2016 Paintbrush Studio New Block Blog Hop

Ocean Sunrise Colors: Midnight, Daydream, White, Peach, Coral, Bordeaux

Paintbrush Studio is sponsoring a new block blog hop featuring their line of solids. Each participant received a fat quarter bundle of the Ocean Sunrise Palette to create a block to share. The blocks will all be sent to the hosts and made into quilts for charity.  I want to thank the hosts, Yvonne @Quilting Jetgirl, Cheryl @Meadow Mist Designs, and Stephanie @Late Night Quilter, for putting this all together.

I decided to design a block around an hourglass using half square triangles.  Put together to make a quilt you get a great secondary diamond pattern.

                                     

Floating hourglass cut list:

Midnight- Four 3 1/2 inch squares and One 8 inch square

White- One 8 inch square and Two 4 inch squares

Bordeaux- Two 4 inch squares

Set the 3 1/2 inch Midnight squares aside for now. Mark the smaller white squares across diagonally in one direction and the larger one in both directions. Match the 8-inch midnight square with the white 8-inch square and sew a quarter inch on both sides of the lines. Match the two 4-inch Bordeaux squares wth the two white 4-inch squares. Sew a quarter inch seam on either side of the line.

On the 4-inch squares cut along the drawn line. On the 8 inch squares, you are going to cut along the drawn lines but also cut down the center in both directions to give you eight pieces.

Press the half square triangles to the dark and square the blocks up to 3 1/2 inches.

Lay the blocks out with the midnight squares in the corners and the midnight half square triangles pointing to the outside. The Bordeaux half square triangles will make up the hourglass in the center.

Sew the rows together and press the seams of the first and third rows to the left and the second and fourth rows to the right. Nest the seams and sew the rows to each other.

Thanks for stopping by to check out my block. Make sure to follow along with the blog hop so you can catch all of the great new block tutorials!

Monday, March 28th
Host: Yvonne @Quilting Jetgirl
Jess @Quilty Habit
Silvia @A Stranger View
Cristy @Love You Sew
Renee @Quilts of a Feather
Bernie @Needle and Foot
Terri Ann @Childlike Fascination
Chelsea @Patch the Giraffe
Mary @Quilting is in my Blood
Diana @Red Delicious Life
Sarah @123 Quilt

Tuesday, March 29th

Host: Cheryl @Meadow Mist Designs
Kim @Leland Ave Studios
Andrea @The Sewing Fools
Cassandra @The (not so) Dramatic Life
Stephanie @Quilt’n Party
Irene @Patchwork and Pastry
Tish @Tish’s Adventures in Wonderland
Abby @Hashtag Quilt
Sarah @Smiles Too Loudly
Carrie @The Zen Quilter
Wanda @Wanda’s Life Sampler
Jayne @Twiggy and Opal

Wednesday, March 30th
Host: Stephanie @Late Night Quilter
Vicki @Orchid Owl Quilts
Shelly @The Carpenter’s Daughter Who Quilts
Amy @13 Spools
Geraldine @Living Water Quilter
Robyn @Hoops & Thimbles
Jan @The Colorful Fabriholic
Sharla @Thistle Thicket Studio
Jinger @Trials of a Newbie Quilter
Kathryn @Kupitis
Jane @Jolly and Delilah
Josi @Avocado Quilts
Deanna @Stitches Quilting
Lori @SewPsyched!

Dog Gone Cute Quilt

 The beginning of the school year has made things kind of crazy around my house lately. I haven't been quilting as much as I would like but what I have done I am really proud of. The Dog Gone Cute quilt is a recent finish that I would like to share as part of the blog hop that Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts is running.

It was love at first sight when I saw this quilt pattern. These not so little dogs were just too adorable to ignore. My youngest daughter, Jamie, is three years old and likes to pretend that she is a puppy. She barks and sniffs and even sometimes licks me. Oh and she also likes to play fetch. I knew this quilt would be perfect for her and when I showed her the pattern she asked for one right away.

I had some Etno fabric by Pat Bravo for Art Gallery Fabrics that was begging to be used. Three-quarters of a yard of each made the 12 large size dogs and the binding with quite a bit leftover.

These puppies have stolen my heart so much that I think Jamie definitely needs a pillow to go along with her new quilt. I almost had to wrestle her just to get pictures of it. She brings it to bed with her and in the morning drags it along downstairs for the day. That is the best feeling in the world seeing something you made being loved on and enjoyed so thoroughly.

