Happy Friday to everyone! I had a busy and fun week, as per the usual! Not as much quilting as I would like, but I am making progress on quilting a quilt constructed by someone else with Feed Sacks: True Blue by Linzee Kull McCray. I’m usually not really excited by these types of fabrics, but I do love the darker blue background with the red flowers (third row from the bottom, third from left), and the quilt is backed in this fabric so I’ll get some scraps once I trim and bind the quilt!

The quilt from last week’s Free Pattern Friday definitely interested a few people and while it was easy to SAY what I would do to change the quilt, I found it to be much more challenging to actually accomplish that change! The color alteration was reasonably easy to achieve in EQ7 – I used my favorite For You by Zen Chic color way and went to town. However, when I exported the image, the scale of the fabric didn’t show up properly so I went with solids (but still went to town!!!).

There’s still a lot going on here (which was one of my criticisms of the original quilt), but I think it’s a lot more fun here. For the center block, which was just a large blank square in the original, I thought that a crazy paper pieced star might be just the thing that would make the whole quilt work. I couldn’t make that happen with my limited EQ7 skills, but did pick out one from Wombat Quilts. It’s ironically in black and white but I think that the triangles echo the geese in this pattern nicely. What do you think?

There are a lot of neat paper pieced patterns on this site and I love reading her blog. It’s definitely worth checking it out!

While I was playing around with EQ7, I thought the Merge Block function would allow me to put the Wombat Quilts block in with the When Sparks Fly quilt. Alas, not. But, I thought I’d give that a whirl and make my own quilt for Free Pattern Friday. Hmmm… this whole quilt with EQ7 thing is way more complicated than it should be!

Introducing the Wrapped Star quilt. As per the quirks of EQ7, which I am not capable of sorting out, there are two paper pieced patterns (the star is separate) and a rotary cutting list. I wouldn’t be too trusting of the rotary cutting dimensions! And, the paper pieced instructions will require that you tape pieces of paper together since it is so large.

Similar to last week’s pattern, I think that the exterior of this pattern is superior to the interior – I think a different block merged into this quilt will vastly improve the look and possibly the construction pitfalls. One of the things I love about quilting is the ability to just test things out and see what happens next. Despite this not being an award winning design with perfect, easy to follow instructions, I hope you enjoy the process.  If not, you can always check out the link to Wombat Quilts’ free patterns – that’s enough to keep anyone busy until next week’s free pattern!

12 inch star foundation pattern

24 inch star quilt cutting

24 inch star quilt

Have a great weekend!

Becky

 

How in the world is it already Friday??? I had planned on pre-writing a more in-depth post about how to work with orphan blocks, but the best-laid plans… All I can say is that I have been delving into Montgomery’s not-too-distant past and following the exploits of a character named Soupbone. Yes, really.

Fortunately I was able to find an interesting free Andover pattern called When Sparks Fly by Libs Elliot.

There are LOTS of things that I love about this quilt. The size is one of them – it doesn’t look like it would be very large, but it finishes at 68×68″ so a very respectable size! I also love the flying geese – mostly because I love anything with flying geese in it. I also really like the mirror image striped triangle pieces, which add an interesting illusion of depth.

If I were to make this quilt for myself, I would start with a different center block – the current one doesn’t really do anything to enhance the design and really seems a bit too old fashioned for the rest of the quilt. The very center of the quilt is a 13 1/4″ square of fabric. No embellishment. No bling. No movement. It seems like wasted space unless you really go to town with the quilting to add all of those features with quilting rather than piecing. The size of the center block definitely makes changing this pattern a challenge because its unusual size will require some mathematical gymnastics. However, I think these would be worth it.

The second thing I would change would be the long strips that separate the flying geese from the striped triangle pieces. The fabrics used are too distracting and don’t really add any value to the overall quilt. Solids would be fine. Stripes would be even better. Have you seen the Allison Glass Mariner’s Cloth?

Which brings me to the final change. Color!!! There is not enough in this quilt to capture what is happening with the flying geese and the striped triangle pieces.

Is this too many changes to a free pattern? I’m always curious about whether people are interested in something that needs so many adjustments!

When Sparks Fly

Happy Mother’s Day Weekend!

Becky

Happy Friday!! It’s a fun weekend for Montgomery, TX – our Antiques Festival is finally here and the town is full of vendors with all sorts of interesting things. I love all of the items that could be repurposed into something else like old fans, tractor parts, etc. And furniture pieces that you can put things in – cabinets, drawers, and shelves. I could go nuts down there but will be mostly picking up trash for our Cub Scout service project, which is a good way to keep me out of trouble!!

