Li'l Twister Christmas Wreath Workshop

My Wreath for the Workshop

Our November quilt guild meeting was quite an event because I conducted a workshop on the Twisted Christmas Wreath quilt using the Li'l Twister ruler. It was so exciting to see the quilts that were made as part of this workshop and displayed at our December Christmas party. Most were finished - pieced, quilted and bound.

2013 Christmas in July Twisted Wreath

Last year in July 2013 I used the Li'l Twister ruler for the first time and blogged about a Christmas Wreath wallhanging I made and used it for a show & tell at our Spring Quilt Retreat earlier this year. The guild members were interested in learning this technique & asked me to conduct a workshop at the November meeting this year.

There was an enthusiastic response! 16 members participated and here is a gallery of the wallhangings from that workshop.

This trio of quilts was particularly interesting because the quilter decided to use every last scrap of fabric. The quilt on the right was made from 5" squares with the help of the 3-1/2" ruler. The quilt on the top left was made from the resulting 2.5" squares, using the smaller ruler and the quilt on the bottom left was made with the remaining tiny squares which were sewn together and used to cut out the ivy leaves for the wreath.

This quilter made 3 wallhangings as Christmas gifts. We have an awesome group of ladies in our quilt guild! Enjoy the gallery of quilts.

Churn Dash Reversible Apron

Churn Dash Challenge Entry

This apron was made with my grand-niece in mind. She had a birthday this month and turned 13.

At our Spring Quilt Retreat earlier this year each participant was gifted a churn dash (CD) block and told to make something with it for a challenge to be held in September. My CD block has been stored in a very safe place which is so safe that it cannot be found. So I had to create my own block.

Traditional Churn Dash Block

The block we received at the retreat was a traditional churn dash block.

My Modified Churn Dash Block

Since my traditional block went missing, I could design my own churn dash block which needed the following components to make a 9" finished block.

One 3-1/2" Printed Square

One 14" Strip Cut Into Four 3-1/2" Segments
Made from
two 1-1/2" white strips &
one 1-1/2" printed strip

One Printed & One White 5-1/2" Squares
Sewn 1/4" around the perimeter of the square
and cut twice on the diagonal 

The formula for making 4 half-square-triangles from a dark and light square is

Size of HST + 2" = Size of each of the two squares

3.5" + 2" = 5.5"

Completed Churn Dash Block

Then a decision had to be made as to what to do with this block. There were the usual cushion or table top covers, a wall-hanging or a medallion for a baby quilt. I decided to make an apron. Before the apron was constructed, a 1" border was added to the churn dash block to make it stand out. 

Waterproof Nylon Apron

I used an existing nylon apron as a template, turned it over to its wrong side and pinned the cotton material to the inside of the white piping and strings. Then the cotton material was cut to the outside dimensions of the apron.

The completed apron

To avoid the tedium of having to construct new piping and apron strings, I decided to leave the nylon apron in place, folded and pinned the outer edges of the printed cotton to fit just within the piping and sewed the whole thing all the way around. 

What we have now is a reversible apron, one side that is waterproof!

As I thought, when all the entries were displayed at the challenge, there was only one apron and several cushions and wall-hangings. I hope this project has broken through my quilter's block because there are a whole slew of projects just waiting to happen.

Sweet Chic Flannel Baby Blanket

Sweet Chic - Flannel Blanket Kit

A friend brought home her baby girl recently and because she and the baby's father were not aware of the sex of the baby, I had to wait until she was born before choosing colors for her quilt. A quick trip to JoAnn Fabrics & Crafts proved useful because I found two kits for making flannel blankets. Since winter is almost over, these lighter blankets make more sense.

Front of Flannel Blanket

The kit came with very clear instructions, but I deviated from the recommended technique of placing the two pieces of flannel right sides together and trimming them. I saved a step by sewing along the edge of the front and then trimming a quarter inch from the sewing line. It was then turned right side out through an opening and pressed. 

Back of Flannel Blanket

The blanket took an afternoon to construct. I edge-stitched a quarter inch away from the edges of the blanket and did some minimal quilting on the inside of the panel.

This kit was so convenient! It was quick and easy to make, as was the Self-Binding Fleece Blanket I made the day before. Baby girl's Mom was very pleased to receive both blankets.

Cheers!

Self-Binding Fleece Baby Quilt

Measures 35" square

A very productive weekend produced this darling baby quilt made from two pieces of fleece. It's soft and smooth and very comforting.

Charity Quilt for a Little Boy

Sewing on the Binding

From our quilt guild meeting last month, I brought home a charity quilt to bind. The quilt was assembled and the binding had been stitched down the front of the quilt by machine. All I had to do was fold it over to the back and hand-sew it down.

Christmas Tree Ornament - a Tutorial

The inspiration for this ribbon tree ornament came from the one given to me and each member of our Tri-County Quilt Guild at our Christmas party. They were a part of our place settings and were made by committee members of the guild.

Hop over to my craft blog for a tutorial on how I made 16 of these for a Christmas party.

Enjoy!