Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Introducing Cartwheels on the Prairie

My newest pattern, "Cartwheels  on the Prairie" was released September 16th.


 This quilt has been in the works for years. Literally. 
She first started out with the name "Spring Stars". She was made with sweet pinks and greens, and a LOT of half square triangles. Even the stars were made of half square triangles. Yeah, that was a Lot of HSTs!

The original.

 So even though she was softly beautiful, I knew I needed to come up with something different. I love a perfect half square triangle, but this was a bit much, even for me. 

Enter the Square-in-a-Square block and Flying Geese block. They saved this quilt from pure craziness. It definitely came together much quicker.

Made with less half square triangles.

This baby is huge. It comes as a queen size pattern, there is a wall hanging option as well, which is also a great size for a baby quilt.

Though I decided to go with a different colorway for the cover quilt, which meant a change in the name as well, I did choose to use the pink and green for the wall hanging version. Just a tip of the hat to the original "Spring Stars" quilt that grew into "Cartwheels on the Prairie". 


You will notice there are some great open spaces, have fun and add some great quilting. 

You can pick up a "Cartwheels on the Prairie" pattern at my Etsy shop as well as the three other quilt patterns I have available. 

Happy Stitching!
Jen

Sunday, October 11, 2015

Free pattern! Three Jacks




Just in time for Halloween! A free pattern with tutorial. This is the first tutorial I have ever written, so I hope it is easy to follow. 


This is a quick wall hanging to put together. From first cut to fully pieced (not quilted), it took me about 2 1/2 hours. That includes stopping to take pictures along the way. You could definitely have a cute Halloween wall hanging in one day.


Supplies
Background - 1 Fat Quarter
Pumpkins - 4 x 11
Stems - 1 x 6 1/2
Faces - scraps
Border - 6" x Width of Fabric
Batting - 18 x 28
Backing - 18 x 28
Binding - 1/8 yard
Wonder Under - for faces

Cutting

From background fat quarter:
 1) Cut six 3 1/2" squares
2) Cut two 1 1/2" x 9 1/2" rectangles
3) Cut four 1 1/2" 4 1/2" rectangles
4) Cut two 2" squares
a) Cut on the diagonal


5) Cut two 1 1/2" x 7/8" rectangle (this is the right size, teeny!)
6) Cut twelve 3/4" squares

 Yes, more teeny tiny squares. 

From pumpkin fabric:
7) Cut three 3 1/2" squares

From stem fabric:
8) Cut two 3/4" x 2 1/4" rectangles
9) Cut one 3/4" x 1 1/2" rectangles

From face fabric:
10) Follow the instructions for Wonder Under
 (or whichever adhesive you are using)
and attach it to the back side of your scrap
11) Draw your faces on the paper side
(Draw them larger then you think;
you can always make them smaller.)


From Border fabric:
12) Cut two 2 1/2" x 16 1/2" rectangles
13) Cut two 2 1/2" x 13 1/2" rectangles


Assembling

Pumpkins

Mark your 3/4" background squares on the diagonal.


If you are confident in your sewing skills, these are certainly small enough to skip drawing the line.


You are going to sew a square to each corner of your pumpkins, following the line you drew.

After you have sewn the squares on you will press towards the square, then trim off the excess.


Line up your quarter inch line on the seam and trim that little triangle off.


 It doesn't seem like a lot, but just taking off that little bit helps with the bulk when you are putting all the pieces together.

(It all adds up, and I know my machine is not a fan of sewing through a lot of layers.)

Next we will cut out and place our faces. You could skip this part and just have pumpkins, then you could have a wall hanging that would work for November as well.


After you cut your faces out, you will peel the paper off, and place that part onto the pumpkins. Press them onto your pumpkins, making sure to put the side with the glue on the pumpkin.

Stitch the faces down now.


I like to start in the middle of the piece and not on the end. Go slowly.

Next are the stems. Using the 3/4" x 1 1/2" stem rectangle and the 1 1/2"x 7/8" background rectangles, sew a background piece to each long side of the stem.

(Sorry, I don't have a picture of this step.)

For the next two stems it's a little more difficult. Line up your pieces as so:


Yes, the triangles should be that much larger. Find the middle of each triangle and stem piece. I finger press these.


Match up the middle and pin.


Stitch and press towards stem. Do the same on the other side.


Press towards the dark. 

Next, using your 45 degree mark on your ruler, line it up with the mark going through the middle of the stem.


Make sure the corner is on the stem. Trim.


Turn the square, line up the 1 1/2" marks on the newly cut sides and trim.





Lay out your pumpkins, stems and background pieces.


Stitch a background strip to each side of the stem square. Stitch a background square to each side of the pumpkin.

Lay out the strips and pumpkins. I stitched the stem strips to the pumpkins first, then strips. 



Last add the borders. First add the side borders (2 1/2" x 16 1/2" strips).
Then top and bottom ( 2 1/2" x 13 1/2" strips).

(CUTE!)

To get it ready for quilting, layer your backing, batting and then top, I tape my backing to the mat (or floor for the large quilts), then tape the batting, and just lay the top on top. Pin, leaving no more then 4 inches in between pins. 


Quilt as you desire. I always stitch some on the side to get warmed up and make sure the tension is right.

(My bobbin wasn't threaded right, thank goodness I practiced first!)


I tend to bunch my quilt as I quilt, I don't roll it.


Gloves are so helpful in moving the piece around. I have "quilting gloves" and I have gardening gloves. As long as they have the little rubber nubs, they work. These are from my mom, perfect for quilting in October.


I quilted spider webs and spiders. 


At least I tried. My spiders look more like ticks, which my husband kindly said are scarier then spiders.


Add your binding. I cut mine at 2". And then your hanging sleeve.

Hang and enjoy.


I hope you enjoy this little pattern. I love my little Jacks!

After you make one, don't forget to add your Jacks to my flickr page. 

Happy Stitching!
Jen