Splendor QAL: Week #2 – Appliqué the Small Flower Blocks

Welcome back!   It’s Week #2 of our Splendor QuiltAlong and it’s time to start appliquéing our small flower petal blocks!

But first — If you’re just joining us this week, be sure to review Week #1’s Blog Post to find out how to purchase the pattern and what fabrics and materials you’ll need to gather –

READ THE SPLENDOR QAL WEEK #1 POST BY CLICKING HERE

Also, just a friendly reminder!   If you want to join with other quilty friends and aren’t yet a member of our Facebook group, I invite you to join our free QAL Facebook group where you can ask questions, share your progress and of course, post pictures of your finished projects so everyone can share in the fun!  Also feel free to share this invite and any other QAL news with quilty buddies and invite them to join along in the fun!

You can also subscribe to our Colourwerx You Tube channel right here!

JOIN THE COLOURWERX QAL FACEBOOK GROUP HERE

SUBSCRIBE TO THE COLOURWERX YOU TUBE CHANNEL RIGHT HERE

On to Week #2 of Splendor!
I do love to do fusible machine appliqué – it is so fast and fun and you can use a variety of stitches like the zigzag, buttonhole (or also known as the blanket) or decorative stitches to embellish and texturize your shapes.  Remember there are no quilt police lurking so experiment and have fun!

Also, if you’d like a video – you can view Week #2’s companion video tutorial right here!

View Week #2’s Splendor Companion Video Tutorial

But first things first….
Arrange Your Background Blocks for Value and Pattern Placement —
1. You should have precut your background fabrics in Week #1 – if not, please find the cutting directions in page 1 of the Splendor pattern and do so before proceeding.

2. Assuming you are using (12) 1/3 yard cuts or a variety of scraps for your background, refer to Page 2  in the pattern for the diagram, and arrange the background units on your design board or floor making sure you have evenly balanced the value and pattern placement (if there are patterns in the fabrics) across the quilt top.  Do not stitch the units together yet.

Once satisfied, be sure to snap a photo of your arrangement for future use and then remove from your design board or floor the (12)  background blocks that will have the small flowers on them.  Here’s my background units arranged on my design board.

Prepare your Small Flower Petal Shapes —
You’ll be cutting out (12) sets of the small flower shapes.  (If you are following along and making the Mini Splendor pattern with us, you’ll make (6) sets of small flower shapes).

1.  First, gather the pattern page (included in the Splendor pattern) and following the directions on your adhesive fusible web, trace (12) complete sets of the small flower petal shapes on the smooth side of the fusible web. Use a #2 pencil for tracing.

Rough cut these shapes out at least 1/4″ beyond the drawn line.

Again, I like to use the adhesive fusible web Heat ‘n Bond Lite.

2. Next select your small flower fabrics for your first block, and fuse the shapes onto the wrong side of those fabrics.

Cut the shapes out neatly on the drawn line and be as exact as possible.  Use a sharp pair of scissors for this step.

3. Continue on and create (12) sets of small flower shapes.  (Again, if you are following along and making the Mini Splendor pattern with us, you’ll make (6) small flowers).

As a sidenote, if you own a desktop cutting machine like a Silhouette Cameo or Cricut, you can scan the applique patterns into your machine.  First back each of your fabric pieces with fusible web and then laser cut the shapes.  This will require extra fabric, a tacky cutting mat for your machine,  alot of patience and some time for experimentation to get your machine to work ‘just right’. 

4.  Once you have all (12) sets of small flower shapes cut out, you are ready to appliqué.

What did Linda do?
I want to share what I did on my Splendor quilt for the small flower blocks – I chose to use the new Tula Pink True Colors 10″ stack.

1. First I decided on (12) different colors for each of the smaller flowers and from there, I chose (3) 10″ squares to be grouped together to make each of the (12) colorways to create the flower petals. Here are the 10″ square fabrics I chose to use for my yellow/orange colored flower:

Now I’ll share my little formula below for which flower shapes I cut from each of the three fabrics to create variety and movement across ta single flower block.  I could have used just one fabric for each small flower block but sometimes that can make a quilt stagnate:  so the my motto is more fabrics = more movement and more texture which =’s  way more interesting quilt!

My Formula  — Notice on the master pattern page that each of the petals on the small flower are numbered #1-#8 plus the center so that really makes (9) pieces for each small flower block.  So again since I am using (3) fabrics for each small flower block, I’ll cut three petals from each fabric BUT I want to make sure that the fabrics are alternating from petal to petal so here is my formula – feel free to copy this if you’d like  🙂

Fabric #1 – Cut Small Flower Shapes #1, #4, #7
Fabric #2 – Cut Small Flower Shapes #2, #5, #8
Fabric #3 – Cut Small Flower Shapes #3, #6 & Center

You can really see the texture, value and movement you get across the quilt top by simply combining a few fabrics of the same colorway for each smaller flower block.

Fuse (or Iron) Your Small Flower Petals to Your Background Squares —
1. Before fusing your small flower petals to the background squares, create an overlay sheet to assist you in placing each of the (8) petals plus the center in exactly the right place before finally ironing them to the background block. Trace the small flower exactly as it appears on your pattern page including the numbers.

Although this is an easy pattern shape, without the overlay you might place the petal shapes slightly askew which will throw off the look of this little fab flower!   This can be simply a piece of tracing paper or a nonfusible dressmaking interfacing like Pattern-Ease.

