Random Thoughts

These are just some thoughts and ideas I wanted to put down "on paper"

 

Posted 1-29-12 

Fold and Sew

I had a set of Moda bake shop layer cakes and charm packs and wanted to get them made up into a quilt; but my time for personal quilting is very limited so I wanted something fast and simple.  I like the square in a square block so placed the 5" squares on the 10" squares for color placement.  I dreaded the rotary cutting I was facing and it hit me as I was looking at the fabrics that I could fold and sew the 5" into the 10" without having to get out my cutter. Simple and easy.  That was the start of it.

I originally called the method Rotary Free Bake shop, but half the students in my first class cut the 5 and 10 inch fabric squares out of scraps from their stash, so I renamed the class "Fold and Sew".  Fat quarters work great for this method because you can get 2- 10" and 4- 5" squares out of one fat quarter. Or cut the fat quarter into 4- 9" squares (no waste) and buy a coordinating set of 5" charm packs which will result in rectangle blocks instead of squares.

 

The "Square in a Square" block is constructed this way.  First place a 5" square in the middle of a 10" square.  A definite color contrast between the 5 and 10 inch squares is a necessity in this method.  Small prints, tone on tones, or plain fabrics work best.

Fold one side of the 10" square to the middle of the 5" square and sew a 1/4" seam on the folded side.

 

 Repeat with the other side.  The edges of the 10" square should meet in the middle as shown below.

 

 

Iron open and repeat the process with the other 2 sides.  The result is a square in a square block.

 

The next block I came up with I call "Square in a Corner".  Instead of placing the 5" square in the middle of the 10" square, place it in a corner.

 

 Fold the 10" square in half and sew a 1/4" seam on the folded edge.

 

Iron open then fold the 10" square so that it encloses the 2nd raw edge of the 5" square.  Sew a 1/4" seam on the folded edge.  Iron open.  The result is the "Square in a Corner" block.

 

Two 5" blocks can be positioned on the 10" block for a "4 Square" block.  Place two 5" squares side by side, one face up and the other face down.

 

 Fold the 10" square in the middle to cover the two 5" squares.  Sew a 1/4" seam along the folded edge.

 

 Iron open so that both 5" squares are now face up.

 

Fold the 10" square in the middle, again, to enclose the remaining raw edges of the 5" squares and sew a 1/4" seam.  Iron open. The result is the "4 Square" block.

 

 

"Triangle in the Corner" block. It's an easy way to have triangle piecing without dealing with bias seaming.  Fold the 5" square into a triangle and position on the corner of a block- raw edges to raw edges.  Put 1, 2, 3 or 4 folded triangles on the 10" square for different effects.

                                                                 

 

 Baste the bias folded edge to the 10" square or glue with a fabric glue so that it doesn't open up while quilting.  Or fold back and sew the bias edges for a curved seam effect as shown below.

 

 You can fold the 5" squares so that they make a smaller triangle and then position them on the corners of the 10" block for a snowball block.  The excess fabric will be trimmed away.

 

You could even place the folded 5" squares on the corners of a "Square in a Square" block.

 

 

"Triangles in a Square".  The triangles can also be positioned in the middle of the blocks.  In this version, the triangles are positioned on the 10" square as shown.

or like this

Just remember that the raw edges of the 5" squares either have to be lined up with the raw edges of the 10" square, or enclosed in a seam on the inside of the 10" square.  Fold and sew to enclose the raw edges as shown in the previous blocks.

 

Another version of the "Triangles in a Square" block is done this way.  Fold the 10" square on the diagonal, in both directions, then position the folded 5" triangles as shown.

 Sew a 1/4" seam on the diagonals to enclose the raw edges of the triangles.  

 

Here are some tips to remember when using this technique.

1) It's easy to string piece this method.  Just fold over and iron a set of blocks and piece.

2) You don't have to worry about the size of the blocks if you're using the same blocks thru out the quilt.  But if you want to mix the blocks you need to be aware of how much of the 10" block is used up in the piecing.  There are 2- 1/4" seams on each side of the "Square in a Square" block which takes away an inch from the 10" square and results in a 9" unfinished block.  The "Square in a Corner" and "4 Square" blocks have only one 1/4" seam per side of the 10" block and results in a 9 1/2" unfinished block.  If you want to combine these differently sized blocks in one quilt you need to make a 1/2" seam in the "Square in a Corner" and "4 Square" block.  This gives you the 9" unfinished size block.  Since there are no seams in the "Triangle in the Corner" blocks, you would need to cut the 10" square of fabric down to 9 inches and cut the 5" squares down to 4 3/4" before folding into a triangle.  

3) Just remember, this is a fast and easy technique so don't get uptight about positioning when putting the 5" blocks or triangles on the 10" blocks.

4) Jelly Rolls (2 1/2" strips) can be used as sashing with any or all of the blocks in a quilt.

 

Here are some photos showing how the triangles can be set on a 10" square for different blocks.

   

 

 

Posted 11-1-11

      I like to save money but sometimes take it too far.  I realize, after all is said and done, that I should have loosened my purse strings and spent the money.  Such was the case when it came time to back my Kansas Challenge quilt.   I knew it was going to be close but thought, with some piecing, I could make it work.  Unfortunately, I was just a few inches short.

Fortunately, I had an extra block I hadn't used in the quilt top, and it was big enough to cover the backing shortage.

I  ironed under the edges and appliqued it in place.  

I ended up with a great place to sign and date my quilt, but I think if I had to do it over again, I'd buy the extra fabric!

 

 

Posted 9-4-11

      Sometimes I even amaze myself.  Quiltmaker had a project for me with a short deadline and I was expecting a visit from my grandchildren.  The fabric was delayed and didn't arrive until noon on the day my family arrived.  I cut, pieced and marked the quilting on the top by 7 that evening.  I fit in the basting, quilting and binding the next day between naps and time with grandpa.  Thank goodness it was a small wallhanging- 28"x 28", but it's the cover quilt for Quiltmaker's 8th volume of quilting motifs so I had to make sure the points matched and that the threads were buried on all the quilting.  The volume is available now at this site, and I hope you enjoy the quilt which graces it's cover. 

 

Posted 7-3-11

         TN Enterprises, an informational video company, has joined with Creative Crafts Group, the publisher of Quiltmaker magazine, to make DVDs of a variety of quilt techniques.  They then sell the DVDs in a "book of the month" format.  June Dudley, editor of Quiltmaker magazine invited me to their offices in Golden, CO to participate. With my heart half way up my throat, I said yes to the invitation and spent the next 10 days preparing demonstrations on Reverse Applique and Basting a Quilt.  I practiced my moves and the words to go along with the actions over and over and over.  My greatest fear was that I'd freeze up and stare into the camera like a deer in the headlights.  Thankfully, that didn't happen;  and, although I stumbled over my words a time or two, on the whole I think I looked and sounded comfortable and professional.

What made the process difficult and stressful for me was that the taping was not continuos.  I'd often have to stop the demo if they needed a different shot or I'd made a mistake (guess which happened more often).  When I teach a quilting class or talk at quilt guilds, I start at point A and continue on to points B, C, D, etc. without breaking my rhythm. Having to go from A to B, during filming, then back to A or on to C while trying to remember where to stand, where to place my hands, and when to look at the camera (forget smiling!) was almost more than my brain could handle. Little wonder I forgot about 1/4 of what I'd planned to say!  

My 2 segments took 4 hours to tape and I was mentally exhausted by the end.  Had they invited me then and there to return for future filming, I'm not sure I'd have said yes.  But now that a few days have passed, and the memory of the difficulties is fading (kind of like a woman forgets the pain of child birth) I'm looking forward to seeing the DVDs and having the opportunity to share a few more quilt demos with TN Enterprise and Creative Crafts customers.  

 

 

Lost Rings and Miracles

  This is a tale of lost rings and miracles.  My husband and I were in the car on our way home from Denver and I took my wedding bands off to apply hand lotion.  I put the rings in my lap, which I know isn't the smartest move, but I've done it numerous times.  This time- due to jet lag or whatever- I forgot to put the rings back on my finger.  We traveled for quite awhile and stopped a time or 2 before I realized my rings were missing.  The bottom dropped out of my stomach and though I hunted around my car seat and in the cracks of the door, I just knew they were lying on the ground, in a ditch, or on a grass lined curb somewhere.  I was just heart sick to lose something so precious and I felt numb the rest of the way home. 

My husband got on internet (God bless internet) when we got home and looked up a map of the 2 places we'd stopped. The first stop was basically an intersection between 2 highways with a couple of businesses on the corner.  Our other stop was a gas station at the Wiggins exchange on I-76.  I honestly thought I'd lost the rings at the first stop and called one of the businesses there to leave my name and number in case the rings were found.  I  called the gas station just as an after thought, thinking that even if I had lost them there, no way would the finder turn them in,  but I left my name and number and put the whole mess in God's hands.  

        The next morning the phone rang, My husband answered and from his voice I thought it was a sales call.  He handed it to me, I said hello, and heard a woman ask if I'd lost something the other day.  I said  "did you find my rings?", and the angel on the other end said "yes, I did."  Turns out I did lose them at the gas station and this couple must have been traveling not far behind us.  She was filling her tank and looked down and saw some shiny rings.  She thought they were probably from a dime store or a toy dispenser machine and almost ignored them, but bent down anyway and realized they weren't some cheap toy.  She and her husband talked it over, decided to take them along and, through St. Anthony's intercession, find the owner of the rings.  She called the station the next day,  got my name and number and the rest is, as they say, history.  The finder of my rings  has a special devotion to St. Anthony, patron saint of all things lost, and since I didn't think to pray to him, St. Anthony didn't help me find my rings, he helped my angel find me! 

God's hand was in it all the way.  He sent honest people to follow and stop at our gas pump, He nudged the lady to look down and pick up an item she normally would have ignored, and He nudged me to call the gas station even though I was positive I'd lost my rings at the other location.  Thank you God and St. Anthony- prayers are answered.

 

   

 

Last Updated: Jan 29th, 2012 - 8:38 PM