Pup One, Pup Two

   
      Today I'm sharing my progress on the dog gone quilt along blocks.

     May I introduce you to Pup One

     and Pup Two.

     These guys are the smaller size of the Dog Gone Cute quilt along that Lorna is running at Sew Fresh Quilts.  I'm having lots of fun making these blocks.  Some of the pieces are quite small but I'm liking the results. 

Here they are together.

 They are going to make one cute lap sized quilt.  I'll have to make extra puppies to get it to the size I want.

     The background fabric is quilters linen by Robert Kaufman which is 100 percent cotton but with a textured look to the fabric.  I've used it before in grey and I really love it.  So far the pups are made of scraps.  I'm planning on a rainbow of puppies.  

     I'll have to wait to share other things I have been working on because I'm off to my second meeting of this week.  This is my busy season at work, and my life is very full. On Saturday I'm at a trade show for the day and I'm spending Monday to Wednesday of next week in meetings in a neighbouring city.  

I'm linking up with Let's Bee Sewcial at Sew Fresh Quilts.

     

A Rather Slow Update

I went on a trip with my sister to Mexico last week!  It was a wonderful trip.  I can't even tell you the last time the two of us had time together alone. We spent a lot of time talking and catching up, a lot of time lolling on the beach...

     and a little bit of time doing aqua fit in the pool (1/2 hour a day), and we did a day trip to see the Mayan ruins at Tulum.

     I of course had high hopes that I would get lots of hand sewing done.  This is a sample of what I brought along.

     I managed to finish one complete star...

     and one blooper....

     This is what happens when I try to sew on a beach.  Too many distractions I guess.  I can see that I'll be doing some slow unsewing today, although I can see some possibilities for using these 2 1/2" diamonds for modern abstract designs based on this mistake.  Unfortunately I have more ideas than time.

     I linking up to Kathy's Slow Stitching Sunday today and Jess's Star Count on Monday.

Fabri-Quilt Block Challenge.

     In the Spring I participated in the New Quilt Bloggers blog hop.  This was a great experience for me so when the call came at the end to participate in another blog hop this fall, I jumped right in.  This time we were given a fat eighth of each of the following fabrics and asked to design a 12 1/2" unfinished block . The fabrics are from Fabri-Quilt and the colour palette is Watermelon Summer.  The colours go together beautifully.

top row chartreuse, turquoise,coral

bottom row:light aqua,lapis blue and white

     Over 60 of us are sharing blocks during the blog hop this week. This is day three.  Stephanie of Late Night Quilter is the host for todays blog hop and there are 15 of us participating. There is more information on this at the bottom of the post

     I tend to be a follow the pattern kind of gal so the experience was a bit daunting but a  lot of fun also.  I was seeing potential block designs all over the place, and I had a hard time deciding what to settle on. In the end I decided to keep it simple and bold. 

      I'm sharing tutorials for two blocks today.  They are easy to make so if there are confident beginners reading this post, these blocks are for you.  You do need an accurate 1/4" seam, and I recommend washing the fabric first.

     The block on the left is the Double Diamond Star and the block on the right is the Graduated Cross.

1.  Double Diamond Star Block

Cutting instructions:   From each of the fabrics cut a 4"strip.

sub cut the strips into  four 4" squares.  You will need:

2 squares each of chartreuse, lapis blue, white and turquoise 

4 squares each of coral and light aqua.

Pair two  coral blocks with  two chartreuse blocks .

Pair two coral blocks with  two white blocks.

Pair two  light aqua blocks with two  turquoise blocks 

Pair two light aqua blocks with two lapis blue blocks.

      Draw a diagonal line corner to corner across one square for each pair, using a removable marking device.

     Sew the squares together, one quarter inch on each side of the line.  Cut through the squares along the line.  Press the seams towards the darker colour.

     Trim the blocks to 3 1/2". You will have a total of 16 half square triangle blocks.

4 coral and white (A)

4 coral and chartreuse (B)

4 light aqua and turquoise (C)

4 light aqua and lapis blue (D)

       Take one of each A,B,C and D,  and sew them into the following unit being careful to orient the fabrics exactly as shown in the picture.  Press the seams open.

      

 Make three more of these units.  Rotate the  four units as in the photo below  and sew them together to create the Double Diamond Star. Again press the seams open.

      I named this block the Double Diamond Star because of the secondary pattern that will form when multiple blocks are sewn together, creating rows of light aqua and coral diamonds.

2.  Graduated Cross Block

This block was made with the leftover fabric from the double diamond star.  The white fabric was in short supply which is why the striped units are constructed as they are.

