Easy Al Tutorial

 Hi There!

I've finally finished the center of

"Easy Al".

I started working on the "outer" border and should have it all completed by tomorrow or Sunday.

See the mini triangles?

I'll be adding those on the outer border. 

 

So, while I was working on these blocks, 

I thought, "Hey!  Why not put up pictures with instructions on this quilt?  Kinda like a Tutorial!"

You'll only need to make these 2 blocks...

Several times, of course.

:-)

We'll start with the 4 patch.

Cut 3-1/2 inch strips - royal blue and a variety of plaids.

Sew these strips together - side by side.

Once sewn, cut the strips at 3-1/2 inches, into a 2 block.

Then, sew these 2 blocks with another 2 blocks to make a 4 patch block.

I'll give out the exact amount of blocks that I needed for a single quilt....  

Didn't think to take the number done.

But you need to make a bunch of 4 patch blocks.

Next, cut a 6-1/2 inch white background... or beige or white on white or black on white, or whatever.

You need a pale color block, cut at 6-1/2 inch.

Cut some plaid blocks at 3-1/2 inch square and put 'em on the edge of your white 6-1/2 inch block.  Here, I took a chalk line and marked from edge to edge.

Sew along your chalk line and cut 1/4 inch off, once sewn.  

See those 2 pieces of triangles that I cut off?  I saved 'em and that's what I made the mini triangles with.... on the outer border of this quilt.

Here's a picture of one of my mini triangles.

Before I sewed my mini triangles, I squared 'em up to 2-1/2 inches.

Will post final pictures of "Easy Al", once its all quilted and bound.  AND, I'll post the amount of blocks required to make a single quilt.

Have Super Saturday!

Rosa

Staggered Block Tutorial and Other Stuff...

Hi There!

I'm probably the last one in the quilting world that didn't know about this sewing technique but I thought I'd share, just in case you didn't know how to do this easy, smeasy border.

Here's the measurements that I did, but I'm sure you could do them whichever way you wanted.

I cut my purple strips at 2-1/2" and the pink/yellow fabric strip at 1-1/2".

Sew them together, as in the picture below.

Once sewn, cut mini strips at 1-1/2" wide.
(see picture below)



Flip them end to end and sew them together.

Continue piecing these cuties together, making sure - obviously -that no pink/yellows get sewn together.



Eventually, your sewn strips get longer and longer.

Measure the length or width of your quilt to ensure that your strip is long enough and not too long.

I made the top and bottom of the T-Shirt quilt, so far.

Tomorrow, I'll work on the sides of this quilt.

Okay, enough with the tutorial.

If you're a newbie with these blocks,
I'm positive you understood. *grin*

Today, Gilbert and I went to our local CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corp.) station. This year, CBC is celebrating their 75th anniversary and today, they had an Open House from 11 a.m. till 3h00 p.m.

Gilbert wanted to see how their cameras worked and how the programs were uploaded to the TV, etc, etc.

Anyhow, they had a spinning wheel and Gilbert and I each spun their wheel and we BOTH won a (quality made) T-Shirt!!!

(Can you say "spun" in that context?!??)

Cool, eh?

On a final note... remember my HP TouchPad?

HP was getting rid of them last month. You could select the 16 GB for $99.00 (regular 399.00, I believe) and the 32 GB for $149.00 (regular $499 or $599 - can't remember)

Anyhow, I decided to go with the 32 GB. Gilbert said for 50 bucks more, I might as well, eh?

And sometimes it's best to "Go Big or Stay at Home", eh?
(Isn't that a Poker expression?!?? LOL)

Well, about 2 weeks ago, Gilbert shows me this flyer. I nearly fell to the floor!!!

It's a company where you can rent out furniture and after a bit, if you want, you can buy your item outright, for a pretty penny.

Check out the HP TouchPad 16 GB - you can rent it out with these people.

And this "special" came out perhaps 2 weeks AFTER the big HP TouchPad dump!!!

Their everyday LOW price is $1,424.99,
for the 16 GB !!!!!

*shakes her head*

This is just baaaaaad.

Last topic of the day.

"Ophelia", our latest storm, is brushing past us, with lots of rain this weekend.

It's now 5h50 p.m. and I plan on taking it easy....
we were out on the roads all day today.

Tomorrow, I will be sewing up a "storm"!
Pardon the pun!!! LOL

Watch for another blog, Sunday evening!

Hope you're all having a
Wonderful Weekend!!!

Rosa

Quilt Binding 101

Hi There!

Remember I told you that Janet, one of our quilting clients, had explained to me how to bind your quilt, BOTH SIDES, with your sewing machine.

So, here's MY opinion, okay?

If you're making a heirloom quilt or hoping to submit your quilt in a quilt show, you may not want to sew your binding this way.

But if you're making place mats, or a quilt for your neighbor's mailman's cousin's daughter and your name isn't going on the label, AND you're pressed for time, you might to consider this technique.

*grin*

Here's a quick tutorial for you.

Like everything else, practice DOES make perfect - or almost - and lately I've had an AWFUL lot of place mats and baby quilts to practice on!

Cut and iron your binding like you normally would - you know? At 2-1/2 inch, right?

Now, when you FIRST sew it, it's best to sew on the UNDERNEATH of the quilt... the OPPOSITE of what you normally would have done, right?
(I'll explain why, later)



Sew your corners down, like you normally would.
(please ignore the dust)

The Zipper Foot is my friend!!!!

