Happy St. Patrick's Day!

To celebrate St. Patrick's Day, I made 2 more Stars in a Time Warp, these in overshot green.  When we had the lesson in overshot green, a few weeks back, I used more bright greens.  Then I realized I had the perfect overshot green in my stash, the beautiful Peppered Cottons designed by Pepper Cory for StudioE fabrics.  So I added them to the group--can you find the new ones?

Here the are

Tomorrow, Barbara Brackman will introduce the next color we will learn about and I will make 2 new blocks to join these--I am having a blast with this project!  Check it out:  here.

I also got a head a bit with the Simple Whatnots Club project I'll be teaching in April:

This pattern is called Cloud Nine and the little one at the bottom is the size in the project.  It finishes at 3.75"--that's tiny.  So, I made a larger one, that finishes at 10".  On the larger block, I added the triangles on the four outer corners, which I omitted from the small block--I just liked it better without the triangles--though I reserve the right to change my mind later.  If I were making the entire quilt, I definitely would add them because they create a super secondary pattern when the blocks are joined with sashing.  See all the projects here:  Simple Whatnots Club Collection 2.

That's it for today--have a great St. Patrick's Day!

Let's quilt something green!

Barbara

Simple Whatnots Club Collection #2 Session 2

WARNING:  this post is long and photo-laden.

Last night we  had the second session of the second whatnots club, in the second month of the year.  This is a club from Henry Glass Fabrics designed by Kim Diehl.  It runs 6 months and we meet monthly for my lecture/demo class.  There are 35 people signed up and about half were there last night.  It was postponed last Friday due to an ice storm and this week we had 8" of snow so everyone's schedule is somewhat upside down.  I thought those who missed would like to see what we did and you can see what this is all about.

Here is the project I featured for February, Hen Pecked, 10.5" square:

Those are 1" finished half square triangles (HST).  My method for making HST is to use a triangle ruler--I use Omnigrid, there are a couple other brands that work the same way.  With a 1" finished HST, cut strips 1.5", lay them right sides together and cut like this, placing the light background fabric on the bottom:

 

With this ruler, place 1" line on the left, cut

Rotate, do not flip, the ruler, 1" line is at the top, yellow tip line is at the bottom. Unit on left was moved slightly so you can see the process.

I pressed the seam open, and trimmed carefully to exactly 1.5". 

Rotate the unit 180" and trim other two sides.  I am willing to throw away that much fabric for perfect piecing/cutting

Pressing seams open, some do, some don't.  I don't usually because I burn my fingers and my motto is "I want the fastest method that gives me the result I want." So pressing to the darker side  has been my fastest method.  Then I discovered this tool and now it's easier:

 

It's made from heat resistant rubber, does not roll, does not get hot, has two different end tips to allow for turning corners in things like pockets, pillowcases, etc.  Press Perfect by Joan Hawley from Clover.

 

As I only made 2 HST from each set of fabrics, after cutting the red set, I placed a different dark fabric on top of the background strip, cut 2 of those, added a different dark, cut 2, etc.  I used 5 different background fabrics, use only one if you please.  It's your quilt, do it your way.

When I got this done I looked at it for a few days on the design wall and thought What If?  Those 1" HST are pretty small and I can't see the fabric very well so I made another middle, using 2.5" strips for a 2" finished HST.  Instead of 35 1" HST, I made 20 2" finished HST:

 



The original border treatment of using different fabrics really appeals to me--with the one on the left I think I will add only 2 borders per side, from 8 different fabrics.  Time will tell.

Seams pressed open, top is flatter on the front than if I had pressed to one side, alternating rows

 

Another discussion we had was how to keep your sewing straight.  This is how I pin and sew:

I pin at each intersection, pinning IN FRONT of the seam, not after the seam.  I remove the pins as I get to them, I don't sew over them since I sew at a pretty good speed.  If you use fine pins and sew slowly you can probably get away with sewing over the pins without damaging your machine.  Once I get right up to the intersection the pin has done it's job, so I remove it.

 Notice the last pin, at the very bottom on the left.  I put that pin about 1/2" away from the corner and leave it in place as I sew off the piece.  This helps me stay straight all the way to the end.  It is easy to get lazy at the end, reach over to grab what you plan to sew next, and sew less or more than a 1/4" at the most important part, the outside edge of the piece. 

This happens at the beginning too--notice I have a leader/ender unit at the very top--I  LEAD with two 1.5" squares together at the beginning of any piecing I am doing, and END with two 1.5" squares as I finish chain piecing.  This photo shows the pieces at an angle so you can see them, they would actually be straight behind the machine in real life:

Here is the ENDER for the small quilt top shown above:  two 1.5" squares being sewn on the end of the quilt.  Place the ENDER, or any of your piecing, right up against the needle when you start to sew, this keeps your piecing straight at the very beginning too:

 

 What do I do with those small squares? I make four-patches, of course:

I have a small box full of these and have a project in mind to use them, later, when I finish some of the other things I'm currently working on.  Beside my machine, I have two small plastic tubs, one with light 1.5" squares and one with dark.  Easy to pick up two and sew as I go.
 
Here is a neat trick I learned on the Internet that I was so excited to share with the class.  This comes from Lori Holt of Bee In My Bonnet.  I love to make flying geese four at a time, but the slowest part for me is drawing the diagonal line on the back of 4 squares, as I describe in my Flying Geese tutorial.

