Project

 I made a little fabric book for a little at church.

I used the idea from a book called Patchwork USA, but I can’t ever sew, cook, or teach exactly according to a plan, so I made the cover to look like the stained glass at my growing up church.

Red, Orange

Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo

Violet…Pink, White, Gray, Brown

And lots of fun textures—ribbon, rick rack, and lace scraps.

October Quilt Update

I had taken a bit of a break from my quilt during the summer months, but my fingers have been busy again.

Well, I've got all the basic arcs made,

A whole slew of them!

Up next, I have to put end pieces on half of them, so they can form these 'melon' shapes.

Maybe Kate won't need to finish it, after all.

Making Square Blocks

I had a request for instructions in making square quilt pieces, so here's how I do it.  It is somewhat time consuming, but the are perfectly sized when I'm done with them!

To make square blocks, you can purchase or create your own template using this method and then trace it onto your fabric.  For simple squares I have better luck just drawing on my fabric, since sometimes I don't get the traced pieces lined up precisely and then I have a lot of extra cutting.

First iron your washed fabric (assuming this is a project that will be laundered at some point, otherwise iron your unwashed fabric).

Create a straight line with your yard stick and mark it in pencil or a fabric pencil on the 'wrong' side of the fabric.  At first glance one would assume that the fabric edge would be straight, but I've found that to be unreliable.

Next create a parallel line the depth of your square.  You will make many adjustments as you measure repeatedly, moving your ruler or rulers to be sure that this line is completely parallel.  At this point, create a front end to your blocks with a line near the left side (see the brown ruler).

 Next, measure your width on the yard stick and top ruler, both set with zero at the front line you drew.  Your vertical ruler should measure the depth of your squares as a simple check.  Draw a line and you have your first block.

If you want, you can do two rows at a time after you have made another parallel line to the original, by simply doubling the depth.

Finally, cut.  You can use standard shears or a rotary cutter and mat.  It depends on the project which I use.  For cutting large sets, you can also double up your fabric by layering more than one fabric or folding your fabric, but you must be mindful that your underlying pieces are just as flat and come at least to the same edge as the fore piece if they don't extend past it.

Rainbow Dresses: And how to make them

I saw a beautiful patchwork rainbow dress online.  I was smitten. While I didn't have and extra $100 for each girl laying around, I did have a lot of fabric scraps.  I bought some red fabric for the bodice and a few small pieces (1/4 yards or fat quarters) to round out what I needed to finish the project.  All told, I probably spent about $10.  It will cost quite a bit more if you don't have fabric scraps though!  Be sure to pre-wash the fabric as it may shrink--not good after you've labored over making the fit just so.

First, measure your daughter at the widest part of the chest, be generous in this measurement, you don't want it to be too tight.  Add 3".  Cut a piece of red material to that width and the height you want the bodice to be (from under her arms down) plus 1 1/2 inches.  Empire waists would look very nice.  My girls are tall, so I wanted to get every inch I could out of everything I used though.

Iron the red material so that there is a 1 inch fold at the top (long side) (wrong sides together).  Also iron the two sides in (about 3/4 of an inch each), in the same manner.

Ironing the edges--this is the top ironed in

Next, cut a lining, I used white, of the same dimensions.  You will want to create the same type of folds, but make the folds a little further in, so that this panel ends up being a little smaller than the red, but the edges are on the folds.  Pin, but do not stitch.

Making straps

You'll take some of the scrap red fabric and cut it into two widths of 4 inches and the length you would like the straps to be (plus 2 inches).  Iron the fabric in half (long way).  Then iron the two edges to the middle.  You will stitch at the outside edge. to form the straps.

Determine the right place to set the straps (the dress will have an overlap of 1 1/2 inches, you should take into account).  To set the pins, you can place it on your daughter (careful of pins!) or use another dress that fits well.

 Please note, this picture was taken after the bodice was stitched to the skirt (it won't be at this phase).  You can see here how the white fabric is away from the edge a bit and the straps are set.

I carefully separated the white and red at the point for the straps (one at a time) and stitched the straps onto the white fabric.  I repinned the white lining and stitched the three folded sides together.

The next big step is determining the size of all your blocks.  The simplest method is to place the bodice on your daughter and measure for the length you want, from the bodice to where you want it to hit her.  Next divide that number by 5 (if you want Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple) and add 1/2" seam allowance.  If you want an extra row (Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet), divide 6 and add 1/2" seam allowance.  I did one of each, so that I could use the same sized squares on my different sized daughters.

Length/5 (or 6) + 1/2" = block side

So how many do you need?  Take that original measurement of your daughter's chest and divide it by the width of your blocks WITHOUT the seam allowance (essentially the number you got above before the 1/2" is added in).  Round up if it doesn't fit evenly. Add one extra block (That is how many orange blocks you need).  Add one extra block for each row beyond the row above it to make the dress grow fuller in each layer down.  (For example, a dress that has 7 orange blocks will have 10 blues.)  I used at least 3 different prints for each color, but you can divide them up however you want.

EXAMPLE:

My daughter's chest is 21"  I want a drop of 20".  I will use 5 colors (not 6). 

