Look what my hubby got me......

It's my very own iPad.

He got it used on Kijiji.

So, he didn't pay as much.

But it works perfectly.

I love it!!!

Thanks Honey!!!!

Love you!!!

Hugs

GO! Baby giveaways going on in blogland

Here are a few more GO! Baby giveaways going on in blogland.

The Learning Curve - ends Sept. 1st

Craftiness is not optional - ends August 28th

Moose Stash Quilting - ends Sept 2nd

Me Sew Crazy - ends August 31st

Don't forget to sign up to receive the newsletter and get 22 free patterns.

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So click the link below and sign up.

Hugs

Scrappy Quilts - Inspiration from flickr

Okay, I think I fixed the picture. Sorry!!!

1. string quilt, 2. You can call me Owl., 3. Scrappy Twinkle Star Quilt, 4. do. Good Stitches :: Colourful Zigzags, 5. I'm A Maverick Star, 6. Vintage Style ~ a la Grand-mère, 7. Project Special Delivery, 8. Stripes!, 9. shooting stars scrap quilt finished!, 10. polka dot string quilt, 11. Scrap Quilt, 12. Scrappy quilt, 13. close up of scrappy quilt, 14. scrappy quilt top, 15. Scrappy Quilt Top, 16. the other half

I'm working all weekend, so I won't be around much.

I thought I would share a bit of inspiration.

Hugs

Broken Dishes QAL, Part 3

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all well.

Did you make some broken dishes blocks?

  If you did, now is time to put them together.

If you are making a twin, lap, or baby size quilt,

you will have 24 blocks.

Take these blocks to your design wall or floor, and set them up as shown in the picture below.

I altered the directing of each block, then sewed them together.

This create a secondary pattern of stars.

Do you see it?

Now you can add your first plain border.

As I stated in Part 1 of the quilt along,

your plain borders are half the size of your finished HST squares, plus 1/2 inch for the seam allowance.

Sew, for my quilt, my finished HST's  were 4 inches.

Therefore, my border is 2.5 inches wide.

Cut enough border strips to go all around your quilt.

I always try to cut my border strips lengthwise,  parallel to the selvage.

It doesn't stretch as much this way, and it will make for a flatter quilt.

I also like to pin my border onto the quilt.

I know you don't need to do this but it helps to keep your seam consistent as you are sewing.

For the second border, you will need 4 Triangle in a square blocks.

You can find the tutorial here.

You will also need 40 HST's and 4 background squares the same size as your HST's.
Once you have these made, then start placing them around your quilt as in the photo below.

You can see that I used an arrow to point out the placement of the triangle in a square block.
I also have a plain background square in the corner.
Each side of the border will have a triangle in a square block in the center, and HST's on each side.

I don't have my border complete yet.
But, I've used arrows on my sketch to show you where to place the triangle in a square block.


If you have started working on your Broken Dishes QAL,
share your progress with us.
I'd love to see it, even if you've only made a block or two.





Hugs

Triangle in a square - tutorial

Hi everyone,

I've been  working on my blocks for the Broken Dishes QAL.

In the border of the pattern I drew up,

there is a triangle in a square block.

As I had mentioned in the first post of this quilt-a-long,

I want you all to make this quilt in any size you want.

Sew I need to teach you how to make the triangle in a square block any size you want too!!!

Here we go.

First decide what size your finished block will be.

(Note: this is the size of your original HST block.)

I'm making a 4 inch finished block.

Grab your graph paper and draw a square the size of your finished block. 

Mine is a 4 inch square.

On the top of your square, find the middle and mark the spot.

 Mine is 2 inches. 

Draw a line from this spot to the bottom left corner of the square,

then draw a line to the bottom right corner of the square.

See picture below.

You will now draw a 1/4 inch seam all around your square.

You will use your paper scissors and cut out your template 1/4 bigger than that.

So, your cutting out a 5 inch paper template.

Make 4 templates.

Chose the fabric to make the triangle.

Cut 4 squares the same size as your paper template.

So, I cut a 5 inch square.

Chose your background fabric.

I cut a piece from a coordinating fat quarter.

I came up with a formula to know how big a rectangle you need to cut for this to work.

a = width of rectangle

b = length of rectangle

a = 1 inch + half the width of your finished square

In this case, a= (1+2) 3 inches

b = 2 inches + the size of your finished square.

In this case, b= (2+4) 6 inches

Therefore, you will cut 2 rectangles 3 inch X 6 inches from your background fabric.

I hope I'm not confusing you here.

Lay your square right side down.

Put your paper template right side up over your fabric square.

Pin your paper template to your fabric square.

Take your background rectangles and lay it right side together over your triangle fabric as in picture below.

You will bring these two pieces up to the light and adjust the position of the background fabric.

