Tutorial Throwback Thursday - Steps to Tranquility

It's Thursday and that means another Tutorial Throwback feature.  And today's feature starts with a little story from our house this week.
 Jessica (who is loving to learn to quilt with me)  is a Freshman in high school and has been running on the Cross Country team.  Sadly, about 3 weeks ago we found she had a stress fracture in her foot.   Which meant she needed to be in a boot, and had to start "training" on a bike so as not to worsen the fracture.   And then two nights ago, she came home upset and informed us she crashed on the bike.  And you guessed it, she fractured her elbow.  So now the poor thing has a boot on the right foot, and a brace and sling on the left arm  (and did I mention she is left handed:)   And it means no physical activity now until the arm (and foot) heal.   
So as you can imagine, it has been a bit of a roller coaster week both emotionally and physically and I just need some calming vibes in our home.   So today,  the Steps to Tranquility quilt just seemed to fit for our throwback!!!

I designed this Steps to Tranquility specifically for my Mother.  She was needing a new quilt for her bed, and I gladly offered to maker her one.  My mom loves classic clean lines with a touch of modern flair so I set out to design something that highlighted that idea.  And you can't go wrong with wonderful framed squares and rectangles.  They fit the concept just perfect and I love all of the secondary designs the quilt creates, while still not being to busy. 

And using calming colors and basic prints were just the perfect finish to the design.  I used Angela Walter's Legacy collection and I just loved that the prints are a take of free motion quilting which gave them all a beautiful flowing feel.   The colors matched my mom's room perfect and it really added a soft, calming, vibe that my mom was trying to achieve in her master bedroom.  Hence where the name for the quilt came from.   

And this Steps to Tranquility quilt is big!!!!  My mom has a queen bed, but she likes a ton of drape, like as in wanted it touching the floor.  So this is actually a King Size Quilt (or a large queen)  finishing at 103" x 103".    And even though it is big, it really does go together fast because of the simple, clean design.     And it is Fat Quarter Friendly, so you just need to pick 20 Fat Quarters and away you go ;)  

And since this quilt was for my mom, I decided to really go all out on the quilting.   In fact, this was one of the first quilts that I really tried to "custom quilt".    But the crazy thing is, which of course I didn't realize at the time, the hopper foot on the long arm was broken.   I remember being so frustrated and wondering why the thread just kept breaking.  I can't even count how many times I re threaded and cleaned the machine while trying to quilt this huge quilt.   The machine was still fairly new at this point, and I assumed it was my user error.   So I just kept plugging away in total frustration.   Let's just say, thank heaven's for repair men that when I finally called, got me squared away in no time :)   So this quilt taught me a huge lesson of when the machine doesn't play nice, it isn't necessarily me and I should take it in rather than trying to push through in total frustration!!!   And I am happy to say, I have gotten much better at knowing when it just needs to be cleaned or something simple that I can fix  or when it needs my handi repair man's help ;)  

And I am also happy to say that this Steps to Tranquility quilt is still the focal feature of my Mother's master bedroom.  And I can't tell you how much it makes me smile when I am chatting with her on the phone and all of the sudden she will say, "I just walked into my room and oh Melissa,  I just love this quilt".  That to me is the absolute best.  And this throws back 6 years so that is saying something!!!  Isn't it just so great that a quilt can bring such joy, happiness, and peace and comfort.   Which brings me back to the beginning of this post, and makes me think Jessi needs a new quilt :)   Maybe a school Color rally quilt that she can use to cuddle up in now while she cheers her teammates on at the remainder of the races, and then she can pull it back out when Softball season starts in the Spring, because we are positive she will be all healed up and ready to go!!!

I hope you have enjoyed today's Tutorial Throwback Thursday!!!    To make your own Steps to Tranquility  quilt  just click on any of the quilt name links for the free step by step tutorial.   And when you are done, I would love to see your quilt!!  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 Steps to Tranquility quilts!!!

Thanks for popping in today and have a very Happy Quilting Day!!!

Starstruck Quilt Along - Baby Section

**  NOTE  - This post is part of a series of posts for the Starstruck Quilt Along.  If you would like to join (and have a chance to win one of three $75.00 Gift Certificates from Fat Quarter Shop ) you can find a list of the post links here :)  Here is the schedule

September 4th - Intro, Fabric Requirements, and Prizes Announcement 

September 18th - Cutting 

September 25th - Wall Hanging Piecing 

October 2nd - Baby Piecing (That's Today!!!) 

October 9th - Lap Piecing

October 16th - Picnic Piecing

October 23rd - Queen/King Piecing

November 13th - Star Struck Parade and Grand Prize Winners

Now, first off for this week, we need to pick a winner for the Wall Hanging Assignment.   And you all did such a great job with the piecing!!  It is so fun to get to see all of the centers of your quilts!!!   And if you are just finding this QAL, it's never to late to join in the fun :)

The cutting assignment winner who gets a copy of my Irish Chain Quilts book and any 3 PDF Quilt Patterns, or any 2 Hard Copy Quilt Patterns from Happy Quilting  is

#16 - Susan!!! - Congrats :)

 

And now that you have last week done, this week will be super simple as it  just repeating the same units and blocks from the Wall Hanging section and adding in a same block just in a different size.   So with that in mind, the instructions this week will be a little more condensed, but if you find you want more explanation on the process of each unit and block, don't hesitate to look back to the Wall Hanging Section instructions.   So with that, let's get piecing!!!  

THIS WEEKS ASSIGNMENT - BABY SECTION

And just like last week, we will piece all our Units, and then build the Blocks, and finally put it all together into the Baby Section.  And remember if you are making the Fat Quarter Friendly layout to use the same prints in each unit and to note the FQ# referred to in each piecing instruction.  And for either layout,  be sure that all the pieces you gather are labeled Baby pieces.   So let's get started with the Units.  First up . . .

FLYING GEESE UNITS

Gather (1) 5 1/4" x 5 1/4" Background Square and (4) 2 7/8" x 2 7/8" Print (FQ5) Squares.  Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of all 4 of your print squares as shown.

Now place two Print Squares onto the  Background square as shown below.  Pin the squares and then  Stitch a 1/4" seam on either side of the drawn line of the unit.   Cut on the drawn line and press the seam allowances upwards towards the Print Triangles.

Then place your remaining 2 Print Squares onto your two Units as shown below.  Pin the squares and then Chain Stitch a 1/4" seam on either side of the drawn line on both Units.   Cut on the drawn line and press the seam allowances upwards towards the Print Triangles.  Trim the dog ears. 

And you are done!!!  4 beautiful and perfectly precise Flying Geese Units, that should measure 2 1/2" x 4 1/2".   And you don't need to trim the units, but if you do, leave your 1/4" overlap at the top of the units!!!

 Oh, and on a Side Note - If you are liking this No Waste Flying Geese method,   I wrote a previous tutorial on  No Waste Flying Geese that also goes over the math of making them so you can make any size Flying Geese you like.  Thought you might like it :)

You can now set your Flying Geese units aside and we will move on to the  . . . 

MEDIUM SIZED HALF SQUARE TRIANGLE UNITS

Start by gathering (4) 4" x 4" Background Squares and (4) 4" x 4" Print (FQ6) Squares.  Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of all 4 of your print squares as shown.

Align and pin 4 sets of a Background square and a marked Print square with rights sides together.  Chain Stitch all 4 sets with a 1/4"seam on BOTH sides of the drawn line, the black lines represent your stitching lines.  Cut on the drawn line and press the seam allowances towards the Print Triangles.

Using the diagonal line on your square ruler aligned with the seam allowance, trim all 8 of your units to 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" square.

And now you have 8 Medium Sized Half Square Triangle units that all measure 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".

You can now set your Medium Half Square Triangle units aside and we will move on to the  . . . 

SMALL SIZED HALF SQUARE TRIANGLE UNITS

And this is the exact same process as the Medium Sized, we will just be increasing the quantity and decreasing the size.

Start by gathering (8) 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" Background Squares and (8) 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" Print (FQ4) Squares.  Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of all 8 of your print squares as shown.

Align and pin 8 sets of a Background square and a marked Print square with rights sides together.  Chain Stitch all 8 sets with a 1/4"seam on BOTH sides of the drawn line, the black lines represent your stitching lines.  Cut on the drawn line and press the seam allowances towards the Print Triangles.

Using the diagonal line on your square ruler aligned with the seam allowance, trim all 16 of your units to 2" x 2" square.

And now you have 16 Small Sized Half Square Triangle units that all measure 2" x 2".

You can now set your Small Half Square Triangle units aside and we will move on to the  . . . 

STITCH AND FLIP UNITS

Gather (4) 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" Print (FQ5) Squares and (8) 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" Background Squares.   Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of all 8 of your Background squares as shown.

With right sides together, lay a marked background square onto the corner of the Print square as shown.   Pin adjacent to that drawn line on all 4 units.   And you will notice, you should have an extra 4 marked background squares.  We will get to those in a bit.
     We will be stitching directly on the drawn line (the black lines represent your stitching lines) but again, to save time and thread, we will chain stitch these.

Align and pin 4 sets of a marked Background square on the corner of the Print square with rights sides together as shown.  Chain Stitch all 4 sets with a seam directly on the drawn line, the black line represent your stitching line.  Cut a 1/4" over the drawn/stitched line on all 4 units and press towards the Background triangle.

And now, it's the same process, just on the other side.  Place the remaining 4 Background squares with right sides together on the adjoining corner of each of the 4 units as shown below.  Pin and Chain Stitch directly on the drawn line. Cut a 1/4" over the drawn/stitched line on all 4 units and press towards the Background triangle.  

And you are done!!!  You should have 4 Stitch and Flip Units total that will measure 4 1/2" x 4 1/2".   And you don't need to trim the units, but if you do, leave your 1/4" overlap at the top of the units!!!

And that means you have finished piecing all your units and we can now use those to make your 3 sets of blocks.   We will start with the  . . . 

MEDIUM SIZED ARROW BLOCKS

Layout 4 sets of a 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" Print (FQ6) Square, a 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" Background Square, and 2 Medium Half Square Triangle Units as shown below. 

Place the right hand Units onto the left hand units in each of the two row with right sides together.  Align and chain stitch a 1/4" seam for both rows in all 4 sets.  Press the seam allowances in opposite directions towards the squares as shown.  Place the Top Row onto the Bottom Row with right sides together.  Align and Pin the center seam of all 4 sets.  Chain stitch a 1/4" seam along the pinned edge of all 4 units.   Press the seam allowance open.

And your Medium Sized Arrow Blocks are done.   They should measure 6 1/2" x 6 1/2" but again, no need to square them up, and if you do, be sure and leave your  1/4" seam allowance at the points.

And you can set your 4 Medium Arrow Blocks aside and move on to  the  . . . 

SMALL SIZED ARROW BLOCKS

Layout 8 sets of a 2" x 2" Print (FQ4) Square, a 2" x 2" Background Square, and 2 Small Half Square Triangle Units as shown below. 

Place the right hand Units onto the left hand units in each of the two row with right sides together.  Align and chain stitch a 1/4" seam for both rows in all 8 sets.  Press the seam allowances in opposite directions towards the squares as shown.  Place the Top Row onto the Bottom Row with right sides together.  Align and Pin the center seam of all 8 sets.  Chain stitch a 1/4" seam along the pinned edge of all 4 units.   Press the seam allowance open.

And your Small Sized Arrow Blocks are done.   They should measure 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" but again, no need to square them up, and if you do, be sure and leave your  1/4" seam allowance at the points.

And you can set your 4 Small  Arrow Blocks aside and move on to  the  . . . 

