Like Eating Potato Chips

A couple of days ago a friend and I were discussing how she might use a "difficult" fabric in a quilt.  I mentioned doing a "four patch posie"  like I did with some spiderman fabric some time back.  I was looking for instructions and found a different way.  I knew I would have to try it.

 Now it is like eating potato chips - I can't stop with one block. I just want to keep eating making these little blocks.

Basically, you line up fabric the same way as you would for a one block wonder (OBW) quilt but only use four layers. 

Then you cut squares with the four layers lined up. They need to be at least 4 inches - bigger would be better.
You cut the squares diagonally both ways.  Then each triangle stack makes a block.

You can see the how-to video that I found on YouTube below.


Now, I have a few more cut that I need to sew.  See you later, folks!

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Daisy Chain QAL - Unit B

After getting the directions for unit B of the Daisy Chain Quilt Along,  I decided to switch gears and use some of my Island Batik fabrics as the "Assorted Scrappy or Coordinating Fabrics."  You all know how much I love using batiks, don't you?

So I chose two batiks and cut the required strips needed.  Then I sewed strip sets as directed.

Next,  I sub-cut the strip sets and sewed the four patch units. 

These thirteen squares would make a great table topper all by themselves.  

I am sure that I will get a very pretty quilt using these fabrics.  

Color me happy!

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Daisy Chain Quilt Along - The Piecing Begins

You may remember that I chose the fabrics  for the Daisy Chain Quilt Along

Then  I  did the cutting and actually organized it quite nicely (for a change.)









Now the first sewing instructions have been posted and I have completed the first step.
In this stack there are 40 four patches for the Mystery Quilt.  The directions call for 39 but I had enough pieces to make 40 - and I didn't count until all 40 were made.  I call it good.  It is nice to have a spare in case one isn't quite the right size - or if I mess it up in a later step.

That is really purple... the colors did not photograph well. 

I must say that I have gotten spoiled with the Island Batik fabrics.  They don't generally fray - but as you can tell, this orange fabric has frayed quite a bit.  This will still make a good quilt  but it will leave more of a mess in the process.

Are you quilting along with us?  It isn't too late to start.  There are four size options from Baby to Queen.  I am making the throw size.  It is bigger than a baby quilt, but smaller than a twin.   It is nice to have throw quilts to snuggle in on a cool night - or to take on a sunny day for a picnic.   But you may want to dip your toes in making a baby quilt. Those are great to have on hand for baby gifts.


Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Quilted? Notebook Cover

Have you ever made the same project so many times that you just KNOW how to do it?  I know I have made so many of these quilted notebook covers that I should be able to do it in my sleep.  Ha!

After a weekend of no sewing, and one Monday evening of quilting even more on the current quilt, I thought "A little easy project is in order!"  So I decided to make another quilted notebook cover.  I had some string block made from a jelly roll.   Actually I had made a "jelly roll race" top. When it was done I didn't like so I cut it into squares, on a bias.  I also sewed the partial pieces that were left into blocks.  They have been sitting for some time.  I grabbed a couple of those and proceeded to use them in this project. I cut all the parts and started sewing it together.

OOPS!

What was I thinking?  Apparently not much.  I had the seams almost all sewn when it occurred to me,  "you were supposed to quilt the front layer with the batting before you sew it together."  (okay, I may have added the word "moron" in there too.)  I really didn't want to rip out all those tight stitches.  So I just proceeded to finish it.  

Then a lightbulb went off "Why not quilt it, now?"  Fortunately I didn't quilt over the flaps because I did actually have a lucid thought about that.  (yaay me!) 

So here it is: Front, back and opened out. 

For such a "disaster" in the process, I think it came out pretty good. 

Yes, I make mistakes.  They are a part of the creative process.  I try to make the best of them and I am able to laugh at my own mistakes.  Learning to do that is one of the best gifts I have ever given myself.
How much interest is there in how to make these covers?  Should I do a tutorial or a video or maybe both?
Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible unless otherwise stated. Foolishly posted "hate speech" comments will be swiftly removed.

More of My Work from the class

There are three of the pieces that I made in the class that didn't make it into the window before I took the pictures.
So, first let me share those with you.

 This one above looks similar to one of the others I made.  In the window, it looked like stained glass.

This one is a fairly simple block that I cut a diagonal line through and added the blue strip. This was my first try on this way of altering a block, although the block was already "free-pieced."

This third one was dubbed "Pickles and Peanut Butter" by Julie who sat next to me.  I showed her the two pieces of fabric and said "I am going to use these two pieces in a block"  She replied "What?!?!  That is like pickles and peanut butter."  She didn't think they went together at all. It is a bit unusual but I think I like it. I used what I remembered of a technique that I learned in a book.  Of course I didn't remember the exact method, so I had to just wing it.

