Our Row by Row pattern

I mentioned a while back that we are participating this year in a program called the row by row experience. it was this blog post here. It at that time I copied the information for how the program works. So if you are interested you can refer back to that post by clicking on that link.

The program starts on June 21. So to prepare for it, I had to decide on a pattern, sew it up, and plan on how to display it. It seemed simple at the start.  

however, first I had to decide on some sort of a design for our row.  

I sketched out a few ideas. The theme was water, so I focused on blues,

I started to test sew a few of the ideas.

and it wasn't too long before I had several possibilities: 

so I decided to sew them together into a simple row quilt, child sized to use as a sample.

i opted not to use any sashing between rows to keep it as simple as possible, and added only a 3" border of the white background.

the row I decided on for the pattern is the one that uses these strip pieced sections:

It uses a simple technique where you cut your background piece and insert a contrasting strip between the two pieces.  Just do that over and over....

i thought the design evoked the idea of rain, and it used many solids, so I am calling the pattern... Solid Rain!

Of course I had to sew parts again to work out the pattern, resulting in another project... for the table runner I used part of two different ideas, but still made it to be the 9" x 36" finished size, so a person can see the size of a table runner using only one row.

I quilted the projects very differently.  the baby quilt has very simple horizontal wavy lines.  the table runner is much more densely quilted.

I hope you have fun with the row by row idea, whether you collect any of the shop patterns or make a row quilt.  I think there is such a lot of potential from using a simple pattern as a jumping off point! 

i would love to see what you can make of this simple pattern!

You can pick up your free copy of the pattern starting on June 21st, and we're not allowed to send them out by mail or email, just hard copies given out at the store, so hopefully we'll see you soon!

Vertical Strip Setting

This is another sampler setting to use with 12" finished blocks.  Feel free to print off a copy if you want to use it.  Remember there is a Print Friendly Button you can click on to get a printable copy of just the content.

Vertical Strip Set

Size: 82" x 105"

uses 18 sampler blocks that finish at 12 inches
(they would measure 12-1/2" with the seam allowance)

a Periwinkle Pattern by Michelle Harris












Yardage:

1.5m for Sashing  — for the strips between the blocks,
             Cut 7 strips, 1-1/2" x the wof,* (width of the fabric)
             then sub-cut them into 21 rectangles that measure 1-1/2" x 12-1/2"

              -----the vertical strips between the blocks which finishes at 5"
             Cut 8 strips, 5-1/2" x the wof, then sew them into pairs.  From these long strips,
             you will need 4 rectangles that measure 79-1/2" **

 .6m for Borders I and III, that finish at 1inch. 
            Cut 13 strips, 1-1/2" x the wof

.8m for Border II, finishes at 3"
            Cut 7 strips, 3-1/2" x the wof

2m for Border IV, finishes at 7-1/2"
            Cut 9 strips, 8" x the wof
.7m for the binding,
        Cut 10 strips, 2-1/2" x the wof

**Fudge Factor: If you make the top and bottom sashing rectangle a bit wider such as 2-1/2" x 12-1/2", you will have some extra fabric to help make the units the same length.  You can trim the three columns to all measure the same length, and cut the vertical sashing units and the borders accordingly.

Sewing the quilt:

Make 3 vertical units, each will use 6 sampler blocks and 7 sashing strips. 
Sew them together with the 5-1/2" wide sashing strips to make the body of the quilt. 


Add the borders, in this fashion:
Measure the body of the quilt from top to bottom through the center of the unit. 
Cut your side borders to this length, pin them to the sides, and sew them on.  Press seams outward. 

Measure the quilt from side to side, across the center area.  Cut your top and bottom borders to this measurement and pin them to the top and bottom edges of the unit.  Sew them on and press the seams outward. 

After all your borders have been added, you are ready to layer the quilt top with the batting and backing, baste, and quilt it.

Binding: after the quilt has been quilted, trim the excess batting and backing from the edges. 
Sew the binding strips end to end with  45°diagonal seams to make one long strip.  Cut the excess fabric from the joins and press the binding strip in half lengthwise with the right sides facing outwars. 


Sew the raw edges of the binding to the edges of the quilt using 1/4" seams.  Start adding it partway along one edge. 

When you get to a corner, stop 1/4" from the end and backstitch, Remove the quilt from under the presser foot and fold the binding into a mitered corner ( fold the binding straight up, and then down along the next edge of the quilt, holding the corner into the pleat while you start the seam. 

When you have gone all around the quilt, join the ends of the binding.  Fold the binding around the edge of the quilt to the back and hand stitch it into place, folding each corner into a miter as you go,
 When you have gone all around the quilt, join the ends of the binding.  Fold the binding around the edge of the quilt to the back and hand stitch it into place, folding each corner into a miter as you go, 

Enjoy your quilt! 

Settings: Two Side Sashing

I will try to post some patterns to use for setting 12 inch finished blocks.

 It is not as simple as I thought it would be, because the images can't just be copied and pasted into the blogger template, but have to be uploaded separately. Plus, I can't figure out how to add in a table that I usually use for yardage and cutting instructions, so I will add that as a list, instead. 
At the store, we have a booklet available which I wrote some years ago, which contains 21 patterns.  Unfortunately I can't just upload all of those at once either, as the computer that 19 of them were stored on crashed a few years ago, so I would have to re-type them all. (And I have no clue which USB stick they were backed up on.)  Not to say that I wouldn't do that sometime, but not all at once.  

This is Setting number 20 from the booklet and has been very popular in previous years. 

 20. Two Side Sashing

a Setting Pattern for 12-Inch Blocks
uses 20 blocks
finished size is about 74" x 88"

a Periwinkle Pattern by Michelle Harris, 2012, free to print out and use for personal use

The sampler blocks are 12-1/2" with the seam allowances; they will finish at 12" when sewn into the quilt.

There are sashing strips only on  2 sides of the blocks.  When laid out to form the pattern, the blocks rotate back and forth.
(NB, This is a good pattern for when your sampler blocks have not all come out at the same size!  you could cut the sashings wider, and then trim them all to one size before you assemble them into the quilt top, thus absorbing the size differences from block to block)

Fabrics:
A.  Light Grey in the picture , used for Sashing for Blocks
            1.1m (44") 
                 Cut 2 strips, 15" by the wof,*
                  from these strips, sub-cut 20 rectangles,  3" x 15"

                 Cut 1 strip, 12-1/2" x wof
                  from this strip, and from the leftovers above, sub-cut 20 rectangles, 3" x 12-1/2"

B.  Inner Border Fabric (finishes at 1-1/2")
              .5m (18")  
                      Cut 8 strips, 2" x wof

C. Outer Border Fabric  (finishes at 6-1/2")
              1.5m (60")  
                       Cut 8 strips, 7" x wof

D.  Binding Fabric
              .7m (24")
                       Cut 9 strips, 2-1/2" x wof

*wof means the width of fabric from selvage to selvage, usually between 42" and 44"



Step One: Sew the Sashing rectangles to the sides of each block.  If there is any variation in the size of your blocks, now is the time to even them all up!
Measure them, and then trim them all to the same size, cutting the extra bits off of the sashing rectangles to keep the points on your sampler block intact.

Step Two: Lay out the 20 blocks into a 4 column, 5 row arrangement, referring to the diagram above  to see how to rotate the block.  You might want to shift the blocks around until you are pleased with the way that the colors balance out.

Sew the blocks into rows, and then sew the rows together.

Step Three: Add the borders.  To make the strips long enough, you will have to join the strips end to end and the cut the border to the size needed. 
When joining lengths, some people prefer to use a diagonal join .  To do that, just overlap the ends of the strips at a 90° angle ,and then sew from corner to corner.  Trim off the extra fabric and press. 
Cut the length of the borders as you go, because the length of them depends on the size of your central unit as it grows larger.

Using the narrow, 2" strips for the inner border, cut the two side borders to the same measurement as the height of your center unit.  Sew them to the sides and press seams out. 
Cut the top and bottom borders to the new width of the center unit and sew them on. 
Repeat this for the outer borders.

Step Four:
Layer the quilt with the batting and backing, and baste.  Quilt!

Step Five: Binding.  Trim away the extra batting and backing fabric.
This uses a double fold binding.
Sew the 2-1/2" strips of binding fabric end to end with 45° diagonal seams.  Trip away the extra fabric, and then press the strip in half lengthwise, with right side facing out, matching the raw edges.  Starting partway along one of the sides, stitch the raw edges of the binding to the top side of the quilt, folding the strip into a false iter at each corner.
 Turn the folded edge of binding to the back of the quilt and had stitch it into place.

Christmas Fabric Gift Bag Tutorial

fold-over top gift bag with button and string closure

Recently I was chatting with a friend who mentioned that she is making a real effort this year to prepare for and enjoy the Christmas season.  I have been thinking about this, and like this attitude.   I recall some years when Christmas was so magical, and I loved the tree decorating and wrapping gifts, and baking.  Other years it has seemed less magical, and some things that should have been enjoyable didn't seem exciting any more.  I think that to "enjoy the season" is a frame of mind that I will cultivate this year.
In keeping with this resolution, I spent a couple of hours this morning sewing some fabric gift bags.  For the last few years, I've purchased lots of paper gift bags as well as wrapping paper.  This creates a lot of paper waste on Christmas morning.  If we use fabric gift bags, they can just be stored with the decorations and be available to use again and again!!! This has the added benefit of not having to stand in line buying more paper products, tape and bows.....
I certainly have lots of fabric leftovers so this should be  pretty low-cost venture!
I have prepared a pictorial step by step on how I made a basic fabric gift bag:

1. cut some rectangles of festive fabric to use as the outside of the bag.  You  can piece them to make your scraps larger or to make the bag prettier.

 2. cut a lining rectangle the same size as the outer fabric.  The lining can be another patterned fabric, or you can just use muslin.

 3.  If you want a padded bag, cut an additional rectangle of batting.  If you just want it a bit thicker, you can use a piece of flannel.  Or, you might just want to stick with using the 2 fabric layers.

 4. If you want to use some of your festive embellishment ribbons, get them out to have close at hand.

 5.  If you want to decorate the outside of the bag, do it now.  In this example, I am using a piece of flannel as interior batting for the bag and some ribbon for trim.  I sewed the trim to the outside of the bag and the flannel batting to help stabilize these 2 layers.  If you want to do any other decoration, do it now.

 6.  Fold the rectangles of outside fabric and lining in half vertically and sew seams up the sides.  (At his point they are looking like little pillow cases!)
NB!  Leave an opening 3 or 4 inches,  in one side seam of the Lining fabric.  I forgot to do this in the lining photo here, and had to un-pick part of the seam later.

 7. If you want a flat bag, skip this step.
If you want a "boxed" bottom to your bag, pull the corner of the bag so that the side seam is perpendicular to the bottom, and sew a seam across the point.  The farther in that you sew the seam determines the width of the base of the bag.

 sew these seams on both the lining and the outside.  Make them the same size.  Back-stitch the seam ends.

 trim away the extra fabric

8. Turn the lining right side out.  (Now you can see the opening in the side seam!

 9. Tuck the lining into the outside of the bag, matching the side seams. Pin.

 10.  Sew a the bag outside to the lining all the way around the top edge.

 11. pull out the lining from the bag and then reach through the opening and turn the whole thing right side out.

 12.  Push the corners of the base out nicely.  Sew the gap in the lining closed.  I just do this by machine since it won't show.  I don't know where my photo of this step went to.

13. Top-stitch around the top edge of the bag to keep the lining in place.

 14.  This bag was the right size for a wine bottle, so I tacked on an extra bit of ribbon to use as a closure.

 15. The full bag!

 16.  My assortment of gift bags:  in addition to the one show above, I made a flat one, a tall one that can fold over to close, and 2 shorter ones with boxed bottoms. 

 this one has a velcro closure.  It is quite difficult to machine stitch through velcro.

 this one has a magnetic snap closure.  a bit deluxe, but I had it on hand.  I would have like to have used some regular sew-on snaps, but didn't have any.

 I sewed a felt decoration to the flap to cover where the snap is.  This bag also features a flap variation that I found in an Art to Heart book called "12 Days of Christmas"

There are all sorts of variations and decorative things that you could do!!! Just have fun and use your imagination!  And enjoy thinking about what to put in them!

Sewing from Kits and a note about Free Patterns

 Today I am sewing a sample for the shop!

It features Art Gallery Fabrics from the Revive collection, and the pattern is a free download on their web site,  here .  It is called Renew Me.         

 There are some lovely fabrics included!  It's another turquoise/brown/cream combination, with little additions of mauve.  We didn't get all 18 fabrics called for, so some are substitutions from other lines.  I really like the Art Gallery fabrics because they are such crisp printing on a high quality base fabric.  They use a higher thread count than other companies do, more like a batik. 

This post is pretty detailed, because I wanted to give an example of how I try to stay organized when sewing a project. It has organizational tips as well as how to add in speedy techniques when a pattern doesn't specify them.  
(So, if this seems overly detailed, or confusing, I won't mind if you just skim over it)

My first step when sewing from a kit is to familiarize myself with the fabrics. 

Kits can be put together in different ways.  Sometimes, we start with a pattern from another designer.  It can be a purchased pattern or a free pattern that often accompanies a fabric line to specifically showcase those fabrics.  We hope that the yardages given are right on.  Usually we go through and try to suss out whether the requirements are overly generous, or too scant. Sometimes we even cut and sew one kit  to see what's left over afterward.  That way we can tell whether we should change a recommended amount.  Other times, we cut a bunch of kits when the fabric has just arrived to make sure that we don't run out of a crucial fabric before we get the sample sewn. 
So, for this kit, we cut all the kits using the recommended yardage on the pattern.
There are 18 fabrics in this quilt! Thaat's quite a few to keep straight, so I decided to make a reference chart!
The fabrics are all tagged with a reference letter, so I cut a little swatch from each and stuck them onto a piece of paper to keep close at hand!

Then, I laid all the fabrics out on the floor of my sewing room in the same order as on the paper so that I could easily access the right fabric when cutting.

Often when you download a free pattern, the writers have tried to squeeze all the info into a small space so that the pattern is short and fits into one or two pages.  Because of this, they often use bare bones instructions, and rarely utilize strip-piecing or other time-efficient techniques.
So, I usually read over the pattern before I start cutting the fabrics to see if there are some ways that might make the sewing faster.
The instructions often have you cut individual pieces and sew them together one by one.  Often-times you can sew strip sets and sub-cut units to make the sewing process go much faster.
In this pattern, I noticed that most of the blocks were composed of strips:
You can see the block outlines in grey.  The finished size of the block is 8", and in the cutting instructions there seem to be a lot of 8-1/2" rectangles called for.  This is a big clue that it will be easy to strip piece the units rather than sewing them separately!!

It is also helpful to see that the little grey block diagrams tell you how many of that block you need to sew in all.  If I strip piece the sections, and then sub-cut 8-1/2" blocks, I can tell that I could get 5 blocks from each strip set  (5 sections x 8-1/2"= 42-1/2")

So I decided to start sewing blocks one type at a time.  I could see that Block 2 is the easiest.  I will need 9 blocks total, so if I sew 2 strip sets, that will give me 10 blocks, so that is perfect-- I'll have one extra.

 Sure enough, the author has made the instructions so that half the blocks can be made with colors for one strip set, and the remaining blocks out of colors for a second strip set. 

So, the width of the strip is 4-1/2" x the width of the fabric. ( I won't cut them into the 4-1/2" x 8-1/2" rectangles, because I'm going to strip piece instead.)
As I cut the strips, I check off on the pattern what I've cut. (above)
I also keep track of what i've cut from each fabric, but this isn't neccessary.  I just like the illusion of control.

 Then, rather than keep cutting, I went and sewed all the Block 2's. (sewed the two strip sets that I needed and then cut them into 8-1/2" blocks)  This photo shows one of the strip sets cut into 5 blocks:

 After I had all my Block 2's, I checked them off on the pattern that they were done:

 And then went on to some of the other easy blocks, (1, 3, and 4)  You might notice that sometimes I have extra blocks from strip sewing.  That is, while I only need 14 of Block 1, I have 15.  So I am accumulating a few extras.  This is handy.  I can use them for something else, OR, because the pattern is sort of a random looking design, I can use them instead of sewing the full number of some of the other blocks. That is I will only make 10 blocks of Block 4 instead of 11 blocks, so that I can just sew 2 strip sets. 

Now I have most of the easy ones done, and it is time for me to go sew Block 5!!!  (only 2 strip sets-- i'll get 10 blocks instead of the called-for 12)

So, I will continue this later.

New Sidebar Section

This afternoon I added a section to the Sidebar for your convenience and entertainment.  It is called "Links to Fabric Companies and Designers".  Why? Because often, they have sections on their websites for free patterns for you to download, or even blogs related to their products.
Of course, as I did this, I had to check them out to see if anything new had been added since I was there last.  This is a great free project I came across on  Moda

 it is designed by Cherri House of Cherry House Quilts, who also has a blog.