By lilysunshine, on 17 November 2011, at 9:39 am 
Don’t forget to check Jen’s blog post where she talks about her fabric choices! And also, don’t forget the 15% off all your fabric orders from the Little Fabric Store for the duration of this QAL, with the code ‘curiouser’. Happy sewing!
It’s time to get cutting and sewing! How exciting is that?! So grab your fabrics, your tools and let’s go!
This week, we are making a very simple block with 4 patches and a border. It is really straightforward and if you have any experience in patchwork, you might want to skip my very detailed instructions. If you are new, don’t worry, I’ll show you how to make it, step by step!
Here’s the list of materials and tools that you’ll need to complete this block.
Tools
- Cutting mat, rotary cutter and ruler (I used my 6.5″ x 24.5″ and my 16.5″ square rulers)
- Sewing machine and thread (or hand sewing needle and thread)
- Iron and ironing board
- Pins
- Seam ripper or pointy scissors (it’s ok, I still need mine even for a simple block like that!)
Materials
- 4 – 5″ squares from your print fabrics (I chose all red fabrics, but you can mix colours, of course!)
- 2 – 2.5 x 10″ rectangles from your plain fabric (the white for my block)
- 2 – 2.5″ x 13″ rectangles from your plain fabric
If you’ve never cut squares of fabrics, this first step might feel a bit daunting, but don’t worry, I’m going to show you how to cut! If you remember last week’s post, I showed how to prepare your fabrics for cutting, so do that first with your choice of fabrics for this week’s block. If you have done everything as I’ve shown you, you should have 2 edges with a right angle.
Step 1: Align your 5″ line of your cutter on the right angle of your perfectly straight edges. Being mindful of your fingers, apply pressure on the ruler and cut along the edge of it, away from you.
Now, you should have a long 5″ strip, about 5″ x 20″ if you are using a fat quarter. Turn the strip, align the cutter on the 5″ line and cut again. That’s it, you’ve cut a square!
Repeat 3 more times with the fabric of your choice!
For the 2.5″ strips, instead of aligning with the 5″ line of your cutter, you align to the 2.5″ and that’s all there is to it!
If you have difficulties with this step, ask me or Jen and we’ll happily post more pics either here in a blog post or in the Flickr group!
After all this cutting, you should have a stack of fabrics that look a bit like this:
Step 2: To the sewing machine, we go! Pick 2 blocks and put them right sides together (so the wrong side is facing you!). Using a 1/4″ seam allowance (Jen showed you how to check for it last week), sew these 2 blocks together on one side only. Repeat for the other 2 blocks.
Step 3: Time for some ironing (it does help if your ironing board is in the same room as your sewing machine, less walking around the house!!). With your blocks still right sides together, press on each side for 3-5 seconds, that will set the seam and make the next step easier. Once that is done, with your first 2 blocks, open and press the seam to the right side. For the next 2 blocks, open and press the seam to the left side.
I choose to press seams to the side as it makes it easier to line up the seams. But with practice, you might choose to press the seams open. It’s down to personal preference.
If you choose to press to the side like me, just make sure your seams are going to opposite directions!
Step 4: You now have 2 strips made of 2 blocks each. Put those 2 strips right sides together and pin well (to make sure your seams line up properly, why not check the tutorial I posted a couple of weeks ago). It should look like this where your seams meet:
You are all set, so sew along one of the long edges.
The centre of you blocks should look like that.
But don’t worry if it’s not perfectly aligned. It’s ok. Unless you are miles off (like more than 3mm), I wouldn’t unpick it. And I’m OCD with my seams. Sometimes.
Your block should now look like this.
Pat yourself on the back, you’ve made a 4-patch block! Well done! It should be 9.5″ square. You can trim it down if it’s a bit too big. If it’s too small, that’s ok. That’s why we have borders!!
Step 5: I’ve made you cut borders that are larger than necessary in the likely case (it still happens to me) that your central block comes out at not quite the right size. Grab your 2 – 2.5″ x 10″ strips and pin them at the top and bottom (or sides, doesn’t matter) of your 4-patch.
Sew, remove pins and press to side (the direction of the seam doesn’t matter here, you can press open if you want to reduce the bulk).
Line your ruler with your central block sides (where there’s no border) and trim excess border. It should look like this:
Step 6: Grab your last 2 strips (the 2.5″ x 13″ ones) and pin them to the last 2 sides of the 4-patch.
Sew, remove pins and press to side.
