Easy Quilt Patterns

Quilts don't have to be hard to be good quilts. Some of the simplest patterns are wonderful designs.

Here are a few I am hoping to make:

1. X Block or Churn Dash?
An antique top I bought from Cindy Rennels in 2014. At first, I thought it's a Shoo Fly/Churn Dash. Then I thought it's really an X block or Old Italian Block, one of my favorites. It has great fabrics, the first block shows a beautiful blue fabric, a Commemorative of the Centennial--1776-1876:

Centennial Commemorative Fabric

It has only one background fabric and while that's not my normal mode, it really makes all these fabrics stand out. I will make mine just like this:

Detail showing various fabrics

The Top

2. Nine Patch Quilt--how easy can it be? This one is amazing because of the fabric/color placement. It is an Amish quilt, circa 1920. 

This photo has been making the rounds recently when Mary Elizabeth Kinch included it in her Twelve Quilts of Christmas blogs last month. I saved the photo years ago--it is still an appealing quilt to me:

3. Another antique from Julie Silber, this one looks far more complex than it is:

The photo was on a Facebook group for Vintage and Antique quilts and there were several ideas about how the quilt was made. I am eager to give it a try.

4. What could be easier than nine patches? How about one-patches, 3" finished? This antique top was bought from Cindy Rennels and it is only when you see it straight-on that the careful color placement of the patches is apparent: 

I bought it for the fabulous fabric collection it holds. Now I want to replicate it. A few detail shots:

I have made a few simple quilts over the years, most recently My Lifetime
Quilt, 100" x 100", 1.75" half square triangles, 12,800 triangles. In the three years I worked on it, I saw several antique quilts at shows or in photographs that are similar. Easy can still be amazing:

Ruler Work--the Basics

A new FINISH:

I call this "X Marks the Spot". There are a few blog posts I've done about this quilt, like this one and I did a tutorial on now to make it, here. This is a great block for a swap group because the recipient will trim their own blocks to whatever size they want. My blocks here came from a swap with 6 other quilters in 2012.

The top was finished in 2013 and I machine-stitched in the ditch on all the black sashing seams on my domestic machine, with a walking foot. I hand-quilted a simple design across the top row, so I could add the sleeve and binding and use it as a class sample. I also hand-quilted a few center blocks, fully intending to get back to it "later" to finish all the hand-quilting. Well, life goes on, hands get older, new quilting machines get bought, and this became a good piece to practice Ruler Work Free Motion Quilting with my Bernina Q20.

A more accurate term for rulers is "templates". Rulers are used to measure things. Templates are shapes we trace/stitch around. Don't think your regular rotary cutting rulers will work. These templates come in at least 3 thicknesses--my Bernina Q20 Sit-Down Long Arm machine requires the 1/4" "longarm" style templates.

You also must have a "Ruler Foot" that works specifically on YOUR machine. The Q20 has #96 and there is #72 for domestic Berninas. The 72 will work on the Q20, the 96 will NOT work on the Bernina domestics. Do your research for your machine before you buy. All of these gadgets are costly so you want to get the ones you need for your machine. Expensive machine repairs are not what you want as you learn how to use templates--be sure you have the right foot/templates before you begin.

RULER WORK LESSONS LEARNED--these will sound like common sense to most of you:

1. Figure out the design you want on paper first.You can also use Press n Seal plastic wrap or a large piece of plexiglass with a wash-off marker to audition designs directly on the quilt. It takes practice to figure out the needle is 1/4" away from the template edge. Eventually, you will know where the stitches will hit, especially at corners/intersections.

2. Use some form of gripper on the bottom of the templates: I like Stable Tape by Westalee, or Handi Grip from HandiQuilter. You could try double-stick tape and some people like to spray 606 Spray and Fix--that will make your templates tacky and eventually you'll need to wash it off and reapply.

3. Hold Tight! Put enough pressure on the template to hold it in place. This is easier than it sounds.

4. Stop, before you reposition the template. Don't stitch and move the template at the same time, this could spell disaster. Stop, with the needle down, then move the template as you need to.

