Creating Curves - part 3

HI, Trudi here from Quilting Prolifically, back from the excitement of Quilt Market in Houston.

So I finally got my quilt on with my quilt top.  I've named this one 'curves not curves'.

I started off with these dies:

659838 Bigz Square 4 1/2"
659832 Bigz Half Square Triangle 4 1/2" pieced
659853 Bigz L Isosceles & Right 4 1/2" H  
657611 Bigz Half Square Triangle 2 1/2" pieced


and a plan.

I made 2 different blocks, you can see them in this post.

I made my top completely from scraps, so the Sizzix Big Shot Plus was great for cutting the shapes.

The next dilemma was how to quilt it.  I always had a plan to quilt curves into the piecing to accentuate the curve and take your eye away from those straight lines of the piecing.

So I added curved lines in the orange peel section, extending them all the way to the half square triangles and filled the curves with feathers.

In the center curved square area I used curved cross hatching to highlight the curves even more.











I am really pleased with the overall effect the quilting has had on changing the straight lines into curves.

 Its funny what your eye will pick up and see, but choose to ignore.

I also extended the quilting out into the borders to continue the curved story of this quilt.  I think it worked well.


So next time you fancy doing a curved quilt, but don't fancy dealing with the curves, try piecing in straight lines, but quilting the curves in to create the curved effect.

 I hope you'll come back next month to see what inspiration has struck!

Creating Curves - part two

Hi, Trudi here from Quilting Prolifically. So last month I made a great start on my curves, not curves quilt.

18 of these Shoo Fly blocks done, and I was well on my way to getting the other 18 alternate blocks done too!

This second block is made up of nine patch of 4 1/2" squares.  Plain squares in the corners, and squares made with the Isosceles Triangle die, and 2 1/2" Half Square Triangles to make the center square in square block.

another set of 18 blocks are done.

Alternate the blocks in the lay out and hey presto  ... its starting to take shape!

I barely had enough space on my living room floor to lay this out, So to piece it, I gathered up the rows, stacking the blocks in order and taking them out to my sewing machine in my studio in the garden.  

(one sure way to get your daily step quota up!)

As I pieced the rows, I laid them over the long arm, then pieced the rows together.

I've added a plain border, and this is now ready to quilt.  

The curves are already visible in the pattern, and not one curve has been sewn.  

I'm hoping that a little (ok, maybe a lot) of custom quilting in those areas will really enhance the curved effect.  

Remember, this whole quilt, that is now 82" square, is made from scraps.  I did cut some yardage for the outer border and some of the white areas, but it is all a mish mash of white on whites and very low volume fabrics. 

So if you have a large pile of scraps, and fancy making your own version of this quilt, these are the dies I used along with my Big Shot Plus: 

659838 Bigz Square 4 1/2"
659832 Bigz Half Square Triangle 4 1/2" pieced
659853 Bigz L Isosceles & Right 4 1/2" H 
 657611 Bigz Half Square Triangle 2 1/2" pieced

So, I'll be back next month with the full reveal of how the quilting can really make a difference to enhance those curves.  If your have a go at making thee blocks for your own Curves, Not Curves quilt, please tag me on social media, I'd love to see!

Creative Curves - Part one

Hi, Trudi here from Quilting Prolifically.  I've been working on curved piecing, having started on a whole series of Double Wedding ring inspired quilts.  Ambitious I know, but I have one under my belt already, and a second started.  But sometimes all those curves can be a little intimidating, so I wondered if I could create the illusion of curves without the curved piecing.

Yes you can!

so armed with my Sizzix Bigshot Plus and the following dies

659838 Bigz Square 4 1/2"
659832 Bigz Half Square Triangle 4 1/2" pieced
659853 Bigz L Isosceles & Right 4 1/2" H 
 657611 Bigz Half Square Triangle 2 1/2" pieced


and my recently overflowing scrap bin   ....

I set to making a whole bunch of Half Square Traingles,  

Because when it comes to quilts, I sort of love a big bed size quilt, I pieced and pressed these in sets of 10's so I could keep track I had the right amount made.  and if I lost count, it was easy to recount at a glance!

mix in a few squares, and the Shoo Fly blocks are done 

all 18 of them!

next up was piecing the other block, but, with Festival of Quilts looming fast, my progress has been put on hold, while I finish my entries for delivery next week

so I'll be back next month to show you these blocks, how I pieced them, and how when you put both the blocks together you create the illusion of curves without a curve in sight. 

Of course, add in a little quilting and the whole thing should come together nicely! 

