Forty-Two Quilts

42 Quilts Has Moved!

2011-12-02T08:51:00.001-06:00

Please join me at my new address: http://42quilts.blogspot.com/
Note: The new blog has a new address, so if you are a follower here, you'll have to re-follow on the new blog. Thanks for your continued support!

So much to tell you I don't know where to start!

2011-12-01T07:01:00.002-06:00

1. I'm redesigning the blog. It's going to have a different address, different look and different attitude! What will be the same is all the great quilting information and of course Modern Monday and Traditional Tuesday! I hope to launch soon (tomorrow maybe???) so check back and let me know what you think!

And 2. I'M GOING TO BE ON MARK LIPINSKI'S RADIO SHOW!
Next Wednesday, Dec. 7! I'll have more on that tomorrow as well! I hope you tune in to hear me talk about "Quilt Retro", MM/TT and more!

Here's some links to get you to Mark and his show: toginet.com and marklipinski.com I'll have more information as we get closer to next Wednesday!

Traditional Tuesday - Block 11

2011-11-29T06:00:00.006-06:00

Bowtie

Block 11 - Bowtie
This block is a great block to use in a retirement quilt - especially if you can snag some of the retiree's workshirts and ties to make it with! My husband doesn't wear ties, but he wears workshirts. I'm getting a jump on the retirement quilt!

I chose a blue stripe from one of DH's old work shirts and a blue matching solid. (Thanks to BH for the idea of cutting up my DH's shirts!)

Cutting:
From the blue solid, cut:

2 - 3 1/2" squares
1 - 2 1/2" square cut in half on the diagonal. Note: I think this part of the block turned out too wide. If I were to do it again, I'd cut the block 2"-2 1/4". But you do what looks good to you.

From the stripe, cut 2 - 3 1/2" squares.

Here's the fabric in the raw. You can see the shape of DH's shirt!

The cut pieces. I like to finger press the small pieces rather than draw a line on them diagonally. This works well for small squares, but on larger ones, I draw the line.

Sew the small solid square to one corner of the large stripe square.
Use the finger-pressed "line" as a guide to sew on. You want to make sure if you are using stripes to sew the small square on the same side of both striped squares.

I like to trim off the spare fabric leaving a 1/4" inch seam allowance. Some choose to leave this on. Do what you're comfortable with. Either way, press to the outside.

Lay out the pieces like they will appear in the finished block and sew together in pairs pressing to the solid blue. Sew the pairs together pressing to one side. The block will be 6 1/2" when finished.

Modern Monday - Block 11

2011-11-28T05:36:00.001-06:00

Bow Tie

Block 11 - Bow Tie
By offsetting both the small triangles and the larger squares, this block turned out very surprisingly modern!

I chose an orange print, an orange solid to match and light gray. You can choose to use just two colors if that suits you.

Cutting:
From both the orange print AND gray, cut: 2 - ~5" squares
From the orange solid, cut 1 - ~4" square. Cut in half on the diagonal.
*Oversize alert! I didn't know how offset I wanted to make the bow tie, so I made the squares really big so I would have enough room to play.

I now realize I didn't take enough photos of this block, but it is very simple, so I think you can follow along pretty well without them. First, randomly cut the corners off the gray squares. Make them different from each other about 2"-3" deep. then sew the orange triangles on and trim.

Lay out the block as it will look once it's sewn and join together in pairs, pressing away from the gray units.

This is what it will look like before being squared up. It's nice as it is if you want to leave it straight.

To trim it offset, I used my 6 1/2" square ruler and laid it at an angle. I played around with it first to get it to an angle I thought was pleasing. Then trim.

This is a good place to talk about bias. Many of these blocks have the bias on the outside, making them unstable and stretchy. If you are adding your sashing as you go, just be careful when attaching it so you don't stretch the block out of shape. Since these are so small, you should be okay.

If you are not immediately putting on the borders, you might want to consider stay-stitching around the edge until you do. (To stay-stitch, set your machine to the longest stitch size and sew around the edge of the block about 1/8". This will stabilize the outside edge and prevent stretching until you can sew it in the quilt.)

Traditional Tuesday - Block 10

2011-11-22T06:00:00.020-06:00

Snowball Variation

Block 10 - Snowball Variation
This block looks like a poppy to me. I think a whole quilt made of this block would be lovely and it would make me happy.

Okay, maybe not. Nice, but a little too boring for my sensibilities.

But look at this - every other block is different. Much better. (Imagine your favorite colors if you don't like orange.)

And this is the best one yet. Adding in a fourth color really richens it up.

For my TT block, I chose an orangey-red, black and pale blue - all prints.

Cutting:

From the red, cut 4 - 2 1/2" squares AND 2 - 2 7/8" squares. (I cut mine 3" and trimmed after making the hst's.)
From the blue, cut 2 - 2 7/8" squares. (Again, I cut mine 3" and trimmed after making the hst's.)
From the black, cut 1 - 2 1/2" square.

First, make 4 hst's. Draw a line diagonally from corner to corner of the 2 blue squares. Match them up with the 2 large red squares and sew 1/4" on each side of the line. (Go to this link for more details.)

Cut in half on the line and press to the red. Trim, if necessary to 2 1/2".

Lay out the elements as shown.

Sew into rows and join the rows, pressing to one side - like a 9-patch block. The block will finish to 6 1/2".

Modern Monday - Block 10

2011-11-21T04:27:00.000-06:00

Snowball Variation

Block 10 - Snowball Variation
The Snowball block is usually used as a block to offset the main block in the quilt to create a secondary pattern. It is a simple block that requires very little piecing, but it adds just a bit of something that a plain block doesn't. This is a variation because of the square in the center. A regular Snowball would be all one fabric with the contrasting triangles on the corners.

I chose an orange print, matching (sort of - mine doesn't match perfectly) orange solid and medium/light gray for the corner triangles.

Cutting:
Again, this is hugely improvised so over-cut everything so you'll have a big enough block at the end (don't ask how I know!)

From the orange print, cut a 3" - 3 1/2" square
From the orange solid, cut 2 strips the same width you cut the print x ~5" long AND 2 strips ~7" - 8" long x 4" - 5" wide.
From the gray, cut 2 squares ~3 1/2" - 4". Cut each in half on the diagonal.

(Note: the following photography may be really bad at times. I really have to invest in a how-to-take-photographs manual!)

Here's the fabrics I chose. I couldn't decide on which gray, so I waited to the end to decide.

To sew the center strip in a wonky way, I laid the center square on the strip and cut in a random diagonal. I laid my pieces right sides together. If you are using a fabric that can't be reversed for the solid, then lay your pieces both sides up.

After cutting, I turned the solid over so the pieces would fit together perfectly.

Sew and press to one side. Repeat with the other side to make the center strip.

Then repeat the process with the outer strips. This is where it can get tricky. Make sure you have enough fabric after each seam is sewn to make it at least 6 1/2". I didn't and ripped out the right side and added a wider piece, which made my center square off center (a happy accident to be sure since I love how it turned out in the end!) Of course I was running out of fabric at this point and had to piece two solids together to get a piece big enough, but I wasn't going to start over!

Once you're done piecing, cut to 6 1/2". This is where you'll know if you have enough!

Then cut the corners off in random sized, but make sure you don't cut off too deep or too shallow. Keep about 2 1/2" to 3" in mind for the cuts.

Add your triangles, making sure there will be enough fabric to make the flip! (Like how my gray turned magically purple!)

After the corners are added.

Trim again to 6 1/2".

I do have to add that if this block didn't turn out so darn cute, I might have cried. I'm learning that improv quilting is a lot to me like paper piecing - it's good to know how to do it, but it really wastes a lot of fabric along the way. I don't think I could make a whole quilt of improv snowballs, but it sure would be cute!

KCMQG Habitat Challenge Revealed

2011-11-17T08:36:00.000-06:00

"Habitat"

So I entered another challenge at guild! I don't know why I really am enjoying challenges right now. I usually shy away from them. Anyhow, this challenge was to use 6 different fabrics (fat eighths) from the Habitat fabric collection by Jay McCarroll. As a rule, these fabrics weren't my favorites. #1 - I don't usually work with pastels and #2 - I don't usually work with bold prints. So when I saw the fabric, I wondered how I was going to pull this off!

Well, per my usual method, I took the fabric home, washed and ironed it and sat it on my work table and looked at it for a few days. The only rule for the quilt was that we could only add in solids or more of the Habitat fabrics. So I went to my solids and started pulling out solids that would either match or contrast with the prints. I chose lots of blues and teals, pink (I don't even know how pink got in my stash!) and yellow. Funny how just a few solids pulled together all these disparate fabrics!

Then I started experimenting with blocks and shapes. This got me no where fast, so I had a chat with myself about what I really like, which is applique. That was all I needed. I had been toying around with a pieced tree for a while and made that first, then I drew a bird and voila! Another theme I wanted to explore was minimalism. I'm on a quest to see how few elements on a quilt can still be interesting to look at! I started with 7 birds (this was all pinned on my design wall) and every time I walked by, it seemed I took one off. When I got to 3 it just seemed "right!"

Habitat Bird.
This was my least favorite fabric in the group, but matched with the turquoise solid, it's not quite so bad to me anymore!

Another Habitat Bird.
Pink! Really!? I don't do pink. But it was fun working with things I don't normally do. Maybe I'll do more pink in the future.

Habitat Backside.
I felt like I short-changed the spirit of the challenge by using so little of the fabric on the front, so I used up some of the leftovers on the back. I just sewed together wedges of all the fabrics (about 1 1/2"-2" x 4") and cut it in a gentle curve and pieced it together with gray to make a simple backing.

The fabulous quilting was done by Kris Barlow in Lawrence, Kansas. I love how she did the large circles behind the tree branches. I think I'll remember that for another quilt. It is so interesting to look at!

To see more of the challenge quilts, click here.

"Train the Girls"
(My second Habitat challenge quilt!)

And because I ended up loving this challenge so much, I made another quilt! These are my daughter's first bras enshrined for all eternity! I saved them always planning to make this quilt when she is an adult (she's 13) but this challenge offered the perfect background for them! This idea is from Deb Rowden's book "Making Memories" - Thanks Deb for the inspiration!

And DD isn't too horrified. I think she thinks I'm nuts, but she'll get a kick out of this someday - especially when her daughter is training her girls!

Congratulations to aztel2000 and peach rainbow for winning the Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks issues!

Traditional Tuesday - Block 9

2011-11-15T05:04:00.000-06:00

String Block

Block 9 - String Block

This is such a beautiful block - or at least it can make a beautiful quilt! You've probably figured out that I like quilts with a lot of movement in them, and stripes provide a lot movement! I've mocked up some settings for this block and you can see what I mean.

The String Block can be set any way a Log Cabin block can be set. Here it's zigzags.

This is a flying geese-style setting.

By experimenting with color placement, you could get even more vibrant settings. My friend, Deb Rowden is part of a group that made a quilt using this block. Click here to see it. It's a beautiful contemporary version made from silk ties.

For today's block, I chose three fabrics: dark blue solid, a blue/gray batik and light blue near solid. If you can find a nice striped fabric with about 1/2" stripes you could "cheat" and use that for the center portion instead of piecing the stripes!

Cutting*:
From EACH of the print and light blue, cut 4 - 1" x ~11" strips.
From the dark blue, cut 1 - 4 1/2" square. Cut in half on the diagonal to make 2 triangles. (This is over-sized for squaring up at the end.)

*Note: This block can be either pieced as I show below or by paper piecing. The template for paper piecing can be found here. If you are a paper piecer, feel free to use that method for this block, but I don't give directions here.

