Category: quilting

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Build a block Calendar Embroidery goals quilting sewing Study in Scarlet

Time to check in

I know that very few of my YouTube friends… or in-person friends, for that matter… make it to this blog. I may be the only one reading it as I proofread. This is my old school technology habit. This is a nice place to post patterns, etc. as a back up to the comment box on YouTube.

Looking back at my play list…I started the embellishment series in July of 2024 with this video…check out the playlist. I have been publishing a new video every week since then. I have decided to take a “break” from introducing new embellishments for the month of February. In other words, we are going to review and/or combine some of the skills I have already shared. This should be fun and relaxing. By March, I will be refreshed and ready to go forward with new skills in this series.

I also have a set of 12 inch blocks that are blinged out and ready to share. Years ago, I ran a Yahoo group…called werquilters. In the group, we had many fun round robin quilt blocks. One of the round robins was a Victorian quilt block swap.

The rules were simple. You constructed a block with a muslin base. I provided an address list to each participant. You sent your block and tracking sheet out into the world via US postal service. Each month you sent the blocks that you had in your possession on to the next person on the list after you added a little bit of bling. Postage was $1.95 for one of those little 2-day boxes…life was good! If you did want to send it in a box, large envelopes could be stuffed, too. There was no limit to thickness…and no extra postage for thickness! Oh, life was sweet for us quilters. Not so much for postal carriers…sorry!

The A Study in Scarlet quilt project is moving forward. I set a slow pace for this project. It seems that everyone has a sew along going, starting in January. I have even joined a few of them myself. You will have to watch episodes of Blabfest Fridays to get more information about which ones I couldn’t resist…ha ha!

As I am typing this, I am waiting for the arrival of a new camera tripod. This one is up to 70″ tall, easily movable, and tracks motion. It is not as expensive as it sounds. It should make various angle shots much easier…and you won’t have to tolerate the machine vibration as I am filming sewing on my little white singer or on the midarm quilt machine! Life just keeps getting better and better!

I hope that you are enjoying your life, too! Do something everyday that makes your heart sing…pet the cat, hug your loved ones, sew & quilt…something to make you happy!

Later,

Lorrie

P.S. Please remember that comments are turned off here because of spam attacks. Ten screens of something in Russian is not a comments. I am not interested in anyone’s manifesto as a comment! Sorry!

Categories
goals quilting sewing

UFO challenge

I bet that you do not have as many UFO’s as I do! My husband says I am the best “topper” he has ever met…but actually assembling the final quilt! That is like work!

To help you, and myself, I am issuing a challenge. Choose eight UFO’s (unfinished objects). Try to finish one a month for the next 8 months. Not a big committment…should be easy enough, right? (I know I will do a better job this year…last year I hit a 25% completion rate. So sad!)

If you would like to play along, print the form below. Fill it in…and occasionally refer back to it. If you would like to share your list to make you feel more accountable, please e-mail it to me at my gmail address.

A group I belong to will pick a number on the first Thursday of every month of the project to work on…or you can just choose one from your list.

As we work through our lists, we will have projects to share. Everyone is inspired by completed work, no matter how big or small…or even still in progress!

Please join in!

I look forward to seeing and hearing about your progress!

Later,

Lorrie

Categories
Build a block quilting scraps Study in Scarlet

A Study in Scarlet

I am going to keep my post short and sweet today. I want you to have lots of time to choose your colors for your quilt. Get out those colored pencils! Please print as many of the free coloring pages as you desire…Let’s play with color!

Please join me on YouTube to see my colorized blocks for this quilt. I am always amazed at how each person makes a quilt their own by switching up the colors and fabrics!

Here is the coloring sheet:

I would love to see your fabric choices and your coloring sheet plan! Please send photos to my gmail and I will share them on a Friday Blabfest. We are all inspired when we share!

Later,

Lorrie

Categories
Build a block quilting scraps sewing

Patriotic series build a block: Setting Geese

This week we are making four at a time flying geese to accent those cute little stars that swirl around the middle block.
We will need 32 flying geese to frame up those stars. Since we are making them for a time, we will need to make eight geese units.

Trimming the assembled geese makes them perfect to add to the setting star blocks. Please note the direction of your star blocks if you used directional or fussy cut fabrics.

Please watch my YouTube video presentation here for additional assembly details.

Here is the free PDF for these blocks:

I hope you are enjoying this Patriotic quilt series! One more week to go!

