Pinwheel Table Runner

Quilted table runners can be great for using up stash.  This one is 12" by 40" finished size and it really doesn't use much fabric.  It's made using Nancy Cabot's dancing pinwheels quilt block and I think it's really fresh and cheerful looking.

Each quilt block is made using four white 2.1/2" squares, sixteen 2.7/8" brown squares and eight 2.7/8" squares of both yellow and white.  All the half square triangle units are made using brown with either yellow or white fabric.  For the table runner I used three complete blocks.

After sewing the quilt blocks together I felt that it needed something to finish off the ends, so I added a row consisting of two brown 2.1/2" squares and four brown/yellow half square triangles at each end.  That seemed to do the trick and round off the design.  Then it just needed layering, quilting and binding.


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I hope to see you again soon.
Rose

Scrappy Quilt Borders

I love trying out new ideas for quilt borders and recently I made a french braid quilt which gave me an idea for a quilt border that could use up lots of odds and ends of scrap fabric.

I cut piles of strips of fabric 3.1/2" by 2" and another pile of red 2" squares.  This makes quite a wide border, but you could always adjust the length of the strips if you wanted a thinner border.

With the red squares in the middle I laid out all the strips of fabric on either side.  I began by putting two strips of the same fabric next to each other but then decided that I preferred the random look.

I began by sewing the brown strip to the red square and then sewed the green strip to both of these.  That's the base so then it's just a case of building from there.  The cream strip goes next on the left hand side and then a red square with another strip on the right hand side.

Once I had the length that I needed it was just a case of pressing well before trimming.

I trimmed the top and bottom first and then the sides.  The safest way to trim the sides is to place your ruler on the strip so that you can cut a definite amount from each side.  Otherwise you risk having your border strip an uneven width.



My work in progress right now is a tutorial for quilting rope borders.  In order to keep the process simple I seem to have lots of diagrams showing each stage - templates would be so much easier except that they are never the right size!

Linking up with freshly pieced as ever:



Thanks for visiting my blog.
I hope to see you again soon.
Rose

Ticker Tape Quilts

Don't you just love a quilt design where there are no rules!  I hadn't come across ticker tape quilts until recently and I can't believe what fun they are to make.  They are a great way to use up small strips of fabric from your stash and I'm sure that they were orginally intended for strips only - hence the ticker tape name.  But in fact they have now become a great way to use up all scraps of any size or shape. 

The ticker tape quilt block is intended for quilt as you go methods, so the starting point is a layer of backing fabric with right side down, batting and then white fabric on top with right side up.  I chose a 12.1/2" block to give 12" finished size.  Pin the three layers.

When placing the patches I tend to start in a corner and work across and down, but there really aren't any rules to this quilt design!  Decide on the first patch, lay it where you want to start and sew it down.  There are obviously alternative methods of sewing it down.  I prefer to zigzag around the patch with a fairly close zigzag - about 1 for stitch length and about 3 for stitch width.  I've seen ticker tape quilts where the patches are sewn with straight stitch just inside the edge so that there will be a frayed effect after the quilt has been washed and other quilts where the patches are cut using pinking shears to prevent fraying.  I just find that zigzag stitching works for me.

Keep adding patches, sewing each one in place before you move on.  Leave a good 1/2" or so around the edge for sewing the blocks together.  The patches don't have to be squares or rectangles.  Leave enough white fabric showing between the patches, somewhere around 1/4" but that can vary.  The main focus of these ticker tape quilts is keeping it irregular, so it's good to vary the amount of white showing and try not to have rows and columns - just varied sizes.

As you can see, the quilting is all done as you go, with plenty of varied shapes of zigzag.  I found that as the shapes were so small I could use my normal sewing foot without having to worry about the fabric puckering.

I tried something completely different for the next ticker tape quilt block.  I began with a circle in the middle, sewn on in the same way, and used the same fabric for four spokes along the diagonals.  Then I filled in the areas between the spokes with random patches and ended up with quite a striking quilt block.

To sew the blocks together I placed them with right sides together and sewed the top fabrics together, then trimmed the batting to lie flat between the blocks, turned under a small hem in one of the backing fabric edges and sewed it down over the other backing fabric.

I stopped after just the two ticker tape quilt blocks and added quilt binding once I had sewn the blocks together.  I'm not sure now where I'll put it, but I really love how bright and cheerful it looks.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

I hope to see you again soon.

Rose

Applique Flowers In Vase

I always feel that it's a good idea to build up a good selection of quilt block patterns to choose from when you're planning your next quilt.  Some of them can be patterns for the quilt blocks in the main body of the quilt and some of them can be ideas for quilt borders or cornerstones.

I think this applique flower quilt block would fit into either of those categories.  I first designed it as a quilt cornerstone but I can see it working just as well as one block in a floral quilt.

I began with a 6.1/2" square of background fabric and drew a couple of flowers on it with fabric marker.  This was just to help me get the size right so that the flowers would fit in the middle of the block.  Then I drew two flowers the same size on some pink fabric squares which were backed with fusible interfacing.

After I had cut the flowers out I laid them in place on the background fabric and sewed all round the edge with a zigzag stitch.  This was easier than I had expected - as long as you take it slowly it's quite easy to follow the curves of the petals.  You can see the back of the quilt block on the right.

For the flower stems I changed the thread colour but continued with the zigzag stitch.  I had used a fairly small stitch width for edging the petals, but I increased the stitch width for the stems and sewed the length of each stem twice:  starting at the bottom and sewing up to the flower and back down again.

So with the flower complete I just wanted to add a vase.  This is what sets this flower applique quilt block apart from other applique quilt blocks and I think it's a really neat idea.  I cut a tumbler shape from some see through organza fabric and placed it over the lower part of the flower stems.  Then I changed the thread (again!) to a colour that would match the background fabric and zigzagged round the sides of the vase to hold it in place.  I think next time I'll use a slightly darker organza for the vase to make it stand out better, but I'm really pleased with the overall effect.

Thanks for visiting my blog.
Hope to see you again soon.
Rose