Seashore Splendor Block 9 - Snail's Trail

Hi - yes, it's time for another installment in the Seashore Splendor saga!  I'll be giving you all a bit of a workout this time around - we will be making three 12 1/2 blocks and four 6 1/2 inch filler units.  You'll see when you do the cutting, that there is a good reason for this as it makes the best use of fabric, plus it's going to add a great motion to our finished quilt!  Actually, this block goes faster than you imagine, and it pushes our progress on this project along nicely.

You need four fabrics for this set of blocks - light, medium and dark sea and sky.  You will need nearly a fat quarter size of each one, I had to go back to my stash and replace my light sea fabric because it wasn't enough to cut all the pieces I needed for the blocks.

The cutting goes quickly, after you get the fabrics all cut to the needed sizes, divide them into four sets of four color.

I recommend making all your blocks at one time, chain piecing as you go.

You start with a four patch - take care to arrange them in the proper order!  Then we start adding triangle units, starting with the smallest.  It doesn't matter what order you sew them in, but make sure you sew them in the right orientation - for me it helps to remember to sew the triangle that matches the color on the top right of the square for the first round.  Then turn the block and keep adding triangles until you get the first round done.

Then trim up those dog ears and you are ready for the next round of triangles. 

Make sure you center the triangles as you add them.  For this round you are sewing bias edges, so don't pull and stretch too much as you sew.  When you finish the second round of triangles, pull one of the blocks out for a filler block.  Continue adding the next set of triangles  to the remaining three blocks.

Sew the four triangles leftover together to make a quarter square triangle block - the second filler block.

And now we just have one more round of triangles to add to our blocks and they will be finished!

Sew the leftover four triangles into pairs:

And admire your finished blocks!

Here is the whole set on the design wall!

If you want to, you can get a start on assembling the pieces and sew the quarter square triangle and half square triangle to the left side of a Snail's Trail block.

Here is the progress so far:

Aren't those Snail's Trail blocks fabulous?  They look like waves, I think!  I am getting more excited with every installment seeing how this is coming together.  There are some really fun blocks ahead, too - I can hardly wait!

Download the pattern by clicking the link below:

Download Pattern Here

Come back in two weeks for the next block!  Sign up for my newsletter and don't miss any!

Daisy Chain Mystery - finally finished!

I have totally fallen off course and gotten behind in all the quilt alongs and mysteries I've been participating in, and I feel really bad about it!  Today I decided to take an afternoon off and see how far I could get in the Daisy Chain Mystery.  I had completed the first two clues - both were four-patches.  The next step (unit C) was something different - ribbon units!  I cut and sewed up all the triangles and finished 20 units in a short time.  Yes, I am using Island Batik fabrics leftover from previous projects.

So it was on to Unit D - border chunks.  They were super fast and easy to make, and I got to use some of those bright fabrics I chose.  I've been avoiding all reveals of the top, so I still didn't know what the finished quilt was going to look like, but I knew we were getting close because we've used most of the pieces that were assigned at this point!

At this point, I am up to the May reveals...so getting caught up for sure!  This clue was assembling blocks!  Exciting and fun - ribbon units, four patches and plain squares all went together to make 5 pretty chain blocks:

May 20 was the final unit and top reveal!  So onwards I went - the final block used the border chunks and four patches.  Whoops.  I ended up with two greens right next to each other...

It's not really that bad, but since there were only four of the four patch units I decided to remake them and put blue so it would be next to the green instead.

Much better!  Now to sew all the blocks together into a top!  Only 9 blocks, so it wouldn't have taken long except that my machine decided to have a problem.  A piece of thread wrapped around the little flap on the bobbin and bent my needle out of shape and got something out of whack.  I had to clean lint out from under the needle plate, and work on the bobbin for a bit, but eventually I got everything in line and was able to finish up the top!  So cute!

Go check out Alison's reveal post to see her baby version and check out the other finished tops!  You actually could easily make this baby size quilt over the weekend if you want - the link up and quilt parade starts next week, and there are giveaways!!!

I'm really happy I was able to get caught up and now I'm super excited to quilt this because it's so pretty.  I think I'll use my leftover strips to make a rainbow binding.

Linking up with Denise for Put Your Foot Down - I had my petal to the metal today, and it was well worth it!

CityScape quilt in Island Batik - Make it Modern with Hobbs challenge!

