Snowman Quilt

Another Finish it February quilt! This could be a Christmas quilt, but the beauty of this fabric is that it’s really a snowman in the woods design. It could easily stay out until at least February 2, the day that the holiday greens where traditionally taken down.

The quilt pattern is one of Fabric Café’s® three yard quilts called “Stepping Stones”. It was a really straightforward pattern and one I would happily make again.

I quilted it with a very light blue thread, one which matched the blue in the snowman fabric. That was great until I started stitching the diagonal lines running through the red blocks. I stitched about 4 diagonal rows until I decided that I really didn’t like the light blue on the red fabric. So I unpicked all of those rows. Not my favorite activity!! But I’m so glad I did that. I restitched them using red thread and now it looks great!

The backing on this quilt is a baby blue flannel. I was worried that I would dislike the red stitching on the blue backing as much as I disliked the blue thread on the red blocks. But actually, it’s fine. Maybe because the stitch sort of sinks into the flannel fabric.

I used painter’s tape to mark the long diagonals I was going to quilt. Then I stitched 1/4 inch away from the tape, paying attention as to not sew over the tape. if you are going to use tape to make a quilt, make sure to leave that 1/4 allowance for stitching when you place your tape. You want the stitching to go through the corner of the blocks, so the tape should be offset by about 1/4 inch. The tape works really well, but only tape one row at a time as the tape can lift off during quilting. Don’t be tempted to using masking tape which might leave a sticky residue on your quilt.

I have another identical 3 yard set of fabrics in my stash. I think it might fun to make this quilt pattern again, substituting a blue fabric for the green in this quilt. I don’t have yard of a suitable blue in my stash, so it’ll be a project for a later date!

I did get all my finished quilt tops quilted during February, so March will be a Show and Tell month here on my blog! Hooray for whoever came up with the idea of “Finish it February!” I highly recommend it!

Four Patch Quilt: "Four Patch for the Fourth"

The quilt which I started cutting out in my post last week is done in time for the Fourth of July! This is my design, a simple four patch block quilt that I call “Four Patch for the Fourth.” It’s a small quilt…just big enough for two little children to sit on together.

It’s a easy quilt and sews up quickly.

I love blocks that have 4 sections such as this four patch block or pinwheel blocks. In order to have the seams on the back of the block lie as flat as possible, the seams and be “spun”. The top seam can be gently opened up so that one side of the seam can be pressed upward and the other side pressed downward. The result is a tiny four patch on the back of the block. I think of these tiny central blocks as a hidden quilt in a quilt!

The back of a 4 patch block with the seams “spun”. Note how each of the four seams is pressed toward a different patch, so the seams look like the vanes in a windmill.

All the quilting in this quilt was done with a walking foot. Each of the square blocks as been quilted and there is diagonal quilting across the large blocks to anchor them.

It’s easy to keep a long diagonal course of quilting straight by marking it using painter’s tape. Lay down the tape, quilt the line just beside the tape, not ON the tape. Then remove the tape. Do not leave the tape on the quilt for a long time. I find I can tape 2 diagonal lines at a time. But if I tape more than 2 diagonals, the tape tends to lift off the quilt as I’m stitching. Once the long diagonal line is quilted, additional lines of quilting can be added following the initial diagonal line with the edge of the walking foot. Remove the tape before addition parallel lines of stitching. The tape could be left in place but it’s easier to quilt additional lines without the tape on the quilt.

Don’t use masking tape which may leave glue residue on the fabric.

This quilt looks great on the back of a rocking chair too. I like summer quilts that are on the small size. It’s just too hot in the summer to have a big lap quilt.

Here’s my Fourth of July quilt with Douglas, a classic Waldorf type doll which I made.

Ready for Staying at Home on July 4th, 2020.

Have a safe, happy, and healthy weekend!