quilted magnetic tic-tac-toe board

quilted magnetic tic-tac-toe board

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Welp! I was supposed to be working on some new projects with the ScanNCut Machine with a few of my favorites at Brother, but weather, flights cancellations and delays had other plans.  Domino effect is real.  Boo.  

So instead, I’ll share my new favorite with you all: this magnetic quilted tic-tac-toe board!  I know, just about every new project becomes my new favorite.  Either I just change my mind a lot, or it’s like my own “good job!” pat on the back.  Oh well.  I digress. 

But really.  I love this thing. 

This project combines a few different materials being cut on the ScanNCut machine.  It’s a great beginner quilting project to tackle as well!  Not a ton of piecing — and the ScanNCut marks your seam allowances for you anyway!  Let’s jump right in. 


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MATERIALS

ScanNCut Machine

Standard Mat and Fabric Support Sheet

Pen holder and fabric pen

Standard Blade and Carriage

Quilting Cotton

Poly Felt

Quilt Batting

9 Magnets – I used 1/2″ x 1/16″

9-10 Magnets – I used 1/4″ x 1/16″

Sewing machine and thread

Iron-On Adhesive

Pattern Download — at the end of this post!

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1. Begin by prepping your materials.  Place your Fabric Support Sheet on the Standard Mat.  Trim your fabrics down to a size that fits on the mat. The Fabric Support Sheet goes onto the mat, glossy side down.  Remove the protective blue sheet when you are ready to use.

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2. We will begin by marking seam allowances. 

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3. Place fabrics on the mat.  Background scan to see exactly where the fabrics are placed.

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4. Arrange the tic-tac-toe squares on the screen, using the background scan image as your guide. 

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5. Begin first by marking seam allowances.  Next, cut out your fabrics.  

MY SETTINGS

// blade depth: 3.5

// blade pressure: 5

// blade speed: 1

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6. Continue with the perimeter fabric pieces of the board. 

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7. Begin piecing your quilt.  Start with the tic-tac-toe grid.  Piece in strips, 3 across.  Then sew the strips together.  You can either press seams to the side or open. 

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8. When you’ve finished piecing the top, we will attach the magnets that we will pocket inside. 

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9. Cut a piece of quilt batting the size of your tic-tac-toe grid.  Measure a grid matching your quilted grid. 

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10. Using scrap quilting cotton, iron the Iron-on Adhesive to one side.  Cut out the magnet squares from the pattern download. 

I used the Standard mat with the Iron-On Adhesive down.  I used the same settings as the settings used for the quilting cotton. 

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11. Place the magnets in the center of each tile. 

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12. Iron the magnet squares over the top of each magnet to hold in place. 

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13. Place the magnet grid batting-side up under your quilt.  Place another, larger piece of batting under it.  Complete the quilt sandwich with a large piece of quilting cotton at the bottom. 

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14. Quilt the sandwich using your sewing machine.  If you have a walking foot — use it! :)

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15. Now we will cut out our playing pieces from stiff poly felt.  

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16. Place the felt on your Standard Mat with the Fabric Support sheet in place. (Remember, if you have a lot of fuzzies and frays, use an alcohol-free and scent-free baby wipe to remove it and clean your mat.)

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17. Background scan your felt and place the pattern pieces on the felt. 

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18. Change your settings and sit back and let your ScanNCut do the work. ;) 

CUT SETTINGS

// blade depth: 8

// blade pressure: 9

// blade speed: 1

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19. Sandwich a small magnet between the two layers and sew the perimeter. 

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20. Next, take the circular template and cut from a piece of cardstock or large paper.  Measure and mark center on your quilt and mark the circular perimeter using the template.  Cut and discard scraps. 

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21. Now we’ll add the binding!

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22. Bias tape is a great way to bind curved edges! You can see in more detail how to bind using bias tape here

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23.  Attach a large hair elastic at the edge.  To roll game, fold in two sides and roll towards the elastic.  Use the elastic to keep game rolled up. 

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Go play tic-tac-toe!  Harlow is enamored with the game — she’s still learning, but her favorite thing to do is block my pieces.  She’s also super fair, and we take turns winning. ;)

Hope you are enjoying summer travels — and having better travel luck than I had yesterday!  This tic-tac-toe board makes the perfect game to bring along!

xo
kaciasignature

 

quilting with the ScanNCut

quilting with the ScanNCut

You don’t have to be here long to know that I love sewing.  I grew up watching my mom sew, and it’s something I can’t wait to teach my kids.  I find it therapeutic, challenging, inspiring and just plain fun.

I also know that it can be super daunting to those who want to learn!  But really truly….it doesn’t have to be!  What I love about the ScanNCut is that it really does draw seam allowances and cut fabric….and then you just get to put it together!

Especially for those of you wanting to try your hand at quilting, this machine allows you to learn the ropes, try new techniques ….and you still have all of the other features and capabilities of the ScanNCut machine as well!  Today I want to walk through the creation of a quilt block using the built in quilt patterns that come on the ScanNCut machine.*

*If you don’t have a model that includes the quilt patterns, have no fear: they are available for purchase!

