It Wasn't Meant To Happen

It wasn't meant to happen. It wasn't supposed to be like this! This should have been a knitting post. I should have had a finish to show you, BUT a quilt idea got into my head, I tried to push it to the back, I told it to take it's turn, but NO, it wouldn't leave me alone, until finally I admitted defeat and started to make it. I don't need this quilt! I have requests for other quilts waiting to be started, but this little upstart has bamboozled it's way to the top of the list!

How? you may ask.

Well, being the organised person I am, I got way ahead of myself on my Block Buster Sunday projects over the Christmas holidays. This coming Sunday it's the Economy Block. In some ways it's a pity I had already worked on this, as the whole quilting world and it's wife seem to be making economy blocks at the moment. I thought about postponing it until later in the year, but I'm going to post it anyway. There is an Economy Block Quilt Along on Instagram The hashtag is #economyblockalong. There's also an Economy Block Quilt Along on Flickr, so I thought probably one more tutorial won't go amiss.

Anyway, that is not until Sunday. The idea of the Block Buster Sundays is just to try out different blocks, NOT make whole quilts from them, but somehow there is now a work in progress to share!

My economy block quilt is going to be totally scrappy. (That's justification #1 for making it - use up the scraps). It's going to be a charity quilt (justification #2 - I should make more charity quilts) and I'm going to free motion quilt it, when I get that far ( justification #3 - I need to get out of my comfort zone with my free motion quilting on something that doesn't matter too much}

I'm also not allowing myself to sash these blocks.

The prudent quilter in me would have sashed them so that it wouldn't matter if some of the outer points on those blocks didn't line up too well, but this is the year of learning new skills, and if I go slowly sewing these blocks , then hopefully I can improve my accuracy. I also love the secondary pattern that emerges where the four outer corners of the blocks join.

So, this is my work in progress. Eight blocks made so far, a total of 48 needed. Block size is 8" finished

I will be posting the tutorial on Sunday, and hopefully have a few more blocks to show too.

 

Block Buster Sunday #1 Curved Piecing Tutorial, Drunkards Path and Variations

Welcome to my first Block Buster Sunday, where I explore a new (to me) block. I was so excited to put that #1 in the title. It feels good to be starting something new at the beginning of a new year.
I'm kicking off with something I've had on my bucket list for ages - curved piecing.
I've gone all out with this one, written a tutorial for the technique of curved piecing and played around with the block to give a lot of options, and I've had a load of fun doing it! Don't expect this much every Sunday - this was probably a mix of over excitement at a new blog feature and the fact that I fell in love with the block.
There will be a good mix over the weeks of what I consider to be easy, moderate and challenging blocks, so if this one looks too difficult for you, or you've been there, done that with this one, don't worry, by the law of averages I must eventually come up with something to interest you, right?

I'm using 5" charm squares to make four blocks, which will be 4" finished (4 1/2" unfinished)

You will need:
Two 5" square printed fabrics
Two 5" solid background fabrics
Freezer paper

First you need to make a template for the curve. You can of course purchase ready made ones, but this is how I did it. As my squares were 5", I randomly decided that the quarter circle curve I'm creating would be 4" (you can make it any size you want.
I created an 8" diameter circle (8" diameter will give me four 4" quarter circles)
I drew mine on the computer using Word as it's what I'm most familiar with. You don't have to use the computer, you could draw round an 8" diameter plate or use to a good old fashioned pair of compasses (remember those?)
To use Word, click on New Blank Document, click Insert, click Shape, choose the Oval.
Drag your cursor until the shape is a reasonable size. Right click and choose Format Shape, choose Size and type in 8.00, then to save ink, choose Fill, then Colour and opt for No Fill. Save your document.
(Note: I use a Mac, but I'm sure it's very similar on a PC)
Cut an A4 sheet of freezer paper (or whatever size goes through your printer)

Place the freezer paper sheet in you printer so that it will print on the dull side.

Note: freezer paper goes through my Epsom printer perfectly well as long as I just help it in a little at the start. If you are worried it might chew it up, tape it at one end to a plain sheet of printer paper using sticky back tape or  a tiny amount of Blu Tack or other poster adhesive.

Print the circle onto the freezer paper.

Cut out the circle, and fold first in half and then into quarter segments.

Open out and cut along the fold lines to create four 4" quarter circle templates.

Lay the template in one corner of one of the 5" charm squares, ensuring the straight edges are lined up, and press in place with a dry iron.

Repeat for the remaining three 5" squares.

Use scissors or a rotary cutter to around the curved edge of the template on each square. (I used scissors)

Carefully peel the freezer paper away from the fabric. I found it easier to pull on the fabric, rather than the paper. You can keep the templates and re-use them.

This is what you should have.

You now need to make the concave pieces smaller, and the reason is this:
A 1/4" seam allowance inwards on the convex piece (the bit that looks like a pie segment) is a shorter line than the cut line. A 1/4" seam allowance inwards on the concave piece (the bit that looks like an L shape) is a longer line than the cut line.
Very roughly, there is 1" between the two (yes, I'm truly a geek, I did the maths!!)
So we need to slice 1/2" off either end of the concave piece.

