Tag: Quilting

Quilt Block “Hope”

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Back in February, I told you about the Quilt Block of the Month program that is being done in Hancock Fabrics stores around the country. Today, I would like to share with you my tips on the creation of the second block in that program (for those of you who missed the first block post, it can be found here).

First, I have to tell you, if you are still interested in joining the Quilt Block of the Month program at your local Hancock Fabrics, you are welcome to do so. Stores will be glad to help you catch up with the program, and as you can see in this link: Journey Quilt, you will have a beautiful quilt when you complete the program.

All stores have free demonstrations of the block, and a quilter on hand to assist with any questions you might have with the current or past blocks. Generally the free demonstration is on the third Saturday of the month, but some stores have chosen alternate dates, so make sure you check with your location before you plan to show up!

Now, on to the block itself! This block was actually the March block (I’ve been so busy with my running around that I just got it stitched up for you), but as I said it’s never to late to get started.

The quilt this year was designed by Laura Jones who did a great job coming up with the ideas for our “Journey” quilt. The block from the first month was called “Treasure” and this block is titled “Hope” Laura choose to use a sun for this block. What a great choice – doesn’t the sun have that effect on us and our hopes and dreams? And particularly this time of year when so many of us are looking at rainy skies and ‘hoping’ for the sun to chase out the clouds.

This block is an appliqué block. I suggest that you draw the sun flames and sun center onto the fusible web – I used wonder under from Pellon.

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Next,iron the rough side (the side with the glue on it) to the fabric you will be using to create the appliqué. Make sure your iron is applied only to the paper, and not to the fabric – that way you won’t get any glue on the surface of your iron! After the paper and fabric have completely cooled, cut our your shapes. Here I am working on the sun’s flames.

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Once you have finished cutting out your appliqué shapes, it’s time to apply them to the block. Peel the paper off the back of the appliques. Place the design on the block and iron again. This will join the applique with the quilt block. When you are finishing off the edges around the sun you can appliqué in many ways: blanket stitch by hand or on your machine using a choice of decorative stitches. I decided to use a satin stitch fairly tight. Whenever you pile a lot of stitches in a small space (which is what I did using the zig zag stitch or satin stitch) you need to use a stabilizer on the back so that your fabric doesn’t stretch out. I used the stabilizer – Totally Stable from Sulky. Totally Stable is a tear away stabilizer. Pin it to the back of your project, then I iron over it and it clings to my project – this gives your fabric some extra body for the stitching you are about to do. Finish up with your satin stitch design and than simply tear the stabilizer away. Here are pictures of the stabilizer package (so you can find it yourself), and the back of my project after I have finished the satin stitching and as I am tearing the stabilizer away (the section I have removed is in the upper left corner of the project).

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You now have a sun palette to finish anyway you choose for the center of the sun. You can add yarn, trim, beads, satin stitch in a swirl, or leave and quilt the design later.

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Here are some of the ideas I’ve seen used to finish the center of the sun. As you can see, a swirl is what the pattern calls for.
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Finished with a dress trim

A dark tan yarn in the center

A variegated yarn to finish, this yarn is heavier than the one that uses the dark tan.

As you can see, this is a quilt that will include a lot of the quilter’s personality, which is perfect because it truly is a ‘journey’ that we will all go through as we complete this quilt. Are you ready to join the Journey?
Sheila Reinke, Heart of Sewing
Sheila

Continuing to ‘Turn 20’

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Yesterday, I told you about the great book “Turning Twenty”, and introduced you to the author and quilt designer, Tricia Cribbs. Today, I want to share some quilts from the 2nd and 3rd books in the series, “Turning Twenty… Again”, and “Turning Twenty Around the Block”.

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The basic premise remains the same, in a Turning Twenty quilt, you turn 20 fat quarters into a quilt top.

For book two, “Turning Twenty… Again”, you cut your fat quarters into 11 different shapes, then you mix the fabrics around to make every block look different. Here is my creation from that book, I choose to go with darker fabrics for this quilt, but if you look at the book cover above, you see how bright and ‘springy’ a quilt with this pattern can be.
Quilt Size: 64½” X 80½” – with optional 6½” border it becomes 76½” X 92½”

20 Again Quilt

For book three, “Turning Twenty Around the Block”, I made a quilt that was primarily black and white, with red accents. This quilt was taken with me to several different shows, expos, and seminars. And it seemed that everywhere I went, someone wanted to purchase the quilt from me!
Working with the buyers from Hancock Fabrics, I selected fabrics and helped put together a kit of fat quarters that would recreate the feel of the quilt everyone loved so much. The kit is designed to be sold as a companion to the “Turning Twenty Around the Block” book, the kit does not include a pattern with it.

