Block-a-long #12: Split 3 Rail Fence

Split 3 Rail Fence #12
Split 3 Rail Fence #12

This block is very similar to last week’s block, 3 Rail Fence. It is a good example of how easy it is to design blocks. I split the top rail and, voila’, a new block. Directions for Split 3 Rail Fence are available.

If you have made one of the blocks, put a link to a picture of your block in the comments section below. I would love to see them.

Lovey Blocks

 

Lovey block #1
Lovey block #1

Kristen emailed me, and a few friends, to ask for Lovey blocks for a mutual friend who needed some quilty hugs. I spent an hour or so yesterday making these 6″ Sawtooth Stars for the quilt. Ever since I saw how many of these little stars TFQ could churn out, they are my go to pattern for donation blocks.

These blocks are small and I know it takes a lot to make even a lap/wrap around quilt, so I may make some more. As I was looking at the blocks on the design wall, I was also looking at my Sampler blocks and wondering how some small Double Four Patches would look in the same fabrics? Stay tuned.

Lovey block #2
Lovey block #2
Lovey block #3
Lovey block #3

 

 

 

 

 

This little project gave me the opportunity to work with orange. Not sure why orange popped into my head when Kristen said ‘bright’, but I think it works. I was really pleased that I stopped being lazy and pulled down my bin of orange. Orange isn’t associated with a gender, necessarily, and this was a good opportunity to get reacquainted with some really nice fabrics. The cool thing is that I also cut some pieces of the fabrics for the FOTY 2011, so I can see them in that piece when these blocks go off to be in the Lovey.

Yes, it was one more thing to do on my long list of things to do, but it was also a good little project to warm me up for some concentrated sewing this weekend.

 

Creative Prompt #111: Forward

Ok, gang, I am doing my part by posting prompts. Please do your part by responding to them.

Post the direct URL (link) where your drawing, doodle, artwork is posted (e.g. your blog, Flickr) in the comments area of this post. I would really like to keep all the artwork together and provide a way for others to see your work and/or your blog.

The Creative Prompt Project, also, has a Flickr group, which you can join to  post your responses. Are you already a member? I created this spot so those of you without blogs and websites would have a place to post your responses. Please join and look at all of the great artwork that people have posted. Post yours and get kudos!

Pay it Forward

Moving forward

Forward motion

Acting forward

Forward motion

Leaning forward

Forward movement

Push forward

SF Forward

Forward thinking

Step forward

sports position “forward”

Case goes forward

looking forward

Fast forward

the opposite of backward

forward to a friend

email forward

forwarding address

Flash Forward (TV show)

Please Pull Forward
Please Pull Forward

Definition:

1 a : near, being at, or belonging to the forepart b : situated in advance
2 a : strongly inclined : ready b : lacking modesty or reserve : brash
3 : notably advanced or developed : precocious
4 : moving, tending, or leading toward a position in front; also : moving toward an opponent’s goal
5 a : advocating an advanced policy in the direction of what is considered progress b : extreme, radical
6: of, relating to, or getting ready for the future <forward buying of produce>
for·ward·ly adverb
for·ward·ness noun

CPP Vacation is Over

The CPP will return tomorrow. Today is the last day to enter for prizes. The prizes I have will further inspire your creativity. Did you do your responses so you can be in the drawing?

Rules: Anyone who posts a response to any of the prompts between May 27 and the post for prompt #111 will be entered for a prize. You can post in the Flickr group and/or on the post for the prompt to which you are responding. Yes, I know the end of school and vacation time have kicked your butts, but it is time for creativity. 5 minutes a week is all I ask. I reserve the right to change the rules if I feel I need to do so.

If you do a response to any prompt (there are 110), you will be entered into the drawing. Anyone who gets a friend to do a response will get two entries. You have some drawing friends, right? Poets? Mixed media artist friends? Thread painters? Photographers? No creative endeavor will be excluded. Sign them up. BTW, all rules are subject to change at my discretion.

As a reminder: these will not be quilt related prizes, but creativity related prizes.

 

Angela’s Kona Challenge

Angela's Kona Challenge Top
Angela's Kona Challenge Top

Angela is a new friend from the Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild. I have mentioned her a couple of times in conjunction with those meetings. She is the one that turned me on to the New Handmade book.

Angela participated in the Kona Challenge. She agonized and really worked hard on her design. I love her quilt. It shows her hard work and came out really well.  Her agony paid off.

She wasn’t able to make this quilt from one charm pack. She bought extra fabric (don’t you think that is Robert Kaufman’s whole idea?). She played around with the pieces, drew designs, carried them around, cut and rearranged until she had something that was fabulous. It worked.

Angela's Kona Challenge Quilt Back
Angela's Kona Challenge Quilt Back

Even the back is fabulous.

I want this quilt.

Hexagon Clarification

Sandy was confused about a recent hexagon post that I wrote.

She asked “OK–you said sewing in a circle. What order do you do the seams, then? Sew piece 1 (center hexie) to piece 2, then piece 1 (center) to piece 3, then adjoining seams of 2 and 3?

I’m not positive I’d be able to keep track of my design if I sew in circles/chunks rather than rows. It’s sort of a mosaic-y thing. Once I get everything laid out, I’ll be able to tell better. It’s not a problem with method, just me knowing how best to make sure I get pieces in the right place!”

My response, slightly edited for clarity, was: If I understand what you mean, remember that the goal is to have no hexagon edges raw. This means that each side of the hexagon will be sewn to another side of another hexagon. This may be different on the edge of the quilt, depending on what the designer (you!) decides to do about borders, but for the middle, you want each hexagon edge to be sewn to another hexagon edge.

Remember: no sewing into the seam allowances!

I am going to show you how to do this with 3 hexagons to start. Go get 3 hexagons, I’ll wait.

3 hexagons
3 hexagons

Put them on your design wall or on your floor and gaze at them. See the V formed by the top of the 2 bottom hexagons? Pay attention to that. You will need it later.

Start with 2 hexagons
Start with 2 hexagons

First, you sew two sides together. These will be two separate hexagons that you have already marked. Remember, you can mark with the Jinny Beyer Perfect Piecer and a Sewline pencil or with your favorite ruler and marking tools.

Put one Hexagon right sides together
Put one Hexagon right sides together

Put the first 2 hexagons right sides together and sew between the marks. Don’t sew into the seam allowance. If you did sew into the seam allowance, rip out the stitches outside of the marks.

2 hexagons sewn together
2 hexagons sewn together

When you open those pieces you will have 2 hexagons sewn together. YAY!

3 hexagons
3 hexagons

Second, for the third piece, you have to do a Y seam eventually (hope I explained clearly enough in the post how to do it). Remember that I told you to pay attention to the V? There will be a V where the two already sewn hexagons meet and that is where you will place the 3rd hexagon.

You will need to sew 3 seams total to completely add the third piece to the first 2 already sewn pieces.

Adding 3rd hexagon
Adding 3rd hexagon

Third, you line up the third piece with piece 1, right sides together, so that one side of piece three will be sewn to one side of piece 1. The side of piece one to which you sew should be one part of the V referenced above.

Fold over Hexagon 3 to hexagon 2
Fold over Hexagon 3 to hexagon 2

Fourth, once you have sewn one side of piece three to one side of piece one, you fold the neighboring side on piece three right sides together to the adjacent side of piece two. You will fold it on to the other side of the V.

Fifth, sew the second side of piece three to the second side of piece two.

3 hexagons sewn together
3 hexagons sewn together

Now you have 3 hexagons sewn together. AND you did a Y seam. That wasn’t scary, was it?

Hexagon Flower
Hexagon Flower

Sixth, press from the back so all of the seams twirl in the same direction.

In terms of keeping track of the pieces, because you want to sew them in a certain order, you need to lay the pieces out and look at them as you sew. I understand that many people don’t have a design wall. A design floor works just as well. You may need to pin your pieces together in the order you will sew them and take lots of photos. I also have pinned numbers to my patches or blocks so I know what order to sew in.

Let me know if you have further questions about the hexagons.

This is not a scary process. Just slow down a bit, follow the directions and you will be fine. You can do it!

Other:

Pam’s recent podcast about her hexagon project is posted on her site. she is very funny in calling this a Point and Laugh-a-long, which makes me laugh.

Sandy also posted a much more helpful and informative post that had actual content about how to do the project (not that Pam’s post was not helpful or informative, because it was) rather than just blathering on about process, which is what I tend to do. In Sandy’s most recent podcast she talks about the practical aspects of cutting hexagons and how she had success on the Kaye Wood method.

Here are a couple of different takes on hexagon quilts. This one from Random Thoughts do or di won’t work with the method we are using unless you figure out how to put the sashing in between the hexies. if you do figure that out, then you can use the directions all of us have posted to put the piece together. I don’t know if the sashing is more complicated than sewing a strip around the outside. This is a question I would ask TFQ about.