2. Taking your first background block and first set of small flower shapes, peel the release paper off the backside of each shape and iron the shapes into place using your overlay sheet to assist you in the exact placement.

3.  Also place a piece of stitching stabilizer (like Sulky Totally Stable Iron On Tear Away Stabilizer) on the WRONG side of the Small Flower Petal Block.   The stabilizer will help to “stabilize” your stitching especially if you are using a zigzag, satin stitch or decorative titch around each of your shapes.

Any digitized embroidery machine stabilizer will work for this purpose, but my favorite is the Sulky Totally Stable Iron On Tear Away Stabilizer pictured below.

Let the block cool after ironing and then get ready for some fun machine appliqué.

Machine Appliqué Around the Petal Shapes —
1. Set your machine up for appliqué stitching by changing your presser foot to an open toe foot and choosing some fabulous matching thread for your first flower fabrics.

2. Set your machine to your desired appliqué stitch.  I usually like to choose the Zig Zag and set my Bernina to stitch width 2.5-3.0 and stitch length to just below 1.0 .

Test, test, test before you begin.  Once satisfied, applique stitch around each of the petals and the center on your first small flower block. If you need additional reference for setting your machine up for appliqué and appliqué, please view my video from our Wonky Piecing and Easy Appliqué- Week #4 QuiltAlong here.

3. Repeat these steps above until you have created and appliquéd the (12) small flower blocks (you can also save some of these for Week #3  if you run out of time this week).   Once stitching is complete, be sure to tear away the stabilizer from the backside and lightly press each block.

That’s it for Week #2!!  Next week – Week #3: we’ll be appliquéing the Large Flower Shapes onto the Center background blocks – woohoo!

Until then, please be sure to email us at colourwerx@yahoo.com if you have any questions.  Or feel free to post questions or progress pictures on our Colourwerx QAL Facebook Group.

Until your next colour fix and next week’s QAL post ~  happy and bright quilting always!    L&C xxoo

New QuiltAlong Coming – Splendor! – Starting July 1st!

Are you ready for another quiltalong? Announcing the Splendor QuiltAlong!

By popular demand, I’ll be kicking off our newest quiltalong and I am so excited! Starting July 1st!

Join me in stitchin’ up this fresh and modern Splendor quilt!   Easy to applique mod flowers set in a fresh modern setting!  Also a great scrap buster project! The schedule is a 4-week QuiltAlong – You can follow along week to week or just take it at your own pace!

Make the whole quilt or just a few blocks here and there! Regardless – it’s sure to be super fun and filled with lots of tips and tricks!

The quilt along is free to join and weekly blog posts and companion videos will be delivered to you in the newsletter and also readily available here on the Colourwerx Blog, on our Colourwerx website and Colourwerx Facebook pages.

All you need to do to join the quiltalong is to purchase the Splendor pattern and gather your materials! In fact this is what Week #1 (starting on July 1st) is all about!

And great news! The Splendor Pattern (paper or PDF version) is now 20% off in the Colourwerx Shop!  I’ve also discounted the Mini Splendor pattern at 20% off in case you’d like to work on a smaller project with me during the quiltalong!

You can also join the Colourwerx QuiltAlong Facebook Group where you can post your progress photos and ask questions!

So join me July 1st as we kick off another fun Colourwerx QuiltAlong….

Click the links below to find out more information and to purchase your Splendor pattern! Come join us for some #colouricious fun!

Purchase the Splendor Paper Pattern here!
Purchase the Mini Splendor Paper Pattern here!

Purchase the Splendor PDF pattern here!
Purchase the Mini Splendor PDF Pattern here!

To find out more information about the quiltalong
– jump over to our Colourwerx QuiltAlong Page!

Join the Colourwerx QuiltAlong Facebook Group here for more information!

Subscribe to our Colourwerx You Tube channel! 

ModTV QAL: Week #4 – Personalize the Screen & Finish

Wowee!  We are almost complete with our ModTV’s!!  This is the final week of our quilt along and I do hope you all have been enjoying making these cute retro TV blocks!

This week – Week #4 – is all about personalizing the TV screen and finishing off your block into a pillow, wallhanging or make even more TV blocks for a fabulous lap quilt!  Here’s one of my customer’s ModTV quilt that she made for her husband.  She printed all of his favorite TV shows on photo fabrics, added a pocket for the remote control in one of the color bar blocks and voila! – he loved it!

Ok – so by now you should have made at least one ModTV block and it should be trimmed to 12-1/2″ x 12-1/2″.  If you need to catch up or need extra help, please refer back to the previous blog posts below.  You can also find a weekly companion tutorial video for each week on our Colourwerx YouTube channel !

READ WEEK 1 – GATHER YOUR PATTERN & MATERIALS

READ WEEK 2 – PIECE THE TV & LEGS

READ WEEK 3 – PIECE THE ANTENNA UNITS & COLOR BAR BLOCKS

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR COLOURWERX YOU TUBE CHANNEL

So let’s get started and finish up those cute ModTV blocks!

Check out this week’s video!!  You can view the companion You Tube video for this week right here!

Personalize the TV Screen —
The very last piece to go on your TV block is the TV screen.  It is not pieced in but rather fused on with an adhesive fusible web (like Heat ‘n Bond Lite or Steam A Seam II Lite) and then appliqued stitched on. 

There are several different ways you can choose to personalize your TV screen and therefore make it truly a unique creation.  First know that whichever method you choose, you will need both a 5″ x7″ piece of the fabric (or photo fabric) and of the adhesive fusible web.

