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

 

 

 

 

ModTV QAL: Week #1 – Gather the Pattern and Materials plus Precut for One Block

Hello!  And welcome to the ‘first week’ of our fourth Colourwerx QAL (quilt along) where we’ll be making our super fun ModTV block (and or quilt)!

First, I want to thank you so much for joining us here and on our Facebook Colourwerx QuiltAlong Page.  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, 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

Look for a companion video to be posted in a few days!  If you’d like to receive alerts to when the videos are posted and other neat tutorials, then subscribe to our Colourwerx UTube channel right here!

You can watch our ModTV Intro Video by clicking here!

So this is Week#1 of the ModTV QAL –  First let’s review the schedule!

As you can see it’s a 4-week QAL this time, 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 social media pages throughout the year.  My quilt alongs are always  free to join and I’ll be making a 12″ TV block along with you over the next 4 weeks.  I’ll also show you other ModTV quilts I have made and ways you can personalize your ModTV block by changing out the TV screen shape to a licensed fabric or a fabric photo.  But first things first….

GATHER YOUR PATTERN & MATERIALS —
Here’s what you’ll need to join in on the stitchin’ fun –
• The ModTV pattern by Colourwerx – and great news? – the ModTV pattern is now 20% off until May 31st!  Yippee!

PURCHASE THE MODTV PATTERN – PAPER VERSION
PURCHASE THE MODTV PATTERN – PDF VERSION

Fabrics —
•  To Make just (1) ModTV block –
— (2) Fat Quarters;
— 3″ x 6″ scrap for the TV Antenna;
— 5″ x 7″ Piece of Fusible Web to Fuse the TV screen in place (i.e.:  Heat n Bond Lite, Steam a Seam II Lite or Pellon Wonder Under;
**For each additional TV block you’d like to make just add a another pair of fat quarters and a fabric scrap for the TV Antenna.

•  To Make the Larger 48″ x 54″ Quilt (16 TV’s plus (4) Color Bar Blocks) – refer to the cover of the pattern –
— (16) Coordinating Fabrics – 3/8 yard each fabric;
— Dark Grey (or Black) plus a White (for color bars) – 1/6 yard each;
— (Optional for the quiltalong) Binding – 1/2 yard and Backing 3-1/2 yards;
— 1-1/2 yards of Fusible Web to Iron the TV screen in place (i.e.:  Heat n Bond Lite, Steam a Seam II Lite or Pellon Wonder Under

Also begin to think about whether you might like to personalize the TV screen with a piece of licensed fabric (like ‘I Love Lucy’ or ‘Star Wars’), or perhaps a fun zigzag print that looks like static, or a photo of a favorite person or family pet (photo should be sized to 4″ x 6″).

If you do want to use a photo, be sure to purchase some photo fabric from your local quilt shop or at a Joann’s Fabrics or Walmart.  I prefer the brands EQ Printables or June Tailor Computer Printer Fabric.  Make sure you select the type for your printer at home:  InkJet or Laser.

 

Precut to be ready for Week #2 —
First off, before cutting – I really, really, really  like to starch my fabric.  Mary Ellen’s Best Press is terrific stuff but it it’s too pricey to use on larger pieces…so when I need to starch several yards or a larger piece, I use the Faultless Gold Top Firm Finish Spray Starch. First you can’t beat the price at like $1.99 a can – available at Target, Walmart, the supermarket, etc….  Secondly, I just happen to love the way it makes my fabric feel.  It gives the fabric a firm hand but not too stiff and makes my cutting and piecing more precise.  Use a hot dry iron (no steam) and definitely starch the fabric before you make that first cut as the fabric may shrink ever so slightly after the starch is ironed dry.

Next,  precut your fabrics to make (1) TV block –
•  If just making a single TV block:  gather your (2) fat quarters, or;
•  If making the pattern cover Lap Size Quilt, select (2) fabrics – 3/8 yard each fabric.

Follow all of the cutting directions and dimensions in the ModTV  pattern on pages 1 & 2.  In the pattern there is also a handy insert page which details and diagrams how to cut your pieces from the 3/8 yard cut or the fat quarter to ensure that you get all of your pieces from the yardage.

And with all of these pieces, it can really get confusing so here’s my BIG TIP for the week!  –  be sure to label each of your pieces to keep them organized.  Each ModTV block is made from three sub units:  the TV unit,  the legs unit  & the antenna unit.  All three units come together on the final step to create one 12″ finished ModTV block.  The TV screen is ironed on after the TV block is together.

If I’m making just one block, I might just use post it notes or scrap pieces of paper to label each of my pieces.

But, if I’m making several blocks, I open up my word processing program (like MS Word) and choose the address label template …I type in all of my unit names and then copy those descriptions (X) however many blocks I am making.

