ModBox QAL – Week #2 – Decide Your Fabric Order and Precut

Hello!  And welcome back to the second week of our super fun new quiltalong: ModBox!

This week is all about deciding the order of your fabrics and then precutting.

By now you should have your fabrics selected for the color blocks, and also chosen (2) fabrics for your background. If you are just joining us this week, please refer back to Week #1’s ModBox Up QAL blog Post right here.

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COMPANION VIDEO –
Each week of the quiltalong, I always post a companion video and this week is no exception….If you’d like to view this week’s companion video to Week #2 of the ModBox QAL, view it here:

DECIDE YOUR COLOR ORDER:
Before you can begin precutting you need to decide what order you want the fabric within the colored blocks to appear. This will be the order they appear going down the first vertical row, and the order will repeat over and over again as you make the blocks. See page 1 of the ModBox pattern for more information.

There are no hard and fast rules here – anything goes and it’s whatever looks pleasing to your eye.

Keep in mind that the border strips around each colored block will be the next fabric in the order…meaning Fabric A’s block will be bordered with Fabric B’s strips and so on….

Here’s a couple hints to help you decide your order:

You could go in color wheel order – that ALWAYS works and is so harmonious! You don’t need to start with yellow either – can start from any color on the color wheel and just go round!

You could start with your lightest value fabric and then place others fabrics in order of value from lightest, to medium to darkest;

You could randomly select your first fabric and then look for the largest or strongest color in Fabric A and select that color for Fabric B and so on….That’s what I did when deciding upon my order!

If you are using a prepackaged fat quarter bundle, you could simply use the order in which the fat quarters are in the bundle. Fabric companies spend a lot of time and effort deciding upon the order of the fat quarter bundles to create the most pleasing arrangement and most of the time, it works perfectly!

Regardless, once you have decided upon the order of your fabrics, label the fabrics in order starting with A, B, C D and so on…..

You should also create a color key for yourself by snipping off a 1″ square of each fabric and stapling it to a piece of paper and writing the letter next to it. You will not need to label your background fabrics….

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PRECUT YOUR FABRICS:
Following the cutting directions for the size of quilt you are making on pages 1-2 in the pattern, precut your colored block fabrics and your background fabrics.

ORGANIZE YOUR BLOCK FABRICS:
The last step for Week #2 is to pair up colored blocks with border strips – refer to page 2 for more information. Simply though, take all of Fabric A’s blocks and place them with Fabric’s B border strips, Fabric B’s Blocks are placed with Fabric C’s border strips and so on….

Once complete, you are ready for Week #3 where we piece the block!

That is it for Week #2! I’ll be back next week for Week #3 – where we will begin piecing the blocks together !

Thank you for following along and until then, happy colouricious quilting! L&C xxoo

Feelin’ Groovy QAL – Week #4 – Paper Piecing (Technique #3)

Welcome back yet again!   It’s Week #4 of our Feelin’ Groovy QuiltAlong and it’s time to learn our last technique – Paper Piecing! This week we’ll be constructing the spikey outer border.

But first — If you’re just joining us this week or looking to catch up, be sure to catch last week’s blog post and video – it’s all about appliquéing the swirls to the background blocks.

READ THE FEELIN’ GROOVY WEEK #3 POST BY CLICKING HERE

Make Copies of the Spikey Outer Border Pattern —
First, you’ll need to make some copies of the spikey paper pieced pattern included in the Feelin’ Groovy pattern.

You can use a cheap thin copy paper to do so and your home printer.

Or you can use Carol Doak’s Foundation Paper sold at most quilt shops. This is a paper specifically made for paper piecing and can also be sent through your printer to make copies.

TAKE NOTE!! Make sure when you make a copy that you have your printer set to “print at 100%” or “actual size”. Make a test copy and refer to the 1″ scale in the bottom left hand corner of the pattern. If this scale doesn’t measure 1″ EXACTLY as it says you know something is off. Additionally measure around the dotted lines of the spikey paper pieced pattern…it should measure 6-1/2″ x 9-1/2″.

For the Lap Quilt size on the pattern cover, you’ll need to make a total (18) copies and for the Baby Size, you’ll need a total of (12) copies. Make yourself a few extra copies just in case!

Cutting Your Strips —
I found that for this particular pattern that if I cut all of my black and white scrap fabric into 3” X 8” strips, I could easily and speedily paper piece the spikey border pattern in no time. So cut a variety of black and white fabrics into 3″ x 8″ strips.

What is Paper Piecing?–
“Paper Piecing”, or also referred to as “Foundation Piecing”, simply means to assemble a unit piece by piece using a paper-printed pattern or muslin fabric pattern as the foundation for the fabric strips. Paper piecing is super fun, super easy and super accurate – you’ll never cut off another point that’s for sure.

First, you need to just wrap your brain around the fact that you are sewing backwards or somewhat in reverse. Before begininng let’s start off with some handy tips to help you along the way – these are also in the pattern on pages 3-4!

• Reduce your stitch length on your machine to 2 or a little smaller – this will help perforate the paper and make it easier to remove later;

• The printed side of the paper (with all of the patterns, marking and numbers) will be the side you sew on and therefore it will become the WRONG side of the unit when complete;

• The solid lines on the pattern denote the lines you sew on. Sew directly on all solid lines starting with “Sew 1”, – starting and ending your stitching several stitches before after the sew line;

• Note that each part of the unit has a number and a color – piece the unit together in the numerical order indicated starting with 1, then 2, 3, 4 and so on. Do not deviate from the numerical order listed;

• Cut a separate piece of fabric for each numbered section of the pattern. The fabric piece should completely cover the numbered section and extend at our over all the dashed lines of the section;

• For paper piecing, place fabric pieces on the unprinted side of the pattern over the appropriate numbered pattern section. For this step, you may need to hold the pattern up to the light to see the section lines or place pins along the lines to guide you in placing your fabric strip over the correct section.

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For exact paper piecing instructions, I always think a visual example is better – so here is my companion video for the week. You can also follow along in the pattern on pages 4-6 for detailed paper piecing instructions, more descriptions and diagrams.

Once your first unit is complete, trim the unit to 6-1/2″ x 9-1/2″ on the dashed lines. DO NOT REMOVE THE PAPER ! We will do that next week when we put the quilt top together.

That’s it for Week #4!!  Next week – Week #5 – our final week – we’ll be putting it all together – 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

Feelin’ Groovy QAL: Week #1 – Gather the Pattern and Materials plus Precut For Week #2

Hello!  And welcome to the ‘first week’ of our sixth Colourwerx QAL (quilt along) where we’ll be making our super fabulous and oh – so #colouricious quilt called “Feelin’ Groovy”. This is a super fun quilt to make and is also a great skill builder project! We’ll be learning three techniques in one quilt: Slash n Sew Squares, Easy Machine Applique and Beginning Paper Piecing!

First, I want to thank you so much for joining us here.   If you want to meet with other Colourwerx 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!

JOIN THE COLOURWERX QAL FACEBOOK GROUP HERE

Each week of the quiltalong, also look for a companion video to be posted either on the ‘day’ linked to this post or a few days later.   If you’d like to receive alerts to when the videos are posted and other neat tutorials and replays of our Fab Friday Live broadcasts, then subscribe to our Colourwerx YouTube channel right here!

If you’d like to view this week’s companion video to the Week #1 of the Feelin’ Groovy QuiltAlong, here it is:

So this is Week#1 of the Feelin’ Groovy QAL –  First let’s review our 5-week schedule! As you can see it’s an easy going  5-week QAL, but please know that 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 on the social media pages throughout the year. 

Week #1 – GATHER YOUR PATTERN & MATERIALS —
Here’s what you’ll need to join in on the stitchin’ fun –
• The Feelin’ Groovy Pattern!
And great news? – the pattern is now 20% off!

Purchase the Feelin Groovy Paper Pattern here!
Purchase the Feelin Groovy PDF Pattern here!

Fabrics —
For the Appliqued Swirls and the Swirl Background:
It may look overwhelming to gather fabrics for this quilt – but it’s really quite easy! The backgrounds for the appliqued swirls are made from 4 different fabrics of the same color that are slashed apart and then sewn back together. The swirl appliques can also be cut out from these fabrics.

So to start gathering your fabrics – think of creating (5) different color groups like: Yellow, Fucshia, Purple, Blue and Green. Then choose 4 different fabrics in that color range and place them in the color group – i.e.: choose (4) Yellows, (4) Reds, (4) Blues etc.. for a total of 20 fabrics.

The great thing about this fun little quilt is anything goes: All solids! All Blenders! or a Mixture of Prints, Batiks or Solids. You could even think about using just one tonal colored fabric for each background square and not slash n sew at all….or perhaps a variety of black and white fabrics….or a fun multi print – whatever floats your boat and makes you happy! 🙂

Anyway – here’s some quick tips for gathering yardage amounts:
• If you are headed out to the quilt shop, a Fat Quarter or 1/3 yard of (20) fabrics will due. PRECUT for NEXT WEEK: When you get home, cut (1) 11″ square and (1) 9″ square from each of the fabrics.

•. If you are raiding your stash, just slice (1) 11″ square and (1) 9″ square from each the (20) different fabrics.