Once you decide what to do, iron the 5″ x 7″ piece of adhesive fusible web onto the WRONG side of the fabric (yes, even the photo fabric), and then trim the piece to 4″ x 6″.  You can even follow along in the pattern on page 5 and use a thread spool to round the corners of the TV  Screen. 

When you are ready, peel the release paper off the backside of the screen, and using a pressing cloth, iron (or fuse) the screen in the center of the TV unit. 

Zig Zag stitch around the edges of the screen to secure it to the block.  

Here’s a few ideas for you to personalize your TV screens!

1. Use the same fabric as the background fabric or a similar fabric.  The easiest and sometimes the most graphic looking!  These blocks are totally fabulous and create the ultimate mid-mod statement!

2. Use a fun stripe or zig zag fabric.  If you want to give the look of  static running across your TV screen , a fun stripe or colorful zigzag will do the trick!  I used this fun colorful wonky zig zag from the Kaffe Fassett Collective!

3. Fussy Cut a Motif from a Licensed Fabric.  This is where I think most of us have a lot of fun – fussy cutting around a motif as if this scene is “playing” on the TV set!  And there are so many great fabrics to choose from these days:  Wizard of Oz!, Star Wars, I Love Lucy!, Star Trek, Cartoons, Cats, Dogs – you name it!

 

4. Use Photo Fabric for the Ultimate Personalization. I love this idea as it instantly creates a super fun memorial pillow.  There are many brands of photo fabric out there – but for me, I find these two brands EQ Printables or June Tailor Computer Printer Fabric to be the most reliable and both are available at your local quilt shop or Joann’s Fabrics.

 

Here’s a block I made as a gift to Jenny Doan at the Missouri Star Quilt Company!

Here are a few tips when working with photo fabric:

— Resize your photo to a 5″ x 7″ – but make sure when you trim the photo to 4″ x 6″ that you have left ample head room to do so and you wont be cutting off someone’s head ! Also color correct it and “sharpen” it if needed with your photo app or photo program on your computer.

— Before printing on the photo fabric, print the image on a paper – waste a lot of paper until you are sure you have the image correctly sized and framed within the final 4″x6″ margins!   Photo Fabric is very expensive and you usually only get 5 or so sheets in a packet.

— When you are ready to print the image on photo fabric, do not print your image using the fine or photo settings on your inkjet printer.  This will lay down way too much ink on the photo fabric and your image will appear very dark and may even smudge as it comes through your printer. Just use the regular settings and the photo should print on the phot fabric just fine!

— To heat set the image so the block can be washed,  follow the photo fabric manufacturer’s directions.  Each company is slightly different!  Full disclosure here – I don’t heat set my photo fabric as I don’t wash my blocks.  Many of the projects I make are samples or for display only. There are ways though to heat set so you may want to print a test photo and try it first before your final photo printing!

Complete Your TV Block into a Wallhanging or Pillow —

To Make Into a Wallhanging – Once the TV screen has been fused and stitched in place, just add some batting and a backing fabric square that is 12-1/2″ x 12-1/2″.  Then quilt the block as desired and bind to create a small wallhanging.

I like to use a straight stitch or even my serpentine stitch (#4 on the Bernina) to stitch lines about a 1/4″ apart.  It looks like radio waves or TV signals!

 

If you did not want to bind your ModTV block, you could frame it using a 12″ x 12″ record album frame from Michael’s Arts & Crafts!

To Make Into a Pillow – As above, once the TV screen has been fused and stitched in place, just add some batting and 2 backing fabric rectangles that measure 9-1/2″ x 12-1/2″.  Also purchase a 12″ x 12″ pillow form from your local shop.   Place the batting on the wrong side of the block and machine quilt the block using a decorative stitch as described above or just stitch around the TV shape to give the block some texture.

For the backing of the pillow – Turn and press only one 9-1/2″ outer edge (not the 12-1/2” edge though) of each backing piece 1/4” over twice to the wrong side to encase the raw edge. Topstitch down the edge to secure.

Place the two backing fabric units RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER over the MODTV block and stitch around all sides. Turn the unit right side out and poke out the corners. Stuff with a 12” x 12” travel pillow form through the slit on the backside.

This now concludes our ModTV QuiltAlong – send me your pictures so we can see your cute and fun retro TV sets!

Thank you so much for following along and for your continued support!  Look for more Colourwerx QuiltAlongs on our Colourwerx Facebook page or on our website under QuiltAlongs!

Until your next colour fix – happy quilting!  Linda & Carl xxoo

 

 

 

 

 

 

ModTV QAL: Week #2 – Piece the TV & Legs

Welcome back!   It’s Week #2 of our ModTV QuiltAlong! !  This week we’ll be ‘slashin’ and sewin’ the TV Set and the TV leg units, so get ready to throw out everything you learned about exact cutting and piecing and get ready for some cut loose, liberated fun!

But first — If you’re just joining us this week, be sure to review Week #1’s Blog Post to find out how to purchase the pattern and what fabrics and materials you’ll need to gather –

READ THE MODTV QAL WEEK #1 POST BY CLICKING HERE

Also, just a friendly reminder!   If you want to join with other quilty friends and aren’t yet a member of our Facebook group, I invite you to join our free QAL Facebook group where you can ask questions, share your progress and of course, post pictures of your finished projects so everyone can share in the fun!  Also feel free to share this invite and any other QAL news with quilty buddies and invite them to join along in the fun!