This month's Island Batik ambassador challenge was to make a modern quilt larger than crib size and to feature Hobbs batting.  I must admit that I have spent the entire month of May wrestling with this challenge!  The batting part was easy - we were supplied with an abundance of different Hobb's batting types, but since I wanted to try out the Silk Blend batting from the Tuscany Collection I really wanted my quilt to be be worthy of this special fiber! I've been mulling over a variety of ideas, but none of them were just right.  Finally inspiration struck and I ran with it!

And I am very pleased with my project for sure!  I decided to make a baby size quilt (38 x 48) using my CityScape pattern  and the bundle of foundation fabrics from my Ambassador box.  I've been thinking for a while that I really need a new cover quilt, and this will be perfect.  The bold colors in the fabric are perfect for a modern quilt!

Aren't the purples and greens lovely?  This is a great combination of values and textures, so I knew it would make a great quilt.  I chose a light colored basic from my stash for the sashing, and a scrap of a pretty purple for the cornerstones and was ready to get cutting.

It didn't take long to get all the blocks sewn together and before I knew it the top was finished and was time to decide on thread.

I didn't have any green, but did come with some light and dark purple in my Aurifil stash!  The grey spool is 28 weight.  I thought it would be great for some straight line quilting with my walking foot.  Since I only had the small spool I decided to use the lighter color on the back - it looks great on the Almond Basic from Island Batik that I used on the back!

I was a bit surprised when I unwrapped the batting.  I really thought that the silk blend would be more slippery, but it was not at all slippery - in fact it felt very much like a regular cotton batting!  It was very nice to lay out, very stable and nicely firm.  The wrinkles from being in the package smoothed out easily and it was easy to pin through for the basting.  It clings nicely to the fabric and I noticed no fiber migration to the top of the quilt at all.

I started out by quilting stitch in the ditch beside all the sashings.  Then I just started quilting straight lines randomly through the blocks.  Every once in a while I would spread the quilt out and say, is that enough quilting?  Three times the quilt said, no - I need more!  The batting has a nice low loft to it, and isn't stiff at all, so it's very nice for using at a sit down machine like I have.  It didn't make the quilt feel bulky at all!

Finally, it was done and ready to add the binding.  I used the same light color for the binding as I did for the sashings.  I don't usually like light colored bindings, but this looks really nice on my quilt!

I was excited to use my new photography lighting to take pictures - wow, what a difference, especially on a gloomy day!

The colors really come through without having to do a lot of editing!  I was pleasantly surprised at how much better my pictures were with the improved lighting, definitely worth it.

I really love how my quilt came out, even though I did get one block in upside down.  I definitely enjoyed trying out the silk blend batting from Hobbs.  I am planning on making a few samples from the leftover batting to see how it washes.  This batting shouldn't be dried in a machine, so you probably wouldn't want to use it for a project that will need frequent washing, but it really is nice to work with!

My CityScape pattern is available here in my Etsy shop.

As always - a big thanks to Island Batik, Hobbs Batting and Aurifil thread for providing me the materials needed for this project!

Don't forget to visit the rest of the Island Batik Ambassadors blogs to see what they have made - some really fabulous projects have come out of this challenge!

Carolina Asmussen ~Carolina Asmussen

Gene Black ~ Gene Black

Pamela Boatright ~ PamelaQuilts (Me!)