5. Check your thread tension/stitches on a quilt sandwich made from the same top and back fabrics and batt used in the quilt. I'm learning to make a "sandwich" for machine quilting from any quilt I make that I plan to Free Motion machine quilt--it's a lot easier to make this right as I finish the quilt than to go searching some time later for that fabric and what batt was that again? Nothing fancy, just a few of the top fabrics quickly sewn together, a scrap of back and the same batt--mine are usually about 8" x 10".

6. Use good quality batt and thread. I really like Quilter's Dream 100% cotton batt, Request weight, and use it most often, but not always... The thread here is King Tut for the top and Bottom Line for the bobbin, both by Superior Threads--great thread and a wonderful US company. My machine loves it--there is no tension adjustment needed at all for me with these two threads--the default is perfect.

7. Use a good chair, with good support for your back. If you don't have a cabinet or table to drop your machine in, be sure you are sitting up high enough to relax your shoulders. Stop every 20-30 minutes, even if just to stand for a second and work out the kinks in your arms/back/neck. Good ergonomics will keep you healthy and quilting longer.

8. Learn from the experts. I took two excellent Craftsy classes, both by Amy Johnson, to learn the basics, particularly how to operate the machine safely when working with templates and the basics of design. Many free videos are available from the likes of Kim Brunner,  Jamie Wallen, Lisa Calle, and many others, all of whom teach at quilt shows. They make it look easy. Look for videos from template companies too, like Westalee. These will give you confidence and knowledge on how to do this relatively new technique on your sit down machine.

Some photos for illustration:

I love the Line Tamer Ruler from Four Paws Quilting. It has a channel that is the perfect size for my Ruler Foot, #96. As long as your ditch is straight, this is an easy way to Stitch in the Ditch (SITD). Above shows the way I started, STID around the X on the block.

I didn't rotate the quilt, I simply changed the direction I stitched using the Line Tamer. Here I am coming down, back to where I started.

After the X was completely STID, it was time to do a little curvy stuff:

This is the Westalee 12" Arc, a great little template. It's about 7" long, which is perfect for most of what I quilt. Longer is not necessarily  better--longer templates move more easily and need more pressure to keep them stable and in position.

Above I am preparing to stitch the 3rd arc in this design. The template edge is 1/4" away from the bottom corner so that the stitches will meet right at that intersection. Most of the time, anyway--perfect is NOT my middle name when it comes to free motion quilting, at least not yet.

Here you can see where the template was placed--the stitches are 1/4" away from the edge of the template. This takes practice but most times I got the corners where they were supposed to be.

This quilt is not going to be entered in International competition, it just is one I love for the wonderful reproduction fabrics and the great friends who helped me make it. The fact that it has some hand-quilting and some machine quilting is fine with me--I call it the "hybrid method". Even on quilts I will mostly hand-quilt, I often choose to STID by machine--no one sees those stitches if you do it right, and I'm trying to save my hands for the showy quilting. I usually hand-quilt with wool batt--it is so easy to needle and feels great to sleep under.

Here you can clearly see the machine quilting on the left and hand-quilting on the right. It is not as noticeable when looking at the entire quilt:

Detail 

Detail 

 Since this quilt was "finished" in 2013 it was bound then and had a label in place. Today I added "2017" to the label:

Detail of the back and label

So, this one is now officially "done" and it's time to get back to Stella's Splendid Sampler--50 of those 100 blocks still need to be quilted.

Let's Quilt!

Barbara

Playing with Rulers

It is so much fun to free motion quilt (FMQ) using rulers. Some people call the plastic devices used for this purpose "templates", which is probably more accurate. They are used to quilt around as a guide for the quilting designs, they are not used to "measure" anything like a ruler typically does.

Hand Quilting on the right, FMQ on the left

This quilt has been languishing since 2013. I did Stitch in the Ditch on all the black sashings, then hand quilted simple shapes along the top row so I could bind the quilt and attach a hanging sleeve. I have taught this X Block quilt several times since then, always intending to get back to the rest of the hand quilting each time I brought the quilt hone from the shop after class. Realizing that was probably not going to happen, I decided to FMQ all the remaining blocks so it can be done now, not years from now.  I have a Tutorial on this block here.

There are eight blocks in each row. I am quilting one row a day, only seven more days to go and this quilt will be done. And, sometimes, "Finished is Better than Perfect". Here is how it's going:

I LOVE this Line Tamer ruler for Stitch in the Ditch (SID).It's by Four Paws Quilting.  The channel is 1/2" wide, the right size for my Bernina Q20 Ruler Foot #96. If your ditch is straight, it works great.

