Rainbow Baby quilt

Have I mentioned that my nephews and niece are all expecting babies at about the same time!!

Well the babies have all be born - in the space of 11 days - so now I have to get sewing pretty quickly.

I had thought that I would design completely different quilts for each one - but reality and time pressure has won the day - I am going to make them all from the same fabrics but make each slightly different - my fabrics are these -

I bought these lovely spotted fabrics a little while ago and hadn't decided what to do with them - so I've started by cutting a lot of rectangles using the new Big Shot Plus http://www.sizzix.co.uk/product/660020/sizzix-big-shot-plus-machine-only-white-gray and Bigz die 659837 - 2" x 4" finished.

To begin I cut 6 rectangles from each of the 17 fabrics.  I think it will be lovely to include all of the colours for the boys and the girl - no sex discrimination here!

I then cut 1" finished strips using die 658327 -http://www.sizzix.co.uk/product/658327/sizzix-bigz-xl-25-die-strips-1-1-2-wide (and Bigz XL Cutting Pads http://www.sizzix.co.uk/product/656847/sizzix-accessory-cutting-pads-bigz-xl-25-1-pair )

to cut white strips to form sashing.

Now at the moment I don't know how many of anything I'm going to use for each quilt - I know that's not helpful but this is as far as I've got with the first quilt -

All I can say is that you'll have to look at my blog again next week for more details - I plan to have this quilt made (maybe not quilted though), I'm after all the babies don't know I running late with their presents!!!
Also next week I'll have a gift to make for Mother's Day.
So now I'm off to have a cup of tea and some lunch before continuing the quilt.
Last reminder that I'll be running workshops in Glasgow, Sewing Knitting and Quilting Show at the SECC. I hope to see some of you there.
Angela

 



cotton reels quilt



Today I want to share a quilt I made over the summer that is now in a magazine (Love Patchwork and Quilting, you can find more details on how to get a copy here). The blocks in this quilt are made from strips - strips you can use your big shot to cut. As you already know, I love the 2.5" strip die and I use it an awful lot. This quilt is also made with 2.5" strips - so you know I used it to speed up the cutting process!

I love to be able to save as much time as possible with my cutting, because it's the boring bit. I'd much rather be piecing a quilt than cutting out a gazillion bits.

I have a baby quilt to make this week, I think I'm going to use either the chevron or a half square triangle to make a simple zig zag from this pretty stack of fabrics (they're all from Art Gallery Fabrics - various collections). Not sure which will win...but I could make things really fast and use the 2 hour quilt top tutorial I posted a while ago. That would be fast, wouldn't it? I'll keep you posted and hopefully have a finished quilt next week!

more Christmas gift ideas


I've got another Christmas gift idea for you this week in the form of a really simple and fast jelly roll quilt.
Fat Quarter Shop have a new (and completely free) downloadable pattern that uses jelly rolls. Just 18 2.5" x width of fabric strips will give you a perfectly sized baby or small lap quilt (36" finished).
You can use the 2.5" strip die to cut your own strips instead of using a jelly roll, and make use of fabrics you already have in your stash. The strip die is one of my all time favourites, I use it to make binding, to cut sashing strips and also to make strippy quilts. Although it is one of the more expensive dies I've had my money's worth 100 times over with this die, and wouldn't be without it.

I made my quilt top in just a couple of hours, it's a lovely simple pattern - perfect for beginners as well as being something fast and easy for more experienced quilters.

Download the free Jelly Roll Jam pattern from the Fat Quarter Shop website and start cutting strips (there's a video tutorial too for those that prefer visual learning). A quilt is such a great gift, and the beauty of this pattern is that you can make it as scrappy as you like.

teaching with a big shot


For the past couple of Sundays I've been at a knitting and patchwork shop just outside of Leeds called The Skep teaching Bonnie Hunter's scrappy trips around the world blocks.

This pattern is perfect for using up random fat quarters or strips of fabric that you have in your stash that you don't like too much (it's also perfect for those favourite fabrics too).I've made quite a few of these quilts now, they're fast, they're fun and they use up a lot of fabric.

When you use the 2.5" strip die to cut your strips it's also really REALLY fast to get all of your fabric prepared. I've got to admit I get a bit carried away when I'm cutting strips and end up cutting far too many every time!

We had a whole basket of strips to play with, some were lovely, some were quite interesting (to put it politely!)

But I encouraged everyone to grab a mix of colours and prints to get the full effect of the pattern

and I think you'll agree, the results were lovely! There's no such thing as a fabric that's too ugly in a scrap quilt - when it's pieced into a scrappy block you don't notice the 'ugliness' and instead you see the colour or the tone. The big shot is perfect for cutting scraps, and keeping them under control in smaller pieces that can be easily sorted and stored.

