Work in Progress: Scrappy "Plus Surround" Quilt with Cutting Instructions for Scrap Plus blocks

Isn't this scrappy version of "Plus Surround" from the new book, Modern Plus Sign Quilts by Cheryl Brickey and Paige Alexander, a great quilt top?  I had so much fun making it!

The pattern calls for all solid fabrics.  I had the solids, but looking at my stash I realized I had enough small/subtle fabrics  of similar color and shades to make a scrappy quilt. I thought it might be more interesting to see some slight color gradations in the finished quilt.  But that made the quilt significantly harder to make!  Fortunately, only one of my fabrics had clearly directional design.  I chose to turn that directional fabric 3 ways intentionally so it wouldn't matter which way this square quilt is used.

The plus signs directions in the book are all strip pieced. Obviously that won't work if you chose to make a scrappy quilt.  I'm sharing the cutting instructions to make a scrappy quilt but you will need a copy of the book to make the quilt. You need to really pay attention when piecing this quilt. I was really trying to be careful but I still to do a bit of un-sewing!

These cutting instructions are only for the plus signs, not the finished blocks.

Each of the middle size blue plus signs in my quilt are a different fabric so the plus signs will be pieced individually, not strip pieced.

• for the colored portion plus sign, cut one strip 3 1/2 x 7 inches and two 3 1/2 inch squares
• for the background of the midsize plus sign, cut 3 WOF strips and divide that into 3 1/2 inch squares

I made two identical small plus signs from each of the blue green fabrics in the quilt. These can be strip pieced.

• for each pair of plus signs, cut cut 1 strip of colored fabric 2 x 16 inches and two 2 x 5 inch strips
• for the background, cut 3 WOF* 2 inch strips. Cut those into 2 x 16 inch strips to make a strip pieced set with the colored fabric.
• Strip piece the 2 x 16 inch colored strip with two 2 x 16 inch background strips.
• Cut the strip pieced sets into 2 x 5 inch segments as shown in the book's diagram

Assemble the blocks per the instructions in the book.

Hope these cutting instructions are helpful if you make your own scrappy "Plus Surround" quilt!

* WOF is width of fabric

Work in Progress: "Plus Surround" and a Color Study

I've been working on the "Plus Surround" quilt, a pattern in the book I reviewed last week, Modern Plus Sign Quilts. The instructions for the quilt are excellent and it's really exciting to sew this project.

Check out the situation above:  Can you see what is coming?  Pictured are 2 straight rows of square blocks...but the pattern is circular!  That's so great!

The pale yellow background fabric is Kona® cotton "meringue" and the plus signs in the photo are an assortment of mostly small pattered blues and blue greens.

There is a central plus sign in this quilt. I have a beautiful marbled blue and yellow fabric that is a perfect match with this soft yellow and the blues. But when I made the block the sameness was okay but frankly, boring.

Quilt with the blue and yellow central marbled block

So I went looking through my stash for an orange which is the complement color to the blues and an analogous color to the yellow background. I found a hand-dyed cotton that adds just the right pop. The design went from flat to fun!

"Plus Surround" with complementary orange central block

The quilt pattern calls for solid colors.  I chose a scrappy look. That made both cutting and assembling the quilt significantly more complicated. I'll show the finished top next week and will share cutting instructions for making scrappy plus signs like the ones in my quilt. 

Book Review: "Modern Plus Sign Quilts"

It's been a while since I've seen a new quilt book with really exciting patterns, so today I want to share a bit about this great new C&T Publishing stashBOOKS, Modern Plus Sign Quilts by Cheryl Brickley and Plaige Alexander.

This book has something for everyone.  There are pieced quilts, appliqued patterns and foundation pieced patterns. They range from a simple table runner which would be great for a new quilter to complex geometric designs.

There are 3 quilt patterns in this book that I really want to make. My favorite is "Plus Surround", a quilt with concentric circles of plus signs. Because of the circular design, it looks complicated but all the but all the blocks are square!  It's a really fun quilt!

Another of my favorites is "Celestial", the navy an white quilt shown above on the cover of the book. This pattern makes a queen size quilt, using large blocks, so it go together quickly.

My other favorite quilt is "Transparency Chains".  It uses a single Irish change with pieced plus signs that appear to float inside the chains.

