Oh, Fransson!

Clementine: New Approach

 
So, I changed my mind.  When I started working on this mini quilt, I was not in favor of using applique.  Now I've decided it's the best possible method.  That's the problem with blogging about my process, I suppose.  You're going to end up seeing a lot of do-overs! 

My change of heart was based, largely, on my discovery of the amazing Joseph's Coat Quilt-Along over at Don't Look Now.  I love the way that quilt is appliqued and pieced in a way that means there are no seams showing and decided I wanted to duplicate that "no seams" look on the Clementine quilt. 

(I also signed up for the quilt-along, so you'll start seeing my, probably slow, progress on that in June.)

 
The quilt-along requires a stabilizer product called Stitch and Wash, which I'm now using for the Clementine quilt.  I found mine at Montavilla Sewing Center (the one on 84th and Stark -- it's apparently not available at the other locations).

While at Montavilla, I also found a fusible water soluble stabilizer (on the right in the above photo) that may be suitable for Stamp Collection quilts.  A lot of people have asked me about using a wash-away stabilizer instead of interfacing but, as I've mentioned, I had never seen one with all the necessary properties for the quick-piecing.  I'm going to test this one in the coming weeks, and I'll let you know what happens.  

For the Clementine quilt, I drew the full-size pattern on a piece of poster board. 

 
I made a template for the almond shapes to match my sketch, but I put them together exactly as the appliques for Don't Look Now!'s quilt-along are made. 

 
Because this is mini quilt, I'll be able to applique the almond shapes onto a single piece of fabric.  I'm just going to lay a piece of fabric over my sketch and use it as a placement guide for the appliques.  This is probably going to take a little longer, but I'm happy about the change, as I think the resulting quilt will be much, much more attractive.

I also want to send a big, big thank you to Don't Look Now! for introducing me to an awesome product and teaching me a new and wonderful applique technique!

Tokyo Subway Map: Top Finished

I made the top of Hiromi's mini quilt using the same technique I used for this quilt, and which I described in this tutorial.

The sketch I drew was for a grid 10 squares wide and 15 squares tall.  I counted up how many of each color I needed and cut enough 2" squares of those, plus the white background squares, to make the quilt top.

One thing I did differently than the tutorial (and which I did for the Stamp Collection quilt too) was to draw a grid onto muslin, rather than directly onto the fusible interfacing.  This is easier to draw, easier to see, and has the bonus of being reusable.  Win, win, win!

I drew my 2" grid with a Sharpie.  If you try this, keep in mind that a) it will get all over your ruler,* b) it may bleed through onto your mat or table, and c) it may be kind of fume-y when you iron over it.  Don't hesitate to use something other than a Sharpie.  Just be sure that whatever you use is not water-soluble.  You don't want the steam from your iron to make it bleed all over your project! 

*I easily cleaned the edge of my ruler with a bit of nail-polish remover on a cotton cosmetic ball.  Using an acetone-based product is probably not be the most advisable way to clean an acrylic ruler, but I washed it with dish-soap and water right after and it doesn't seem to have been damaged.

I created a pressing area by laying an old towel on my work table, with the muslin grid on top.  The towel needed to be totally flat, so I cut off the hems, which had shrunk weird in the wash and were preventing the edges from laying flat.

I then placed lightweight fusible interfacing (I use the lightest-weight Pellon) over the grid, with the glue side facing up.  I trimmed away the edges of the interfacing, so that it was the same size as the grid I drew on the muslin.  (I did this so that, once I laid down all the fabric squares, there wouldn't be any extra interfacing poking out that could get stuck to my iron.)

 
After this, I followed the same directions I provided in the tutorial, using my sketch as a guide for where to place the different squares.

Note: You can see in the above photo that I used two pieces of interfacing, which I simply overlapped.  If you do this, make sure the pieces overlap in the middle of a row, rather than on a gridline/seam allowance.

Here's what the squares looked like once they were laid out and ironed onto the interfacing.

One important lesson I learned while making the Stamp Collection quilt is that the process is way easier if your squares are just barely the correct size.  A scant 2", if you will.  If the edges of your squares extend beyond the edges of your grid, they will start overlapping weirdly, which will make it more difficult to accurately fold and sew the rows.  If you see any of your squares overlapping, don't hesitate to use your scissors to trim just a hair off the top and one side before replacing them in the grid.

Here's an example of how cleanly the rows fold, when none of the squares overlap.

 
Here's what it looked like after I'd sewn about half of the vertical seams.

Here are the vertical seams after being trimmed and pressed open.

Here are the horizontal seams before trimming and pressing.

And here's the back of the finished top.  Look at all those pretty seams!
 
 
 And here's the finished top! 

 

I know just how I'm going to finish this, but I'm going to keep you in suspense . . .
  
ETA: Ack!  I just noticed that I made a mistake in my grid!  The pink "line" has a square that should have been placed one square diagonal from where it is.  I've never tried to take one of these blocks apart before, but I think I'm going to have to now, or it will drive me crazy!    Okay, I took it apart (very easy) and fixed the problem.  Photos are below.  Much better!