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SUPPLIES

  • ScanNCut Machine
  • Standard Mat
  • Fabric Support Sheet
  • Standard Blade
  • Pen Holder and Fabric Pen
  • Quilting Cotton
  • Sewing machine and supplies

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There are so many quilt block patterns to choose from – ranging from very basic to pretty complicated!  The machine does all the calculating for you, so even resizing the blocks is done with just a few button clicks.

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1|| Begin by pulling up the quilt patterns on your ScanNCut Machine.  They are the first icon on the second page of built-in patterns.  If you’ve purchased them, they will be on a USB stick.

After clicking that first icon, you will see “Chapters” of patterns — within each additional icon are pages of corresponding patterns.  I told you, there are a lot of patterns!  You won’t get bored quickly!

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2|| Find the pattern you’d like to use and select it.

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3|| After selecting the block, you will choose the final size of your quilt block.

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4|| The quilt block will be then broken down into the various pieces needed to create the block.  It will default to the colors in the image, but remember you can have fun and cut out your pattern from any fabrics you’d like!

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5|| Select the shape you’d like to draw and cut first.

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6|| Set up your fabric to be cut — if you’ve never cut quilting cotton, you can refer to my video on cutting fabric here!

Background scan your fabric and arrange your quilt pieces on the fabric space.  You can add other quilt pieces if you have space by clicking the “Add” button found in the top right corner.

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7|| Place your fabric pen into the pen holder.  (I am using the black permanent pen for this tutorial, just so it’s easier to see the seam allowance lines in the photos.)

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8|| Load your mat into the ScanNCut machine and draw your seam allowances.

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9|| This next step is where many people get tripped up.  After you draw the seam allowance, the ScanNCut will ask if you’dl ike to “Select the next part” or “Finish.”

  • Select the Next Part: This option will erase what you currently have displayed and arranged on your mat.  It will go back to the piece selection for your quilt block, so that you can choose the next pieces to cut.
  • Finish: This option will bring you back to your current arrangement, so you can “Finish” those pieces by cutting them out.

Tip: Always save your current arrangement in case you click “Select next part” before cutting your quilt pieces.  That way, you can re-open that file and cut out the pieces.  

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10|| My favorite settings for cutting quilting cotton:

  • Speed: 1
  • Pressure: 5-6
  • Blade: 2-4

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11|| Using your spatula, carefully lift the pieces from your mat.

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12|| Continue these steps until the block pieces have all been marked and cut from your fabric.

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Tip:  Use a fragrance and alcohol free baby wipe to remove the threads and debris from your mat.  Allow it to dry and reuse!  

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When you have your quilt pieces cut, you can begin piecing them together!

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Using a 1/4″ foot, sew just inside of the seam allowance you’ve marked on your fabric.  By sewing this “scant 1/4″ seam, you will be left with a true 1/4” seam after pressing.

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For this specific quilt block, piece each row and then sew the rows together.  I always prefer pressing my seams open, unless it doesn’t work for the specific pattern… like curves!  Which we will get to next.

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You did it!

Now let’s talk about something that scares some people when it comes to quilting…curves!  Curves are one of my favorites to quilt — it’s kind of like magic!  It’s awkward to pin and a little weird to sew…but then you press it flat, and voila!  Curves and endless possibilities!

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1|| Begin by following the steps above.  Mark your seam allowances and cut each piece out from your quilting cotton.

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2||  When you’ve completed all of the pieces, it’s time to begin pinning.  I typically don’t pin when I piece quilts with straight seams, but I almost always pin with curves.  I know there are special feet you can use and other tricks, but I just bust out my tried-and-true pins.

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3|| The great thing about the ScanNCut is that it marks your seam allowances, so with curved seams (and things like Y-seams) it makes it very easy to line up and sew!  I typically match end seams and a middle point first with a pin.

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3|| Work your way along the seam — you will see it curve to one direction as shown above.

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4|| Sew a scan 1/4″ seam along the pinned seam.  I like to allow the curve to go up as I sew, if that makes sense.

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5|| You will be left with a seam like you see above.

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6|| Press the seam flat and continue this process until the entire quilt block is completed!

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You did it!  Curves don’t have be scary — quilting doesn’t need to be scary!  

I put together a quick video: Quilting with the ScanNCut in 90 (ish) seconds — go check it out! 

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And for those of you who follow me in instagram, you might have seen the coupon book I made for Andy for our first date/engagement anniversary!  ScanNCut Canvas now has the ability to create dashed cut-lines — the perfect perforated line!  My mind is racing with ideas for how I could use it!! #imadork

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I’ll post the template next week! xo!

Happy Thursday!

xo
kaciasignature

 

I am a paid spokesperson for the Brother ScanNCut Machine.  All project ideas and love for this little bundle of goodness is all my own.

Zipper Pocket Tutorial (without the zipper tape showing)

Zipper Pocket Tutorial (without the zipper tape showing)

Uftdah.  This post has been a longtime coming — and I’ve been promising it for a while now.  Sorry!  I’ve shared a quick overview of how I modified my Cargo Duffle (a free pattern by Anna of Noodlehead for Robert Kaufman fabrics).

One of the ways I changed my bag was completely removing the “cargo” pockets on the exterior of the bag.  I chose to put a zippered pocket on both the outside of the bag and the lining of the bag as well.

