Square Up Quilt

Fat Quarter Shop has released a new pattern called Square Up! I was excited when they asked if I would like to make a sample quilt. (All the information on the pattern will be on the FQS blog.)

The fabric is from Ruby Star Society - Salutations! Precuts and yardage ship in May and I was lucky to get a layer cake to play with for this quilt. The pattern itself it written for fat quarters so there was a bit of (easy) math to adopt it for a layer cake.

The blocks were quite fun to assemble. I deviated slightly from the pattern by making the sashing between rows bigger and increasing the size of the border. The quilt finished at ~ 50" x 70".

Love, love the fabrics I got to play with. The quilt top went together quickly.

For the quilting, I did a simple 3" grid which finishes quickly. 

I plan to donate the quilt to my guild's community giving project. Thanks Fat Quarter Shop for asking me to make this quilt and supplying the fabric!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Orange Overload - My Pantone Challenge Quilt

I've entered the Pantone challenge for the last two years but wasn't so certain that I would do so once I learned that the Pantone Color of the year is Mocha Mousse. (Read about this year's challenge.)

But once I organized my solids into three color families, I found I liked the browns I had - Paintbrush Studios Old Gold, Golden Brown and Toast - with yellows and oranges! So I decided to play with color that is nothing like combinations that I've used before. This quilt is also an experiment playing with the double wedding ring block (see this post) before I tackle one queen sized. As a result, I've scaled down my design for the queen sized quilt - more on that soon.

Thankfully there is an opportunity to link up just the top because I won't have time to get this quilted before the link-up closes. This was true for my prior two entries - they also went into the top only category. The quilt top is 35" x 35".

My 2023 entry for Viva Magenta was my Echo quilt, which hung in QuiltCon and was in QuiltCon magazine. My 2024 entry for Peach Fuzz was Peachy Kean was in Make Modern magazine!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Transforming a Shirt

My sister wanted to create two vests - although initially it was two shirts - from a NY Yankee shirt that belonged to her husband. While I have made quilt coats, I don't consider myself a garment sewer and sewing with jersey fabric is not something I felt comfortable taking on. Plus, there really wasn't enough fabric in one shirt to create two kid sized - size 2 and size 4 - shirts.

After much discussion, she decided two vests would work just fine. She purchased some jersey knit that matched the blue perfectly for the back and lining of the vests along with a vest pattern.

While I used the pattern to cut out the pieces, I made up the remainder of the assembly process! Everything was lined with interfacing and I made a full lining for the vests. The armholes and shoulder seams were left open so I turned the vest/lining inside out and then did some binding around the armholes (see top photo) and covered the shoulder seams.

My sister was thrilled with the finish and my nephews look quite adorable in them. All in all, the project was a fun kind of challenge but it took 8 hours to do, start to finish, which is about twice as much as I expected.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Block Granny Squares

I am new to crochet and, as I've shared before, am busy making a whole bunch of granny squares for a blanket. (Read about the project.) Needless to say that I've not mastered consistent tension so I'm dealing with a bunch of slightly different sizing and a tendency for the squares to roll up.

So I decided to block them!

There are boards you can buy specifically for blocking granny squares but I decided to start with some T pins and use the foam mats that I use for quilt blocking.

I used painters tape to block off squares. Squares are pinned down, spritzed with water and then left to dry overnight. It is working so well!  I am loving these beautiful stacks of squares all sized up!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Experiments with the Double Wedding Ring Block

Way back in 2018, I finished a hand pieced, hand quilted double-wedding ring quilt (see the quilt!) This is one of my all time favorites and hangs on the wall in my sewing room. The ring templates were from a class with Tara Faughnan. 

Now I want to make another, this time bed sized.

After experimenting with cardboard templates drawn in Eq8 and the resulting inaccurate blocks, I purchased these templates and have set about making some practice blocks using a a beautiful palette of oranges and yellows. (Contrast colors will be added!) This palette is an usual one for me and, as such, fits my guilds challenge for this year to make a quilt that takes you out of your color comfort zone!

Not sure how big my orange experiment will be because my ultimate goal is to make a new quilt for my queen sized bed. I purchased a bolt (i.e. 10 yards) of a solid blue with the objective of using some of these yummy fabrics for the rings and other random parts of the block.

Once my practice blocks are done, I will start the cutting and then create kits for myself in preparation for an upcoming guild retreat. Can't wait to play with these fabrics!

Have a wonderful day! Patty