Planning Ahead....for the next 4 months...

Thought I would share with you 

what is planned for the next couple of months..

and if you are interested in participating...

here is what is on our Calendar...

DECEMBER we are all booked for 

holiday tuts, easy gifts you can make in one day or two.

full calendar....thanks to all of our future guests.

January tools that you would

like to share with us that makes your life easier 

in your sewing room. Still have a couple dates

available for that..

February if you love the color RED.

This is your month...Do up a TUT using

red anything....Hands, Hearts, Balloons. Paper

piecing...as long as there is RED in it, we are

interested...

March have you made a runner...???

table runner in the round, oblong, rectangular...

This month will be a month of RUNNERS, 

sew get your camera out, and show us what

runner(s)  you have made....

IF any of these interest YOU let me know,

asap, drop me a line and let me know 

which  project you would like to do...

madamesamm@cogeco.ca

I am listening!

And Our 2nd guest today is Kathleen ( don't forget Marcia below...) Let's Play LeapFrog! ~

Hi ho! Kd from KdQuilts here!

Leaping lizards! I see you've survived my 

tutorial from back in September.

Good! Are you ready for some games? GOOD!

Let's play  LeapFrog!

LeapFrog is my new original paper-pieced quilt block design. 
It is made in four separate sections that are then sewn 
together to make the completed block. 
I warn you, this is a heavy weight bullfrog weighing in at 
12 inches by 12 inches
 (probably the wide guy on the left lilypad above, maybe?). :)
No, actually

looks more like this--

Kind of cute, don't you think?
Anyway, I hope you remember the game rules...
...the rules of paper-piecing, that is.
You DO, remember them don't you? No?
Well, then we'll do a quick review.
It's really quite simple.
All games are, when you know the rules!

to remember is:

Paper-Piecing is just a series 
of simple steps that are repeated 
over and over again.

is that the one special tool that
makes paper-piecing a breeze is:
The Add-A-Quarter Ruler
(Kelly has these Add-A-Quarter Rulers here)

It is manufactured with a special lip that makes
it easy to rotary trim fabric while adding a quarter
inch seam allowance. Then lining up the next
fabric piece to sew is a snap!

A technique I call Basic Steps 1-2-3 is used 
throughout paper-piecing to trim the fabric seam 
allowances with the Add-A-Quarter Ruler. 

Trimming with the Add-A-Quarter Ruler.

1) With the paper pattern facing up, 
fold the paper back along the line.
2) Place the Add-A-Quarter Ruler with
the lip against the paper fold.
3) Carefully using your rotary cutter, trim
the fabric away. Discard the excess.

Place the initial fabric piece with its wrong side against

the printed side of the paper pattern and centered so 

that the entire area of the pattern piece is covered.

1) Trim selvedge edge along the line using the Basic Steps

1-2-3 rules (above) and the Add-A-Quarter Ruler.

Pinned pieces ready to be sewn.

2) Pin the next fabric piece right sides together with the 

previous fabric piece with edges lined up along the line.

3) On the paper pattern side, sew along the line 

with your sewing machine.

The lines are easy to see and sew along.

4) Press the fabric away from the prior fabric

piece with a dry medium hot iron.

5) Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat!

--------------------------------------

You'll need to print out 4 copies of the paper foundation

for my LeapFrog block. Head on over to my blog at

http://www.KdQuilts.com

become a follower, and download the pattern.

There will be a choice of files to print the pattern on

letter or legal size paper. The pattern fits perfectly on 

legal size, but I realize the letter size paper will probably

be a more available option for everyone, so both choices 

are included. The pattern printed out on letter size paper

will need to be taped or glued together after it is cut out.

Not pretty, but it works. 

Letter size pattern to be taped together

Just line up the dashed line on the two parts of piece #13. 

Cut out each pattern with scissors along the outer solid line.

I chose two different background fabrics, one in a CAMEL 

color and the other in a lighter BUCKSKIN tan. Then I added 

four different ACCENT fabrics for the jumping frog triangles

with a different one in each of the four sections of the block.

