All Stacked Up QuiltAlong: Week 3 – Put It All Together

Welcome back to the last and final week of our All Stacked Up QuiltAlong!  This is the week where we put it all together – albeit some of you may have already finished your quilt top because quite frankly, once you’ve pieced the blocks in Week #2 it’s really hard not to just wanna finish off the top right away!

Here is this week’s companion video for you – enjoy!!

So by now all of your blocks should be pieced and complete – you should have (3) identical blocks from each individual pair of fabrics.

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If you’re just hopping into the QuiltAlong, you might want to review the previous week’s posts right here:

Week #1 – Gather Your Materials & Precut the Fabrics
Week #2 – Piece the Blocks

Lay Out Blocks According to the Quilt Top Diagram —
Once all of your blocks are pieced, you are ready to lay out the blocks according to one of the quilt top diagrams included in the pattern on pages 6-10…..and begin to stitch blocks together to form rows… and stitch rows together to complete the quilt top.

Let me take a moment to explain the diagrams you see there.  Each set of (3) identical blocks has a number – if you kept pairs of fabrics together during the cutting and piecing parts of the project, you would end up with (3) identical blocks of for example, Fabric A & Fabric B …..and (3) additional blocks of Fabric A & Fabric B that are the mirror image of the first three (meaning the positions of Fabric A & Fabric B are reversed in the second set of three identical blocks).

So when looking at for example, the Baby Quilt Size diagram on page 6, you’ll see that the #1 & #2 block sets are the mirrored image of each other. It was just our way when writing the pattern to give you a little extra help for color disbursement and laying out block combinations.

Here’s what my top looks like when laid out on the design board. Again I’m using Shayla Wolf’s from Sassafras Lane Designs newest collection called “Favorite Things”.

Be sure to check back next week here on the Colourwerx Blog and on Instagram to see my finished ‘All Stacked Up’ quilt and to take part in the “Favorite Things” Instagram tour – Shayla and Windham Fabrics will be giving away fat quarter bundles of the ‘Favorite Things’ collection too! Woo Hoo!

This concludes out All Stacked Up QuiltAlong – I hope you enjoyed it!

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

All Stacked Up QuiltAlong: Week 2 – Piece the Blocks

Hello!  And welcome to the second week of our super fast and fun new quiltalong: All Stacked Up.

This week is all about piecing the fun All Stacked Up quilt block. By now you should have your fabrics selected and precut according to pages 1 -2 in the All Stacked Up pattern. You should also have a fairly good idea about which fabrics will be paired together. If you are just joining us this week, please refer back to Week #1’s All Stacked Up QAL blog Post right here.

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 All Stacked Up QAL, view it here:

Set Your Machine Up for Success —
Before we start the piecing fun, I always think it a good idea to set your sewing machine up for stitching success.

Here are few things I always do when starting a new project that requires precision piecing:
• Lift the stitchplate and clean out all of those dust bunnies;
• Change the needle to a new needle – I prefer the Schmetz 75/11 Quilting Needles for precision piecing;
• Thread your machine with a neutral colored 100% cotton , 50 weight thread – my go-to color and thread is #2615 from Aurifil Thread;

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• And most importantly, have a good idea of how to stitch a scant 1/4″ seam…

What’s a Scant 1/4″ Seam You Say?? —
A scant 1/4″ seam is a hair less than a full 1/4″ seam.

Many machine manufactuers 1/4″ presser feet are FULL 1/4″ seams . In order to sew accurate 1/4″ seams and have our precision pieced blocks turn out to exactly the finished size they need to, we need to stitch scant 1/4″ seams.

If you’ve ever been frustrated by achieving the perfect seam allowance for quilting then I think I have the perfect little tool for you….it’s the Perkins Perfect Piecing Seam Guide and it works like a dream.

Available at most quilt shops and through Amazon, this little ruler is genius! It is quite simple – it has a hole in the middle and a line that runs end to end of the ruler and through the middle of the hole. The line designates a scant 1/4″ seam allowance.

You place the ruler under your presser foot, drop your needle down into the hole and lower your presser foot on to the ruler. You can now clearly see where you need to line up the fabric edge of your units to achieve a scant 1/4″ seam. Look closely!! – more than likely, it will not be lined up with the edge of your 1/4″ presser foot, but rather just under the edge of the foot and a little bit to the left. Once you study this, you can run a piece of painter’s tape or washi tape along the edge of the Perkins Piecing Guide to mark the stitch plate of your machine for scant 1/4″ precision perfect seam piecing! You are ready to go !