For the Spikey Paper Pieced Border:
Again this can appear overwhelming but it’s not! For the paper pieced spikey border, just gather a good assortment of black and white prints. You’ll need about 3 yards total for the quilt and that includes the small corner swirls blocks. Keeping in mind that fat quarters are equal to a 1/4 yard, that would be about (12) fat quarters (or (6) white and (6) black). I pulled a variety from my stash but then again, I love a good “black and white mix up” so for me, the more the merrier!

If you’d like to just add a one-fabric border and skip the paper piecing all together, then just gather about 1-1/2 yards.

Other Materials Needed —
— (Optional for the quiltalong) Binding – 1/2 yard and Backing 3 yards;
— 3 yards of Adhesive Fusible Web for the Swirl Appliqués  (i.e.:  Heat n Bond Lite, Steam a Seam II Lite or Pellon Wonder Under

— 2-3 Yards of Stitching Stabilizer (i.e.:  Sulky Iron On Totally Stable Tear Away Stabilizer or any type of machine embroidery stabilizer) – This will help stabilize your zigzag or buttonhole stitches when appliqué stitching around the swirl shapes.

JUST ANOTHER OPTION —
Ok – now onto another option and what I am doing along side you: I’ll be making a smaller version of the Feelin’ Groovy quilt and you certainly can too! This 9-block option with border makes a cozy 40″ x 40″ baby size version in case you’re looking for a smaller project!

Yardage amounts for the Baby Version are as follows:
1. Swirl Backgrounds & Appliqued Swirls: (4) Color Groups with (4) Fabrics in each color group, so (16) fabrics total. Again, a Fat Quarter or a 1/3 yard cut from each fabric will be more than enough. (Truth betold, you could choose (3) colors groupings and use (4) fabrics in each group for a total of (12) fabrics but it won’t give you the variety from square to square).

2. Black & White Spikey Paper Pieced Border: Again, a good assortment of black and white fabrics – about 8-10 Fat Quarters or scraps totaling 2 yards should do it!

I raided my Moda Fabrics Grunge stash and here are my (4) color groupings (on top) and an assortment of swirl fabrics (on bottom). I cut a few extra 9″ squares for the swirls so I had some choices for Week #3’s Applique adventures. Additionally, I found this fun stripe (on the right) buried in my stash and may use it as the binding or even in the border. We shall see!

That’s it for Week #1! To be ready to start Week #2 – where we’ll Slash n Sew the Background Swirl Squares together, be sure to do the following:
1. Purchase the Feelin’ Groovy Pattern;
2. Gather your Materials (see above or refer to the back of the pattern for yardage amounts);
3. From each of the (20) Background/Swirl Fabrics, arrange in (5) color groupings and cut from each fabric: (1) 11″ square and (1) 9″ square. (If making the smaller Baby version, you’ll only use 12-16 fabrics but still cut the same sizes from each fabric).

See ya next week! 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

Splendor QAL: Week #4 – Layout and Finish the Quilt Top

Whoop!  Whoop!  We are almost complete with our Splendor Quilt!  This is the final week of our quilt along and I do hope you all have been enjoying making these fab flower blocks!

This week – Week #4 – is all about laying out all the blocks and pieces and stitchin’ up that quilt top.  Relax and enjoy the process – it’s easy stitchin! 🙂

1. But first, just a reminder that all of your petals (large and small) should be appliqued stitched to their individual background blocks at this point. If you need reference, refer back to Week #2 & Week #3 of our Splendor QuiltAlong posts.

Read Splendor QAL Week #2 – Applique the Small Flower Blocks
Read Splendor QAL Week #3 – Applique the Large Flower Block

Also be sure to remove all of that stabilizer from the backside of your blocks.  I like to score mine with a straight pin and carefully tear away the stabilizer using tweezers if needed in the narrower sections between the petals. 

2. Next, following the Splendor Background Diagram on page 2 of the Splendor pattern, lay out all of your pieces on your design board or floor.  Take special note of which way some of the smaller flower blocks are orientated (look at the large petal on the small flower block – is it pointing  up, down to the right or to the left??  – these differences in orientation  give the circle of small flowers movement and rhythm around the large center flower block.

Once you are satisfied with your layout, stitch the background strips to each background corner block. Refer to the page 2 of the Splendor pattern again.

Next, stitch the single background  strip to its corresponding small flower block.

Not so hard right!?!

3.  And to finish your quilt top, refer to page 5 in the Splendor pattern and begin to stitch blocks together to form a row.  You’ll have a top row, a middle row (which will consist of the larger center flower block we created in Week #3) and a bottom row.

Watch the video below for how easy!!

Once all three rows are stitched together – your Splendor Quilt top is complete!

Great job and bravo! Now you’re ready to machine quilt some awesome designs in all of that negative space in the background or  send the top to your favorite machine quilter to do the same!

