Charm Square Quilt Along Part 7

Hello everyone! Welcome to this week's block in our Charm Square Quilt Along.  I am enjoying all of your blocks you are sharing on flickr and in the link party below.  All of these color arrangements are inspiring!

<div align="center">
<a href="http://moderntraditionquilts.blogspot.com" title="Charm Square Sampler Quilt Along"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQUYYoNu4QavbsYY-1Mdr801citK1JNlmeCnxkkGGovkvuiR1hO9zX2kNRdANUmspR21fQmn9i1x6v371eY65d9hHozBhD3WK7twCbsiirUnZPLVw6-6vxxCfBE44FgAr4EwwgC111DlP/w214-h212-p-no/" alt="Charm Square Sampler Quilt Along" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

If you are new to this QAL, visit the old posts.  To get fabric requirements and ideas, click HERE.

STEP ONE: Layout 16 of your HSTs that were created in part one.

STEP TWO: Sew vertical columns together.  I like to pair column two on top of column one so that all HSTs are in the correct orientation when I take them from the layout to the sewing machine.  Then repeat with column 3 on top of column 2 and then complete with column 4 on top of column 3.

STEP THREE: Pressing seams and pin-match points.  By now, you know that I am picky about this.  I enjoy the "X marks the spot rule"--but I also know that it is important to press seams to avoid bulk.  No one wants to quilt through 8 pieces of fabric together! 

How the seams are pressed to avoid bulk in the row intersections.

X marks the spot!

See where the threads cross?  "X" marks the spot!

Now, these work great for our "beginner blocks" but in this block and the last block, we have a "hidden X" to pin through to avoid blunting our seams.  It has to be this way or there will be too much bulk in our intersections.

Here is a close-up of  what I call the "hidden X".  You can still see where to pin.

The top row will have two "hidden X" to pin-match.

STEP FOUR: Sew the three rows together and press it open.  All done!

VARIATION:  If you were to swap rows 1 and 2 with rows 3 and 4 in your final row seam, you can get this variation instead (outer rows are now inner rows).  It's fun to play around.

Row-swap variation.

Now it's your turn to share!  Enjoy!
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Charm Square Quilt Along Part 6-Diamond Block

Hello folks!  I apologize for missing last week's installment.  If you remember from the beginning, I am currently working on a Master's Degree and said the schedule was "tentative" pending on any crazy things that may come up.  A combination of a major exam and myself and my children fighting Bronchitis--well, it didn't happen.

But this week is great!  here is this week's next installment.

I changed the diamond block from the original diagram.  I like this version better.

<div align="center">
<a href="http://moderntraditionquilts.blogspot.com" title="Charm Square Sampler Quilt Along"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQUYYoNu4QavbsYY-1Mdr801citK1JNlmeCnxkkGGovkvuiR1hO9zX2kNRdANUmspR21fQmn9i1x6v371eY65d9hHozBhD3WK7twCbsiirUnZPLVw6-6vxxCfBE44FgAr4EwwgC111DlP/w214-h212-p-no/" alt="Charm Square Sampler Quilt Along" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

To get fabric requirements and ideas, click HERE.

STEP ONE: Layout your HSTs.  If you look at the original quilt layout, I have rotated the four corners.  Initially they pointed in to the block and I changed my mind and made the block with them pointing out so the diamond is more visible.  Use your creative license to do this to fit your personal preference.

STEP TWO: Sew the columns together.  Sew column 2 to column then, then column 3 on to column 2 and then column 4 onto column 3.  Do not clip threads.  This trick will keep your HSTs in the proper orientation for pressing, pin-matching and later sewing the rows.

STEP THREE: Press your columns.  If you have done the previous blocks, you know that I like to look for places where the threads will cross each other to make an "X".  I call this "X marks the spot".  You can simply press seams of rows in opposite directions, but you will miss the "X".  This block is complicated and you will miss some "X".  I choose to press my seams to show as many as possible.  Even if you can't see the "X", you can look at the right side of your HSTs and see where the "X" would be.

The goal of pressing the seams is also to nest as many seams as possible.  Sometimes this doesn't work out.  In the yellow circles, the seams will not nest.  Do your best to pin-match

Purple arrows are seams to press up.  Green arrows are seams to press down.

A close-up of "X marks the spot".  Some of these will not be visible in this block.  the seams will have been pressed over.  However, you can still see where your thread "X" is and pin through that spot.

STEP FOUR: Pin match seams.

STEP FIVE: Sew rows together and press open.

Now it's your turn to share your work.  Thanks for participating!

Also, don't forget to enter my blog's giveaway.  More details can be found HERE.

Share your projects here:

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Machine Quilting Practice

My favorite quilters are Judy Madsen of Green Fairy Quilts and Angela Walters of Quilting is My Therapy.  There is something amazing about the work they do.  I've spent the last two months pouring over Judy's book (Quilting Wide Open Spaces) and Angela's classes on Craftsy (all of them).  There is just something special about their modern style of quilt-work that just sets their quilts apart.  I often thought Judy's were just sprinkled with her "green fairy dust" and somehow Angela had the same magical powers.

While I admit I have learned a lot in the past 5 years of machine quilting, I still have a lot to learn.

1) Understand the difference between "negative" and "positive" space. I had to look these up in a drawing-techniques book.  In short, "positive" space refers to the part of the quilt your eye is drawn to--the colorful quilt block.  The "negative" space is the back-ground of the blocks, or the sashing where they connect.  (In the blocks below it is blue).

2) For starters, I had to get over my fear of ruler work.  Both Judy and Angela separate dense sections of free motion quilting using straight-line rulers and bump-back feathers.

Here is my attempt at practicing continuous curve quilting.  If you look at the bottom LHS corner, you can see I also did continuous curve quilting, but it is lost in the tight micro-swirls; yet in this center square it stands out.  Why?

3) In Angela Walter's Craftsy classes she talks about using "echoing" a lot.  At first, I did not understand the concept.  However, it finally clicked in the back-ground space in the center of the above block.  After I continuous curve quilted the triangle portions of the blocks, only for it to get lost in the tight micro-swirls, I got it!  She meant to leave an un-quilted area that echoes--or frames what you are trying to do.  Here, I can see the continuous curve quilting because it is framed.  Both Judy and Angela separate quilting spaces into--what I think of now-- as picture frames.

 4) I have a mid-arm, not a long-arm machine.  I frequently thought, well, I just can't do what others do because my quilt-throat reach isn't long enough.  Well, after watching Angela quilt her motifs on a home sewing machine, I realized that I don't have an excuse.  In her class, she says she uses echoes (or as I understand it picture frames) to separate micro-quilting work spaces.  They also use feathers to separate areas (with echoes around them).  I have yet to try that.

5) Straight lines and organic/curved lines create contrast.  No doubt about it.  Look at the back of this quilt!  I wouldn't be able to tell from the back that this simply is a scrappy quilt using two techniques (Angela Walter's dot-to-dot--just one of them; and a back-ground filler).

This is the back of my Scrap-A-Dealy-O Laye Cake Quilt.  You can see the contrast created between straight and curved lines.

6) Back-tracking is important.  I admit that in the past, if back-tracking was required, I just chose not to quilt that style on the quilt.  I was really missing out.  Look how great this back-ground filler looks as it appears to disappear on top/over and under itself.  This trick is all due to back-tracking.

Front of my Scrap-A-Dealy-O Layer Cake Quilt.  Look how the swirls appear to tuck under and over one another.  I couldn't have done that without getting over my fear of back-tracking.

Well, that's my analysis.  I hope my next quilts go from an intermediate level to "amazing".  Wish me luck!

Sooner or later, I'll get this pattern written up.

Until then, enjoy the quilting.  This turned out better than I expected, thanks to reading Judy's book and Angela's Craftsy classes.

Charm Square Quilt Along Part 5 & Diamond in a Diamond Block.

Hello everyone!  It's time for the second block in our Charm Square Sampler Quilt Along.

<div align="center">
<a href="http://moderntraditionquilts.blogspot.com" title="Charm Square Sampler Quilt Along"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQUYYoNu4QavbsYY-1Mdr801citK1JNlmeCnxkkGGovkvuiR1hO9zX2kNRdANUmspR21fQmn9i1x6v371eY65d9hHozBhD3WK7twCbsiirUnZPLVw6-6vxxCfBE44FgAr4EwwgC111DlP/w214-h212-p-no/" alt="Charm Square Sampler Quilt Along" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

To get fabric requirements and ideas, click HERE.

Just so you know where we're headed, I've organized this QAL according to which block I think is easiest and progresses to the most difficult (the spinning centers).  For today's entry, we are working on #4, the Diamond in a Diamond

This tutorial assumes that your half-square triangles (HSTs) are already sewn.  To sew them as you go, view the tutorial HERE.

 STEP ONE: Lay out 16 of your half-square triangle (HST) pieces.

 STEP TWO: Sew the blocks using this column orientation (as shown in the previous tutorials).  Sew rows 2 to 1, then 3 to 2, then 4 to 3.

 STEP THREE: Do not clip threads.  This will keep your squares in proper alignment. This block is the first block where we encounter different pressing in the seams.  In the past, we have simply pressed rows in opposite directions, which can work here, but it would risk pressing the "X" closed.  As you recall, this shows us where to sew when connecting rows to avoid blunt points.  To avoid this, I press my seams to show the "X".

The top row is under this, the second row.

Here is the center of the block.  Yes, the right and left side seams are going in the same direction.  This is because on the row previous to it, it needed to be pressed this way to show the "X marks the spot" to avoid blunted seams.

 STEP FOUR: X marks the spot! Pin the rows through the "X" created by your seams to the "X" of the block below it.  This shows you where to sew so the points of your block do not get blunted.  This trick will keep them sharp.  Nest seams of adjacent rows.

STEP FIVE: Sew through all three rows paying attention to the "X" spot.   Pin-matching when necessary.

 STEP SIX: Press open rows  and you are done!

 Enjoy!

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Charm Square Quilt Along Part 4

Hello everyone!  It's time for the third block in our Charm Square Sampler Quilt Along.

I admit that I am having a hard time locating the historical name of these blocks.  I design using EQ7 and it tells me the name of this block is "Mosaic #10."  Well, historically that can't be right.  I know the center of this block is often called "Square in a Square" or  "Broken Dish" so I'm naming this block--until someone corrects me--the "Square in a Broken Dish".  If you know its correct name, please leave me a comment below.

Also, a few of you who have been sewing along have noticed your blocks have turned out to 17 inches square instead of 16 1/2 inches square.  Don't worry, I will have two variations of sashing and borders to accommodate you.  However, I do need to ask, do you know why it happened?  I do.

In post where we made our half-square triangles (HSTs), it said to trim all of your half-square triangles to 4 1/2 inches.  If you skipped that part, your HSTs measure 4 3/4 inches which creates a final block size of 17 inches instead of 16 1/2 inches.  I just thought you would like to know.

<div align="center">
<a href="http://moderntraditionquilts.blogspot.com" title="Charm Square Sampler Quilt Along"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQUYYoNu4QavbsYY-1Mdr801citK1JNlmeCnxkkGGovkvuiR1hO9zX2kNRdANUmspR21fQmn9i1x6v371eY65d9hHozBhD3WK7twCbsiirUnZPLVw6-6vxxCfBE44FgAr4EwwgC111DlP/w214-h212-p-no/" alt="Charm Square Sampler Quilt Along" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

To get fabric requirements and ideas, click HERE.

Just so you know where we're headed, I've organized this QAL according to which block I think is easiest and progresses to the most difficult (the spinning centers).  For today's entry, we are working on #3, the Square in a Broken Dish block (until I find out it's "real" name).

STEP ONE: Lay out your half-square triangle (HST) pieces.

STEP TWO: Sew the blocks using this column orientation (as shown in the previous tutorials).  Sew rows 2 to 1, then 3 to 2, then 4 to 3.

 STEP THREE: Do not clip threads.  This will keep your squares in proper alignment.  Press column seams in opposite directions.

Do not clip thread between columns.  This will keep the correct orientation when you sew it into rows.

Press seams of columns in opposite directions.

STEP FOUR: X marks the spot! Pin the rows through the "X" created by your seams to the "X" of the block below it.  This shows you where to sew so the points of your block do not get blunted.  This trick will keep them sharp.  Nest seams of adjacent rows.

STEP FIVE: Sew through all three rows paying attention to the "X" spot.  

 STEP SIX: Press open rows  and you are done!

Enjoy!

Share your projects here:

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Link party:

An InLinkz Link-up