Back in March I started a Clamshell quilt. See here and here. I Googled one day to see what was out there about the Clamshell - NOT MUCH.....but, I did come across Jossie's blog and discovered she was forming a CLAMSHELL CLUB.....YES, I joined!!! The last day of each month we post our progress. Today is the first post and I decided to give the tutorial everyone asked about in March when I first posted about it........SO......here goes! The above photo shows to pick your pattern. My Clamshell pattern measures 5 inches across it's very widest and is 6 inches long. If you clicked on the 2 here's above, you will find the history on where and when I got my pattern from. I made 2 patterns pieces just alike.....trimming the top seam allowance off of one. I use self laminating pages to help stabilize my pattern pieces. Using one of your patterns with all the seam allowances, trace onto your fabric, making sure you line up the grain of your fabric with the arrows on your pattern....very important! I use what they call a mechanical pencil...the kind you add your own lead to...for tracing my patterns. These pencils make very sharp thin lines. I also use a quilters Sandpaper Board to lay my fabric down for tracing. These are soooo great, your fabric stays put and doesn't pull or bunch up while you are trying to trace. Cut out using a small rotary cutter. The blade on this cutter of mine measures 1'' across. Now.....take your pattern that is minus the top seam allowance and line up the bottom edges. I simply used my left hand to hold down......... then I used my right hand index finger/fingernail to fold down the top edges to form a nice crease all along the rounded tops edge. You could also use a hard object like this small ruler to form you crease, but I found my fingers worked better and it was a lot faster. I usually started at the top/middle and worked my way all the way down. See the nice crease I made all along the top! You could then use a washable glue to tack it down......be careful......too much glue will make your fabric sooooo hard and stiff you won't be able to get a needle through it. There are some nice glue pens out there, but I am just using what I have on hand. Or your could hand baste it down like I've shown. I take one Clamshell and lightly fold in half at the top and bottom and line it up vertically using my creases as a guide to help line it up using the graph lines on my June Taylor mini ironing pad.....remember, at this point I am working from the backside. Take 2 other Clamshells and place as I've shown. Using the graphed lines and 'eye-balling' the 2 pieces, you can line them up fairly straight. I am not overly concerned with having pristine straight rows......after all, who is going to 'whoop' out a straight edge to see if you are all lined up. I am still 'mulling' over some other ideas to improve this step. I'll let you know if I work out something better. I then use small tiny sequin pins to attach my 3 pieces. I guess you could use glue here too....I've not tried! UPDATE: I ended up using dots of glue to piece the clam shells together instead of using the pinning method. You must be careful not to use too much glue or get the glue too close to the edges for it will make the fabric hard and you will not be able to get a needle into it. I liked the glue method. It made the pieces stay together a lot better and there was no slipping around with your placement. If you do get too much glue and it turns hard, I filled my washing machine with cold water and put my top in and just let it have a good soak to remove the glue. NO washing, just soak and then let your machine drain and spin at the end of the wash cycle. I then took it outside and laid it flat out on the grass in the sun and let it dry naturally. When it was dry I lightly pressed it to make it smooth so I could sandwich it with my batting and the back. Here is the side you will be hand stitching the pieces together. I simply try to match my applique threads with the printed Clamshell fabric and use a basic applique stitch. I start at the right hand side there and stitch down to the bottom middle and then back up again to the left hand side stitching the 2 muslin pieces to my vintage printed piece. Here is a view of how your back side will look after you've stitched them together. I usually work in groups of 3's and 5 Clamshells. I find it is more 'portable' this way and can be good handwork when I travel. My design wall here shows you the different size groups I work with. When I have a more extended period of time to work on them I sew all the groups together to start forming my rows. So far, this has proved to be a very fast and easy system for me. I hope this is clear and simple enough to follow. Please feel free to email with any questions you might have. OK.....I'm off to work on 'a few' before the day is over. Run over to Jossie's and check her sidebar and click on some of the gals who are also creating this little Clamshell project. HAPPY CLAMMING YA'LL!!!!
