WIP Wednesday: Just playing around

The last couple days I've been sewing some blocks for one of my guild's charity projects. 

It's called Home of the Brave, and it's a movement dedicated to honoring fallen heroes of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan by making and presenting Civil War era inspired homemade quilts to their families. Our guild's focus is Michigan, since that's where we are located. I took home the pre-cut package to make 15 blocks back in mid September, and here it is February. Oops! I'm determined to hand back the stitched blocks at our meeting next week.

I've got 7 X blocks completely done and the other 8 at various stages of completion. Ultimately, the blocks will be pieced together with sashing rows and a border. 

While I am all for the cause, I'll be honest that neither the fabrics or the pattern are really my style. So while I was sewing, I was brainstorming ways to try a more modern spin on the design later for myself.

Though I have to say that I do love the contemporary spin of this block on the January-February 2013 Love of Quilting cover!

Last Friday night, I was home alone (Thank you, concert that my husband wanted to go to and I didn't!) So I started experimenting.

First I went down a complicated route. I wanted the triangles to be pieces, so I cut solid gray squares and adding snowball corners in two different sizes/colors. 

This created an interesting sort of repeating pinwheel that I kind of liked.

With two problems.

 First, because of the nature of the cutting, half the pinwheels are mirror images. Short of making two quilts spinning in opposite directions, I couldn't think of a good way to use all the pieces. 

Second, I didn't consider how small the pieces would start getting as I cut and pieced. The assembled pinwheel block below measures about 8". Those center gold "blades" are t.i.n.y. Too tiny. (And not consistent in size, but that's just a quality issue on my part.)

There is ALOT going on in this block, but I do kind of like it, so I'm thinking of redoing it slightly larger and making a pillow. Not sure if some straight line quilting would minimize the distracting seams in the solid gray sections or not...

Talk about over thinking some "play" time! 
I went back to the proverbial drawing board, simplified things, and came up with these blocks. I like 'em.

I'm still working on a final layout idea and surveying my stash to choose actual colors, but as I cut triangles, this is the type of look I'm going for. Each "solid square" you see below will actually be comprised of two different print triangles, for a scrappy look. Definitely a project I'll be laying on the design wall before sewing! 

What about you? Have you ever sat down just to play? 

And then done a complete about-face? 

Linking up with W.I.P. Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced and hoping to get my charity blocks finished before next Tuesday! 

Look what came in the mail!

I had so much fun opening my mailbox to see this! 

My mom followed my tutorial, available here and also as a handy pdf on Pellon's site here, and sent me a valentine. Isn't that sweet?!

My boys also received a box from Grammy, filled with (lots of) bubble wrap and these:

I'd say all in all it's a happy house here today!

Tutorial: Tic Tac Toe

I've had a bit of rick rack envy. I've seen other people using it and hadn't yet found a way I loved to incorporate it into one of my projects. Then this tic tac toe board concept popped into my head. Bingo!
While I made this project with Valentine's Day in mind (you know, XOXO = hugs and kisses), in reality, you could use it all year round.
I also added a pocket on the back to store the game pieces (in a house with two young kids, storage is constantly top of mind!)

You'll Need:
1/2 yard of a gray print
1 fat quarter each of 2 bright prints
1/4 yard (or fat quarter) of a bright print for binding
1/4 yard heavyweight sew-in stabilizer
14" square of batting
1 spool of fuchsia large rick rack
Fabric marking pen
Coordinating and contrasting thread

Making the Game Board:
1. From the gray print cut one 13" square, one 12-1/2" square, and one 12-1/2" x 16" piece.

2. Layer the 13" square right side up on the batting square.  Pin to secure for quilting and then use a ruler and fabric marking pen to draw a straight line across the square, near the center.

3. Use this marked line as a guide for your first line of straight line quilting. I sewed with my walking foot and then lined the walking foot edge up to the stitched line to space the next line. Here's the finished result:

4. Trim the quilted fabric to measure 12-1/2" square. Measure in 4-1/4" from one edge and draw a line with a fabric marking pen for placing the rick rack. Measure in 4-1/4" from the opposite edge and draw another line. Turn the square 90 degrees and repeat. Cut two 13" lengths of rick rack and pin in place on marked lines. Stitch down the middle of each to secure.

