Showing posts with label HST's. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HST's. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

COUNTRY VILLAGE QUILT-A-LONG, PART 3: Piecing the blocks.

Hi peeps! 




WARNING: PICTURE-HEAVY POST

 Welcome to Part 3 of our Country Village Quilt-A-Long featuring the Maison De Provence fabric collection by Connecting Threads.** 

**A little birdie told me that they only have a small amount of the MDP fat quarter bundles left…so if you are wanting to make a quilt with the exact same fabrics as mine, you'll need to snap one up quick! You'll find the bundles under their Pre-cuts tab.

In case you missed them, here are the links to Part 1 and Part 2 of the quilt-a-long. You will also find links to each step under the Country Village QAL tab as they are published.




I wanted to talk a little about the difference between directional and all-over prints. The stripe on the left is definitely a directional print as the stripes run in one direction. You have to show more care when piecing a block using directional prints as you want the stripes to all run in the same direction(i.e.: up and down or side to side…but not both!).

It is much easier to piece blocks using an all-over print(at right), as once cut into squares it will make no difference which way you orient your squares in the block.

I thought you would like to see my thread/fabric trimmings bowl! It is actually a dip bowl, but I when saw it at Value Village I had another use for it! I keep it at the side of my sewing machine so that I can put stray threads in it. I did have one of those thread-catcher bags that hang over the edge of the table, but I found it was more of a pain than a pleasure to use.


Here we go:

I wanted to start off with the block center, which is an Hourglass block(basically a quarter-square triangle block). 

Now that all of your fabrics are cut and you have drawn the sewing lines on the backs of your 6.5" squares of center fabric, it should go very smoothly. I used my Quick Quarter ruler(shown near the end of Part 2) from Connecting Threads do this and my sewing lines were nice and even. 

I also wanted to show you how to orient(above) the one pieced square we have of the center fabric.

Note: My "center" fabric is the pale orange print.

Lay your 6.5" square of block fabric(from one of your fat quarters) face up, being careful to orient the directional print so that it runs up and down. Put the pre-lined 6.5" square of center fabric on top, right sides facing. Place your center square so that your drawn sewing lines start at the top left, then end at the bottom right. 

Pin near each end and in the middle of the drawn lines. Sew along your right drawn line, then turn the sewn square 180 degrees and sew along the left drawn line. Do not sew on the center line. 


*I am showing 2 block centers here*

Cut your sewn square in half, using the drawn center line as your guide. You will now have 2 half-square triangles. Press your seams closed first, then open up these hst's and press the seam allowance towards the fat quarter fabric(away from your center fabric). 

Draw your two sewing and one center line on the wrong side of one of these half-square triangles. When you pin the two hst's together, right sides facing, use your fingertips to help to align your upper and lower seam allowances so that they nest snuggly. As before, sew on your 2 sewing lines. Do not sew on the centre line.



Cut your square in half using the center line as your guide. Press the seam, then open up your two quarter square triangles and press the seam allowances either up or down. 

Take your 6" x 6" ruler and trim these squares to measure 5.5" square. All you have to do is find the 2.75" mark on your ruler and place that at the center of your qst(see arrow). You want the diagonal line on your ruler to match up with one of your diagonal seam lines and do the same for each of the 4 sides. 

Measure again to be sure that your block is 5.5" x 5.5". You only need one of these squares, so pick the best one and put the other one to the side for another project. I am thinking about sewing them into a strip and piecing them into my backing fabric.

 

Just as a reminder…for each block you will need your pieced HST in one specific print, 4-4.5" x 4.5" squares of another print, 4-3.5" x 3.5" squares in the same print as the 4.5" squares, 12-1.5" x 5.75" strips of tone on tone, 4-1.5" x 4.5" strips(t-o-t), 8-1.5" x 3.5" strips(t-o-t), and (not shown…oops, I forgot!!!) 4-2.5" x 2.5" squares(t-o-t).



Lay all of your squares out as they will look when sewn. You will have a 4.5" square at each corner, a 3.5" square in the top center, middle sides and bottom center, plus your pieced hst block center( I put the one with the same fabric there by mistake…sorry!). If you are using a directional print, please make sure your stripes are all running the same way as the above are.