Hello, my lovelies! My one and only weekly goal last week was to START -- just to start, not to finish, mind you! -- piecing my Modern Baby Clam Shells quilt. I created the design in my EQ8 software in December of 2018, with a specific baby in mind whose due date was several weeks away... Then it took me awhile to find the 9.5" acrylic clam shell templates I wanted to use (from an Australian Etsy seller who has since closed her shop). Then I hemmed and hawed about the best way to cut out completely accurate 9.5" diameter circles (10" actually, since I needed a seam allowance). After cutting out all the clam shells, circles, and partial clam shells, I then realized I didn't know how to sew them together! I had my heart set on old school curved piecing, which I'd done for Lars's Drunkard's Path quilt eight years ago, but I wasn't sure how to go about piecing a clam shell quilt. Do you start at the bottom and work your way up, or start at the top and work your way down? Searching online, I either found instructions that confused me and explained only the part I already understood (how to sew a curved seam) and left out the part I didn't know (where to start and how to progress through the piecing of the quilt). I also found patterns that subdivided the clam shells to simplify the piecing, or for using a prepared edge appliqué technique to avoid piecing altogether, neither of which interested me. Ugh! Annoying! Set aside and ignored for a year and a half, until I made it my goal for THIS week: So, as you can see, I've met that goal already because I did start the piecing! Yay, me! 😉. I'm using my Golidilocks machine for this -- my 5.5 mm Bernina 475QE, which is why I have my portable SewEzi table set up in my studio next to the big machine's cabinet. So that's my quilt design rendering, created in EQ8 software. It should finish at 40" x 40" unless I decide to enlarge it somehow. There may or may not be embroidered butterflies before the top gets layered for piecing. As you can see, I'm using a bazillion pins, because I want the smoothest, most accurate curve possible and I don't want to clip the seam allowances. I prefer piecing with Patchwork Foot #37 on my little machine, and I bought a Bernina seam guide that I can snug right up against the side of my foot just like the seam guide that came with the #97D foot for my big 750QE machine. Having that fence-like guide out in FRONT of the presser foot makes it so easy to to feed the curve smoothly with a deadly accurate 1/4" seam. I'm also using my Patchwork Straight Stitch defaults (lower tension for my Aurifil 50/2 cotton thread and a shorter stitch length of 2.0). On my 475QE it's stitch #1303, but the same exact stitch on my other Bernina is #1326 -- go figure! Yay! The first seam!! As you can see, I started in the middle of my quilt. Where should I add the next patch? Let's put another clam shell onto the blue half circle! Yay again! Smooth round curves are making me happy! This is awesome; why was I so afraid?! Let's add a circle next! But then I started second guessing how I was going about all of this and wondering if I was going to piece myself into some kind of a corner. And I remembered an article I'd saved when I was going through a haul of ancient Quilters' Newsletter Magazines that a former member of the Charlotte Quilter's Guild gave me about a year ago. (She wanted to donate them to a current member of the guild and I was the only person who raised my hand). So I stopped piecing and (miraculously!) located the article, filed away in one of my ubiquitous 3-ring binders. THIS!! THIS is the information I'd been looking for, and I had to go all the way back to a March 1997 magazine to find it. The instructions are for hand piecing, but all I really needed was that piecing diagram explaining that you start at the top, alternating between rows one and two, and then work your way down adding row by row beneath the first two. That, the pressing direction for seam allowances, and the Fig. 6 photo showing that the seam allowances need to be kept open where two pointy clam shell sides meet up. Maybe I would have been fine if I'd kept working my way out from the middle of the quilt, but maybe there's a good reason for working top-down that would have caused frustration and swearing and, God forbid, seam ripping. I'd rather not have to reinvent any wheels on this quilt that is already so far behind schedule, so I left off working on the middle rows and started working on the top and bottom rows instead, per the magazine instructions. By the way, in the QNM illustrations they have cut out their clam shell using tag board templates to mark the seam lines and then adding 1/4" seam allowances beyond the drawn line. That makes it easier for hand piecing, since you can check periodically as you're stitching to make sure your stitches are landing right on the seam line on the back of your work as well as on the front. My acrylic clam shell template has small holes along the edges that I'm using with a Frixxion heat erase pen to mark alignment dots on my clam shells. I know some people have had horrendous issues when they've used Frixxion pens to mark quilting designs on the front of quilts, with "ghost marks" left behind or the ink reappearing in certain situations, but I am just twirling the tip of the pen inside the hole to make tiny black dots on the WRONG side of my fabric. They disappear pretty well when