Bungle Jungle Charm Pack Quilt – Week 2

July 3, 2012March 19, 20134 Comments

I finished my version of a modern quilt top this week:

Using one Bungle Jungle charm pack and 2 1/2 yards of White Solid , I whipped this puppy up in just a few days! I started working on this quilt last week.

I started off by making a total of 42 blocks since there are 42 charms in a pack.

I arranged them on my design wall randomly, turning each block in a different position.

While I like this arrangement, I didn’t love it, so I tried laying out all the blocks in the same orientation. I liked that better.

It must be my OCD kicking in!

Next, it was a simple feat to sew the blocks into pairs and then join the pairs into rows to complete the top.

Each row had 6 blocks (or 3 pairs), and I sewed a total of 7 rows. I pressed all of my seams open so it will be easier to quilt and fabric won’t shadow through the white.

Once I finished sewing all the blocks together, I realized I needed to add a strip of white to the left of the quilt top and one across the bottom to balance the design.

This would create a continuous border of white all around the quilt with plenty of negative space for creative quilting.

Instead of cutting one long strip for each border, I cut 13 rectangles, 4″ x 8″ each and made 2 pieced borders. The left border required 7 rectangles and the bottom row needed 6 plus a 4 inch square for the corner.

I’m pleased with the quilt top and will start machine quilting it next week. It will finish around 52″ x 61″ which will make a nice sized baby-throw.

I have a few ideas that I’m going to think about over the next several days before I begin quilting. I really want to incorporate this hand stencil in the white areas:

I’m thinking I might randomly quilt the hands in the white areas, joining them together with loopy stippling designs. I’d like to quilt something fun in the charm squares too, like perhaps a different shape in each block. If you’ve got any suggestions, please send them my way!

Little Rascals Quilt Part 3 – Stencil Quilting

June 28, 2012February 16, 20151 Comment

This week I finished quilting the brown sashing on this adorable Li’l Rascals baby quilt. You can learn how I free-motion quilted the blocks in last week’s blog post.

First, I selected a cute Scottie Dog quilt stencil. I lucked out because each dog motif was about the size of one of my charm squares, so I didn’t have to adjust the size of the design. I love collecting all sizes and styles of quilting stencils. I probably have over 100!

To mark the design, I used a Sewline mechanical pencil with white ceramic leads. It made a nice clear line to follow.

The lines came off easily with a Sewline eraser stick after quilting. The left picture below shows 2 marked and quilted motifs. The right picture is after I erased the right motif. You can clearly see the quilting, but not the lines!

After I quilted the dogs with a matching brown thread, I decided I wanted to see them a little better, so I quilted them again, going over my previous lines, but this time with metallic thread. (To avoid problems using specialty threads I use titanium-coated top-stitch needles from Superior Threads.)

The design still wasn’t quite finished, so I added another line of quilting, echoing the shape of the dogs. Then I was happy with the quilting. Next time I think I would try a much darker or lighter thread so that I can see the design even better. I’ve been quilting for so many years with matching thread to hide my mistakes. But now that I’m getting better with my free motion quilting I want my stitches to show!

Next week, I will finish this quilt by showing how to block it and bind it.

If you’d like to make a similar quilt like mine, it requires just one charm pack and 1 yard of coordinating fabric for sashing.

Bungle Jungle Modern Quilt – Week 1

June 27, 2012March 19, 20136 Comments

Before I’ve even finished my current project, the Little Rascals baby quilt, I’ve already started on my next charm pack design! I was inspired by Leah Day’s modern quilt on her free-motion quilting blog. However, I’m making mine a little more uniform and less wonky.

I started with one charm pack of Bungle Jungle – a set of 42 precut squares that measure 5 inches. That means the finished size of each square is4 1/2″. I wanted to surround the squares with lots of open space for quilting, so I grabbed 2 yards of of Kona Cotton Solids in white.

I cut fifteen 4″ wide strips of white and sub-cut them into 42 pieces that measure 4″ x 5″ for the short side of the blocks and and 42 pieces of 4″ x 8 1/2″ for the long side of the blocks.

I stacked the pieces up next to my sewing machine in order so they were all ready to sew. Some of the prints are directional, but I won’t worry about that as I sew this quilt together. That will add to the “charm!”

To help with quilting later, I pressed all of the seams open. This helps reduce bulk and prevents shadowing of the seams. I will sew a total of 42 blocks, one for every charm square.