There was plenty of fabric to play with.  China and Mary Ann brought in several bags and tubs of fabric. It was all piled on or stashed under two tables. I call this the "Pile o' fabric"

This photo was AFTER the students had gotten fabric and started sewing. However, it was different again at the end of the class.  I know that I added some from my scrap bag back onto the table.  I probably used more fabric from the table than from what I took with me.  I have fallen in love with using solids.  I think there is a Zen feeling that solids can bring.

One of the students sewed everything by hand.  At lunch we were discussing it and she said "I work in front of a computer all day. I just didn't want to be sitting in front of another machine."  She had lots of pre-cut strips laid out and sewed them into  strata. Here is a picture of her basting them onto the batting and backing while China visits her.

And here is her quilt pin basted.

She did all of this by hand in the class time from Monday night until Thursday morning.

Now, let me show you the two pieces I have made since getting back.

For the first one I took a piece of fabric that I had embroidered on and used it as the center. I pieced pieces together and worked out and around from there. 

For the second one, I simply started piecing odd bits together and "making" fabric.  In both of these I added some bits of muslin that I had stamped with fabric paint and my leaf stamp.
In doing this process  of free piecing, I have learned to use my scissors more than I ever did before. it is much easier than jumping up to go to the cutting table to trim a seam.

Let me challenge you to try making this type of block.  There is no pattern, no templates, and best of all no rules!  Let yourself go and try things.  Don't over think it - that limits your creativity.  Just play like you are a kid and the fabric is your box of crayons.  Color outside the lines.  Trust me it is fun!

Five Strip Slash Block

If you are looking for the book giveaway go here. 
I had a few 2.5" strips left over and decided to play with them.  As you may guess this will probably end up on the back of one of my quilts.  Hey, it is the perfect place to use up experimental or orphan blocks. No need to waste them is there? 


Here is my real result:

It is actually a half block.  So I used some digital magic to make an entire block because I didn't have any more matching fabric. 

No, the points are not perfect -live with it!

I am calling this a Five Strip Slash Block.  Here is how to make it.


I took the strips (which were actually only partial strips) and sewed a set of five.  I then cut the unit into squares.  (using digital mockups since I was in the zone and didn't take pictures along the way)

Take two of the squares, rotate one of them 90 degrees, then layer them right sides together.

Two units -one rotated 90 degrees

Line them up as neatly as possible - pin if desired.  On the back of the top block draw a diagonal line corner to corner. (you can use a pencil or ink pen, it will not show in the finished product!)

Sew a quarter inch seam on both sides of that line (you are sewing through both units) Once both seams are sewn, cut (slash) down the drawn line to make two 5-strip half square triangles.

Real picture this time!

Join these along the edges with the small triangles to make half of the finished square:

Join those to make the finished block

Not hard to do and it really pops. 
Here are a couple of EQ samples I prepared to give you an idea of a full quilt made from these. I did layouts in both rotations for you. 

Alternating blocks -joining non-matching colors.

Joining Similar Colors

If you make this quilt I would love to see a picture of it. 
You could alternately make the units with an even number of strips and there would be no solid interior square. 


I am considering new videos to make.  What would you like to see demonstrated?

A Treat for Myself

(note:  If you are looking for my giveaway click here. )


Mail came today and it was a delight.  I have spent some time sorting it out, but just look what I got:

Singer Featherweight 221 - circa 1949

A week or so ago on eBay, I saw this baby with only one bid and a few hours left to go.  The price was LOW, I decided to bid and hope.  Honestly I didn't think I had a chance.  Apparently the stars were aligned just right. There were no more bids that night -and I completely forgot about even bidding.  Early the next morning as I was checking email, I saw "you won" from eBay.  Surely not!  So I checked and I had really won.  I paid quickly.  I have never paid so much for shipping on anything, but this time I felt it was worth it. 
After getting the machine set up, I tried stitching.  There was a learning curve to threading the machine.  I did it wrong a few times.  Ha ha.  Then I read that you thread the needle right to left.  Bingo.  I got the tension adjusted easily and just look at those perfect stitches:

I used a purple top thread and a cream thread in the bobbin so I could see if the tension was just right.  It is!  I have read that this little antique machine is perfect for piecing.  I am sure I will be trying it soon.  But for now, I have to cook supper and I do have a quilt to finish quilting on my modern sewing machine..

Have you ever sewn on an antique machine?

Shirt Re-do and Star Digitizing

Several weeks months ago I attempted to embroider a polo shirt that I had bought just for that purpose. I had not yet learned to place the embroidery exactly where I want it (okay so I still haven't- sigh!)


