Flower Patch Revamp Final Reveal!

Ok, this is going to be a long post.  I have not blogged in quite a while, but I feel like this project deserves the time and attention that only a blog can accomplish.

This quilt is 6 months in the making, not because I am that slow, but because life can be busy at times. While I love to quilt in heavy detail,  I do other projects at the same time, like writing my book Serenity.

This project is based on my Flower Patch quilt pattern.  I made a lot more blocks, and changed out the layout, which I will include at the end of this blog. You can get the original pattern here and that goes over the sizing and piecing instructions for the Flower Patch Block. 

This quilt is for my bed.  I  have changed my bedding several times over the years, but this one had to be made because I recently purchased a king size bed. It also answers the question of whether or not I use the quilts I spend so much time on.

  I fell in love with the fabric immediately when it came into our shop. The fabric is Chickadee by Create Joy Project for Moda Fabrics. I added some Moda Bella Solids for the sashings and pillows, I always love using solid fabrics when I quilt. 

My son still gives me flowers, he's 12 and he left this paper flower for me as a surprise.  It was the best surprise and one I had to share. 

This is the pillow backing, isn't it gorgeous?  It is a shame to cover, but at least I  have the picture for memory. 

I had 4 pillows that needed to be covered, so I decided that an exaggerated Flower Patch block would work the best!  I made two pieced blocks and quilted some fabrics to make the other two pillows.

 

It was really fun putting these pillows together and compliment the large quilt perfectly.

 I love the 60wt Glide thread because it's the perfect weight for high density quilting.  I  use white thread throughout because I want to showcase the quilting designs in the solid fabrics. I share a video on how to quilt this border design, you can see that here. I used my QuickMarkRuler and my A1 longarm ruler to draw and quilt out these designs.

This magenta corner is fabulous; seriously, it turned out so perfect. This corner is different than the top corner (pictured below) because of how the design lays out, but I love having different design elements in a quilt. It definitely gives it more character. 

The hardest part of the quilting process was seeing the marker on the darker fabric, but I like to use the purple disappearing marker for that. I have a large bright light that I use while I quilt and as long as that light is on, then the marker comes through perfectly on the darker fabrics. 

Here you can see the different corner design. Both are beautiful and give an awesome feel for the quilt. 

Here is a shot of the sashing.  I think my favorite part of designing the quilting is looking beyond the quilt blocks and incorporating the background of the pieced blocks to become part of the sashing.  It just changes the whole look of the quilt. 

And, the back! Oh my word, it's so amazing. I could easily use this as the front of the quilt for a bit of a change.

These last two pictures show just how amazing the fabric and the quilting designs work in unison to make an incredible quilt. Sometimes it is all about placement. I  must admit I am a bit nutty about fabric placement. Also, I am a bit nutty about line (stitch) placement because it does make a difference on a project. 

So, grab the original Flower Patch pattern here, then come back for the different/new layout listed below.

The above layout is the one I used for this new quilt. I have a 2 inch finished scrappy square border just beyond the sashing, then a 1/2 inch finished break border. After that a 2 inch border followed by the finished 9 1/2 inch border. For the large border I used a fabric with a large print and I love it, but if you don't want to make your quilt this large, you can eliminate the large border. The width of quilt that I made is 100" wide with all the borders.

For the quilt make 30 blocks. Instructions for this block is available in my pattern Flower Patch. Get that pattern now. The revamped layout is 5 blocks across by 6 blocks down.

• 1/4 yard) Sash Squares - cut 3 strips 2 1/2” x WOF (width of fabric) strips, from these strips cut (42) 2 1/2 inch squares.

• 1 3/4 yards) Sash Strips - cut 5 strips 12 1/2” x WOF strips, from these strips cut (71) 12 1/2 x 2 1/2 inch rectangles.

• Squares border - cut (204) 2 1/2 inch squares from jelly rolls/scraps

• 1/3 yard) 1/2” Break border - cut (12) 1” x WOF strips 
• 7/8 yard) 2“ Border - cut (12) 2 1/2” x WOF strips
• 3 1/2 yards) 9 1/2” Border (12) 10” x WOF strips

For the borders - sew three strips end to end for each side and the top and bottom. I used a 1/4" seam allowance for all seams in this quilt.

Have so much fun sewing this quilt top together!

New product! The QuickMark Ruler!

Hi Everyone!  I am so excited to introduce to you my first ever designed ruler - the QuickMark Ruler! This has been in the works for a while, so I am happy to let you know that it is finally available.  I designed this ruler so that I could have more options with marking while working on my quilts.  You know that I mark A LOT when I quilt and that isn't going to change for my custom quilting, so this ruler is perfect for what I need. 

I have been having fun using my new ruler on my newest design, "Gypsy" which will be available as a pattern soon. I will keep you up to date on all of that.  In the meantime, you can get your ruler here.

Happy Quilting! 

