Made in Cherry update

It took a while, but I finally quilted my Made in Cherry quilt, just in time for our local quilt show.  And I really do mean just in time.  I was sewing on the stupid hanging sleeve minutes before dropping it off!  I wanted it to be perfect, but after hurting my back and not being able to quilt (or sit for that matter) for over a week, I settled on finished (and pretty awesome - I'm not that humble!).  Oh, and if you're wondering about the back, it was just a combo of overdoing it working out followed by a really long car ride.  I've since moved on to super sore quads and glutes.  Yay!

Anyway, I tried to challenge Ms Jenny on this one and while I've got miles to go to get her skillz I'm pretty happy.  I love the leafy border, it's modern but with a trad vibe.  Kind of like the quilt itself.  I just wish I'd done something else instead of the swirls.  It's cute but I'd had other plans.

I also seriously need to come up with a better way to photograph big quilts.  I broke the clothesline last week so that's out, we don't have a fence or any outbuildings, and I'm not climbing up on the roof.  There's a park nearby with some really pretty bridges that I've thought about hanging the quilts from, but they're over waterfalls with a 50 foot drop, so I'm still just thinking about that one.

Now totally not quilt related, I have to tell you about the animal encounters we've been having lately.  Sunday I was out for a hike with the hubs and the dog, and suddenly he yells "stop".  I'm kind of surprised that my response wasn't my usual one, which is, where's the spider, get it off of me.  Nope, this time I figured I was about to step on a snake.  "Look" he yells.  I look, no snake.  "Where?"  "Look!"  By this time we're both getting annoyed.  Him because I can't see this obviously important invisible whatever, me because he's not exactly being precise on where I should look for the IW.  And then I turned my head and said "oh, bear."  And that's when we headed home.

Fast forward to today when the dog decided that a fledgling robin needed some encouragement to fly by being repeatedly bonked in the head with her nose.  Then Tron decided that a salamander needed to be carried around the garden.  Don't worry, it's very alive - it climbed into my sweater just to prove it.  Then I was upstairs and heard a cat running hell bent through the living room.  Go downstairs and see Lucy in pursuit.  Which is a little odd since Lu, as much as I love her, is more on the precious than the robust side and tends to spend her days finding items that complement her colouring then sleeping on them.  So I followed Lucy and, guess what, first cat I heard wasn't a cat at all but a baby bunny.  A really cute baby bunny that would look awfully sweet curled up with Lucy.  I just hope wild bunnies don't have fleas because we had quite the snuggle when I was taking it outside.  And I really hope it tells it's buddies (we've seen 3 babies so far) that next door, where there's no cats and no dog, might be the better place to visit.

yup, that's the woods for you.
c

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Made in Cherry Quilt Along - completed quilts!

I've been seeing so many gorgeous examples of finished quilts and tops from the Made in Cherry Quilt Along that I thought I should share a few!

clockwise from left: Dree from a lotta bit fun, Sharon from Vrooman's Quilts,Winnie aka phrogg on flickr

clockwise from left: Theresa from sew & sews,  Bec aka beccasauras2011 on flickr, Kate from Katie Mae Quilts

I love how such a basic pattern can be interpreted by so many people to create truly unique quilts!  And I'm feeling totally slack for not having mine done!

I'd love to put together another one of these posts, so if you've got a photo of your finished top or quilt, let me know!

xox,
c

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Made in Cherry Quilt Along - quilting ideas

Baptist fan has got to be one of my favorite traditional quilting patterns.  For a pattern that's been around for hundreds of years it's got a great modern vibe.  It's really easy to stitch, a pinch to mark, and doesn't require any math - look at antique quilts using it and you'll see that the makers just let the design flow over the sides of the quilt rather than fit it perfectly.  So, today the sketch, tomorrow I'll come back with a tutorial on how to easily tackle this design with your walking foot.

adios,
c

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Made in Cherry Quilt Along - quilting ideas

Most quilt patterns end with "quilt as desired".  Helpful, right?  Not so much!  So this week I thought I'd share some ideas I've been playing with for quilting my top.

