March 2012 BOM

Sorry I'm so late with posting my block of the month for March!  Life has a way of catching up with me.  I've been working a whole lot more this month (a very good thing) and some things have been put aside for a while.

So, here we go!

Remember those units we made for the center square of Martha Washington’s Star?  Well, this month, we are going to make them in a different way and put them together in a way that may be a bit challenging!

Irish Star

12 1/2” unfinished block

#1  White on White  (WOW): Cut 2       4 1/2" X 4 1/2" Cut 8      3 1/2” X 3 1/2”

#2  Medium Green: Cut 2       4 1/2” X 4 1/2"

#3  Dark Green Cut 4          4” X 4”

#4  Light Green: Cut 1   6 1/2” X 6 1/2”

 3/4 square triangle unit: 

1. Draw a diagonal line on one of the two 4 1/2" X 4 1/2" WOWs.  Place this square on top of one of the #2 medium green 4 1/2" square with right sides together.  Sew a 1/4 inch on either side of the diagonal line.

  

                                     

2. Cut on the drawn line and press seams to dark side.  Trim to measure 4 inches square.  Repeat steps 1 and 2 for the second WOW and medium green fabric.  You will now have four units total.
3. On the wrong side of this unit, draw a diagonal line between the two corners NOT on the seam line.  Place this unit and one #3 dark green 4” square with right sides together. Sew a 1/4 inch on either side of the diagonal line.

   

4. Cut on the drawn line and press seams to the dark green fabric.  Trim to 3  1/2 inches square.  Repeat for the other 3 units.  You should have 8 units total -- four units with the #2 medium green on the left and four units with the #2 medium green on the right. 

       

5. Place one of each of these units right sides together with the #2 medium fabric meeting together and sew a scant 1/4” on the #2 medium green fabric side.  You will probably need to pin the intersections where the diagonal seams meet both at the top and bottom in order to get them to match up properly.  Press open.  Repeat 3 more times.  Set aside.

  

Center Square-in-a-Square Unit: 

1. Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of four of the  3  1/2" WOWs.  Place one of these squares on one of the corners of the #4 light green 6 1/2" square with right sides together.   Sew on the diagonal line.  Press WOW toward the corner.  (Hint:  Sew slightly off the line toward the outer corner and the finished unit will be a more precise 6 1/2” X 6 1/2".)  Cut the excess away 1/4 inch from the sewn line.  Repeat for the other three corners.

  

STOP!!  Don’t throw away all those lovely triangles you cut off!  Sew them 1/4 inch from the diagonal and square them up to 2 1/2 inches and save for another project!

Finishing: 

1. Sew the all the units together (along with the remaining #1 WOW  3  1/2" squares) as shown below.  Matching seams and points might be a challenge.  Don’t be afraid to use pins to match all the seams properly!

      

           

           

Tulip Time

For someone who says she's doesn't "do" applique, I seem to be "doing" alot of it lately!!  I was getting bored with the single wallhanging I had in my living room and decided I needed one for spring! 

This one from McCalls Quick Quilts caught my eye with it's bright, cheery colors.  I have a lot of purple and teal fat quarters in my stash, so I decided to work it up in those colors.   The original was in the magazine, and was a larger copy and was going to try and figure out how to downsize it to a wall hanging.  But the magazine led me to a link that made this 44x44 inch quilt, and I just had to make it. 

I used Heat and Bond lite to put the applique on and zig zagged around the edges since it won't get washed much.  I might have held the iron to the applique pieces too long because the Heat and Bond let go and didn't hold the pieces until I sewed them, so I'd probably go with a heavier weight in the future.

When I showed off  my last three quilts at my guild meeting last night, I remarked how I don't "do" applique.  Someone shot back - "you do now!!"

Project Linus

ABOUT PROJECT LINUS

Project Linus is a non-profit organization, dedicated to "Providing Security Through Blankets," for ill or traumatized children and teens. Inspired by a picture of a three-year-old cancer patient holding her security blanket, Project Linus was begun in 1995 by Karen Loucks. Nationally, Project Linus has donated more than 3,800,296 handmade blankets to help comfort children in need in hospitals, shelters, and hospices. Project Linus has 371 chapters in the United States. Project Linus was named after the adorable security blanket toting character from the Peanuts comic strip.

