You knew this was coming, right? After you saw that last post about squircles, I’ll bet you knew I’d go hunting and fall down a rabbit hole. You are very perceptive.
This is a squircle grapefruit from designer Tai Tan. I found it on Dribble, which is also a website I didn’t know about before.
A squircle is not a rounded square, apparently. There is some design technique that can explain it, and it has to do with the flat edges. In a rounded square there are flat edges. In a squircle, they may LOOK flat, but they are every-so-slightly rounded (from here). John Uttley also has a nice grid of squircles to admire, and here’s more to see if you want.
Lisa, my quilty friend in the previous post, was as happy as I was with these quilts, so we thought we cook up a project. It went like this: 1st idea: make blocks and swap 2nd idea: swap backgrounds but still do your own appliqué 3rd idea: set up a challenge to do *so many* each month, and check in with each other.
Third time’s the charm. We’re doing a Squircle Challenge. So I went looking and besides the designers, I found some quilters:
Marla Varner’s blog, Penny Lane, feels like the OG.
I did an image search and was able to source this image to Zippy Quilts, my friend Mary’s blog. This quilt alternated squares on squares, and squircles on squares. It was made by Carolyn Brown.
Last quilt I found was from Amanda Jean Nyberg’s website, and she calls it “dot your i’s quilt.” This is different because of the low-value backgrounds.
So here’s the story. I started the PatternLite with using a 5″ block (5 1/2″ with seam allowance) and that’s the first one in the pattern. But then in my stash box, way in the back of the closet, I found a stack of Charm Squares in Painter’s Palette Solids, my favorite brand. The 4″ squircle just looked too crowded.
So I redrew the squircle, to be more squircle-y, with slightly rounded sides. Then I resized it to fit — making it a 3 1/2″ (finished) size. That seemed to fit the backgrounds much better. So you have two sizes and two shapes in the free pattern.
I spotted my purple/lime green polka dot fabric at the top of this photo of Machelle Preston’s quilt, in the current Springville Quilt Show (see previous post).
I have been hoarding collecting polka dots for years now. This is why: Come A-Round, from earlier in my making (Quilt #90).
However…I noticed that I seem to have plenty more dotty fabrics, so why not use them again, borrowing Machelle’s idea?
So here are the first three, courtesy of one of those sleepless nights that come along once in a while (if you haven’t seen Melanie, you are missing out). Now I just have about 177 more to go, but don’t worry, in the pattern there are two sizes (the 5-inch requires fewer blocks), and a helpful chart so you don’t panic. Just tote this project around to doctor’s offices, pick it up while watching TV, or while you are hiding from your family in a quiet room.
Because we dreamed this collaboration up in August, and everyone’s going back to school, that’s our theme. Our hashtag is #backtosquircle, a play on Back To School. We have an easy schedule, for who needs more pressure in their lives? The drill:
choose your block size/quilt size
make a bunch
every 20 blocks made, post it up on Instagram with our hashtag #backtosquircle (if you use that social)
take it slowly!
Here’s your free 5-page Squircles handout. It has the templates for the 5″ blocks, for a 4″ block and some basic directions.
You know the usual: send your friends over here to download it, rather than making copies for them.
The Meaning of Round Corners (with this great line: “In interface design, the rounded rectangle is sometimes called “the happy rectangle”.) I can always use some more happy in my life.
This phrase intrigued me. It came from a podcast I listened to while out walking, so I’ve been thinking about what happens when we try to learn something new. Or lean away from “what we’ve always done.” Or have to hang out in the middle of a decision, not knowing the best way forward (the temptation is always to force it to a conclusion, apparently, limiting new possibilities). These ideas on uncertainty are from Maggie Jackson:
“Neuroscientists are beginning to unpack what happens in the brain at the uncertainty of the moment, when the realization that you don’t know that you’ve reached the limits of your knowledge instigate a number of neural changes. Your focus broadens and your brain becomes more receptive to new data and your working memory is bolstered. So this kind of rings a bell: you’re on your toes and that’s why uncertainty at that moment is a kind of wakefulness. In fact, Joseph Cable of the University of Pennsylvania said ‘that’s the moment when your brain is telling itself there’s something to be learned here.’ So by squandering that opportunity or retreating from that discomfort, we’re actually losing an opportunity to learn. Your old knowledge is no longer sufficient.” –Maggie Jackson on the podcast The Grey Area, with Sean Illing
So what does this have to do with quilting?
I recently finished up my pattern of the New York Beauties (more on that in a minute) and decided I wanted to make each block in the quilt in regular intervals, but many of those above are multiples of the same block. So I thought I’d test out using freezer paper, instead of my usual parchment paper, and see how I liked it. (Besides that, my regular 17 lb. parchment wasn’t being made anymore–only the 28 lb. Time for an update!)
And the verdict? I like it!
First, start with this: ChicWrap’s 18″ aluminum foil dispenser. It comes with foil, but I put that back in the kitchen, and slipped in my 18″ roll of freezer paper.
