You Can Teach an Old Quilter New Tricks

So I quilted my 36 patch quilt this week. I was so happy to get it finished. It's been a long time since I finished a quilt for me. I used many of my all time favorite fabrics, and a few new favorites as well.

 You will see Lizzie House, Elizabeth Hartman, Laurie Wisbrun, Heather Ross and many more.

 Some of these fabrics are ten or more years old. Some were the final scraps, but some were larger yardage. It only takes 2 WOF  x 2 1/2 inch strips to make enough for the block.

 I used to have Dear Stella Confetti Dots in every color they made. Now they are all gone almost.

So I started quilting diagonal lines over each square. I love the way it looks, and as I know this quilt will get lots of use, this should be enough quilting to hold it together.

So now, about the new trick? It is in reference to the binding. I have been making quilts for 30 years. I learned pretty early on why double fold was better than single fold. I figured out my best way to get a mitered corner.

I learned to use my walking foot to attach the binding. The one thing I had trouble with was joining the two ends of the binding on the quilt. I couldn't wrap my head around it, so I just tucked one end inside the other and it left a small, but mostly unnoticeable gap. I did my quilts that way for years.

Then, I saw a tutorial by Amy Ellis showing how to join the two ends on the bias and make a smooth transition. You can't tell where the end is, as it just looks like all the other places you joined the binding strips. This is, for me a game changer. I have bound 3 quilts like this so far. Maybe it was seeing it done on a video. Whatever the reason, I now have a new trick in my repertoire.

I had planned to show a picture of the entire quilt, front and back at the end of the post, but I apparently cut off the bottom row of blocks. I am sorry and I will take a new picture and share it next time. Until then, Happy Quilting and enjoy your weekend.

My New 36 Patch

So, I believe I mentioned awhile back that I was going to make a new 36 patch quilt. I made one a number of years ago as a sew along with Amanda Jean of Crazy Mom Quilts. It has always been a big favorite of mine. I have long wanted to make another one. This time, I am using a bunch of my favorite fabrics by some of my most favorite designers. Here is my progress report:

 These are a couple of prints from Laurie Wisbrun. The way I assemble the block, some end up upside down, but no big deal to me.

      These are a couple of Lizzy House prints.

   These are some very sweet Heather Ross butterflies in two different color ways.

     These are two more Lizzy House prints.

 These are a couple of Sweetwater prints from my most favorite of all time Sunkissed. I know there isn't as much contrast in these two, but I love them all the same.

This is a Heather Ross print, paired with a Dear Stella Mini Confetti Dots. I used to have that dot fabric in almost every color way. I am sad it's gone.

 This is two Denyse Schmidt prints from Flea Market Fancy reprint. A bit hard on the eyes, but kinda cool.

 Two more prints from the Sweetwater Sunkissed line. I have a few more from this line to include.

 And two more prints from the Flea Market Fancy reprint. This is the last of the grey seeds that I have and I just had to include them here.

Here are two prints from Sandi Henderson. The green is from Meadowsweet collection and the red is called Henna Garden, a classic.

I am doing this quilt, not only because I love the first one, but to sort of immortalize all my favorite fabrics that I have either been hoarding or am almost out of by now. A nice way of keeping just a bit of each one.

If you want to do something like this, it only takes two 2 1/2 inch x WOF strips of two fabrics to make a block. You sew the two strips together with a 1/4 inch seam and press it. I like to press it open. Then, you cut these into 2 1/2 inch units and sew them together until you have the 36 patch block. You will have some extra pieces to use either on the back or in another project.

Once there are 36 of these blocks made, I will join them all together to make my quilt top. If you want more detailed instructions you can search Crazy Mom Quilts. I know her blog isn't active any longer, but all her tutorials are still up there.

Today I am hoping to finish the last side of the binding on my 100 blocks quilt so I can wash it and have it to show you, maybe tomorrow?
Have a lovely Friday.

A Friday Finish...My Cat Weave Quilt

I am happy to say that I found the energy to get this cute little quilt finished over the last two weeks.

 The day was sunny so I went out in the yard and I found my little patch of Crocus was in bloom.

 There is nothing that says spring to me like the first crocus. We live down in a bit of a hollow, so the daffodils are not blooming down here yet. They are next.

 I love the way the weaving of the strips looks on this quilt. It is all Lizzy House Catnap fabrics. I adore Lizzy House fabrics. The white is Kona white.

 The quilting is stitched in the ditch for the woven strips and then hubby had the idea for the swirls in the white squares for contrast and interest.

