How to make 3 D bow tie blocks: online tutorials

If you were intrigued by those 3-D bow tie blocks Dawn made, you might be interested in how they are made.  Here are two online tutorials:

Video tutorial - on Gourmet Quilter, posted 10 February 2013

Photo tutorial - on Delaware Quilts, updated February 2012.  Includes a variation with stitched down curves.

Workshop with Margaret Sampson George (2)

Progress is being made ... see the first photos from this workshop here.

Georgie is making her way around the first circle of tiny pieces ...

Barbara is all the way around ...

Sue is making final fabric choices ... she devised a quick block roll from some polar fleece and a cardboard cylinder ...

... that allowed her to carry in place the pieces she was considering to quilting on Monday, for a further consultation ...

.... and kept them together with some firm ties.

Susan has made a number of hexagon blocks ...

... and is having fun auditioning fabrics for the rest.

We're all looking forward to seeing these finished ... and planning where they will hang in our exhibition 4th - 6th April 2014.  No pressure.

Thanks to Sue for the photos.

Victorian Quilters Showcase 2013

Photos from the Victorian Quilters Showcase 2013, currently in session in Melbourne, are beginning to appear.  You can see the Best of Show and runner-up quilts here:

Bernina Best in Show - Fiore Della Vita by Pamela Brockwell

Runner Up - Double Cream, by Karen Terrens.  She has posted a number of photos on her blog,  Quilts on Bastings.

Both quilts have won a number of other awards as well.

29.7.2013:  Linda Steele has published some excellent photos from the Victorian Quilters Showcase on her blog, including some close-ups of the Best of Show quilt.

Community quilts, July

Click on an image for a closer view

Fun and fish - expertly pieced by Robin W from her stash of brights, spots, and aquamarine, Christy Wang's long-arm quilting (Quilting Treasuers), brings it even more alive. You could swim through those clever little waves - both the pieced and quilted ones.

Dawn quickly realised that her discovery of the 3 D bow-tie block (see her first one here) would be a solution to her problem of 'what to do' with some tricky fabrics from our community stash.

These novelty print squares have been brought together nicely by Dawn - they were given to us by the Quilters Guild of NSW, to make into children's quilts for donation back to community causes - ours go to foster children.

Jill decided on improvised piecing to maximise the use of a small length of the print fabric, surrounded by scraps from the community stash and then alternating white-on-black and black-on-white borders. It was her first serious attempt at free motion quilting - it was good practice ...

'Where I sew' blog posts on Pink Chalk Studios blog

Pink Chalk Studios are running their annual month-long series of blog posts, 'Where I sew', giving readers an inside look into others' (mostly quilters) sewing spaces.  You can simply look at those that are linked, and read a little about them, or you can link your own as well.

More show and tell ...

Click on an image for a closer view.

Robyn L hand pieced the curved flower segments over many Mondays. 
Gorgeous colours!

Phyl joins us at Fairholme when she is visiting her sister Georgie.
She visited this week, with her completed 'Melody' quilt from our  Power Stripping
workshop with Brenda Gael Smith (Serendipity Patchwork and Quilting).
Very nice indeed.

Marilyn's grandson will love his Star Wars quilt.  

That gorgeous binding fabric came from New Zealand.

Barbara pieced these large and wildly patterned hexagon blocks over many Mondays.
The group really loved the border print and the jaunty corner stones, too.

Dawn has been away in the country, a long way from home.
While away, she heard about a technique for piecing 3-D bow tie blocks
 - undaunted by the long distance between her and her sewing machine and fabric stash,
 Dawn found three fabrics in the nearest Big W and practised piecing the blocks
 in the car on the way home, resulting in this richly coloured and textured quilt top.
There is more, but that is for another post.


Thanks for the photos, Sue.

This week's show and tell (1)

Click on the images for a closer view.

Ginny began making these blocks as one side of an interlocking circles quilt, but they were cleverly sidetracked into a bright and beautiful quilt for a soon-expected grandchild.

Robyn's hexagons are 3/4" ... and there are more than 5,000 of them in this very large (but not yet final sized) top ... that's a lot of hand sewing, Robyn, for a beautiful result!

Detail of the centre diamond ... needle turned broderie-perse applique.

It required a lot of up close and personal attention and inspection. 
How will Robyn decide to finish it?

What would you have done ...

... if you had been there ?

The Saddest Garage Sale Ever

Edie McGinnis, Kansas City Star Quilts, 12th July, 2013

... “Oh, those old things?” she said. “My husband’s grandma made those. I’ve never liked them. I think she just used old rags and stuff. She said something about making this one from Grandpa’s old shirts. It was weird; she didn’t even go and buy new material ..."

Thanks to Lisa Walton for the link.