POINTER BLOCKS

Layout 4 Sets of a Flying Geese (FQ5) Unit, and a Stitch and Flip Unit (FQ5) as shown below.   Place the Flying Geese Unit onto the Stitch and Flip Unit with right sides together and pin.  Chain Stitch a 1/4" seam along the pinned edges of all 4 sets.  Be sure and stitch directly through the center of the thread X.   Press the seam allowances towards the Stitch and Flip Unit.  

And your Pointer Blocks are done.   They should measure 4 1/2" x 6 1/2" but again, no need to square them up, and if you do, be sure and leave your  1/4" seam allowance at the bottom point and keep your top points centered.

And with all of your Blocks made you are now ready to move on to the final step.  

SEWING THE BABY SECTION

And we will start by adding a little Sashed border around the Small Arrow Blocks. We will be making 2 different layouts that are mirror images, so just watch you don't flip things (I had to do some unpicking ;) 

 Layout 4 Left Hand Sets of a Small Arrow Block and (2) 2" x 3 1/2" Background rectangles as shown below on the left.   Layout 4 Right Hand Sets of a Small Arrow Block and (2) 2" x 3 1/2" Background rectangles as shown below on the right.  Place the Background rectangles on the top and bottom of each of the Small Arrow Blocks and chain stitch a 1/4" seam along the edge.  

If you stitch from the back, you can be sure and sew through your thread X and at the point of your fabric V's for perfect points.    Press the seam allowances on all 8 sets outwards towards the Background rectangles.   

Now we will add the two sides. Layout 8 sets of Sashed Small Arrow blocks (both left and right) and (2) 5" x 6 1/2" Background rectangles as shown below.  Place the Sashed small Arrow block on the Background rectangle on the left and chain stitch a 1/4" seam along the edge of all 8 sets taking care to sew through the center of the thread X or the point of the fabric V.   Then repeat on the right hand side, chain stitching all 8 sets.  Press the seam allowances outwards towards the Background rectangles. 

And now you are ready to make the sides of the Baby section.   To do this, layout 4 sets of  a Left Hand Side Bordered Small Arrow block, a Pointer Block, and a Right Hand Side Bordered Small Arrow block as shown below.   Place the Pointer block on the Left Hand Side Unit and chain stitch a 1/4" seam along the edge of all 4 sets.  Then place the Right Hand Side Unit onto the Pointer Block and Chain Stitch all 4 sets.  Press the seam allowances outwards towards the Bordered Small Arrow Blocks.   And your Baby Section Sides are done!!

And now it is like making a Giant 9 patch!!!  Layout the Wall Hanging Section, 4 Baby Section Sides, and 4 Medium Sized Arrow Blocks as shown below.

Place the Outside Units in each column onto the Center Column units with right sides together.  Align, Pin, and Chain Stitch a 1/4" seam along each of the 3 rows on either side of the center units.  Again, take care to stitch right through the center of the thread X's and at the point of the Fabric V's that are indicated below by arrows.

Now press your seams in the top and bottom rows inwards and press the seams in the center row open. This just makes everything lie flat.

Now place the Top and Bottom rows onto the Center rows with right sides together.  Align and Pin the seams.  Stitch a 1/4" seam along the two pinned edges, once again, ensuring that you stitch directly through the center of the thread X's and at the point of the Fabric V's that are indicated below by arrows.  Press the seams open.

And all that is left is to add a border to your Baby Section. Start by sewing 3 of your 2 1/2" x WOF strips together end to end to make one long strip.  Cut (2) 2 1/2" x 44 1/2" strips from your long strip.   Trim the 2 remaining 2 1/2" x WOF strips to each measure  2 1/2" x 40 1/2".

And a little note here.   I prefer to leave my strips a little long and trim the excess. This is a personal preference and you can do the same or cut your strips to the exact measurement. The measurements listed above and in the picture are the exact size,  But you will note my strips are a bit longer.  Do whatever your prefer.

 Layout the Pieced Baby Center and (2) 2 1/2" x 40 1/2" Background rectangles and (2) 2 1/2" x 44 1/2" Background rectangles as shown below.