These are the fabrics I chose. I have tons of blue batiks from a quilt I never made. I love using them up!

I used the paper piecing template as a guide, but not to sew on! I found all those lines confusing so I wrote "L" and "D" on each to designate where the light and dark fabrics go.

I also used the template to sure my strips were long enough. Next, I sewed them together in pairs, pressing to the dark.

Once all your strips are joined, you'll need to add the corner triangles. This is where a bit of precision piecing comes in.

Fold the pieced strip unit in half (eyeball it, it just needs to be an approximation). I gently pressed this with my iron, but you can finger press. We're trying to mark the center so we can line up the triangles perfectly.

Next, finger press to find the center of the triangles. The seam ripper is pointing to the crease made on the first one and I'm showing how to make the crease on the second one.

Then line up the crease on the triangle with the crease on the pieced unit and pin. Sew and press to the triangle. Repeat with the remaining triangle on the other side.

Trim the block to 6 1/2" and admire! I'm particularly fond of this block - maybe because I've never made a string block before!

Here's my first attempt at this block. I knew when it was done that it just wasn't what I was hoping it would be! When all is said and done, I might do a blooper quilt of all the blocks that don't work out!

Modern Monday - Block 9

2011-11-14T04:43:00.000-06:00

String Block

Block 9 - String Block

The String Block is an old block that probably came about as a way to use up long snippets of scrap leftovers. In and of itself, it's not very impressive, but I mocked up some ideas to show you what this block could look like in a quilt. Take a look:

I have a compulsion in that I'm always looking for quilt blocks I can use in combination to make an X&O quilt (hugs and kisses). This is one of them, made entirely of String Blocks. Just by placement and shading you can get this design. If you were to make this quilt, you would need 16 String Blocks in dark shades and 48 in lighter shades of the same colors. Wouldn't this be fun in blues and pinks for a baby quilt!

This idea still uses the X&O theme, but without the lighter shaded block. It's very interesting to look at - almost painfully so with all the movement and action going on!

For my block, I chose oranges (solids and one print), grays (including one that is almost black), two light blues and white. Look through your scraps first to find these. I had to cut very few new wedges.

Some things to keep in mind. For one block, color selection doesn't matter so much - just make sure to have a variety of shades from lighter to darker.

If you were to make an entire quilt of this block, I would consider making sure to put a very dark fabric in the center so that when you place your blocks you'll have a strong X and O visible. With all medium or light colors, the X and O would get lost and your eye wouldn't know where to look. But as with all of quilting, experimentation is key. Try a variety of options to get the look you want!

After you decide on your fabrics, cut them in wedges about 1 1/2" to 1". Of course some fatter at one end or skinnier on the other would be interesting, too!

I laid out the wedges roughly how I wanted them to go and put my 6 1/2" square ruler on top to make sure I had enough strips cut. Sew them together, pressing to one side.

After sewing, I saw that I still needed one more to fill out the block so I added the solid orange triangle to the top left. That made it big enough. I cut it to 6 1/2". I might work on one of the X&O quilts using String Blocks. I think you could make them a few at a time with scraps as you are making other projects. We'll see!

Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Vol. 4 Tour!

2011-11-10T00:05:00.069-06:00

"Welcome Home" - the block!

I am so excited to be able to finally show you my block (and quilt!) that appears in Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Vol. 4. This is one of those blocks that at first just couldn't find a home. I try to design something (a block, a quilt, a motif - something) everyday. Some aren't good, but some are! And some of the good ones just can't find a home in a quilt despite being good! Originally I intended this block to go in some sort of sampler quilt. Well, that quilt never happened, but the block was just too darn good to not do something with. So when I had the opportunity to submit a block to Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Vol. 4, I knew it was the perfect block!

This pineapple block is called "Welcome Home" because a pineapple historically is a sign of welcome and hospitality. Aren't quilters nothing if not hospitable!? And, we love making things with meaning.

"Welcome Home" - the quilt!
21" square
I wanted a small wall hanging to put by the front door.

I also submitted a quilt made from the block to the magazine and it was chosen to go in the gallery at the back (page 88 if you're interested). It's really simple to make. After you make the 12" Welcome Home block (page 19) you need to make 9 - 3" nine-patch blocks and 5 - 3" hour glass blocks. Place them around the block as makes sense to you and fill in with 3" wide strips (cut 3 1/2"). This is a very traditional/country version. I'd love to see what a Modern quilter or another Traditional quilter could come up with!

I'm so glad "Welcome Home" finally found a home at Quiltmaker!

Quiltmaker is generously offering a free copy of the magazine to one of my readers and I'm going to match that giveaway! So you have 2 chances to win Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Vol. 4. To enter, leave a comment saying what color combinations you would make your quilt in. (And click the link: Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Vol. 4. to see other designers' blocks!)

For extra chances to win, sign up to be a follower of 42 Quilts (comment again saying you signed up) or "like" me on my Facebook page (again, comment saying you "liked" me!) and I'll randomly draw 2 names on Monday (11/14). Make sure your profile has your email address so I can contact you if you win! Good Luck!

Traditional Tuesday - Block 8

2011-11-08T06:00:00.001-06:00

Pinwheel

Block 8 - Pinwheel

The fun thing about doing this quilt along is that I can experiment with things that I normally don't take the time to. Checks and stripes are an example. Stripes are the easiest way to get a lot of movement going in your block, but also can be frustrating. Since they only go one direction, in some blocks you have to really plan it out to get it to look right - and some blocks won't look good with stripes at all, so I usually avoid them altogether. But in one small 6" block, making a mistake doesn't really matter!

I chose two shirting fabrics (cut up from my husband's old dress shirts) - one check and the other stripe.

Cutting:
From each fabric, cut 2 - 4" squares. (If you don't want them over-sized, cut them 3 7/8".)

The cut fabrics.

First, draw a line from corner to corner diagonally on the back side of the lightest fabric. Then stack on top of the other fabric, right sides together. Sew 1/4" from the drawn line on both sides. Cut in half on the line and press to the dark. (For more detail with photos, click here.)

Trim units to 3 1/2".

Lay out the 4 units as they will look in the finished block. This is important because you want the fabrics all going in the right direction. Sew together in pairs, pressing to one side. Then join the pairs to finish the block. It will be 6 1/2" unfinished.

I pressed the seam joining the two pairs open to alleviate the bulk in the center.

Modern Monday - Block 8

2011-11-07T06:00:00.003-06:00

Sugar Bowl

Block 8 - Sugar Bowl (really it's a Pinwheel)

I knew I'd have to get around to the Pinwheel block eventually. It's so simple, but yet the movement it creates makes it a fun block to add to a quilt. But how do you make it Modern? My first idea was to use Modern fabrics and call it good until I found this obscure little block in a pattern identifying book I have called: The Collector's Dictionary of Quilt Names and Patterns by Yvonne Khin. Called Sugar Bowl, it's just a pinwheel that has been cut wrong! Looks Modern to me, so we're doing it!

I chose an orange print and robin egg's blue solid for my 2-color block.

Cutting:
From each fabric, cut 2 - 8 1/2" squares. (You will get a bonus block or a lot of scraps with this block!)

The cut fabric. (Oops, the picture is on its side.)

First, stack both fabrics evenly and cut in half both horizontally and vertically. You'll have 4 equal squares. Then lay your ruler diagonally but not perfectly from corner to corner. You want it to cross the exact center, though. Make your cut.

Repeat on the other diagonal.

Separate the fabrics into two reverse image blocks.

Sew into 4 units. These somewhat resemble a half-square triangle unit. As you're sewing, be sure to match the center points up. Don't worry if the outer edges don't align. Since we're not using templates with added seam allowance, they're going to be a bit off. But we over-cut the original two squares, so we'll have plenty of room to square up at the end.

Then sew the units into pairs. For some reason, I had too much seam allowance after sewing into pairs. I just trimmed it off to 1/4" making sure the unit was larger than 3 1/2" wide. This is important to get the center points to line up.

Sew the pairs together and trim to 6 1/2".

Do you want to see my first attempt? It looks worse in real life than it does here. I didn't trim the seam allowance to 1/4" and I lost one point by a mile!

I'm in Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Vol. 4!

2011-11-03T08:26:00.000-05:00

I've been sitting on this tidbit of info for a while now, but I just can't wait till next week to tell you! I have a block in Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Vol. 4! I also have a quilt I made from the block in the gallery, so there's a double dose of me in the magazine! Next Thursday (Nov. 10), I'll be participating in the blog tour, so I'll tell you all about the block and show it to you then. I also will have a giveaway and a freebie!

Until then, here's a hint of what the block looks like:

I know, more applique!

Traditional Tuesday - Block 7

2011-11-01T06:00:00.000-05:00

Mr. Bones

Block 7 - Mr. Bones

Okay, so this isn't the most traditional block on the quilt along, but he is fun! Just humor me, okay? Or swap out something else - it's your quilt!

I used an orange fossil fern and a black batik skull and cross bone novelty fabric I bought a year ago. The motif is just the right size to see it all plus it tells you what the shape is without having to applique all those small parts for the eyes, nose and mouth. You may mimic this or add in all the elements. Experiment and have fun with this. (See yesterday's post for more ideas.)

Cutting:
From the background, cut 1 - 7" square.

Applique:
Prepare Mr. Bones for applique. Applique using your favorite method. Note: The shape is almost 6" so you need to take care that it doesn't migrate into the seam allowance as you're appliqueing it on. Trim to 6 1/2".

My fabric choices.

To access the Mr. Bones template click here.

Modern Monday - Block 7 (Boo!)

2011-10-31T06:00:00.005-05:00

Mr. Bones

Block 7 - Mr. Bones

Happy Halloween everyone! Today we're going off the crazy train for a Halloween treat. Meet Mr. Bones, he's one rattlin' dude (anyone remember White Christmas?). I can't decide if this fits my definition of Modern or not, but he sure is cute!

I chose two fabrics - orange and dark gray - for my version, but feel free to experiment with his eyes, nose and mouth in any color combinations you like. Embroidered accents for the teeth would be cute, too!

Cutting:
From the background, cut 1 - 7" square.

Applique:
I didn't want to get into applique quite so early in the quilt along, but here we are nonetheless! If you don't have a favorite applique method, I recommend you find one. I started out with fusible webbing, but quickly learned that it's not very practical for a bed quilt or throw. (Doesn't hold up under use and washing. For wall hangings, it can be used quite effectively.) I outline my method in Quilt Retro, but any method that works for you is the best!

If you really don't want to bother with applique, just swap out this block with something else that pleases you. There are no rules to this quilt and you don't have to do exactly what I'm doing!

My fabric choices: dark gray and this cool orange batik I found tucked in with my oranges. It has dark grays - almost black - running through it so it's perfect for a Halloween block!

Cut and prepare Mr. Bones for applique. I chose to reverse applique the eyes, nose and mouth rather than mess with those little shapes. It worked well and I like the results. I toyed with the idea of putting a white or cream under the holes, but in the end, I left it gray. Funny how he looks frightened when he's supposed to be the scary one!

Applique using your favorite method. Note: The shape is almost 6" so you need to take care that it doesn't migrate into the seam allowance as you're appliqueing it on. Trim to 6 1/2".

To access the Mr. Bones template click here.

Are you Quilting Along with me?

