Twisted Xmas Wreath Quilt

Layered, Quilted and Bound
The wall-hanging measures 22-1/2" square

Although I was not aware of it at the time I wrote this post, a printed pattern for this wall-hanging is available for sale. The pattern will guide and help you to assemble the pieces of the jig-saw puzzle.

This quilt was started as a Christmas in July project, just after I'd acquired the Li'l Twister tool.  The tool simplified the construction of this quilt because of the little feet on the underside of the ruler that grip the fabric and raise the ruler off the seams to make it easier to cut out the 3-1/2" squares.

Or you can make your own template using a 3-1/2" square ruler.

Make your own template

I used a charm pack called Winterscapes, manufactured by Benartex, which was purchased from Craftsy.

Winterscapes 5" square Charm Pack

The inspiration for this quilt came from a post on The Knitting Quilter.  I imitated the fabric configuration to achieve the wreath effect and used graph paper and colored pencils to keep the design straight.

The white squares form a cross in the center and cornerstones in this configuration and the whole block is surrounded by a 3-1/2" border.

Red, White and Green Fabric Configuration
using 5" squares from the charm pack

Tips:
I made sure to consistently place the logo on the Li'l Twister tool in the bottom right hand corner of each square.
I also made a conscious decision to cut the squares from top to bottom and left to right.
The third tip is to cut each square and place it immediately on a design wall in the same order it came off the above block.

Once all the 3-1/2" squares are cut and placed on the design wall, the pinwheels or whirlygigs become noticeable.

Cut squares are placed on work surface

After the horizontal columns are chain-sewn, each row was attached to the row below it and the entire block took on the appearance of a perforated curtain. I pressed odd rows to the left and even rows to the right so that seams were nested which always makes sewing easier.

Horizontal columns are chain-sewn

All the vertical rows are sewn down

I chose a Christmas tree fabric for the borders.  The quilt was measured across the center, horizontally, and two borders were cut to this length and sewn to the top and bottom.

Horizontal borders are attached

The quilt was measured down the center, vertically, after the two horizontal borders were added and two borders were cut to this length and sewn to the sides.  A multi-colored rickrack was sewn along the seam between the quilt top and borders.

Multi-colored rickrack sewn along seams

The quilt top was layered with batting and the same border fabric was used on the back.  I chose to quilt around the outline of the pinwheels.  This quilting is more visible on the back of the quilt.

Quilting on back of quilt

I made straight-edge binding from the same Christmas fabric that is on the borders and the back.  The mitered corners came out really well because of a neat trick I tried for the first time.  I was aiming for a half inch binding. After quilting the quilt, I trimmed the batting and backing a quarter inch away from the four sides of the quilt top.  During the binding step, I stopped stitching 1/2" from each corner, turned the quilt and back-stitched all the way off the top of the quilt. I then removed the quilt from the sewing machine, folded the binding up at a 45 degree angle to the corner and folded it down along the top edge of the batting (instead of aligning it with the quilt top) and then down the side of the quilt top.  I then sewed a 1/4" seam beginning from the top of the folded edge down the side of the quilt top.

Perfect mitered corners

The binding was folded to the back, pinned to make sure the binding on the back covered the sewn line and was sewed in the ditch along the seam of the binding on the front.

Binding is machine sewn on the back

This was a most interesting project, and I hope you will give it a try.  There are still two and a half months to Christmas, so there's lots of time to get it done!

Cheers!

Traditional Cathedral Windows Mini Quilt

This is the finished piece for QAL #3 - Traditional Cathedral Windows.

Traditional Cathedral Windows Mini Quilt

This project took a while to complete, mainly because I had unexpected guests for most of July and August was very busy as we went on a cruise of the Inland Passage in Alaska.

I like the quilting on the back of this Cathedral Windows (CW) quilt which was accomplished while the frames were being sewn down over the window frames.

Quilting on back of mini quilt

I took a serpentine route, somewhat akin to continuous quilting, down the blocks of the quilt as I stitched the frames in place, folding down the bias sides as I went.  This added more interest to an otherwise mundane process.  The center of the quilt was sewn first in this way and then the top and side edges were sewn in one, continuous step.

There are several reasons why this quilt was so interesting to make, not the least of which is that no batting or backing is required.  It's a quilt-as-you-go (QAYG) project and is perfect for small segments of available time.  Even though I'm very proud of this little quilt as it now looks, it can be expanded to a full size quilt by adding on more CW blocks over time.

On the other hand, it can be converted into a cushion cover, used as a table topper or simply displayed as a mini quilt.

It's now time to pick up my most recent work-in-process (WIP) and finish my Twisted Christmas Wreath quilt.

Until then,

Cheers!

Trip Around The World

    A Small Quilt

Trip Around The World

This project was born as a solution to a challenge for June by a quilt group on Facebook called Desi Quilters.  The challenge was to create a quilt of any dimension, constructed only from squares. My interpretation is a variation of the bargello pattern, and this variation is also known as Trip Around The World or Sunshine & Shadows.  In this case the quilt is composed of squares whereas most bargello quilts are composed of varying widths of rectangles.

In 1991 I made my very first queen size quilt of this design.  I took a class because I'd never quilted before.  It took me a week just to cut and piece the top.  Back then, the instructions that were provided were complicated, the method was daunting and the entire process left me overwhelmed, with no idea how I would ever be able to replicate the process to make a second quilt from the same pattern.

Trip Around The World - The Original Queen Size Quilt

For 20+ years, I've looked at pictures of this quilt (the original was gifted to my son), and wondered if there was a simpler way to make it.  Some patterns I came across piece smaller quilts by sewing individual squares together.  What I needed was a process that would allow me to breeze through the construction of a small quilt and also make it possible to make a queen size quilt without driving myself crazy!

