"Sew" What Have I Been Working On?

So, I've linked up to WiP Wednesday.  I thought folks would like to read how I quilted the top I showed there (#133).  www.freshlypieced.com

Here is the quilt top I posted.

Here's a fun post about what projects I have been working on.   If you notice, lately I have not posted photos any customer's quilts.  (Don't worry, I'll still quilt for my customers!)  The reason is that I read an article stating that it is technically against copyright laws to post some one's work--especially if they have used a commercial pattern.  Unfortunately, I don't know what commercial pattern most of my customers use to create their tops or which portions of them are considered "in the public domain".  (FYI, usually antique quilt blocks are publishable as they are considered "in the public domain".)  So, because I respect our society and it's governing rules, you'll get to read about my projects--which I know I have full copyright license to show!  :)

I have quilted my "Lightning Bolt" pattern quilt top.  Truthfully, I have always LOVED quilts done with baptist fans.  Unfortunately, this edge-to-edge design is a lot more complicated than most people would think.  Nesting several concentric circles, then quilting a smooth long line or arc is quite a challenge.  I wanted to use a YouTube method (see my post on "learning to quilt from YouTube") with templates, but my presser foot's shank got in the way.  So...I resorted to marking the ENTIRE quilt top, then slowly and carefully tracing the thread paths.  I was happy with the outcome although it is not perfect.

Sometimes I think I am a nut-case about quilting borders.  Could I settle for quilting just one style of borders?  No.  How about two?  No, why not go for broke--it's my quilt anyway!  I did alternating swirls on the outer border.  A bump-back feather vine on the inner border and "E's and L's" in the middle border.  The inner-most border was the one I got the most excited about.

I don't mark the alternating swirls border.  I have practiced enough circles to create a concentric loop mimicking the width of the border and free-hand the whole thing.  It's fast!

Here's how I DON'T mark my feather vein, I use a long-arm ruler to "sew" down the marking.

I pounce-mark the spacing for the "E's and L's" border.  Occasionally marking isn't necessary as you can look at the patchwork seams (if they're every 1 to 2 inches or so) to see the increments needed to create the same width of loops.  That trick wasn't possible on this quilt.

Pouncing one-inch increments on the border.

Sewing a cursive "e" then "l" filling the space.  After the row is completed, I erase the pounce chalk with a leftover piece of quilt batting.

Here is  a photo of the back side of the quilt.  Yes, I normally do printed quilt backings, but I had this high-quality cream Kona fabric laying around from someone who ordered a Temple Quilt then cancelled the order.  Hey, if I have it, I'm gonna use it up!  :)

I must say that I really do love the way this quilt turned out.  It was so quick and simple to piece yet turned out beautifully.  The pieced ribbon border makes the quilt appear to be a lot more complicated than it really is. It's a great project from pre-cut Layer Cakes (10 inch stack of fabrics--Moda Marmalade was used in the sample).  Alternately, 21 fat quarters and 3 yards of fabric for the background (red) areas could be used.

Now...on to another project.

Some of you have been following my LDS Young Women's Quilt Project.  Yes, Teresa, I was finally able to convince my Laurel class that they could do this project.  Currently, most of my YW have completed their applique blocks.  That being said--I finally finished my demo.  FYI, the complete instructions for all but the last three blocks are loaded on the "YW Quilt Project" Page on the above tab bar.  I decided to change the last block to a tree-to celebrate YW Camp.  Afterall, who can forget camp!  It's a "right of passage", and mischief...and well, "Those that know don't tell...and those that tell...don't know!"  J/K  Camp is something special.

Now..on to another quilt:

After taking the time to custom-quilt the large Lightning Bolt quilt, I decided to simply edge-to-edge my next quilt.  I came up with a "Dahlia" design I liked very much.

The one continual "conundrum" I run into with edge-to-edge quilting has to do with thread color.  Just curious, what is your thread color preference?  Mine is to match the thread color to the majority color of the quilt top--in this case (and the Lightning Bolt quilt's case)--bright red.  I was worried that it would stand out on the Cuzco Layer Cake fabric pieces.   Yes it did a little--but I was surprised that it wasn't as much of an "eye sore" as I thought it would be because the prints were so large and busy.  When I first planned how I was going to quilt this project, I planned on using a patriotic variegated thread in the print fabrics, quilting the whole thing--then changing thread colors to bright red for the back-ground areas.  The new Dahlia quilt design challenged me to do an edge-to-edge job and I'm glad I did.

Now...one last project.  My cutie pie wanted a "ballawinga" (ballerina) Tu-tu to dance in.  We whipped this puppy together in about 20 minutes and she loves it!  The silly girl has worn it every day with her swim-suit (I need to go purchase a leotard).  Apparently she doesn't care about the one-foot of snow outside this winter!  :)

I love my "ballawinga"!