2011-10-28T08:37:00.000-05:00

And do you blog or post to a flickr group? If you do, let me know and I'll link you to the quilt along so every one can ooh and aah over your color choices. I know of a few already, but if you're not listed below, leave your info in the comments and I'll add you on to the list. I'm in the process of redesigning the blog and hope to have pages for MM and TT coming soon (buttons, too)!

http://distractedquilter.blogspot.com/
http://westmichquilter.blogspot.com/
http://alamosaquilter.blogspot.com/

Flickr groups (you're welcome to join!):
Traditional Tuesday
Modern Monday

If you're quilting along and don't blog, let me know that too! I'll post photos of your blocks occasionally if you send them to me.

Look for an unusually spooky MM/TT next week - it is Halloween after all!

Gladys' Last Quilt

2011-10-27T09:53:00.000-05:00

The plans for Gladys' Last Quilt.

Last week I was going through an old pattern book for inspiration and I found this scrap of paper tucked in between its pages. It's the plans for my husband's dear Grandmother's last quilt.After she passed away in 2000, my mother-in-law found the 12 completed blocks (hand embroidered), the setting fabric and these roughly drawn instructions.

I love that her math is on the side!

My MIL gave me the fabric and this scrap of paper and asked me to finish the quilt, which I happily did. It now is in occasional use by my MIL and I hope it goes to one of Gladys' great grandchildren (or maybe great-great grandchildren) some day.

I wonder how many sketches like this my daughter will find
around the house after I'm gone? Hundreds maybe.

At the bottom is her grocery list. I do this too - no scrap of paper goes without some idea for a quilt or a block. Maybe I'm channeling her spirit or maybe that's just how we quilters roll! (I notice a baby dress is on the list. My daughter was under 2 when Gladys died, could it have been for her? But I have no way of knowing when she wrote this.)

So I'm happy that Gladys died with one last quilt in the works and I certainly hope when I die I have quilt blocks on the design wall. To me, that will mean a happy oldhood and one that is not plagued by something that prevents me from sewing up until the last.

P.S. I know this would make a better story if you could actually see the finished quilt, but I don't have any pictures. At Thanksgiving, I'll try to get some photos and post them later.

Who ya callin' Old Fashioned?

2011-10-26T06:00:00.003-05:00

Last week I got a little surprise that I just have to share with you! Barbara Brackman has a new line of 1960s and 70s inspired fabrics coming out soon called "Old Fashioned Calicoes" by Moda. You know how I love this retro stuff!

Here's a selection of the fabrics. The reds and greens are wonderful! I have many ways to use them already churning through my head! The blues and blacks are nice, too. And the lights!

Barbara knows that I love this stuff so she sent me about 7 yards in 15 different fabrics. I honestly feel like I won the quilter's lottery. I already used one of the greens in yesterday's Traditional Tuesday block. I bet you see more of it there!

Look how wonderfully it blends with my vintage stash (on the right). The new colors are slightly less garish, which may or may not be good depending on your point of view! And having it all 100% cotton in Moda quality is such a treat. I love my vintage, but polyester is really tough to work with. Plus I worry about how well it will hold up with time and use.

Now about that name, Old Fashioned! It about killed me 10 years ago when they started in with the Old School talk in regards to the 80s. Me? Old? Not yet! Now my childhood is old-fashioned??? I like the word retro. Now that's cool.

Barbara talks more about "Old Fashioned Calicoes" on her blog. Click here to see. Thanks Barbara! This fabric will go to good use!

Traditional Tuesday - Block 6

2011-10-25T06:00:00.001-05:00

Mosaic

Block 6 - Mosaic

Working with half-square triangles takes some practice to get the points just so. If you are concerned with perfection, make sure you strictly stick to the 1/4" seam allowance when sewing, and pin generously. To hide the points if you're not worried about perfection, you can use a busy light print instead of the solid green.

I chose 3 fabrics for my block - one retro green print and two coordinating solids, green and gold.

Cutting:
From the green solid, cut 4 - 3" squares*
From the green print, cut 5 - 3" squares*
From the gold print, cut 1 - 3" square* (Note: You will have 1 extra half-square triangle leftover to use for something else.)
*If you don't want to square up after sewing, cut your squares 2 7/8" and sew with a scant 1/4" seam allowance.

The cut fabrics.

Draw a diagonal line from corner to corner on the back side of the lightest fabrics. Match up with a green print square, right sides together and sew 1/4" from the drawn line on both sides.

Cut apart on the drawn line. (The bottom shows after it's been sewn.)

Press to the print and square up to 2 1/2" if you cut your original squares 3". Just trim off the dog ears if you cut them 2 7/8".

Lay out the squares as they will look in the finished block.

Sew together in rows, pressing to opposite sides.

Join the rows together. I pressed these seams open because there is a lot of bulk at the intersections if you don't. Your block will be 6 1/2" unfinished.

Modern Monday - Block 6

2011-10-24T06:00:00.004-05:00

Mosaic

Block 6 - Mosaic

Mosaic is a great name for this block since it means mixture or assortment. I have wanted to experiment with half square triangles ever since starting Modern Monday. I like how they are all different - nothing static about this block! And no worrying about perfect points. I think a whole quilt done like this could be very striking. Maybe done in the color wheel.

Fabrics:
I've decided that oranges, grays and whites are going to get a little stagnate, so I decided that it's okay to throw in some blues. So for this block, in addition to three gradations of gray, I chose an orange solid and a robin's egg blue. I'll probably throw in more shades of blue as we go along, but not too much - just enough for an accent.

Cutting:
From the white, cut 8 - 3" squares.
From the blue, cut 1 - 3" square.

Lay out the 9 - 3" squares.

Decide on your colors. I chose three grays, but the middle and right ones are really too close in value. It's hard to see the distinct steps in the gradation.

I rough-cut triangles and chunks that would be big enough to sew and flip the corner on.

Then sew the grays and orange down on the diagonal.

Trim off the point (the background triangle). Press open to the gray (or orange).

Trim to 2 1/2". (Ignore the ruler markings, I goofed up the first try and made them too small.) Keep the background as close to the straight of grain as you can.

Lay out the units as they will look in the finished block. Sew together in rows, pressing the seams so they will oppose when the rows are joined together. Join the rows together, pressing seams to one side. The block will be 6 1/2" unfinished.

Miscellaneous Quilty Things!

2011-10-20T10:01:00.000-05:00

So while I was throwing a party for my new book, I also was out and about doing other quilty things. My guild (the Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild) had it's first ever quilt show - and boy was it fantastic! It was held outside at the quad at the University of Missouri - Kansas City. Viewing quilts outside is a wonderful way to see them. The sun sparkled and really showed the quilts in their best light. (And no, no bird poop got on a single quilt!) Plus it was fun to see the groups' quilts all together (you see them one at a time at show and tell, but you forget which quilt goes with what quilter). I entered three quilts. (To see the whole show, click here.)

"Fork and Spoon", left, and "Outside My Kitchen Window."

"Handyman", left, and unknown on right, but the lady who made it is really nice!

Another quilty thing I did was speak at the Blue Valley Quilter's Guild in Olathe, KS. They are a marvelously talented group of ladies! I enjoyed them very much and they seemed to enjoy hearing about my new book and looking at a selection of my quilts.

In my trunk show, I like to show where I've been so you can appreciate where I am now. The center quilt is from my second book, The Circuit Rider's Quilt - a very traditional interpretation of an 1863 quilt. The quilt on the right is called Abraham Lincoln's Quilt. Again, it's very traditional with piecing and lots of applique! And on the left is a quilt from the new book. Quite a contrast, but to me a natural evolution in my quilting life!

I'd like to announce all the winners from the Launch Party, too! Thanks to everyone who entered - your comments were all so kind and supportive!

From Deb Rowden: Debra Lee and Beth Talmage each won a potholder
From Tallgrass Prairie: Carla Geates won a book
From Crafty Tammie: Deb Brown won a book
From Bonnie Hunter: Shery McArthur won a book
From Handmade by Alissa: Anita Tinlin won a book
From Pink Chalk Studios: Janet Constable Rushant won a book (she lives in the Yukon Territory, so she may need a bright book to warm her up this winter!)
From Empty Bobbin: Shirley Fitzgerald won a book
From Me: Ritainalaska won a book and Donna Joy won a potholder (Please send me an email to claim your prizes. I can't find how to contact you in your profile. milodesigns at embarqmail dot com)

Traditional Tuesday - Block 5

2011-10-18T06:00:00.001-05:00

Sawtooth Star

Block 5 - Sawtooth Star

I would argue that the Sawtooth Star block is the most popular quilt block and has been for the last 10 years or so. And I think Alex Anderson of Simply Quilts is the reason. She said many, many times on her show that it was her favorite, and I think it became ours as well! Because of that, it's a great block to have in your bag of tricks.

For my Sawtooth Star, I chose a busy, blue print for the star and a pink small print for the background. Using a busy print will hide less-than-perfect points if you're unsure of your skills. Great for beginners or lazy experienced quilters (like me!).

Cutting:
From the pink, cut
4 - 2" x 3 1/2" rectangles
4 - 2" squares

From the blue print, cut
8 - 2" squares
1 - 3 1/2" square


The cut fabrics.

First you need to make 4 flying geese units. There are many, many ways to make flying geese units, but this is the way I like best for small ones.

Line up one blue square on the end of one pink rectangle, right sides together. Sew on the diagonal from corner to corner. You can see I chain pieced all four at the same time.

Then trim off the corner leaving a 1/4" seam allowance.


Press open with the seam going to the star point.

Repeat with the remaining blue squares on the other end of the rectangle.

Trim off the point.

Press open and you have your flying geese unit. Make 4.

Lay out the units like it will look when the block is sewn and sew into rows. Press opposing seams.

Join the rows together pressing seams to one side. Your block should be 6 1/2" unfinished.

My winners are...

2011-10-17T09:28:00.000-05:00

Ritainalaska wins the book! She was randomly drawn from all the comments. And the mystery contest goes to Donna Joy! She wins a Fried Egg Potholder. The criteria for the mystery contest was to be the 161st follower! I randomly picked that number hoping I'd get that many! Wonder what I would have done if I only reached 159?)

Please send me your addresses and I'll get your prizes out to you!

Modern Monday - Block 5

2011-10-17T06:48:00.000-05:00

Sawtooth Star

Block 5 - Sawtooth Star

The Sawtooth Star block is a staple of Traditional quilting. When I was thinking up a Modern version, I knew I didn't want to do the now standard "liberated" version of the block, which is just the block with wonky star points. So I thought, why not do only two sides of the block with wonky points and see what happens? I like the look of the block done this way. You know instantly what it is, but it is also new and interesting to look at, too!

You will need three fabrics for this version. Of course, I chose orange, gray and white! But I also made one point a darker gray. I think that was actually an accident, but I'm going with that I planned it!

Cutting:
This another improvised block, so there is no official cutting. Rather, I'll step you through how I did it and you can make your own decisions as you go.

The first step is to make two flying geese units. Since this is a popular and versatile unit in quiltmaking, I wrote a tutorial on how to make it Modern the way I do it. As we make more blocks in the future with this unit, we will refer back to the tutorial. You can access the tutorial here.

My flying geese units are about 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" finished, so you'll need to cut your background about 3" x 5". Continue as shown in the tutorial to make two units, but don't trim yet. Set aside.

Next, for the star center, cut a piece of white, on the angle, about 5".
You can see how I placed my ruler in the photo.

Go back to the flying geese units. To one end of one of the flying geese units, add a square. I cut my square about 3"-3 1/4". You'll have to measure to make sure that's big enough for your block

Add the square to one of the flying geese units. Since the square will probably be larger than your flying geese unit, make sure to line it up on the edge with the star point on the flying geese unit. Press to the square. See how the overhang is to the outside? This will trim off later. Your block should be taking shape now.

