Tuesday, January 12, 2021

Texas Monthly - Month 4

 I am always so excited when I go to my mailbox and find my BOM!!!!  And today I am so happy to share the next tutorial  for the Texas Monthly Block of the Month program!   This BOM is hosted by Stitchin' Heaven  and is so much fun!!!   

So let's get going with Month 4 and we are back to just regular piecing and there are 4 blocks this month!  But  no worries, they are all pretty basic and fast and fun to sew.    So let's get piecing!!!  




Cutting
I like to start out by pressing all of my fabrics.  Then it is time for cutting!!!  I like to cut all of my pieces for all of my blocks at the start.  Just be sure to keep them in piles separate for each block.  (oh, and yes there is background pieces needed for the Carolina Lily block, I didn't realize I missed cutting them until I was actually making the block which is why they are not pictured ;)

And with all your pieces cut . . . you are ready to move on to the first block.




The Daisy and Mr. Frog Block


First up, we need to trim the beautiful watercolor panel.   We will be trimming the panel to 7 1/2" high and 9 1/2" wide.   So I like to use a 9 1/2" square ruler.   Align the ruler so that you have appx. 1 1/4" white space on either side before the graphic daisy starts.   Align the bottom and top so you have appx. 1" of white space from the top of the daisy and the bottom of the frog.   Trim the sides and top. 


Now flip your panel 180 degrees and align the sides with the raw edges and the bottom with the 7 1/2" line of your ruler.   Trim the top.  And now your panel is ready and you can set it aside.  


Now grab your 5 colored rectangles.  Lay them out in the following order and then sew the 5 rows together.   Press in one direction.  Take care when pressing not to stretch the rows.   I like to press towards the purple.


Now place your pressed unit onto your cutting mat.   Cut a straight edge slightly in from the end.   Then measure 3" in and subcut a strip set, and finally, measure another 3" in and subcut another strip set.  You will now have two 3" x 7 3/4" sets.


And you will notice as soon as you put them next to your block that you actually need them to be 7 1/2" long.   So to fix this little oopsie, simply place your strip sets onto either side of the panel with right sides together and sew a 1/4" seam along the edge.   Then before pressing, flip your block over, and trim the bottom of the block even with the panel.  Easy fix!!!  Now simply press towards the panel.


And just like that, you have an adorable Daisy and Mr. Frog Block that should measure 7 1/2" x 14 1/2" unfinished.  


So now you are ready to move onto to making two of the . . . 

Pieced 4-Color Blocks

Start out by laying your blocks out as shown on the left hand side.  You will be sewing your blocks into two columns.  I find this quicker than sewing it into rows.   So using a 1/4" seam, sew all of the pieces in the first column together followed by the second.   And you are making two blocks so you should have two of each column.  Then press the two columns in opposite directions, pressing the first column up and the second column down for both sets of units. 


Now place the second column onto the first with right sides together.  Align each of the seams and you can pin them in place or simply nest them as your sew your 1/4" seam along the edge.   Do this for both sets, and then press the seams open in both blocks.  


And in no time at all,  you have two Pieced 4-Color Blocks that should measure 6 1/2" x 14 1/2" unfinished.  


So now you are ready to move onto to making two of the . . . 

Dimensional Bowtie Blocks

Now if you have never made a Dimensional block before, this might be a little new.  But it is no different than piecing straight seams, you just have more fabric layers in the seam.   
So start by taking your yellow square and finger pressing it in half with wrong sides together.   Place it on top of a purple square with right sides together and the 3 raw edges aligned at the top.     Then grab a white square and place it directly on top of the purple square with right sides together.  Sew a 1/4" seam along the side.  Repeat to make 2 of these.  


Now finger press the purple and white square outward so that your folded yellow piece is sticking out as shown.   Then grab the second white and purple square and sandwich them with right sides together around the folded yellow rectangle as shown.  Be sure that you have purple and white squares alternating on the top and bottom.  Align the 4 raw edges on the top and side and stitch a 1/4" seam along the side.   Repeat this step for both units.  


Again,  finger press the purple and white square outward so that your folded yellow piece is now in the middle as shown.   Now fold the center inwardand align all of the seams in the center.   The yellow piece in the middle will not be flat.   Pin the center seam.   Repeat for both units. 


