Shades of Blue

Ok.. y'all know it. Blue is my favorite color.  I love it, there's just something about the color blue, it's so calming to me, like a nice summer sky.

These are going to be going into a "Shades of Blue" Carpenters Star quilt.  The bottom row is going to be the front of the quilt, and the back one is a blue-grey that will be the backing and the binding. Oh is this one going to be so much fun.

 

 And this one is another Shade of Blue top.  I've got to think about the border on it, and then how to quilt it.  I'm thinking that I'll be quilting loops in each diamond, and then maybe some curved cross hatching in the triangles.. not sure on the squares yet.  And I'm not sure on what border or borders I'm going to do just yet.

The Big Reveal: Rainbow Carpenters Star

Here's the finished Carpenters Star.

Add borders if you want, then quilt and bind.

There you go - a Carpenters Star quilt without any Y seams. :-)

All previous parts to the tutorial/sew along:

Stitching The Rows Together 

Row Stitching Instructions 

Cutting Instructions 

The Beginning: Picking Fabrics 

All that's left is for me to decide if I'm adding borders, or not and the quilting.  I've got a few ideas on how to quilt it, just need some time.

Picking the thread to quilt it.  A friend taught me to NOT lay the spools of thread on the quilt top like this:

And why not you ask?  Good question.  Thank you Jess for helping me out. :)  If the thread is all coiled up on the spool you won't get a good idea of how it would look laid out over the different colors of the quilt.  What should be done is to pull some of the thread off the spool and lay it over the quilt top more or less what it would look like if it was quilted.   Try it on the different colors and see what works for your particular quilt top.  It also depends on if you want the thread to blend in or stand out highlighting the quilting.

For me, I picked the rainbow thread.  See how pretty it looks?  Now all I have to do is decide on the quilting motifs.  If you've got any suggestions - I'm open to them! :)

Sew Along - Stitching the Rows Together

A more detailed explanation of how to sew each row together is coming along shortly. I need to get my husband to help with the computer aspect of labeling things. 

Two rows together:

Halfway point:

Using 8.5" *unfinished) squares, it currently is 32.5"x64.5" (unfinished)

 

Ok.. I really need to get a design wall. The floor thing isn't working out to well. LOL.

Previous Parts to this Sew Along:

Sewing Instructions

Cutting Instructions

Choosing Fabrics

Sew Along - Rainbow Carpenters Star - Stitching Instructions

Let's get stitching!

For this, it's a bit fiddly at first to get the pieces sewn together. My advice is to take this quilt one row at a time.  There are 8 rows.

Because of the Half Square Triangles (HSTs), I press my seams open to reduce bulk, but you can certainly press to the dark side.

Example:

Front:

 

 Back:

 

Row 1:
Step 1 - Sew:
Blue HST to Background HST
Dark Purple HST to Background HST
Light Purple HST to Background HST
Pink/Rose HST to Background HST
Background Square to Background Square
Background Square to Background Square

Once all the HSTs are sewn together and the background squares are sewn to each other, press the seams open (or to the dark side - it's your preference).  Pin together and set aside.  Label this section Row 1.

Row 2:
Step 1 - Sew:
Background Square (don't stitch to anything)
Light Green HST to Dark Green HST
Dark Green HST to Blue HST
Dark Purple HST to Background HST
Pink/Rose HST to Dark Red HST
Dark Red HST to Red HST
Background Square (don't stitch to anything)

Once all the HSTs are sewn together and the background squares are sewn to each other, press the seams open (or to the dark side - it's your preference).  Pin together and set aside. Label this section Row 2.

Row 3:
Step 1 - Sew:
Background HST  to Teal HST
Teal HST to Dark Green HST
Background Square (don't stitch to anything)
Blue HST to Background HST
Pink/Rose HST to Background HST
Black Square (don't stitch to anything)
Red HST to Orange HST
Orange HST to Background HST

Once all the HSTs are sewn together and the background squares are sewn to each other, press the seams open (or to the dark side - it's your preference).  Pin together and set aside. Label this section Row 3.

Row 4:
Step 1 - Sew:
Background HST to Yellow HST
Yellow HST to Background HST
Background HST to Dark Green HST
Dark Green HST to Blue HST
Pink/Rose HST to Orange HST
Orange HST to Background HST
Background HST to Tan HST
Tan HST to Background HST

Once all the HSTs are sewn together and the background squares are sewn to each other, press the seams open (or to the dark side - it's your preference).  Pin together and set aside.  Label this section Row 4.

Row 5:
Step 1 - Sew:
Background HST to Tan HST
Tan HST to Background HST
Background HST to Orange HST
Orange HST to Pink/Rose HST
Blue HST to Dark Green HST
Dark Green to Background HST
Background HST to Yellow HST
Yellow HST to Background HST

Once all the HSTs are sewn together and the background squares are sewn to each other, press the seams open (or to the dark side - it's your preference).  Pin together and set aside.  Label this section Row 5.

Row 6:
Step 1 - Sew:
Background HST to Orange HST
Orange HST to Red HST
Background Square (don't stitch to anything)
Pink/Rose HST to Background HST
Background HST to Blue HST
Background Square (don't stitch to anything)
Dark Green HST to Light Green HST
Light Green HST to Background HST

Once all the HSTs are sewn together and the background squares are sewn to each other, press the seams open (or to the dark side - it's your preference).  Pin together and set aside.  Label this section Row 6. 