I love how graphic this is.  Simple straight lines, bold quilting to match a bold pattern.  And can you imagine it with some gorgeous hand quilting in between the lines of machine quilting, done in bright shades of perle cotton? 

Something like this?  Ok, now I'm re-thinking my whole plan to do fancy quilting!

c

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Made in Cherry Quilt Along - Sewing the top!

So, we're finally there, time to start sewing our quilt top together!  Woot!

I started by laying all my pieces out on the bed again so I could make sure I was sewing the star points together correctly.

Then start one section at a time and sew the pieced star point segments to the background triangles, like you're making flying geese blocks.  The triangles are cut a bit on the big side so I found it important to sew from the tip of the background triangle out.

Once all your star points are sewn to the background triangles, you'll want to trim the excess off the triangles.  Measure 20½" from the edge of the star point section that will be sewn to the center, out to the long edge of the triangle.  Do this across the whole section, then use your ruler to connect your marked lines, and trim.

Now take 2 of the star point sections that will be opposite each other on the quilt, either the top and bottom or left and right.  Sew the 20½" squares on either end of the star point section.

I'm going to switch to diagrams now since I don't have enough floor space to lay out the pieces for the next steps!

layout courtesy of Jenelle from Echinops & Aster

Take your 2 star point sections without the added squares and sew them on to opposite sides of the quilt.

layout courtesy of Jenelle from Echinops & Aster

Then add your point plus square sections.  And that means you're done!!  Which calls for a gratuitous kitty shot!

Lucy( in front) and Tron enjoying the fire on the dog's bed

Hopefully it's a nice day tomorrow and I can get some shots of my finished top up!  And next week I'll be posting some quilting ideas.

Don't forget to add your photos to the flickr group and ...

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Made in Cherry Quilt Along - cutting the background pieces

Cutting big chunks of fabric always scares me a little.  I don't have rulers or matts big enough (or a big enough table for that matter) to easily rotary cut them, and working on the floor always involves realizing how dirty the house is, which then spirals into sweeping,  mopping, exhaustion, and sitting in front of the tv eating nutella by the spoonful.  So here's how I tackled the big pieces for this quilt, with no nutella involved!  Although I don't mention it in the steps, I was constantly having to move my mat around under the fabric and move the fabric around on the table to get the best cutting angle.


For the 80 x 80 quit we need to cut 4 squares 20½" and one square 43".  The 43" square will be cut on both diagonals to produce 4 triangles, so it's a good idea to prep your fabric with some starch so those bias edges don't stretch.

Let's start with the 20½" squares.  Start with your fabric folded in half along it's length.  Use your longest ruler (mine's 6" by 24") to trim the cut edge, making sure it's square with the fold.  Now grab a pencil and mark lines about every 3" or so, 20½" from the cut line.

Now line your ruler up with the pencil markings and cut.  You should now have a piece of fabric that looks like this:

Working at the selvedge edge, line your ruler up with one of the cut edges and trim off the selvedge.

Now get your pencil out again and from that new cut, measure towards the fold 20½".  As we did earlier, make marks every few inches so that they'll be easy to connect.  Then line your ruler up along the pencil marks and trim.  You should now have two 20½" squares.  Repeat the whole procedure to get the other two.

Our big 43" square is cut quite similarly.  I'm going to switch to diagrams because I think they may be a bit easier to understand.

 Start by trimming one end of the fabric so that it's square with the fold.

Now measure from that cut you just made and make a pencil mark at 24".

Slide the ruler along and make another mark 19" away from your 24" mark.

Now line your ruler up with the 19" mark, making sure it's square with the fold, and cut.

Take the ruler and make marks all along the selvedge edge, 20½" from the fold.

 

Line your ruler up along the marks you just made and trim off the selvedge edge.  Open the fabric up along the fold and you have  a 43" square.

The next part I found easiest to do on the floor, with a quilt under my 43" square to protect the carpet.

Fold the square on the diagonal, then press the crease.  Repeat in the opposite direction.