These are modern quilts with deep roots in classic patterns. They have lots of negative space with many of them using 3 to 7 plus yards of background fabric. I often guesstimate yardage when purchasing fabric but I recommend you make a list to take to the store if you are going to make these quilts!

I can't wait to start sewing...but first, a shopping trip!

Back cover

Tiny knit hat for a Waldorf Type doll with a 4 inch head

Tiny Knit Hat for a Waldorf Type doll with a 4 1/2 inch head circumference.

Supplies:

• US 6 - 4.00 mm double pointed knitting (DP) needles. Set of 5 DP needles.
• Mochi Plus or similar yarn with 4-4.5 sts/onch on 9-10.5 US needles
• Yarn needle

1. Cast on 20 stitches on 1 DP knitting needle
2. Divide stitches evenly on the 4 DP needles (5 stitches/DP needle)
3. Knit stockinette (Knit. Purl) for 3 rounds (rows 1-3)
4. Knit for 5 rounds (rows 4-8)
5. Row 9- Knit 3 stitches, knit 2 together at the end of needle. Repeat on each of the remaining 3 needles. (16 stitches)
6. Row 10 Knit around
7. Row 11 Knit 2 stitches, knit 2 together. Repeat on the each of the remaining 3 needles. (12 stitches)
8. Row 12 Knit around
9. Row 13 Knit 1 stitch, knit 2 together. Repeat on each of the remaining 3 needles. (8 stitches)
10. Row 14 Knit around
11. Row 15 Knit 2 together around. Decrease the number of needles to 2 as you knit. (4 stitches)
12. Row 16 Knit around
13. Knit 2 together until just 2 stitches remain
14. Cut yarn leaving an 8-10 tail. Using the yarn needle, run the tail through the 2 remaining stitches. Pull tight.
15. Weave in the 2 loose tails

Now your tiny Waldorf Doll will have a warm head!

If you use finer yarn (such as a #4 yarn using US 5 - 3.75mm needles) or want a slightly larger hat for a 5 inch circumference head, cast on 24 stitches and divide them, putting 6 stitches on each needle.  Starting in step 5, knit 1 additional stitch before knitting the last 2 stitches together at the end of each needle. Continue with knitting with cast-off row, followed by 1 knit around row until just 2 stitches remain as in step 13.

Little Soft Waldorf Type Dolls

Above are two little Waldorf Type Dolls. I drew the pattern for the doll's body but it is possible to find patterns for very similar dolls.

Both dolls were made with essentially same body pattern (with a slight tweak in the arms) but the larger doll has a body of knit fabric and the doll on the right has a body of woven fabric. I was surprised by how much smaller the doll was with the woven fabric body!

After living with these two dolls for a couple weeks, I revised the pattern a third time. This final pattern works very well. He's a tad taller, has a slightly larger head, the arms have a larger circumference and they come straight off the shoulders.

6 1/4 inch soft Waldorf doll with the snowdrops

These little dolls are fairly easy to make. Their only hair is a few strands of scrap yarn and the knit hats are sewn on.  I'll post the pattern for their tiny hat next week.

The three dolls below are 4 inch Pouch dolls. The pattern for these little dolls are from Making Waldorf Dolls by Maricristin Sealey.  I added the ribbon around the waist.  The little bows in back are so cute! The prop holding up the dolls is a cheerful pot of artificial light pink roses I picked up at Ikea which they call Fejka.

These tiny pouch dolls are fun to make...and I got to practice making 3 little heads!

Chicken Quilt!!

Free range chicken quilt!!  Five chickens, one rooster and one egg hiding in the grass!

As I explained in my last post, the foundation-pieced chickens and rooster started as patterns from the Electric Quilt 8 Block Library to which I added some details. I love the resulting birds! The free motion quilting was so much fun to do!

Here's how I quilted the wing on the chicken.  I used the corner on the chicken's back as my Two initial anchor points for my scallop design. Then I stitched the pattern freehand without any marking.  That's how I do all my free motion quilting unless I am quilting an animal shape.  I have to pre-draw animals so they stitch out consistently.  Use the arrows on the photos below to scroll through the steps I used to make the chicken's wing.