 

New Wave Shortcut

This post is about a shortcut for making my New Wave Quilt.  The original tutorial is here.  An expanded version of the pattern (with more sizes) is also available in my shop.

I saw this ruler at JoAnn the other day and thought it might be a good substitute for the translucent plastic template I have been using for the New Wave Pattern.  (It looks like you can also buy one here.)

This ruler is sold as a tool for making Darlene Zimmerman's "Fat Cats" pattern (which comes with the ruler) but I found that it works just as well for New Wave! 

Use the ruler just as you would your translucent plastic template, lining up the 1.5" and 10.5" marks on the ruler with the edges of your 9" fabric strips.

 
The angle of the ruler is slightly different than the New Wave template, which may result in slightly taller waves and a quilt that may end up a little bit taller.  However I found that I was able to easily cut up to 3 wedges from a 9" x 18" strip, as the pattern directs. 

If you're using this ruler instead of a the pattern template, you may also want to cut your sashing pieces at least 11" long to compensate for the fact that the slightly sharper angle results in a slightly longer side. 

I hope this is helpful to some of you.  I know that I always prefer to use a ruler over a template!

Clementine: First Block Attempt

My first attempt at a block is not bad.  It could use some work, but I've definitely found the technique I'm going to use for the rest of the quilt.

 
When I first started thinking about making an Orange Peel block, I considered the different ways the components could fit together.  I decided that I definitely wanted each almond shape individually pieced into a square, so that the primary and secondary block patterns would be identical. 

 
l tried piecing a couple of blocks with patterns I made.  They came together fine, but I didn't like the extra bulk at the corners where the solid pieces overlapped.  So, I decided to try piecing the almond shapes into a solid square, similar to Dale Fleming's Six Minute Circles, and loved the results.

Note: Dale Fleming's original technique is described in the linked tutorial and in more detail in her book, Pieced Curves So Simple.  I'm going to show you some photos of how I adapted the technique to my purpose, but please refer to Dale's original tutorial and book for more details on the basic pinless piecing technique (which is amazing!).

 
I gathered the materials I would need which, for the almond shape I was making, included a compass and a 5.5" square ruler.

 
Instead of making the freezer paper template described in the linked tutorial, I traced my 5.5" square ruler onto freezer paper and then drew in the quarter-inch seam allowance.  (So, basically, I drew a 5" square inside a 5.5" square.)

I then used my compass to draw the almond shape.  To duplicate this, set your compass to draw circles with a 5" radius (or, more simply, so that the point sits on one corner of the 5" square with the marking end just reaching the other).

Note: Freezer paper comes on a roll and doesn't easily lay flat.  That's why it's taped to my table.

 
The finished almond shape looked like this.

l then cut out the almond shape, trimmed the freezer paper template to about 6" and ironed it to the wrong side of a piece of Kona Snow.

For the almond shapes, I cut 5.5" squares, as they should be easy to match up with the 5.5" square I drew on the freezer paper template. 

 
When cutting the notches, I made a cut at each point, as shown above, and then pressed the notches outward toward the two sides of the almond shape.

I started sewing at one of the points and sewed around one side of the almond shape first, backtacking a couple of stitches at the beginning and end of my seam.

The tutorial says to use a zipper foot, but I just used my (very narrow) regular piecing foot.

 
Here's what it looked like when one seam was finished.  I then repeated the same process on the other side.

 
Once both side seams were sewn, I folded back the solid fabric and made a few stitches (forward and backward) to reinforce the points.

 
I trimmed away excess fabric in much the same way I would have for a circle, trimming away the tips of the points at either end of the almond shape (much as you would if clipping corners before turning a pillow or bag right-side-out).

 
I ironed toward the center, starting with one side.  I tried both clipping and not clipping the print fabric and found that I preferred the results when I did not clip the edges of the print fabric before pressing. 

 

I then pressed the other side toward the center.  As mentioned in the tutorial, pressing the seam allowance toward the center gives the appearance of an applique.

I trimmed my block components down to size by using my 5.5" square ruler.  (Note the placement of the diagonal line on the ruler.)

 
Once I had four block components, I was ready to sew them together!  My original sketch had the block components coming together in circles like this, but I decided to piece this blocks in a starburst pattern instead, to test how much bulk was coming together at that center point.  (Answer: Not too much!)

Here they are sewn together!  This was actually the most difficult part of the process, since the bulk of the curved seams fought my sewing a scant quarter inch seam allowance right up against them.

 
You can see here that they aren't quite aligned perfectly, but I'm hoping my technique will improve as I work on more blocks!

Tokyo Subway Map (Hiromi is a Winner!)

 
I also chose Hiromi as a mini quilt winner.  Her inspiration was a map of the Tokyo Subway System which I thought was filled will exciting possibilities.  I haven't been to Tokyo since I was 15 (in 1990) but I vividly remember the subway system as seeming big and labyrinthine and exciting.  