Today’s free pattern is from Windham Fabrics and was designed by Stacey Day. It’s a tricky pattern since it’s pieced rather than appliquéd and those little interior sun pieces are PRECISE. However, the pattern comes with all of the templates and there aren’t too many pieces, so it’s a manageable challenge (hopefully).

I wasn’t overwhelmed by the fabric choices and think that there are a lot more options that would be more fun. Obviously an ombre would be amazing – either from the center outward or around the spokes. And a color wheel would be pretty too.  And while you’re at it, why not do each “spoke” in a scrap slab type of construction?

I picked a Windham fabric because I saw that Heather Givans’ latest collection was out – Night Hike. I thought that the constellation and moth fabrics were particularly pretty!

 

Hedgehog Quilt

 

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Becky

 

Happy Friday! A fun weekend is ahead for quilty people in the Houston area. St Mary’s church in Plantersville, TX is having it’s annual quilt show. This is the fourth year of the show and they’ve expanded it to 3 days of viewings. It’s an amazing historic painted church and the quilts are lovely too. I went to the preview night on Wednesday and thoroughly enjoyed myself. If you’re in the area, you should definitely check it out.

Did you know that Brigitte Heiland of Zen Chic has a couple of free patterns on her website? Yes, it’s true! I’ve loved her patterns and her fabric lines ever since I started quilting. My favorite fabric line is For You but I really do like them all!

Did you know that she’s doing a block of the month? It’s starting in August 2018 and looks FANTASTIC.

I think I would do the block placement a little differently but I think the blocks do look great. If you want to stay in the know, you can sign up on her website (link above) for details.

The free pattern from her site is a simple (?) delectable mountains pattern and I think that the use of modern fabrics in a very traditional pattern is what gives it a unique look. Pink and green and orange side by side by side? Lovely!!!

Delectable Mountain (Hey Dot)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Becky

 

Welcome to another Friday! It’s hard to believe that the week has just flown by, but yet another crazy week has come and gone. I participated in my first ever debate on Tuesday (after a day of dipping 8 puppies, fixing the pool filter, and getting the kids to their different after-school activities), started a half-rectangle triangle quilt (photos to come), and read a book (Martha Grimes).

After all of that, I really feel like settling in to working on an easy quilt and my in box this morning had an updated tutorial from Cluck Cluck Sew with great photos and and even better name – Easy Stack, Cut, and Sew Blocks Tutorial. If you’ve got some time this weekend, check it out! How cute is that???

Fortunately, I don’t consider this to be the free pattern for Free Pattern Friday. It’s just a bonus thing. This week’s pattern is a Moda one by Kate Spain. It makes me think of spring, and for those of you up north, I know you need a bit of spring cheer.

It’s not really as complicated as it looks. The center is a square in a square, and then you use some stitch and flip pieces with some squares and you’re done. The color placement is obviously the key and I love the secondary pattern that’s achieved once the blocks are put together.

Have a great weekend

Becky

 

Happy Friday! I hardly noticed another week flying by – how about you? Lots of the usual stuff going on, plus I started fostering four puppies on Saturday which has definitely contributed to the workload around here! They are approximately twelve weeks old and leave on the 23rd to go to Siouxland Humane Society in Iowa. Isn’t Amelia the cutest??

I discovered a new source of free stuff this week – C&T Publishing’s website. They have a variety of books and notions for sale but also a few free patterns! I also really like their free reference tools, such as a batting guide, quilt sizes for diagonal-set blocks, etc. All sorts of information that you could really need some day.

Today’s pattern is an easy circle-based one. But not too many circles and a few linear blocks to add visual interest.

I love the low volume fabrics in the background, as well as the subtle divisions of the circles themselves. The pattern isn’t complicated, and if you’ve jumped on the Cricut Maker bandwagon (I haven’t, but have been dreaming about it), the circles would be a piece of cake.

Balance Quilt

Have a wonderful weekend!

Becky

I can’t believe it’s April AND already another Friday! I’ve been busy sewing, parenting, working, and whatever it is that I do that makes the week fly by.

I’ve been working on a boxy pouch, mostly following the pattern by Pink Stitches. I’m finding the process to be straightforward, although prefer my pouches to be a little taller. I’m planning on doing a sew along at my bee on Saturday so I’ve got a couple of pouches cut and prepped for that activity.

 

I also just committed to making a sample quilt called Harlequin by Robin Pickens. I don’t think that it should be too difficult – the construction method is half rectangle triangles – the real trick will be staying organized and getting everything put together properly!!

Since my upcoming quilt is so complex, I thought that FPF should be an easy one. Don’t you love the construction of this quilt? 3 1/2″ squares go together to make this fun, spring quilt from Cloud 9 Fabrics.

