What Do You Do??

First off, let me say I have debated back and forth a million times whether to ask this question or not??  I like things to stay upbeat and positive around here hence there will be no names and no references to specifics.  I just need a little advice on what is the best course of action.   So please, let's keep it light.

So here is the scenario - The other day I was surfing along and came across a picture of a quilt that looked a like one of my tutorials.  Of course, I was super excited that someone had used my tutorial and tweaked it to make it their own, so I clicked on over to read the blog post about it.  You can imagine my surprise when I found that the picture was actually of a pattern for sale.

Now, I thought, maybe they were just on the same wavelength as me design wise and created something similar.  So I bought the pattern to check it out.  The measurements of the similar part of my tutorial are the exact same, no change whatsoever.  The pattern includes additional borders to make it their own.

Now I don't want to rail on this person, or get into some huge copyright battle or any of the sort.  This person is just trying to create like all the rest of us.   Here is where my dilemma comes in.  I have a huge love and respect for this industry.  We all know this isn't how we "play nice".  So my question is . . . Do I have a responsibility to contact this person and let them know that they need to play nice i.e. list their source of inspiration or something along those lines.   Or . . . Do I just let it go with the assumption that this person was just taking a piece of something they liked and adding to it??

Okay, comment away, but remember, keep it light.

***EDIT - Thank you all so much for your wonderful comments.   Through reading these I have come to the conclusion that I felt from the beginning and didn't want to put off dealing with it.  I am sure that this was most likely an unaware mistake.  So with your helpful advice, I wrote a very nice email to this person, letting them know very kindly that maybe it is just coincidence and maybe not.  If not, it really isn't "playing nice" and while I don't expect this person to take the pattern down, it would be nice if the person credited the tutorial as inspiration.

I am not sure what will happen but I feel that the important thing is that this person is now educated for the future so as not to get themselves into some real trouble.    And honestly, that makes me feel good about the whole situation.  If nothing else comes from this except that we all remember to "play nice" well then that is worth it :)

***EDIT #2 - I heard back from this person and it was all a happy coincidence.  The person had drafter their pattern all on thier own and it was just a coincidence that our sizes happened to be the same.  We both left on a very good note knowing that we are all watching each other's backs in this industry :)

Have a Happy Quilting Day!!  I know I will :)

Back To Basics Progress

I have decided to call my Riley Blake Challenge Quilt Back to Basics.  WIth this many Flying Geese and HST's it just seemed to fit :)  That was a lot of trimming, luckily I had my Bloc-Loc rulers to help :)

It didn't take long to turn the basic quilting blocks into blocks and the blocks into a quilt top.  It was one of those projects where you are just so excited to see how it will turn out you can't stop until it is done.   I just love how the secondary designs pop out of it.  So fun!!!  And now I just need to wait for Abby to come back from her annual cleaning so that I can get it quilted.

I am debating between two plans for quilting:
1 - Either a  circle that starts in the slightly off center and keeps moving out.  I love this quilting design everytime I see it and have wanted to give it a try for some time.  I think it might also add some softness to all those points.
2 - Stitching in the ditch around the "windmill" designs to highlight the secondary designs.

Which one do you think I should go with??  It's a toss up for me so your help is greatly appreciated :)

Linking up to Lee's :)

Bernadette is Back

On Friday, I packed up my wonderful Abby (the Artista) to take a little visit to the Sewing Doc's for her annual check-up and cleaning.  Now if you don't recall from when I got Abby, I love this machine.  So it is always hard to go without her for a few days.

So, I have to remind myself to be grateful that I have good old Bernadette to back me up.   I was at a conference over the weekend where the speaker said "A Luxury once enjoyed becomes a Necessity."   And oh, does that apply to Abby and Bernadette.   I am waiting to quilt my finished top because I just can't bring myself to quilting in that tiny harp space again :)  But, I really am glad that I don't have to completely stop sewing altogether while I wait for Abby to return and it will make me appreciate Abby all the more.  

Oh, and there is an extra  silver lining to this annual machine drama.  When I packed up Abby and took the sewing table off the desk, I realized just how dusty the desk was.  So of course, I cleaned it off.  Which lead to cleaning the floors, which led to a general overall cleaning of the studio ;)  I even managed to finish folding and organizing the Fat Quarter shelf.  Doesn't it look pretty :)

So, I'm curious,  Do you miss your machine like crazy when it is in the shop, or am I the only one overly attached to a sewing machine??

