Beach Ball Baby Quilt

Hi! This is Jess from The Elven Garden with my first recipe for Moda Bake Shop. I wanted to challenge myself to see if I could make a quilt using just a jelly roll (Sphere by Zen Chic), and I came up with the Beach Ball lap/baby quilt. It does use a fat quarter of background solid as well, but other than that a jelly roll is all you need!

This quilt is made using large equilateral (60 degree) triangles, arranged so they form hexagons across the quilt top. The layout options for the hexagons are unlimited – if you would like to have a play with some other layout options, you can download and print triangular graph paper here. This quilt measures 45″ x 50″, but you could easily make it bigger by using additional jelly rolls.

One Jelly Roll of Sphere by Zen Chic
One Fat Quarter (or quarter yard) of Bella Snow
1/2 Yard Binding fabric
2 1/2 Yards backing fabric
50″ x 55″ piece of batting

All seam allowances throughout the tutorial are a scant quarter inch, and I have pressed my seams open at all stages.

Begin by sorting the jelly roll into colour sets, separating the lighter value prints (in this case the grey and white based prints) from the darker ones.

STEP 2:
Next, split each colour into sets of three strips. Some of my strip sets included one strip with a contrast in colour or value.

STEP 3:
Sew each of these strip sets together along the long edge. For the strip sets with one contrasting strip, make the contrasting strip the central strip in the set, as this will form a continuous ring within the hexagons. Press your seams open.

Each strip set should measure 6.5″ wide by width of fabric.

STEP 4:
Cut each of the strip sets into equilateral triangles using either a 60 degree triangle ruler:

Or using the 60 degree line on your ruler, lining up the line on your ruler with the bottom or top of the strip set.

Continue down the strip set, flipping the strip set or ruler as you go. You will end up with 9 triangles from each strip set.

STEP 5:

To avoid trimming off the sides of the quilt, and losing some of the width of the quilt, I added setting triangles at the end of each row. To make these, cut strips the same width as your strip sets (6.5″) from your fat quarter of background fabric. Make a 60 degree cut with your ruler, and then make a vertical cut, 4″ in along the long edge, and 1/4″ from the shorter side (see below). If you would prefer to give yourself more wiggle room when squaring your quilt, you can make the setting triangles a little wider (4.25″ in from the long side).

Continue along the strip, cutting a total of 16 setting triangles.

STEP 6:

At this stage, you could lay out your pieces and start piecing the rows together. I found it easier to piece together my darker coloured triangles into half-hexagons first, as it was much easier to switch them around on my design wall until I found a layout I liked. It also makes it easier to keep your triangles in the correct order as you are sewing the rows together.

Do not sew the light value (grey and white) prints in this way.

When sewing these half hexagons together, match up the seams along one edge and pin at each seam (I pin the side of the seam that will be sewn first).

You will end up with three half-hexagons from each strip set. Do not trim off the little triangles formed at the outer corners, as these are very useful when aligning your triangles when sewing the rows together.

STEP 7:

Lay out your pieces into rows according to the photo below, or as desired (here I have 8 rows of 12 triangles, plus a setting triangle at the end of each row). If you place them carefully, the light value triangles will form partial hexagons that appear to be sitting behind the coloured hexagons.

When sewing the triangles into rows, you will need to offset the pieces slightly to account for the seam allowance and produce a straight row. It is helpful to use the little ‘tags’ of fabric produced by pressing your seams open when lining up your pieces. In the photo below, you can see these ‘tags’ on the bottom left and top right of the half-hexagons.

When the pieces are placed together ready to be sewn, they will cross each other at an angle like so (the seam to be sewn is at the right of the photo):

If we look more closely at these pieces, you can see how the ‘tags’ where the seams have been pressed open allow you to line up the two pieces.

STEP 8:

Once your rows are sewn, sew your rows together in pairs, carefully pinning each of the points where your seams meet, so that your points will meet up. Because there are a lot of bias edge in the quilt top, it is possible to ease (or slightly stretch) some of your pieces to make the points meet.

Continue sewing the rows together in pairs, until you have a complete quilt top.

STEP 9:
Baste, quilt and bind as desired! To make your backing, cut two 15″ by width of fabric strips from one end of your backing fabric. Join these end to end to make one long 15″ wide strip. Remove the selvedges from the remaining backing fabric, and join the long strip you just made to one side of the backing fabric using a 1/2″ seam.

One lap quilt, 45″ x 50″

Jess Frost
{theelvengarden.blogspot.com}

Main Squeeze Quilt

Feb17

Hello Moda Bake Shop readers! I am a new chef here, and I am honored to be a part of the Bake Shop. I blog at Live. Love. Create. and love bright, bold colors and modern designs. My quilt design was named Main Squeeze based on the X and O blocks it creates, like a “hugs and kisses” quilt. This pattern yields a large throw sized quilt, 60 by 80 inches when finished.

19 Fat Quarters of coordinating colors, I am using Sphere by Zen Chic.
3 1/4 yards solid or print for background fabric, I used Moda Bella white
3/4 yard solid or print for binding, I used Sphere by Zen Chic
4 1/4 yards coordinating solid or print for back, again I used Sphere by Zen Chic

Step 1: From your background fabric, cut

12 – 10.5 inch squares
24 – 5.5 inch squares
48 – 6 inch squares
24 – 2.5 inch squares

Step 2: For the rings, I labeled each ring with the letters A-J, then labeled the half-square triangles number 1 and the “gem” square number 2. The blocks I call “gem blocks” are the squares that just have the small triangle in the corner, as seen below.

So the first ring on the top left of the quilt will need two different fat quarters, fabrics labeled A1 and A2, and so on. Each ring in my quilt was made up of the same color fabric in two different prints, and the amount needed is based on this layout. You can download a printout of this quilt, so you can test your color combinations here. I think it would also look great if the “gem” blocks are a contrasting color to give each ring some pop.

From your 19 fat quarters cut the following.

