Let’s Quilt! part 5

Posted on June 25, 2012 by oliver's fancy

Part 1- here, Part 2- here, Part 3- here, Part 4- here

At last I have finished my quilt blocks! Or finished them as much as I plan to- we’ll get to that in a minute.

Drunkard’s Path block-

I really enjoyed this block. The original block from our class had a smaller circle but I wanted a different look so I enlarged the template circle a bit and am so excited that it turned out. I went on Pinterest to look up ideas for this block so check out my quilts board if you want to see other ways this can be used. I love how with just moving the blocks around, you can totally change the look of this block. I feel confident about sewing curved seams now. The only thing I didn’t like about the block was that it requires LOTS of pinning so it becomes quite time-consuming: difficult when your sewing time is limited to a toddler’s nap time.

Dresden Plate block

This block was our practice in applique. I have been doing quite a bit of applique recently so this was a review, but I enjoyed putting it together. I opted out of hand-appliqueing for time’s sake and did a straight stitch around all the edges. MUCH faster and I still like the effect though I do prefer a hand-applique look for a block like this. I used a freezer paper template for the center circle and even with this template, I had a hard time getting my circle completely round- but I’ve determined not to stress out about small imperfections!

Tumbling block

Ah…this block. What can I say about it? I spent much time painstakingly cutting out tiny diamonds, sewing said diamonds together, and mastering the y-seam, only to have to scrap this block for now. 😦 I was really happy with how this block was turning out as I was sewing my diamonds together. This y-seam thing wasn’t hard at all, I thought to myself. And then I began to sew the rows to each other. I just could not get them to work! The seams were so far off that in no way were they ever going to meet and I would have to resew all the individual rows to try to fix the problem. I also realized that my template was so tiny, I was going to have to make twice as many little blocks to fill my 18 inch big block. So, I scrapped it for now. We had 10 blocks built into the class, and I only need 9 for my quilt top so it wasn’t a big deal to opt out of it. I would like to revisit this block at some point and learn how to make it correctly because I love the visual effect it gives. Here’s my instagram shot of my progress.

Now that all my blocks were finished, I had to decide on sashing and borders. I was going to do a sashing between my blocks but the only solid I have on hand to match is a very dark grey, and I didn’t think it would look good so I decided to put them together with no sashing. However I am going to do a 6 inch border of the dark grey. I got as far as sewing all the blocks together tonight and will work on the border and backing tomorrow. I am pretty excited because tomorrow’s class begins the discussion of free motion quilting- something I very much want to learn!

Let’s Quilt! part 4

Posted on June 19, 2012 by oliver's fancy

Part 1- here; Part 2- here; Part 3- here

I have gotten a bit behind in my quilt class because I spent most of my time last week finishing my Father’s Day quilt so I am trying to get caught back up this week. I’m making fairly good progress and have 3 more blocks to show.

First off, the Double Pinwheel

I just finished my pinwheel quilt so I wanted to challenge myself to try something new in this double pinwheel. I like how I could showcase my large scale print fabric in the big wheels. I did not have any problems with this block and am happy to report that all the points line up in the middle…yay! So happy that Deborah gave us some magic numbers to use when figuring out how big to cut the squares for the half square triangle shortcuts because I’ve never been able to figure out that math!

Next up- the Ohio Star

I’m trying to balance out the blue-greens and pinky reds in the quilt so I knew that I wanted this block to focus on the blue and green prints. I also wanted to branch out a bit from using white as a background and decided this light green print would work well. Since it is such a small scale, light print, it works well for a background. I liked doing the quarter square triangles the easy way! I’m pretty happy with how well my points lined up. There are a few places where they’re off a bit but for the most part, it’s good. I like the effect of this and I am hoping it coordinates with all my other prints even though I didn’t use white as the background.

Lastly, the Card Trick

This block was extremely challenging for me and I think it pushed my skills quite a bit. Previously, I have only made triangles using the easy method of sewing two squares together and cutting them in half. I did spray the blocks with starch before I cut them and I think that helped them not stretch so much. Some of the sections, I got my points to line up perfectly and other sections are off quite a bit. I was a little discouraged because I thought I was doing much better with keeping things in line, but I guess I still have work to do. I like the effect of this block, but since it was so much work, I don’t think I will make it too often- definitely not a whole quilt of this block! I do have a bunch of triangles left over so maybe I will try to put a small version of this together for the backing of my quilt.

All my blocks so far- 7 in total.

Let’s Quilt! part 3

Posted on June 13, 2012 by oliver's fancy

Find Part One- here

Find Part Two- here

Modern Herringbone block

We used the tutorial from Sew, Mama, Sew’s Modern Block of the Month series to make this block. I love the end result of this block but the process was a bit strenuous. If I were making 12 inch blocks, it would have been no problem, but since I am making 18 inch blocks, the math became a bit sketchy. Deborah had posted an updated pattern for those of us using larger blocks but I messed up on some of the numbers and had to do some seam ripping and re-sewing. Math has never been my strong point! I think that if I ever make this block again, it will be much faster. However, the other thing I did not like about this block was that you end up cutting off quite a bit of fabric and, to me, that is somewhat of a waste. I do enjoy learning new skills though, and this block taught me some good math/block construction skills.

Double Nine Patch Block

I have always wanted to make nine patch blocks but never gotten around to it so I was happy that a block was included in this class. This block is a bit of a twist of the traditional nine patch because it includes large blocks of fabric in with the nine patch blocks. I had planned on doing a different layout, but as I looked through my fabric I realized that I had quite a few 2.5 inch strips left over from my Log Cabin and Rail Fence blocks- I even had a long strip already sewn together! I then decided to save time and use the fabrics already cut and combine them with a solid white Kona cotton to break up the scrappiness. I do so like how this turned out!

I’ve completed 4 out of the 10 blocks for this quilt class and learned so much already! Next up, I’ll be working on some HST (half-square triangles) as I make a double pinwheel block. I have learned so much already from this class and can’t believe it is almost half over 😦 . Every day I can’t wait to log in and see what new block we are working on! Hopefully these blocks are inspiring you to learn some new skills as well!

Let’s Quilt! part 2

Posted on June 11, 2012 by oliver's fancy

For part 1 in this series go here.

I have finished two blocks for my online quilting class- a log cabin block and a rail fence block. I have done a log cabin block several times but never a rail fence. I found the construction of both blocks to be fairly simple and straightforward. I did take a long time in deciding color/fabric choices for my blocks because both of them can turn out very differently based on where you place your fabrics. I am happy to announce that both my blocks ended up 18.5 inches square- a rare feat for me! I think the solution is accurate pressing of the strips as you sew.

First: the log cabin block

I really wanted to show the two color palettes in this block. I also wanted to have a graduated intensity toward the outside of the block. I really like how the finished block turned out. This block doesn’t look square, but I promise you that it is!

Next: the rail fence block

This block utilizes dark, medium, and light fabric hues to draw your eye across and down the block. I spent forever debating medium versus dark fabrics and finally ended up with the choices you see here. While I don’t know if this is a perfect representation of the dark, medium, and light hues, I am pleased with the flow of the block. I will definitely keep this block in my repertoire to use again.

I had hoped to have a third block to show to you tonight, but alas I am struggling with the construction of this one and after sewing wrong sides together 2x in a matter of minutes, I have decided to put this aside until tomorrow to complete with a fresh mind. Do you find that as you rush to finish projects, you make stupid mistakes? I most definitely do and am learning to stop when I get to this point in order prevent unnecessary frustration! Here’s a sneak peek at that third block and my mistake.

Let’s Quilt! part 1

Posted on June 6, 2012 by oliver's fancy

I thought I would try to update regularly on the progress of my quilting class. I will link all the posts together so they are easy to find and will be a fun way to look back and see the whole quilting process. Today we learned a lot about color schemes and fabric selection for our quilts, and I really enjoyed learning more about how to think through this process and not just randomly select colors you like. I bought some of the DS Quilts collection a while back intending to make a quilt with it and haven’t done anything with it since so I have decided to use this for my quilt. Choosing to use a designer’s collection makes fabric selection a bit easier, but I will also pick up some solids to coordinate with my prints. I’m thinking Kona cottons in white, pink and green to bring some balance to the busyness of the prints I have. In my quilts, I like to have enough solids to provide visual rest so that I don’t go cross-eyed when looking at it. 🙂