Trying Out New Blocks

Day Three:

Today started with work and a family get together so when I got home I didn't think I'd spend too much time working on quilting. Let's just say I was wrong--- I realized once I start something I enjoy I do not want to stop. I got home about 8pm and ended up working on a few blocks until 2am. 

To start the evening I knew I needed to work on my rotary cutting skills as I had a few pieces of fabric I've had to set aside for later already because for one reason or another I didn't cut it to the proper size. To practice I cut small squares some 2.5" by 2.5" and others 2" by 2" and then made this 9 Square block. I think it turned out pretty well. I'm certainly getting better at watching my 1/4 inch seam allowance. And that maybe because I did get my new 1/4 inch quilting foot for the sewing machine and have been using it as my guide. 

Quick and Easy Xmas Nine-Square Block

Once I had this block down and felt better about cutting I decided to make another panel of fabric that I could use to make a 9-Square block later on. I chose the pastel fabric I got from Goodwill as the base, and then the White Fabric Fat Square from Joann's as the middle strip. I did 2" strips. Which is why the white looks like 1.5" in comparison to both pastels (that lovely 1/4 inch seam allowance!). Once I got the fabric cut this was very quick to put together.

Loving the colors just need to find something to use for opposites on block.

The first real block for the evening that I attempted was from a website called Craftsy which has great quilting patterns and tutorials. I subscribed to the Block of the Month class, which teaches you two new blocks that you can do each month of the year and then at the end of the year you'll have created a full quilt. I had watched the January block video over the weekend, and thought it seemed easy enough. So I choose two fabrics, one red Christmas fabric from Savers, and the the white Fat Quarter from Joann's. The block I was being taught to make as a Slash and Strip, where you start with a large red square of fabric, and then cut it in half on the diagonal, then sew in a white strip. After that is complete you slash the square again in the opposite direction and add in another stripping, doing this two more times down the diagonals. In the end you should have a 12.5" by 12.5" square. Because my white fabric strips weren't long enough I ended up squaring up my fabric and making the block a 9.5" by 9.5" so if in the future I decided to use it I could. While this block didn't come out the size I was planning it was fun to make and present a bit of a challenge which was nice. 

Slash and Strip Block Completed

After creating all of those I wanted to find a pattern to follow. I figured out the McCall's has an amazing list of FREE Quilt Block Patterns  from there I used the Bridle Path Block Pattern. I didn't have enough types of fabric that would work together to create the center the way the pattern showed so I decided to just use my variety of Christmas patterns and then adjust the middle of the block to match the outside squares. When I was finishing up this block it was 2am, so as I was determining the layout of the final two blue/white blocks in the last row (see below) you'll see that I chose to have the 1/2 snow men facing upward.. when I showed this block as the completed project to my husband he pointed out it looked a little wonky with the blocks being placed that way instead of matching the other three blue/white blocks. I told him he was being picky and it was fine and decided to go to bed. (Flash forward to 9 a.m. on Day 4--- I look at the photo I took of the block and realize I need to go downstairs and use my seam ripper to fix the last row). 

I am not going for perfect, just practice!

Quilting 101

I figured not everyone on Facebook would want a daily update on my adventures in learning how to quilt, so I decided to create a blog. 

After receiving a gorgeous and beautifully crafted quilt for our wedding last year, from the very talented Michelle L. I thought about how great it would be to learn to quilt and be able to make super useful items for my friends and family members. When that thought crossed my mind I knew I couldn't commit to learning how to quilt just yet because I was still finishing up my MBA. Well, this past September I completed my last class, and as it so happens by the time I decided to take a quilting 101 class it occurred on the same day I finally received my diploma in the mail!

For my introduction into quilting I knew a book wouldn't be enough so I signed up for a class at Joann Fabrics, they offer different levels of quilting classes through-out each month. For the class I had to bring three fabric Fat Quarter, and a whole mess of tools- which thanks to coupons ended up costing just about $65.00. When I arrived at the class I was the only student, my instructor was Sherry a wonderful woman who has been quilting for about 15 years and loves to teach. 

Fat Quarters from Joann's-- Dark, Medium and Light

During the class she took me to the fabric section to show me ho to choose fabrics, and which ones are best for quilting or why a fabric would not be ideal for quilting. She also shared with me a lot of personal insight as to what types of tools she feels a beginner needs vs just might want to have. We talked sewing machines because I didn't own one and hadn't used one probably since sixth grade home-ec class. After getting me familiarized with the sewing machine we went into cutting strips of fabric with our rotary blades to specific widths so that we could sew them together and create a panel of fabric with three rows. After these panels were created, we cut 3 1/2" strips them and then combined the strips using the sewing machine to create a 9-square block. 

Fabric Panels

Nine Square or Checkerboard Block

Once I had the sewing machine figured out (the hardest part for me was keeping the 1/4 inch seam allowance, which ensures everything is matched correctly) Sherry showed me how to take a two squares of opposite fabric and combine them and cut them in half to create two new squares composed of 1/2 of each fabric. These are technically called half square triangles (HST). The challenge for me with the HST is getting the fabric cuts to be perfect, I found that it can be done but it takes practice! 

My two sets of HST's combined in a Ribbon Block

The cool thing about HST's is that you draw lines on the back of the fabric (actually know as the Wrong Side (WS) of the fabric in quilting) and you stitch right on those lines. I was way better at this than keeping the 1/4 inch seam allowance. Sherry recognized that right away and showed me a quilt that was hanging in the classroom, she had created it using paper piecing-- something I'd saw mentioned on quilting boards but not read about yet. She shared that with paper piecing you are actually drawing out your lines and sewing your fabric to a thin piece of material or paper and building your block that way, with this you get to stitch right on the lines. Since we had about a half hour left she showed me how to do some, it was really fun and I think I would enjoy it so I will likely be going back to take another class with her to learn more about how to do it. 

In the end after I had finished the class I decided that I was going to go all in, and take up quilting (at least for a year and see where that takes me). In order to make the commitment to learning to quilt I knew I would need to get a sewing machine. Luckily, I already had my research done and knew that I would purchase a Brotherfrom Costco if in fact I decided to start quilting.