 After stitching the X with the Line Tamer, I use this Sew Steady 12" arc template to do the curves on the triangles. There is Handi-Grip on the bottom of the template to help prevent slipping. It works great.

The outside triangle edge is longer than the two inside edges so I made the outside line deeper than the other two. I suppose I could have made them the all the same but I like this look. That's my story and I'm sticking with it.

A finished block

The back:

A busy back is the machine quilter's best friend, until you get REALLY good.

Like most things, there are a few rulers I find myself using a lot, the others I have to think about how to use. Here are most of mine:

Here are a few more photos of Ruler Work from the Random Ohio Stars quilt I wrote about here. These were taken after the quilt was washed and dried:

And the finished quilt:

Let's Quilt!

Barbara

Long Time Gone

Long Time Gone is a Jen Kingwell pattern I saw in Houston 2016 and liked. I found a Block of the Month on Homestead Hearth and ordered it, receiving fabrics each month over the course of a year--that started in February. Then I found a blog working on it, one block a week, Gnome Angel and decided to use my own fabrics for the first one. This top will be finished in July. Here is what I have so far:

The sashing between these sets of blocks might be gray, or lavender, or something else entirely. Still on the hunt for the perfect background color.

Yesterday I received my swap quilt from Lori's 4th annual doll quilt swap :

This came to me from Jan H, in Markesan, WI. She hand quilted it, very lovely.

Here  is the one I sent to Danice, only about 75 miles west of me:

I finished a small  quilt the other day, part of the samples for my "Work Faster, Not Harder" class:

My free-motion feathers are getting better, practice makes perfect, so they say. I would forget the direction I was going so some of the feathers are not headed in the "right" direction but some baby doll won't care.  The X blocks are 3" small, the instructions can be found on my Tutorial, here.

Our guild program the other night was about "creative backs". Years ago I made a back that took almost as long to make as the front did, but I was determined to use up as much of the fabrics/parts from the front as I could, to NOT put anything away in the closet. I really like this back but didn't have a photo of it. So here is the Front of Purple Plus!:

And here is the Back:

And, wonder of wonders, Delta fixed my suitcase, this came home the other day:

They ordered a replacement pocket and fixed it--no more rip. Who knew they could do that?! It's ready for its' next trip in just a few weeks, to Spring Market in St. Louis, home of my grand-girl, Stella:

                                               

I am eager to do  more ruler work quilting on the Ohio Stars quilt. I got lots of great information in classes in Chicago. Stay tuned,..,

Let's Quilt!

Barbara

"X" Marks the Spot

NOTE: this was originally posted in March 2014. Still good info...

I taught a fun class last night, the "X" block from Sharyn Craig's book, Layer 'em Up. It's a sort, cut, shuffle, and sew process that creates 6 blocks quickly and all six are different.  The book is available here along with a link to a video of Sharyn showing the process.

Sort, light to dark

Cut

After first cut, before the shuffle

After the shuffle, ready to sew

Chain, Chain, Chain

Press, press, press

Modern blocks

Reproduction blocks

Beautiful blocks

Susan C with her first completed set of blocks

In less than 3 hours everybody clearly understood the process and had their first set of 6 blocks done.

CHART FOR CUTTING MEASUREMENTS:

FAT "X"               2" finished           Place ruler on 1.25" mark, corner to corner
NORMAL "X"  1.5" finished          Place ruler on 1" mark,  corner to corner
SKINNY "X"       1" finished          Place ruler on .75" mark, corner to corner

BONUS:  this block is adorable made very small.  Use 5" Charm squares and place the ruler on the 1/2" mark, corner to corner.  The "X" is 1/2" finished and blocks are 3" finished:

SHUFFLING STEP:  move the first two center squares, Fabrics 1 and 2, to the bottom, Fabric 1 is now under Fabric 6. Then move Fabric 1 "X" to the bottom of each stack.  You now have 6 completely different blocks.

This is a great project for a swap--since each block can be trimmed to the perfect size, since everyone has their own personal 1/4" seam allowance.   Here is my class sample, made from blocks swapped with 5 other quilters:

Let's quilt!

Barbara