That Quirky Scrap Quilt (along): Making the Quarter Square Triangles

Well, after a bit of a delay we are back on track.  This week we are making the quarter square triangles (QST) for That Quirky Scrap Quilt (along).  (See a list of other posts here.)  We will use the twenty 5 1/2" squares we cut earlier to make the QSTs.

First, pick out the 10 lightest value squares.  On the wrong side of the fabric, draw a line from corner to corner on each of the 10 light squares.  Place each light square right sides together with a darker square.  Then, sew a quarter inch away from the line on both sides.  Cut on the line.  Set seam and press towards the darker fabric.

 

Cut in half from corner to corner perpendicular to the seam.  Switch halves with another set.  Arrange squares as illustrated.  Match seams and sew together.  Press.

Trim to 4 1/2" square.  Place the ruler so that the 45 degree line runs along the seam and the intersection in the center is at the 2 1/4" mark.  Trim exposed edges.  Rotate the block and trim the remaining sides.  Repeat to make 20 QSTs.

Now that we have made all of the 4-patches, half square triangles, and quarter square triangles we can start putting it together next week.  I think it is going to be Amazing!

That Quirky Quilt (along) - Making the 4-Patch Units

 Last week I posted the cutting instructions for That Quirky Scrap Quilt (along) and today we are making the (52) 4-patch units.  (See this post for an  overview of the quilt.)   I was worried that it would take forever to make 52 units, but they came together quickly.  (They would have come together even quicker if I hadn't 'sewn' 10 of them together without bobbin thread!  I hate it when that happens.)

First choose a light and dark 2 1/2" strips.  Having a light and dark strip isn't strictly necessary, but I want to have a distinct light/dark pattern.  Note that a fabric can be both 'light' and 'dark' depending on the other fabric it is paired with.  If you are using scrap strips of varying lengths, choose two that are approximately the same length.  Sew right sides together along the length of the strip with a quarter inch seam.

Set the seam by pressing the stitching line while the strips are still right sides together.  Then press strips open.  Do not run the iron up and down the seam because it can make the strips curve.

Square up the edge of the strip then cut 2 1/2" wide pieces off the the length of the strip.

Take two units, invert one, match seams and sew together.  You can pin the seam, but after the first 10, 20 or 30 you probably won't need to anymore.  :)

Set seam and press open.

Repeat for a total of (52) 4-patch squares.  Each 4-patch unit should measure 4 1/2" square.

 That's it for this week!  Next Monday I will post instructions for making the half square triangle units.

Emily's Pinwheel Star Tutorial

About a month ago my 14 year old daughter Emily was playing around with EQ7 (I love seeing them get into quilt stuff too!) and came up with this design.  I really liked the pinwheel in the star and decided to make it up into a 12" block to go with my other Meadowsweet star blocks.

I thought other people might like to make it too, so here is the tutorial:

To make a 12" finished Pinwheel star, cut:

 White
4 - 3.5" squares
4 - 4" squares
1 - 4.5" square

Pink
1 - 4.5" square

Print
4 - 4" squares

Yellow
 2 - 4" squares

Cut the 2 of the print squares on the diagonal.
Cut the 4.5" white and pink squares into quarters along both diagonals.
Draw a line along the diagonal of the four white 4" squares.

Lay out the white, pink and print triangles as illustrated.  Sew the white and pink triangles together.  (Tip:  Feed the triangles into the machine blunt end first.)  Press.  Sew the print triangle onto the pink and white triangle unit.  Press and trim to 3.5" square.  Make sure that the seams all run into the points.

Match the white 4" squares with the remaining print and yellow 4" squares and make 8 half square triangle units as illustrated above.  Press and trim to 3.5" squares.

Lay out all of the squares as shown.  Sew together into rows.  Press.  Match seams and sew the rows together.  Press.

Done!

Such a cute block.  I just need to make a few more for the quilt!  Have a great Thanksgiving week!

Megan's Star - A Tutorial

 

I recently found some traditional star designs that I liked and tweaked them to make this star.  I am calling it Megan's Star because the quilt is for my niece Megan (if I give it to her - I'm tempted to keep it - I really like it so far!).  