Connie K Campbell ~ Freemotion by the River

Anja Clyke ~ Anja Quilts

Tina Dillard ~ Quilting Affection Designs

Becca Fenstermaker ~Pretty Piney

Jennifer Fulton ~ Inquiring Quilter

Barbara Gaddy ~ Bejeweled Quilts by Barb

Dione Gardner-Stephen ~ Clever Chameleon

Sarah Goer ~ Sarah Goer Quilts

Vasudha Govindan ~ Storied Quilts

Lori Haase ~ Dakota City Quilter II

Joanne Hart ~ Unicornharts

Mania (Magdalini) Hatziioannidi ~ Mania for Quilts

Carla Henton ~ Creatin’ in the Sticks

Stephanie Jacobson ~ Steph Jacobson Designs

Connie Kauffman ~ Kauffman Designs

Joan Kawano ~ Moosestash Quilting

Kim Lapacek ~ Persimon Dreams

Emily Leachman ~ The Darling Dogwood

Leanne Parsons ~ Devoted Quilter

Bea Lee ~ BeaQuilter

Toby Lischko ~ Gateway Quilts & Stuff

Bill Locke ~ Studio Bill Locke

Denise Looney ~ For the Love of Geese

Leah Malasky ~ Quilted Delights

Sally Manke ~ Sally Manke

Maryellen McAuliffe ~ Mary Mack's Blog

Kathleen McCormick ~ Kathleen McMusing

Carol Moellers ~ Carol Moellers Designs

Karen Neary ~ Sew Karen-ly Created

Lisa Nielsen ~ Lisa Lisa and the Quilt Jam

Jackie O’Brien ~ If These Threads Could Talk

Laura Piland ~ Slice of Pi Quilts

Michelle Roberts ~ Creative Blonde

Vicki Schlimmer ~ Vicki's Crafts and Quilting

Gail Sheppard ~ Quilting Gail

Sherry Shish ~ Powered by Quilting

Anita Skjellanger ~ Quilt in a not-Shell

Laticia "Tish" Stemple ~ Tish's Adventures in Wonderland

Jennifer Strauser ~ Dizzy Quilter

Jennifer Thomas ~ Curlicue Creations

Terri Vanden Bosch ~ Lizard Creek Quilts

Alison Vermilya ~ Little Bunny Quilts

Sandra Walker ~ mmm! quilts

Suzy Webster ~ Adventurous Applique and Quilting

(Debora) Anne Wiens ~ Seams like a Plan

Geraldine Wilkins ~ Living Water Quilter

Janet Yamamoto ~ Whispers of Yore

Happy reading (and quilting!)

Seashore Splendor Block 8 - Tugboat

Ahoy there, are you ready for another Seashore Splendor block?  I though this one was a fun one - it reminds me of the Tugboats we see out in the bay. 

It's really fun to see these sturdy little ships pulling the giant lumber boats in and out of the harbor - and they do a great job. 

This block is a pretty simple one, the one tricky part of the block is easy to sew using three templates, which are included with the pattern.  When you print your templates, make sure the box is checked for printing the page at full size.  There is a box on the page that should measure 1 inch square.

Double check with your ruler to make sure it is exactly one inch and you are set!

Cut out the three templates on the dotted line.  If I were making several blocks, I would use template plastic, but since we are only using each of these once it's fine to use the paper.  The pieces are 3 1/2 inches tall if you want to precut strips and just use the templates for the angled cuts.

I used a 3 1/2 x 10 1/2 rectangle for the black body and it was the perfect size. 

I just line my ruler up with the template and cut away the extra on each side.  You can do the same with the sky sections for this block, but do make sure to have your fabric right side up so that your angles are facing the right direction!

Make sure you  center your notches when you add the angled sky sections to your boat - you should have a nice straight piece when you are done and your finished section should measure 3 1/2 by 12 1/2 when it's finished. 

The roof is easy to make as well using a sew and flip technique.  I didn't plan it, but that bird ended up in just the right spot!

I like to lay out all of pieces before I start sewing.  At this point it's all adding straight seams, one by one until it's all put together.

The top part of the boat is done - just a few seams left to go!

The finished block - 12 1/2 inches square.  The helpful tugboat is ready to guide the ships in and out of the harbor.  Here's our progress on Seashore Splendor as of today:

Looks like it's starting to fill in nicely!  Click the picture below to download your instructions and templates.  Thanks for quilting along with me - I hope you are having as much fun with this as I am!  And thank you for the kind words and support, it makes it all worthwhile!

Download Tugboat block here!

Sweet Lavender panel with Butterflies

This weekend I worked on a sample using two of these Sweet Lavender panels:

Using a single panel is pretty easy, just add borders.  It's a little harder to figure out how to use two panels in one quilt!  After looking at the panel for a while, trying to figure out what kind of pieced block I could pair it with I decided that a butterfly block would look really good with this.  I played with some different ideas in EQ8 and finally came up with a block that I thought would be easy enough to make and look good with the quilt.

This block uses two half square triangles and two diamond in a square units with a missing corner.  Easy to piece - check!

I chose a light and dark purple, plus a light green that went well with the colors in the panel and got to work making my blocks.  I decided to do 8 inch blocks and set four of them together, adding a narrow sashing of the black sprigs to frame them.  Look good with the panel - check!

Then I added a coping border of the light print with text to make two block units the same size as the panels.

Then I added a final border of the black.  I think it's perfect!  I'm going to do a quick overall quilting in loops and butterflies, and call it done.  This will be a lovely sample to sell the butterfly panels at Threads That Bind.  We will get the kits made up this week, as soon as I've written up the instructions for the piecing.  I enjoyed working on this fast and easy project this weekend - it's really fun to be able to go from idea to finished project in such a short time!  Now I can clear my design wall for the next project - what shall it be?  Shams for the Brothers and Sisters quilt I worked on last month.  And a modern quilt for this month's Island Batik Ambassador project.  Can't wait to get stitching!

Linking up with:
Monday Making
Main Crush Monday
Monday Design Wall