Snowball Quilt in Feather Flock (#50)

A perfect way to showcase large repeat fabrics is with a snowball block.  

 Feather Flock by Tina Givens is rich in saturated colors and harmonizes so well that only a little white is needed to separate all the different patterns and hues.  Some quilts look good with a random placement, but this collection needed similar colors to be grouped together so the weaker fabrics wouldn't get lost.

I used the Accuquilt snowball die, fat quarters and lots of starch.  Once you have had fun cutting out the center pieces, its just routine to do all the corners and iron.  

For all its simplicity in assembly, the final effect of a snowball quilt is a winner every time.  Aurifil 50wt. is my go-to choice to piece & quilt through spray baste, minky & batting.  By following the seam lines and then through the snowball, the finished blanket always looks good front & back.

One of my favorite dimple dot minky's is vanilla - great when I need a 'neutral' to go with a strong colorful quilt top.  A minky & batting blanket is heavier than a traditional quilt, but when I give everyone a choice of backing, they want "that soft fluffy stuff"!   My standard size of maximum 60" wide and no longer than 74" makes it machine wash & dryer friendly. 

Some fabrics are thinner than others but Feather Flock is regular quilting weight and needed a #14 needle to attach the binding.  Sometimes I can get away with a #12,  but after my thread kept skipping I knew it was the needle size, not the Aurifil Dove #2600, which blended well with the Kona Grape Mist. 

Materials:
Feather Flock by Tina Givens (LlamaFabrics)
Kona: White & Grape Mist for binding
Dimple dot minky in vanilla (Fabric.com)
Accuquilt snowball die
Warm & White batting
Aurifil #50wt. White, Light Sand #2000, Dove #2600
Size: 58" x 74"
April 2016

Spa 9-patch Quilt (#43)

A 9-patch block made with Deb Strain's Spa line from Moda,  proves that the combination of blue and white can be both fresh & traditional at the same time.

Spa uses beautiful scroll designs and mosaic motifs in multiple shades of blue - from light to cobalt. This collection is like looking at Blue Willow china or Delft pottery.  Your eye can always find something to enjoy.

White Kona sashing & borders lighten up the front, and help separate the Midnight Blue minky on the back.  My initial choice for the back minky was a light grey because I was worried it would be 'too blue' - but the darker back worked nicely to give the quilt more visual weight.

Tension issues can arise when using  minky.  If you use a dark bottom thread and the tension is a little off, or you get stuck with the batting and minky making your walking foot work extra hard - the darker thread can show up on the lighter quilt top. 
 Here's my win/win solution - I use a light thread in the bobbin.  (in this case it was the middle spool of grey blue)

Aurifil 50wt. is perfect since it sinks and almost disappears into the 3mm pile of the minky.   This totally works for me; no stress about thread show on the front and the back looks great since you can still see the stitching lines ... I can't wait to use more dark minkys!

Materials:
Spa by Deb Strain / Moda
Kona white
Aurifil 50wt. dove(#2600), white & grey blue (#5007)
Warm & White batting
Midnight blue dimple dot minky
Size: 57"x 72"
October 2015

Another Noteworthy Quilt (#42)

Using the softer colors of the Noteworthy collection worked better than expected to make this hourglass quilt.  I purchased 2 fat quarter bundles of what I thought was the entire collection.  It wasn't - and missing were the cuter elements ... birds on the wire and the bucket list notes in various colors.

Since Noteworthy came out in 2012 - it was easier to find a few yards of one design - I choose the blue bucket list to 'flesh' out the plainer patterns.  

Cutting the half square triangles from my Accuquilt 6.5" die - I assembled them into hourglass blocks (see how to here at the bottom of the Far Far Away post).

Because half the quilt is light blue, the overall vibe is calm & soothing. Bright white minky on the back doesn't conflict with the muted palette and the zig zag quilting in Aurifil 50wt. grey blue (#5007) and white (#2024) just sinks beautifully into the whole design.  

Materials:
Noteworthy for Sweetwater by Moda
Aurifil 50wt. Grey Blue / White
Warm & White batting
White minky
Size:58' x 74.5"
August 2015

Far Far Away Quilt (#36)

The challenge with Far Far Away by Heather Ross was to "save the unicorns and the princess" from the rotary cutter. A quick measure showed that a width of 6" was the best for both.