Cutting:

 From each of the turquoise, lapis blue, chartreuse and light aqua fabrics cut one  1 1/2" strip the length of the fabric.

From the white fabric cut a 4 1/2" strip the length of the fabric. Sub cut this strip into four 4 1/2" squares.  From the remaining white fabric cut

one 2 1/2" square   

four rectangles 1 1/2" by 4 1/2"

Cut the light aqua strip into 

two rectangles 1 1/2" by 2 1/2" and 

two rectangles 1 1/2" by 4 1/2".

Sewing:   Use a quarter inch seam throughout.

Sew the chartreuse 1 1/2" strip to the turquoise 1 1/2" strip. Sew the lapis blue strip to the opposite side of the turquoise strip. Press the seams open

Sub cut this strip into 4 units 4 1/2 inches wide.

     Sew a white 1 1/2" by 4 1/2 " rectangle to the lapis end of the block making an A unit. Press the seam open. 

     Make four A units.

Sew the the two light aqua 1 1/2" by 2 1/2" rectangles to two opposite sides of the 2 1/2" white square and the two 1 1/2" by 4 1/2" rectangles to the remaining two sides. Making a B unit. Press the seams open.

     Sew the A and B units along with the 4 1/2" white squares into the three rows pictured below.  For the middle row I pressed the seams toward the centre .  For the other rows I pressed the seams towards the white squares.

     Sew the three rows together into the Graduated Cross Block.

     

    I named this block the Graduated Cross because the colours of the cross go from light in the middle to dark.  This gives the block a luminous quality.  I think this would make an awesome quilt with different graduating colour ways in different blocks.   

       My blocks are on route to Texas where they will be made into donation quilts with the other blocks from the hop.  They are going to be really colourful and I'm looking forward to seeing the finished quilts.

     Here are the links to the other participants in today's blog hop.  Please check them out. I'll be visiting them at a later date as I am on vacation with my sister in sunny Mexico! We left today.  I'll respond to comments when I return.

Hannah @Modern Magnolia Studio

Cindy @Stitchin At Home

Abby @Hashtag Quilt

Carrie @Chopping Block Quilts

Eleanor @Cat Approved Quilting

Brianna @The Iron and Needle

Tish @Tish’s Adventures in Wonderland

Jan @The Colorful Fabriholic

Sarah @Smiles Too Loudly

Beth @Cooking Up Quilts

Leanne @Devoted Quilter

Liz @LizzyClips Design

Kim @Leland Ave Studios

Kitty @Night Quilter

     And don't forget to visit our hosts for opportunities to win your own 1/2 yard bundle of the Watermelon Summer fabrics.  I'd love to see what you do with them.  The hosts are:  

       

                      Cheryl@MeadowMistDesigns

                                Yvonne@Quilting JetGirl

                               Terri Ann @Childlike Fascination

                                 Stephanie@LateNightQuilter 

Good luck with the draws!

Star Update

      It was a very lovely Saturday and I spent the early morning hours doing some slow stitching on my e.p.p. stars.  Here are the latest additions shown on my glass table top.

     Two blue stars and a grey and black one.  I felt that the mix so far was a little heavy on the reds and pinks as you can see below.

     I'm hoping for some more nice weather and some more time to sit and stitch in the backyard which has become my favourite place to be.   Hanging in the backyard helps to keep me calm when things get a little stressful.  I'm linking up with Kathy for Slow Stitching Sunday and with Jessica at the Monday Morning Star Count.

What I did on my summer vacation

     Do you remember those essays we used to have to write at the beginning of every  school year.  We couldn't leave the summer to itself but had to think of it as homework.  Well I've had some homework this summer.  Quite enjoyable homework for the Outreach Committee for my local Guild. You can check the Comfort Quilts tab at the top of the blog if you would like to know more. 

     We handed out blocks to all the Guild members when they renewed their memberships.  These are some that I made.  

     Our committee has also been busy preparing for our program starting in September.

      We decided to restart  the block of the month program and each  committee member took on the task of finding a block , making sure we have permission to use it and provide instructions for making it.  The guild members will get instructions for making the block in our newsletter so they can make the block using their own scraps/stash, or they can pick up a block kit and use guild fabrics.

     I had already asked Tanya of Tanya Quilts in Colorado if we could use her Medallion Log Cabin Block and as she had agreed I was first up.

     I made the two sample blocks shown here to be used as examples in the guild newsletter.