5. Cut, position and sew two more pieces of rick rack. Now your game board top is complete.

6. Fold the 12-1/2" x 15" gray piece in half so it measures 12-1/2" x 7-1/2". Lay it on the 12-1/2" gray square (with square facing right side up), matching raw edges. This will be the backing and the pocket to hold the Xs and Os. Use a ruler to find the middle of pocket (6-1/4" from edge) and mark a line down the pocket. Stitch on this line through all layers to divide the pocket in half.

7. Layer this pocket/backing with the pocket side down and then add the quilted top, rick rack side up, to complete your quilt sandwich. Pin all edges to secure, making sure pocket fabric lays flat. (You could also sew a basting stitch to secure the pocket to the backing before making the sandwich, but I liked the idea of killing two birds with one stone and simply catching these well-pinned edges in while I added the binding.)

8. Make 60" of binding from your binding fabric. Position it on the top of the quilt sandwich and stitch in place like you would any binding. Trim excess rick rack if needed. Hand sew (or stitch by machine...your choice) the binding to the back side. Your game board is done!

Making the Xs and Os:

1. Click here to download the pdf with the X and O template pieces. Cut out each template piece. 

2. From each of the bright prints, cut two 4" x 15" pieces. From the heavyweight stabilizer, cut two 3-3/4" x 14-1/2" pieces. 

3. Sandwich a stabilizer piece between two matching bright pieces and spray baste the fabrics to the stabilizer. (Fabric should be right sides out.)

4. Trace the X shape onto the fused sandwich five times. Cut out each shape carefully.

6. Set your machine's zigzag stitch to a shorter, very dense stitch size. I chose to use a contrasting thread color just for fun. Zigzag stitch around the entire outer edge of the X. Repeat with all five X shapes. 

7. Repeat steps 3-5 to make the five O shapes. 

To cut the center out of the O shape, gently fold the circle in half and cut a slit.

Insert the scissors in the slit and cut on the drawn line.

You're done! Store the X and O pieces in the two pockets on the game board back when not in use.

Wishing you a Valentine's Day filled with Xs and Os! (hugs and kisses!)

Tutorial: Valentine's Day Fabric Postcards

Every year I start thinking about fun projects to do for Valentine's Day on about February 11th. This year I started earlier...a whole week! (Well, I made the project about 2 weeks ago, but it took me a while to put the tutorial together.)

Mail some fabric love out this Valentine's Day. I love the idea of fabric postcards. You can actually mail them, and I think they'd be such a neat surprise to receive in the mail! (In fact, let me give you my mailing address...!)
I have two versions here. One uses basic fusible applique, and the other gets a little fancier.

Triple Heart Postcard

Hint: The fabric really makes the project here. I love this striped batik I had in my stash.

You'll need: 

6'' square of pink fabric

4'' square of coordinating fabric

6'' x 8'' rectangle of background fabric

10'' square piece Pellon® 805 Wonder-Under®

5'' x 7'' rectangle of Pellon® 40 stabilizer

6'' x 8'' rectangle of batting

8-1/2'' x 11'' fabric sheet for inkjet printer

To make the triple heart postcard:

1. Print all three heart templates. (Click here to download the template pdf.) 

2. Trace one of each size heart template onto the paper side of the Wonder-Under®. Cut out roughly around traced shape.

3. Lay the Wonder-Under® large heart template piece on the wrong side of the 6'' pink fabric square. Lay the Wonder-Under® small and medium heart template pieces on the wrong side of the 4'' square of coordinating fabric.

4. Fuse the Wonder-Under® template pieces to the fabric scraps. Let cool. Cut out each shape, peel the paper away from the fabric and set aside. I like to loosen the edge of the paper before cutting the shape to avoid potential fraying as you separate the layers.

5. Position all three heart shapes on the 6'' x 8'' background rectangle. I angled them and overlapped two of the hearts. The background fabric will be trimmed after quilting, so keep pieces away from fabric edge.

6. Fuse the hearts in place following the manufacturer's instructions. Let cool.

7. Layer postcard top with batting and baste with pins.

8. Applique the hearts to secure using a zigzag, buttonhole, or other decorative stitch. I used my new favorite zigzag variation and black thread, so that the stitching looked like it blended into my background fabric.

