In previous posts, I've showed you how I recycle old blue jean pockets, etc. to use on scrapbook pages and canvas projects. Today I'm going...
I can't help of think .... Waste Not ~ Want Not.... Scrappin..... and Paper Piecing...... Peaceful quiltin' 2014!
Make the house smell like Christmas with notes of spice, evergreen, and peppermint using DIY stovetop potpourri, wood bundles, and fragrant wreaths.
When I was uploading one of my Flipagrams to You Tube I came across a video tutorial I made about a year ago for the Scrap 365 blog and I thought it would be fun to show it here. It's...
Hi, all! Wow - it's tougher coming back to the real world than I thought it would be! We spent a wonderful ten days in Hawaii celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary - the weather was fabulous just for us! There is nothing better in mid-winter than a long stretch of sun-filled, beautifully warm days. I do feel rejuvenated - but the jet lag is still wreaking havoc with my sleep schedule. Let's hope I can stay awake long enough to get this posted!! OK, so I didn't have a list last week, so nothing to recap there. But before I set out my plans for this week, I have a favor to ask. See this quilt? I found a picture of it on Pinterest, and I'm thinking about making a variation for this year's pre-H2H quilt-along series. BUT I don't know if it's someone else's pattern or not! I can back-engineer it easily, but don't want to step on anyone's toes. So if you recognize it as someone's pattern, or can point me in a likely direction, can you please give me some info? Just leave it in the comments. Ok, now let's see what is on tap for this week... 1. Deep cleaning in the studio. 2. Bind a ministry quilt. 3. Quilt at least one ministry quilt. 4. Work on designs for the Rockin' Rectangles quilt-along (coming soon!) 5. Work on prototypes for the quilt-along. 6. Choose new goals for Scrap Attack 2019. 7. Write a special blog post for a friend. 8. Put away Christmas! 9. Keep up with any quilt ministry needs that come up. I'm sure there are other things that will come up, and the good Lord knows I could deep clean my studio for a month and still have more to do... but at least I'm making a start! For instance, I took the old plastic shelving unit out of this closet and replaced it with a wire shelving unit that I had stashed in the attic. Being able to see everything in the closet without the solid shelves blocking the view makes it all look so much nicer! And this abomination is my strings hamper. I've started pulling the strings out, pressing them and folding them into a storage tub. Hopefully I'll be able to use them more easily after that! I've been working on it off and on for a couple of days now (ok, more off than on, but still!) and haven't made much of a dent in the hamper. They are really packed in there! And of course, it's time to start looking forward to QuiltCon 2019, which is going to be in Nashville, TN, my "backyard", so to speak! I've been trying to come up with a pin to swap with the other quilters - that was a fun part of QuiltCon 2017, and I want to be able to participate this time around! Here's what I'm looking at right now... What do you think? And will you be at QuiltCon too? If so, I'd love to meet up with you! Let me know in the comments (leave your email address if I don't already communicate with you that way!) and I'll get in touch to see what we can work out! And now, my question is - - - what are YOU working on this week? Hugs! Sarah
Are you ready to make the easiest quilt ever? If so, read on to see how I made this easy quilt with no measuring or pattern required!
