Tuesday, July 17, 2018

12 Days of Christmas in July Blog Hop - Day 4! And ANOTHER Giveaway!!

Hi, all!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!  My favorite time of the year, made even better when I get a head start on creating beautiful handmade things!  Today our list of bloggers begins with Sharon of Vrooman's Quilts.  Sharon has my undying envy - she has the greatest street address ever, living on Quilt Lane.  She's also a prolific scrap quilter, and does some beautiful piecing.  She'll be teaching some new-to-me techniques, as is our second blogger, Mary of Made by Marney.  I think Mary's project may get me off the dime on paper piecing...

And here's a heads-up - there's a giveaway (or two) among today's bloggers - so stop by their blogs and throw your hat in the ring!

*&*&*&*&*&*&*


Thought I'd share another pretty picture just to keep your eye on the prize... I hope you're enjoying the trip so far!  Don't worry if you're falling behind - because we're starting so early, even if life happens and you don't get finished with your top by the 25th, this quilt is simple and you can easily catch up.  So let's get on to the next step!


Let's finish up our A Blocks today!  


The first thing we need to do is press what we did yesterday.  Lay your webbed block on the ironing board with the sewn columns running vertically.  Press the seams on the right column in towards the center square of the column.  Press the seams on the center column out away from the center square of the column.  Finally, press the seams on the left column in towards towards the center square of the column.  Repeat with the remaining eleven webbed blocks.


Now, nesting the seams and pinning at the intersections, stitch the two remaining seams on each block.  


Grab your little friend Jack the (seam) Ripper, and break the little threads that webbed the blocks together for the next step.

And now, for the final pressing, I would suggest that you watch this video - it's short, and it will easily show you how to spin your seams if you don't already know how.  

Spinning those seams will make the final assembly of your quilt so much easier, and will reduce the bulk when quilting.  

That's it for today!  Tomorrow we'll start assembling our B Blocks. Put your A blocks up on your design wall and enjoy the colors!!

*&*&*&*&*&*&*

Be sure to stop by and check out today's bloggers if you haven't done it already, and throw your name in the hat for the giveaways.  See you tomorrow with lots more Christmas-y inspiration!!

Hugs!

Sarah
Saturday, July 14th

Selina @ Selina Quilts

Sunday, July 15th


Monday, July 16th

Jamie @ L'Fair Quilts

Tuesday, July 17th


Wednesday, July 18th

Marian @ Seams To Be Sew

Thursday, July 19th

Danice @ Homespun Hannah

Friday, July 20th


Saturday, July 21st


Sunday, July 22nd

Anja @ Anja Quilts
Moira @ Quilted Snail

Monday, July 23rd


Tuesday, July 24th


Wednesday, July 25th

Brandy @ Pampered Pettit
Posted by at 7 comments: Links to this post
Labels: , , ,

Monday, July 16, 2018

12 Days of Christmas in July Blog Hop - Day 3!!! And Giveaway Alert!!

Hi, all!

Day three of the 12 Days of Christmas in July blog hop is here, and if you're anything like me, there are ideas and possibilities bouncing around in your head like popcorn!!  And to think, we've only just begun!

Today we have three great bloggers for your enjoyment.  First up is Carole, who blogs at From My Carolina Home.  She's been here before, and last year was so much fun, I for one can't wait to see what she has to share with us this year!  And then there's Jamie of L'Fair Quilts - she has such a fabulous idea, I know for sure I'll be making one too!  And Karen from Tu-Na Quilts, Travels and Eats has just what you need to get into the Christmas spirit.  You'll find a giveaway today, too, while visiting the day's blogs - remember to enter!

*&*&*&*&*&*&*


I hope you're finding it easy to keep up with the quilt-along, but remember, there will be catch-up days to either give you a breather or allow you to get back on schedule.  I want to show you the third color-way I came up with for this quilt, which I think would be good for a Quilts of Valor quilt.  I checked, and it falls, size-wise, within the parameters they request.  

Today we will start assembling Block A.  Gather up the 48 HSTs you made yesterday, 48 Fabric C 4.5" squares, and 12 Fabric A 4.5" squares.  Make four equal piles of 12 of both the HSTs and the Fabric C 4.5" squares.  

Lay out a 9-patch block with the Fabric A triangles pointing out at the corners, the Fabric A squares in the center, and the Fabric C squares at NESW.  SPEED TIP:  I stack up all the parts for all 12 blocks on top of each other so I don't have to stop and lay out the next block after finishing one.  That's why you made stacks of twelve of the HSTs and Fabric C units.


Step 1:  Take the top right HST and lay it face down over the top center Fabric A square. Pick it up and sew the right hand seam.  WITHOUT CUTTING THE THREAD, lay the second row Fabric C square face down on the center Fabric A square and chain piece, sewing the right hand seam.  Repeat with the bottom row, and now you can cut your thread.
Step 2:  Open up the piece you just made and lay it face down on the left column of blocks, lining up the right hand side of the sewn strip with the right hand side of the unsewn left column.  Now you can see how they will attach to the right column of blocks.  Chain piece those squares to your sewn unit from top to bottom, and cut the thread.  You should now have a 9-patch piece that looks like the one pictured above.  This is called "webbing" the block, and is a really useful technique to hold all your pieces together while making multiple blocks.  Repeat for the remaining 11 blocks, and you're done for the day!