You can also subscribe to our Colourwerx You Tube channel right here!

JOIN THE COLOURWERX QAL FACEBOOK GROUP HERE
SUBSCRIBE TO THE COLOURWERX YOU TUBE CHANNEL RIGHT HERE

I love ‘slash ‘n sew’ piecing!  It’s liberating, easy to do and best of all you don’t need to have an exact or even perfect 1/4″ seam or be that careful at cutting.  The whole idea is to get wonky.  And quite frankly, it’s that ‘wonkiness’ that gives these little retro TV’s their personality! So let’s get started!

Be on the lookout for Week #2’s companion video as well! 

 

Organize Your Fabric Pieces —
The TV block which finishes at 12″ x 12″ is made up of three separate units:  The TV, the Leg Unit and the the Antenna Unit.  First things first – you should have already precut your pieces for at least (1) ModTV Block in Week #1.  if not, refer back to pages 1 & 2 of the ModTV pattern to find the cutting directions and dimensions.

Separate all the cut pieces into the three groups. Refer to the pattern near the beginning of each section (i.e.: page 3 – Part One – Stitch the TV Set Unit), and you will find exactly which pieces from your TV fabric and your background fabrics should be placed in that grouping.

Here are the groups…..the TV….

The Legs….

….and The Antenna….

Stitch the TV Unit —
Turn to page 2 in the ModTV pattern.  Place the TV rectangle and Background (B/G) rectangles on the cutting board.

Slash up the sides like so (or refer to Fig 2 in the pattern). The key here is to slash at an ‘upward and outward’ angle to create a wonky shaped rectangle, and to try to slash each TV block you make slightly different.  But be careful not to slash too wide of a strip off or the TV will not finish at the right size (it may be too small when you complete piecing it).  I usually end up slashing about 1-1/2″ width near the bottom to about 3/4″ -1/2″ width at the top.  You can mark these measurements on the sides of your TV rectangle to guide you until you get more confident to “slash” without marking. 

Next – super simple!  Just flip the B/G rectangles over onto the edge of the slashed TV set edges.  Place them Right Sides Together on the TV set and stitch – you don’t even need to do a perfect 1/4″ seam here – just place your presser foot along the slashed edge and stitch.

Press the B/G rectangles outward and then place your ruler along the bottom and edge and trim the bottom edge of the TV unit even.  Set aside.  Not so bad right?!?

Stitch the Legs Unit  —
Turn to page 3 in the ModTV pattern and gather all of the pieces needed to make your TV Leg unit.   First, as stated at the top of page 3, be sure to cut in half the (2) 3-1/2″ squares to make (4) 1-3/4″ X 3-1/2″ rectangles – these will be the B/G rectangles that will be stitched on to either side of your leg pieces.

SUPER BIG HINT! I like to lay all of the pieces out on my cutting board like so.  As I stitch these leg units together I do not disturb what is on my cutting board.  When I take 2 pieces and stitch them together, I return them to their exact positions on the cutting board so as not to confuse myself about which pieces go where.

First fold the leg units in half lengthwise to create a center crease. Return to position.

Starting with the right leg, flip the B/G rectangle on the right side over and angle it from the bottom right corner to the center top edge of the leg unit like so (the center crease on the leg unit will guide you).

Stitch down the edge of the angled B/G rectangle and trim the any excess fabric away to reduce the bulk  leaving a 1/4″ seam allowance. Press the B/G rectangle outward.

Return the right leg unit back in position and flip the  B/G rectangle on the left side over and angle it from the bottom left corner to the center top edge of the leg unit like so.  Make sure that top edges of the B/G rectangles are overlapping each other at the top.  

Stitch down the edge of the angled B/G rectangle and trim the any excess fabric away to reduce the bulk  leaving a 1/4″ seam allowance. Press the B/G rectangle outward. Your leg unit should somewhat resemble the below photo. The leg unit will need to be trimmed and squared down.  Before trimming the unit,  I want to make sure my leg unit is centered so I draw (or crease) a line down the center of the leg.

Lining the pointy edge of the leg unit on the 1-1/4″ mark (which centers the leg unit under what will be the trimmed 2-1/2″ wide x 3″ long rectangle), trim the unit (refer to Fig 6-7 in the ModTv Pattern).   Repeat on the left leg to make one  pair of legs. (If for some reason, your leg unit is just “shy” (or smaller) than this, don’t worry  – just trim it as close to that measurement as possible.  When we complete the whole block, we will be trimming the block down to a final size and there will be extra fabric to trim away). 🙂

 

Again return the Leg units in position on the cutting board and sew the (5) pieces together to create the Leg Unit Strip. Press the seams according to Fig 8 in the ModTV Pattern.

Sew this Leg unit to the bottom of your TV unit!

That’s it for Week #2!!  Next week – Week #3 we’ll begin slashing and sewing our TV Antenna Unit together and making the Color Bar Blocks – woohoo!

Until then, please be sure to email us at colourwerx@yahoo.com if you have any questions.  Or feel free to post questions or progress pictures on our Colourwerx QAL Facebook Group.

Until your next colour fix and next week’s QAL post ~  happy and bright quilting always!    L&C xxoo

 

 

 

 

PaintBox QAL – Week #4 – Cutting the Triangles and Layout

Wow – can you believe we are already in Week #4 of our Colourwerx PaintBox QuiltAlong!  If you’re just joining us, you can catch up on Week #1-3’s blog posts right here:

Week 1 – Gather the Pattern and Materials
Week 2 – Sorting Your Strips Into Groups & Cutting
Week 3 – Stitching the Strips

This week is where all the magic happens and you begin to actually see your quilt top take shape!  First things first.  By now you should have stitched your strip sets together in groups as explained in detail in last week’s post – Week 3 – Stitching the Strips!