You can make your own 'jelly rolls' with the 2.5" strip, or mini charm packs with the square dies, sort them into colours and keep everything nicely organised. Believe me, it makes you feel ever so slightly smug and pleased with yourself when you turn a big pile of scraps into manageable pieces for easy use!

what a bind!


Every month I do some projects for Sizzix that are for editorials or projects that will (soon) be tutorials on the website and I thought it might be helpful to have a binding tutorial in one place for quick reference (please excuse the 11 billionty photos

There are hundreds of tutorials for binding quilts online, but this is my slightly cheating, ever so easy binding tutorial.

First up you need to measure your quilt around the perimeter - so all 4 sides. Then add on 10" for good measure (to allow for when you miter the corners and to make finishing the ends easier)

Divide the total number by the measurement of the width of your binding fabric. In this case 42" (most fabrics are between 40" and 44" wide from selvedge to selvedge). This number is the how many strips you need to cut.

I like to make my double fold binding using the 2 1/2" strip die. This gives you a slightly wide binding on the back of the quilt. This isn't set in stone - some people prefer a narrower binding, but I like the look of the wider binding on the reverse of the quilt, and so that's what we're doing today!

Press your fabric well and trim off the selvedge.

Using the 2 1/2" strip die cut the number of strips you calculated.

Sew these strips end to end using a generous 1/4" seam. Press the seams to one side, all in the same direction.

Now fold in half all along the length, wrong sides together, and press.

I like to wind my binding onto an empty thread spool, so I can pop this spool onto the spare spool holder on my machine when I'm sewing on the binding, it helps keep it nice and tidy and stops it getting tangled up as you sew.

Now you're ready to attach the binding to your quilt.

Starting in the middle of one side of your quilt, match up the raw edges of the binding to the raw edge of your quilt. Leave a tail of about 4 or 5"

Use a 1/4" seam (a walking foot is a good idea because you're stitching through multiple layers and the binding might be stretchier than the quilt) and sew along until you get to 1/4" from the first corner. Stop and backstitch. Fold up the binding at a 90 degree angle.

  Fold right back onto itself. This gives you a mitered corner that you want when you finish sewing the binding to the reverse of the quilt.

  Start sewing again from the very edge. Backstitch again and continue using a 1/4" seam

  Continue doing the same with the other corners as you just did (stop 1/4" from the end, fold up 90 degrees, fold back down and sew on) and then stop (secure with a backstitch or 2) about a hand's width or so away from where you started. You'll have another tail, just like you started with (or longer - it's ok, you'll trim it in a bit - you can keep all the tails and leftovers from binding and sew them together into one lovely scrappy binding)

  Now this is the cheaty bit. Fold those tails up towards each other and press down to create a fold.

  Pin the binding together at either side of the fold

  And sew along the fold

  Open out the seam (you can press to one side if you prefer), trim off the tails to 1/4" and finish stitching the binding on.

  Flip the binding over to the reverse and hold in place with hair clips (if you're cheap like me) or binding clips (which look exactly the same but are silver and not lovely pretty pink clips) Hand stitch the binding to the reverse of the quilt using a thread that matches and small whipstitches.

  To get nice sharp corners fold the edge of the binding down and stitch up to the corner. Take the next edge and fold down tightly, you might need to wiggle the corner about a bit to get it nice and tidy, but a few wiggles and you'll have a lovely corner. It'll pretty much fall into place without a lot of work, because you did the front correctly when you sewed the binding on, remember?

And that's it. 

Go forth and bind!!

Sashed and ready to go.



With the wind howling outside and the rain lashing down I'm very glad to be inside putting the sashing on our sample quilt - I think it may come in useful for chilly evenings!!
I did enjoy the Bank Holiday sunshine - spending it outside with grandchildren - watching on while they did all the running and chasing.
So to the sashing and joining of all the blocks.
I used a royal blue, from the Perfect Palette range by Fabric Freedom.
I used 1 1/2m because I didn't want to have joins in the long pieces.
I made the sashing and the border strips all 2 1/2" wide and used die 658328, and cutting pads - 656847, to cut the strips.
You will need 5 strips 48 1/2" long ( I usually cut a little longer just in case the quilt is bigger than I thought it was, the extra can always be trimmed off later.)
2 more strips will be needed for the top and bottom border and these need to be 42 1/2" long.
Finally you need to cut 16 x 2 1/2" x 8 1/2" to join the blocks into strips ( I cut 2 long strips and then cut them to length ).
Lay out all your blocks in an arrangement that you like.
Starting from the top, and working in rows down the length of the quilt,  join an 8 1/2" strip to the bottom of the first block, and then add the next block to the strip.

Continue with this until you have a row of 5 blocks joined together.
Press the seams towards the blue sashing.
continue to join the remaining 3 rows of 5 blocks together in the same way.
Using the longest strips pin the sashing along the inside edge of the first row of your quilt, stitch in place, and then add the second row to the sashing.
Continue until you have joined all 4 rows together. Trim any excess fabric from the sashing.
Press well.

