The Jen Kingwell Gypsy Wife Sew-along kicks off next week (August 3) and I thought it would be a good...
Designer: Jen Kingwell Second edition Quilt Measures 150cm x 173cm (59” x 86”) Gypsy Wife is Jen’s top seller. A puzzle of beautiful blocks – a signature style of Jen’s! This clever quilt will keep even the most advanced sewers entertained. This pattern is written for machine piecing. Block of the Month friendly. Skill Level: Intermediate-advanced. Printed in Australia We will customize your order to combine shipping for International, If you want to buy multiple items,Please send us a message
Well the time has come in this process to start figuring out how all these blocks are going to come together. As I mentioned previously, t...
i have no new blocks to share just yet, so i am sharing a copy of megan's beautiful work as she assembles section 1 of the gypsy wife quilt. by the way, she has written a brilliant tutorial on assembling the block sections with partial seams. it's got me thinking they aren't so bad after all! now, just because i finished it and also because there are busy friends out there who are working ahead of the quilt along schedule, i'm sharing the spreadsheet i made for the blocks, broken down by section and month of the quilt along. there is no pressure to work ahead! everyone should feel like they can work at their own pace, whatever that is. click images to enlarge again, why do they come out different sizes?! you can download a pdf copy of the block chart here. or, if you are viewing it on your cell phone, you can click on the chart to enlarge the image, and then take a screen shot, which you can then zoom in on. it might be handier for some people to have a copy on their phone. if you are confused about the "block id" column, that was for personal use. when i was working my way thru the book the first time around, i found it helpful to give each block an id tag, which i marked in the instructions and in the assembly charts for cross-referencing purposes. you can just ignore it. i've seen several section 1's already assembled on instagram at the hashtag #GypsyWifeQuiltSection1 (and even some section 2's!) it's pretty exciting to see so many of them coming together. now that my sewing room renovations are complete, as of yesterday, i can assembly my own section 1 this weekend. we can do this, friends! as always, you can follow along with everyone over on instagram at #GypsyWifeQuiltAlong2016.
I am now into month 11 of the Amitie Textiles BOM, the Gypsy Wife. Month 10 involved making a whole series of quick and easy blocks a selec...
On 3 August Nicole Calver (of Snips Snippets) and I will be kicking off the Jen Kingwell’s Gypsy Wife Quilt Sew-along. Jen...
Gypsy Wife Section 1 & 2
megan, of jaffa quilts, and i are co-hosting a 2016 quilt along for jen kingwell's gypsy wife quilt pattern. this is the home page for the project where you can find the schedule and other information links. i will keep it updated as the quilt along progresses. our quilt along officially kicks off in february 2016, but feel free to join in whenever you'd like. we hope you join us on this journey! pattern scources you can purchase the pattern at these locations: amazon etsy fat quarter shop amitie (australia) rainbow patchwork (aus) jones and vandermeer running chicken (uk) if you have an original pattern, you will need the (slight) corrections, available here. fabric selection january is for ordering the pattern and collecting fabrics. my post about fabric is here and megan's is here. you can find other participant's pulls on instagram at the hashtag #GWqal2016FabricPull. schedule a detailed post about the month's section construction, blocks, and strip measurements will be posted on the first of each month. once the month has posted, you can click on it to see the post for the month. here is a quick overview of what each month entails: january - get pattern and collect fabrics *if you want to get started asap, we suggest you cut the strips or begin section 1 now february - section 1: 5 blocks (1 sm, 2 md, 3 lg); 19 strips (2 - 1") megan's post, including tips for partial seams section one link party ***originally, we were going to start in march. you can still do this. you will just need to do sections 1 & 2 in march, or you can break up section 2 over march and april. march - section two: 6 blocks (2 sm, 1 md, 3 lg); 6 strips (2 - 1") megan's post, with tutorial on pershing block tutorial on old maid's puzzle block section two link party april - sections three and four: 7 blocks (2 sm, 1 md, 4 lg); 10 strips megan's thoughts on the colour wheel block tips for the hst block megan's partial seam instructions for section joining may - section five: 6 blocks (3 sm, 3 lg); 9 strips (2 - 1") megan's crazy anne tutorial june - section six: 21 blocks (13 sm, 5 md, 3 lg); 25 strips (2 - 1") this is a big one! you might