Category: QUBE

Block 4 Broken Dishes Qube Workout

The new block is posted and ready to go. This block will finish the second border around the four center Broken Dishes blocks. It is the connector block for the stars that we made last week. Can’t wait to see what you do with this.

Here’s the link to the QAL Page: It’s Part 6 Block 4.

This is what the 8″ Scrappy version looks like after the border is added. It is very bright, but I like bright. Will work on the 12″ one this week and see if I can get it ready.

And I’m going to do some screen shots of the ones that are done on the Qube Facebook group and post them in a separate blog post.

 
 

Block 3 Broken Dishes Qube Workout

The block this week goes in Border 2. There are 8 star blocks and 8 connector blocks in Border 2. This week we are making the star blocks. There is a choice of two different stars. One is a Broken Dishes Star and the second is a Diamond Star. They are very similar in appearance, but different in the way they are pieced. The Broken Dishes Star is made up of all triangles and the Diamond Star includes flying geese units and a square on point unit.

You will find links to the instructions here.

Below are diagrams of all of the Borders showing the variations and the stars:

Diamond Star Variation 01

 

Diamond Star Variation 02

 

Broken Dishes Star Variation 04

 

Broken Dishes Star Variation 03

 

Broken Dishes Star Variation 00

 
 

Shift and Cut Method for AccuQuilt dies

One of the instructions for the Trapezoid and Kite shapes for the AccuQuilt Companion Qube dies is to use the Shift and Cut Method. AccuQuilt has some videos for this, but I actually did this and made some still photos which I will post here.

Notice that I use Painter’s tape on my die. to mark about 1/8-1/4″ from the blade. This shows me exactly where to place the cut fabric when I shift for the next shape. I also use the Painter’s tape on other dies for the same purpose. I could mark it with a Sharpie, but Painter’s tape gives me the flexibility for times when I need different markings. Then I can move the tape whereas Sharpie marks are permanent. 
 

Piecing Block 2 Broken Dishes Qube Workout

It’s Monday and time for a new block. This week’s block is very simple. It is either a half square triangle, a Signature block, or a trapezoid block. Make 20 blocks and arrange them around the four Broken Dishes center blocks that were done last week. I am making two quilts. One of the quilts is with the 8″ Qube and is scrappy and the new block added is the Signature block. The second quilt is with the 12″ Qube and I am using a deep burgundy/wine with some medium color fabric that was in my stash from a project that I worked on with my Mom many years ago. The new block added is a half square triangle. The pictures are below. I love how bright the scrappy quilt is and I love how the pieced blocks frame the stars.

You will find instructions to each of three variations for this border in the QAL menu at the top of the blog.

 

 
 

Dies Needed for Broken Dishes Qube Workout Quilt

I made an instruction sheet showing the blocks that are in each quilt and the dies that are needed for that quilt. 02 Dies Needed-Broken Dishes Qube Workout

Yesterday I spent working on a project that I’m doing for AccuQuilt. Can’t tell you more now, but it is going to be very pretty when it’s done.

And as I worked on that project I used the scrappy 2″ finished half square triangles as leaders/enders to work on some Broken Dishes blocks. That picture doesn’t look very clear on my computer but you can see how the signature block creates another point on the Broken Dishes star.

Have a Happy Day! 
 

Qube Workout Part 1

I am doing a Quilt Along on the Qube Facebook group and will post helpful hints here on the blog. The files will be posted until the quilt is finished and then the files will be compiled as a pattern for sale in my quilt shop. Here are pictures of the quilt from EQ8. One is a “scrappy” version and the other is a coordinated colorway. 01 Broken Dishes QubeWorkout Yardage

 

  
 

Tip for Making Strip Sets from Jelly Rolls and Fat Quarters

 

One of my most favorite fabric collections has been the Tuscany batiks by Robert Kaufman. I had quite a bit of it, some yardage but mostly jelly rolls, layer cakes and fat quarters. And it has been used it many ways. One was a blog post that I did for AccuQuilt in 2017 using the Elevate Angles block. Aren’t the colors rich and beautiful.  I actually made two of these quilts and gave one to my brother-in-law during the time my sister was in the hospital. 

Another is this gorgeous Hunter’ss Star quilt that I recently finished:

Being down to the last bits of this, the decision was made to cut it into a scrappy Double Irish Chain quilt. Thus, I want to share with you the way I sometimes make strip sets. This is not the best way for every situation, but works well for the scrappy Double Irish Chain quilt. This is a similar process as the recent post about a way to make quick work of 4-patch units.