The fat quarter kit – please note it does not include instructions

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A closeup of the fabrics in the kit (this time without the glare from the shiny packaging)

With this third book in the series, you are still making the quilt out of fat quarters, but instead of cutting them into 10 or 11 shapes (as in the last two books), this time you cut your fat quarters into 12 different shapes. Then the fun comes – you mix up the fabric pieces and make every block with different fabric combinations just as with the other books.

One difference in the third book – for this quilt you will need an extra 1½ yards of focus fabric for the center of the 20 blocks and you will need 1¼ yd of fabric to make sashings or corners on each of the blocks. The size of the finished quilt is: 72½” X 88½”.

Check out the book for examples of other color combinations and ideas for the centers of the blocks, as you can see on the cover, one suggestion is to put an image such as Sunbonnet Sue in the focus blocks. There is even a pattern to make a ‘Reduced Fat’ Quilt – finished size 34½” X 42½”
This quilt is a finished size 72½” X 88½”

Around the Block
A picture of the finished quilt – this is the quilt that can be made with the fabric kit available at Hancock Fabrics

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A closeup picture of the quilt

Sheila Reinke, Heart of Sewing
Sheila

Book Review: Turning Twenty

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Today I thought I’d share with you some information about a great quilting book that I’ve really enjoyed making quilts from. It’s called “Turning Twenty”, and I was able to get the quilt designer and author of the book, Tricia Cribbs to share some of her thoughts with us.

As a ‘Certified, card-carrying Fabric Addict’ I continually find myself faced with the challenge of creating yet another quilt from a new group of marvelous fabrics! I made my first quilt in the 1980’s, and after I’d made just about all the basic quilts – Log Cabin, 9 Patch, Rail Fence, Trip around the World, etc., I tried my hand at designing quilt patterns. To date, we have published a multitude of patterns, had 4 books published by Leisure Arts, and have self-published 15 books (with two new titles being introduced at Spring Quilt Market in May). I’m also happy to have just designed my 7th fabric collection for Northcott Monarch. My “Beez” collection will be introduced at Spring Quilt Market, and YES there will be a book of patterns for making quilts using this collection!

Now about Turning Twenty – a few years ago, in an effort to reduce the time spent cutting out a quilt and also reduce my sewing time, I began to play around with a new idea. My favorite quilts must have several different fabrics, must be outstanding in appearance, and must be fast and easy to make! When I began to cut and piece my first Turning Twenty quilt I thought ‘now THIS is EASY’! The thing that I hear over and over from other quilters about Turning Twenty quilts is how fast, easy, fun, and addicting they are. So, Turning Twenty became a series of quilt books… each one uses the same concept – turning twenty fat quarters into a fabulous quilt. Those who have never made a quilt or even sat in front of a sewing machine will find instant success with Turning Twenty. With all the great fabrics available these days, it’s a shame to buy them, bring them home, only to stack them up and wait until ‘someday’ to make that quilt! It fun knowing you can gather fabrics in the morning and have a finished Turning Twenty quilt top before time to start dinner tonight! I hope you have lots of fun Turning Twenty, Turning Twenty.Again, and Turning Twenty Around the Block!

Blessings, Tricia

Now, I know it sounds too good to be true, but it really IS possible to complete the top of a Turning Twenty quilt in a day if you have everything ready when you get started to work.

Below is a picture of a quilt I made out of the first book, “Turning Twenty”. The concept is very simple, you start with 20 fat quarters, and each fat quarter is cut into into 4 specific shapes.

Mix up the fabrics to make each block have a different combination of fabrics. This quilt is so easy to make, and can be very simple and restful on the eyes or very exciting depending on the 20 fabrics you begin with. If you don’t have your own stash of fat quarters to use – check out the fat quarter singles program that Hancock Fabrics has – it’s a great source of fabrics.

This quilt is always on our guest bed waiting to offer a warm welcome to friends or family who to come to stay. Quilt size is 70½” x 86½” , or you can add an optional 6” border (which I did) and than the quilt is 82½” x 98½”

Many thanks to Tricia for taking the time to give us some insight into what got her started with these great books. If you’d like to learn more about Tricia, or about the Turning Twenty books, her website can be found at FriendFolks, and the books are in Hancock Fabrics stores now. Tomorrow, I’ll show you some pics from the other two books, and tell you about a fabric kit that has been specifically designed for one of these great books.
Sheila Reinke, Heart of Sewing
Sheila