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Just a Final Thought on Fabric Pairings —
I know the All Stacked Up pattern says that once you pair fabrics together, they should remain paired together through block piecing, etc….etc…etc…

But really, do they?? Once all of your fabrics are precut and paired up, you do have one final opportunity before piecing to mix up or revise your fabric pairings.

Here’s an example: my first pairing for these fabrics was mixing the green (Fabric A) with the yellow (Fabric B).

But after looking at all of my fabrics, I decided I wanted to mix up the pairings. Now I know from reading the pattern on page 3, that I need (X) amount of units in Fabric A paired with (X) amount of units in Fabric B to make (3) identical blocks. So looking at the pairing on the right side if I wanted to trade out my smaller green Fabric A units for let’s say some smaller lime green Fabric A units, I could! I can mix and match all day – as long as I have the total units for Fabric A and the total units for Fabric B paired in each grouping as specified on page 3 of the pattern.

Let’s take another look at fabric pairings…..here are my first pairings. You can see I’ve got magenta with yellow, green with orange, blue with salmon and so on….

After I precut my fabrics, I revised some of my combinations to create a more color wheel order for the quilt blocks and ended up with these fabric pairings that I like a lot better. In the end, none of my original pairs stayed together and in fact each pair is a completely different combination of fabrics than the other.

So yes, before you start piecing, take a moment to review your fabric pairings ….if you want to switch fabrics from pairing to pairing, heck yes – go ahead ! Just double check that you have the total units needed in the final pairings to make 3 identical blocks.

Piecing the Block —
Referring to the directions in the All Stacked Up pattern on pages 3-4, start by making half square triangles. Add (2) Background Fabric squares to each fabric pairing. Place the square Background Fabrics with the square Fabric A units and make Half Square Triangles – (4) squares in will yield (4) half square triangles out.

Use your square ruler and line up the diagonal line of the ruler on top of the diagonal line of the half square triangle unit to trim and square down each square to the appropriate size.

Discard (1) of the units as you will only need (3) half square triangles for the project.

Piecing the block couldn’t be more simple and chain piecing the (3) individual blocks makes this step go even faster! So go forth and piece all of your fabric pairing to create (3) identical blocks from each fabric pairing following the instructions on pages 3-4 in the All Stacked Up pattern!

That is it for Week #2! I’ll be back next week for Week #3 – our final week- where we’ll be piecing the quilt top together!

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

All Stacked Up QuiltAlong: Week 1 – Gather and Pair Up Fabrics and Precut

Hello!  And welcome to the ‘first week’ of our seventh Colourwerx QAL (quilt along) where we’ll be making our super fabulous and oh – so – easy “All Stacked Up”. This is a super fun quilt to make, is a great stash buster and is also very easy to piece. It’s a great way to start the new year!

JOIN THE COLOURWERX FACEBOOK GROUP: 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 QUILTALONG FACEBOOK GROUP HERE

COMPANION VIDEOS: Each week of the quiltalong, also look for a companion video to be posted within the blog post like this one below.   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 Week #1 of the All Stacked Up QAL, view it here:

So this is Week#1 of the All Stacked Up QAL – 
First let’s review our super fast 3-week schedule!
• Week 1 (this week) we’ll gather our fabrics and precut…..
• Week 2 is all about piecing the blocks…..
• And Week 3 we’ll be putting it all together.

Week #1 – GATHER YOUR PATTERN & MATERIALS —
Here’s what you’ll need to join in on the stitchin’ fun –
• The All Stacked Up Pattern!

Purchase the All Stacked Up Paper Pattern here!
Purchase the All Stacked Up PDF Pattern here!

WHICH SIZE WILL YOU MAKE??
Once you get the pattern home, check out the back cover and determine which size All Stacked Up you’d like to make. There are five sizes to choose from: Baby through King Size. You’ll also see on the back cover under each size the number of fabrics you’ll need to gather – look under the row heading “Block Fabrics”.

I’ll be making the Baby Size quilt along with you, so if you look under the Baby Size for example, it says for the Baby Size needs a total of (12) Block Fabrics – 1/3 yard cuts of each fabric (or 12″ x WOF).

Now you can also use Fat Quarters or 6″ Design Strips instead of the 1/3 yard cuts. You’ll need the same amount of fabrics listed under the row heading “Block Fabrics”. So for example, the Baby Size version requires (12) fabrics so you would need either (12) Fat Quarters or (12) 6″ x WOF design strips. (Take note!! The pattern does not provide a cutting diagram for Fat Quarters or 6″ Design Strips so if you do use them instead of 1/3 yard cuts, just plan out on paper ahead of cutting the total units that need to be cut (found under the “If using 1/3 yard cuts” on page 1-2) before you cut your fabric!)