After a long, long winter here, it’s finally starting to feel like Spring! The sun is shining and the birds are singing- I think they are happy that winter is over as well! There’s something about Spring that makes us want to spruce up and brighten up our surroundings, it seems the urge to do […]
I've decided that scrap management is a full time job. (One that I am happy to have!) I've been cutting 3" squares from scraps. This is a stack of 400. I'm on my way to cutting at least 700 (!!!) to make a lap size quilt. You know, I've got to hurry and whip this one up because we are running low on quilts around here. Ha! After cutting up squares, I have lots of odd sized trimmings that I store in this pretty wood bowl. I love to sit down and just sew them together. It's such good therapy. I recently sorted all my scraps back into their color coded baskets. That took a better part of a weekend to accomplish, but it was so worth it! The pattern for the boxes can be found in Sunday Morning Quilts. I have 3 more colors to make...purple, brown and white. Then I'll have a complete set! Meanwhile, my strings are piling up and threatening to take over. They need to be sewn up. Pronto. (This seems to be my most robust category of scraps. Always. I think I need to make another spiderweb quilt. Or 3.) I'll spare you a photo of my tiny ticker tape pieces, thus sparing myself judgment. (hopefully.) I really ought to throw them away, but I can't bring myself to do so. As if that weren't enough, Flaun came to visit and sew yesterday. She generously shared her scraps with me. I've got a whole basket of new-to-me scraps to sew up. Thanks Flaun! I'm so excited to dig into these! My solution to all the scraps? Sew faster. I'll let you know how that goes. :) On the home front....my other full time job... (another one that I am extremely happy to have!) Today is the first day of school. (sniff sniff.) Early morning. (Yawn.) New shoes. New routine. Lots of jitters. And one very sentimental mama. As hard as it was to send them on their way this morning, it was time. I am excited about finding a new routine and having some serious structure in my day. Hopefully with lots of sewing time! Happy Tuesday!
Go Bolder for a More Modern Interpretation! Intricate stars shimmer across the surface of this pretty quilt. While it looks complex, half-square triangles in varying sizes make up the wonderful design. The quilt is lovely made up in softly colored fabrics with a vintage vibe. However, stronger colors will be just as beautiful. Choose 15-20 …
Mom was looking for a new project to work on, so we flipped through magazines and books looking for inspiration. I came across a lovely possibility in Fons & Porter’s Best of Love of Quil…
Hi, all! Welcome to the fourth week of the Sweet Sixteen Quilt Along! If this is your first week to stop by, here's what we've been doing. The first week I shared several different ways to make sixteen-patch blocks. The second week the first quilt option was revealed… …a combination of sixteen-patch blocks and pinwheels with just a splash of color. The following week, I shared a more modern take on the sixteen-patch quilt (also a great design if you get tired of making blocks after just a few!) *&*&*&*&*&*&* And now here we are at the fourth week of the Quilt Along. It's time for a one-block take on the sixteen patch block! Back in May 2014, Judy Martin shared a block she designed in 2011 called Star Cluster. She designed it as a 12" or 16" block, but I looked at it and saw its potential to be a one-block quilt. I plugged it into EQ7 and came up with the dimensions, printed it out and tucked it away in a notebook. When I started thinking about the Sweet Sixteen Quilt Along, I knew I wanted to use it as the jumping-off point for a quilt. And here is my Interlocking Stars quilt! It looks tricky to put together, and it is, a little, but if you break it down, it's not too hard to do. This version of the quilt finishes out at 64" square, with blocks finishing at 7.5". My quilt is made using some scraps I had left over from a Nana's Pantry FQ bundle from Connecting Threads. I had sixteen different fabrics left over, so I put one of each print in each of the four sixteen-patch blocks. The star points are made of four different colorations of the same print, also from the Nana's Pantry line. Background is Kona White. Want to try this one out? Here are the directions! A few notes: (1) This quilt is fat quarter friendly. I made mine from the leftovers of a fat quarter bundle. (2) I prefer to cut my pieces a little oversized and then trim them down to size after piecing. This helps me get nice points when I piece. I've listed the sizes for cutting that EQ7 supplied, but put the sizes I actually cut in parentheses. Fabric Requirements: 16 prints, 9" square or 4.5" x 18" (minimum size) From each of 16 prints, cut four 4.25" (4.5") squares. These are for the sixteen patch units that form the centers of the stars. 