(My camera battery petered out on me so its iPhone pictures until I can get a new one)

Here is a list of the blogs participating in the blog hop so you can check out their awesome projects.

Tuesday, October 6
Karen of Run Sew Fun
Kris of Kris Loves Fabric
Anja of Anja Quilts
Tish of Tish’s Adventures in Wonderland


Thursday, October 8
Carol of Just Let Me Quilt
Nina of Inchworming
Doris of The Quilting Queen Online
Brandy of Pampered Pettit
Leena of Creative Instincts


Tuesday, October 13
Ruth of Charly and Ben’s Crafty Corner
Tanya of Tanya Quilts in Colorado
Laurel of Quilts by Laurel
Kathy of Kathy’s Quilting Blog
Deb of New Creative State


Thursday, October 15
Anita of Daydreams of Quilts
Gina of Quilts and Cakes
Beth of Words & Stitches
Rachel of Quiltineering
Julie of Mack and Mable


Tuesday, October 20
Cathy of A Quilting Chick
Selina of Selina Quilts
Shauna of Shauna’s World
Gayle of Pedal Sew Lightly
Kathy of Kayak Quilting


Thursday, October 22
Sandy of Upstairs Hobby Room
Heide of Heide’s Quilty Hugs
Britt-Inger of Hill Valley Quilter
Judy of How ART You?
Louisa of Sewmotion


Tuesday, October 27
Teje of Nero’s Patch and Post
Stephanie of Jak and Will
Valerie of Val’s Quilting Studio
Ellen of Georgia Florida Studio
Cristina of Pretty Little Quilts


Thursday, October 29
Abigail of Cut & Alter
Magdalena of iloveneutrals
Jenn of A Quarter Inch from the Edge
Anne of Batiks by the Bay
Susie of Susie's Sunroom
Tracy of Tracy’s Bits N Pieces

2015 New Block Blog Hop

Thank you for stopping by for my block tutorial in the Fabri-Quilt New Block Blog Hop! Fabri-Quilt was kind enough to offer fat eighth bundles for the tutorials and there is a giveaway so make sure you check out the other blogs and our host for today Yvonne over at Quilting Jetgirl. Before I start my tutorial here is a list of the other blogs participating today:

Martha @Once a Wingnut
Irene @Patchwork and Pastry
Cassandra @The (not so) Dramatic Life
Andrea @The Sewing Fools
Bernie @Needle and Foot
Silvia @A Stranger View
Wanda @Wanda’s Life Sampler
Sandra @Musings of a Menopausal Melon
Vicki @Orchid Owl Quilts
Jess @Quilty Habit
Diana @Red Delicious Life
Chelsea @Patch the Giraffe
Margo @Shadow Lane Quilts
Renee @Quilts of a Feather

The theme for the blocks is summer. When I sat down to design my block all I could think of was the Lady of the Lake blocks I have been working with a lot lately and hourglass blocks. If you are like me and have young kids summer can be very exciting to begin with but towards the end you're definitely ready for school to start again. That is where the hourglass came in, I'm counting down the minutes until school starts back up!

Cut 7.25-inch squares from two of the colors and mark the lighter one with a line diagonally.

Put right sides together, pin, and sew a quarter inch seam on both sides of the line.

Cut on the drawn line and press the seams to the dark side. You will have two half square triangles. Next you will put them right sides together with the opposite colors touching the seams will nest nicely against each other. Draw a diagonal line and pin.

Sew a quarter inch seam on both sides of the drawn line, cut on the line, and press. Trim your hourglass block to 6.5 inches by matching the 45-degree line on your ruler with the diagonal line and the 3.25-inch mark on the ruler with the center of the block.

Cut 6 4.25-squares from two different colors (12 in total) and repeat the same process but square the blocks to 3.5 inches. You will end up with 12 3.5-inch hourglass blocks.

Lay your block out like this:

Sew the top four blocks together and the bottom four blocks together pressing the seams open. Sew the left two blocks and the right two blocks together pressing the seams open then sew them to the middle block.

Repeat with the top and bottom and you are finished!

This block would look neat using just two colors or you could get really scrappy and do different colors for each smaller block. If you decide to make the block I would love to see what you do with it! Don't forget to check out the blogs to see what they came up with. Now I need to send this block off to the fabulous Stephanie of Late Night Quilter so she can sew it into a quilt for charity. I want to thank our hosts (Stephanie, Yvonne, Terri Ann, and Cheryl) for putting this together I had a lot of fun coming up with my block and putting it together. There might be a quilt with just this block in my future.

