LONE STAR MINI QUILT: FINISHED!

Dies used: Diamonds, 2 1/2in (2 3/4in x 6 1/2in Unfinished)
                 Half-Square Triangles, 2 1/2in Finished Square
                 Square, 4in Finished (4 1/2in Unfinished)


Hello again!

There were only a couple of jobs left to do to finish my Lone Star mini quilt. So that it can be hung on the wall easily and lie flat against it, it needed a couple of pockets on the back to fit a baton in. I cut a couple of 4 1/2in squares on my Big Shot Plus, pressed them in half diagonally and basted them in the top two corners on the reverse of the quilt.

The binding was then sewn on and a baton cut to size and fitted into the back pockets.

And then all that was left was to hang it on the wall. It's finished size is approximately 27 1/2in square.

I love the 'rings' of diamonds that make up the star, it is such a striking shape and it really brightens up the room. I want to make a huge one now and cutting all of the diamonds out with my Big Shot will make it SO much easier!

Happy sewing, see you next time!

Fan Blade Dresden Plate - finished

 Hello again - I have enjoyed completing this little quilt - I managed to make 9 'plates' from my fabric

 

and I decided to stitch them onto a plain white background, and then use narrow ric rac to create the appearance of blocks -

 

I used a 3 step zig zag stitch for the plates, and a straight stitch for the ric rac

 



For the centres I bonded 2 layers of white fabric together and then cut 9 x 1 1/2" circles using the Big Shot http://www.sizzix.co.uk/product/660200/sizzix-big-shot-machine-only-white-gray and the Bigz Circle Die - 660113 http://www.sizzix.co.uk/product/660113/sizzix-bigz-die-circles-1-1-2

I stitched the circles in place using a zig zag stitch

All it needs is the binding - which will be plain white and this little quilt is complete - I hope  you like it.

Next week I'll be back on the Fan Blade completing what I started 2 weeks ago.

After that it will be Christmas preparations - there will be some gifts and maybe some decorations - let's see what time and ideas allow.

Angela

 

Lone Star Mini Quilt: Part 2

Dies used: Diamonds, 2 1/2in (2 3/4in x 6 1/2in Unfinished)
                 Half-Square Triangles, 2 1/2in Finished Square


Hello again!

The Lone Star mini quilt I've been making with diamonds and half-square triangles is progressing nicely. Picking up from last time, the next stage was to make 8 large half-square triangles with each star point and 3 background sections and then to join them in pairs to give 4 squares.

And then the squares were sewn together to give one large square mini quilt top.

Then it was time to start quilting. I drew out a geometric design on the lone star with water erasable pen and once it was completed I looked at the swirl effect created by the fabric in the centre of the star and decided that instead of the pattern I'd marked out, a spiral would be much better! So the pen lines were blotted out and the centre of a spiral drawn out instead.

To help the star stand out from the background only the star was quilted with the spiral and so once it got to the white background I stopped quilting a continual coil and instead did each of the star points one at a time working from side to side. Each of the background sections were quilted with straight lines to contrast with the curves on the star.

Progress has stalled now as I can't decide on a binding fabric but hopefully a decision will be made and it will be finished and hanging on the wall in time for my next post.

Happy sewing, see you next time!

Lone Star Mini Quilt

Dies used: Diamonds, 2 1/2in (2 3/4in x 6 1/2in Unfinished)
                 Half-Square Triangles, 2 1/2in Finished Square


Hello again!

This new Sizzix project ticks off 2 entries on my 'want to make' list. I've never made a mini-quilt before and would really like one to hang on my bedroom wall and I love Lone Star piecing designs and had yet to have a go at making one. So I'm currently making a Lone Star mini-quilt and killing two birds with one stone! I've been wanting to use my long diamonds die and cutting mats for a while and before tackling a full-size quilt this was the perfect tester project to play around with print and pattern.

For the star, I selected 5 different fabrics and decided in which order they were to form the rings of the star. I then cut the following number of diamonds from each fabric on my Big Shot:

1st and 5th (central and outer) ring: 8
2nd and 4th ring: 16
3rd ring: 24

The diamonds were then divided up into 8 sets that would form each section of the star and then sewed together into rows and then the rows were joined to form a large diamond.

Matching the points when joining the rows together took a little getting used to. With right sides together, inserting a pin 1/4in down from the raw edge through the diagonal seam and through in the same position on the opposite side was the most convenient method for me.

Once the 8 star sections were completed I cut out the background pieces on my Big Shot. I chopped 144 solid white half-square triangles and 72 low volume white on white half-square triangles and joined them like this to make 24 larger half-square triangles.

These triangles will fit on either side of the outer points of the star to give a square mini-quilt top.

So the next job is to sew the star and background together and complete the top ready for quilting and binding and eventually hanging on the wall.

See you next time. Happy sewing!

Starting a Kaleidoscope Quilt

Hi everyone!Today I come back with a new project, something new to me.
When I got some dies, last September, from Sizzix it was as Santa came before Xmas! I looove opening  the packages and find new dies to try. Kaleidoscope has been one of them. So I could´t to wait  and started a new quilt with some of my favorite vintage style fabrics!

First I chose my fabrics for background ( dotted ) and  triangles ( vintage in red, yellow and green) and cut out before using the Big Shot Plus in two sizes for the big triangles and for the little ones.

With this die you can get a 6 1/2 " finished block.

You can fold the fabrics and lay each one on the die. Here you can see the different pieces before sewing.

I wanted to share  a trick to save fabric. After you get the triangles cut, open de fabric and  you can find something more you can save. Just  select that rest of it and lay again on the die. 

In just some minutes you will get a good amount of pieces cut out!!

Now time to sewing each bock. Remember you have to do it alternating the direction of the big triangles !!