Another option is to make a scrappy version (like you see here and like what is pictured on the front cover). This is the ultimate stash buster! Refer again to the back cover of the pattern and look under the paragraph: “For a More Scrappy Look”. In a nutshell – simply select which size quilt you’d like to make, then look to how many fabrics you will need to gather under “Block Fabrics” and then double the number. Taking the example of the Baby Size again, if I wanted to make a scrappy version, I see that (12) fabrics are needed….I would double that number and need to gather (24) fabrics total, in 1/4 yard and 1/8 yard cuts. I would gather (12) 1/4 yard cuts and (12) 1/8 yard cuts.

HOW MANY BLOCKS WILL EACH FABRIC COMBINATION MAKE ??
The All Stacked Up quilt is based on pairing up fabrics and each pair of fabrics will yield 1-2 ‘blocks.’ For clarification, each ‘block’ is comprised of (3) smaller identical quadrants.

If you are using 1/3 yard cuts, Fat Quarters or 6″ Design Strips, each pair of fabrics will yield (2) complete ‘blocks’ – one ‘block’ will be the mirrored image of the other.

If you are using 1/4 yard and 1/8 yard cuts (for a more scrappy look), one 1/4 yard cut plus 1/8 yard cut pairing will yield only (1) ‘block’ or (3) identical quadrants – hence why you need to double the fabrics listed for a more scrappy look.

PLAN COLOR PLACEMENT —
If you’d like to preplan color placement, you can download the Small Lap or Large Lap black & white line art diagrams from the links below.

Sometimes this really helps with color placement and also pairing of fabrics. I’ll be using a beautiful new collection of fat quarters from a new fabric collection called “Favorite Things” designed by our friend, Shayla Wolf of Sassafras Lane Designs.

Here’s an example of my colored-in Baby Size diagram using the fabrics above. I just mimicked the fabric colors and colored in the diagram so I could pair up my colors and also evenly disburse the colors across the quilt for value and balance. Now I have a plan!! The links are below if you want to download the B&W line art and do what I did!

DOWNLOAD THE SMALL LAP SIZE B&W DIAGRAM

DOWNLOAD THE LARGE LAP SIZE B&W DIAGRAM

PAIR UP FABRICS & PRECUT –
Once you’ve gathered your fabrics and perhaps decided on color placement with the diagram above, it’s time to pair up your fabrics. Pair up the fabrics according to the chart below and keep the pairs together as you begin to precut and for piecing in Week #2.

Here’s how I paired up my ‘Favorite Things’ Fat Quarters after working out the color placement.

Now you are ready to precut your fabrics!! Again keeping pairs together, precut each pair of fabrics referring to the precut directions on pages 1-2. (Again if using Fat Quarters or 6″ Design Strips plan out on paper the total units that need to be cut (found under the “If using 1/3 yard cuts” on pages 1-2) before you cut your fabric!)

Once all of your fabrics plus the background yardage is precut, you are done and ready to go for Week #2!

That’s it for Week #1 – that was fun! And I can’t wait to see all of your fabric selections! Week #2 we will begin to piece all of the blocks together! 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

Waterfall – New Pattern Preview

It’s time for another pattern preview from our Fall release of new patterns that previewed at the International Quilt Market in Fall 2019.

Meet Waterfall. You can purchase the pattern in paper or PDF format right here in our Colourwerx shop!

I absolutely love this pattern that Carl designed.  The 15″ block itself is quite simple but when twelve 15″ blocks are stitched together to make the 60″ x 60″ quilt,  the secondary patterns created are magical and it’s pretty difficult to decipher where the actual block starts and stops.

Selecting fabrics for the Waterfall pattern is super simple too.   Just 2-1/2 yards of a neutral background fabric plus twelve 3/8 yard cuts of other fabrics – the twelve fabrics should be separated into four color groups with each group containing three fabrics.

Cutting and stitching each block together is a breeze and as long as your 1/4″ seam is consistent – you shouldn’t have any worries about creating this simple block and finishing off a super simple quilt for yourself or a loved one in no time. I find once I get stitching this quilt – I cannot stop – the block is fun to make and I can’t wait to see the finished quilt put together.

