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My Favorite Tools for Small Blocks

Hi! Happy Friday! I hope this week has been good for you and you were able to squeeze in some quilting. If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you saw that I am working on a project that has small blocks, specifically 3 1/2″. To make these blocks and have them measure accurately when I am done, I have some favorite tools I keep by my machine.

First up are my tiny ruler and scissors.

Every one needs scissors at the machine to clip threads, but I have been known to use the tip of the scissors as a stylus to hold down seams as I chain piece. The mini ruler is for me to check that the seams are 1/4″. This is especially important on small blocks because an error in the seam allowance will really show.

To keep these items corralled at my machine so they don’t get in the way while I’m stitching, I use a really common household item: a Command hook!

Stuck to my machine on the right side (since I am right handed), it’s a great place to hang my little supplies!

Since these small blocks I am making are scrappy and can not be made by making long strip sets and then cutting them apart, my next tool I like using is my wooden pressing stick:

I use this tool to press the many seams that need pressing while piecing these small blocks. Since there are a lot of seams to press between each stitching, I don’t want to have to jump up to the ironing board for every one. So, here’s how it works:

Here are my three 1″ squares stitched together to begin my nine-patch:

And now I use my pressing stick:

And here you go this pressed row of squares ready to join to the next without the iron:

This allows me to make all the nine-patches in one sitting, then I can get up and press them at my ironing board.

Although it wouldn’t hurt to get up and down from the machine to iron each seam…. when you’re making tiny blocks like these, you can get tired really fast! I still have to get up and press all the blocks when they’re finished, so I don’t lose out on my exercise!

Here are some of the other small blocks I was making this week. The flying geese are 1 1/2 x 2 1/2″ and these stars are 3 1/2″. They were really fun to make!

Let me know in the comments here on the blog what are some of your “can’t live with out” tools when you are quilting. I will enter you in a drawing for my newest pattern Twilight Desert and a surprise gift! The drawing will be on Tuesday, September 4th. Good luck! ****We have a winner! Congrats, Karen Shurts!*****

Here’s the give-away pattern:

Happy Quilting!
Deanne

Handy Tips When Finishing That Quilt!

Mid-August doldrums here …. it’s that time of the summer when you begin to notice signs of the coming fall. The gardens look a little less vibrant, the lawn not as green (especially here in north Iowa because we need rain!) and school is starting. I just sent my son back to his 2nd year of law school, so the house is quiet again…. a bit too quiet. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the empty nest. At least I have Addie to keep me company!

She’s usually good for daily entertainment in the studio.

I have been working on finishing a stack of small quilts this week when it occurred to me I had some tips I could share.  I’ve had a lingering cold this week, so the fact that my brain is working enough to come up with a blog post idea is exciting!

First tip – Hanging Sleeves:

For a wall hanging or larger quilts that needs a hanging sleeve, I will cut a 2 1/2″ strip of fabric, either the same as the binding fabric or the backing fabric. The strip should be about 1″ shorter than the width of the quilt you want to hang. For example, if the quilt is 24 1/2″ wide, I’ll cut the strip 2 1/2 x 23 1/2″.

Once the strip is cut,  make a hem on each end of 1/4″ and stitch that in place:

Then,  place the strip at the quilt’s top lining it up with the raw edges. Pin in place. Once that it done, stitch the binding on the front of the quilt. When you get to the top of the quilt, the top of the hanging sleeve strip on the back is stitched to the quilt top as you are attaching the binding to the front. Be careful that the strip is not folded up as you are stitching. This is what it looks like when you are done. As you can see, the top of the hanging sleeve is secured.

To finish, simply fold about 1/4″ under and hand stitch the bottom of the hanging sleeve.

Second Tip – Labels:

We all need to remember to label our quilts better. It’s good for family history or even for our own memory! If you take care of affixing the label while you are doing the binding, you won’t have to worry about it later. The steps are similar to the hanging sleeve tip. I usually press the two sides of the label that will not be sewn into the binding be for placing it on the back of the quilt. This will make it easier to stitch down those sides later.