Now the fun begins where we cut the strips into the triangle shapes, and begin to play with our layout options.

Cutting the Triangles —
Gather together  the coloured strips sets and the Creative Grids Quarter Square Triangle Ruler CGRT90 .

First a word about why I love, love the Creative Grids Brand of rulers and no – they are not paying me to say this – I just happen to really like the brand. 🙂
1.  Each ruler has a firm non-slip surface so the ruler pretty much stays put on your fabric;
2. The markings on the ruler are clear and easy to read;
3. My favorite part:  each ruler has a QR code stamped on the ruler.

Yup, that little funny looking square is actually an informational code that when scanned with the QR Reader App (available for all smart devices through the App Store) will then automatically take you to a video of how to use the ruler, special tips and tricks and perhaps a free pattern or two to use with your new ruler.   This little QR code is on each and every Creative Grids ruler even the most basic straight rulers.  Just download the QR Reader app from onto your device…then open the application and your camera will appear on the screen – hover the screen of the camera over the QR code on the ruler and loike magic, you will be taken to the corresponding QR video!

Here’s a link to the tutorial from Creative Grids for the triangle ruler:

Now onto cutting your triangles!  Lay your first strip set across your cutting board and place the triangle ruler on top.  Place the top tip of the ruler aligned with the top edge of your strips – the bottom strip edge should align straight across the appropriate measurement of your ruler as diagrammed in the pattern on page 2.

Hold on though! – We can’t all be perfect piecers all the time so it’s ok if your strip set width is not measuring exactly to the desired size as specified in the pattern….a hair off here and there or a wobble in piecing between strips is perfectly ok.  You will need to cut (4) triangles from each strip set and you will find that you will have more than enough fabric to cut around your tiny imperfections in strip piecing.

TAKE NOTE THOUGH!! Next and probably the most important thing to remember about cutting the triangles is to keep the horizontal sewn seams from strip 1 to strip 2 to strip 3 to strip 4 running horizontally straight and true under the horizontal ruler lines – see page 2 Step 3 for detailed information on this step but the picture below also gives you a good idea of what to look for before making your first cut.   Cut your first triangle.

Rotate the ruler upside down and align the left diagonal edge of the ruler to the left diagonal cut edge of the strip set.  (Of course these instructions are for right handers – if you are left handed, you may be aligning on the right hand side of the strip set and then cutting from right to left).  Again before cutting make sure the horizontal seams of your strip set are running horizontally straight and true under the ruler measurement lines.

Many times you will find that after you line up the  horizontal seams of the strip set under the ruler, that the cut diagonal left edge of the strip set will not line up perfectly with the left diagonal edge of the ruler – that’s ok.  See the photo below for an exaggerated example…..

That’s ok – again, you have plenty of fabric to cut yourself a new diagonal edge.   Continue cutting the remaining (9) coloured strips sets into triangles.

Cutting the Sashing Triangles –
Gather the sashing strip sets and your triangle ruler.  Keeping the above notes in mind, follow along on page 3-4 and cut triangles from each of these strip sets.

Piece the Sashing Triangles – 
Gather the sashing triangles and following along in the pattern on page 4-Step 1-2, stitch (2) triangles together to form a larger triangle.   If you pressed each seam set in the same direction from seam to seam, you will find that when matching 2 triangles together that the seams will already go in opposite directions.

Sometimes you might have to toss a triangle in the pile to the side until a partner (with seams pressed in the opposite direction) appears in the pile.  Regardless, stitch the triangles together and press the seams in one direction.

Layout!
Now the fun begins!  It’s time to lay out all of the sashing triangles and coloured triangles in formation on your floor or design board – follow the Quilt Top Diagram on page 6.

If you colored in the B&W line art quilt top diagram from Week 1 , then this next step is easy.  If not, there’s still time and  you may want to download the line art below and have a little colouring session before  proceeding.  Believe me it makes a world of difference and at the very least give you a starting point when laying out your units.

DOWNLOAD AND PRINT THE PAINT BOX LINE ART HERE

Here’s my original drawing and my first layout….

LAYOUT #1

I think I might leave this up on my design wall for a few days and ponder the layout.  Things look different after you let them ferment for awhile if you know what I mean.  And I may want to play around with the subtle color changes from strip set to strip set to see if something different happens. You can also take a photo and look at your layout from there.  It’s amazing how the photo gives you a slightly different perspective than being up close and in person.

As a sidenote, you may be wondering what my design wall in the above photo is made of and what it is attached to.  It is actually (2) 4′ x 8′ pieces of  lightweight foam insulation board (available from Lowes or Home Depot) and then covered in batting.  They are then attached with 3M sticky tabs to the sliding glass closet doors in my sewing studio. Viola!  Instant design wall and storage space in the closet!

That’s it for this week!  Join us next week for Week #5 – Quilt Top Assembly.  I’ll report back if I changed anything in my Layout above and then how to stitch the rows together to finally assemble your quilt top.

Until then, please be sure to email us at colourwerx@yahoo.com if you have any questions.  Or feel free to post progress pictures on our Colourwerx QAL Facebook Group.