Here's the backing fabric on the quilt--another of Makower UK's fabulous prints!  I can walk through a fabric store and am always drawn to fabrics printed by this company! This fabric has been in my stash for a while and not longer readily available.

"Lila's Kitchen Hens" The Henley Studios, Makower UK

This quilt makes me happy!  It could be a table topper but I'll probably hanging it up.

Chicken Quilt in the Works!

I was flipping through Electric Quilt's EQ8 Block Library book with all the photos of the blocks in the EQ8 block library and found simple chicken and turkey foundation piece blocks. I wasn't planning on making a chicken quilt....but what fun!

The chicken and turkey in the Electric Quilt block library didn't have combs on their heads and I wanted the rooster to strut his stuff a bit more.  So I put each block into the EQ8 EasyDraw Block function and added combs, changed the turkey's wattle a bit and gave him a wing so he could be more colorful. The two patterns from the EQ8 block library are left and center below. My revised rooster is on the right.

Here is the chicken with the added comb. It is still a fairly simple foundation pieced block.

8 inch finished Chicken block

I'm using a variety of fabrics for my chickens that have subtle designs but read as white or cream. The other blocks in the quilt are blues, greens and lavenders with some yellow accents in the border. It takes time to do these foundation pieced blocks, but I really like the results!

If you have EQ8 and are designing quilts and not necessarily starting from scratch all the time, I highly recommend purchasing a copy of the Electric Quilt 8 Library book. While all the blocks are available online in the program, I see things flipping through the book I might not have found (or knew I even wanted) looking at the blocks in the program.

Dusting off the Inkle Loom

My inkle loom has been gathering dust. Literally!  The band shown above had been on the loom for a long time. I warped the band on two different days and accidentally used two different weights of cottolin thread. I left the warp, but wasn't really happy doing the weaving. 

A couple of weeks ago, I decided just to cut it off and start something new. Because the band was dusty, I washed it. And of course, now I love it!  The band isn't very long but it looks great as a belt on this "Winter Outfit" made by the ladies at Bamboletta for this Bamboletta Sitting Friend doll!

Wool and Cottolin woven belt on a doll and doll outfit made by Bamboletta.com

I have a new warp on the inkle loom now, doing a simple pink and white cotton band, just to get my hand back into the feel of weaving again. 

Wait...could that be an Inkle on the back of the loom? (No one is quite sure what an Inkle is, so why not??  He's actually trial of a new little soft doll I'm designing).

I think this pink and white band will make a lovely trim for a doll dress! Using my bands on doll dress could become a thing!!

Friendship Road Quilt

Back in November I designed 2 quilts in the newly upgraded Electric Quilt 8 (EQ8) computer program. "Friendship Road", seen above, was the first quilt I designed in the new program. Here's a link to post about designing this quilt.

I shortened the name, but the quilt is the same!

It's a combination of 2 blocks in the EQ8 Block Library--"Strawberry Smoothie" and "Road to California."  I really like the diagonal line in the quilt from the "Road to California" blocks. They make what is essentially a star quilt more interesting!

Here's the back:

This isn't a Valentine's Day quilt, but I did find it very cheerful working on a pink quilt in January and February!!

Another Waldorf Type Boy Doll, and a Lesson Learned About Tying Heads

I've been wanting a ginger haired boy Waldorf type doll. So I made one!  Here's Russell.  His named even means redhead in old Anglo-Norman!

Russell didn't come together as easily as some of my dolls.  When I tied his head, I didn't anchor the strings around the cheeks. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. I found out with Russell that it's wiser to anchor them!

Here are photos of a head (not his) with the cheek strings not anchored on the left and anchored on the right.

When I pulled the tight fabric "skin" over Russell's head, the left cheek string slipped up. I didn't noticed it right away when I could have easily fixed it.  But when I did see it what had happened, I figured it probably wouldn't matter a lot. It did.

By the time I had the doll's head stitched on to the body and the first layer of head was attached at the center top of his head,  a raised ridge had formed across his rather flat left cheek.  There was no way to move the strings back on the finished head. What to do???

I finally took a deep breath and decided to carefully clip and unpick all the stitches holding his head to his body.  I don't recommend doing this. The fabric skin is a knit and can easy develop runs. I was fortunate. No damage occurred. I was able to pull up his head covering just enough to put the strings back in the proper position. Then I anchored them and stitched the head back onto the body. Whew.