I'm a graph paper gal when it comes to designing! Please refer to this drawing when it comes to placing your "pathways" rectangle strips and flippy corners(tone-on-tone fabric for me).



Place your 8-1.5" x 3.5" rectangles at the top and bottom of each 3.5" square, as shown. Now position your 4-1.5" x 4.5" strips on the side of each 4.5" square. It is very important that you place your strips as shown. 

I also put pins at the outer corners of the 4.5" squares and on the long edges where the 5.75" strips will go, for easy reference(so I don't get confused!). Pin well, stack and transport to your sewing machine.



I like to chain-piece as much as possible, reducing the amount of time that I have to get up from my machine. I start with the 3.5" squares, then sew the 4.5" squares without cutting in between each square. I cut the chain of the sewn 3.5" squares, bring them to the front of my machine, then sew the opposite sides.



Cut the squares apart.




Press the squares as they lay to set the seams. Using the side of your iron, press the t-o-t rectangular strips to the side of the print square.



Lay your block out again, so that you can see where to add your next strips(refer to graph paper diagram above).  As you can see, the pins you put in each corner and on one side of each 4.5" square make it easy to lay out your squares. 



Lay your 12-1.5" x 5.75" strips on top of the pins you placed earlier. Remove these pins carefully from the squares then pin your 5.75" long strips to the squares. You will notice that you have a bit of extra length in these strips. Do not stretch your square to fit, you will trim the excess away later. 




Pin your 2.5" squares to the outer corner of the corner squares. Stack and sew all 8 squares.


Bring your 4 bordered squares like the one above, to the ironing board. Press to set all seams, then use the side of your iron to press the t-o-t fabric towards the outside edges of the squares. 


Trim the flippy corners of your 4 corner squares, making sure that you trim just 1/4" to the right of the seam line. 

Press to set the seams, then use the side of your iron to press the t-o-t corners  and the 5.75" strips towards the outer edge of each print square.


Trim all 8 squares, making sure that they measure 5.5" x 5.5". I position my 6" x 6" ruler so that the 1.5" line rests on the inner edge of the t-o-t strip, as seen above. Double check that your block measures 5.5" x 5.5" and is square.


Carefully lay out your blocks and center square, so that they match the above graph paper diagram and the photo of the block at the start of this post.


Flip the three squares at the right over to the left, so that they are lying face-down on the squares on the center column. Pin down the right hand sides of each pair of squares, right-side-together. Stack then chain-sew each seam. Do not cut the threads that hold the three sewn squares together.


This is how your partially-finished block should look.


Do the same with the squares in the left column. Do not cut the threads that hold the three squares together.


Your block should now look like this.


Fold the top row over the middle row, right-sides-together. Pin well, especially at the seams, and sew, nesting the cross seams. Fold the bottom row up over the middle row, right-sides together. Pin well as before and sew.


The back of your block should look like this. Don't press yet!


You will see little thread loops from when you joined the squares in the four inner corners. Trim these off now.
Don't press yet!


Put your quilt block on your ironing board and use your long ruler to check to see if it measures 15.5" x 15.5" square. If your block is a little short in an area or two, first measure across the top and bottom edges to make sure they are at least 15.5" long, pinning your block corners to your ironing board. Then measure through the centers, using your pins to stretch-block your quilt block in the same way that you would block a freshly-washed wool sweater before it dries on a flat surface. 

Give your quilt block a spritz of water and let air dry for about 5-10 mins. Your quilt block should now measure 15.5" x 15.5" square. 


Now you can press your quilt block. As you can see above, I open up the four spots at the inner corners so they lay flat, and then press one seam in the up position and the seam following in the down position. This is called "pinwheeling your seam allowances". You will have less bulk and distortion at your crossed seams if you do it this way.


Your finished quilt block should look something like this. I did a BIG boo-boo…can you see it??? The fabrics in the Hourglass block are supposed to be: center print AND a print that is DIFFERENT form the rest of the block! Oh dear…in my defence, I was rushing to get this block done and the steps photographed as we were expecting rain the next day. 