I iron them, and if they are not completely gone, well, they are on the wrong side of the fabric where no one can see them anyway! So here you can see the completed bottom row of my quilt, all pieced and pressed! I now know that a normal quilter would have used whole clam shells along the outside edge and trimmed after piecing, but it seems to be working just fine. I think I planned for a 2" wide border in that same blue so the clam shells would float away from the binding. My top row is completely pieced now, too, in addition to that bit in the center that I'd already started before locating my instructions. My plan now is to continue piecing down from the top and up from the bottom per the QNM instructions, joining the sections together at the center circles. SO, having met my goal of STARTING the piecing this week, what are my quilting goals for the week to come? This Week's Quilting Goals FINISH piecing Modern Baby Clam Shell Quilt! Load next charity top on the long arm and decide how to quilt it Write next post for my Long Arm Linky party and schedule publication for Tuesday morning! I'm linking up today's post with the following linky parties: SATURDAY · UFO Busting at Tish in Wonderland SUNDAY · Frédérique at Quilting Patchwork Appliqué · Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework · Slow Stitching Sunday at Kathy's Quilts MONDAY · Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts · Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt TUESDAY · To-Do Tuesday at Home Sewn By Us
I want clam shells everywhere! So I've been on a clam shell kick lately (you might've noticed) and I have several recent projects t...
This is a commissioned quilt that I was really excited to make. Since stepping out of my comfort zone in sewing curves from the Flowering Snowball Along Quilt, I have wanted to step it up with the confidence I had gained from the sew-along to make a clam shell quilt. I fell in love with the clam shell quilt when the 'Glam Clam Quilt' by Latifah Saafir burst into the quilting scene a couple of years back (I think it was a couple of years back). I was dying to make one however, I was not ready to face the dreaded curves back then. I was very lucky that I had a friend that wanted a clam shell quilt and she had commissioned me to make one (all about timing they say!). If you are interested in making a Glam Clam Quilt, you can access a free tutorial here. I decided to use the 8" clam shell template as I thought the 12" block might be too big for a baby quilt. I also think that 8" is a better size as I like small and intimate blocks but a 12" block would look just as amazing! We decided on Lizzy House Catnap Bundle which in my opinion has the loveliest fabric prints. I have used mainly the coral, grey, mustard and pink fabric as this was for a baby girl and mixed them up with an assortments of grey fabrics and solid white. Catnap is a fun and cute fabric bundle with addition of simple geometry prints to compliment the bumdle. I especially love the mice print that is quirky and funny. Together with contrasting deep dark chocolate and bright pink super cute cat faces added interesting and playful quality to the quilt. As for the quilt backing, the client wanted something playful, so we decided on Flamingos which went extreme well with the rest of the colour way and feel of the quilt. When it came to the quilting process, I was a little unsure on how to proceed. I knew my domestic sewing machine and I was not up to quilting curves and I only do straight line quilting for now! So I thought I might try the waffle quilting look and hope that it would compliment the elegant curves. I am so glad that it turned out great! The lines are quilted an inch apart. This generated a lovely texture and a beautiful draping effect to the quilt. For the binding, I have opted for a simple stripe binding. The coral matched really well with the rest of the colour way. It also added a good contrast to the curves. Quilt facts: Quilt design: Glam Clam Quilt 8" block by Latifah Saafir Quilt size: 40" x 52" Fabric: Catnap Fat Quarter Bundle by Lizzy House, Silver Tarnish Bundle from Westwood Acres Fabric, Kona Solid in White Backing Fabric: Lula Flamingo in Orange from the Lula Magnolia Range by The Quilted Fish Binding: Little Coral Clown Stripe by Michael Miller Batting: 100% Cotton batten Quilted using Auril Thread Thank you for stopping by and Happy Quilting! Jacqueline xx
At UQSM I learned about Days for Girls https://www.daysforgirls.org which is a wonderful organization that provides education and feminine hygiene supplies for girls in impoverished communities. Above is a list of items they need donated. Perhaps you have some of these items lying around your sewing room? I'm pretty sure I do! Paper Round by Kimberly Sandberg The Modern Pineapple by Carolina Asmussen Honorable Mention (Don't you love the quilting?) Cake Plate by Salena Korpi Beckwith 3rd Place Pieced Again... Don't you LOVE the quilting?? Inspire by Marie Eldredge First Place Modern We got to see this little Cutie Pie's first dance recital this weekend! What a JOY, what a TREAT, oh how FUN it is to be a GRANDMA! 😁
Today is our stop on the FreeSpirit Fabrics “True Colors” Blog Tour, and we thank you for stopping by Craft Buds! We are Mary and Lindsay, and we use this…
Use our newest template - the half clamshell - to create this lively quilt featuring Japanese shibori fabric.