Handmade Holidays

It's Sew Mama Sew's 7th Annual Handmade Holiday!!!  Have you followed along with Handmade Holidays before??  It is so much fun :)  Each day of November there will be a post centered around a theme.  The themes so far have been Gifts for tweens, Gifts for gadget lovers, Gifts for cooks, and Holiday party clothes and accessories.  Each theme post will have lots of tutorial links centered around that theme for you to make your holiday's totally handmade.

And Sew Mama Sew added a little twist this year.  They have asked for Guest Curators to line up the theme's and tutorials.  And I was lucky enough to be chosen as a guest curator :)  I can't wait to share the fabulous tutorials I found all centered around a theme that is close to my heart :)  But you will have to follow along with Handmade Holidays to see when I post :)  I will give you a hint, my theme centers around this tutorial :)

Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

Twists and Turns - A MBS Tutorial

Today I am so excited to share a new Moda Bake Shop Tutorial.  It has been a little bit since I was over there so it is fun to be back again :)  I call this quilt Twists and Turns .  It is a super easy quilt to put together, I never used a pin :)  You can find the step by step tutorial over at the Moda Bake Shop.

This quilt is made with 2 jelly rolls and some 2 yardage cuts.  The fabric is the ever so adorable Bluebird Park from Kate and Birdie.  Those little hedgehogs are so stinking adorable!!

And now that this Moda Bake Shop Tutorial has been published for a while, I can now post it here on my blog for your convenience ;)   So just follow along below for the full step-by-step tutorial.  And if you love it, you can get the printer friendly version here :)  

So let's get to it!!!

To make a Twists and Turns 84"x 84" picnic size quilt you will need:

2 Bluebird Park Jelly Rolls by Kate and Birdie
2 1/6 Yards of the Grey Flower print  (13106 18)
1 1/6 Yards of the Yellow print  (13108 19)
5 Yards of any print for Backing

STEP 1 - CUTTING

We will start with the Yardage.  From the Grey print yardage, cut (30) 2 1/2" x WOF strips.  From those strips sub-cut (36) 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" squares, (36) 2 1/2" x 12 1/2" strips, and (36) 2 1/2" x 14 1/2" strips.  Set aside.  From the Yellow print yardage, cut (15) 2 1/2"  x WOF strips.  From those strips sub-cut *36) 2 1/2" x 6 1/2" strips and (36) 2 1/2" x 8 1/2" strips.  Set Aside.

Now it's time to move onto the jelly rolls.  From the 2 Jelly Rolls select 54 strips.  I used the light grey, green, blue, and coral strips setting aside the yellow and dark grey strips for binding.

Divide the 54 strips into 2 piles, one pile of 18 strips and one pile of 36 strips.  Evenly distribute the colors in each pile.

From the pile of 18 strips, cut each strip while folded into a 10 1/2" and (2) 4 1/2" increments.  This will create (4) 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" rectangles and (2) 2 1/2" x 10 1/2" strips from each strip.  Cut all 18 strips this way and group the pieces into piles of similar size.

From the pile of 36 strips, open the strip and cut one of each of the following pieces from the strip.  A 2 1/2" x 12 1/2" piece, a 2 1/2" x 10 1/2" piece, a 2 1/2" x  8 1/2" piece, a 2 1/2" x  6 1/2" piece, and a 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" square.  Cut each of these pieces from all 36 strips.  Group these with the other prints into piles of similar size.

From your Jelly Rolls you should now have the following pieces

STEP 2 - BUILDING BLOCK

To start the block, gather a grey yardage 2 1/2" square and a colored print 2 1/2" square.  Place with right sides together and stitch a 1/4" seam along the edge, aligning as you sew.

Chain stitch 36 similar sets.  Chain stitching is just sewing one set after another without clipping threads in between.  Once you are through sewing all 36 sets, clip the threads and press toward the colored print.

Now, layout your pieced set and a colored print 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" rectangle as shown.  Place the rectangle onto the pieced set with right sides together and aligning the raw edge.  Stitch a 1/4" seam along the edge.

Repeat for all 36 pieced sets chain stitching as you go.  Once you have chain stitched all 36 sets, clip the threads and press towards the 4 1/2" print piece.

And now the process will repeat again and again :)
Grab a colored print 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" rectangle and place it onto the side of the pieced unit with right sides together and aligning raw edges as shown.  Stitch a 1/4" seam along the edge.  Repeat for all 36 sets chain stitching as you go.  Clip the threads and press towards the newly added piece.
Now, grab a colored print 2 1/2" x 6 1/2" rectangle and place it onto the top of the pieced unit with right sides together and aligning raw edges as shown.  Stitch a 1/4" seam along the edge.  Repeat for all 36 sets chain stitching as you go.  Clip the threads and press towards the newly added piece.