The Project Linus national website lists chapters in your area and has a great listing of patterns for you to use.

Project Linus Challenge

Well, I'm ahead on my goal of 1 quilt a month this year.  This quilt makes 2 quilts in January and 2 in February.  We'll see how March turns out.  This one I finished quilting so it can be turned in at the March meeting of the NLCQG.

Since not too many from The Quilting Bee follow my blog, I feel safe in posting a picture of my Project Linus Challenge.  You saw the fabrics I worked with in the last post.  I have to say, I am pretty proud of myself on this one.

I've seen many Sunbonnet Sue's and the scrappier the better, so this seemed a great choice to get these fabrics to play together nicely.  It's another challenge for me because I don't "do" applique.  I love it and the different things you can do with applique, but I always saw it as too time consuming.  But I figured that there are only 12 block with 4 pieces here -- I CAN do this!!  I used Heat and Bond to glue the pieces in place and the EuroPro sewing machine that my daughter Beth got for me at an auction for the blanket stitch around the Sues.

 

 

 I've always wanted to do a Sunbonnet Sue and actually had fun with this one! 

Has this changed my mind about applique?  Not really.  Will I try applique again?  Probably, if the right project comes up.

Project Linus Challange

My online quilting forum, The Quilting Bee (http://forums.delphiforums.com/QuiltPox), is having a Project Linus challenge.  Each participant was given  one yard of fabric, in two or three pieces, and asked to make a charity quilt for Project Linus.  Here is what I was sent:

We can add from our stash and the quilt should be in the 40" X 50" range.  Hmmmm... these fabrics don't play very well together and it really was a challenge for me to find a pattern that would make them play.  I've got an idea of what I want to do.  I'm going to be taking on another challenge (for me) in the quilt, because I am going to (gasp) applique!! 

I'm really stretching myself this year in my quilting.  I like my quilting fast and easy, and rarely do I take on projects that will take time.  I just don't have the patience.  I shortened up the applique process by using Heat and Bond to put the pieces on the background fabric, and now I'm going to try and machine quilt a blanket stitch  around the edges of the pieces, another first for me!  We'll see how my vision turns out, and how my patience lasts!  I don't want to post before the Challenge is done so I dont' give anything away, so stayed tuned for the results in a few days (weeks?).

Easiest Quilt Ever

You've probably seen this one all over the internet.  I know I've seen You Tube videos of how it's done and even races to see how fast someone an do one.  This one is a Jelly Roll quilt!

The basic instructions for this easy quilt are:

Take one Jelly Roll.  Or two if you want a bigger quilt.  I happen to have one I bought last year from JoAnn's on sale.  Join all the strips so you have one very long strip of fabric.  I think it looks much more appealing when you join them on the diagonal.  Then, cut about 16 -18 inches from one end of the strip.  Fold the strips in half - meeting the ends - and sew a quarter inch along one side.  It's so long, this can be a bit difficult to make sure you don't twist the strip, but pretty soon you wont' have to worry about that.  Where the fabric folds, cut along the fold.  Press seam to one side. 

Now, meet the ends of this strip together again and sew along one side.  At the fold, cut again.  Repeat again and again.  Put borders on.  One jelly roll makes a good size crib/lap quilt. 

To add interest, I added applique flowers in one corner...  yes, you heard me right... I did the dreaded "A" word...  I free drew 5 petal flowers on Heat and Bond and cut them out.  I ironed them on and used a zig zag stitch around the raw edges...  It adds just a bit of interest don't you think?

This quilt was fast and fun.  I did it in two evenings, but probably could have finished it in one.   If you need a fast baby gift, this is a great one!!

And I did it from stash!!  Another one done!



BOM sampler

So, how are you all doing with the blocks??  I've made the blocks for the guild, but also as I'm working out the pattern, I make the blocks out of the fabric for MY star sampler quilt.  Here is what I have so far (and a sneak peek at March's block!)

I've been busy writing up the March block... That stinker just wouldn't work easily... but I finally got it!!  I'm letting it rest before I go back and try it again.  I test my patterns repeatedly before I post them.  I just HATE it when there are errors in the...