Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Paintbrush Studio 2016 New Block Blog Hop--Nautical Compass


Today is my stop on the Paintbrush Studio 2016 New Block Blog Hop.  Last year I participated in Fabri-Quilt's 2015 New Block Blog Hop with my Watermelon Taffy Block, so when Yvonne at Quilting Jetgirl, Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs and Stephanie at Late Night Quilter extended an offer to participate again, I thought, why not?


This year's color palette was called Ocean Sunrise and featured six fabrics; Midnight, Daydream, White, Peach, Coral and Bordeaux.  The only rules for the design are: the blocks measure 12 1/2" and use at least three of the colors in the palette (and no additional fabrics).  I played around with many block designs until I came up with one that spoke to me.  So without further ado I present to you Nautical Compass.  



Cutting Instructions

Midnight (dark blue)                                                  Daydream (light blue)
1--2" squares                                                                 2--2" squares
8--1 1/2" squares                                                           8--3 1/2" x 1 1/2" rectangles
8--2 1/2" x 1 1/2" rectangles 
                                                                                       Peach
White                                                                             4--2 1/2" x 1 1/2" rectangles
20--2" squares                                                                2--2" squares
4-- 1 1/2" squares                                                           8--1 1/2" squares
8--3 1/2" x 1 1/2" rectangles                                          4--3 1/2" x 2 1/2" rectangles

Bordeaux                                                                      Coral (light pink)
6--2" squares                                                                  12--2" squares
8--1 1/2" squares


We are going to start off by constructing some half square triangles.  Combine the 20 White 2" squares with the 6 Bordeaux, 12 Coral and 2 Daydream 2" squares.  Start by drawing a diagonal line on the back of one square.


Place the squares right sides together, and sew a 1/4" away on both sides of the diagonal line.


Next, cut on the diagonal line, press the seams towards the darker color and trim to 1 1/2" square.


You should have a total of 4 Daydream/White, 12 Bordeaux/White and 24 Coral/White HST's.

In this block you will also be creating some pieced rectangle units as well.  Construction of these units are very similar to HST's.  You start with your rectangle and square pieces.


Place the square on top of your rectangle and draw a diagonal line in the direction you want your triangle to flip.


Trim your square leaving about a quarter of an inch seam.


Then press your HST open to create your completed rectangle unit.  Personally I do not trim the rectangle underneath to help ensure my unit is the size I need.





Small Block 1

8--3 1/2" x 1 1/2" Daydream rectangles
8--2 1/2" x 1 1/2" Midnight rectangles
8--1 1/2" Midnight squares
8--1 1/2" Peach squares
4--3 1/2" x 2 1/2" Peach rectangle

For this block you will need to create 4 of each of the following rectangle units using the Daydream and Midnight rectangles and Midnight and Peach squares


Step 1:

Sew the two Midnight/Peach rectangles together to create a total of 4.

Step 2:

Connect the Daydream/Midnight rectangles to the Peach 3 1/2" x 1 1/2" rectangle to create 4 of the units below.

Next connect your units from steps 1 and 2 to create your finished Small Block 1 for a total of 4 blocks that measure 4 1/2" square.


Small Block 2

8--3 1/2" x 1 1/2" White rectangles
4--1 1/2" White squares
8--1 1/2" Bordeaux squares
12 Bordeaux/White HST's
24 Coral/White HST's

Using the White rectangles and Bordeaux squares construct 4 of each the following rectangle units.


Step 1:

Using the 4 1 1/2" White squares, 8 Bordeaux/White HST's and 24 Coral/White HST's construct 4 of the following unit.


Step 2:

Attach the correct Bordeaux/White rectangle to the 9-patch created in step one to form 4 of the following units.


Step 3:

Connect the remaining 4 Bordeaux/White HST's with the 4 Bordeaux/White rectangles.


Step 4:  

Connect the unit created in step 2 with the one from step 3 to form the block below.  You should have at total of 4 blocks, that measure 4 1/2" square.



Small Block 3

1-- 2" Midnight square
4--2 1/2" x 1 1/2" Peach rectangle
2--2" Peach squares
4 Daydream/White HST's

Step 1:

We will be creating the center of the block.  You will need the 2" Midnight square and the two 2" Peach squares.  Draw diagonal lines on the Peach squares and cut on the line creating four triangles.


Step 2:

Fold the square and triangles and finger press to mark the centers.  Then you will line the center of the square with the center of the bottom long edge of one of the triangles and sew a 1/4" seam.  Press toward the Peach triangle and then repeat on the opposite side of the triangle.





Step 3:

Next fold the square in the opposite direction to mark the center and repeat step two with the last two triangles to finish the Peach Midnight square in a square.