Then, sew on a row. There are seven blocks in each one.

And again sew the rows together.

 Here it is what I have done at this moment , 21 blocks sewn. I´m in love with this beginning , especially because I already can see some " kaleidoscope " image.

I hope I can show   you more  progress  in two weeks.

Have a nice autumn weekend!!

Love

Mercedes

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¡Hola a todo el mundo! Hoy vengo con un proyecto nuevo que también es nuevo para mí.

Cuando llegaron nuevos troqueles en Septiembre de la mano de  Sizzix  UK,fue como si Papá Noel hubiera venido antes de Navidad. Me encanta abrir  paquetes y descubrir qué nuevos troqueles han llegado.   Kaleidoscope   ha sido uno de ellos. Así que antes de nada empecé  una nueva colchita con  mis telas favoritas de estilo vintage.

Primero elegí las telas, una con puntitos  para el fondo y en rojo , amarillo y verde para los triángulos del caleidoscopio. Antes de cortarlos con la  Big Shot Plus, hice tiras en dos tamaños para los triángulos grandes y pequeños.

Con este troquel puedes conseguir bloques acabados  con una medida de 16.5 cm

Sobre cada par de  triángulos sitúa cada tira doblada. En las fotos puedes verlo y también cómo quedan todas las piezas listas antes de empezar a coser.

Quería contarte un truco para aprovechar la tela. Una vez que has cortado, desdobla las tiras y quedarán espacios en forma de triángulos. Córtalos y colócalos sobre los troqueles y podrás  volver a obtener más piezas.

En unos minutos puedes tener un montón cortados.

Cose cada bloque y luego en tiras de 7. Recuerda que debes hacerlo de manera alterna.

Una vez cosida cada tira de siete vuelve a coser unas a otras como es habitual en patch.

En las fotos puedes ver todo lo que tengo hecho hasta el momento, nada menos que 21 bloques. Me encanta este comienzo y cómo ya empieza a verse la imagen caleidoscópica.

Espero mostrarte mis avances en un par de semanas. Hasta entonces que disfrutes de éste fin de semana otoñal.

Cariños

Mercedes

Circles Baby Quilt: Finished!

Dies used: Drunkard's Path Quarter Circle
                 Drunkard's Path & Fan Background


Hello again!

The little man that is set to receive this baby quilt has yet to make an appearance but it is now all ready when he is!

I've loved making this quilt. Sewing curves made a nice change, they weren't too tricky to handle and work so well on a small quilt like this one (approximately 32" x 32"). The circles are a really good size for quilting in that they are big enough to contain a specific pattern/design but not too big so that it's awkward to keep track of the design during quilting. I used 4 different quilting patterns and had 4 circles of each design.

The brushed cotton backing is super-soft and is lovely to touch especially with the ridges formed by the quilting.

All that's left now is to wrap it up and wait!

Happy sewing :)

Circles Baby Quilt

Dies used: Drunkard's Path Quarter Circle
                 Drunkard's Path & Fan Background


Last time I posted about the baby quilt I had just begun for my friend's baby that is due in a couple of weeks time. Having made the first four circles as a test run it was time to work out how the rest of the quilt was going to come together. After going through my entire stash of blue fabrics I opted to use some blenders to bring out some of the more detailed prints and not to repeat any as I'd originally intended and instead use 16 different fabrics.

I have to say that I'm not sure I'd have managed a quilt even as small as this if I had to cut all of those curves by hand! Here are all 16 circle blocks ready to be sewn together.

I always photograph my final intended layout and use the photo as a guide to work from as once sewing them all together gets under way I always lose track of what goes where! They were sewn together into four 2 x 2 blocks and then joined in pairs and then together to give the final quilt top.

The quilt is now basted and the backing is some super soft organic brushed cotton with a clouds design, perfect for snuggling a newborn under.

Quilting has begun and the plan is to have 4 different quilting designs for the circles, so there will be 4 of each style. One down, 15 to go.

As it's only small it's easy to manoeuvre on the sewing machine and fun to quilt. Next time I post there may be a little baby tucked up in it!

Happy sewing!

Works In Progress: Baby Quilt & Table Runner

Dies used: Hexagons, 1 1/4in Sides
                 Hexagons, 1in Sides #2 (for the papers)

                 Drunkard's Path Quarter Circle
                 Drunkard's Path & Fan Background

We're back home again now after our family holiday to the Isle of Wight. The days were packed with visits to castles, beaches, Roman villas, boat trips, dinosaur attractions and more but the evenings were much more relaxed with plenty of time for some English paper piecing. The box I took to hold my basted hexagons filled up nicely over the course of the week.

Still going to need quite a few more though to make a 6ft+ festive table runner!

Returning home again meant getting back to the deadlines and trying to get back on top of the to-do list. One of my close friends is due to give birth in the next few weeks and I want to make a little quilt for the new baby's arrival. Whilst there isn't quite the same pressure as a work deadline, time is running out quickly and so it was time to get on with it!

I've been wanting to use my Drunkard's Path dies for a while to have a go at a circles design and this seemed like the perfect project. I decided to make 4 circles using some printed children's fabric and see how it went. Having spent years sewing toys full of tricky curves as a result I don't really mind sewing curves and found that the quarter circles and background pieces went together really nicely. With the finished circle being quite large at 7in diameter, the curve isn't too tight and didn't feel awkward to manage instead it felt quite comfortable to sew.

I think 4 circles by 4 circles will work out at a good baby quilt size and so the top is almost a quarter complete already. Oh and if you haven't guessed, it's a boy!

To make the children's prints stand out more it might be good to add a few circles made with basic blender prints, or add another background fabric, hmm. Some more playing about with fabric is needed I think!

See you next time and happy sewing!

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