Once you have the sides pressed, lay the label right side up on the back of the quilt aligning it with either the bottom left or right corner. Pin in place so you can move on to stitching the binding on to the front of the quilt. The two sides of the label that are aligned with the edges of the quilt will be stitched down when you stitch the binding. Like with the hanging sleeve, be careful not to catch the loose part of the label in your stitching.

As you can see in the above photo, the bottom and right side of the label are stitched down now. The next step is to hand stitch the top and left side of the label:

Now with a permanent fabric marker, I have plenty of space to write the name of the quilt, year made and any other information I would like. Instant documentation!

So there you have it. I hope these two little tips are useful to you for future projects!

Happy Quilting!
Deanne

New Pattern and Some Half-Square Triangle Square Tips!

Hi everyone! Just a short visit this week to introduce my new pattern called Summer Serendipity.

This is a 36 x 36″ wall hanging or table topper. It a fun, scrappy pieced background embellished with some beautiful floral appliqué. And this appliqué can be done by hand or machine! You can also substitute wool for the fabric and use this background for some colorful wool appliqué. You can go here for purchasing information.

The pieced background is easy piecing that uses a lot of half-square triangle squares. Do not be intimidated by these! Half-square triangle squares, or as I call them, HSTs, are really not that hard and come out accurately every time if you follow my tips.

Tip #1: For this project, I use the method of making HSTs that uses 2 squares, one color print and one tan print. I’m going to use the squares the size I need to make HSTs that measure 2 1/2″ when I’m done. So start with your squares either 2  7/8″ x 2  7/8″ OR, if you don’t mind wasting a tiny bit of fabric and want to make sure your finished squares are the correct size, you can start with squares that measure 3″ x 3″.

Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of the tan print square:

Then place the tan print and the color print squares right sides together with the tan print square on top so the drawn line is visible.

Tip #2: Now comes the time to stitch. I like to stitch with a scant 1/4″ on each side of the drawn line, especially if I am using squares cut 2 7/8″:

Using the scant 1/4″ distance guarantees your squares will not be too small when you press them open because you can always trim them.

Tip #3: Now we come to the trimming. Cut the above unit apart on the drawn line. You will have two units. Do not press them open yet. We will actually trim them before pressing. The great thing about that is you are only having to make two trimming cuts instead of have to trim all four sides individually!

Here’s the unit cut apart:

Now I will introduce you to this awesome tool I like to use for the trimming. It’s called the Quilt in a Day® Triangle Square Up Ruler!

Here it is and how it works:

The numbers on the measurement lines are the size of the HST you want after it’s pressed open. Ours are going to be 2 1/2″ after trimming so we use the 2 1/2″ line on this ruler. First place the ruler on one of the units from above with the 2 1/2″ line on the stitch line:

Now you trim off the excess fabric on the two sides. Once you do this, you can press open the unit and here you are:

It’s that simple! Since each set of squares makes 2 HSTs, if you need 40 HSTs you need 20 squares of tan print and 20 squares of color print.

Now you can make HSTs with ease and make many of my patterns that use HSTs!

Happy Quilting!
Deanne

Do You Label Your Quilts?

Do you Label? I hope so! So many quilts I look at in books say “quilt maker unknown”. I wonder who made the quilt? Who was it for? What was the occasion? I have a few family antique quilts. but there was very little information about them when I acquired them. I have written down what little I know and have safely affixed that information to those quilts.

I don’t want this to happen to any of my quilts I design and make. At the very least, I make a label that includes my name, the name I’ve chosen for the quilt and the date made. I try to add more information when I can. This will help my kids when they own these quilts someday. If I am making a quilt as a gift, the label adds a beautiful touch and also serves to document the occasion.