Candy Cane Wall Hanging! Merry Christmas!

Free Pattern!  My gift to you this Christmas season.  Read on!

Okay, so I just had to make something to reflect the time of year right now and I have always loved candy canes.  As you can see, this fabulous Candy Cane wall hanging is just perfect for the season, I love it.  The design was really fun to come up with, and it was even more fun putting together.

I wanted to incorporate a star in the project and it works perfect on the candy cane.  I just love how it turned out.

This wall hanging is 26 x 36 inches and is perfect as a fun accent to your Christmas decorations, it also fits nicely on a table as a center piece.

The wall hanging only took me a day to put together and only 1 hour for the quilting.  I went with quick and easy quilting on this one.

I was also able to use up some of my cute Christmas fabric that has been sitting in my stash for a while.  So, I hope you enjoy making this adorable wall hanging.  You can get the free pattern here, just print it off and enjoy!  I hope you like it! You can also check out my patterns here - I have a lot of fun ones in the shop.

Oh, and my book is shipping to me this week, that means it is shipping to you next week.  Hooray! It's about time!!!!

Flower Patch QAL Tutorial

As promised here is my tutorial for my Flower Patch quilt.  I had a lot of fun with this and I hope you enjoy the tutorial.  It's just me in my studio in a non-professional set up, so please take that into consideration as you are watching.  I did the video editing by myself, but I have to thank my niece Kaija for holding the camera for me.  So, watch this and then make your own quilt ;-)  I would love to see your finished project on my Flickr group.  Happy Quilting! 

Don't forget to check out the newest fabric collections on our website here.

Have a great weekend!

 

Video Tutorial

Okay, promise not to laugh at my cheesy tutorial with funky disco music.  Just remember I have a very limited movie making budget (hehe) and I only have 2.2 seconds in between needy kids to put together a tutorial - so if you don't like it, don't tell me. Otherwise, enjoy! And let me know if you try out my diamond sashing. Have a great weekend everyone.

Video Tutorial

Okay, I had a little too much fun putting this video together. It is around 6 minutes, so hunker down and plan for that. By the end of the video you will either be dancing or thinking I am the biggest dork - either way I had fun putting this together. I hope you like it!

Directional Compass quilting block tutorial

Okay - here is how I drew out my directional compass quilting block from my latest quilt. I hope this tutorial is helpful to you all and I hope you can try it out soon!

The block is a 7" square - so I will show you how to draw the guidelines according to that size. First draw a line from the top to bottom of the square, then from the left side to the right side. After you have drawn those lines - draw two more lines as shown in the picture. Use the center of the lines as a guide and draw 8 markings, 1 inch away from the center.

Use the markings from the center as a guide to draw 8 lines as shown above.

Use the remaining markings as a guideline for the smaller lines. See the picture below.

Half way there - I know, there is a lot of marking - but it is worth it!

You need to mark 4 more guide markings. Take a ruler and measure 3 1/2 inches away from the center and make a mark on the four center perpendicular lines.

Now - make a line from the smaller triangle points to the markings you just made. These lines are just a guideline and will not be quilted. See the picture below.

This is how it will look.

You will need to make a straight line in the center of the triangles you made from the previous step. Use your ruler to help make sure you have a straight, perpendicular line.

This is how it will look with all the lines drawn.

Use the first 8 markings as a guideline for the last lines to be drawn to make the shape of the directional compass.

Hopefully these pictures are helpful enough.

Now you have the basic shape of the compass and you are more than welcome to stop. All you more detailed quilters can continue on to the next steps.

To give the directional compass more movement I added a center line in each left triangle section going in a clockwise direction. Then I added a line about 1/8 inch away from the outside lines to create a barrier between the filler (pebbling) and the compass.

So, just quilt on the lines and use a filler if you want it to really pop!

Simple Diamond sash quilting tutorial...

Okay - this may be something you all know how to do - but I figured I would share how I have been doing my diamond sash quilting. I want your feedback at the end of the post - are you okay with pictures, or would you rather have video? Was this something you wanted to know? Be honest - I hope I can handle it...............

This sash is 2 x 13 inches. I want to get a diamond shape, so I draw a line at every 1 inch increment - these lines are just guidelines. I don't draw the diamond shape because it isn't necessary and that would be more work.

Start quilting at the top left side, going down to the bottom right line of the first section. Continue quilting up and down the sections to create up and down V's. Notice my straight edge ruler is 1/4 inch away from the line at the top of the next point - this will ensure that my lines will be accurate. ***Whenever you are working with straight lines on your quilting machine you need your flat extended base attached so that you can get a good grip on the ruler and a flat edge to work with.

If you can see my thumb - it has a little white on the tip because I press pretty hard. I don't want the ruler to move at all.

Again - notice the placement of the ruler - 1/4 inch away from the ending point.