To the top of the star center, add the short flying geese unit. Press to the star center. Then add the other flying geese unit. Press to the star center.

Trim your block to 6 1/2".

Quilt Retro Launch Party – Day 10

2011-10-14T06:04:00.000-05:00

Buy my book - please!

Welcome back to Day 10 and the final day of the Quilt Retro Launch Party! It's been a crazy, fun, sometimes exhausting but always interesting week! I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit more about me and my book. And most importantly, I hope you found inspiration to create something outside your comfort zone - whether it's to try applique, to use solids or to try something improvised. I truly believe that if we always do the same thing over and over, we'll never grow and get better at our craft.

So once all the contests are over (some are still open, check out the links below to find out which ones and enter there if you haven't already) and I've cleaned up the place after the party, I hope you like what you saw enough to order your own copy. You can go to Pickledish OR Amazon to order or certainly ask at your favorite brick and mortar store.

But before the party is over, there is one last contest you can enter for one last chance to win an autographed copy of Quilt Retro (and I have a bonus contest too!) Here's what you do: For one chance to win, leave a comment telling me your favorite quilt you saw over the last two weeks. If you are a follower, or join in the next 24 hours, you'll be entered twice (just mention in the comments if you are a follower).

There will be a bonus prize of one of the Fried Egg potholders to someone who enters, but I won't reveal the criteria that it takes to win the prize until after the contest closes Saturday (tomorrow) at 6:15 a.m. CST. (Mean aren't I?) But I will tell you it will help if you are a follower! I'll announce the winners on Saturday! Good luck!

If you've missed any of the party, you can catch up here:

Monday 10/3: Alissa Haight Carlton of Handmade by Alissa

Tuesday 10/4: BonnieHunter of Quiltville!

Wednesday 10/5: Tammie Schaffer of Crafty Tammie.

Thursday 10/6: Jenifer Dick at 42 Quilts
Friday 10/7: Angela Walters of Quilting is My Therapy.
Monday 10/10: Jacquie Gering of Tallgrass Prairie Studios.
Tuesday 10/11: Deb Rowden of Deb Rowden’s Thrift Shop Quilts

Wednesday 10/12: Kathy Mack of Pink Chalk Studio
Thursday 10/13: Shea Henderson of Empty Bobbin

Quilt Retro Launch Party – Day 9

2011-10-13T06:05:00.000-05:00

What's all the fuss about applique?

Welcome to Day 9 of the Quilt Retro Launch Party! Today's topic: Applique! It seems like many quilters have a love-hate relationship with applique. They love the look of it, but hate what it takes to get it done! My challenge to you if you are one of those quilters is that if you truly want to learn, there is a method out there to match your style and skill set. For me it was to use the freezer paper method to prepare the shapes and to use invisible thread and a zigzag stitch to sew it down. I didn't invent this method, but I heavily modified many different ideas until I got the method that works for me consistently and perfectly.

In my past books I have briefly outlined my method, but in Quilt Retro, for the first time I give you in-depth, step-by-step instructions including photos. I tried to give you enough detail so you can make the quilts in the book, but yet there's enough wiggle room for you to make your own modifications to suit your skill set and patience level! I hope you give it a go if you don't have a preferred method of applique.

If you already enjoy applique then you are in for a treat with the quilts in the book. Although I love traditional applique, I find it to be too fussy sometimes or too cutesy. You won't find that in Quilt Retro. My applique is graphic, unusual and I hope in some instances, funny! My style leans to the folk art genre, really because folk art doesn't have to be perfect, which suits me best. Perfection is stressful, folk art is relaxing. The quilt I want to talk about is one of the funny ones - but you be the judge of that. Fork & Spoon was the first quilt I made for this book. In fact, I made it before I knew I was even going to write this book. Can you guess the inspiration? Remember those big, wooden forks and spoons that hung in so many kitchens in the 70s? This is my tribute to them. (Fun link from Everybody Loves Raymond click here)

Detail of Fork & Spoon.
Since this is a 60s tribute quilt, my quilter, Sheryl Schleicher, quilted it with a pattern reminiscent of the 60s. It's also a great way to use large-scale prints that you don't really know what do with. I threw in stripes, geometrics and dots to offset the large prints. Solids for the forks and spoons are a nice contrast.

I'd like to introduce you to today's guest (and the last guest of the party), Shea Henderson. You may have seen her patterns under the Empty Bobbin name, but I know her as the most talented president of the KC Modern Quilt Guild! She seems to have an endless supply of ideas that make the meetings not only educational but just plain fun as well! If you're in KC, you are more than welcome to come to a meeting (or two)! So head on over to her blog to take a look at the entire Fork & Spoon quilt!

Tomorrow, meet me back here for the last day of the Party! (And there's one more contest!)

To purchase your own copy of Quilt Retro, go to Pickledish OR Amazon to order.

If you've missed any of the party, you can catch up here:

Monday 10/3: Alissa Haight Carlton of Handmade by Alissa

Tuesday 10/4: BonnieHunter of Quiltville!

Wednesday 10/5: Tammie Schaffer of Crafty Tammie.

Wednesday 10/12: Kathy Mack of Pink Chalk Studio

Quilt Retro Launch Party – Day 8

2011-10-12T06:22:00.002-05:00

Solids! Solids! Solids!

Let me start by saying that I adore solids (in case you haven’t picked up on that by now)! And right now is a good time if you do – manufacturers are coming up with all kinds of interesting colors and even subtle weaves to give a plain solid a little spark. And of course there are all the near solids (those that have a little variation in the color but still look solid overall – like Moda Marbles) that blend in with prints to give your quilt top even more pizzazz.

But finding solids is tricky. Not all brick and mortar shops are carrying them and sometimes their colors are limited. That’s when I turn to online stores. One of those is Kathy Mack’s Pink Chalk Studio. She carries tons of Kona Solids (my favorite!), Free Spirit Designer Solids and Moda Bella among many others. Click here to see her complete selection.

The quilt, Olives, is a perfect representation of how I like to use solids best – with complementary colors. For some reason, I return to a complementary color scheme again and again. In this small quilt, I use red and green twice and my favorite – blue and orange. Any shade goes with any shade of its complement. Try experimenting with complements and see what you can come up with. Or maybe it will lead you to something else!

Complementary colors.
Can you see them?

I didn't want the olives to be a literal interpretation of a real olive, so I switched the colors - the pimento is green and the olive is red. But why are they in a row??? Some things are unknowable!

Today’s guest is the wonderful Kathy Mack. I have been part of Pink Chalk Studio’s solids club since the beginning and have loved getting a package of fat quarter solids every month in the mail! Of course she has tons and tons of prints in the most gorgeous colors. The customer service there is top-notch as well. Head over to her blog to enter for a chance to win the book! And look around the store while you're there. I'm sure you'll find something you can't live without!

Thanks for coming today! To order your own copy of Quilt Retro, follow one of these links: Pickledish OR Amazon

If you didn't get a chance yesterday, please go visit Deb Rowden. She has a great opportunity to win two of my egg potholders!

Tomorrow's guest is Shea Henderson of Empty Bobbin Sewing Studio.

If you've missed any of the party, you can catch up here:

Monday 10/3: Alissa Haight Carlton of Handmade by Alissa

Tuesday 10/4: BonnieHunter of Quiltville!

Wednesday 10/5: Tammie Schaffer of Crafty Tammie.

Thursday 10/6: Me!
Friday 10/7: Angela Walters of Quilting is My Therapy.
Monday 10/10: Jacquie Gering of Tallgrass Prairie Studios.
Tuesday 10/11: Deb Rowden of Deb Rowden’s Thrift Shop Quilts

Quilt Retro Launch Party – Day 7

2011-10-11T06:15:00.003-05:00

Go with the flow – or how I learned to stop worrying and love improv quilting

It’s no secret that I’m a control freak (just ask my husband and kids!). And that of course translates down to my quilting style as well. I love precision piecing and take great pride in making my corners match and points show. About a year ago, I started wondering about all this Improv Quilting I’d been hearing about. And what I learned astonished me! I like it! It's fun cutting loose and working with out a plan for a change.

That's what I did on the back side of the Green Iced Tea quilt. I picked some fabrics that I thought would look good together, but not necessarily "go" together - both prints and solids. Then I cut wedges (long strips that are tapered on one end). I sewed them altogether and sliced that apart. I inserted another wedge and voila! A quilt appeared! I challenged myself to not really think about it too much as I went along. That is when the improv part falls apart for me - when I start thinking! For me it works best when I let loose, go with the flow and trust my eyes to tell me I'm doing it right! It really is a fun exercise if you're a control freak. It's good to learn a new style of quilting to have in your repertoire of skills. You never know when you might need it!

Detail of the back of Green Iced Tea. It should have a name of its own, it's so nice.
Go to Deb's blog to see the whole quilt!

There are not enough kind words to say everything about today’s guest, Deb Rowden. She was the editor of my first book, Grapefruit Juice and Sugar, and I learned almost everything I know about book publishing from her. I was thrilled when she was able to edit Quilt Retro as well. Her insight and guidance is always spot on! Thanks Deb! She is an author as well and produces one of the most interesting blogs in quilting: Deb Rowden of Deb Rowden’s Thrift Shop Quilts. She shares her extensive knowledge of quilting history along with her antique quilt collection she’s amassed over the years. And these are not the boring, perfect, show-quality quilts, these are the workhorses and quirky quilts (dare I say improv?!) that make you wonder just what the quiltmaker was thinking! It’s always entertaining there.

Tomorrow’s guest: Kathy Mack of Pink Chalk Studio

If you've missed any of the party, you can catch up here:

Monday 10/3: Alissa Haight Carlton of Handmade by Alissa

Tuesday 10/4: BonnieHunter of Quiltville!

Wednesday 10/5: Tammie Schaffer of Crafty Tammie.

Thursday 10/6: Me!
Friday 10/7: Angela Walters of Quilting is My Therapy.
Monday 10/10: Jacquie Gering of Tallgrass Prairie Studios.

Traditional Tuesday - Block 4

2011-10-11T06:00:00.001-05:00

Churn Dash

Block 4 - Churn Dash

The Churn Dash block is another one of those old workhorse blocks that still has a lot of appeal. Its 9-patch construction makes it easy to make and you can change the size easily to use in a variety of ways. I've also seen it called Hole in the Barn Door. I'm sure it has many other names as well.

This version requires three fabrics, a light for the background, a blue for the center and a red to surround the center. You could make it in two colors, substituting the light for the center. I've also seen the surrounding part in two colors F.E. light pink for the sides and hot pink for the half-square triangles (hst's).

Cutting:
From the red AND light, cut:
2 - 3" squares for the hst's, (remember I like to make it big and cut it down. I actually cut mine 3 1/2")
4 - 2 1/2" x 1 1/2" rectangle

From the blue, cut 1 - 2 1/2" square.

The cut fabrics.

To make the hst's, draw a line from corner to corner, diagonally on the back side of the light fabric. Match the light and red squares up, right sides together and sew 1/4" from the drawn line on both sides.

Cut apart on the drawn line. Press each open, toward the red to make 4 hst's. Trim to 2 1/2".

Next, sew the 4 light and 4 red rectangles together, pressing to the red.

Lay out your units like this and sew together in rows. Join the rows together, pressing to one side at each step. Your block will be 6 1/2" unfinished.

Quilt Retro Launch Party – Day 6

2011-10-10T06:15:00.029-05:00

Where do all the ideas come from?

Welcome to Day 6 of the Quilt Retro Launch Party! Today I want to talk to you about that allusive subject: inspiration!

