Modern Quilt - Chic and Jazzy Pattern - Part One

I have so much fun making modern quilts.  One company, Sew Kind of Wonderful,  has been putting out patterns to go along with their tools and I've made my second pattern now.   The pattern name for this one is called, "Chic and Jazzy".  The pattern instructions call for making 12 blocks and sewing them in a strong vertical and horizontal setting.  But I thought that I would like it better as a block set on point, so that's what I did.  Here are the changes that I made.

First, I had to make 13 blocks instead of 12.  Second, I changed the sashing from 6" to 4" so that there would be less white space, but still plenty of room for fancy quilting.

Original pattern

My design idea

I like lime green - have I told you that yet?  I bet I have.  I also like turquoise and teal.  So for this quilt, I used the green in place of the gray called for in the pattern, and used different fabrics for the centers and the surroundings for each block.  I have a lot of lime green fabrics.  Who knew how much, just a lot!  I also have a lot of turquoise and teal.  Yes, many piles reside in my stash.

So fast forward.  In order to do an on-point setting, I had to calculate the size of the setting triangles for the edges.  Since I had 12" blocks and 4" sashing, this was an easy calculation = 16".  I drafted a pattern on freezer paper that was 16" on each edge.  This was placed on the white fabric so that the long edge was on the grain line lined up with the selvage edges.  Then I folded this pattern in half, and cut another pattern for the corner triangles.  Those were placed on the white fabric so that the long edge was on the diagonal.  Paying attention to the grain line is important to make sure the outside edges are on grain when the top is completely sewn.

Pattern piece cut from freezer paper

I always over-cut the setting triangles so that the quilt can be squared up in the end.  In order to get the right sized triangle to fit, I marked the 16" from the corners, and made sure this lined up with the edges of the blocks.

Over-sized triangles for the edges

The top ended up measuring 60"x 60".  Here it is almost done sewing.  This picture shows how you sew the rows to get the on-point setting.  It's sewn into diagonal rows.  Then the rows are sewn together.

Top almost sewn together

Top all sewn, waiting to be quilted

 I plan to use the green for the binding, and do the quilting with heavy batting so that it'll pop.

I hope you like it so far.

Holiday Quilt, Part Two and Chain Piecing

I have continued to work on the holiday quilt that started with scraps.  It's looking more complete now, although I still have to square up the blocks and get them sewn together.   I thought that I would have more lime green pieces, but after sewing up the scraps I cut, I was surprised at how much turquoise/teal shades I ended up with.  I guess I must like that color pretty well now too!

Chic Kisses progress

The technique from the pattern, "Chic Kisses" and the Quick Cut Ruler (QCR ruler) that is sold to go along with the pattern, make this block pretty easy and quick to sew.  There is a bit of curved piecing and some guessing as to what size of block you might want, but other than that, most of the pieces are over-sized so that you get to trim at almost every step.

Pieces ready to sew, right sides up

I'm showing you my quick piecing technique, which is just stacking your pieces, then chain piecing.  This makes things go so quickly that I have now completed sewing all of the pieced arcs!  I thought this step would take me months and months.  So, I am very happy!

OK, so the first thing is to precut all of your pieces and stack them right sides up with the sewing side on the top.  Clip them all together (so that you can take them to sewing days with your friends!).  When you're ready to sew, you just pick the top pieces up and sew them together.

Chain piecing showing how to line up pieces

The picture above shows how close you position the next piece so that you don't waste a lot of thread and time.

Chain piecing in the machine

The next picture shows you how the pieces are all chained together so that you can reach and get the last set, clip the threads and keep on going.

The last picture shows how to clip the threads between the pieces.  See how easy it is to chain piece!

Chain piecing with just a few threads to clip

Holiday Quilt, part One

I realized during the holiday season that I no longer have a seasonal quilt for our bed.  I gave my red and green Baltimore album quilt to a friend many years ago, and she also picked out my smaller quilt that was green and red.  Everyone knows how much of a holiday fanatic she is, and I'm glad that she has these 2 quilts in her collection.  But, now I don't have any!

Sew Kind of Wonderful is a company that makes contemporary quilt designs and they also developed a quick curve ruler to go with their book and patterns.  I loved the look of "Chic Kisses" and thought it would be just the right pattern to make a holiday quilt for our bed.

I pulled out red, green, turquoise, white and gray fabrics from my stash for this quilt.  Here's a picture of the fabrics, and the stack of wedges that I cut in preparation for sewing.

Fabrics for this quilt

Wedges cut and ready to sew

It has been fun to sew the wedge pieces together and decide on the layout of colors for this quilt.  Look at how much space this has taken up on my design wall.  It covers the entire wall!

Holiday Chic Kisses in progress

I intended to make this quilt with fabric that I already had on hand.  Well, one thing led to another, and before I knew it, I was out to Fiddlesticks to buy the background and the solid colors I needed for the little wedges.  I'm so thankful for my local quilt shop and the friendly owner and staff.  What a gift for all of us to have these wonderful shops in our neighborhoods!

I hope you like the progress so far on this quilt.