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Tuesday, May 8, 2012

An Even Easier Arrow....

In a recent post, I shared with you an easier way to create the colorful arrows in Denyse Schmidt's new pattern, Point me....


If you recall, I changed the construction after I had already cut out all those pesky triangles....sooooo.....
here is an even easier way to put those arrows together {make those tiny HST's} if you have not already cut into your fabric.

To begin you will need to cut two strips of fabric.... one white and one patterned fabric....cut each strip 4.25 inches wide by WOF.  Then sub-cut the strips into 4.25 inch squares....


Place the  two squares right sides facing and stitch, using a quarter inch seam allowance, all around the outside of the square....



 Now cut the square once on the diagonal....





Take each half and cut again....


By stitching around the perimeter of the square, you have stitched the long straight edge of the triangle......  

Press open with seams toward the darker fabric....


I have finished the quilt and I am now working on the pillow sham.  I found this method is easier, faster and with better results.  Maybe it is just me, but if you plan on making this quilt - you might want to give this method a try.      

   
After you have your HST's....stitch them together keeping the patterned fabric the upper left side and the solid fabric on the lower right.

     
Because the strips are pieced together on the diagonal, each strip is one square less than the neighboring strip...
And for the pillow a single solid triangle is added to the top of each strip...

   
When stitching the strips together, I have found that the bias actually works in your favor.  You can more easily get those seams{points} to fit together perfectly with a little stretch in your fabric strip....

I hope this helps!!!


Well.....I have a few more strips to put together for this one....so stay tuned....
Happy Tuesday!
mary

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Check....Point

Binding has been made.....



and applied...


all my loops have been properly looped....


and my arrows aligned....


This is, of course, Point Me....a new pattern by Denyse Schmidt.  I used Kona Snow for the background as well as several of Denyse Schmidt's re-released Flea Market Fancy to fill the arrows with brilliant color....

   
 The back features a fabulous fabric by Nancy Mims....called Pick A Bunch.....


The fabrics came from my favorite shoppe....Sew To Speak......


Happy Thursday!
mary

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Growing A Rose and Star.....

I love attaching the in between bits to the Rose and Star.  English Paper Piecing is so satisfying...




This is the first time I have put a quilt together with English Paper Piecing....



Very satisfying....
The chest is a new 'old' find....for my youngest daughter {Mary Mc} who is sprucing up her sister's old room and making it her own....


Hope you are having a good Tuesday....I will leave you with one more lovely shot of a cutie pup....Flanders Matilda

   
mary :)

Monday, April 30, 2012

Feeling Loopy....

Over the weekend I did a bit of basting....


For years I only hand basted.  But with machine quilting and the discovery of safety pins - I have converted from hand basting to pin basting {sort of}.   Hand basted stitches get in the way with Free Motion Quilting - they get caught in the foot and pull.  Yikes!


Most of the time, I actually use a combination of basting techniques.  I usually lightly spray with temporary {basting} adhesive and then pin baste.  I like the smoothness of the basting spray, but I don't trust it completely to hold my quilt in place until I am finished quilting.  Crazy right????

I did decide with this quilt to take Nicke's suggestion....she said I deserved a quick finish....I like that thinking :)

This will be a shoppe sample so I used my usual Denyse Schmidt Loopy Quilting Design...hee hee!
It is very simple.  The most difficult part is keeping the lines of loops straight....

    
To keep my lines straight - I use masking tape to mark my stitching line.  

  
   Normally, I move the tape with each line of stitching....but last night I did a couple of rows without the tape and had a bit of an oops....a little drifting at the end of a row.


But I decided it wasn't critical enough to unpick all those stitches!
For the back of this quilt I am using a fantastic organic fabric - new to the shoppe!


I cleverly pieced had to piece a top spotted border on the back.  When I cut the fabric I did not take into account that the flowers had stems and a direction.  Another oops! 
But maybe it was a happy accident....I love this spot fabric with the floral.


I am quilting with Gutermann 100% cotton in Natural....in both the top and bobbin threads.

Happy Monday All!
mary

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

A Working Tuesday....

It has been a beautiful day here....crisp and sunny!  My kind of day!

today....I managed to line up all my arrows and get this quilt top together....


On to the quilting....I think I will machine quilt this one.  I have a pile of hand quilting to work on.  If I do machine quilt it would just be large loopy lou's..... 


But on the other hand, I do love the look of perle cotton on white.  Any thoughts????

I also began piecing my Rose and Star blocks together.  I have decided to use this delicate red on white dot....


English Paper Piecing is so relaxing....at times, while living with my mom, I would actually nod off while stitching....


This is a Lecien dot....the fabric has a sweet scalloped border....I may try to incorporate it in this quilt somehow...

   
About a month ago I purchased Denyse Schmidt's new quilt book.  It is a lovely book....well worth the price.


It is full of traditional quilts.  My favorite :)
Happy Tuesday Everyone!
mary

Monday, April 23, 2012

A Better Point....

As I mentioned in my last post....I found a better way {for me} to piece the arrows in the Point Me quilt. 


Not to belabor the point, but I truly found this way of piecing so much easier and with better results than those in the instructions.
So to briefly recap....I had already cut all my little triangles....I simply made half square triangles by stitching a patterned triangle and a white triangle along the long straight edge.  For each "arrow" you will need 10 half square triangles.

Then I pieced the hst together in diagonal rows.  A single triangle is added to the end of each row.

Once all the rows are pieced {each row is one hst smaller than the previous row}....I pressed the seams for each row in opposite directions....

     
By pressing in opposite directions I can butt my seams so they end up sitting where they should and my points are nice and pointy.



After my rows are stitched together...I simply need to add one more single triangle to the lower right hand edge of my "arrow".


If you have this pattern on your "to do" list....I think it is worth a try to piece it this way.  I found it worked out much better :)  Hope this helps.

I wonder if anyone else has used or is regularly using bobbin thread in your bobbin?  Bobbin thread is a specialty thread designed for use in the bobbin.  It is thinner thread and, I think, it produces less lint.

   
I try to keep a supply of bobbin thread on hand.....and I was just curious to know if anyone else uses bobbin thread in their bobbin for piecing. I have not found that my seams are any less strong with bobbin thread, but I do think it creates a little less bulk in the seam.  I do not use it for machine quilting....just for piecing.

   
Finally, I have some pretty wonderful news!!! It is good to have wonderful news!!!
My sweet girl, Molly, is engaged to be married!  She has dated her guy, Kyle, for almost 7 years.   We couldn't be happier!

I will snap a pic of the ring the next time she is home....
for now here is a picture of Molly with us {in case you forgot my mug - hee hee}

    
And here she is with her handsome boy....

    
Happy Monday!
mary :)