Row 7:
Step 1 - Sew:
Background Square (don't stitch to anything)
Red HST to Dark Red HST
Dark Red HST to Pink/Rose HST
Light Purple HST to Background HST
Background HST to Dark Purple HST
Blue HST to Teal HST
Teal HST to Dark Green HST
Background Square (don't stitch to anything)

Once all the HSTs are sewn together and the background squares are sewn to each other, press the seams open (or to the dark side - it's your preference).  Pin together and set aside.  Label this section Row 7. 

Row 8:
Step 1 - Sew:
Background Square to Background Square
Pink/Rose HST to Background HST
Background HST to Light Purple HST
Dark Purple HST to Background HST
Background HST to Blue HST
Background Square to Background Square

Once all the HSTs are sewn together and the background squares are sewn to each other, press the seams open (or to the dark side - it's your preference).  Pin together and set aside.  Label this section Row 8.

Coming up next - how to sew each row together.

Previous - Cutting Instructions 

Beginning of the Sew Along - Fabrics Needed

Sew Along - Rainbow Carpenter Star - Cutting Instructions

All righty!! Ready to do some cutting?

 

From your BACKGROUND - 16 SQUARES, 32 TRIANGLES

Dark Red - 4 Triangles

Red - 4 Triangles

Pink/Rose - 8 Triangles

Light Purple - 4 Triangles

Dark Purple - 4 Triangles

Blue - 8 Triangles

Teal - 4 Triangles

Dark Green - 8 Triangles

Light Green - 4 Triangles

Yellow - 4 Triangles

Tan - 4 Triangles

Orange - 8 Triangles

When you do the cutting and trimming, make sure that you're consistent with the rulers that you use. Whatever ruler you use to cut your squares - use that one to square up your Half Square triangle blocks. Consistency is important.  Over the years I've found that each ruler is slightly different - so whichever ruler you start cutting with, keep using that ruler. It'll save you a ton of heartache.

Ready for a Sew Along?

I think I've figured out how to do this. I'm just finalizing all the math bits. Are you ready for a sew along?

Anyone else out there like rainbows or color wheels?  Have you been intimidated before by different sew alongs because they might be too complicated?  Never fear - this is only squares and half square triangles.

If you'd like a 64x64 quilt with no borders - you'll need 2 1/2 yards of your background fabric. The background fabric will have enough left over to cut your binding strips.

If you'd like a larger quilt, and want to use the background fabric as your border - you'll need 3 yards.

From the rainbow fabrics, I'm cutting 8.5" HSTs using the Easy Angle II Ruler. Personally I can't live without this ruler.

Can you cut squares and sew your HSTs that way? Of course! For me, the Easy Angle ruler takes all the guesswork out of making the HSTs - but use whatever method of making HSTs works for you.  As long as your HSTs are 8.5" unfinished you'll be fine.

Pull out some rainbow fabrics... and 2 1/2 or 3 yards of white, cream, tan, grey or black for a background fabric and we'll be doing some cutting shortly. 

 

Materials Needed:

Background Fabric - 2 1/2 yards (no borders) OR 3 yards (for borders)

Dark Red - Fat Quarter

Red - Fat Quarter

Rose/Pink - 1/3 yard

Light Purple - Fat Quarter

Dark Purple - Fat Quarter

Blue - 1/3 yard

Teal - Fat Quarter

Dark Green - 1/3 yard

Light Green - Fat Quarter

Yellow - Fat Quarter

Orange - 1/3 yard

Tan - 1 Fat Quarter

*You will have some leftover fabric when you cut out the triangles. Do not put it in the scrap bin - It makes an adorable embellishment on the backing and label for your quilt.

Shades of Green

This is the only good photo I have of my Grandmothers gift.  Green is her favorite color and I wanted to do something to surprise her.

This one is only 3 fabrics and 3 different shades of green. I wanted to call it the Kermit quilt but my husband wouldn't let me.

Nana likes it and that's all that matters.

A Donating I Will Go

Made these gorgeous quilts for a raffle. All proceeds go to a scholarship for needy students.Hope they get well received.
 
It's about 50"x50".  I had such fun quilting it and making it.

 

And a close up of the quilting.  In the center points there's a ships wheel, and the stars each have an anchor. I quilted a couple other motifs in the cream squares.

 

This other quilt was so quick and easy to make. Plus, I think it shows off the fabrics pretty well.  I didn't do any fancy stitching in it, just some stippling.

**Edited - one of my students won this one!! :) ** She loves it!

A huge thank you to Mary Quilts for the free pattern for the strippie quilt. Very fun, very easy.

Baby Shower Gift - Complete and Ready to Gift

So one of my friends is having her very first baby in a month and the shower's coming up soon.  I let her pick the pattern and colors and I made her a quilt.

Since the little girl is not yet named because the parents are still deciding on names, on the label I just put a generic Baby XXXXX.

All completed on my tiny Brother sewing machine. This was the machine that I got when my Singer went on the fritz and I needed a backup for my backup.  So it's not the best quilting job in the world, but when you're attempting to quilt something this large in such a small throat space, I think it turned out all right.

Measures 52"x52".  So not only is it a good size for a newborn, but also for a toddler to drag around.

A Quilted Wedding Gift

Made a super huge quilt for my friends wedding.  It was quilted by my friend Charisma.

This quilt is about 118"x118".  There's no way that I could have quilted it on my home machine, so I gave it over to the amazingly talented Charisma to work her magic.  And work her magic she did. It's so big that Charisma couldn't actually get the whole thing in the picture.

My friend was so happy to receive the quilt!!  She said it was the only actual gift she received for the wedding.  Everyone else gave her money. I wanted to give her something nice, and I hope this counts as something nice.