RE-GIFTED is the name of this Christmas quilt made from a fat-quarter pack gifted from my sister to our brother and sister-in-law. I added more Christmas fabric from yardage left to me from her stash (for background and borders) and gifted the completed quilt back to the couple.

The challenge came when I was asked to make a Queen Size quilt and was provided with 20 fat quarters of Christmas fabrics. In order to have enough of each individual fabric to complete each ribbon span I had to adjust the width of the ribbons in the pattern by 1 inch.

I also changed the layout so all of the ribbons would have tails instead of butting some against the border.

I used 9 ribbons vertically and 11 ribbons horizontally and all of them are 4 inches wide (finished). With every end having a tail section 6 inches to the inner border the center section of the quilt is 64.5 x 76.5 unfinished. This is followed by a 2 inch finished background border then a twisted ribbon border 4 inches wide (finished) and a 7 inch outer border. On the twisted ribbon, the inner edge matches the background and the outer edge matches the outer border. The quilt finishes at 90 x 102.

Here are my notes (to myself). First, note a section of assembly from the Ribbon Box Quilt. The quilt is assembled row by row rather than block by block in order to create the woven effect.

I created my desired layout in ElectricQuilt7 and then did all the piece divisions and measurement notations in red ink before making my list of fabric cuts. Note that I constructed my quilt as a horizontal layout so I would have less rows to assemble.

The PENCILED letters in the border denote the FABRIC (A – I horizontally and J-T vertically) The RED letters in the margin denote the ribbon tail style that will be on each end (A, B, C in the horizontal and O1, E2 and E3 in the vertical). The penciled numbers in the right margin are the row numbers used in assembly.

Note that there are three styles of ribbon ends. Style A (also used as E2) is a 4.5 background with 2.5 ribbon color used to snowball two corners. This is attached to a 2.5 x 4.5 ribbon color. Style B (also used as O) is a 6.5 x 4.5 background snowballed on two corners with ribbon color. Style C (also used as E1) is a 4.5 x 2.5 (unfinished) flying geese unit with background as the large triangle and ribbon color as the two corners. This is attached to a 4.5 x 4.5 ribbon color.

In short, row 1 and 19 are 6 inches wide (finished). Ribbon rows (even numbers) are 4 inches (finished) and intervening odd rows are 2 inches (finished). These intervening rows are the background areas that allow the ribbons to cross with space between them.

Here is the plan with all of my notes:

This plan told me how many cuts of which size I would need for each specific fabric.

This is my cut sheet:

Try to match these cuts to the previous diagram before YOU do any cutting.

ASSEMBLY:

Assemble in long horizontal rows, then stitch rows together to form the quilt center. You could stop here and have a 64.5 x 76.5 throw or add a single border to match the background for a little bigger.

I added a 2” (finished) border similar to background all the way around. This allowed me to create the twisted ribbon border in 4 inches and come out even at the corners. To do this, you need 36 ‘outward facing’ units in which the red is the half-square triangle, the green is a quarter-square triangle and the last quarter-square triangle matches the outer border. You will need 38 ‘inward facing’ units with the same red and green parts but the last quarter-square triangle matches the inner border. There will be 4 corner units of half-square triangles of green and the outer border material. The following illustration shows the assembly of these: (ignore my scribbles where I checked my math!!)

Here is my final working diagram and illustrates the layout of the ribbon border blocks so the corners come out right:

I added a cute cat background for the kitty-lovers who received this quilt. The binding is a diagonal plaid.

Final notes:

• ·         Center section uses 20 fat quarters plus background (I don’t know yardage for background)
• ·         2 inch border used same as background as well (or something very similar). Will need some of same for insets in twisted ribbon border.
• ·         No estimate of yardage needed for red and green units in twisted ribbon border.
• ·         No estimate for yardage needed for 7 inch outer border (plus insets into the twisted ribbon border)
• ·         Don’t forget yardage for binding

eH

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 1:04 PM PST

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A couple of years ago I did not own an Accuquilt fabric cutter but a friend did. I asked to borrow it for a bit and she agreed (she's a VERY good friend). While I had the use of her Log Cabin die I cut two full sets of the strips needed to make 12 block quilts. I set aside one set to make the prescribed 12" blocks but divided the other set to make two other quilts.

The first one included some 6" fussy-cut centers around which I built the log cabin out to the 12" size. The rest of the log cabin strips went into this quilt in which I built the scrappy 6" block center and then used a 3" wide frame to complete the blocks up to 12".

I sashed the blocks with bright red and added bright yellow cornerstones.

