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Fascinating Specialty Quilts

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Over the past month or so I’ve seen a few quilts that are so unique I just have to share. Last week I posted about the Capital Quilters show in Bismarck, ND. One of the quilters who was in my Beginning Fiber Art class, Colleen, had a quilt in the show that really made me smile. It’s called Mod TVs (I apologize that I don’t have Colleen’s last name, nor the quilter of her quilt – the picture of the card on the quilt was too blurry to read):

Colleen said she made it from a pattern, but the special part was she picked some of her favorite cartoon characters from the past and her long-arm quilter came up with patterns to put them on the tv screens.

What a trip down memory lane. Thanks Colleen!

The next quilt I want to share was made by Debbie Hawver. She was asked by a friend to make a memory quilt from her granddaughter Grace’s clothes. Debbie did an amazing job of fitting the clothes together:

She kept many of the flounces, straps, and ruffles, and even repliquéd Grace’s name in her favorite colors. What a treasure! Great job Debbie!

Debbie is a regular in my Open Lab class, as is Jean Casey, who also made a fascinating quilt for a friend. Her friend’s husband died unexpectedly and Jean was asked to make a memory quilt from his shirts and ties. She decided to match them up and created this amazing quilt in a “quilt-as-you-go” fashion.

Jean used the collars along with the ties, and then quilted each block in a pattern to match the tie.

In this one straight quilting lines are an extension of angles in the tie fabric.
She matched up railroad tracks with the train tie.
And this one is self explanatory. Jean said she did a bit of free-motion practicing before actually quilting this block.

The border is made from leftover shirt pieces and she even put a few pockets in for fun! Well done, Jean.

Three very different and delightful quilts. Thanks for letting me share them ladies.

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Also – last week I mentioned a great idea for making sample quilt sandwiches to practice free-motion quilting on:

Purchase pre-quilted muslin fabric with your 50% off coupon at JoAnn’s and simply cut it into smaller rectangles. I spent a few days teaching for the Shawnee Quilters in Carbondale, IL this past week (a wonderful group) and tried it out. It worked great! No basting sprays, no pins in the way, and it’s quite easy to ignore the cross-hatching in the background!

While I was in Carbondale I had a delightful surprise. Nancy had been at a meeting where I presented my Quilt Tales lecture – complete with tuxedo.

She snapped a pic of it and created her own  😀 ! front:

and back:

I love it – hope it made you smile.

Make a Scrap Quilt Without Even Trying

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My friend, Lori Schloesser, is a very talented quilter. She loves to piece and machine quilt, but she looks tempted to run in the opposite direction when the “A” word is mentioned. She simply doesn’t like to appliqué. This is ok since her piecing is amazing! She recently brought a scrap quilt to our Fiberista meeting and we were impressed.

It’s queen sized and made from 1″ finished squares! WOW! Here’s a detail shot:

When asked about it she said she didn’t have a pattern, and her plan isn’t to sit down and make a quilt. She simply cuts out a lot of 1½” squares, and sews the squares into pairs as “leaders and enders” while strip piecing other projects. When she finally has enough – she makes a quilt. If that isn’t clear, and even if it is,  – you simply must read the following steps, in her own words  🙂 :

“• Cut lots of 1-1/2 inch squares.

• At the end of a set of chain piecing on a different project, sew two squares together and leave them under the needle.

• Start the next set of chain piecing and at the end, again sew two squares together, leaving them under the needle.  The first two squares will be at the start of the chain. Press them as you press your other project and put the squares in a container.

• When I have enough to sew the block together, I make a little space near my sewing machine and lay the pieces out.  I sew them together the same way – at the end of chain piecing another project.

• I generally use sort of a dark/light arrangement, but my only real criteria is that each square not blend in with the squares around it.  That means any white/very light squares go in the center so they don’t blend in with the white strips.

• I cut the white strips to size (4-1/2, 6-1/2, 8-1/2 and 10-1/2 inches) to help keep everything square and the right size.  (If I can’t attach a white strip without getting pleats, I need to go back and fix seam allowances.)

I like to lay out the blocks on point alternating the two blocks.  

You could use solid white for the side triangles but I prefer to use more blocks and cut them in half to finish the quilt.  Of course I take apart the cut off ends and reuse the pieces.

That’s it! Makes me want to cut a lot of squares and leave them next to my machine. What a great way to use up those small pieces leftover from finished projects, instead of leaving them in a pile because you don’t know what to do with them (my technique – and the reason my sewing room looks like it does most of the time).

The next month Lori brought in this scrap quilt:

And we were amazed all over again. This block she pieces on a rectangular foundation, usually newsprint.