Sandra Deer of Atilio made this whole cloth quilt as a welcome gift to her newborn baby. The Sashiko stitching, a Japanese embroidery technique, is the defining element. I especially love the organ…
This Clam Shell Quilt inspired a series of quilting designs: This is a classic Clam Shell shape... I decided to draw out the Clam Shell shape in my sketch book: Each Clam Shell was filled in with a different design This is a great background filler for free motion work That lead me to draw out an organic clam shell shape: This Clam Shell is less structured and looks better in different sizes Then I put the clam shells in a row: and echo quilted over the top of them. I started this design from the bottom of the page and went up Then I drew wavy horizontal lines... and stacked the clam shells on the lines Which lead me to draw more wavy lines... and echo quilt the clam shells to fill the entire space. One design lead to the next, to the next, etc. As ideas come to you, draw them out and see if they will work. Traveling home from Yellowstone... Paul Harvey Quilt in Eastern Oregon CLICK HERE: to see My Quilts CLICK HERE to view: ALL Sketch Book posts May Your Bobbin Always Be Full, LuAnn Kessi
This Clam Bake pattern (by the talented Emily Herrick) has been on my "to make" list from the very beginning of my quilting journey. I have always loved the classic design of the clam shells. Emily's method and shell size was exactly what I was looking for! It was also perfect for highlighting the fabrics in Anna Maria Horner's Fibs and Fables fabric collection. Of course I had to throw in some Heavy Metal gold fabric (By JACK!E) to give the quilt the bling I love so much! For the quilting, I went with several different quilting motifs. I find it challenging to fill spaces with the perfect quilting. I seek inspiration from all over quilting-dom 🤓 I am so happy with how this quilt turned out. Funny story. When my mom saw this quilt she told me it was a "work of art" and needed to be hung up. (Isn't she sweet? ...wait for it) I told her that I had no wall space in my home. She immediately began to search my home for a wall. Suddenly she stopped and said, "I know the perfect spot!" "Where?" I said, assuming she had discovered some previously undiscovered wall. "In Grandmother's bedroom!" She replied. I then reminded her, "Grandmother's bedroom is in YOUR house!" My mother smiled and said, "Well, yes..." 😂😂😂 Sneaky broad! My sweet angel mother did spring for the perfect backing for me. 😍😍😘😘 Helios in Incense I LOVE it!! Thanks, Mom! Isn't quilting the best hobby EVER?! (How about that Riley Blake gold stripe binding? 😍😍😎)
The snowball pattern is one of the best-known of all Amish quilt blocks. It is a pattern that fools the eye by creating an optical illusion....
In chatting with my students in preparation for my Glam Clam Quilt class that I’ll teach in a few weeks for the first time at Sew Modern in Los Angeles, I’ve come across a couple…
I hand stitched my first clamshell last night and learned later than it isn't necessary to stitch down anything but the circle part because the rest is hidden below the next clamshell......duh....... Onward...... .....while browsing the internet for clamshell ideas I came across this interesting "short-cut" by Susan Stiff of Moda which uses a machine seam......... So I decided to try to see if I might like this method...I tried several different ways of stitching and I think the most accurate for me was to actually stitch right next to the template, press over the template, turn the shell right side out and then press again with the template inside. Here are my first 5 clams. I think I could even use this method with hand stitching.... .............(stay tuned for more of my clamming progress)......
Christy's Clam Shell Feather - Pantograph / E2E © 2020 Christy Dillon / My Creative Stitches PAPER: A single row is 5.5 inches - printed with two rows - 144 inches long DIGITAL: This design is NOT available in DIGITAL formats. SELF-PRINT: A single row is 5.75 inches - printed with two rows. NOTE: This is an OFFSET pattern. For paper pantographs, it will be necessary to be able to quilt 9.25 inches before advancing your quilt. For self print pantographs, it will be necessary to be able to quilt 9.75 inches before advancing your quilt.
After finishing Chintz Circles yesterday, rather than working on a project already in progress, what did I do? Started a little doll’s quilt with the new Inklingo clamshell edges collection …
After finishing Chintz Circles yesterday, rather than working on a project already in progress, what did I do? Started a little doll’s quilt with the new Inklingo clamshell edges collection …
A clamshell quilt can be difficult to sew, especially on the curved part. I have found this method by SewVeryEasy that is so much easier and quicker! You will definitely enjoy making this quilt from now on. Watch the video below for detailed instructions. Materials: 5" charm packs stabilizer (print pdf here) wash-away applique sheets
We're on to Block 2 of the Shoreline Shells 2023 Block of the Month (and Quilt Sew Along)! If you haven't signed up yet for the Shoreline Shells BOM, it's not too late to make this Foundation Paper Pieced (FPP) project! Jump in at any time and join the quilt making fun. Sign up here and you'll im
Looking for the perfect quilt to go with your kids' bedroom? Check out this list of 29 quilt patterns for children of any theme.
Classic Clam Shell pattern made the Quick Curve Ruler way!
Clover Clam Shell Accessory Cases are a new product on our website and are slightly different to the other Clover embellishment craft tools...
This is a commissioned quilt that I was really excited to make. Since stepping out of my comfort zone in sewing curves from the Flowering Snowball Along Quilt, I have wanted to step it up with the confidence I had gained from the sew-along to make a clam shell quilt. I fell in love with the clam shell quilt when the 'Glam Clam Quilt' by Latifah Saafir burst into the quilting scene a couple of years back (I think it was a couple of years back). I was dying to make one however, I was not ready to face the dreaded curves back then. I was very lucky that I had a friend that wanted a clam shell quilt and she had commissioned me to make one (all about timing they say!). If you are interested in making a Glam Clam Quilt, you can access a free tutorial here. I decided to use the 8" clam shell template as I thought the 12" block might be too big for a baby quilt. I also think that 8" is a better size as I like small and intimate blocks but a 12" block would look just as amazing! We decided on Lizzy House Catnap Bundle which in my opinion has the loveliest fabric prints. I have used mainly the coral, grey, mustard and pink fabric as this was for a baby girl and mixed them up with an assortments of grey fabrics and solid white. Catnap is a fun and cute fabric bundle with addition of simple geometry prints to compliment the bumdle. I especially love the mice print that is quirky and funny. Together with contrasting deep dark chocolate and bright pink super cute cat faces added interesting and playful quality to the quilt. As for the quilt backing, the client wanted something playful, so we decided on Flamingos which went extreme well with the rest of the colour way and feel of the quilt. When it came to the quilting process, I was a little unsure on how to proceed. I knew my domestic sewing machine and I was not up to quilting curves and I only do straight line quilting for now! So I thought I might try the waffle quilting look and hope that it would compliment the elegant curves. I am so glad that it turned out great! The lines are quilted an inch apart. This generated a lovely texture and a beautiful draping effect to the quilt. For the binding, I have opted for a simple stripe binding. The coral matched really well with the rest of the colour way. It also added a good contrast to the curves. Quilt facts: Quilt design: Glam Clam Quilt 8" block by Latifah Saafir Quilt size: 40" x 52" Fabric: Catnap Fat Quarter Bundle by Lizzy House, Silver Tarnish Bundle from Westwood Acres Fabric, Kona Solid in White Backing Fabric: Lula Flamingo in Orange from the Lula Magnolia Range by The Quilted Fish Binding: Little Coral Clown Stripe by Michael Miller Batting: 100% Cotton batten Quilted using Auril Thread Thank you for stopping by and Happy Quilting! Jacqueline xx