4 prints, 18" square or 8.75" x 36"(minimum size) From each of four prints, cut four 8.5" (8.75") squares. These are for the points of the stars. Cut one square in each color in half diagonally. Background fabric, 3 yards From the background fabric, cut twelve 8.5" (8.75") squares. These will be used for the points of the stars. Mark a line diagonally across the center of each square. From the background fabric, cut four 8" squares, and four 8" x 30.5" strips. These will complete the background of the center of the quilt. (The easiest way to cut these is four 8" width-of-fabric (WOF) strips, each divided into one 8" square and one 8" x 30.5" strip.) From the background fabric, cut six WOF strips 2.5" wide for the outer border. Binding, 1/2 yard Backing, 4 yards ****** Begin by dividing your 4.25" squares into four piles, each with one of each of the sixteen prints. Assemble four-patch units using the 4.25" squares. Trim your 4-patch units to 8" square. Assemble the 4-patch units into four sixteen patch units. Next, you need to assemble the half square triangle (HST) units that will become the points of the stars. Take the twelve background pieces, marked diagonally, and pair each with an 8.5" square for the star points. Stitch 1/4" from either side of the line you drew on the background piece. Cut between the two lines of stitching along the line you drew. Press the HSTs, and trim to 8" square. You should have six of each color. Referring to the diagram, and after determining the placement of your point colors, match the triangle shaped star point pieces you cut earlier in pairs and sew them together along the diagonal edge. Each color will be paired with two different colors, where the stars touch. Breakout of the quilt design Now to assemble the top. Referring to the diagram above, assemble the top in quadrants. Each quadrant has a long background piece, a row of HSTs, and a wider row comprised of the sixteen patch block flanked by two pairs of HST blocks. (You can see the breakout in the upper right hand side of the diagram.) Once the quadrants are complete, they can be joined together to assemble the large block that comprises the center of the top. NOTE: This is much easier if you can lay the top out in its entirety on a design wall or design floor, if that's what you have! Finally, add the borders. You're finished! Technically speaking, you could make this quilt without borders, but I wanted to be sure that the points of the stars didn't get lost in the binding. That's why I added a 2" border all around. And you could make the center 16-patch blocks with more or less than 16 fabrics. This is just how mine worked out, and is shared this way in the tutorial for simplicity's sake. I quilted my version of this quilt on my Juki TL98-Q, using a walking foot to achieve 1/4"straight line quilting on the top. The stars have diagonal quilting radiating out from the center of each star, and all of the background pieces are quilted vertically. It took a VERY long time, but the texture is amazing, and it's very soft and drape-y. Just for the record, I love one-block quilts! They work up so quickly and easily, you don't get bored making the same block over and over, and they're great for showing off larger pieces of your fabric. They also make a huge visual impact! Keep them in mind when you need a quick quilt! Now it's your turn - are you ready to show off your progress? Feel free to link up below - we'd love to see what you're up to! And just a reminder - if you're interested in entering to win the black and white quilt pictured above, there's still time to enter! You can read all about the adoption fundraiser raffle/giveaway here. And - - - there's still time to enter to win a copy of Christina Cameli's new book, Step-By-Step Free Motion Quilting! Check out the blog post here. Entries close Monday 2/2 at noon CST. Hugs! Sarah
A quilting blog
Welcome to part four of the series on making a “twirling fans” quilt. if you are just joining us, click here to see the previous steps. Please sew along!! This is a tutorial on using pa…
The last two weeks have been unusually calm weather wise here for this time of year and I have an early case of spring fever! The days are warm and the nights are cool… So I'm completely in the mood to make a spring quilt for snuggling in my favorite chair. Perfect while I'm doing handwork or watching Downton Abbey:) My quilt will measure 60" x 80"… big enough to pull over my shoulders and keep my toes covered at the same time:) ...a perfect snuggly size! It's always fun to sew with friends… so I decided to have a sew along! Do you want to play? I announced my new Flower Box Sew Along on my Instagram last week and have started a #flowerboxsewalong hashtag so that others can share thier progress as well. If you are joining in on the fun… of course