Keep Calm and Hexagon On

I’m still here. We’ve been a little busy. Moved house, unpacked most of the boxes, planted the garden and all those things one does in a new house. There’s still a bit to do but hopefully it’ll be finished soon.

When I write it down it doesn’t sound so bad. Don’t be fooled, it was stressful and I never want to move. ever. again. Of course I didn’t get nearly as much sewing done as I had planned. And the work didn’t stop, which is a good thing but I’m looking forward to the holidays.

Life is slowly returning to “normal” and I can’t believe that Christmas is just around the corner. And I still haven’t finished my Little Apples Hexagon and Stars quilt. Made very little progress on my Ring Cycles quilt too.

After I sewed all the Little Apple blocks together and held it next to my daughter I knew it was too short. So I’m back at the cutting board coming up with 5 new hexies and 4 more diamonds. Sigh. I really wanted this done for Christmas.

I’ve had to hang the quilt top up on the curtain, apparently my design wall is not big enough for the two quilters in this family. I’m adding {Make design wall bigger} to my huge to do list!

I love seeing it like this, a huge stained glass curtain. Now, back to work…

Hope I remember to post more pictures soon! Oh and I must post about my new toy, the Sizzix Big Shot Pro. We’ve been having lots of fun with it!

More sewing with templates…

I am the worst blogger EVER! I hate to just post pictures without some explanation and then convince myself I haven’t got the time. But this post should be short and sweet. I’m hoping to explain how to use the Marti Michell templates to machine piece hexagons. This will save you heaps of time rather than hand piecing over papers…

I gave the Marti Michell 2 1/2” Stripper Set a go to make this iPad case for Justine. She loves the Anna Maria Horner Loulouthi range and had a FQ bundle she hadn’t got around to using yet.

I cut a 2 1/2” strip from every piece and chose one of the larger scale prints to line the case.

Cutting the hexagons from the strip was really easy, perfect for using up those favourite jelly rolls!

Place the 2a hexagon template on the strip and use a sharp 28mm rotary cutter to cut the hexagon. You can stack the fabric strips and cut multiple pieces, this makes the cutting go real quick. Isn’t that fabric pretty!!

Unfortunately I haven’t got a fast way to mark the dots. Use a sharp pencil, I use a regular HB pencil, anything too soft may spread and mark lighter colours. This is a little tedious but unless you can eyeball the 1/4” seam allowance where it meets at each point of the hexagon (perfectly) I wouldn’t skip this step. It really helps when you’ve got the fabric bunched under the presser foot and can’t work out where to stop sewing.

Next it’s time to take your hexies over to the machine. You can pick up pieces randomly or play around till you like how they look together. I felt they needed a little resting spot every now and again so added a few grey hexies.

Sewing the hexies… Set your stitch length to slightly smaller than usual, I use a 2mm length stitch. It gives you more control when it comes to stopping on the dot and the seams are tighter. You don’t want these gaping apart!

Place two hexies right sides together and lower your needle exactly on the top dot. Give your machine a little kiss if it has an automatic knotting function now! Otherwise you will need to make a couple of zero length stitches before continuing. Sew right up to the next dot and again make a knot (zero stitches) before cutting your thread. It’s best to sew just short of the dot rather than go past it and sew into the seam allowance.

To make a pieced section of hexagons like I did for J’s iPad case I sewed rows of hexies together end to end. Then I sewed the rows together in pairs, fours etc.

The next step is a little tricky to get your head around so it helps to lay the rows out and match the first seam you will sew. You are sewing between the dots, make sure to keep all extra fabric out of the way. Tie off at each seam and then pivot to sew the next one and so on until you are done.

There’s no need to press till you finish sewing your rows together. Then you need to pay a little bit of attention to the seams. Alternate the direction each seam is pressed so that you end up with “swirled” seams where the y seams meet. This will reduce the bulk at the seam and help you achieve a nice flat piece of patchwork.

I know, it’s a little slow and hardly seems worth the bother the first few times but really keep going, imagine how long it would take to sew all these hexies together by hand?

Once I had enough pieced fabric to make the case I used a few tutorials to construct the case.

The Sometimes Crafter  : kindle case tutorial

Greenleaf Goods : Quilted iPad Cover

You Sew Girl : Magnetic clasp instructions

Since then I’ve also made myself a Kindle Case, using the triangle template in the 2 1/2” Strippers set. This was a very quick project and I love having something I’ve made to protect and distinguish my e-reader from all the others.

Sewing with templates

This post has been a long time coming. How to break down and describe the process of designing, fussy cutting and sewing a block using Marti Michelle’s Set H.

I first purchased a set of these in a quilt shop but felt too intimidated to use them. Then I bought the accompanying book but it still wasn't making much sense. It wasn’t till I attended a class with Catherine Butterworth that it all gelled and made sense, she’s a wonderful teacher.  Now I’m enjoying arranging the shapes with different prints and colours to create unique blocks and looking forward to creating more quilts using some of the other template sets.

Prior to this the only way I’ve tackled hexagons and inset seams was using English Paper Piecing. Now that I’ve used the Perfect Patchwork templates it’ll be pretty hard to go back to that method for a large quilt. Sewing hexagons and inset “y seams” with your sewing machine is much faster and almost fool proof. The template set comes with 3 acrylic templates to create 11 shapes.

By taking the focus away from the construction I’ve found I am playing more with the designs and having lots of fun with all the different tessellations that fit inside the finished 6” sided hexagon. (Marti Michelle templates are measured by the length of a hexagon’s side)

So how do you start?

Firstly, pick some fabric you can play with. There are lots of wonderful prints that start to take on a life of their own once you’re armed with a tessellating shape and Marti Michelle’s Magic Mirrors.

Make a cardboard window of the finished size of your diamond by using the markings on the acrylic template. Move the window over your fabric and use the “magic mirrors” to help you find a placement that works.

it’s all done with mirrors! VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Once you’ve selected the area you want to use, mark the corners so you can align the acrylic template and cut the precise shape. Cut using a small or medium rotary cutter, make sure you clip the engineered corners off. They really make a difference when you are sewing the seams together!

Use this shape to help you with placing the other 5 diamonds.

A warning: make sure you’ve got enough of the fabric to yield 6 repeats, I’ve been caught out more than once! Generally speaking fabric repeats every 24” so you will need 1.5 yards of fabric to get 6 exact large diamond pieces across the length of the fabric. Be aware that you will need a lot more fabric than if you are cutting shapes from a strip.

 

To piece the diamonds into the star shape you will need to mark the starting and stopping points of the seams on your diamond shapes. Mark them on the back of your diamonds with a pencil. I’ve found chalk rubs off and makes piecing the blocks together difficult.

Align two diamond shapes together, face to face.

Starting at the first dot, tie a knot (or make a couple of “zero stitches”) and stitch along the 1/4” seam till you approach the end dot. Tie off and cut the thread. Repeat with the other diamonds. Join the first and the last diamonds together in exactly the same way. Make sure you keep the seam allowances out of the way.

Start with simple diamond shapes till you’ve mastered the cutting and piecing techniques. Press the seams to face one way and “swirl” the centre seam to reduce the bulk at the middle.

By using 6 more diamonds, we can fill in the spaces between out star “arms” to make a hexagon.

That’s all for today, will put some more information together to post here soon… Please let me know if you have any questions.

have fun xx

Progress: Little Apples

Well imagine my surprise when Aneela Hooey herself mentioned my first Little Apples hexagon block on her blog! I mean, could there be any greater honour than the fabric designer herself liking what you’ve made with her creation?

I’m quite taken by the Little Apples fabric range. The more I cut into it, the more possibilities I see in fussy cutting and complementing it with other fabrics in my stash.

Like the vintage Kaffe Fassett in the centre of block #10. I think it looks like disco balls with hedgehogs dancing around.

And whilst this quilt began as a way to learn a new technique I am determined to complete a full size quilt now, just so I can play with these cool shapes and create kaleidoscope like blocks. I wake up with new ideas of how to transform a lone little turtle into a sophisticated patchwork block.

Or form new shapes from barely recognisable items of clothing…

I think my favourite so far is the Super Reading Girl block. She is so cool with her book in hand and the mustard text swirling around.

I’ve been taking some photos and putting together a little tutorial on how I’ve been constructing these block. I feel so liberated sewing these by machine. No papers to tack, no slow whipstitching and the backs are just as pretty as the fronts with all their swirled seams.

I’m thinking that the Marti Michelle templates are better than any cutting system as you can align them directly over the fabric for fussy cutting.

Now excuse me as I get back to playing with my fabric… x Lorena

Fine fabric, friends and food = FUN!

This weekend I attended the Quilters Gathering at Ulladulla. I first went to one a few years ago and had such a wonderful time I was keen to go again. Life often gets in the way of doing what we really want to do and then there’s the guilt of starting yet another patchwork project.

But an important lesson I took way from this weekend (apart from all the fabulous construction techniques) was that I enjoy focusing on the journey not the destination! I love learning new ways of doing things, playing with new fabric and making new friends. If I have a finished quilt at the end it’s a bonus that my family appreciates.

