Dixie Diary ~ First 2014 Finish!

I have been participating in Barbara Brackman's

Block of the Month, Dixie Diary.  We

did a block a month throughout 2013.  Some months

I got the blocks done promptly and some months it

just didn't happen.  Prepping for Quilt Market and

working on my first book took a lot of my time this

year,  But by December, I was all caught up and I 

designed and pieced the top.

I was so excited to finish the quilt before the end

of the year and with weeks to spare.  In case you 

don't know, our name is Murphy and in typical

Murphy's Law fashion, just as I was free motion

quilting the final block in the quilt and dreaming 

about what movies I would watch while binding

it and what snacks I would reward myself with

for being such a good Block of the Month

 participant ~ poof ~ Crazy Janie, my sewing

machine said Nooooo, I'm done!  She locked up 

completely, the wheel refused to move.  I took

her to the hospital.  My daughter was coming

home from Purdue about this time and I told

her to bring home her Project Runway machine

from the sorority house, thinking I could free

motion quilt with that.  Ahhh, no.  Also no to

quilting on the featherweights ~ let's just say

I spent alot of time with a seam ripper...

Meanwhile Crazy Janie, was still in the hospital.

She needed a part and with 2 major holidays

and wild weather all over the country, there 

were delays.  Mr. Wonderful & I braved the

ice and snow last Saturday and picked her up.

She now purrs like a kitten.

So today, I put aside making samples and 

spent the day finishing the quilting on the 

last block and adding binding and hand sewing

the binding and I'm done!!!!  

Now I'm looking forward to the next project

due to start later in January.

Honoring Women's Rights ~ Week 48

Fair Play

We are quilting along with Barbara Brackman's

Block of the Week, Grandmother's Choice.

http://grandmotherschoice.blogspot.com

This is how I made my block, it may differ

from the original.

Fabric Requirements:

Fabric A: Blue

2 - 4 1/2'' squares

Fabric B: Red

2 - 4 1/2'' squares

Fabric C & D:

scraps large enough for circle units

Wonder Under

Update:  Das Quiltmonster from Germany just
asked what is Wonder Under.  It is a paper backed
fusible web product.  Thanks Regina!

On the paper side of the Wonder Under

draw a 6'' square and then draw lines to

divide it in quarters.

Using a compass, draw a 6'' square,

then mark 1'' in from drawn circle

and draw another circle.

Layout 4 1/2'' squares as shown and sew

together in 2 rows.

Sew rows together and press final seam

open to reduce bulk.

Cut circle shapes as shown, leaving

some excess paper along curved parts.

Following manufacturer's directions,

adhere to the wrong side of Fabric C & D

scraps.  Cut out as shown above.

Adhere to 4-patch unit.

Finish edges as desired.  I used a

hand embroidered blanket stitch.

Square to 8 1/2''.

Check out everyone's work on Dustin's Flickr site:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/grandmotherschoice/

American Homestead is

now on Facebook.  Please

"like" my page.

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Honoring Women's Rights ~ Week 47

Heroine's Choice

And A Feltwork Tutorial

 

 

We are following along with Barbara Brackman's

Block of the Week, Grandmother's Choice.

 

http://grandmotherschoice.blogspot.com

 

 

I like to use felt for applique.  I design

feltwork patterns ~

 

http://www.americanhomesteaddesign.com/Feltworks.html

 

and thought this would be a good chance to try

a design that was 8 1/2''.

 

 

So here is a little free feltwork tutorial

for this week!

I start by determining the size I would

like the piece to be and marking that

measure along the fold of a folded piece

of construction paper.  I then sketch the

design and cut it out and when you open

the folded paper...

 

 

... you have your designs.  I used a circle

template for the 1 1/4'' circle and for the

flower shape, this pattern was just slightly

larger than a piece from my

 

 

Serendipity pattern so I made it larger.

 

 

It is a good idea to lay it all out prior

to cutting your pieces to be sure it all

fits well.

 

 

Here are my pattern pieces, just enlarge

the white area until it measures 8 1/2''

across.  At this point I transfer the designs

to poster board and cut them out since this

makes tracing more stable but if you are

only making one, you could trace the

construction paper shapes if you are careful.

 

 

Trace onto the dull side of freezer paper.

( If I have scraps left over from bigger

projects I save them and use them for

small pieces like this project.)

 

 

Press the shapes onto good quality felt.

I use a 20% wool/80% rayon felt from

National Nonwovens that is excellent

quality and the colors are fabulous.

This is nothing like the 5/$1 craft felt.

 

 

Cut out the pieces and pin to your 8 1/2''

background piece. 

 

 

I whip stitched all the pieces in place using

a matching embroidery floss.  I then added

some additional stitching to the center using

very simple embroidery stitches such as, the

French Knot and the Lazy Daisy stitch.