you can use any fabric you want. "you are the boss of your own quilt" ***I do recommend using several different colors. ***For each color use a few different prints. Doing this will ensure that each block doesn't end up looking the same because you've only used 4 colors. I wanted to use fabric in happy colors and a style that represents spring... So I chose to use my current fabric collection that's in quilt shops now... FLOWER PATCH There are 33 different prints in this collection… 21 come on the bolt and … And 12 of the prints come in FQ's … (it's a way I have chosen to "GROW" each of my fabric collections) These come in the form of fat quarter panels. (3 panels = 12 FQ's) I'm using 30 of my Flower Patch FQ's for the block colors… and using the 3 remaining prints that have a lot of white in them for my background, binding and back of my quilt. I'm using my favorite vintagey text print from the collection for the background in each block. I will need 3 yards of background fabric. This "queen bee" print will be the back of my quilt. I'll use 5 yards and will have some leftover to trim off of the sides:) This large floral will be my binding:) 5/8 yard needed. The block I am using is an old traditional one and I love it! I've named it "Flower Box" in honor of spring! My block finishes at 10"square. In the past… this has been a very hard block to piece because of the needed use of templates and cutting out all 12 pieces on the bias. But don't worry! I will be showing you my easy peasy no template method… YaY! Here are a few tools I am using for this sew along. They are of course not necessary but make the process a lot easier! 6 1/2" square ruler 5 1/2" square ruler 1/2" x 12" ruler Pink Circle Rotating Cutting Mat I got all of mine at Fat Quarter Shop. Of course I think that a good stack of my mini design boards are completely necessary!!! CLICK HERE for my tutorial if you haven't made any yet. I promise you will LOVE using them! So hurry into your sewing room… turn on some music… tie on your apron… put a new blade in your rotary cutter and lets get started! From EACH of 4 different prints; Cut 1- 6 1/2"square and Cut 2 - 3"squares From your background fabric; Cut 4 - 6 1/2" squares ***Take note that you have just cut for 2 - FLOWER BOX BLOCKS You will need to mark TWO lines onto the BACK of each 6 1/2" background square. The lines need to be 1/4" on each side of the center. Using this 1/2" wide ruler makes it easy. If you don't have one… you can just draw a line down the center (from point to point) and then mark a 1/4" line away from that center line on each side. I use a mechanical pencil for marking. Place onto one of your 6 1/2"square prints (with right sides together) and stitch directly onto your marked lines. Now cut them apart… in-between the two stitched lines like this. Leave them closed and place your 5 1/2" square ruler diagonal line on top of your stitched line and square up with your rotary cutter... Like this. This is where the turning mat comes in handy because you don't have to move your ruler … just the mat:) Open it up and press the seams open like this. Repeat for the other one as well. You now have 2 - half square triangle units that each measure 5 1/2" square. (Repeat process for the other three 6 1/2" colored squares and three background squares) Now mark a center line from point to point on the matching 3" square and place onto the corner of the background like this. Stitch directly on that line. Repeat for the remaining half square triangles:) Trim off excess 1/4" past your stitching line. Press seams open like this:) Next…lay four different color sections out like this and sew together. One cutie patootie Flower Box:) YaY! At this point your block should measure 10 1/2" x 10 1/2" And because you pressed your seams open… it will be easier to line up points and you blocks will lie flat too! This is what the back of my block looks like:) Don't forget to sew the other block! For my quilt I will be making 48 different Flower Box blocks. I'll sew them together in a 6 x 8 setting. No sashing…no borders. I told you this would be fun and easy! You can make your quilt any size you want… you could make 20 blocks in a 4 x 5 setting and it would be a perfect baby quilt size! ***NOTE*** Here is some Flower Box quilty math for you! ***From one 10" square; you can cut a 6 1/2" and two 3" squares ***From one F8th; You can cut two 6 1/2" squares and four - 3" squares ***From one FQ; You can cut four 6 1/2" squares and eight - 3" squares ***From a 6 1/2" x WOF strip (for your background) You can cut six - 6 1/2" squares So choose your fabric and sew with me! Follow me on Instagram to see my progress on this sew along as well as all of my others:) Have a quilty kind of day! xx Lori
The most recent scrap-tastic series of Love of Quilting has got to be the 3200 series now available within our Quiling Daily TV offerings!
Explore croskelley's 982 photos on Flickr!
Hair has always been a canvas for self-expression, and what better way to showcase your personality and creativity than with bold and colorful hairstyles? If you're feeling adventurous and want to...
Transform your scrap fabric into pretty new fabric or quick quilt blocks in just minutes with this easy technique. Great for all skill levels.
Play with Color to Make it Your Own! This easy and eye-catching quilt is perfect for showing off a large-scale print. The big blocks go together quickly, and there’s no border, so it’s a breeze to finish up. The black and white color scheme shown here is striking with magenta sashing. The optional covered buttons …
Hi, all! Welcome to the fourth week of the Sweet Sixteen Quilt Along! If this is your first week to stop by, here's what we've been doing. The first week I shared several different ways to make sixteen-patch blocks. The second week the first quilt option was revealed… …a combination of sixteen-patch blocks and pinwheels with just a splash of color. The following week, I shared a more modern take on the sixteen-patch quilt (also a great design if you get tired of making blocks after just a few!) *&*&*&*&*&*&* And now here we are at the fourth week of the Quilt Along. It's time for a one-block take on the sixteen patch block! Back in May 2014, Judy Martin shared a block she designed in 2011 called Star Cluster. She designed it as a 12" or 16" block, but I looked at it and saw its potential to be a one-block quilt. I plugged it into EQ7 and came up with the dimensions, printed it out and tucked it away in a notebook. When I started thinking about the Sweet Sixteen Quilt Along, I knew I wanted to use it as the jumping-off point for a quilt. And here is my Interlocking Stars quilt! It looks tricky to put together, and it is, a little, but if you break it down, it's not too hard to do. This version of the quilt finishes out at 64" square, with blocks finishing at 7.5". My quilt is made using some scraps I had left over from a Nana's Pantry FQ bundle from Connecting Threads. I had sixteen different fabrics left over, so I put one of each print in each of the four sixteen-patch blocks. The star points are made of four different colorations of the same print, also from the Nana's Pantry line. Background is Kona White. Want to try this one out? Here are the directions! A few notes: (1) This quilt is fat quarter friendly. I made mine from the leftovers of a fat quarter bundle. (2) I prefer to cut my pieces a little oversized and then trim them down to size after piecing. This helps me get nice points when I piece. I've listed the sizes for cutting that EQ7 supplied, but put the sizes I actually cut in parentheses. Fabric Requirements: 16 prints, 9" square or 4.5" x 18" (minimum size) From each of 16 prints, cut four 4.25" (4.5") squares. These are for the sixteen patch units that form the centers of the stars. 4 prints, 18" square or 8.75" x 36"(minimum size) From each of four prints, cut four 8.5" (8.75") squares. These are for the points of the stars. Cut one square in each color in half diagonally. Background fabric, 3 yards From the background fabric, cut twelve 8.5" (8.75") squares. These will be used for the points of the stars. Mark a line diagonally across the center of each square. From the background fabric, cut four 8" squares, and four 8" x 30.5" strips. These will complete the background of the center of the quilt. (The easiest way to cut these is four 8" width-of-fabric (WOF) strips, each divided into one 8" square and one 8" x 30.5" strip.) From the background fabric, cut six WOF strips 2.5" wide for the outer border. Binding, 1/2 yard Backing, 4 yards ****** Begin by dividing your 4.25" squares into four piles, each with one of each of the sixteen prints. Assemble four-patch units using the 4.25" squares. Trim your 4-patch units to 8" square. Assemble the 4-patch units into four sixteen patch units. Next, you need to assemble the half square triangle (HST) units that will become the points of the stars. Take the twelve background pieces, marked diagonally, and pair each with an 8.5" square for the star points. Stitch 1/4" from either side of the line you drew on the background piece. Cut between the two lines of stitching along the line you drew. Press the HSTs, and trim to 8" square. You should have six of each color. Referring