Quilts

Moroccan Quilt Tile

April 15, 2015 Elizabeth E.10 Comments

So it all started with this photo, from the Instagrammer JillinItaly, a small sweet shot of tiles on a Moroccan floor. It actually started with my #the100daysof4square project (an offshoot of #the100DayProject) and since I have to come up with four squares of something every day for 100 days, this was what I chose. Maybe it was the color, the interesting half-clamshell that formed a whole clamshell and an apple-core block, I don’t know. It was just one of those serendipitous moments that made me want to struggle my way through learning how to draw it in EQ7 (I still depend on my trusty QuiltPro, but wanted to become fluent in two quilt languages).

I’m also suffering badly from Spring Fever, even worse than my students (which now you know must be nearly a four-alarm alert of Teacher Fatique and Mindlessness), so much suffering that I let them out early today. Again. That’s two days in a row and the kid who went his freshman year at Cornell (but is now back here) looks at me as if something was whack-o, and the kids in the back row just grin from ear-to-ear, even though I had to tell one of them she was on track for a stupendous grade of D, if she didn’t get her Stuff Together and pull it up to a sunny C. Are you surprised when I tell you that she was completely surprised? Didn’t think so.

So I just had to do something different tonight rather than think about all of that, and here it is: a free pattern for a six-inch block of the above. Moroccan Tile Block six-inch Have fun. I have not yet made it, but Leanne of SheCanQuilt has a wonderful tutorial, complete with video, on sewing curves, so I’d check over there if I were you. That first picture from JillinItaly’s feed just lit up my wee IG universe (click on the icon on the right to see more), so maybe it’s not the only the fabulousness of the pattern, but also those colors that say Spring Is On Its Way, or if you are in the Southern Hemisphere, it may be saying, You’ve Had a Good Summer, Now It’s Time For Fall, but I’m not really seeing more than those saturated — while also being faded — yummy peaches and golds and magentas.

As far as the other project goes, I have not yet keeled over, but am still working steadily on getting it quilted. I’ve already ripped out several parts, but I think I know now what I’m doing, so that’s a relief, as any FMQ quilter can tell you. I might just yet make that deadline of Tuesday. Stay tuned.

Quilts

Neonatal/Preemie Quilts with a Free Pattern

March 29, 2015March 29, 2015 Elizabeth E.8 Comments

The Riverside Raincross Quilt Guild, to which I belong, has many community service projects, one of which is their making and donating neonatal, or preemie, quilts to the County hospital’s NICU. I sat across from Mary last guild meeting, as she patted the stack of little quilts, and told us the story about how her friend, who is a nurse, lays them all around the layettes when she gets a new stack from us, and how she loves looking at them. All those little quilts made with love.

They are 30″ square, lightly quilted (at least all the ones in the stack were, for that makes them more huggable and drapable). I had some fabric I’d ordered last year that I wasn’t that fond of (the hazards of online-ordering, although the fabric itself was very popular and cute and I thought it would be good for a boy), plus I had a block I wanted to try out, which first surfaced in the 1940s. Here is a PDF pattern for that block, a 15″ square Twin Darts: Twin Dart 15%22 block. (Click on the link to download.) Make sure your printer settings are set to 100% and it should come out okay. You’ll be making four large blocks.

It’s an easy pattern, but there are a lot of bias edges, so my advice (in hindsight) would be to give them a good shot of spray starch before piecing. All the quilts are pre-washed before they go to the babies, so it will be washed out.

Then I wanted to try a Pillowcase Binding. I liked Susan B. Katz’s excellent tutorial, found *here.*

But I ended up going the tutorial from Rita, of Red Pepper Quilts (found *here*), as it was not for an art quilt (which Susan’s is) and yes, I did baste the quilt top to the batting in a couple of places before sandwiching them all together, then turning.

I then top-stitched around all the outside edges to close up the opening, then quilted around all the arrows (or darts) and other main seams. Done! I have another one in the works, which I’ll post about, too, as well as give you the free pattern. I put this up on Instagram, and many people had the same response I did–a good way to winnow down the stash as well as doing good.

