06-07-2013

Block 3

Block 3- Virtual Quilting Bee

Block 3- The Virtual Quilting Bee

For a detailed tutorial check out April Rosenthal of Prarie Grass Patterns…..this is her block for the Virtual Quilting Bee. For more info on the Virtual Quilting Bee(and links to each block tutorial) visit Amy@Diary of a Quilter, she is hosting this quilt along. I hope some of you guys will join in with us. I promise its easy!

I really liked this block. It was pretty easy and I loved the color combo.

If you look close you can see it is just 4- HST’s(half square triangles). One half of the HST is pieced.

I love patterns for blocks where you just cut the squares on a diagonal to get the triangles! Makes it even easier. The green and white ones are cut that way.

So cut your triangles and add to the sides of the orange square, the put your HST together!

Carefully press open toward the solid half of your HST.

The goal with this part(if you are trying to be picky!) is to have the point of your orange square precisely touch the seam. Try not to cut it off or have a gap between the two. If you are off just a little…no big deal:) Square up your finished blocks to 4.5″ and then put ’em together.

bloghop2button

Don’t forget today starts the New Blogger Blog Hop! Here is a list of all the blogs featured today:

Nancy @ Owen’s Olivia

Amy @ 13 Spools

Ashley @ Wasn’t Quilt In A Day

Casey @ The Studiolo

Nanette @ Yeah, I Made That

Ange @ Heart Of Charnwood

Kim @ Robot Mom Sews

Erica @ Kitchen Table Quilting

These bloggers have made extra special posts just for you today, so

be sure to leave a comment and share some quilty love!

You will see me on this list June 28th!!!

Keep it Sassy♥

(Links:AnythingGoes@StitchbyStitch, TGIFF, LAFF@RichardandTanyaQuilts, ShineOnFridays)

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Filed Under: Virtual Quilting Bee Tagged With: block 3, HST, New Blogger Blog Hop, virtual quilting bee

05-31-2013

Block 2

Yesterday was Thursday, Thursday
Today i-is Friday, Friday
We-we-we so excited, We so excited
We gonna have a ball today!

(you know you wanna sing it? Friday song by Rebecca Black, lol)

Moving on to Block 2, Origami Star by Amy Newbold@Sukie Don’t Ya Know.

Just joining in? This is the 2nd block of The Virtual Quilting Bee by Amy Smart@Diary of a Quilter.

And….No, you are not too late to join in the quilty fun! Just click on the link above to get the info.

Here is my fabrics all cut and ready to go, you might notice I veered off the chosen prints, anything goes.

If you are like me, you might be slightly ~~terrified~~ concerned when you look at this block! I swear it’s easier than it looks;)

Tips for this block:

Chain piecing speeds up the process. Just keep feeding in the next pieces and don’t stop to cut the threads. This forms a chain of pieced parts. You can snip apart later and then chain piece the next pieces.

Square up your four mini-blocks before assembling the final block. If not 4.5″, make it so! or rip apart and re-sew if too small:( Square it up again after adding the corner pieces(still should be 4.5″).

Press open the seams on the back of the smaller strip blocks. Instead of pressing to one side, this reduces bulk when there are more seams involved. Notice these are still chain pieced together. I cut after I pressed, but can whenever want.

Pay attention to which corners you sew your smaller(white) squares onto!!! It really, really, really matters:) I had to rip out a few myself.

**After you sew on the corner squares, you will trim the inside seam. This leaves you with little sets of paired triangles. Go ahead and sew them together and you get these 1.5″ little cuties!!! Save them for another project or a miniature quilt.**

So, how are you liking it? Not too bad, right? Have you finished block 1? Huh, huh, I wanna know:)

Share your finished blocks with me on my Facebook page , post a link to yours or join our Flickr group! I would love to see how everyone is doing.