When sewing this seam, it is easier if you just worry about half of the seam at a time.   So start by aligning the folded yellow triangle with the raw edges of the purple and white square on the left hand side.  Be sure that your edges are aligned and the left side of the yellow triangle is lying flat for at least 1/4" from the edge.  You might have to fiddle with this a bit, but just keep trying to smooth it to align to the top.   Stitch a 1/4" seam from the left hand side to the center seam.  

Then remove the unit from your machine and   align the folded yellow triangle with the raw edges of the purple and white square on the right hand side.  Again, be sure that your edges are aligned and the yellow triangle is lying flat for at least 1/4" .  Stitch a 1/4" seam from the center to the right hand side of the top of the unit.    Repeat this for both blocks. 


Now press the seam open, you will have to flatten the yellow part as it is sewn into the seam.    Then gently pull on the center of the yellow diamond to give it the cool dimensional look.  Repeat for both blocks.  


And now you have made two very neat Dimensional Bowtie Blocks that should measure 7 1/2" x 7 1/2" unfinished.  


So now you are ready to move onto the last set of blocks, the . . . 

Carolina Lily Block

We will start by making some Half Square Triangles.  So draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of each of your two white 4" squares.  Place each onto a purple 4" square with right sides together aligning the raw edges.   Sew a 1/4" seam on either side of the drawn line on both units.  


Then cut on the drawn line of both units and press the 4 Half Square Triangles towards the purple.   Trim the dog ears from the sides of the 4 HST's.  


Now, cut each of the 4 HST's in half diagonally to create 8 two color triangle units.   There will be 4 side triangles and 4 top triangles.  


Place a side triangle onto a 3 1/4" white square with right sides together as shown aligning the bottom and side raw edges.  Sew a 1/4" seam along the side and then press towards the white square.   Then place the top triangle onto the white square with right sides together as shown aligning the top and side raw edges.   Sew a 1/4" seam along the side and then press the seam open. Trim the little dog ear at the center of the long side.   Repeat to make 4 units total.  
 

Now we will add the orange triangle to make the corners of the blocks.   Place a pieced triangle onto an orange triangle with right sides together aligning the raw edges.  Pin and sew a 1/4" seam along the long side.   Note - when you sew the seam at the center, if you cross directly where the white and purple fabrics meet at a point you will get a perfect point in the front, even if that means you need to stray from 1/4" for a tiny bit ;)    Then press the seam towards the orange triangle and trim the two dog ears.   Repeat to make 4 corner units.  


Now layout your 4 Corner Units, 4 3 1/2" x 6 1/2" white rectangles, and your green 3 1/2" square as shown.  


Sew the pieces into rows.  To do this, simply place the center piece in each row onto the first piece in each row with right sides together and then a 1/4" seam along the edge.  Repeat for the last piece in each row so that all three rows are sewn together. 


Press the top and bottom row inwards towards the white rectangles.  Press the center row outwards towards the white rectangles. 


And finally, place the center row onto the top row with right sides together.  Pin or next the center seams.  Sew a 1/4" seam along the pinned edge.   Then repeat that same process for the bottom row.  Press the two seams open and you are done.  


And you have a beautiful Carolina Lily Block that should measure 14 1/2" x 14 1/2" unfinished.  


And all that is left is to sew these blocks into Two Block Sections!!  So for 

Section 1

So to start, layout your two  Bowtie Blocks, the Daisy and Mr. Frog Block, and one 4-Color Block as shown below.  


Place the second Bowtie block onto the first with right sides together.  Align and pin the center seam.  Stitch a 1/4" seam along the pinned edge.   Press the seam open. 


Now place the Daisy and Mr. Frog block onto the Bowtie Blocks with right sides together.  Align and pin the raw edges.  Sew a 1/4" seam along the pinned edge and press the seam open.  


Finally, place the 4 Color Block onto the rest of the block with right sides together as shown.  Align and pin the center seam.   Sew a 1/4" seam along the edge and press the seam open.  


And Section 1 is complete!!!


And that leaves us with 

Section 2

Layout a 4 Color Block and the Carolina Lily Block as shown. 


Place the Carolina Lily block onto the 4 Color Block with right sides together.  Align and pin the raw edges and seams.   Sew a 1/4" seam along the pinned edge.   Again, when sewing, if you cross your seam directly across the bottom of the fabric or thread V's in the seam allowance, you will get a perfect point in the front, even if that means you need to stray from 1/4" for a tiny bit ;)   Press the seam open.   