3 new skill building books by Deborah Louie I am extremely excited to share with you my latest new books. Quilting between the lines This is the first new skill building book I would like to introduce. This 52 page full colour glossy book comes with 3 mesh stencils as a package. I have designed the grids to work beautifully with well over 30 free motion quilting designs. The thought sometimes of quilting a large area is rather daunting, but with the grids after using a pre purchase quilt pounce to mark your fabric, the area is reduced to small achievable bite size areas. Perfect... So much more comfortable and fun. I know you will love these designs and this is a wonderful technique to up skill or try for first time free motion quilting. Here are some pages from the book. Quilting Between the Lines book and 3 mesh grid template set only $ 60.00 To purchase click the link www.deborahlouie.com.au The second new book is George and Georgie a beautiful heirloom free motion quilted clam shell quilt. A quilt to make for someone very special in your life. The book comes with full colour photographs and instructions to blind hem applique and free motion quilt stunning quilting designs. Perfect for the quilter who is after some new quilting designs and wishing to up skill their free motion quilting skills. Here are some pages from the book. All steps are shown to blind hem applique and domestic machine quilt this delightful very rewarding quilt. Thread choices , fabric choices, details of how to free motion quilt and walking foot quilt are step by step shown. I am very thrilled with this book a very special one indeed. I thank my beautiful Great Nephew for being my model through out the book. Book $35.00 book only Book and templates $50.00 ( which are from Glamorous clams photo below ) To purchase click the link www.deborahlouie.com.au My third new book is a small booklet with pattern sheet called A Christmas Decorative Stitch lotus. This sweet little project is for the quilter who would like to learn how to use their decorative stitches on the sewing machine. Full photo instructions on to raw edge decorative stitch applique, which threads to use and why, what foot to use., how to use fusible webbing and how to walking foot quilt the lotus flower with the walking foot and how to bind are included. All in full colour and step by step detail. A Christmas Decorative Stitch lotus booklet and pattern sheet only $15.00 To purchase click the link www.deborahlouie.com.au These 3 books are now available on the web site. Lots going on in my world at the moment , lots of teaching, my sons wedding in May , so Ill post some students and AQC photos soon. If you wish to see more work I update my Deborah Louie Tutor Facebook and Instagram account Deborah Louie page very regularly. Take care Happy Quilting X Deb
This quilt has been done for a while, I even took the photos months ago. It's just been so crazy I haven't blogged about it! I was lucky en...
Two new shape collections are ready to download. Clamshell Rose and Clamshell Edges are my new favorites!
Rebecca Grace Shares her Creative Process for Sewing and Quilting, Combining Traditional Hand Stitching Techniques with Computer Technology
I did a little just-for-fun sewing this week. After working on some larger and more time consuming projects, it was really nice to work on a quicker project. It feels good to start and finish a project within a day or two! This is Scrappy Apples - a little mini quilt that I made for my wall (15" x 15"). I spotted a little apple block in the Spelling Bee book by Lori Holt and I thought it would make a great mini quilt. I decided to make four little 6" blocks - and I wanted to make them scrappy (I'll take any opportunity to add scraps into a project!) I usually struggle deciding how to quilt a mini quilt and this was the case again with the mini apples. I didn't want the quilting to overpower the apples, but I wanted it to "go" with the look of the mini. I ended up doing some small scalloped quilting (a.k.a. clam shell quilting). I found a small circle template that was the perfect size! It was one of the Sew Simple Shapes from Lori Holt. The lines on the template helped me to keep my lines of scallops straight as I went. I used my water soluble marking pen to draw one row of scallops, then I would quilt that one row. Then I'd trace a second row and quilt that, and so on. It worked great! And was less time consuming than I expected it to be. Another bonus was that I didn't even have to switch out my presser foot to a walking foot. My regular foot worked just fine. And when the quilting was done, I sprayed the top with water to make the blue lines disappear! Here's a view of the quilting from the back - I love how it turned out! My finished mini is already up on the wall, brightening my sewing space with it's cheery scrappiness. (Spell checker is telling me that "scrappiness" isn't a real word, but I beg to differ.) Oh - and I get asked about how I hang my mini