Our first version of this new pattern was made for Island Batik using our second signature collection,”Jewel Box” designed especially for Colourwerx by Kathy Brett Engle.

We also made a Cool and a Warm version out of Kaffe Fassett Collective Classic fabrics for our friends at Free Spirit Fabrics.

Here’s another one I can’t wait to make using Martha Negley’s rich and super saturated “Veggies” collection from again our friends at Free Spirit Fabrics.

We also made one using the Good Vibes Only collection designed by Sassafras Lane for Windham Fabrics.  This version graces the cover of our pattern!

And here are a few more virtual versions that we submitted to various fabric companies using a selection of gorgeous fabrics  from Figo fabrics, beiges and taupes from Windham Fabrics and also a Christmas themed fabric from Michael Miller Fabrics (how appropriate considering the day I am writing this post 🙂 !!

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The possibilities for this Waterfall pattern are endless!
Purchase the Paper Waterfall Pattern here! 
Purchase the PDF Waterfall Pattern here!

And also be sure to check back into our Colourwerx shop as we will have kits for most of these versions coming real soon!

And of course, by all means – please do send us a picture of your completed Waterfall quilts – we always love to see and share all of your beautiful creations made using our Colourwerx patterns!

Carl and I are so thankful for your support and wish you happy and bright quilting always!  And also Merry Christmas and the happiest of holidays to you all!  Until your next colour fix and see you in 2020 ~ 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

 

Juniper Flower Garden Pot

It’s been a long time since I’ve blogged but rest assured we have been super busy!   This is our day on the “Juniper” Instagram Blog Hop – welcome!

When my quilty pal, Jessica Van Denburgh from Sew Many Creations asked me to make something from her new fabric collection,“Juniper”, I of course said yes!   Quilty friends are the best and it’s always a pleasure to help out a friend and at the same time get to make one of our patterns with new fabrics.

 

 

Jessica’s new fabric collection, called “Juniper” for Windham Fabric is oh-so-cute and filled with delightful little flowers and flying creatures like beautiful butterflies, majestic dragonflies and some very cute snails.

Once I saw the fabrics, I knew our Garden Party pattern was the perfect project.  I set out to make one Garden Party flower pot !  The Garden Party pattern is available in our Colourwerx shop and Jessica’s new fabric line “Juniper” will be arriving to shops this month so be on the lookout!

First off, I cut the background piece, added borders and layered my batting, backing fabric and the quilt top together in a quilt sandwich.  Using my favorite Aurifil 40wt Gold thread – #2975 – I curvy quilted the background.  This is just a regular straight stitch and keeping the feed dogs UP (like regular stitching) ,  I moved the quilt from side to side creating gentle undulations down the quilt.  It’s fun and relaxing and always looks so “artsy”.

Hint, hint!- You may have noticed that I am machine quilting my quilt BEFORE I place the applique shapes in place – that’s because I’m not very good at free motion machine quilting, On smaller pieces such as this, I like to machine quilt the background first before fusing and stitching around the applique shapes.  That way the piece is quilted and I don’t need to worry about machine quilting in and around shapes.  So far, no quilt police have shown up at my door demanding the piece be handed over- lol!

Once the background was quilted I cut out and began to fuse and applique stitch my shapes in place.  I started with the stem and leaves – centering them on on the background piece.  I love to use my decorative stitches around shapes like these to texturize and embellish the applique – I find the decorative stitches enhance and add an extra dimension of fun and whimsy to the pieces.

Next up – the large pot.  I used the widest zigzag stitch around this shape.  My Bernina 750QE can go up to 9mm so that was the perfect choice.

Then the large flower head.  I used my blanket stitch (aka buttonhole stitch).  These pieces took the most time as there were lots of inner and outer curves to negotiate – my patience game definitely had to be ‘right on’ for these pieces.

Finally , the flower center .  I used my most favorite decorative stitch from the Bernina  – this is stitch #419 – you may have something similar on your machine.

Lastly, and because Jessica designed so many cute little creatures in her fabric, I placed some fusible web on the wrong side of scrap fabric leftover and fussy cut out some super cute flower circles for the pot and lots of cute creatures to fuse buzzing around the flower pot.

I even added a little extra flower growing near the bottom.

 

That was super fun !  Be sure to check out all the other projects made with “Juniper” on the Windham Fabrics Instagram feed.  And also be sure to enter your name for a giveaway on September 3rd by following all of the “Juniper” bloggers and also Jessica’s Instagram page at Sew Many Creations!

Until your next colour fix~
L&C