I’m often asked about the inspiration for a certain quilt or another. Usually it’s hard to say what sparks an idea. It could be the wall paper in the background of a TV show I’m watching, or the front porch of a house I’m driving by. More often than not, I just can’t say – it seems like sometimes inspiration just drops in my lap. This quilt was kind of like that even though it started with an old quilt pattern called Chinese Gong. Let me back up…

Chinese Gong is a really cool, art deco kind of pattern. I’ve admired it for a long time, but never figured out to do with it. It seemed like the more I played with it the less I could think of a design that was appealing. That’s when I usually have to walk away from a project, but I really, really wanted to make this pattern!

Chinese Gong block - very Art Deco!

This is my first try at this quilt. Not inspiring at all to me!
(Love the b/w polka dots though!) Back to the drawing board...

So I did something I don’t usually do, I decided to plow on and see where the process took me. The first decision was to go ahead and prepare the semi-circles for the appliqué (even though I had no plan for what to do after that!). I did know I wanted to make them in shades of gray with black. As I got each shape done, I stacked them in a pile with the largest on the bottom, the medium in the middle and the smallest on the top. There they were, finished and all stacked like this on my ironing board – later, I actually did a double-take as I walked passed all the stacks! They looked so interesting that way. Very retro, too! So, why not stack them instead of placing them side-by-side!? That was the spark that I needed to turn this ho hum quilt into a brilliant one! That one brainwave broke the flood gate of possibilities open.

Just a hint of the final version. You can get a glimpse of the difference stacking the semi-circles makes!

Next I experimented with color – updated harvest gold and avocado green! Perfect! Why not add in orange to balance out all the cool colors with a warm one? Great! How many blocks? And odd number for sure – why not 5? Wonderful! The ideas literally came faster than I could implement them! When all was done, I had this really intriguing quilt that I just couldn’t take my eyes off! It’s by far my favorite quilt in the book! In the end, what I learned from designing this quilt was to not give up on something that I really want to do and keep my eyes open for that spark that can come at any time in any way - even if it's sitting on my ironing board!

Today I want to introduce you to Jacquie Gering of Tallgrass Prairie Studios. She is another one of those quilters who probably can’t define inspiration, but her quilts are definitely inspired! She is the author of the new book: Quilting Modern: Techniques and projects for improvisational quilts. I can’t wait to get my copy! I met Jacquie at the KC Modern Quilt Guild and she was so nice and supportive from the second she met me. I couldn’t believe how gracious and generous one person could be! Check out her blog to see the whole Dinner Bell quilt!

Thanks for coming today! To order your own copy of Quilt Retro, follow one of these links: Pickledish OR Amazon

Tomorrow’s guest: Deb Rowden of Deb Rowden’s Thrift Shop Quilts

If you've missed any of the party, you can catch up here:

Monday 10/3: Alissa Haight Carlton of Handmade by Alissa

Tuesday 10/4: BonnieHunter of Quiltville!

Wednesday 10/5: Tammie Schaffer of Crafty Tammie.

Thursday 10/6: Me!
Friday 10/7: Angela Walters of Quilting is My Therapy.

Modern Monday - Block 4

2011-10-10T06:00:00.009-05:00

Churn Dash

Block 4 - Churn Dash

This was a fun block to Modern-ize! I really like how the pieced squares (not the hst's) on the edges turned out when using wedges instead of straight piecing. It gives more movement to the block!

You will need three fabrics for this version. I chose an orange print for the center and white and medium gray to surround it.

Cutting:
From the white AND gray, cut 2 - ~3 1/2" squares.*
From the white, cut 4 - ~1 3/4" x ~3 1/2" rectangles.*
From the gray, cut 4 wedges ~3 1/2" inches long. Taper them from ~2" down to 1".*
From the orange print, cut 1 - 2 1/2" square.
*These are over-sized and fairly vague because of the improvisational nature of this block.

The cut fabrics.

To make the hst's, draw a line from corner to corner, diagonally on the back side of the white fabric. Match the white and gray squares up, right sides together and sew 1/4" from the drawn line on both sides.

Cut apart on the drawn line. Press each open, toward the gray to make 4 hst's.

Instead of trimming normally, I rotated the ruler slightly to make the hst's "off."
Note: If you do this, you will have points cut off on your block.

Trim to 2 1/2".

Sew the gray wedges to the white rectangles. Press to the gray.

Trim them to 2 1/2". I made sure the gray would still show the taper once cut. It's easy to inadvertently make these units perfectly straight if you don't pay attention!

Lay out your units like this and sew together in rows. Join the rows together, pressing to one side at each step. Your block will be 6 1/2" unfinished

Quilt Retro Launch Party – Day 5

2011-10-07T06:15:00.007-05:00

It’s not a quilt till it’s quilted

Welcome back to Day 5 of the Quilt Retro Launch Party! One of the best things about a quilt is the quilting. So often quilting is viewed as just what’s necessary to hold the quilt together, but I use quilting as part of the design. The link between the art of the top and the art of the quilting is what makes a quilt not only come to life, but what makes an okay quilt into something special.

My Modern quilts often have a lot of negative space – which is just a way to say there are a lot of open places with nothing visual on the quilt top going on. This part of the quilt can go flat fast if it’s not filled with something to look at or feel. Quilting is what fills those spaces. It adds both visual and tactile texture, which in turn adds interest. Quilting can also help tell the story of the quilt. If you’re quilt has sky and grass, the quilting can help define those areas by replicating wind blowing and blades of grass.

I also tend to use a lot of solid fabrics in my quilts. They also can go flat if used in large areas, like I did in the quilt, “Handyman.” I told Angela (quilter extraordinaire, meet her below) I wanted each color band to have its own fill and to make it tight (the more quilting, the strong the quilt will be and longer it will last). This quilt turned out amazing! It is anything but flat visually and texturally! It’s one you want to snuggle up with while watching TV!

Really fun pebbles. They feel so nice when you run your hands over them.

Hard to see, but these are swirly "things." They blend well with the pebbles. You can see a bit of the pieced block at the top.

The Carpenter Block, another old pattern is the main block in "Handyman."

Unfortunately, I never learned to quilt well – I’m a piecer and appliquér. Fortunately, I surround myself with very talented people who do know how to quilt and “get” me! One such quilter is Angela Walters. During show and tell at my very first KC Modern Guild meeting, people kept saying Angela quilted their quilt. Well, based on the brilliant quilting I was seeing I knew that this “Angela” was someone I needed to meet! I found her at break and begged her to quilt some of my quilts for Quilt Retro! Happily she said yes, and I know the book is all the better for it with her talent running through it.

Head over to Angela’s blog to see “Handyman” and look for a chance to win two potholders from the book!

You won't win this exact potholder, but two very similar to this!

Thanks for coming today! To order your own copy of Quilt Retro, follow one of these links: Pickledish OR Amazon

Monday’s guest: Jacquie Gering of Tallgrass Prairie Studio

If you've missed any of the party, you can catch up here:

Monday: Alissa Haight Carlton of Handmade by Alissa

Tuesday: BonnieHunter of Quiltville!

Wednesday: TammieSchaffer of Crafty Tammie.

Thursday: Me!

Quilt Retro Launch Party – Day 4

2011-10-06T06:15:00.007-05:00

What didn’t get in the book (but it means a freebie for you!)

Welcome to Day 4 of the Launch Party! When quilting turned into a fulltime job for me, I had to find a new hobby to fill in the evening hours and carpool downtimes. Because, let’s face it – as much as I love quilting, I do need a break from it occasionally! When I first proposed this book to my publisher, I had two or three embroidery projects in it as well. But like all endeavors, sometimes the best-laid plans just don’t work, and in the end and the embroidery was eliminated from the book. So today, I thought I’d show you two of the projects!

This never was finished once I knew it would be cut from the book. I changed this version from the original to say "Queen of so many things." I think I was the cocky queen that day! I also did another version - a companion to this that says: "King of Nothing" for my husband (his idea - I guess he was feeling under appreciated next to my cockiness!)

Here's the original drawing. Remember I work messy, so there's a lot of notes and ideas all on one master plan. If it would have progressed to the book, I would have cleaned this up to reflect what I did on the final project. See how this one says "Queen of the Kitchen"? That's the version that would have gone in the book!

And this is my favorite! It's only about 8" x 10" but it says it all doesn't it? The 1" finished pieced blocks on the left and bottom are the Broken Dishes pattern. (Get it?!) I was very funny that day!

As a freebie to you, I have provided complete instructions for the "I don't do dishes" project. Click here to access the pattern. If you choose to make this project, please send me a photo of it. I'd love to see your work! Enjoy!

Thanks for coming today! To order your own copy of Quilt Retro, follow one of these links: Pickledish OR Amazon

Tomorrow’s guest: AngelaWalters of Quilting is My Therapy

If you've missed any of the party, you can catch up here:

Monday: Alissa Haight Carlton of Handmade by Alissa

Tuesday: BonnieHunter of Quiltville!

Wednesday: TammieSchaffer of Crafty Tammie.

Quilt Retro Launch Party – Day 3

2011-10-05T06:15:00.022-05:00

What do you do with old quilt block patterns?

Welcome back to Day 3 of the Quilt Retro Launch Party! Today’s featured quilt from my new book, Quilt Retro, is “First Aid Kit”. This quilt uses 4 blue gradations. I hand-dyed the blues so I could get the gradations just right. (If you’re not a dyer, you can find gradations in commercial fabrics, you might just have to look around for a while first.) This quilt started with no red at all, just the four blues. It was nice that way, but a little ho-hum. I added in the one red block (which looks just like the Red Cross emblem, hence the name!) and it turned from ho-hum to WOW!

See, it's nice like this, but...
(You'll have to go to Tammie's blog to see the whole quilt!)

The hand-dyed
gradations

This is the most traditional quilt in the book, but yet it’s very fresh and contemporary at the same time! It’s based on an old block called Greek Cross. It was so fun to take this old block and revive it in ways our quilting grandmothers would have never done! To me, that’s the best part of quiltmaking today – reviving the old into something new!

Today's guest is Tammie Schaffer of Crafty Tammie. I happened to sit next to her at the KC Modern Guild a few months ago and we hit if off right away. I had no idea she blogged and she had no idea I wrote books, so we were both a little amused when we found out about each other after the meeting! Her blog is just a wonderful place to read about her rural Kansas life (I grew up in rural Missouri!) and her beautiful quilts. I hope you like her blog as much as I do. While you’re there you’ll get to see the entire “First Aid Kit” quilt and get a chance to win your own autographed copy of Quilt Retro!

To order your own copy of Quilt Retro, follow one of these links:

Pickledish OR Amazon

If you've missed any of the party, you can catch up here:

Monday: Alissa Haight Carlton of Handmade by Alissa

Tuesday: BonnieHunter of Quiltville!

Quilt Retro Launch Party – Day 2

2011-10-04T06:15:00.003-05:00

Scraps make the quilt world go ‘round!

Welcome to Day 2 of the Quilt Retro Launch Party! I'm so glad to have you back! Today’s featured quilt is “Linoleum Floors.” What started out as a simple chain quilt turned into a scrapfestlollapalooza! I have no idea how many different fabrics are in the quilt, but I know it grew exponentially from the original plan.

Let me back up. The inspiration for this quilt came from an old quilt book I saw one time. The topic of the book was quilts that survived WWII from Norway. In that book was a simple chain quilt. It was one of those old quilts that was faded badly from over-washing and use. What caught my eye, was that despite the poor condition, an incredible energy came from simple chains of colored squares strung together. I couldn’t shake it from my mind, so I knew I’d have to recreate it!

