Tell us about how you got interested in quilting.
My grandmother is the ultimate crafter and I spent most of the weekends of my childhood with her at her camper on a lake. She taught me the basics of sewing and, most importantly, how much fun it is to try something new. While we never quilted, I certainly count her as my inspiration for starting my quilting journey. My mother-in-law is responsible for the quilting part of my creativity. She is the ultimate shopper and she bought me a quilt kit one day out of the blue. The fabrics weren't ones that I really liked, but I loved the idea of putting it all those different fabrics together and I've been practicing my craft ever since. (And it's been more than 16 years and I still haven't sewn that kit!)
My grandmother is the ultimate crafter and I spent most of the weekends of my childhood with her at her camper on a lake. She taught me the basics of sewing and, most importantly, how much fun it is to try something new. While we never quilted, I certainly count her as my inspiration for starting my quilting journey. My mother-in-law is responsible for the quilting part of my creativity. She is the ultimate shopper and she bought me a quilt kit one day out of the blue. The fabrics weren't ones that I really liked, but I loved the idea of putting it all those different fabrics together and I've been practicing my craft ever since. (And it's been more than 16 years and I still haven't sewn that kit!)
How do you organize your fabric stash?
I don't have a large stash, but what I do have is organized mainly by color and/or size. As you can see, the top shelf of fabric is yardage and the next one is fat quarters. My biggest accomplishment is that I now have all of my scraps sorted by color!
I don't have a large stash, but what I do have is organized mainly by color and/or size. As you can see, the top shelf of fabric is yardage and the next one is fat quarters. My biggest accomplishment is that I now have all of my scraps sorted by color!
Who is/are your favorite fabric designers?
Tula Pink, Tula Pink and probably Tula Pink. If you look closely at my stash photo you can see that I have all of Acacia and Saltwater in there. There's also some Prince Charming and some Neptune squirreled away. I love how her lines can be used with each other. Recently, I have been adoring fabrics from Bonnie and Camille and am working on a sampler quilt using their April Showers line.
Tula Pink, Tula Pink and probably Tula Pink. If you look closely at my stash photo you can see that I have all of Acacia and Saltwater in there. There's also some Prince Charming and some Neptune squirreled away. I love how her lines can be used with each other. Recently, I have been adoring fabrics from Bonnie and Camille and am working on a sampler quilt using their April Showers line.
What is one thing you have learned that you wish you knew when you first started quilting?
If someone had told me what a scant quarter inch was and how important it can be, I would have cussed a lot less!
If someone had told me what a scant quarter inch was and how important it can be, I would have cussed a lot less!
What is your favorite sewing/quilting tool and why should we all go out and buy it?
Hmm...I don't know that I have one tool in particular that I love. My rule is that if a tool is made in the color pink, then it must be the best and I must have it.
Hmm...I don't know that I have one tool in particular that I love. My rule is that if a tool is made in the color pink, then it must be the best and I must have it.
Who is your favorite fictional character and why? (Could be from a book, movie, TV show, etc.)
Oh goodness. As a former librarian, this is really, really difficult. For today, it would probably be Einstein from Dean Koontz's book Watchers. Einstein is a Golden Retriever who has the ability to read. Because of his gift, he has to learn how to be both kind of a dog and kind of a human. Maybe I like him because I wish more people could be as awesome as dogs in their kindness.
And now for the good stuff:
I dreaded choosing my block. I hemmed and hawed for ages. I've been hoarding this fabric for ages and I knew that I wanted to use it and that I wanted curves to mimic the bubbles. This will be my sashing and border fabric.
But here's the catch - I'm terrified of curves and I would NEVER subject others to something I wasn't willing to do myself. So, I decided to fake the curves. Enter the Dresden Plate! I searched long and hard for a tutorial that didn't require a special ruler and I found a fantastic one that uses just 6 charm squares and a regular quilting ruler. The video is here.
For colors, I am looking for bright jewel tones that will complement that bubble fabric. If you have dotted fabric in those tones, please add them in! I would like the background to be a solid, bright color. No whites or greys, please. I want this quilt to be be scrappy and overwhelmingly bright. My sample block will be in the quilt, so you can see I didn't get all matchy-matchy with the colors.
I had to watch the video a few times to get it, but once I did, I was off and sewing like mad. Here are a few pointers:
-In the video, its a little confusing about what she means when she says to cut the wedge at 3/4 inch. You are actually cutting off 1 1/4 inch from the lower right hand side. If you do it the way she does, your ruler is 3/4 of an inch to the right of that second inch mark on the cutting mat. This took FOREVER to get my mind around, so I cheated. I just ended up measuring 1 1/4 inch from the right hand side at the bottom, marked it with a pen and lined that mark up with the top right corner and made my cut.
-When I put all the wedges together, I did them in groups of 3 for a
total of 4 pie pieces. When you sew those last four pieces together,
end your seam at a little more than a quarter of an inch from the
bottom. This will leave the middle of the plate open and it will be
easier to iron flat.
-My back ground is a solid 12 inch square. I centered the plate on the square by folding the background in half by length and width and finger pressing. I did the same with the plate and placed it in the middle of the solid square. I didn't do any fancy applique when I put the plate on the background, I just sewed about 1/8th inch inside. You can see this on my finished block.
-The center circle on the plate was just made by tracing around an old spool for the circle shape. Again, it is just sewn on as a raw edge. Any sized circle you can find is fine as long as it covers the middle of the plate.
But here's the catch - I'm terrified of curves and I would NEVER subject others to something I wasn't willing to do myself. So, I decided to fake the curves. Enter the Dresden Plate! I searched long and hard for a tutorial that didn't require a special ruler and I found a fantastic one that uses just 6 charm squares and a regular quilting ruler. The video is here.
For colors, I am looking for bright jewel tones that will complement that bubble fabric. If you have dotted fabric in those tones, please add them in! I would like the background to be a solid, bright color. No whites or greys, please. I want this quilt to be be scrappy and overwhelmingly bright. My sample block will be in the quilt, so you can see I didn't get all matchy-matchy with the colors.
-In the video, its a little confusing about what she means when she says to cut the wedge at 3/4 inch. You are actually cutting off 1 1/4 inch from the lower right hand side. If you do it the way she does, your ruler is 3/4 of an inch to the right of that second inch mark on the cutting mat. This took FOREVER to get my mind around, so I cheated. I just ended up measuring 1 1/4 inch from the right hand side at the bottom, marked it with a pen and lined that mark up with the top right corner and made my cut.
-My back ground is a solid 12 inch square. I centered the plate on the square by folding the background in half by length and width and finger pressing. I did the same with the plate and placed it in the middle of the solid square. I didn't do any fancy applique when I put the plate on the background, I just sewed about 1/8th inch inside. You can see this on my finished block.
-The center circle on the plate was just made by tracing around an old spool for the circle shape. Again, it is just sewn on as a raw edge. Any sized circle you can find is fine as long as it covers the middle of the plate.
- So, there we are! I hope that the block is easy and fun to make - once I figured out the cutting, I was surprised about how easy it was. I can't wait to see what you all come up with! Happy quilting! -Michele
6 comments:
great block! :-)
Do you want the background square to be CUT 12" (finishing 11.5") or do you want it to FINISH 12" (cut 12.5")?
I hope it's 12 inches; I just finished the block! I would be happy to do another if it's 12 1/2 inches. What a great block/tutorial! Good additional clarification too!
It should be cut at 12 inches, for an 11.5 inch finish. Sorry for the confusion!
How is it going for everyone?
Francis, I got your block yesterday! Thanks so much! The lime green is awesome.
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