Until your next colour fix and next week’s QAL post ~  happy and bright quilting always!    L&C xxoo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fall Quilt Market Fun!

It’s been a whirlwind these last few weeks (in fact the whole year!) but I  finally found time to sit down and share with you our experience at the recent International Quilt Market in Houston, Texas.  The International Quilt Market took place October 26th-28th (always over my birthday wouldn’t you know it!) and is THE PLACE to see all the new fabrics, patterns and products by shop owners and industry professionals before they arrive in the shops some six months later.

We didn’t have a booth this time around but rather chose to “be free” and able to roam the show floor – this was a first for us and very liberating!  As always, Market is full of seeing old friends, meeting new ones , super fun antics and just an all around generally inspiring, terrific quilty experience!

We debuted six new patterns for Quilt Market – You can see them below in the slide show, and we’ll highlight each of these new patterns  in future blog posts, but all are available for order in our Colourwerx shop right now!

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We had several versions of our new quilts displayed with various companies throughout the quilt market floor.

First, we collaborated again with our good friends at Island Batiks and five of our quilts were displayed in a special preview window at the front of the Island Batiks Booth (slideshow below).  All of these quilts were made using the new and super gorgeous Jewel Box Batik Collection designed by Kathy Brett Engle for Island Batiks and coming to a shop near you in February 2020.   Check out the fabrics in the link above! Just lovely!!

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We also collaborated again with our  partners at Free Spirit Fabrics and always welcome opportunities to make our new patterns using Kaffe Fassett’s newest fabrics or other beautiful collections coming soon.  Here’s our PaintBox pattern in both the Warm and Cool colorway of Kaffe’s new fabrics- arriving in shops in February 2020 and we will also have kits available too.

We  also made our new Waterfall pattern in Martha Negley’s newsest fabric collection called Veggies – I am super in love with the rich jewel tones of Martha’s newest collection and the vegetable designs of carrots, beets and cabbage are to die for – it partners super well with all things Kaffe and I just love it .

Continuing on with our collaboration and great friendship with Christa Watson of Christa Quilts.com – I was thrilled when she asked if I would make our new Paint Box pattern in her new fabric collection called GridWork.  Of course I would!  Here’s the finished version and of course a cute picture of Christa & I in her colorful booth at Quilt Market. Her new fabrics, GridWork will be coming to your local quilt shop in February!

We also formed a new relationship with Windham Fabrics and their popular fabric designer, Carrie Bloomston.  You all know Carrie by her popular fabric design, Love Newsprint that we sell in our Colourwerx shop right here!

Carrie’s fabric collections are always full of whimsical motifs and adventures and mostly have a collage look with super beautiful color palettes of magentas, turquoises and golds.  Her newest collection “Wish” was fabulous and fun and we were thrilled to make our ModBlossom quilt for display in her booth!  Carl and  loved meeting Carrie and also love her new Wish fabric collection which will be coming to shops in the Spring!

Last but not least and perhaps most exciting, because we were free to roam the show floor, we were finally able to share our fabric design portfolio with many of the fabric companies’ design directors.   We can’t say anything just yet, but Carl and I were super pleased by the positive feedback we received regarding our fabric designs and are excited to explore this additional design avenue in our business! Look for more news on this in the very near future! 🙂

Until your next colour fix – thanks as always for following along and Happy Fall!  L&C xxoo

 

ColourMaze QAL – Week #1 – Choosing Your Strip Roll and Different Combinations

Hello!  And welcome to the ‘first week’ of the ‘first ever’ Colourwerx QAL (quilt along) where we’ll be making our super fun ColourMaze quilt!

First, I want to thank you so much for joining us for our first QAL.  Whether you’ll be sewing up the pattern along side us or just observing from afar, we welcome you and are overwhelmed by your enthusiasm so far – so thank you, thank you, thank you!

Also, we invite you to join our free QAL Facebook group where you can ask questions, share your progress and of course, post pictures of your finished projects so everyone can share in the fun!  Also feel free to share this invite and any QAL news with other quilty buddies and invite them to join along in the fun!

JOIN THE COLOURWERX QAL FACEBOOK GROUP HERE

I also have a companion video on or Colourwerx UTube channel so if you’d like to watch me ‘yak on’ instead of reading this post – you’ll find that video here…

So this is Week#1 of the Colourmaze QAL –  First let’s review the schedule!
As you can see it’s a 4-week QAL but you can take it at your own pace and join in anytime.  All of the videos and blog posts will remain here, as well as be posted on our website and social media pages throughout the year.  It’s free to join and you can choose to make the 50″x70″ lap quilt, or just a few blocks for a table runner or placemats, or just even one block – it’s all your choice!   So feel free to hop in anytime!

Here’s what you’ll need though to join in on the stitchin’ fun –
• The ColourMaze pattern by Colourwerx

PURCHASE THE COLOURMAZE PATTERN – PAPER VERSION
PURCHASE THE COLOURMAZE PATTERN – PDF VERSION

•  Background Fabric – 1-3/4 yards – choose a coordinating fabric to the strip roll or a neutral color with perhaps a tone on tone texture;

•  A strip roll (or jelly roll) – choose a strip roll containing (40) precut 2-1/2″ wide strips.  If you’d like you can choose these other options as well:

— Bust Your Stash – Cut (40-42) 2-1/2″ wide x 41-43″ long strips from your stash;
— 6″ Design Roll – this is a roll containing 20 fabrics all cut at 6″ x WOF – you would need to cut (2) 2-1/2″ strips from each of the (20) strips to make (40) 2-1/2″ strips for the project;
— Fat Quarter Bundle – a Fat Quarter is (18″ x 22″).  Choose a bundle that has at least (21) fat quarters and you would need to cut (4) 2-1/2″ x 21″ strips from each of the Fat Quarters.

•  Optional for the QAL – Binding : 5/8 yard and Backing Fabric : 4-1/2 yards

I always think that seeing different color combinations with a new quilt pattern is helpful when choosing fabrics so here a few different color combinations we have designed using some of our favorite fabric designers’ collections…

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You can purchase fabric kits for most of these combinations here:

PURCHASE THE KAFFE FASSETT RAINBOW FABRIC KITS
PURCHASE THE VIOLET CRAFT MODERN BASICS FABRIC KIT
PURCHASE THE GEO POP FABRIC KIT FROM CHRISTAQUILTS.COM

Preparing Your Fabrics for Week #2:
1.  Once you’ve selected your fabrics, be sure to measure the precut 2-1/2″ strips for accuracy.  Flash – flash – not all strip rolls are cut exactly alike or are accurately cut by the fabric factories! Yup – it’s just the way the ball bounces here in the quilting world and there are inconsistencies on these precuts from fabric company to fabric company.

So go ahead and unroll that strip roll and measure the width of the strip.  You may find as I did, that some need a little tiny trim off the width to make them a perfect 2-1/2″ wide.  (And remember if your strip roll has a pinked edge, you would measure from the outer tip of the pinked edge).

2.  Next, feel free to starch your background fabric and the 2-1/2″ strips if needed.  However – warning – DO NOT PREWASH YOUR STRIPS.  The strips are pretty fragile and if you wash and dry them, there will be tears (literally) – The strips will shrivel up and be unsable – trust me on this one!

3.  Lastly, each ColourMaze block is made using (2) different 2-1/2″ strips plus some background fabric.  So to prepare for Week #2 and cutting, pair up your strips for each block you will be making.  If you are making (1) block, then you will need (2) 2-1/2″ x WOF strips; if you are making the 50″x70″ Lap Size, then  you will need  (20) pairs of strips….

….which brings us to a burning question where the 50″x70″ Lap Quilt is concerned….There are actually (21) blocks to make and you might be asking yourself “Where do I get the extra 2 strips for that 21st block if I am using a strip roll that only contains 40 strips?”  Well I have the answer below…  As you group your strips together this week, start thinking about which option you might like to choose:

 OPTION #1:  If your strips measure aprox. 42-43″ long, there is a way to cut your pieces more efficiently from each strip in order to have the necessary fabric left over to create the 21st block.  In next week’s blog post and tutorial video, I will demo this for you so wait for the answer before cutting;

OPTION #2:  Once we cut the strips next week, there will be generous offcuts of each strip left over…so you could choose to cut your 21st block from these offcuts and create a scrappy block that goes in the center or off to one side of your quilt.  You can also use these offcuts to make your binding strips (which is what I’m going to do) or to make scrappy placemats or a table runner at a later date.

OPTION #3:  If you wish to purchase your binding fabric this week, purchase as the pattern states 5/8 yard.  This 5/8 yard is more than enough fabric to create your binding strips and also allows you extra yardage to cut the extra (2)  2-1/2″ wide strips to add to your (40) strips to make the (21) blocks total.

Next week – Week #2: we’ll be Cutting Your Strips and Background Fabric – woohoo!

Until then, please be sure to email us at colourwerx@yahoo.com if you have any questions.  Or feel free to post progress pictures on our Colourwerx QAL Facebook Group

Until your next colour fix and next week’s QAL post ~  happy and bright quilting always!    L&C xxoo

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let’s Talk Moody….

This week, we are so proud and excited to announce that one of our quilt designs and the pattern, “Moody” is featured in the new issue of July/August Modern Patchwork magazine. It’s always a thrill to see yourself and a quilt you’ve designed in print!  This issue is just hitting newsstands and is available for purchase here.

I also think it’s always interesting to hear about a ‘pattern’s history” – some patterns work right away and some like this one need to wait for the right fabrics to come along to make it “sing” (our term for when the design and fabrics work splendidly together – when they do, the quilt begins to “sing”…..tra-la-la-la)

This particular pattern was designed several months ago by Carl using the quilt software EQ7 (or Electric Quilt version 7).  It’s original design was in a hot, modern palette and all the blocks were intended to be appliqued over the super large 4-patch background. It’s also been a test quilt to audition other fabrics with large scale florals, etc… but the colors or combinations never quite “sang”.

At least not until Tula came along….

Last year, Tula Pink released her version of modern solids to coordinate perfectly with her other Tula Pink fabric collections, available from Free Spirit Fabrics.   I love the range and depth of her solids collection…it’s certainly not a traditional color wheel rainbow of solids, but imho, there’s just something a little more sophisticated, classy  and different with these colors….And of course, different means it’s a challenge and I like that!   These solids are now a stable at Free Spirit Fabrics and readily available at your local quilt shops and online.

So when we eyed  Tula’s solid collection, we immediately thought that our “Moody” quilt that had been waiting in the wings, had finally found a partner – yup -you guessed it – they made beautiful music and the quilt sang!


We submitted the design to Modern Patchwork magazine and they accepted it!  However, before we submitted it,  we made one major change to the construction – it’s all pieced.  We thought the pieced construction would 1) definitely be more challenging for the sewist and 2) evoked more of a modern feel to the overall quilt….

