HOMEWARD BOUND -- MONTH 1

 The Quilt Show is happy to present HOMEWARD BOUND, designed by Sarah Fielke, as the 2023 Block of the Month quilt project. 

Even if you are not planning to make this quilt, I think you will find useful information in the monthly posts I write to help those who are working on it. 

The patterns are FREE to STAR MEMBERS of  The Quilt Show. Join now if you want to start right at the very beginning.  The Show featuring Sarah Fielke is FREE TO ALL to watch, even if you are not a member, so take a look at that show.

In Month 1, we make the small center cabin and the four star point units that surround the cabin.

IMPORTANT TIPS:

1. Watch any VIDEOS before beginning. Month 1 has two videos.

2. READ the pattern completely before beginning.

3. Follow the instructions carefully.

4. Ask questions on the FORUM if you need help.

The cabin is SMALL--4" finished, that means when sewn into the quilt. The cut sizes of the pieces are really small, some as small as 3/4". Those are the precise sizes for machine piecing with an accurate 1/4" seam allowance. 

Verify your units are the correct size as you sew them together. If the little units are not the right size they will not miraculously become the right size when you do the next step.  Pay close attention to the cabin/background sections. I found it helpful to remind myself which fabric was cabin, which background:

What NOT to DO. I didn't have the KIT when I began testing the pattern. I did have a jelly roll of a lot of the Tula Pink fabrics so I used those. When selecting cabin fabric I thought the stripe would work well. It didn't. I had to cut several pieces more than once to get the stripes in the correct direction. And the walls were still a bit "wonky":

So I made another one. I liked the fabrics better but the cabin is still "not to code": 

It occurred to me this little cabin can easily be paper pieced. The advantage to paper piecing is precision can often be achieved, especially with small pieces. The disadvantage is it takes more fabric and you need a paper pattern to stitch on. And you are sewing "upside down and backwards". 

There are many videos on paper piecing. I am  not going into details here. I am providing you a photo of my paper pieced pattern for this cabin so you can draw your own. You are only making one cabin this month so you only need one set of patterns. Simply use a ruler and a pencil to DRAW the pattern onto the paper of your choice. I like newsprint or tracing paper. Heavy copy paper is not the best choice.

The top section with the Chimney appears backwards--that is because in paper piecing the pattern is reversed since the fabric is on the back side of the paper pattern. If you draw the first section as it appears in the finished cabin, your finished chimney will be on the left side of the roof--not really a problem, just different. 

The first and second sections from the top are 1" x 4" finished each. Draw that size rectangle then add the 1/4" seam allowance all around to create the section. Use a pencil to draw lines as shown. I used the cut sizes of the pattern to determine what size each piece is. The roof section is simpler than the pieced version, one rectangle for the roof, two triangles of background for the sky

The bottom half of the cabin is made in 3 separate parts, the door in the center and two cabin parts on either side of the door. Again, I used the pattern sizes, minus seam allowance amounts, to know what size to draw the various shapes. The door is 1" w x 2" h and the cabin sections are 1.5" w x 2" h--those are finished measurements--add the seam allowance around each section as shown in the photo.

PAPER PIECING TIPS:

1. Reduce stitch length to about 1.5. Small enough it won't come undone when you remove the paper, not so small it perforates the paper completely.

2. Cut the fabric pieces with a 1/2" seam allowance rather than a 1/4". This allows for movement of the fabric when you sew. Trim the seam allowance to 1/4" AFTER the sewing. I use an Add-A-Quarter ruler to trim as I sew. 

3. Once each section is sewn to the paper pattern, trim to the exact size each section should be, including the seam allowance. For example, the first section, the chimney section, is trimmed to 4.5" w x 1.5" h.  This is when I remove the paper. It should come off easily if your stitch is small enough.

4. The paper serves to make the sections the right size. I don't need the paper on as I sew the various sections together. I find it much easier to join the sections as in regular piecing, without paper.

5. When your cabin is done, it should be 4.5" including seam allowance.

In the Month1 video Sarah explains how to fix it, if your cabin is a bit too small. Cut the surrounding border  fabrics wider than called for in the cutting instructions. Once the border is in place, you can trim your cabin/border unit to the required 6.5" square including seam allowances. 

My third and final small center cabin, paper pieced, better:

STEM APPLIQUE: 

The stems that are placed on the background of the star point units are straight so bias isn't required. If you prefer, you can cut them from straight grain fabric. Watch the second video for Month 1, Making Bias Stems, to see how Sarah uses a Hera marker to make very precise 1/4" finished Stems. The process would be the same if you cut straight grain stems. 