There are many ways to label. You can use a permanent pen made for marking fabric and write directly on the back of the quilt if you have a light background. That is what I did here:

Be sure the fabric pen you are using is permanent and specifically made to mark fabric. That will insure that the ink is safe for fabric.The only drawback to this method is the possibility of the ink fading over time.

I have also used a scrap of fabric and written on that with a permanent pen. When sewing this label onto the back of my quilt, I have affixed it prior to attaching the binding so two edges of the label are secured by the binding stitches. This quilt was labeled that way:

Another way I have labeled quilts is by using fabric sheets for the printer that I have purchased at the quilt store.

I did this on the back of my daughter’s high school graduation quilt. I included the class info and also the activities my daughter participated in. A drawback of this method is this paper is expensive (about $18 for 6 sheets). If you do not want to spend that amount you can purchase a fat quarter and make up to three labels by using freezer paper and Bubble Jet products.

First, treat your piece of fabric with the Bubble Jet Set 2000 following the directions on the bottle. Place the fabric wrong side down on the shiny side of a piece of freezer paper. Then cut the fabric into pieces that will fit in your printer. You should be able to get three 8 1/2 x 11″ pieces out of one fat quarter. The freezer paper stabilizes the fabric so it can run through your printer. You must use an ink jet printer for this. A laser printer cannot be used because of the way it works and the heat generated with those types of printers.

Next, type up whatever you want your label to say and print it onto the fabric side of you homemade labels. Be sure when you are designing your label, you leave enough space along the edges for a seam allowance.

Finally, follow the instructions on the Bubble Jet Rinse to set the ink. Now your label is ready to use!

If you do not want to use the Bubble Jet products (or can’t find them), you can set the ink with a hot iron. I have placed a sheet of paper on top of the label to protect my iron and the printed label. I use the “cotton” setting on my iron.

Another idea that I used on a quilt for one of my kids is a signature label. I stabilized a piece of fabric by ironing freezer paper to the wrong side. Then I set it on a table for people to sign and add messages. It’s a fun way to personalize the quilt. You can add regular label information to this label or put this on the quilt in addition to the traditional information label.

I like the idea of using labels to tell a story, whether it’s for a member of your family or just for yourself. You can talk about what inspired you to make the quilt, what fabrics you used, the date it was made, etc. The possibilities are endless! I have even written a poem for the back of the quilt when I made one for one of my nieces.

How do you label your quilts? I’d like to hear what you do and what you like to put on your labels.

The most important thing is to label the quilt so there is a record later in time so your quilt is not labeled as “quilt maker unknown!”

Happy quilting!
Deanne

Scrap Quilting Tips!

As you have noticed, I’m a scrap quilting nut. I love to have a “riot” of color in my designs. Some of them are true scrappy. By this, I mean that I sit next to a tub of scraps and pull out a different piece of fabric for each piece of a block. This is a lot of fun and has made creations like this pattern of mine called Crisscross Cabin Blooms:

And this pattern called Twinkling Log Cabin:

Then there is the kind of scrap quilt that is a little more “planned” like my pattern Scrappy North Stars:

This pattern takes 54 fat quarters. Before you cut out pieces for this quilt, you pair up dark color prints, medium color prints and background fabrics into what I call “color sets”. Each color set will make a certain number of blocks. The dark color will be on the outside in some blocks and on the inside in others. This is a one block quilt, but due to the variety of fabrics, it’s still really interesting and fun to look at!

So now, it’s on to some of my tips for a successful scrap quilt. When you are making a scrap quilt, you are usually using at least 5 or 6 different colors of fabric for variety. But, when you are piecing your quilt top, it never fails, you get the same colors right next to each other or clumped together on one side of a block or quilt. How to remedy this problem?