I will have to un-pick the top and bottom rows, then take apart the middle row to substitute the correct center block, then sew it back up again. These are the kinds of things I do when we are watching Netflix at night. Bleck!


Oh, remember the 6.5" square of center fabric that we had to piece, at the end of Part 2? Well, this is it, and if you look very closely at the left corners of the center fabric, you will see the join, barely. It will be covered by the quilting and no one will ever know!!!

The next post of the Country Village QAL will be on May 27 for,
 Part 4: Adding Sashing Strips and Layout. 
This gives us 2 weeks to piece the 25 blocks needed for our Queen-sized quilt.

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Sharing is caring!!! 
Don't forget that I am happy to share with your friends…feel free to pin to Pinterest, post on Google+ and Facebook, and Tweet away! Just please play fair and make sure your posts link back to this blog. *If you mouse/hover over the top right corner of my photos, a red "Pin-it" button will show up and all you have to do is click it to be taken to Pinterest. There is also another red button right beside it for posting to Facebook and Twitter. Or, you could always use the little square grey buttons at the end of this post. 

Thanks for reading and have a great day! 

Quilty Huggs, 

Jacqueline 

PLEASE NOTE: This blog accepts forms of compensation such as, but not limited to; fabric/notions/patterns/books in exchange for a posted review and/or tutorial. All comments/critiques/opinions are completely my own and are not those of the provider. This blog may also contain affiliate links and I will receive a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on one of my links. Thanks so much!

Monday, March 23, 2015

WIP Progress, Springing and a Tutorial!

Hi peeps! 



How is everybody doing today??? Did ya miss me? Laid low again with a weather-sparked migraine that lasted a week, eek! 

Before I was incapacitated I managed to get my citrus batik table topper put together-border and all! I am still amazed at how pain-free the HST's were…guess I never bothered to measure and trim them before…ha ha ha...it had been that long since I worked with HST's! 

I have spray-basted it to some older-stash fabric and am good to go for quilting…but I am still undecided on which pattern to FMQ(free-motion quilt) with my Pfaff. It will be on our large coffee table and will get spilled on, folded over and generally well-used so I think it should be densely quilted. The one that is on the coffee table now was quilted with a fairly tight meander and while that is the easiest FMQ design to do, I am a little bored with it.

This was made with two packs of Timeless Treasures charms I got from Craftsy during their Boxing Week Clearance Sale. I actually bought 4 from them and don't know just yet what I'm going to do with the other two packs. I had a few squares left over from the above project as I was working with specific dimensions, so I'd like to work them into the next project as well.



I took this picture early last week. This is part of the tree that is in our minuscule back area. This one usually grows so much in the summer months that it ends up touching our kitchen windows! Now, would you believe, the buds are fully open and little leaves are starting to grow.


Home-Made Spray Starch Tutorial

I don't really like to use the spray starch in a can as it has an icky slightly-sweet smell…and of course, the fumes and the ozone layer. This recipe is a mix of a couple I have seen online with a few personal tweaks!

You will need:

2 cups of cold tap water
4 Tablespoons of cornstarch
1 Tablespoon of vodka(yes, really…very important)
5 drops of Lavender essential oil(or a favourite, just not a citrus-based one as even small amounts might cause a stain)
1 spray bottle(got mine at the dollar store)
-mixing bowl, measuring cup for liquids, measuring spoons, fork and a funnel



In your mixing bowl combine the water, vodka and cornstarch and mix well using a fork. Don't add the essential oil yet!


With the help of your funnel, pour the resulting liquid into your spray bottle. Remove the funnel and add your essential oil. I use lavender as it has a nice smell, but you could use a different oil such as peppermint or rosemary...but no citrus-based oils as they can leave oil spots on your items!

Now give your spray starch a hearty shimmy & shake. This helps to mix the essential oils in well. The reason I wait till the end to add the essential oils is that I don't want to waste any of it in the mixing bowl. Just mixing the oil in with a fork will not disperse the oil throughout the spray starch mixture and some of the oil will stick to the bowl's sides, which is a waste in my opinion.