Sarah does all her applique by hand. I use the machine when it seems reasonable to me to do so. These long straight stems were a breeze to machine applique in place.  I used Alex Anderson's class on machine applique to stitch them: 

Machine Applique class   She talked about Monopoly thread but discusses other threads too. I used a green Quilters Select 60 wt thread that closely matched my green stem fabric. I used the same stitch and settings as Alex demoes.  You can see how the stitches disappear:

Leaves and Coneflowers are hand appliqued, stem is machine appliqued

STAR POINT SECTIONS:

There are two ways to make the Star Point sections. In the Month 1 VIDEO Sarah shows how to use her Half Square Triangle Ruler. Other brands of Half Square Triangle Rulers will work the same way. She cut a strip 3.5" wide, placed the strip with wrong sides together and used the ruler to cut the 8 triangles needed. 

In the written pattern instructions, Sarah describes how to cut squares, draw a diagonal line on the back side, place the square onto the Background unit, after sewing the stem in place, and sew on the diagonal line. Cut away the excess part of the square and background, as shown in the pattern.

Either method works. Why not try them both to see which you prefer.

STOP! This month you make the center Cabin with Border. And the four Star Point units. That's it. Don't sew the star points to the cabin. In Months 2 and 3 we will make bias stems and a lot of circles for the Hollyhock squares. In Month 4 we will join the Hollyhock squares to the Star Points and Cabin so we can applique the Coneflowers and their leaves in place.

Post your progress on the Forum and be sure to use a hashtag if you post on social media.

Let's quilt.

Barbara

The Village

In 2018 I was involved in two swap projects, one was 5" paper-pieced houses and one was 4.5" stars. I wrote about the Quilters Scrap Houses here and the Tiny Star Blocks here.

Recently, when I should have been sleeping, I wondered what I could do with thirty 4.5" tiny stars. And then wondered what I could do with thirty-six 5" little houses. Two  more quilts to make. Wait a minute...

What If: they were combined into ONE quilt, stars and houses. I ran the numbers in my head--what do you know? Ten 4.5" stars = 45" of stars, 3 rows of 10 stars each could be made.  AND nine 5" houses = 45" of houses, 4 rows of 9 houses could also be made. No extra blocks had to be made--I had just enough--that never happens!  It was meant to be, here is "THE VILLAGE":

A much better photo will be achieved when this is quilted and bound--in the not too distant future. I was just so eager to see it up on the wall. Good to have another top finished for 2019.

After I made the rows of stars and the rows of houses, I thought the neighborhood looked a little sterile--it needed some greenery. So each row of houses got one paper-pieced tree on either end of the "street"--much better. When I write the directions, the trees will be added to each "street" before the rows are sewn together, so much easier. If only I had thought about the trees earlier.

This will make a great 3 hour class for guilds--in 3 hours you can learn to paper-piece the house and one tree AND learn the adorable Tiny Star--and how to convert that simple star into other easy-to-make sizes. They are so good for swapping because the points "float" and don't have to match, always good in a swap project.

Let's quilt!

Barbara

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

NOTE: If you saw this last week when it was accidentally posted early--those numbers are not correct. This post has the correct measurements for the 6" block below


Recently, I've shown these adorable little house blocks on Facebook and Instagram and there has been a lot of interest. I call them Quilters' Scrap Houses:

Three of us are close quilting buddies and often make blocks to swap, or do round-robin quilts. While at a three-person retreat a few weeks ago we decided to make house blocks to swap. I took on the design job and set the "guidelines"--that would be "rules".  I wrote all the details of this project here.

In Electric Quilt 8 there are lots of house blocks. I found one that just needed a bit of tweaking, size, one chimney, not two, no ground, etc.  Here is our pattern:

This one is perfect for foundation paper piecing. There are four units to make, then you assemble a lower half, the building, and the upper half, the roof and the sky/chimney. Ours is 5" finished but could easily be larger or smaller.

What if you don't have software and want to make a pattern? Simply draw a square and make your own. Trace paper patterns for the block you drew--be sure you add seam allowances where needed.

Here is what my pattern looks like for the 5" block. Notice I printed it in reverse so the door will be on the left and window on the right when sewn:

What if you are not a fan of paper piecing and want to piece your block in the regular way? No problem, these shapes are basic and simple to piece.

How about a 6" block, pieced regularly? Here are the numbers:

Top Half: 
Top Row:  2 Sky rectangles cut 2" x 3", 1 Sky cut 1.25" x 1.5"
                  1 Chimney cut 1.25" x 1.5"
                   Join chimney/sky, add sky to both sides, unit should now be 2" x 6.5"

Second Row: 2 Sky triangles cut from 1 square 2 3/8"--note I'd cut the square 2.5" for insurance
                       Front Roof triangle can be cut from one square cut 4.25"--cut in quarters making the                             long side on the straight of grain--each square gives you 4 of these triangles.
                        Long Roof Triangle--cut rectangle 2" x 5.75". Create parallelogram by removing both                            ends with a 45 degree cut--be sure you are cutting in the proper direction
                         Join the front roof to the long roof, add sky triangles to both sides
                       Unit should now be 2" x 6.5"

