When Priorities Change

Last week I made a list of all the things I needed to do in the next few weeks.  It was loooong.  Then on Sunday everything changed.  Our 5 year old got sick.  She had muscle and joint pain to the point she couldn't walk and a strange rash.  We took her to the emergency room and she was diagnosed with HSP.  It is crazy how what is important changes overnight.  Suddenly the garden, weeds, quilts, home improvement, everything just weren't priorities anymore.  They are going to keep her in the hospital for a bit longer and it is going to be a long recovery, but she is soooo much better.

So that is why I didn't post the instructions Monday for That Quirky Scrap Quilt.  I am planning on continuing on next week, but we will see how that goes.  There aren't going to be any firm plans for awhile.  

It's Here! : You Can Quilt! Building Skills For Beginners

 Almost a year to the day from when we mailed in the quilts and manuscript, I had our book in my hands: You Can Quilt! Building Skills For Beginners.  I just received my order of books and will start shipping them out on Tuesday.  If you didn't already pre-order, you can order a signed copy in my signed copy in my Etsy shop or an unsigned copy from  Amazon or the AQS website.  It is also available as an e-book if you prefer.

Let me give you a tour of the book.  The publishing group at AQS sent me a copy of the book that they had all signed.  That was really nice.  Don't you love the close up of Rosie?  And that Circle of Geese block?

The next page with a close up of the quilt I made...and all of the copyright mumbo jumbo.

Next comes the Table of Contents, but let's just focus on the quilt for a second....  :)

Marlene's quilt, Rosie's BOMb, faces the introduction.  I really like the introduction.  It tells the story of two school teachers turned riveters for the summer and then ties their story into quilting and how we can do hard things and learn new skills too.  We Can  Do It!

The books then goes over quilting basics like sewing a 1/4" seam, pressing and choosing fabrics.

Then we get to the blocks.  There are 12 different "Skill Builder Sets" with 3 quilt blocks in each set.  The first block in each set is very simple and then we move on to more complex blocks.  The Skill Builder Sets included in the book are: Learning the Basics (straight lines, chain piecing, sub-cutting), Half-square Triangles, Quarter-Square Triangles, Flying Geese, Wonky Blocks, Improvisation....

Foundation Paper Piecing, Curves, One-Patch Blocks, Applique, Inset Seams and Challenge Blocks.  This is a comprehensive book!

There are also setting, quilting and binding instructions at the end of the book.

The back cover has pictures of additional projects you can make with the blocks.  

But that is not all!  The book comes with the cutest CD ever.  I think centering the compass block on it is brilliant.  The CD has the templates for the curved, appliqued and foundation paper pieced blocks.  There are also setting instructions for the quilt seen on the cover, a bonus Airplane block, and pictures of other quilts made with the blocks from the book.

I am totally biased, but I think you will really like this book.  It would be fun to work through the blocks with a group of friends.  And although it is marketed to beginners, it would also be beyond useful for all of us who are stuck in intermediate-quilter-land who want to stretch our skills.

Again, you can order a signed copy in my Etsy shop or an unsigned copy from  Amazon or the AQS website.  It is also available as an e-book if you prefer.  I will start shipping books out on Tuesday.

That Quirky Scrap Quilt (along) - Making the Half Square Triangles

 Welcome to part three of That Quirky Scrap Quilt (along)!  Last Monday we made the 4-patch units and today we will make the 32 half square triangles units (HST).

If you have not already cut the squares for the HSTs, cut (32) 5" squares.  If you have some extra 5" charm square laying around, they are perfect for this.  Take 16 of the squares and draw a line from corner to corner on half of them.  I like to pair the light and dark colors, so I drew lines on the 16 lightest fabrics.

 Place the two 5" squares right sides together and sew 1/4" on both sides of the line.

 Set seam, cut in half and press open.

 Trim to 4 1/2" square by lining up the seam on the 45 degree line on the ruler.  Make sure the inner sides are slightly over the 4 1/2" mark and trim around the ruler.

 Rotate the HST.  Place the diagonal line on the seam and the HST inner edges on the 4 1/2" lines.  Trim the outer edges of the block.

Now you have two perfectly sized HSTs.  Repeat for a total of 32 HST units.

I have really had a fun time making this quilt so far and committing to posting instructions each Monday has made me stay focused and on task - no easy task.   (Links to all the posts can be found here.)  Next week we will make the quarter square triangles and then we will put it all together.

Linking to Scraptastic Tuesday.

That Quirky Quilt (along) - Making the 4-Patch Units

 Last week I posted the cutting instructions for That Quirky Scrap Quilt (along) and today we are making the (52) 4-patch units.  (See this post for an  overview of the quilt.)   I was worried that it would take forever to make 52 units, but they came together quickly.  (They would have come together even quicker if I hadn't 'sewn' 10 of them together without bobbin thread!  I hate it when that happens.)

