A Home for my Mini-Quilt

Finally, finally, I figured out what to do with my spider legs mini quilt! Summer, for me, means quite a bit of free time, so I've been chipping away at non-sewing projects.

For over a year, my experiment with circular improv chevrons sat on my DVD player (gathering dust). Does this happen to your projects?

Herringbone Baby Quilt

Even though I'm pretty sure winter is never going to end, I'm so pleased to share one last result of my Field Study mania: a little herringbone baby quilt!

Sharp Chevrons

Rainy days.

Perfect for watching old musicals, sitting on the couch with a cat or two, and some blog catch-up.

I've seen quite a few requests from you about how I made these very sharp, precise chevrons last year for the 4x5 Modern Quilt Bee:

Well, to make 'em, I sketched out quadrant templates on graph paper, and sewed together a bunch of 1.5" colored strips and .75" strips of white and trimmed (and trimmed), winging it a whole lot, holding the strips up to the sketch to check on positioning.

Halfway through, I wondered why I wasn't just using a paper foundation.  Too lazy and stubborn to go make copies,  I finished my blocks using the original method anyway.  Silly.

That's probably not your style, so I created a paper-piecing template, available for free via Google Doc! It's a little bit rough around the edges, but it's a pretty literal digital interpretation of my original sketch.  **If you access the templates via Google Doc, it will work best for you to download the pattern and access/print it via your pdf viewer.**

Notes on making your own: 

Print 2 copies (to make 4 units).

Printing Tips: Google docs isn't the best for printing templates, so I'd recommend downloading/saving the template to your computer, then opening it with your usual PDF viewer (Adobe has worked best for me) to print from there. Make sure that scaling is set to 100%, "Actual Size" or "none"' (so your comp doesn't try to "fit" it to a page), and measure the 1 inch scale line once printed to make sure it's EXACTLY one inch, no more, no less! Go the extra mile, and measure the short end of one of the templates, including the gray seam allowances.  It should be 2.5 inches.

I numbered the pieces so that seams will fall in opposite directions, making it easier to join the sections, and I'd also leave the paper on until the very end, but know that paper-piecing is quite personal ;) Join the sections into two A-B units, then join those two to make an 8"x8" finished block!  For the 4x5 Bee, I sashed them with 2.5" strips of white to bring the final size to 12.5".

(If you're not in to paper piecing, I also really love this tutorial for chevrons!)

I've written more about sampler bees I've been in here and here, and to refresh, each member of the group requests certain colors to receive, and then makes blocks in everyone else's colors.  So fun! 

As always, my favorite part is getting to test out all different color combinations! I think this block would also look great with a scrappy collection of fabrics (instead of making each row uniform), or with dark fabric in place of the white for the skinny rows.

Why Hello, Lovely! Improv Chevrons Quilt!

After making about four improv chevron blocks, I'd had enough.  The blocks take a bit of time, and my attention span for working with strict colors is pretty short, even though these happen to be some of my favorites!

This sweet little quilt is what I made from them!  Sashed in snow, bordered in more Kona cerise (I can't get enough!), and bound in a nice medium gray, which I think makes a clear, precise frame.  I sort of wish I had made a little white flange along with the binding, that would have been wayyy over the top.

I arranged the four blocks so that the chevrons would sort of rotate, in terms of what direction the middle strip was "pointing." I think it makes an interesting, almost pinwheel, effect.  Wouldn't this be the craziest window to look out of? It measures about 40"x40".  Sadly, its too small for me to hog up.
  
I see a LOT of potential for these blocks.  Going monochromatic, using a much more limited palette, or  alternating colors between chevron strips, etc, could cause all kinds of amazing secondary patterns to emerge.

For example, if the middle chevron strip of each block was made up of dark, or very saturated, values, while the side chevrons were lighter fabrics, that middle strip would really stand out, and become a strong design element.

So.Many.Ideas.

To offset the crazy wonkiness of the blocks, I quilted this in simple, (fairly) precise 2-inch squares using the quilting guide bar on my walking foot.  No marking!  I just started with the vertical line of one of the white sashing strips and used that as a guideline.  

It's backed in my favorite print from Lotta Jansdowner's Echo line, with a strip of Kona Snow along the bottom.  I think it's really beautiful on its own, and it makes me want to make a whole cloth quilt from this fabric alone (yikes, ideas!). It looks SO PRETTY with the gray binding!

Hey there, what are you doing just sitting there in the corner? Looking pretty?  That's what I thought.

Improv Chevrons

When I'm sewing, sometimes I like to make things that are very neat and precise.

Like these sharp chevrons.