Step 4:

Next combine the square in a square unit with two 2 1/2" x 1 1/2" Peach rectangles.

                              
Step 5: 

Combine two Daydream/White HST's with a Peach 2 1/2" x 1 1/2" rectangle to form the unit below.  Make a total of 2 units.

                                      
Step 6:

Combine the units from step 4 with the step 5 unit to finish the center block.  This block will measure 4 1/2" square.


    
Now we can arrange our small blocks to create the finished 12 1/2" Nautical Compass Block below.



You can download a printable copy of the Nautical Compass pattern here.

I thought it might be fun to give you a little preview of what Nautical Compass would look like in a full sized quilt.  Here it is in rows.


And on point.


There isn't a huge difference between the two.  Both make a nice secondary block with a star.  So why did I name this block Nautical Compass?  I love how the peach sections point to the four cardinal directions.  When I saw the secondary pattern of a star, I knew I had found my name.  When you can't find your compass you can look to the stars.

And what would a blog hop be without awesome giveaways?  Make sure you visit each of the hosts' post on their day of the hop for a chance to win a half yard bundle of Ocean Sunrise palette.  Below is a list of the hop schedule.  I hope you can take the time to bounce around and see all of the creative blocks these talented bloggers have designed.

If this is your first time visiting wonderland, please feel free to stick around and check out my tutorials, quilt gallery and Aurifil minis.  And please come back and visit me any time.

I would also like to thank Sandra at mmm! quilts and Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs for looking over my tutorial and giving some helpful feedback.  When writing a pattern, it's always nice to have a few other sets of eyes to make sure you're not out of your mind.  Thanks guys, you are the best!




Today, Tuesday, March 29th

Wednesday, March 30th

Monday March 28th
Chelsea @ Patch the Giraffe 
Mary @ Quilting Is In My Blood
Diana @ Red Delicious Life
Sara @ 123 Quilt


Thursday, March 24, 2016

A Quilter's Dream Easter Basket


With Easter upon us this weekend, many people will be celebrating with baskets of colored eggs and milk chocolate bunnies.  So I thought I would take a look at what would be in my perfect Easter basket.  The first and obvious would be fabric...lots and lots of fabric.  So this week in the mail the Easter bunny brought me a few surprises.  Not really surprises...I ordered them, I take full responsibility.  I was doing a bit of online shopping with Miss Sandra of mmm! quilts since I can't physically shop with her.  First up (pictured above) a pack of 10" squares from Connecting Threads called Cat Lady.


I also purchased this 10" square pack in Mosaic Blooms.  I am hoping to pair the two together to make Fat Quarter Shops No Bake Jolly Bar quilt.  I know a lady who is getting ready to go through a battle and could use some extra love.  I'm hoping the quilt will bring her comfort when she isn't feeling well.

I also may have been influenced to give a new thread a try.  No, I'm not breaking up with Aurifil, it will always be my main squeeze.  But I thought I might give this spool of Essential from Connecting Threads in Dusk Variegated a spin on my machine.



Most people celebrate Easter with their favorite chocolate bunny.  Chocolate bunnies everywhere.  I'm going to introduce another idea...a chocolate kitten...but not to eat.


Meet Miss Caroline Kitty Cat Princess of the Fuzzy Butts.  If you follow me on Instagram you have met this little lady before and are aware of her cute shenanigans.  I haven't really spoke about her on my blog (very very long story) before, but I have decided to officially introduce her to you.  She is too cute to keep quiet about.  Caroline came to live with us when my husband fell in love with her.  Not everyone was excited about her arrival.  Oliver was less than pleased.  Especially when she discovered our sewing space.

I think this picture says it all.
She loves to give her brother a hard time.  She is constantly hunting him and jumping on him.  Before you view this video, let me explain that Oliver is de-clawed and Caroline really had this coming.  Oliver tried to escape from her by getting in this basket of scrap batting.


From the very beginning, she has been learning the ropes of what it takes to live in our home.  My husband was nice enough to explain to her that she is a quilting kitty and must learn the responsibilities.


She is a great napper.


She loves using quilts for her naps.


She loves a good fabric tote...full or empty.


She loves to help write blog posts.


And she is a stealth ninja.  She's everywhere.


With the other animals being older and our daughter a teenager, Caroline has definitely brought some life back into the house.  We have to make sure things are put up, small presser feet and scissor are too tempting to run away with.  She makes Christmas 100% more fun.


Do you want a chocolate kitty yet?