See you soon!  Trudi

Summer Sunshine - Rising Sun

With summer in full swing, it seems a little unfair to bemoan the rising sun, however, 4.30 am in my bedroom window, beautiful as it is, I'd rather the dawn chorus would wait just a little longer.

So this month, in my homage to the rising sun, I give you the Rising Sun Block.

I found this beauty in the Quilters Album of Patchwork Patterns By Jinny Beyer

and really, if you are into traditional patchwork blocks, then this is for you!

I am loving finding all the blocks that I can use my Sizzix Big Shot Plus and Bigz dies for.  So I was pretty thrilled to be able to do all the cutting for this block completely by Sizzix.

I wasn't feeling so great, my daughter, having finish college and waiting for the summer to pass blissfully in idleness before Uni in September declared boredom.  So I enlisted her to choose any fabrics from my stash, yes, really, ANY fabrics, showed her the picture of what we were going to make, and set her to work cutting away.  She was quite surprised at just how easy it was to wind the dies through the Sizzix Big Shot Plus, how well each Bigz die cut the fabrics the same shape every time and how fast we had everything cut ready for piecing. 

The advantage of having help, that can sew, but chooses not to, is you realize just how important that 1/4" seam is.  Despite the accurate cutting, if the piecing isn't accurate, then the results are not going to be as pleasing.  Good job I know how to sew the seam accurately!  

A happy compromise of me sewing, and the teenager pressing was agreed.  In no time at all, we were deciding on borders to make the block slightly bigger for a cushion. Quilted the block, and soon had a cushion.  

We used the following equipment: 

Sizzix Big Shot Plus 

657611 Half Square Triangle 2 1/2" finished  (watch the video, it has great tips for cutting!)

657615 Trapezoid 2 1/2" x 41/2"

657605 Rectangle  2" x 4" finished

659838 Square  4" finished

659852 Triangles 2 1/2"h x 4 12"w unfinished

The block comes out at 16" finished, we added 1/2" finished accent to border the block, and 2 1/2" outer border.  Once quilted the cushion top was trimmed down to 20".  

Things to remember with shapes like the trapezoid is to layer fabrics with either right or wrong sides together, so you get a left and a right shape.  If all your fabrics are layered on the die all facing the same direction, you will only get one shape, not its reverse as well.  

I hope you'll have a go at this block, it was really quick to make, and for me is filled with happy memories of a pleasant afternoon of stitching harmony with my daughter. 

Jacob and his Ladder

This month I am looking at the Jacobs Ladder block.  This variation is traced back to Grandmother Clark 1932, a series of booklets published by W L M Clark Inc of St Louis.  Such a simple and effective block, using just 2 dies along with the BigShot Plus.  I thought I would tell you a little about my process too!

It all starts with an idea, an image that caught my attention, in a book, magazine, pinterest ... the options are endless, I have even been known to draw upon architecture and nature for inspiration.

Depending on where I am, I might grab the nearest bit of paper and jot down my thoughts ... that happens a lot!  I will often then convert those thoughts onto the computer in EQ7 to see how it looks, play with layouts and colours until I am sure about where the idea is going, or surprised where it takes me.

this was my basic layout, the plan was to use some new fabrics, just arrived in the studio

(but you know how hard it can be to cut into new fabrics, right!)

So these pretties were my alternative!

Except,when I was piecing them, they didn't quite have that oomph, ok, that clear contrast that I was looking for,  though I did carry on.

So I chose some more fabrics from my scrap box.  Really that's all this runner takes, and of course

660020 BigShot Plus machine

657607  square 2" finished die

658319  half square triangle  4 1/2" assembled die 

Each block is a combination of  4 patches and half square triangles, I like to chain piece all the pieces together in one go.  

I position everything at the sewing machine so it is all at hand

and in no time at all the four patches units are made

Repeat the process for the half square triangles

then with my scrap of paper at the ready, lay out the block

once I've laid that first block out, I will layer up all the pieces so that I can take the piles to the machine and start chain piecing the pairs together

Those blocks are pieced in no time at all

join the blocks together

add a couple of borders and hey presto! 

A table runner is born!

Back to those second choice fabrics ...

you can see the contrast just isn't there,  but I still love it!

This such a versatile block, that once you start playing around with colour and value, direction and placement of fabrics, all sorts of designs are created! 

I hope you'll give this one a go, and let me know how you get on. 

(I'm off to quilt those runners!) 

Antique Inpsiration

I'm back with another historical block made new with the Big Shot Plus (or the Big Shot) and Bigz quilting dies.