I remember the first time I added a zipper to a pouch: I followed a tutorial that seemed in line with all the others I could find, but when it was completed, I was so disappointed that the zipper tape showed inside the pocket.   I know… it’s on the inside, who cares.   But I care, and I wanted pockets that I added to projects to look a bit cleaner — no zipper tape showing and full lining with pretty seams.

I played around with interfacing and fabric and made a lot of mistakes before finding a way that I like to consistently do my zippered pockets.  My mom has since found a few other ways to add them (without the zipper tape showing), and I want to try those soon to see if I like them even better!

1|| Begin with the fabric to which you’ll be adding the zippered pocket.  In this case, it’s the side panel of my cargo duffle.

2|| This step is optional, but I love the way it finishes the look of the zipper.  Take 2 small pieces of fabric (or in this case, leather), and sew a square to the each end of the zipper.  I typically use about a 1″ x 3″ piece of fabric that I fold over, so it has a clean edge that will show.

3|| At this point, you’ll need to measure your zipper and decide on the length for your opening.   // If you added fabric/leather to the ends of your zipper, measure a length that includes about 1/2″-3/4″ of fabric on the ends.  // If you left the zipper as is, I typically make the opening a bit small than my zipper teeth length.  You’ll sew carefully over the zipper teeth, but this way your pocket will shut completely.

After you’ve determined your zipper pocket length, make a rectangle with fabric pen on your interfacing fabric.  *When I first made a successful zippered pocket, I just used interfacing.  My mom pointed out that I could just use fabric, and it would not only be a bit stronger, but also match the exterior fabric.  She is smart.  You could iron a fusible interfacing onto this fabric if you’d like to add even more durability to this seam, but I don’t think it’s necessary.*

4|| We are almost to the scary part — the part that involves cutting the exterior fabric which always has me quadruple-checking to make sure I’ve layered, measured and sewed everything correctly.  Take your interfacing fabric and line it up on the right side of your exterior fabric — place it where you want your pocket to be.   If you are someone like me who likes to know the why of everything, this fabric is going to help create the slit that will house the zipper.  We are sewing right-sides together, so that we can flip the interfacing fabric to the wrong side to create a nice opening with no raw edges.  You’ll see. ;)

5|| After you’ve sewn the interfacing fabric in place, take a small scissor or blade and cut the rectangle as shown in the photo above.  I typically cut a line down the very center with markings where I will start the angles to my four corners.  I take a small and sharp scissor to get the final corners nice and clean.  Be careful not to cut through any of your rectangle seams!


 

6|| Now we will push the interfacing fabric to the inside of the zipper pocket.  It’ll make sense as you do this step —

Be sure to press the interfacing fabric flat against the interior of the pocket.  If you are using a thick exterior fabric like I am, you’ll maybe see a little puckering on those far edges as you can see above.  Don’t worry — not a big deal at all.  I promise. :)

And this is what it should look like from the front.


 

7|| Line up your zipper on the wrong side of the exterior fabric — it can be a bit tricky, as you’ll want to make sure it’s sitting straight and centered from the front.  Pin in place.


 

8|| I like to have as few seams showing on the outside as possible, so I like to sew in my zipper at the same time as my lining.  If you’d like, you can sew a top stitch around the perimeter of the zipper opening prior to adding the lining.  Or you can follow along with the next steps here.
The lining will be made from 1 or 2 pieces of fabric — I will try to explain this as simply as possible!
\\ 1 Piece of lining: cut a piece of fabric that is about 1.5-2″ wider than your zipper opening.  It needs to be long enough to be sewn with about a 1/2″ seam allowance to the bottom of your zipper, and then account for the depth of your pocket x2.
\\ 2 Pieces of lining (as the photos will show): cut 2 pieces of fabric about 1.5-2″ wider than your zipper opening.  One piece needs to be long enough to sew to the top of the zipper with a 1/2″ seam allowance and go up into either the top seam or however high you’d like the pocket to go.  The second piece of fabric will need to be long enough to sew to the bottom of the zipper with a 1/2″ seam allowance and then account for the depth of the pocket x2 — plus enough to match the top seam.
Does that make sense?  If you use two pieces of fabric, your pocket will open down into the physical pocket space as well as opening above the zipper as high as you desire.  If you use one piece of fabric, the top pocket seam will be right at the zipper opening, so it won’t open “upwards” at all.  It’s totally preference!  If you choose to use 2 pieces of fabric, you can always sew down the top at the zipper if you’d like after the fact.
Okay — let’s do this.

9|| Place your fabric — the longer of the two, or your only piece of fabric, we will call this Fabric A — right side down against the zipper going over the actual zipper and up to the top of the bag.  I didn’t get a good photo of this step… I’ll try to take a few next week and add them back in! I like to line up the edge of Fabric A with the bottom zipper tape.  Pin in place and carefully sew from the front of your zipper pocket.  Just sew along the long bottom edge of the rectangle.   Flip to the back side of the pocket and press the pocket lining fabric seam.  You’re beginning to create the actual pocket here.

10|| This step is for when two fabrics are used.  Take your smaller fabric and line up the edge agains the top side edge of the zipper tape.  The right side will be down — right sides of the lining together — pin and place and sew that seam from the exterior of the pocket along the top long side of the rectangle opening.   Flip it over and press that piece of fabric in place as well.  You should begin to see how the pocket is taking shape.

