#JellyRollRailway

I love a good jelly roll pattern and FQS's Jelly Roll Railway isn't too shabby!
Whether using up left over strips or breaking out the new fabric goodness, this is a quick quilt good for gifting!
There is a kit here. And the video tutorial here

I used half a a pack of 2 1/2" batik strips from I think Hoffman fabrics.
The mini jelly rolls from Wilmington would work perfectly since they have 24 strips.

This pattern goes for short cuts, and for the strip piecing it does but then makes blocks instead of just going on point with a block and sash, which is what I ended up doing. I'm in a place where I need all the short cuts to get a quilt done so as much as I love triangles, it was out with those except for the setting triangles. The others are squares as long as the strip, and the smaller ones the width of the strips.

Because of the colours I added a mitred border to add some pop of dark.

This one reminds me of taking the train through rural areas, blurs of colour.

Layer Cake 10" Square HST Tutorial

The love of half square triangles strikes again!
This one is quick as well as easy. I used 10 squares and made 40 hsts and 4 squares in 25 minutes, without rushing!

Layer (2) starched 10" squares right sides together.

Stitch 1/4" down two parallel sides.

Cut on the diagonal, from corner to corner.


Press open.

Lay two triangles, these are one half of a quarter square triangle, right sides
together and stitch along the long edge.

Press open.

Trim. 13" = 3.25" patches, 12" = 3" patches.

Cut a 4 x 4 grid. (For 12", cut at 3", 6", & 9" both across and up/down)

Voila! 8 a/b half square triangles and 4 fabric a & 4 fabric b 3" squares.


Cool...now what can I make?

A/ One layer cake, 42 10" squares = 168 3" hsts, and 168 3" squares, which is 336 patches or a quilt laid out 17*19 rows is 43"*48".

B/ One layer cake & background/solid layer cake = 336 hsts, 168 print & 168 solid squares, which is 672 patches, laid out 25*26 rows is 63"x65.5"

If using from 13", instead of 3", it is 3.25" patches, making A/48*53 & B/ 69"*72.

Fat Eighth HST How To

Fat Eigths or f8s, are a newer cut and one I haven't played with all that much.

But in answer to the age old question what happens if...., I have discovered a new favorite for making a lot of hsts, and getting some squares too, from f8s.

First press the crazy number of deep creases out, and use either spray starch or Best Press etc. to add some stiffness. We're throwing out the rules regarding bias on this one. I know it's scary and shocking but I promise it works out in the end.

Sew two f8s right sides together, along the long edge. Match up the cut edge, not the selvedge to get the most out of the fabric.

Press the seams to help sink the stitches.

Lay your f8 flat on your cutting surface. Clean up the edge, and lay a 12.5" ruler on the edge with the 45 degree line on the edge, so you have a triangle. Cut. Use the images below, and you'll get 4 half a quarter square triangles. (1/2 a qst)

  

 Press the triangles open. stitch two together to make a quarter square triangle.

Each f8 pair will yield 2 QST.

Trim down the qst so it is 12" square.

Making 6 cuts, subcut into 3" segments.

Each 12" qst will yield 4 & 4 3'' solid squares, and 3" 8 hsts, With the fq8 pair yielding 8 & 8, and 16 hst.

Thoughts on fabric for remakes

I'm trying to decide which of my designs to write up or re-do for patterns. These are some of what what I've made in the last few years that for a lot of reasons didn't get that book and didn't get published otherwise.

Any thoughts? I'm think maybe Northcott textures? They're semi-Canadian. Or is Kona solids the way to go for more shelf-life?

Project Quilting Season 8 Challenge #2

 #PQSeason8 Challenge- Carolina Lily

Titled " pee by me", I made this to protest my hubby's home state of North Carolinas HB2 law, which forces trans people to use the bathroom of their birth gender, not the gender they identify with, this includes students at public schools.
It bans cities from passing anti-discrimination bylaws and rejects protections for LGBT people. You can be fired in NC for being gay. And evicted.
HB2 also bans a higher minimum wage set by cities. 

The quilt is 40" square and uses @vchristenson's ombres for @modafabrics, with @blankquiltingcorp's newsprint. Quilted with @aurifilthread 50 wt and bound in 28wt. Made in London, ON Canada.

I'm resharing this from my Instagram to remind everyone that peeing in a public bathroom is a question of existing in public space. Being allowed to exist. Transgender people, fellow human beings, are more likely to be the victim of a crime and they are killed at a higher rate then any other group.
Only ~1% of the population is transgender.
41% of transgender human beings have attempted suicide compared to 4.6% in the general population.
And you care where they pee?
How about we protect some of the most vulnerable among us instead of making things harder.

The final challenge for Project Quilting Season 8 is live Sun March 12 @ 1pmET on Kim Lapacek's blog Persimon Dreams! We need just a few more entries to get this seasons total to 800!

#ProjectQuilting Week 3 - Thread

  I'm loving doing #ProjectQuilting. Having a theme is really helping push me to do some designing and just let my mind play with an idea, and even after I've done my design I keep thinking about different ways it could be represented. I really just am feeling energized with it. So a big thank you Kim for doing this!

 This week's challenge is thread.
 I was inspired by this picture of spools of Aurifil from Alyce of Blossom Heart Quilts, where she was doing a mini whole clothe quilt.

With that as my starting point I just dove in making little Aurifil spools. I made them all orange spools because I really do love my 50wt.

28 blocks later...

The quilt is 24"x24". Everything about this quilt is a scrap or leftovers. 

I used up left over Grunge charms from this quilt, and the very last of my white fabric from one I did in December and even the backing is pieced from left overs of another backing. It's quilted with Aurifil 2311 50wt thread, which is my go to for piecing and quilting. I love how how much my machine loves it. I get less breakage, less lint, and fit more on a bobbin.

Do you have a favorite thread colour?  

Be sure to follow me on Instagram and Twitter!

All in A Row

Just  resist the adorable row quilts I picked up Martingale's Moda All-Stars All in a Row and had to make up a few of the rows right away!
I'm following along with #allinarowquiltalong in hopes of keeping motivation to make a full quilt not just runners etc.

The cute factor has me breaking into my Honey Honey stash by Kate Spain. I really love the warmth and bright of her fabrics and Honey Honey just checked off all the awesome. It's a line I love more and more.And Kate is a really warm and lovely person and I just get that feeling from the fabrics as well.

 I made Pincushion and Thread and I can't believe how cute that little bit of applique adds! I'll add the button on top of the applique after it is quilted.

I also did the Drunkard's Path row. I adore the design but had never made any until I made a test block of this row,

and I love it! I glue basted the curves which I found made it much easier to keep everything neat and it means I didn't get stuck by pins.

Then I had to make Joanna from Fig Tree Quilts' row We are Family. I messed this one up. I didn't want to make the star points the way the book instructed so I used a different method that left me with stars spinning in opposite directions. I kinda like it. It suites the title for me.

And then Pat Sloan's adorable wash line begged to be made up.

Four rows done so far!

 Have you ever made a row quilt?