WHW RS Sampler Quilt Class: Block 12: Hexies (English Paper Piecing)

This is the last block for our quilt class!  Yay!  After this, we'll talk about assembling all the blocks into a quilt top, then quilting and binding it.  :)

For our last technique, I wanted to cover English Paper Piecing, or EPP.  This is where you use paper shapes as your templates and your wrap the fabric around the paper to get it into the shape you want, then you hand sew the shapes together.  By far the most popular type of EPP is the hexagon:

The Zen of Making

Gone Aussie Quilting

Lieblingsdecke

Mommy by Day Crafter by Night

And here are a few quick examples of EPP quilts made with shapes other than the hexie:

Dee's Doodles

Three Owls Handmade

Kamie Murdock

These hexies aren't sewn together by hand, but this technique is super fun and creates amazing texture:

Modern Handcraft

NOW.  Let's talk about how this is EPP thing is done.  I found this set of tutorials here and it is pretty awesome and very well done - this is exactly what we will be doing in our class:
The Zen of Making: EPP Hexies Part 1
The Zen of Making: EPP Hexies Part 2




Alright.  Here is the pattern:  WHW RS Sampler Quilt Class:  Block 12:  EPP

Here are is an awesome (FREE) link for creating your own Hexagon templates in pretty much any size:
Geta Grama Quilting Studio: Tips for Cutting Hexagon Templates
We'll be using the 2" Hexies for the 12" block, and the 1.5" Hexies for the 9" block

And here is a link to the alternate block we're making:  Sew Mama Sew: Star Hexies Tutorial
It uses the exact same technique, just with different shapes.  My tip for this block - DON'T clip the little dog ears that stick out from the corners.  :)  
I resized the pattern so that it will fit better with our block sizes.  The bigger one is for the 12" block and the smaller one is for the 9" block.  Don't forget to print it at 100%, or "actual size" - Diamond Star Hexie Pattern.

Blogger's Quilt Festival: Abecedary in Mint

Welcome!  This is my second post for the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  Read more about the Festival HERE.
Check out my other entry HERE.
This quilt was SO MUCH FUN TO MAKE.  I'm excited to share it with you.  The pattern is called "Abecedary" and will be released soon by Afton Warrick of Quilting Mod.

So.  Here's the story of this quilt.  Once I had mostly finished making my Improv ABC quilt, I decided I hadn't quite had my fill of making these I-Spy/ABC quilts.  Plus I had recently been to JoAnn and discovered their huge assortment of cute novelty flannels and needed an excuse to buy some of them.  :)

So I went back to the first IG photo that inspired me to make ABC quilts using fabric that represented each letter (check it out HERE - Quiltingmod).  Isn't that such a fun idea?  I decided I wanted the pattern.  So I told Afton that I was anxious to buy (or possibly pattern test) her quilt pattern once it was ready.  And since she's so awesome, she sent me a copy of the pattern to test for her!
It was so much fun to work on.  I promptly went back to JoAnns and had a blast picking out 26 novelty fabrics.  I admit I don't sew with JoAnns fabrics as often as I used to, but I was impressed by their flannel selection and decided to make an entirely flannel quilt.
For the background, I had a hard time deciding on something that looked good with all the fabrics I had chosen.  In the end I went with this mint green and I'm still not sure I made the right choice - those first few letters are really washed out.  Oh well.  I'm not going to start over.  ;)

This was also my first time sewing drunkards path blocks and practically my first time sewing curves.  Luckily, Afton's templates are generously sized, so I was able to trim everything up with no problems. :)  Curves really aren't that hard.

For the back of this quilt, I had TONS of fabric left over from the top, plus a few big chunks of novelty flannels in my stash.  As I was arranging all this crazy fabric on my design floor, one of my four-year-olds walked by and said "Mom, that doesn't look good."  Haha.  I admit it's a little crazy, but its still fun and it's really another I-Spy quilt all on it's own.  And now my quilt is double sided.  Win win.  :)

I really tried to make this quilt gender neutral in the beginning, but by the end I had decided it was a girl quilt.  So I used this fun and funky girly print for the binding.  And I rounded the corners just for fun.

This quilt is even big enough to fit on a twin bed!  Score!

Once again, this quilt doesn't really have a recipient in mind (although Noah seems to like it), so I'll be listing it in my shop.  Edit - HERE is the listing.

Quilt stats:

Started: August 2016

Finished: September 2016

Fabrics: Joann Novelty and Solid Flannels

Batting: Pellon 100% Cotton

Finished size: Approximately 60" x 72"

Recipient: ???

Methods used:  Curved Piecing, Free Motion Meander Quilting

Binding: Hand Stitched to the Back (Flannel)

Time to make:  Roughly 25 hours

After lots of waffling back and forth, I've decided to enter this quilt in the Large Quilt category of the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  Check out all the other large quilts HERE.  Check the entire festival HERE.

Blogger's Quilt Festival: Improv ABC

It's Bloggers Quilt Festival time again!  (If you don't know what I'm talking about - check out this link HERE.)

I have two recent finishes to share with you this time around.  They are very similar, and yet very different.  I'm excited to show them to you.  You can see my other quilt HERE.

 So.  A little bit of backstory.  Every quarter or so, the Nebo Modern Quilt Guild issues a challenge to its members.  Our most recent challenge was to make letters or words out of fabric.

 A few days after the announcement was made, I saw a DARLING post on IG (this one, right here - by Quiltingmod).  She had the awesome idea to make an ABC quilt using novelty fabrics - each letter represented by something that starts with that letter.

