Charity quilt #11 with black and white blocks

This quilt was made with mostly materials donated to our charity quilt group.  I added solid black to tone down all the busy colors.  It's really fast to make!

You just sew 3 each of 2-1/2" strips of black fabric with 3 each of 2-1/2" strips of white fabric, then cut the strip sets into 12-1/2" blocks.  Then you sew 2-1/2" strips of fabric in a log cabin type of block and make them 12-1/2" square too.  Alternate the blocks into 5 blocks across and 6 blocks down.  And that's all there is to get this 60" x 72" quilt.  The perfect size to donate to our comfort quilts charity group.   

I hope you like it!

Trinkets modified for 2-1/2" strips and 5" squares - Charity quilt #10

I made the pattern "Trinkets" according to the pattern designed by Vanessa Goertzen.  See a previous post about that quilt.  Since I still had 2-1/2" strips and 5" squares from the material from our charity quilt group, I redesigned the pattern.  

Here's the pattern instructions:

Trinkets  65” x 65”
13” x  13” blocks

For each 13” block, make a double square in a square block with 2 different colors and one background fabric.  You need 25 blocks to make this quilt.

Each block needs 1 each 5” center square of the inside color
                              4 each 2-1/2” x 2-3/4” rectangles of the background
                              4 each 2-1/2” x 4-3/4” rectangles of the background 
                              4 each 2-1/2” x 5” rectangles of the outside color
                              2 each 5-1/2” squares of the outside color (cut on the diagonal)
                              2 each 4-1/4” squares of the background (cut on the diagonal)

 The first square in a square block:

Up size the corner square side length to 4-1/4” and trim the block after sewing it together.

The second square in a square block, using the first square in a square block as the center square:

 

Upsize the corner square side length to 5-1/2” and trim after sewing the block together.

The block showing the parts sewn together:

Sew five rows of five blocks each. 

Here is the finished quilt top:

I hope you like it.

Trinkets with Tula Pink fabrics

I made this quilt from Tula Pink fabrics that I've been saving (hoarding) for a few years.  She designs interesting fabrics that usually include some kind of animal.  This line was called "Slow and Steady".  The darker fabric that I used pictures a turtle.  The pink one features a snail.  Tula Pink is so funny and witty!  

The pattern is a relatively new one called "Trinkets" and is made of 16 each 18" x 18" blocks.  One of my favorite modern quilt designers is Vanessa Goertzen and this pattern is on her web page.  She designed the pattern to use fat quarters, but I used yardage.

Using the square in a square calculator that I posted about previously, I made 6" to 9" blocks; then 9" to 12" blocks.  Here's a few tricks if you make square in a square blocks:

1.  Add 1/8" to the size of square used to make the half squares.  It is much easier to trim the edges than it is to end up with blocks that are too small.  For instance on the 6" to 9" block, the calculator calls for cutting 5-1/8" squares.  Size these up to 5-1/4".  The 9" to 12" calls for 6-7/8" squares.  Size these up to 7".

2.  Fold the pieces in half and match up the centers.  

3.  Sew with the bias edge against the feed dogs, and the straight of grain on the top.  This way, the bias edge doesn't stretch.  

4.  Trim up the blocks.  There is very little waste.  Can you see the tiny sliver that was trimmed off?

Follow the same steps for the next round.  Add 3-1/2' x 6-1/2" rectangles of the outer color, 3-1/2" x 6-1/2" rectangles for the background, and 3-1/2" x 3-1/2" squares for the 4 corners out of the background fabric.  

Make 18 blocks and sew them together.  I added borders to use up the rest of the Tula Pink fabric.  The quilt measures 81" x 81".

I ended up giving this quilt to my good friend of 50 years, Judy Mezen.  Here she is with the quilt on her bed, which amazingly fit right in with her decorations.

I hope you like it.

Charity Quilt #9 - Rail Fence

Still working through the box of scraps given to me by our charity quilt group.  This makes #5 from the box, and #8 since the first of December.  This pattern is super easy to make and is called rail fence.  All I did was to the sew the 2-1/2" strips into VERY long strips; sew 3 colors together, and cut them into 6-1/2" squares. 

The layout alternated the black on the bottom with the black on the left-hand side.  There are 120 blocks needed for this size, which is 60" x 72".  Here is the completed quilt top:

I hope you like it! 

Square in a Square calculator

I recently stumbled across a simple calculator for square in a square blocks on the internet.  Don't get me wrong -- I love math!  But rather than go back and figure this out again, or find something in my files, I hit the internet.  

Quilter's Paradise has developed a simple square in a square calculator.  You either enter the inside square or the outside square and their formula calculates everything for you! To get there, click on this link:

Square in a Square calculator from Quilters Paradise.  

I was trying to figure out the pieces for a 6" inner square and 12" second outer square.  Here's what the calculator gave me:

The first result is for the 6" inner square:

The second is for the 12" outer square:

Now, I can confidently make the blocks I need for an interesting quilt that starts with a double square in a square block.

I hope you can use this calculator too!  

Charity Quilt #8 - Modified First Crush

I'm still working through the fabric that was donated to our quilt guild.  I was able to make 2-1/2" strips and 5" squares from the fabric.  In December, I made First Crush, which was a pattern in the Charm School book by Vanessa Goertzen.   Here's what that quilt looked like:

This quilt is basically the same, except that I didn't have any more white fabric, so I pieced the long black strips to the long blue strips.  From those strips, I cut 4-1/2" squares and 4-1/2" x 8-1/2" rectangles.  

I pulled some yellow fabric from my stash and used that to make the half square triangles.  Here's what each block looked like before it was pieced.

I didn't like the look of the quilt when I laid it out like the first one, so I turned some of the squares this way and that until I liked the layout.  And here is what the modified version ended up looking like.  It's 61" x 73".

I hope you like it! 

Owl Art Quilt - Final - "Hootie"

This is a continuation of 2 previous posts about the making of the owl art quilt, ad the final one of "Hootie".

I decided to paint the owl since there were so many tiny little pieces in its breast feathers.  The process was the same that I've used in previous quilts, which is basically a paint by number technique.  I made sure to shade the outside edges of the owl to make it look more like it was in the shadow of the tree, and also shaded the tree itself.  I also decided to add the moss around the hole, instead of just the left and right top.

The owl got a lightweight stuffing underneath it and the edges were glued to the backside.

The tree got two layers of batting underneath it to give the whole piece more depth and the moss was placed on the edges of the tree.

It was lightly quilted and bound with traditional binding to match the tree color.  It measures 15-1/2" W x 20" H.

I hope you like it!