Butterflies - Blogger's Quilt Festival Fall 2012

Let me introduce Butterflies, a quilt I made and showed off this past spring. She is my quilt entry in the Blogger's Quilt Fall 2012. This quilt was made from Kona White and scrappy bits of Terrain by Kate Spain. That picture is after she was crinkly from being washed and dried.



I machine quilted Butterflies densely. First I filled the sashing with straightish lines. Then I free motion quilted the butterfly wings in a swoopy wing shaped motif. The washing and drying really added a lot of texture to the quilt.



I sewed the curves without pins - you can read about my technique and view my video by clicking here.



The butterfly motif is a traditional block made with drunkard's path 1/4 circle curves which are trimmed close to the edges of the curved units. I was first inspired to make this block when I saw this little quilt Megan at Canoe Ridge Creations made.  This block is in Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia of Quilt Patterns, page 403,  #3364, Fan Quadrille - by Mountain Mist. The blocks look modern and fun with bright fabrics, some negative space and dense quilting.



I put these fun trees on the back as it seemed to me they went together with the butterflies. The print is called Trees by Timeless Treasurers.



That picture is before washing. This quilt is about 44" x 56". If you were putting this quilt in a category for the Festival, I think that it would best fit into the throw quilt category.



The scrappy binding is made from the leftover Terrain fabrics.

Blogger's Quilt Festival statistics:

name: Butterflies

size: 44"x 56"

quilted and pieced: by me

technique: curved piecing

catagory: throw quilt or home machine quilted quilt

There will be hundreds of beautiful quilts linked up for the Blogger's Quilt Festival which is hosted by Amy, from Amy's Creative Side.  I hope you will show one of your quilts too - you have until October 31 to link up. I will be spending some time over the next couple of weeks going to see them - I recommend you do too.

Best,

Leanne

Sewing Curves - Let's do it!

Sewing curves is easy - there I have said it clearly, and I hope you will say that too soon.

My approach to sewing curves is captured in that 1:18 minute video. The original post, which sets out a number of tips is here - I am going to assume you will go and have a look.



When I was sewing my test Mod Pop blocks, I put together a set of photographs of the various steps as well - go here to take a look at the individual pictures.



Here are some additional tips:

• Be careful not to stretch the pieces - they are cut on the bias and will stretch easily. 

• Be patient, it might take you a few trials to get comfortable but I am very certain you will get it.

• The most important part is to hold your top piece up and toward the presser foot as you go. You can put either piece on top, give both a try to see which way works best for you.

• You can see that purple strip on my sewing machine, it is a bit of plastic that marks the 1/4" seam for me to follow. Masking tape or washi tape will also work. You might want to try it as it is a helpful way to keep things aligned - just stick it down at 1/4" from where your needle will sew.

• On the Mod Pop blocks, the "L" shape is narrower than a traditional drunkards path unit, and takes just a bit more care to get to sew through the machine straight. If you are having a lot of trouble with the tweezers, try a stiletto (long pointy thing, I found something that worked in my husband's tool box). Just be very careful not to hit it with your needle as it will break or bend the needle. Picture 8 in the mosaic shows how you might use a stiletto. I don't use one regularly for curves but it might help some folks. 

• There is room to trim the block a bit if it gets a little wonky. Press it first as that often will fix any issues. 

• Press - don't iron - these blocks. Move the iron carefully toward the "pie" shape. The unit can stretch quite a lot until it is sewn into your block.

• If you like you can clip the curves to make them lie nicer. I don't bother but it would only enhance your block if you did.

• Remember that there is room within your seam allowance when piecing the units to compensate if the unit is a little wobbly on any edge.

As I have said before, I did not invent this method, it is just the way I do it after learning to sew garments and watching and learning from many internet quilters. Here are some other tutorials and videos, all of which I have found very helpful. Some have no pins, some have a few and some have lots of pins:

Kerry - Verykerryberry - pinless with a flip at the end.
Nova - a cuppa and a catch up - pin and pinless methods
Amy Friend - From Quiet Time - sewing gentle curves with 3 pins
Jacquie - Tallgrass Prairie Studio - quarter circles with many pins
Petite Design Company - pins and pinless curves

Now, if you are in the Mod Pop QAL - or want to join in now - it is time to sew the curves. As an incentive to get you over this hump in the Mod Pop QAL, one of our sponsors, Pink Castle Fabrics, has kindly donated that beautiful rainbow bundle of solid fat quarters as a prize. To be eligible to win you need to:

• sew one or more of the large blocks - either with your fabrics or with test fabrics - of the Mod Pop quilt

• post a picture in the flickr group, and if you like you can also share your tips, troubles and thoughts in the flickr discussions

I will draw the winner on Tuesday, October 16th from those who have posted their pictures - that should give you all lots of time. Once you get that first set of curves done and you see how easy they are to piece into your quilt, you will be away to the races - as my grandmother would have said.

One thing, as we get into the nitty gritty of piecing our Mod Pop quilts, lets all remember that this is a pattern that Julie from Distant Pickles has for sale - so please keep the measurements and instructions to yourselves so we can respect her rights too.

We have a couple more prizes from our other sponsors, Fluffy Sheep Quilting and Dragonfly Fabrics,  as we move along on Mod Pop QAL. Thank you to all our sponsors!

It is Thanksgiving weekend in Canada - I think I am going to make a pumpkin pie as our turkey dinner is postponed to next week when more of the family is around. I wish you all a lovely holiday weekend.

Best,

Leanne