I then peel these labels off and apply them to each unit.  This little tip keeps you super organized and ready to to start piecing for next week!

That’s it for Week #1!!  Next week – Week #2: we’ll begin slashing and sewing our TV sets 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

LongArm Quilting Workbook by Teresa Silva

Welcome to the second to last stop on the LongArm Quilting Workbook blog hop!

It’s no big secret that Carl and I are huge fans of Teresa Silva (aka Quilting is my Bliss) and her gorgeous custom machine quilting.  In the 2 short years we’ve had the pleasure of working with Teresa, she has long arm quilted over two dozen quilts for us and all have been perfection!  Imho – Teresa is simply one of ‘the best’ custom quilters ever!…..Her intuitive nature consistently shines through on every project – picking just the right pattern to compliment the quilt mixed with  gorgeous threads and then topped off with that exquisite workmanship – all together creating stunning results every time without ever overpowering the overall quilt or fabrics.  And would you believe in all this time and through all those quilts – she, Carl and I have never met face to face (gasp!)…but all that will change soon when we meet up this month at the Houston Quilt Market – she’ll be there to promote her newest creation – the just published and fantastic read – “Longarm Quilting Workbook” from F&W Media – now available on her website or at Amazon.com.

First off – I love the fact that the book is spiral bound so you can easily lay it flat near your work surface or your sewing machine.

Secondly – it’s chocked full of detailed instruction with lots and lots of diagrams and pictures – there are over 20 plus quilting exercises explaining  in detail how to do all those super cool designs we all know and love –  like curly circles, pebbles, ribbon candy and feathers –  (gah! -Teresa’s feathers are to die for (see our Dazzle Dragonfly quilt pictured below and you’ll see what I mean).

Exercises are fine but how about applying these to a block or a whole quilt,  you say?  Well – yes she thought of that too – I really appreciated Chapter 3 – Doodling and Drawing – this chapter explains in detail  how to diagram, map out on paper and then translate to your machine a combination of quilting designs together on a whole cloth (which could be easily adapted to your own quilt or a singular centered block in your quilt).  Let’s take a peek…

And if that wasn’t enough, the Gallery of Quilts is stunning eye candy!  Page after page of beautiful quilts with close ups of her free motion quilting! This is Julie Herman’s Jaybird Designs quilt “Sweet Tooth”. Check out all of that gorgeous quilting!

Image Courtesy of F&W Media

And don’t let that title fool you – the information and exercises in the book are completely applicable to domestic machines as well.  I am admittedly the ‘world’s worst free motion machine quilter’ (that’s why I send everything to Teresa!) so anytime I find a new gadget, book or notion to help I am all in – I found her exercises well written and super easy to follow. Now I just need to find the time to practice!

Next let’s show off some of Teresa’s custom free motion quilting on our Colourwerx quilts – prepare yourself for gorgeousness!  First off , this recently completed version of ModTV (CW-110) using Alison Glass’ Chroma…..

And how about this stunning pebbling and clamshell work on our Cosmos quilt (CW101) –  this was the first quilt she custom quilted for us and is still one of my favorites!

And another fave – “Harlequin” – a commissioned piece using Kaffe Fassett’s Artisan collection for Free Spirit Fabrics that we designed and made,  and Teresa custom quilted. One picture was simply not enough – click on any pictures to enlarge and see her quilting up close!

And her work on our Splendor quilt (CW-108) was fabulous…. (quilting in and around applique I think is the hardest for most custom quilters but Teresa has it down to perfection…   🙂 )

And lastly – our Dazzle dragonfly (CW-102) oh my! –  and that gorgeous,  enormous feather – ooo and ahhhh indeed!

Teresa also has fun giveaways planned for you, but you have to go visit her blog at quiltingismybliss.com tomorrow, October 17th through October 20th and leave a comment to enter the giveaway!   Here are the prizes – yippee!

The Grand Prize from the blog hop will be:
Free Spirit Fabric – Tula Pink Spirit Animal Fat Quarter Bundle
Quilter’s Dream 80/20 Queen Size Batting
Superior Threads – So Fine 50 – 2 Cones of Thread
20 x 20 Wholecloth Quilt – Made by Teresa Silva
Longarm Quilting Workbook – Autographed

Second Prize from the blog hop will be:
United Notions/Moda Fabrics – Fig Tree solid Fat Quarter Bundle
Quilter’s Dream Pink Twin Size Batting
Superior Threads – So Fine 50 – 1 Cone of Thread
Longarm Quilting Workbook – Autographed

Carl and I are thrilled for her and wish Teresa the best of all successes with her wonderful “Longarm Quilting Workbook” – now go forth, buy her book, leave a comment on her blog to enter the giveaway,  practice your free motion and have fun!

Until your next colour fix~Linda & Carl