Now, keep your spray starch near you ironing board and spray, spray, spray away, but use sparingly-a little will go a long way! Just remember to give it a good shake before each use as the cornstarch tends to settle to the bottom once the bottle is set down. 

It should stay fresh for a month or two! When not in use, I put mine in the fridge and it lasts longer.

If you find that you have some white residue on your fabric after the spray has dried, just give the area a little swipe with your fingers or a damp cloth. The white residue is just plain old cornstarch!

Why the Vodka you ask? Vodka(or any clear alcohol, but not rubbing alcohol) acts like a dispersant and a binder(emulsifier)-helps the essential oils mix with the water, and will also help the spray starch stay fresh, as it is a preservative.

Enjoy!


Thanks so much to the peeps who commented about my new vintage Singer machine! I was directed to a couple different websites and can now say I know this about her:
Model#15-91
Made in St. John's, Quebec, Canada in 1948

My model was one of the first of these models to come off the assembly line, as I noticed there are some things missing: the face of the stitch lever(on the right) doesn't have any numbers on it for stitch length and there is no gold "Made in Canada" decal situated on the top of the machine head.

I also now know that I put the needle in the wrong way...DUH! While on modern machines you put the needle in with the shank facing the back, this Singer must have the needle shank facing the left! 

I have also started looking on eBay and Etsy for a Walking Foot and a few other things I like to have. Someday I would like a wooden cabinet to store her in, so I could set her up in the living room and not have to move her on and off the kitchen table…Featherweight she is not!!!


Today is the last day of Craftsy's Spring Blowout Sale! Scoot on over for amazing deals on fabric, sewing kits, and quilting kits!


I have been looking longingly at this kit: Letters Home Tea and Biscuit Table Runner since Craftsy first shared it! When you use this link, just scroll down the page to see the kit. It is on sale HALF PRICE for $25.43(this is the price in CA$-it will be much cheaper in US$)!!!

They even have a few of the lovely Aurifil thread sets…but these are going fast.

Question of the Day: 

 How should I machine-quilt my citrus batik table topper? I really need some ideas peeps!

Sharing is caring!!! 

Don't forget that I am happy to share…feel free to pin to Pinterest, post on Google+ and Facebook, and Tweet away! Just please make sure your posts link back to this blog. 

*If you mouse/hover over the top right corner of my photos, a red pin-it button will show up and all you have to do is click it to be taken to Pinterest. There is also another red button right beside it for posting to Facebook and Twitter. Or, you could always use the little grey square buttons at the end of this post.



Thanks for reading and have a great day! 

Quilty Huggs, 

Jacqueline 

PLEASE NOTE: The writer of this blog accepts forms of compensation such as, but not limited to; fabric/notions/patterns/books in exchange for a posted review. All comments/critiques/opinions are completely my own and are not those of the provider. This post may also contain affiliate links and I will receive a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on my link. Thanks!

Friday, March 13, 2015

Follow-Up-Friday: What I've Been Up To!!!

Hi peeps! 


How's everyone doing today??? We are having crazy weather…sunny and up to 55 degrees one day, then cold and rainy the next!!! It's really doing a number on my migraines and the Fibromyalgia…grrr!

As promised in this post,I had some fun playing with my citrus HST's. I came up with the above placement and sewed them all together yesterday. I have to say that this is the first time ever, that my HST's have worked out! This time I was very careful to mark my sewing lines and I actually trimmed them too! What a difference that made!


I also promised to show you what I get up to in the evenings while binge-watching Netflix(we are on season 4 of House, MD and season 3 of House of Cards). Well, I sew English Paper Pieced hexagons(1" sides)…a whole lot of them!!! 

Pictured is a pile of about 75% of the hexies I have already done for the Kid's quilt.  These ones have already been sewn together in threes…which I call "triplets".


Once I get all my "triplets" done, I sew three of them together, side by side, into "niners". Sew, sew, sew!!!


I store my "niners" in a plastic shoebox. I have them wedged in there very tight, so they actually press themselves. This also keep them nice and flat as when I sew them together they kind of curl up at the ends.