We are almost there!
Step 7: Time to trim down your block. For this, I used my big 16.5″ ruler, but it isn’t necessary. I could have used my 6.5″ x 24.5″ ruler too. You could also trim your block down by using the lines on your cutting mat.
Line up the 6.25 line of your ruler with the centre seam of your 4-patch and trim off the excess. Make sure that you follow the right angle of your seams.
Repeat for all sides.
Step 8: Wait, there’s no step 8. You are all done! Your block is now 12.5″ and looking so lovely!
That’s all there is to it!
By lilysunshine, on 10 November 2011, at 9:01 am Psst, there’s a discount code at the very bottom of this post!… And don’t forget to check Jen’s blogpost for more tricks and tips! (she’s got a very good tutorial on how to check your seams are right!)
Yay, it’s time to get started!! Well, almost. First though, it’s time to choose some fabrics. It has taken me a long time to decide which colours I wanted to use for my Curiouser quilt. I even organised my stash to help me narrow my choices.
For quite a while, I considered making a rainbow quilt, using as many colours as I could, but making monochromatic blocks. I still like this idea, but maybe for another project. So, instead, I have decided to stick with the monochromatic blocks, but only in 2 or 3 colours: red, grey and maybe aqua. Confusing? What I mean is that I will try to aim for an even number of blocks in each colours, and my blocks will only use 1 colour.
It isn’t easy to pick fabrics that work together. Here are a few tips to help you:
- Stick to small and medium sized prints, as the larger prints will get lost in the cutting. Keep your larger prints to use for your backing, for example.
- Keep your style consistent: batiks, civil war reproductions, children (boy/girl), novelty. You might feel happier if you choose prints that belong to the same style.
- Choose the colours you want to use. I know I’m more comfortable if I stick to a limited colourway of 2 to 3 colours for a quilt. Some people like to mix things up, but I find it more satisfying when the palette is limited. How to choose colours, I hear you ask? Who are you making the quilt for and what are their favourite colour(s)? Pick one colour and work from there. You can choose to work in contrasting colours or in blending colours. That is entirely up to you.
- Here’s a list of colours that go well together: pink and green, red and navy, red, pink and aqua, orange and aqua, red and green (beware of the Christmas feel if that’s not what you are going for), brown and aqua (or light blue), orange and teal, yellow and grey, pink and grey, red and grey, teal, lime and grey. The list becomes endless very quickly!
Come share your choice of fabrics or any questions you might have here (There’s a share your link widget down the bottom of this post) or in the Flickr group!
Once you have your fabrics chosen, you can move on and prepare them for next week’s ultra simple first block. I personally don’t pre-wash my fabrics: I’ve never had any problems with colours running and I like the crispness of unwashed fabrics. But do what you feel is right for you, we are not the quilting police.
The first thing I do, though, before cutting anything, is to give the fabrics a good press. Creases can really throw off your cutting, so this should definitely be your first step if you aim to have accurate cuts.
Then, before cutting the pieces you need for your blocks, you need to square off the fabrics and make sure that you are cutting on grain. You really want to avoid cutting on the bias wherever you can (though you’ll see when we do triangles, there’s no escaping that). Why? Because bias is very very stretchy. And stretchy fabrics make for inaccurate piecing. So let’s try to have those fabrics straight.
Here are a few tips (a bit pics heavy!) to show you how to make sure you are on grain.
If your pieces have 2 selvedges (the selvedges are the straight edges on both side of the fabrics if you order long quarters, half metres, etc):
- Fold your fabric so that your selvedges are together. Make sure that they are perfectly aligned together.
- If your mat is too small, fold the fabric again, making sure that the selvedges are still perfectly aligned. On the picture below, you can see that the cut edge of the fabric is really not straight!
- Take your ruler (I use a 6.5″x24.5″ one) and line up with the folded or the selvedge edge (both should be straight!), as flush as possible to the corner (making sure that all unstraightness isn’t under the ruler!).
- Grab your rotary cutter and cut along your ruler.
Look at this straight edge!!
If using a fat quarter (or any pieces with just 1 selvedge):
- Fold the piece in half with the selvedge together.
- If it’s too big for your mat, fold in half again.
- Line up your ruler with the folded edge or the selvedge.
- And cut!
- And you can now do the same for the edge opposite to the selvedge.
That’s it, you are ready to get cutting and sewing next week!! You can choose to prepare all your fabrics now or do it when needed later up, that is entirely up to you!
