Mystery Quilt Final

Well ladies, it is time to complete our mystery.  We got the mystery quilt from the lovely
Jeni over at In Color Order.



There are actually several different ways you can complete this top. There are about 4 different patterns to choose from. So click HERE to head on over & get your finishing instructions!!

Inspiration: How to use the Twister Tool

This month's inspiration from Ilene is a mini-tutorial on how to use the Lil' Twister Tool from Country Schoolhouse Designs.  

To make the twister blocks, you will need a charm pack or fabrics cut into 5-inch squares. If you want the twisters to "float" on a background (as shown above) you will need to cut squares from a background fabric also.

Arrange the squares and sew them together as shown above if you want the twisters on a background. If you want the twisters to interlock, simply sew the colored squares together without the background color. Add a 3'' contrasting border to the entire piece if you want a border to frame the twisters (see quilt example above- orange border). 

To cut the shapes, position the tool so the marks line up on the seams and carefully cut with a small rotary tool. 

The cut shapes should be positioned in exactly the same order they were cut so the twisters will match up and sewn together. The finished quilt will be about 1/3 smaller than the first size you start with but then you can add borders if you want

Ilene says that if you cut carefully you can use the leftover pieces to create an outer border for the quilt so very little fabric is wasted. 

May Quilting Projects

Things seem to get busier as we head into the warmer months, but projects are always inspiring.

Denise shared this quilt from blocks we exchanged earlier. She used shades of cream fabric for the background and scraps in country colors for the pattern. This was quilted by Shirley.

This queen size quilt was put together by Kaylene. She said the blocks were part of an exchange through Porters.

Tiffany's mom made this adorable quilt for a new baby. 

And Tiffany made the new baby this cute quilt with applique turtle and circle border.

Beth's daughter made this quilt for a 4-H project. Beth said her daughter didn't get any help with this and completed it all on her own.

Vicky brought these vintage butterfly blocks to show. She said she wants to use them in a quilt, but since the corners were cut off most of the blocks, she is still figuring out how to arrange them.

And then Vicky wowed us with her completed bargello quilt top! We love how different the quilt looks just by turning it. 

Rose brought a double pinwheel baby quilt with smaller pinwheels to accent the corners.

Donna brought a patriotic quilt that will be presented to a local teacher for his work in honoring veterans. 

Stephanie is working on this table topper quilt made from coordinating scraps.

Mystery Quilt Part # 2

   PART #2 

 The next step in our mystery quilt along it to turn all your squares into half square trinagles.

1. Take 2 squares, in this case one Warm and one Cool. (Light/Darks, Colored/Whites, Whatever you chose)  This is really important for creating the Warm/Cool pattern!

2. Place your squares right-sides-together.

3. Line up a ruler along the diagonal, from one corner to another.

4. Carefully trace a line with a pencil.

5. Using a scant 1/4" seam allowance, sew along one side of the pencil line. I recommend either using a 1/4" foot, or move your needle over so that it is 1/4" away from the edge of your presser foot. This way you can simply line up your presser foot with the pencil line! Backstitch at each end.

6. Turn your square and sew down the other side of the pencil line.

7. Using scissors, cut down the pencil line, splitting the square in half.

8. Press your seams. I prefer to press my seams open. I think that it allows the block to lay flatter. For more information on seam pressing check out this tutorial from Sew, Mama, Sew. You can also find an interesting discussion on pressing seams open here.

Now we need to trim our HSTs. For the Mini size, trim your HSTs down to 3". For the Baby and Twin size, trim your HSTs down to 4.5".

9. Place your ruler over your HST with the corner on the diagonal seam. Line up the diagonal line on the ruler with the seam. Carefully trim as little as necessary on both sides.

Woo hoo! You're done! You now have two Half-Square Triangles! 

Continue to make HSTs with the remaining squares, making sure to match up one Warm square with one Cool square. Do so somewhat randomly, just making sure that you have some variety in your match-ups!

Note: If you want to make different sized half-square triangles (for other projects!), simply add 1" to the size you want your finish HST to be to get your starting square size. Then trim to your unfinished size. For example, if you want a finished HST size of 2", cut two 3" squares and trim to 2.5" :)

April Quilt Projects

First - I have to apologize for being so far behind on posting our projects! I am so sorry to be so late!




We had fewer quilt projects in April but we also mixed in some fun ideas for gifts and other sewing projects.

Des made a tumbler quilt from scraps of fabric she said she was tired of keeping. She cut 157 tumblers to put together a fun scrappy quilt.

Phyllis showed us some Amish candle mats. She said she didn't make these herself - she purchased them while she was visiting in Amish country - but wanted to share them anyway.

This quilt from Ilene is made of 4-inch blocks. Ilene and Susan each made blocks in country colors and exchanged them for about 1 year  to get enough blocks for a quilt.






This quilt is also from Ilene. She said the blocks were collected as part of a spring exchange but each person did her own embroidery on the blocks.

Ilene also shared this cute "Li'l Twister" quilt for a baby boy. She used a 40-count charm pack and a small "Li'l Twister" block template/tool.

Donna brought a small red work quilt she is working on and a flower pin made from scraps of wool fabric. 

Julie said she used a charm pack to make this small Schnibbles quilt with a rick rack pattern.

Julie made an appliqued towel and an easy pieced hot pad as her idea for a gift. They are both fast and easy to make and always something that a cook will appreciate. 

For a personal gift, Julie made a skirt and pieced bag for Easter gifts. She included a matching fabric bead necklace made with 12mm wood circles.

This citrus baby quilt was shared by DeLene. She used citrus charm pack squares with sashing for the top but she says, "the back is the best."

LeAnn used a Katie Cupcake pattern to make an adorable bag with a scarf tied accent. She said she also needed something bright on a dreary day so she made a pretty pillow. The bright new pillow top is a great way to cover up an "ugly" thrift store pillow.

You know how there is usually a piece leftover from cutting rail fence blocks? Rosemary found a good way to use up those pieces in a scrappy big block.

Rosemary's gift idea is a pretty apron with scrappy pieced pockets and top. She said she creates a "new" fabric by sewing small scraps together to make a large piece of fabric that can be used for projects like this one.

 Jonnel brought two quilts to share - a pinwheel quilt made from vintage sheets and a small quilt that features flying geese blocks. 

 

Tiffany's project and gift idea to add some pretty color to a room is a table runner made from bright, fun fabric and flower appliques.

Heidi said almost any girl likes to sort and look at pretty buttons. Her idea for a gift is small vintage tin filled with buttons and tied with a pretty ribbon.

Allyson made her very first quilt and shared it with us. How amazing is this bright quilt with wonky rail fence blocks and half-square triangle border! 

Rose created something amazing with this gift idea! She added a zipper to a handtowel and sewed that onto a large beach towel with one end open so the large towel can be folded and stuffed inside the pocket like a quillow. She added handles so it can be carried easily. When the towel is unfolded, the zipper is hidden on the inside of the pocket so a wallet or keys other small items can be zipped inside and kept safe. 

Rose also paints and shared three of her art works - Bridge in Bath, England and Scottish Highlands and Mt. McKinley. Thank you for sharing Rose. It's so fun to see the many talents of our group!!

Linda brought two quilt tops she made with exploding rail fence blocks. This is a simple block to make and provides so many possibilities for different looks.