Virtual Quilting Bee: Block #10 Tutorial

Hi all - and thanks for stopping by! If you're new to my blog feel free to look around. And if you haven't already seen the great blocks so far in the virtual quilting bee (hosted by Amy of Diary of a Quilter) you can go see them all here.

My block is called Mother's Dream and is from the book The Farmer's Wife. I believe the dimensions for the Farmer's Wife blocks are smaller and possibly put together using templates. I think this block also would be a good candidate for foundation paper piecing. But I wanted to write a tutorial that could just be cut and put together without a foundation. So some of the dimensions are a bit odd, just because it's on the diagonal.

1. Cut 2 squares 3 3/4 inches from background fabric.
2. Cut 2 squares 2 7/8 inches from background fabric.

3. Cut all 4 squares in half on the diagonal. This will give you 8 half square triangles - 4 large and 4 small.

4. Cut 1 square 3 1/4 inches. This is your center square.

5. Cut 4 rectangles 3 1/4 x 1 7/8 from fabric A.
6. Cut 4 rectanges 3 1/4 x 1 7/8 from fabric B.

Here is the block layout. You'll sew the block in strips, press, and then sew the strips together.

7. To sew the center triangles onto the rectangles, match up the sides as shown and leave the corner hanging over as shown.

8. Once you have the rows sewn together, sew the strips together and press to make the block.

And you're done! This block finishes at 8 1/2 inches (8 inches finished).

twin baby quilts

I have been wanting to make a quilt like this for a while now and I've also been wanting to try making half square triangles using the first method in this tutorial (the one where you start with a square, sew all the way around the edges, and then cut it diagonally into 4 parts).

I made this quilt first as the test quilt for the solids quilt. I used Violet Craft's fabric - Madrona Road - which I got from my local Modern Quilt Guild - they were giving it away for a challenge project.

I also found this perfect backing fabric from JoAnn (surprisingly). I kind of love it - and I wish it came in every color!

The second quilt I made with a very specific color palette for a friend's baby. She said she wanted a grey quilt, and that she didn't really want pink or yellow with it. I dug through my solids and thought these might work. I LOVE how it turned out.

I especially love the backing fabric. One of my all time favorites.

Checkerboard Herringbone in Notting HIll fabrics

This is the first quilt I made this year, and I actually finished it back in January. I wanted to do something with these larger scale prints (from Joel Dewberry's line Notting Hill) that would still show off the prints, but that I would be able to cut out of a fat quarter. I used this tutorial (by crafty blossom - grey and white herringbone quilt) as an idea for what I wanted. I have no idea if my sizing is the same, but hers is cut as triangles, and mine are cut as parallellograms.

 For the backing I was able to use this Primrose print and it ended up being perfect for the quilting. I just quilted it from the back so I could trace the flowers. The tension wasn't perfect on the front, but I love the pattern of it, and I think with a few washes, no one will notice. I think I'll try it again on a future quilt.

And isn't this a great binding? It's one of my favorite prints from the line - called tartan. I love it. And I love how it turned out.

2012 quilts

1. rainbow chevron finished!, 2. scrappy fish quilt, 3. harmony (do good stitches) quilt - finally!, 4. giant red white and blue star, 5. improv green quilt, 6. hello betty matryoshka, 7. simple squares - spiral quilting, 8. robot quilt, 9. weiner dog, 10. matryoshka strip quilt, 11. soft orange squares, 12. scrap quilt, 13. scrap quilt, 14. Granny Square Quilt, 15. Hello Betty Double Hour Glass, 16. Man Quilt number 2

 Wow! I finished 16 quilts last year! That is my record so far!

Thanks so much to all of you who read my blog. Even when I'm not on here much.

Man Quilt v. 2

When I cut out the first man quilt (tutorial here) I also cut extras so I could make one for my husband. I had even cut the binding pieces, all scrappy. And like most stuff I cut, those pieces sat there for a while (over a year).

But I sewed them together in November, sent it to my favorite quilter Emily - of Emerson Quilting - and asked her to quilt it with the lyrics from the Beatles' song "I Will". One of the best songs ever, seriously. If you don't know the words, or the song, you should go listen to it now.

Of course I love it! It turned out SO awesome! I will definitely use cursive quilting again in the future.

One little detail she added at the end. Love it.

Granny Square Quilt Finished!

So I actually started and finished this quilt all in the same year! It's a quilting miracle. I absolutely love everything about it. I would make another one, I think it's so great.

Process wise, this quilt was fun to make. I cut tons of squares out of my scrap bin right off the bat. That made it a lot easier when I laid out the blocks to sew them together. I made 4 blocks at a time when I could work on them. I think it took me a few months to get them all done.

Mine is twin sized, which ended up being 48 blocks. Six block across, 8 down. I used the same dimensions for sashing, but just made my borders a bit wider (4.5 inches cut).

The original tutorial for the granny squares is here - on Blue Elephant Stitches. I actually used this tutorial to cut the edge triangles exactly the right size.

The quilting was done by my lovely and talented sister in law, Emily, of Emerson Quilting. I'd seen this pattern on flickr and asked her to recreate it. She did an excellent job, as always. I LOVE it so much!

I love this print I used for the binding. It's one of my favorite prints ever. I fussy cut it so that the it would look the same along all the edges and pieced it so the pattern would continue. It ended up meeting exactly in the right spot when I pieced the last seam to finish it.

And the backing, which I found on super sale somewhere. I pieced a little piece of that Heather Bailey print in there, but mostly it's the safety pins.

Hello Betty Quilt Finished

I've been working on this quilt for at least 2 years. And I've had the fabric for a few years before that. I'm so glad it's done! And I also love how it turned out!

I used this tutorial from Cluck Cluck Sew. Except I ended up buying a 6 inch square ruler, marking it on the diagonal, and using it instead of the paper template she suggests. (If you'd like me to do a little tutorial on how I did it, let me know and I may post one.)

These blocks were somewhat time consuming and rather small. I do love how they look all together, but I'm not sure I'll be making another quilt like this anytime soon.

Emily also did the quilting on this one. A kind of ripply water quilting. I like it! Thanks Emily!