Monday, September 29, 2014

M-12 Hopscotch


Cut 2 strips coloured fabric 1 x 11 inches.
Cut 1 background strips 1 x 11 inches.
Sew together and press to the dark.
Cut into 5 sections 2 inches square.











Cut 4 background squares 2 inches.

Line up as a simple 9 patch.




Stitch together making sure the stripes are all going in the same direction.

Press.









Blessings,
Chris

B-13 Four Corner Press



This block is the same technique as the previous 2 blocks. Just note that the size of the pieces are different.
This would be a nice place to fussy cut the center.

Measure each piece from the pattern in the book remembering to add 1/2 inch for seam allowance before cutting.
Lay them out in order.


Stitch together using the flip and stitch method.
Do not clip the threads between the rows. This helps keep them all in order and makes assembling the block simpler.



Sew the rest of the blocks on and press.











Blessings,
Chris

M-10 Simple Simon


Using one of the pre-cut 2 inch strips,
cut 4 squares for the background fabric.

Cut five 2 inch squares from the coloured fabric.


Line up the pieces in order making sure the squares are all the same size. 


Stitch together.
Press.












I said some of these are easy.
Blessings,
Chris

A-6 Uncle Homer

The first block in this quilt is one of the simplest. That is why we begin here. I did not take too many pictures as I was working on this. This is not meant to be a detailed tutorial but a block by block progress for my students. I am doing 10 blocks per month grouped by techniques.




Measure each of the pieces from the picture in the Dear Jane book.
Make sure to add 1/4 inch all around for seam allowance by adding 1/2 inch to the finished size.
Lay all the pieces out in order making sure they all align evenly.
I had cut the white rectangles the wrong width the first time.


Using the flip and stitch method, I sewed the first 2 rows together and did not cut the threads connecting them.
Again, line up the pieces to make sure they are in the right place. 

Sew up the rows.

I did take time to un-stitch a bit off the seam allowances on the back and press them open to give a flatter finish.



























Blessings,
Chris

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Preparing Fabric

I have been pre-washing the background fabric and a few of the bright cottons I plan to use in my DJ 2. The reds ran a bit and I have discovered that Fabric Grabbers are now available in a local grocery store. I bought the fabrics from  That Quilt's on line shop twiddletails. There are 8 each of 8 different colours in fat 1/8ths. They also sell the Dear Jane book over there.
My 6 year old granddaughter arranged the colours on my DJ software. She has been playing in EQ7 for a couple of years now. At first she coloured everything the same colour and learned how to save even though she did not yet know how to read. 

Fabrics for DJ2


I washed and ironed a 2 yard piece of the Kona white that I am using for the background. Then, I pre-cut strips in different widths and put them into labeled containers. These had produce from the local grocery store. By taking a few minutes now, I will be saving hours later when I need small pieces. 

Pre-cut background strips
Blessings,
Chris