11|| At this point, we will sew up the side seams of the pocket.  \\ One Piece of fabric: fold your lining fabric up towards the zipper.  Be sure that the folded fabric is providing the depth of pocket you wish to have and pin in place — it needs to at least cross over the zipper and align with the top side of the zipper tape.   Sew up the sides of your pocket lining.   Flip over and top stitch along the remaining ends and top side of the rectangular zipper opening.   \\ Two Pieces of fabric: fold your bottom/larger lining fabric up towards the top piece of lining fabric.  Match the raw edges — I like to make them longer than my external piece of fabric so that they are attached at the top of my bag when the external pieces are sewn together.   Sew up the sides — and top, if necessary.  Flip over and top stitch along the remaining ends of the rectangular zipper opening.  Be careful when sewing over the zipper teeth, especially if using a metal zipper!

12|| Trim your threads and excess fabric — voila!  Continue creating your project!


You can also add a zipper to the lining of a bag/tote/etc.  You will follow the exact steps above, you just won’t be dealing with such a thick external fabric as I was for my Cargo Duffle.  (My external pieces were quilting cotton, cotton batting and cotton canvas.)

1|| Determine zipper placement in the lining.

2|| Add fabric or leather tabs to the end of your zipper, if desired.

3|| Mark your zipper opening on the interfacing fabric and pin to right side of lining fabric.

And here is a fun way to utilize your ScanNCut.  Using your marker set, measure out the dimensions for your zipper opening, and creating a rectangle using the built in shapes on your ScanNCut machine.  

You can even use the scanner to fussy-cut where you’d like the zipper opening to sit on the exterior fabric as well!  Line up those rectangles and continue with the instructions!

4|| Sew around the zipper opening perimeter.

5|| Cut opening and pull interfacing fabric through.  Press.

6|| Pin zipper in place and continue with pocket lining steps.

 

You did it!  Let me know if you have any questions — it definitely is a bit more involved than other zipper pockets that show the zipper tape, but I love the end result!

xo
kaciasignature

Quilt Binding // Part 1

Quilt Binding // Part 1

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Okay! I’ve been meaning to get this tutorial up for weeks — thank you for being patient with me! Binding a quilt is one of my favorite steps of the quilt-making process.  I’m sure the fact that I get to throw it in the wash and let it get all crinkly and awesome soon after plays a big part in my love for that step, but that’s neither here nor there.   What does that phrase even mean? Anyway.  Let’s start at the very beginning.

It’s time to bind this beauty.

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A few things to touch on before we jump into the steps below.


  // DECIDE ON BINDING GRAIN //

There are 3 general ways to cut your fabric strips for binding — I’m going to explain all three here quickly.

Bias Binding

Grab a piece of quilting cotton and look closely at the weave.  Cutting bias binding strips means that the strips will be cut on the diagonal of the fabric weave – at a 45º angle.   It is the most traditional way of cutting binding strips, and considered the strongest.  It is the most difficult to cut and isn’t the most “fabric saving friendly.”  I have seen some tricks for cutting a continuous bias strip, but I haven’t tried it yet.  In my eyes, the need for bias binding for the sake of its additional strength is a lot like the argument for only using cotton thread for quilting — it’s not really necessary.

Straight-Grain Binding

Grab a piece of cut fabric that is still folded and use the graphic below to visualize how to cut straight-grain binding strips.

Straight-Grain

Straight-grain binding isn’t one that I do a lot, but it’s very similar to the third type: cross-grain binding strips.  A great reason for using straight-grain binding is when you want to give some visual impact to a patterned fabric used for binding.  By selecting Straight-Grain or Cross-Grain, you can really change the look of your quilt, because it’ll rotate the pattern of the fabric 90º.

Cross-Grain Binding

Using your folded fabric, use the graphic below to visualize how to cut cross-grain binding strips.

Cross-Grain-Binding

In my opinion, this type of binding is the quickest and easiest way to cut strips for binding.  It’s my go-to, but I always am sure to iron my fabric prior to cutting — lining up my grain as much as possible.


  // BINDING STRIP WIDTH //

The width of your binding strip will impact how thick or wide your actual quilt binding is.  I know..duh, Kacia. But hey, I want to make sure I answer the questions people might be thinking, but feel dumb asking!  I always cut my strips 2.5 inches wide.  Always have and haven’t found a reason not to.  If you want a thicker binding, you could cut as wide as 3 inches and use a wider seam allowance to attach, making the binding thicker and more bold!  It’s something I keep meaning to on a fun quilt, but I just haven’t yet.


  // BINDING STRIPS AND TOTAL LENGTH //

I’m lazy.  I use this website.  Bookmark it.  Or if you’re like me, google “quilt binding calculator” on your phone, and it’ll be the first site to pop up.  Type in your quilt dimensions and binding strip width…and voila.  It’ll tell you how many strips to cut.  And then you can be weird like me and always cut one more than it says to cut.  I never believe it, yet it’s always been right.  Oh well. :)


 

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1 // Cut binding strips.  Cut out your strips following the type of grain — bias, straight or cross — that you’ll be using for your binding.  Again, I always cut mine 2.5″ wide.


 

2 // Create long binding strip.  You know what, I think I know why I love the binding steps of quilt making so much….all the math and angles.  I’m that kid that used to make up long division problems just for fun.  I digress… Starting with one cut strip, set it perpendicular to another cut strip.  You can see in the image below how we will be sewing these strips together to create these angled seams.

