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!

Setting Up For Quilting At Home

Quilting Day Two:

After finishing my quilting 101 class I knew that I'd need more fabric to practice with and to pick up the sewing machine from Costco. Since I work later in the day on Tuesdays I had a 2.25 hour time block before work where I could run around town picking up fabric and my sewing machine, and then see how far I could get at getting my quilting area at home set up. My wonderful husband agreed that the dining room would be a great place for me to set up for quilting since we don't use the room too often and it has a large table and plenty of light. 

So at 9:00 a.m. I set out to accomplish my task. I first went to Goodwill where I was able to pick up three bags of fabrics for a total cost of $2.97 :) (1 with three types of holiday fabric, 1 with some pastel and red/white fabric, and another with a large about of light blue fabric). Next I went to Savers where they sell fabric individually but it's usually at least a yard of fabric or more. There I got a great red Christmas print fabric, a beautiful pastel pink and orange fabric with birds for $2.50 total. By 9:40 I had made it to Costco, got gas in my car, and at 9:45 they started letting people in early. I had my sewing machine in my cart and was through the checkout line by 9:50am and left with a Diet Coke in my hand and a smile on my face!  

By 10:00 a.m. I had made it back to my house. As I mentioned before I knew that the Brother sewing machine was the one I would get so of course even before purchasing I had watched the informational set up video for the machine on YouTube. This was helpful because when I arrived home I knew I'd have 1 hour and 20 minutes before I needed to leave to work, and I realized the set up video was about 20 minutes long-- so that would mean I should be able to have the machine up and going pretty quickly and have time to run a few test stitches before needing to leave for work. 

Sure enough the machine was pretty easy to set up, just follow the video. **Note to all people who buy a sewing machine--- the machines do not come with spools of thread, you'll want to buy at least one before bringing yours home and trying to set it up or you'll be spending 20 minutes of your 1 hour and 20 minutes driving to the closes Albertson's to get thread so you can complete set up like I did** The only struggle I had in setting the machine up was the automatic threader for the upper thread. I felt like it would just not catch-- after watching the video on a ten-second repeat about 5 times I realized I just was releasing the lever to fast and it couldn't catch. Once I figured this out I go the upper and lower thread set. 

To practice sewing I just cut a few strips of fabric and ran lines through. I knew I'd need to figure out where my 1/4 inch marker was before I started to make any sort of quilting blocks. The machine I purchased came with 8 different feet... however the only one it didn't come with was the 1/4 inch quilting foot which I immediately purchased on Amazon for $12.00 and paid to have it shipped over night (I <3 Amazon Prime). Once I figured out the seam allowance issue I cut a few strips of fabric and made another 9 Square block, by the time it was complete I had to head out the door to get to work, but I was super happy to see that I retained my knowledge from the night before and the sewing machine didn't get the best of me. 

The Block on the left was made in the 101 class, the block on the right I made at home in about 15 minutes!