Strippy Improv Holiday Sew Along Part 7

 

If you're looking longingly at the Strippy Improv Holiday blocks but thinking that there's no way you have time to sew a wall hanging or table runner before Christmas, this post is for you!

 If you're just joining in, this is a very loose sew along--see the schedule at the bottom of this post--I'm making four different blocks and then talking about assembly. 

Totally do-able before Christmas! Especially after you read today's post!

Need the pattern? Find it here.

Need a small gift (or only have time to make a small gift?)
Sew a block, quilt it, and bind it! Instant mini quilt, pot holder or mug rug! These two blocks, yet to be bound (hey, I still have 10 days!) are destined to be gifts. Cute, easy, and made with love. (Note: If you're going to make a hot pad, use two layers of batting or even better, a heat-resistant batting layer plus batting).

For the star, I echo quilted the star itself with gold thread, using my walking foot edge for spacing. For the background, I did the same in a dark blue thread.

For the snowman, I used a large decorative stitch on my machine to create texture. This is my minimalist snowman. :)

My 10-year-old is obsessed with these blocks and is making them for gifts. Good thing his teacher doesn't read my blog! Didn't he do a great job? He even did the quilting and binding himself!

Yesterday I reduced the size of the star template by 50% and made four star coasters for our guild's holiday gift exchange. 

Inspired yet? I have about four more orphan blocks to finish and gift this season--I can't wait to see what they become! 

These blocks stitch up so quickly - you still have time to make something before the holidays! The pattern comes with templates for five different blocks (ornament, snowman, tree, star and candy cane), as well as two layout options--a four-patch style wall hanging and a table runner.

Purchase the pattern here.

See you back here Thursday for some finishing tips - including the most frequently asked question--what thread color should I use for quilting?

Strippy Improv Holiday Sew Along Schedule:
Thursday, November 18th - Intro and Fabric Selection

Tuesday, November 23rd - Make a block

Tuesday, November 30th - Make a block

Thursday, December 2nd - Make a block

Tuesday, December 7th - Make a block

Thursday, December 9th - Assembly

Tuesday, December 14th - Alternate options

Thursday, December 16th - Finishing

********************************************************************

If you're new here, welcome! I hope you'll stay and look around a bit. 

If you like what you've seen here, you can also find me:

To find all of my quilt patterns, visit my Etsy shop. 

Find me on IG here.

Find me on Facebook here.

Sign up for my newsletter in the right-hand sidebar or here. 

(You'll receive a free pattern for my Diamond Drama quilt (below) as a thank you!)

Strippy Improv Holiday Sew Along Part 6

It's assembly time for the Strippy Improv Holiday pattern! If you've been keeping up, you should have four blocks done. If you haven't been keeping up, no worries! You still have time.

 If you're just joining in, this is a very loose sew along--see the schedule at the bottom of this post--I'm making four different blocks and then talking about assembly. 

Totally do-able before Christmas!

Need the pattern? Find it here.

Let's look at the quilt assembly:

(Wait? What about the ornament block? It didn't get a day in the sew along! That's true...I just scheduled four days because you only need to make four blocks for the runner or wall hanging. But I've filled today's post with ornament blocks for inspiration. The ornament block has so much potential--different colors, different prints...you can really have fun with it!)

The pattern offers two assembly options--a square wall hanging, which is also perfect size for a door, and a table runner. I've made one of each so far, and have two more to make - hopefully before Christmas! 

For either lay out, you're going to be adding contrasting strips to frame the block. I originally added these to create some definition between my black background blocks and my black sashing and border fabric, but I really love how these skinny strips make the blocks pop with any fabric combination. 

Such a difference, right?! I highly recommend choosing a fabric that contrasts strongly with your block background and sashing/border.

I used these brightly colored ornament blocks to make a table runner:

And then these red and green ornament blocks to make a square wall hanging.

Here's a tip for the wall hanging assembly:

You want the vertical sashing pieces between each pair of blocks to align visually, even across the horizontal sashing piece. To make that happen, take a peek at how the sashing lines up when you're pinning by folding back one of your block rows. When the strips align, pin the raw edges so the strips stay aligned as you stitch. 