I love greens and browns, so I really find this quilt appealing. And the overall leafy quilting design adds to the organic feel.

She said her strippy quilts: “are an intentional project. I usually make them whenever I don’t have another project and just need to sew without thinking too much about it.” Then she sent me pictures of some other scrappy, strippy quilts she’s made this way:

I asked Lori to tell me more about these quilts and here’s her response:
“I usually make them 60 x 80, so a big lap quilt or a really skimpy twin.  I have generally used them as gifts for acquaintances (like co-worker weddings).  I’ve started donating them since I’m making more quilts than I’ve opportunity to give them to people I know.  I’ve donated a couple to the Lutherdale Bible Camp quilt auction and one to a work-related fundraiser.  I like to have at least a couple in reserve – it’s so much easier to give them away if they’re already done and ready to go.”  

I know she also donates quilts to Project Linus. What a generous quilter!

Thank you Lori, for sharing your quilts and your process with us!

Half Square Triangle Tricks – Trimming

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Just a quick warning concerning last week’s post. May wrote to say that the “ripper perch” looked a bit dangerous. We should always be careful with any of our tools, but I wanted to assure you that I keep the ripper’s cover on it when not in use.

As I mentioned last week (click here for that post), the center of the quilt that I’m working on contains 336 – 3″ finished half square triangle blocks (there will be more needed for the border). They’re pressed and cut apart and now it’s time to trim.

I find the most time consuming part of trimming is aligning the ruler for every cut. That prompted me to get a Bloc Loc™ ruler – and I’m very happy with it.

This ruler has a groove on the bottom for the seam allowance to nest in.

This means the seams must be pressed to the side. To begin I lined up the Bloc Loc™ groove on the seam, and centered it on the block (I’m trimming my blocks to 3 ½”).

I rotary cut the top and right sides:

Next comes the tricky part. The ruler and block need to be rotated to trim the other sides. I began with a “lazy susan” style cutting mat, but it was awkward and didn’t turn easily. Then I decided to try one of the mini cutting mats in my collection. I found this one spun quickly on my table. It worked great! So here it is rotated:

I simply slid the ruler down the seam allowance to the correct measurements:

and rotary cut the remaining two sides:

The best way to get great points when making half square triangle blocks is to be sure the diagonal seam drops off the block at the exact corners. The groove on this ruler guarantees it!

It’s amazing how long it takes to trim that many blocks, but I am really pleased with how accurate they all are:

After my last post Nancy commented that she likes using the Clearly Perfect Slotted Trimmers™ for squaring up her half square triangles. I’ve watched a You Tube video on them and I think I may need to give them a try – to compare them with the Bloc Loc™. Stay tuned.

Half Square Triangle Tricks – Pressing and Cutting

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My neighbor Di is a dear friend, great walking partner, and talented website designer. She has her own business: Adunate Word and Design, and she designed both my website and my blog. A while back she mentioned that both of these items were a bit ancient and they might begin to malfunction if I didn’t do a bit of updating. My response: “may I hire you?”

Figuring out the nitty gritty of how things work on the internet gives me the heebie jeebies. Her response made me smile. She asked me if I remembered her talking about the quilt she started for her daughter’s wedding – 4 years ago. Well, the fabric was in a bag, and much of it was cut into little pieces. I now have the bag and she’s in the process of updating my web presence  😀 !

I was sure I had the better end of that deal until I looked at the pattern for the king sized quilt:

and realized she had already cut out all the light triangles and 2″ squares. There was no opportunity to strip piece the 4-patches or the half square triangles! Yikes! Did I say KING SIZE?!?

I decided it was still a good deal – and began cutting all the dark triangles. I’m not sure I’ve ever done a quilt with this many small pieces, but I’m up for the challenge. I chain pieced all 336 half square triangles for the center of the quilt. When making half square triangles, the amount added for seam allowance is 7/8″ (½” for the square and an additional 3/8″ for the diagonal seam). In a perfect world, cutting at this measurement, sewing a perfect ¼” seam allowance, and pressing accurately, should yield accurate blocks that don’t need to be squared up. But only God is perfect. In my case I prefer to cut everything a bit larger than needed and do that trimming thing. So I added 1″ for seam allowance and stitched with a scant ¼” seam allowance.

I have two great gizmos to help with this project: a Tailor’s Clapper I purchased at the Madison Quilt Expo this year, and a Ripper Perch (I made that name up because I don’t know what it’s really called  🙂 ):

I left the half square triangle blocks chained together to make laying them out easier, and placed the first 9 on my ironing board. I pressed them, with the dark triangles on top, to set the seam (this will give you a crisper press):

Next I finger pressed the first one open and set the iron on it:

I then finger pressed the next one, set the iron on it and laid the “Tailor’s Clapper” on the previous square. It holds in the heat to give a great press:

I moved down the line in this way until I had all the blocks on the board pressed.