Imagine? I've got all these different kind of "feet", with my sewing machine and my friend pointed out the Zipper Foot, and explained what I could do with it!

WOW!!!!! I LOVE THIS FOOT!!!

Anyhow, here's what you do:

Put on your Zipper Foot.

Align your needle to 1/4".

Flip your place mat over.

See the sew line from the binding, that you just sewed? Well, fold over the binding, line up the folded edge of your binding and try to line it up with the previous sewn line.

Okay... thread color... I forgot to mention that.

Top thread should match the color of the binding.

Bobbin thread should match the color of the binding, also.

Butt up your Zipper Foot to the edge of the binding and VOILA!

You might want to use pins to line up the edge of the binding to just a teeny, weeny over the previous sewn line... I just eye-ball it and go fairly slow.... re-aligning my binding every 2 or 3 inches.

Your corners are done exactly the same way as when you sew the binding on, by hand.

I found it very helpful to pin the edges down.

And here's the final results!

You can click on any of these pictures
to see a close-up

And another picture of Gilbert's magnificent (IMHO) work!
*VBG*

See why I suggest that you first sew on the binding to the BOTTOM part, first? So that, when you sew the OTHER side... which is now the TOP of the quilt... you want it to look nice.

Hope this helps! And if you have any place mats or non-heirloom quilts, give it a try!

Rosa

Fancy Smancy Pillow Case Tutorial

Fancy Smancy Pillow Case Tutorial

Pink band's measurements:
8 inches X 22 inches - (2 of these)

Lime (mini) band:
1-3/4 inches X 22 inches - (2 of these)

NOTE: these 2 will be a bit bigger than the actual pillow case. I'll explain why later on.



Pillow case body:
26 inches X 20-1/2 inches

(NOTE: your typical fabric measures WIDTH WISE 44 inches or so. Fold your fabric in half. Try to cut as close to the selvage as possible and you should get 26 inches or close enough to make a nice pillow case body.)

Fold the pink bands in half - iron them.
Fold the lime (mini) bands in half - iron them.
Place, lime green band on top of pink band - raw edges together.

Sew 1/4" to the edge.

Flip upside down and sew (1/4 inch) onto right side of pillow case.


Repeat for the other pillow case edge.

Then, and here's an IMPORTANT tip....

Go BACK and sew a "zig zag" line.

This will stop the fabric from fraying and creating those nasty bird's nests, every time you wash your pillow cases.

Iron the lime (mini) band towards the pink band.

Sew your pillow case, right sides together.

Trim the extra fabric for the lime (mini) band and the pink band. I found it was easier to have these 2 strips bigger and then, trim the extras off, afterwards.

Once again, go BACK and sew a "zig zag" line, on both sides of your pillow case, to avoid future frayings.

And here's a picture of me, with my pillow cases...

And here's another picture of my pillow cases:

Pink band for me and Gilbert gets the bright lime band.

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial.

Rosa

Pillow Cases!!!

Hi There!

Yesterday I decided to make 2 more pillow cases.

I like to make them the same way, each and every time... according to MY method.

My method?

I pull out a pillow case that my friend Jo sent me, take the measurements and try to re-figure out how to make them, once again. And, as I only make these pillow cases every 2 years (approx.), I forget each and every time!

LOL

Sooooo, I told myself that I'd write myself a Tutorial, for the next time and HEY! Why not share my method with my blogging friends, eh?

*grin*




Tutorial coming right up....

*grin*

Rosa

My Very First "Tut"!!!

Hi there!

Well, on our "Basket Case" group,
someone had posted her basket block,
with these cute little 3-D flowers!

Comments, questions, queries and
even some "gasps" were posted, on our Yahoo group.

So, with the help of our resident expert's
written explanations and
Elly sending me a PDF of an
equilateral triangle,
I decided to take the bull by the 2 horns
and try to make this cute little flower.

Was it enough for me to just make it for myself?

Well, of COURSE NOT!

My motto: KISS (Keep It Short and Sweet)
doesn't always apply to me....
Being "Anal" is sometimes more my speed! LOL

I decided to blog about this technique,
as a Tutorial!!!!

Anyhow, here goes...

You'll need an equilaterial triangle template -
that's a triangle that all 3 sides are EQUAL.

Draw and cut up TWO fabric triangles.

I suggest that you use TWO contrasting fabrics.
With right sides together, sew them up...
just like you would a cushion, for example -
leaving a small little opening to flip them
inside out.
OH! Don't forget to snip the triangle tips,
before turning them inside out.

Iron your triangle nice and flat.



Above picture. I made 2 triangles, for my project.

Now, try and find the center of your triangle -
mark it with a pencil or pen mark.
Just a wee little dot... that's all.
Sew all three corners to your
wee little dot (in the center).



See?

You now have a hexagon!

What you're seeing (top picture), is actually
going to be the UNDERNEATH of your flower.

Turn your hexagon over.
Notice you now have THREE straight edges?

Sew, one of the edges to the CENTER of your hexagon.
(see above picture)

In this picture, I've sewn the SECOND straight edge,
to the center of my hexagon.

NOTE:
At this point, you're probably saying,
"This doesn't look right!"

Stop listening to that voice in your head...

TRUST ME - it'll work out !

*grin*

Now, I've sewn my THIRD straight edge to the centre.

Once again, this looks a HUNDRED TIMES better,
in person!

Hope you'll give it a try!

Rosa