My workshop was the Hexagon Stars with Catherine Butterworth, a Marti Michelle educator. Catherine is a great teacher and lots of fun. Her instructions are clear and she’s so generous with all her tips and hints. I feel that after 2 days I have all the knowledge necessary to explore and construct my own beautiful blocks using the template set. As an aside I had purchased the book (Six is for Hexagons by Marti Michelle) and templates last summer but was a little overwhelmed to try it, the workshop definitely helped but I’m sure you could work it out if you can read the instructions from cover to cover. That’s all I needed to do - RTFM!

Her teaching quilt was gorgeous, full of fussy cut treasures, interlocked and leading the eye over the quilt surface, like a tapestry.

This is just a quick snapshot I took showing the different fabrics she chose to fussy cut.

Whilst the heavy dark tones didn’t really do it for me I could see that this technique leads to wonderful results. And it’s all machine pieced!! No piecing over papers, stitches all neatly tucked away. It’s pretty cool.

 

Here are my blocks:

I kept my first block simple, a big hexagon and radiating triangles set in with diamonds.

I used the Little Apples Layer Cake by Moda. I picked it up because it was such a bargain but had no idea what to do with it… the fabrics are so stinking CUTE!

I followed instructions and the whole block came together beautifully.

 

This is the second one I did using the more complex construction technique of “inset Y seams”. Usually these would send chills down my spine and I’d revert to hand sewing but with accurate pieces and “engineered corners” it also went together beautifully.

Except for my picking up one Hula Hoop girl and stitching her in upside down, OOPS!

 

I was getting pretty confident by block number 3.

I played around with different points on the radiating triangles.

Loving the Little Apples fabric by now… not loving the fabric stash I picked to coordinate.

Did I mention there’s a quilt shop down the road? 30% discount for attendants? Handy!

 

Ok, this one was a bit of a stretch. Diamonds made from 4 pieces of fabric means I had to really look at the grain lines carefully. Lots of cutting, simple edge to edge sewing and carefully pressing.

I don’t want this quilt to be too cute so just used the Dotted Lines from the Little Apples fabric. I think it looks like stitching…

 

 

This isn’t saying table runner or wall quilt to me… I think it’s gotta be another bed quilt.

Looking forward to receiving a little bit of yardage to play some more.

 

 

Other workshops were being taught by Beth and Trevor Reid, Lessa Siegele, Jane MacDonald, Michele Hill, Jenny Bowker, Gail Simpson and Bernie Varkevisser. At show and tell after dinner on Friday we saw all the stunning teaching quilts and last year’s finished projects. Very inspiring.

If you’d like to go to the Gathering next year, put it in your diary for August 17/ 18! If you love patchwork and quilting you wont regret it. The venue was outstanding, they kept us well fed and watered. The company was entertaining and the workshops all looked amazing. Can’t wait to go back!

Week 5, English Paper Piecing

This image of an antique quilt is from www.snippetsnscraps.blogspot.com/2010/07/peeling-back-layers-2.html
English Paper Piecing is a patchwork technique steeped in history and is still used extensively by modern quilters. It's a particularly useful technique for creating one patch quilts (quilt tops made from one tessellating shape) and blocks with many inset or “y” seams.

This is part of a corner block from the Jane Stickle quilt.

Many quilters like sewing over paper or cardboard templates as the project can be carried along and sewn by hand. Piecing a complex shape with straight sides using the English Paper Piecing method is pretty easy and as long as your templates are cut to the right size, the pieces will always fit together. You don’t really need to worry about accurate ¼ “ seams either.

This block was made using The Sometimes Crafter excellent Tutorial, you can download templates there too.
Rather than reinvent the wheel and try to put everything in my own words I recommend you head over to www.lizardofoz.com.au/Free_Stuff/Pdfs/English_piecing.pdf for a definitive guide on English Paper Piecing. They sell pre made templates from lightweight card. These templates are also available from your local quilt store and online.

You can also print out your own templates by using websites such as http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/trianglehex.html Alternatively you can draft templates using graph paper and trace the shapes onto card. I've uploaded a couple of graph papers here to get you started:

60 degree diamond templates

1” hexagons templates

By fussy cutting the fabric for each shape you can create secondary patterns with just one piece of fabric. Be warned... This can be a lot of fun and very addictive!

The cardboard templates can be reused many times so don’t throw them away. Be sure to sort all your different sizes and label them as a slight change in length of a side means your shape will not tessellate properly. Take care when cutting out your templates too, try and cut in the middle of a printed line and allow for the extra bulk when you are tracing templates.

Once you've made your shape you can either applique it onto a square of your background material or keep adding hexagons, diamonds etc till you have enough to cover the area of your block. It is possible to create a square edge by trimming shapes around the edges, make sure you remember to leave a seam allowance!