This photo from Sunset Sewing is a really nice variation of a hexagon quilt. I can’t tell whether it is a variation of the Spiderweb pattern.

CPP on Vacation

The CPP will continue. I need some people to play with on this project. That means you!

So far there is only one entry for the creativity prizes, so what is holding you up? Do you need a pep talk?

Rules: Anyone who posts a response to any of the prompts between now and the post for prompt #111 will be entered for a prize. Yes, I know it is end of school and vacation time. Do a response while in line at the grocery store on the back of a receipt.

If you do a response to any prompt (there are 110 words so far), you will get into the drawing. Anyone who gets a friend to do a response will get two entries. You have some drawing friends, right? Poets? Mixed media artist friends? Thread painters? Photographers? Sign them up. BTW, all rules are subject to change at my discretion.

These will not be quilt related prizes, but creativity related prizes. Like a deck of creativity cards.

Were you planning to wait until the last minute? Please don’t wait until the last minute. My life will be better if you don’t. Do your response NOW and post the link in the appropriate comments section.

Block-a-long #9: Nine Patch

Nine Patch #9
Nine Patch #9

Have you made a Nine Patch? Nine patches are like candy. You can’t make too many of them (though I am kind of partial to Four Patches at the moment). They are great for swaps or to use up scraps. There are a multitude of variations. If you sew the parts together using the leaders and enders philosophy you can use up scraps and have a stash of blocks when someone needs blocks to make a donation quilt.

The Nine Patch #9 for this block are easy to follow.

I plan to post blocks on Monday, but I may not post one every Monday.

Kona Challenge

The Kona Charm Challenge sponsored by Robert Kaufman is all over the quilt world news. last weekend, after the BAMQG meeting, I worked on my border.

Kona challenge top
Kona challenge top

The border took me most of Sunday to put on. I realized later that I should have used EQ to figure out the sizes.

Secondary Design
Secondary Design

This is one of the secondary designs I was trying to preserve. It is the one I saw first.

Ohio Star detail
Ohio Star detail

Later, as the top came together, I also saw a kind of Ohio Star.

Bright Secondary Pattern
Bright Secondary Pattern

My inspiration came from the Manteca quilt show and this quilt by Traudi King, Fun with Scraps.

 

CPP Vacation

 

Remember I said that the CPP will continue? I need some people to play with on this project. That means you!

I am going to offer some creativity prizes, so what is holding you up? Do you need a pep talk?

Rules: Anyone who posts a response to any of the prompts between now and the post for prompt #111 will be entered for a prize. Yes, I know it is end of school and vacation time. If you do a response to any prompt (there are 110), you will get into the drawing. Anyone who gets a friend to do a response will get two entries. You have some drawing friends, right? Poets? Mixed media artist friends? Thread painters? Photographers? Sign them up. BTW, all rules are subject to change at my discretion.

These will not be quilt related prizes, but creativity related prizes.

Were  you planning to wait until the last minute? Please don’t wait until the last minute. My life will be better if you don’t. Do your response NOW and post the link in the appropriate comments section.

Do a little scribble response. It will be quite freeing.

Hexagons Tutorial-Preparing to Sew

Hexagon piece
Hexagon piece

Did you follow the directions for cutting your hexagons? Did you watch the video? If so, you are ready to prepare to piece. If not, you can find the directions and information on my previous post.

Note: my hexagons are 7″ unfinished. We are preparing to machine sew the hexagons using Y seams. Leave your fear of Y seams at the door, please. This is a relatively quick method after you do the step outlined below. However, you won’t be able to chain piece.

Supplies needed:

  • Sewing machine
  • Quarter inch foot
  • Thread
  • Ironing board
  • Iron
  • rotary ruler a bit longer than one side of your hexagon (I like the Creative Grids 4.5″x8.5″ rectangular ruler)
  • thin sharp black pen like a Pigma Micron or a Pilot Scuf or a Sewline pencil
  • your hexagons

You will be working on the wrong side of your hexagons at first.

The photo of my piece (above) is similar to what your goal should be. Note that the piece I show is not the final product. I don’t know how large my final quilt will be. That is just how I roll on certain projects. You should check Sandy’s blog and podcast as she has provided some information about sizes and amounts of fabric.

I don’t think in rows, so I don’t always sew in rows (remember the Chunking it tutorial?). This project lends itself to sewing in a circle, which I find very calming.

Face Down
Face Down

Take your cut hexagons and turn them right side down (wrong side up) on a surface you can draw on. I do this step right next to my sewing machine just before I sew. Take your rotary ruler and position the edge a quarter inch from one edge.

Ruler on Hexagon
Ruler on Hexagon

For example, pretend you were going to slice off a quarter inch and position your ruler that way. Note there is no rotary cutter on the supply list so no cutting, please. The goal is to end up with an X at the 60 degree angle spot on the patch.

Hexagon Marked-detail
Hexagon Marked-detail

On the wrong side of your fabric, take your pen and draw a light line where a quarter of an inch should be.

Draw a Light Line
Draw a Light Line

You won’t see it on the front if you are careful, so using one of the pens mentioned above is ok. You will be doing this at the 60 degree angle/where the corner of the patch is, if the patch had a corner.

Draw Line on Next Side
Draw Line on Next Side

When you mark the second side, you will have one X and 2 lines.

One X and 2 Lines
One X and 2 Lines

Do the same thing at each of the other angles.

Hexagon Angles Marked
Hexagon Angles Marked

If you draw lines all the way around so you have little X-es at every angle of your hexagon. No groaning. I didn’t promise this would be a fast project, but it also doesn’t take that much time. If you are rolling your eyes, go buy the American Patchwork and Quilting magazine, because they have a method of doing this piecing in rows. Seems everyone is on the Hexagon bandwagon these days.

If the above process is just too horrendous for you to contemplate, consider the Perfect Piecer by Jinny Beyer.

Perfect Piecer
Perfect Piecer

The 60 degree angle on the right side is perfect for making dots (not X-es) which you can use to sew between. Those circles are actual holes through which you can mark. I bought this to use for my Flowering Snowball and realized it would work with this project as well. I pushed the Sewline pencil lead way out of the pencil and was able to use it with this ruler.

Once you have done the marking, go to your sewing machine.

Do all the normal thread and needle checking stuff necessary for your machine.

Put your machine on the setting for stopping with the needle down. If you don’t have a needle down setting, adjust your sewing so you can stop with the needle down. This isn’t an absolute must, but really helps.

Position the needle right above the intersection of the x. Sew into the intersection of the X and sew all the way across using your quarter inch foot. STOP at the intersection of the second X. Do NOT sew into the seam allowance. Backstitch a couple of times.

I backstitch, because there are no seams crossing one another.

Remedy for sewing into the seam allowance: rip out the number of stitches into the seam allowance. Don’t rip out the whole seam, just rip out the stitch or two that went over.

Take the piece out of the machine and reposition the next unsewn side.Same deal: Position the needle right above the intersection of the x. Sew into the intersection of the X and sew all the way across using your quarter inch foot. STOP at the intersection of the second X. Do NOT sew into the seam allowance. Backstitch a couple of times.

Hexagons Unpressed
Hexagons Unpressed

Take your piece over to the ironing board and lay it face down. Yes, I know everyone says to press right sides up. Not this time, sweetie. Face down. On the ironing board. You are going to make a swirl with the seams near each other. Look for how the other seams connected to the new ones you just sewed are pressed and press the new ones in the same direction.

Hexagon Flower
Hexagon Flower

If you follow these directions, you will get a little flower at the intersections of the seams. That is why you don’t sew into the seam allowance. The quilt will lay flatter and the seams will be in order.

You see a slightly different method at the Blue Chair blog.

Attack of the Hexies


Attack of the Hexies

Originally uploaded by Pantsfreesia

This is reposted from Pam (Hip to Be A Square)’s Flickrstream with only slight revisions/additions:

Srsly guys. They are EVERYWHERE.

Sandy at Quilting for the Rest of Us, Jaye from Art Quilt Maker, and I are loosely doing a hexagon-along quilting type thing this this summer. Sandy and I will be sharing our process and pitfalls on our podcasts, while Jaye will share on her blog.

You can find Sandy all over the web. Click on the link and it will take you to her podcast, Flickrstream- just about everywhere.

You can find Jaye at https://artquiltmaker.com/blog/ (where you are now!) (for her blog) or on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/artquiltmaker

You can find me at www.hiptobeasquarepodcast.com for my blog & podcast.

Feel free to grab this button if you want to show some solidarity. The current size is 277×277 pixels, but it can go down to 180×180 without distortion.