to the diagram, and after determining the placement of your point colors, match the triangle shaped star point pieces you cut earlier in pairs and sew them together along the diagonal edge. Each color will be paired with two different colors, where the stars touch. Breakout of the quilt design Now to assemble the top. Referring to the diagram above, assemble the top in quadrants. Each quadrant has a long background piece, a row of HSTs, and a wider row comprised of the sixteen patch block flanked by two pairs of HST blocks. (You can see the breakout in the upper right hand side of the diagram.) Once the quadrants are complete, they can be joined together to assemble the large block that comprises the center of the top. NOTE: This is much easier if you can lay the top out in its entirety on a design wall or design floor, if that's what you have! Finally, add the borders. You're finished! Technically speaking, you could make this quilt without borders, but I wanted to be sure that the points of the stars didn't get lost in the binding. That's why I added a 2" border all around. And you could make the center 16-patch blocks with more or less than 16 fabrics. This is just how mine worked out, and is shared this way in the tutorial for simplicity's sake. I quilted my version of this quilt on my Juki TL98-Q, using a walking foot to achieve 1/4"straight line quilting on the top. The stars have diagonal quilting radiating out from the center of each star, and all of the background pieces are quilted vertically. It took a VERY long time, but the texture is amazing, and it's very soft and drape-y. Just for the record, I love one-block quilts! They work up so quickly and easily, you don't get bored making the same block over and over, and they're great for showing off larger pieces of your fabric. They also make a huge visual impact! Keep them in mind when you need a quick quilt! Now it's your turn - are you ready to show off your progress? Feel free to link up below - we'd love to see what you're up to! And just a reminder - if you're interested in entering to win the black and white quilt pictured above, there's still time to enter! You can read all about the adoption fundraiser raffle/giveaway here. And - - - there's still time to enter to win a copy of Christina Cameli's new book, Step-By-Step Free Motion Quilting! Check out the blog post here. Entries close Monday 2/2 at noon CST. Hugs! Sarah
Explore Kate Jackson Textiles' 3110 photos on Flickr!
Heaven help me. My fabric stash is a complete mess. It's in my attic (which is like a big room, but without heating and air). I have been hoping to find more shelving to finish up this area. Last year, I came across plenty of wire shelves for next to nothing at yard sales that I used in other parts of the attic. I felt sure I'd come across plenty more. But no....... I guess no one out there is redoing their closets. I may have to break down and purchase some at full price. I can't make myself do it. I know as soon as I did, I'd find a pile for nothing at the next yard sale. And while I wait, my fabric stash seems to get messier and messier. I rationalized that there was no sense spending a lot of time organizing it until the shelves were in. No sense in doing it twice. Forget that. I cannot stand it. I have got to tidy up. But first, as always, I need some inspiration. After looking at some of the great examples below, I am really excited to get started! Folded fabric can look quite neat. - as seen on Sew Mama Sew It's easy to see what you have on open shelves. - as seen on Webshots There's a great video on Tipnut showing a super easy way to fold fabric! Fabric can be grouped by color - as seen on Happy Zombie A shoe organizer is a great way to organize small bits of fabric - as seen on SweetJessie Fabric can be rolled as seen on Craftzine - the cute label wrappers are available for download! Fabric can be stored in see-through bins - great article on Sew4Home Wire drawer systems work, too! - as seen on Sew Mama Sew Folded around Foamboard - as seen on The Little Green Bean Folded around cardboard - as seen on Fireflies and Jellybeans Folded around Acid-free Comic Book Boards as seen on Feathered Fibers It can be stored in a fabulous hutch (oh, I wish!) - as seen on Fabric Shopper Online It can be placed in drawers - as seen on Badlands Quilts How cute is this? - as seen on