Grab a yellow yardage 2 1/2" x 6 1/2" rectangle and place it onto the side of the pieced unit with right sides together and aligning raw edges as shown.  Stitch a 1/4" seam along the edge.  Repeat for all 36 sets chain stitching as you go.  Clip the threads and press towards the newly added piece.
Now, grab a yellow yardage 2 1/2" x 8 1/2" rectangle and place it onto the top of the pieced unit with right sides together and aligning raw edges as shown.  Stitch a 1/4" seam along the edge.  Repeat for all 36 sets chain stitching as you go.  Clip the threads and press towards the newly added piece.

Grab a colored print 2 1/2" x 8 1/2" strip and place it onto the side of the pieced unit with right sides together and aligning raw edges as shown.  Stitch a 1/4" seam along the edge.  Repeat for all 36 sets chain stitching as you go.  Clip the threads and press towards the newly added piece.
Now, grab a colored print 2 1/2" x 10 1/2" strip and place it onto the top of the pieced unit with right sides together and aligning raw edges as shown.  Stitch a 1/4" seam along the edge.  Repeat for all 36 sets chain stitching as you go.  Clip the threads and press towards the newly added piece.

Grab a colored print 2 1/2" x 10 1/2" strip and place it onto the side of the pieced unit with right sides together and aligning raw edges as shown.  Stitch a 1/4" seam along the edge.  Repeat for all 36 sets chain stitching as you go.  Clip the threads and press towards the newly added piece.
Now, grab a colored print 2 1/2" x 12 1/2" strip and place it onto the top of the pieced unit with right sides together and aligning raw edges as shown.  Stitch a 1/4" seam along the edge.  Repeat for all 36 sets chain stitching as you go.  Clip the threads and press towards the newly added piece.

Almost done!!!
Grab a grey yardage 2 1/2" x 12 1/2" strip and place it onto the side of the pieced unit with right sides together and aligning raw edges as shown.  Stitch a 1/4" seam along the edge.  Repeat for all 36 sets chain stitching as you go.  Clip the threads and press towards the newly added piece.
Now, grab a grey yardage 2 1/2" x 14 1/2" strip and place it onto the top of the pieced unit with right sides together and aligning raw edges as shown.  Stitch a 1/4" seam along the edge.  Repeat for all 36 sets chain stitching as you go.  Clip the threads and press towards the newly added piece.

You should now have (36) 14 1/2" x 14 1/2" blocks that look something like this :)

STEP 3 - ASSEMBLING QUILT TOP

And now is the really fun part.  This is where you get to decide what kind of a quilt layout you want.  There are so many possibilities.  These are a few of my favorite :)    Play with the blocks until you have the layout you love, and there are lots more options than shown ;)  Once you have a layout you like, sew the blocks into rows and the rows into the quilt top :)

 

If you decide to do the staircase layout, the same as I did, it is easiest to first sew the blocks into the two  sets of two shown below, making 9 of each set.

And then sew the sets into two sets of row, making 3 of each row as shown.

And lastly, sewing the rows into the quilt top.

STEP 4 - FINISHING

So now it is time to turn that finished quilt top into a finished Quilt ;)  Time to  Baste It, Quilt It, and Bind It!!!  Which is a whole lot in one little sentence.  If you are new to quilting, you can see my Finishing Your Quilt Series of video tutorials that will walk you through Basting, Quilting, and Binding step by step ;)

When it came time to quilt mine,  I was a little swamped with my Lucky Stars Market quilt at that point, so Barbara was kind enough to quilt this up for me on the long arm.  She quilted adorable flowers in all shapes and sizes and traveling loops.  It is just perfect for these whimsical prints :)

 STEP 5 - ENJOY

And just like that, you have made one adorable Twists and Turns Quilt that is just the design for you :)    Twists and Turns measures 84" x 84", perfect for a family picnic, well  just as soon as it warms up enough to have a picnic :)

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial and if you make your own Twists and Turns Quilt I would love to see it!!  You can email me a picture at happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com, post it to social media with #happyquiltingwithmc  or or add it to my flickr group here ;)  I can't wait to see your Twists and Turns Quilts!!!

Linking up to Sarah's and Amanda's