Elm Street Quilts

Monday, March 1, 2021

One Monthly Goal March link-up

Did you read about the sponsor list for One Monthly Goal 2021! Check it out!

New to One Monthly Goal? Welcome! To join, share a photo of your project, some words about what you want to accomplish in a blog post, an Instagram post or a post on Flickr and add that photo to the link-up. Return at the end of the month and share your results. You can read about the event and the rules on the main event page.

We have wonderful sponsors this month - two (2) winners will be randomly chosen from those who join both the goal and the finish link-up!

Fat Quarter Shop offers a tremendous selection of fabric, notions, books and just about anything you will need for your project. Fat Quarter Shop is offering a $25 gift certificate to one lucky participant.

Oliso reinvents products that surprise, delight and simplify life including the Oliso Mini Project Iron™ which brings you the power of a full size iron in a compact design for home and away. Oliso is offering a Mini Project Iron™ to one lucky participant.

Aren't these just terrific sponsors? (Remember to check out the full sponsor list for 2021!)

For my March project, I want to begin to assemble my 100 day project quilt top. At the moment, my (100) 6 1/2" blocks are joined into 25 sets of 4 (12 1/2'' x 12 1/2') and ready for more assembly. You can read more about the project here.

Now it is your turn to link up - what is your goal for this month? (A goal could be to finish a quilt but it could also be to attach a binding. Whatever it takes to help you move forward and make progress on your projects! And as long as the project involves making something with a needle and/or fabric, you can link up!)

Make sure you visit the One Monthly Goal event page for the specific requirements for links and social tags. Your blog post (or Flickr post) must contain a photo of your project, a clearly stated goal and a link back to Elm Street Quilts. Your Instagram post must include a photo of your project, a clearly stated goal and the tag #onemonthlygoal. (Entries which don't contain the required information may be disqualified.)

And remember, to be eligible for the prize(s) by random drawing you must linkup at both the goal setting and the accomplishment linkup in a given month. (The One Monthly Goal accomplishment linkup will be available on March 25.)

Make sure you add a link to this OMG post so others can find the OMG link-up from your blog. Let's make that easy - just paste this into your post:

Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal March Link-up

Thanks for linking up!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Friday, February 26, 2021

QuiltCon Together Highlights

QuiltCon Together, a virtual QuiltCon, is now over. The MQG did an amazing job offering a quilt show, lectures, workshops, and a vendor floor virtually.

When viewing the quilts themselves, you had the ability to zoom in and look at all the quilting details plus hear an audio recording from the maker. Listening to the audio component was a wonderful addition.

I was really excited to have 4 quilts in the show - 3 were juried in plus one quilt was quilt part of the MQG quilt of the month exhibit. Just like in a real show, my first stop was to find my quilts!

Can you spot them?

Top row: Boomerang and Carnival; Bottom row: Cartwheel and Astro (Astro is not in that screen shot above.)

Another thrill for me was Boomerang was featured in the QuiltCon magazine - the pattern is included so you can make your own!

Lectures at QuiltCon Together were presented live and then a recording was available to watch afterwards. I attend 4 lectures and enjoyed everyone - my favorite being one on color theory.

I also took a match-stick quilting class from Cassandra Beaver. I love Cassandra's work and I really enjoyed my project. I used a collection of thread weights - 50, 40 and 28 wt - and really enjoy all the texture in my finished piece.

While there was an option to download a sample from Spoonflower complete with key stitching lines, I choose to draw out my own. I used my hera marker to initially mark the lines and then wrote P, B or W on the edges to help me remember which color when where!

Since I wasn't sure how easy it would be to see my marked lines once I started stitching, the first thing I did was to stitch over the lines to form my grid and then I went back to start filling things in. The straightness of my lines got better as I went but I still need to find some natural marking on my walking foot to help me in the future. Or perhaps ease up on the pedal a bit. Or maybe both! :-)

With the class, you had the option of signing up for an 'enhanced session' which gave you the chance to meet with the instructor in a small group to discuss your projects. While I enjoyed the hour, it wasn't really what I had expected.