And you are done with Section 2 and done for Month 4!!!!


Wasn't  Texas Monthly Month 4 just so fun!!!  I know I sure liked it :)

If you have any questions on this tutorial, please don't hesitate to email me at happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com or leave a comment.  

Hope y'all enjoy making this month's blocks! 

 Looking forward to Next Month!

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Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day!!

 It's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day!! Let's have some fun :)

First, we need to announce the winner from last Terrific Tuesday Giveaway!!  
The winner of the 2 Mystery Honey Buns  from Green Fairy Quilts is . . .   Number #949  . . . Congrats patedkmd!!  I have messaged you :)    

    


And on to today's

Today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway is being sponsored by Fat Quarter Shop.   Fat Quarter Shop is amazing and they never cease to amaze me with everything they have going on at their shop!!!     And did you know they have a 24 Hour Flash Sale every day with 2 Flash Sales on Tuesdays!!   And not only do they have a daily deal, they have a Fabric Basic, Pattern, and Notion of the Month!!!!     All Pure Solids  by Art Gallery Fabrics are on sale !!!  Also, By Annie Products are on sale for the Notion, as well as  By Annie Patterns are on sale for the Pattern.   Save 20-30% off of all of them for the whole month of January!!  So great ;) 

24 Hour Flash Sales at the Fat Quarter Shop!


And for today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Fat Quarter Shop is giving away this brand new Flea Market Rolie Polie by Lori Holt!!!!  This line is so cute, and just perfect in all of its rainbow goodness!!!  Someone is going to have some fun creating with this!!!

You have two entry chances here on the blog, 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 have ever shopped at a flea market and if so, what was your best find??   

 ENTRY 2 - Show your Fat Quarter Shop love.   You can follow them on   FacebookTwitterInstagramPinterestYou Tube or at their Blog.  You can Sign up for their Newsletter which will ensure you catch all of their amazing sales, or you can visit The Shop and then share a favorite item ;)   Just be sure to leave a comment of how you showed your Fat Quarter Shop Love!!!

And that's it ;)  The giveaway will be open until next Tuesday, January 19th,  when I will announce a winner at the beginning of next weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Post :)

You can also pop over to my Instagram and/or Facebook to enter there as well :)  

Good Luck and Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!
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Friday, January 8, 2021

2 New/Old Baby Quilt Finishes

So along with starting new projects for the New Year, I also made a little "goal" to get some of my older WIP done.   And I am not even talking about the ones that need to be pieced.  I have a pile of fished quilt tops from 2020 (and older) that really need to get quilted and bound.   Again, I think this has a lot to do with the time factor of my trying something new in 2020, but the To Be Quilted pile has assuredly grown in the the last year.   So what better place to start this new 2021 year than with that pile.  So I started with the small baby size ones :)

First up, this beautiful Rose Garden quilt!!  I posted about wanting to make this quilt when I got it in my May Sew Sampler Box and then promptly never wrote about it again.   But ya, I was totally working on it :)


I pieced the entire quilt in a very short amount of time, and then had plans to share it when I got it all done, but that didn't happen so quickly :)    Ya know, it just kind of hid down at the bottom of the pile.   But I am so excited to have it done now, because this is just so pretty!!!  Isn't this such a great design!!!  


And when I quilted this yesterday, I decided on an all over swirl.   This was pretty much the first quilt design I "mastered" and I hadn't done it in a while so it felt good to bring it back :)   And it is super fast and it gives such great texture, so yummy!!!


I followed the pattern exactly for this quilt, only I changed the fabric placement.  Isn't this just going to make the cutest baby girl gift.  Now I just need a loved one to have a little baby girl ;)    Oh, and this pattern was an exclusive Sew Sampler pattern, so sadly, it is not available for purchase,  Just fyi in case you were looking for it.  


And since I was working on baby quilts, I decided to just load a second one on the long arm!!!  This is my Jolly Bar Row Along quilt ;)   Isn't it so cute!!!


This quilt was in celebration of the Jolly Bar 2 book being released (which is funny as the Jolly Bar 3 book has just been announced :)   I changed up the design a bit by repeating rows and omitting a few from the original design to give it an all baby feel.   I made the blocks and quilt top back in July, so it was high time this got finished.     And I just love how it turned out!!!