Except for the princess fabric, I cut 14 fat quarters into 6" squares to make a simple quilt.  Enter my recent love affair with the Accuquilt half square triangle and the fact that I found you could make an hour glass block with it ...well, the first quilt idea went out the window. (Pictures how to do this are below)

There is no pattern for this quilt which means there are no 'mistakes' or rules.  First, I cut out as many unicorns as I could - then matched the remaining fabric in pairs to harmonize.  There is a lot going on with all these patterns and similar colors seemed best.

I sewed all the 'hour glass blocks' together and trimmed to 6" - and didn't count or stress about how many or where they were going.
After this basic sewing was done, I cut the princess fabric to 6" wide and made two long strips - one white, one pink. 

The princess fabric gave me my starting point for length -  after that it was just laying out what looked best, making sure the unicorn squares were balanced on either side.  I never made a count for how many squares I had - there is a scrappy element to this design and leftovers would just 'fill in' when necessary.

When the middle portion was finished, I needed to 'build' up the rest of the quilt to a twin size.  I got a request for 'more pink' - so 2 yards of pink princesses made up the sides. 

 Left over hour glass blocks were added to another yard of frogs - and they made up a big border on the top and bottom.  

Star minky makes up the back and the quilting was done with a bright pretty pink Aurifil 50wt.  Only after I did my usual zig zag over the large seams did I experiment with 3" diagonal lines in a diamond pattern using a straight stitch (length 3.0 to 3.5). 

Materials:
Far Far Away / Heather Ross
Warm & White batting
Aurifil Bright Pink / #2425
Star minky
Accuquilt 4.5" finished HST
Size: 72" x 85"
April 2015 

How to make an hour glass block with the Accuquilt half square 4.5" finished triangle.

Starch and cut your fabric as usual - a 6" square of fabric works best on the die.





Shown here is how you make a regular half square triangle - you sew on the LONG side - using a scant 1/4" seam.

This is your basic method for making the herringbone, chevron and diamond blocks that use HST.

However - to make an hour glass block - you take your triangles - and sew the SHORT sides together.






Lay out one hour glass block at a time to minimize mistakes.






After you have your 2 halves - sew those together and trim to a perfect 6" square ... voila, an hour glass block.

Sweet As Honey Quilt (#35)

Sweet as Honey by Bonnie Christine is a beautiful collection of autumn hues that look so pretty in a random tumbler pattern.  20 fat quarters were cut using a 6.5" Accuquilt tumbler die - with left overs cut into small squares that filled out the sides.  

Ironing and starching are a must since Art Gallery fabric is thinner and more delicate than most quilting cottons, so don't go too fast when you start sewing your pieces. 

 If you go too fast with those first stitches (mine were very small at 1.5) this thinner fabric can dip into the needle 'hole' and you end up with lots of really small stitches on top of each other - almost impossible to cut apart since the fabric is so fragile.

I tried a new combination of layering - cotton top / Warm & White batting / minky back.  

I was worried that minky and batting would be too massive for this dainty cotton - but it wasn't.  There didn't seem to be much weight difference between using my usual flannel in the middle versus the Warm & White - and I kept the size modest with lap quilt dimensions.

(Note:  Warm & White/Natural seems thinner to me now than when I started quilting a few years ago.  Back then, a minky/batting combo seemed just too heavy.)

Quilting was a medium sized broken zig zag in Aurifil 50wt. Sand, following the tumbler shape and then down the middle from top to bottom.  

Materials:
Sweet as Honey / Art Gallery 
Warm & White batting
Aurifil  Sand 50wt.
Minky dimple dot in Camel
Accuquilt 6.5" tumbler
Size: 58 "x 75"
April 2015

Old New 30's Quilt (#31)

I love fat eighths and Westwood Acres had a lovely bundle of Old New 30's from Lecien that worked out perfectly. 

 I am always pleased by the simple and quick way fat quarters and fat eighths can be used with Cluck Cluck Sew's Easy Bake pattern. 
 Using Aurifil 50wt. white with a medium sized zigzag stitch is so effective on square block quilt patterns - it looks nice on both sides (front & back).  It's pretty sweet for piecing too.

I wanted to use the whole bundle and not have leftovers, so every piece went in - even the strong green & red.  The backing is white flannel, something I usually use as a middle layer in my minky quilts - but plain was best since the front was strong & bright.

