Oh, Fransson!

July Fabric Focus

Sew, Mama, Sew! is celebrating Christmas in July this week.  Check out the blog for holiday tutorials, including my Quilted Advent Calendar.

Wristlet Love

 

I was getting tired of the wristlet pattern photos that I was using in my Etsy shop, so I made up some new wristlets and took some new photos yesterday.

 

Here are the Style A flat zips.

 

The Style B rounded bags with darts.

 

And, finally the box-bottomed makeup bags.

Much better! :)

Say hello to the "Mega Quilter"

 

After reading my Sewing Machine Meme post, my husband decided that he wanted to buy me a new machine. Yay! 

He was planning on getting me the Janome MC6600 but, after doing some research, I decided that I would rather have the 1600p, which is a super-fast machine (1600 stitches per minute!) designed especially for quilting.  My local dealer didn't have any, but they did have this Viking Mega Quilter, which is apparently the same machine as the Janome 1600p (and the Pfaff Grand Quilter). 

It has a knee-lifter for the presser foot, an automatic thread cutter and an auto needle-down function -- all things that I really wanted.  It also has one of those extender tables for quilting and a screw-on seam allowance guide that looks pretty useful.

 

The best thing?  The machine was being sold as a package deal with this awesome quilting frame!  I'll admit that I'm a little scared of it right now, but I tried it out in the store and loved it.  It came with a laser pointer guide that can be used with pantographs (I'll be the first to admit that I'm more likely to use it to torture my cats) and a stitch regulator that plugs into your machine and is supposed to keep your stitch length consistent, regardless of speed. 

I have a couple of projects to finish this weekend, so I'm not going to have a chance to try any of this out until next week.  I'm very excited though! 

Thank you so much to Chris for the awesome gift, and to my sister, Sarah, and her giant car for helping me bring it home from the store!

"Map of the States" Blocks

I was so happy with the way the first of Nettie's blocks turned out that I photographed the process of making the second block so that I could write a little tutorial.

 

This process may be a bit fussy for some, but I think it's a great way to make a random looking block that is actually planned in a way that a) ensures that different fabrics/colors are distributed evenly throughout the block and b) allows for easy fussy cutting.  It's also a great way to use scraps!

 

In addition to your regular quilting supplies, you'll need a square ruler (any size is fine, but I used a 9.5" square), scissors for cutting paper, freezer paper and colored pencils.

Freezer paper is available in most larger supermarkets -- Look near wax paper and foil or with canning supplies.  It's useful for this project because it has a backing that makes it possible to temporarily iron it onto fabric.

 

You'll also need fabric scraps divided into about five groups.  I divided mine by color, but you could also divide by types of prints.  Assign a different colored pencil to each pile of scraps and set aside. 

 

Start by tracing in pencil around your square ruler on the paper (not waxy) side of a piece of freezer paper.  Use your regular quilting ruler to subdivide the resulting square into five columns. 

Your columns should be at slight angles and of varying widths, but keep in mind that a little wonkiness goes a long way!  In order to keep your finished block nice and flat, all of these lines should be perfectly straight (i.e. not curved).

Now, subdivide each column into smaller chunks of varying size.  Notice how my lines are still straight, but at slight angles.  Notice also how none of the lines match up with the lines in adjacent columns.

 

Starting in the upper-left corner, write a code in each space.  I numbered my columns 1 through 5 and the squares using letters, starting with A at the top and working down.  For example, the top-left space is 1A.  The third space down in the third column is 3C. 

 

This is where the whole "map of the states" part comes in.  I remember in elementary school being asked to color in a map of the United States using as few colors as possible and making sure that no adjacent states were the same color.  If I remember correctly, the idea was to see who in the class could accomplish the task using the fewest number of colors.  (I've realized in retrospect that my elementary school was kind of odd.)

 

Anyway, this step is sort of like that.  Use the five (or however many) colored pencils you've assigned to your piles of fabric scraps to color in the spaces on your block, making sure that no adjacent squares are the same color. 

 

When you're finished coloring, carefully cut out each space/square.

 

Divide the cut pieces by color and place each with the corresponding pile of scraps.

 

Starting with one set of scraps and freezer paper pieces, iron each freezer paper piece to a fabric scrap, making sure to leave room to cut a quarter inch seam allowance around each piece.  Because the freezer paper squares don't include any seam allowance, it's easy to place them in ways that will allow you to capture your favorite parts of a print -- sort of like fussy cutting.