I decided to quilt it with an all over Curly Q design.   This is my favorite design to use for sampler or row quilts.  I just love how it ties it all together without taking away from each of the different blocks.   And I started to add a little second line into the Curly Q instead of always stitching right back on the same line,  and I think I like it.  I will have to keep playing with that and see where it goes ;)  


And that is my Jolly Bar Row quilt!!   And you can totally find this pattern at the Fat Quarter Shop.   All of the details and links for the blocks are in this post ;)   Now I totally want to make an entire quilt with just those sparrow tracks!!  So cute!!!

But first, more quilting on the To Be Quilted pile.   Here is hoping for lots more New/Old finishes in the coming weeks!!


I hope you all have a very Happy Quilting Weekend!!

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Wednesday, January 6, 2021

Breaking Bundles for New WIP's!!!

 Yesterday and this morning I cut out 4 new quilts!!!   That was a whole lot of cutting for sure, but what better way to start out a new year than with new projects!!!  And I tell you what, the hardest part is breaking open the bundles :)

I have been saving this Olive's Flower Market Bundle by Lella Boutique for some time now.  And a Flower Sampler quilt is just the perfect match for it!!!


I am teaching at a retreat next month and I am actually taking this Flower Market class as well.  So it was time to get all my pieces cut out.   I love samplers!!   I know they take longer to cut out, but they are just so fun to make.   And I decided to just use the pinks and blacks for the quilt, and I think it is going to be so striking!!! 


The next bundle I broke open was my Merry Stars Here bundle by Sweetwater.   It hasn't been sitting on the shelf quite as long, but still :)   I am taking a second class at the same retreat but in March (the original retreat was broken into 2 so more people could join in even with limited covid size classes :)  And when I saw this Midnight Crossing design by Fig Tree Quilts and Co. I knew it would just make the cutest Christmas Quilt!!!  So the bundle was opened ;)


I am going to alternate red and green blocks with black sashing 9 patches and center x's.   I actually enlarged the block so this will finish at a Queen size so that I will have a nice Christmas Quilt to go on the Guest bed (which is my daughter's room that she gives up when company comes, she's so sweet that way!!!)  Now the only hard thing will be waiting for March to start piecing this quilt!!


The next bundle I opened was this beautiful Goose Creek Garden by Michal Marko for Poppie Cotton.   Isn't this just so pretty!!! This one I haven't had on the shelf, it actually just arrived in the mail and will be available in March :)


I have been wanting to make a new Playground Picnic quilt in the lap size for sometime, and I think this line will just be adorable in the pattern!!!  And it had the benefit of cutting out super, super fast!!!  I stacked and cut my fat quarters and so it really just flew by :)  And this one I don't have to wait for a class to start stitching.  You better believe I will be sewing on this project later today!!


And finally, this didn't start as a bundle, but it was to pretty not to share.   16 Beautiful Grunge colors in glorious Fall tones.   This is for some secret sewing that I won't be able to share for a while, but I am so excited to get to start working with all of these beautiful colors, and you know how I just love Grunge!!!  It is going to just light up the snowy days ;)


So that is what I have been up to since the new year started ???  How about you???  Any new Works in Progress for the New Year?

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Tuesday, January 5, 2021

Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day!!

  It's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day!! Let's have some fun :)

First, we need to announce the winner from last Terrific Tuesday Giveaway!!  
The winner of the $40.00 Gift Certificate  from Olie and Evie is . . .   Number #527  . . . Congrats kristychikadee!!  I have messaged 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!!!   And did you know that Green Fairy Quilts has a Deal of The Day, I just love these!!!    And right now, Green Fairy has an amazing New Year Clearance Sale, with 40-80% off so many items, including my favorite Bloc-Loc Rulers!!!! 

And for today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway, Green Fairy Quilts will be giving one lucky reader 2 Mystery Honey Buns!!!  These will be a surprise of some of your favorite Moda Lines, it is so fun to try and guess which ones you will get!!!!  

You have two entry chances here on the blog, 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 has the number 21 in it :)

 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 Instagram 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, January 12th, when I will announce a winner at the beginning of next weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Post :)

You can also pop over to my Instagram and/or Facebook to enter there as well :)  

Good Luck and Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!
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