Trellis-Quilt

Enjoy, and have a great weekend!
Becky

 

Happy Friday, everyone! I hope you had a wonderful week and have plans for a fun weekend. My kids still really enjoy Easter egg hunts and dyeing, and we are fortunate to have friends to share these activities with.

Since Easter weekend is such a busy one, I thought I’d share a relatively easy quilt for Free Pattern Friday. Of course easy is in the eye of the beholder, and this one is easy primarily in the number of pieces and the size of these pieces. However, it is constructed with equilateral triangles which may be something that you find complex. However, I do think the results are worth the effort!

The pattern itself does not go into any detail about how to avoid the common pitfalls of sewing these triangles together into rows without making a complete mess of things. Let me just say that it is not impossible, but a few pencil marks and basic caution need to be employed here and all will be just fine.

The first step is to be very accurate in your cutting. It is worth a little extra trimming and (gasp) fabric wastage in order to make sure that your triangles are absolutely precise. This accuracy in cutting will pay off.

After you cut your triangles, make a mark 1/8″ from the bottom edge of these triangles on the right side of the fabric. If you have an Add An Eighth ruler, this is a perfect time to use it. It is not necessary to draw across the entire bottom of the triangle.

Did you notice that when you were cutting your triangles, the top of the triangle had a blunt edge? It was not broken during manufacturing, but rather it recognizes that the tips of the triangles are unnecessary and would make your seam intersections even more bulky if included.

Take this blunt tip of one triangle and match it to the mark that you made at the base of another triangle (fabrics right side together). This gives you the slight offset that you need. Since you’ve marked all of your triangles, all of your alignments will be the same.

Sew the two triangles together with a scant 1/4″ seam and iron open.

I hope that these basic instructions, when added to the pattern below will make this free pattern an enjoyable and easy experience for you.

Prismatic Quilt

Have a great weekend!
Becky

Welcome to another Friday! The school year is just flying by and it’s hard to believe that we are already making plans for the summer. How did that happen?

In preparation for summer, I thought I’d make this week’s Free Pattern Friday a pattern based on Allison Glass’ Sun Prints 2016 fabrics.

It’s a little hard to tell, but this is a square in a square pattern with some extra spacing to give the offset between “rows” (although the quilt is constructed in columns). What does this mean to you? If you don’t like the 58×84″ finished quit size, this is an extremely easy quilt to modify. The square in a square blocks are 4 1/2″ unfinished and all of the sashing is 2″. Either of these two dimensions can be easily modified for a larger or smaller quilt.

There are also no matching seams so this quilt is not only a great way to showcase beautiful fabric, but it also goes together incredibly easily.

Sun Print 2016

Have a great weekend!

Becky

Happy Friday! I hope you had a great week. I felt very productive and finished a quilt to give to the kids’ ski instructor. I used a layer cake that I had been hoarding for quite some time – Desert Bloom by Amanda Herring. I paired it up with Horizon, my favorite Bella Solid and a pattern I purchased a while ago from Cluck Cluck Sew.

I was hoping to keep this layer cake all to myself but I’m glad that I finally got it out and used it! I love how the intensity of the Horizon highlights the beauty of both the lower volume fabrics as well standing up to the saturated reds and grays.

The pattern is a fantastic choice both for quick quilts but also for those times when you want to focus on the fabrics. The squares are 5 1/2″ finished and in this case capture the beauty of the large scale designs while also allowing the smaller fabrics to shine. The back and binding are both Grunge and I love them both! Somehow one of the kids got mud from their ski pants on the back of the quilt – I don’t think it’s going to come off with spot cleaning so I’m contemplating washing the quilt before I gift it. Have any of you ever had to do that? In some ways I’m horrified, but as a recipient I think I might be relieved that someone else took the risk of washing it first.

With this much saturated color in my own quilting, I felt like the Free Pattern Friday had to step up and match it. Where do you go if you want some serious color saturation in your quilts? Amy Butler, of course!

This beauty is called Zen Garden, but I’m not sure about that…. maybe Patches of Baldness Due to Pulling Out Your Hair? I’ve previously put out some curved quilts that I thought were challenging but this one puts them all to shame. There are several pieces (most of which have curves) that are required to build up three separate curved pieces that comprise each block.

While I love Amy Butler’s use of color, some of the florals compete a little too heavily in this block making it difficult to appreciate the complexity of the construction. I might like to throw in a few solids or perhaps more highly contrasting fabrics to showcase the square within a square secondary pattern.

This is definitely not a quilt to whip up in a weekend. The pattern suggests that it’s a longer term commitment. No kidding! Let me know if you give this one a try – I’d love to see any color variations.

Zan Garden

Have a great weekend!

Becky