Figuring, checking and double checking the pieced dimensions and arithmetic was a bit of challenge, but after a few test blocks all was great! The quilt construction really goes together quite quickly!

Once the quilt top was complete using Aurifil 5o weight thread (of course) – our good buddy, Teresa at Quilting is my Bliss did an amazing job machine quilting with the grecian keys design.  All in all, I think the quilt came out gorgeous and definitely evokes an air of sophistication and of course ‘moodiness’ as the colored blocks seems to change  personality when they cross the dark and light backgrounds.

The pattern is indeed available in the current issue of Modern Patchwork now on sale.  And kudos to the editors as well – if you like the Tula Pink solids I used and want to duplicate it exactly color for color,  you’ll find the exact fabrics called out by color name on the materials list in the magazine – a nice added touch by the editors – :-  Thank you Modern Patchwork….

Until your next colour fix~  Linda & Carl

 

 

Mystic Gold

Fall Quilt Market is quickly approaching and guess what? – we are finally catching up with this blog post about quilts we designed for the Spring Quilt Market in St. Louis!  Oh my – how time does fly!

Fabric designer and artist, Anna Marie Horner, debuted her gorgeous new fabric collection called “Floral Retrospective” at the Spring Quilt Market – which is now out in stores  – and we were fortunate enough to be asked by Free Spirit Fabrics to design a quilt for their booth using her new fabrics.   Introducing Mystic Gold!

When Carl designed this pattern in EQ7 (Electric Quilt 7 software), he wanted to accentuate the rings moving outward from center (as if a pebble had been dropped in a calm pool of water) and give the quilt that almost mystical  “vibrating” or “zingey” look (think of hitting a gong) – hence the pointed tips around each curve.

And what looks to be complicated curved piecing –  really isn’t!  Here’s how we did it:

1.   A simple half squared triangle block is created first;
2. ….then we added the corner triangles;
3. …then we created the petal applique by sewing the lightest weight fusible interfacing right sides together with the fabric petal, slitting the center and turning the unit right side out;
4. …lastly, we fused the petal to the center seam line, topstitched the edges  and voila! – it looks like some serious curved piecing occurred when in fact, it was super easy!

Topstitching was super simple using my #10 Edgestitch Presser Foot (a must for this type of job!) and a matching 40wt Aurifil thread. Perfect every time!  If you’ve ever made an orange peel block, then this is very similar if not the same method indeed!

 

Teresa, from Quilting at my Bliss, did some awesome custom machine quilting.  The free motion feathers across each petal were to die for and her custom quilting in between was equally gorgeous. (click on the pictures to enlarge).

By the way, Teresa has a new book launching in October, called the “Longarm Quilting Workbook”.  It’s filled with great tips on basic skills, techniques and motifs to help get you started  longarm quilting – so if you’ve just purchased a longarm or are considering buying one – this would be a great book to consider adding to your reference library.  And of course, if you’re just looking for some new and fun ideas on how to quilt something – there’s lots and lots and lots of eye candy!  Of course, you can buy directly from Teresa and have her autograph it too!

All in all, this one was super fun quilt to design and create,  and we were so honored that Free Spirit chose this one to hang in their booth at Spring Quilt Market.

If you like this design, it is now available as a free download on the their website – here’s the link!

Until your next colour fix~
Linda & Carl

 

 

Get Colour with The Color Game and Carl…

What do architects and quilters have in common?

A lot!   Design, harmony, structure, balance and a little math just to name a few.

On a recent trip to the Getty Museum in Los Angeles I came across a set of cards called “Color Game” by Ted Naos (more on Ted in a moment.)   There are 16 cards in each set (Ted also has designed several different sets varying in colour and shapes) –  each card is about 4″ x 4″ and has its own colour and a die-cut out pattern.  The purpose of the ‘game” is to learn about color interactions and experiment with color harmonies. 

More than likely these cards were never meant for quilters, however I noted that when the cards are individually set against a neutral background or even better,  stacked on top of each other (1, 2, 3 or even 4 cards) they create quilt blocks (see some of my examples below).

These cards are great inspiration and quite fun if you like to play around with colour (like I do) – and I might add – quite handy if you like to design your own quilt blocks!

Now a little bit about the inventor of ‘The Color Game”  –  Professor Ted Naos.  Born in Athens, Greece, Ted came to the United States to study architecture at the University of Texas at Austin followed by Columbia University in New York.   Some years later Ted moved to Washington, D.C. to join the faculty at the School of Architecture and Planning at the Catholic University of America.   As a Professor of Architecture at CUA, he has taught design for many years while also pursuing his professional practice and his passion in painting and three-dimensional graphics.

On his website you’ll not only find the “Color Game” card sets, but also a wide variety of 3-dimensional greeting cards, calendars (these are pretty neat!) and free standing, die-cut paper city scapes, all designed by Ted Naos.

Ted Naos Greeting Card

Ted Naos Holiday Card

Ted Naos Greeting Card

Ted Naos Color Calendars

Ted Naos New York Skyline

So the next time you visit the local bookstore or an art museum, you might give that gift shop a second look for some color fun like these “Color Game” cards.  If you can’t wait and like what you see,  you can order them directly from Ted Naos’ website here (and full disclosure: no, we were not asked or paid by Ted to link to his website – we just think this is a neat idea and wanted to share it with you…)

So check it out and have some colour fun…..!!!! Until your next colour fix~
Carl  (and Linda)