You don’t thread it through that slit, but instead, lift the lid, to set up the paper for cutting.
Pull it out so you have at least 11″ of length. Fold it in half (it will measure about 9″ in width), then take it to your cutting mat to trim it up to 8 1/2″ x 11.” Now you are ready to feed it through the printer. If you don’t have a printer that will allow you to feed it one sheet at a time, you can tape the freezer paper to a piece of heavier paper or cardstock (trim the freezer paper down to 8″ x 10 1/2″) and send that through.
I read about buying sheets of freezer paper already cut, but most of the commenters said it was no sturdier than the stuff we use from our rolls, so I just cut it from the roll, and went with it. After printing, I cut it out around the outlines of the piece I was using. You can experiment with this technique by downloading my free New York Beauties single pattern from PayHip:
Even though I’d already printed out all the regular parchment papers, my brain was saying “there’s something to be learned here.” So here we go:
After cutting out your shape from the printed freezer paper, fold on the first line, and press just this section (Ray 1) to your first piece of fabric (picture 1: muted lavender). Then lay that on top of your second color (picture 2: orange).
Later on, I figured that I should make a crease on all the lines of my section, but for now, I digitally outlined the rays in orange dashes to help you see the shapes.
Make sure there is enough of your second fabric underneath your first fabric. Pin, or clip. Head to the sewing machine, and sew next to that folded edge.
Now to the ironing board. Press, smoothing the fabric away from the seam. Iron only on the next section (Ray 2). Fold back along the line between rays 2 and 3.
At the cutting board, align your ruler for a scant quarter-inch seam, and cut off the excess. If you need to trim at the end of the piece, open up your paper, so you know you aren’t going to cut off something you’ll need later on. Use the edge of the paper as a guide, but rough-cut off the extra. (See picture 12, below.)
Fold back alone the line between sections 2 and 3, revealing the shape of the next ray (shown here in dashed orange lines). Place on your third fabric (picture 5: blue-green). Stitch along that folded edge. Iron Section 3 paper onto the blue-green fabric, smoothing out the fabric underneath.
Fold on the line between sections 3 & 4 (Ray 4 shown here in orange dashed lines). Place until on next fabric (picture 6: tomato red).
Close-up of stitching
Again, stitch along folded edge, shown in pictures 7 & 8. You can also see how I pin — just in that seam allowance. Did all my fabrics have a straight edge, making it easy for me to align (as in picture 6)? No, not always. If not, I would place, trim…and then pin and sew.
You know the drill now: press just that section (Ray 4), then trim at the cutting table, as shown in picture 11.
In picture 12, I show how I open up my paper, so I can cut off the excess at the base of the B1 section. Then I fold it back down and trim that scant quarter-inch at the crease of the paper (between Rays 4 and 5). In picture 13, I fold it back down, and lay it on the next fabric, using the shape of Ray 5 to check you have enough fabric. Those orange dashed lines are a visual guide: I do have enough. Stitch along the folded edge.
Yep–you know: press only the Ray 5 section of freezer paper onto your fabric. Back to the cutting mat to trim at a scant quarter-inch, then repeat with your final ray (picture 15: a happy orange for me). Press that freezer paper to your final ray. It should look sort of like the image in picture 16. Set aside, and start on B2.
Following the numbers, and using the same technique, stitch all the rays for B2. Trim carefully around the edges of both, neat and clean (picture 17). Peel back the papers for those edge-rays with wrong sides together and pin, aligning lower and upper edges of B1 and B2. Take to sewing machine. I found I had to peel back even a little more. Stitch, then carefully peel off the freezer paper. When you take it to your ironing board, press that last seam the same direction as all the rest (you’ll figure it out).
Charging right ahead, press a center mark in the A Outer Corner, the B1/B2 piece, and the C Center. Don’t press down through the whole piece — just the tip of your iron is all that’s needed. Pin the outer edges of the A Outer Corner and the center marks, and head to the sewing machine.
In picture 22, I sewed the A Outer Corner to my rays, PUTTING THE LARGER OUTER CORNER TO THE BOTTOM. This is different than you usually see. Please take it slowly, no rushing, keep aligning as you go from pin to pin to pin (there are only three).
In picture 23, after putting in my three pins, I sewed the C Center to the rays, WITH THE RAYS TO THE FEED DOGS. Again, take it slowly, and keeping aligning the fabric. You can pull it toward you a little as you stitch, because those curves are bias. By elongating them (by stretching them out), it may help them to line up a little easier. But not a big pull, not a big tug. Little adjustments. You are the tug boat, getting that steamship into port — little by little. (Okay, enough bad metaphors.)
Press. Usually you are pressing away from the rays.
Now to trim up. I gave you extra on the A Outer Corner so if your block went askew, it wouldn’t be a tragedy (just another way I show my love to you in my patterns — I make the mistakes so you won’t have to). Align the corner of your ruler so the 1/4″ line is right at the Outer Corner fold, as show in picture 24.