A1: (6) 6 inch squares
A2: (2) 5.5 inch squares
B1: (2) 6 inch squares
B2: (2) 5.5 inch squares
C1: (8) 6 inch squares
C2: (4) 5.5 inch squares
D2: (1) 5.5 inch square
E1: (8) 6 inch squares
E2: (4) 5.5 inch squares
F1: (2) 6 inch squares
F2: (2) 5.5 inch squares

G1: (6) 6 inch squares

G2: (2) 5.5 inch square

H1: (8) 6 inch squares

H2: (4) 5.5 inch squares

I1: (6) 6 inch squares

I2: (2) 5.5 inch squares

J1: (2) 6 inch squares

J2: (1) 5.5 inch square

To keep everything organized, I kept all my fabric and blocks labeled with sticky notes throughout the quilt top assembly, like in the picture below.

Step 3: Sew your half-square triangle blocks. Take one 6-inch background piece and lightly draw a diagonal line from one corner to the opposite corner on the back. Repeat this for all your 6-inch background pieces.

Step 4: With the right sides together, place one background piece and one A1 square together. Sew a scant 1/4 inch away from the line you drew on your background piece, and repeat on the other side. Your block should look like this when both sides are sewn.

Repeat for all remaining blocks labeled 1.

Step 5: Cut your half square triangles in half diagonally, on the line you initially drew. Press the seams to the darker print.

Step 6: Carefully trim your half square triangles to 5.5 inches. I line up my blocks with the seam on a 45 degree line on my mat, with a little bit of overhang on each side. I like to cut from all four sides to yield a more accurate cut, but be careful, you will not have much waste!

Step 7: Take your 2.5 inch background pieces and again lightly draw a line from one corner to the other.

Step 8: Place one 2.5 inch background piece in the corner of one 5.5 inch A2 block. Sew just off of the line, on the side closer to the corner.

Note: If you sew directly on the line you drew, when you press your block out you will lose a tiny amount from each block.

Step 9: Trim excess fabric 1/4 inch from the seam. You can also opt to leave this fabric on for extra stability. Press the seam toward the background fabric.

Repeat steps 8 and 9 for all of your blocks labeled 2.

Step 10: Grab four of your A1 half-square triangles (HSTs) and sew together to create a “V” block. I pressed the seams to the side, alternating the direction so I could nest the seams. Repeat with four B1 HSTs, and four C1 HSTs.

Step 11: Take one A2 block, one B2 block and two 5.5 inch background pieces and sew together to form a bow tie block, like the following diagram. I pressed seams to the side, alternating the direction so I could nest the seams. Repeat for one block with a B2 and C2 block and one block with a C2 and D2 block.

Step 12: Arrange your first row according to the diagram below and sew together. If you are pressing your seams in order to nest them together, you want to press the first seam (between your A1 “V” block and A2/B2 bow tie block) to the right.

Step 13: Repeat step 10 with four A1 HSTs and eight C1 HSTs. Layout your “V” blocks with your 10.5 inch background pieces according to the diagram below.

Step 14: Make one “V” block each using your A1, C1, and E1 HSTs. Make one A2/E2, one C2/E2, and one C2/F2 bow tie block. Arrange these blocks to form your third row according to the diagram below.

Step 15: Make two E1 “V” blocks and one F1 “V” block. Arrange them with your 10.5 inch background squares according to the following diagram.

Step 16: Make one “V” block each using your G1, E1, and H1 half-square triangles. Make one G2/E2, one E2/H2, and one F2/H2 bow tie block. Arrange these blocks to form your third row according to the diagram below.

Step 17: Make two H1 “V” blocks and one G1 “V” block. Arrange them with your 10.5 inch background squares according to the following diagram.

Step 18: Make one “V” block each using your G1, I1, and H1 half-square triangles. Make one G2/I2, one H2/I2, and one H2/J2 bow tie block. Arrange these blocks to form your third row according to the diagram below.

Step 19: Make two I1 “V” blocks and one J1 “V” block. Arrange them with your 10.5 inch background squares according to the following diagram.

Step 20: Pieces your rows together and press well. I like to sew two rows together at a time. So instead of sewing them on in order, adding each row individually, I sew rows 1 & 2 together, then rows 3 & 4, etc. Then I sew one of the double rows to another double row, and end by sewing the two halves of the quilt top together. I find that it is easier to sew the top together this way so you do not have all the weight of the quilt top when you sew each row on individually.

Step 21: Cut your background fabric into two 68 inch x width of fabric pieces. Remove the selvages and you should have two pieces that are 40-42 inches wide.

I also grabbed all of my scraps and pieced them together to make a 10 inch x 68 inch patchwork piece. Without this piece your back may not be large enough, since I like to have my quilt backs measure 8 inches larger than my tops on all sides. If you would prefer not to use scraps, you need to cut one more piece of background 10 inches by the width of fabric and substitute it for the scrap strip I show below.

Sew together your back according to the diagram below.

Step 22: Cut a piece of batting 64 inches x 84 inches and baste your quilt together. Quilt as desired. I straight line quilted my rings in alternating directions, like a volleyball.

Step 23: Bind and finish your quilt. You will need 290 inches of binding for the quilt. I cut 7 fabric strips that measured 2.5 inch by the width of fabric.

One generous size throw quilt, measuring 60 by 80 inches to snuggle under.

Thank you so much to Moda for letting me share my quilt! I would love to see any of your creations from this tutorial in the Moda Bake Shop Flickr group. Thank you for stopping by!

Kelly Smith
{Live. Love. Create.}

Mister DJ Quilt

Feb11

Hello Moda Bake Shop Friends! Melissa Corry from Happy Quilting here and I am so excited to be sharing a new quilt with you today. My oldest son is the only person in the family that did not have a homemade bedspread. It has been put on hold because he was insistent on have “cool” fabrics.

