Answering questions about A Few of My Favourite Things and folding a quilt for storage

Today I thought I would take the opportunity to respond to some of the questions and comments about yesterday's reveal of my quilt These are a Few of My Favourite Things.

Carolyn asked about the making of bowties. They were pieced and although they were made of fussy little pieces they were not challenging. The centre knot measures just under 1/2" so it was fiddly.  And then of course there were the triangles on the outside edge of the bowties. Setting them all together was a little challenging.

Doesn't the embroidered dog remind you of the RCA dog?

If I were to make this quilt again I would simplify the making of the bowties. I would draft a pattern for the bowties and English paper piece them. Next I would give them a good pressing with a hot iron and spray starch. The basting threads and papers would be removed and the bowties appliqued in place either by hand or by machine.

Carolyn also asked about the piecing of the border. The difficulty was that the instructions provided almost no instructions. on assembling the border. Added to this is the fact that the pattern was metric and although there were a few measurements given in inches. While the larger measurements were accurate the smaller measurements were less so. A difference of 1/8" multiplied across the width or length can make a significant difference so I drafted my own pattern for the border.

Once I had the pattern drafted I cut my fabric making sure to measure twice and cut once!  I cut the smaller white and blue patches for the pieced parts of the border. Then I cut the long white strip for the middle of this "lantern" border. On the wrong side of the white strip I made little pencil marks on either side of the strip where the pieced strips should line up. I pinned the strips together lining up the pencil mark with the pieced strip. In doing so I was able to make sure that the top and bottom of the lanterns line up.

Kath wrote about storing quilts. A friend of hers stores finished quilts on a spare bed to keep them flat and smooth. If you have a spare bed this is a terrific way to store them. Unfortunately I don't have a spare bed so my quilts must be folded for storage. A quilt that is folded can stretch the fibres and so the crease can become permanent. What I do to minimize this problem is fold the quilt on the bias. Here, let me do a quick demo on folding a quilt with a miniature quilt!

I lay the quilt flat on a bed.

Fold one corner over towards the opposite corner making sure to line up the sides.

Fold in one corner towards the middle making sure to line up the top edge.

Fold in the opposite corner towards the middle again making sure to line up the edges.

This is a very small quilt so there isn't much room for folding however on a larger quilt you will be able to fold in again.

Finally fold the quit to the desired size. All of the folds are on the diagonal which means the folds are on the bias of the fabric.

Although this will minimize damage to the fibres it is still a good idea to periodically refold quilts.

It is cold here and it snowed last night! At least the snow didn't last but it won't be too long before we have to get out there with a shovel! Brrr!

Until I post again, happy sewing!

A Few of My Favourite Things (the reveal) and a new Block of the Month pattern

I was able to get outside and photograph These are A Few of My Favourite Things. Let's start with the border. It was a challenge. The instructions for the entire quilt fit on a single page!

For the border they read "Join each row in the border" and then "when each block has been sewn, sew and join the whole". That was it! There was a diagram of the entire quilt on the page but it wasn't a lot of help.

These are the instructions for the corner. Not a lot to work with!

I spent many hours with a pencil, eraser and graph paper working out the border to make sure that it fit perfectly! And here it is.

Here you can see the corner resolution.

And now the reveal....These are A Few of My Favourite Things! It was entirely hand quilted. There are some creases in the quilt because it has been folded for many years. I'm going to give it a light pressing and then refold it on the diagonal.

It is time for the Block of the Month pattern. Each month I select a piece of Canadian art and reinterpret it as a quilt block. This month I selected a painting by Edward Malcott Richardson. Richardson was English and while I normally select a Canadian artist, Richardson painted watercolours of people and places he saw in British Columbia. As a young man he succumbed to the allure of the Cariboo Gold Rush of the early 1860s. Did he make his fortune? You'll have to read his bio in the pattern to find out! Richardson was a watercolourist. His painting Indians at Williams Lake is the painting that inspired the block.

The block is based on a half square triangle. You will find the pattern and the artist's bio here.

There are all sorts of design possibilities for this one! Here are three of my favourites.

Last month's pattern was also based on half square triangles. In case you missed it here is a picture of the blocks. I would alternate them with an old fashioned bubble gum pink or a soft blue as in the picture below. You will find the pattern along with a picture of the painting that inspired the block and the artist's bio here.

I'm off for a day of sewing with Mom! Until I blog again, happy sewing!

Half square triangle workshop and my last four favourite things

Yesterday I took a Half Square Triangle (HST) workshop with Jeanne Simpson. Jeanne is a great workshop leader. She was generous and encouraging. She explained several different methods of making HSTs and then let us loose to make them to our heart's content using the methods we preferred.

I'm sure that like me you've all made HSTs in many different ways. Nonetheless I was confident that I would learn something new in Jeanne's workshop and I wasn't disappointed. I learned an easy method for making these interesting little units!

My portable design wall is two strips of diaper flannel that I stitch together. I taped it to the wall in the classroom. Another friend used a flannel backed plastic table cloth. The diaper flannel and the back of the tablecloth are white. A tip Jeanne shared is "don't use a white design wall."  White creates such a strong contrast so you don't get an accurate read of colour. Westminster Fabrics has a flannel fabric that is marked off in a 2" grid - perfect for a design wall! I just might get some for myself! This is what it looks like. I found it at Stitch-N-Frame for under $12/yard.