I’ll be sending this off to my favorite machine quilter, Teresa of Quilting is my Bliss who also machine quilted the first Splendor quilt! Below  are some up close photos of the fabulous quilting Teresa did on the first Splendor quilt!!  I’ll be sure to post the photos of the second Splendor quilt when she completes it!

This now concludes our Splendor QuiltAlong – send me your pictures so we can see your beautiful quilts!

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 #3 – Piece the Antenna & Color Bar Blocks

We are back again!   I hope you’re enjoying our series of free quilt alongs!  Again, if you are new here, I invite you to join or subscribe to either our Colourwerx QuiltAlong Facebook page or our Colourwerx YouTube channel so you don’t miss out on any of the fun! I always post a weekly companion video to each quilt along  blog post and other tutorials on You Tube!

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

It’s Week #3 of our ModTV QuiltAlong! !  This week we’ll be ‘slashin’ and sewin’ the TV Antenna Units together, and if you are making the Lap Size Quilt, piecing the Color Bar Blocks together.

Let’s get started….

 

Stitch the Antenna Unit  —
Turn to page 4 in the ModTV pattern and gather all of the pieces needed to make your TV Antenna unit.   First, as stated at the top of page 4, be sure to cut in half diagonally the (2) larger squares to make (4) triangles, and cut in half diagonally one of the smaller squares to create (2) triangles.

BIG HINT! I like to lay all of the pieces out on my cutting board like so.  As I stitch these Antenna 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 antenna strips  in half lengthwise to create a center crease. Return to position.

Starting with the right antenna, flip the B/G triangle on the right side over and angle it from the bottom right corner to the center top edge of the antenna unit like so (the center crease on the antenna unit will guide you). See Fig 10 on page 4 of the pattern.

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

Return the right antenna unit back in position and flip the B/G triangle on the left side over and angle it from the bottom left corner to the center top edge of the antenna unit like so.  Make sure that top edges of the B/G triangles are overlapping each other by about 1″ at the top and that there is at least an 1″ overhang of the B/G triangles on the bottom edge (see Fig 11 on page 4).  Again, stitch down the edge of the angled B/G triangle and trim any excess fabric away to reduce the bulk  leaving at least a 1/4″ seam allowance. Press the B/G triangle outward. Your antenna unit should somewhat resemble the below photo.

Next. rotate the unit 180 degrees, lay your ruler across the top slightly angling it and slash off the top edge of the Antenna unit .

Take the smaller triangle and place the long diagonal edge right sides together along the top edge of the Antenna unit and stitch it in place (see Fig 12-13 on page 4).

The antenna unit will now need to be trimmed and squared down.  Before trimming the unit, place your square ruler on the Antenna unit and double check that you are leaving a 1/4″ seam allowance near the bottom  tip  of the unit.  Trim the unit to a 4″ square (see Fig 14 in the pattern).  Be sure to return the unit back in position on your cutting board!

Repeat the above to create a second Antenna unit.

Next referring to Fig 15 and adding the B/G Top Filler strip in place,  stitch the (5) pieces together to create the Antenna Unit Strip. Press the seams according to Fig 15 in the ModTV Pattern.

Next gather your TV Set with Legs (created in Week #2) , place the Antenna Unit skewing it across the the top edge of the TV set at a wonky angle – you can tilt it from right to left or left to right.  Stitch the two units Right Sides Together across the top edge.   And if you are making several ModTV blocks, remind yourself from block to block to alternate the direction you skew the Antenna, so you create a delightful variety of different wonky ModTV blocks.

Square your ModTV block to 12-1/2″ square.  If for some reason, your ModTV block is not large enough to fit inside the 12-1/2″ square boundaries, simply stitch a thin strip of the background fabric onto the side (or sides) that need enlarging – no one will ever know that you added these strips to enlarge your block to the 12-1/2″ measurement and it will look fabulous when complete!

Stitch the Color Bar Blocks  —
These fun little color blocks are only needed if you are planning on making the Lap Size Quilt or perhaps you might like to use them as end caps blocks if you are making a wallhanging or table runner.

You can make these from either cutting strips from the extra TV fabric or from scraps from your stash.

It’s simple straight forward patchwork piecing and alas – I am afraid that you will need to use you a 1/4″ seam, when piecing these together so the block comes out correctly.

Referring to the directions on page 6 of the pattern, arrange the pieces on your cutting table or near your sewing machine.

Yup – you got it! – stitch those pieces together with a 1/4″ seam following the directions on page 6.  Voila!

That’s it for Week #3!!  Next week – Week #4: we’ll talk about personalizing your TV screen with a photo or licensed fabric and finish off the project into a pillow, little wallhanging or the quilt!

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