I am literally on my way out the door this morning… If you want to follow along, you can do that on INSTAGRAM as I hope to over gram this adventure from beginning to end. But for now I just...
Since I own a drawer full of UFO Quilt Blocks.... I have decided that it was high time to get them to move on out of my Sewing Cottage. They have lived here long enough and they are old enough to find their own way into a new-- useful-- finished project. These blocks have been from trades, swaps, good ideas, bad ideas, mixups, wrong size, wrong placements, wrong everything, leftovers, good ideas never completed, itty bits, and scraps.
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Definition of Quilting Terms and Acronyms Do you wonder about the secret code used by quilters? Here is a list of quilt acronyms and terms.
Quilt frames may seem complicated and expensive to someone just beginning to quilt, however, with these simple steps anyone can make their own inexpensive quilt frame.
Insulated Tote Bag Hot Cup Jacket FREE Quilting Pattern from Baum Textile Mills/Windham Fabrics 24 Free Purse Patterns f...
What a wonderful time I have had....I've seen Festival of Quilts from all sides as a spectator and behind the scenes helping and watching what goes on when you rent a stall/booth. I had the wonderful pleasure of being driven from my own doorstep directly to Birmingham by Linzi (Linzi Upton of 'The Quilted Yurt' fame), how lucky am I? We travelled down on Wednesday to set up Linzi's stall demonstrating the APQS Lenni longarm quilting machine. I went to lectures and took classes but most of all I had the whole four days to drink it all in. What a fabulous display of quilts, themed, traditional, art, pieced, wholecloth, hand quilted, machine quilted and longarm quilted. What a privilege to be able to enter the show floor at 8.30 in the morning and study the quilts before the general public arrived. I am amazed by the number of people I met and already knew through my blog and the forums, you know who you are, it was great to meet you all! What a shopping experience too....I am not going to divulge all of my hoard here but there were many bargains to be had! We attended the fashion show, what a wealth of talent, a spectacular show! The Tent Makers from Cairo were amazing....the quilters sat cross legged and seemed to make quilts without patterns using huge scissors and sewed so fast, they can make a small quilt all by hand in around ten days... Tent Maker's Quilts from Cairo Here is a selection of my favorite quilts from the show.... I may come back later and edit in the names of the quilt makers! Firstly from my travel companion Linzi..... 'The Hare'...... And 'Celtic Connections' Winner of Pictoral quilts 'Hot Africa' by Janneke de Vries-Bodzinga The Rhinoceros by Pam Holland....I attended a wonderful class with Pam.... Look at that eye in close up....all those tiny hexagons... Ammonoidia by C J Barnes.....amazing, looks like leather but isn't! Aren't these two handsome fellows? If you know me then you know I have to include a wholecloth....but this little beauty is only around 8 inches square...honestly! This quilt won the Miniature class and was made by Kumiko Frydl from Texas....Blue like Wedgewood! Before I knew it was Sunday and time to dismantel the Lenni and pack it back into and onto the Landrover but we stayed on another night. We had been directed to the most wonderful 'Brummy Curry' House where we ate till we were stuffed on two separate occasions.....I would like to say how impressed I was by all of the local Birmingham people who we met during our trip, they were courteous and friendly, it was a pleasure! I had a great time, Thanks Linzi!
"Spring Equinox" 87 x 87" Quilted by Cindy Gilbrough Just in time for fall!
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Looking for somewhere to donate your quilts? Check out these awesome organizations that distribute donated quilts to the community.
Trade precious dollars for a little patience and use this easy, cheap, and effective homemade spray baste! (this post contains affiliate links)
This nicely complex block is a WHOLE lot easier to make than it looks. (Edited to add: See the finished quilt here!) It's July, and I'm so excited that it's my turn to host again in the Nurture Circle of do. Good Stitches! This month we are all going to be making blocks based on the Fibonacci sequence. The Fibonacci sequence is a mathematical concept that was discovered around 200 BC. In fact, it's been around even longer than Fibonacci, who it's named after, but he introduced it to the western world, so he got the credit. The sequence is a series of numbers where each number is the sum of the two previous numbers. Traditionally the sequence starts with 1, but the numbers themselves aren't actually what is important, but the ratios between them. The cool thing about this is that this sequence of numbers, these ratios, show up all over the place. The Golden Spiral for instance is made from boxes whose sides lengthen following the sequence. This spiral shows up a lot in nature. But it's not just nature, it's architecture, art, even web design. The golden spiral is very pleasing to our eye. Many trees have branches in combinations of the Fibonacci numbers and even in the bumps in their bark. Sunflowers and some other flowers have petals according to these numbers. It is nature's numbering system, for reasons that we don't entirely understand, but it is without a doubt both aesthetically appealing and efficient. I have been fascinated by the Fibonacci Sequence even since I learned about it in high school. You can see in the image above how the sequence is used in this month's block. With nature itself on our side we can't help but make a beautiful quilt, so let's get started! This technique makes 2 blocks at a time, which is all I am asking you for, but in order for the design to look right I really will need a 6x6 layout (36 blocks). I am planning to make the extras myself, but if anyone wants to send extra I would appreciate it! For this quilt I am thinking of colors similar to this quilt we did before. You will each need to choose 2 complimentary solids with a decent amount of contrast between them. (No pinks or purples please, let's keep