Mark this seam using a fabric pen or use my favorite sewing accessory: painter’s tape.  Place a long piece of tape along the line down from your needle — don’t cover your feed dogs! — making sure it’s long enough to see it past the line you’ll be sewing.  Sew from corner to corner as shown below.

Continue piecing each strip together, until you have a long binding strip.  I always go through and check each seam connection to make sure I didn’t twist anything or sew it backwards — I’ve definitely done both of those things… — before I trim off the excess fabric.  Leave about a 1/4″ seam allowance.

Press seams open at each connection.


 

3 // Press binding  After you’ve pressed each connecting seam of your binding strip, press it in half length-wise.  (As shown above.)


 

4 // Optional: Sew around the perimeter of your quilt with a 1/8″ seam allowance.


 

5 // Let’s attach the binding!

Line up the raw edges –not the folded edge– of your binding with the edge of one side of your quilt.  No need to pin — if you want to use something to hold it in place, I recommend these clips.   Begin about 1/3 down from one corner of your quilt — at least 1.5 feet down is great.  Obviously the size of your quilt will impact what 1/3 of the way is…. but you’ll see in a few steps why I said that.  You just don’t want to start in a corner!  Leave about a 8-12″ tail, and begin sewing your binding along the first side of your quilt with a 1/4″ seam allowance.

Here is where you can have some fun with thicker binding strips!  Imagine the above strip being 1.5″ – 2″ wide when folded.  If I were to sew using a 3/8″ or 1/2″ seam allowance from the edge of my quilt, I will have that much more binding that shows on the front side of my quilt.   Hopefully that will make more sense as we continue… :) 


 

6 // Corners Sew until you near the first corner.  You can measure or eyeball 1/4″ from the edge of your quilt — backstitch 1-2 stitches and cut your thread.

Fold back your binding strip to create a 45º angle at the corner.

Holding that angle in place, fold the binding back against the new edge.  The raw edges should line up with the next side of the quilt, as shown below.

Use a clip to hold in place if needed.

Beginning at that corner, sew the next side of your quilt using the same 1/4″ seam allowance as the first.  As you approach the next corner, repeat the steps for the corner shown above.


7 // Attach binding ends At this point, you’ve attached the binding strip around the perimeter of your quilt.  You’ve completed four corners — those are my favorite…I have a lot of favorites — and now you’re back to the first side.  Stop sewing with about 8″-12″ from where you began. Now at this point, there are a ton of ways to complete the perimeter, hide the raw edges of the binding strip and call it a day.  I show a really easy and simple say to accomplish this task in this tutorial. But I’m a perfectionist, and I want that last seam to be just like the others that I used to string my binding strips together.  I cannot tell you the number of times I’ve become so frustrated trying to get the angle and seam right during this final step… I was determined to figure out a more full-proof way of folding, marking, sewing and cutting my fabric so that it works every time.   Hopefully these steps save you a bit of headache and heartache too!

The first thing I do is fold one end into the other to mimic the direction of the other seams used in the binding.  I don’t typically sew my final seam so close to an existing seam — I try to lay it out and visualize where to best place those existing connections, but this way you can see how it mirrors what’s already been done when we first created the long strip of binding fabric.

Make a mark of the fold using your fingernail to “press” the seam, and then mark it with a fabric pen — like you can see in the above photo.

Being careful not to twist your fabric, angle the piece you had folded until it is perpendicular with the other, as shown above.

Pin in place and mark where you will sew that final seam to connect the ends of your binding strip together.  You can probably visualize in the photo above how when that seam is completed, the seam will follow the existing seam angles.

Carefully sew this seam — I never use a stitch length longer than 2.5 for any of these connections.

I’ve made enough mistakes to know that I always double check before trimming those fabric tails — see how everything is lining up?  Also check to be sure the length fits around the perimeter of the quilt!  Too long and you’ll get a pucker in your binding…too short and you’ll potentially get a pucker in your quilt.

Let’s avoid the puckers, shall we? When you are feeling confident in that final seam: trim down to 1/4″ seam allowance.

final seam for binding

Set binding in place and sew binding with 1/4″ seam allowance to complete quilt perimeter.

VOILA!  

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I hope you found this Quilt Binding tutorial helpful!  Part two will be broken down into 2 parts — machine finishing the binding and hand-finishing the binding.  Both have a distinct look, and people tend to be a bit opinionated on which they prefer!  I tend to go back and forth depending on time and the overall look and feel of the quilt.

I hope this tutorial helps remove the fear of binding your quilts!  Please let me know if you have any questions or if I was confusing in any way — sometimes I get a bit cross-eyed writing these and staring at photos, so it’s very likely!

xo
kaciasignature

psst!  Wrenn Jewelry Giveaway is still going strong — head on over to enter! xo!

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baby showers & burp rags // free SVG + ScanNCut download

baby showers & burp rags // free SVG + ScanNCut download

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This past weekend, we were able to spend time celebrating new life with some dear friends of mine.  Two college friend, Johanna and Kaitlin married brothers, and now they are both expecting late summer/early fall!  We were so happy when the date worked for us to take a little roadtrip to Chicago, so we could be there!

jo and Kait Baby Shower

Kelley and Chad hosted the shower at their new house, and they were incredible hosts.  Their house is gorgeous, and I want their front yard.  Oh, and their kitchen….and the slimming mirror over the staircase. ;o)

She brought home some toys for Harlow from her office, so Harlow of course went straight for the dinosaurs!