And lastly in my Quilting Easter basket I would like classes, and let me tell you Craftsy is coming through on this one.  This weekend, tomorrow through Monday, all Craftsy classes are $19.99.  That's 50% off or more depending on the class.  YES!


This is probably one of my favorite sales that they run from time to time.  If you are looking for a class to try, check out my reviews of Angela Walter's Dot-to-Dot Quilting, Chirstina Cameli's Wild Quilting, Caro Sheridan's Shoot It, and Jessica Marquez's Product Photography at Home.  I have about eight classes hanging out in my wishlist, now to decide which one(s) I'll be treating myself to.  So don't forget to hop over there this weekend and check it out.

And don't forget to pop back over on Tuesday to check out my block for the Paintbrush Studio 2016 New Block Blog Hop.  I promise it will be a fun one.



Now it's time to get back to the machine and work on Labyrinth some more.  I'm a little frightened that this OMG might not get finished this month.  

A sneak peak until I finish.
Time is ticking and there are lots of family events to attend this weekend.  But family time trumps quilting time every time...unless they are driving me nuts. (just kidding...sort of)


Today I'm linking up with Sunday StashCan I Get a Whoop! Whoop! and Let's Bee Social.

Sunday, March 20, 2016

Quilting Additions/Mysteries Everywhere


I am pretty sure that this tiny piece of plastic just completely changed my life forever.  I've seen pictures and advertisements for it around the internet for quite some time, but didn't give it much thought.  Until last weekend, Shelley at Cora's Quilts posted a photo of her's in use when she released clue 3 of her Beguiling mystery quilt.  I have to say seeing it in use and knowing that there was a large amount of diagonal sewing in my future, was like finding water in the desert.  This tiny piece of plastic would mean no more marking diagonal lines before I sew them.  YES!!!


It took a few times before using it felt normal.  When sewing diagonals that are marked I'm looking at the needle to make sure I'm on track.  With the Sew Straight I am looking to make sure the corner of the square stays in line with the marked line on the Sew Straight.  Best purchase ever.  I was able to complete clues 3 and 4 in half the time.


So if you haven't checked out Shelley's Beguiling Mystery Quilt please check it out.  It is definitely not too late to join in.


I had so much fun participating in her Gypsy Queen Mystery Quilt, I nearly cried with joy to hear about this one.


Next up is a few fabric purchases or additions...



I picked up these fat quarters at a local big box store this week, in hopes of turning them into items for our guild's boutique to be held during out local Strawberry Festival and quilt show.  I have no idea what I am going to make with them.  So I am open to any suggestions, preferably quick and easy.


I also picked up these three fabrics from our guild's stash to use to create something for the boutique.  I'm thinking of adding a few other fabrics and turning them into a table runner.  Is there a petition I can sign to add a few more hours to the week?

Next up, I received these beauties in the mail a few weeks ago, but I have been pretty quiet about them.  Now is the time to discuss.


March 28th through the 30th I will be participating in the Paintbrush Studio 2016 New Block Blog Hop, hosted by Yvonne (Quilting Jetgirl), Cheryl (Meadow Mist Designs) and Stephanie (Late Night Quilter).


I hope you will stop back by on March 29th to see the new block design I have came up with staring these beautiful fabrics from the Ocean Sunrise collection and check out the designs created by my fellow bloggers.  Paintbrush Studio and our blog hop leaders also have some pretty cool give-a-ways planned as well.

Since I started this post talking about mystery quilts, let's end on that note as well.  If you have ever visited my blog before you know that I love mystery quilts.  I am happy to share the news of two upcoming mystery quilt-a-longs that will have me counting down like a kid a Christmas.

At the close of Cheryl at Meadow Mist Design's Midnight Mystery Quilt she announced that she will be hosting another mystery quilt to start in July 2016 and wrap of in the spring of 2017.  It will be called the Meadow Mystery.


Midnight Mystery was so much fun, I ended up making two, in different color ways.


You can check the parade of finished Midnight Mystery Quilts here.  Cheryl had over 111 different versions enter the parade of finishes.  She also had several different give-a-ways for those that entered their finishes.  I was lucky enough to be one of those winners and won a pin cushion from her Etsy shop.


I cannot tell you how  much I love this little guy.

And last but not least, Yvonne at Quilting Jetgirl just announced that she too will be hosting a quilt-a-long July through October called Snowflake Shimmer Quilt Along.  There will be five linky parties along the way and give-a-ways.  You can read more info about her quilt along here.


Now that all of that excitement is over, I should probably get back to work.  I think I read somewhere that I have a block pattern to write and a quilting goal to finish before the end of the month.


And time is ticking, my friends.


Today I'm linking up with Main Crush Monday, and Sunday Stash.
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