vgkchick's Flickr page I would need a lot of suitcases to do this! - as seen on Day to Day Storing in Bins as seen on Tranquility Spot Neat, easy to see, wrapped to same height... what's not to love? as seen on Craftster Last, but not least... Creative Daisy was brave enough to show how messy organizing can be. I love this! Click the link to see the transformation! While thinking about RE-organizing my fabric, this is as good a time as any to announce my new party. The Porch and Garden party is ending at the end of the month. The new party (starting November 1st) will be called the RE- party. It's to celebrate the RE-'s in our lives. RE-doing, RE-furbishing, RE-organizing. There's are tons of RE- things we do. Click here for more info. Meanwhile, be sure to check out the OCTOBER Porch and Garden Party. It's the last one for 2010 and will be open all month! I'm linking up with the following parties: Lucky Linky Tuesday at Lucky Star Lane Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog Show Us What You're Workin' With at Me and My Bucket We Did It Wednesday at Sew Much Ado Creative Share Wednesday at Trendy Treehouse
My Japanese + and X quilt is gradually growing in size. Here is my 9 X 9 layout. At the moment, I'm thinking I will go for a 12 X 12 layout so I'm over half way done now. I'm also playing around with this rainbow-ish layout. I know when I polled last time whether or not to arrange this quilt randomly or arrange by color that I had more people chose the random look over arranged. I especially liked one person's description that random looked like light coming in through the trees. Still, I want to play around with the arrangement as the quilt grows and see how it evolves. I also realize that as a bed quilt it might not look as interesting to have the rainbow effect as it might if it were a wall hanging instead. Still, I have a long time to decide yet...
I've tried many different yarn storage systems over the years. Shelving in my craft space, baskets by my bed, laundry baskets in my closet, and rubbermaid bins to name a few. All of these resulted in piles of tangled yarn and it was impossible to find what I needed, when I needed it. It was time
. My heart broke while reading of the Sullenger family and the events going on in their life right now. Their darling little baby girl fell into a canal in Idaho (c
we used bobby pins to hold the binding in place while we stitched so as not to pierce the fabric any more than was necessary.
Whether you’re low on cash or just looking for something with a hand-crafted touch, you are sure to find a gift for everyone on your list!
This quilt is done! And the pattern is too! I'm awash in the great satisfaction of completing a beloved project. I was really stuck fo...
Introducing new book, Scraps Inc Vol. 2. A collection of 15 modern quilt patterns made from scraps!
Hello Quilters! Monday I was on the American Patchwork and Quilting Podcast hosted by Pat Sloan and she asked me about how I choose colors for scrappy quilts! We didn’t have a lot of time so I wanted to share some tips on my process here! Before we get into color choices let’s get ORGANIZED! Organize… Read More »Choosing Fabric for Scrappy Quilts
The last two weeks have been unusually calm weather wise here for this time of year and I have an early case of spring fever! The days are warm and the nights are cool… So I'm completely in the mood to make a spring quilt for snuggling in my favorite chair. Perfect while I'm doing handwork or watching Downton Abbey:) My quilt will measure 60" x 80"… big enough to pull over my shoulders and keep my toes covered at the same time:) ...a perfect snuggly size! It's always fun to sew with friends… so I decided to have a sew along! Do you want to play? I announced my new Flower Box Sew Along on my Instagram last week and have started a #flowerboxsewalong hashtag so that others can share thier progress as well. If you are joining in on the fun… of course you can use any fabric you want. "you are the boss of your own quilt" ***I do recommend using several different colors. ***For each color use a few different prints. Doing this will ensure that each block doesn't end up looking the same because you've only used 4 colors. I wanted to use fabric in happy colors and a style that represents spring... So I chose to use my current fabric collection that's in quilt shops now... FLOWER PATCH There are 33 different prints in this collection… 21 come on the bolt and … And 12 of the prints come in FQ's … (it's a way I have chosen to "GROW" each of my fabric collections) These come in the form of fat quarter panels. (3 panels = 12 FQ's) I'm using 30 of my Flower Patch FQ's for the block colors… and using the 3 remaining prints that have a lot of white in them for my background, binding and back of my quilt. I'm using my favorite vintagey text print from the collection for the background in each block. I will need 3 yards of background fabric. This "queen bee" print will be the back of my quilt. I'll use 5 yards and will have some leftover to trim off of the sides:) This large floral will be my binding:) 5/8 yard needed. The block I am using is an old traditional one and I love it! I've named it "Flower Box" in honor of spring! My block finishes at 10"square. In the past… this has been a very hard block to piece because of the needed use of templates and cutting out all 12 pieces on the bias. But don't worry! I will be showing you my easy peasy no template method… YaY! Here are a few tools I am using for this sew along. They are of course not necessary but make the process a lot easier! 6 1/2" square ruler 5 1/2" square ruler 1/2" x 12" ruler Pink Circle Rotating Cutting Mat I got all of mine at Fat Quarter Shop. Of course I think that a good stack of my mini design boards are completely necessary!!! CLICK HERE for my tutorial if you haven't made any yet. I promise you will LOVE using them! So hurry into your sewing room… turn on some music… tie on your apron… put a new blade in your rotary cutter and lets get started! From EACH of 4 different prints; Cut 1- 6 1/2"square and Cut 2 - 3"squares From your background fabric; Cut 4 - 6 1/2" squares ***Take note that you have just cut for 2 - FLOWER BOX BLOCKS You will need to mark TWO lines onto the BACK of each 6 1/2" background square. The lines need to be 1/4" on each side of the center. Using this 1/2" wide ruler makes it easy. If you don't have one… you can just draw a line down the center (from point to point) and then mark a 1/4" line away from that center line on each side. I use a mechanical pencil for marking. Place onto one of your 6 1/2"square prints (with right sides together) and stitch directly onto your marked lines. Now cut them apart… in-between the two stitched lines like this. Leave them closed and place your 5 1/2" square ruler diagonal line on top of your stitched line and square up with your rotary cutter... Like this. This is where the turning mat comes in handy because you don't have to move your ruler … just the mat:) Open it up and press the seams open like this. Repeat for the other one as well. You now have 2 - half square triangle units that each measure 5 1/2" square. (Repeat process for the other three 6 1/2" colored squares and three background squares) Now mark a center line from point to point on the matching 3" square and place onto the corner of the background like this. Stitch directly on that line. Repeat for the remaining half square triangles:) Trim off excess 1/4" past your stitching line. Press seams open like this:) Next…lay four different color sections out like this and sew together. One cutie patootie Flower Box:) YaY! At this point your block should measure 10 1/2" x 10 1/2" And because you pressed your seams open… it will be easier to line up points and you blocks will lie flat too! This is what the back of my block looks like:) Don't forget to sew the other block! For my quilt I will be making 48 different Flower Box blocks. I'll sew them together in a 6 x 8 setting. No sashing…no borders. I told you this would be fun and easy! You can make your quilt any size you want… you could make 20 blocks in a 4 x 5 setting and it would be a perfect baby quilt size! ***NOTE*** Here is some Flower Box quilty math for you! ***From one 10" square; you can cut a 6 1/2" and two 3" squares ***From one F8th; You can cut two 6 1/2" squares and four - 3" squares ***From one FQ; You can cut four 6 1/2" squares and eight - 3" squares ***From a 6 1/2" x WOF strip (for your background) You can cut six - 6 1/2" squares So choose your fabric and sew with me! Follow me on Instagram to see my progress on this sew along as well as all of my others:) Have a quilty kind of day! xx Lori
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