Sphere by Zen Chic was the perfect fit and I set out to make an equally “cool” design. Inspired by my son’s love for music (of all varieties and volume 🙂 Mister DJ was created and can I just say, he loves it!!! So do you have a tween that needs a new bedspread as well?? Well, let’s show you how to do it 🙂

To make a twin sized 70″ x 89″ Mister DJ quilt you will need:

2 Sphere Jelly Rolls
2 Yards of Bella Solid Grass
5 1/2 Yards of Backing

STEP 1 – CUTTING

Begin by separating your jelly roll strips into 2 piles, one of Low Volume (or light) prints and one of High Volume (or dark) prints.

From the High Volume Strips cut 21 of each of the following strip sizes:
2 1/2″ x 11″ 2 1/2″ x 10″ 2 1/2″ x 9″ 2 1/2″ x 8″ 2 1/2″ x 7″
2 1/2″ x 6″ 2 1/2″ x 5″ 2 1/2″ x 4″ 2 1/2″ x 3″ 2 1/2″ x 2″
I found the easiest way to do this is to stack up 4-5 jelly rolls and cut all the even sizes from each strip and repeat the process for 21 strips so you have a total of 21 pieces of each even size. Then do the same for the odd sizes. (You will have to cut a few from the scraps as you will have 40 strips and not 42)

From the LowVolume Strips cut 21 of each of the following strip sizes:
2 1/2″ x 11 1/2″ 2 1/2″ x 10 1/2″ 2 1/2″ x 9 1/2″ 2 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ 2 1/2″ x 7 1/2″
2 1/2″ x 6 1/2″ 2 1/2″ x 5 1/2″ 2 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ 2 1/2″ x 3 1/2″ 2 1/2″ x 2 1/2″
Once again, stack up 4-5 jelly rolls and cut all the even sizes from each strip and repeat the process for 21 strips so you have a total of 21 pieces of each even size. Then do the same for the odd sizes.

Now, pair each High Volume piece with the opposite size Low Volume strip. So the 11 1/2″ goes with the 2″ and the 10 1/2″ goes with the 3″ and so on down the line. Set these aside for the moment.

From the Bella Solid Grass yardage cut the following:
(9) 2 1/2″ x wof (width of fabric) strips to be used for binding
(10) 1 1/2″ x wof strips – Trim the selvage and sew 2 strips end to end to create (5) 1 1/2″ x 84 strips.
(210) 2″ x 2 1/2″ rectangles

STEP 2 – ASSEMBLING THE STRIPS

Now with the cutting done you are ready to start assembling the blocks. Grab the first set of your grouped fabric strips (The 11 /2″ Low Volumes and 2″ High Volumes). You will be sewing these into a row by first sewing the Solid Grass rectangle to the Low Volume strip and then second, adding the print strip to the Solid Grass Rectangle.

The easiest way to do this is by chain stitching. (Meaning, not clipping your threads after each strip but continually feeding strips through the machine until you are done with your pile.) Start by placing the Grass rectangle onto the Low Volume strip with right sides together. Chain stitch a 1/4″ seam along the edge of all 21 of your sets. Clip the threads between your strips.

Now, you can add the High Volume strip. Place the High Volume strip onto the Grass rectangle with right sides together and again chain stitch a 1/4″ seam along the edge of all 21 strips. Clip your threads.

Now repeat this process for each of your (10) grouped sets of 21 strips. In the end you will have 210 pieced strips total. You want the Low Volume print to always be on the top. Press your strip sets.

STEP 3 – ASSEMBLING THE BLOCKS

With your strips all set, you are ready to start sewing your blocks together. So take all of your strip sets and mix them up in a large pile.

Now, grab 2 random strips and place them right sides together taking care that the Low Volume print in both strips is on the top and the High Volume print is on the bottom. Sew 1/4″ seam along the side of the strip, aligning the edges as you sew. Chain stitch 30 of these to make 30 strip sets of 2. Clip the threads between the 30 sets.

Now, you are going to add a third strip to the sets of 2. Align another randomly chosen strip along the side of the second strip with the Low Volume prints on top and sew a 1/4″ seam along the edge, aligning as you go. If you happen to have randomly chosen a strip where the Grass Rectangle is in the same spot as the strip set, take care to match the seams. You can just align these with your fingers as shown. Chain stitch all 30 sets.

Clip your threads between your sets and you are ready to add a fourth row. Continue this process until you have added a total of 7 rows in each set. Clip the threads between sets.

So now you will have 30 blocks each consisting of 7 vertical rows that have the Low Volume prints on top and the High Volume prints on the bottom.

Press the seams in the blocks to one direction. They should now measure 14 1/2″ square.

STEP 4 – ASSEMBLING QUILT TOP

And now you can put your quilt top together! Layout 6 rows of 5 blocks. Play with the layout until it is pleasing to the eye. Once you have layout complete mark the blocks so you remember which row is which 🙂 Now, sew the blocks into rows. To do this, just place the second block onto the first with right sides together and sew a 1/4″ seam along the edge. The place the third block onto the now sewn together first and second block with right sides together and sew a 1/4″ seam along the edge. Continue in this fashion until all 5 blocks in the row are sewn together. Repeat for all 6 rows.

Now place a Grass Sashing Strip that you made clear at the beginning onto to the top of rows 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 with right sides together. Sew a 1/4″ seam along the edge aligning the fabric as you sew.

Press all of the seams towards the sashing. Trim the excess sashing at the end of each row.

Now sew the rows together. This is just like making the rows only on a larger scale. Place row 1 onto row 2 with right sides together. Sew a 1/4″ seam along the edge. Press the seam towards the sashing. Now place row 3 onto the now sewn together row 1 and 2 with right sides together. Sew a 1/4″ seam along the edge. Press the seam. Continue in this fashion until all the rows are sewn together.

And your quilt top is complete!!! Great job!!!

STEP 5 – FINISHING

Now just Baste it, Quilt it, and Bind It. I know, I make it sound so easy. If you are new to finishing your quilt, I have created a video tutorial series that goes over the basics of each of these three steps. You can find it at my blog 🙂 Cut your backing into 2 pieces 99″ x WOF and piece together with a 1/2″ seam. You will use the 9 strips you cut and set aside at the beginning to do the binding.