 

Baby G

This little love-bug stole the show.

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I think baby boy’s kicks lulled baby G right to sleep.  My arms were not complaining — he is seriously so cute!  Thank you for letting me steal him away from your arms so much, Callie!  And for letting Harlow hold him — she’s still talking about it.

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Harlow was relatively well-behaved for completely skipping her nap — she even rested a bit upstairs, after proclaiming how byoooful everything was.  Harlow girl loves fancy pillows! Ha


 

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I put her to work, of course.


 

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Baby girl due October // Baby boy due September // Baby ..??.. due August!


 

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I of course had way too much fun making gifts for their little blessings.  I love making these burp rags, because they give me a chance to just experiment!  Kaitlin and her husband Ben are going for the 40-week surprise, so I stuck to elephants, mint and grey!

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Johanna and her husband Grant went for the 20-week surprise, and are incorporating grey, pinks and coral — so of course I needed to run with those colors!

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I used a few different techniques to quilt these burp rags…

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Walking foot stripes using painter’s tape as my guide.  (Video tutorial available here.)


 

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Some free motion quilting — I am such an amateur, y’all.  I free handed these hearts with my favorite fabric pens, and then loosely followed my markings as a guide.  More on free-motion quilting here!

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I used my walking foot to outline a cute little turtle on one burp rag and an elephant on another!  The elephant might be my most favorite ever….

If I was smoother with my free-motion foot, I would have used that, but I opted to simply work slowly with my walking foot — and I was really happy with the results!


 

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Of course I needed to “wrap” them in a paint can! I just love these things.

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And a little bit of adhesive vinyl completes them!  I designed a cut file with one of my favorite verses — Psam 139:14 — and used my ScanNCut to cut it out of vinyl.

I added a few of my favorite baby-must-haves as well.  These are definitely becoming my go-to gift to create for showers!  3 burp rags fit beautifully around the perimeter of the paint can, and it leaves the perfect space to stuff with a few baby essentials!

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I’m excited for names to be finalized, so I can start some customized goodies for these sweet blessings!

And because I love y’all, here are the downloadable files for my “fearfully and wonderfully made” design!

UPDATE: Because GOODNESS SAKES PREGNANCY BRAIN!!  I see the typo….well, I didn’t see the typo…no one saw the typo! But the typo has been found.  

And the files have been updated! SORRY! #goodnessgoodnessgoodness

download-FCM download-SVG

xo
kaciasignature


 

In case you’re wondering how I go from design to cutting the vinyl to adhering to the paint can!

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1 // Download cut file and cut adhesive vinyl after testing settings.  Be sure to only cut through the vinyl, keeping the paper backing intact.

2 // Remove the negative pieces — or the vinyl you won’t be using.

3 // Using contact or transfer paper, attach the sticky side of the transfer paper to the right side of your vinyl design.

4 // Remove paper backing from your vinyl design, and arrange design with contact/transfer paper to your final object.

5 // Burnish the vinyl onto the surface and gently peel away contact paper, being sure every area of the design is sticking well.

6 // Voila! You did it!

how to make a baby onesie quilt

how to make a baby onesie quilt

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Back in March, I received an email from Heather asking if I would be interested in taking on a commissioned baby onesie quilt for her son.  Heather received my information from a girl I went to college with, who now works at Heather’s company.  I seriously love how small the world can be.

Speaking of small, I called the Honest Company on Monday to cancel my pre-natal subscription, and after ending the phone call I received a text from a girl who is from Pittsburgh.  She now works at Honest Company and said, “you just called and talked to my coworker!”  Seriously.  This world is weird. 

Okay.  Pregnancy tangents, let’s get back to it.

Heather emailed me in March with a request:

Could I make a baby onesie quilt for her son’s first birthday in June using his onesies she’d saved since he was a baby.

And because I like to take on things I’ve never done before — I said yes. :)

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We talked about design ideas and possibilities and settled on a simple block quilt — simple and clean.  Heather was coming to Pittsburgh that following weekend, so she dropped off a bag of onesies at my house.

And here I am to confess:  the onesies sat in the bag until the end of April.  I was swamped with projects and commitments that I needed to complete, but I was also terrified to cut up these onesies!  Making a quilt out of something as precious as these pieces of clothing scared me a little bit.  Okay, a lot a bit.  I let these onesies stare up at me from their blue shopping bag, as I would stare back I took these months to plan and think through how I would attack this quilt.

I’m so happy that I didn’t rush into cutting up the onesies.  I’m so happy I took time to think through the material and structure and construction and plan.

I learned a lot through the process of making this quilt, so I’m hoping that my tips will not only encourage you to potentially make one yourself, but also keep you from making some pretty big mistakes.

Let’s get started.

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Preparing and Saving

1|| Over estimate the number of onesies needed.  

When I began going through the onesies Heather had saved for this quilt, my first thought was, “I am going to have so many onesies left over.”  Boy was I wrong!  The number of onesies needed will change from quilt to quilt and the types of onesies used.  If you are using a lot of sleepers or pajamas with snaps or zippers, you will most likely be able to only use the back fabric.