9. Quilt the background as desired.

10. Trim postcard front to measure 5'' x 7''.

11. Scroll down to the Assembly directions under the patchwork postcard. Both designs are assembled the same way. 

Patchwork Postcard

You'll need:

Twenty 1-1/2'' squares of assorted red and pink prints

6'' x 8'' rectangle of background fabric

10'' square piece Pellon® 805 Wonder-Under®

5'' x 7'' rectangle of Pellon® 40 stabilizer

6'' x 8'' rectangle of batting

8.5'' x 11'' fabric sheet for inkjet printer

To make the patchwork postcard:

1. Arrange the twenty 1-1/2'' red and pink print squares into four rows of five squares each. Sew the squares into rows and join the rows.

(Have you noticed how much smaller the margin of error is when you're sewing tiny pieces?!?!)

2. Print large heart template. (Click here to download the template pdf.) 

3. Trace the heart template onto the paper side of the Wonder-Under®.

4. Cut around the outside of the heart shape ½'' past the drawn line. Cut around the inside of the heart shape ¼'' inside the line. Position on the background fabric, centered from top to bottom and tilted slightly to one side, and fuse in place. Let cool.

5. Cut out along the line on the inside of the heart, creating a negative space heart shape. Peel the paper away from the fabric and set aside. Again, I like to loosen the edge of the paper before cutting the shape to avoid fraying problems.

6. Position this negative space heart shape fusible side down onto the red/pink patchwork. Rotate as desired to show preferred patchwork areas and/or tilt the angle of the patchwork that shows through.

7. Fuse the background fabric in place following the manufacturer's instructions. Let cool.

8. Applique the heart edge to secure using a zigzag, buttonhole, or other decorative stitch. Turn over and trim excess patchwork fabric.

9. Layer postcard top with batting and baste with pins.

10. Quilt the background as desired.

A quick word about quilting thread color here. I auditioned several different colors--a pink/red, a gray (thinking neutral) and the light aqua I ended up using. I was worried the aqua would stand out too much on the pink/red patchwork, but that was much less obvious than the way the other colors stood out on the aqua! 

11. Trim postcard front to measure 5'' x 7''.

Assembly (for either postcard)

1. Print the postcard back pdf (click here to download pdf) onto the fabric side of a fabric sheet. Cut out one postcard back just inside the lines. Remove the paper backing.

2. Layer the postcard right side down, 5'' x 7'' stabilizer rectangle, and quilted postcard right side up. Pin layers together.

3. Using a dense zigzag, stitch around the entire outer edge of postcard.

4. Use a fabric pen to write a note and either mail or deliver to a friend!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! I had a brainstorm this weekend and am working on a second Valentine's Day-themed tutorial, so come back soon!

Winner!

Thanks to everyone who left a comment on my Modern Dresden post! It was so much fun to read each person's thoughts on the binding. I need to set aside some time to audition different options; maybe when my mom comes to visit in a few weeks (always nice to have another set of eyes!).

Now for the winner of my little dresden and the six fat quarters. Random number generator chose:

Congratulations, Lou! I'm sending you an email for your mailing address.

I've been busy at work on a Valentine's Day fabric postcard tutorial. Hoping I'll get it up soon! 

I finished my Valentine's Day fabric postcard tutorial! Check it out here. 

p.s. Thanks also to those who commented with suggestions of patterns and fabric lines for kids' quilts. Keep those ideas coming! I appreciate it!

February Goal + Looking for recommendations

With success at reaching my January goal in the Lovely Year of Finishes, I'm excited about February!
I had trouble picking a goal, because a) it's a busy month for me (speaking at my guild...yikes!, planning a 4-year-old birthday party, finishing a few tutorials I've promised people, on top of all the usual day-to day fun of work and home life) and b) because I was torn between what I want to do vs. what I should do. So ultimately I'm going with another seasonal choice, because after February I am not going to care about a snowman quilt.

February's goal: Finish quilting and then bind my snowman quilt.

And now I'm looking for recommendations. I am helping a mom friend of mine who is not a quilter make quilts for her two children, a 4-year-old boy and a 9-month old girl. I'm looking for suggestions of  easy quilt patterns (either tutorials or patterns from magazines, books, single pattern purchases, etc.) you really like that would be great for kids' quilts.

 I'd also love to hear about any fabric collections you particularly love with the kids' ages and genders in mind. My friend would like these quilts to last (I don't mean durability, but more that she wants them still to appeal to the children as they age.).

Please share your recommendations in the comments section!

Thanks so much!