One ultra modern, High/Low Volume 70″ x 89″ Mister DJ twin sized quilt. Thank you so much for joining me and I hope you enjoyed the tutorial. If you make your own Mister DJ Quilt I would love to see it. You can add it to my Inspired by Happy Quilting Flickr group here 🙂

Have a Happy Quilting Day!!

Melissa Corry
{happyquiltingmelissa.blogspot.com}

Snuggles Plus Quilt

Jan4

I am so happy to be returning to the Moda Bake Shop with this quick-to-make but amazing little quilt! I blog over at www.mamaspark.blogspot.com, and I would love you to stop over and visit!

I have to say that I LOVED working with the Snuggles fabric by Moda. It was a dream to use and my quilter loved it too! This turned out a perfect size at 45″ X 50″ to use as a baby quilt or a lap quilt. You could make it larger with just a few adjustments too.

I hope you enjoy making this as much as I did. Let’s get started!

2-Sphere Charm Packs (1540PP)
2 yards 60″ Snuggles (60000 43) Aqua For top and backing
1/2 yard Sphere (Teal 1541 20) for binding
1/4 yard Bella Solids Feather (9900 127 ) This is a really, really light gray.
Cotton Batting
Thread

Choose 48 Charms for the center of the quilt. Ten of these will be used to make the plus blocks.

Choose 22 additional blocks for the 2 side borders, 11 for each side. I chose to leave most of the yellow out because I wanted an icy looking quilt to go with my aqua Snuggles.

Cut Twenty 1.5″ x 6″ strips from your Feather solid. These will be used to make the + in the plus blocks.

Making the Plus blocks:

After you have chosen your 10 charm squares, cut them in half. You should have two halves that measure 2.5″ x 5″.

Lay one 1.5″ x 6″ strip between the 2 cut halves of the charm square

Sew strip to one half of the charm square

Trim the solid strip even with both sides of the charm square, it should be 5″.

Sew the other half of the charm you cut to this first unit making sure to align edges.
Cut the charm in half again at the 2.5″ alignment. (don’t worry about the other measurement)

Lay another 1.5″ x 6″ strip of your solid between your two cut halves. Sew to one of these halves.

Trimming even with the edge of the charm. Don’t worry that they are not 5″ at this point, you will be trimming them up soon. Sew this to the matching half and press.

Trim your plus block to a finished size of 5″. You can see that when I used my 5.5″ ruler the plus lines up beautifully and made the trimming a snap!

This is what your finished plus blocks should look like. I chose 10 plus blocks but you can make more if you like or use none at all for a really quick quilt! If you make more you may need a little more of your solid!

I like to chain piece so I cut all my pairs and lined them up to sew at one time.

Yeah for chain piecing!!

Now comes the fun part! Using a design wall begin to lay out your rows. I changed mine around a LOT! That’s part of the charm (get it?)

Once you are happy with the placement you can sew your charms into rows.

I pressed all my seams open so it would lie as flat as possible when paired with the Snuggles.

Next I cut the Snuggles that would alternate with the rows of charm squares. First I cut Five 5″ strips. Then I measured my rows and they were 36.5″. I then cut my Snuggles to fit my rows. Please measure yours before you cut and use that measurement.

Once you have all your Snuggles cut to fit your quilt rows you can begin to pin your rows together and sew.

I pinned at every seam and with one in between. I was not certain how the Snuggles would be to work with but it was just great!

Start with a charm square row then a Snuggles row. There will be 5 of these sets. The last row will be a charm square row. I wanted this to be easy for my long arm quilter to quilt so I thought I should not have the more stretchy fabric on the outside of the quilt. Although she did tell me that the Snuggles was much easier to work with than some of the other comparable fabrics.

Once you have all your charms sewn to your snuggles you will have 5 of these sets. Sew them together to make the center of your top, making sure to begin and end with a row of charms.

I put the top back on the design wall and added the charms I was planning on using for the borders in place. This allowed me to move squares as necessary until I was happy with the final placement.

Alternately you could do this when you lay out the top too. Either way works! Once you are happy with the placement of your side borders sew the charms into a row (remember they will go on the quilt vertically just in case you are using directional fabrics!)

Pin your borders to your top being careful to match the intersecting seams as you do so. Sew your borders to your top.

Your top is now complete and ready to sandwich and quilt!

I chose large intersecting circles to echo the design of the Sphere fabric.

For binding cut your strips from the teal Sphere fabric at 2.5″ (or as you desire).

Join the strips, and bind using your favorite binding method.

Quilt, bind and ENJOY! You just finished a great little quilt!

This pattern makes a 45″ x 50″ quilt.

I hope you have enjoyed my tutorial. I would love to hear what you think!

I really enjoyed making this quilt and would love you to stop by my blog and visit! www.mamaspark.blogspot.com

In addition, I had a lot of fun tromping around in the snow with my friend, Robin, getting photos of this little quilt too. = )

If you make one of these I would love to see it! Please add it to my Flickr group or look me up on Instagram (mamaspark59) and post a photo there so I can see it!

~ XOP~
Pamela Lincoln
www.mamaspark.blogspot.com

Confetti – A Modern Embroidery Applique Quilt

Nov7

Hi there! It’s Natalia Bonner from Piece N Quilt and I’m excited to share our Confetti quilt here today! As you’ve probably noticed Kathleen and I have gone Machine Embroidery Applique crazy! We love it! Every single project we see we are trying to figure out how we can add machine embroidery applique.

This new quilt was so much fun to make. It’s made from Zen Chic’s new fabric line Barcelona and a little bit of Moda Bella Solids. We call it the darling Confetti quilt! Finished size is 60″x70″

The instructions below are for using a machine embroidery applique technique but you can achieve similar results by outlining the triangles with a satin stitch on any sewing machine.

4 1/4 yards white background fabric OR 6 white charm packs
1 Fat Eighth Bundle Barcelona by Zen Chic for Moda Fabrics
1/4 yard Green Binding
3.8 yards Backing

Cutting
From background fabric, cut 27 strips measuring 5″ x WOF and 2 strips measuring 2″ x WOF.
Subcut 5″ x WOF strips into:

208 squares measuring 5″ x 5″
16 rectangles measuring 5″ x 2 5/8″

Subcut 2″ x WOF strips into:

58 – 2″ 60 deg white triangles*

From fat eighths, cut:

58 – 4″ 60 deg print triangles* (we tried to do two from each print)

To cut triangles, use the templates in the Printer Friendly file or use the 60 degree mark on your ruler to cut the correct shape.

Applique
The triangle digital machine embroidery applique file is currently available for free! Click {here} to download from our website. Check out all of our other darling Embroidery Appliques while you’re over there.

**All applique on this quilt is done using embroidery applique, for this technique you will not cut your triangles into triangles at this point. Follow our triangle Machine Embroidery Applique Tutorial {here}.**

If you are using a satin stitch instead of machine embroidery applique, pin each print triangle to a 5″ square. Outline with a satin stitch using coordinating thread. Repeat for all 58 triangles.

Layer a 2″ white triangle on top of each print triangle and outline with a satin stitch. Repeat for all 58 white triangles. You can use a small pair of very sharp scissors to trim out the print fabric behind the white triangle.

Assemble the Quilt Top

Confetti is laid out like subway tiles, alternating blocks.

Refer to quilt layout for exact placement. We rotated our triangle blocks to get a more random look.

Quilt, bind, and enjoy! The super cool thing about embroidery applique, because it’s done so precisely with a nice satin stitch when washing this applique there will be no fray! The quilt can be washed and washed and it will look nice forever! This quilt is machine quilted with a pantograph pattern designed by Natalia Bonner called Crackle, available {here} in {digital} and {paper} pantograph pattern.

All of our embroidery applique is done on a Bernina Aurora 440QE with the embroidery module. Batting used is this quilt is Quilters Dream Poly Select.

1- 60″x70″ Confetti Quilt

Natalia Bonner
{www.piecenquilt.com}

Basic Math Quilt

May11

I’ve been a big fan of Brigitte Heitland’s work since I first stumbled across it. I was thrilled to see her first fabric line, Juggling Summer, and I just love the great colors and prints. The sort of distressed-looking prints pair so well with the log-cabin inspired prints and the fantastic blenders. And the colors are the perfect shades of green, purple, orange and turquoise along with black, grey and cream. I had to have it!

This quilt is called Basic Math because I came up with the idea while I was working on another project. I didn’t want to switch projects to try out the idea, but I couldn’t stop thinking about whether it would work or not. I kept saying to myself “Of course it will work, it’s just basic math.”

One layer cake of Juggling Summer
1/2 yard of binding fabric (I used 1503-30 in purple)

For the back:
1 yard each of 1501 and 1505 in avocado
3/4 yard each of 1502 and 1503 in avocado

Batting: 60″ x 66″

Cutting:

1. Select 40 squares from the layer cake.

2. Cut each square 6½” from the left edge and 6½” from the lower edge. My 6½” ruler is perfect for this!
3. From the binding fabric, cut 6 2½” strips.

Block Construction:
1. Your cutting should have resulted in:
·         40 3½” squares
·         80 3½” x 6½” rectangles
·         40 6½” squares

2.       Set the 6½” squares aside for now. These are the A blocks.
3.       Choosing fabrics at random, sew two of the 3½” x 6½” rectangles together to make 40 6½” B/C blocks.
4.       Again, choosing randomly, sew four of the 3½” squares together to make 10 6½” D blocks.
5.       I pressed my blocks to the darker fabric, re-pressing as needed when I put the quilt top together.

Putting the quilt top together:
1. Separate your B/C blocks into a group of 19 blocks (B) and a group of 21 blocks (C). In the quilt layout, B blocks are set with the center seam horizontally; C blocks are set with the center seam vertically.

2. Lay the blocks out according to the diagram.

3. Sew the blocks together into rows.
4. Sew the rows together to complete the quilt top.
5. Press the quilt top.

Back:
1. From one of the one yard pieces, cut a 36″ x 30″ piece. (Piece W)
2. From the other one yard piece, cut a 36″ square. (Piece X)
3. From one of the 3/4 yard pieces, cut a 30″ x 24″ piece. (Piece Y)
4. From the other 3/4 yard piece, cut a 36″ x 24″ piece. (Piece Z)
5. Sew Pieces W and X together along the 36″ sides.
6. Sew Pieces Y and Z together along the 24″ sides.
7. Matching these seams, sew the two back pieces together.

Finishing:
1. Layer the quilt top with the backing and batting.
2. Quilt as desired. My version of Basic Math is quilted in a 3″ grid through the middle of the blocks.
3. Bind with binding strips.

One Basic Math quilt 54″ x 60″

Debbie Grifka
{www.eschhousequilts.com}

Ring Around Baby Quilt

Apr11

Hi There 🙂 It’s me, Melissa Corry from Happy Quilting and I am so excited to share my Ring Around Baby Quilt!! I really love the bold prints and colors of Zen Chic’s Comma line. They make it so much fun to work with. So let’s get right to it!!

1 Comma Layer Cake
1 yard of favorite black print for pieced back, I used 1513 16
1/4 yard of favorite white print for pieced back, I used 1513 11
1/3 yard of favorite print for binding, I used 1512 20
Spray Baste

STEP 1 – PIECING THE QUILT TOP

From your layer cake select the 5 black/white squares, the 3 grey/black squares, and the 8 white/black squares. Lay them out in a 4 x 4 grid alternating black and white prints as shown.

Sew the blocks into rows. Place the second block onto the first with right sides together and sew a 1/4″ seam along the edge as shown in row 1. I don’t pin these, I just align as I go. Then place the third block onto the now sewn together 1st and 2nd blocks and sew a 1/4″ seam as shown in row 2. Repeat process for the fourth block as shown in row 4. Press towards the black/grey blocks.