Lori shows how to cut one large square the size that will give you four squares, draw the lines on that one large square, then carefully cut the large square into 4 squares and there you have it, four squares with the lines marked perfectly!  Brilliant!  Another plus to this method is, if you are using a fabric with a direction, for example, a stripe, this insures you can have all those striped star points going in the same direction, IF that is important to you.  Lori draws both sewing lines, I only draw one line down the center diagonal and sew with the 1/4" foot but either way works.  Here are my photos, hers are better:

To get four squares, each 2.75", cut a square 5.5", draw pencil line down both diagonals

Carefully cut in half, ruler on the left is set at 2.75"



Being careful not to move the two halves, cut again, 2.75" from the bottom



Four squares, 2.75" each, with perfect pencil line--the fastest method that gives me the result I want--thanks, Lori!





Lori has lots of great ideas for speedy processes, check out her entire blog when you get a chance, Bee in My Bonnet.   Here is her Mini Design Board Tutorial--you'll want to make several.

OK, we are almost done.  In planning for the March project, Honeycomb, I decided to English Paper Piece the entire top:

To prepare those papers quickly, I drafted the design in Electric Quilt 7 (EQ7), and printed the block out onto terrific heavy duty freezer paper, from Cut Rite:

The paper is about the weight of card stock, has a good amount of waxy stuff on the back side, and printed perfectly in my deskjet printer.  All I had to do was carefully cut out the pieces and I was ready to go. 

To make it easy for Club members, I will print them a page onto the Cut Rite Heavy-Duty Freezer paper for a small fee.  If they prefer, I will print it onto copy paper and they can trace it if they like, onto regular freezer paper or cardstock.  They will let me know before the March meeting which page they want, if they want one at all. 

Next month I'll show details of the English Paper Piecing process. 

So there you have it, some of what we talked about last night.  And a reminder, Monday, March 2, all the Kim Diehl Heritage Hollow collection fabric goes out on the store shelves for any customer to buy--until then it is reserved ONLY for Club members.  Yesterday we got in 8 replacement bolts of the most popular fabrics, and two of those were sold out again last night.  Get it while you can.

Let's Quilt!

Barbara

New Week, Feeling Good!

Finally over the head crud and feeling so much better!  I taught a great class on Saturday and have 3 classes to teach this week so it's wonderful to be recovered.

Once again I am leading the Simple WhatNots Club, collection 2, from Henry Glass Fabrics.  This uses Kim Diehl's latest collection, Heritage Hollow, and features 8 small quilts.  We meet at my local quilt shop, Patches & Stitches, one Friday night a month for 6 months and there are 30 students for my lecture/demo type class.   Here is the flyer:  Simple WhatNots Club, Collection 2.

Last year I faithfully reproduced the quilts, usually exactly as shown in the patterns.  Some of the students made changes and I liked what they did.  So this time, I will show the techniques for each pattern but offer some optional changes for the students to consider.  Not only will they have permission to change the patterns, they will be encouraged to do so.  I find when quilters start making changes to patterns, they gain a sense of freedom and confidence that they can make a quilt their own and this is enlightening to them.

The first pattern I'll be teaching, Barn Stars, uses a 4" finished star.  I will also provide the measurements for a 6" star, and teach the class how to calculate the units for an 8" star--teach them to fish, in other words.  Here are my 2 samples, the 6" and 4" stars:

Now that my  Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt is done, I moved on to a terrific new year-long educational opportunity from Barbara Brackman, the queen of quilt history.  It's called Stars in a Time Warp and here is the plan from Barbara's Civil War blog:

Every Wednesday for much of 2015 I'll be posting Stars in a Time Warp QuiltAlong here at   Civil War Quilts..  The block stays the same each week.  What changes is the type of reproduction fabric we'll use. 

Barbara will use several of her books on dating fabrics and quilt time periods.  I own her books, this will be a good time to read them as she teaches about various fabrics and styles.

The block is a simple 6" Evening Star and I've started off making 2 of the first colors, Turkey Red, a real favorite of mine.  These are 2 different reds and backgrounds:

I will enjoy making these quick blocks each week, and learning more about the fabrics.  And digging in my substantial stash of reproduction fabrics.  Thank you, Barbara Brackman!

I'm linking up to Patchwork Times --go see what others have been working on.

Let's quilt!

Barbara

Simple What Nots Club

I am coordinating the Simple What Nots Club at my local quilt shop, Patches & Stitches.  It uses the latest fabric line designed by Kim Diehl for Henry Glass Fabrics.  There are 6 small quilts,  we meet once a month for 6 months and I do lecture/demo explaining tips and tricks for how to make that months' block.  We have a small classroom and it is packed with chairs for the 28 folks who signed up. 

The first quilt is called Laundry Basket and I used my own fabric since the collection had not arrived in time for me to get my first sample done:

Laundry Basket 18" x 18"



The second one I am teaching this week, Sunday Supper.  I added a dark border all the way around as I do not like to have my bindings have to hit perfectly on a sawtooth or pointed border.  It's my quilt, I can do what I want with it:

Sunday Supper 15" x 18"
 

The one I will be teaching in September is my favorite of the group, Idaho Lily.  I hand-appliqued' the stems and leaves but will teach several options for that step.  Those are 1" finished half-square triangles in the borders:


Idaho Lily 27" X 27"

It is always my intention to provide as much helpful information in class as I can so each person feels they are getting their money's worth.  We have a wide range of skill and experience levels in this group and I hope to educate and entertain them all.  I plan to have pictures from our class later this week.

My other fun project is the small version of Color in Black and White, made with 1.5" cut strips:

42" x 36" without borders, which I will probably add

 

I wrote about the BIG version here. At that time I was trying to decide if I'd be adding a border and ultimately, I did.  Here is the finished BIG version, currently hanging at the quilt shop as a class sample:

Color in Black and White, 84" x 88"
 

These are really fun to make and I enjoyed digging through my deep stash to find the best fabrics, saturated colored prints.  And who knew black on white prints could make such a terrific background?

Have a great week and let's quilt!

Barbara