This is the September block for the Growing Up QAL, hosted by Alida at Alida Tweloq Designs. The block skill this month uses bias tape applique, and before jumping in, I played with color arrangement in EQ7 so that I could maintain the red/white/blue theme. After sewing the background pieces together, a 1" cream WOF strip was made into tape for applique. I did not make bias tape because I was not going to form the tape around any curves. A straight WOF cut is fine here. Using Clover's handy-dandy tape maker tool,
the 1" strip made a generous 1/2" tape.
Next time though, I think I'll use a bit wider strip, 1 1/8" or 1 1/4" because the folded edges are a bit narrow, and they don't touch in the center. For pressing and sewing purposes, a bit wider strip would have been nice. But no need here, as it was short, straight lines.
So were am I in this QAL? Here's all of my blocks so far, one for every month except for two in February.
Quite the great array of blocks! Let me know if you're making these to - it's fun to share! Happy Quilting!
Ready for a ton of eye candy? Here's the center square,
and also a side view.
Next up, a few closeups of the negative space around the pinwheels.
To add a bit of sparkle to those pinwheels, there's a little extra stitching in the crosshatching.
A bit closer shot.
And closer still!
Interested in how these negative spaces were quilted with the Sparkle Crosshatching? Then take a look at the video, which follows the creation of the seeds, the crosshatch, and the sparkles, all in one continuous stitching sequence. Who can resist sparkles?
For more detail pictures, and two more videos on line quilting as a fill, check out Jess - Quilting Continued. Happy Quilting!
Welcome to my day of the Christmas Carol Row-along 2017, hosted by Marian at Seams to be Sew. Introducing Let It Snow, one of my favorite Christmas carols.
Having spent my formative years in New England, I have fond memories of watching the snow fall, and seeing it piled up on tree limbs. And building my share of snowmen!
Mr Snowman certainly likes seeing the snow too,
and like most of us, holds out his hand to catch the falling flake. Fortunately, he has several chances to catch one, as the snowflakes just keep falling, each one different from the other.
The offset wave quilting adds to the feeling of falling snowflakes, with a few little flakes tumbling along with the bigger, appliqued ones.
Now there's an updated Let It Snow pattern, which includes instructions for a border to make a wonderful wall hanging. Or just use it as the row - your choice!
I really haveenjoyed both the book, the hop, and especially the quilting. From the straight line quilting on the prints, to the quilting in the negative space,
to the motif in the squares - everything a perfect fit.
Want to see that motif in the square stitched out? Then check out this free motion quilting video from my Youtube channel, with close up stitching of the design, including the curl and leaf.
Easy, effective, and a perfect design choice to compliment the rest of the quilting.
And in case you're wondering about those blue lines - they are there for reference only, and spritzed with water immediately after quilting. Inspired with design possibilities? There's certainly a lot that can be done with a simple shape! Happy Quilting!
With so many designs to choose from, I decided to keep it light and airy for this quilt - and the effect has paid off! Ready to see more? Then here we go!
The center
Designs in the negative space
Another closeup of the center
The center to the corner
The back
And a motif in a square Just looking at these pictures makes me ohh and ahh - and I own the quilt! Really - anything is possible with the designs in this book.
Looking through this year's quilt gallery, I've certainly made lots of HST (half square triangle) projects this year. So how about a tutorial on making multiple HST's from yardage? We're talking 8 HST's from just two squares of fabric - say what??? Yep, that's right - two squares=eight HST's. What an incredible time saver! And we all want to save time so that we can make more quilts, right? So let's go over the following handy-dandy reference chart for making any size HST for your project. HST Size Chart
The first column, "Finished HST size needed" is the HST size after it's sewn into a quilt top. The second column, "Unfinished HST size After Trimming" is the HST block size before it's sewn into a quilt top. The last column, "Size of 2 Squares to Cut" is the size of the starting two squares needed to make 8 HST's for the required finished size. Please note: This is an over-sized square which allows for seam width errors. The resulting HST's will require trimming to the proper size, as given in the second column. My quilts for the Making Connections Free Motion Quilting Workbook use 5" finished HST's. Following the 5" row on the chart, I'll make 5 1/2" unfinished HST's, like these below,
starting with 2 pieces of fabric, each 12" square.
Now the fun begins! Mark guidelines for stitching On one square, place a ruler corner to corner, and with a pencil, mark a diagonal line.
Rotate the ruler, and mark the other diagonal.
Pin the squares together.
Stitch a scant 1/4" seam on each side of the line.
This part goes really fast - nothing like zipping through straight line stitching!! Zoom zoom!
Make the first cut Place the ruler vertically, with the edge in the middle of the block, and lined up with the outer edge. Make the cut.
Make the second cut Lay the ruler horizontally, again with the edge in the middle, and lined up with the outer block edge. Make the cut.
Make the third cut Place the ruler edge along one drawn diagonal line, then cut between the stitching.
Make the fourth cut Rotate the ruler to the other drawn diagonal line, and make the cut in between the stitching.
Open the HST's and press
Trim the HST's to the correct size Be sure to line up the diagonal lines of the block and the ruler. Below, you can see the block is a bit larger than 5 1/2", and will trim to be perfect!
And there you have it! Multiple HST's, easily made, and trimmed to an accurate size - the perfect ingredients for a well constructed quilt! Happy Quilting!
