The web-version of Cotton Spice

Cotton Spice - Cover 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Construction: 1. Cut out the pattern on the outer line and put a dab of glue stick on the center of the reverse side. 2. Stick the 1¼” square of fabric right side up on the reverse side of the paper pattern. Hold it up to the light so you can see the printed square #1 on the right side of the pattern and center the fabric so that the seam allowances are even as shown in fig 1.
3. Center one triangle right side down on top of the fabric square, lining up the edge of the long side of the triangle with the edge of the square next to triangle #2 on the pattern as shown in fig 2.
4. Hold the pieces together with your fingers and flip it over so you can stitch on the printed pattern line. (You can pin if you wish, but it is not necessary.) Using a small stitch to perforate the paper, sew on the line between #1 and #2. Start stitching in the middle of the seam allowance, down the entire line and halfway into the next seam allowance as shown in fig 3. Trim the thread ends short.
5. Fold the paper on the line you just stitched and cut about 1/3 of the seam allowance off to reduce bulk as shown in fig 4.
6. Finger press the triangle in place as shown in fig 5.
7. Repeat steps 3 through 6 for the remaining triangles. Sew the triangle opposite the one you just stitched, then do the other two. When you fold the paper to trim the seam allowance for the last two triangles, fold it completely so that the paper tears away from the seam allowance. Do not completely remove the paper from the rest of the block, only from the seam allowance as shown in fig 6.
8. Trim the excess fabric even with the paper pattern. 9. Carefully tear the paper away from the remaining seam allowances, then cut the seam allowances away from the paper pattern only as shown in fig 7. Do not cut the fabric.
10. With a mini iron (or very carefully with a regular iron) press the seam allowance corners of the fabric over the paper pattern as shown in fig 8.
11. Next fold the sides in and iron the rest of the seam allowances down to make a 1-inch square as shown in fig 9. Press well, then carefully open the seam allowances and remove the paper. Fold the seam allowances back down and re-iron if necessary.
12. Cut a six-inch piece of flexible beading wire and tie a knot at one end as shown. It will be loose. Figure 10 shows the knot before and after it is stitched to the quilt block. Hand tack the knotted end to the seam allowances of one corner of the quilt block with matching thread. Stitch around the wire as well as through the loops made by the loose knot. If the wire tail is long and extends past the seam allowance into the center square, trim it short so that it will not break through the single fabric layer. The extra layers of the seam allowance will protect the block from the wire end.
13. Hand stitch the felt square to the back of the quilt block with matching thread. Knot the thread and come up through the pressed edge of the seam allowance at A. Bring the needle down through the felt and into the seam allowance at B, and up through the pressed edge of the seam allowance at C as shown in fig 11. Continue stitching around the block. You should not see the stitches on the front of the block, only on the sides and the back. You do not need to make fussy small stitches, it is better to make straight even stitches. When you come to the thick part of the seam allowance in the center of each edge it is easier if you push the needle through only one layer of fabric. You do not need to go through all the layers of the seam allowance, and you should not go through all the way to the front of the block. Stitch all the way around, tie a knot, and bury the thread end inside the block.
14. Thread your beading needle with beading thread and tie a knot. Bring the needle through the middle of the felt backing and out the bottom corner. Pull gently to pop the knot through to the inside. 15. To make a seed bead dangle, string 20 seed beads, one 4 mm Czech crystal bead, then 1 seed bead as shown in fig 12-A. Skip the last seed bead and bring the needle through the 4 mm bead as in fig 12-B. Bring the needle all the way through the remaining 20 seed beads as in fig 12-C. Gently pull the slack out of the dangle, make a small backstitch in the bottom corner of the block
16. String two more seed bead dangles: one with 25 seed beads, a 4 mm bead and 1 seed bead and the other with 30 seed beads, a 4 mm bead and 1 seed bead. Tie a knot and bury the thread end inside the block. 17. String ten to fifteen 4 mm Czech crystals onto the flexible beading wire, depending on how long you want to make your charm, about 2 to 2 ½ inches should be fine. String one crimp bead, then one 4 mm closed jump ring. Bring the beading wire back through the crimp bead and gently pull the slack through leaving a short loop on the jump ring side and a little bit of space on the crystal bead side. (You want the crimp bead close to the last crystal bead, but not so close that you break the crystal with the crimping pliers.)	Paper Piecing Pattern - should be 1 1/2" square To print out: Right Click on pattern, Save As
18. Place the crimp bead in the inner slot on the crimping pliers and pinch the crimp bead with the crimping pliers into a “U” shape with one end of the wire on each side as shown in fig 13. Rotate the “U” shaped crimp bead 90 degrees and place it in the outer slot and pinch it into a round shape. Cut the extra wire tail short next to the crimp bead or string it into a few crystals before cutting, being careful not to break nearby crystal beads.
19. If your charm finding has a regular jump ring (a single loop of wire with a cut in one place) then open it as shown in fig 14 with two pliers, one in each hand and twist open by pulling them in opposite directions. (Do not pull the loop into a “C” shape which will distort its shape.) Attach the closed jump ring with your charm on it onto the open jump ring, then close the jump ring by twisting the sides back in the opposite direction to re-close the opening.
20. If your charm finding has a split ring (has two loops of wire and looks like a miniature key ring) then attach the closed jump ring with your charm attached to the split ring just like putting a key onto a key ring. 21. Attach the charm to your object by pushing the string loop through the small opening as shown in fig 15-A. Pull the whole charm through the string loop and gently tighten to secure as in fig 15-B.