5.31.2012

EZ Dresden Challenge - coming tomorrow!


The Salt Lake Modern Quilt Guild is hosting a challenge using the EZ Dresden ruler and it kicks off tomorrow! First there will be 2 weeks of posts to give you some ideas about how to use the ruler. Then during the summer you will have a chance to work on your own project using the ruler. And then in September you'll be able to link up your creation and have a chance to win some awesome prizes from some pretty awesome sponsors! There is even a sewing machine in there!

Here is the schedule for the blog hop - notice I'm on June 5th - this coming Tuesday. I'm excited about what I've been working on and hope you come back to see it! Also - don't forget to check out all the other great bloggers who've got posts coming up. Go over to the Salt Lake Modern Quilt Guild site tomorrow and check out all the details!
June 1
Salt Lake MQG: Kick Off www.slmqg.com/
June 10
Elizabeth: www.dontcallmebetsy.com/
Colleen: www.thebusybean.com/
June 14
Jessica: sewcraftyjess.blogspot.com/
June 15
Salt Lake MQG: Wrap-up www.slmqg.com/

5.30.2012

teacher quilts

It seems like forever that I have posted, or sewn for that matter. I've been trying to makeover my dining room and I'm almost done with it. And then in between that I've been sick. And this week I got called for jury duty. And then the kids are out of school - and all my time is gone!

But a few days ago I realized that if I wanted to make quilts for my kids' teachers - I'd better get to it! My 3 kids in school all had wonderful teachers this year (I haven't been able to say that every year.) And so I wanted to make them something special.

This first quilt is for a teacher who loves green. I think she likes owls too, but who wouldn't love that cute little guy. I just improv pieced the center part from scraps and then added borders. I wish I would have made the improv piece just a little bit bigger, but I do like how it turned out. I did a large scallop for the quilting on my home machine. It's something I've wanted to try for a while and it worked well. I'll definitely be using it again.






This next quilt is for a teacher who is fairly patriotic. I figured I'd be safe with red, white and blue. I used Jeni's giant vintage star quilt tutorial which was easy to follow and came together really quickly. I did change the center blocks to squares, but that was the only thing I changed. I used my stash for this one, except I didn't have quite enough for the background, so I did go buy that. I just did straight, vertical lines for the quilting to get it done quickly.



Is it horrible that I didn't make the 3rd teacher a gift? She told my son her favorite colors are pink, brown, and purple. Those are the colors I have the least of in my stash. And I just wasn't quite sure of her style. I'd hate to make her an entire quilt that she didn't end up liking. I think I'll be making her a Jane Market Bag and fill it with summer stuff. If any of you have another great idea - I'd love to hear it :)


5.03.2012

Sale and giveaway

Hi all -

Some of you know I have an etsy shop that has nothing to do with fabric. I make jewelry, mostly earrings, and they are for sale over here in my etsy shop.


I thought it would be a great time to have a sale, since Mother's Day is just around the corner. So from now until Mother's Day everything in my shop is 20% off! Just use the code MOM20.


Amy is hosting a giveaway over at her blog - Diary of a Quilter, so if you want a chance to win a pair of earrings - head on over!

p.s. I got a new header and button for my etsy shop! Made by my lovely sister Katie! Thanks Katie :)

4.30.2012

I can't quit you granny

So the granny craze started and I jumped right in! I made these blocks over a month ago, but I feel like I've been so busy - my blogging has fallen by the wayside.

Here are the blocks I've got so far. I'd like to have 48 and make a twin sized quilt. We'll see if that happens any time this year.

I do have all the blocks cut (even the white ones). These were all from scraps and I think I'll have extras. Maybe I'll do a giveaway of my extras if I ever finish all my blocks ...








2.16.2012

scrappy fish quilt

So I joined the Scrap Attack Quilt Along hosted by Rachel of Stitched in Color. Truthfully I had other ideas for my scrap quilt, and I still may try to execute those plans, but for now - this quilt turned out exactly how I'd planned it.



When I saw this quilt by Katie of Sew Katie Did I knew I wanted to make one.

One month I made these blocks with scraps for the Harmony circle of do. Good stitches {a charity bee} and I LOVED the colors together. My sister Katie was pregnant at the time and I thought she'd love this color combo as well.



And so I started making her new baby a quilt using only scraps. I still have a few scraps left over. 


Can you tell here that I used white strips to piece that whole white strip? 


For the back I used scraps from the backing of this quilt. It's just pieced with all the same fabric. And for the binding I used 2 different oranges that were smaller than a quarter yard. 

