Added 2 More UFOs.. whoops

Well, at least they won't be UFOs for long.

Seriously - don't laugh.  I have DEADLINES for these!!

This one is going to a friend who is retiring on Friday the 21st.  Yes, you read that right.  This coming Friday.  I've made 4 of these blocks - thank you to Missouri Star Quilt Co for the amazing and easy tutorial.  When it's done (no later than Friday!!)  It'll be 52x52.  This picture was taken before I added sashing - so it's bigger now.

And this one is for a good friend of mine who just had a little girl.  Since I took the picture, I've evened up each side and added a 3 inch light green border.  Now all I need to do is quilt it.  It's all sandwiched.  My idea is to quilt the babys name in the purple tumblers and loose stipple in the bunny.  Once it's done the quilt is getting shipped off to the adorable girl in Ireland.

Moving beyond Stippling (part 1)

Part 1

Disclaimer: By no means am I an expert at free motion quilting. This is ONE method of doing free motion quilting and there are hundreds of different ways. No way is more "right" or "wrong" than others.  You have to find the way or ways that work for you.  Depending on the size of the throat of your machine, you might have to blend a few ways into something that you can work with.

What you need:

A Quilt Top

Here's the top I'll be using.

 

Tracing Paper; a Pen; Stencil; Quilting Pattern

 

What you do:

Do a rough layout on your quilt as to where you want the quilting pattern to go.  Test it out - see if it fits.  Play around, you may need to use a photocopier to shrink a quilting pattern. 

 

Play with the stencil/s. See if it fits your quilt.  It's a process of trial and error. Sometimes they fit, sometimes they don't.  If you're very new to free motion quilting, stick with stencils that are "continuous line" to quilt.  That just means you're not going to start and stop. The whole design will be quilted with ONE huge line. 

 

Once you've settled on a design, trace the design on tissue paper.

I'd suggest cutting a square, but I forgot to take a picture. Sorry!  So, cut a piece of tissue paper, and trace the stencil onto the tissue paper. If your fabric is dark, pick an ink color that you can see (doesn't matter what color, you'll be quilting over it. Yes, you're actually going to be quilting ON the tissue paper.

 

Here's a (kinda bad) picture of the traced stencil.

  

Once you've settled on a design for the border, trace the design on tissue paper. Make as many as you need. Since my quilt is square, I need 4 corner pieces.

 

If it's a pattern that I'll need more than once (as in the case with the corners) I'll trace one and then check to make sure it fits. It does, so I'll trace 3 more.

Then, continue to trace the rest of the pattern.  The one that I chose to use for this quilt had the corner pieces as well as the border pieces. I got the free pattern at Forest Quilting. 

  

When you're done tracing the borders, lay out the tissue paper on the quilt top and see what you think of it.

 

If you notice, I didn't do the zig zag part yet, or the outer border. I ran out of time tonight, and to be honest, I'm still thinking on how I want to quilt those parts. For right now, I'm thinking that the inner tan part will have small feathers, and maybe pebbling in the zig zag - I'm not quite sure. :)

Real life is going to be kinda crazy the next few days, but I promise that I'll get back to the tutorial next week after I have some time to think on how I want to quilt this one! :)


As another side note:
There are some amazing quilting motifs out there, and a lot are free.  If you like one, don't hesitate to download it/print it/buy it. It is important to note the name of the designer of the motif, especially if you want to put the quilt in a show.


The site that I got the free pattern for the border from is Forest Quilting. Stop by her site, she has a ton of free Quilting Motifs and a bunch of free paper piecing patterns.

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

60 Degree Triangle Table Runner Tutorial

To start the Table Runner, you really only need your ruler, 2 fabrics, and a rotary cutter.  If you want to use a special ruler, you can. Otherwise you would use the 60 degree lines on your ruler.  This is a photo of the 60 degree triangle ruler that I used for my runner.

If you wanted to make a smaller runner, you can use a smaller triangle ruler (60 degree). 

 

Here are my fabrics.  I cut 3 -  2.5" strips from  EACH of the two fabrics. If your fabric is 44" or so wide, you'll be fine with cutting 3 strips. If it's not 44", you'll need to cut 5 strips from each.

Sew two dark fabrics to each side of the light fabric.  Press to the dark side.

 

 This is what the strip set looks like from the front.

 

From one of the sets (it doesn't matter which one - it's a personal preference) you need to cut 8 triangles. Cut on one side, then cut the other. If you're into scrappy quilts, you can save the triangle to the right for a place in a future scrappy project.

 

Here's the other strip set. From this set, I cut 6 triangles. 

 

 Now, take the 6 triangles you cut, and make a hexagon with them. (you can lay it on the ironing board or wherever you want - I put them here for ease of photo taking).  Then, you'll need 4 of the other triangles. Put them to the side of the hexagon. Border the edges.  Repeat on the other side of the hexagon with the other 4.

 

 When you sew the triangles together, start at one end. Pick the top or the bottom half. Start on either side right or left. I've found that it reduces bulk if you press these seams open.

 

Here's the view from the front. Keep adding the triangles until you finish the bottom or top. Repeat for all triangles and the other half.

 

 Now you should have two halves with a flat edge on both sides.  Take out your pins!! Get ready to pin like crazy. The pins will help you keep the points sharp. Stitch the two halves together and press.  You can press these seams open or two one side.

Voila! Your runners top is done.  Now all you have to do is sandwich, quilt and bind it.  If you want, you can add a border or two. 

 

Feel free to leave a comment or link on your blog. :-)