Mary, of NeedledMom, chose this block for her June turn as Queen Bee of the Gridsters. Originally found on Wombat Quilts website as a free illustration, I redrew the block to Mary’s specified 6-inch (finished) size. Four of these blocks are put together to make Mary’s larger 12-inch block.
You’ll need four copies to make one 12-inch block, as shown below:
sketch I made to keep the colors organized
Notice there are FIVE colors per Mary’s larger block. Four corners have the same color, which when sewn together make that center star. But in looking at the way she designed it, the colors are to be distributed throughout the quilt. You can see her initial thinking about this version on this blog post (where you’ll also get a glimpse into her gardens and cooking. I love reading her blog).
Just a peek–download below.
Mary gave me permission to post the chart she drew up to keep her ideas straight. You can download this as a PDF:Mary’s Chart_ June Gridster Bee
You can see that she’s diagrammed the main stars (in the center), and the secondary stars in the corners. We Gridsters each chose two blocks, identifying our choices using her coding on the sides and are now sending them to her.
I recently had two birthdays to celebrate, that are near each other in the calendar. I cut up my precious Frida Kahlo canvas fabric (made by Alexander Henry), yielding two bags from one yard.
So I wrote a little tutorial, for everyone should know how to make a bag out of fabric. Hope this helps.
Do the same cutting with your chosen lining, trimming 2″ off the upper edge of the lining, as you want the lining to be slightly shorter than your Frida fabric.
Keeping Frida on her feet, seam the selvage sides Right Sides Together (RST), and then sew across the bottom.
Sew the lining bag sides, then across the bottom seam BUT LEAVE A 7″ OPENING IN THAT SEAM at the bottom of the bag. You’ll need an opening later in this construction process, and leaving the bottom seam with a gap will later allow you to turn the bag.
To make the bag have a flat bottom, you’ll line up the bottom seam with the side seam (where there wasn’t a seam, I pressed the side edge with my iron). When you get them lined up, pin. I went for a six-inch bag bottom, so I lined up the middle of my ruler along the seam, and drew a line.
You can see the faint pencil line here, on the lining. This is from the folded side of the bag, and you can see the ironed crease in the side, heading up to the point.
Stitch along that line, then 1/4″ away from that line, into the peaked corner.
Cut off the excess, leaving 1/4″ seam allowance.
Matching the edges, stitch around the top of the bag using a 1/2″ seam. Turn inside out through opening on bottom. Line up the bottoms of the bag and lining, allowing the Frida fabric to roll over into the inside:
I pressed the seam towards the lining fabric, into the bag.
Stitch in the ditch, just above the fold of the lining, using thread that matches the Frida fabric.
Stitch the opening in the lining bottom closed, by topstitching the two edges together. It can also be done by hand with tiny stitches.
Time for handles. On the front of the bag, find the center (matching up sides). Mark with a pin. Each bag handle is placed 3-1/2″ from the center.
How long to cut the webbing? It depends on your use and how tall you are. I wanted these to go over my shoulder, yet stay off the ground when using the handles to carry, so after pinning it at different heights to try it out, I finally cut two pieces of webbing 27-1/2″ each.
Pin them to the bag, making sure each handle stays on the same side of the outside. In other words, don’t attach one end to one side of the bag and one end to the other. The bag handles should be attached the same side of your bag (otherwise it won’t open widely).
I placed the handles lower than the top edge of the bag, leaving an inch free. I then sewed them down with a cross-in-a-box design:
Back, showing the stitching pattern for handles.
Done! I marked one side of the bag, so the user can find the “front” easily. One has Frida’s Garden selvage label (shown above).
The other one has a woven ribbon that says Ahali, which means “family relations.” (It’s for my sister.)
Now you have a quick tote, that is perfect for everyting, and because it’s lined, it’s sturdy and looks neat. It took me a couple of hours from first cut, to this photo, for both bags, but having done this multiple times, I’m kind of fast at this sort of thing. My grocery sack tutorial is a similar bag, but unlined. That site has a downloadable instruction page, if that works better for you.
I wanted to close out this post with a couple of photos from two women who attended my workshops. It’s always a delight to see how others interpret the pattern. If you have made one of my patterns, don’t hesitate to send me an photo! You can also tag me on Instagram: @occasionapiecequilt.
Another Tiny Quilt was hatched today, and its this Bluebird of Quiltiness. Based on a 1-1/2″ block size, I figured it out and made it up, finishing it with the perfect faceted black bead for the eye. There are multiple patterns out there for pieced birds, but here’s mine: LIttle Bird_OPQuilt.com
Here’s another one, in case you want to make a bird on a nest for your next Tiny Quilt. Grab the PDF file here: Nested Bird pattern and have fun making another little Tiny Quilt. (I have a listing of all the Tiny Quilts on this blog, in case you’re interested.)
After you create the bird (with, or without nest), then you sew on borders until it’s large enough. See the first Tiny Quilt for more instructions.