Linoleum Floors Detail. I used every light neutral I have in my stash -
from rejected hand-dyes, outdated tone-on-tones to solids and prints.

Originally, I wanted to use all white for the background. As I was playing with this on EQ, I realized that it was pretty stark done up that way. So I started throwing in random light neutrals here and there. Well that gave the background so much depth, I knew I was on to something. I kept adding in different shades of fabrics until I got what I wanted. Next, I looked at the chains of color – all running in the same direction. I wondered what would happen if I made some of the chains go in the opposite direction. With a few clicks of the mouse it was done, and so was the design! Perfect!

This is my EQ rendition of Linoleum Floors.
I love EQ. I can plan out everything before the first fabric is cut!

So where did the name come from? The fabrics used for the chains of color are from my retro collection. I believe I used fabrics from the 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, and today – that’s 50 years of scraps if you’re counting! When it was all laid out, it reminded me of an old-fashioned linoleum floor – maybe because of all the old fabrics.

My guest today I’d like you to meet is the Scrap Queen herself, BonnieHunter of Quiltville!. I first met Bonnie in 2008 when I was chosen to be the editor of her first book, Scraps and Shirttails. We’ve been together ever since, and I’ve got to say she’s as delightful in person as she is on her blog! I look forward to every book I get to work with her on! Head to her blog to see the whole “Linoleum Floors” quilt and while you’re there, leave a comment to win your own autographed copy of Quilt Retro!

To order your own copy of Quilt Retro, follow one of these links:

Pickledish OR Amazon

Tomorrow’s guest: TammieSchaffer of Crafty Tammie.

If you missed any of the party, you can catch up here:

Monday: Alissa Haight Carlton of Handmade by Alissa

Traditional Tuesday - Block 3

2011-10-04T06:00:00.007-05:00

Block 3 - Rail Fence

This is a great beginner's block because it's all straight-line piecing. And if you're and experienced quilter, it's a great block to know when you need a fast project (like a baby quilt!). If you have EQ, you can play around with value and color placement to your hearts content to get just the look you like!

You need 3 fabrics for this block. I went back to my retro roots for this one and picked two 1970s prints and matching solid. Look for any combination of three that pleases you. If you want a strong zigzag, pick high-contrast fabrics. Or you can pick up to 12 different fabrics for a scrappy look. There really are no wrong choices!

Cutting:
From each of the 3 fabrics, cut strips 1 1/2" x about 15".

Lay out your strips in the order you want them to be sewn.

Sew them together, pressing to one side. Cut into 4 - 3 1/2" squares.

Lay out as shown and sew together as a 4-patch block.
Press seams to one side. Your block should be 6 1/2" unfinished.

Quilt Retro Launch Party – Day 1

2011-10-03T06:15:00.002-05:00

Welcome to the party! Come in and enjoy!

I’m so glad you stopped by to celebrate the release of my third book, Quilt Retro. It’s a fun book full of bright, cheerful quilts and projects that I hope you’ll want to make. Throughout the next two weeks, I’ll show you some of the projects in the book and talk about my thoughts on design, inspiration, quilting, color choices and more. I’ll also introduce you to some wonderful quilters you should get to know if you don’t already!

Quilt Retro is decidedly full of quilts and projects with a Modern sensibility, but its roots are planted deeply in the past. As a lover of all things retro, especially the fabrics of the 60s and 70s, I sprinkled the retro vibe throughout the quilts – it may be in its inspiration, color choices or its subject matter, but all these quilts are a contemporary spin on something old!

But, what makes Quilt Retro more than a just pattern book is that as you make each quilt, I not only provide the pattern, but give you lots of specific ideas to make each project truly your own. I encourage you to make each quilt a reflection of your personal choices and individuality, not just an exact copy of my quilt. And in turn, I hope you take these ideas with you as you create other quilts from patterns and eventually branch out into designing your own, meaningful quilts!

To start off the Launch Party, I’d like to give you a peek at one of my favorite quilts in the book called “Outside My Kitchen Window.” This quilt has very personal meaning for me, but yet has universal appeal! This actually is my husband’s quilt. He is an adamant feeder of birds, so we always have plenty to see looking out the window. One day last year, I counted 22 cardinals feeding and 26 blue jays waiting, not so patiently, up in the trees for their turn. It just struck me how odd all those birds waiting for one small feeder were and I knew the event had to be commemorated in a quilt!

As I was designing this, I knew I wanted lots of colors – and not necessarily colors seen in nature. I knew this wouldn’t be a traditional quilt with large open spaces and just a few appliquéd elements. But yet, you can easily get the point – cardinals, blue jays and trees!

Let me introduce to you my first guest, Alissa Haight Carlton at Handmade by Alissa. If you’ve never seen her blog before, you’ll be amazed at the beautiful things she creates. While you’re there, check out her finished quilts. If you are unsure of what Modern quilting is, you’ll get an eyeful of great examples there! Alissa will also show you the entire “Outside My Kitchen Window” quilt and tell you how you can win your own autographed copy of Quilt Retro!

To order your own copy of Quilt Retro, follow one of these links:

Pickledish OR Amazon

Tomorrow’s guest: BonnieHunter of Quiltville!

Modern Monday - Block 3

2011-10-03T06:00:00.001-05:00

Rail Fence

Block 3 - Rail Fence

This is another fun, versatile block, similar to the log cabin. By keeping the fabric placement consistent, a zigzag appears when set side-by-side. You can also change the fabrics, but keep the same value in each position for more subtle zigzag. And I've seen scrappy versions that are nice, too! Experiment and see what combinations you can come up with.

You need 3 fabrics for this block. They can either blend, gradate or be totally unrelated, that's the beauty of this block! I chose Orange, dark gray and white for my version.

Cutting:
From each of the three fabrics, cut wedges (tapered at one end) about 1 1/2" x 15".

Sew the three strips together, pressing to one side.
Note: Some of my wedges were too fat on one end, so I cut my strips
in half before piecing them together, that way I could re-cut the fat wedges
down to a better size before sewing.

Cut your strip sets into 4 - 3 1/2" squares. Try to keep each strip about the same width.

Lay out as shown and sew together as a 4-patch block. Press to one side after each seam is sewn. Your block should measure 6 1/2" unfinished.

It’s a party and you’re invited!

2011-09-29T06:00:00.036-05:00

But you don’t have to buy a new party dress for this party. All you have to do is come to 42 Quilts and click some links! Starting Monday and running for two weeks, I’m going to introduce you not only to my new book, Quilt Retro, but to some other quilters who share my love for quiltmaking. We’ll have giveaways, freebies and other fun stuff, so plan on coming back Monday to join in all the fun!

If you are a Modern Monday/Traditional Tuesday quilter, don’t worry. We’ll continue with both on the 3 & 4 and 10 & 11, look for double posts on those days.

Here’s a peek at who will be joining us at the party!

Alissa at Handmade by Alissa

Bonnie Hunter

Crafty Tammie

Angela Walters

Jacquie at Tallgrass Prairie Studio

Deb Rowden

Kathy Mack at Pink Chalk Studio

No need to RSVP! Hope to see you Monday!

Traditional Tuesday - Block 2

2011-09-27T06:00:00.013-05:00

Log Cabin

Block 2 - Log Cabin

This was a fun little block. I made a log cabin quilt early in my quilt making days and have always enjoyed the process of making it. For this log cabin, I chose blues and pinks. You can choose two colors or a mixture of lights and darks. Traditionally the center is red. I chose a dark gray. You'll need a center square and 5 darks and 5 lights.

Cutting:
For the center square, cut 1 - 1 1/2" square.
For the dark AND light strips, cut each fabric into 2 - 1" x 6 1/2" strips. Note: the strips will be cut to size as we piece them and not all will require this much fabric.

Decide the order you want to sew your fabrics on. I chose to make each of the two lights and two darks per ring the same. Cut the first light strip 1 1/2" long and piece to the bottom of the center square. Press to the strip. This unit should be 1 1/2" x 2". Cut the next strip 2" long and sew to the side. Press.

Measure the unit you just sewed and cut the first dark strip this length. Sew to the top and press. Repeat for the side strip.

This is your first ring on the block. From now on, you keep adding lights and darks in the same way until you get the desired block size. In this case, 6 1/2" unfinished. (Note: this picture is upside down - oops!)

Once you've added 5 lights and 5 darks, trim to 6 1/2" square.

Modern Monday - Block 2

2011-09-26T06:00:00.002-05:00

Log Cabin

Block 2 - Log Cabin

This is probably the most versatile and hardest working block in all of quilting. It often is the first block a quilter learns and one she keeps coming back to because of its many design possibilities.

You'll need three fabrics to recreate the block as shown. I chose an orange solid, white and light gray.

Cutting:
From the white, cut 1 unit each:
1 1/2" square
1 1/2" x 5 1/2" strip
1 1/2" x 6 1/2" strip

From the orange, cut 1 unit each:
1" x 1 1/2" strip
1" x 2" strip
2" square
2" x 3 1/2" strip

From the light gray, cut 1 unit each:
1" x 3 1/2"
1" x 4"
2" x 4"
2 x 5 1/2"

Lay out all the pieces as shown. Log cabin blocks are pieced from the center out, so that's where we'll start.

Piece the smallest 1" wide orange strip to the top of the white square. Then add the other 1" wide strip to the right side of that unit. Press to the orange after sewing each seam. Continue adding orange units around the white square until you get all 4 sewn on.

This unit should measure 3 1/2" square. Trim up now if it's not that size.

To add the next round, add the short 1" wide gray strip to the right side of the orange unit. Press to the gray. Sew the other 1" wide gray strip to the bottom. Press.

Then add the 2" strips to the left side and top. Press.

Add the white strips to the bottom and left side to finish the 6 1/2" block.

This is why I love quilting

2011-09-23T08:16:00.002-05:00

Okay, there's more than one reason why I love quilting, but today it's this: The beautiful memories that are contained in the fabric.

My friend Margaret has troubles commenting on this blog, (Don't worry Margaret, you're not alone! Hi everyone who can't post a comment!) so she sent me a private email about this week's Traditional Tuesday block.

She wrote: "I am in the habit now of looking at your blog regularly. I wanted to make a comment about the Monday and Tuesday block thing, but somehow I don't get the hang of putting the comment on your blog page --- So, here's the comment..... I recognize that blue fabric in the Tuesday block --- (or else you already had some like it) ----- That is Tina's {Margaret's daughter} square dance dress and flooded my mind with memories, bringing a tear to the old eyes. When she was in high school Bill {Margaret's husband} and I belonged to a square dance club and Tina joined also. It was great fun and yes, I did make our dresses that we wore. Those were great times that we will forever cherish. I'm glad to see her fabric live on with you."

Yes, Margaret, that is the exact same fabric you gave me a few weeks ago. And that's what makes a quilt so much more than a blanket - the memories. I am transported to the time I acquired each fabric as soon as I see it, either in a quilt or in my stash. Or in the case of the scraps, I can remember every project I used it in! Wonderful. Like scrapbooking only on a much more personal level! Thanks Margaret, and look for more of your memories in future Traditional Tuesday blocks!

On another note, Margaret and our good friend Sheila went out to lunch and just happened to drive by some quilt shops on Wednesday! At one of my favorites, Fabric Recycles in Overland Park, Kansas, I found this great piece of 70s fabric. I'm not crazy for brown in general, but with the gold and green, it's a natural! It's not the best quality fabric and has a lot of tiny pinprick-sized holes on it, but it did inspire this start to a log cabin block! Here's to the memories!

No memories attached to this fabric - yet!