Now you can sew the rows together. Place Row 1 onto Row 2 and Row 3 onto Row 4 with right sides together. Take care to nest your seams and pin in place. Sew a 1/4″ seam along the pinned edges. Repeat the same process to sew Row 1/2 and Row 3/4 together.

Press your rows. Your quilt top will look something like this 🙂 Go ahead and set it aside for a bit.

STEP 2 – CUTTING THE APPLIQUE

Gather your remaining layer cake squares. I set aside the 2 reprint squares and the square that matched my binding fabric to use on my Bonus Tutorial mentioned later. Cut each of the remaining (21) 10″ squares into (4) 5″ squares. For your applique, you can choose to cut perfect circles or wonky circles.

To make perfect circles . . . Fold your charm square in half with right sides together. Then fold in half again the opposite direction. Press the folds. Using a compass, align the point on the folded center and draw a quarter circle. Repeat for one to two more arcs. Cut along the drawn lines.

And you have a varied number of rings and circles. Feel free to change the size and amount of arcs so that you get a lot of different size and widths of rings.

To make wonky circles . . . Fold your charm square in half with right sides together. Then fold in half again the opposite direction. Finger press the folds. Cut an arced shape over the folded center Repeat for one to two more arcs.

And you have a varied number of wonky rings and circles. Feel free to change the size and amount of arcs so that you get a lot of different size and widths of rings. And you can really play with the wonky factor here.

Repeat for all of your 5″ squares so you end up with a pile of rings and a pile of circles. Set the circles aside as you wont be needing them. (They can be used in the Bonus Tutorial.)

STEP 3 – ADDING APPLIQUE TO QUILT SANDWICH

First, you need to piece the quilt back so you can make a quilt sandwich. Cut your yard backing piece into 2 pieces measuring as follows. Trim the selvages from your 1/4″ fabric. Sew the three pieces together using a 1/2″ seams. Press the seams to the darker print. (Sorry, I forgot to take a picture so you get a graphic.)

Create your quilt sandwich using spray baste. The reason I suggest Spray Baste is because it will be difficult to add the applique with a whole bunch of pins in the way. If you are new to using spray baste for creating a quilt sandwich you can see my video tutorial on how to do so.

And now you are ready to add the rings 🙂 Place approximately 4 rings in a box an spray with a coating of spray baste. You don’t want to work with much more than that at a time or the baste will start to dry out.

Place the first ring onto your quilt top leaving a bubble where you would like to add the next ring.

Place the next ring onto the quilt top so that it links with the first. At one of the intersections of the two rings, cut the new ring as shown.

Slide the two cut edges under the bubble of the first ring. Press the rings in place leaving a new bubble in the second ring to add a third ring.

Continue the process. Start new groupings and vary the size and shape of each grouping. Some of my groups have up to 6 rings and some only two. The more variation the better.

Continue until you have covered the entire quilt. I ended up with about 2 rings left over.

STEP 4 – FINISHING QUILT

And now you are ready to finish the quilt. Your quilt sandwich is already made so you can move right onto quilting. You will want to quilt this with a rather dense FMQ design to ensure that all of those cut edges get stitched down. I choose to do a Interlocking Circles FMQ design and you can see a video tutorial on how to do this here. It also gives some insights on quilting with all of the raw edges. You will have to stop occasionally and lift your presser foot and then place it on top of the edge of the applique as sometimes it tends to pop up. You will notice a few of my circles have been pinned. Those were for the really stubborn ones that just didn’t want to stay in place.

Once you are finished quilting all that remains is to bind it. Cut your binding fabric into (4) 2 1/2 ” strips and bind your quilt. I machine quilted this to add strength as it is a baby quilt. If you are new to this you can see a video tutorial on binding here.

One adorably chic and modern Ring Around baby quilt measuring 38″ x 38″, a perfect gift for a special little one.

And . . . If you want to finish that gift off with another little handmade treasure and use up your leftover circles at the same time, pop on over to Happy Quilting for this bonus Chic Circles Car Seat Cover Tutorial.

Thank you so much for joining me and I hope you enjoyed the tutorial. If you make your own Ring Around Baby Quilt I would love to see it. You can add it to my Inspired by Happy Quilting Flickr group here 🙂

Have a Happy Quilting Day!!

Melissa Corry
{www.happyquiltingmelissa.blogspot.com}

Type Geek Pillows

Mar27

Hi there! It’s Casey from Casey York Design and Studioloblog.wordpress.com, and I’m back to share the pattern for my Type Geek pillows. I am a self-professed type geek, myself, so I couldn’t resist coming up with a project for Typography month on the Moda Bake Shop. These pillows are a perfect way to showcase your favorite fabric collections and fonts. I had so much fun matching typefaces to fabric lines that I couldn’t stop with just one pillow and ended up making three. You can find the templates for these three appliqued words in the Printer Friendly version of this tutorial at the bottom of this page. However, it’s easy to create your own templates, and this project is even more fun if you make up your own fabric-font pairings. I hope you have as much fun with this project as I did, and that you’ll share your finished pillows with me through the Casey York Quilts flickr group!

Front patchwork and back appliqué: one jelly roll (samples show PB&J, Comma, and 2wenty Thr3e)
Pillow back: (1) fat quarter or ¼ yd. solid white fabric (samples show Bella Solids in Porcelain)
Front Appliqué: (1) piece solid white fabric, 12” long X 3” wide
Lightweight, double-sided, paper backed fusible web: (1) 9” X 12” sheet
(1) 18” zipper

Please note: this pattern uses only (9) jelly roll strips, resulting in a lot of leftover fabric. You may want to plan another project to use the excess—I recommend one of the other wonderful tutorials here on the Moda Bake Shop!

Step 1: Make the pillow front:

Select nine strips from the jelly roll, trim to measure 18” long. Stitch along long sides to form a striped patchwork panel. Trim to measure 17 ½” X 17 ½.”

