Month: September 2022

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Migrating Geese Border Tutorial

Every day I try to learn something new and today I found a wonderful technique. Deb Tucker is one of my favorite Youtube quilting heroes because she gives so many wonderful techniques that make piecing quilts so much more perfect. I highly recommend that you follow her on Youtube. Today I happened upon her Migrating Geese tutorial.

https://youtu.be/jkIboL_fyaY

Deb uses rotary cutting, but of course I immediately converted that to AccuQuilt GO! dies. Here’s what I did.

Step 1: Select the Shape 3 Half Square Triangle, Shape 4 Quarter Square Triangle, and Shape 5 Half Square Triangle dies from any size Qube. Select fabric of your choice.

Step 2: Cut an equal number of Shape 3 half square triangles (background fabric) and Shape 4 quarter square triangles (QSTs) for Flying Geese. Cut one Shape 5 half square triangle (HST) from the background fabric.

Step 3: Stitch a Shape 4 QST to a Shape 3 HST. You will be stitching an equal number of QSTs to HSTs right and left as shown below. Make an equal number of HST/QST units.

Step 4: Press your Shape 4 QST and Shape 3 HST units open. You can press seams open or to one side. Lay out the units as shown below. Start with a right side HST/QST unit and a separate QST that you cut and alternate right and left QST/HST units until you get to the end. At the end add a Shape 3 HST and the Shape 5 HST to even out the end.

Step 4: The diagram below shows the first few units sewn together. Be careful as you stitch to accurately stitch the QSTs so that there is a 1/4″ seam allowance and the points are sharp. Also remember that there are many bias edges here and it helps to pin the units together before sewing and carefully ease the edges together so that they fit.

Step 5: Finish sewing all the units together finishing with the Shape 3 and the Shape 5 HSTs on the end. Trim the long tail from the beginning Shape 3 HST and you now have a beautiful border for your quilt.

These wonderful Migrating Geese are thanks to Deb Tucker for the technique and to myself for the conversion to AccuQuilt GO! It is very helpful to watch Deb’s Youtube video and she also has a technique sheet that can be purchased.

For the demonstration, I used the 8″ Qube so Geese will be 2″ x 4″ which means that when determining the measurements for the border, use the height of the finished geese to determine the number of geese that you need. I used the 8″ Mix & Match Qube and my geese measured exactly 2″ from baseline to tip.

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Wednesday WIP – a Unicorn Nap Quilt

My granddaughter is in 4-year old preschool and the students have a short naptime every day. She is an avid unicorn fan so what could be better than a unicorn nap quilt. I purchased Elizabeth Hartman’s unicorn pattern a couple of years ago and am using that to make the center block of the quilt. It is not a hard pattern and is well written.

This is very different than my usual die cut quilts. There are so many different size pieces that it work much better to rotary cut all the pieces. The charts in the pattern help with keeping all the pieces straight.  I decided to cut four blocks rather than just one and stacked the pieces. It did require my labeling them with stickers to keep everything straight. It would probably be better to go ahead and lay them out on a board rather than stacking them. This is the pattern I am using.

The original plan was to use AccuQuilt letters to spell her name, but I decided to use the alphabet from my Floriani software and do large letters with it. This is my progress thus far. I did purchase some embroidery from Embroidery Library to make small unicorns on either side of her name. And of course this will need some additional borders for width and length. The center block is 26″ square and the name border is 5″ finished, so I have to come up with either some blocks or borders to finish this quilt.

I am using Moda Grunge for the background and batiks for the unicorn. Have you made any of Elizabeth Hartman’s patterns? I really think the blue and gray backgrounds are nice and have better contrast with the unicorn. What would your favorite color for a background be?

Unicorn with embroidery name
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Putting it Together with Block 2 of the Fall 2022 QAL

One of the things we enjoy most as quilters is putting the blocks together into a layout to be able to see our progress. With this QAL, we will be on Block 4 before we can begin to stitch some of the rows together. If you have a design wall, you can begin to lay out the blocks there. If you don’t have a design wall, there is another option that has worked well for me.