For the quilting I just did a curvy/straight line (is there a name for that?) with my new walking foot. I have a Brother sewing machine and I've never had good luck with the walking foot it came with. Kati had the same problem and started using a generic walking foot and had much better luck. I bought a new generic one and I'm happy to report that my straight quilting is the best I've ever done. If you've had trouble with straight line quilting, I'd look into getting a new/different walking foot.

What else?

I've also joined another quilt along with Dana of Old Red Barn Co. I am in love with that Granny Square quilt! I think I'll make a twin size. 

I've got a few other things to share soon too. What have you been up to?

1.29.2012

2011 quilts

Well I made 9 quilts last year and 9 quilts in 2010! Let's see if I can make more than 9 this year. Here are the ones from 2011 with a long list of what's already started (in hopes that by putting them on the here - I'll get them finished up.)


1. my new bed quilt, 2. Jack's stripes (back), 3. a man quilt, 4. KJR 9 patch, 5. purple/yellow 9 patch, 6. wildwood coin finished!, 7. the biggest quilt i've ever made - 102 x 104, 8. blue and green squares, 9. Amy Butler throw for the kindergarten teacher

Quilts I'd like to finish this year:

1. Hello Betty (top is done, just needs quilting and binding)
2. owl baby quilt
3. Amy Butler green and blue
4. flannel HR squares
5. purple scrap quilt (add a border, quilt and bind)
6. Hello Betty scrap quilt (border, quilt, and bind)
7. Harmony grey/blue/green quilt (quilt and bind)
8. houndstooth quilt
9. rainbow chevron (top is done, just needs quilting and binding)
10. orange/grey string x

There is also a whole list (longer than this) of quilts I'd like to get done but haven't started. We'll see how it goes. In the meantime - I may be posting photos of some of these that I haven't shown you yet.

1.25.2012

Rainbow Chevron Twin Quilt: A Tutorial


FOR THIS QUILT YOU WILL NEED:
5 fat 8ths in each of 7 colors (red, red-orange, orange, yellow, lime green, green, blue).
OR assorted scraps (at least 7 x 7 inches in size or 3.5 x 14 inches long) - enough to make 14 per row or 98 total chevrons.
AND 6.25 yards white for chevrons, sashing, and borders. (A generous amount.)

These instructions are for a twin quilt. You will make 14 chevron blocks per row. There are 7 rows. So there are 98 chevron blocks total.

MAKING THE CHEVRON BLOCK:

Step 1
Cut 1 white rectangle 3.5 x 6.5 inches
Cut 1 print rectangle 3.5 x 6.5 inches
Cut 2 white squares 3.5 x 3.5 inches
Cut 2 print squares 3.5 x 3.5 inches


Step 2
Mark a diagonal line through the middle of the square - like the photo below. Do this to all your squares.


You'll have 4 squares with diagonal lines marked.


Step 3
Lay the white square on the printed rectangle - right sides together - lining them up on the left side with the diagonal line oriented like the photo below. 

Lay the printed square on the white rectangle - right sides together - lining them up on the left side with the diagonal line oriented like the photo below.


Step 4
Sew on the line for both pieces.


This is what your pieces will look like sewn (below).


Step 5
Trim each piece 1/4 inch away from the stitch line.


This is how your pieces will look (below).


Step 6
Press the triangles open.


This is how mine look from the back - with the seam pressed to the side toward the triangle. You could also press it open.


Step 7
Lay the white square on the printed rectangle - right sides together - lining them up on the right side with the diagonal line oriented like the photo below. 

Lay the printed square on the white rectangle - right sides together - lining them up on the right side with the diagonal line oriented like the photo below.

Sew the squares to the rectangles along the diagonal line.



Step 8
Trim each piece 1/4 inch away from the stitch line.


This is how your pieces will look (below).


Step 9
Press the triangles open.


This is how mine look from the back.


Step 10
Sew the 2 blocks together making sure that you sew right through the point to get a nice point on the finished block.


This is what your block should look like. Notice where the stitching meets the point.


Step 11 
Press the whole block. I pressed my seam to the side and toward the top (as shown below) because when you start sewing the blocks to the sashing it is easier to see where the points will be. Pressing this seam open would work too.


And here is your finished block! 


I am not going to go into great detail about how to put the blocks together into a quilt. But here are the dimensions for the rest of the quilt.

8 strips of sashing (including side borders) - 3.5 wide x 84 inches long. (I'd measure each chevron strip and take the average to find out exactly how long to cut the sashing)
2 strips for top and bottom borders - 3.5 x 66.5 inches long. (I'd measure the top and bottom of the quilt to see exactly how long to cut these.)

The quilt should finish at 66.5 x 90.5


Good luck! And if you make a quilt using this tutorial, be sure to send me an email with a photo link. I'd love to see!

p.s. I apologize if there are any problems with this tutorial and would appreciate it if you'd let me know if there are. Thanks!