life cant get any easier

Easy Circle Quilt

 

Nothing can be easier than this. For the quilt shown at the end I used 5 FQ’s for the circles and 1 ½ yds for the back ground

For this quilt I used 8 ½” squares but you can use any size you want. You will need two background squares for each circle fabric

 

Fold your fabrics into quarters and finger press to mark the centre

 

You will need the circle cut ruler and cutter, I got mine at the Missouri Star Quilt Company this is also where this tutorial is from.

Fold your circle fabric in half, line the fold line on the ruler and centre on the fabric, choose the size of circle you wish to cut, I cut at the 4” section. Run your cutter along the groove and you have a positive and negative circle

 

Lay on your background squares, you will need to centre the circle

I used a spot of glue to hold both in place, then take to the sewing machine and stitch ¼” seam allowance, leave the edge raw, no turning in needed!!

Then simply join the squares, I trimmed the background from the square with no centre, to leave just one layer to stitch through. In no time you have a quilt like this. With hindsight I would have cut the squares for the piece with the hole in it smaller to save the trimming.

Now all I have to do is decide if I shall add a border or not. I think it looks fine without I will quilt just the white parts. This reminds me of the bullseye quilt from an online swap I took part in many years ago with the Quilting Sisters group. I am sure its on my blog somewhere.

Looking at this now on the wall I am thinking each block could have been cut in half again and rejoined with an opposite (postitive and negative in the one block). Must try a sample and see what it looks like.

 

How to make real quick scrap 4 patches

Thought Id give this a go and see how quick it really is, and it is!
For this I started with  5" squares.

This is done in pairs so join two squares by stitching along two opposite sides. Repeat this for as many patches as you want, it can be done in two colours or real scrappy like my example.

    

Then take your ruler, measure from the edge of the fabric NOT the stitch line and cut at 2 1/2"



Turn and join ends mixing themup as you join



Flip over one end ontop of the next piece

again using your ruler measure from the fabric ede and cut at 2 1/2 ". Keep the odd piece you will need it for the last piece cut

keep flipping over and cutting (you are flipping over a 2 piece)

Hey presto a pile of four patches in no time .

This can be done any size

u tube tutorials

Found the Missouri Star Quilt Co tutorials and boy have I sewed my heart out here are two almost finishes

The first is a disappearing four patch, so easy to do and makes a lovely cot quilt, Might do this in browns and buttermilk yellow .

This one started of done like a basic rail fence but then you add triangles to the corners, it is so cute

Then nothing was stopping me by this time I pulled out a box and found an old and I mean old pattern from a patchwork and quilting magazine years ago and using my acuquilt rustled up this little Suffolk puff topiary tree in no time.

Out came the acuquilt again and this is the result of that.

Now I am off to try a couple of more tutorials from the Missouri star quilt co , my onlu problem is I am finishing nothing I have a pile of quilts to now quilt!

Great day had by all

Last Saturday a group of ladies from my class in Swatragh went on a 'shop hop'. We left Magehra at 8 am on a bus and headed for Quilters Quest in Belfast. Here Yvonne had laid on tea/ coffee and scones when we arrived. we were show some beautiful quilts including a cuyrved rail fence, I must try this. Some ladies had a go on the long armer and I collected this quilt which Yvonne quilted for me. and yes we all bought fabric! we left with purchases goodie bags and much chattering. Next stop was lunch, soup and sandwiches in Carrick and there we went to Craft Womans World it was slightly disappointing as they charge more for cut pieces than what is on the roll. Won't go back there again. Then back in the bus and off to Ballyclare to Karen in Fiddlesticks. Here more tea coffee and cup cakes and shortbread to die for.
Yes we spent more money and another goodie bag. Here Karen demonstrated her Acquilt and many ladies purchased fabric that Karen then cut into various pieces for them.

Would you beleive it by this time it was tea time and we all headed back into the bus and ff for an evening meal in Templepatrick.

Arriving home at 9 pm I just about managed to unpack the purchases walk the dogs and fall into bed.