 

I decided to focus on a few lines intersecting, sort of like a zoom in on a portion of the map, rather than trying to depict the entire thing.  I sketched it out as a grid of tiny squares, so that it could be pieced similarly to this quilt. 

Besides the colored bars indicating the paths of the various lines, most of the maps I looked at also had little tags indicating the name of major stations and intersections.  I depicted those on my drawing with these little squares.

Those 11 squares will be pieced using different black and white prints.

Besides solid fabrics, the piecing for the "routes" will include some basic dot fabrics to represent the little white dots (indicating stops) that appeared on so many of the maps.
 
 
And, of course, Hiromi also wins a bundle of the new Quilter's Linen (muted colors).  Thank you, Robert Kaufman, for providing these fat quarter bundles! 

I'll post about my progress during the next week.

Clementine (Eleanor is a Winner!)

 
I chose Eleanor as one of the mini quilt winners.  Her inspiration was the word clementine.  It's a fun word to say, and reminds me of a beautiful color and shape, as well as a great movie.

Clementine also made me think of the classic Orange Peel quilt block.  I love the clean, modern look of this block design.  I also love the way the circles intersect with one another.

I'll follow up this post with another about how I decide to piece this.  I'm not interested in the faux-orange-peel designs that have you applique-ing or folding back fabric to imitate the look of curved seams.  I'm definitely going to piece the curves so they're clean and flat.

I have plenty of orange fabric lined up for the job!

 
Of course, Eleanor also wins one of the Quilter's Linen bundles (the bright one). 

I'll post the second winner tomorrow, and updates on the mini quilt progress during the week.

A Note about Giveaway Day

I finished reading through all of your comments/entries and wanted to thank you all for entering, and for all of your kind words about my blog and about the contest.  I also want to extend my sympathies to those of you who mentioned recent difficulties and losses.   

I wish that I could have picked everyone but, unfortunately, I had to narrow it down to two.  In the end, I chose two entries that a) were not duplicated among the 1,500+ comments, and b) that immediately grabbed me as an exciting quilt concept.

One winner will be posted today (Sunday) and the other tomorrow.

Handmade Beginnings Winner!

 
Congratulations, Nettie!  You are the winner of a copy of Anna Maria Horner's Handmade Beginnings. 

Be sure to reference my original giveaway post for a complete list of the blog tour stops, as well as information on how to win more fabulous prizes (including a sewing machine!) courtesy of Wiley Publishing.

Handmade Beginnings by Anna Maria Horner

I was honored to be asked to participate in the blog tour for Anna Maria Horner's new book, Handmade Beginnings, which was written before and after the arrival of her sixth child.   

Anna Maria and the rest of her beautiful family are featured in photographs in the book, which is cleverly divided into sections called: Mama Sewing (clothing and accessories for mom), Baby Sewing (clothing for baby), Family Sewing (getting the family ready for the new arrival), and Nest Sewing (toys and projects for the nursery).   

 
I was immediately drawn to this patchwork sleep sack.  Adorable! 

 
And check out this darling dress.  What a perfect showcase for a beautiful patchwork block!

 

Anna Maria's Hide and Seek Spectrum Quilt reminded me so much of something my mother might have made for my sisters and me.  I love the idea of monochromatic blocks in rainbow colors (obviously!) but the little "doors" are just so much fun!

 
And, of course, the Sixth Time's the Charm Crib Quilt is just amazing.  (And, I just noticed that, in the cover shot, you can see that the back is giant orange gingham!)

So, there are a lot of exclamation posts in this post.  Please consider them a reflection of the plentiful quantities of both adorableness and interesting projects in this book.  The directions are written in a straightforward, non-fussy manner.  (I especially liked the instructions for hand quilting with perle cotton and the "color notes" that accompanied each project.)

Would you like to win a copy?  Comment on this post before midnight (Pacific) for your chance.  The winner will be chosen randomly and announced on Sunday morning.  In the meantime, here is a list of the other stops on the blog tour:

May 3   Craft

May 4   Indie Fixx

May 5   Sew Mama Sew

May 6   Pink Chalk Studio

May 10    Wise Craft

May 14    House on Hill Road

May 16    The Purl Bee

May 18    All Buttoned Up

May 19    Alabama Chanin Journal

May 20    Homemade by Jill

May 21    True Up

May 22    Oh, Fransson!

May 23    Prudent Baby

May 24    Sew Liberated

May 25    Handmade by Alissa

May 26    Hazelnuts

May 27    Petite Purls

You can also check here for a chance to win a Singer sewing machine, 5 yards of Anna Maria's fabulous fabric and a signed copy of the book.  

Giveaway Day Update

 
Thank you (all 1,596 of you!) for entering the giveaway.  I obviously have a lot of comments to read through and consider, and am planning to announce one winner on Sunday and the other on Monday.

I have some other fun stuff planned for the weekend though, so stay tuned!