I really have a thing for pinky-coral fabric and wanted to work in some of my Meadowsweet scraps of into the quilt.  In order to get all of my favorite fabrics in, I decided to use "made fabric" a la Fifteen Minutes of Play for the side point of the star.  I think it adds a fun subtle scrapiness to the quilt.    But feel free to use regular fabric for the points instead.  To balance the scrapiness of the side points, I used solid fabric for the corner points.

It is jumbo sized at 18" finished and I thought I would share the tutorial for it today.  Are you ready to make one?

Megan's Star - 18" Block

Step 1:  Make scrappy fabric panel

The scrappy fabric is made by sewing little pieces of fabric together, trimming and sewing more pieces together again.  Go here, here or here to see how to make your own fabric from scraps.  Make sure the scraps are small enough that you will see more than one piece of fabric in a 3" HST.  You will need to make enough scrappy fabric to cut four 3 7/8" squares and one 7.25" square.

Step 2: Cut fabric

From white (background):

4 - 3.5" squares (for the corners)

6 - 4" squares (for the hst)

4 - 3 7/8" squares (for flying geese)

1 - 7.25" square (for flying geese)

4 - 2" squares (for inner star corners)

1 - 4.25" square (for inner star flying geese)

From yellow solid:

4 - 4" squares

From coral solid:

2 - 4" squares

From pieced scrappy fabric (or regular fabric):

4 - 3 7/8" squares

1 - 7.25" square

From dark gray (inner star points):

4 - 2 3/8" squares

From gray (center of inner star):

1 - 3.5" square

Step 3:  Piece the half square triangles (hst):

-Draw a line from corner to corner on each of the six 4" white squares.

-Place the white 4" squares right sides together with the 2 coral and 4 yellow 4" squares.

-Sew a 1/4" seam on either side of the line.

-Cut on the line.

-Set seam (press while the fabric is still right sides together) and press open.

-Trim to 3.5" square.  (Check out this post for step by step instructions on how to trim).

You should have a total of 8 yellow hst and 4 coral hst.

Step 4: Make the flying geese units:

The next step is to make the flying geese units out of the scrappy fabric.  You will need four units where the white fabric is the "goose" (the big triangle in the middle), four units with scrappy fabric as the goose and four small units with dark gray as the background for the small inner star.

I love this quick and easy method of making four flying geese units at once.  It is like magic!

-First, draw a line from corner to corner on the back side of the four 3 7/8" white and scrappy squares and on the four 2 3/8" gray squares.  

-Pin two scrappy squares right sides together with the white 7.25" square.  Put the smaller squares in opposite corners with the drawn lines running from corner to corner as pictured.  The small squares will overlap in the middle.

-Sew 1/4" to each side of the line.

-Cut on the line.

-Set seam and press open.  You will have two heart shaped units.

-Pin the last small scrappy squares right sides together with "heart" units as illustrated.

-Sew 1/4" on both sides of the line.

-Cut, set and press.  You will have four flying geese units with the scrappy fabric on the edges.

-Repeat with the 7.25" square of scrappy fabric and the four 3 7/8" squares of white fabric to make four flying geese units with the scrappy fabric as the goose.

-Repeat with the 4.25" white and 2 3/8" dark gray squares to make the flying geese units used in the center star.

Step 5:  Make sub-units

All of the block pieces are ready.  Now it is time to put them together!

-Use the white 3.5" squares and the yellow and coral hst to make the first sub-unit.  Lay out the fabric as illustrated.  Sew the rows together.  Set seams and press.  The arrows indicate which way to press.  Then sew the rows together.  Make four of these units.

-Sew the scrappy flying geese units together as illustrated.  Press 2 seams up and 2 seams down so the seams will nest well in the final block.

-Lay out the 2" white squares, gray flying geese units and gray 3.5" square as illustrated.  Sew the units together into rows.  Press towards the white and light gray squares.  Match the seams and sew the rows together.  Press towards the center.

Step 6:  Put it all together

-Lay out all the sub-units as illustrated.  (The scrappy flying geese units that are pressed downwards are on the top and bottom.  The units that are pressed up are on the sides.)
-Match seams and sew together into rows.
-Press as indicated by the arrows.
-Match seams and sew rows together.
-Press

Yea!  I love, love, love this block and hope you do too.  Let me know if you make one.