it boy friendly.) Cut a 14" square from each solid. Slice each of the squares into strips, (2) 1" wide, (1) each of 1.5", 2", 3", & 4.5". (There will be a narrow strip leftover which you can toss into the trash or your scraps.) Swap every other strip between the sets to make 2 complimentary, inverted strip sets. Be careful to keep the strips in the right order. Sew the two strips sets together into 2 new blocks and press toward the darker fabric. It's easiest to press as you go along, after adding each strip. (Normally I am not a stickler about pressing but in this case it is important. If one of the fabrics isn't obviously darker, just pick one to press toward, but keep it the same for both blocks.) You might check your measurement here. At this point the blocks should measure 10.5" in their shorter dimension. Square up one end of the strip sets. Then slice off strips going crossways in the same measurements as before: (2) 1" wide, (1) each of 1.5", 2", 3", & 4.5". Again there will be a bit leftover, but probably not much. Again, swap every other strip between the two sets to create 2 complimentary blocks. See how the seams nest? (Yes, sorry, the fabrics changed colors.) Sew these together carefully. The pressed seams should nest, allowing you to get really crisp intersections without pinning (but absolutely do pin if you need to!) Be careful that the ends line up; this time we don't have any to spare. You can press these seams all the same direction, to whichever side you want. Please do run a line of stay stitching around the block about 1/8" from the edge to protect seams from splitting in shipping or assembly. You blocks should measure 10.5" square, but trust me I know how hard it is to stay precise with this many seams. As long as you are within a 1/4" or so don't stress and send what you've got. Thanks so much for being an awesome group, Nurture Circle! I look forward to our finished quilt! (Edited to add: See the finished quilt here!)
I'm talking about Amy's blogger quilt festival. It's a good chance to see the quilts that may not necessarily be prize winners in a contest...
After much marking and piecing… And designing…. Making blocks…. I finally finished my top made all from Denyse Schmidt fabrics. Have a great day! Linking up with Busy Hands Q…
Meander! A fun fast Fat Quarter friendly quilt pattern. Pattern includes instructions for 3 sizes of quilts- crib, lap and queen. Crib:40" x 48" Lap: 56" x 72" Queen: 90" x 98" Use your favorite bundle of quilt fabric or mix and match from your stash! Note - this is a downloadable PDF pattern. You are not purchasing a physical item. These are INSTRUCTIONS for making the item. There are no refunds on digital items. You'll receive a download link on your cart page after purchase, and in a confirmation email. Be careful entering your email address for the order. The confirmation email is an automated process, and will be sent to the email address you enter.
I totally do! The table shakes and all the fabric bits are flying everywhere. The fabric bits is where it begins.
It's time for the Mile a Minute Quilt......
The top is completed, and now measures 53x64" with the additions of three borders. Using the flying geese in my blocks box, added length to the skimpy amount of aqua stripe. This was such a satisfying project, using up almost a whole box of strips. I will now be more conscious of where leftovers get stored. Somehow I have a lot of dark prints and solids and never imagine or think 'dark'. Perhaps my subconscious will work on that for the future.
Yipes! Stripes! Is the theme chosen for the 2019 Ultimate Guild Challenge project. Interested members must commit to making a quilt for this challenge by the December 31, 2018. Specifications are a…
Stacking Color (also known as the Pelvis Quilt) is now available on Craftsy! Thank you for being patient with me. I finished it last week, and my work computer DIED the night before I wanted to publish it. I woke up, no working computer, no file. NO FILE. O. M. G. Long story short, my amazing tech-y sewing friends were able to recover it using a PDF draft that I found. Thank you friends!!!!!!
I feel like I actually made some progress on my mile-long list of things to do. I finished my disappearing 9-patch using a charm pack of Happy Go Lucky that I won from this nice blogger. I used white Kona for 4 of the 9 blocks in each 9-patch. It makes really makes a charm pack go a long way. I put 1" sashing between each of the patches. I think it makes the blocks look like they float as well as make the design look a bit more complex. I used an all-over stipple and went with the light turquoise for the binding. I didn't want to buy any additional fabric for the back and the binding, so both are from my stash. I liked the fact that this collection has some orange in it and decided to go with some Kaffe Fassett that I had. The weather finally cleared on Sunday, so we took a trip into Boston to see the "To Boston with Love" project. I have 3 flags in the exhibit and my daughter also made one. It was an amazing thing to see. Many thanks to Berene and Amy for all their hard work. The location couldn't have been more perfect. It was so great to see lots of visitors looking at all the flags and pointing out their favorites. Of course Daughter Dear found her's right away. It's the peachy colored one on the end. She's a big Vera Bradley fan and used a VB cloth napkin for the heart on hers. Our guild is busy working on the Quilts for Boston project. I finished one top and am ready to baste it. (Ugh, my least favorite part of quilting.) I also have a second one ready to piece. Onward and upward! Joyful stitching, jane
When I look at a scrap quilt pattern, I see fabrics - prints & colors - that would be a perfect fit. Today, I'm sharing 4 of my top fabric recipes with you!
This was the way I set the scrappy blocks as I worked on them and didn't have to use my step stool to get them up on the wall. I've been considering ways to enlarge the piece from this point, as it is only 48x36", each block being 6.5" square. But if I put them on point, it suddenly grows to 45x55" (before seaming) and I need only to add two more squares, and border triangles, which will not be a problem. OK that makes the decision easy!