So how did the quilt get such an unusual name? Well, I looked and looked for a great backing for this quilt and found a bunch of yardage in my late sister's stash: black with ladybugs all over it. I thought it was cute but my mom thought it would be creepy to have bugs crawling all over a quilt. The thought of little log cabins intested with bugs made me laugh and led me to the quilt name: Better Call Orkin.

I quilted this with Bountiful Feathers pantograph in gray thread and added a lighthearted red striped binding.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 7:50 PM PDT

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Finally! It's something totally different!

I borrowed a couple of Accuquilt dies from a friend and cut all the parts for two quilts. One of those was the Drunkard's Path die I used for the Nebraska, In Plane View quilt.

The other die was for the Snail's Trail block with which I cut all the parts for a very scrappy red, white and blue layout. Many of the fabrics were from my sister's stash. She had quite a collection of red-and-white and blue-and-white prints.

I used three borders - red, blue and white with gold stars.

I quilted with a pantograph of swirls and stars using a verigated blue thread.

Because of the colors used and the block name I am calling this quilt Patriot's Trail.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 8:36 PM PDT

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The finale of the Magical Squares quilts brings us to this one that has some distinguishing features.

First of all, by the time I got to the laying out of this one, I was pretty tired of the same old thing so I rotated some of the blocks in the initial layout but did all the other steps the same. This resulted in some diagonal lines in the final arrangement.

I used up a lot of the greens from the charm square packs and got so wrapped up in the twists and turns that I missed the fact that some of the greens were clumping up until I was ready for the borders.

When I got ready to quilt it I decided to enhance the greens so I used a green thread with a pantograph of leafy vines.

As a final touch I pulled a green floral for the binding.

All this together led to the naming of the quilt "GreensLeaves".

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 7:53 PM PDT

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I realize these Magical Squares quilts are probably seeming to be a little repetitious, but after this there is only one more and it has a real twist to it.

Today's quilt (Peaches and Cream) is most like Rosy Posies but, from the charm squares I used only florals with colored backgrounds and some prints with solid colors that incorporated dots. The sashings and cornerstones are the same on both but the inner border on this one is a polkadot where the other was a busy floral.

Here is a view of the charm squares

The other project had quilting with a floral pantograph while this uses one called "Maidenhair" which is an open style of echoed feather.

I used that small floral again for the binding.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 5:40 PM PDT

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Hello Friends!

I’m back with the next installment of my quilt saga. This is another of the Magical Squares pattern with a totally different look to it.

I used different selections from the charm packs, including more of the blues and greens as well as pinks rather than the apricots. There are also more checkered prints instead of all florals and I went with black sashings (with rosebuds) for a greater contrast.

This really reminded me of a mix of licorice candies called All Sorts, so that became the name.

I used the Bountiful Feathers pantograph and pink thread for the quilting. It also got a tiny floral print for the binding which matches the pinks, blues and white in the quilt.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 11:00 PM PDT

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Did I mention before that during the February ice storm and power outage I cut out all the parts for SEVEN of the Magical Squares quilts? Not only that, but when I started piecing them I worked on them in lock-step - finishing step one on all of them, then step two on all of them, and so on. So all of the seven tops were finished at the same time. This kept me from having to figure out each step over and over again as I would if I had done each top all the way through and then started the next one from the beginning.

I made 5 other quilt top designs as well and then went out and bought all the backings for all 12 quilts. This explains how I am coming up with so many new quilts all in a row. All of them were ready to be longarmed and I just had to measure out the batting, trim the backing, and load 'em up.

With that said, today I have complered another of these. When a fabric store was closing out I found a set of floral charm squares I liked. I bought 4 sets exactly alike. So the next few quilts have a similar look as far as the block centers. I changed out sashing, cornerstones, borders, etc so they are not identical. I guess you could say they are 'cousins'.

Today's quilt is called Rosy Posies because of all the focus on flowers that are pinks and apricot - many of them roses.

I used a large flower pantograph and pink threads to quilt it. I ended up needing just a smidgen more pink bobbin thread. I use pre-wound bobbins so I couldn't just wind a new bobbin. What to do? What to do?

I suddenly remembered some of my craft supplies in the other room and found a bottle of alcohol ink in the right shade. I dropped ink onto a partial bobbin of white thread and had an instant match! (not shown in the photo).

I just eeked out enough of the border fabric to make the binding (with about 18 inches left over). I should have named this quilt 'By the Skin Of My Teeth' !

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 5:41 PM PDT

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I'm working my way through the backlog of quilt tops - taking them to the longarm machine and getting them bound. Today, I finished up this fall-themed number using the Magical Squares pattern again.

I started with a charm pack of fall leaf prints and filled in with other leaf print fabrics from a vendor's sample book that I had picked up at a yard sale. I had the light leaf-print sashing from my sister's stash and the inner border print left over from some other project.

