Update on crafty stuff

I machined quilted the border of my Perkiomen quilt top.  It looks like bad free-motion stitching, but I think it will grow on me.

I stopped by a big chain craft store to pick up a poster frame, and browsed  in the needlework aisle. I couldn't resist the potholder kit - do you remember these? Making a potholder with stretchy loops on a small weaving frame? And once I had it, I just had to make one:

And here it, finished:

Gosh this took me back.  Actually rather relaxing.  I am hoping to use the frame with more expensive special fibers, and experiment.
Who knows, I may go back and get a knitting noddy.  They are only $4.99....


viridian

Weight loss

As you can see from my header, I have lost 14 pounds so far.  Remember I am on a doctor-supervised diet where you lose more quickly than plain diet and exercise.  I hope I can continue at this rate.  I have a conference at the beginning of November and I want to look good.

On quilty things: I layered and did some machine quilting on my Perkiomen top.  I quilted in the ditch - with feed dogs up  as I always do.  It's all I know.  Yes I should try free-motion - maybe later this week.
viridian

Perkiomen quilt top: Blogtoberfest day 6

Ok, so I am not blogging every single day, but I am more active.  I came home early from work to finished my Perkiomen top:

The border fabric is a blue and black print; one I have had for many years.  Scraps were cut into strips for the body of the quilt, so this is a scrap-busting quilt.

The entry with the start of my project is here.
Possibilities are explored here.
Barbara Brackman's commentary on Perkiomen quilts is on her blog, Material Culture.

I also did a set of blocks in 30's reproduction fabrics and need to put those together in a top.  Working with depression-era reproductions is more difficult than you think.  So many of the fabrics are medium in value and it's hard to get the contrast between light and dark in the block.
Viridian

Blogtoberfest begins!

Blogtoberfest is an annual blogging festival started and hosted by tinniegirl, based in Australia.  The post listing all participants is http://tinniegirl.blogspot.com/2010/09/your-journey-starts-here-blogtoberfest.html.

The idea of Blogtoberfest is to blog everyday, or most everyday.  You can join too.

tinnie is a writer and a crafty girl, so I will be blogging mostly on my quilting and other crafts.  I did get a bit done this summer, but have neglected to update you, my readers, about it.  Now is the time.  Blogging on crafting and creativity is what I did last year too!

Remember my Perkiomen quilt project?  Well I am done with the center (bigger now than what is shown here) and ready to put on borders.  As rain and cold is likely tomorrow, perhaps that is what I will do. 

In addition I have my weight loss journey.  I hope to update the 9 to a higher number in my header, after the official weigh-in.
viridian

Tutorial: Half-square triangles

If you are interested in making a Perkiomen Valley quilt, you'll need a goodly number of these triangles.  And for that scrappy look, you will want these triangles in a variety of pairings of light and dark fabrics.

A top option is using Thangles, in the proper size for the block you are planning.  If you don't have these, try the method I show below.  It may be familiar to you, but maybe not.

Step 1: Cut squares of light and dark fabrics the proper size.  What is the proper size?  The size of your finished square plus 7/8 inches.  For my project, each square finishes at 1 inch, so I cut my squares 1 and 7/8 inches on a side.  For a finished measurement of 1.5 inches, cut your squares 2 and 3/8 inches in size.

Step 2: Draw a diagonal line on your light colored square of fabric.  Take a dark fabric, right side up, and place a light square, right side down, on top of it, all corners aligned.  See the photo below.

Step 3: Sew 1/4 inch to the left of the diagonal line on your light fabric.  Use your 1/4 inch presser foot if you have one.  See photo above.  You can chain piece a number of these.

Step 4: Take the squares out, turn them around, and sew down 1/4 inch away from the diagonal line, on the other side.  See the photo above - sorry can't see my thread too well!

Step 5:  Cut along the diagonal line with a rotary cutter and a ruler. Here I took the photo of the back.

 

Step 6: Press open, carefully.  It's easy to stretch these along the bias of the fabric.  Measure.  If your target finished size is 1 inch, the unfinished size of these units should be 1.5 inches squares.  Check to see.

OK!  I hope to put one more post up before a break, we'll see.  Stay tuned for instructions on sewing and assembling Perkiomen Valley quilt blocks.

Viridian

Perkiomen blocks: Possibilities

Start with a number of blocks similar to the one on the right (16 patch block). I described the beginning of these blocks, and why each block finishes at one inch square in a previous post.

Here is one way to arrange 16 blocks.  With the light/dark boundary on the diagonal, you can arrange these blocks as you would log cabin blocks.  This is called the Barn Raising set.

Above is another way to arrange blocks.  This format takes 20 blocks.

Below is a more complicated arrangement.  I did not have quite enough blocks  to finish it, at the time I took this photo.

The above design is based on a vintage quilt pictured in Barbara Brackman's blog, Material Culture, in a post on Perkiomen Valley quilts.  Scroll down to the bottom of her post. 

I now have enough blocks to finish this, and I'll show you the steps along the way, this next week.  To make it scrappy, pick rather light fabrics, and rather dark fabrics, and believe in the power of value!

Viridian

Perkiomen blocks: the beginning

So, let's say that you rotary cut many many strips 1.5 inches wide, 6 inches long, for a quilt in the pattern above. 

I followed the directions in Mary Ellen Hopkins' A Log Cabin Notebook.  This pattern is near the end and is called the bunkhouse quilt. You can find a similar quilt (with instructions) on Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville website.  She calls it the Pioneer Braid.

So, let's say you don't plan ahead unless you have a limited amount of one particular fabric.  Err, that would be me. I cut many strips from older fabric, ugly fabric, reproduction fabric, fabric from exchanges ugly reproduction fabric... you get the idea. The plan was stash reduction.  Now: The bunkhouse quilt top is done. (Double bed sized!) And I have many many left-over strips of mixed fabrics, all 1.5 inches wide by 6 inches long, filling a large plastic bag.  I can't throw them out! Now what?

The other day I was reading Barbara Brackman's blog, Material Culture and her entry on the Perkiomen Valley patch.  It's a split nine-patch with half dark, half light areas.  Sometimes a 16 patch is used.  See Barbara's blog post and the picture below. (sorry, my flash has washed things out.)

My a-ha moment: I would strip piece two or three light or dark 1.5 inch strips together, then cross cut them at 1.5 inches.  I would also cut some 1 7/8 inch squares for the light/dark triangles, using various scraps.  I could make a nine patch, as on the left, or a 16 patch, as on the right.

Now, each square finishes at one inch, meaning many little patches and lots of piecing.  But it will make a great scrappy wall hanging.

I would like to develop directions for a wall hanging-sized project and publish it here, but my readers (all 62 of them) will have to wait. One, I have a family vacation coming up.  And two, I need to calculate yardages and take more pictures of the process.  So I am leaving you with just a taste until the end of June or early July.

See you then!

Viridian