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.

Last week of the Lost Lake QAL

It is the final week of the Lost Lake QAL! If you have missed any instructions they can all be found in the Lost Lake QAL tab under the header. This week we are piecing the top. I pieced each quadrant as a four patch sewing the top two blocks together and the bottom two blocks together pressing the top seam to the right and the bottom seam to the left. Nesting the seams, I pieced the top blocks to the bottom and repeated these steps on the other three quadrants.

Four quadrants pieced.

Then I did the same with the four pieces I had left to finish the top. While piecing, there are a lot of seams that need to match up instead of pinning I held the next seam and just worked seam to seam. I got the best results that way.

Top and bottom pieced.

That is it for the Lost Lake Qal now all you have to do is quilt and bind it the way you prefer.

Finished top.

I'm almost a quarter of the way done quilting mine and hope to share the finished quilt on Friday. If you have any questions I would be happy to help. I will be back tomorrow to share my plans for a leader/ender project and Wednesday with an update on the Carpenter's Star quilt.

Carpenter's Star Part One

I meant to start my Carpenter's Star quilt on Monday, but instead I was ripping my husbands dress shirts apart for fabric. I have a plan don't worry I'm not just being destructive for no reason. As a result of the shirt distraction, I am not as far along as I wanted to be but that's alright.

As I said on Sunday, this quilt will finish at 88" square so not quite queen size but my sister will accept it and be happy right Tina? Just kidding if she doesn't like it I will keep it.

If you want to make a quilt this size you will need 3 1/2 yards background fabric and 2 1/4 of each of the main colors.

Background

Cut 4- 11.5-inch strips and subcut into 12 11.5-inch squares.
Cut 6- 12.25-inch strips and subcut into 16 12.25-inch squares.

Main Colors (follow instructions for both)
Cut 6- 12.25-inch strips and subcut into 18 12.25-inch squares.

Eight of each color will be paired together and the other ten of each will be paired with white to make half square triangles two at a time. The half square triangles need to be squared down to 11.5 inches. You will have 16 background/grey hst's, 16 background/yellow hst's, 20 grey/yellow hst's, and 12 background squares.  That is it for piecing and it just needs to be arranged in the right order. 

I finished the two-color hst's and half of the grey ones. I'll be back next Wednesday to update you on my progress. If you have any questions about the layout or anything else comment and I will get back to you by email.

Linking up with Freshly Pieced and Sew Fresh Quilts, please go check out all of the awesome projects people are linking!

Lost Lake QAL Week Four

Welcome, back! This week things get pretty exciting and the end is in sight. If you missed any of the previous instructions they can be found in the Lost Lake tab under the header.

Alright, let's jump right in. Every block is constructed the same way no matter which color it is. Layout your large half square triangles with the darker fabric in the bottom right. Then you will take sixteen of the smaller half square triangle units (same color as the main block) and arrange them around the center block. Five on top, five on the bottom, with three on each side. Here is a picture of one of mine layed out before sewing.

Take the five from the top and sew them together with a strict quarter inch seam. Do the same with the bottom five. Then sew the three from each side. Since there are so many seams in this block I pressed them all open. 

Once you have pressed the seams with a hot steamy iron sew the left and right sides to the center first. While sewing, I like to keep the smaller HST's on the top so I can watch the seams and make sure they don't flip. Then sew the top and the bottom seams, again pressing open. Block so be 15.5 inches at this point.

Repeat for the other 15 blocks and you're done for this week! It is starting to come together. Next week we will be piecing the quilt top! If you have any questions feel free to ask in the comments and I would be happy to help.  I would love to see your blocks. As always you can share on Instagram with #lostlakeqal. 

Chatty Update

It has been so busy around my house lately. My sister and nephew came to visit which was a lot of fun and a nice break from our normal life. We got our school shopping done. Well, the clothes part anyway I still need to pick up some supplies. It was a little intense this year having to shop for two kids instead of one. I survived, but the pocketbook is a little bit lighter these days.

The big thing that I worked on this month was a secret quilting project. I tested a pattern for Nightingale Quilts that will be coming out later this month. I shared a few peeks on Instagram, but I can't share the finished project until the pattern comes out.

Have you joined the Meadow Mist Midnight Mystery Quilt Along? If you haven't you definitely should; I'm having so much fun with it. Cheryl has a very active FB group and everyone is sharing their progress. I still need to trim most of my flying geese from this month's clue.

I have discovered the magic that is Mary Ellen's Best Press. (Affliate link) I was at Joann's and picked up a bottle to try since I knew it was pretty popular. When I was ironing my fabric for the Carpenter's Star quilt (more on this in a second) I couldn't believe how easy it was to get the wrinkles out when I used the Best Press. I don't even care that it is a starch and sizing alternative I'll buy it just for the ease of ironing. The Lavender Fields scent is really nice, once I run out I am going to buy one of the big honking jugs of it. Okay, I'm done with the infomercial, but seriously go buy yourself some if you haven't!

Starting Wednesday I will be posting my progress on my sister's Carpenter's Star quilt. I will be sharing my measurements and the process I use to create it so if you are interested in making one I hope I can help you out. The quilt that I am making will finish at 88" square.

How has your summer been? 

Don't forget week four of the Lost Lake QAL will be up in the morning!

Lost Lake Qal Week 3

Welcome back! This week we will be working on the large HST units. If you missed any of the instructions they can be found in the Lost Lake tab under the header.

We will be using the two at a time method this week since we will only need a few of each color.

Take each 10-inch fabric D squares and mark a line diagonally corner to corner on the wrong side. Match them up with one of each of the other fabrics right sides together. Sew a quarter inch from the line on both sides and cut along the line. Press each HST to the dark side and square up to 9.5 inches. For a step-by-step tutorial see the link above. If you have any questions let me know I would love to help.

That's it for this week pretty easy huh? Next week we will be working on putting the blocks together. Don't forget you can check in on Instagram #lostlakeqal and in the Quilting It Out facebook group.

Linking up with Cooking Up Quilts MCM.

Lost Lake QAL Week Two

Welcome back for week two of the Lost Lake QAL all of the information that has been previously posted can be found in the Lost Lake tab under the blog header.

Eight at a time method

Match each eight-inch Fabric D square with an eight inch square of each of the other fabrics. Using the eight at a time method create half square triangles, press to the dark, and square them up to 3.5 inches. You will end up with 64 HST's with both Fabrics A and C and 128 HST's with Fabric B.

Two at a time method

Match each four-inch Fabric D square with a four inch square of each of the other fabrics.  Using the two at a time method create half square triangles, press to the dark, and square them up to 3.5 inches. You will end up with 64 HST's with both Fabrics A and C and 128 HST's with Fabric B. 

Next week we will be working on the larger HST units. I would love to see your progress please share on Instagram with #lostlakeqal or in the Quilting It Out facebook group. 

Linking up with Cooking Up Quilts Main Crush Monday.