Tea-Dyed Embroidered Kitchen Wall Hanging

A Quilted Wall Hanging that is simply charming!  Make one for your own kitchen...and also a gift for a special events.  Housewarming parties, bridal showers, Mother's Day, and birthdays are perfect occasions for giving something specially handmade.

It's practical, too! A clear vinyl pocket at the bottom awaits your recipe of the day, or your gift of a favorite dish on a matching recipe card.

Click here to download free,  recipe cards that coordinate with the designs. Print them right onto cardstock or a heavy weight of paper

As well as giving instructions for making this country quilt hanging, Kenny shows how to tea-dye fabric. Tea-dyed fabric has a warm, well-loved look that will make your country and folk art pieces appear to be antiques.

The finished size of the wall hanging is 19 inches wide by 27 1/2 inches high.

Cut a piece of white quilter's cotton to 20 x 22 inches.

Boil about 8 cups of water and pour the water into the container. Add seven teabags and let them steep for 5 to 10 minutes. After steeping, squeeze the bags by placing them in a large spoon, wrapping the strings around the spoon and squeezing. The tea bags are full of hot water so be careful!

Saturate the quilter's cotton with tap water.

Add the wet fabric to the tea water and press down with a utensil until the fabric is mostly submerged. 

Soak the fabric for about one hour. Then wring out the excess tea water from the fabric. Lay the fabric on a couple layers of paper towels to dry.

You may add a slightly darker border by soaking one tea bag in a small amount of hot water  and squeezing the tea bag over the fabric, about 4 to 5 inches from the edge. Simply let the tea bag drip onto the fabric. Hang the fabric or lay it flat until it is completely dry.

Print out full-size templates of the designs, using embroidery software. Trim the design to a manageable size.

Mark the center point on the now dry fabric. Position the templates evenly from top to bottom, and 1 1/2 inch from each other.

Poke a hole in the center of the templates, and mark the fabric.

Remove the templates and draw lines on the fabric connecting the the horizontal and vertical axis lines.

These lines will be used for hooping.

Hoop the center design with cut-away stabilizer that has been sprayed with temporary adhesive. Hoop the fabric and stabilizer together by aligning the marks on the fabric with the lines on the hoop.

Attach the hoop to the machine, and load the design. Move the hoop so the needle is directly over the center point on the fabric, and embroider the design.

After the design has been embroidered, unhoop the fabric and carefully trim away the excess stabilizer, leaving about 1/2 inch of the stabilizer around the design.

Repeat the hooping, aligning, and embroidering process for the remaining designs. (Rehooping over the first embroidered designs will not harm them.)

Cut the fabric to 11 1/2 x 16 1/2 inches. Measure and mark out 5 3/4 inches from the center to the sides and 8 1/4 inches from the center to the top and bottom. Draw lines connecting the marks, and cut out the rectangular shape.

Cut the fabric for the remaining front panels with the following measurements:
   
* Four 5 x 5 inch squares of a calico quarter flat (for the corners)

* Two 11 1/2 x 5 inch pieces of calico quarter flat (for top and bottom panels)

* Two 16 1/2 x 5 inch solid color quilter's cotton (for side panels)

* One 11 1/2 x 4 3/4 piece of clear vinyl (for pocket)

Assemble the side panels by aligning the the corner squares on the short ends of the side, right sides together. Pin along the ends.

Sew a 1/4 inch seam along the ends only.

Assemble the center panel by aligning the top and bottom panel on the top and bottom of the center panel with the right sides together. Pin along the top and bottom.   

Sew a 1/4 inch seam along the top and bottom only.

Press the back seams open on all the panels.

Align the side panels, right sides together, with the sides of the center panel. Pay close attention to aligning the sewn seams.

Lay the vinyl piece on top of the bottom panel, aligning the top of the vinyl with the top seam of the bottom panel.  Pin along the sides.

Sew a 1/4 inch seam along the sides only.  Press the back seams only.

To finish the vinyl pocket, lay the front panel wrong side up and mark 2 1/4 inches in from the side seams of the bottom panel. Mark the top and bottom of the bottom panel and draw lines connecting the marks. Sew a seam, vinyl side down, along the lines. 

Create the loops for top hangers by cutting three 7 x 7 inch squares of the solid quilter's cotton. Fold each square in half and pin along the open side.

Sew a 1/4 inch seam along the open side of each folded square.

Turn the fabric right side out and press the seam and folded edge flat. Do this for each of the three pieces.

Sew a 1/4 inch top stitch along the seamed and folded edges of each piece.

For the back, cut a piece of batting and a piece of the solid colored quilter's cotton to 20 x 25 1/2 inches.

Assemble the Wall Hanging

Lay the front panel right side up. Fold the top loops with the unfinished ends together. Lay the loops, unfinished ends towards the top edge of the front panel. Measure and mark the center of the top panel and the center of one of the top loops by measuring and dividing in two. Align the center mark of the loop with the center mark of the fabric with the end of the loop hanging over the top edge of the fabric about 1/4 inch. Lay the end loops about 1 inch from the side edges of the fabric, also with the ends hanging over the top edge of the fabric about 1/4 inch. Pin in place.

Lay the batting flat. Lay the front panel on top of the batting with the right side up. Then lay the back fabric, wrong side up, on top of the front panel.

Pin the layers together along the sides and the top only.. 

Sew a 1 inch seam along the sides and top only. Leave the bottom open for turning.

Turn right side out between the front panel and the back fabric, keeping the batting between the front and back layers.

Turn the bottom edges in 1/4 inch and pin in place. Sew a 1/8 inch seam along the entire bottom edge with the vinyl side down..

Quilt along the outer edges with a 1/2 inch seam, sewing with the monofilament thread.

Also quilt along the inside of each panel with a 1/2 inch seam.

Create loops for the wooden utensils by cutting two 2 x 3 inch pieces of fabric. Fold the pieces lengthwise, bringing the edges together to the center of the fabric, then fold them in half again. Sew a 1/8 inch seam along each edge of the folded pieces.

Center the utensils in the middle of the side panels and mark the fabric where the handle meets the top of the utensil. This is where the utensil will rest in the loop.

Hand sew the loop together and then hand sew it onto the panel.

Insert the wooden dowel through the top loops and add the dowel caps to the ends. If needed, use hot glue or wood glue to secure them in place.

Add buttons to the center of the top loops for added interest.

Add your recipe card to the pocket, the utensils to the loops, and you're ready to bake, puree, knead, or baste.

Mmmmm - you can almost smell the breads, cookies, and meat loaf baking in the oven!