After pressing, the diagonal creases should be nice and crisp.  Use these as cutting guides.  I found it easiest just to use my scissors and not bother with the rotary cutter.  Crazy, right>

Alright, the dog needs walking.  I'll be back later with sewing directions.

C

60" x 60"

From the background fabric cut:
Four 15½" squares for the corner squares.
One 33" square.  Cut this on the diagonal twice to yield 4 triangles

90" x 90"

From the background fabric cut:

Four 22½" squares for the corner squares.

Two  37" squares.  Cut these in half once each on the diagonal, yielding 2 triangles from each square.

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Made in Cherry Quilt Along - sewing the central star

 

Yay, today we do some sewing!!  Let's start with that block of 100 squares that make up the center of the star.

Yesterday when I laid my quilt out I broke the center down into 4 blocks of 25 squares each.  I find it so much easier working in smaller sections like this, and not just because my sewing table is an Ikea tv tray!  It's just easier to keep track of 25 squares of fabric rather than 100!

Here's my first section.  I started sewing at the top of the pile and sewed the cream and red floral to the raindrop fabric (1).  Then I sewed the fabric with the pink cricket cage to the white and black print (2), sewing them all in a chain until I ended at (5).  Then I started back at the top again, sewing the fabric with the old fashioned lock onto the cream and red floral (1).  Chaining my pieces together like this means that I end up with a piece that looks like this:

Half the seams are sewn and everything is held together.  I don't have to worry about mixing up my rows!  Now I can press my seams.

I like to press my seams in opposite directions.  This way the seam allowances butt up together and make for really tight matches.

Here you can see how in alternating columns I've pressed the seams in opposite directions.  And, yeah, I made a few squares out of smaller pieces - I ran out of light print scraps large enough to cut 4½" squares.

Now you just need to sew all the columns together and press (these seams can all be pressed in the same direction).  Yay, one quadrant down, 3 to go!

Lather Sew, rinse press, repeat!

Our 4 quadrants are sewn, now we just need to join them together.

That was fast!  Ok, one more seam!

Woot!!!  And now I need a cup of tea...

That's better.  Ok, let's tackle those star points.

I found that for the star points it was easiest to lay the pieces out on the floor or table next to me.  Then I stitched them up just like the center quadrants, chain piecing everything together.  Again, I pressed my seams so they went in opposite directions to make butting them easier.

Then I stitched everything together and popped the label back on the point.  7 more to go!  Don't sew your star points to the center, just make sure you're still happy with their positioning and put them away until next week.

And that's it for this week!  Next week we'll be cutting our background fabric and piecing everything together.

happy stitching,
c

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Made in Cherry Quilt Along - laying out your pieces

I was going to do one mega post tomorrow about laying out the pieces for the star and stitching them up but realized it would be too long.  So this afternoon's post is just laying them out, and tomorrow we'll sew.

Start by laying out the squares for the center of your star.  You'll create a grid of 100 squares, 10 by 10.  I don't have a design wall so I laid mine out on the bed, but if you have a design wall you should really use it as it will make this part so much easier.  Oh, and a dog is not mandatory, but they do make things more interesting.  

Add your star point squares to the center block.  You may have to shuffle things around to get the balance right.  You should also add your triangles at this point.

*Most people will want to lay their fabrics out right side up.  A lot of mine are wrong side up because I will be using them that way to get a softer look *

Divide the star center block into 4 smaller blocks of 5 by 5 squares for easier sewing.  If you are arranging your star on your design wall, you can skip the following steps and just pull pieces off the design wall as you go.  If like me you can't keep your squares where you laid them out, this is the method I use for keeping track of everything:

Condense the block into columns.  I like to sew the columns first, so in each row I stack up from the last column on the bottom of each pile to the first on the top.




Then I condense my rows,  again with the first one on top.  I also add a tag saying which quadrant these squares are for.  I labelled all of mine on the top left square of each block for consistency.

 

Now the points.  Again, don't forget to add a label!

 

I hope this makes sense!  You don't have to do it this way, this just helped me to keep myself a bit more organized with all those pieces.

Ok, tomorrow sewing!

C

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