with the straight edges overlapping.

Pin the two pieces of velcro in place.

And stitch them down.

Close the velcro and lay out the pieces right sides together:

Pin to secure from shifting. Stitch all around the edges TWICE. Once with a straight line stitch and another time using a zig zag stitch. Or use a serger.

Cut out the inner fabric TWICE on the fold. Just a bit smaller than the outer fabric.

Place the fabric right sides together and sew all around using a narrow straight line stitch. Leave a small opening:

Turn inside out.

Fill with beans and close opening. Afterwards sew some straight lines thereby forming even segments to prevent the beans from shifting.

Slide into the cover, step back and admire.

Now go heat it up* and relax =)

Have a lovely week!!!
Christine

*Be careful and never leave your heat bag/ bean bag unattended in your microwave. I set mine at 350W max. And please: don’t burn yourself, always check the heat of your bean bag before applying to your body (o;

Opt Art Mini

When I confessed myself a Slow Blogger I had not foreseen how slow things would be over here. Life has struck with full force again and my daytime job needs all my time and energy now. I hope it won’t last very long.

Sewing time has been scarce and almost the only thing I managed to finish is a Mini Quilt for the Challenge over at Ellison Lane Quilts.

My newest inspiration comes for the art of the Sixties. “Optical Art” or “Opt Art” is something that drew my attention already in school when we visited an Exhibition called “Sixties Design”. I rediscovered my knack for bicolor geometry when flipping through this book (found at my Doctor’s waiting room):

I started browsing the web and found so many designs I want to turn into quilts. Seeing my limited sewing time I started with a super simple one (squint your eyes a bit, it makes me dizzy (o: )

I quilted it with a centrical spiral design – which was quite difficult. I admire all those quilters out there who quilt giant spirals on large quilt tops!

Infact, I made a matching one that still needs a binding. These are going to be ultra-modern mug rugs.

Thanks for visiting!
Christine

P.S. Next week I might get my free tutorial for a “Neck Bean Bag” done and up. If I happen to find enough time and energy.

Visiting the beasts

First of all, let me say THANK YOU for all your nice comments on my first blogiversary. You made my week! And congratulations to lucky number 6:

Comment number six was written by Kathleen:

Thank you very much, Kathleen! I’ll send you an email to get your fabric in the post asap (o: And thank you again, Brigitte for sharing your COMMA strips with us!

 

Vacation: Visiting the beasts.

During our vacation we visited these Dinosaur footprints in one of the world’s largest outdoor Dino Museums. The Original footprints are kept (under roof) in their original places.

The hall is surrounded by a park with more than 200 Dinosaur Models…

Life-Sized Models…

The kids were excited beyond comparison and even we parents were impressed by the number of models and the amount of detail… and the size of those beasts!

At the end of the loop road the kids played paleontologist: They excavated Dino Claws out of sandstone blocks.

There are many more things to try and we are sure to drive over again soon.

Wishing you a lovely new week!
Christine