the Show and tell qults

We had the show and tell for last years blocks, and although not that many people brought their quilts to Show, they were beautiful!

Cheryl had a finished quilt!  Hooray!  We all love getting a big quilt like this completed and ready to use

The arrangement of blocks was really nice, and I liked the outer borders she chose, 

Karen's quilt was gorgeous too.  I love the borders she made for the medallion area.

It sort of looked like stained glass with the sun from the windows shining through the fabric.

Linda ( I hope I have your name right) had done a variety of projects with the blocks from the Sticks and Stones blocks from the previous year.

First, a lovely single bed quilt.  The light colored zig-zag setting really created a quilt that will be lovely to use, and the straight line quilting she did was so effective!

 

A few more blocks became a dresser runner, again with some lovely quilting,  --- look at that border pattern!

and there were still enough blocks for some throw pillows for on the bed or in a sidechair,

Betty's sample with the Jo morton fabrics was also a finished quilt.  She emphasized the golds and greens,

and she also brought her sampler using moda fabrics, mostly from the Little Black Dress groupings,

absolutely stunning,  and ready to use too.
It was so nice to see the quilts.  And incidentally, there were lots of us in the audience to appreciate them.   
I look forward to seeing what else people do with their blocks, even if it's not a "finished" project.  A sampler quilt is a big undertaking, and I know that we all work at different rates,    I have a few samplers from the past few years that I have yet to sew the borders on, and yes, I still have a couple of stacks of blocks waiting to decide what to become...

(a rare selfie, Michelle)

Enjoy your day, and happy stitching!

Sampler Quilts and Show and Tell

do these look familiar? They are Jo Morton colorway blocks from last years Saturday surprise sampler.

it's that time of year when I'm looking forward to the show and tell to see what people have done with their blocks from last time!   It is on Saturday at the store at 10 AM, if you are in town and want to pop in and get some inspiration.

I had quite a few blocks from sewing up the prototypes. I have one large quilt sewn together, but I also had a lot of six-inch segments leftover after it was sewn.

Each of the blocks were designed so that you could use it as one 12 inch block or as four 6-inch blocks.

today I'm working on a smaller sampler that uses the 6 inch blocks.

(sorry if the photos are a little blurry, I'm taking them on my iPad and noticed that I'm a little wobbly today.)

I used 35 blocks and sewed 1 inch frame around each of them. Then I sewed them into a horizontal grid of five columns and seven rows.

I have a lot of scraps left over from when I was making up the patterns so I decided to add a pieced border around the edges.

I recently designed a row pattern that had a braid segment, so a braid border was on the top of my mind.

I started with 4 1/2 in. square that will finish at 4 inches when sewn into the quilt.  

then, The side rectangles are cut  at 1.5" x 5"... each braid needs two of these...

then you add two more rectangles, cut at 1.5" x 6" long.

i'll just keep adding sections to the braid sections until they are long enough for the top and side borders. I think I'll have to also add a plain border in between the center and the borders.

(of course, the edges of the borders are trimmed straight before sewing them onto the quilt)

i'm not sure if I'll have this top together before Saturday, since something exciting should be happening in my life tomorrow, but I'll take what I have to the show and tell on Saturday.

I hope to see you at the show and tell at Periwinkle in Saskatoon at 912 Broadway Avenue at 10 AM whether you have blocks to show, or a quilt top,  to show from last year or not. We will also have refreshments!

The show And tell  will be on the main level of the store, so you don't need to navigate the staircase. Also remember there is a parking lot at the back of the store. See you then!

Sticks and Stones Show and Tell

On Saturday it was exciting to see all the sampler projects that people brought to show each other.  Last year's Sampler blocks used a colorway that included grays, taupes, browns and charcoal, as well as light colored neutrals.

 Karen used a lovely feather design fabric for the sashing, and sewed stars for between the blocks, and smaller blocks to use around the edge in the setting triangles for a beautiful allover look.

 I loved the cobblestone like borders and setting triangles on this one.

 It will be interesting to see what gets quilted in those alternate squares..

 This sampler from the batiks colorway from a couple of years ago had a stained glass look to it.

 Verna also brought her 30 block king size top using the topsy turvy setting,

 I was sorry to see it get folded up,

 This was the first totally finished project that we saw.  Dianne used a light colored border, and it was all-0ver quilted with Baptist fans,

 Another finished one!  Very impressive!

 Beautiful quilting, and done on a home sewing machine!

 This was the third totally finished quilt, and again, quilted on a home sewing machine,

 You need to see some closeups of the beautiful motifs in the setting triangles and outer borders,

 Sheila made her quilt pretty zingy with her fabric choice for the sashing and inner border-- that diagonal stripe is great,

 what a difference you can make just by the addition of a narrow little strip of fabric:

 Another gorgeous quilt that uses a light colored border.  (I might have to re-think my plan for using a dark border....)

 I love what she did with the arrangement of the sub-unit s in that square on the lower right...

 It was refreshing to see this black white and lime green quilt!  Love everything about it!

 She also had her sticks and stones quilt, using a two-sided sashing

 I like the way the blocks seem to float on the light background:

Thank you again to all of you who brought your projects.  I was inspired.

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.

Blocks....and Samplers

Hello, Happy Sunday.   I am happy today because I am not as sick as I was for the past three days.  Now it has just turned into a regular cold. 
Being sick really slows a person down.
Right now we have a big rainstorm going on, so I'm also glad that I am safe and cozy inside.

It occurred to me that yesterday was Block 20 of the Saturday Surprise Sampler!  Time to think about settings! 

Okay, I realize that many of you think of this much earlier in the game, but I don't.  I like to get all my blocks made first, then think of all sorts of possibilites of what to do with them.  I also have my black and white blocks from last year!!  that's okay, I'll just need to think of more possibilities.

In preparation for all this thinking, I spent lots of time on Pinterest while I was sick (until it made my eyes hurt)
I made a special board where I pinned a bunch of images of quilts put together with sampler blocks,
click here to go to this bulliten board.  If you click on the image in the right way, it will take you to where it was originally posted so you can get more info on a quilt that you especially like. 

Also, don't forget that along the top edge of this blog, I have a couple of pages where there are lots of photos of what people have done in previous years with their sampler blocks:

click either on the page tabs, or you can click here, or here,

Many of these were based on the 21 patterns that we have available at the shop --- Setting Solutions,
I noticed when I was pinning the other images on Pinterest that there were some quilts I liked that featured an extra large block in the center, and the sampler blocks around it,
such as this one from Stichin Heaven,

found here

or this one,

found here

There are all sorts of ways you can vary a sashing strip between blocks,
 such as this storm at sea type sashing,

found here

or this one using scrappy triangles,

found here

and there are all sorts of good alternate blocks that you could use,
Well, you get the idea, - the possibilities are endless.  Part of the fun is the dreaming,