Note: Waxy colored pencils like Prismacolors can mess up your iron!  It's a good idea to protect it with a scrap piece of muslin or other pressing cloth during this step.

 

Use a ruler and rotary cutter to trim each piece, adding a quarter inch seam allowance on all sides.

Repeat with all sets of scraps and freezer paper pieces.

Using the codes you wrote on the freezer paper as a guide, lay out all pieces in the block arrangement.

 

Starting on one side and working across, sew the pieces in each column together, removing freezer paper as you go.  The codes you wrote on the paper will help you know which side is "up."  Press seams open.

Note: If you're making more than one block, the freezer paper shapes can be retained and used again.  The stickiness will eventually wear off, but you should be able to iron on and remove them several times before that happens.  If you're looking to make a whole quilt, I recommend making two or three different pattern sets of freezer paper squares -- just to add some variety.

 

Now, sew the five columns together.  This is a little tricky, since there are so many seam allowances that don't match up with anything.  Just take your time and concentrate on sewing a straight seam.  Press seams open.

 

Because we added seam allowance to all the freezer paper pieces, you should also have about a quarter inch "extra" around the edge of your block.  Center your square ruler on top of the block and trim all sides with your rotary cutter, making the block a perfect 9.5" (or whatever size your ruler is) square.

 

And here's the finished product.  I wish I had time right now to make an entire quilt like this!

July Block Party

 

Here are my blocks for Nettie.  I love the color scheme she chose! 

 

The inspiration photo Nettie gave us was of this quilt by Denyse Schmidt.  Looking at it again, now that I've finished my blocks, I realize that her piecing has a lot of curved seams, which mine do not.  Yikes!  

Also, while I'm guessing her quilt was improvsationally pieced, mine was based on colored pencil drawings on freezer paper that I deconstructed and used as patterns. 

 

I'm resigned to the fact that I will never be an improvisational piecer!  I like systems.  I like patterns.  I like to have a plan.  Having said that, I really love these blocks.  I love that they appear to be randomly pieced, but that they were planned, which allows for even distribution of colors and prints. 

I wish I had time to make a whole quilt of these!  Hopefully Nettie will like them too.

My goodness! You are fast!

 

When I said "Friday morning or 500 comments," I was thinking that those two things would happen more or less simultaneously.  I had no idea you would be able to pull off 500 comments in eight hours!

The winner, chosen at random, is Jaybird!  (I've sent you an e-mail.  Please send your address and I'll get these in the mail.)

For those of you who missed out, stay tuned.  I'll do a similar strip-pack giveaway when I finish my Project Improv Quilt.

Who wants to make a Scrappy Hedgerow Quilt?

 

I've been cleaning out my supply closet today and came across this set of fabric strips and squares -- all cut out and ready to become a scrappy quilt!  It could be made into many things, but the squares are 3.5" and the strips are 1.5" and 1.75" wide, making it a perfect starting point for one of these.

 

The fabric is mostly Heather Bailey's Pop Garden and Bijoux, with a couple of Kaffe Fasset prints thrown in.  The solids are mostly Kona, but I think the tangerine is Kaffe Fasset shot cotton.

 

Anyway, I'd love to send these to a good home where they would be used.  All fabric was prewashed before cutting and I'm throwing in a half yard of the chevron stripe fabric shown above for binding or part of the back (or whatever you want to do with it).

Leave a comment to enter your name in the random drawing.  I'll keep comments open until Friday morning or 500 comments, whichever happens first.

Oh, my ears and whiskers!

Today is the day my Project Improv quilt was supposed to be done and in Jacquie's hands.  I am most definitely LATE getting this done!  Jacquie, I apologize profusely and will have this to you as soon as possible.

Despite the tardiness though, I am thrilled with the way the blocks look so far.  I'm mostly using Anna Griffin's Darcey collection, which I bought a while ago and have been saving for the right project.  I love these colors together!  They're summery and preppy and retro all at the same time.

 

Here's a picture of my workstation.  I'm lucky that my little IKEA armchair is flat on top, because it means I can scoot it over next to my big table and put one of my old tabletops on top of it, creating a big table extension.  I cut lots and lots of strips of the Darcey fabric, Kona cotton solids and Essex cotton/linen in white.  I have a big piece of the green floral print (my favorite) for the back.

Now I just need to get the other 16 blocks done!

(By the way, if you think the above photo looks like a cat disaster waiting to happen, you're not wrong.  I just don't have photographs!)