for the holidays a few years back i made maya a fabric memory game. it was such a hit i thought i would share a tutorial.

materials

scraps of quilting cotton in various prints and colors
3/4 a yard wool or felt, if you are using 60 inch wide fabric you'll only need a 1/2 a yard
1 yard fusible interfacing
cardboard
general sewing supplies (fabric marker, pins, thread, scissors)

instructions

1. cut 40 squares (20 pairs), 3 inches by 3 inches from scrap quilting cotton and interface them.

2. cut 80 squares, 3 inches by 3 inches, from wool/felt. interface half (40) and set them aside. the other half will be made into 'picture frames'.

3. make a cardboard template of your picture frame. for mine i cut out a inch by 3 inch square with the center cut out, leaving myself with a 2 inch square opening.

4. trace the inside of the picture frame onto the 40 un-interfaced squares wool/felt squares and cut out the center.

5. align the 40 quilting cotton squares on the 40 picture frame wool/felt squares so the right side shows through the picture frame. pin into place.

6. using a zig-zag stitch sew around the inside of the picture frame, attaching the quilting cotton to the picture frame.

7. trim the excess quilting cotton from the back and apply interfacing to the back.

8. align these 40 fronts with the 40 backs you prepared in step 4 and edge stitch around with a very narrow seam. if your wool/felt ravels you might want to consider pinking them.

in the end 16 of the 20 quilting cottons i used were left over from things i had already sewn maya:

top row (from left to right): mountain dress, power clashing part II dress, holiday 2012 dress, book report dress, and the lining fabric from the owl backpack

second row: first birthday dress, thanksgiving 2012 dress, the belly fabric from the owl backpack, a fat quarter i got at gather here, and my first class picnic tunic

third row: fat quarter purchased at gather here, the feet from the owl backpack, an not yet blogged fairy tale dress, peacock dress, and a fat quarter i got at spring training

fourth row: croquet dress, playdate dress, another fat quarter from spring training, frothy skirt, and chevron dress

for storage i made the the little things to sew drawstring bag from more fabric left over from the class picnic tunic (which was originally from the mister dolly ergos).

at first maya was more into dumping them out then actually matching them...