This quilt is one that can be seen in many magazines, really easy to do, great beginners quilt

I really love this wall hanging

I attended a work shop by Melinda Bula, her work is absolutely stunning, I nearly passed out when she showed us what we were going to do. Undeterred head down transferred pattern, cut out bits, screwed up eyes to check values and would you believe the top was created in a day.

It was meant to be a two day workshop the second day was quilting it, but I was so terrified of messing it up and I could never do it justice, Robyn Fahy offered to take the wall hanging and quilt it for me and it is to die for. Robyn's quilting is very distinctive she free machines on her long arm, now it takes me all my time to free machine a quilt as you go block on a regular machine and about as far as I go for adventure is meandering. The feathering on this is all done free hand!! I tried it..... on my own machine on a wee bit, and there is no way I could ever do this, even with a pattern to follow..

If anyone has a chance to do a workshop with Melinda I strongly recommend it, it must have been the most enjoyable one and the first one where I have actually finished something!

another day

 

I think this would make a real nice bed quilt with 24 different blocks this pattern came from Angela Maddens Quilted baskets CD. There are so many variations from filling in background to trapunto / Italian quilting or heavily quilted as a whole cloth block. the basket could be done in Christmas colours and filled with poinsettias or little Suffolk puffs or indeed any appliqued flower

If these two would sit still I might get a decent photgraph

 

yeah another finish

During a patchwork exhibition I saw a bag something like this over someones shoulder. Needles to say i stopped and asked how she had made it and she said she had bought it.. MMM I could make one of those, so I asked if I could take a few measurements. This is the result from memory hers was smaller and didn't have the piece sewn up at the side. By the time I had it done and couldn't remember if it was quilted etc, it is far removed from the one I saw. Mine was too big and floppy hence bringing the corners up. But I am pleased with it.

I am sure it is well over a year since I bought the upgrade EQ7and probably 2 years since I bought the acquilt go. Both have sat in their boxes , every so often they would moan pleadingly. But I appeased both by buying dies etc every so often. along the way I bought the dog and cat die and found the rather nice dog quilt on the acquilt site. So starting with the blocks in the centre I started to change a few things and started designing my version on eq7. 

I really do struggle with EQ7 and I should sign up for a class I can never seem to save anything, I hit save and it disappears! Now I print and hit save and if nothing else I have a printed version of what I want to do. However, I did this with the dog quilt it was so long ago I now have forgotten what size some of it was meant to be!!

Rooting in boxes a few months ago I also found 90, it could even be more 4 patches and some HST (1 1/2 ) ones, I remember these were meant to be a mystery quilt of Bonnie Hunters many years ago, But I gave up at the time, I now have these to use up, so have designed a quilt again on EQ7 and printed. Did quite a few versions, I found this very useful and was able to decide much quicker what I am going to do. This will take time to do as I have a lot more cutting to do!

It has been a while

As per the last post seems ages since i was here thought I had better get myself back in gear.

I haven't been idle!
This has come from the book Lil Twister and is so easy to do, I have managed to do a Xmas one as well with place mats, it still needs quilted. Years ago I did a quilt similar to this and had to make a template, you can now buy rulers and it is so easy to do.

I love the colours in this I am not really a red person when it comes to fabric it was a bit of a challenge getting the right reds!

Then  this started off as a sampler quilt, but I wanted to do something different and decided to box the blocks, could also have turned the box round and it could have been an attic window effect. My grandsons got a kitten and then the cats evolved on it. the quilt became a wall hanging.

I didn't buy any fabric for this, its a real nice feeling when you can make something for nothing. But you wouldn't see a dent in the stash/

 

This is taken from the book simple stained glass quilts by Daphne Craig and Susan Purney Mark. Really simple and effective and has encouraged me to try something more complex, about this time my trusty old pfaff started to protest and sounded like a tractor. I fought with it till I could bear it no more and gave in and bought a new machine a Pfaff creative performance. I am still learning on it and went back to sewing on the old one again but today I am determined to master the new one.

This bag was so easy, the base uses the crinkle fabric. its three layers top wadding and then crinkle fabric, do a meander and then take to the ironing board and hold the iron over the crinkle fabric . Do not let it touch the iron . As you hold the iron over it it crinkles up and gives the puckered effect. really fun to use and a nice effect.