Two More Quilt Patterns & HST Block Tutorial & Pattern Giveaway

Here are photos of my two newest quilt block patterns.  They're fast, simple and made from layer cakes!  These two quilt tops both used Cuzco from Moda Fabrics.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/120515468/as-the-wind-blows-quilt-pdf-pattern

http://www.etsy.com/listing/120513872/diamond-star-pdf-quilt-pattern

These patterns utilize the fastest and most fabric efficient way I know of to make half-square triangles (HST).   Once HST are pieced, the plethora of blocks that can be created from them is endless.  The blue quilt's center is the traditional "Windblown" block while the center of the red quilt is a traditional "Diamond" block that turns into a star once a sawtooth border is added.  I'm pretty  happy with how they have turned out.  My husband got into the designing of these and came up with many more versions of combining HST.  The additional layouts are both included in the pattern and PDF can be accessed at the bottom of the HST tutorial.

So...on to the tutorial.

1. Layer a solid fabric on top of a print fabric.
2. Draw a diagonal line from corner to corner on the lighter colored fabric.

3.  Sew 1/4 inch away from BOTH sides of this line.

4. Cut these squares in half along the drawn line and press seams toward the darker fabric.  This results in two HST units.

Here is a link to other HST quilt layouts that my spouse came up with.  So many quilts...so little time!  As you can see, playing around with HSTs, you can create your own unique quilt once you can quickly piece the unit.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B0KRaxk3aDzkUjNFMmJHb3FVQUU/edit

Here is another pattern I have created using HST for sale on my Etsy shop:

 http://www.etsy.com/listing/102181277/summer-popsicle-pdf-layer-cake-quilt

Coming up...two more pattern demos to piece...then I'll be back to machine quilting.  I am planning to do a baptist fan using circular and half-circle rulers on my lightening bolt top and will share how I do it on my mid-arm quilting machine.


Until next time, Happy Quilting!

Newest Quilt Pattern

Greetings and Happy New Year!

Here's a photo of my latest quilt pattern.  It can be purchased at my Etsy store by following the link:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/119460190/cascading-garden-quilt-layer-cake-pdf

I hope you like it!  It features two applique panels and easy layer-cake blocks.  It's fast--it only required three afternoons to piece and applique.  I chose to use the Gypsy Girl Layer Cake by Lily Ashbury for Moda Fabrics in the sample.  It would look great in many colorways.  A similar quilt could be made from 1930's reproduction prints.

December's Quilts

Yay!  I'm finally announcing my latest quilt pattern.  It is entitled "Ligthning Bolt" and can be purchased through my etsy store.  It's a fast and easy quilt featuring the Marmalade Layer Cake by Bonnie & Camille for Moda Fabrics.  The pattern also includes a scrap fabric and yardage layout.  http://www.etsy.com/listing/118907832/lightning-bolt-pdf-quilt-patterns

Here are some photos of my daughter's Smocked Christmas dress.  I chose not to do a tutorial on this one because I was both pressed for time and it was a very difficult project due to the types of fabrics involved.

The dress was made from polyester crepe with a polyester organza overlay.  FYI, polyester fabrics don't hold pleats very well which made this dress particularly difficult to smock.  For this reason, I chose to leave in the pleating threads.  The beads on the organza caused the pleater needles to break so I had to hand gather about half of the bodice.  At least it turned out and my little one was thrilled with her Christmas dress!

It has also been a busy quilting month as well.  Here are some picts of my favorite customer's quilts.

This was an antique top from the 1960's or 70's they found stashed away in an attic in excellent condition.  For Christmas, the customer simply wanted Grandma's top quilted.  We agreed on continuous curve to mimic the traditional 1/4 inch hand quilting and a feathered longarm border as it was a motif the customer recognized from Grandma's tops.  It was special--and challenging since the fabrics--true to the time era--were from clothing and not quilting cotton fabrics.  The corderoy left a lot of extra  bulk at the seam intersections which required extra care.

This is a stunning lonestar quilt top--I love them.  The free-motion windblown motifs in the black background added a lot of movement to this beautifully pieced top.

As always, I love heirloom samplers.  This top was pieced from Maywood fabrics and was a block of the month quilt from Mormon Handicraft.

This is my favorite quilted block from the quilt top.  It was fun to create a minature feather wreath in the center square with swirls accentuating the outer square.  The leaf-vine sashing sets all of hte blocks beautifully.

My Newest Quilt

Here are photos of my newest quilt.  It is "America the Beautiful" from McCall's Quilting magazine, serialized 2011 pattern.  It was actually pieced by Linda at SugarQuilts (Etsy) and quilted by me.  After much debate, I decided that I would sell it on my Etsy store: ModernTraditionQuilt.

Here's the link: http://www.etsy.com/listing/117368293/america-the-beautiful-finished-quilt

Enjoy the photos!