quilts - the secret is clear thumbtacks! Have you heard about the Spelling Bee book? It's another fantastic book by Lori Holt, jam packed with creativity. It starts with the block patterns for the entire alphabet - both upper case and lower case, all with options for small (4" x 6") blocks and large (8" x 12") blocks. Then there are also picture blocks like the apples I made-- this quilt below shows a few more of them. The picture blocks also have the option for either 6" or 12" blocks. There are also number blocks (0-9), and punctuation blocks, and in the back are pages and pages of quilt ideas! I've got my eye on the "Jack" quilt in the photo above, and the globe quilt below. There are so many great quilt ideas in this book. And it's a great resource if you ever want to add a name, or other text to a quilt. How cute would it be to add a child's name to the back of a quilt you've made for them? You can find the Spelling Bee book here at the Fat Quarter Shop. And right now the Fat Quarter Shop is hosting a Spelling Bee sew along. On Saturday each week a different blogger is sharing their version of one or two of the blocks in the book. My week to share is not for quite awhile but I couldn't help myself - I HAD to make those cute little apples! You can find the blocks they've already completed here. **This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you) when purchases are made through links found in this post.
A clamshell quilt can be difficult to sew, especially on the curved part. I have found this method by SewVeryEasy that is so much easier and quicker! You will definitely enjoy making this quilt from now on. Watch the video below for detailed instructions. Materials: 5" charm packs stabilizer (print pdf here) wash-away applique sheets
Even though I was gone from my blog for over a month in May, I still kept up with the CBC! It’s a BIG project, so I’m counting this as April *and* May’s CBC project. It took me all of April and lit…
Collections for a Cause: Love kit from Moda I've been thinking about the shell shape and how it tessellates. See a post here: http://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com/2016/03/tessellations-9-curved-shapes.html And a Pinterest page here: https://www.pinterest.com/blockbase/blockbase-one-patch-curves/ One could design clamshell shaped blocks and fill them with patchwork. Clamshell by Karen Stone Well, it's already been done. I looked in my files of curved blocks in vintage quilts, which is rather limited. Sunrise Ardis and Robert James Collection International Quilt Study Center & Museum #1997-007-0039 I've been blogging about this particular pattern for years I've seen maybe ten in vintage versions Holly posted a tattered but beautiful piece she bought last year. This one looks a little older. The quilting is so nice---you don't see much of that fancy quilting in the years 1900-1920. And now quilters are making them again; this one from Cathi at Quilt Obsession My question has been---if the pattern was popular enough that so many survive how was it passed around? I'd never seen it published. But then I happened on this quilt top from about 1900. Not the most graceful pattern in the world. I realized I had seen it before. Two on eBay in the last year. This one a pair of blocks. And here it is in BlockBase. Somebody actually published a pattern for this. It's Paragon from Hearth and Home magazine in the early 20th century. UPDATE: Wilene writes: Paragon, also known as Vase of Flowers, is indeed part of the "Hearth and Home Collection" but was published in American Woman, October 1908. UPDATE 2 I found Paragon in Mildred Dickerson's scrapbook of Comfort Magazine patterns. Now I realize where BlockBase #4099 came from. Say you wanted to show someone this pattern but you had to fit it into a square format in your magazine. You'd look at the repeat You'd draft it to a square and all your readers would understand just what you meant. Or not. And that is how we wound up with the blocks above. Massive communication problems. Perhaps the quilt that was the inspiration for the pattern looked like this. "Paragon". A good name for a hard-to-piece design. Note that Paragon has two rows of spiky points whereas all the antique clamshell patterns have only one row. The only other antique shell-shaped block I've seen is this one from Julie Silber's shop. See more about the pieced clamshells at these posts from four or five years ago. http://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com/2010/06/unknown-pattern.html http://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com/2010/10/unknown-patterns-swirl-in-star-pickles.html
