One of my small quilt group friends gave me two boxes of Kaffe Fassett fabrics to use for sewing charity quilts. I added the off-white grunge for all of the sashing.
This is the first quilt top from the box. Its called "Diamonds in the Sky" and was designed by Melissa Lunden. Finished size is 64" x 66".
I hope you like it!
This is a continuation of many previous posts about the making of the New York Beauty improv quilt.
I tried out several different designs for the setting strips. Here is what I decided. This layout will end up with a quilt that will be 70" x 70". Just the right size for me to be able to quilt on my sit-down longarm.
I pieced a few of the setting strips with alternating black and dark blue fabrics. It seemed a little too dark, so I sewed the rest with some light blue pieces. I brought in some more medium blue and red with circles set into the "center" of the New York Beauty blocks. Here's the finished top.
I hope you like it!
This is a continuation of previous posts about the making of the New York Beauty imrpov quilt.
All 16 blocks have been completed and trimmed to 14-1/2" x 14-1/2". I arranged the blocks into groups of 4 that included points, circles, ovals, and wedges. Here they are:
Next, I'll work on the design of the setting strips, and decide if I want them or not. In the meantime, I found a new red hat for my birthday.
I hope you like it!
This is a continuation of several posts about the making of the New York Beauty improv quilt. This post about the making of another one of the components, which ends up looking like floating rectangles.
I cut a black strip of fabric at 1" wide, and two strips of white fabric at 1-1/2" wide. They were sewn together into a strip set and pressed towards the center black strip.
I also cut a white strip at 3" wide.
The best way for me to describe my paper piecing is to show you the steps. All of these steps are after you have your freezer paper foundation ready to go.
Step 1. If all of the pieces are the same size and shape, just cut one template piece out of freezer paper and add 3/8" around all the outside edges. For this piece, all of the them were a different size. So, in this case, cut a template for each piece, number it and mark the left side.
Step 2. Pin the freezer paper template on the BACK of the fabric and cut out at least 3/8" around all the edges; even more if you are uncertain. Make sure that the LEFT side of the template is parallel to the left side of the fabric, and at least 3/8" away. Note: Every other piece is solid white.
Step 3. Place all of the templates/fabric pieces are in a pile with #1 on the top, and the left side on the left side.
Step 4. Pin the first piece in place, trim the seam to 1/4" and pick up the next piece and place it right sides together with the first piece, making sure that the LEFT side of the second piece is where you will be sewing the seam.
Step 5. Sew the seam. Trim if necessary.
Step 6. Press.
Step 7. Trim the excess fabric to 1/4". And repeat all the steps until all of the pieces have been sewn and pressed to the foundation paper. Make sure to alternate the pieced rectangles with the solid white background.
Finally, press the piece really well and trim the curved edges to 1/4" seam allowance.
Here is the final component.
And here it is in the block.
I hope you can use this technique somewhere in your quilting.
This is another component trick that I used in the making of the New York Beauty Improv quilt.
This component utilizes a directional print with a strong stripe. I wanted the strips to move around the curve of the piece, while lining up with the direction of the radius (a line from the center of the circle to the outside edge).
I numbered the pieces on the foundation drawing. These were then traced onto freezer paper templates and cut out.
The templates were ironed to the back side of the fabric, lining up the CENTER with one of the circle striped sections.
The pieces were then cut apart, leaving a generous seam allowance and lining up the LEFT cutting line with the same angle as the left of the template.
Starting with piece #1, the piece was lined up with the template and pinned in place. Piece number two was placed right sides together with piece #1, matching up the edges of the templates, and placing a pin at each location to hold them in place.
The seam was sewn, then trimmed to 1/4".
The pieces were ironed to the back side of the foundation paper. The next piece was then picked up, placed right sides with piece #2, matching up the edges of the templates. The rest is a repeat of the steps to sew, trim, press, and pick up the next piece.
After the entire foundation was covered and pressed, the excess fabric was trimmed to 1/4" on both of the curved edges. Here it is before it was trimmed. You can see that the strong vertical lines of the fabric ended up just where I wanted them to be.
And here is the component in the piece.
I hope you like it and can use this technique to get the results that you want.
P.S. I decided that it is easier to use solid components between the pieced components. This one used two piece components side by side and it was too hard for an improve quilt block!
I wanted some of the striped components to lean in a certain direction on the New York Beauty improv quilt. Here is how I planned and sewed the stripes to end up on the slant.
First, I drew the piece on freezer paper and numbered the pieces.
And here it is in the block. I also have used this technique with other directional fabrics in the blocks. Oh, and if you do this, don't forget to remove the freezer paper!
I hope you like this technique and can use it on your quilts!
This is a continuation of a previous post about the making of this Improv quilt.
What fun it has been to make the improv blocks. And to say that they were entirely improv is a bit misleading. I did use foundation piecing methods for the black and white parts. And some of my dissolving foundation and invisible applique methods for the dark ovals and spots. Here are 4 of the blocks pressed and ready to trim to 14-1/2" square.
I hope you like them so far.
