Prairie Patchwork Quilt Along Block S

 Westward Ho!

 

It's week 19, and this week we have Block S in the Prairie Patchwork Quilt Along! Block S is a bonus block pattern, which you won't find in Prairie Patchwork, but is very much a part of the Prairie Patchwork Quilt Along sampler quilt. Enjoy!

 

Prairie Patchwork Quilt Along Block S

The large appliqued Block S will finish to 15" square. You'll be printing out 10 pages, which will include 4 pages with the full scale applique diagram in sections to fit together. I appliqued my shapes by hand, but feel free to apply your shapes by machine if you prefer.

 

CLICK HERE to download the fabric requirements and cutting/assembly instructions for Block S.

The Benefits of Having Unfinished Quilts

Last year, 2019, was a mostly sedentary year for me, as I worked on sewing the projects for my upcoming book, and then writing the copy, and drafting the diagrams.

I entered this new year, 2020, with the goal of getting back in some sort of shape. My son and I went on a little hike a few days after Christmas. Afterwards, although I didn't fall or anything, my left leg was aching. After the first of the year, I went to the gym and did some weights, and a few days later started going to a fun line dancing class three days a week.

Long story short, things took a turn for the worse, and at the end of January I tore the meniscus in my knee, and I have been forced to stay off my legs for the last few weeks.

Time to pull out an old project!

I started a quilt in the year 2000, and it's been an on again, off again project for years. But the last of it is an appliqued border, and the pieces, for the most part, are prepared and ready to applique (except for the hundreds of berries, which are in various stages of production).

I'm happy to say that although I'm not happy about being injured, at least I have a little progress on this quilt to show for it. The vines are completely done on this last border, and the two red birds are applied. Woo hoo!

Left to do will be making and adding berries to the vines on two of the borders, then sewing them on the quilt. Here is what the berries look like on one of the completed borders:

The interior of the quilt has twenty five hand pieced and appliqued blocks, and that part has been done for a long time. Each block has completely different fabrics and here are just a few: 

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. And in my case, the lemonade is a little progress on my 20 year old quilt project!

Until next time,

Martha

On the Cover! Quiltmania!

Very shortly the newest issue of Quiltmania will be on newsstands or in your mailbox if you're a subscriber - the November/ December 2018 issue. Here's a sneak peak of the cover!

Quiltmania #128 November/December 2018

AND.... I'm proud to say that the quilt featured on that beautiful cover is my quilt - Georgetown Circle! You may have seen some of my previous posts while I was piecing and quilting Georgetown Circle, and what a joy it is for me to see it on the cover of one of my favorite magazines!

I've been busy getting new patterns out the past few weeks and I have three published and on my website. Here they are!

Happy Jacks Table Square

Fancywork Journal Cover

 

Countryside Needlebook

Countryside Needlebook and Fancywork Journal Cover are patterns which were originally found in my book Annie's Scrapbag. I've had many requests for the patterns, as Annie's Scrapbag is now out of print, so now here they are! You can see the inside pages of Countryside Needlebook on the website.

I have more patterns to come, but that's all for now!

Until next time,

Martha

Making Circles and Berries

I'm working on a new quilt design, and today I began the "making circles" phase of the appliqué preparation for the quilt.

I'm making two different sizes of cream circles, some which will be berries, others circles. The blue will be an eye for a bird. Using a stencil makes quick work of the marking. The running stitch around each circle takes some time, but I don't mind. I can turn on a good movie, and relax. Tonight I have in mind watching more episodes of Season 4 of Turn, which was just added to Netflix. I was so excited to hear George Washington speak the name Colonel Sheldon in the first episode - the very colonel my great great great great grandfather Paul McKinstry served under in the Revolutionary War (if you have my book, Betsy's Scrapbag, you've read all about it!)!

If you'd like to know more about how I make these circles, I have a short how-to video on the Henry Glass You Tube channel - the link is on the side bar, or click Here. In addition to the video, I included a handy dandy chart in my book, Be Merry, with all of the sizes for everything needed! 

The first time I used this method, was to make berries for my quilt, Summer Rentals:

Detail - Summer Rentals

For that quilt, I made 300. Since then, as I mention in the video, I've made dozens more (I haven't counted). Here are a few more on my quilt, "Sweet Bouquet", from Vintage Christmas:

Detail - Sweet Bouquet

 

 

 

 

 

 

For my new quilt, I have 134 of one size to make, and dozen of another size. I'll be taking a trip soon, so I'll have a little airplane time, and hotel time to make a few. At least, that's the plan!

Until next time!

Martha

 

Holiday Hearts Quilt and Primitive Appliqué

Happy Valentine's Day!

I thought on this day of hearts I would re-post a Primitive Appliqué technique tutorial I first posted on the C & T Publishing blog as a guest blogger, just in case you missed it there.