Tip: For maximum contrast, try to position a darker print or near solid as the second stripe from the bottom. This will ensure that your white appliqués show up well. Reserve the rest of this strip for the appliqués on the back of the pillow, which you will make in Step 2.

Step 2: Make the Appliqués

Print the template for the typeface of your choice—this tutorial features Helvetica, Rockwell, and Playbill. You will only need one template page per pillow. Templates can be found in the printer friendly version of this tutorial linked at the bottom of this page.

Tip: Make your own templates: Select a favorite font from your computer’s word processing program (bold san serif or slab serif fonts work best for this project). Type out the name of the typeface, then enlarge the character size until the letters are approximately 2” tall. This generally works out to be a type size of 180 to 210 pt., although this will differ from typeface to typeface. Print your template; for the pillow front appliqués, reverse the letters by turning the page over and tracing the outlines of the printed characters on the back. Use your templates to make fusible appliqués as follows.

Following the manufacturer’s instructions, trace the templates onto the double-sided light fusible web. Cut out roughly, leaving a ¼” margin around your traced lines; you may want to cut out the entire word rather than cutting out each letter individually. Fuse the letters that appear reversed onto your white appliqué fabric. Fuse the letters that appear correctly oriented onto the wrong side of the jelly roll strip you reserved from Step 1, or a different strip that matches the second stripe from the bottom of your patchwork panel. Make sure to use a pressing cloth between your iron and fabric in order to avoid getting sticky residue on your sole plate.

Step 3: Place the Front Appliques:

Position your white fabric appliqués on the patchwork panel, aligning them with the bottom edge of the second stripe from the bottom. You will want to make sure that the last letter is at least 1 ½” from the right hand edge of the panel to leave room for the seam allowance.

Tip: Begin laying out your letters from the right-most letter and move left (i.e. backwards) towards the left side of the panel.

When you are satisfied with your layout, fuse the appliqués in place, again using a pressing cloth between fabric and iron. Stitch around the appliqués using your machine or by hand; the samples were stitched by hand using a blanket stitch and a single strand of six-stranded cotton embroidery floss.

Step 4: Make the Pillow back:

From the solid white fabric, cut two rectangles measuring 17 ½” wide X 8 ½” long and 17 ½” wide X 11 ½” long. Fold one long edge of the 17 ½” X 8 ½” rectangle back 1 inch and press well, creating a crease.

Install the zipper:

Make sure the zipper is zipped. Unfold the crease in the 17 ½” X 8 ½” rectangle and place with the crease facing up; this is the right side of your pillow back. Place zipper face-down along the 17 ½” edge closest to the crease and align long edge of zipper tape with edge of fabric; pin well. Your zipper will be slightly longer than your pillow back is wide; to create a new “stop”, simply stitch back and forth several times across the zipper teeth at the point where the zipper reaches the 8 ½” edge of the fabric. Use your machine’s zipper foot to stitch as close to the zipper teeth as possible. When you approach the zipper pull, lower the needle, raise your presser foot, and carefully unzip the zipper until the pull is behind your needle. Lower the presser foot and continue stitching to the end of the zipper.

Refold crease; stitch along fold as close as possible to the zipper, making sure not to catch the zipper tape in your stitching. This will create a placket to cover the zipper.

Unzip the zipper. Place the tape face down against a 17 ½” edge of the 17 ½” X 11 ½” rectangle and pin well. Stitch as close as possible to the zipper teeth. This time, when you reach the zipper pull, carefully zip the zipper until the zipper pull is behind your needle. Continue stitching to the end of the zipper. Zip the zipper, place pillow back right side up, and press well.

You should have a 17 ½” X 17 ½” square (if slightly larger, trim to measure 17 1/2″ X 17 1/2″). Baste along side edges to hold zipper together when you assemble the pillow cover.

Place the appliqués:

Place your pillow front right side up. Place the pillow back on top with the right side facing down, the zipper towards the top edge, and the edges aligned. You should be able to see your front appliqués through the white fabric of the pillow back. Use a removable fabric marker–I recommend a Hera Marker or other creasing tool–and your ruler to trace lines along the bottom and sides of the word on the front of the cover. These will be your guidelines for placing the appliqués on the back. Turn the pillow back right side up and use the guidelines to place your back appliqués; the letters should be backwards. When you are satisfied with your placement, use your iron to fuse them in place. Stitch around appliqués using your machine or by hand.

Tip: If you use a fabric marker or pencil to make your placement guidelines, make sure you remove your markings before you use your iron to fuse the appliques in place! This is why I prefer to use a creasing tool for this step–I don’t need to remove any markings before pressing.

Step 5: Assemble the Pillow Cover:

Place pillow front cover and back cover together, right sides together. Make sure the zipper is unzipped a few inches. Align edges and pin well. Stitch along edges with a ¼” seam allowance. If you wish, finish the edges with a zigzag stitch. Unzip zipper all the way and turn cover right side out. Insert an 18” X 18” pillow form and you’re done!

This pattern will yield one cover for an 18” X 18” pillow. I recommend making several—have fun matching typefaces to the character of different fabric collections!

Casey York
{www.casey-york.com}

Comma, Pyramid, Hexagon Quilt

Mar7

My name is Sara and you can find me at www.knottygnome.com. This is my first bakeshop tutorial and I’m excited to bring you this hexagon quilt in two sizes. I love to play with color in textiles. In addition to quilting I engage in many crafts, like knitting, spinning, dyeing, crochet, embroidery, and sewing. Be sure to stop by my blog for a bonus tutorial that uses scraps from this quilt to make an improv pillow cover.

Stroller blanket:
1 Comma FQ bundle + 1/2 yd Bella solid 9900-11 (Snow);
155in binding using your preferred method
Batting: 40×48

Lap quilt:
1 Comma FQ bundle + 1 2/3 yd Bella solid 9900-11 (Snow);
2 1/4 yd yardage for backing;
290in binding using your preferred method
Batting: 76×80

I used the Fons & Porter Pyramid ruler, but I’ve also included a triangle template that can be found in the printer friendly version of this post.