HOW TO CUT THE FABRIC (right side up)

From the BUCKSKIN background fabric

♥ Cut two 5 inch squares

♥ Then cut each square diagonally to the LEFT like this

to form 4 "left" triangles for the #12 pieces.

Also from the BUCKSKIN fabric

♥ Cut two 6 inch squares and 

♥ Then cut each square diagonally to the RIGHT like this

to form 4 "right" triangles for the #13 pieces.

~~~~~~~~~

Pattern and cut fabric pieces.

From the CAMEL background fabric

♥ Cut ten 3-1/4 inch squares, then 

♥ Cut six of these diagonally RIGHT (as above) 

to form 12 "right" triangles for pieces #1, #6, and #10.

♥ Also cut four of the squares diagonally LEFT (as

above) to form 8 "left" triangles for pieces #4 and #8.

~~~~~~~~~

Now, from EACH of the four ACCENT fabrics

♥ Cut two 3-3/4 inch squares and cut them twice

diagonally LEFT and RIGHT like this

so that you have a total of 6 triangles for pieces

#2, #3, #5, #7, #9, and #11 (with 2 extras).

The rest is easy (and so much FUN)!

Sewing on the paper-side pattern line.

Following the order of the numbered pieces on the 

paper patterns, select the corresponding fabric piece

you just cut and paper-piece the middle section 

 on one of the LeapFrog patterns (see the Paper-

Piecing rules above). Begin with piece #1 and 

continue through piece #11.

Middle paper-piecing finished.

Line up and sew on the two remaining

background pieces #12 and #13. Press 

and trim the fabric close to the pattern 

around all the outer edges.

SECTION 1 = DONE!

Completed section.

Repeat to complete...

...Sections 2, 3, and 4 with their accent fabric frogs.

With right sides facing, pin together the two short sides

of Sections 1 and 2 (there's only one seam to match).

Machine stitch together and press the seam open

on the back side. Sew together Sections 3 and 4 in 

the same way and press. Place the combined Section 

1-2 right sides together with the combined Section 3-4,

matching the centers, pin, stitch, press, ADMIRE.

You have now played 

AND YOU HAVE WON!

Thank you so much,

♥♥♥♥♥

♥♥♥

♥

And again        I would like 

to thank Madame   Samm for her

graciousness in allowing me to be a

guest blogger on Sew WE Quilt. Huge 

kudos to you, Madame Samm for all you

do and all the time and effort you spend

to make this blog possible and so suc-

cessful. Your hard work and commit-

ment to excellence have inspired

me to go places I'd only dream-

ed about. So I say thank

you once again,

my friend.

Kd

Its Friday and we have 2 as in 2 Block Guests...1st Marcia...."The Denim Block"

Madame Samm - Thanks for inviting me to join in the fun!

Hello! My name is Marcia from Crafty Sewing and Quilting. I am a free style long arm quilter. I quilt customer's quilts five days a week and mine on the weekends. 

I blog and share about a variety of quilting and sewing topics, free style quilting designs, tutorials, and "up cycling" quilt projects.  I also share ideas to step outside the "block" to create new twists on old patterns, including sewing construction techniques. I enjoy taking photos of quilts and quilting, colors in my world, my family, my dogs, and my container garden.

As a free style quilter, I manually move the long arm quilting machine to create unique quilting designs on each and every quilt.  It is all free hand - no patterns and no computers, thus resulting in special designs on each individual quilt.  

In the sidebar of my blog, I share photos of free style quilting designs to inspire other quilters with hundreds of quilting ideas.  The free style designs make each quilt unique.

One of my most selected quilting designs is the ribbon quilting with a twist. I quilted my "Up Cycled" Denim Quilt using two blue thread colors to create the ribbon quilting with a twist.

Today's block is the Denim Block. It is a free form block. The same sewing construction method is featured in my Texture Block Pattern. I chose a pair of plaid patchwork shorts as my focus fabric for the denim block.