While looking through the web for guidelines about batting (apparently polyester or cotton, no wool), I found this document and modified it to post here: neonatal_quilt_guide Please check with your local guild as to size and other requirements, as they are obtained from your local hospitals.

Circles Block #6–another view, EPP Sew-A-Long

November 6, 2014June 26, 2019 Elizabeth E.8 Comments

I told you in the last post that I’d made up another version of Circles #6, and today I’ll show you what I came up with.

When I was sewing this up, I kept thinking what a great Christmas pillow it would make.

So I made one!

As usual, I audition fabrics to see what I like. You can see which won.

I lined up the Star Point with the lower inner arc and put a pin through the centers.

It’s easier to stitch when you do it three-dimensionally.

Cute little thing, isn’t it?

I made this circle differently. I think the method I showed you on the first post is much better, but here’s this one: Stitch the inner ring pieces together, then stitch to the center circle. There’s no need to ease; it should fit together neatly by taking a stitch or two at a time, then moving along. Sew the final inner ring seam together.

Now stitch together the inner arc (red) and the small star point (blue) and add the left star points (more red, on either side of the blue). After you’ve made six of those little units, start making the larger outer ring by attaching the large star points (white). Like the first ring onto the center circle, it should “match” easily onto the sign. You can see how I began here, by dropping the ring down and starting the stitching. I did take time to figure out how I wanted the white star points to be aligned on the final block.

See the two circles side-by-side, above, to see the different alignments. The Christmas Star has a star point centered, pointing North, but the other circle has it differently.

Like I said, I think the other method is much easier.

Done!

Ah, you know I love this view!

I had several backgrounds to choose from, but my granddaughter Emilee helped me choose the white one with the stars.

Papers out, and here we go a-quilting!

One thing I learned from Sandra Eichner’s blog is how to let the batting poof up under a design element by stitching towards it. First I did the red pieces in between the star points in a meander, trying to quilt toward the star points large and small. Then I went for the outer margins, having fun and letting the machine roll. Black thread and a tiny stipple for the inner ring, dodging the berries, and then outline the angel in the center in order to control the fullness of the batting. Lastly, I outlined everything, using my even-feed straight-stitch foot.

Yay! A new piece of Christmas fun. Hope you’ve enjoyed seeing both of these Circle Blocks. I’m taking a break during December and will be back in January for the last six circles in this project. Yes, I’ve decided I’m stopping after twelve EPP circles. That ought to give you enough to play with! If you are making these blocks, please shoot me a photo, and I’ll post it up on the blog.

Quilts

Free Pattern for Shopping Bags

October 12, 2014May 25, 2019 Elizabeth E.16 Comments

As the Governor of California recently signed a bill banning those single-use shopping bags that we all get at the grocery stores, we’ve all been buzzing about what to replace it with. There is still the paper bag, but a section of the bill suggests paying 10-cents for each shopping bag (even though Ralph’s and Trader Joe’s now offer them for free). Whether you hate this bill or love it, a shopper still needs to come up with a way to carry their groceries home.

I made my first bags out of lightweight canvas, and figured out how to get two out of one yard of fabric. Because these are canvas, I didn’t need to put the handles all the way to the bottom seam. However, if you are making it out of lightweight cotton, you might consider doubling up on that to make it sturdier, or yes, buying some webbing for your handles.

Whenever I use these, I get positive comments from the checkers. . . and a whole slew of awful stories about those re-usable plastic bags that some people have. One clerk told me that he unzipped one and a whole bunch of moths flew out into the store. Another talked about the smell of those bags that are re-used and re-used. I think we quilters have the best possible world with our cloth bags, which can be thrown in the washer. Apparently bags at the produce counter and at the butcher’s counter are still okay, so I don’t have to worry about those grocery items messing up the cloth bags.

I’ve written it up in a downloadable PDF pattern that is free: OPQuilt’s Shopping Bag Pattern.

Just send back some good karma, if you wouldn’t mind, and always practice good attribution, acknowledging that it’s from OPQuilt.com. To do so, please do not post the pattern on your blog, nor print off five copies for your friends. Instead link back here, and let them print off their own. Thanks.