Finish It Up Friday~ Kaleidoscope

Posted on June 11, 2021 by katyquilts

I had a blast making this quilt and I’m so excited to share it with you today!

As a reminder, this is the fabric I started with from Fabric Wholesale Direct .

This looks so complex, but it could not have been easier. I shared my process for making these blocks in this post. They are just six inch hourglass blocks alternating with solid black. The quilt finished at 48 by 60 inches.

I started with two yards of the print. It had 9 pattern repeats over those two yards. I used 8 strips of the repeating pattern and saved one strip to piece into the back.

This next photo shows how bright this quilt really is!

I loved the effect of using four identical triangles rotated and pieced back together. Every block was a delightful surprise.

I love the red thread on black, but I kept the quilting very simple to keep the focus on the fabric.

Thanks to Fabric Wholesale Direct for providing the lovely print fabric for this project. I was pleased with the quality and price. I will have more projects with the rest of the fabric in a few weeks.

Have a great day!

Posted in Finishes 2021, Small Quilts, Uncategorized | 4 Comments

A Little Scrappy Something

Posted on June 10, 2021 by katyquilts

I’ve been doing a lot of “secret” sewing lately, things you will see eventually. But I needed a little break from that.

I love these little hourglass blocks! I used this Accuquilt studio die. They have an equivalent die for the GO! Cutter.

I used some yummy bits from a sweet friend. I played with a couple layouts.

I’m at the hand quilting stage now and will share my finish soon. Have a great day!

This post contains affiliate links.

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Lend and Borrow ~ A Fat Quarter Shop QAL

Posted on June 9, 2021 by katyquilts

Fat Quarter Shop just released their free Lend and Borrow pattern! You can find the tutorial here. Here is my version of the block.

I used fabric from this line.

I added narrow borders to my block and free motion quilted it on the long arm.

Then I turned it into a pillow!

I just used a simple envelope back. I used the selvedge edges of this woven stripe so I didn’t even have to hem the edges. I bound the edge of the pillow just like I would a quilt.

I think it’s a fun pillow for summer.

Check out the Fat Quarter Shop site and blog for more details, the free pattern, and to see other versions of this block.

Have a great day!

This post contains affiliate links.

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Finish It Up ~ Little Hexies

Posted on June 8, 2021 by katyquilts

My little English Paper Pieced Hexie quilt is done and dusted!

I still have a few leftover basted hexies , but I’m putting them away for now. I love this fabric on the back.

I kept the quilting simple, just hanging diamonds. You can see it better here.

Have a great day!

Posted in Civil War Repro Quilts, Finishes 2021, Small Quilts | 7 Comments

Kaleidoscope Quilt

Posted on June 7, 2021 by katyquilts

I have always been fascinated with kaleidoscopes. I have had an idea on how to make one for a long time and finally got around to it. I shared the African print fabrics I recently received from Fabric Wholesale Direct. They sent me fabric in exchange for writing a blog post showing how I used it. This print fascinated me most.

It wasn’t printed completely straight, not uncommon with any fabric, but more noticeable on larger prints. I picked a line in the design and cut eight strips of one pattern repeat each. Can you see the red line in the photo below? That shows you where I cut my strips. I used my rotary cutter and ruler and went from the edge of one rectangle to the next.

Then I layered them up on the ironing board.I didn’t straighten the strip on the bottom so that’s why it looks wider at one end in the photo.

I did my best to match up the prints on all the layers. It isn’t the end of the world if it isn’t perfect, but you want to get it as close as possible.

Then I pulled out this die for my Accuquilt studio cutter. There is also a 6 inch quarter square triangle die for the Accuquilt GO! You could also use a template or ruler to cut your shapes.

Please note: I chose a six inch QST as the shape to cut based on the the size of my strips. My strip sizes were based on the pattern repeat size. If you have a fabric with a different repeat size you may need more or less fabric to make a similar quilt.

Cutting pieces went very quickly! I cut as many as I could from my layered strips.

Now comes the fun part. Look what happens when I take four identical pieces to make an hourglass block!

How fun is that? Time to get sewing.

This post contains affiliate links.

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Slow Stitching Sunday

Posted on June 6, 2021 by katyquilts

I finally finished piecing this and appliqued it to a background piece.

I cut out most of the backing behind the Hexies.

I hope to get this basted and start hand quilting today. Have a good one!

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Happy Mail!

Posted on June 5, 2021 by katyquilts

I’ve had a good run of happy mail lately, thanks to surprises from bloggy friends and orders I’ve placed. I was contacted by Joe from Fabric Wholesale Direct to see if I wanted to try out some of their fabric in exchange for a blog post/tutorial with it. I took a look at their site and decided to go for it.

How fun are these?

They are 100% cotton in African prints.

They are a feel a bit heavier than normal quilting cottons. It might just be starch or dye, I’m not sure.

Stay tuned, I’m working on something to share with these very soon.

I also wanted to let you know about a couple current deals from Accuquilt .

Have a great day!

This post contains affiliate links.

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Finish It Up Friday ~ Ila’s Favorite

Posted on June 4, 2021 by katyquilts

It’s done! Dear bloggy friend, Ila, sent me this lovely feed sack top last winter. I was immediately smitten with it!

It’s nearly all made of feed sacks. It had the craziest seam allowances, but in spite of that, the maker had beautifully matching points.

I’ve had this backing fabric in my stash for some time and it was perfect for this top. I used the same fabric for the binding.

I used a pantograph called Woven Winds to quilt this. It is reminiscent of Baptist Fans. I had initially thought that I would hand quilt this, but given the massive seam allowances, I decided machine quilting was the better tack to take.

I love the design of the piecing!

There are a few stains that improved, but were not removed by washing. I care not, it’s part of the history. It is so cozy now. I foresee many picnics on this sweet quilt! Thank you, Ila for thinking of me. It may not actually be your favorite, but I’m calling it that anyway!

Have a great day!

Posted in Bed Quilts, Finishes 2021, Uncategorized, Vintage Quilts | 4 Comments

Finish It Up ~ Kite Quilt

Posted on June 3, 2021 by katyquilts

Problems not withstanding, I made it through and finished this little quilt.

I love the design and it reminds me of a small quilt I had when I was very small. It was the only quilt I ever had until I was married.

My little quilt was made of simple squares with a pink border, but it had similar prints. And it had polka dots! This backing fabric is a bit shiny and slick, much like an old blanket binding.

The photos above were taken before washing and the rest, after. It crinkled up, but not enough to hide my poor quilting job. Look away now if you are squeamish!

Yeah, not good. If you missed it, you can read about my quilting woes here.

Far from perfect, I still love this little bit.

Have a great day!

Posted in Baby Quilts, Finishes 2021, Uncategorized | 8 Comments

Broken Star Take 2

Posted on June 2, 2021 by katyquilts

I haven’t forgotten this. I’ve been contemplating my next step.

Sheri suggested that I use a point trimmer to make the diamonds easier to line up. BTW, Sheri has a fun Facebook page called Mommo Quilts and Crafts. Anyway, I picked up this set as it was all I could get locally.

I don’t like the opaqueness of these. You line them up and trim the points.

In the process, I noticed this…..

Yeah, not exactly an accurate cut there! Sigh….no wonder so few of these were finished.

So once again, I’m debating whether to try to machine piece another diamond, or look for a rubber stamp to mark the seam lines and go back to my hand piecing idea.

I think I’ll go work on something else while I think about that. Have a great day!

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments