July Temperatures

Summer has arrived!   See these last 2 columns representing all 31 days in July?  Lots and lots of high temps in the 90s!

My quilt for 2019 was simpler in design and only features the high temps.  Comparing the two, July 2020 was warmer.  However, high temps in the 80s (orange) started showing up much earlier in the year in 2019.

You can read more about the design here.  The net is the 2020 quilt will be functionally sized at 48'' x 48''.   The quilt records both high and low temperatures for each day.   The block is a simple one - the low temperature is the smaller rectangle - vertical for odd numbered days and horizontal for even numbered.  

The fabrics are all Painters Palette solids and I keep the color gradient at the top of my design wall so it is always available to reference.  

I've made temperature quilts for 2018 and 2019.  Want to make your own temperature quilt - check out my tutorial!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Hipster Bag

No surprise that I love to make bags!  When I saw this pattern for a hipster wallet appear in the latest issue of Modern Monthly from the Modern Quilt Guild, I immediately lost about an hour of time rummaging through my stash to find the perfect fabric.  Pattern is design by Megan.

I liked the idea of a bit of hand work on the bag so I choose Artisan Cotton by Windham Fabrics for the outside and a print by Figo fabrics for the inside - both were samples from QuiltCon. 

Pattern called for snaps to close the bag.  I didn't have any of those but I did have some button magnets which worked well.  (The trick to using these is to pay careful attention to which side of which magnet has the strongest attachment to the other and mark which side faces the fabric so you aren't confused.)

I also had a ready made strap that I rescued from another bag that had gotten overused.

The bag has 3 pockets, one of which has a zipper.

It was a really fun make.  I will likely make another using cork now that I understand the construction process.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Stacked Improv Curves Tutorial

I needed to make some improv curve blocks for my local MQG charity quilt.

These were a lot of fun to make so I put together a quick tutorial in case you want to give it a try.

First, cut 4 squares of fabric - mine were about 8" x 8".  Stack them in any order, aligning along two edges.  With your rotary cutter, carefully cut a freehand curve.  Un-stack and shuffle so that each piece is paired with one of a different color.

Fold each in half to find center.  Align the centers and pin.  Your concave piece should be on top.

One tip - use an old cutting mat when cutting curves to avoid damaging a good cutting mat!

From the center, carefully align fabric, working from center to each edge and pin the concave piece to to convex (pie shaped piece).  Sew seam.  For a different view of pinning for curves, check out Yvonne's tip post.

Note: when working with curves cut with a template, I typically only pin at center and each edge.  Freehand cut curves will not align on edges so you need more pins.

Press each of the four pieces and the stack again - aligning the bottom right corner.  Freehand cut another curve.  And repeat steps from above to align centers and pin from center to either edge.

You'll notice that this method is going to create some wonky pieces.  Wait until you've have sewn the final curves before trimming block.  To trim, use the outer edges of the original cut square to keep those edges on the straight of grain.

Note - Blocks were not trimmed to a predetermined size but only trimmed to square them up.

Play with different arrangements - you'll see two of them in the top row of photo below.  Once you find one that you like, sew them together, press.  Tim to square up the block.

I've been enjoying exploring curves using templates (see Carnival quilt) and now I think I may try some more improv curves!

Have a wonderful day! Patty