Make sure that you leave enough fabric at the top sticking up, so that when you iron your background fabric back it will cover the whole corner.

Now, without moving the pieces, bring it over to the sewing machine.

Make sure that you reduce the stitch size on your machine.

Then stitch on the line as shown below.

Bring your stitched piece to your ironing board and iron the background fabric back.

You will them trim the triangle fabric that is behind the background fabric.

See picture below.

This is what it will look like from the paper side, once you've trimmed the triangle fabric.

(I know I did #3 before 2. It doesn't really matter for this block which side you do first)

Now, do the same for the other side.

When I sew the second piece of background fabric, I like to start stitching in the seam allowance.

It just makes the point of your triangle look that much better.

See below.

Make sure you trim the triangle fabric on the other side too.

Now, take your squaring ruler and cut on the paper side to square your block.

See pictures below.

And you are done!!!

It's perfect!!!

Yeah!!!!

You can now make your own Triangle in a square block any size you want.

I made a 6 inch finished block, and 3 inch finished block the exact same way to ensure that my math worked for all sizes.

Make your paper template the same way.

Cutting for the 6 inch finished block is:

Paper template should be 7 inches square

Triangle fabric - cut a 7 inch square

Background fabric - cut 2 rectangles 4 X 8 inches

Cutting for 4 inch finished block is:

Paper template should be 5 inches square

Triangle fabric - cut a 5 inch square

Background fabric - cut 2 rectangles 3 X 6 inches

Cutting for 3 inch finished block is:

Paper template should be 4 inches square

Triangle fabric- cut a 4 inch square

Background fabric - cut 2 rectangles 2.5 X 5 inches

I hope this helps all of you.

You will need 4 of these blocks for the border of your Broken Dishes Quilt.

Hugs

GO! Baby Giveaways to report!!!

Here are some GO! Baby Giveaways going on in blogland.

Bijou Lovely - ends Monday August 22, 2011

The Fabric Shopper - ends Sunday August 21, 2011

A Spoonful of Sugar - ends Monday August 22, 2011

The Tulip Patch - ends Wednesday August 24, 2011

Chasing Cottons - ends Tonight August 17, 2011

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I also have the tutorial for my Broken Dishes QAL.

You can find it here.

Hugs

Broken Dishes QAL, Part 2 - tutorial

Hi everyone,

Today, I'm going to teach you how to make the Broken Dishes Block.

It's a simple block.

To make it using HST's from Squares, just add 7/8 of an inch to the desired finish HST size.

Sew, if you want your HST to be 3 inches finished. You will cut your squares 3 7/8 inches.

NOTE: If you struggle with your 1/4 inch seam, make the square an inch bigger.

You have to trim it regardless. So, it's not a big deal.

I'm making one of my quilts with Charm Packs.

They are 1 inch bigger than the finished block I want.

The HST will be trimmed to 4.5 inches and finish to 4 inches in the quilt.

Let's start!

Note: always use a 1/4 inch seam.

You will need to cut 2 dark squares and 2 light squares for each block.

Pair them up like I did below.

Once you have them paired up, you will draw your sewing lines on the wrong side of the light square.

I use this cool little ruler, but you can just draw a diagonal line from corner to corner and sew a 1/4 inch on either side.

Once you have done this, cut the blocks on the diagonal line as below.

You will now have 2 HST's.

I like to iron my seams open.

They tend not to stretch the HST as much this way.

Then, I take my squaring ruler and trim these to the desired size.

Note:  If you want a 2 inch finished block, trim to 2.5 inches.

If you want a 3 inch finished block, trim to 3.5 inches. 

If you want a 4 inch finished block, trim to 4.5 inches.

and so on......

Once I have my 4 matching HST's, I lay them out to make sure the setting is correct.

I then, fold down to top right corner piece over the bottom right corner piece and sew the top seam.

I use a pin to line up the diagonal seam,so that they butt up nicely.

I use a 1/4 inch foot to keep my seams consistent.

Repeat with the other pair.

Once you have them both sewn together, iron the seam open.

Lay them out again to make sure you have then set properly.

Now, you will fold down the top piece over the bottom piece.

Pin in the middle and at both ends, as shown below.

Sew your pieces together, iron the seam open....

and VOILA!!!

Your block is done!!!

Here is where I'm at with my charm square Broken Dishes quilt.

It comes together really quick.

(note: the black blocks aren't all sewn up yet, I just have the HST's together on my design wall)

Don't you just love the secondary star pattern it makes.

I love that!!!

Well, that's it!!

Now you can start making your quilt. 

I figured out that if you are using charm packs of 40 squares, you will need 3 charm packs.

My charm packs have a ton of dark prints but very few light prints, so I will be cutting some light squares out of some fabric from my stash that matches this collection.

I hope you have fun making your blocks!

Hugs