Happy Quilting♥

Links: TGIFF, LAFF@RichardandTanyaQuilts, ShineOnFridays

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Filed Under: Virtual Quilting Bee Tagged With: block 2, chain piecing, virtual quilting bee

05-24-2013

Block 1

Okay guys…it’s go time! This is Block 1 of The Virtual Quilting Bee. This is a Sawtooth Star block with accents in the corners. I don’t know about you, but I love these blocks, they are just so darn adorable:)

This block was hosted by Sherri@A Quilting Life. Go and check out her tutorial for this block and all the details here.

If you are just checking in, we are joining Amy@Diary of a Quilter with her Virtual Quilting Bee. She is posting a new block every other week; 16 blocks (that finish 8″) total. We are a little behind, so I am posting a block every week until we catch up or you can go to her blog and wizz on through as fast as you like.

I am using the fabric line, Happy-Go-Lucky by Bonnie and Camille, to construct my blocks. Use whatever fabrics you like and join in anytime!

This block was pretty straight forward, only solid squares and half-square triangles(HST).

HST’s can be tricky, but the method used is one of the easiest.

With your two squares face to face, draw a line from corner to corner. Then sew 1/4″ away from line on both sides. I used a little tool called “Quilter’s Magic Wand”, it has a line down the middle and is 1/4″ to the edge on both sides. It is great for marking 1/4″ lines. With this I will sew directly on my marked line.

Once you have sewn your lines, cut directly between them. You can use a rotary cutter or your scissors. Then press open your HST!

If you can make these….you got it made!

Square up and trim those little dog ears(yeah, that’s what they are called) off the corners. Squaring up means using your ruler to make sure the block, or pieced part of a block, is the correct size. You may have to trim some excess(good thing) or rip and re-sew if too small(bad thing).

If all your HST’s are totally uncool and square, you are ready to piece your block!

TIP: HST’s can be a little stretchy because of the bias edges, I like to use a little spray starch to keep things in shape. One of my faves is Mary Ellen’s Best Press, it is clear and non-flaking.

Now get to making your Sassy Sawtooth♥

(Linking in with LinkAFinishFriday@RichardandTanyaQuilts , ThankGoodnesIt’sFinishedFriday , Quilt Story and ShineOnFriday)

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Filed Under: Virtual Quilting Bee Tagged With: half square triangle, HST, sawtooth star, virtual quilting bee

05-20-2013

Virtual Quilting Bee….Anyone???

So…..here is a look at what I was up to this weekend!

I am going to join in with The Virtual Quilting Bee, hosted by Amy Smart at Diary of a Quilter(awesome blog by the way!)

The quilt along actually started a while ago, but we are gonna catch up!

Some of you guys might already be following Amy’s blog or the virtual quilting bee, so you can help us out.

She uses guest bloggers to create the blocks. So you get to check out some cool blogs too! The blocks are 8″ finished size, 16 in total.

The virtual quilting bee is giving two examples of each block. One using the fabric line, Happy-go-lucky by Bonnie and Camille and another option with Kona solids. I just so happened to have a Happy-go-lucky FQ bundle so that is what I am using, but I am sure you could use any line. Maybe even go scrappy!

I will post my progress every Friday and show you my block. For all the beginners, I will let you know if anything is super tricky or needs a “sassy” breakdown:) For the Pro’s out there, I would love to just see what your blocks are looking like. Once we catch up, we will just follow her schedule.

It doesn’t matter if you are behind so join in any time:)

I think it will be exciting and I hope you guys will follow along:) It will only be one block at a time, so it shouldn’t be too overwhelming and the blocks look super cute and fun!

To check out The Virtual Quilting Bee, click on the badge or picture above! This will help you catch up on all the posts to prep you for the quilt along and show you all the finished blocks so far.

So pick out your fabric and come back Friday to see my Block #1 or go ahead and get started:)

I have never done a quilt along before, so if you haven’t either…Let’s do it!

Linking up with Anything Goes Quilt ‘n Sew @Stitch by Stitch and Let’s Get Acquainted! @Plum and June