Back in March I started a Clamshell quilt. See here and here. I Googled one day to see what was out there about the Clamshell - NOT MUCH.....but, I did come across Jossie's blog and discovered she was forming a CLAMSHELL CLUB.....YES, I joined!!! The last day of each month we post our progress. Today is the first post and I decided to give the tutorial everyone asked about in March when I first posted about it........SO......here goes! The above photo shows to pick your pattern. My Clamshell pattern measures 5 inches across it's very widest and is 6 inches long. If you clicked on the 2 here's above, you will find the history on where and when I got my pattern from. I made 2 patterns pieces just alike.....trimming the top seam allowance off of one. I use self laminating pages to help stabilize my pattern pieces. Using one of your patterns with all the seam allowances, trace onto your fabric, making sure you line up the grain of your fabric with the arrows on your pattern....very important! I use what they call a mechanical pencil...the kind you add your own lead to...for tracing my patterns. These pencils make very sharp thin lines. I also use a quilters Sandpaper Board to lay my fabric down for tracing. These are soooo great, your fabric stays put and doesn't pull or bunch up while you are trying to trace. Cut out using a small rotary cutter. The blade on this cutter of mine measures 1'' across. Now.....take your pattern that is minus the top seam allowance and line up the bottom edges. I simply used my left hand to hold down......... then I used my right hand index finger/fingernail to fold down the top edges to form a nice crease all along the rounded tops edge. You could also use a hard object like this small ruler to form you crease, but I found my fingers worked better and it was a lot faster. I usually started at the top/middle and worked my way all the way down. See the nice crease I made all along the top! You could then use a washable glue to tack it down......be careful......too much glue will make your fabric sooooo hard and stiff you won't be able to get a needle through it. There are some nice glue pens out there, but I am just using what I have on hand. Or your could hand baste it down like I've shown. I take one Clamshell and lightly fold in half at the top and bottom and line it up vertically using my creases as a guide to help line it up using the graph lines on my June Taylor mini ironing pad.....remember, at this point I am working from the backside. Take 2 other Clamshells and place as I've shown. Using the graphed lines and 'eye-balling' the 2 pieces, you can line them up fairly straight. I am not overly concerned with having pristine straight rows......after all, who is going to 'whoop' out a straight edge to see if you are all lined up. I am still 'mulling' over some other ideas to improve this step. I'll let you know if I work out something better. I then use small tiny sequin pins to attach my 3 pieces. I guess you could use glue here too....I've not tried! UPDATE: I ended up using dots of glue to piece the clam shells together instead of using the pinning method. You must be careful not to use too much glue or get the glue too close to the edges for it will make the fabric hard and you will not be able to get a needle into it. I liked the glue method. It made the pieces stay together a lot better and there was no slipping around with your placement. If you do get too much glue and it turns hard, I filled my washing machine with cold water and put my top in and just let it have a good soak to remove the glue. NO washing, just soak and then let your machine drain and spin at the end of the wash cycle. I then took it outside and laid it flat out on the grass in the sun and let it dry naturally. When it was dry I lightly pressed it to make it smooth so I could sandwich it with my batting and the back. Here is the side you will be hand stitching the pieces together. I simply try to match my applique threads with the printed Clamshell fabric and use a basic applique stitch. I start at the right hand side there and stitch down to the bottom middle and then back up again to the left hand side stitching the 2 muslin pieces to my vintage printed piece. Here is a view of how your back side will look after you've stitched them together. I usually work in groups of 3's and 5 Clamshells. I find it is more 'portable' this way and can be good handwork when I travel. My design wall here shows you the different size groups I work with. When I have a more extended period of time to work on them I sew all the groups together to start forming my rows. So far, this has proved to be a very fast and easy system for me. I hope this is clear and simple enough to follow. Please feel free to email with any questions you might have. OK.....I'm off to work on 'a few' before the day is over. Run over to Jossie's and check her sidebar and click on some of the gals who are also creating this little Clamshell project. HAPPY CLAMMING YA'LL!!!!