Step 1: Choose your fabrics. Each fat quarter will yield 24 triangles, or 6 per 21” strip. A strip cut from yardage will give you 12 triangles.

For the Stroller blanket you will need 150 triangles. I chose extra fabrics for more variation but remember to keep 7 FQ intact for the backing
36 Black: 1.5 FQ
36 Grey: 1.5 FQ
12 Green: .5 FQ
12 Orange: .5 FQ
12 Yellow: .5 FQ
42 Snow: .5 yd

For the Lap quilt you will need 558 triangles. Remember to keep 8 FQ intact for the backing.
120 Black: 5 FQ
120 Grey: 5 FQ
60 Green: 2.5 FQ
48 Orange: 2 FQ
60 Yellow: 2.5 FQ
150 Snow: 1 2/3 yd

Step 2: Press your fabrics. I laid mine out 4 layers deep to save time. Square up your edge and cut fabrics into 4.5” strips.

Step 3: Line up your triangle ruler or template close to the edge of your strip. If using the template, align your cutting ruler with the edge of the template to help you cut a straight edge.

Step 4: Cut both sides of the template to complete your triangle.

Step 5: Remove 1/4″ from each tip to get rid of the “dog ears” and make the triangles easy to align when piecing.

Step 6: Flip the template and align it with the cut edge of the strip to begin your next triangle. Repeat Steps 2-6 until you have the correct number of triangles from Step 1.

Step 7: If you have a design wall, lay out your triangles according to the diagram. I do not have a design wall, so I laid out a few rows at a time.

Stroller blanket: 10 rows of 15 triangles

Lap quilt: 18 rows of 31 triangles

Step 8: Stitch your triangles into rows using 1/4″ seam. Be sure to keep them in order when chain piecing. Press seams open, being careful not to stretch the triangles out of shape.

Step 9: Piece rows together in groups of 2 to form complete hexagons. Stitch rows together to complete top.

Step 10: Trim the 2 uneven sides 1/4″ beyond the first whole triangle in the row, making the top rectangular.

Step 11: Choose fabrics for the back, cut and layout according to the diagram. The Stroller blanket requires 7 fat quarters and the lap quilt requires 8 fat quarters plus 2 1/4 yd for the center panel. Piece together using 1/4″ seams.

Step 12: Make a quilt sandwich, baste, quilt, square up, and bind using your preferred method.

Stroller blanket: 31.5 wide x 40 long
Lap quilt: 67.5 wide x 72 long

Be sure to stop by blog.knottygnome.com for a tutorial on using up those trimmings.

Sara Peterson
{www.knottygnome.com}

Neighbor Girl Quilt

Jan9

Hello from Jo and Kelli at Jo’s Country Junction. We had a great fun designing and creating this full sized quilt using Zen Chic’s, Juggling Summer, fabric line. The quilt is destined to be a gift for our neighbor girl who is my daughter’s best friend, Regan. She is the sweetest gal you could know.
Good news, too… There is a giveaway of a Juggling Summer Fat Quarter bundle happening on my blog so follow this link and check it out.

Fat Quarter Bundle of Zen Chic

5 1/4 Yards Black Accent Fabric 1503 25
2 3/4 Yards Cream Fabric 1503 27
6 Yards Backing Fabric for Backing and Border

The cutting instructions make use of an Easy Angle Ruler. If you aren’t familiar with using the ruler. Here is a tutorial to help you.

Cutting Instructions:
From the black accent fabric:
Cut 10 ~ 1 1/2″ strips. Sub cut into 272 1 1/2″ squares.
Cut 28 ~ 2 1/2″ strips. Sub cut into 360 triangles using a Companion Angle Ruler.
Cut 8 ~ 4″ strips for the border.

From the cream fabric:
Cut 30 ~ 2 1/2″ strips. Sub cut into 720 triangles using an Easy Angle Ruler
Cut 10 ~ 1 1/2″ strips. Sub cut into 78 ~ 1 1/2″ X 4 1/2″ rectangles. Sub cut 8 ~ 2 1/2″ x 1 1/2″ rectangles. Sub cut 4 ~ 1 1/2″ squares.

From the fat quarter bundle:
Set aside the creamy fabrics and the black fabric that matches the accent color.

From the remaining fat quarters:
Cut each fat quarter into 2 1/2″ strips. Layer two of the pieces wrong sides together. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. The blocks need mirror image pieces and the best way to get them is to have your fabric wrong sides together when you cut.

Using the companion angle ruler cut triangles.

Again layer two pieces on top of each other. Using a companion angle ruler cut off the corner. After the corner is cut off, position a ruler on the pieces as shown lining the ruler up on the two inch line. Cut.

Continue cutting.

Each block needs four of the companion angle triangles and four of the parallelograms. You will also need eight white triangles.

You can get five blocks from each fat quarter. You will need a total of 90 blocks all together.

Sewing these blocks together is a little tricky.

When sewing the parallelograms, pieces need to be placed as shown.

Start by making the inner *56* blocks. (The outer blocks are just a little different)

Sew the pieces together in strips as shown.

Sew the strips together to create the block.

Make 56 of them.

Now we need to make the *16* side blocks.

Make strips as you did before. But this time, you will need to create the small black edge triangle pieces on each strip. To do that, lay a black square on the corner. Sew on the diagonal.

Trim and press open.

Create the shown strips.

Sew the strips together to create the block.

Next we need the top and bottom blocks. There are *14* of them.

Create using the same methods adding two black triangles to the blocks as shown.

Next we need the corner blocks. Create them using the same methods. You need *2* like this.

You need *2* like this.

Lay the quilt out making sure to keep the inner blocks in the inside, the top and side blocks in place and the corner blocks in place. Sew in rows. Then sew the rows together to create the inner quilt top.

Time to make the inner border. It is made using the 1 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ cream pieces and the 1 1/2″ x 1 1/2″ black squares.