This is the double Irish chain block. As you can see there will be three separate strip sets.

When making strip sets with jelly rolls, one of the things that happens is that the ends never match. In addition, while one should stitch from one end and then the other to keep the strip set from “bowing”, that just exacerbates the problem of ends matching and there is a fair amount of waste on either end in my experience. In addition, pressing a long strip set presents its own set of issues, and pressing is my middle name.

My solution to this is to precut the strips to a width that will fit the strip die that will be used for cutting the final subunits of the block.  For a 2-1/2″ strip die, that width is 8-1/2″. The 8-1/2″ square die works perfectly for this. You can see that my die has been used a lot and for many different purposes based on the marks and tape.

This may seem like extra work, but actually it is six of one and a half dozen of the other, as the strip sets have to be cut to 8-1/2″ sooner or later if they are to be cut into subunits using the 2-1/2″ strip die.

This works to cut both width of fabric (WOF) strips like Jelly Roll strips and for strips cut from Fat Quarters (FQs).  Here WOF strips are layered to be cut. The extra fabric from the WOF strips is saved to be cut into 2-1/2″ squares for making scrappy 4-patch subunits.

Here strips cut from fat quarters are layered. The fat quarter strips were cut with the 2-1/2″ strip die on the 18″ width of the fat quarter. As 8-1/2 x 2 = 17, the fat quarter strips folded in half just fit the 8-1/2″ square die.

And then these precut strips can be stitched into strip sets that work beautifully, especially for a scrappy layout, and fit perfectly on the 2-1/2″ strip die for cutting the block subunit rows. And it is much, much easier to press a shorter strip set than a longer one.

Finally, the strip set is cut into subunits with the 2-1/2″ strip die.

And just think – if you can cut strip sets using the 8-1/2″ die, you can cut jelly roll strips into rectangles that are exactly the size you want using the 6-1/2″ square die from the 12″ Qube and the 4-1/2″ die from the 8″ Qube.

Happy Quilting!

 

  
 

Scottie Dog Applique Quilt Tutorial

This is one of my favorite quilts. The fabric I used came from my Mother. She always wanted to make a Scottie dog quilt. She had this little one yard or maybe a little more blue fabric and in making this quilt, I used every last scrap of it. But when it was time to bind it, there wasn’t enough fabric. Amazingly, I found a perfect blue (from Mother’s stash that I inherited) to match the blue in the Scottie dog fabric.

 

 

I used the AccuQuilt GO! 8″ and 12″ Qubes to make this quilt, but you can use individual dies or rotary cutting. 

Connector Block Cutting Instructions

2″ Finished Square (Cut 48 black dot, cut 48 light blue)

  • Shape 2 – AccuQuilt GO! 8″ Qube
  • Rotary Cut 2-1/2″ square

4″ Finished Square (Cut 24 light blue, cut 6 medium blue)

  • Shape 1 – AccuQuilt GO! 8″ Qube or
  • Rotary cut 4-1/2″ square

Applique Block Cutting Instructions

6″ Finished Half Square Triangle (cut 24 light blue)

  • Shape 3 – AccuQuilt GO! 12″ Qube or
  • Rotary cut 6-7/8″ Square and cut once diagonally to make two finished 6″ HSTs

6″ Finished Quarter Square Triangle (cut 24 black dot)

  • Shape 4 – AccuQuilt GO! 12″ Qube or
  • Rotary cut 7-3/16″ square and cut twice diagonally to make 4 finished 6″ QSTs

6″ Finished Square for embroidery (cut 6 light blue)

Border Cutting Instructions

  • Inner Border – cut 5 strips 2-1/2″ x WOF (width of fabric)
  • Outer Border – cut 6 strips 3-1/2″ x  WOF
  • Binding – cut 6 strips 2-1/2″ x WOF

Quilt Layout and Construction

 
 

GO!™ Camper and Northwoods Quilt and Border Tutorial

I have been working on a quilt using the GO!™ Camper and Northwoods dies and the embroidery that I digitized for these dies. With the embroidery, I made quilt blocks that fit a 7″ x 8″ embroidery hoop. The applique dies are often perfect for a full quilt block and that is what I like to make.  This is the quilt as I am quilting it on the longarm. You can see the Electric Quilt software version just below that.

 

I created the embroidery blocks so that there are blocks with birds flying one way and the same block with birds flying in the opposite direction. I also moved the squirrels and bunnies to different places on the blocks so it would look more natural. And of course, any of the birds, or other creatures can be omitted as there are color stops for each one.

