Lots of things going on in my life right now so I am just posting the pattern for this month's row. I hope you are all doing well and finding joy in your journey wherever it leads. My pattern testers shared some photos: Happy Quilting!
I have to start this post by thanking you all for your notes of encouragement these past several weeks as life took it turns and I needed some down-time. Today happens to be the first day of summer vacation for us. For us that simply means my husband has finished teaching for the school year and our schedule is free for the most part. It is a blessing to be able to share these days with him! I have decided to handle Row 5 a little differently. You will be making it along with me in the next couple of blog posts. The written pattern instructions will come later, so for those collecting the pattern, no need to worry, but for those that are ready for the next row in our quilt let's get started. For this row we are going to need to make several hourglass blocks; 24 to be exact. So I want to share with you a couple of quick methods for making several at a time. For my Christmas themed version I chose three main fabrics and one background fabric. To make the hourglass blocks using what is called the Magic 8 Method you will need to cut 7 1/2" x 7 1/2" squares: three from your main fabric(s) and three from your background fabric. If you have not yet tried using starch for piecing I recommend it for this method, while it is not necessary I love the crispness achieved by treating my fabric with starch before cutting to size and it really can make a difference in your accuracy if that is something you struggle with. I made the switch to Mary Ellen's Best Press a couple of years ago after using the Faultless spray starch, mainly for the issue with bugs if your fabric does not get washed for a while. I purchase it in the large refill size and just keep a spray bottle filled and handy by my pressing area which helps keep the cost down. One tip for using starch: I place a bath towel on top of my ironing board and spray my fabrics on the towel, then press them on the towel as well. That way all of the over-spray is on the towel which I can just toss in the wash on wash day and I do not get a build up of starch on my ironing board cover. Another benefit of the towel is that it gives you much the same benefit of a wool pressing mat when you are piecing-just another tool that aids in accuracy when pressing. So, now that I have my squares cut, I need to draw diagonal lines on the wrong sides of the background fabric squares. Then place those right sides together with the main fabric squares. Sew 1/4 inch from both sides of the diagonal lines. Now here is where it gets a little interesting. We do not start by cutting those diagonals. Instead, line up the 3 3/4" mark on your ruler with one edge of your square. You do not need to worry about being precise here. If you are not perfectly aligned with the middle of the square where everything intersects it is okay. You just need to be close, not perfect-isn't that a relief. Do not separate anything at this point. Pick up your ruler and move it to the bottom of the fabric square. Using the 3 3/4" mark on your ruler again, cut across the middle of the square. Once, again do not move any of the cut pieces, we have a couple more cuts to make. (I have one of those rotating cutting mats, but it was not necessary to have for this to work out well.) Now we cut on the two diagonal lines that we drew. And we end up with eight half-square triangles ready to be pressed. Press to the dark side! Once the half-square triangles (HST) are pressed we are going to place two of them right-sides together, with the main fabrics on opposite sides from each other. The seams will nest nicely together. Draw a diagonal line down the middle of the top HST. Sew 1/4" from each side of the drawn line. Cut apart on the dawn line. I like to fan the seams on these to get them to lay perfectly flat, but you can press to one side if you prefer. Here you can see how the fanned seam looks on the back of my hourglass unit. I am still pressing on the towel. The Hourglass units are now ready to be trimmed. We will be trimming these to 2 1/2" x 2 1/2". Begin by laying the diagonal line of your ruler right along one of the diagonal seam lines. You want to place the 1 1/4" mark of your ruler right at the center where the seams intersect. This ensures that after trimming the center point of your block is right in the middle. Trim off the first two sides of your block. For the final trim, rotate your block and place the diagonal line of your ruler on that seam line. This time you want to be sure the trimmed edges of your block are lined up with the 2 1/2" marks of your ruler. As you can see my 1 1/4" mark falls in the center as well, perfect. Trim the remaining sides and the Hourglass block is ready for our row. The second method is for making four Hourglass units at a time. I am using this method with my Batik version of the quilt as I wanted more variety of fabric for this row For this method I chose 6main fabrics and an assortment of background fabrics. I need to cut my squares 5" x 5". So I ended up with 12 squares from my main fabrics and 6 from my background fabrics. For this method I just place a main and background fabric right sides together and sew all around the outside edge with a 1/4" seam allowance. Then I use my ruler to cut apart on the diagonals. The trick here again, is to not move your fabric until you have finished making the two diagonal cuts. The rest of this method is just like what I did with the Magic 8 Method. Each square will give you two completed Hourglass units to use in making the row. In order to give you an idea of what we are doing with this row, I am sharing a couple of photos to show how I play with fabric choices at this point. I am trying to decide whether I want to stick with fabrics that blend with what I already have as background or whether to introduce one of my gray prints into the mix. I want these fabric squares to be the same fabric so that the hourglass units stand out in this row. I look forward to seeing your hourglass blocks popping up on my Facebook Sew Along page. I will be back with the rest of the row on Friday. (Note: Due to health issues with my husband I did not get Part 2 done. If you have questions I can answer please contact me and I will be happy to help.)