See you next week for the first block!! YAY! Oh, and if you need to add to your stash, all participants and other readers of the QAL are welcomed to use the code ‘curiouser’ in my shop to get a 15% discount on all your orders. The code will be valid for the entire length of the QAL and can be used as many times as you need!
By lilysunshine, on 9 November 2011, at 10:09 am Yesterday was much improved when I received Sarah Hatton’s latest book Vintage Inspired Knits.
I had been wanting to own it since I first heard about it. Such a lovely little book!
It’s packed with 9 must-have patterns if you love all things vintage inspired.
Here are just a few of my favourite ones.
Botany Cardigan is right up there on my list of things I want to knit. I like the shape and the lace details. So perfect.
Next up is the Aphrodite shrug. What’s not to like about it? I think I might have to cast on this one pretty soon, as I hear there might be some kind of KAL in December… Mmm…
And last but not least, Edith Shawl. I need a new shawl. This could be the one!
But do check the other projects, they are all extremely wearable and should be in everybody’s queues!
By lilysunshine, on 8 November 2011, at 9:29 am The weather here in the South of the UK has finally changed. It was nice and surprisingly pleasant for a long time (I didn’t get a jacket out until last week!). But now, the miserable cold and wet British Autumn has finally started. November is my least favourite month of the year. Has always been. I’ve just moved the laptop to the cutting table so I could have a bit more light. I might have to emigrate here definitely for the remainder of the gloomy season.
Another attempt to make the gloominess go away is to try and relish in the warmth and comfort of beautiful and colourful handmade items.
Who wouldn’t have their soul warmed up by such a beautiful display? Looking at the picture and turning around to look at those quilts and cushions definitely help making up for the lack of light, cold and dampness outside.
Add some beautiful yarn, and you might start feeling more human again. This picture was taken a a few days ago and now, there isn’t much of it left. It has been transformed into a lovely finished item which I can’t show you as it’s going to be published, I think early next year. The yarn is the very more-ish Scrumptious DK in Magenta. The bright colour mixed with the lightly spun merino and silk blend definitely soothe my soul. As long as there are such beautiful things around me, I know I’ll make it to the other side of the greyness. Hopefully.
(By the way, I don’t dislike grey as a colour. I like it very much actually. It’s going to be one of the colours for my curiouser and curiouser quilt. It’s just grey / lack of light outside that I hate).
By lilysunshine, on 6 November 2011, at 12:58 pm This jewellery making is proving to be VERY addictive. Maybe it’s because of all the pretty beads, maybe it’s because of the pretty much instant gratification, maybe it’s because it’s new. I don’t know, but I know that I’m really really enjoying sitting at my table with my shiny stuff and my pliers.
I’ve watched a few lot of videos online, and I think that what I’d like to go try in the near-ish future is wire jewellery. I’ve found this necklace while browsing Pinterest and I fell in love with the style. I want to learn how to make that. So I’ve ordered some silver wire (and a few other bits and pieces – we could face another stash problem here… Thanks bob, everything is small!).
But until this new stuff arrives, I am trying new techniques and perfecting the little I have learned so far. I am now very pleased with my loops – I think my rosary style loops are pretty good (especially considering I didn’t know what it was at the same time yesterday). I’ve also tried to use some tigertail wire.
These earrings are my first try with tigertail wire – it’s not my favourite stuff to play with so far. But I really like the look of those earrings and I can see my mother or sister liking that style very much.
With the leftover wires from the previous earrings, I made this other pair. They’re quite pretty, but maybe not as WOW as the others. I do like the colour combination of the pearls though.
And finally, the pièce de resistance.
A lovely (if I may say so!) earrings and bracelet set. My first ever bracelet. I am really pleased with the result for this one. So much so that this one is going nowhere. It’s staying here with me and I think it’s going to motivate me into wearing jewellery more. I used to wear jewellery (and earrings) all the time, but working from home with a toddler has meant that I’ve cut down on the bling. Though, I think these should be good to wear any day to brighten up my not so yummy mummy outfits.
Right now, I’m considering going out this afternoon to check our local charity shops for some new jewellery materials. I think I need chains. I want to do stuff with chains. But it’s freezing today, so I’m not sure I can get over that! HA!
If you are on my list of Christmas gifts, expect some shiny stuff in your Christmas stocking. I think I might get some biggish jumprings to make some stitch markers for a very select few friendly knitters, too… Hehe!
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Knitting patterns for sale Beynac Sock pattern
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