Traditional Tuesday - Block 1

2011-09-20T06:00:00.003-05:00

Welcome to the first installment of Traditional Tuesday! I have an urge to make a sampler quilt so I thought I'd make it a Quilt Along for anyone who wants to join me! Yesterday, I posted a Modern interpretation of this traditional block. Today, I'll post the instructions to make the Traditional block.

Before we start, here's some info you might find helpful:

Blocks:
The blocks will finish 6" square. That's a nice size that doesn't require too much fabric per block, making this quilt a perfect scrap-using project. Right now, I plan on making 64 blocks which will make a 69" square quilt with the setting I chose (see below).

Fabrics:
I'm using a variety of scraps, mostly blues for my quilt. My goal is to not buy any new fabric, except maybe the sashing and border fabric. I want to highlight my retro collection (60s, 70s and 80s fabrics), so a lot of those will be used, too. Basically I'll use what ever strikes my fancy that day!

The Finished Quilt:
This quilt will be set in a straight set with 1" sashing and two borders - the inner one 1" (same as sashing) and the outer one 5". I plan on waiting until the blocks are done to decide on the sashing/border fabrics.
You will need:

1 1/4 yards for the outer border
2/3 yards for inner border
1 yard for the sashing

About the Instructions:
Each Tuesday, I will give you the cutting instructions and show you how I pieced each block. You may feel free to modify the block, swap out with another block if you don't like this one or just leave it out all together! (And as always, you can make this quilt with me, give away or sell the quilt if you like when you're done, and share the link to this Quilt Along with your friends, but please don't profit monetarily from these patterns in any way.)

If you find errors, please let me know asap so I can pass along the information! Okay, here we go...

Block 1: Crossroads

You'll need two fabrics for this block. I chose a blue and white print and solid white for the background.

Cutting:
From the blue, cut:
2 - 1 7/8" x 3 3/8" strips.
1 - 1 7/8" x 7 5/8" strip.

From the white*, cut:
2 - 1 7/8" squares. Cut each in half on the diagonal to make 4 corner triangles.
1 - 5 1/4" square. Cut in half on both diagonals to make 4 large triangles.

*I'm from the "make it big and cut it down" school of piecing. That means the white will be much larger than necessary. This is so I can get the points just right when we trim this block up at the end. If I were piecing multiple blocks, I wouldn't do this, but in sampler quilts and other individual blocks, I do it for accuracy.

Lay out the elements as shown. Sew two large triangles to either side of one of the short blue strips. Press to the blue. (It's important to press away from white so the dark print doesn't show through on the top. Also, piece with white thread so it doesn't show through in the seams. Don't ask me how I know this!) Next, add the small triangle to the corner.

Tip: To get the small triangle centered perfectly, pinch it in half as shown to find the center.

Then pinch the blue unit in half to find the center.

See how the two pinched pieces fit together? The small triangle will be perfectly centered once you pin it and sew.

After you sew the small triangle on, trim the dog ears off and press.

Repeat on the other side. (Bad, bad camera!)

Then sew the two sides to the long blue strip. Again, finger press to find the center of both the side unit and the long strip. Add the small triangles to the end in the same way we did above and press.

Trim to 6 1/2". Using a 6 1/2" acrylic ruler makes life so much easier!

Modern Monday - Block 1

2011-09-19T06:15:00.004-05:00

Crossroads

Welcome to the first installment of Modern Monday! I have an urge to make a sampler quilt so I thought I'd make it a Quilt Along for anyone who wants to join me! Each Monday, I'll post a Modern interpretation of a traditional block. Then on Tuesday, I'll post the instructions to make the Traditional block!

Before we start, here's some info you might find helpful:

Blocks:
The blocks will finish 6" square. That's a nice size that doesn't require too much fabric per block, making this quilt a perfect scrap-using project. Right now, I plan on making 64 blocks which will make a 64" square quilt with the setting I chose (see below).

Fabrics:
For my Modern quilt, I'm using a variety of orange solids, orange prints, grays and white. I might throw in some blues occasionally because I like the orange/blue combination. Of course fabric selection is subject to change at my whim, and you are free to do what makes you happy.

The Finished Quilt:
I plan on putting a light gray frame around half the block and a dark gray frame around the other half. When set alternately, it will look something like below. If you want to leave it up to serendipity, you can add the frame as you go. You'll have to make sure you keep the light and dark frames pretty even as you go though so you end up with equal amounts of both. If you're a control freak, you can wait until the end and add the frame when you can place each block in just the right place. I'm going to add the frames as I go. One less decision won't kill me! If you choose this setting option, you will need a yard of light gray and a yard of dark gray. If you're adding the frames as you go, I'd make sure you label this fabric so you don't cut into it for something else!

About the Instructions:
Since this Modern quilt is largely improv, writing directions (and following them!) is a bit tricky. I will show you photos of how I make my blocks and will use words, not necessarily measurements to tell you how I did it. You'll have to "wing it" a lot of the time. This means your blocks will never look exactly like mine - and that's okay. If at anytime, you want to deviate from my path, do it! That's the basic nature of improv - don't think too hard about it, do what works for you and enjoy the results! (And as always, you can make this quilt with me, give away or sell the quilt if you like when you're done, and share the link to this Quilt Along with your friends, but please don't profit monetarily from these patterns in any way.)

Ideas:

Keep all your scraps as you go. Sometimes the scraps might make a cool improv block all in themselves!
If you want a larger quilt, consider making each block twice in different colorways. For example, you could make one block in the orange and the second block in it's complement - blue! I think that would make a very interesting quilt!
And as always, if you don't like one of the blocks, punt and do something else! You don't have to follow my directions exactly!

Okay, here we go...

Block 1: Crossroads

You'll need two fabrics for this block. I chose dark gray and an orange solid.

First cut a dark gray square about 7 1/2". Cut this on the diagonal twice, making 4 triangles (but it doesn't have to go exactly from corner to corner, it can be "off" a bit). Then, cut two wedges of orange about 11" long. Wedges are strips that are tapered slightly at one end. Cut one of these in half. Lay out the pieces as shown. The block will start to take shape. Now is the time to recut anything you don't like. If you think your wedge is too wide or too skinny, determine that now and recut. Remember the seam allowance will take away 1/2", so don't get your wedge too skinny at the point.

Piece the two triangles to either side of the short orange wedges. It's okay if the orange hangs off the ends. We'll trim it up after it's all pieced. I like to press after every seam is sewn, usually to the dark, but this time I pressed to the orange.

Notice that the long edge of the pieced triangle isn't straight. To get the block to work, this needs to be trimmed so it will join the long orange wedge properly and lay flat. Do this to both pieced triangles if necessary. Join the pieced triangles to the long orange wedge to finish the block.

It's helpful to have a 6 1/2" square ruler for trimming the blocks to size. Lay it over the block how you want it and trim. Something to keep in mind is the bias. On improv blocks, sometimes the bias gets in the way of construction! I don't think a little stretch on the edge of these small blocks will matter, especially when the frame is added, but try to keep the outside edges on the straight of grain as much as possible. (Your quilter will thank you, too!)

The Frame:
Cut strips of either light or dark gray. Cut 2 - 1 1/2" x 6 1/2" strips and cut 2 - 1 1/2" x 8 1/2" strips. Sew the short strips to the sides of the block and sew the long strips to the top and bottom. Press to the strips.

Look for the Traditional Crossroads block tomorrow!

Do you know what's in these boxes?

2011-09-16T14:32:00.000-05:00

I bet a lot of you do!

Yep, they're Singer Featherweights! This one is Mom's.


And this one is Grandma's!

This is a 1955 or 56 model. Mom bought it
when she first graduated high school. It's in
excellent condition. Still with a spool of thread in it!
I wonder what was made last on this machine?
It's been in the box at my aunt's house for years and years - maybe 35 years.

And this is Grandma's 1936 model. This is the only machine she ever used.
She made all my clothes when I was a young child and probably
those of my cousins as well. She also was a wonderful doll maker.
I'll show you some of those sometime. She made those dolls
on this machine. It was always set up and running! I wonder what she made first on it.
Probably curtains or clothing for my mom.

Don't know what thread this is or how old!

And of course the cats love to pose. That's Poppy in the box and
Bunny is the blurry streak jumping behind. She's a little shy!

These machines came to me in a round-about way. My aunt Rosie died earlier this year and my mom realized after that she had her machine. We talked to my uncle and he let me have it back. I doubt Rosie ever used it and it's in great condition. After that is when we went to my other aunt's house and got all the linens and other goodies from her. She let me have Grandma's machine, too! I know my aunt did make some quilts in the 90s, but has since given up the hobby (gasp!). I'm so happy to have all these treasures. Not only are they from my family, they are all related to the hobby/career that has been so good to me!

Modern Monday is coming!

2011-09-14T13:19:00.000-05:00

And so is Traditional Tuesday! I'm starting a new feature this Monday, called Modern Monday! Since I was so inspired by working on the group quilt at my guild, I'm going to create a similar quilt but done in my own way. Each week, I'll feature a traditional block made Modern and as an added bonus, I'll post the pattern so you can quilt along with me! Then on Tuesdays, I'll feature the same block done up Traditional. That's two identical quilts, that aren't identical at all!

Check back Monday for all the details. I hope you're ready to quilt along with me!

Here's your sneak preview. Above is an example of
Modern Monday, below is Traditional Tuesday.

Batting woes

2011-09-12T07:06:00.000-05:00

I'm working on a small wall hanging that I can actually quilt myself, and guess what? No batting. I was sure I had another package, but no. Since I live far from any quilt shop, I had to improvise. Here's what I did (sorry for the photography, I'm asking for a new camera for Christmas!):

I sorted through all my batting scraps and found two
that pieced together would be the right size.
I laid them out flat, overlapping them slightly.

I cut them at the same time in a slight curve and discarded
the two small strips that were left after cutting. I cut in a
curve so there's not a straight line down the center of batting,
and eventually the wall hanging. In theory, this will make the
batting stronger and less noticeable.

Then I sewed the two pieces together using the widest zigzag
and stitch I have on my machine. The length was the longest my
machine has as well. You have to sew it gently and kind of coax
the two pieces to stay together, but don't pull on the batting.

After sewing, it's kind of puckery. Just press gently
on the seam with a hot dry iron. Don't push the iron, tap.
Batting is super-stretchy and you want it to hold its shape.
Don't press anything other than the seam.

Here's the finished piece, ready to quilt!

One mystery revealed

2011-09-09T08:01:00.000-05:00

Finally, I can tell you about something I hinted about a while back. A couple weeks ago, I showed you a block I made (click here for the post). Well, this block was for more than just idle play, like I implied! It was a block for a super secret project. Our wonderful president of the KC Modern Guild, Jacquie of Tallgrass Prairie is moving to Chicago, so we were all asked to make a 6" block to go into a quilt for her. These are her colors:

My orange, gray and white block for Jacquie. She likes
improv piecing, so I did that! For a first try, I think it came out pretty cool!
And you know what? I kinda liked it!

Jacquie is in the center. I just was blown away with how
wonderful all the blocks went together. I've worked on a lot
of group quilts and this is by far the best one!

There's my block! We all signed them for her.
You can just work out my name on the right, white rectangle.

And yes, plans are still underway for my own orange and gray quilt. And that project I will share with you every step of the way!

Funny how when you collect a specific type of fabric...