Voila! All lined up.

Everyone is curious about the stitching to secure the backgrounds to the block designs. 
I have mostly used a straight stitch and thread that matches the background so it's as invisible as possible. I know I may have some fraying, but since these are decorative items rather than a lap or bed quilt, I'm not too fussed. 

You can also use a zig zag stitch, blanket stitch, or other decorative stitch.

Next week I'll be showing some alternate options--ideas for using just a block or two. Perfect for if you start to run out of time for your holiday sewing! :) 

These blocks stitch up so quickly - you still have time to make something before the holidays! The pattern comes with templates for five different blocks (ornament, snowman, tree, star and candy cane), as well as two layout options--a four-patch style wall hanging and a table runner.

Purchase the pattern here.

See you back here next Tuesday for alternate options - mug rugs, mini quilts, and hot pads!

Strippy Improv Holiday Sew Along Schedule:
Thursday, November 18th - Intro and Fabric Selection

Tuesday, November 23rd - Make a block

Tuesday, November 30th - Make a block

Thursday, December 2nd - Make a block

Tuesday, December 7th - Make a block

Thursday, December 9th - Assembly

Tuesday, December 14th - Alternate options

Thursday, December 16th - Finishing

********************************************************************

If you're new here, welcome! I hope you'll stay and look around a bit. 

If you like what you've seen here, you can also find me:

To find all of my quilt patterns, visit my Etsy shop. 

Find me on IG here.

Find me on Facebook here.

Sign up for my newsletter in the right-hand sidebar or here. 

(You'll receive a free pattern for my Diamond Drama quilt (below) as a thank you!)

Strippy Improv Holiday Sew Along Part 4

It's snowman day - my favorite from the Strippy Improv Holiday blocks! 

If you're just joining in, this is a very loose sew along--see the schedule at the bottom of this post--I'm making four different blocks and then talking about assembly. 

Totally do-able before Christmas!

Need the pattern? Find it here.

I love embellishing these snowmen--adding eyes, a nose, buttons, stick arms, and a scarf. They'd be such cute mini quilts! Here are the snowmen I've made so far - two for the wall hangings I'm working on, and two that will be mini quilts (they're already quilted).

Two tips today: 

1. Use a variety of low-volume prints to give your snowman a little added interest--if you use all white on whites, the strips will blend together. 

2. When you're aligning the cut out snowman background on top your pieced snowman, pay close attention to the "points" where the snowman head intersect with the hat--align those points with the seam between your white snowman strip and your black hat strip. 

If you want to add a scarf, follow these steps:

1. Cut two strips - mine are 1" x 4-1/2". Fold them in half, wrong sides together, and stitch down the long edge. (I used woven fabric, so this minimized fraying--if you use traditional cotton fabric, you could cut them 1/2" wide and purposely fray the edge.) 

2. Before you fuse the background fabric with the snowman cut out to your pieced snowman, slide the raw edges of each scarf end under the "point" between the snowman head and body. 

3. Fuse in place, and then stitch around the edge of the snowman background, which will secure the scarf ends in place. 

4. Tie your scarf around the snowman's neck. 

These blocks stitch up so quickly - you still have time to make something before the holidays! The pattern comes with templates for five different blocks (ornament, snowman, tree, star and candy cane), as well as two layout options--a four-patch style wall hanging and a table runner.

Purchase the pattern here.

See you back here Tuesday for another block! 

Strippy Improv Holiday Sew Along Schedule:
Thursday, November 18th - Intro and Fabric Selection

Tuesday, November 23rd - Make a block

Tuesday, November 30th - Make a block

Thursday, December 2nd - Make a block

Tuesday, December 7th - Make a block

Thursday, December 9th - Assembly

Tuesday, December 14th - Alternate options

Thursday, December 16th - Finishing

********************************************************************

If you're new here, welcome! I hope you'll stay and look around a bit. 

If you like what you've seen here, you can also find me:

To find all of my quilt patterns, visit my Etsy shop. 

Find me on IG here.

Find me on Facebook here.