The first section is done - I quilted it left to right. The reason I don't go back right to left is because I am quilting straight lines and my machine doesn't like to go right to left for a long run - the thread shreds if I try. So, start back at the beginning and quilt the opposite sides of the lines to create and X in each section.

Leave your needle down and stay put - you can quilt right to left for the fill in loops.
The reason your machine can do right to left at this point is because you will be moving the machine up, down and over. The bobbin can keep up with that!

Fill in the triangles you made with loops - this will give dimension to your diamonds. So - three loops, small-big-small. Continue right to left, when you get to the end of the last triangle continue onto the other side. I travel along the straight edge of the sash to get to the other side.

So - there you have it - not too bad. What do you think - did you already know this and I just wasted a post - or was this helpful?

Dragonfly Tutorial Video

Okay - don't make fun of me - I am not a camera kind of girl, but I did a little tutorial on my Dragonfly Template. I hope it is helpful to you quilters out there!

Flower Swirl Quilting Tutorial

So - here's my video - don't laugh at me. I am not the best on a camera, but I hope you get a chance to try out my flower swirl quilting pattern. It's really fun. And - I don't have a studio yet, so just don't pay attention to the background!

Quilting Feather Circle Video

So, here is a quilting video for you! I didn't smile once, but really it was just because of nerves! I hope this is helpful as you make your feather circles! Let me know what you think!

Okay- I used a blue water pen on this customer quilt. I haven't had any trouble with the pens, I have always been able to get the blue pen out, even if I have had to spray twice and rub it with a clean cloth. Just wanted to make that clear.

Show and Tell! Pumpkin Table Runner!

So, here you go! My pumpkin table runner, just in time for Halloween, even Thanksgiving, I hope you enjoy making this as much as I did!


Fabric Requirements!

Two different ORANGE fabrics (for pumpkins): 1/3 yard each
Cream with polka dot (background fabric): 1/4 yard
Light green (pumpkin stem): 1/8 yard
Dark green (Sash and 1st border): 1/4 yard
Brown pumpkin print (2nd border): 1/2 yard
Stripe (binding): 1/3 yard
Backing: 1 1/3 yards
Finished size approximately 18 x 45 inches.

Use a 1/4 inch seam allowance for all seams.


1. Cut out (3) 2 x 44 inch and (3) 1 1/2 x 44 inch strips from each orange fabric.
2. Cut out (1) 2 1/2 x 11 inch rectangle from the light green fabric.
3. Cut out (2) 3 1/2 x 11 inch rectangles from the cream background fabric.
4. Cut out (1) 2 1/2 x 44 inch strip from the cream background fabric, from this strip cut out (16) 2 1/2 inch squares.


Draw a line from corner to corner on the back of each 2 1/2 inch square.


Sew the 2 x 44 inch strips and the 1 1/2 x 44 inch strips together. Press the seams down as shown, the to one side.


Sew the strips together, alternately the 2 and the 1 1/2 inch strips.


Sew the (2) 3 1/2 inch cream rectangles on both sides of the 2 1/2 inch light green rectangle. Press seams.


Cut across horizontally at 2 1/2 inches. Cut out 4.


Take a ruler and find the 60 degree angle, match it up to the straight seams and cut off a triangle on one end of the orange fabric.


Use the line you cut in the previous step to cut out (3) 8 1/2 inch sections.


Cut out (4) 6 1/2 x 8 1/2 inch rectangles.


Place (4) 2 1/2 inch squares on each edge of the pumpkin rectangle.


Sew along the line you drew on each square.


Leave about a 1/4 inch seam and cut off excess fabric. Press the seams down, then out.


Pin the stem rectangle to the top of the pumpkin block and stitch.


Press seams. The finished block will be approximately 8 1/2 inches.


1. Cut out (4) 1 1/2 x 44 inch dark green strips.
From one strip cut out (3) 8 1/2 x 1 1/2 inch rectangles.
2. Cut out (3) 4 1/2 x 44 inch brown pumpkin strips for the second border.


Sew the 3 dark green 8 1/2 x 1 1/2 inch rectangles in between the four pumpkin blocks. Press seams, then sew one dark green strip to each side of the runner. Then use the remaining strip to sew across the top and bottom of the runner. Press seams.


Sew a 4 1/2 inch brown pumpkin strip to each side of the runner. Trim and press.
Cut the remaining strip in half and sew to the top and bottom of the runner. Press.


Congrats on a job well done!


I hope you had fun putting the table runner together, I have a video of my quilting and a binding tutorial so you can finish the whole project in no time. As you can see in the picture above I have two table runners, the orange and green runner has been made for about a year, waiting for me to write up a pattern, but since it's taken so long to get to it I decided to do a tutorial instead.
I feel like I should give away my original table runner! What do you think? All you have to do to enter to win my orange and green pumpkin table runner is to leave a comment. Want more entries? Like 5? (you know the drill) just blog about my tutorial and giveaway. So good luck! I will announce the random winner Friday.