I rotary cut my center blocks from the plaid at an angle.  Thus the centers are much more interesting. I used all reclaimed fabrics for the quilt top.  I chose a variety of denim shirts and denim dresses for the borders and lattice strips. 

Step 1
Cut squares in a variety of sizes from the plaid shorts - 2" to 4 ".
I cut 42 squares.
Cut strips in a variety of sizes -2"wide to 3"wide from light blues and medium blues.


Step 2 
Sew one strip on one side of each block. Press and trim. You may want to starch as you press. I starch as it makes it easier to work with the denim. Denim tends to stretch a little.

Step 3

Sew a second strip on another side of the center square, but not the opposite side. In the photo the top strip is the second strip. Press and trim.

Step 4

Sew a third strip on another side of the center square, but not the opposite side. In the photo the left side of the block is the third strip. Press and trim.  Adding the strips is similar to a log cabin cabin construction, but it wouldn't matter if you mistakenly sewed the third strip to the other side on a few blocks.

Step 5

Sew a fourth strip on last side of the center square. In the photo, I am sewing the fourth strip onto the block. Press and trim.

Step 6 --- Square up and sew more strips

At this point you have 42 blocks that have four borders with one center square.  I group them into piles of similar sizes --- Large, Medium, and Small.

The large should be about 8".  Cut 8" squares from those blocks.  The medium will be between 7" and 7 1/2" .  Cut 7"  squares from those blocks.  The small blocks will need another strip or two, sewed onto them, to make them either 7" or 8" blocks.

On the photo below, the block on the right needed extra strips. The block on the bottom left is a large block (8" square).  The bottom right was a small block and needed another strip on two sides to make it a large block (8" square).  If any of the smaller blocks aren't large enough, sew another strip onto them.  You can sew extra strips to make them into 7" or 8" square blocks.  

Step 7 --- Count your blocks 

I started with 42 center squares.  There will be 6 blocks across by 7 blocks down.  Which means you need to have 3 rows of 7" blocks (total of 21 - 7" blocks) and 3 rows of 8" blocks (total of 21 - 8" blocks).  In order to get the correct numbers for the rows you may need to add strips or cut down an 8" block into a 7" block.

Step 8 --- Lattice strips (darker and dark medium blue fabric - cut 3" wide)

Sew a lattice strip to the top and the left side of every 7" and 8" block.  It will look like an "L" on each block. I chain piece using long strips, as I don't cut my strips to the exact length. They stretch and pull a little. Press, starch, and trim.

Step 9 --- Sew the rows

Do not line them up evenly.  I trim an inch or so off the top of one row to make them uneven that way the seams won't line up.

Step 10 --- Add more lattice and trim the ends

You will need to add a lattice strip to the bottom block on each row. Also add lattice strips to the right side of the last row on the right.  You can put them on each block or just sew strips together in random order and sew it on all in one strip. Trim the top and the bottom of the quilt.

Note about the seam allowances:  a generous 1/4".  Press to one side or open. Whatever will lay best, depending upon the intersections.

Step 11 --- Add Borders

I used more dark strips, but do whatever you think is eye pleasing. I randomly sewed the leftover dark denim strips together and sewed them onto the sides and onto the two ends. On two of the sides I sewed an extra border. Do whatever looks best.

Step 12 --- Quilting and Binding - as desired.

I quilted my quilt with a two color ribbon quilting with whimsical daisy flowers.  I used medium blue and light blue thread to create a shadow effect with the ribbon quilting. I used a washable wool batting to make it a warm and cuddly quilt for this winter. The backing fabric on my quilt is a blue dyed extra wide fabric. I used the same blue dyed fabric for the binding. 

The denim blocks are easy to construct. It really makes it simple to "up cycle" clothes into quilts. 

The denim block is a free form block that could be constructed using new fabrics also.

You could make a wonderful, one of a kind memory quilt using a loved one's clothes.

The possibilities are endless!

I would like to invite you to hop over to my blog and check it out!

Thanks!

Enjoy your day!  

Marcia

Thanks Samm for inviting me to share the Denim Block for the block party.