A New All-in-One Rotary Tool
"Measure TWICE, cut ONCE."
Greetings Quilter - I can't even tell you how many perfect shaped triangles and squares are in my stash simply because I didn't follow the advice in the quote this week - "Measure TWICE, cut ONCE." And then there are the quilts that are a different size than I had intended because I didn't follow the advice, but made the quilt anyway. It all fit together, but it each piece was 1/4 inch or 1/2 inch "off." Our Quilt as You Go project in www.TheQuiltingCoach.com is an example of the paper templates being wrong, resulting in a block that is a rectangle instead of a square. I discovered it after all of my pieces were cut. And have decided to move forward with the project as the pieces were cut. In the final quilt, everything usually works out - the quilt gets put together, lots of family and friends "oooh" and "aaah" over the beautiful finished quilt, and the only one who knows the mistake is the quilt maker and anyone she or he tells. In the past I was reluctant to tell folks of my mistakes. However, I realize that you can learn from my mistakes and either prevent your own similar mistakes or learn how to fix another "situation." Later this morning, I will be posting the lesson for the week in www.TheQuiltingCoach.com for the Quilt as You Go project. If you're not a member, get a 1 month free trial membership and you can watch this project develop and check out all of the valuable resources in the site.
Happy Quilting!
A New Quilting Tool
Every time I go into my local quilt shop, I have to take a look at the rulers and see what is new. I’ve been pretty happy with my selection of rotary cutting rulers, but when I saw this one, I had to try it. It took a short video posted on YouTube by Martingale (the distributor) for me to fully appreciate everything this ruler does. But for starters, in addition to strips, you can cut both half-square triangles and quarter-square triangles from your strips. There has been an ongoing discussion among quilters about how wide to cut strips when you are making half-square triangles from the strips. The thought originally was to add 7/8 inch to the finished size.
Much by accident, I’m sure, many quilters discovered that you can get just as perfect half-square triangles by adding only 1/2 inch – especially when you trim the tips to make the triangles match up better when you sew. To use this ruler for cutting half-square triangles, just line it up on your strip and cut.
Then flip the ruler over, line it up again and cut.
This is really ok, because to get your triangles to line up for sewing better, use the tip of the ruler to trim the tips off on both ends.
And notice how much better the triangles line up when you get ready to sew. This saves fabric and time. Each strip cut is 1/8 inch narrower, which doesn’t seem like a lot, but when you are cutting 8 strips, you’ve just added an inch. Plus, it is easier to line your triangles up to sew them.
In addition to cutting half-square triangles, this fantastic ruler cuts quarter-square triangles and strips. Postcard Quilts for the Troops – All aboard for Spring!
Penny's Postcard Posse has sent more than 15,000 fabric postcards to our troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and the hospital in Germany. As quilters, we know what those postcards mean to the men and women who recieve them. Some who get them receive no other mail from home. And for all of them, it's a reminder of the wonderful freedoms they are fighting for and the comforts they will enjoy when they return home. Every once in a while, we get letters from over there. This just in from Diane: "Hi Diane!Happy Valentine's Day! Thank you for the goodies you sent. Please extend our gratitudes to all the kids who made those valentine cards and for all those who helped you with the goodies. It's been busy here and few days ago we had a very windy,dusty day. Im glad it rained a little bit so most of the dust are gone now. Thank you for supporting all the soldiers and thank you for remembering us in your prayers. Please take care and I hope to hear from you later. God bless you and your family. Love, Let's keep the cards going over there. These are really important to the troops as they are over there getting shot at and missing their families. And, for some, a fabric postcard from us is the only mail they get! Penny’s Postcard Posse is Roundin’ ‘em up for Spring. And because of the time it takes to get them to Iraq, the deadline is fast approaching. To make the Spring deadline, get your cards to Diane by March 8. Please send your cards to: Diane is doing a fabulous job keeping the pictures updated, and if you have sent cards in, let your friends and family know that they can see pictures of them here: www.Fabric-Postcards.com Remember you can get FREE postcard patterns at: www.QuiltBlockLibrary.com
BOOK OF THE MONTH – Quick Star Quilts and Beyond
Stop making star quilts the hard way! Using the techniques divulged in this brand new quilting resource, making star quilts is now easy - and your bed-size star quilt will be complete in no time at all. You can never have too many star quilts. You can make individual star blocks created by piecing squares, triangles and half-square triangles, such as an Ohio Star or a star like the Time and Tide quilt block.
There are two other stars that are like the grandaddys of all star quilts - the Star of Bethlehem Quilt and Broken Star Quilt. These quilts are typically made from smaller diamonds that are pieced to create a large 8 pointed star. The Star of Bethlehem (sometimes called Lone Star) has a large 8 pointed star as its centerpiece, while the Broken Star includes diamonds surrounding the center star. While these quilts are all very fun to make, they are also a lot of work. Oh, there are some shortcut, strippiecing methods that will save time and aggravation in piecing the smaller diamonds in order to create the star points, but, still, there are a lot of little pieces. But, what if you want something that is easy to make while being interesting and dramatic? What if you could create a broken star quilt that had the illusion of 3 dimensions - using a really easy technique?
Now you can! Jan Krentz is an award-winning quilter, designer and author who has taught quiltmaking for more than 20 years, and Jan loves stars. When you look at her gallery of quilts, you will see stars. Mostly big stars that are the focus of each quilt. With Jan's newest quilting resource, Quick Star Quilts & Beyond, you will learn how to make these beautiful big stars in a breeze. This is a brand new resource from C&T, fresh on the stands in February, and promises to be one of those quilting books that stays around for a long time.
Our order needs to be in by February 17 so today is the day!
http://www.how-to-quilt.com/quickstarquilts.php
Featured Block in Video This week we will celebrate George Washington's birthday - next Sunday, February 22, that is. And for the celebration, I've sewn the Washington's Puzzle quilt block. If you thought the Heart Quilt block last week was easy, you are going to love this one. It has only 9 patches, and looks pretty difficult to sew. But it's easy, easy. As a matter of fact, you could spend more time cutting the fabric than it takes to sew the block together. Get a free download of this pattern at www.QuiltBlockLibrary.com While you're there, invest in Pattern Credits (minimum $54) and get a FREE DVD showing 6 different ways to sew Half-Square Triangles together. We've only go 35 of these left, so get yours quick. Enjoy!
Download the Washington's Puzzle Quilt Block Pattern
February Quilt Block Patterns The February selection of free quilt block patterns includes some especially for celebrating Valentine's Day as well as some great quilt patterns for any time of the year.
Click here to download your February FREE quilt block patterns |
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