Add 2 more long strips to the long outside edges of the quilt, to form the outside border.
Press.
Finally join the last 2 strips to the top and the bottom of the quilt to complete the sashing and the binding.

Now you can trim any threads or extra border away and we are ready to layer the quilt and stitch
It was only after I had taken the photo that I realised I had 3 blocks with yellow in a row - I would have preferred to have them mixed through the quilt more - I may change it before next week - but I'm not sure - so double check how you've laid the blocks before you stitch!!!
next week I will be at Quilts UK show at Malvern Showground - I'll be demonstrating on the Cotton Patch stand.
Come and say hello as you go by, it will be nice to meet you, and if you like bring your quilt to show me!
Have fun.
Angela

a simple cushion


My sister in law recently asked me to make her a cushion for a Christening gift. It had to be monogrammed and for a little boy. I planned lots of different, more complex, designs but then settled on something that was nice and simple, because unless you're a big fan of patchwork or a quilter yourself I think over complicated designs can be a little too much for a lot of people. Simple squares or simple strips can be just as effective and appreciated more. Besides, there's nothing worse than making something that the new owner really dislikes, is there?

My 2.5" strip die came out and worked through some of the red, white and blue fabrics in my stash. Quick as a flash I had a simple strippy cushion. That strip die is so useful - once I'd cut out the strips for this I cut some more strips for the binding for a quilt that I also used the strip die to make! It gets so much use, and I never tire of how clever it is - that great big long die makes cutting strips an absolute breeze.

For the monogrammed 'S' I drew that out onto fusible web, stuck it onto fabric and cut it out with some applique scissors. It wasn't the most fun I've had recently and just made me want the 4" sassy serif alphabet dies even more (especially as I had to label a baby quilt that day using the same freehand technique). The smaller 2" alphabet would be so very useful as well....I think I'll start making my Christmas list (it's not too early to think ahead, is it?)

fabric selection - a quick guide


I've had a busy week this week! I finished my Christmas Scrappy Trips Around the World quilt top using the free tutorial from Quiltville and my Sizzix Bigz XL 2.5" strips die and I'm just waiting on some lovely soft flannel fabric to back it with before I send it off to be long arm quilted.
Quite often, on my blog, I get asked about how I choose my fabrics so I thought it would be an ideal blog post for here. To talk a little about the process of fabric selection and choosing colours.



My first step is to have an idea of how I want the finished quilt to look using a colour scheme. For this quilt my colour scheme was Christmassy, but without being too traditional. I wanted a fresh, colourful Christmas quilt, that was scrappy with a lot of different prints but without looking messy. If you follow a few basic rules it's quite easy to create that controlled scrappy look.

I started with Christmas fabrics I had to hand - and one print in particular gave me the the colour palette I was looking for. Using one fabric to help choose a colour scheme is a really useful way of shopping for more fabric or to help you pull suitable fabrics from your stash.
It can be overwhelming to decide colours without something to inspire you. Have a look through magazines or books, or around your house for something that grabs your eye and start to break that down into colours. Paint chips or colour cards from DIY stores are a great way to plan colour stories and to play around with colour combinations. Cut them up and store each of the same colour family in little zip lock bags so you can find the right colours easier - for example, all the greens in one bag, all the blues in another.



For this quilt the washing line print from Cherry Christmas was the perfect colour scheme. I already knew I wanted a more modern palette, not just red and green so the addition of pink and aqua was spot on. The white would help make the finished quilt look light and lift all the other colours.
My fabric stash is abundant with blues and greens, and I knew I would have plenty of fabrics to use without shopping for new ones (which is something you should also take in consideration - do you want to make a quilt using fabrics you already own, or are you prepared to go shopping?)

I pulled out as many Christmas fabrics I could find from my stash (and, as my friend is making the same quilt, from her stash too!) It's a good idea to pick out as many fabrics as possible. Too many. You can then sort them into piles and decide which ones work with your palette and which don't. I put a lot of fabrics away that were the wrong red or the wrong green.



Then I cut them into strips using my Bigz XL 2.5" strip die.



As well as Christmas fabrics I chose fabrics that had small scale prints or were tonal prints that are often known as 'blenders' - like dots, stripes and small florals, in the same colour scheme. Small scale prints represent their colours better than larger scale prints - you may find a print with a large floral on that looks like one colour overall, but when you cut it into small pieces the individual pieces can read as a whole rainbow of colours. As an example, the Christmas print on the Big Shot in the picture above reads as green but when cut into small squares depending on what part of the design you get it could read as white, red, green, or even blue.

The print below is an example of what isn't a good choice. The large medallion is made up of too many colours, and there's too much neutral background that will dilute the overall effect. Although technically this print contains most of the right colours for the palette, it's just too busy and the scale is too large.