Now I've just got to find the time to sit on the porch swing and applique the little stars onto the background fabric.  It's a rough job, but someone's got to do it.  :)

Flanges! a tutorial for making a flanged binding

I LOVE Flanges!   I have been making a bunch of pillows for Christmas presents and find that I want to use a flange on every. single. one.  Flanges - a narrow flap of fabric - put on a quilt right before binding can make the binding really pop.  I love the look of the double narrow border that a flange makes.  It looks totally tricky and cool, but is soooo easy.  Let me show you.

Make your quilt/pillow and quilt as desired.  Trim the edges like you would before binding.

Cut out four 1" strips of fabric that are a bit longer than each side of your pillow/quilt.  Fold them in half and press.

Take one strip and lay the unfinished edges along the edge of your quilt/pillow.  Zigzag along the edge.  Make sure you are right on the edge so the stitching doesn't show when you put on the binding.

For the next side simply zigzag another strip to the quilt along the edge.  The ends will overlap like so.

Trim off any extra fabric.

At this point it should look like this.

Next attach the binding as usual.  When you pull back the binding you will see about a 1/4" of flange fabric along the edge.  LOVE!!!  Some people choose to top stitch the flange down along the loose edge, but I don't feel it is necessary.

You can also add a flange along the edge of a quilt top before you add the final border.  This gives you a narrow interior border without having to try to sew a 3/4" piece of fabric along the edge. (shudder)

I personally like to have the interior flange be the same color as the binding.  I think it looks nice that way but they could be different colors too.

Let me say it one more time:  I Love Flanges!  Blessings on the heads of the older ladies at the quilt store who showed me how to make one eight years ago.  How about you?  Have you ever used a flange in quilting?

(And is it just me or does flange sound like a bad word?)

Super-Size It! (a tutorial on how to super-size your own quilt)

One great way to make a quilt faster is to increase the size of the individual components.  For example, instead of sewing 2.5 inch squares together, why not sew 5 inch or even 10 inch squares together?  An added bonus?  A quilt made with larger blocks can be quite striking.

The jumbo granny square quilt above was made from 5 inch squares instead of the standard 2.5 inch pieces and measures about 36 x 36 inches.

Cross and Crown - For Sale at Terrain

This amazing quilt measures 62 x 64 inches!  I would love to have something like that on my bed!  It is simply one quilt block that has been super-sized.

Here are a few great super-sized quilt tutorials I have seen out there:
Giant Vintage Star Tutorial
Monster Sized Hexagon Quilt Tutorial
Super Sized Shoo-Fly Quilt Tutorial
Jumbo Tumbler Quilt Tutorial

But say you have a favorite block that you want to super size?  Here is how you do it:

1. Decide what block you want to super-size
2. Decide how large you want your quilt to be (be flexible)
3. Decide how many blocks you want in the finished quilt.  Do you want one huge block?  Four giant blocks or a 2 x 3 layout of 6 blocks?

Say you have a 12 inch block you want to super-size and you want a quilt that is about 74 inches square and you want to make it out of 4 blocks.  That would mean that each block would have to be about 37 inches square.  37 is an awkward number, so lets round down to 36 inches and be content with a 72 inch quilt.

Thankfully, 12 goes into 36 three times.  Our super-sized block is three times larger than the original block.

But how large to cut your pieces?  Can you just multiply everything by 3?  Not quite.  

1. First, subtract off the seam allowances 
2. Then multiply by three (or how ever many you need to) and 
3. Add back on the seam allowances

Square and rectangular pieces will have a seam allowance of .5 inches (.25 for each side) that needs to be subtracted off.

Half square triangles need to have 7/8ths of an inch subtracted off.

So...take each pattern piece, subtract off the seam allowance, multiply by 3 then add the seam allowance back on and complete the block as the pattern instructs.

Need the quilt to be a bit bigger?  You could add some sashing between the block or add a border.

So easy, so fast and so striking!  

A win-win!  

Have you ever super-sized a quilt?