Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Missouri Star

 
 
 


 

 
This makes an 8 1/2'' unfinished block.

Marie has requested pressing tips,
I'll add them in red.


Fabric Requirements:

Fabric A : Light
4 - 2 1/2" Squares
1 - 5 1/4" square -
cut with 2 diagonal cuts

Fabric B: Medium
2 - 3 1/4" Squares
cut with 2 diagonal cuts

Fabric C: Dark
2 - 3 1/4" Squares
cut with 2 diagonal cuts

Fabric D: Medium
2 - 2 7/8" squares
Cut with 1 diagonal cut

Fabric E: Medium
1 - 3 3/8" square


Sew 2 Fabric D squares to
opposite sides of Fabric E
square.  Press seams out and
trim dogears.


Sew remaining 2 Fabric D
triangles to remaining sides
of Fabric E square.

Press seams to the outside.

Square to 4 1/2".


Sew together Fabric B
and Fabric C triangles as
shown.  Notice there are
4 of one type and 4 of
another.  Press seams
to the dark fabric.


Sew Fabric B/C triangle
unit to a Fabric A triangle.
Take care to use the correct
Fabric B/C triangle.  Press seam
to the dark fabric.  Trim dogears.

 

Sew B/C triangle unit to
other side of Fabric A triangle.
Again, take care to use the
correct B/C triangle.

Press seam to the dark fabric.

Square to 2 1/2" x 4 1/2".


Sew 2 Fabric A squares to
each side of rectangle units.

Press seam to the light fabric.

Make 2.


Sew 2 rectangle units to
each side of center square.
Take care matching points.

Press seams open to reduce bulk.


Sew units together as shown, 
again, take care to match points.

Press the last 2 seams open
to reduce bulk.
Square to 8 1/2".


This is another one.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Churn Dash - 8 1/2'' block


A Churn Dash block is quite easy when
made as a 12 1/2'' unfinished block but when
you need it to be an 8 1/2'' unfinished block,
it is much more challenging.  Here is how to
do it.


This is what I cut:

Fabric A: light floral
2 - 3 1/2" squares - cut on diagonal
4 - 3 1/8" x 1 7/8" rectangles

Fabric B: dark pink
2 - 3 1/2" squares - cut on diagonal

Fabric C: dark stripe
4 - 3 1/8" x 1 7/8" rectangles

Fabric D: pink & white floral
1 - 3 1/8" square


Sew light and dark triangles
together on long edge.  Press
seam to the dark fabric.
Square to a "heavy-handed"
3 1/8" or 3 1/8' + a smidge.

Oh yeah, such technical terms,
right?  I mean just a bit over 3 1/8".
In my first block I squared all
9 units to 3 1/8" exactly and with
sewing and pressing it ended up
as 8 3/8" instead of 8 1/2".


Sew light and dark rectangle
units together on long edge.
Square to 3 1/8" plus "a bit."


Layout units as shown and
sew together in 3 rows.


Press seams in rows 1 & 3
to the outside and seams
in row 2 to the inside.


Pin and sew rows together
taking care to have the seams
"lock" together at the
intersections as you pin
to achieve precise piecing.


I pressed the final 2 seams
open as this reduced the bulk
in the block and made it flatter.


Mine squared up at 8 1/2"
using this method.


Here is my first attempt.

Friday, November 8, 2013

My First Book!


Just about a year and a half ago I attended my
first International Quilt Market as a vendor.  I
had just started a quilt pattern design business
and this was my first big time exposure in the
quilt world.


I was in my booth at Market one day and I was busy
with customers.  My fabulous Mr. Wonderful was there
to lend a helping hand, he's great with a hammer and nails
but a needle and thread ~ hmmmm, not so much...
So a woman came into the booth and started asking Rob
some questions which he tried to answer, finally he
confessed,  "I'm just the driver."  To which the woman
replied, "Oh, you're adorable", she then gave him a card
and said she was the Publisher at C&T Publishers.  When
 I finished up with my customers Rob gave me the card
and told the story.  It was a cute story but I was so sad
because I would have LOVED to have had a chance to
speak with a big time publisher.  A short while later
another woman came into the booth and said she was
the Creative Director or C&T Publishing.  She said her
publisher made her come visit this time since she had
been to my booth 3 times already and didn't want to
look like a stalker ~ ha ha!  So we gabbed about quilting
and publishing and old time paste-up methods and when
I returned home the conversations continued and soon
 enough I had a book contract!
 

 
And here we are a year and a half later, all the edits
are in and the book is heading to the printer.  I have
learned so much in the past 18 months and it has been
 a fascinating education.  So much energy goes into
making a book and so many people are involved.  It has
 been a wonderful experience.  I can't wait until I actually
 get to hold the book and flip through the pages, that is
still a few months away but the book is available for
 pre-order right now at the following sites:

 
From C&T:

 
From Amazon:

I hope everyone enjoys the book!
From my American Homestead,
I wish you All the Best,

~ Ellen
 
Ps. Please share this post with your friends!

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Birds in the Air

 
 
Hi!  If you enjoy this blog, please become
a follower, I need to know if anyone is out
there using these tutorials!  And pop on over
to the American Homestead blog and see what
is going on in my life.  All the best!  ~ Ellen
 



 Cut 2 dark & 3 light 3 1/2"
squares, then cut on the diagonal.
Then cut 1 - 8 7/8" square &
cut on the diagonal.


Sew 3 light and dark squares as
shown, mine squared up to 3 1/8".


Sew units together as shown.


I found that pressing seams
as shown above is the best
option to achieve precise points.
Especially that center seam, notice
those seams are pressed in opposite
directions, they will lock together
when you pin the seam.  After
sewing this seam, I pressed the
seam open to reduce bulk.


Sew the final light triangle to
the light & dark unit.  Next you
have to trim the long edge of this
triangle, take care to leave 1/4"
from the points of the dark triangles.

 
Then sew the above units together
along the long edge of the triangles.


Press seam to the solid triangle
and square to 8 1/2".


Here is another one I made
using different fabrics for the
dark triangles.


This is another with
different fabrics.