want to get a jumpstart or leave some for july july - section seven: 7 blocks (4 sm, 2 md, 1 lg); 14 strips (2 - 1") august - section eight: 4 blocks (1 sm, 3 lg); 11 strips (1 - 1") september - section nine: 5 blocks (2sm, 1 md, 2 lg); 11 strips (4 - 1") october - section ten: 11 blocks (6 sm, 2md, 3 lg); 22 strips (5 - 1") november - quilt and bind relevant posts why you want to gypsy along in 2016 - introduction fabric selection: hydeeann, megan completed quilt guest series: sarah schraw, liz gellert. cath mosely, elisabeth woo, nicole calver all the information and link party - welcome party megan's introductory tips all about strips, including a spreadsheet megan's guide to partial seams spreadsheet guide to each month's blocks alternate method for the 3.5" sq-in-sq blocks and 4.5" sq-in-sq blocks salvaging blocks that turn out the wrong size by adding borders questions and replies i am getting quite a few comments and questions from no-reply bloggers. this is frustrating for me and you, both! i would love to answer your questions or reply to your comments. leaving your email in your comment will help me reply to you. if you do not hear from me within a reasonable amount of time (day or two) after posting a comment, please email me directly at hydee ann sews (at) gmail (dot) com. i will leave replies to a question from a no-reply blogger on the comment. you will just have to check back later. i apologize for the inconvenience this poses! it makes extra work and frustration for me, too. please keep in mind i have no control over this and i'm just a volunteer trying to share and help others. i'm doing my best. if you aren't sure if you are a no-reply blogger or how to change this, please check out this post here by adrianne of "on the windy side". you can follow along on instagram with the hastag #GypsyWifeQuiltAlong2016 (caps not necessary) and find us there @hydeeannsews and @jaffaquilts grab your button! Generate your button code
Time for the link party with Section 2. There were a few swear words whilst making the Pershing bock, along with a bit of unpicking. In the end I was still out a little and decided no way was I about to start on another one so a tiny strip was added on two sides of the block to meet the size needed. I made sure that the outside border on the Courthouse Step - which butts up against Pershing - was in a rich deep colour so my little strip wouldn't be too obvious - hopefully. Because of the busy nature of this quilt I think it's possible to get away with a minor adjustment if needed. I've found that working out the colour combinations to my liking takes the most time, but I do now have lots of small extras to add to my scraps. I also have a few blocks which didn't make it, they could possibly be incorporated in future sections. This is an enjoyable quilt to be working on even through patience may be tested along the way, but now it's on to Section 3 and 4 next. Check out the link to the Gypsy Wife link party Maureen
Hello fellow Gypsy Wife people! How did you get on with section 8? I've just got the star block to do and then I can move on to section 9. M...
...in which the blocks are finished! I had enough time to squeeze in one more stitchery marathon before my classes (and the boys' return from Camp All-Fun-All-The-Time-Grandparents). The gypsy blocks are done!! The assembly is going to be kind of a bear, but I'm up for the challenge. I want to finish the cutting this week so I can clear out my sewing area. I can't stand all the piles of fabric leaning and draping over every flat (and semi-flat) surface. I know "they say" that creativity is messy, but my left-brained self can only handle so much of it before I snap. So, photos! Square in a square with pinwheel centers (various sizes) Gypsy Wife "Square in a Square with Pinwheel Centers" blocks Bordered Square in a Square with Courthouse Steps (various sizes) Gypsy Wife "Bordered Square in a Square" blocks Square in a Square with Courthouse Steps (various sizes) Gypsy Wife "Square in a Square with Courthouse Steps" larger blocks Gypsy Wife "Square in a Square with Courthouse Steps" smaller blocks Square in a Square in a Square (4" finished) This one required a complete remake. The pattern called for the use of one of the small square-in-a-square blocks that I made yesterday, but when I added the third row of triangles and trimmed to 4 1/2", it was obvious that every one of the points would be cut off when I sewed it into the quilt. This is the Very Last Block. All of the others look very nice and very pointy. There was no way I could be happy with cutting off four points, even applying my typical "Can you see it from the back of a galloping horse?" metric. (Thanks, Lisa, for that one!) I drafted the whole thing out on paper and made a new one in less than ten minutes. Gypsy Wife "Square in a square in a square" block And that's it!