My blocks will be 20/5 + .5 = 4 + .5 = 4.5" square 

I will need 21/4 + 1 = 6 orange blocks
7 yellow, 8, green, 9 blue, 10 purple

Note the pin holding the tuck

Stitch each block of a certain color (1/4" seam allowance on each side) until you have them all together, then finish it into a circle.  (I don't own a surger, but I did zigzag stitch the edges to prevent fraying of the seams.)  I pinned one small tuck as I pinned each new row onto the previous (right sides together, keep the tucks and pins up on the machine).  You can make minor adjustments to make each row fit on the next that way.  To make it less bulky, I hemmed the purple/violet row before I added it to the dress.

the 'wrong' side of the skirt

When you sew the skirt onto the bodice, be sure that the ends of the top over lay as they should (1 1/2 inches).

Lastly, sew two or three button holes and buttons at the over lapping bodice.

It is a time consuming project with all the extra seams and a great deal of cutting.  That being said, it was a fairly easy project, if you know how to cut very square blocks (a guide to cutting blocks has been added here) and use your machine well.  I finished in about a week while home schooling.  It was definitely worth the $190 savings for me!

indigo & violet

ends in purple

These little gals seemed to think so too.

This fit in well with our study of The Rag Coat from the Five in a Row study as well as Joseph's coat of many colors.  Plus, it is just plain cute.

Linked to:

 

Sewing, Sewing, Sewing

I got the 'other' quilt pieced last week.

Now I just have to find the time to quilt it. I tried sewing after the kids went to bed the other night, but they didn't sleep until after I quit. Once we get through the busy-ness of the first part of the week hopefully I can work it in between schooling and all.

As for my Double Wedding Ring quilt...it's going slowly. I can work on it at times that I can't get to my sewing machine, so it has seen some progress despite my new project.

Here's the box where I keep my pieces that are all stitched and waiting for the next step.

I have over 200 of the pink pieces joined to the blue pieces, so hopefully the next week will see that finished. Then I get to sew my pink/blues to my yellow/greens.

Quilt Update

Just a quick update on the quilt.

336...I have sewn 336 pieces of yellow fabric to 336 pieces of green fabric. I have made 672 knots and somewhere in the neighborhood of 11,000 stitches (yeah, I didn't count all of those)!

At a pace of about 12 seams per hour...that's about 32 hours, including the cutting time.

All for this teeny tiny pile.

Next up? Ironing, cutting, and then sewing 336 pieces of pink fabric to 336 pieces of blue fabric!

Maybe that quilt on Etsy wasn't over priced at three grand. But honestly, I am enjoying keeping my hands busy and I can't wait to see the thing put together.

A Glutton for Punishment

There is a quilt pattern that I have loved for many, many years. Unfortunately, it is one of the most difficult quilt patterns to complete.

The Double Wedding Ring quilt for a full/queen sized bed has 2573 pieces (in 9 fabric patterns and 5 shapes)! I don't have one to take a picture of, but if you google the images there are some pretty ones out there. The one I'm working on will be subtle. So far I have a light green and a light yellow to work with. I will either stick with variations of those two colors or incorporate some other pastels in the rings. The background will be white. I plan the places where the rings meet to be a white print and a green solid, though that may change depending on how long it takes me to get to that part and what my tastes are then!

I asked for the rotary cutter templates for Christmas, so I have cut the first two sets of fabric (672 pieces).

This is 336 pieces (in stacks) of pretty green wedges. Also pictured are some of my lovely templates, which allowed me to cut that set of pieces in 60-90 minutes. Sure beats the scissors!

I decided this will probably be a multi-year project, so I've started with purchasing the fabrics as I need them or find them on sale, rather than one big purchase at the fabric store. I'm hand stitching, which takes a lot longer, but allows me to stitch while I'm with the littles (an important thing for me at their ages, rather than being up in my room with the sewing machine, which I can do for short little projects, but not something this time consuming).

I went to Etsy the other day and I searched for double wedding ring quilts. The ones that fit large beds and are hand stitched are running $600-$3500! I guess that lets me know the time commitment I'm getting into.

I have 12 seams stitched so far...and more seams than I would care to count left to go. I'll post again when I get on to a new interesting step or finish up something worth showing. Maybe I'll finish it before Nate goes off to college anyway!

Nine Patch Quilt Guide: Quilting

Lay your backing material, cut a smidge larger than your finished quilt top, face down.

Next top this with the batting.

Then place your pieced quilt top (face up) on top. Be very careful that all of these pieces are perfectly flat. This helps to keep your quilt from puckering.

You then pin your quilt with quilting pins--huge safety pins that can pass through the three layers easily.

You can machine quilt (long straight lines are easiest, but you can get as fancy as you imagination allows

or that your machine will do for you),

followed by knotting the loose ends: sew the loose threads through to the back and knot with it's match on the back side.

Alternatively, you can knot the quilt. To do this, thread your hand stitching needle with several pieces of embroidery floss (not standard thread) in a coordinating color. Tie a knot on the top of the quilt and trim it, allowing an inch and a half of the floss to remain, as decoration and to keep the knot taut.

The very last step is to finish those edges.

The first option is to use bias tape (choose wide double folded tape in a color that coodinates with your quilt). Cut all of the edges of the three layered quilt to be exactly the same. Turn the end of the tape under to cover the raw edge. Fold the tape over the edge of the quilt and pin it with straight pins. When you get to the end of one piece of tape, just repeat the steps.

At corners, tuck the tape to help it form the turn. A simple straight stitch will secure the tape and close up your edges.

The other way to handle this it to fold the backing fabric over the batting

and then fold the front of the quilt in.

Again, use straight pins to hold it in place, then stitch over the edges with a machine or by hand.

Finished!