Now to cut them apart. I was given a very useful tool by my friend Judy a few years ago.

It’s a seam ripper set in a spool that velcros™ to a heart shaped base:

You simply pick up a pair of squares and pop the threads between them onto the ripper:

Voila – the thread cuts quickly and cleanly, then you move down the line.

Once the pressed triangles were stacked I could repeat the process for the remaining 327 half square triangle blocks!

Next week I’ll share my favorite tip for squaring up blocks!

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And one more thing…

Next Saturday I’ll be the featured speaker at the Festival of Quilts in Spring Grove, Minnesota!

 

If you’re in the area – I’d love to have you join me for my Gradation Play lecture.

A Delightful New Friendship

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A memorable meeting took place for me at Expo this year. I hope you’ll enjoy reading about it. The story begins about 2 years ago. My friend Lisa asked me if I was on Lori Kennedy’s blog “The Inbox Jaunt”. I said “no” and she recommended I check it out. I did and I was very impressed.

Lori has a truly amazing blog. She posts daily (and I thought posting weekly was impressive 🙂 ). Her writing is well done and her photography is beautiful. Lori’s specialty is designing quilting motifs that can be broken into simple units so “normal” quilters can do them. I liked her work so much that when I read she was doing a lecture at the 2017 Madison Expo, I signed up right away.

I enjoyed her lecture and found her to be an engaging speaker. When taking lectures and workshops I like to watch for teaching techniques and styles that I can implement to improve my classes. I took many notes in her lecture.

When the talk was over she was mobbed by the crowd and, since I didn’t have any specific questions or comments, I moved on without actually meeting her.

Fast forward to this past Expo. The organizers hold a teacher “meet and greet” on Thursday after the show. It’s a delightful way to catch up with friends and get to know the other teachers. As I walked in I noticed Lori was there. We made eye contact, but she was chatting with a group, so I moved on. A short while later she came up to me and asked “you’re Chris Kirsch aren’t you?” I smiled and she told me that she, her mom, and her sisters, had been in a lecture I presented at a retreat in northwestern Illinois many (20 ?) years ago. She said my lecture had inspired her – WOW! To think that someone who’s work I admire was in some way inspired by me was such a blessing.

We had a lovely conversation and I even got to meet one of her daughters, Faye. The last day of the show I sought her out to ask if I could include her in an upcoming blog post – and to have my picture taken with her.

She said “yes” 😀 !

Lori is the author of a number of books and she writes articles for American Quilter magazine. I’m a fan, and I know you’ll enjoy her blog: http://theinboxjaunt.com/.

We never know whom we might influence in our life. I am so pleased to now know Lori as a friend!

Do you have a story about a teacher or quilter who has encouraged or influenced you in your quilting journey?

Piped Circles Made Simple

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A few years ago I put together a lecture entitled “Going Round and Round”. In it I shared many ways to add circles and curves to quilts. One of the methods used a flange, piping, or rick-rack, to attach curved edges to a background by machine. I knew it would work for circles too, but hadn’t done it. Since then, when I teach my Mariner’s Compass class, I tell the students the compasses can be attached using piping, and this would be a blog topic soon. The time has come! And this will work for any circle – not just compasses  🙂 .

Here is a compass made by my friend Ida Porzky. She made me a number of different shaped compasses to use as samples when I wrote Compass Capers.

For this tutorial I’m using pre-packaged corded piping, but homemade would work just as well.

Whatever piping you use, measure the distance from the long raw edge of the piping to the stitches holding the cording in place. It should be about ¼”. Trim the seam allowance around the circle to this measurement:

On the right side of the circle, place the piping along the curved outer edge, with all raw edges even. Using a cording foot or a zipper foot on your machine, stitch on top of the stitches on the piping, all the way around, leaving about a 3″ space to connect the tails:

To connect the ends of the piping, remove an inch or two of the piping stitches to expose the cording. Overlap the cording ends:

Cut through both, and butt them together:

Pull the piping fabric back over the cording, trim the excess, turn under a ¼” hem on the outer piece, and wrap the fabric back around the cording. Pin in place:

Sew the remainder of the piping to the circle. Fold the raw edges to the back, rolling the corded portion to the outer edge (I drew the stitches in in white so you could see them):

Place the piped circle on the background fabric, with the cording around the outer edge. Pin in place:

Stitch in the ditch all the way around, in a color thread to match the piping fabric.