On the other hand, small dots are particularly good because they tend to be single colours, so you can use them to add cohesion and to pull fabrics that are busier into the colour scheme and calm something very busy down a little. Also, the whole print is the same - however which way you cut, you will always end up with the same thing. If you are still a little wary of using too many fabrics (there are over 100 different prints in my Christmas quilt, of which around half are Christmas fabrics) then try adding some solid fabrics from your chosen colour scheme. Solids give your eyes a place to rest, and there are so many to choose from that you don't need to just rely on basics like white, black or grey. 

Quilt fabric manufacturers design fabrics specifically for this job of adding cohesion or 'blending' fabrics together. They may not be the most exciting looking fabrics in a store, but they're your stash building essentials and every quilt will use them. 

In a nutshell this is what you need to remember when choosing fabrics;

1. find a colour scheme either by selecting a particular fabric, a picture from a magazine, paint chips, or something in your house.
2. select fabrics that fall within that scheme
3. it is always best to choose too many fabrics and 'audition' them, before deciding they might be the wrong scale/shade/print type
4. use coloured solids, or blenders such as small scale dots to add cohesion and tie your palette together
5. the more fabrics you use, the scrappier or busier the overall look will become. Consider this when selecting fabrics. How busy do you want the quilt to look? Do you like it to be scrappy? Do you want to go shopping for more fabric, or use what you have on hand?

I really hope this helps you select fabrics for your next project and to try something a little different. It's always fun to experiment and try out new colour palettes instead of the ones we feel most comfortable with.

Next week I'll be showing you how to use the drunkards path dies to make a cushion cover.

scrappy 9 patch pouch tutorial



Hello again everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and if you've had snow it is starting to thaw out!

Today we're going to make a simple drawstring pouch using scrap fabrics. It's lovely little pocket sized project that won't take you more than about half an hour and once you've made one I'm sure you'll be itching to make more. They're ideal for keeping your sewing-on-the-go kit all together, or for handbag essentials like your keys, lipstick, a pack of tissues and so on. You can also fill them with little treats for birthday presents - try travel size toiletries for grown ups and sweets or small toys for children.




Dies used;

Sizzix Bigz Die - 2" finished (2 1/2" unfinished)
Sizzix Bigz XL 25" Die - strips 2 1/2" wide

If you have a Big Shot Pro you can also use;
Sizzix Bigz Pro Die - square, 6" finished (6 1/2" unfinished)

Finished size - approx. 6" square

Use your 2" finished die to cut a total of 18 squares from a variety of fabrics. The more the merrier!
Cut 1 strip using the strip die 2.5" x at least 14"

Cut 2 x 6.5" squares for the pouch lining







Using scissors, cut the strip into 2 pieces, each measuring 6.5" in length. Fold the edges over by 1/4" or so, and press, and 1/4" or so again, and press. Then fold each strip in half along the length, wrong sides together, and press again. Set aside.

Assemble your patchwork pouch pieces by sewing 2 sets of  9 squares into 3 rows of 3 (a 9-patch!) Press well.
Pin a folded strip to the outside top of each 9-patch - aligning the raw edges together, and sew on using an 1/8" seam






With right sides together, and with the now attached folded strips at the top, pin and sew around the sides and bottom of the pouch. Leave the top unstitched - that's the opening! Once stitched, turn right side out and press.




Repeat with the lining pieces - right sides together, sew down each side and across the bottom - leaving an opening at least 2" wide for turning.

Now place the patchwork pouch inside the lining - right sides together, and lineup the raw edges at the top. Pin and sew all the way around the top using a 1/4" seam.



Turn right ways out - pulling the patchwork pouch out through the hole you left at the bottom of the lining. Close the opening in the lining, either by hand stitching or by sewing close to the edge with your machine.



Push the lining into the patchwork pouch.



Use 2 lengths of ribbon or cord, each one approximately 15" long and thread through the folded strips that have formed the drawstring channel (use a bodkin or safety pin to help you with this!), and either knot off each end, add a bead, or button or use a small scrap of fabric as a tab.

Stuff with your choice of essentials and you're done!




You can adapt this idea to make a pouch of any size. It's a great way to use up stray quilt blocks you may have made - simply change the measurements of the lining pieces and the strips for the drawstring channel accordingly. For example - 12.5" unfinished blocks would need 2 strips 2.5" x 12.5", and 2 squares for the lining each measuring 12.5" square.

Quick rule of thumb - your unfinished block size is the same as the lining squares size (cut 2) and the drawstring channel strips (width of unfinished block = length of each strip). You need 2 lengths of ribbon or cord for the drawstring that are approximately 2.5 x the width of the pouch (eg - for the 12" pouch, cut 2 lengths each 30" long)