Wanting to finish this today made me leave the house, avoid the parking lot also known as our Memorial Day freeway gridlock, just to get over to WalMart to buy a landscape-oriented frame. It’s those cheesy plastic frames, nothing fancy. To modify this one, I laid the frame down on my quilt, traced around it, and used those lines to create the backing and put the binding on.
I also finished this bird-themed stitchery, purchase eons ago at Primitive Gatherings. I took it with me to Berlin, but finished it up here. Now to find a frame for this.
The other day I pin-basted three wall-sized quilts, and started stitching on the first one:
Right. I have no idea what I’m doing, but I’m having fun. I think am hoping it will make more sense when I get the whole thing done. Stay tuned; it will be long while, as I still limit my daily quilting minutes.
And the three quilts came back from Cathy of CJ Designs, my quilter. One is in Active Binding Mode downstairs by the TV, and two (above) are waiting for binding. The whirly-gig backed quilt is also waiting for more quilting along the borders. The fun thing was that I’ve had a number quilts done by her, and so I hit the magic number and the last one was done for free. It’s her way of saying thank you to her customers. (Thank you, Cathy!)
But I’m leaving all this behind this next week, as I head up to my Mother’s to help celebrate her 91st birthday. (I do like to remind her that if you turn the numbers upside down, she’s a girl of 16.) She’s shown above with about the only quilt I can remember her making: a cross-stitched top which was sent out to be hand-quilted.
I’m leading off with my workshop participants, all brilliant conversationalists and quilters.
This past week, I gave a lecture and taught my Merrion Square Workshop to the Valley of the Mist Quilters Guild, a top-notch guild that taught me plenty about how a successful guild functions.
At my workshop, Lupe, an excellent chef and the Workshop Coordinator, brought me a home-made lunch. We gathered around a table for a break, and I enjoyed hearing stories about how people came to Temecula, California, for there are very few natives here.
Here’s an idea for Guilds: a Frequent Quilter Card. Every time a Guild Member takes a class, the Workshop Coordinator initials their card; when they have taken five classes, they get the sixth one free. One line I heard over and over at Meet the Teachers was that guilds couldn’t fill their workshop classes. This would be a great motivator to get people to a workshop, another good idea from this Guld.
As with any Guild, finding space to meet for programs and workshops is a challenge, and we met today in a clubhouse, with beautiful roses outside.
Several days before, on Tuesday, I drove to the Temecula Recreation Center, where the Guild has their monthly meetings. Above is the Guild President, calling the meeting to order. After a few announcements, it was my turn.
I had the two tables at the back of the stage lined up with my quilts, which– after they were showed–were then draped over the structure at the front of the stage (hard to explain, but no, my quilts weren’t on the floor).
The Guild Members could come up front to see the quilts for a closer look; very satisfying that they enjoyed my work. The quilter in the front, Annette, has followed my blog for several years, and came up and introduced herself to me at Road to California a couple of years ago. (I wrote about that lovely experience up in my journal.) After the break was finished, members scattered to do business at the following tables:
Workshops. All the tables have signs, and this one is patch-worky! Lupe is there (you recognize her from the top of the post), with my quilts, signing up people for my Saturday Workshop.
Sweets and Treats table.
Ida is in charge of the Charity Quilts. Behind her a bags of completed quilts, and in front of her are quilt kits, so people can grab and go and make and return, along with kits for pillowcases (in the bin). She is very organized!
These tables are where members lay their Show and Tell. I noticed that they didn’t include small quilted items such as bags, purses or hot pad holders, which I’ve seen in other guilds. I enjoyed their Show and Tell Show immensely, loving this plaid quilt. She said she had a bin of plaid from a few years back (um, I have one of those too) and decided to do something with it. The people who brought these items would scoop them up and line up on one side of the stage. When it was their turn to speak, the two ladies on the stage would take the quilt and hand the quilter a microphone, so she could talk about her quilt without having to show it. A nice piece of choreography.
Gloria ran the quilt raffle. I was tempted by those cookbooks and their newly designed Guild pin.
Adriene and Shelly (they are sisters) run the block of the month and this year they are doing Improv Blocks. They call themselves the Blockheads, but trust me, they are witty and fun to talk to (they were also at the Workshop).
Check out that mini quilt. Every month they have a Monthly Mini raffle, and I’m sure this month’s quilt — that of the sewing machine — must have been hugely popular!
Here’s another table that has monthly baskets of sewing supplies, fabrics, magazines–all donated–which the organizers make into cute baskets. When you buy your tickets, you can grab a candy, plus they give you a small gift:
While I picked a ticket for one of their door prizes that night (did I mention they had three?), the highly efficient chairmen do the drawings themselves, and present the name to the President for the announcement.
As might have noticed, this post is pretty detailed. Many of my readers are on the Boards of their local Guilds, and I though I would present these good ideas for them, as well as for those who simply go to Guild meetings. I love our community, and celebrate the work of Guilds, impressed as always. Thanks to the Valley of the Mist Quilters Guild for inviting me!
OccasionalPiece--Quilt! 