The following information is a tutorial for making the border—specifically the triangle border. This is an image showing the measurements for each border.

The body of the quilt is made of embroidered blocks that have been cut to 8-1/2″ square (unfinished) and stitched together to make a top that is 40-1/2″ x 40-1/2″.

The first border is cut and stitched as follows:
  • Cut 5 each 2-1/2″ x width of fabric (WOF) strips. Seam together three of the strips in the same manner that you would seam binding (45 degree angle).
  • Cut  2 strips 2-1/2″ x 40-1/2″  for the inner side border and stitch to the quilt sides. Ease as needed to fit.
  • Cut 2 strips 2-1/2″ x 44-1/2″ from the three strips that were seamed together. Stitch these two strips to the quilt top and bottom that include the side strips already stitched on. Ease as needed to fit.
The second border is cut and stitched as follows (make four borders):
  • Colored Border Fabric:
    • Cut 44 each Triangle in a Square (4″ finished) Die 55753 (Shape #13) from the 8″ Qube Companion Set Angles.
    • Cut 4 Squares(4″ finished) Die 55708 (Shape 1) from the 8″ Qube Set,
  • Background Fabric:
    • Cut 40 each Triangle in a Square (4″ finished) Die 55753 (Shape #13) from the 8″ Companion Set Angles. 
    • Cut 8 each Triangle in a Square Sides (4″ finished) Die 55754 (Shape #14) from the 8″ Companion Set Angles. 

Assemble the border as follows:

Lay out one color and one background  Triangle in a Square shapes and stitch together as shown.

Lay out the next Triangle in a Square Shape and stitch. Continue stitching shapes together in a row until there are 11 color shapes and 10 background shapes.

       

When there are 11 color Triangles and 10 background triangles stitched together, add the end side triangles (Shape 14).  Complete this process four times to make four borders.

On the end of two of the borders, stitch a 4-1/2″ square (4″ finished). Stitch the borders that do not have the squares to the quilt first. Then stitch the borders with the end squares to the quilt next. I used the points of the triangles to match to the seam allowances of the quilt blocks and eased the border as needed to fit the inner border. It seemed that it might not fit or it would pucker, but once it was pinned and stitched, it fit perfectly.  Triangles are often like that because there is so much bias involved. But if you work gently and patiently, you will find they can be manipulated into place beautifully. And the great plus is that with AccuQuilt all the shapes are perfectly cut to get the perfect fit.

The third border is cut and stitched as follows:
  • Cut 6 each 2-1/2″ x WOF strips from color border fabric. Seam together three of the strips in the same manner that you would seam binding (45 degree angle). Make 2 sets of three strips seamed together.
  • Cut 2 strips 2-1/2″ x 52-1/2″ for the outer side borders. Stitch to the sides of the quilt.
  • Cut 2 strips 2-1/2″ x  56-1/2″ for the outer top and bottom borders. Stitch to the top and bottom of the quilt.

Your quilt top is finished. Just quilt as desired. With this much embroidery, a meander is a great way to quilt. I am using a water meander on mine. And of course, the borders can be quilted geometrically with rulers or with an overall fill.

 

 

  
 

Belated Valentine

This is a belated Valentine. Somehow my New Year’s resolution to write several posts a week has not come to fruition. What happens is that I get so involved in projects that the hyperfocus excludes all else.

When my second grader grandson was here on Thursday, Feb 13, making Valentine’s and asked what to write on his Valentine cards, I told him to write “Happy Valentine’s Day” or “Be My Valentine.” He asked me what that means. My response was that it’s like saying “Merry Christmas” at Christmas time. That was not the best explanation but the first thing that came to mind. Children ask the most unexpected questions, and I often wonder how they process and perceive what we say.

And it’s been incredibly busy here. A couple of the projects I can’t tell you about yet, but there are two others that are interesting in that one in my opinion is a complete fail and the other is beginning to shape up into something pretty.

First for the complete fail. I was looking for fabric to go with the pink and purchased the green fabric as I thought it would be perfect and it’s such a cute print. I made one block and thought it looked pretty good so decided to make the rest of the blocks. As I worked, it was very apparent to me that I didn’t like the green but was determined to finish what I had cut. So here’s the block and the quilt top. They definitely are not on my list of winners. The top has to be quilted and I will do that soon and then see if there are any takers among the 10 grandchildren.

The one good thing about this quilt is the blocks I chose to go together. I love the look of the stars framed by the chain. Now the challenge is to make it in colors I love.

I’ll tell you about the second project tomorrow. It’s a much happier story.