The alternate option is to get a flannel backed vinyl/plastic table cloth that is often use outdoors for picnics and use the flannel side to lay out your blocks. The nice thing about this is that you can lay it out on your bed, on the floor, or thumbtack it to your wall. When you put it away, it is easy to roll/fold it and the vinyl side will keep your blocks from shifting on the flannel.

For this QAL, the layout is seen below with Blocks 1 and 2 in place.  You can begin to see how it is coming together.

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Fall 2022 QAL Week #3 Depression Era Block

Today’s block is similar to one we did last January, but this time there are half square triangles on the corners. And please note that the corners are different. There are two color variations in the four half square triangles. This is important because it makes the design flow block to block in the next set of blocks. So think about those half square triangles and the smaller triangle colors for the Airplane block which is coming up next.

I’m traveling today, so won’t be able to answer questions until the late afternoon. Hope you get this block and have fun. Click on the block to get the instructions.

Block 2 Depression Era Block
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2022 Fall Quilt Along Week # 2 Block 1

I hope your Qube is in position and your needle is sharp. Today we will launch the first block in this QAL. It is the Center Block and I have posted instructions for making a Variable Star block. You have the option of choosing another block for the center of your quilt. The only requirement is that the block you choose and make is the same finished size as the Qube you are using for the quilt.

This is the star block and instructions can be found here.

Center Star Block

 

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Fall 2022 Quilt Along – Week # 1 Fabric Selection

The Fall 2022 Quilt Along (QAL) is here with a guide to the fabric selection. With thi.s QAL, I have added coloring pages as well as yardage amounts that will assure you have more than enough fabric to complete the quilt and  enough fabric to make up for anything that goes awry with a block.

This is a fun quilt to stitch. I ask you to please read the instructions and ask questions on the Facebook Page “AccuQuilt Qube Quilts”. This is not sponsored by AccuQuilt but is a User Group of supportive quilters.

The menu at the top of this page always has the links. Please bookmark the blog and go to that menu for printouts of the instructions.

 

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Sister’s Choice Quilt

For the Fall 2022 QAL we’re going to be making a quilt with a layout similar to this but this quilt is NOT what we will be doing for the QAL. This layout will be a template for you to make quilts with many different blocks and it is an easy way to make a larger quilt quickly.

I made this quilt in 2016 for my sister. The blocks finish at 12″ but that is with the added background fabric coping strips around each block to give more negative space for quilting. The outer border uses log cabin blocks.

Look in the side bar free patterns section for more information on how this quilt was made.  I used several different Qubes to make this. The Sister’s Choice block is not a 4×4 patch like the Qube blocks so it finished at 7-1/2″ and the coping strips I added made it a 12″ block. This quilt used the 6″ Mix & Match Qube, the 8″ Mix & Match Qube, and the log cabin die as well as some coping strips cut with a rotary cutter.

You will find the original blog post here.

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Morning Star Labor Day Project

We are so excited to have a day off this week. After just one week of school, a day  off is just what the doctor ordered. The children have all come home with colds (yes colds – not covid) and have shared them with us. And while there are a thousand things on the to do list, an escape to sewing a whole new project is good medicine.

A few weeks ago the Morning Star BOB die arrived and while we made a test block, a wall hanging has been percolating in the back of my mind. After a session with EQ and drafting several options, I sat down and started a new project. Although the AccuQuilt Contemporary pattern is one of my favorites, I wanted to do something a little different but along the same themes. This is where that idea landed. Because this is a 12″ finished block, it means the “wall hanging” will be 40″ square. It will require a bigger wall than the ideas in my head.

Morning Star Quilt

Yesterday I drafted the instructions for myself and then proceeded to cut and make all the different subunits for these blocks. This is the progress:

Five different subunits for the blocks

Block 1

Block 2

The blocks are so easy to cut because there are only two different shapes – the triangles and the corners. And the triangles are set on the board so that one pass cuts 36 triangles. That’s wonderful when you need as many as 124 which was the most needed of any color triangle. Four passes cuts 144 triangles – isn’t that wonderful?

It’s a busy day ahead with a binding and label to finish, calculating yardage and instructions for the QAL as well as putting these blocks together.

Happy Labor Day to you. I hope you’re either outside enjoying the last of summer with family and friends or stitching away in your happy place.