Once the "niners" are all sewn together, I stack two of them to make an "18-patch". 


This is my basic block and they are all super scrappy. This quilt, like the one I made for us, will have 216 of these 18-piece blocks and will measure 96" x 113", plus a 4" border. It makes a pretty huge quilt, but that also means you can double it over on itself and have a two-layered quilt for especially cold nights.


These are the half-hexagons I have already basted. The ones like the yellow one on the left will be for going down the right and left sides of the quilt and the ones like the red one on the right will be sewn onto the top and bottom blocks. 

Once I have my "18-patches" done, I lay out the ones I want for the top and bottom as well as the right and left sides, then I attach a numbered label(i.e.: T1-meaning the top left-side block). That way I know which blocks go where and can attach the half-hexies. It would be way too cumbersome to have to attach these small pieces once the body of the quilt is all sewn together.

Question of the Day:

Have you ever made a quilt using the English Paper Piecing technique? If not, would you be interested in a tutorial on how to baste the fabric to the paper shapes, then sew the shapes(hexies) together?

Sharing is caring!!!

Don't forget that I am happy to share…feel free to pin to Pinterest, post on Google+ and Facebook, and Tweet away*! Just please make sure your posts link back to this blog. 

*If you mouse/hover over the top right corner of my photos, a red pin-it button will show up and all you have to do is click it to be taken to your Pinterest boards. There is also another red button right beside it for posting to Facebook and Twitter. Or, you could always use the little grey square buttons at the end of this post.

Thanks for reading and have a great day! 

Quilty Huggs, 

Jacqueline 

PLEASE NOTE: The writer of this blog accepts forms of compensation such as, but not limited to; fabric/notions/patterns/books in exchange for a posted review. All comments/critiques/opinions are completely my own and are not those of the provider. This post may also contain affiliate links and I will receive a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on my link. Thanks!

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

A Charming Smile, Tuesday Tip and a Contest to Enter!

Hi peeps! 



How is everybody today? I am at the tail-end of a four(yes, four) day migraine…not fun at all! The sun is shining, it is fairly mild and I'm talking to you…so a much better day! 

Before I was laid low I managed to get my citrus batik HSTs for the table topper all trimmed…YAY!!! Now I get to have fun and play!! I'll get you up to date on that!!!


Did you know…Much like velvet and corduroy, thread has a nap?...I KNOW!!!
I only found this out recently…this is after almost 40 years of plying a needle…

When you hold the end of the thread that is coming directly off the spool and press your fingers while running them down the thread, it will feel smooth. Now do the reverse…you can actually feel the difference.



This is an important thing to consider, especially if you do a lot of hand sewing. So, what I do is thread my needle BEFORE I have clipped my length of thread. That way I will remember which tail of thread is which. I keep that end of the thread short and cut at the end of the longer piece. The longer piece will always be on the nap...and the shorter piece will be against the nap…but that is okay as it's the longer piece that I'm concerned with.


Once I am sure which thread-end is which, I knot the longer end. It really makes a difference! I do a lot of hand sewing at night in front of the TV(will show you in a later post) and can tell you that my thread runs through the fabric pieces smoothly and I rarely get a tangle! Awesomeness!!!


Last night I managed to get another men's shirt cut up…I really have to start removing the buttons from the placket strips…I've got several of them waiting for attention! As you can see, this one has an embroidered logo and I will try to find a use for that. The shoulder yoke and sleeve cuffs were lined in a nice chambray, which was an added bonus. 

This was one of the Kid's shirts, a men's size small, so there wasn't as much useable fabric. But, I had originally purchased it at half price from Value Village, it was worn for a year and now I have cut it up for quilting fabric…so it was a super-recycling project, and plus I really liked the pattern/colours. I might give it a bit of a starch treatment as the resulting fabric is a tad thinner than the other shirts I have slated for demolition.


Don't forget to enter Craftsy's #Secret Stash Contest! Prized include a secret stash box of goodies as well as a Craftsy class of your choice! Bonus!!!

Stay tuned as I have new sponsor news AND another giveaway coming soon!

Thanks for reading and have a great day! 

Quilty Huggs, 

Jacqueline