A bonus from my sister's stash was this awesome 'indian corn' print. I used it for the wide border as well as the cornerstones, and it served as the inspiration for the quilt name.

I used a large leaf pantograph in taupe thread. It is such a good match that this is the one area where it shows up well enough to show it to you.

This lap quilt will go to the hospital's Passages program.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 4:52 PM PDT

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Back in June I participated in a quilt-along with GE Designs using her 'Hey, June' pattern. Following along online I finished all the blocks for her 'lap size' quilt by the end of the day but then realized it was much too large for my taste so I tore it all apart and split up the blocks based on the value of the browns in them.

I made up my own layout and ended up with two of her 'crib size' for my quilts.

I finally got around to quilting these last weekend and bound them today.

This is truly a pattern I will never make again.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 6:51 PM PDT

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I got this quilt on and off the longarm as well as completing the binding in a single day. I am SO pleased with how it came together.

This is off the same pattern as a couple I finished this spring, Magical Squares. That's the one where the topis pieced on the square of grain then cut on a diagonat and swapped end to ent, cut again on the other diagonal and swapped side to side. When you turn it square again all the blocks are set on point. Then the border is added. 

With this version the most complicated thing was deciding where I wanted each of the shaded blocks to end up and calculating where they needed to be in the original layout to end up there with all the cutting and shuffling.

This was made with a charm pack that was cut from ombre fabric.

The quilting is a pantograph called Blooming Feathers done in lilac thread.

Exactly how I envisioned it!

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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Well, now! If I actually go down to the longarm room and load up a quilt it doesn't take long at all to get it quilted and bound. But I DO have to GO DO IT!

I did get sidetracked on my way to do this one and ended up sorting and cleaning out a drawer of strips and smaller scraps. That done, I got back on track and set to work on quilt number TWO of the 12-quilt line-up.

The original quilt that this is based upon hangs in the library on the campus of Motlow State Community College in Moore County Tennessee. I took a photo of it years ago when I was visiting family and then made up my own directions to recreate it.

In showing it to peers online, I have continual questions about block sizes, unit sizes, Accuquilt dies that could be used... So I wrote a full set of illustrated directions for it giving both Accuquilt and rotary cutting directions in 5 different sizes!

Mine is made entirely of scraps - with a different fabric for each of the leaves.

I used a leaf print for the border and quilted with a feather edge-to-edge pantograph using yellow thread.

For reference in scale, this center block is 15 inches. Entire quilt is 52 inches square.

Still deciding where this quilt will end up.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 6:50 PM PDT

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Seems like a VERY long time since the last posting. But I have not been idle. I have pieced TWELVE quilt tops but kept setting them aside to longarm later. I have finally come to a point where I felt I needed to set aside piecing and get to finishing up these projects!

The first one to come off the longarm was suggested by my son-in-law – A view of circle irrigation fields in Nebraska as seen from the air. I called it ‘Nebraska In Plane View’.

I used a friend’s Accuquilt cutting die for Drunkard’s Path to do all the cutting from my scraps of greens. I drew up a pattern and pieced the whole top. Then I whacked it apart and inserted a wide bias strip for the river. The road required me to make my own bias tape which I top-stitched along both edges. I created a bridge over the river with stitching, too. The farmhouse and the barn are paper-pieced and I added shading on and around them with alcohol markers.

Once on the longarm, I used green thread to made a variety of patterns of crops. Each border was quilted separately – serpentine for the inner border and leafy vines for the outer border.

Ready for a label and shipping off to my son-in-law - the man with the plan!

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 5:30 PM PDT

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Back in February I watched a tutorial from the Missouri Star Quilt Company on a table runner they called 'Lots O Luck' in which four greens and a neutral were used to create interlocking rings.

I thought it would be neat to use that pattern with a black background floral that I had along with four pastels that appeared in the print.

This is made from a single 16" block which is simply turned top to bottom on alternate blocks to create the links. SO COOL!

In stitching the blocks I tried to turn the pink blooms to the outer edges of their area as much as possible so there would no be ones that were hacked in half in the middle of the smaller squares (which are made up of four-patches, nor the large center of the rings (which all have a seam up through the middle.

I had a small print floral in the same colors to use as the border and it is bound with a blue and white polka-dot.

Here you can see the quilting done with a pantograph on the longarm.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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Once upon a time I bought a yardage of fabric with very wide floral stripes and narrower decorative strips. Over time I deconstructed it to use the best of the florals on a quilt (see circled areas on photo).

Then, later, I combined the narrower stripes with other random fabrics to create this quilt (again, see circled areas).

What I was left with was the parts of the wider strips with the less desirable floral areas. I could get 21 squares out of these.