Later,

Lorrie

Categories
Build a block quilting scraps

Build a Block Patriotic Series: Design for Patriotism

Here it is! The center block for this layout! I used several techniques to make this nice, big block. Please take your time and enjoy the process of making this block! You have the skills to create this!

Here is the clickable link to the YouTube video related to this block.

Here is my original graph paper design. I am including this to help you with unit placement!

Last, but not least, here is everything from above in a printable PDF:

Please remember to contact me in YouTube comments or through gmail. Comments are turned off here. Sorry if you are a spambot!

I love to see and share pictures of your finished work! (Even if they are not necessarily the blocks or the quilt in this series!) We all love eye candy!

I hope you are enjoying this series! Have a fantastic day!

Later,

Lorrie

Categories
Build a block quilting sewing

Build a Block (Patriotic Series): Follow the Leader

This is a nice and easy block for week 6 of the build a block. For complete directions, please watch the video on YouTube.

The spinning graphic of this block reminds me of all of the commercials about the current elections here is the USA. They make my head spin! How can 2 candidates say opposite things about each other, but everyone is telling the “truth”? Oh, my! I am glad to turn off the television, put on some music, and sew some quilt blocks!

Here is the placement guide for the block in the quilt:

Here is the pattern, with 2 choices of cutting/sewing methods:

I hope you have enjoyed creating this block! I can’t wait to see pictures of progress you have made!

Later,

Lorrie

Categories
quilting scraps travel

Mini quilt show

These pictures were taken at the Northern Shenandoah Valley quilt show held in Berryville, VA on April 13, 2024. My friends and I had a great time. I saw many, many beautiful quilts. It was well worth the $10 admission fee. This year’s theme was “My Favorite Color is Plaid”.

I only took a few pictures as I traveled along. Let me tell you why I took each picture…

I love the main star block in this quilt…scrappy…easy to assemble with “standard” parts…probably 16″ squares with sashing and cornerstones. Beautiful!

The blue jars for these flowers remind me of the Estee Lauder perfume that my grandmother wore…because of the color. The flowers are a simple with sew and flip corners on the piecing. One would be a great wall hanging.

Adorable little fat winter birds…do you see the beak of the one that does not line up with the slope of the forehead? I did not notice, but my friend did! I actually like it that way even better.

The border on this quilt sucks you right in. Then you start to notice details. This was a scrap quilt. Every colored piece in the center is different…and even brighter than they appear here. Each quarter circle is custom quilted. This quilt was a “for sale” quilt.

I love the colors on this quilt… a classic combination. The floating nature of the block makes me smile. There is also the secondary design element where the blocks meet. Nice quilting, too.

The nine patch blocks have 1 1/2″ squares…I love this setting with alternate applique blocks. Every applique block was unique. Sometimes setting makes thee quilt.

The sashing in this quilt made the setting seem like an impossibe piecing feat! (The sashing is a “dog bone” looking piece with a small star as a corner stone!) I love the choice of spring green and bright colors for this beautiful sampler.

I love mandalas! This quilt is available in a pattern book…a very detailed book. This would be a great idea to make a personal story quilt! There is so much to love about this quilt…birds, flowers, trees, lighthouses…and quirky little houses, too.

For the record, I am not touching this quilt. It was made up of 3 inch blocks…there were 180 blocks. The quilter made this block during Covid to help get through the isolation of quarantine. My finger is there for size reference. I love those itty bitty pieces!

This story quilt was simply pieced, but those simple blocks add up to a big wow factor. There are pieced and appliqued blocks. Something for every skill level in this beauty! This would be a great scrap buster!

This quilt is the ultimate scrap buster. I think that the churn dash blocks are 6 inches. The more you look, the more your eye travels around the quilt to another fabric color choice. This would be a great leader-ender project.

This is the end of my mini quilt show. I enjoyed looking at all of the beautifully presented quilts on display. Great job by the sponsoring quilt guilds! (I think this is a yearly event. I am looking forward to next year’s show!)

I hope you enjoyed my quilt picks…and my logic for taking these few pictures. Please remember, if you would like to comment, return to my YouTube video and comment there.

Enjoy your day! Happy quilting!

Later,

Lorrie

Categories
Build a block quilting scraps sewing

Build a Block: Wedding Ring

It’s that time of the week! Time to make another block!