 

 

I'll be hanging this piece somewhere in

my house.  I hope you will give felt applique

a chance, it is fast, easy & fun.

 

Checkout everyone's work on Dustin's Flickr site:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/grandmotherschoice/

 

American Homestead

is now on Facebook.

Please "like" my page!

 

http://www.facebook.com/americanhomesteaddesign/

Honoring Women's Rights ~ Week 46

Barrister's Block

 

We are quilting along with Barbara Brackman's

Block of the Week, Grandmother's Choice.

 

http://grandmotherschoice.blogspot.com

 

 

This is how I made my block, it may

differ from the original.

 

 

Fabric Requirements:

 

Fabric A: White

1 - 2 1/2'' square

3 - 3 1/4'' squares - Mark

a diagonal line on the back.

 

Fabric B: Red

3 - 3 1/4'' squares

 

Fabric C: Floral

1 - 7 1/4'' square

 

Fabric D: Blue

1 - 7 1/4'' square - Mark

a diagonal line on back.

 

 

Make Small Half Square Triangles:

 

Pair Fabric A and Fabric B 3 1/4''

squares with right sides together.

Sew 1/4'' away from each side of

drawn line, cut on drawn line and

press seam to the Fabric B.  Square

to 2 1/2''.  You will have 6 Half

Square Triangles.

 

 

Make Large Half Square Triangles:

 

Pair the Fabric C and Fabric D 7 1/4''

squares and make half square triangles

as shown above.  Square these to 6 1/2''.

You will end up with 2 but only need 1,

keep the other for another project.

 

 

Make Side Unit:

Layout 3 Half Square Triangles as shown

and sew together.  Press seams to the bottom.

 

 

Layout side unit and large Half Square

Triangle as shown.  Sew together taking

care to sew a thread width to the right of

the intersections of the seams as shown

by the arrows.

 

 

By taking care in sewing the above seam,

your points will be perfect as shown above.

 

 

Make Top Unit:

Layout small Half Square Triangles

and the Fabric A 2 1/2'' square as shown

and sew together.  Press the 2 left seams

to the left and the far right seam to the right.

 

 

Place units together as shown and sew

together taking care again to sew a thread

width above the intersections of the seams

as shown by the arrows.   Press seam to the

top. 

 

 

Square to 8 1/2''.

 

Check out everyone's work on Dustin's Flickr site:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/grandmotherschoice/

 

American Homestead is

now on Facebook, please

"like" my page!

http://www.facebook.com/americanhomesteaddesign/

 

American Homestead now has

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of things we find interesting

from around the world.  More

to come, please subscribe.

http://www.youtube.com/user/AmericanHomestead1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Honoring Women's Rights ~ Week 45

Aunt Mary's Favorite

 

 

We are quilting along with Barbara Brackman's

Block of the Week, Grandmother's Choice.

 

http://grandmotherschoice.blogspot.com

 

 

This is how I made my block.  It may

differ from the original instructions.

 

 

Fabric Requirements:

 

Fabric A: Fussy Cut

1 - 4 1/2'' square

 

Fabric B: Blue

4 - 2 1/2'' squares - Mark

a diagonal line on back.

 

Fabric C: White Print

4 - 2 1/2'' squares

 

Fabric D:  Red

3 - 2 1/2'' x 4 1/2'' rectangles

 

 

Make Center Unit:

Place a Fabric B square on opposite

sides of Fabric A square as shown and

sew on drawn line.  Press to the corner,

then trim seam to 1/4''.

 

 

Repeat to opposite corners and square

to 4 1/2''.

 

 

Sew a Fabric D rectangle to each side of

center unit and press seams to the Fabric D.

 

Sew a Fabric C square to each side of

a Fabric D rectangle as shown.  Make 2.

 

Sew long rectangle units to top and

bottom of center unit as shown.

Square to 8 1/2''.

 

Check out everyone's work on Dustin's Flickr site:

 

http://www.flickr.com/groups/grandmotherschoice/

 

American Homestead is

now on Facebook.  Please

"like" my page.

 

http://www.facebook.com/americanhomesteaddesign

 

Please "follow"  this blog and check

out my other blog:

 

http://chock-a-blockquiltblocks.blogspot.com

 



Honoring Women's Rights ~ Week 44

A bit of "Taking Care of Business"

On July 1 Google Reader will cease to

exist, so if you follow this blog on Google

Reader we will no longer be connected.

I took the advice of other bloggers and

went to  www.bloglovin.com and just clicked

a button to switch to that site and I get to

keep all the blogs I follow very easily.