Then check the opposite corner, lining that 9 1/4″ mark at the folded edge. It’s not rocket science, meaning that it most likely won’t be exact. Get as close as you can. Trim, then turn the block, lining up the 9 1/2″ line with the trimmed edge, and slice off whatever is left (not much on this side).
Done! Wild Sunflower block is complete. Now, if you are going for the full quilt, the pattern says to make a total of three. So will the freezer paper keep sticking?
Ray Two is finished, and I’m plowing again into Ray Three, and yep — it’s still sticking. For one of the blocks you make it five times. I’ll be interested to see how that goes. And overall, I felt like using this method is faster, always a plus.
Just like I used a weekly goal to help pull me out of my sewing slump last summer, I’ll be using these New York Beauties to get me going for this year. If you want to follow along, I have a coupon for you to use, if you want to purchase the pattern. (I’ll probably do this every two weeks, so don’t panic.)
Just head to my quilt pattern shop, and when you check out, type in this code (note the three capital letters at the beginning). You’ll get 20% off the pattern. It expires on Leap Day! (February 29)
All of this can be found on the Master New York Beauties page, on the tab above. When the coupon expires, I’ll take it down, but a listing of the blog posts will be linked there, if you want to refer to them.
What we ate for the Super Bowl (no, we did not watch it): Homemade Focaccia
Just before kick-off, Camryn and Landon (he, of Focaccia fame) stopped by to visit, then took off again to their Super Bowl party. Later that night, we blanked out by watching the movie Dune on Netflix, understanding about 60% of it. If you’ve seen it, what was your percentage?
Anne of Springleaf Studios recently wrote to me, including a photo of her poppy quilt:
Anne is an amazing colorist; seeing her quilts is always a treat, as they are rich in color and perfect in value. She wrote that she enlarged my Poppies pattern a bit, and added circles for the centers. I love her version, and it made me think of the first version of this quilt (pattern is downloadable; see below).
From ages ago, this was the first iteration. My distantly related niece knew I was a quilter and wanted to make a quilt for her mother who was undergoing treatment for breast cancer; they wanted poppies. I drew it up, heard that she finished it, but it wasn’t until much later that I was able to get a photo of it for my archive. (I wrote about the process earlier on this blog.)
This is a more traditional poppy block, with the red petals and the black center, but I’m in totally in love with Anne’s version. Hmmmm, I think I’ll have to add that to the list. I also have a lot of Kaffe prints and need to use them up.
The first Poppies pattern was written in 2017; I recently re-wrote the pattern, and included the more traditional setting which is over in my PayHip shop. I’m happy to share with you.
(Fabric companies picked up my pattern for Remembrance Day, 11 November)
Another way I share is by not having advertising on this blog. As some of your know, we’ve been re-doing our kitchen, We thought about it about a decade ago, then more earnestly in 2020 (haha!) and this year the time had finally arrived for us to update. The other night I was trying to figure out how to use our new Breville Smart Oven to cook some potatoes and I jumped online. It was like jumping into a pool of advertising, swimming upstream looking for the content/recipe/can I use the convection? So the only money that comes to me now is through the patterns; this is just a choice I made. Maybe I’m crazy (possibly–to do a kitchen remodel might be proof), but I very much like writing and visiting with those who find this blog.
Here are some more poppies — this time in California Poppy orange — a welcome visitor in March.
I mentioned that my friend Judy passed away mid-February and her memorial open house was March 17th. While cleaning out, her daughter found a completed batik quilt and backing and wondered if I could help her get it finished for her father? I contacted Jen of Sew-Mazing Quilting and she turned it around in no time flat. I got it bound (we took off the last border and used that for the binding — no one will ever miss it), and delivered it to them on March 16th.
I’m sure all the guys in the kitchen tearing out my kitchen cabinets wondered what in heavens name we were doing.
This teeny quilt on a frame was inspired by two things: this March pillow from Stash Fabrics (from Riley Blake’s Year of Pillows).
And because a dear friend of mine, who is by all rights and purposes is Irish (even though she was born and raised in the United States), has had a bad dose of it this year, and I didn’t want her to be forgotten on her favorite day. She’s the one who would hand out pots of shamrocks to her friends on St. Patrick’s Day. She and her husband have also gone to Ireland about a dozen times, and I never tire of her bopping out with phrases in the way they say them in Ireland. She gardens like no one else, loves saints and sinners and babies and her family with a fierce love, including her friends in that welcoming aura.
While I machine appliquéd the hearts on the pillow, I decided that for such a small project, I would fuse the hearts on.
I put a light crease at the halfway mark — both ways — to get those hearts perfectly centered.
A simple topstitch with green thread, then a white echo, then stipple everywhere else. I’ve learned not to get too “over-the-top” on the quilting with these tiny quilts: the design is the most important, not the quilting.
I cut my binding strips 1 1/2″ wide and use the single-fold binding technique (post is also found in the Tutorials, Techniques, and Freebies, above). I use a glue stick to get it into place, then topstitch down the binding 1/4″ away from the edge and no farther. This ensures that you can slide your picture frame into the pocket on the back.
OccasionalPiece--Quilt! 