Until then, Happy Quilting!! Debra
I am going to start you off with a couple of hints about this month's block that we will use to make row 3 in our quilt. One of my favorite views in Oregon is this view of the Three Sisters mountains, whose original names were Faith, Hope and Charity. The names were changed to North Sister, Middle Sister and South Sister at some point and that is how I have known them my whole life. You can see this gorgeous view on your way to the town of Sisters, Oregon which is a favorite destination for quilters. One for the quilt shop located there, and but also for the annual outdoor quilt show held in July. You certainly want to wear a pair of good walking shoes if you attend this amazing show as the quilts are displayed all over town. You can enjoy a video tour below and see how the town prepares for this one day event.
My second hint will probably really give it away... A cabin in the woods has been one of my dreams since I was a child. I don't know if it will ever become reality, but the dream is alive and well in me.
Which leads me to this month's block-the Log Cabin. My very first pieced quilt was a Log Cabin quilt. In fact my second and third quilts were also Log Cabin quilts and I have made a few more over the years as well. It is a great block to work on accuracy in piecing and I have a few tips for you before you begin.
Since we are working with some narrow pieces it can be a great benefit to starch your fabric. Starching the fabric can really help in how crisp your seams are and thus the accuracy of your block. It is best to starch before you cut out your pieces in case they shrink from the starching process. I have used both Faultless Spray Starch and Mary Ellen's Best Press with good results. Do keep in mind that you do not want to store fabric that has been starched as it can attract bugs. This is a great time to make use of strip piecing techniques. The method for putting this block together is quite different from the one I originally learned back in the day and I feel leads to a squarer finished block. It is important that you cut your pieces to the exact length given in the directions to get good results. When I first learned strip piecing I would just push the next pieces into place and let the machine feed them up to the needle. This can result in some crooked beginning stitches so instead...
take the time to lift your presser foot and place the next pieces right up against the needle. Make sure you have the fabric lined up with your seam guide. Everything should look nice and square, even with the horizontal guidelines on your machine plate.
As you sew, continue to watch both of those things, the vertical and horizontal alignment. When you sew off the end it is easy to swerve slightly to one side or the other and you want to keep sewing in a perfectly straight line. It may help to slow down as you approach the end of your pieces just to make sure you keep that straight line going. I use the marks on my presser foot to keep the horizontal alignment squared up. Since I can no longer see the vertical seam guide, the side of my presser foot helps here as well. (This is why I highly recommend a quarter inch presser foot).
As you can see, the horizontal mark on my machine's throat plate is still square with the pieces of fabric I have just sewn. So many times it is just these little things that can have a big impact on the finished look of our blocks.
My second tip is to check your measurements at each step, at least until you are confident that your seam allowance is resulting in blocks that measure the correct size with each addition. As you add each "log" they should measure 1 1/4" across. If you need to trim, trim the side of the new log to get the measurement required. Knowing that the new pieces will always be 1 1/4" wide will help you see if you need to make adjustments to your seam allowance, either by moving your needle to the left or right or adjusting the seam guide you use to sew 1/4" seams.
Another tip for success with this block is to make sure you keep sewing the new piece in a clockwise direction on your block. So here I start by joining A and B together.
After pressing I check my measurements which are provided in the pattern.
The I add the next piece.
And the next...
and the next.
It is actually pretty easy to add the next piece in the wrong order as it will fit on all four sides of the block. I like to stack my blocks making sure they are all facing the same direction; with the side I need to add the new "log" to laid out and ready to go by my machine. (I neglected to take a photo to show you so I hope this makes sense.)
Sometimes I actually use my finger and work my way around the block, pointing to each log as I go, making sure that I am laying each new log onto the side that continues the clockwise rotation. Here I have added the next round of "logs" to my block.
I started out by telling you about the Three Sisters. One of the cool things about the Log Cabin block is how many ways they can be put together. For my row, I set them in a way that makes me think about those three mountains. You can play with your blocks to see how you would like them to look. For another setting idea be sure and see Susie's version below.
This is the row for my Christmas version of the quilt. I used a traditional red center to represent the hearth of the home, being warmed by the fire in the log cabin.
I do have a tip for joining the blocks together. Most of the time there are absolutely no seams to match-isn't that wonderful! But a couple of times we do have seams to match and because of the way they are pressed-in the same direction, this adds a little tricky bit. Here is how I handle it.
I flip up the top seam and "lock" the seams together then place a pin to hold those seams in position. When I get down to that seam I flipped up-I did not press it up, but simply used my fingers to lift it up while I matched the seams-I flip it down over the pin.
The I proceed to sew, stopping with my needle down, as close to the pin as I can get. With my needle down, I slip the pin out and finish sewing.
This gave me some very nice matching seams and the pressing on the back did not need to be changed at all.
And this is how my Batik version came out.
And a close-up. For this version I chose yellow for my center to represent the light in the cabin window shining out as a welcome to all.
Here is how my Christmas version looks now too.
As always I have had some pattern testers working on this row with me. I love sharing with you what they have made as they inspire me, and I hope you as well, with other ways to play with fabric and colors for this quilt.
Susie has been sharing her process with me and I hope to share what she is learning about Quilt as You Go later this month.
Everything you need to make this row can be found in this month's pattern which you can download from my shop for free during the remainder of this project. Click on the link below to get the patterns for this Quilt Along.
Before I go I just have to share that Susie's quilt is Nellie approved.
I hope you find joy in your own quilting journey this month.
Happy Quilting! Debra |
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