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

Gypsy Caravan Snowball Quilt (#34)

Rustic chic doesn't get any better than a snowball quilt made with Amy Butler's Gypsy Caravan and real linen.

Linen is so organic & soft after washing, and as always, Gypsy Caravan doesn't disappoint. Amy Butler's patterns & colors harmonize next to each other and the linen adds a natural element.

There are lots of tips for sewing garments with linen but not many on how to make a quilt with it.  The biggest caution seems to be a concern with the linen edges unraveling when using a 1/4" seam.  Internet advice suggests that sewing with a larger 1/2" seam is a safer option. 

Good advice but this was not possible if I wanted my corners to fit into the 'snowball' and not make a distorted block.

 A scant 1/4"  was my only choice.  I pressed my seams open and quilted on them in a grid pattern, as well as through the middle of the snowball using a medium broken zigzag  stitch.  That way, any stray or loose linen edges are sewn down on the inside - and the seam is really secure.

 I did pre-wash in hot water & dry the linen on hot a few times to maximize shrinkage (which was a few inches). This really did tighten up the fabric weave (which was a good thing). Between starch and ironing, the linen did become 'shiny' - but in the end everything looked great after washing.

 If you are nervous about how the linen will look in it's final stage - iron and starch a decent sized scrap piece.  Throw it in with your hot washes a few times.  Afterwards you will see that you really can't ruin this natural fiber and be able to sew with confidence. 

The most time/labor portion of this quilt seemed to be in the ironing. Fabric for 528 corners and 132 snowballs needed to be starched/cut/sewn - and ironed again - but the Accuquilt die was fun and the cutting part went quickly. 

The end goal was not to make this look like beautiful pressed linen bedding - but a textured quilt worthy of a 'very cool & fancy gypsy caravan."

Materials:
Amy Butler / Gypsy Caravan
Natural Linen IL090 from Fabric-Store.com
Warm & White twin sized batting
Aurifil 50wt. Light Sand 2000 for piecing & quilting
Accuquilt Snowball die
Faultless Starch (lots)

Size:  71"x 83"
February 2015

Herringbone Baby Quilt (#33)

This herringbone pattern made with half square triangles is so easy and effective for any quilt - not just a sweet baby boy blanket.

Using my Accuquilt 4.5" finished sized half square triangle die, starch, a scant 1/4" seam and small stitches (1.5) - the squares came out perfectly.

This template here from Riley Blake Designs can be saved to your computer and then printed out - making layout very simple.

The best part is that everything is easy to keep track of.  Chain piecing only two colors is fun - and using a dainty broken zigzag on the seams didn't take too long since the blanket was so small. For a larger quilt I would recommend a larger zigzag but still in the grid pattern. 

Lastly, Riley Blake Blenders (or Shades) add such depth because of their mottled/uneven coloring.  I've used this slate gray before in the Fancy Fox and Mustache quilts - and it is so much prettier in real life than any photo can show.  For a selection of colors, check out The Loopy Ewe or Stash Addict Quilts.

Materials:
Riley Blake Slate Blender
Kona white
Backyard Baby / Michael Miller for backing & binding
Isacord #40 thread
Warm & White (Crib size)
Accuquilt HST 4.5" 
Size: 40.5" x 45"
March 2015

Fancy Fox Quilt (#32)

 (Update: Below is my first fox quilt in natural tones, but I made another Fancy Fox Quilt here  in December 2015 using a Retro 30's jelly roll - showing that each quilt has a unique look & feel with different fabrics.)

Elizabeth Hartman's Fancy Fox Quilt pattern was the perfect design for my next "guy quilt' - and it was a great stash buster too. Instructions were clear and chain piecing went quickly.  I did use starch and ironed a lot ... lots of starch makes happy foxes!

Maybe being new to this type of piecing was my problem -  but most of my fox 'faces' measured larger on top and less on the bottom.  Not to worry. 

 I only planned to make 42 fox faces knowing that number was realistic for my time - I added 2.5" pieces of sashing around each fox to fill out the space. This sashing allowed me lots of wiggle room for errors, the blocks were cut to 9.5"x11.5" - the tip of the nose was my center point.

I did make a few cutting mistakes and by the end I was down a couple of fox blocks - so decided to put stars in the four corners using the measurements & instructions from Happy Zombie for her Manzanita Star.  

To make this more 'manly' and rugged I used Mammoth Flannel on the back which is lovely to sew and soft.  All my fabrics had been pre-shrunk since they were leftovers from other projects, the only exception being the Warm & Natural batting which was tumbled in the dryer to remove wrinkles.

Since I don't know how to free motion quilt, my goal was to not mess with the fox face - so the ears are the only area that you can see the zigzag quilting.  I used Aurifil 50wt. Grey Smoke (5004) which was perfect for disappearing into the yarn dyed denim and blending into the plaid backing. I spray based the quilt layers together and the Aurifil thread just glided through beautiful and smooth.

I am partial to the broken zigzag stitch and for this quilt I used a medium width and length.  I tend to zigzag smaller for pretty quilts and juggle between larger widths & lengths for 'man' quilts.

Materials:  

Robert Kaufman's Essex yarn dyed linen in denim

Moda/3 Sisters Winterlude Aged Solids in Black

Riley Blake Shades (or Blenders) in Slate & Granite,
& Orange Fox Trails stars

Moda Funky Monkey sock texture (brown)

Timeless Treasures Sketch (black & white)

White jelly roll 
Aurifil 50wt. grey smoke (#5004)
Size: 59" x 83"
February 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

Fancy Fox Block

My first time piecing and it's so fun with Elizabeth Hartman's Fancy Fox PDF pattern from her blog Oh Fransson.  Here are two samples.  On the right is Riley Blake's slate blender and yarn dyed denim linen from Robert Kaufman. 
  Left is Amy Butler with Essex linen flax, also a yarn dyed. I tried the flax to see if it would be a good neutral background for a 'scrap' fox quilt and I think it will work well with a variety of patterns & colors.

Mustache Quilt #30

An urban chic quilt made with applique mustaches in Amy Butler (Gypsy Caravan Turkish Nectarine, Cypress Paisley in Mint) and Riley Blake (slate & granite blender) fabrics. Great applique tips & techniques from Julie at the The Crafty Quilter.

The perfect mustache template is from Leslie at The Seasoned Homemaker (which you can download).  I appliqued using a small blanket stitch which wasn't perfect or very dense.  Letting some stray threads come through the edge stitching was on purpose to prevent it looking like a patch and a little more rustic. 

 I enlarged the mustache template to be 6.5" wide (from the fold to tip) and printed it on card stock for easy tracing.  

 The paisleys are backed with Pellon 906F sheer weight interface, and since only one side is fusible - I used fabric spray to adhere the mustache to the grey fabric panels before stitching. 

1 yard of background fabric yielded 6 panels, I needed 21.  Each rectangle is cut 18" long by 11" wide before sewing.

The cotton border is Kona cotton in pansy - the binding is Cypress Paisley in Mint from Amy Butler's Love collection.

Appliqued with Gutermann Sew All thread,  piecing with Aurifil 50wt. dove grey and quilted in Aurifil French Lilac, which turned out to be a very nice variegated option.  The batting is flannel and the back minky dimple dot in lilac, all these from Fabric.com.

 I followed the seams the width of the walking foot to start my straight line quilting - and did 2 rows on each side.  The mustaches were left alone and this grid pattern worked out fine since minky doesn't need to be quilted  as closely together as batting.
Size:  59" x 73"
August 2014

Oh Deer! Coasters

These coaster were made in 2014.  I made a photo tutorial in May 2018 on how to make fabric coasters which is here. 

August 2014 

Peak Hour Coin Quilt (#29)

Even after 3 baby quilts made with Riley Blake's Peak Hour, I still enjoy the whole happy vibe of these colors.   My last & final rollie pollie (jelly roll) of this fabric will be another baby blanket - using a half hexi template to mix things up a bit.

For some reason these coin did not line up straight and I kept cutting off parts of rows to square them up.  After a while I gave up ... added lots of Kona white in 6" borders to camouflage the ' wonky drift' of the rows and then squared it by cutting into the borders. 

Warm and Natural batting, Peak Hour flannel back, binding is Amy Butler Love Sunspots in Olive.  Isacord #40 white to piece and quilt.
Linking up with SEWjo Saturday

Size: 47"x 55"
July 2014

Noteworthy by Sweetwater Quilt (#28)

I really like the fabric collections from Sweetwater and Noteworthy  is no exception.  Like Lucy's Crab Shack, there are lots of swirls, loops, words & labels - all in very pretty colors that harmonize when you put them next to each other.  

This quilt was made using 5 charm packs in  a nine patch design.  I needed just 4 more 'blocks' so I cut white 9" squares and put them in the corners.  The border is 1 yard of coordinating fabric.

The batting is Moda's Kyoto bamboo and I love it. I have only made one other 'traditional' quilt and that used Warm & Natural -  (the rest are minky or flannel).  The bamboo is a little thinner but softer - and it's correct what others say about it having a nice drape.  Pricey at $28 for a twin sized roll from Fabric.com (compared to Warm and Natural at $18.50).

 I did push the envelope and pre-wash/dry the Kyoto batting in my front load washing machine and regular dryer - and the width shrunk about 2.5'.  It also stretched in the length but next time I will pre-measure it before washing to see how much shrink it has - and not go by the package dimensions.

Pieced with Aurifil 50wt sand - quilted with a broken zigzag stitch using a walking foot - with Isacord40 white.  Spray basted with 505 before quilting - and then ironed the layers when they were together to help the spray stick better - great tip. 
Linking up to Go-Go Kim's SEWjo Saturday 

Size: 60" x 75"
July 2014