Red Pepper Quilts A few weeks ago I received an email from Diana. Diana asked if she could send me some fabrics: "I would like to send you some fabrics. Because i like them and because i love your quilts. I don't want you to make me a quilt, I don't want you to buy them from me. And without further ado these gorgeous fabric arrived in my letter box during the week all the way from Romania. I don't know anything about these fabrics except that they are a beautiful cotton fabric, and that they are bold and colorful. As promised to Diana, one kind deed deserves another, and as such today I am giving away the pictured bundle of the much coveted Flea Market Fancy fabric from my stash. Four FAT EIGHTS To be in the draw all you have to do is leave a comment on this post, with the only requirement being that you provide either in your profile, or in your comment, an email address so that I can contact the winner! Enjoy Sunday!
How to Quilt: Scrap Quilts How to Quilt>Scrap Quilts Bonnie Hunter is a quilter who specializes in scrap quilts using fabric from thrift shops or donations from friends' closets. Recently she visited with us for our Eavesdrop on a Telephone Conversation, and the specific topic was how to choose the garments at a thrift shop that will make great fabric for a quilt. Here is a sampling of her answers: Penny: How do you know whether a particular garment would make a good fabric for a quilt? Bonnie: I look for garments the same way I look for fabric. If it says 100% cotton, then that’s the first thing I’ll look for. The next thing I check is how the fabric feels in my hand. I look for the same kinds of things when I look for articles of clothing to cut up for fabric. Penny: You don’t use polyester? Bonnie: No, I don’t. Men’s shirts, so far, have not incorporated spandex. Penny: How do you estimate how much fabric you’ll be able to get from a particular garment? Bonnie: The size of the garment will give you an idea.
A Fabric Case Aligning the Quilt Sandwich I have finished the Mini Quilt and in doing so have also prepared a simple tutorial to show you how I go about aligning a pieced quilt back with the quilt top. The back for this quilt was pieced with a horizontal strip of small squares of fabric and was at least three inches larger than the quilt top. To baste the quilt the backing was taped right side down on a hard surface. This image shows where the backing, batting and quilt top were marked for both the top and LHS and RHS. The next step is to place the batting on top of the backing ensuring it is centered. Each edge of the quilt top was then also marked with its center point using a pin. Guide lines for quilting The plan for quilting the Mini Quilt was always going to be a squared off spiral, starting in the center of the quilt and spiraling out to the edges of the quilt. I then pin basted the quilt and commenced quilting using a walking foot. I hope this answers the often asked question as to how to align the quilt sandwich.
In Color Order miteredbordersworksheet Cluck Cluck Sew Quilt Dad: orbc quilt-along Thank you all so much for the wonderful feedback you've been leaving me on my last tutorial. I am so glad to hear that I've been able to help so many new quilters (and even some older, but new-to-wonky quilters!) get started on this new project. Before moving on to today's tutorial, I wanted to take care of a few pieces of business. There are, however, two points of clarification that I want to call out here. You can also begin to introduce pieced strips to make longer usable strips out of too-short ones, a technique I'll be introducing in this post. Second, I also want to comment on fabric requirements for the quilt along. Finally, I made the block from the first tutorial into an adorable little quilted pillow for my giveaway winner. I tried something new on this one: a quick binding sewn on to the edge of the back flap. The random number generator picked #46, and the winner of the pillow is Nichole, who said: Congrats, Nichole! OK, are your ready for the second block variation? Uh oh.
MissouriQuiltCo's Channel This is an ad we are running for our Quilter's Daily Deal, the link she is pointing to when she says click here is - www.missouriquiltco.com/shop/quiltingspecials This took us almost 8 hours to film, and another 8 hours to prepare all the props for it. It was hard because we had to do it all in one take, so we would get almost all the way through, then one sign wouldn't go up right or something goofy and we'd have to start all over. Mom did so good not being distracted, we had 5 helpers on the sides doing signs and props. We are really excited to be telling the story of what we do, this video is a fun start. Also, special thanks to Jake's wife Misty, Sarah, the incredible art skills of sister Natalie (and our wonderful shop helpers Makayla and Andrea) who helped put it all together, and Mom for being so good about such a long filming day. Thanks a lot for taking a look, we hope you'll share it! "Jenny Doan shares the awesomeness that is the Missouri Star Quilt Company!
a string quilt block tutorial – paper pieced method I’m so blown away by all the wonderful comments on my string quilt, now aptly named ‘Kaleidoscope’ (many thanks to Kerri who was the first to suggest it, followed by 9 others of you who had the same thought!) I think it’s just perfect. And now, a quick tutorial – I had a few requests for a tutorial on making this type of quilt, so I figured I’d oblige (it’s the least I can do, right?). This shows the paper piecing method, which is my preferred method. To start, you’ll want to decide on the size of your blocks. Cut squares of your desired size from the copy paper and set aside. Decide on your fabrics and cut strips of a variety of widths. I wanted to have a small strip of white separate the squares in my quilt, so I cut 1″ strips of a solid white fabric. Next we’ll temporarily attach the white strips to the paper squares. Now you can start sewing on your fabric strips! (please ignore my wrinkly fabric! Align the edges and sew with a 1/4″ seam allowance. Repeat for all your paper squares.
Garden Fence I first played with this block last Summer when I was inspired by the pillows on the cover of Martha Stewart Living. Shannon from Pieceful Quilter named it "Garden Fence" and the name stuck. Well, my top's finally done and I'm happy with the color combination of golds, yellows, grays and white. (how do you spell gray - grey or gray?) This cold weather and snow is continuing to ruin my photography, so here's the best I can do. (And it requires moving furniture). It's a super easy quilt to make and I think it would be awesome in lots of color combinations (Gray and pink, gray and aqua...) Here are the cutting dimensions for one block that finishes at 10" (10 1/2" unfinished): Center square: 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" Outer rectangles: 4 - 2 1/2" x 3" and 4 - 2 1/2" x 5" White: 2 - 1 1/2" x 4 1/2"; 2 - 1 1/2" x 6 1/2"; and 4 - 1 1/2" x 2 1/2" To piece the block: I simply added 1" finished (1 1/2" unfinished) white strips for sashing.
Tutorial Tuesday: Quilt Binding (works for your mug rugs too) The kind folks over at Jacqui Small sent me a review copy of Contemporary Upholstery by Hannah Stanton. Although the book was free, the opinions are genuine and are really mine. So since I had the book, I figured I’d better give it a genuine test drive. I found this chair at a sewing shop (I know, right?! Best. Nothing wrong with it, just a little bland. But obviously painting it isn’t really the tricky part. I also appreciated the clear descriptions of techniques. Fortunately the webbing and seat had been recently replaced. And I’m so proud of myself! And here it is with the new, sexy reupholstery job: Look how well that corner turned out! If you want a copy for yourself (and I know you do!) To order Contemporary Upholstery (9781906417918) for £16.00 including p&p* (RRP: £20.00), telephone 01903 828503 and quote offer code JS216. It’s also available on Amazon UK and on Amazon US Declare Your Questionable Taste To Your Friends: