First Friday Finish

of 2016!

This is the "No Measure Bargello" pattern from Cozy Quilts. It was the January Jelly Roll Party at Ruth's Stitchery. We're beginning our fourth year of Jelly Roll Parties!

I used the "Lakeside Gatherings" jelly roll and yardage. The pattern calls for two identical strips of each fabric, but my jelly roll didn't have duplicate strips. So I used strips that were similar in color and pattern.

Also, the pattern calls for copying the dimensions for the cross-cuts to butcher paper, then pressing it onto the background before cutting. Since my printer wouldn't print on the butcher paper, I just measured the width of each cross-cut and used my 24" ruler to make the cuts.

I think it turned out just fine -- and so did My Little Sailor, who is waiting for this quilt to be shipped to him in Japan!

Big weekend UFO-busting plans here, how about you?




From the desk of your

WIP Wednesday: The Plan Unfolds

Hmm, my last post outlined my "plan" for 2016. So far, I'm keeping up with the Blocks of the Month -- but then, it's only January!

I swore to myself I would only join one "block party" at Ruth's Stitchery this year.

The one I chose is "Park Bench." Pattern from Jaybird Quilts, and the fabric I'm using is "Botanics" by Carolyn Friedlander for Robert Kaufman. I bought the kit last winter in Laramie at Quilt Essentials when I was in Wyoming for the Downton Abbey Retreat with Around the Block Quilts. Julie Herman's directions are so clear, the blocks go together in a snap!

Today is the 30th day of winter -- how are your 9-patch "A Quilt Block a Day" blocks coming along? You should have 30 made today! I have them on the design wall to inspire me to stitch a 9-patch every day.

They won't be sewn together in this arrangement (I have a secret plan for them!) but it's fun to see the rows grow day-by-day.

The best-laid resolutions -- when I read that Ebony of LoveBug Studios was hosting a "Dear Laura" QAL, I caved. The mystery quilt features the "Little House on the Prairie" fabrics from Andover (I bought mine at Ruth's Stitchery, of course -- they have the complete collection). Since it's a mystery, I'm only showing you the corners of the blocks!

It's not too late to join the mystery, go here for details.

Today is a "stay in the house and sew" kind of day, so I'm working on my January UFO. It's "Vintage Memories," a BoM from several years (!) ago.

How is your Jaunary UFO progressing? Remember to email me a photo of your finish for the February 1 UFO Parade!



From the desk of your

2016: The Plan

I've never been much of one for planning what quilts to make. But now that I have a "real" job, I realize I will need to schedule my sewing time!

So here's what I've done. First, I pulled out the UFOs I want to finish this year. I listed them on my whiteboard:

more or less in the order I intend to finish them.

I arranged them on the cutting table and took a photo:

UFOs are projects that have been actually started -- not just cut, not put together as a "kit," but actually partially sewn. Sometimes mostly sewn.

Then, I pulled out the "kits" I want to sew this year.

Starting in the upper left, clockwise, are:

1. Jen Kingwell's "Gene Pool." A belated 25th Anniversary prezzie for my nephew and his wife.
   
2. Another Jen Kingwell pattern, "Stardust." Donna at Ruth's Stitchery cut a half-yard of the entire JK line for me, so I'd better sew it up!
   
3. Carolyn Friedlander fabric to make "Meter Maid" from Abbey Lane Quilts.
   
4. Tula Pink "Fox Field" mystery from 2011. I forgot I had this until I went stash-diving, looking for quilt backs.
   
5. Denyse Schmidt pattern. Included here to remind me that I have an enormous stash of DS fabrics, and I want to make something with it!
   
6. Fab Five kit of an early Sweetwater fabric line, "Sunkissed." My favorite Sweetwater collection. Plus, Abbey Lane introduced a new ruler to make the Fab Five quilt even easier.

Not included in the photo, but scheduled for 2016:

1. Kansas Connections by Mary Ellen Hopkins. A really old kit (it's been in the UFO Challenge bin for at least three years!)
   
2. Batik "Run With Rectangles" kit from Granny's Attic in McCall, Idaho. I love Lori's kits, because they're already cut and ready to sew!
   
3. Two "Lover's Lane" by Villa Rosa Designs lap quilt kits. three fabrics, one afternoon, and they're done!

Plus three more kits to select at a later date from my extensive collection of kits!

Because so many Blocks of the Month (BoMs) wind up in the UFO bin, I'm only allowing myself to start one (1, that's ONE!) BoM this year. It will be "Park Bench" by Jaybird Quilts. The fabric in the kit is "Botanics" by Carolyn Friedlander. This quilt will also be Second WEdnesday block party at Ruth's Stitchery.

I have two other BoMs still on the BoM list, Jackie Robinson's "3D Patchwork" and Marti Michell's "Bordered Rows."

Add to this the twelve Jelly Roll Party samples, and I have scheduled 36 quilts for 2016! I'll share the Jelly Roll pattern list on Friday, January 8, when I share the first JRP sample of the year.

No pressure!

From the desk of your

January UFO Parade: Happy New Year!

Can you believe we've been challenging ourselves to finish UFOs for three years? One would think we would have them all finished by now -- but somehow, they keep multiplying!

Here are the finishes for December. Scroll all the way down for the 2016 UFO Challenge!

But first, I have to apologize to Martha in Boise. She sent in a finish for the December parade, and I lost it in my email inbox! I promised to update the post, and didn't get that done, either! So here is Martha's quilt -- which I love love love!

I think it's flannel -- and didn't she do a great job with that narrow sashing? Thanks, Martha, and I apologize again.

Sandi was the first to send in her December finish. I'll let her tell the story:

Kamikaze top finished in July so I was ahead of schedule on this one.  It is a Bonnie Hunter design called Midnight Flight from her book More Adventures with Leaders and Enders.  Unit 1 and Unit 2 were made through a swap I coordinated that ended in November 2014 where 14 quilters participated.  I ended up with lots of bonus triangles in neutral/blue and neutral/purple with it that I was able to use  in November's 2015 UFO that I called Komatose...  Getting side tracked....  The name Kamikaze was inspired from Swooze one of my blog followers.  I do get stumped at times coming up with an appropriate "K" project names.  Love it when my blog friends help me out.  Kamikaze finished at a whopping 82" x 82".  I really like how the black and white check set that's the inner border worked out. Here is a link to my blog talking more about Kamikaze's finish.

And if you want to read about the rest of Sandi's 2015 finishes, go to KwiltnKats, here.

Irene has two finishes this month. First is for some friends who enjoy hunting and have a place to stay in the woods.

That quilt looks to be made with flannel -- perfect for snugging up in front of a cozy fire!

Irene's second finish has a sweet story:

The second one is truly a UFO. I made the top years ago as an autograph quilt, but it was so long ago I do not know who was supposed to receive it. However, we have friends who are leaving the area and she taught the high school Bible class at our church. The class wanted to do something special for her, so this quilt is now signed, quilted, and has found its home.

Mary J made good use of a few days off from work to bind four quilts! Here are photos of two of them, and you can read more on her blog, Zippy Quilts, here and here.

Click on the photos for a close-up of the great quilting!

Jill had a busy quilting month in December. Look at all these finishes!

First up is a king-size quilt -- finishes at 100" square! 

I'll let Jill explain her next three finishes:

The first quilt is a scrappy quilt I finished for my son and his wife. I believe it was a tutorial at one point called scrappy summer. Their anniversary quilt was not really meant for cuddling, figured it was better to give two than torture them!

The second was a Christmas gift for my sister.  Her first quilt made by me.  She was so excited!

Number 3.  Well that is a very special quilt.  My son was in Iraq when my mother passed away, 8 years ago.  I realized I didn't have anything made by my mother and I didn't want my kids to have the same.  So I started 5 wedding quilts.  At the time Kodey assured me he was never getting married.  He was married the next Christmas Eve.  So I figured I would finish for their first anniversary.  Their 5th anniversary.  How about the 7th???lol  There is a lot of meaning in this quilt.  There are 56 blocks, 52 which are all different and the 4 corners are all the same.  Each of our 4 boys will have different blocks for their corners, they were child based.  Kodey's have 'I love You', since he was the kid that always seemed to need to hear it the most.  The block in the center is made from a pillow case they gave my mom on her last hospital stay.  52 different weeks, 4 corners to ground you and everything revolves around family.  I choose 1930's fabrics because it was an era of making do.  You worked with what you have, as it often is with marriage/life.  This was all put into a letter, which I should have attached tissues to.  I have 4 more of these to go, one has to be done by May.

Jill says she had a very productive month -- I'll say! And I also hope it continues into 2016!

Becky has a fun finish for this month, with a great story behind it.

 For several years I was a religious volunteer on the Girls Youth unit at the Utah State Hospital.  Once a week we had an activity night with the girls and we tried to have a service related activity at least once a month.  One of their favorites was coloring quilt blocks for wall hangings and quilts that would be donated locally.  I finally got my last stack of blocks turned into a twin size quilt to be donated to the local transitional housing shelter to help people recover from homelessness. I love the back almost as much as the front.  I had a bright hippie print that I wanted to use for the backing, but I didn't have quite enough of it.  A row of fat quarters I didn't know what to do with across the bottom and a couple of novelty prints with solid spacer strips across the top solved that problem!  I think it looks much more interesting than if there had been enough of the hippie print.

Betsy has two baby quilts to share -- she says they weren't on her original UFO list -- but of course, they still count!

She also learned to knit this year, and made herself a sweater. Good on you, Betsy! Let me know if you want to knit Hats for Sailors!

Nancy has a "big" finish for the end of the year. I love her story, so I'm going to share it with you:

I decided that this year was the year I would get the Reflections quilts done.  I worked on the blocks on and off most of the year.  I rearranged my UFO numbers when it came up to soon in the year.  Then I hit November....no choice now.  I started sewing blocks again.

I got close.  I finally got all the blocks made after Thanksgiving.  The second weekend in December, I got the first quilt laid out.  My daughter hurt her back and so I ended up taking care of grandkids one weekend.  And sewed a row every night after work.  By the weekend before Christmas I had the center together.  I got the first boarder on and started ironing the half square triangles for the second boarder.  Those were all done by the 24th and I almost got all the boarders sewn together after church on Christmas Eve.   The next morning I started sewing at 6:30am and got the second boarders on by about 11am with breaks to cook a ham and make other food for the day and finish wrapping presents.  Third boarder was on by 12:30.  Ham out of the oven at that time and started loading stuff in the car.
Here is a couple of pictures at my daughters house after she opened the gift.  Both girls are standing on the couch to hold it up.  It is huge.

And gorgeous, Nancy! I love those colors -- well worth the time it took to finish!

Nancy also finished her Fat Quarter Shop Snapshot quilt. She says "I did not want it to become a UFO for next year."  

Joy has two lovely finishes for the last minute!

The first is an advent calendar. Joy says it wasn't finished in time for this year -- but she'll be ready for next year!

Her second finish has a great story:

The second is a quilt I made as a shop sample. It took me a week to put it together, and 7 weeks at the long arm quilter. By the time it got back to te shop, we had already sold most of the fabric and didn't need the sample. So I took it home to bind. Since out shop owner prefers bias binding, I did my first bias binding. I am spending New Year's Eve stitching it down. It will be done by midnight!  Since we didn't need it at the shop, I have bought it to give to my son's first grade teacher. She loves owls!

That's an impressive collection of finishes for December! I can't wait to see what you all do next year!

2016 UFO Challenge

We're changing things up a bit for 2016. Yes, there will still be numbers drawn and posted each month. But there will also be two "free" months. January is the month to work on your favorite UFO (mine is Ryokan!). And in honor of the sports fans among us, December will be a "bye" month -- you can choose to finish a UFO or just sit back and relax.

For the rest of the year, the UFO Challenge works like this:

1.  Pull out 10 of your UFOs.  (Notice I didn't say all your UFOs.  I know you have at least 10!)   These can be half-done projects, barely begun projects, or even quilt "kits." 

2.  I put each project in its own 2-gallon size plastic bag.  Saves time I would have spent looking for the pattern or the special template required!

3.  Number each bag 1 - 10.

4.  Come to 52 Quilts the morning of the first day of each month and I will have posted the number for that month's project.

 Remember, at 52 Quilts, you decide what is "finished." Is the piecing finished? Are the blocks sewn together? Or do you consider "finished" to be "quilted, bound, and ready to give away?" When you've finished your quilt, take a photo and email it to me at AuntMarti at 52Quilts dot com.

Speaking of UFOs -- my co-editor says he can't finish the UFO Challenge button and blog page makeover until he returns to Japan and his fancy-schmancy computer!

From the desk of your

Tuesday Tutorial: Setting Triangles

For some reason, I've recently been enamoured with triangle-set quilts!

(You're not imagining things. Not all the rows are finished!)

The challenge with this setting is -- how big do I cut the setting triangles?  For example, my Summer "A Quilt Block a Day" quilt is made up of blocks that are 6½" raw-edge-to-raw-edge. The pattern I based my quilt on calls for 10½" squares cut in half diagonally for the setting triangles.

The only problem with this method is, the outside (long) edge of the triangles will be on the bias. 

Having a bias edge on the outside edges of the quilt can result in a wavy quilt. It is possible to reduce this problem by sewing a row of stay-stitching right next to the outside edge.

Or you can use a setting-triangle tool and cut the setting triangles with the straight-of-grain on the long side (hypotenuse)  of the triangle. Here's how I cut the setting triangles for my "Birds in Flight" quilt.

1. Cut a strip of fabric one-half MINUS one-eighth inch the size of square called for in the pattern. My pattern required a square cut at 10½" so I cut my strip 5⅛" wide.

2. I have several setting triangle rulers. The Nifty Notions ruler is similar to the EZ Angle Companion Angle ruler. But neither has a  ⅛" marking.

3. I love Marti Michell's templates and rulers. The Diagonal Set Triangle ruler #8968 can be used for both corner triangles and setting triangles. To make a side-set triangle, place the ruler on the fabric strip with the 5⅛" mark at the bottom of the cut edge. Cut along the right side only:

4. Flip the ruler to the left side (the writing will now be reversed!). Carefully line up the notch at the top of the ruler with the cut you just made:

(see how I have the top notch aligned with the previous cut?)

5. And make the cut along the left side. 

6. To attach the setting triangle, line up the 90 degree angle with the right-hand corner of the block.

7. Stitch and press -- because I'll be sewing rows together, I pressed all the seams on the odd-numbered rows to the left, and all those on the even-numbered rows to the right.

8. Notice that the triangles are about ½" bigger than the blocks. This makes it possible to trim the setting triangles to exactly ¼" beyond the intersection of the rows. Or I can leave them "floating!"

Come back Friday for the last UFO Parade of 2015!


From the desk of your

Best of 2015

How fun is this? Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs is hosting a "Best of 2015" linky party!

Here are my "best ofs."

• Posts with the most views

This is an easy one. Far and above, the all-time most viewed post is "Susie's Magic Binding."

In the three-and-a-half years since the tutorial was posted in May of 2012, it has received nearly 650,000 views!

• Posts with the most comments

Not surprisingly, the most with the most comments is the Susie's Magic Binding video tutorial. Posted on February 2 of this year, it's also the second-most viewed post. It's on YouTube, here.

• Posts that provoked the best discussions

The most fun and lively discussions have been on "giveaway" posts. I loved the ideas followers had for using the Tonga Treats strips package given away on the 600 Followers post. The winner was Becky H., who planned a bargello quilt using the strips.

• Posts showing your favorite 2015 finishes

Another easy choice!  My favorite all-time (not just 2015!) finish is the "Farmer's Wife" quilt. I used Marti Michell's templates for about half the quilt -- much easier than the templates in the book! I sent the quit to Idaho for a 50th anniversary gift to my brother and sister-in-law. 

• Posts of your best tutorials

Since we've already celebrated Susie's Magic Binding, my second-favorite tutorial is another binding tute, Jean's Genius Binding.  It's perfect when you don't want the flange of Susie's Magic Binding. Plus, my nails look great in these photos.

• Posts that are simply your favorites

The monthly UFO Parade posts are always my favs. It's so much fun to see what those participating in the UFO Challenge have made. But my favorite personal post is another tutorial, the one for the "Folded Corner Clipper." This is my favorite tool for making 45-degree angle cuts. So much more precise than drawing a line and sewing across it!

Linking up to the Meadow Mist Designs "Best of 2015" linky party.

I counted the quilts I've finished since returning home from Texas in October. Eight!  I need to get My Little Sailor busy with the camera and write a "finishes" post! 

Happy New Year, and happy quilting!

From the desk of your

Winter is Here! A Quilt Block a Day Tutorial

Happy First Day of Winter! I promised an easy peasy block for the winter season, and what could be easier than a 9-patch block?

I'm making my 9-patches from scrappy off-whites and reds. Festive, huh?

You may think it's silly to write a tutorial for a 9-patch, but not everyone has made 9-patches. Here are some tips for making a perfect 9-patch.

Start with either 2½ squares or 2½ strips. I used strips for the center three squares and scrappy squares for the outside rows.

This is a great chance to check your ¼" seam. Three 2½" strips sewn together should measure exactly 6½" -- if it doesn't, adjust your seam now before you sew more strips together!

To press, first "set" the seam by pressing with the dark fabric on top.

Next, press the seams toward the dark (red). Be sure to press to the thread -- in other words, make sure there is no little fold over the seam. 

Repeat for the second seam:

After pressing, I place a wooden cutting board over the strip set and wait for the fabric to cool. This ensure the strata is perfectly flat.

If you sewed strips, cross-cut into 2½" pieces. A fast way to cut is to start by making a clean cut at the left edge,using an 8½" ruler. Then cut a 7½" piece. 

Next, move your ruler to the left and line up at the 5" mark. Make the second cut:

Move the ruler to the left again and line up at the 2½" mark. Make the third cut:

Repeat until the entire strata is cut.

Because you pressed toward the dark side, the seams will nest nicely together. I don't even use pins!

I chain piece 2½" squares together rather than sewing off onto a scrap of fabric. By the end of a day of sewing, I have several blocks complete!

Try always to sew with the top seam aiming away from you. That way, your strata will always be lined up.

Add two strata with the dark (red) at the outsides to either side of the center strata. Press these two seams to the center.

See that the vertical seams are pressed outward, and the horizontal seams are pressed inward.

 Again, place the wooden cutting board on the block to flatten it.

Repeat daily to make 90 total 9-patch blocks!



From the desk of your