This was a fun one, and I am so so pleased with how it turned out!! Back in April, Billie told me she'd like to order a quilt. That started off a flurry of messages, and sending links back and forth so I could get a feel for what she liked. We ended up choosing Kathleen's Gypsy Wife quilt as inspiration. I thought at the time that it was not an actual Gypsy Wife, because her fabric choices made it look so different from all of the others I'd seen but Hydee assures me it does follow the pattern. Not knowing that, though, I drew up my own pattern /map. I told Tyler and Brandon during a brain storming session that I wanted a name that was similar to Gypsy Wife but more appropriate for this quilt and for Billie and Andy, and when somebody tossed out 'sojourner', I knew we'd found it. You see, Andy and Billie are currently living in Bosnia teaching English, using the Bible. Not only are they currently literally sojourning, they live their entire lives with a Kingdom focus, as if this earth is not their home, so the name was doubly perfect. I ordered lots of fabric and even ordered a couple of jelly rolls for greater variety (there are at least 156 different fabrics in this quilt!) and started piecing on May 23rd, not long after finishing up my niece's epic quilt. I finished the 64 x 80 inch top in mid July and then sewed the backing. We went with a wool batting and lawn backing to produce an exceptionally luscious quilt and I basted the layers together with Lily's help in late July. I didn't actually start on the quilting until mid September because I quilted Sparkle first, so I could give it to my sister sooner and also so I could just get in more quilting practice. Using a quilt of Kathleen's as inspiration was rather intimidating! I'd already told Billie that my quilting wasn't going to look anywhere near as good as Kathleen's, but still, I didn't want her dissappointed, ya know?! I watched videos and practiced practiced practiced a whole bunch of new to me quilting motifs. And then, to make sure I was ready, I made a whole practice quilt. All of that paid off, and I am ridiculously proud of the quilting on this one! I feel like I have grown so much as a quilter this year, even though I was sooo busy with building that I only made a few quilts. I know that Angela Walters says that seam ripping doesn't make you a better quilter, so you should never un-do your quilting, but I unpicked quite a few less than excellent lines of quilting anyways. It might not make me a better quilter, but it makes the quilt better, so it makes me a happier quilter. And that's better ~ right? Because I love adding scripture to quilts, I quilted in 2 verses; "How beautiful are the feet of them that bring good news" and Psalm 146:9 "The Lord watches over the sojourners." How perfect is that?! I love the image of God himself watching over my friends. My photographer friend, Lisa, was going to take pictures of this beauty for me but I wasn't done with it at the appointed time : / I finished sewing on the binding about 26 hours before they were going to be picking up the quilt. (and still had to make the label!) Even though it wasn't done done, all washed and crinkly, the sun was out, so I threw it down in a spot of sun got a few pics with my phone, then grabbed the boys and told them to grab something to stand on and we quickly ran out in the 15 degree weather and snapped a few more pictures. I made the label after everyone was in bed, sewed it on yesterday, tossed it in the wash and pulled it out of the dryer about 10 minutes before Billie messaged me that they were on their way. Cutting it a bit close, eh?! Sojourner was a joy to make and I am so happy to get to make a quilt for such precious people, and to start the year off giving a couple of machines to Rahab's Rope! Andy and Billie - we love ya! Thanks for being such wonderful examples of love and generosity. Thanks for partnering with me. Oh, and Billie - you know how you said India is becoming more closed to missionaries? That's where our machines are going. 💗 linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts
Well, it turns out that you probably shouldn't ponder some things in public. What happened when I pondered making another Gypsy Wife aloud on a previous blog post? Um, I'm not too sure exactly... but fast forward a few days and now it appears that I have agreed to co-host a Gypsy Wife quilt-along with my exuberant friend Hydeeann :-) Actually, I'm really pleased that Hydeeann coaxed me into committing to Gypsy Wife #2. When I look at the photo of version 1, I still love its scrappiness and I want to see it made in colours/fabrics I also love. Hydeeann has posted an initial outline of our epic #GypsyWifeQuiltAlong2016 adventure and there will be more details to follow. In this post I'm going to show you my fabric selection for version 2 and say a little about what I have chosen and why. I started with a trip to my not-so-local quilt store All Things Patchwork, and bought a small selection of 20cm WOF cuts. I looked for a few fabrics that I really liked that could lead the way. Why WOF cuts? See all those long strips in the photo above? That's why. You can use FQs but I look for any short cuts I can find :-) You can see that I also chose a few greys. I think this pattern works well with a nice supporting cast of low volume fabrics. When I got home, I raided my stash. In making this pile of fabric I was aiming to include some specifics. I've rearranged the fabric so you can see what I am talking about. Starting with the lower right - my large scale, multi-coloured fabrics, some of which provided the original colour direction. I'm hoping these will give the quilt its "gypsy" flavour. Directly above them are some smaller scale fabrics. A lot of the pieces in this quilt are very small, so a good number of small scale fabrics are useful. Bottom left I have included some fabrics that read quite close to solids. I may include some actual solids. I like the look of the few solids sprinkled in among the prints in version one so we'll just see how it goes. Top left are a few extra greys including a nice dark one. Finally I have started gathering a small pile of 'maybe' fabric which I will use for little pops of punch if needed. I don't want my quilt to get too samey samey if you know what I mean (its a technical term). I won't know about these until progress is underway. They are pretty small scraps, but because I will only use them in moderation, they are perfect for the job. Overall, I think the trick to this quilt (if you like the look of the original) is to make sure you have a nice balance of light and dark fabrics. Having said that, there are some other quite different takes on this pattern which also work really well. I'm looking forward to starting this adventure again with Hydeeann and cheering on our team mates!