Other times, however, the freedom of a crazy, possibly wonky, spontaneous design is my favorite thing.

Like these improv chevrons!

I'd estimate that a good portion of all handmade items are the result of a "I-want-to-make-that" impulse that occurs while browsing at onnnnee store in particular. Yes, the girly-boho-rustic mecca: Anthropologie. As I'm no stranger to that impulse, these chevrons are inspired by this pillow I saw there.

Here's how I did it! This is more of a technique than a formal tutorial, as no two blocks will ever be the same.

Materials:
Strips of fabric between 1 and 3 inches wide.  A variety of widths is best! I started by cutting a couple of strips from the long side of a fat quarter from about 8 different fabrics, and then cutting more if needed.

1. I built these chevrons from small end to fat end. Start with a small square or rectangle, and sew on strips to one corner, like a log cabin block.  For improv piecing, I like to leave a little extra at the end, and don't worry about measuring or super-straight cuts.  When sewing, I use the edge of the top fabric as a stitching guide even if the fabrics on the bottom don't line up perfectly. 

2. Press open, repeat!

3. Once I have 3-4 rows of chevrons, I start to think about how I want my chevron section to look.  This one will taper from small to large horizontally across the block, and create the center section.  If it suits you, you can use a disappearing  ink pen (or any marking tool you like) to mark where you'll eventually cut.  First mark a vertical line to mark where the edge of the square will be. Then, choosing any angle you like, draw two lines radiating out from that across the block.  

Like a paper or fabric foundation, this ensures two things:  that you'll use enough fabric to cover the necessary area, and also that there's not a lot of fabric waste.  Imagine if the rows just got bigger and bigger! That would probably look cool too, though, come to think of it. You can also do this part in your head, but I find that it really helps to have a clear idea of how long the additional strips need to be.  

4. Continue until your block section reaches a width that's about 1/2-1 inches bigger than your desired size.  In this case, I wanted to create a 14.5 inch block, so I stopped around 15 inches and drew another vertical line to mark the endpoint.  This also helped me visualize where I needed to add more fabric to complete the left-side corners of the chevron section.  At this point, I trimmed along my marked lines, and then filled in the corners.

5. Fill in the corner gaps, and trim again!  One corner might need more fabric than the other.

6. The next two chevron sections will form the top and bottom of the block.  Unlike the first section, they'll need to have square outer edges.  I like to use my cutting mat lines (worn as they are) to visualize just where the chevron section has to go, and how big it needs to get. Sew a few strips together before lining up and marking.  

Give yourself at least 1/2 inch more than you think you need in vertical space to allow for squaring up and a seam allowance.  If there's not enough space for a full V shape at first, that's ok! Keep going!

If you see your chevrons heading in the wrong direction, and it seems that the section will be lopsided, you can adjust its general direction by angling the strips you add.  In the case above, I wanted my chevrons to point downwards a bit more to make sure there would still be an even V shape when I got to the fat end.

7. Mark the section the same way you did with the center one, this time making sure that there's room for the top for a 90-degree angle to create the top left corner of the block. 

8. Continue adding strips as you did for the center strip, marking a vertical line when your section gets wide enough, filling in the corners as in step 5.  Trim!

9. Attach the two strips, keeping in mind that because of the angle, they need to be offset by about 1/4 inch if you want the vertical lines to match up exactly. I tend not to worry about this and just trim later.

10. Flip your partial block.  Repeat steps 6-9, creating another chevron section, trimming it, and joining it to complete the block.

11. Square up your block to your desired size. Make more!

Zig Zag Cat Magnet

I'd say that this zig-zag quilt the first one that I consciously planned for and made.  Unlike my first quilt, I deliberately chose the fabrics and the design for this one.  It was really the first time I saw a quilt and said, "I want to make THAT!" and did it.

The fabrics are various feedsack and 1930's reproductions.  Although I've moved towards more modern fabrics since then, I still have a major soft spot for these cheery prints, and hope to incorporate more of them into my work these days. The white strips are Kona Snow.

I used a great tutorial  on the Bee Square Blog by Crazy Mom Quilts.  I really like how it's made of rectangles, not triangles.  Perfect for a beginner!

It's bound in a sweet red and yellow 30's floral.

I pieced a double line of scraps into the red dot backing, which might be my favorite part of this quilt!

I echoed the patchwork with hand-quilting zig-zag lines on the white fabric about 1/4 inch away from the seams.  

It measures about 45 by 60 inches, which is a little too small for a human adult, but just perfect for smaller creatures. This quilt the floor (or anywhere else, really) is a cat magnet! He just can't stay away. He also enjoys being in photographs.