Do this for all four concave pieces and you should have this:

Piecing
Take one concave piece and one convex piece.

Find the centre by folding each piece in half.

Firmly finger press the crease and then open out.

Place the two centres together, right sides together and pin in place. It is helpful to use small pins and only pick up a small amount of fabric.

Next pin the edges. Make sure the straight edges of the two pieces are parallel with one another and pin the straight edges too. They have a tendency to twist out and I think that side pin is paramount to success !

Hold the section between the edge and the centre between your fingers and gently manipulate until the two meet evenly. Don't stretch it excessively, just work the two edges between your finger and thumb.This is one time when the bias edge is your friend, not your enemy. Pin again. Do the same for the other side.

Turn the block so that the section with most undulations is upper most. This is so you can check you are not catching any extra fabric in the seam as you sew.

Take the block to your sewing machine and line up with a 1/4" seam allowance. 

Sew slowly, using the needle down button, if you have one, so that you can stop and adjust the fabric whenever necessary. Use a pin or tweezers or seam ripper to hold the two edges together between pins.

Ta Daahh!!

The fabric seemed happy to be pressed to either side, so I chose to press towards the print.

Repeat for the other blocks you have cut.

Now comes the really fun part - seeing all the different arrangements that can be made!

1.

2.

3.

4.

I was enjoying this, so I made a few more blocks.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10

And a few more!

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

I'm sorry this has been such a long post. If you're still reading, then I'm amazed, and thank you! I think I got a bit carried away with my enjoyment at making this block. Despite all I said in my last post, I think I will be making a whole quilt or quilts! with some of these arrangements. Curved piecing is not to be feared. I find it much easier than many multi-piece half square triangles.

My favourites out of the above arrangements are the simpler, bolder ones. I think numbers 1, 5 and 10 are the ones I like best. I can see myself making a quilt all in solids, maybe with a grey background?  Mmmn, the imagination is working overtime.

Which is your favourite?

Edited to add a link to a YouTube video showing you how to sew curved seams without pins, kindly suggested to me by Lucy who blogs at Charm About You

2014 Goals

Happy New Year to you all !!
We are 3 days into the new year already and I've been setting up my goals.
At the end of last year I said I wasn't going to commit to too much that I might regret later in the year - well that one has flown out the window already!

But, ignoring that for the moment, here are my goals:
1. Learn, learn learn. I'm at my most happiest when I'm learning something new, no matter how small it is. I walk round with a smile on my face when I've achieved something for the first time. So I'm really going to try out a lot of new techniques in 2014. This means I might not finish a lot of quilts or knitted projects, but I'll try out new ideas, and be happy with just making a block or two. They can me made into something later on when the whim takes me.
I do have one quilt commitment - a quilt for my middle son, and I would like to make a medallion quilt
Maybe like this ?

2. Make more of my own clothes. I've been able to dress make since I was a child, but I don't do enough of it, nor do I knit enough items for me. I have good intentions and I buy the fabric and pattern or yarn, I just don't get round to making them !! So this will be a bit of a stash buster for me at the same time. First up is this top.

3. Have less chemicals in my life. Some of you may know how keen I am on organic cotton and that I grow my own organic veggies. I'm getting more into this way of life this year, trying to use only eco friendly cleaning materials, and eat a more simple and natural diet.
I've been experimenting with making my own body washes!

 I was going to start a second blog to talk about this, but I think it will be too much work. Instead I'm going to share my successes (and failures!) pictorially on Instagram. There's a link to my Instagram at the top of the sidebar if you're interested in following, and that way it won't distract from the blog, if you're not !

4. Set up a list of Block Tutorials on my blog
This really goes hand in hand with the learning goal. As I make blocks just for the experience of trying them out, I might as well do a tutorial on them at the same time. That way I get to record what I've made and anyone liking the block and wanting to have a go, gets to see how I've made it.

Now I have to confess that this goal is not what it was going to be originally - it was going to be a block linky party, but I got cold feet !! I spent so long trying to get the button made, and fretted so much as to whether anyone would link up, and whether I would have the commitment to keep it going, that in the end I chickened out !!

I think I've made the right decision. There are a lot of linky parties in the crafting blogland already ( I know I sometimes don't bother to link up even when I have something that would fit).
If I had got the button with the text underneath it to work, I think I would have gone ahead, but after 12 hours (yes, 12 !!!) I gave up.
If you think I've made the wrong decision, and you would honestly support another, let me know. I could be persuaded to give it a go if I knew there was enough enthusiasm.
In the meantime, I hope to post about my blocks on a Sunday, calling it Block Buster Sunday. I've left the button, minus the code box underneath (Grrrr!) in my sidebar. Feel free to add it to yours if you want, it will be a quick link to view what I've come up with.

There was a lot of fretting involved in the decision making, and the best way I knew to relax was to do some slow and easy hooky. The result - Linky Party 0 -  Stash Busting 6

What are your goals for 2014?