I pretty much wrecked the shirt.   I kept trying to find  think of a way to salvage it. Sunday morning really early, before getting out of bed, I just got it in my head.  So it was on my agenda for play time.  I made a pattern out of rice paper (it was handy, the tracing paper wasn't.)  I cut out a piece of fabric (batik - are  you surprised?) and went to work on it. 

Now I know that bottom edge looks wonky in the photo, but it isn't. It is just that it didn't hang straight. 

I also had another pre-dawn idea to work on a digitizing project that I have been playing with. That didn't work out -yet.  But I discovered another thing in my free digitizing program.  So I designed this star. First I sewed it out on just plain stabilizer.

Then I made some edits and sewed it out on some fabric, using a better grade of embroidery thread. 

My stitches are a bit too dense so I got some wrinkling on the right and lower parts. However, I think will still be able to use it. 

And for those that are in the USA and Canada - Happy Labor/Labour Day!

Sashing and Cornerstones

With all the blocks completed in the Layer Cake Quilt along, I have been slacking.  But tonight I found some mojo and started working on the sashing and cornerstones for this quilt. 
I am using a mottled medium tan for the sashing with pieces of the fabrics used in the blocks as cornerstones.  
Originally I was going to use a yellow sashing, but I decided it would overwhelm the quilt as there is already a fair amount of yellow in the blocks. (The main fabric line is called Golden Afternoon) 
Here is how it is starting to shape up. 

The cornerstones with several of the block settings make for some interesting secondary designs.  See how there is a bit of a "chain" but then there is a non-square bit of the darker blue that changes it suddenly. I can't wait to get it all sewn together so I can see how it plays out. 


I apologize that the lighting in the picture is not great. My day job interferes with my quilting - but I couldn't afford to quilt without it. Ha ha. 

Adventures with Zippers

Like a number of quilters, I have been totally terrified to try putting in a zipper.  I have used just about every other closure method I can find to avoid using a zipper. 


Spring forward to March 4th:  My friend Tonya posted a video showing how she puts in a zipper when she makes a coin purse. I watched it and thought "hey, I can do that!" 
So I ordered a few zippers.  They came in and I let them sit. Finally, a couple of nights ago, I cut some fabric.  Then I took one of the zippers and had a go at it.   I did not follow Tonya's method exactly. (I needed to watch that video a few more times to cement all the steps in my head!)  But guess what?  It worked!  
I made this little zippered bag. 

It has a zipper that works just fine.  I am amazed at how good it looks too. The bag is reasonably straight and has a nice boxed bottom.  It sits upright without being propped.  Yaay!  

Thanks Tonya, you are T-riffic! 

Curvy and Fun

Folks, I don't normally do product reviews.  Fact is, I bought this Curve Master foot for my sewing machine because I hate  strongly dislike pinning. It is rare that I pin pieces to sew them together.  
Fact two is that I really like the Drunkard's Path, AND I have the small AccuQuilt die for making it.  That was my incentive. 


So I got this foot:

It looks fairly plain. Honestly I saw it and said "How can that thing make any difference?"  (fact: I still don't know "how")  
So after it sat in the package a few days, I decided to pull it out and put it on the machine.  I sat and sewed the first block:

Oops! that is as off as when I did it "my way." 

So I re-read the package. (Ah, light bulb!)  A while back I had bought a pair of long, curved tip tweezers because they were a great deal at two dollars. (Surely they will come in handy!) 

I took out those tweezers, took another block and tried again.  This time I got about an inch from the end (where your fingers start to get in the way) and used the tweezers to hold that final bit.  

BINGO!  it worked. 

The edges lined up nicely, the curves are curvy, and the blocks ironed out well. And it was easy.  

One of my dear friends said she couldn't get it to work out just right. I typed up what I did in an email and sent it to her.  I hope she tries it this weekend to GREAT success. 

Setting - I Forgot!

Yes my friends, after doing that blog post about the setting triangles, I totally forgot to post the picture when I put the setting triangles and border on my small convergence quilt.  So today I will correct that error.  I am sorry that I didn't iron this prior to taking a photo, it is slightly wrinkled from being draped over a pile of UFOs. 

I have also been working on my Quilt Possible AccuQuilt Quilt Along blocks for round two. 
Remember these from yesterday?

By some error, I didn't read the directions carefully and didn't cut enough pieces for the entire block, so I have two partial blocks completed. Here is one of them. 

They are supposed to be 16.5" by 6.5" -mine are a bit short. Ha ha. Luckily, it will be easy enough to correct.  I love the way the engineered/pre-trimmed corners on the triangles make it easy to get the points perfect.