This week I will work on arranging the blocks into a pleasing setting. I’m loving it already!

The Modern Quilt aesthetic really appeals to me with lots of negative space and clean lines. One of the hallmarks of this design style is to use lots of solid fabric and crisp, clear colors.

If you’d like to follow along, grab 1 charm pack of your choice and 2 yards of background fabric, then sew a total of 42 blocks like those shown above. (I’ve only finished 12 blocks so far.) I’ll continue to blog about this project until it’s done, including quilting and binding.

Lil Rascals Charm Pack Quilt Part 2 – Machine Quilting

June 21, 2012February 16, 20156 Comments

Last Thursday I posted instructions on how to make this cute Li’l Rascals quilt top from just one charm pack and a yard of coordinating fabric.

If you are following along, feel free to post comments or ask questions about the project and I’ll do my best to answer!

This week I am working on machine quilting the 9 patch blocks with a free-motion wavy plaid design. Next Thursday, I’ll blog about marking and quilting the borders and sashing with a stencil.

I was really excited about doing something different with this quilt. I have stippled myself silly over the last 4-5 years and I’m ready to move on to new textures and designs.

I was inspired by Leah Day’s Loose Weave quilting from her Daisy to Paisley book of free motion fillers. I stitched out a practice sample on scrap fabric, then set to work on my quilt.

The long wiggly lines were easy to quilt without marking. My design is called “Wavy Plaid.”

First, I quilted long slightly wavy lines down the length of each 9-patch block. I used a thin polyester thread that seemed to blend in with most of the fabrics. I wanted the texture to show, not the thread! I quilted 4 sets of double rows per block and kept them sort of even.

Next, I quilted the same type of wavy lines going across the width of the blocks. I did have to rotate my quilt so that I was quilting either up or down the quilt the entire time. When I tried to quilt from side to side, my thread kept breaking.

I love the freedom this design gave me. Nothing had to be perfect and the quilting added lots of gorgeous texture!

To create the double lines, I quilted an echo outline with my free-motion foot, using the edge as my guide.

I dropped the feed dogs on my machine, used a Supreme Slider underneath the quilt to help it slide around smoothly, and stitched while wearing Machingers Quilting Gloves. The right tools make all the difference!

By the way, in case in case you need it, here are links to my mini-tutorials on pin basting, and sewing a pieced backing.

Lil Rascals Charm Quilt Part 1 – Free Pattern

June 14, 2012February 16, 2015Leave a comment

Here’s a quick and easy charm pack quilt I came up with. It requires 1 Lil Rascals charm pack and 1 yard of brown Sock Monkey Texture fabric (with enough left over for binding). You can substitute any charm pack and any coordinating fabric for the sashing.

I’ll blog about marking and machine quilting it next week. Now I will explain how to make the quilt top.

First, select 41 of the 42 charm squares that comes in the charm pack (you can save the 42nd square to use as a label on the back).

Arrange 9 of the squares to make one 9 patch block. Repeat for a total of 4 blocks. The charms are precut 5 inch squares, so your 9 patch block should measure approximately 14″ unfinished.

Measure your block and cut 4 sashing pieces 5″ wide by your block measurement.

Make 2 rows like the picture at left. Sew a 9 patch block, sashing piece and another 9 patch block to make the top and bottom rows. Measure the width of this row (should be 32″). Cut 4 brown border strips 5″ by this measurement.

For the middle row, take 2 sashing pieces and sew on both sides of a charm square. Sew all 3 rows together to create the inner quilt. Press towards the brown sashing strips.

Sew two long border strips to either side of the quilt top, like the picture at right.

Finally, sew the 4 remaining charm squares to each side of the two remaining long border strips (picture lower right).

Add each border to the top and bottom to complete the quilt top.

The quilt top measures approximately 41 inches square. It’s a little too wide to use just one length of fabric for the backing. I pieced my backing so that I had an extra 4-5 inches around on all sides.

It requires about 3 yards if you want to use the same fabric for the entire backing, with some left over. With care, you could get away with using just one 1 1/2 yard piece for the backing, if it’s at least 42 to 44 inches wide, but that’s cutting it a little too close for my taste!

To learn about piecing a backing using two different fabrics, read my post about that here. You could also sew a few chunks of fabrics for the back, or piece together a layer cake for the backing and you’d have a double sided quilt!