Pale pink & white stripes from my stash expanded the quilt into a twin size. The large pale border created a nice barrier between the binding and help soften all those strong colors mixed together.

Materials used:  
Easy Bake Pattern/ Cluck Cluck Sew
Old New 30's Lecien fat eighths (from Westwood Acres)
90" wide white quilter's flannel / Fabric.com
Pimatex Basic Stripe Pale Pink / Robert Kaufman
Aurifil 50wt. White for both piecing and quilting
Binding:  Amy Butler Solid in Coral
Batting: Twin sized Warm & White
Quilted with a broken zigzag stitch on a Janome DC2013
Size: 69" x 84"
February 2015

Black & White Accuquilt Tumbler (#26)

10 different black and white fabrics were cut using the Accuquilt tumbler die and 'trapped' in a border of Kona jet black.

13 tumblers wide, and 12 rows long ... the backing is black dimple dot minky - and binding is Timeless Treasures Sketch black. A layer of JoAnn's bleached muslin is the middle layer between the quilted top & minky back.

Quilted with Gutermann's Sew all grey on top and black on the bottom, following the tumbler shape and going across the rows as well, using the large broken zig zag stitch.  

The pictures don't exactly capture how black the fabrics are - but they are elegant and classic... like a LBD  (little black dress).

April 2014
Size:  57 x 72"

Tim Holtz's Eclectic Elements Quilt(#25)

I fell hard for this Eclectic Elements fabric collection by renowned paper crafter, Tim Holtz.  Tim is the Creative Director for Ranger Industries and all you have to do is go down an aisle at a Michael's or JoAnn's and see walls of his wonderful product creations.

 

This is his first fabric collection, and it comprises of 3 design categories:  Documentation, Labels, & Melange.  In order to retain all the good scrapbook/grunge/steampunk vibe - I used my trusty pattern:  Easy Bake from Cluck Cluck Sew.

It was not easy to find the entire collection (24 fat quarters total) and I wanted to use every bit of it. After making the bulk of the quilt -  I measured the remaining fabric and found that 4" square gave me the most pieces.  These squares were put on the front sides and back.

My first time making a quilt with a cotton top, traditional batting & a cotton back - (used Warm and Natural batting  / pre-washed and dried before quilting).  The back is Michael Miller's couture cotton in Nite -  which comes in 85 colors - and has a wonderful soft drape -  (while it looks rather bright in the pictures, it blends well overall - another option could be the Midnight Blue which is darker).

Quilted top and bottom with  Aurifil 50 wt. ( light sand #2000 & dark cobalt #2740).  Spray basted (and ironed to fuse them even more), I had a few hiccups (and 3 rows to rip out) as the bottom tension went all wonky - but a few turns on the bottom bobbin case screw worked fine.  Each time I re-loaded the bobbin - I had to make minor adjustments. 

April 2014
Size:  60 x 72"

Sabby Chic Accuquilt Tumbler (#23)

The goal was to make a shabby chic quilt. Using different 6 fabric patterns, including Paris Flea market by 3 Sisters and Petal by Tany Whelan - this quilt is all that.  

The photos don't capture  how well all these colors & tones meld and harmonize with the blush minkey dimple dot - which photographs like a salmon color - but in real life they look great together. 

Using the Accuquilt large tumbler die, minkey back and muslin in the middle so you can't feel the seams - I quilted it using Gutermann pinks with the broken zig zag stitch following the tumbler shapes from top to bottom - and across the tumbler rows from side to side.
Size:  57x72"
April 2014

A Walk in the Woods (#19)

I have loved making 3 different style quilts out of Aneela Hoey's A Walk in the Woods.  It looked good as a tumbler, a disappearing 9 patch - and just as pretty using Cluck Cluck Sew's Easy Bake pattern ($7.45 for a PDF).

One layer cake (42 10x10" squares) makes a lap quilt that measures 54" x 62". 
 Backed with my favorite flannel from Robert Kaufman (cozy cotton in Sky) from Beverly's and  the middle layer with 90" Quilter's Flannel from Fabric.com.

Large broken zig zag stitch done with a walking foot - using the seam as a guide.  
Since I press my seams open this works great and is fast.
  Quilted with Isacord #40 both front and back in white.

Size: 54" wide by 62" long
February 2014