The Village Quilt Along

Get ready to start your quilt! I gathered my Hotel Frederiksted stash & am ready to cut! 

Here is where you can download the pattern for $1. Sewfunbymonique

 **There are some errors found in cutting both the Hotel & Bungalow roof pieces, see below for corrections**

The instructions are for cutting out each Hotel, Bungalow & tree individually to allow you to be able to have each one made up of different fabrics. One organization method that has helped me with this quilt is placing each house or tree pieces on a paper plate. I can stack those & pull each one that I want to sew.

When you are ready to sew your block, a flannel board like the one below is super helpful! I bought it at Fat Quarter Shop & it is a Lori Holt design. If not, just assemble your block next to your machine. I am able to understand the instructions better if I can seeing the parts I'm working with.

My next post will be sewing a Hotel & a stacked tree.

**Corrections: (In bold)

Bungalow, step 1 should read:

"Draw a diagonal linen the wrong side of ONE 5 7/8" fabric S square. Place it right sides together over a 5/7/8" roof square. Sew 1/4" on either side of the drawn line. Cut the triangles apart on the line. CHOOSE HALF FOR YOUR ROOF SECTION AND SET THE OTHER HALF ASIDE." 

Do not make 16 triangles! 

This is what you start with:

This is what you should end up with. Just use one chimney piece from the first square & one roof piece from the lower square.

Spinning Stars

So, before joining a quilt along, hosted by Katy I thought I'd make a test block to see how I liked it. Some blocks, which shall remain nameless, are just so time consuming in planning fabric placement. I need something I can come back to when I am able without getting stressed out each time. I'm also not super good at getting everything lined up when there's lots of pieces to put together. This block fits the criteria for me! The 2 issues I had was stretching along the bias & my seam allowances are too small on the finished block after trimming. I can adjust accordingly for future blocks. I pressed the joining seams open and the pie pieces in opposite directions so they'd nestle nicely. This way the block should lay flatter for quilting.You can find the free, downloadable pattern on Anna's blog.  Now to decide which fabrics to choose . . . :)

Quilt Along Finished!!

Oh, the beautiful brights! Vintage florals! Ticking stripes! Graphics! Dots! Love all the patterns combined & all from Jennifer Paganelli. I outline quilted in the turquoise thread which is a great accent shows off the pretty fabrics. Click on the picture for a closer look. For the binding I cut 2.5" strips of some of the fabrics and sewed them together for a matched scrappy look. I love Heather Bailey's tutorial on quilt binding found on her blog. The only thing I do differently than most tutorials I've seen is I like to start sewing the binding on the backside and than flip to the front. I feel like I have more control of the finished look on the front. I attach both sides of the binding by machine. I know many people who like to hand stitch it. I don't have much patience for hand sewing. I try to do it now and again, but not on a binding. Let's hope Cortney loves it. I also posted on my flickr the matching valance & toy bag I made to coordinate. I just need to finish the crib skirt and her set will be ready to mail!

Quilt Along Step 3

Okay, up next~ spray basting! Still my favorite way to baste. It makes the layers stick together so nicely so you can focus on quilting, not the safety pins. I posted before on spray basting, but since I am not computer saavy, I'm not sure how to provide a link to that exact post. Once you have sprayed each layer~ one half at a time~ like the photo above, you are ready to quilt. The top pic shows the thread I will be using. Its a Sulky thread with a sheen. I like that thread because it allows a sparkle. I have a hard time quilting all over these beautiful fabrics, so I am outlining the patches. I know I've written before about how I feel like I am scribbling all over these amazing fabrics, so I prefer the fabric to shine vs the quilting. I tend to pick a thread color that is the same as the backing. I am using Mary Trellis in aqua for the back, so the thread is the same shade. Off to quilt this!

Random Patchwork Quilt Along

I've had some requests for directions on my random patchwork quilt, so I thought I would do that with a new baby quilt I'm working on as part of a set for Cortney. I am warning you that many of these directions are 'random'!! First, the number of fabrics needed? A completely personal choice. The more the merrier as you will see~ if you don't use enough of a variety, you will have duplicates near or next to each other. For this quilt, size 40x46 (apx), I have used various prints from Jennifer Paganelli's Poodle, Sisboom basics, Flower Power & Pretty Please in fuschia, turquoise, blue, pink & yellow. Usually I buy 1 yard of each print & use a little more than 1/2 yard of each in cutting them up. I like 10-12 fabrics in smaller & of course more for my larger sizes. I play with the pattern as I go, so I want a variety of sizes for every color & print, but not every piece will be used. I love to have at least 3 colors with one of the colors being a 'pop'. In this group, the yellow is my pop. The pile above is what's left after I designed the top. Probably enough for another 40x46. See what I mean about random?? Okay, here are the cutting instructions:
*From each fabric, cut strips in these sizes:
8.5, 6.5, 4.5 (for larger quilts I also cut 12.5)
*Then cut your strips again lengthwise into 8.5, 6.5, & 4.5
* When finished, you should have these sizes:
8.5x8.5, 8.5x6.5, 8.5x4.5, 6.5x6.5, 6.5x4.5 & 4.5x4.5
Next, I find it helpful to separate the piles by size & color on my floor or table. All 8.5 squares together in piles by color. The next post will be about the next step. If you have any questions, either leave a comment on my post if your profile links your email, or email me at sewfunbymonique@gmail.com.