Bottom Half:
Left House: cut 2 House rectangles 1.5" x 3.5", cut 1 house square 1.5"
                     cut Door 1.5" x 2.5"
                      Join door/house, add house rectangles to each side of door
                      Unit should now be 3.5" square

Right House:  cut 3 house rectangles 1.5" x 3.5", cut one of these in half for above/below window,                               trim them to 1.5" squares.
                        cut 1 Window 1.5" square
                        Join house parts to window, above/below, add house rectangles to either side
                        Unit should now be 3.5" square

Join the Top and Second Rows for the upper half of the block
Join the Left and Right House units for the lower half of the block
Join the upper and lower halves and you now have a Quilters' Scrap House that is 6"finished size.

5" on the left, 6" on the right

You can also Google "Quilt House Blocks" and you will find many blocks, in lots of sizes and lots of designs--find one you like if this doesn't suit you.

 I really prefer paper piecing and the smaller the better--I plan to make this baby in a 3" size too. But not everyone likes that method, so choose whichever you prefer.

This has been added to my Workshops offerings as a 3 hour class--just enough time to make a few and see the paper piecing process.

Let's Quilt.

Barbara

Wednesday Works in Progress

My plan is to post each Wednesday and Sunday. Here is what my design wall looks like today:

A little skimpy, I know--I took the big quilt top off the wall and since I do not like to see it empty, I put up a few works-in-progress.

The 1880 Sampler Sew A Long from Temecula Quilt Company is coming along. Find info about it here.

My Quilter's Scrap House Neighborhood is growing--these are so much FUN to make, I wish I could just sew these for hours:

I even added this as a 3-hour workshop for guilds and classes--fun and fast!

The Lifetime Quilt is getting to the almost-done stage, only 4 more 20" blocks to go, then the 100" x 100" quilt top will be finished.

More info about it here. This photo was taken in March, I am much farther along now:

What are YOU working on?

Let's quilt!

Barbara

Under My Needle and a New Swap

A few things I am working on.

The Temperature Quilt:

Last December I learned about Temperature Quilts and Blankets--those were made from yarn. Each color represents a 10 degree temperature band and each vertical row is a week, beginning January 1, 2018. By March I was losing interest and knew I did not want to complete the year--half a year would be plenty and be a reasonable size--this is 26" wide x 30" before the borders. I used the official high temperature at Huntsville International Airport for each day. Here is my Key:

It did not get over 100, which is fairly typical here, but the 90's with our high humidity is plenty hot enough. Glad I did it, I'm over it now. The border fabric came from the closet after the top was completely done--it pays to have a deep stash.

When my two best quilting buddies and I get together, usually for our annual retreat, the idea of a swap between us gets launched. This time we decided to make 5" scrap houses for each other. The original pattern I found was a 3" house, too tiny we decided. Other houses have two chimneys, too much effort we decided. So I found a simple house in Electric Quilt 8 that just needed a bit of tweaking to be perfect. Our 5" finished Quilter's Scrap House:

We will paper-piece 12 of these to give to each of the other two--if we make 12 for ourselves, we'll all have 36 5" houses when the swap is done.  The only thing I had to remember when printing the pattern was to mirror-image it--when paper-piecing, what you see on the paper will be reversed when sewn.

I have been involved in many swaps over the years. Here are my tips:

1. Choose participants carefully. All must follow the "guidelines"--RULES--and agree to meet the deadline. Limit the number of people--the most I have had was 13 and that was plenty.

2. Set a firm deadline and be sure everyone agrees to meet it.

3. The best thing to swap are "units"--parts of blocks that can be trimmed down, like half-square triangles and four-patches. When you do a block like this you learn everyone has their own "personal" quarter-inch seam allowance. Refer to tip 1 above...

4. Hold a "teaching" class if the technique is new to most participants. Paper piecing is not for everyone. Be sure everyone understands to use a very small stitch, tiny thread and lightweight paper.

5. If you allow people to request specific colors/themes, be sure each person is clear in their request and that everyone agrees to follow the requests.

6. If you are located close together, it is fun to have a sew-day to work on the blocks. If apart, sharing photos online is fun OR you can keep the blocks a complete secret until done.

 For this particular block and group the guidelines are simple: trim thread as you go, remove the paper when the block is finished, have them all done no later than Christmas. Only one house per maker can be in violation of the HOA rules--meaning ONE can be "not mirror imaged"--the door can be on the right, window on the left.

I made a test block before sending the information to the other two--oh my goodness, these are like Dorito blocks--hard to stop making them:

I had to stop making houses right now so I can do some Secret Sewing:

I am working on a big quilt I want to have ready to photograph for an upcoming blog. There was a lot of layout design time spent, now I am sewing, then I'll write the blog with all the information for this layout. Lots to do, yet but I like how it's coming along.

Let's Quilt!

Barbara