2|| Sort your designs.

I kind of hit the jackpot with this quilt — Heather has some of the cutest onesies I’ve seen!  It’s clear she had a tendency to buy stripes, skulls, blues, greys, and Ohio.  I began by just sifting through the onesies, pulling out the ones that might be more difficult to use. (For example, a few onesies had pretend neck ties appliquéd to the front of the onesie and because it went up to the neckline, I wasn’t able to make a block from it unless I cut through the appliqué.  Does that make sense?)  I began to see the stripes theme very early on, so I immediately placed those in a pile of their own.  I was so excited to see the stripe pile grow, as I knew it would really help to pull the quilt together having the consistency of them throughout.

I ended up with two piles — stripes and solids/prints/text.  You might need to sort according to color, prints/solids, text/pattern — whatever themes you begin to notice!

3|| Plan your block size.

Originally, I thought I would create 4″ blocks — cut at 4.5″, sewn down to 4″ blocks.  I quickly realized as I counted onesies and quilt size that I really needed to get my blocks a hair bigger, or I wouldn’t have enough onesies!

My final dimensions:

  • 5.5″ squares cut –> sewn to 5″ squares
  • 7 squares across by 9 squares down
  • roughly 35″ x 45″

*take note of the onesie sizes as well!  I was unable to use a few of the newborn onesies because I wasn’t able to get a 5.5″ block cut from them.


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Cutting the Blocks

If you read nothing else about this post — please read this step!!  Looking back, this extra step feels like a bit of a “well duh” to me, but I’m so thankful I thought about it during my prepping steps…..or I would have been crying.  Hard.

Think about the difference between baby onesies and quilting cotton with me for a moment.  If you were to choose one characteristic that most obviously separates them — and you can’t say baby spit up — what would it be?

Hopefully your answer was the stretch.  Baby onesies, tshirts, etc are made from a jersey fabric — some of your onesies might be 100% cotton and some might be a blend.  But the bottom line is that they stretch.  They don’t hold their shape like quilting cotton does.  Now imagine making a crisp block quilt with fabric that doesn’t hold it’s shape…. uh yeah.  Now you see why I would have been crying!

1|| Gather your stabilizing supplies. 

To keep our stretchy baby onesies nice and square, you will want to use a lightweight interfacing.  I used Pellon Fusible 906F, but the Pellon 911FF will work too.  The 911FF is definitely a bit stiffer, so I prefer the 906 — but it’s really a preference thing!

2|| Cut.  Cut. and Cut.

Prepare yourself for a lot of cutting!  Each onesie will essential be cut out 3 times:

  1. Trim your onesies.  Remove the seams, collars, sleeves, zippers, snaps, etc.  You want to be left with scraps big enough to accommodate your square size.
  2. Cut out the square size needed from your interfacing.  (In my case, 5.5″ squares.)
  3. Iron the interfacing to the wrong side of your onesie fabric.  For some onesies, this won’t matter, but for onesies with a right/wrong side, it’s very important to pay attention.
  4. Cut the onesie down to the square size needed using your interfacing square as a guide.

Here are some of my favorite tools that make fabric cutting sessions a little more fun!

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Sooner or later, you’ll have a stack of crisp squares!  The interfacing makes or breaks the final outcome of this quilt — so as I mentioned before…

Don’t skip this step!

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3|| Design the quilt layout

This step should be fun — so have fun!  Again, think back to how you sorted your squares and work with your theme.  But always be willing to go a new direction if your original plan just isn’t working.  You might decide to make the blocks completely randomized, no theme, per se, at all.  You might decide to rotate the stripes vertically — or rotate only a few?  Just have fun with it.  Walk away if you’re feeling a bit cross-eyed or delirious from staring and rearranged.  Get a second opinion.  Take a photo of it and sleep on it — how does it look to you the next day?

There isn’t a right or wrong way to design it — it’s really what you decide you like best!

4|| Fill in the gaps

I was a few short after cutting, cutting, ironing and cutting again, so after designing my quilt layout, I rearranged the design using the few extra onesie pieces I still had that were large enough for squares.  I had to make a few newborn onesies just work, so I’d have enough for the entire quilt.  I’ll say it again: over estimate the number of onesies needed!  (My quilt is made up of 63 blocks… just to give you an idea!)

onesie quilt-10Onesie quilt layout


5|| Prepare your piles for sewing

Stack your block rows and label each row with a piece of paper or sticky note.  You could use a fabric pen too, if you’d like.  I work from left to right, stacking the previous on top of the next — the top of each stack is the left most block. 

Pile your rows from top to bottom, as shown below.

Now we are ready to sew!

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Piece your Baby Onesie Quilt Top Together

When piecing a quilt, you want to use 1/4′ seams.  This is where it gets a little confusing in quilt-land.  The 1/4″ seam that you hear, is really a seam that is just under 1/4″ — you need to accommodate for the thickness of the fabric and pressing it flat within that 1/4″.  For a square block quilt like this one, that scant-1/4″ seam isn’t that important — so if you’re a beginner, let’s just focus on sewing them straight!  If you want to practice that scant-1/4″, this is also a perfect time to do that.  Just stay consistent in your seams, or your squares won’t line up when we sew the rows together!