Russell now has two chubby cheeks. There is a line across his left cheek where the ridge had been is just barely visible. He's staying with me, so I'm fine with that.

I designed most of his clothes except his sweater is pattern which is the "Heart to Heart Pullover Vest" designed for Heart to Heart Bears based in Shanghai, China. It's available on Ravelry.com. I needed to narrow it bit through the body but the pattern made that adjustment easy to do.  I drew the pattern for his socks but got the idea to form the toe seam from socks sold by Bamboletta.com.

Here are his moccasins.  If found some rawhide laces for crafts at Joann's. They are rated safe for children age 14 and older. Fine for my doll, but not something for a young child. But they sure are cute!!

100% Wool Felt Moccasins with rawhide laces

Scrappy Improv Block Project 2017 Coming Together

Wow!  My Improv Scrappy Block Project had a total of 30 blocks that finish at 12 inches square. i took a set of 9 patch variation blocks from on old project that didn't work out and used them as vertical sashing.

I can't believe this project has turned out to be a queen size quilt!  I put it on a bed to see what the top looked like. Two of the dogs instantly gave it their seal of approval!

I found a sweet light blue 30's floral feedsack reproduction fabric to use for a backing. The quilt is all ready to be basted and quilted! I'll do a final post when it is completed. Hopefully soon!

Here is a better view of the quilt top

Another Quilt made with a Quarter Square Triangle Block Variation.

Here is the other quilt I made using the quarter square triangle variation blocks I made at this years New Year's Day quilt party. It's the quilt the four of us designed together that I showed in the process in my post on January 11, 2018.

We thought it looked like streamers!  So appropriate for a New Year's Day Quilt!

Here are some photos of the back, a flannel with woodland animals, and the quilting mostly a leaf motif and straight lines.  There are also a few flowers in the quilting (not shown below) that look a bit like the flowers printed the background material seen on the right side below.

I really enjoy sitting in my upstairs workroom quilting on these January days. The white and blue grey light from the snow outside is so lovely.  I wish the screen wasn't visible in this photo, but it was about 5 degrees F. the day I snapped the picture--opening the window wasn't an option!!

Quilting on a January day

I have 4 blocks left!  A big pillow cover is in the works!!  A stack of blocks sewed together in a few hours on New Years Day has kept me busy quilting all month!

Quilt Design Using a Variatrion of the Quarter Square Block

As promised last week, here's one of the two quilts I designed using the blocks from a New Year's Day Mystery quilt which I didn't end up making.

This is the second of the two quilts I made. I had a stack of blocks left over after completing the first quilt (to be shown at a later date) so had to come up with a design with what I had. It took a while to get the design balanced but I really like the end result!

This quilt has all the fabrics I had put together as a collection.  They have probably been in my stash for at least 5 years. At the time, I'd just made a quilt using similar colors and didn't choose to make another like it then. But I've always liked the fabrics.

The quilt backing is another vintage stash fabric--a very soft fabric, grey with little white polka dots. Altogether a very satisfying project!

The breeze conveniently flipped over an edge to reveal the backing.  Note the snow drift in front of the fence!!

Y-Quilt Blocks Made at a Fun New Year's Day Sewing Party

Note to web searchers: This post is about Y blocks, a Quarter Square triangle block variation. This is not about Y seams. That's a completely different topic.

It's become a tradition for a group of us to get together on New Year's Day to sew. Each of us makes our own quilt but we use same quilt pattern. Truth be told, we do as much chatting and eating as we do sewing!!  It's a fun day! I highly recommend it!

Sometimes I design project and sometimes we choose one from the internet. This year we chose the Merry Mayhem NYD Mystery.

At least that's what we started to do!  Of the 3 of us sewing together, none of us ended up using the final quilt layout! One friend, who was sewing at home but came over to chat, ended up using using the design but turned it 90 degrees. So much for following directions!! The major blocks in the project were Y blocks, a Quarter Square Triangle Variation, shown above.

I loved the blocks made in these fabrics.  Once I saw them I decided not to go further with the Mystery Quilt directions. I wasn't sure what I was going to use as for layout, but I knew these blocks would work well together.