FriXion pens: an interesting post

This post, about the availability of FriXion erasable pens is amongst the most popular on this blog, so it was interesting to read about Lee Heinrich's experiences with them, here on Freshly Pieced.

Lee's own experience, and that of her readers varies - some have had problems with totally removing the ink, others haven't, so it is worth looking at how they have performed under different conditions.

15th July 2013:
Lee has expanded on her first post, with a summary of the many comments, providing more details about the conditions that might influence how well FriXion pens work to mark quilts.

Mary Ellen Hopkins

From the American Quilter's Society, 11th July 2013:
We Remember Mary Ellen Hopkins
It is with heavy heart we announce the passing of Mary Ellen Hopkins. Mary Ellen was full of life and certainly marched to her own drummer when it came to quilting ... read more here

From About Quilts, 11th July 2013:
The Passing of Mary Ellen Hopkins
Mary Ellen was a gift to the world of patchwork, she changed the approach to allow us to make quilts for now and to be used by everyone. You could certainly sit on and touch all of her quilts. She took a refreshing approach to the everyday quilter. She allowed us to use our own Personal Private Measurement, to use a connector to make triangles easier, she never said the corners had to meet, points took holidays and our blocks would always go together ... read more here

Quaker Quilts blog

Quaker Quilts is a blog providing information and resources for those interested a particular niche of American quilting history.

Editors Lynda Salter Chenoweth and Mary Holton Robare ... are quilt historians experienced in researching and publishing information about quilts made by members of the Religious Society of Friends. Their particular interest is in 19th century inscribed quilts that document Quaker families and their communities.

The blog covers the social context of Quaker life, as well as the place and nature of quilts made by Quaker quilters.

Workshop with Margaret Sampson George (1)

Last Saturday's workshop with Margaret Sampson George started with fabric ... lots of fabric ... to audition, for the design each quilter chose to work on ...

Fabric was auditioned for possible fussy cutting for the Anne Leven design ...

Fussy cuts were made ...

... producing a different look altogether ...

The fabric to be framed was auditioned too ... 

Jane Pizar's design required working from a blueprint, with detailed auditioning of fabric ... 

It was absorbing ... it looks like some people forgot to take a tea break ... and look at all that fabric!

We look forward to seeing the finished quilts, but there is a bit of work to be done first!

Thank you to Margaret for a great workshop, to Georgie for organising it, and to Sue C for the photos.

Spicing up the disappearing nine-patch

Apparently not new, but maybe new to many of us, is this variation on the versatile disappearing nine-patch block. The double disappearing nine-patch moves it up a notch in apparent complexity, while still being much simpler to piece than it looks at first glance.

Christina Cameli gives a very clear tutorial for cutting and piecing, and a few variations of the many possible layouts in this 2011 post on her blog A Few Scraps.

Here is an example of just one double disappearing nine patch block, made from Christina's tutorial, that is on its way to being a quilt top for the Fairholme community project.

The pieces for the first 9 patch block were cut 5" square, those for the second 9 patch were 7" square, and the finished block is 19 1/2" square.

12 of these blocks in a 3 x 4 layout will make a 57" x 76' quilt  plus any borders added.
6 blocks laid out 2 x 3 will make a quilt 38" x 57" plus any borders added.

Excellent for using scraps and small amounts of fabrics that play nicely together, and quick to make if necessary.

Added 31st August 2015:

Here is the finished quilt, made up of four double disappearing 9 patch blocks, each with an additional narrow background strip in the centre, both vertically and horizontally, and repeated between the blocks in both directions, making the quilt a little larger. It finished at 54" square ...

Diary date

Click through to the Mad Quilters Gathering website for further information

Community quilts, June 2013

This simply constructed scrap quilt was made by the two Elaines from a stash of donated light, medium and dark value floral fabrics - the staggered piecing gives it graphic impact. Both Elaines worked on the piecing, then Elaine W quilted and bound it

This quilt came to us via the Quilters Guild of NSW as a top, donated by a Guild member who was unable to complete it. The pinwheel blocks are all hand pieced. Jill machine quilted it and bound it with a toning warm brown print, with help from Marilyn, and we will in turn donate to one of our community recipients.

The weather has turned very wintery and grey (who'd have thought, in June?), so these next photos were taken in less than ideal lighting ...

These pretty Dresden plates are actually a single panel - Georgie added the borders and quilted it in a block design.

The red sashing fabric here was an absolute 'find' - a Liberty art print found on sale.  It is much more vibrant than the photo does justice to.  A brilliant choice, Georgie.

Sue C is a blue girl, so these colours were a departure for her, and she says she learned a lot from this quilt.  She is ramping up her machine quilting skills, including a successful venture into free motion quilting in the first round of setting squares.