I love to sew fun little decorations.  Usually I make bean bags to use as holiday decorations, place card holders, etc.   This weekend, I decided I wanted to make a tic tac toe board with bean bags pieces.

Using scraps, I made a small quilt and 8 small bean bags.  I went with a garden theme, so my pieces were half blue and half pink. The quilt was green and yellow.  It would be perfect for children to play tic tac toe with at home or it would pack easily for travel.  Just be careful, since there are beans in the bean bags, you won’t want to let small children play with bags.  However, you could do the pieces more like quilts, sans the beans.  You could even add velcro on the board and pieces for easy sticking.

If you want to spend about 1.5 hours using up your scrap fabric and making a fabric tic tac toe, here is what you will need:

Different colored fabric
For the board and pieces I made, I cut one large square 17″ x 17″;
9   5″ x 5″ squares
6   5″ x 2″ border pieces
2  15″ x 2″ border pieces
16  4″ circles (of two different colors of fabric)
Beans, cheap as they come
17″ x 17″ thin quilt batting
Sewing machine
Needle
Thread in coordinating colors

Sew three 5″ x 5″ squares and 2  5″ x 2″ border pieces together alternating square, strip, square, strip and ending with a square.  Repeat this two more times, ending with three chains.  Press the seams flat.  I used 1/2 inch seams allowances.

Sew a chain’s long side to a 15″ x 2″ strip.  On the other side of the 15″ strip, sew a second chain.  To the second chain, sew a 15″ x 2″ strip.  Then add the last chain on the other side of the 15″ x 2 ” strip.  This creates the top of your quilt.  Press your seam allowances.

Create a quilt sandwich:  Put the 17″ x 17″ square down, with the wrong side up.  Then put a 17″ x 17″ piece of quilt batting on top.  On top of the batting, center your quilt top.  This is the sandwich.

Now, baste the three pieces together, using long running stitches and starting in the middle of the quilt.

Machine quilt the pieces together.  I put a big X spanning from corner to corner.  I then stitched down the middle of the border pieces.

I trimmed the extra batting away.  I then cut the back fabric, leaving an extra 3/4 inch allowance.  I turned the allowance in with the raw edge of the allowance meeting the raw edge of the quilt top, ironing it in place.  I then turned up the allowance one more time to create a self binding.  The corners can be tricky.  I did a quick miter, which wasn’t perfect but it will be enjoyed all the same.

I then made 8 game pieces, 4 pink and 4 blue.  I used green fabric to match my quilt board on all the pieces.  That was because I had more leftover green fabric than I did the pink and blue fabrics.

Using the bottom of a kitchen bowl, I drew out the 16  4″ circles that I needed.  I paired the circles up, right sides together.  Using a 3″  biscuit cutter, I drew the stitch lines on the pieces.   On the machine, I sewed on the line created by the biscuit cutter, leaving a 2″ opening.  I turned all the pieces rights sides out, and ironed them flat.  I also ironed the seams for the opening down so they would be easier to sew after the beans went in.   Fill with as many beans as you want.  I like mine about 2/3 full.  I used a small measuring glass to make sure I got the same amount of beans in each bag.

Sew the final 2 inch opening closed, by hand or machine.  There you have it!  Your very own stylish tic tac toe board and pieces!

You can make some of these for all seasons: shamrocks and Leprechaun hats for St. Patrick’s Day, hearts and roses for Valentine’s Day, red and blue stars for Memorial Day, 2 different color leaves for fall, two types of snowflakes for winter, etc.  Fun, fun, fun!

For more ideas on easy patterns for your tic tac toe pieces, check out this earlier post.