And you’re done!

No hand sewing and everyone will wonder how you got that skinny bit of piping in there so perfectly  😀 ! Please give it a try and let me know what you think!

Thank you Ida for making your wonderful compass. I hope you like the background fabric I chose.

And by the way, I’ve added my Circle lecture to my list of offerings on my website: https://www.chrisquilts.net/classes/. If your guild is looking for a speaker, I’d be thrilled to make a visit! And, if you’d like to learn to make an off-center mariner’s compass, you can purchase my book at: https://www.chrisquilts.net/books/.

 

 

A Cut Above

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Yesterday I bought myself a new pair of scissors. It isn’t because I don’t own any  😀 !

I have paper scissors, kitchen sheers, tiny appliqué scissors, pinking sheers… you name it, I probably own it!

I have my first pair of Ginghers that I still keep in their original box, and use on special occasions. Like when I needed an artsy self-portrait for our Threadbender’s blog (Click here to meet the members of this very creative group!)

A little corny, but I bet it made you smile!

I have serrated scissors that are great for trimming layers without shifting (I tried to get a pic of the serrated edge in the close up to the right).

I have duck-billed appliqué scissors that protect the fabric under the blade.

And I was even given a pair of scissors made to cut batting.

But the ones I use the most, and are by far my favorites, are my Fiskars™  “micro tip, easy-action” scissors.

They have been used A LOT!!! They have a spring feature that causes them to open automatically after you make a cut, which is really easy on the hands. The slide lock broke within the first year, so they are always open, but I don’t mind, because they are oh-so sharp. Or at least they were  😥

So it was time to treat myself to a new pair!

I can’t wait to tear them open. I will be saving them for close trim work – like when I do my Repliqué technique. But the old ones are dear friends and will live next to my machine for cutting threads and other simple tasks.

And one last thing – actually a warning:

Don’t use them while sitting on an exercise ball. I used to sew on one because it was good for my balance, but I had the misfortune of bumping my favorite scissors off the table and – you guessed it – that very sharp point punctured the ball and I ended up on the floor – LOL!

What scissors are your favorites! Please respond and tell us why!

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And one more thing! I received an email from the National Quilters Circle website. You can learn all about them on their website: https://www.nationalquilterscircle.com/ . Their email said that I had been nominated for their “Best Overall Quilting Blog Award”.

I’m surprised and honored. They said in their email to me that I could share this info on my blog to continue to be nominated. If you like my blog, and are interested in participating, please go to: https://go.nationalquilterscircle.com/b13184/. Thanks!

No-End Binding – Improved Yet Again!

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In February I shared a number of posts on some great uses for School Glue while quilting. I was very excited with how it worked for finishing the ends of my quilt bindings (click here to read that post), but I’ve found another tip that makes it even easier!

When sewing my binding ends together the lazy girl in me hated to stop when I was almost done to heat up the iron and press the glue dry. What to do?

Head to the store for another must have notion – “Wash Away Wonder Tape™”!

Once you have the tape the hard work is over. Prepare to be amazed  🙂 .

This works for single or double (French) binding (my example is done with a double binding). Sew your binding to the quilt, Beginning about 8″ from the end of the beginning tail, leaving at least 12″ open between the stitching of the tails, and leaving 8″ of ending tail open too – with a good overlap.

Because I made a double binding, I need to lay it open against the quilt to connect the ends. This works best if I pin the tails flat against the quilt (the corners of the quilt may “cup” up to allow for the opening of the tails).

Fold the end of one tail at 45° and finger press.

Cut a length of tape just a bit shorter than the angled edge, and affix the tape, paper side up.

Remove the release paper,

and lay the other tail smoothly in place, rubbing over the tape to secure it to both tails.

Pull the ends back to reveal the crease,

Carefully take it to the sewing machine and stitch in the crease.

Lay the binding flat against the quilt to be sure it fits.

Because the tape is wash away, you can skip this next step, but I liked the idea of pulling apart the end tails before you trim them and peeling away the tape. Now it’s gone and I don’t need to worry about washing it away.

Trim the tails 1/4″ from the seam.

Remove the pins, lay the folded binding back against the quilt, and stitch in place. Viola!

I still love the School Glue for matching fabrics and mitering borders, but I think this is the quickest and easiest way to finish the ends when binding. I’ve done it many times already and I think it’s pretty close to foolproof. Please give it a try and let me know what you think.

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And one more note. In last week’s post I shared Anne’s email address for instructions on her Serendipity Star. The address was incorrect. I have corrected it in that post, but I wanted to share the correct one here also: .

Thanks again Anne – for your generosity!