Borders: Framing Your Quilt You have many options when it comes to borders or framing your Gypsy Wife quilt. I am wanting mine to h...
Gypsy Wife Quilt by PersimonDreams on Flickr.
Explore snips snippets' 213 photos on Flickr!
We're almost done!!! Just a few more blocks (and a bunch of strips) to go in the Gypsy Wife Quilt-Along. The October blocks were a bit challenging from a fabric selection standpoint. I'm trying to use different combos but make sure the colors are spread out evenly. Here are the "big" blocks. Nurses Cross - not perfect in the center but I still like it. Old Maid's Puzzle (I made the half square triangle blocks and then realized those are for next month so had to go back and do these). And the filler blocks. Next month are the last few blocks, and then it's assembly time. It's always nice to have this QAL as a break from other projects each month. It's the first QAL I've actually done along with everyone (not finding it after the fact), and I've enjoyed it so much that I'm already trying to figure out quilt-alongs for next year. Linking up with the QAL at iamacraftykat!
Finally, my colorful fabric jigsaw puzzle is finished! And my fabric resolution for June is complete. My job of fitting various sized blocks together was made easier by constructing the quilt in fi…
If you have completed sections 3 and 4 of Gypsy Wife, you might be wondering how it all goes together. The diagram on p.34 of the pattern is kind of helpful but does require a bit of imagination! You can go ahead and sew section 3 onto your completed sections 1&2, and you can also attach section 4, but you need to leave it partially undone. Yes, it's another partial seam, but they're nothing to be afraid of remember :-) Here is a picture of my GW with sections 1,2 and 3 sewn together with section 4 lying in place at the bottom. We need to attach section 4 so that next month we can attach section 5 (simple seam), then later section 6 (simple seam), then finally section 7. Section 7 will be attached to sections 4&6, then across the bottom of section 2 (hence needing our partial seam). If that all seems confusing, don't worry, I'll post plenty of photos along the way. For now, we're going to sew section four onto the bottom of the block that consists of sections 1,2 and 3. As far as I can tell, the HST block should overlap that square in square block you can see by about a 1/4". We're not going to sew all the way to the end though, just to that first orange pin. So there it is, attached most of the way across, with a couple of inches of open seam at the end, so we can attach the other parts later. If you are making speedy progress with this section (and maybe even section 5), then make a start on section 6. It has a lot of blocks in it so will keep you well occupied :-)
Now we have quilts from the Modern Traditionalism category from the QuiltCon exhibition. We will follow in the coming weeks with all the categories, and then the special exhibits. I’ll be pu…
It's been a month again. This fall the kids had viruses, a sinus infection, I had a sinus infection, then a crazy Thanksgiving with a power outage, etc. I lost my sewing mojo a bit. But, I've found it again, and I managed to finish up my Gypsy Wife blocks on November 30. Then I had to wait until this weekend to photograph them with some actual sunlight! Here they are, the last of the blocks for the Gypsy Wife quilt. I love these half square triangle blocks. I made the first one and then had the wild idea to rainbowtize the second one. I love it even more. December is all about strips and assembling. That is going to have to wait until after Christmas for me, but hopefully by New Years Eve I'll be rocking out a quilt top! Linking up this month at No Hats!
Well, what can I say? A public holiday and the weather not really nice enough to be gardening or otherwise active out of doors…and the Gypsy Wife awaits! I have now made sections 8 and 9 (alt…
First block of the new BOM - mixed in a few of my own fabrics just because I like to. Enjoying this already. Nice easy first month!