        In addition to sending photos to the newsletter co-ordinator  I wrote a small article with a link to Tanya's tutorial, and I made a one page instruction sheet to go in with the blocks. On Friday we got together and cut the fabrics for the block kits. 

 But that's not all.  I have a couple of quilts made over the last couple of years that I'm finishing up.

  This is a close up of one block of a quilt that I've quilted in straight lines that mimic the shape of the wonky wedges. This is a very busy quilt so I went for simplicity. It has a border of the lighter fabric on the left and I'm planning to free motion wonky squares like the ones in the fabric.  This will be a challenge for me, so I might change my mind if it doesn't go well.

     I also put the borders on this quilt and will be practicing free motion loops on it.
And just so you know I have a life outside of the community outreach committee here is a photo of Dwight and I at my friend M.J.'s hippy themed wedding we attended on Saturday.

    
     We don't look very hippy do we? Some people went all out and looked like they were at Woodstock.  I'm linking up to Let's Bee Sewcial at Sew Fresh Quilts, and W.I.P. Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

    

Friday Finish: A Runner for Tessa and Ryan

     Quite some time ago my co worker Tessa just happened to mention that she loved the colour combination of grey and yellow and that her house was decorated in those colours.  I tucked this information away in my quilters memory.  Early this summer she got married and I put that information to use.
     I had a fat quarter pack of some yellow and grey Dear Stella fabrics.  I put them together with some solids and a few other co-ordinating fabrics to make her and Ryan this table runner.

     I used the instructions for the Graphic Patchwork Table Runner by Amy Ellis in Make It! Patchwork magazine. It came together very nicely and I was really happy with the results.
I decided to quilt straight lines down the length of the quilt.  This caused me some frustration as the top shifted considerably during the quilting.  Since nobody seemed to notice this but me I decided to chalk it up to experience and give her the runner regardless.

      When Tessa returned from her honeymoon the quilt was waiting for her on her desk. She loved it and she was amazed that I had made her something that fit in with her decor so well.  She said it was like I had snuck into her house  to look at her decorating when she was away. (Note:  I have been known to do this, but not this time)

     Here's a photo she shared with me.

     Oliver loves it too! I'm linking up to TGIFF and Friday Finishes.

Sewing Curves

  Look what's on my design wall!

     These are some clamshell blocks  I made in a workshop with Susan Forbes a couple of weekends ago.  This is the second curved piecing workshop I've taken with Susan and the third workshop on curves I've taken this year.  The first was with art quilter Maggie Vanderweit and the focus was on free hand curves.  All workshops used the no pins method.  Both women were excellent teachers and I would recommend their workshops.
     The two classes with Susan were using templates to make curves.  The clamshells where cut with the Quick Curves Ruler using an adaptation of a pattern from Sew Kind of Wonderful.
     I've learned a lot about curved piecing in the last while and I thought I would share some tips that make things a little easier for those starting out with these techniques.

1.  Don't pre wash your fabric.

2.  Use a light spray starch when Ironing your fabrics prior to cutting.

3. Make your pieces larger than you need and cut down to size.  In the Clamshell pattern I the blocks start at 8 1/2 inches and get cut down to 7 inches. 

4.  Sew slowly and use your needle down position when stopping.

5.  When you are sewing, keep your focus on the right hand side of the block.  As you see in the photo below, there can be quite a bit of ruffling happening to the left.  That's normal.

6.  Only sew a small amount at a time.  In the next photo notice where my finger is on my right hand.  That is about as far as I went before stopping.  It's the distance that the fabric sits nicely together.

     You'll notice  that I am using my left hand to hold the top fabric up a bit, and to keep the ruffling out of the way. Which leads to tip number 

7. Try not stretch or pull on the fabric.

8.  Press the seams towards the circle not the background. To avoid stretching, press parallel to the straight of grain.  For me it works better to press on the right side first and then the wrong side.

 9. Because sewing curves requires quite a bit of focus I find I can't sew too many curves at one sitting. Take lot's of brakes to do other tasks like trimming blocks.  You don't want to get too tired and make mistakes.  Over the weekend I sewed right sides to wrong sides twice.

10. Remember that sewing curves like any new technique requires practice.  Be easy on yourself.  If you are like me it's probably best to take a workshop.  If you don't have easy access to a workshop, Leanne from She Can Quilt has a really good U tube video and tutorials on her blog.  Just remember that Leanne is really good at this and doesn't need to trim her blocks down.  It's something to aspire to.
     

     I'm linking up with Terry for Tips and Tutorials Tuesday, with Lorna for Let's Bee Social and with Lee for Works In Progress Wednesday.