First choose a light and dark 2 1/2" strips.  Having a light and dark strip isn't strictly necessary, but I want to have a distinct light/dark pattern.  Note that a fabric can be both 'light' and 'dark' depending on the other fabric it is paired with.  If you are using scrap strips of varying lengths, choose two that are approximately the same length.  Sew right sides together along the length of the strip with a quarter inch seam.

Set the seam by pressing the stitching line while the strips are still right sides together.  Then press strips open.  Do not run the iron up and down the seam because it can make the strips curve.

Square up the edge of the strip then cut 2 1/2" wide pieces off the the length of the strip.

Take two units, invert one, match seams and sew together.  You can pin the seam, but after the first 10, 20 or 30 you probably won't need to anymore.  :)

Set seam and press open.

Repeat for a total of (52) 4-patch squares.  Each 4-patch unit should measure 4 1/2" square.

 That's it for this week!  Next Monday I will post instructions for making the half square triangle units.

At the Fair Mystery Quilt Blocks: January-May

I thought I would share the blocks we have been making in the At the Fair Mystery Block of the Month.  The quilt blocks are based on the tiled quilt block mosaic which wraps around the Richard O. Jacobson Exhibition Center on the Iowa State Fairgrounds.  We are making 36 blocks - two a month - until June 2016 when we will put them together into an epic 96" x 92" quilt.
 

May's blocks were from Iowa and Audubon county and are 24 and 8 inches square.  I have to say it is really fun to make the bigger blocks.  They are so striking.  But then it is rather a relief to make the second smaller block.  :)    When I first saw the picture of the small Iowa county block I thought it would be a pain to cut and piece, but it came together very easily with some foundation paper piecing.

Two counties, Guthrie and Ida, submitted the same block to the fair.  I am calling it Starburst because there are stars bursting out - and because it is made with Starburst candy colors.  :)  It is 24" square.  The second block for April was from Adair county.  It is a simple little blocks but, like so many of the other blocks, I think a whole quilt of these would be great.

In March I almost froze my fingers off taking pictures of these blocks.  I am so glad winter is over!  The one on the left is 32" square and is from Decatur county.  The one on the right is 24" square and was submitted by Black Hawk county.

February's blocks were fairly simple because everyone in my house had taken turns being sick over and over.  The one on the left is from Dubuque county and measures 12" square.  The other is one of my favorite blocks.  It was submitted by Clinton county and measures 8" square.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again:  both of these would look great repeated in a quilt.

We started out the year with a bang in January.  The largest block - and my favorite so far - is a 36" beauty from Osceola county.  This "block" would make a great baby quilt.  But after making it, I thought we needed a break, so the second block is a simple 8" bow-tie block.

So...are you tempted to join us?  You can sign up here and on the 1st of every month through June 2016 you will receive instructions for 2 quilt blocks.  After signing up, a pdf with the first 10 block patterns will be emailed to you.  Need more info?  This post gives more details about the At the Fair Mystery Block of the Month.  I hope you will join us.  It has been fun seeing people's blocks pop up in our Flicker group and I know some people are sharing their blocks on Instagram with the hashtag #atthefairmysteryquilt.  We would love for you to join us!

That Quirky Scrap Quilt (along) - Cutting Instructions

That Quirky Scrap Quilt - 52" x  64"

As promised, here are the cutting instructions for That Quirky Scrap Quilt.  There are quite a few pieces, but I had a lot of fun cutting them out.  In fact, I got on such a roll that I cut out too many squares!  First I ironed each piece of fabric and then decided how best to cut it.  Some of the scraps were just large enough to get the 4 1/2" squares out of and some I could get both 5 1/2" squares and a nice sized 2 1/2" strip out of.  Even if your scraps are big enough you probably don't want to cut out more that 4-6 squares from each fabric.  This will maximize the quirky scrap feel of the quilt.

Note that in the cutting instructions I specify that the 2 1/2" strips should be 22" long.  I choose this measurement because it is the width of a fat quarter (half a width of standard fabric) and is long enough to make four 4-patch units.  You absolutely do not have to have strips this long.  Each 4-patch unit needs two 2 1/2" x 5 1/2" strips and there are a total of 52 4-patches in the quilt.  Just make sure you have enough strips to make that number of blocks.

Cutting Instructions

(104) 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" squares

(20) 5 1/2" x 5 1/2" squares

(32) 5" x 5" squares

(26) 2 1/2" x approx 22" strips  (the strips must be at least 20" long, but I like to have a bit extra for squaring up)


Next Monday I will post piecing instructions for the 4-patch units.  See you then!

P.S.  I got all fancy and made a blog button if you would like one.

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Go here for a list of all the Quirky Scrap Quilt (along) posts.