Tip #1: I number the fabrics. For example, if I have a blue, purple, green, pink and gold fabric, I will number them 1 through 5. If you have 20 different fabrics, you can group them by color family and then number them. Once they are numbered, I then take a diagram of the quilt block or quilt top (you can make a copy of the block or quilt from the pattern and enlarge it if you need to) and write numbers on the quilt top pieces. As I am numbering, I make sure the distribution of the colors is even!

This example above is for a small wall hanging. I call this “color mapping”.

Tip #2: Are you worried that you are going to sew rows or block pieces together wrong after carefully planning the color placement above?

As you can see by the photo above, I have the sections numbered starting with #1. Section 1 is to be sewn to section 2 and then section 3 is sewn to the bottom of section 2 and so on ….. I started doing this when I flubbed on color placement a few times when transferring pieces from my design wall to my sewing machine. I would end up sewing the wrong pieces together and not notice it until a whole border was done and I saw the same colors clumped together. Then …. it was time to “unsew”. An we all know how much fun that is!

I use the sheets of the little square Avery stickers (#5418 Multi-Use Labels) to number my pieces. Here is the complete row laid out and ready to be joined:

Tip #3: Another thing I use these stickers for are “directional” arrows. As you can see by the units above and looking over my pattern diagram above, the triangles face different directions based on which side of the quilt they are on. In order to keep me straight, I draw a little arrow on one of the small stickers and place it at the top of a row so I know which way is up.

As you can see, organization while piecing a scrap quilt is essential if you have blocks or pieces with similar colors. Of course, we always seem to miss something, nobody’s perfect! But this will help you to have the scrappiest quilt you can.

I hope you liked this brief “tutorial” on scrap quilting. Now hit that stash and start stitching!

Leave me a comment below on your favorite scrap quilting tip. You will be entered into a drawing to receive one of the above patterns from my collection! Good luck!

Happy Quilting!
Deanne

So You Want to Machine Quilt?

I like to machine quilt my smaller projects (anything under 45″ I consider small!) so I wanted to share some of my machine quilting tips. For the first time, I’ve done a few short videos to demonstrate parts of what I talk about in this post. I hope they’re not too unprofessional ….LOL! I think they came out OK for a first try. So, on to the tips……

Tip #1: I like to practice on a scrap quilt sandwich, especially if it has been awhile since I have quilted anything. This gets me familiar once again with the motion of quilting and also gives me time to work out some design ideas. This is a great way for you to learn how to machine quilt as well.

Tip#2: I sometimes draw designs on a photocopy of the blocks I will be quilting. This helps to get the ideas flowing. You can try this by using the pattern you worked from to make the quilt. Photo copy a page that has a good size diagram of the block that makes up the quilt. Then draw out design ideas in pencil. Here’s a one of mine:

I’ve also sketched out “free motion” designs too.

Tip#3: Make sure you’re machine is ready. It’s a good idea to change your needle to a machine quilting needle. Check your machine’s manual for recommendations. Another tip about the needle…. they wear out! If you are quilting a larger project, the needle should be discarded when you are done. You should be able to quilt several smaller projects with the same needle though.

Once the needle is taken care of, now pick out the thread. I like to use a medium neutral thread on my quilt tops because that blends well with my Civil War reproduction fabrics. My favorite is an Aurifil 50 weight. It works for me! Choose your favorite thread. I like these threads because they do not create a lot of lint in your machine. Thread color is a personal choice. You may want your quilting stitches to show more or be disguised more. Pulling out a tail of each thread and laying them across a block in your quilt will allow you to judge how each blends.

Make sure your machine is oiled, “fuzzies” cleaned out of the bobbin area and that you have a few bobbins wound and ready. This is a good habit to get into especially if the project you are quilting is going to be a large one. No stopping for bobbin filling! Just pull out the empty and load in a full one.

Tip#4: Baste your quilt top with pins or with a large basting stitch. Your preference. I use pins to based my quilt sandwich.

Now it’s time to quilt!

I start out by putting on my machine quilting gloves. These are a great tool to have. It helps to grip and pull the quilt sandwich tight while quilting so it doesn’t get puckers on the back the quilt.