Many of the workshop participants opted for a more traditional block designs and they were lovely. I wanted to try something a little more "free-wheeling". This is the arrangement I am working with. I pinned everything to the flannel to keep things in place until I got home.

The little orange pops are not stitched in place but I think I will add them. They add some sparkle to the piece. I will need to add one more because I like things in odd numbers (e.g., 1, 3, 5, 7 and so on) because it adds visual interest. I'm not sure where I will go with this piece, quilt or wall hanging, but it is a start.

So today I share the last four pictures of my quilt A Few of My Favourite Things. It is wet and grey outside so I can't get out to take a picture of the quilt. Fingers crossed tomorrow will be better!

This block that makes me think of my Mom. She went to school in a one room school house but it wasn't as luxurious as this one! I had to angle the embroidery to get it to fit inside the bowtie frame.

My Mom has grown tiger lilies in her garden for as long as I can remember. I love their spotted little faces!

I made this quilt in 1997. Now some 16 years later I love looking at this year block because it give the quilt a sense of place and time. A label will do that too but I think this block is more impactful because it is on the front of the quilt.

Also if the fabric with the year and the square in the upper right hand corner appear lighter, they are. I ran out of muslin so had to look for another. At the time I wasn't too happy that they were different but now I like it because it adds to the scrappiness of the quilt. Now I often plan to run out of fabric when I make a quilt so I am forced to find a substitute.

And finally the last block, one more old timey flower. I'm not sure if these are bachelor buttons or carnations but both are old fashioned flowers!

Tomorrow I'll show you the interesting border and if the weather permits I'll get outside to photograph the entire quilt!

I leave you with a little autumn treat! We have several big patches of autumn crocuses blooming in the garden. What a lovely mid-November treat!

Until I blog again, happy sewing!

Useful Patchwork Gifts, A Few of My Favourite Things and Love Entwined

I located the book that has the pattern for the quilt I call A Few of My Favourite Things. The book is Useful Patchwork Gifts and the name of the quilt in the book is My Room (Girl's Room).

The book was written by Chuck Nohara and it was published in 1993. There are a few quilts featured in the book.  I liked this scrap quilt which is described as a tablecloth with matching cushions!

 

I actually made this quilt as a baby gift for my friend's first child.

 

The quilt is consists of blocks that alternate large appliquéd numbers alternated with weird birds. Perhaps one day she will loan me the quilt so that I can take some pictures!

For those of you who love zakka style there are a some lovely little items that would delight you! Isn't this teapot cover cute?

I love hexagons so this basket is very tempting!

And now for the next four blocks in A Few of My Favourite Things! I have yet to photograph the entire quilt so fingers crossed that the weather cooperates so that I can get out and take a few pictures.

Progress continues on my LE quilt. The zigzag border is almost complete. I just have to make the corner units and then it will be ready to be stitched down. This panel measures 31.5". The zigzags are English paper pieced. My plan at this point is to pin the border down with tiny appliqué pins. I'll then stitch down the outside edge all the way around. Then I'll stitch down the inside edge however before doing so I will remove the basting thread and the papers.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Love Entwined it is a quilt pattern that has been drafted by Esther Aliu. The original was made in 1790! Esther is providing her pattern free of charge. The first section was released in June 2013 and each month another section of the pattern is released. Esther has set up a Yahoo group that you can join if you are interested in making this quilt. You can read about it here.

There'll be no post tomorrow because I am taking a half square triangle workshop with Jeanne Simpson. I've made zillions of half square triangles over the years but find that I always learn something new so I'm looking forward to tomorrow. And it is always fund to spend time with other quilters! So until I post again, happy sewing!

Why is there a grasshopper in Lazy Punk and four more of my favourite things

You may remember that in April 2013 I wrote about the importance of labelling a quilt. I suggested that you consider quilting your initials to help identify your quilt in the event it is stolen.

Your initials will just disappear in the quilting and no one but you will know!

Another option I wrote about in May 2013 is to add a little "secret" in the quilt. I quilted Barbara's quilt Pink Peonies and snuck a little grasshopper in the border! Can you see him? He is near the large pink peony near the mitred corner.

 

 

And here he is! He looks like he belongs there and he is a little identifying feature.

 



 

This little grasshopper is becoming a bit of a signature for me; I've snuck grasshoppers into other quilts. I decided that I should hide a little grasshopper in Lazy Punk! Here it is; it has been washed and then tossed in the dryer to give it that crinkly quilt look. And the grasshopper is appliquéd in place! Can you see him?

Lazy Punk, 2013

Here he is!

Lazy Punk is now ready for delivery! We've had our first snowfall so it will be a warm and welcome gift I'm sure!

Next I'll show you the next four blocks from A Few of My Favourite Things. These little chicks are so cute!

 

I love this lucky horseshoe but I think the pattern should have been designed so that the horseshoe is facing the other way to keep the luck from running out.

 

 

Doesn't this little fellow look like the RCA dog with the caption "His Master's Voice"? I sure think so!

 

Until I post again, happy sewing!