I know this block as Wedding Ring, but the EQ5 book that inspired me called it Odd Scraps Patchwork.  It is a 5 by 5 block.

The video that shows step by step assembly can be viewed here on YouTube. 

 

Here is the “rough copy” from my video from back in October. I showed the block layed out, but never sewed it.

For this block, you will need:

16 (bonus) half square triangles, 5 darks, and 4 lights. These blocks should all be the same size. The ones shown below are the 2 1/2″ blocks. The picture below shows all seams pressed open for ease of assembly.

Here is the completed block. It finishes at 10 1/2″. Love those colorful birds!

Here is a smaller 5 1/2 inch version made with 1 1/2″ blocks.

Again, all seams are pressed open.

Here are both examples the 10 1/2″ and the 5 1/2″. As you can see in the picture below, it changes the look of the block when it is on point. (I didn’t notice this until I sat down and started typing the text than went with this post!)

Now for the cutting charts I have been promising:

The cutting chart above is printable, but you will need to download it and save it in your downloads file first.

I hope you enjoy making this great scrappy block! Please contact me on facebook or at my gmail account. Comments have been turned off because I am not interested in black market viagra!

Have a great day!

Later,

Lorrie

Categories
Build a block quilting scraps sewing

Build a Block: Border Block

Glad to see you here for my weekly Build a Block post! This one is going to be short and sweet because this block is so easy to make…and has so few pieces!

The video for block construction can be found here.

This block finishes at 8 1/2″ square. It is constructed from the following pieces:

Center: 2 1/2″ x 8 1/2″,

outside strips: Two 2 1/2″ x 8 1/2″

Bonus triangles: Sixteen 1 1/2″ bonus half square triangle blocks…8 on each side of the center strip…look closely at the placement below (both pictures are a little different…you decide it is your block!)

I sewed the half square triangle blocks in strips first. Then I pressed those seams open to reduce bulk. You could press then any direction you want. There are no points to match, so it is really your personal preference…as always. (I read in a quilt book yesterday…whatever you do is right…it is your quilt. Amen to that!)

I think this block would also look good as a six in block, using a 2 1/2″ strip in the middle and 1 1/2″ strips on the outsides and only 6 bonus half square triangles in those strips.

I can also envision this block as part of a row in a row quilt…with alternating blocks turned so one goes side to side and the next goes up and down. That would be a great way to use scraps and those half square triangle blocks, too.

On a happy note, this is my 100th blog on this platform. (I had a blog on another platform before…it crashed and burned…time to start over in a new place with the help of my son. I appreciate his help more than he realizes!

I hope you have a great time making this easy block! As always, Enjoy!

Later,

Lorrie

Categories
Build a block quilting scraps sewing

Build a Block: Bear’s Paws

This is yet another block to use up the bonus half square triangles. I made an quilt early on in my quilting experience using this block. It was a gift to my mother-in-law. Sadly, I do not even have a picture of it to share…maybe next time I visit I will have her get the quilt out!

If you are interested in the video version of this constuction, go here.

I made two sizes today: 7 1/2″ and 14 1/2″. These blocks go together quickly, especially if you have the half square triangles already to use. The cutting chart is at the end of this post.

Here is the purple version:

You will notice in the picture above that I, ooops, forgot the background corner blocks!

Here is the corner block…layed out to sew four at a time…

Please notice the placement of the “claws”. They are sewn in opposite directions. You can NOT stack all 8 sets together and sew!

Here I have assembled the paws and have them ready for the final assembly. The center sashing is pressed towards the larger sashing pieces. When the paws are added to the sashing, those rows are pressed towards the sashing strip in the middle.

Here is the pressed block.

Ta-dah! Ta-done! This is the little 7 1/2″ block. Cute, eh?

Now for the bigger version. Here are my pieces:

It is assembled the same way…just twice the size!

Ta-dah! Ta-done!

Both blocks!

Another block snuck in there!

Please note the number of pieces in ( ) at the top of each column.

Here is the cutting chart:

I hope that you are enjoying the Build a Block blogs…especially for the cutting charts. They are PDF’s, so they should be printable.

I love hearing from readers and viewers, but unfortunately, I keep receiving unrelated comments…and inappropriate advertisements. So, consequently, comments are turned off for this blog. You can contact me through my YouTube channel or Facebook group. (I am sure you can figure out the name of those places, if you are here reading…hint, hint.)

Have a wonderful day!

Later,

Lorrie