2011-09-07T10:27:00.000-05:00

...people start giving it to you! I really like 1960s and 70s fabrics. I guess it's the nostalgia factor for me - or maybe it's that it's not been done-to-death yet - but I just love how different the fabric from this era is. I was over at my friend, Margaret's house last week for lunch (she made a nifty little noodly thing and I brought French silk pie - no calories because it's shared with a friend!) and I mentioned that I really like this fabric. She's been a sewer and quilter for probably 50+ years so I knew she'd have the good stuff. So we went down to her sewing room to see her collection and look what she gave me!

Looks like the 60s, 70s and 80s are represented!

If you like weird, check this out - blue and green acorns.
What on earth would you use this for?

Look at the little deer in a meadow of vines and flowers!
I'm sure this is polyester. Too bad!

Ah, this is the good stuff! I love the little ditties. I
had dresses made out of similar prints as a child!

And blues. Who can resist?

No idea what I'll use these for or if I'll even use them. In addition to fabrics, I also collect quilting books from this era. Maybe I'll find some inspiration there. Otherwise, they may just be backing. There's quite a bit of yardage here.

While I was in Margaret's basement, I couldn't help noticing how well organized things are. She has those stacking drawers that you can get at Wal-Mart or Target to store her fabric in. I'd say she had about 6 stacks of these with about 6-8 drawers in each one. Fabric was neatly folded and sorted by color in each drawer. Scraps were kept sorted into lights and darks in two large (3' long maybe?) plastic bins. I was very inspired. My fabric is such a mess. Take a look:

I think I used to have this sorted by color. Now
it's a miss-mash of color, sizes and fabric content.
Wow, it's embarrassing to show you this!

These are projects I've started, but are now in plastic bins
or just on the shelf. (That's where my Clorox wipes went!
I've been looking for them!)
Who am I kidding? Will I really ever
finish any of these? Well, maybe the Dear Jane!

I do know where everything is and can lay hands on it as soon as I need it, so do I really have to be neat and tidy? It might give me peace of mind, but I'll probably just stay the way I am!

It's soccer season!

2011-08-29T09:46:00.001-05:00

And that means stinky shoes!

And a crowded mud room!

Actually, this picture is one bag and pair of shoes short. My son has his first HS JV game tonight and took his gear with him this morning. After what seems like endless practices, I'm so glad the games are starting! He's goalie, which is way too much pressure on a soccer mom, but he's fearless and thrives on the pressure, so I try to stay calm and carry on. My daughter is in competitive soccer, which is just as bad, but I'm learning to cope! I never had the opportunity to play soccer as a kid, so I'm glad my kids do. I absolutely love the sport!

But, despite the hours spent driving and waiting for practices to end, I do manage to keep the sewing machine buzzing. And as I mentioned a few days ago, I have found some more time in my schedule this fall to finish up, start new and just play with my quilts!

Over the weekend, I decided to work on the Heritage Sampler Quilts and finish them up. I have the top done except borders on the black and have the white one all pieced, what I can anyhow, until I finish up the last three blocks. Of course those are the least motivating three blocks left, which is why they were left to the last in the first place!

The Black, without borders.

The black is for Son #1. His personality seems to suit the dark background. That sounds wrong. He's a happy kid, he just is so serious most of the time.

The White in pieces still.

And the same goes for Son #2, who the white is for. He just seems to "match" the white!

I taught this quilt as a class all last year - three blocks a month. I offered the kit in two colorways - background black or white. And since I really tend to bite off more than I can chew, I decided to make both colorways. I was determined to keep up with the students, and it worked out pretty well. But, what I found out though that surprised me was that it's nearly impossible to make one quilt exactly the same twice! There are tons of variations and differences. I know you can't tell unless I point them out, but in some cases I decided that a block was too hard to make twice, so I swapped out another block for it. Or sometimes I messed up the placement of the elements in one of the blocks but not the other - or my favorite, not reading my own directions and using the wrong colors completely!

I plan on having two different quilters quilt them to see what they come up with to further make them "different" from each other. Funny how the same can be so different!

BTW, do you notice the studs on the wall behind my design wall and the black plastic "walls" with holes in them (thanks to the kids) and a ping pong table cutting table? Yep, that's my sewing room - an unfinished basement! I love looking at the beautiful sewing spaces other people have! Maybe some day I'll have one for myself - or maybe not!

Quilt Labels

2011-08-26T09:56:00.000-05:00

Label in progress (straight out of the hoop, which is why it's so wrinkled).
Embroidered labels are nice!

So we all know labels are important to the posterity of our quilts, but why then is it so hard to get motivated to put one on the quilt? Labels are worse than binding, in my humble opinion! I think part of my problem is that I haven't found a tried and true, easy way to make a label. My usual way is to print the info on fabric. This is fine for wall hangings or other quilts that won't ever get washed, but it's not a long-term solution. The printer ink just won't stay put after washing. (I think there's fabric or some kind of process you can do to make it permanent, but I haven't looked into that too seriously.)

The best way I've found is to embroider the info on. I know it won't fade away and it looks kind of cool. It takes longer, however, and if you want to put a lot of info on the label, it could take forever! Another thing I've done is to just write my info on the back of the quilt with a permanent fabric pen. This works in a pinch, but isn't too classy. Not to mention, if you have a dark backing, which I often do, you can't see the writing. And I've tried writing on a label with said pen, but even with freezer paper on the back to stabilize, I'm never happy with my handwriting. So what's a girl to do? I'm still pondering that one. But in the meantime, I have to get some sort of label on my book quilts, so here goes.

First I type out all the info I want on the label.
I have multiple quilts, so I batched them all up on one page.
You can get as creative or as plain as you want. Guess which way I go!

Next I cut freezer paper 8 1/2" x 11".
I cut the label fabric slightly smaller than that.
I used grey because I just wanted to. Use what ever fabric you
want as long as the words can be read.

Press the fabric to the shiny side of the freezer paper.
Make sure it is really tight, especially on the edge that will feed into your printer.

Print. I did a test first to see which way I had to put the fabric in my printer.
In my case, I put it in with the fabric facing down. I also set my printer
to "best" so it would come out darker.

Once printed, I cut them out leaving enough room for a seam allowance.
I will sew them on the quilts that won't ever be washed.

How do you do labels? I'm always interested in what works and what doesn't. Leave a comment if you have better ideas than me!

Grandmother's Flower Garden?

2011-08-24T07:51:00.000-05:00

Remember me telling you about all my wonderful heirlooms I got from my aunt a while back? (Click here and here.) I'd like to show you another one - and the best one! This is a quilt my Grandmother made. (Not the Grandma I wrote my first book about, the other Grandma!) As far as I know, this is the only quilt that she completed, or at least the only one that survived.

Grandma's Quilt. Does anyone know the name?

My mom remembers Grandma working on this when she was a child, which would have been in the 40s. My aunt, who is 10 years younger remembers her working on this as a child, which would have been in the 50s! No one remembers when it was finished.

See how some of the blocks are upside down? I've been noticing this a lot on antique quilts and I've even done it on some of my quilts. I am in perpetual search for why this was done. Some say that they made quilts to look good on the bed when you walk in the room. Well, that doesn't quite fit this scenario. The ribbon blocks are upside down on the top and right side up on the bottom. I wouldn't think that would look good on the bed. My Grandma was a perfectionist of the highest order - more than me even! She would have planned this to the last detail. Or she would have followed the pattern exactly, which is what I suspect. I wish I could ask her.

Detail - Beautiful embroidery!

Detail of the detail.

Another detail - Wreath block.

Last detail - Tulip block.

Mom thinks Grandma bought this as a kit - probably from Emery, Bird, Thayer in Kansas City. It's definitely 1930s based on the pastels and the applique shapes. I love that it's done in all solids. I'm currently into solids - almost obsessively so! Funny how things come back around. I didn't think I'd ever like solids - near solids have been my thing since I started quilting. (Near solids are like Moda Marbles - almost a solid but with a bit of texture.) But now I notice solids everywhere!

The kids went back to school Wednesday!

2011-08-19T10:40:00.000-05:00

And I've been having a great time! I really do love my kids and like to be around them, but I just don't get much done during the summer. So they went off to school and I have actually gotten something done! Yesterday, I cleaned my bathroom - you know, the "real" clean, not just the "run over the sink with a towel and call it good" clean, but the "get down on your hands and knees and wash the floor" clean! Then I tackled the laundry room. After 3 weeks of HS soccer practice, it really was smelling bad.

But, that all took only a short time in the morning, which left me all afternoon in the sewing room. I was supposed to be cleaning it, too, but I have a new challenge quilt to make that was really, really calling me and I also decided to make a Kindle cover. I can't show you the challenge quilt, but here's the Kindle cover.

It's far from perfect - it's too long (remember to measure the Kindle before you cut it out!) and I put the binding on backwards, but, Hey! It's just going to sit in my purse, so it doesn't have to be perfect.

And speaking of challenge quilts that I can't show you! I have a dilemma and wonder how you would handle this situation. I entered an ugly fabric challenge at my guild (Lee's Summit Quilters Guild) and it's due in September. I showed you some of it when I was in the early honeymoon phase and it was all wonderful! (Look here and here.) Well, that was before I knew I was going to write my 3rd book. That took priority over this challenge. Now that I have time to get back to it, I realize that what I picked out was far too ambitious to get done in less than a month. I looked again, critically at the fabrics and boy, they really are ugly! I have no inspiration to try a different pattern - nada, zilch, zero. What would you do? Would you just punt and not do it or forge on and attempt to come up with something, even if it is less than perfect? I hate not finishing what I start (which is why I usually don't enter into challenges) but this one has blown up in my face and I don't know if I can finish it...

And the name is...

2011-08-16T08:57:00.000-05:00

Here's the cover! It will be available soon!

I’m so excited to tell you the name and share the cover with you! As you can see by the cover quilt, this book is going to be full of colorful, quirky, refreshing quilts. It was such fun designing these gems! And although they are quite Modern by style, I assure you they are also steeped in tradition.

Let me tell you the history and evolution of this book. A couple of years ago, I discovered Modern quilting. At first I thought Modern was for the young, beginning quiltmakers. I truly didn’t think there was anything there for me. But as I did some research and really looked at what they were doing, I realized that they were making the quilts I always wanted to make but didn’t think I could! (I used to be so hung up on labels – “I’m a traditional quilter,” I used to tell myself. “I can’t deviate from that path!”)

At first, I tentatively drew up some designs. Mine tend to be very graphic in nature. I have a graphic design background and have always loved that look, so it was natural for me to gravitate in that direction. These first designs were so “out there” for me that I put them away denied they even existed for a long time! Then I found the KC Modern Quilt Guild and went to a meeting. Wow! These women were wonderful (and some my age!). They were making the quilts I wanted to make with abandon. I went home after that and dug out my designs and reworked them a bit and voila! Many you will see in the book. Others I’m still working on and hope they hit the fabric some day.

Now if you’re a little on the fence about Modern I assure you that there are plenty of traditional elements in these quilts. In fact, I based almost all of them on antique quilts or traditional blocks. What’s different are the settings and colors used. There are no grid quilts with sashing here! I pull elements from the 50s, 60s and 70s (my favorite) as inspiration (hence the retro) and incorporate things that have personal meaning to me, but yet universal appeal!

The part of the book I’m most excited about, though, is for every quilt, I give you lots of guidance and encouragement on how to make the quilts your own, not just a straight copy of mine. If you don’t like the colors, I give you other options. If you want to add more of one element or take out others, I step you through how to do it. The point being, I want you to make these quilts your own, so they have meaning for you!

I certainly hope you enjoy the book. The quilts are fun, fast and enjoyable to look at! I’ll get you a link when the book is ready for purchase. And look for my Launch Party in early October - of course you’re invited! (More info to come on the Launch Party, give-aways and more!)