 If you know me at all you might know that I sort of LOVE I-Spy quilts (check out this one HERE).  WHY DID I NEVER THINK TO MAKE ONE LIKE THIS???  I was instantly inspired.

At our next guild meeting, one of our lovely and amazing board members gave a presentation on how to make letters - improv style.  Good, good.

 And then a few days later I was the lucky winner of a giveaway on IG (from the amazing Sweetfeetstitches) - a whole pouch STUFFED with novelty scraps. 

Obviously I was meant to make this quilt.  I had a TON of fun picking out fabrics for each letter and then making each block up as I went along.  (Don't you just love those toasters?)  Let me just say - I learned a TON about improv piecing while making this quilt.  Who knew uppercase Ys were so hard to make?  (Hence the lowercase y in my quilt... And thanks Sonia for helping me figure out which fabric to use for that elusive letter y.)

I was originally planning to sash these blocks so they could float on their own, but when it came time to assemble them, they wanted to be smashed together.  So I smashed them all together and I think it turned out pretty cool.  The bottom row was struggling a bit, so I made an exclamation point (from a text print! - thanks to Natalie for the idea) to go with it.  In case you couldn't tell what that was (the dot got chopped off in the quilt trimming process).

As for quilting, I knew all along that this quilt wanted to be quilted with straight lines.  And that it wanted to be bound with the same grunge fabric I used for the background.

 Unfortunately, I didn't have enough grunge leftover for the binding, so I used this cream texty print instead.  It's pretty close.  :)

Even the backing has letters on it.  This Scoot fabric has been in my stash forever.

Wouldn't this quilt look amazing hanging on a wall in a nursery somewhere?  (Obviously my wall isn't big enough, sigh).

 I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with this in the long run, so I'm listing it in my Etsy shop to see if anyone bites.  :)  (Check it out HERE.)

Quilt stats:

Started: June 2016

Finished: September 2016

Fabrics: novelty scraps, moda grunge in cream

Batting: Pellon 100% Cotton

Finished size: Approximately 42" x 42"

Recipient: ???

Methods used:  Improv Piecing, Straight Line Quilting

Binding: Hand Stitched to the Back

Time to make:  Roughly 13.5 Hours

This quilt could fit into so many categories, but I decided to enter it in the Modern Quilts category of the Blogger's Quilt Festival.   You can see all the modern quilts HERE.  Check out all the quilt categories HERE.

This quilt is also #3 on my Finish Along list for this quarter.  Wahoo!  When the time comes, I'll be linking up here:

WHWRS Sampler Quilt Class: Block 11: Foundation Paper Piecing

Alright friends, It's time for paper piecing!  Paper piecing is awesome for making quilt blocks with odd angles, sharp points, complicated designs, or anything that would be difficult to get precise results with traditional piecing.  One of my favorite paper piecing projects to date is this set of pillows I made for my two sisters:

Made and designed by ME!

Here are some other examples of quilt blocks made with this technique (with varying degrees of difficulty/intensity, in no particular order):

Piece By Number - THIS IS A GREAT SITE FOR FINDING FREE PAPER PIECED PATTERNS!

Generations Quilt Patterns

Don't Call Me Betsy

I Finally Have Time

Wombat Quilts - ANOTHER EXCELLENT SOURCE FOR FREE PATTERNS

Fave Quilts

Shape Moth

Lillyella

Freequiltpatterns

As you can see, the possibilities are pretty much endless!  If you have something specific in mind - I bet you could find a pattern for it by doing a google images search.  :)

Now for the technique.  Most people paper piece by sewing directly onto regular old paper.  Here are two GREAT tutorials, especially for beginners:
Ellison Lane
Craftsy

I really like to use a special method that requires freezer paper instead of regular paper.  I'll be teaching the traditional method in class, but in case you're interested in this alternate method, here's an awesome tutorial:
Green Cheese Quilting

And here is another method I found in my search.  I haven't tried it myself, but it looks interesting:
I Finally Have Time


Here is the link to the block we will be making for our quilt class.  If you are making the 9 inch block, you will need to print it at 75%.

Craft Sew Create

Here is another great beginner block you could do as an alternate.  It's a little easier than the spinning cards block, and has fewer pieces.  Amanda's block finishes at 10 inches, so I have adjusted the size for you so you can make 9 inch and 12 inch blocks.

Crazy Mom Quilts via Craftsy

Also, I'm providing instructions for an alternate block - the Scrappy String block. 

Film in the Fridge

This block is AWESOME for using up scraps.  It is a paper pieced block, but you don't have to use a pattern.  You just start with a piece of paper and sew your strips onto it.  My favorite string block tutorial is here:
Film in the Fridge

Here are a few more examples of some awesome scrappy string quilts.  ("Scrappy" usually means it was made from scraps, so that there is lots and lots of variety and most scrappy quilts don't necessarily follow a color scheme.  They can be all over the place or very controlled).

Married to a BMW

Film in the Fridge

Here are the instructions.  A couple of notes I forgot to add - make sure you use a dry iron (steam will distort the paper).  Also make sure to use PAPER SCISSORS, and old rotary blade, and an old needle.  Paper is really hard on these things. 
WHW RS Sampler Quilt Class:  Block 11:  Paper Piecing

And here are the patterns you'll need to make the blocks:
Super Card Trick Pattern - Print at 100% for 12" block, Print at 75" for 9" block
Kaleidoscope Pattern - Print 4 copies of page 1 for 12" block, Print 2 copies of page 2 for 9" block