I framed them out with 1" strips of a faded-looking floral that wouldn't draw attention to itself.

These were sashed with a dark green marbled print and set in a 4x5 arrangement (20 total).

The border was selected to pull colors from the blooms in the blocks.

All-in-all I think it looks very old-fashioned - like a vintage couch in a 'granny's parlor' so that led to the naming of it.

I used my domestic machine to quilt with an over-all meander.

To be gifted to hospital's Passages program.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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I was noodling around a couple of years back and came up with this bunny block pattern based on one I had seen online. I drew ip up in ElectricQuilt7 and LAST year I finally selected fabrics for it - all scraps.

When we had the lo-o-o-o-ng power outage in February, I took fabrics and cutting supplies into one of the rooms with good outdoor light and cut lots of kits for quilts. This was one of those.

At long last, It worked its way to the top of the pile so I got to assembling it. Not as easy as it would seem when matching the joins for pieces that took off at an angle.

But I have prevailed!

I set it 3 x 3 within sashing and bordered it to come up with a 40" baby quilt.

As you can see, there is not a single 'baby fabric' in the lot of them. But it is bright! I backed it with a flannel with confetti dots and quilted with a heart pantograph on the longarm.

This will go to a local non-profit that distributes to new mothers.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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Look at me, all 'quilty' and everything!

I gifted a certificate for Christmas good for one Queen-size quilt. The recipients already had fabrics in mind to use and, remarkably, the palette was the same as the last projects I made: Blue and Yellow (with white).

I got to design the pattern to make the best use of the yardage provided and I added just a bit of light blue and light green to widen the options in the design.

This quilt finished at 90"x102".

Here is a close-up so you can see the quilting with a floral pantograph.

The customer was pleased.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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As a complement to the placemats posted yesterday, the same family member requested the same pattern (Road to Oklahoma) in the same colors (blue and yellow) but designed as a bed runner for a queen bed. This is the first bed runner I have ever made.

On the traditional Road to Oklahoma there is a single block with a diagonal design which, when rotated on alternate blocks, forms the stars and chains. However, it also creates each of the large squares out of a four-patch - a seam right through the middle both ways. I did not find this attractive and also did not want the bulk of all those extra seams.

So, I worked backward from the end product layout and redrafted the pattern to be constructed in two different blocks - a sawtooth star and an uneven 9-patch. I cut all the parts with my Accuquilt using the 8-inch qube.

For assembly, I alternated each of the 9 pairs of blocks (making sure to keep the florals facing the right way) into a long unit and then constructed strips of the outer pieces and sewed them on. Last step - the 3-inch border.

I quilted on the diagonal throughout.

This fits a queen bed.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 10:19 AM PDT

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Wow, it has been a long time since I posted on the blog! I am generally doing something that warrants posting, like Bible journaling (but I have been doing scripture writing, a devotional and verse mapping rather than artwork in the Bible or a hymnal) or traveling (none of that going on) or quilting (but I have been making tops and setting them aside to do in a batch).

Up to now, I've had nothing finished for posting.

However, I did make a couple of placemats on request. The pattern was already chosen (Road to Oklahoma) as was the palatte (blue and yellow). I used my Accuquilt cutter to make all the parts and the 6-inch qube made it easy.

Because I wanted the design centered on the 12x18 mat, the standard method of making the base block and twisting/turning to create the mat was not going to work. So I broke down the drawn design and cut parts to assemble in columns.

Here are the finished placemats (yes there were only 2, as requested.)

These were quilted in the ditch to maintain their clean look.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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I love a good pun or any play on words and often employ them in naming my quilts (in case you hadn't noticed).

Today I finished up this quilt for myself and, because each block is different and most are florals, I named it Garden Variety Bunnies.

This is from a pattern called Country Bunnies and I selected 16 fat quarters that went well together and a whole variety of neutrals for background. The only things that are common between all the elements are the lavender collars on the rabbits, their tails and the dotted cornerstones.

In these couple of closeups you can better see some of the free-motion quilting I did. The outer border is leaves and vines, the sashings are reversing loops, the block backgrounds are meander with a squiggle under the bunny. All of the bunnies are 'outlined' with little scallops facing the inside edge and a looping fill. The tails are filled with swirls.

I selected a lavender sheet to use for the backing (matches the collars on the rabbits) and binding. However, it turned out to be cotton/poly in a strange weave that made it extremely ravel-y. I left the excess batting and backing on the quilt while I secured the binding and then used the serger to overlock the edges while its blade trimmed off the quilt. This was all covered when I turned the binding over to the back and stitched it down. Whew!

First quilt of the year is DONE! Gonna be snuggling under this one tonight.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 5:11 PM PST

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