In my book, Be Merry: Quilts and Projects for Your Holiday Home, there are many projects that are not just for Christmas, and the "Holiday Hearts" quilt is one of them. If you use the technique that I did, you'll have this quilt finished in no time!

"Holiday Hearts" quilt from Be Merry: Quilts and Projects for Your Holiday Home

My quilt is based on a block that I found amongst a box of scraps that I inherited from my grandmother.

I loved the folk art design, especially the way the leaves are oriented in opposite directions, and so I decided to create a quilt based on this unusual block design. I also decided to try the same "primitive" appliqué technique that was used in the block. It turned out to be an incredibly fast way to do appliqué. My quilt has been washed, and the appliqué still looks great. The stitching is sturdy, and because it doesn't employ fusibles, my quilt is soft and heirloom quality, looking beautiful for years to come.

To begin, cut your appliqué shape without adding a seam allowance.

Pin baste your shape onto the background fabric. For appliqué, I like to use appliqué pins, either 1/2" long or 3/4" long, depending on the size of the appliqué piece. For the following tutorial, I used 1/2" long pins on one side of the heart, and 3/4" long pins on the other half, so you can see the difference.

Use a #24 chenille needle, embroidery floss or perlé cotton and a blanket stitch to appliqué your shape to the background. Three ply embroidery floss, #12, #8, #5 perlé cotton all work well. For a really chunky look you could even use #3 perlé cotton.

To blanket stitch appliqué, bring your needle and thread from the bottom to the top at the edge of your shape.

Take your next stitch into the appliqué as shown, and up again near the edge, right next to your initial stitch. Keep the thread length (tail) under your needle.

Pull the needle and thread in the direction of your stitch. Don't pull too tightly, or your work will begin to curl. Keep a nice even tension as you stitch.

Take your second stitch. For a pretty stitch, the space between stitches (the length) should be approximately the same as the width of your stitches i.e. if the width of the stitch is 1/4", space your stitches 1/4" away from each other. The size of your stitch is proportional to the size of your shapes. Small appliqué shapes - smaller stitches.

For sharp points, take an extra stitch at the point to secure the stitch and keep it from becoming distorted.

Bring your needle up in back of the stitch to continue blanket stitching the next side of the shape.

Primitive appliqué is a stress free way to do appliqué, resulting in a charming, folk art look to your quilt!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Until next time,

Martha

Scaredy Cats and String Stars

Writing new patterns kept me busy for the better part of July and early August, but, Yay!, they're finished!  I had so many requests to publish my pattern, "Scaredy Cats", that I finally got it done!

Scaredy Cats quilt pattern

It's now up on the website!

I have always had a fascination with string piecing, and have done quite a bit of it. One thing I had been wanting to try for many years, was to make a giant size string star. I was also thinking it might help to make a dent in my fabric stash. I finally drafted and cut out the foundation diamonds last Fall.

As I was moving back and forth in my studio writing my patterns, those foundation papers kept getting in my way. I finally decided to just take a break, and make the big string star, just to get those papers out of my way, at least!

It went very quickly, and I was so happy that my math was correct. The setting squares and triangles fit just perfectly! I'm really happy with how it turned out. I can report, however, that it did very little to reduce my fabric stash, although the background squares and triangles did take almost 2 yards.  I'm hoping to teach how to make the giant string star to fellow string star lovers in the future!

Giant String Star

With the 4 1/2" borders added, the quilt top is approximately 73" square.

I'll have more new patterns to post soon!

Until next time,

Martha

Machine Applique Versus Hand Applique

I've been using my strike-offs to get a start on making my Sentimental Stitches quilt in both colorways (free pattern download).

Sentimental Stitches Quilt - Green Version

Sentimental Stitches Quilt - Red Version

I love both colorways, so my plan is to try to make both after I receive more fabric. Each quilt is about 56" square with 6" appliqued blocks, so I'm hoping I can get both done.

Here are the blocks I've completed so far. Three blocks for the red version and one block for the green version:

Just for fun, I decided to have a little competition between machine applique and hand applique while making the blocks. I timed how long it would take to make one by machine with turned under edges, and how long it would take to make one with the needle turn hand applique method.  I held out a little hope that needle turn by hand would reign supreme, but unfortunately, it really lost big time. Of course, I have to admit, I was watching a movie part of the time, but during the parts when I had my nose to the grindstone, I would have already finished one by machine.

Why did I want needle turn to win out? Most importantly, I find it so relaxing, and love working with a needle and thread. Second, the preparation of needle turn is a breeze. But, I added the preparation time into the total time, so unfortunately, it didn't make up for the difference in how fast a machine can stitch around the shape versus my hand!

Luckily, they all look nice in the end. Can you tell which one I stitched by hand?

Until next time,

Martha