Place the two side rectangles onto the Baby Center with right sides together.  Pin and stitch a 1/4" seam along both edges. Again, I like to stitch from the back to ensure perfect points ;)  Trim the excess if you choose to make your strips a little longer.

Press the seam allowances outwards towards the Background rectangles.  Then place the Top and Bottom rectangles onto the Baby Center with right sides together.     Pin and stitch a 1/4" seam along both edges.  Again, stitching from the back though the thread X's and at the point of the Fabric V's will ensure perfect points.  And then Trim the excess if needed.

And finally, Press the seam allowances outwards towards the background rectangles.  At your Baby Section is done and should measure appx. 44 1/2" x 44 1/2".    Wasn't that sew easy!!!!

So Now It's your Turn :)

Get your Baby Section sewn together and your assignment is complete!!!    And then you can enter to win the weekly prize :)   And again, if you have any questions at all please don't hesitate to ask in a comment or email me at happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com  :)

The Weekly Prize is being sponsored by Shabby Fabrics this week and a huge Thanks goes to them for their support a the Starstruck Quilt-Along.

This weeks prize is a $30.00 Gift Certificate to Shabby Fabrics!!!   Oh, so fun that one lucky winner gets to pick out something special just for them!!!    

So what do you have to do for a chance to win this Gift Certificate?  Simple . . . Just link up your Baby Section all sewn up :)  You can link to a blog post, flickr picture, Instagram, Facebook . . .  or whatever.  Just make sure to link up by the end of the day on October 8th as I will be announcing a winner at the beginning of the next post :)  And on the link up where it asks for a Caption, add your name as well, so I know who you are ;)  

If you don't get your Baby Section done by October 8th you can still link it up :) (just not in time for the prize :)    The linky will remain open until the end of the Quilt-A-Long.  So if your out of town, or just had a busy week, no worries!!!  Just link up when you can :)

And Don't forget to add your beautiful Baby Sections to the Happy Quilting Quilt-A-Long Flickr group and to post it on social media with using #starstruckquiltalong.    I am so excited to see the Baby section all sewn up, it is just so great to see these grow!!! 

So let's get stitching!!!  And if you have questions, don't hesitate to email me at happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com.  Have a Happy Quilting Day!!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day!!!

It's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day so let's have some fun :)

First, we need to announce the winner from last weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway :)

The winner of the $25.00 Gift Certificate from Lou Lou's Fabric Shop is . . .  Number #171. . .   Congrats Pamela!!!   I have emailed you :)    

 

         

And on to today's

Today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway is being sponsored by Green Fairy Quilts.  Green Fairy Quilts is your home for pre-cut goodness and they always have amazing sales going on every weekend on a selected pre-cut or notion!!! Right now you can save big on all Charm Packs, and you know how fun it is to sew with (or collect) charm packs!!!   And did you know that Green Fairy Quilts has a Deal of The Day!!!   Be sure to check those out for some major quilting savings!!!

And for today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway, Green Fairy Quilts will be giving one lucky reader a brand new  Harper's Garden Layer Cake by Sherri and Chelsi for Moda!! This is the line I am using for my Starstruck Quilt and it is just fantastic!!!     I love the colors and prints and it will make a beautiful quilt for one lucky reader ;)  

You have two entry chances, the second being optional, and please leave a separate comment for each.  All Entries are welcome, including International Entries.  Please just be sure to leave an email address if you are a no-reply blogger ;)  

ENTRY 1 - Simply leave a comment that tells me if you like to garden and if so, what is your favorite thing to grow??   (I do not have a green thumb at all, but I do help Barbara harvest her amazing garden :)   

 ENTRY 2 - Show your Green Fairy Quilts love.   You can Sign up for their Newsletter which I highly recommend as it will ensure you catch all of their amazing sales!!  You can follow them on Twitter or Facebook,  or you can visit the Shop and then share a favorite item ;)   Just be sure to leave a comment of how you showed your Green Fairy Quilt Love!!!

And that's it ;)  The giveaway will be open until next Tuesday, October 8th when I will announce a winner at the beginning of next weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Post :)

Good Luck and Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!