I ended up designing 2 very different quilt tops with my blocks. The 4 of us worked out the layouts for one of the quilts at the New Year's Day party and the other I created on my design wall.

Here's a sneak peak from the party!

Thinking about possible layouts using the Y blocks

I'm just finishing both quilts up and will post them over the next couple weeks.

In the meantime, here's a link to a tutorial on Craftsy.com for making Quarter Square triangle blocks so you can make some for yourself.  How to Sew a Perfect Quarter Square Triangle.

The Quarter Square Triangle block and it's variations are very versatile and can create lots of exciting patterns. So much fun!

Sewing a Fleece Throw without a Serger

I like fleece throws--they are so warm and cozy.  Stores often have fleece yardage on sale at 50% off.  1 & 1/2 yards of fleece is perfect for a lap throw.  But until recently, I've never had any success at sewing them on my domestic machine. The seams rolled and buckled. The reason is that fleece is a really a stretchy knit fabric.

Sergers do work but it is possible to sew a great seam on a regular sewing machine too. Here's what I do.

• Put a walking foot on the sewing machine. The walking foot creates a balanced feed on the top as well as the bottom of the fabric, avoiding stretching it.
• Choose a stitch recommended in your machine's manual for stretch fabrics. I use the "jersey stitch" on my Bernina
• Fold the raw edge over to the back side of the fleece, wrong sides are together.  1/2" fold  puts the raw edge on the inner left edge of the walking foot and the folded edge on the outer right edge of the walking foot. I use the walking foot as a guide so I don't need to mark or pin the fleece
• Sew the seam on one side of the throw. You can either sew the entire seam to the end of the fabric or stop 1/2 inch from the end, fold over the seam on the next side, turn with the needle down and continue sewing.  I find I get a neater fold if I sew all the way to the edge and then fold over the next side.
• Let the walking foot feed the fleece under the needle. Don't pull or push the fabric which will stretch the fleece
• Sew at a steady rate to create an even design in the stitching

In middle row of photos above, the seam on thewrong side of the throw is on the left and the seam on the front side is on the right.

Using a walking foot and a stretch stitch is a fast, easy, no-fuss way to finish fleece for a throw! 

Improv Scrappy Block Project 2017

2017 is coming to and end and so is my Scrappy Block Project 2017.  My goal was to make at least 2 blocks a month for a year. I ended up with 30!

Other than using scraps and left over components of quilt blocks, I really didn't initially have a plan for these 12 inch blocks. As time went on, I started putting an animal or other feature fabric somewhere in each block. Some months I also added plain white blocks which I really liked. I wish I had done that more consistently. In this busy quilt, those white patches offer a resting place for the eyes.

At 5 block wide and 6 blocks long, quilt will be long enough but I want it a bit wider.  I found some orphan blocks from a project that just didn't work and there are enough blocks to add sashings between the vertical rows. The orphan are a bit bold, but I like them!  I'll post a photo of the completed quilt sometime in 2018!

So that wraps of this year long project.  And what happens when a project is done?  A party of course!!  (Though I had to do some canine management to prevent the party from starting before I had all the photos I needed for this post)!

Dog Party!  Hazel and Tipper playing among the blocks

Happy New Year!!

Happy Holidays!

Besides sewing presents, I've done a little knitting.  This cute little knit polar bear is fun little ornament. Mine is 2 1/2 inches.  The bear's head flips back and reveals a little pocket made in the bear's body.  Just right to hide a little note or a treasure. One of the bears I knit up is part of a Christmas Day Treasure Hunt.

The bear is also just the right size for a pocket book for a Bamboletta Cuddle Doll!  Tulip (my "borrower--she is wearing a smaller doll's socks and a bigger doll's leggings) immediately claimed the second one I made as her own!

Tulip, a Bamboletta Cuddle Doll, with the Polar Bear Pouch

The "Polar Bear Pouch" is the creation of Barbara Prime who publishes patterns as Fuzzy Mitten's. This pattern is available, free, on Ravelry.com. Barbara designs delightful knit animals and her patterns are easy to follow.

Enjoy your time with friends and family over the next few weeks!