Feel free to share this tutorial with your friends, and let them know to come visit my blog for more quilting tips, free patterns, and fun inspiration!

Click here for step 2 – basic machine quilting

Click here for step 3 – stencil quilting

Click here for step 4 – blocking and binding

Basting a Quilt With Pinmoors

June 4, 2012March 19, 20131 Comment

Machine quilting is my absolute favorite part of making a quilt. However, before I get to that super-fun part, I have to get it all basted and ready to go first. Here’s my favorite method of basting. (You can read about preparing the quilt backing for this quilt here.)

I have two favorite battings that I like to use (cotton or wool). For a small baby quilt such as this one, I love Warm-N-Natural 100% cotton batting. It’s very inexpensive and quilts up wonderfully. It also gives an antique look once you wash it. I usually buy it by the bolt from my local craft-supply store when it’s on sale.

I always cut the batting a little larger than the quilt top, with the backing being slightly larger, too. Once the top is laid out, I’ll trim off the excess leaving about an inch or two around on all sides. For a larger quilt I would tape or clamp the backing & batting down, but that’s not necessary for a smaller quilt like this one.

A customer of mine suggested that I start carrying Pinmoor pin anchors, so I took her suggestion and I’m glad I did. This is by far the easiest way to baste a quilt! You just insert any straight pin into all 3 layers of the quilt. (I like the cute flower pins.) Then you cap the pin with a Pinmoor. It’s like a little nub of soft sturdy plastic that catches the end of the pin.

The best part about using the Pinmoors is that they are extremely easy to take out of the quilt while machine quilting. Just toss the pin into one container and the Pinmoors into another so they are ready for next time. You could also throw them all into one container and use a magnet to separate out the pins. They are indefinitely reusable.

It took exactly 81 Pinmoors and pins to baste this quilt – one for each block! In my next blog post, I’ll write about machine quilting this quilt with an allover design. This is for my sister-in-law’s baby girl, due this summer. I used Lily Ashbury’s Summer House fabric cut into 2 1/2″ by 4 1/2″ strips to make this quilt. It was fun, quick and easy to sew!

How to Prepare a Pieced Quilt Backing

June 3, 2012Leave a comment

I’m working on a baby quilt for my sister in law. I started the top last summer while on vacation, using fabric from Lily Ashbury’s Summer House. It’s going to finish around 40 inches square and can be made from 2 Charm Packs, 1 Jelly Roll, or about 21 strips of fabric. I made a total of 81 blocks, measuring 4 1/2 each, set 9 across by 9 down. You can read my earlier post about starting the quilt top here.

I’m ready to finish the quilt, but first I have to piece the backing and then baste it before I get to the fun part – the quilting! Here are some step by step procedures to prepare the backing. This method will work with any size quilt.

First, I go through my stash to find something with the same colors so that I can use the same thread in both the needle and the bobbin. I really like the flower print above, but it’s not quite the same style and it has too much purple and orange.

I like the pink and green fabrics much better. However, there’s not enough of either one, so the next step will be to sew the pieces together to make a large enough backing.

Next, I lay the backing piece over the quilt top so I can see how much more fabric I need to add to make the backing big enough. I usually don’t use precise measurements – a visual is all I need. I will add on additional pieces to make the backing a couple of inches wider on all sides; then I’ll trim it down later.

I could simply sew the pink and green fabrics together side by side, but I don’t think that looks very balanced. I’d rather split the backing into three pieces, with green in the middle and pink on both sides.

With scissors, I snipped in the middle of the pink fabric, then ripped it into two roughly equal sized pieces. On the green fabric, I squared up the piece by ripping off a small amount on both sides to straighten the grain for sewing.

I don’t mind ripping the backing pieces because it’s easier than rotary cutting, especially for long pieces of fabric.

I sew them together using a wide half-inch seam allowance and press the seams open.

This quilt back will have two seams just like the picture shown at left.

Now the backing is large enough and I will use the excess pink fabric for the binding.

The top is laid out on top of the backing to get an idea of how much extra there will be.

My next blog entry will be about basting this quilt using my new favorite tool: Pinmoors!

Circle Stars #3

May 24, 2012March 19, 2013Leave a comment

I’m making very slow progress on the Circle Star quilt I started in class with Gail Garber several weeks ago. You can read my previous post about it HERE. I have finished sewing the block together which is shown below. I absolutely love this block which I designed myself!

My problem is that I am now ready to move on and design the rest of my quilt around it – but I’m stuck. Do I make more stars? Do I build a medallion around it? The picture below shows one idea that Gail came up with in class. I taped more freezer paper and Gail added some really cool elements to the design.

I want to incorporate more points and more borders but I think I need to put this into a design program and really spend some time fiddling. I’ve been playing with EQ7 but that seems more geared toward standard traditional quilts rather than more artistic ones. I’m checking into the feasibility of really learning Adobe Illustrator, too. There’s another program I heard about through Leah Day’s blog called Serif Draw Plus.

The hard part is that I know it will take some time to learn to use new tools before I can get back to the fun part – designing and sewing! Oh well – another learning curve to overcome!!

Circle Stars Part 2 – Paper Piecing

May 2, 2012May 2, 20124 Comments

Many Circular Star designs are more commonly known as Mariner’s Compass blocks. They look very complicated but are actually quite simple to piece.

To make my fiery star block that I’m working on this week, I began with a hand-drafted pattern that I learned how to make in a workshop I attended recently from Gail Garber. You can read more about that awesome class HERE.

For me, the hardest part was picking out the colors! I started out by bringing the whole pile of fabrics shown below to class. It’s hard for me to envision a project until I know exactly what I’m doing. After a day of block designing I was able to narrow down my choices and stick with an analogous color scheme – colors that lie right next to each other on the color wheel. I’ve been learning a little color theory, too.

My heart really yearned for reds, oranges, and yellows so I rummaged around in my stash until I was happy with my fabric choices. I needed to make sure there was enough contrast in value to make the design stand out.

Once the pieces were rough cut into large rectangular patches, the sewing fun could begin! Gail’s method of paper-piecing is to cut each piece out 1″ bigger on all sides. I don’t mind the waste if I can trade it for extreme accuracy. The REALLY nifty part is below.

We started off with the first piece in the middle like you normally would for paper piecing. We used freezer paper foundations and made multiple copies by pinning them together and running an unthreaded needle through a stack of freezer paper sheets. The fabric adhered to the freezer paper when I ironed between seams. That meant no shifting! It easy pulled away when I was ready to add the next piece.

The “magic” happened when we used an add-a-quarter ruler to the edge of each sewn piece to cut off the excess. Instead of getting globs of fabric lumps on the back, each seam was nice and tidy. It made lining up the next piece super simple!

Once I had a stack of pie slices – 8 to be exact, they were ready to be trimmed and sewn into a circle. The picture below shows Gail in class demonstrating how to paper piece on my Bernina. The best thing about taking technique classes is that it gives me great ideas for nifty notions that I’ll eventually carry in my store. In the meantime, if you are interested in the add-a-quarter ruler and other supplies for paper piecing, you can order them from Gail’s website here: www.GailGarber.com.

Now I can’t wait to turn this block into an exciting (perhaps award-winning??) quilt! I will post weekly updates as I work on this project.

Circle Stars Workshop Part 1 – Drafting

April 28, 2012March 19, 2013Leave a comment

I’m finally ready to share some pictures with you from Gail Garber’s workshops I took last weekend. You can see some of Gail’s beautiful quilts with her signature colorful flying geese in my earlier post HERE. She’s one of the most fun quilting instructors I’ve ever had!

She started us off with a private show & tell of her beautiful quilts and we spent a little time introducing ourselves. What a perfect way to start a class – creating camaraderie to boost our morale for the weekend of work ahead! Getting into the nitty-gritty the picture below shows the types of supplies we needed to create such complicated quilts. It wasn’t too intimidating since she walked us through the procedures step-by-step. You can purchase many of these supplies from Gail Garber’s website HERE.I spent most of the first day designing and drawing with a compass and pencil. Gail used such friendly terms like “make a fish tail” rather than scary math terms like “bisect the angle”. Her approach was fun and certainly doable! Be sure to click the pictures below for closeups.

Drafting perfect stars was fun once I knew how!

Once we were happy with our design, we made a paper pieced pattern pie!

I managed to get one wedge of my star sewn by the end of the weekend. What a success!

Several friends and guild members took this fun class. Shown above: Jean, me, Gail Garber, and Karen. (Jean and Karen both make award-winning quilts that you can see HERE.)