Row 5 of the Hometown Nostalgia Row Quilt

 The last month has sure sped by!  I was hoping for more sewing time, but it did not materialize.  I am thankful that I got my blocks for last month done early!  I have been enjoying them on my design wall.

Now it's time for a new block!  Block 5 is Flying X.  I decided to use yellow for this row - I love the sunny look!

This is a nice easy block, two sets of four half square triangles and two sets of squares.  If you are making your blocks with the same fabric you will need 3/8 yard of background, 1/8 yard of medium and 1/4 yard each of dark and light fabrics.

My light isn't much different from my background, but it still looks good.  The first step is to sew the half square triangle units:

These will need the dog ears trimmed off, and make sure they measure 2 inches.  

To sew the pinwheel for the center, use the light/dark triangle sets.  Lay them out like this and sew the top and bottom pairs together.

Press the seams toward the light triangle.  Sew the pairs together.

At this point you will want to gently pick out the threads in the seam allowance at the point so that you can split them and open out in order to spin the center seam allowance.  I don't use this technique very often, but it allows you to press all these seam allowances toward the light triangles which makes the seams nest nicely when you assemble the block!

Plus it makes the center nice and flat!

Next you will sew all the dark/background half square triangles to the background squares:

Now you can lay out the block and sew it together.

Looks like sunshine to me!  It's going to be fun to dive into my yellow scraps and see how many combinations I can come up with.  

The instructions for the Flying Block are available to download now!  Time to get sewing!

Download Row 5

Row 4 of the Hometown Nostalgia Row Quilt

 This month has been a little short on quilting and long on home improvement projects!  Nevertheless, it is time for the next row in the Hometown Nostalgia Row Quilt!  This row is a fun little block called Linoleum.  Weird name, I'll have to see if I can find out the history behind it!

For this row I chose purple!  It's a nice spring color, and I have plenty of purple scraps for sure.  I've been  enjoying going through all of my fabric and organizing it!  I've been using pieces left from my 10 years as an Island Batik Ambassador.  So many pretty choices!

After sorting through fabric and making piles of light, dark and medium I chose these for my sample block.  You will need background, light, medium and dark for this row.

I decided to fussy cut my light fabric.  I had the perfect 2 1/2 inch square ruler to use for this!

Pieces are cut for my block.  You will need a 11 x 1 1/2 strip and eight 1 1/2 squares of background fabric, 11 x 1 1/2 of dark, four 2 1/2 inch squares of medium and one 2 1/2 square of light for the center. Start by sewing your background and dark strips together on the long side.  Press seam toward the dark and sub-cut into four 2 1/2 inch squares. (I didn't get any pictures of this step!)

Next, sew a 1 1/2 inch background square to opposite corners diagonally of the 2 1/2 inch medium squares. Personally, I am pretty accurate with this size of squares and don't need to draw a line, but please do so if you need to for accuracy!

I usually chain stitch the first side, then do the second side to speed up the process.

Then it's time to trim 1/4 inch from your stitching line and press out toward the corner.

That's it for all the units!  Now you can arrange them all in the correct positions and sew them together.

And now you can see what the block looks like finished!  You can download the pattern for this month's block now and get started on this month's row!  Row 5 will be available on May 15.  

I accidentally uploaded the wrong file, so if you did not get the instructions, try again - I have corrected the issue and uploaded the correct one.  My apologies!!!

Download Row 4 Pattern

All Buttoned Up - Project Quilting Final Challenge

 Button, button, who has got the button?  Is there a seamstress among us who hasn't got a tin or jar full of random buttons, ready to be used for any purpose?  I surely do have plenty of buttons, so I was ready for this challenge!  Now, the question is what shall I make that includes a button?

I chose to make a coffee cozy for work.  We often go down to the coffee shop at the end of the block by the quilt shop and every time I say that I should make a nice cozy, but do I ever remember at home?  No.

I have a little decorative jar of green and white buttons, so I checked that one out first and found the perfect buttons for my project.  The ones I chose have a curved bottom with a bit of a shank built in, perfect for my elastic to sit under yet not be too bulky!

I changed from the 1/4 inch elastic to a 1/8 inch.  This goes between the top and bottom layers of fabric.

The next step is to sew the buttons onto the front of the cozy.  I measured where I wanted the buttons to be first so it would fit well.

And voila, a finished cup cozy!  I'll pop this in my purse to have next time I visit the coffee shop and be able to hold my cup more comfortably!

Linking up for the final challenge!