Threads of Memory ~ February

Mercer County Star

We are quilting along with Barbara Brackman's

Block of the Month, Threads of Memory.

http://civilwarquilts.blogspot.com

This is how I made my block, it may

differ from the original.

Fabric Requirements:

Fabric A: Red print

4 - 4 1/2''squares

Fabric B: Green

1 - 6'' square 

Fabric C: Large Light Print

2 - 6'' squares - Mark a 

diagonal line on back.

Fabric D: Blue

1 - 6'' square

Fabric E: Small Light Print

4 - 1 1/2'' squares

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

Fabric F: Red

8 - 1 1/2'' squares - Mark a 

diagonal line on back.

Fabric G: Fussy Cut

1 - 2 1/2'' square

Make Small Center Star: 

Make Flying Geese Units:

Place a Fabric F 1 1/2'' square on left

side of a Fabric E rectangles and sew

a thread width below drawn line.  Open

and press to the corner, trim back 2 

layers of fabric to 1/4''.

Repeat process on the right side of 

rectangle.  Make 4 of this unit.

Layout units as shown and sew

together in 3 rows.  Press seams 

in rows 1 and 3 to the outside and

seams in row 2 to the inside.

Sew rows together and square to 4 1/2''.

Make Quarter Square Triangles

(Outer Center Units)

Pair 6'' squares in the following combinations

with right sides together:

1 - B/C    1 - C/D

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

cut on drawn line and press seams to the

Fabrics B and D.  On the Fabric B/C units,

mark a diagonal line on the opposite

diagonal from the seam.

Pair a B/C unit with a C/D unit with

right sides together as shown.  Be 

sure to have seams lock against each 

other.  Sew 1/4'' away from each side 

of drawn line, cut on drawn line and

press seam open to reduce bulk.

Squaring a Quarter Square Triangle is easy 

if you follow the directions!  Place the diagonal

line of the ruler along the seam line as shown.

Since we want a 4 1/2'' square, place the 2 1/4''

intersection at the center of block (as shown

with the arrow), now trim the top and right 

seams.  

Rotate the unit and place the 4 1/2''

lines of the ruler along the left and bottom

edges and trim the remaining untrimmed

edges.  Make 4 of this unit.

Layout units as shown and sew together

in 3 rows.  Press seams in rows 1 and 3

to the outside and seams in row 2 to the 

inside.

Sew rows together and press final seams

open to reduce bulk.  Square to 12 1/2''.

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

http://www.flickr.com/groups/threadsofmemory/#

If you like what you see here, please

become a follower of this blog and leave a 

comment, let me know you are out there!

~ Ellen

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.

Dixie Diary ~ December

Turning Yankee

 

 

We are quilting along with Barbara Brackman's

Block of the Month, Dixie Diary.

 

http://civilwarquilts.blogspot.com

 

Here is my December block and it was finished

in December ~ yeah!!!!  Well, that winds up the

blocks for this year.  No tutorial this time since

I made it as described in the original post.

 

I was so excited to get the quilt pieced, quilted

and finished by Christmas.  While doing the

free-motion quilting on my home machine, I

got to the last block and poof! ~ my machine

just stopped.  MURPHY'S LAW!!!  The machine

is at the hospital and I await the diagnosis...

 

My daughter brought her Project Runway machine

home from the sorority house at Purdue (I love that

she took her sewing machine to college).  I'm going

 to see if I can quilt with it once it is unpacked from

the car.  Wish me luck!



Dixie Diary ~ November

Just Hominy

 

 

We are quilting along with Barbara Brackman's

Block of the Month, Dixie Diary.

 

http://civilwarquilts.blogspot.com

 

Still playing catch-up on the Dixie Diary

blocks.  No tutorial this time since I made

mine as described in the original.  My best

advice for this block is to go slowly and be

sure to mark 1/4'' from the edge when doing

the y-seams.  Good Luck!



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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Dixie Diary ~ July

Living Off Cornbread

 



 

We are quilting along with Barbara Brackman's

Block of the Month, Dixie Diary.

 

http://civilwarquilts.blogspot.com

 

 

This is how I made my block.

It may differ from the original.

 

 

Fabric Requirements:

 

Fabric A: Blue & Cream Print

4 - 3 1/2'' squares

 

Fabric B: Red

8 - 3 1/2'' squares - Mark

a diagonal line on back.

 

Fabric C: White Print

4 - 3 1/2'' x 6 1/2'' rectangles

 

Fabric D: Dark Blue Paisley

1 - 6 1/2'' square

 

 

Make Flying Geese Units:

Place a Fabric B 3 1/2'' square on the

left side of a Fabric C rectangle as shown.

Sew a thread width above the drawn line.

Flip the square from the bottom corner to

the top corner and press. 

Note: Some people will teach you to trim

the seam first, please don't.  If you press

and then trim the back 2 layers of fabric

to 1/4'' you will have a much more precise

Flying Geese unit. 

So, trim the back 2 layers to 1/4''.

 

 

Repeat the above process to the right

side.  Square to 3 1/2'' x 4 1/2''.

Make 4 of this unit.

 

 

Lay out 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 final

seams open to reduce bulk. 

Square to 12 1/2''.

 

 

I have added the border and applique

star to my block as described in the

instructions in January.

http://civilwarquilts.blogspot.com/2013/01/dixie-diary-1-her-flag-flying.html

 

American Homestead is

now on Facebook.  Please

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