Cushion Cut Quilt

The time has come to reveal the secret sewing project I have been up to lately! The Cushion Cut Quilt by Caroline of Nightingale Quilts was really fun and a pretty quick project. I made this quilt for my teenage niece in the colors that she wanted. The pattern was easy to follow and would be good for beginners and up.

 This quilt is the throw size which is the perfect size for cuddling up with on the couch or using as a picnic blanket.

Caroline was nice enough to offer up a PDF copy of her new pattern to one of my readers! To enter all you have to do is comment on this post before midnight eastern time tonight and I will pick a random winner in the morning. If you are a no-reply blogger please leave your email address so I can get in touch with you if you win. Good luck.

Since Yvonne didn't want to be entered to win we only had two entries. Congratulations Sandra, you won a PDF copy of the Cushion Cut Quilt! I will be emailing it to you today.

Lost Lake Finished!

Earlier this week I finished my Lost Lake quilt! I am so excited and proud of this finish. It came out exactly like I wanted it to and it looks great.

I'm not sure why but I couldn't get a picture that didn't make the quilt look wicked wrinkly. It doesn't look wrinkly in person so I don't know what happened but its really frustrating. 

I love Art Gallery Fabric it is so silky and soft. Pat Bravo is definitely one of my favorite fabric designers.

I had so much fun with the Lady of the Lake block that I have already designed my next quilt using this block!

Linking up with Richard and Tanya Quilts, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, and Crazy Mom Quilts.

Projects in Progress

This week I have been finishing up some projects and doing some smaller things before launching into my next set of quilts. All of the blocks for my Carpenter's Star quilt are finished I just need to get around to piecing the top.

I pull my fabric choices for my Dog Gone Cute quilt for my daughter. I'll be participating in the blog hop in October so stay tuned for that! I might add in a dark blue fabric from Cotton and Steel, but I haven't decided yet.

A month or two ago I came up with the idea that I wanted to make quilts for all of our nieces and nephews. We have a total of 12 plus Chad's younger sister who is the same age or younger than quite a few of them. Yeah, this is going to be a long-term project! Lost Lake will be going to my oldest nephew and my secret sewing, Cushion Cut, will be going to my oldest niece. Next up is a nephew so he is going to be getting a quilt out of the Dare To Be Square (amazon affiliate link) book by Boo Davis. It is called Basket Case and has a skull in the middle of the quilt. In the book, the background is in pinks but we decided on using greens instead.

I have also been working on my block for the 2015 Fabri-Quilt New Block blog hop which I will be sharing next Monday so make sure to check in for that!

I also have a very special super secret project that I will be working on for the next several months that I am very excited about and will probably share some progress on IG. With school starting soon for my two older girls, I'm hoping it will free me up to get some stuff done.

How many projects do you have in progress? I used to work on only one project at a time but lately I have been getting a little crazy with my projects!

Linking up with Sew Fresh Quilts and Freshly Pieced.

Leader and Ender Plans

Do you use leaders and enders? I have been watching a lot of Bonnie Hunter's quilt cam archives while I sew lately and she got me interested in trying a leader/ender quilt. Right now she is doing tumblers but I wasn't feeling it so I have been trying to come up with something that would work.  If you haven't heard of it before leader/ender quilts are made while you work on other projects. You have the pieces set up next to the sewing machine and when you get to the end of what you are sewing instead of cutting the thread you take two pieces of fabric from you leader/ender quilt and sew that leaving it under the presser foot. The piece then becomes your leader for the next bit of sewing that you do. It saves thread because you don't have big pieces hanging off that need to be clipped and you don't end up with those nasty thread nests.

I was watching a video of Amanda from 3and3quarters and she had her Happy Quilt behind her. I love that quilt and decided to do something similar. Mine will have 100 5-inch blocks with 1-inch sashing. I figured these little blocks would be a perfect leader/ender project.

I still have a lot of white to cut but at that point I needed a break and decided to just cut more white fabric once I needed it. The print fabric came from 10 fat quarters. The pieces on the left of the picture are the leftovers. I decided to cut them into pieces I could use in a second leader/ender project and they are the perfect size for a split nine-patch. I have quite a few fat quarters that are similar to go with them. The pieces all the way to the right of the picture are just itty bitty 1.5-inch squares so cute and tiny. There are four quilts on my list of quilts that need to be done soonish so I should make some pretty good progress on this quilt along the way.

Do you make leader and ender quilts? If so what is your favorite pattern to use?

Linking up with Blossom Heart Quilts.