 Tomorrow we'll press what we've done so far and finish constructing the blocks.  I recommend waiting for pressing instructions so that your quilt goes together easily!!

 Two quick things - some readers have kindly pointed out some things that were missing in the cutting directions, so if you haven't already done your cutting, you may want to refer back to the first post before doing so.  And if you want to print out these posts as a PDF, it's easy to do.  Just click on the title of my post so that you are in that specific post rather than just on my blog in general, and then you will see a green button under my sign-off.  Click on that, and it will bring up a PDF that you can print off or save.  Easy-peasy!
*&*&*&*&*&*&*

And that's it for today!  Be sure to check out today's bloggers, if you haven't already, and find and enter in today's giveaway!

Saturday, July 14th

Selina @ Selina Quilts

Sunday, July 15th


Monday, July 16th

Jamie @ L'Fair Quilts

Tuesday, July 17th

Sharon @ Vrooman's Quilts

Wednesday, July 18th

Thursday, July 19th

Danice @ Homespun Hannah

Friday, July 20th


Saturday, July 21st

Marian @ Seams To Be Sew

Sunday, July 22nd

Anja @ Anja Quilts
Moira @ Quilted Snail

Monday, July 23rd

Brenda @ Songbird Designs

Tuesday, July 24th


Wednesday, July 25th


Hugs!

Sarah
Posted by at 6 comments: Links to this post
Labels: , , ,

Sunday, July 15, 2018

12 Days of Christmas in July Blog Hop - Day 2!!! And Giveaway Alert!!

Hi, all!

 Did you enjoy the projects from yesterday's bloggers?  Well, I promise that you'll enjoy today's just as much!!!  Today our first blogger is Joanne from Everyone Deserves a Quilt.  Joanne is a prodigious quilt maker, and I think that if everyone deserves a quilt, Joanne is determined to make sure that happens!  And next up is Jan, also known as The Colorful Fabriholic.  I got to meet Jan in person at the AQS quilt show in Paducah one year, and she's as lovely in person as she is on her blog. She's also a book author, which I had the honor of reviewing in this post.   So go see what's going on with them, then come back here and find the next set of instructions for the quilt-along quilt, "Rejoice"!  And heads up - one of them has a giveaway going on today - don't miss your chance to enter!
*&*&*&*&*&*&*


And now we're ready for day two of the quilt-along!  Above, you can see this quilt in a different color way - I used two close shades of blue prints and pure white for this one, and I've been told by several people that it looks like "Frozen"!  I hadn't thought of that when I was making it, but it really does.  My main purpose was to come up with a wintry quilt without using "Christmas" colors.  This one is much more subtly colored.

Today we'll be making the half-square triangles (HSTs) that will go into Block A.  For a visual reference, here's a diagram of Block A.


We will be using the 8-at-a-time method for making the HST units that make up the corners of this block.  We need enough for twelve blocks, which means we'll need 48 HST units.  

Step 1:  Pair a white 10" square with a red 10" square.  Make 6 sets of these.


Step 2:  Draw a diagonal line from corner to corner on the white squares; repeat from the opposite corner.


Step 3:  Stitch a scant 1/4" from each side of the diagonal lines.  


Step 4:  Cut the square in half both vertically and horizontally.  Imagine the points of the compass and cut N/S and E/W through the center of the block.


Step 5:  Cut the resulting blocks in half along the diagonal line you drew in Step 2.


Step 6:  Press toward the darker fabric, being careful not to stretch the block out of shape.


Step 7:  Square up the HSTs to 4.5".  Now, I know you may be getting tired by now, and want to skip this step. Trust me, this is one of the most important steps in this quilt. The trick to HSTs is to square them up so they are all the same size.  Otherwise, you'll end up with some larger than others and your quilt won't go together well.  So drag out that rotary cutter and square those puppies up!  (If you've got a Bloc-Loc ruler, it's pretty simple and quick.)


And now you should have a beautiful pile of neat little 4.5" HSTs...


...and an equally cute little pile of trimmings!  Birds love these for their nests, or you can put them in a pretty little jar and admire them as quilt-y art.  I have a friend who weaves, and she likes to add them to her weavings, so I save them for her.

 And here's the list of bloggers for the hop,  in case you've missed any...
Saturday, July 14th

Selina @ Selina Quilts

Sunday, July 15th


Monday, July 16th

Jamie @ L'Fair Quilts

Tuesday, July 17th

Sharon @ Vrooman's Quilts

Wednesday, July 18th

Marian @ Seams To Be Sew

Thursday, July 19th

Danice @ Homespun Hannah

Friday, July 20th


Saturday, July 21st


Sunday, July 22nd

Anja @ Anja Quilts
Moira @ Quilted Snail

Monday, July 23rd

Brenda @ Songbird Designs

Tuesday, July 24th


Wednesday, July 25th

Brandy @ Pampered Pettit

And that's it for today!  If you haven't already, be sure to check out today's bloggers and enter in the giveaway offered on one of their blogs - you might get lucky!  See you tomorrow for the next step in the quilt-along!

 Hugs!

 Sarah
Posted by at 8 comments: Links to this post
Labels: , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)