Sign up for my newsletter in the right-hand sidebar or here. 

(You'll receive a free pattern for my Diamond Drama quilt (below) as a thank you!)

Strippy Improv Holiday Sew Along Part 3

Welcome back for part 3 of the Strippy Improv Holiday Sew Along! Today, I'm making star blocks. If you're just joining in, this is a very loose sew along--see the schedule at the bottom of this post--I'm making four different blocks and then talking about assembly. Totally do-able before Christmas!

Need the pattern? Find it here.
 

I originally made the gold star on gray, so I decided to play around a bit with my next couple star block samples.

I love how this one turned out--I am picturing a whole quilt of ombre-style star blocks! 

I'm going to turn this block into a potholder (or even just a mini quilt!). I had this dark teal Bedrock print in my stash and the golds pop off of it so beautifully!

Since I'm trying to stay in the color theme of my border fabric for this version of Strippy Improv Holiday, I decided to make a red and white striped star instead of gold. I think it'll look great opposite the red and white candy cane!

I had some help making these blocks thanks to a sick day from school. Actually, he did most of the work! He sewed the strips on for each star, and I handled the cutting, trimming and pressing. We made a great team!

These blocks stitch up so quickly - you still have time to make something before the holidays! The pattern comes with templates for five different blocks (ornament, snowman, tree, star and candy cane), as well as two layout options--a four-patch style wall hanging and a table runner.

Purchase the pattern here.

See you back here Thursday for another block! 

Strippy Improv Holiday Sew Along Schedule:

Thursday, November 18th - Intro and Fabric Selection

Tuesday, November 23rd - Make a block

Tuesday, November 30th - Make a block

Thursday, December 2nd - Make a block

Tuesday, December 7th - Make a block

Thursday, December 9th - Assembly

Tuesday, December 14th - Alternate options

Thursday, December 16th - Finishing

********************************************************************

If you're new here, welcome! I hope you'll stay and look around a bit. 

If you like what you've seen here, you can also find me:

To find all of my quilt patterns, visit my Etsy shop. 

Find me on IG here.

Find me on Facebook here.

Sign up for my newsletter in the right-hand sidebar or here. 

(You'll receive a free pattern for my Diamond Drama quilt (below) as a thank you!)

Strippy Improv Holiday Sew Along Part 2

 

Happy Sew Along Part 2! 

It's a block making day, and I'm focused on the tree block. It was fun to dig through my stash of green scraps to create trees in all different shades. 

Need the pattern? Find it here. If you missed the first post, find it here.

I chose the greens for my two planned projects based on the greens in the border fabric. 

So bright and more lime fabrics here: 

My snow globe border fabric actually only has sea green in it, so I experimented with something - using darker greens and little white strips of snow. What do you think? 

Here is my original tree from last year - I made it into a fabric postcard for our guild exchange. Super scrappy!

And here's a tree block where I played around with my machine's fancy stitches to make garland. If you go this route, do it before you add the applique cut out. 

A few tips for block making: 

• Your strips only need to be long enough to extend beyond the drawn shape on the muslin. Don't feel like you need to cover the whole muslin square! 
• Vary the angles of your strips - some leaning left, and some leaning right. This will add interest to your shape. 
• If you choose to try snow on the tree like I did, make your white strips skinner than the green strips. 

Happy sewing!

And finally, a couple pics of my cuties and the tree blocks they made: 

Strippy Improv Holiday Sew Along Schedule:

Thursday, November 18th - Intro and Fabric Selection

Tuesday, November 23rd - Make a block

Tuesday, November 30th - Make a block

Thursday, December 2nd - Make a block

Tuesday, December 7th - Make a block

Thursday, December 9th - Assembly

Tuesday, December 14th - Alternate options

Thursday, December 16th - Finishing

********************************************************************

If you're new here, welcome! I hope you'll stay and look around a bit. 

If you like what you've seen here, you can also find me:

To find all of my quilt patterns, visit my Etsy shop. 

Find me on IG here.

Find me on Facebook here.

Sign up for my newsletter in the right-hand sidebar or here. 

