Take a Quilting Class

If you quilt, you should take a class once in a while.  That's what I did today, and I feel energized and excited about all the things I learned in the process!  Our teacher was Karla Alexander (Saginaw Street Quilts)  and she was so kind, gracious and knowledgeable.  She shared a ton of great tips and ideas.  The quilt I worked on was Savanna.  It is made using the Curves for Squares ruler that I am going to put to good use on some more projects - in fact I am going to make my Project Quilting entry tomorrow with it.

I finished most of my blocks today and have them up on my design board right now, they are so pretty!

It was such fun to spend a day sewing, chatting and being with fellow quilters.  I definitely need to make sure I take time to do more things like this, it was a wonderful use of my time.  If you get a chance to take a class with Karla, I definitely recommend her as a teacher!

Linking up for Finished or Not Friday on Busy Hands Quilts - don't know when this one will actually get finished, but I hope soon!

Snow Day!

We woke up this morning to a true winter wonderland:

It will likely be gone before evening, so we are enjoying the views while we can!  The house is cold, but I want all the curtains wide open so I can enjoy the beauty of the snow frosting every surface.

 Looking toward my neighbor on the east.

 Our backyard!

 My sewing room window.

You can see beautiful crystals.  We rarely get snow here on the Oregon coast, though I grew up with it in Colorado.  I like it for a day or two, that's enough for me!

Quilter's Recipe Box - Month One!

I'm so excited to debut my Quilter's Recipe Box block of the month - I hope you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed working on it!   Here is this month's block - Friendship Star:

Here is my introduction:

Welcome to the Quilter’s Recipe Box!  I was inspired to start this Block of the Month program by a friend that commented to me that quilt patterns are like recipes.  I started thinking about this and it just kind of grew into this collection of 12 different units that, when combined in different ways, make so many traditional quilt blocks!  Once you know how to make these basic units, you can literally combine them in hundreds of ways to make different blocks.

I am going to be keeping the instructions simple and in most cases, will present the traditional method of sewing these blocks.  I will be exploring each unit in depth on my blog and you are welcome to join me there to learn more and for my local friends, plan on doing a live demo at Threads That Bind on the second Saturday of the month.  (Maybe I’ll get brave and try a live video as well…we’ll see!) 

Like any other recipe, I invite you to add your own personal touch!  That’s what cooking (and quilting) is about – you start with the basics and go from there.   I encourage you to work on accuracy in your cutting and sewing to get the best results.  I’ll be passing along tips as we go through the months to help you with this, as well as products to help make it easier.   As with cooking, the more you do the better you will get!

I will be making a set of 12 different recipe cards, one for each month.  Each card will feature a new unit and one quilt block made using that unit.  Through the month, I will also show 3 additional blocks you can make using the same unit – the bonus blocks will not be in print form, but I will be sharing them through my blog as well as on other social media venues, including Threads That Bind’s facebook page.  If you would like to make a larger quilt, I’ve added an estimation of the amount needed.   You can also go scrappy for the blocks and just add a coordinating border and sashing to pull it all together!

Fabric needed:

·         1 yard focus fabric – pick a small to medium size print with colors that make you happy!  (3 for large quilt)

·         1 yard background – white or off white work well, but something that will contrast with your focus fabric.  (4 for large quilt)

·         1 yard sashing – chose a fabric that coordinates well with your focus fabric.   You can wait until you have made your blocks to choose this if you like, as it will be a frame for them.  (2 ½ for large quilt)

·         A quarter yard of 3 or 4 fabrics that coordinate with your focus print.  It can be a fat quarter or a regular quarter.  I used 3 fabrics in my sample. (1 yard each for large quilt or lots of fat quarters for a scrappy quilt!)

Every monday I will share another block with the current month's unit if you want to make the larger quilt.  As we go on you will see how you can mix and match the units to create many different blocks.  I will also share various tips throughout each month on sewing the featured unit.  So this month we will be exploring the half square triangle!

The friendship star is a quick and easy block to make.

 You will need four triangles - so two squares (3 7/8), cut in half diagonally of one fabric (color 1) and the same of the background.

Then cut four squares (3 1/2) of the background and one of  your feature fabric (or any other fabric if you are going scrappy).

Sew all of your triangles together with an accurate 1/4 inch seam.

Measure to be sure, then adjust your needle position, or use a seam guide to help you get that perfect seam.

Press your seam toward the darker fabric and measure your block - once you get your seam allowance down, you can just trim your corners off and be good to go, which makes sewing triangles super fast!

Lay out your block to sew it together, I like to sew in rows, keeping them chained together.

Sew the first three pairs.

Then add the final piece to complete the rows.

Sew the rows together, taking care to sew right at the point of the triangles.

For this block it's easy to press the seams away from the points of the triangles to reduce bulk.  I like to press from the back first, then turn the block over, use some Best Press and make sure all the seams are fully opened up.

So there you have it!  The first block for the Quilter's Recipe Box.  You can purchase the Recipe Card and Introduction below.  

Complete set of Quilter's Recipe box cards here!

Here is what the complete quilt will look like - lots of great blocks ahead!  You won't get to see the large version because I am making it as we go, that way I can join in on the fun as well.  Let's get sewing!