 I used the rest of the half yard pieces for the backing. This quilt finished at about 49 inches square. The binding is also leftover strips from the weave. I went with the red and brown to frame it up.

 Some of the cutest fabric ever. I love this big print. I love the back of the quilt as much as the front.

I hope you have a great Friday the 13th and a wonderful weekend. Linking up to TGIFF at Quilt Matters.  
Also linking up to Confessions of a Fabric Addict.
This is one of my Quarter 1 finishes from this list. Linking up with Adrienne at On the Windy Side for the 2015 FAL.

WIP Wednesday

Maybe I should call this post WIPs Wednesday. I never have just one in progress. So many things to sew, so little time. Here's what I have going on:

 I don't have a shot of it on the machine, but I am quilting this one for my great niece, V. It is made from a jelly roll of Hello, Petal by Aneela Hoey. She is a girly girl and so is this cute fabric. Can't wait to show you the quilting on it. Maybe next week. It is a lot of quilting.

 I am piecing this cute woven quilt design from my wonderful Lizzy House Catnap fabric. I have had the fabric for almost a year, searching for the proper showcase pattern. This is my own design.

And lastly, I had to just trow these up on the design wall. These are my bee blocks from round 3 of the Sunday Morning Quilts Bee. I asked my bee mates for scrappy X and plus blocks in the spirit of the Sunday Morning Quilts book and so far, this is what I have. Still waiting on a few more before I finalize the placement. Hope your mid-week is going great. Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced.

My Newest Quilt in Progress

I am calling this quilt Cat Weave.  I have seen other woven quilt patterns around, but this one is my own. I have long been wanting to use my Lizzy House Catnap fabrics, but I wanted to do this in a way that really shows off the fabrics. Finally, the idea came to me and I started. Here is a brief tutorial.

 I cut 2 1/2 inch squares in white and the four fabrics I wanted to be the "weave". I went through and joined them together. Chain piecing is easiest at this point.

 Next, after pressing the seams open, I joined the 4 !/2 inch white piece to the other side, again, pressing seams open to reduce the bulk later on.

 I had to look at my sketch to make sure, at this point that I was putting things together correctly, but I attached the 8 1/2 inch color strips to my units. A sketch, or laying one out on the design wall for reference is most helpful. Now, the final block assembly.

 The cat print is my focus fabric.  Making sure to orient it correctly, I pinned it to the first strip, marking a hair over 1/4 inch from the end. That is where you stop sewing this partial seam. All the rest of the seams are sewn completely and then you come back and finish this one. I know, it sounds confusing.

 This picture is a little blurry, but I sewed from the corner to just shy of my mark. I back stitched here.

 For this seam, I did not press open, but pressed toward the center square fabric. You can see the top of the block where the ends completely match.

 Next, you sew the top strip completely from end to end. This is the way you continue, sewing around the block center.

 Here, you can see the quarter inch that is not sewn at this point. Sorry, my pictures got a little out of order here.

 Then, you sew on the third side piece completely from end to end, just like the last piece was sewn.

 Now, this is the only tricky part, and it is not too hard, but use your pins here. Pin the final piece in place on the last side. Be careful to only sew the 1/4 inch seam, and not to sew over the end of the first section, which is the red in the picture. See how I have pulled it to the side?

 Here is a picture of the actual sewing process here on this seam. I put the pin in at this position and just slowly slid it out as I stitched toward it.

 Now, you just have to go back and finish sewing the rest of that partial seam you started earlier.

 This is so very easy. put everything in place and pin it to hold it. then stitch from where you back stitched earlier to the end of the fabric.

 This is what the back looks like. Seams are pressed open in all the side pieces, but the part where the attach to the center, I pressed towards the center.

 Here are two blocks, side by side on the design wall.

And this is what 4 blocks look like, all joined together. I plan to make at least 3 more of these 4 block units and then decide if that is big enough for me. Two tips here: use pins. I don't always, but this block needs to line up to work well. Shorten your stitch length. I learned that from Amanda Jean and it makes a big difference when you really need those blocks to line up perfectly. I will be back to show you when the top is done. I haven't decided yet if it needs a border. What do you think?

WIP Wednesday

Here is my work in progress for this week:

 Progress on J's quilt. It took me over an hour to trim all these HST blocks. The rest of the assembly should be quicker.

And another little something I am working on with my Lizzy House Catnap fabrics. I have lots more to show you, very soon. Have a great Wednesday. Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced.