Still hard at work getting all the valentine merchandise ready. There is a Valentine show at the Shelburne Arts Co-op which will be going up the end of January so I wanted to make something special for that. I found some interesting scrapes for sale this summer and the large leaf fabric in one of them. Combined with the dark teal batik, it makes an interesting background for a valentine themed hot pad, balsam pillow and a 4" sachet.
Who's got the button...this tote's got the buttons and plenty of them. Some of the buttons came from an old blouse and from one of my husband flannel shifts which had to go to the dust bin. FINALLY finished sewing all those buttons on by hand. The instructions for making this tote said to sew the buttons on last by hand it help secure the lining to the inside...should have ignored that and sewn them on using my machine. You can see the variegated thread in this photo that I used for the quilting. Added out on FB..buttons or no buttons and the responses I got said buttons...I agree, it does look spiffier with the buttons!
Using up scraps is always a challenge for any quilter so HERE is a wonderful project that does just that! There were plenty of wonderful (but small) scrapes left over from the baby blanket project that I blogged about recently. LOTS of different colors and textures...so I took it as a personal challenge to find something to do with the scraps. I looked through Judy Hopkins book 501 Rotary-Cut Quilt Blocks for some inspiration.
Ever wonder how people get their quilting so straight? MASKING TAPE!!!! When I first started hand quilting I mostly stitched in the ditch, 1/4" away from the seam. Had a beast of a time quilting straight. One day, I noticed this 1/4" tape in the notions department..got myself some of that. The same trick can be used with all over quilting and wider tape. This is the first time I have used variegated thread when quilting and I LOVE IT!
Foundation piecing A.K.A. paper piecing is not something I have mastered (or even attempted) in the 14 years since I started quilting. No time like the present to take it on and this wonderful pattern I found for an askew heart looked like it would be a simple enough place to start. The heart is paper pieced in two sections and then sewn together...simple enough, right? The 2 sections of the 6.5" square block need to match up perfectly and foundation piecing is the best way to get that perfect result according to what I have read about it.
Now that the holidays are behind me, it is time to start work on Valentine's Day. First order of business, hot pads! What is nice about these is that no two are alike...what fun. The crazy quilt background is assembled in the same way as the crazy quilt vest which was featured in an earlier blog. Then a somewhat askewed heart is appliqued on top.
A 4 by 4 isn't always a pick-up truck, to me, it's 4 blocks sewn together. This photo shows that where the 4 corners come together, it makes a secondary pattern. Getting all four colors to be represented throughout the quilt top at that intersection, a bit of a challenge This was one of the easiest quilt tops that I have even sewn together since there aren't that many seams to match up and since the kites are all cut out on the bias this makes them very stretchy.
Now that all the blocks have been trimmed to 10.75" it is time to cut out the circles from the green fabric which is the same pattern as the gold fabric with the fruit on it. The kit included a fat quarter of this green fabric. The instructions say to fussy cut the circles from the fabric. The circles are aprox. 3" so I cut out 20 - 3" squares from my wonder under ((paper backed fusible web). I then found a drinking glass the correct size and used it as my template for the circles. Once all the circles were drawn onto the back of the paper I then flipped the fabric to it's wrong side and started placing the wonder under in such a way that a piece of fruit would fall in the middle of the circle (please note cherries in the center of the circle on the finished block).
Progress is being made - YES! Got all the half units sewn together and so now it is time to square up the blocks. It is a rookie mistake not to do this....how do I know??? I do believe I have in the past 12 years made every mistake possible at the sewing machine and if I am lucky, I can figure a way out of it without throwing away either a lot of fabric or a lot of time.
Yesterday was spent sewing together the triangle/kite units into TWO triangle/kite units which is a half block. As I mentioned in a previous post, there are 4 colors (lime green, dark turquoise, magenta and and gold). Each color is represented by two prints. The finished block has a representative from each color group - this quilt is all about diversity. I did dose off once and attach one of the turquois units to the other turquois unit (different prints) but that was basically the only ripping out I had to do.
Click here to see us on Facebook 
Follow Me on Pinterest
Still hard at work getting all the valentine merchandise ready. There is a Valentine show at the Shelburne Arts Co-op which will be going up the end of January so I wanted to make something special for that. I found some interesting scrapes for sale this summer and the large leaf fabric in one of them. Combined with the dark teal batik, it makes an interesting background for a valentine themed hot pad, balsam pillow and a 4" sachet.
Who's got the button...this tote's got the buttons and plenty of them. Some of the buttons came from an old blouse and from one of my husband flannel shifts which had to go to the dust bin. FINALLY finished sewing all those buttons on by hand. The instructions for making this tote said to sew the buttons on last by hand it help secure the lining to the inside...should have ignored that and sewn them on using my machine. You can see the variegated thread in this photo that I used for the quilting. Added out on FB..buttons or no buttons and the responses I got said buttons...I agree, it does look spiffier with the buttons!
Using up scraps is always a challenge for any quilter so HERE is a wonderful project that does just that! There were plenty of wonderful (but small) scrapes left over from the baby blanket project that I blogged about recently. LOTS of different colors and textures...so I took it as a personal challenge to find something to do with the scraps. I looked through Judy Hopkins book 501 Rotary-Cut Quilt Blocks for some inspiration.
Ever wonder how people get their quilting so straight? MASKING TAPE!!!! When I first started hand quilting I mostly stitched in the ditch, 1/4" away from the seam. Had a beast of a time quilting straight. One day, I noticed this 1/4" tape in the notions department..got myself some of that. The same trick can be used with all over quilting and wider tape. This is the first time I have used variegated thread when quilting and I LOVE IT!
Foundation piecing A.K.A. paper piecing is not something I have mastered (or even attempted) in the 14 years since I started quilting. No time like the present to take it on and this wonderful pattern I found for an askew heart looked like it would be a simple enough place to start. The heart is paper pieced in two sections and then sewn together...simple enough, right? The 2 sections of the 6.5" square block need to match up perfectly and foundation piecing is the best way to get that perfect result according to what I have read about it.
Now that the holidays are behind me, it is time to start work on Valentine's Day. First order of business, hot pads! What is nice about these is that no two are alike...what fun. The crazy quilt background is assembled in the same way as the crazy quilt vest which was featured in an earlier blog. Then a somewhat askewed heart is appliqued on top.
A 4 by 4 isn't always a pick-up truck, to me, it's 4 blocks sewn together. This photo shows that where the 4 corners come together, it makes a secondary pattern. Getting all four colors to be represented throughout the quilt top at that intersection, a bit of a challenge This was one of the easiest quilt tops that I have even sewn together since there aren't that many seams to match up and since the kites are all cut out on the bias this makes them very stretchy.
Now that all the blocks have been trimmed to 10.75" it is time to cut out the circles from the green fabric which is the same pattern as the gold fabric with the fruit on it. The kit included a fat quarter of this green fabric. The instructions say to fussy cut the circles from the fabric. The circles are aprox. 3" so I cut out 20 - 3" squares from my wonder under ((paper backed fusible web). I then found a drinking glass the correct size and used it as my template for the circles. Once all the circles were drawn onto the back of the paper I then flipped the fabric to it's wrong side and started placing the wonder under in such a way that a piece of fruit would fall in the middle of the circle (please note cherries in the center of the circle on the finished block).
Progress is being made - YES! Got all the half units sewn together and so now it is time to square up the blocks. It is a rookie mistake not to do this....how do I know??? I do believe I have in the past 12 years made every mistake possible at the sewing machine and if I am lucky, I can figure a way out of it without throwing away either a lot of fabric or a lot of time.
Yesterday was spent sewing together the triangle/kite units into TWO triangle/kite units which is a half block. As I mentioned in a previous post, there are 4 colors (lime green, dark turquoise, magenta and and gold). Each color is represented by two prints. The finished block has a representative from each color group - this quilt is all about diversity. I did dose off once and attach one of the turquois units to the other turquois unit (different prints) but that was basically the only ripping out I had to do.