Then I added Bloglovin to my favorites

list so I can easily access them.  I hope you

will do the same or something similar so

we can easily stay connected. Thanks ~ Ellen

 

Star of Hope

 

We are quilting along with Barbara Brackman's

Block of the Week, Grandmother's Choice.

 

 

This is how I made my block, it

may differ from the original.

 

Fabric Requirements:

 

Fabric A: Red

4 - 3  3/16'' squares

 

Fabric B: White print

2 - 4 1/4'' squares - Mark a

diagonal line on back.

 

Fabric C:  Blue

1 - 4 1/4'' square

 

Fabric D: Green

1 - 4 1/4'' square

 

Fabric E: Fussy Cut

1 - 3  3/16'' square

 

 

Make Half Square Triangles:

 

Pair 4 1/4'' squares with right sides

together in the following combinations:

 

1 - B/C     1 - B/D

 

Sew 1/4'' away from each side of drawn

line, cut on drawn line.  Press seam to

the darker fabric.  Use for Quarter Square

Triangles.

 

 

Make Quarter Square Triangles:

 

Mark a diagonal line on the back of the

B/D Half Square Triangle unit going from

the opposite corners from the seam.

 

Place a B/C and B/D Half Square Triangle

together with right sides together.  When you

pull back the corner along the seam it should

look like the photo above.  Sew 1/4'' away from

each side of the new drawn line, cut on drawn

line and press seam open to reduce bulk.

 

 

Now we must square this unit to 3  3/16''.
(To halve 3  3/16'' would just be going too
small so we are using a generous 1 9/16'')

This is a bit tricky since we now will have to

deal with small measurements.  I have marked

my ruler with tape to show the intersection of

the 1 9/16'' lines .  Place the point where these
2 lines intersect on the middle of the Quarter
Square Triangle (where all the fabrics meet in
 the middle). Make sure the diagonal line of the
 ruler is on the diagonal seam line. 
 Trim the top and right side. 

 

Now rotate the block so the untrimmed

edges are on the top and right sides.

Square up the block to 3  3/16.

Make 4 of these units.

 

Layout units as shown and sew together

in 3 rows.  Press seams in rows 1 & 3 to

the outside and seams in row 2 to the inside.

 

 

Sew rows together and press the final seams

open to reduce bulk.  Square to 8 1/2''.

 

Check out everyone's work on Dustin's Flickr site:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/grandmotherschoice/

 

 

American Homestead is now

on Facebook.  Please "like"

my page.

 

http://www.facebook.com/americanhomesteaddesign

 

 

Please "follow" this blog and check out

my other blog:

http://chock-a-blockquiltblocks.blogspot.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Honoring Women's Rights ~ Week 43

A bit of "Taking Care of Business"

On July 1 Google Reader will cease to

exist, so if you follow this blog on Google

Reader we will no longer be connected.

I took the advice of other bloggers and

went to  www.bloglovin.com and just clicked

a button to switch to that site and I get to

keep all the blogs I follow very easily.

Then I added Bloglovin to my favorites

list so I can easily access them.  I hope you

will do the same or something similar so

we can easily stay connected. Thanks ~ Ellen
 

 

Gentleman's Fancy

 

We are quilting along with Barbara Brackman's

Block of the Week, Grandmother's Choice.

 

http://grandmotherschoice.blogspot.com

 

 

This week I made the block according to the

given directions even though I am triangularly

challenged.  I could have made this with half

square triangles but you would not have been

able to fussy cut.  My block is wibbly-wobbly

but it is finished!!!  Did you hear my screams

all the way in Australia?

 

 

Sew a Fabric A small square to opposite sides

of the Fabric D fussy cut square.  Press seams

 to the outside.

 

 

Sew Fabric A small triangles to the remaining

sides of the Fabric D fussy cut  square,  press

seams to the outside.  Square to 4 1/8''.

 

 

Sew a Fabric B small triangle to each side

of a Fabric C large triangle as shown, press

 seams to the outside.  Trim dog ears.

Make 4.

 

 

Sew a Fabric A large triangle to the top of the

unit we just made as shown. Press seam to the

Fabric A triangle.  Do this to all 4 units.

 

 

Sew 2 small Fabric A triangles to the above

unit as shown, press seams to the outside.

Trim dog ears.  Make 2 of this unit.

 

 

Sew 2 of the above units to the center diamond

in a square unit.  Press seams to the outside.

This is the center diagonal unit.

 

 

Sew the 2 remaining triangle units to each side

of the center diagonal unit, matching seams.

Press to within an inch of its life ~ with starch!

Square to 8 1/2''.

 

Check out everyone's work on Dustin's Flickr site:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/grandmotherschoice/

 

American Homestead is

now on Facebook.  Please

"like" my page!

 

http://www.facebook.com/americanhomesteaddesign