I know the virtual experience gave so many people the chance to participate that would otherwise had not been able to attend. I enjoyed myself but really missed the chance to see other people and talk quilts non-stop. My family - gotta love them - really did not want to discuss what I liked and didn't like about some of the quilts in the show! My guild held a few virtual happy hours so it was nice to connect with other people that way!

QuiltCon 2022 is in Phoenix - hopefully I'll be there!

Did you attend QuiltCon Together? What did you think of the event?

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Monday, February 22, 2021

Harmony Hand Pieced QAL - Square in a Square (block 1)

Looking for the One Monthly Goal finish link-up? Click here!

We are all excited that today we start sewing!

Whether you've had your fabric pressed and ready to go for awhile or are just making your fabric choices now, you've probably had time to scroll through the pattern. The Harmony pattern gives you choices on how you cut your fabrics and assemble your units. The end result is the same so choose the option which works for you!

Still need the pattern for Harmony? Grab yours now!

Harmony is a large single block - make one and you've got a lovely wall hanging (28'' x 28'') or join 4 Harmony blocks together for a lovely throw sized quilt (56'' x 56''). Did you miss the QAL announcement? You can find more information here! If you have any trouble ordering the pattern, please don't hesitate to email us at handpiecedqal@gmail.com - we'll be happy to help!

Whether you are making the wall hanging or the throw sized quilt, we recommend you cut just the pieces you need to make a single Harmony block. Once you've sewn a few units and have some experience cutting with templates, you can go back and cut the rest of the pieces for all the Harmony blocks you need.

Our QAL will follow the units in the order they are found in the pattern which means we start today with the Square in a Square. Since you need just a single square in a square unit for a Harmony block, I encourage you to take your time and check out these basic tutorials - Using Templates, Marking Stitching Lines, and the Running Stitch if you need some tips.

Each Harmony block needs just a Single in a Square unit. The pattern offers two methods for cutting out your pieces - via templates or with a rotary cutter - and then sewing instructions based on the method you've chosen. I decided to stitch mine using templates. (See Kristin's post for tips on constructing with stitch and flip and the rotary cut option.)

Needles ready? Let's sew our first unit!

Template Tips

All the templates you need for the pattern can be found on pages 19 and 20. Some templates will be used in multiple units and each template is named and has a symbol for the unit(s) it will be used with.

The most important step for sewing with templates is to make sure your units are printed to scale so ensure your printer setting is set to actual size. Measure that 1'' square with a ruler and if it doesn't measure 1'', check those printer settings and try again. If you forget this step and find your sewn unit doesn't match the unit size in the pattern, start all over again.

The template has two lines - the solid line is the stitching line and the dotted line is the cutting line. My template tutorial (find it here) cuts the pieces on the dotted line and then mark the stitching line 1/4'' from the edge. You can also choose to prepare your templates by sizing them to the stitching line - trace that on your fabric and then cut your piece out with a 1/4'' seam from that line.

Stitching Tips

Instead of marking a 1/4'' stitching line around the whole triangle, try marking just where you are about to stitch plus a little bit more up each side to mark the point where to start and stop your needle. (Please note that my lines are not usually that dark - a bit a computer magic made the lines visible in this photo!) I am marking on the back of the background (white) square as well just to make sure I align the start and stop points with the pin. (See the tutorial on marking stitching lines.)

Mark both triangles and align a pin through the intersection point on each block so you are certain everything is aligned.

Then stitch away! After sewing a triangle to each side of the square, pin the second pair of triangles. You will be able to feel the folded back fabric to know where to start and stop your stitching.

Press. If needed, sliver trim your block and then go ahead and mark the stitching lines around the outside so you will be ready when it is time to sew your units together. You only need one of the SinS unit for your block.

The pattern also offers an alternative assembly method using a stitch and flip method which begins by drawing a stitching line on the diagonal on a square. Check out Kristin's post to see her tips for creating this block!

The Basics

Please consult the tutorials for Using Templates, Marking Stitching Lines, and the Running Stitch if you need some tips.

The following supplies were used - the Perfect Piecer, Aurifil 80 wt thread, needles, Clover applique pins, wool pressing mat, Oliso mini iron, and great lighting!

What's Next?

We will be sewing the units in the order of the pattern which means our next block will be a HST - half square triangle and we'll share tips next Monday, March 1. Our first check-in link-up will be March 29!

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