You’ll see them in action in my little video.

I use a darning foot (most machines come with them). Either a closed toe or open toe darning foot will work.

The feed dogs on your machine need to be dropped. See your owner’s manual on how to do that if you have not done it before.

To start, pull your bobbin thread to the top of the quilt. To do this, put your threaded needle down in the spot where you want to begin and drop your presser foot. Tap your foot peddle so the needle comes back up, pull on the end of the top thread and this will draw the bobbin thread to the top of the quilt. This is so the bobbin thread does not get caught in the stitching on the back and create a mess!

So here’s video #1 (no laughing!):

 Now you are ready to go! Start with a few small “locking stitches”. Since you feed dogs are dropped, they are not moving the quilt sandwich …. you have to. So to make these small stitches, just move the quilt top slightly while stitching. Since you are only moving it slightly, the stitches will be very small. Once you do those beginning stitches, you can now move on to the motif you have chosen. Be sure to move the quilt top at an even pace with the speed of your machine. That is how you keep the stitches even (unless you are one of those lucky quilters who have a stitch regulator on your machine!). Once you reach the end of your design or are at a place where you need to stop, end with a few small locking stitches again. Snip the threads as close as you can to the quilt top as you can. Now you are ready to move on to the next area!

Here’s video #2:

You are now machine quilting!

Check your local quilt shop for some in person quilting classes. There are also many machine quilting books available for a more comprehensive lesson. The main thing is to have fun! Start off with easy overall designs and work your way up to more difficult ones. Practice makes perfect! Here’s a few motifs I’ve been working on:

Happy Quilting!
Deanne

Quick Review of the 1/4″ Seam Allowance – It’s Important!

So, we’re ready to sew our pieces together. Why is the 1/4” seam allowance so important? Because quilt pattern pieces include a 1/4” seam in the measurements of the pieces (at least most of them do!) unless otherwise indicated. So, if you do not piece with an accurate 1/4” seam allowance, your 1 1/2 x 2 1/2” flying geese unit, for example, might measure something quite different.

It’s best to test out whether your machine is stitching a 1/4” seam using scrap fabric. Even if your machine comes with a 1/4” foot like mine:

Thickness of thread and needle position (if your machine allows you to move it) can make your seam more or less than 1/4”. So, here’s some steps on how to test your seam allowance:

First, stitch two scrap strips together using the your 1/4” foot as the guide (or if you don’t have one, the marks on the machine throat plate) and then measure the seam.

My seam measures up! But if yours doesn’t, here are some added steps to help to achieve a 1/4” seam. Marking a 1/4” line on your machine’s throat plate is one. Some newer machines already have a mark etched in the throat plate that guides you to a 1/4” seam if you line up the edge of your fabric with it while stitching. Once again, test this on some scrap fabric!

Notice, in the photo above, the etched line on my machine. That’s the marks on the machine throat plate I was talking about. If you want check if that line truly is at a 1/4″, Lay a tape measure across the throat plate and put the needle into the tape measure right at the “0” line. You can see that my 1/4” foot falls right at the 1/4” mark on the tape and my etched line matches up too. Good guides!

If you do not have an etching on your machine’s throat plate, you can mark the 1/4″ with a small piece of painter’s or masking tape at the 1/4 line.

Sometimes, I like to stitch with a scant 1/4” seam (just a hair under) and then trim up the resulting unit to the correct size after pressing, if necessary. This way you are guaranteed that your unit will be the correct size.

I make sure to verify that all the units of a block measure correctly for ease of piecing the block and having it come out the correct size. Remember, a small seam error made on the pieces can magnify if the block has a lot of units. You will save yourself the headache of “unsewing” if you have accurate pieces to begin with! I only takes a little extra time to measure and trim units. It definitely saves you time down the road!

So time to get that quilt pieced!

Happy Quilting!
Deanne