(You'll receive a free pattern for my Diamond Drama quilt (below) as a thank you!)

Strippy Improv Holiday Sew Along Part 1

 Welcome to the Strippy Improv Holiday Sew Along! 

I don't know about you, but this time of year, I have big plans to finish projects before Christmas - either for gifts, or to decorate my house. And most years, very few get finished. I'd like to change that this year and I hope you'll join me. 

The Strippy Improv Holiday pattern uses a combination of improv piecing (you can piece straight strips if you prefer) plus reverse applique to make your choice of five different block designs. The pattern includes options for a table runner or wall hanging finish. Since either one is a smaller project, you'll even be able to quilt and bind it before December 25th! Here are the blocks:

Back to the Sew Along: I'm hosting the Strippy Improv Holiday Sew Along to help nudge us all along to a holiday project finish. Keep reading to see the schedule. You choose your blocks and your layout. I'll provide encouragement, tips and photos here on my blog, on IG and on Facebook on each of the dates listed. Together, we can do this! 

Purchase the pattern here and join the Sew Along!

Strippy Improv Holiday Sew Along Schedule:

Thursday, November 18th - Intro and Fabric Selection

Tuesday, November 23rd - Make a block

Tuesday, November 30th - Make a block

Thursday, December 2nd - Make a block

Tuesday, December 7th - Make a block

Thursday, December 9th - Assembly

Tuesday, December 14th - Alternate options

Thursday, December 16th - Finishing

********************************************************************

It's Day 1, so let's talk fabric selection.

You can go in so many different fabric directions for this project - traditional Christmas, modern, whimsical...

The keys? 

1) Choose a non-white or light fabric for the block backgrounds so the pieced strips don't show through. 

2) Select a background color that contrasts with the strip colors for your blocks. For example, if you make a tree block, you don't want the background fabric to be green, or your tree won't show up. 

3) Aim for high contrast for the skinny frames around each block. This creates definition between your blocks and your sashing/border fabric. 

4) Raid your stash for the strip pieced sections of each block. The scrappier, the better!

The first time I made this project, I used black/silver tonals and jewel tones for a more modern look (see above). This time, I couldn't decide, so I'm sharing two different fabric combinations. Which do you like better? What will you use? I can't wait to see! Share your fabric choices on Instagram using #strippyimprovholiday so we can all see!

If you're new here, welcome! I hope you'll stay and look around a bit. 

If you like what you've seen here, you can also find me:

To find all of my quilt patterns, visit my Etsy shop. 

Find me on IG here.

Find me on Facebook here.

Sign up for my newsletter in the right-hand sidebar or here. 

(You'll receive a free pattern for my Diamond Drama quilt (below) as a thank you!)

Ombre Chevron Cutting Recap

A while back, Karen had left a comment asking if I could show how I did the cutting for the ombre chevron quilt I made during Sew Fine Fabric's Sew Along.

Better late than never (where did the first two-thirds of May go?!?!), here it is.

I don't have any of the fabric left to demo on, so I'll show you what I did using the photos I have from the project.

 So you've got your (hopefully less wrinkled than mine) ombre dot fabric, still folded in half, with selvedges together. I cut 6" strips, similar to the orange lines on the photo below. (The actual tutorial calls for 7", but I chose 6" instead.)

Starting by the selvedges, I cut each strip into 6" squares. If you look at the squares in this photo, you'll see there are a lot more with very few dots. That's okay--you'll have some extras if you're going for a look like mine.

Then I sorted the cut squares into three piles:
1. Squares cut from near the selvedges of each strip, which were my "darks" (or very dotted).
2. Squares cut from the middle of each strip, which were my "mediums." If you look in the photo above, my "mediums" came from both the 2nd and 3rd rows.
3. Squares cut from the upper section of each strip, which were my "lights" with very few dots.

Like I mentioned, you'll end up with more of the lights and mediums than darks--it's just the nature of the fabric design. Which is why my finished quilt only has two dark chevron rows and 2.5 each of the light and medium chevron rows.

Karen (and anyone else, I hope that helps!) Let me know if you have additional questions.