Batik Charm Squares-- Counterpane Block

Counterpane blocks, all sewn together!

I went a bit overboard this autumn when it came to ordering in charm squares.  We have lots and lots of them, especially in batiks.  but they are so pretty!

I had 4 packs that I took home with me, which I decided to sew into one large quilt top.

  (note! along the way, I discovered that my charm squares were not 5" x 5", but more like 5-1/4" square! so if you get some, you might want to double-check their size!)

A while back, (oh, my goodness, it was almost a year ago!) I tried out a quick sew technique, here,
and I decided to do a bigger project with it.
Basically the idea is to sew all the squares together, and then cut finished blocks from the large gridded piece. 
So, I sewed four sections of blocks, 4 columns by 10 rows.  So although I jumbled up all my charm squares, each pack would yield one 4x10 unit.

 I decided not to sew all the units into one large grid, because it is a bit easier to handle smaller pieces.
Next, I cut off half the block from the left side, and sewed it to the right side.  Then I cut half the top row off and sewed it to the bottom.

 I'm sure you can see where all this is going...

this blocked off area shows where the individual block will appear

 This is the finished block!  I have consulted my reference copy of Barbara Brackman's "Encyclopedia of Pieced Blocks" where it is identified by several names, --A Plain Block(1896), Nine Patch, Sheepfold Quilt (1934), Irish Chain , and Counterpane(1934).  I prefer to call it by the last name.

so then you can cut the section apart to get 10 finished Counterpane blocks! Yay!

 I sewed them together with sashing from a pale apricot color.  I had it on hand, and I liked the look, it seemed to lighten it all up a bit. I cut the sashing at 1-3/4", so it finishes at 1-1/4". 

all 40 blocks with sashing

 Now, if you only used 3 charm packs, you would have 30 blocks, so it would be this size!

30 blocks

 and if you used only 2 charm packs, it would be this big:

20 blocks

 Although it looked fine as a horizontal grid setting, I decided to turn it on point, and so I did, using that very tricky "turn a quilt on it's side" technique.

 I added a bit of an outer border, and this is where I'm at with it now.  I don't think that it really needs an outer border, what do you think?

A Christmas Banner

(Yes, I am back on my laptop! Hooray!)

 We will be spending Christmas in Savannah, and of course all the Christmas decorations are in Asquith. So i decided to make some festive looking holiday decorations.
One of the projects is this banner/garland.
I've made a couple of garlands before, like the ones I have hanging up at the shop.  Because a few people have asked about whether there is a pattern, I decided to take photos and make a little tutorial here!

1. Pick out some nice fabrics... I decided on 3 patterned ones with a Christmassy look. plus white.
Cut them into strips, I think mine are 8 inches wide.

 1. Make a cutting template. 
I cut  a couple of rectangles, 6" x 8 ".  Fold the rectangle in half and cut the diagonal triangles off the edge.

 this is what it looks like opened up:

 3. Use the triangular pieces as cutting guides for the rest of the triangles you want to cut

 I cut a stack of colored triangles, and white ones to use as the backs of the flags.  (You can have the flags be colored fabric on both front and back, especially if you hang the garland in a way or place that both sides are showing.  I decided to use white on the backs because I didn't have enough of the Christmas fabric to do both sides)

 4.  if you want to put words or anything else on the front of the flags, do it now. 
  I wanted the garland to spell out Merry Christmas, so I decided to make red letters and attach them with fusible web.
To make the pattern for the letters, I just made some 2 inch lines on freezer paper and sketched out the letters. (on the dull, papery side!)

 I ironed fusible web onto the back of two rectangles of red fabric:

 then cut the letters apart, and placed them on the right side of the red fabrics, ironing them down so they would stick long enough to cut them out. (freezer paper is like that!)

 5.  Lay out the flags in some sort of plan.  I alternated the colors, and then planned where the letters would go.  I decided to make 3 sections of words rather than one really long garland.  I put the letters on the flags and then ironed/fused them down to make a permanent hold to the fabric.
I did a trial one where I stitched around the outline of the letter, but it was time consuming, and I decided that I really don't think it's needed on a seasonal garland.  But, it could be decorative on some projects! 
Or, you could just embroider letters!

 Also at this time, I sort of figured out how much fabric I'd need to use for the length of the top string.  If you need to join strips together, it's nice to use a diagonal join to reduce bulk.

6. Layer each of the triangles with a backing fabric, and stitch around the lower 2 sides,

 clip the fabric at the bottom point so that it won't get too bumpy when you turn the flags right side out.
I used the blunt end of a paintbrush to help push out the sharp points at the ends of the triangles:

Iron the triangle "flags" so that they are nice and crisp!  If you want, you can embellish them more....

6. To make the string that connects the flags, I make it using 2-1/2" strips of fabric.  Iron them in half lengthwise, like you are making a binding,  (In other projects I've used the leftovers of binding strips that I just joined end to end. 

 then, iron the raw edges to the inside crease, like in the photo above.

7 Lay out the flags beside the string, and space them out where you want to sew them on. 

 For this project, I put them pretty close together, about 1-1/2 inches apart.  At other times I've put them farther apart.
Then sew the "string" closed along the double fold edge, slipping the triangles inside the string as you go to hold them in place. 
I sewed on little bells to the ends as well, to make it more festive!

I hope you give this project a try!!
                (they are fun to make)