This month I am looking at the Crazy House block, similar to the Lucky Clover block, but with the addition on half square triangles.  and not a Y Seam in sight!

This block can be traced back to the Ladies Art Company between 1928 and 1934.

For this block you will need the following: 

Big Shot machine

2 1/2" x 4 1/2"Trapezoid die

2 1/2"Square Die (657607)

2 1/2" Half Square Triangle die (657611)

I had a play with my new Big Shot Plus machine, and I was not disappointed.  The machines extra space means that any overhang of fabric slides through the machine happily.  I found there was no need to hold the machine as I wound my dies through.  

I cut 8 background half square triangles, 5 background squares,  4 pink squares, and 4 each of each blue trapezoids.  When cutting the trapezoid, you will need to keep all your fabrics right side up, otherwise you will have mirror images, which will not work for this design. 

Piece the half square triangles to the trapezoids and pair up a background square with each of the pink squares.  

Next you need to join pairs of the trapezoids as below

once you have 4 units like the one on the right, you are ready to lay out your block.

Now it is just a case of piecing this in the same way you would piece a 9 patch.  Sew into rows, then sew the rows together.  

This makes a 10" finished block, a great size for easy maths when planning a quilt top.  It can easily be upsized too, using bigger sized dies.

Whilst this mock up has sashing, the secondary pattern of the pinwheels is clear, Imagine cornerstones in the sashing and a whole new pattern is created.  

That's what I love about quilting, the possibilities are endless!

Making new from the old

I've been looking at vintage blocks a lot lately, thanks to a friend and her inspiration for scrap reduction, and thanks to the amazing book Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns by Barbara Brackman, published in 1993.  A historic record of over 4000 patterns. It doesn't give you any measurements, cutting instructions, just a picture of a pattern, any alternative names, and its origins. Fascinating!

All that eye candy got me thinking how some of these blocks are so easy to make using the quilting dies and my Big Shot machine!

So I started with Lucky Clover, a block that dates back to the early 1930's and Aunt Martha Studios that published kits, patterns and booklets.

The block needs the following:

Big Shot machine
Bigz Trapezoid Die (657615) (2"x 4" finished)
Bigz 2 1/2" Square Die (657607)

I used an Art Gallery Fabrics Scrap bag for piecing this block.

A basic Four Patch layout of the block would seem easy enough, however, this block does require the mastering of Y Seams.  Fear not, I'll show you how!

I cut my fabrics with the Big Shot, and when layering the fabrics to cut the trapezoids I made sure I had fabrics layered so they were in pairs right sides together to give me lefts and rights.  

It's always useful to lay out your block pieces in the final block layout to keep you on track for the piecing.

The block is made up of four patches of the same unit, so we will start with piecing one unit.  

Piece one of the patterned and one background trapezoid along the angled seam. 

Mark the 1/4" seam for both the angled side and the shorter side.  This will give you your starting point for this seam.  Stitch along to the pointed end.  It is worth doing a couple of stitches, then back stitch to secure the seam at each end.  (It is important to know how your sewing machine behaves when backstitching so you do not stitch into the seam allowance at the marked point.)

You can then lay the center square onto the trapezoids.  Mark the 1/4" point on the square so that when you stitch from the top edge, you stop just at the point marked.  This will be right at the join of the trapezoids.  Be careful not to sew over their seams.   

Re-position the pieces to sew the other side of the square, sewing from the outside edge to the centre 1/4" seam point.  

Your block will look like this above

This process needs to be repeated with the remaining pieces of the unit, with the addition of the outside squares on each end. 

When you join the second trapezoid pieces to the center square, start from the outside edge and work inwards stopping 1/4" from the bottom edge of the center square.

be sure to fold areas of the block you are not sewing out of the way of your sewing path.  

I pressed the diagonal seams open and ensured the center square was pressed to the outer edges of the block

Repeat this for the remaining 3 units to make up the block. 

Piece into pairs, join the pairs together to complete your Lucky Clover block.

This block is 12" finished, but you could easily make a larger block by using the next size up in dies (657628 3 1/2" x 6 1/2" trapezoid and 657608 3 1/2" square) would give you and 18" finished block.

I love this block, and can see a whole quilt of them.  I'm not so sure I will do a whole quilt of the same fabrics, like this

but a more controlled scrappy layout.  

I hope you will have a go at piecing the block, and seeing that the Y seam is nothing to be apprehensive about.

If you don't fancy the Y seams, I'll be back next month with another block that uses the same dies, with the addition of one other and not a Y seam in sight!

Happy Spring!