April Book of the Month Update

Spring cleaning is underway, and the sewing room is no exception. Tired of my stash, and determined to use it up, I've been putting Perfect Quilts for Precut Fabrics, (affiliate link) to good use.

Two large quilts have already been completed, Roundabout,

and Nickel Bricks.

Now I've moved on to baby quilts, as hubby needs a few gifts. Digging through the stash and pulling out the nickel bin, I found enough fabric for this combo.

The resulting top is on the left.

A yard of fabric and 50 nickels gone! Ok, that's one for the girls, so had to make one for the boys. That's the middle one.  Another yard and 50 nickels gone!

The pattern, Aunt Bea,

was really easy to put together. Course, I made smaller borders because of fabric limitations. But that's okay.

And the last one in the photo, on the right,

is called Tiny Bits.

I skipped the square block borders, and just went for background fabric. Yet another easy pattern to put together.

Fabric is picked out for another top, 

just not sure which pattern I'll use. Gearing this one towards the girls. Guess I'll have to find something for the boys, just to keep it even.

So far, this book has been a big win. Lots of quilts to choose from for different fabric cuts, or cut your own. Win win! If you get a chance to acquire this book, I highly recommend it.

                                    
Have a great weekend quilting!

Little Bit of Sweetness plus tutorial

Who doesn't love a Little Bit of Sweetness? And all that great puff!

This is the latest in my Think Outside the Box HST Challenge, though I wouldn't say it's as creative as the last two, Light at the End of the Spiral and Jagged.

    

Light at the End of the Spiral

Jagged

But it is an adorable baby quilt! Here's a straight on shot.

Based on the log cabin block, I've included some rough instructions if you would like to make one too. The quilt finishes at 39 1/2" x 39 1/2".

I started with triangles left over from the Heart to Heart table runner, pairing them up to make HST's, but squares can also be used. One HST/square measures 3 1/4".

Choosing one light and one medium value fabric to go around these blocks, they're cut into 2 1/2" strips. I got really lucky to find a pink dot and an adorable girly print in my stash - just enough for this quilt. 

From the light, a 3 1/4" x 2 1/2" rectangle is sewn to the larger triangle, with the 90 degree point on the right. This helps with consistency in the quilt, since blocks get rotated.

A 5 1/4" x 2 1/2" light rectangle is added on the other side of the large triangle, on the right.

Now for the dark side. Oh scary! Just kidding! A 5 1/4" x 2 1/2" rectangle is sewn along the top of the previous units.

And finally, a 7 1/4" x 2 1/2" dark rectangle finishes off the left edge.

Block measures 7 1/4" x 7 1/4". At this point, settings can be played with, but this is the one I liked. Every other block is rotated 90 degrees. 

The plain block color can also be played with. I thought about using pink, but just didn't like it, so I went with white throughout. Glad I did because of the pretty quilting design I came up with.

Some closeups, petals first.

Lots of starts and stops, so if you look closely you can see some of the thread build up from that. This is not a show quilt, and I'm sure a baby won't mind the thickness.

Here's a closeup of the block quilting.

And can't forget the back, where the quilting looks really awesome on pink polka dot flannel.

Now it's time to go make you're own Little Bit of Sweetness!

Jagged

Say hello to Jagged, my second HST quilt.

A bit of a rocky road getting this one finished, as some unstitching was necessary to get the top border to fit with the design. All of the light green triangles were removed,

and replaced with border strips,

so that the design was not interrupted by horizontal lines.

It looks so much better this way, and I'm glad I took the time to do it right.

Thankfully, the bottom was much easier since there were already dark triangles to work with, so no unstitching there.

For this one, I let the walking foot do the quilting. Using a clear monofilament thread on the top, and a purple cotton in the bobbin, the quilt was stitched in the ditch. In the top and bottom borders, the jagged design was continued. But for the side borders, I chose to keep it simple with a horizontal line that corresponded with the jagged points.

I could have done a fill in either the light or dark area, but because this design follows the notan principle, I didn't want one to dominate.

I'm pretty happy with this one, and it's sister, Light at the End of the Spiral.

It's been a good challenge, creating different designs from scrap HST's, so that the little bits didn't go to waste. I still have a couple more out there, just a matter of time to get to them.

I do wish you a wonderful day quilting!

Nickel Bricks

Woohoo! It's finished!

Introducing Nickel Bricks, a pattern from my Book of the Month selection, Perfect Quilts from Precut Fabrics. (affiliate link)

Perfect for using up nickels (5" squares), which, by the way, I still have ton of. But can't blame a girl for trying!

Measuring in at 62" x 89", mine was made without the piano key borders,

because I have something else in mind for all those leftover pieces. Just need to make sure the idea works.

Here's a full on view, showing all the pretty bright prints.

Can't believe how much black it used. I had a 4-5 yard piece in the stash, and now I'm down to a little over a yard. But still, worth it!

Quilting was done with a bright orange Glide thread,

and the panto called Paperchase. There's so much going on with all of those prints, no need for a detailed quilting design. Isn't that face print awesome - one of my favorites!

And can't forget the back.

A year ago, I wasn't a big fan of pieced backs. But I've come around, realizing it's a great way to use up fabric that I really would have no idea what to do with. So from now on, you'll see more pieced backs from me.

Have an overflowing amount of fabric? Then do look into this book. And don't think precuts are absolutely necessary - that stash can always be cut!

Have a wonderful day quilting!

Book of the Month April 2016

Ok, I'm really going to try to be better about using my Book of the Month selection in my work this month. Last month was a lovely Next Steps in Machine Quilting (affiliate link), but none of the projects I worked on were suitable for the designs. So sad!

But this month, I'm starting fresh! I've got yardage and scraps to use up, so what better choice than Perfect Quilts for Precut Fabrics. (affiliate link)

Sixty four patterns for precuts should provide plenty of choices. Do I have precuts? Just that big box of nickels. But it doesn't mean I can't make my own precuts out of the yardage I have. Anything is possible!

Who else has precuts (or yardage!) to use up? Come join me!