Enter, one of my favorite sewing machine feet:

I love the guide on this foot!  It really helps beginners sew a straight, 1/4″ seam.  When your fabric touches the guide, that is typically a full 1/4″ seam.  To achieve a scant-1/4″ seam with a foot like this, you will line your fabric up along the edge of the foot — the right side of the right most ski-like-toe shape.

I have no idea what the technical name is for that… whoops! ha.


 

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1|| Piece the Squares into Rows

Beginning with the top square in your stack, take the second square and line up right sides together.  We will sew the rows first, press seams, and then sew the rows together!  Simply work your way from left to right, piecing each square of the row together until you reach the note indicating a new row.  Set the first row aside — with the label! — and continue with each subsequent row.

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You end up with a gorgeous stack like you see below.

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2|| Piece the Rows together

Before we sew the rows together, we need to press our seams.  I’ve become a believer in pressing my seams open in almost every quilt I make now.  For the longest time, I thought that was a big no-no, but I’m learning that there are really no rules in quilting.  Pressing the seams open keeps your lines so much straighter, and I think it’s worlds easier to make those corners match perfectly!

After pressing your seams, we will sew Row 1 to Row 2.  Even with the interfacing, you are probably going to see some warping with a few of your onesies — you might have to cheat some of your points just slightly, or sew slow and ease the larger edge in very carefully.  

You can use pins if you’d like, but I like to work from square to square.  I begin my seam, and then I immediately focus on the approaching corner.  I line them up.  I do a quick happy dance if everything measures perfectly, and I look at which square is perhaps a hair larger and needs to be carefully worked into that seam.

After working from top row to bottom row.  Go press those seams open!  Don’t forget to iron.

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3|| Create your Quilt Sandwich

Pick out backing fabric for your quilt, and cut the batting down to size.  You want your batting to be a little bigger than your quilt top….and your backing to be a little bigger than your batting.

I’m a spray-baster – well, I used to be! – but you can use pins if you want too!

At this point, before basting your layers together, you could also look for long-arm quilters in your area to do the quilting portion for you.  In my opinion, I think this quilt is a great way to jump right into quilting on your home machine — simple is better, because it lets the onesies be the focus!

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4|| Decide on your Quilting Lines and Design

I opted to quilt simple diagonal lines through the striped onesie squares.  Initially, I planned on sewing the diagonal through the solids/print blocks too, but I didn’t want to sew through the onesies with a featured image (Ohio, Little Man, U of Toledo, etc.).  I used my favorite trick: painters’ tape.

Simply lay your quilt sandwich out on a clean, hard surface and lay down the tape where you want your seam to be.  You’ll need to decide what side of the tape you will sew on — each of us will have a preference!  You can put down a few pieces of tape, and then move those pieces after you’ve sewn them.

This step of the quilt will be made much easier with a walking foot — if you don’t have one, they are a bit more expensive than other sewing feet, but worth the investment.  I rarely take mine off!

(Be sure to check compatibility with your sewing machine! While these generic feet with great with most machine brands, some brands will only work with feet of the same brand!)

Continue working your desired pattern throughout your quilt!

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, view my disclosure here.

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A few patterns to get you started:

  • Stitch in the Ditch — sew along the edges of your quilt squares.  From the front, there won’t be visible seams, but on the back you’ll have a 5″ grid.
  • 1/4″ from each seam — sew 1/4″ from all of your square seams.  You’ll end up with a border on your existing squares and fun design on the back.
  • Stripes!  Sew either vertical or horizontal stripes throughout your quilt.  I recommend spacing them at least 2-4″ apart, and then continue “half-ing” those stripes until you get to your desired width.
  • The sky is the limit — have fun!

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Binding your Quilt

Before adding the binding, you will need to square and trim your quilt.  Just as I mentioned with pressing seams, I’m learning that everyone squares and trims their quilts for binding very differently!  I use the cutting tools I have listed at the beginning to get my corners nice and square, and then I move my way around the quilt, trimming off the excess backing and batting.  Hopefully this quilt is easy for you to trim and square — if done carefully, it should be!

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Pick out your binding fabric — or use bias tape if you’d like.  I cut my strips 2.5″ inches, but you can vary that width depending on how thick you want your binding to be.

You can see how to sew the bias tape binding here — and I have the next quilt binding tutorial coming next week!  So you can work on cutting and piecing your quilt until then!

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And there you have it — a finished Baby Onesie Quilt!  I love how it turned out — and it kind of makes me want to go through Harlow’s onesies and make one for her!  Especially now that we are having a boy!

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Fun details…

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I was reminded again why I so rarely take on custom orders — I enjoy them way too much, and I spend way too much time on them!  I’m so happy I was able to do this quilt for this special guy though — and I’m so happy to be able to share what I learned with you!  I think I did one search before I dove in, and was disappointed with the first few images that popped up, so I called it a day and decided to just attack it the Kacia way. :)

I hope this walk-through helps you create a onesie (or t-shirt!) quilt of your own!  Please let me know if you have any additional questions or tips — or something to add!  If we don’t help each other out, that is just silly.

Happy Wednesday!  It’s raining here…and that makes me sad.  But it looks like we’ll be cuddling on the couch and watching the news while we eat breakfast — not a bad morning at all!

xo
kaciasignature

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