Friends on the Road Quilt

I planning to make both quilts I just designed in Electric Quilt 8.  I've started work on the first quilt which I'm calling "Friends on the Road."  The two blocks are "Road to California" on the left and "Strawberry Smootie" on the right. But blocks are in EQ8's block library.

I'm using batiks and Kona® cotton white. The "Road to California" goes together quickly. The "Strawberry Smoothie" block is more intricate. So far I've only made these two trial blocks.

The test blocks work, so I'm set to sew! But with the holidays here, it might be a while before I have more to show!

Hope you are all enjoying a bit of Holiday sewing!

Electric Quilt 8: Experimenting with Foundation Piecing in the New Upgrade

In my last post I used the new upgrade of Electric Quilt (EQ8) to make a quilt layout plugging blocks from EQ's Block Library into a grid. That was lots of fun.  But this week I decided to try creating an original design using EasyDraw Block in the program that would be assembled with foundation piecing, also known as paper piecing.  In foundation piecing, the block design is printed on paper and the fabric is sewn onto the design on the paper. When the quilt is finished, the paper is torn away, just leaving the fabric quilt top.

It took me a couple tries to get a workable design since I don't usually do foundation piecing.  My first design would have been a piecing nightmare--even with foundation piecing. The good thing was that was crystal clear when EQ8 set up the design to be printed on the foundation paper. Even though that design wasn't going to work, I was glad to know that early on in the progress and was able to redirect myself to a revised design that was usable.

Here's my 2nd block and the quilt it would make.  Those solid blocks were just two intense. So I decided to tweak it a bit.

I went back to EasyDraw Block and added a couple lines and created a smaller square with a border in place of the solid square. Here's what that block and two quilts design options using that it look like. EQ8 has number of functions where you can let the computer change things up for you. I changed it up using the "Symmetry" tab. It's like having a design wall that moves all the blocks around for you! I prefer the quilt on the left, but it was fun to see the options.

Next I changed the color in one of pair of smaller blocks. That added some more interest. Here are some of the design options suggested by the "Symmetry" function.

My final design is at the top of the page.  That was created with the block below, which has a narrower border. It was very easy to modify these blocks. While the Undo arrow probably would have done the job for me, I chose the Pick tool (a diagonal arrow) to pick the line I wanted, deleted that and drew the new line. It's really quick and it works well for me. I then used the "Symmetry" function again with this final design and let the computer flip the blocks on the virtual design wall until I found the design I liked best.

This was a really interesting project and I got better acquainted with EQ8 doing it.  I'm still finding my way around EQ8, but really appreciate a nimbleness and ease of use in this new upgrade.  I think the upgrade is definitely worth doing.

Electric Quilt 8: Experimenting with the new Upgrade

I've been using Electric Quilt (EQ), a computerized quilt designing program, now for a number of years. Because I only use it sporadically, I am by no means an expert. But when EQ7 was recently upgraded to EQ8, I knew this upgrade was on my "need to have" list.

I initially learned EQ6 on a PC.  But when they released a version of EQ7 that was Apple compatible I made the switch.  Using EQ on Apple computer, both laptops and desk computers, has worked well for me.

EQ8 is set up a bit differently than EQ7 and some of the tools have new names. The toolbar with blocks chosen for the quilt, colors, and fabric choices that used to be on the right side of the screen is now above the screen on the left side and the tools open in a box next to the work area.

It looks like this program has a lot more versatility for creating your own blocks and quilts. But so far, I have only used a basic layout, adding blocks from EQ8's block library. Setting up a layout was straightforward, as was adding and changing borders from the grids available in the program.

For the quilt above I used the block "Strawberry Smoothie" (left below) and "Road to California"  (right below). It was really easy to plug blocks into layout grid, change blocks in the layout and rotate them to different positions. I changed colors used in the library blocks to the colorway of my choice. You can also upload scanned pictures of fabric if you want to see the actual quilt you are designing. Here are the two blocks. It's OK to share these blocks...EQ8's software is copyrighted but the blocks are not.

I've had a bit of "where is that tool?" to deal with, but overall, I'm really enjoying using the EQ8 Upgrade. I think the next thing I'll try is designing my own blocks. That's something I did often in EQ7. It will be fun to see how it works in EQ8.