Upon examining the pattern closely, I discovered that the quilt could be divided into four identical units joined by one long vertical strip and one long horizontal strip.  The light bulb went off in my head and I came up with an idea which I decided to try on a small quilt.

The Mock-Up

First I colored a mock-up on graph paper, which is how I decided the dimensions of the quilt.  There would be 11 rows across and 11 columns down, and each finished square would measure 1.5", which would make a finished quilt 16.5" square.  Much more manageable than a queen size quilt!

A mock-up

Take a look at the four identical segments I talked about before.  The 'X's down the vertical and horizontal centers of the quilt divide it into four segments and the top half of the quilt is a mirror image of the bottom half.  Similarly, the left half of the quilt is a mirror image of the right half.

Fabric Selection & Preparation

I picked out 5 fat quarters that were light, medium and dark greens and reds.

Five Fat Quarters in Greens and Reds

They were washed,

Fat Quarters were washed

ironed to remove all wrinkles,

Ironed

and cut into 2" strips.

Cut into 2" strips

Making the Strip Set and Tube 
The strips were then sewn into a strip set going from lightest, light, medium, to dark and medium.

The strip set

The raggedy ends of the strip set were cut off and starting from the bottom of this strip set, each strip of fabric was assigned a number from 1 to 5.  Turning the strip set over, with the wrong side up, I joined the first (Fabric 1) and last (Fabric 5) strips to form a tube and pinned them in place.

Fold strip set in half and pin to form a tube

The two end strips were sewn together to form a tube and the strip set was cut into 2" segments. One strip set yielded 10 two-inch segments, so a total of 2-1/2 strip sets were used to make this small quilt.  The top section needed 11 segments and the bottom section needed 11 segments, the horizontal center strip of the quilt needed 2 segments and an extra 2-1/2" square was required for the dead center of the quilt.  Therefore, 11+11+2=24 two inch segments + 1 two-inch square of fabric 5 were needed in total.

Strip set cut into 2" segments

To keep the 2" segments from scattering, they were placed in a paper-mache bucket that cost $1.00 at JoAnn Fabric and Crafts.

Cut units stored in paper-mache bucket

Assembling Top Half of the Quilt

Now comes the fun and interesting part which makes this whole process truly magical.  Using a seam ripper and taking 1 2" segment in your hand, remove the seam in the sequence specified below and lay each out on your work surface.

Take the seam apart with a seam ripper

Place your mock-up in front of you and working with 1 two-inch segment at a time, rip apart the seams between:

Fabric 1 and Fabric 5.  Place on work surface with Fabric 1 in extreme left hand corner

Fabric 2 and Fabric 1.  Place adjacent to previous segment with Fabric 2 on top.

Fabric 3 and Fabric 2.  Place adjacent to previous segment with Fabric 3 on top.

Fabric 4 and Fabric 3.  Place adjacent to previous segment with Fabric 4 on top.

Fabric 5 and Fabric 4.  Place adjacent to previous segment with Fabric 5 on top.

Fabric 1 and Fabric 5.  Place adjacent to previous segment with Fabric 1 on top.

Fabric 5 and Fabric 4.  Place adjacent to previous segment with Fabric 5 on top.

Fabric 4 and Fabric 3.  Place adjacent to previous segment with Fabric 4 on top.

Fabric 3 and Fabric 2.  Place adjacent to previous segment with Fabric 3 on top.

Fabric 2 and Fabric 1.  Place adjacent to previous segment with Fabric 2 on top.

Fabric 1 and Fabric 5.  Place adjacent to previous segment with Fabric 1 on top. 

The top section after all 11 segments are arranged

To sew the top together, pick up the columns in pairs and pin with the head of the pin placed towards the side on which the seam will be sewn.  This will ensure that the correct seams are sewn together.

Pin pairs together in prior to sewing

Take each pair to the iron and press the seams of one set in the opposing direction to the other set.  Nestle the seams together, sew and press the seam to one side.  Do this will all 5 pairs, then add the 11th set to the 10th.  

Sew in pairs and attach last unit

Sew the pairs together from left to right and the top part of this quilt is assembled!

Assembling Bottom Half of the Quilt

Follow the same steps as outlined in Assembling Top Half of the Quilt.  Turn it 360 degrees and place below top half on the work surface. 

Finishing Quilt Top

To assemble the horizontal center of the quilt top, rip the seams from two remaining two-inch segments that were cut from the tube of strip sets.  Remove the seam between Fabric 1 and Fabric 5 from both segments.  Place on work surface with Fabric 1 on the two outside edges and place the 2" square that was cut from Fabric 5 in the center, between the two segments.  Sew the left segment to the center square and the other side of the center square to the right segment to form one long strip composed of 11 squares.  

Press the seams on this long strip in opposing directions to the top half of the quilt.  Sew top half to center strip. 

Sew bottom half to top half and press flat.

Quilt Top

Making the Quilt Sandwich

The unfinished size of the quilt top was 17" square.  The batting and backing fabric were cut to the same size.    The batting was placed on the work surface, the quilt top was placed on it, facing up, and the backing fabric was placed on this, face down.  The sandwich was pinned to hold it together and a 1/8" seam sew all around, leaving an opening on one side.  The entire quilt was then turned inside out, the corners poked out and a 1/4" seam sewn all around, enclosing the open section at the same time.

Quilting The Quilt

Take a look at my mock-up.

Mock-up

The quilt top was quilted with lines running through each diagonal line of squares, beginning each color with an X and ending with an X.  It worked like a charm and I was able to go from one diagonal line to the next effortlessly, working my way all around the quilt.  I love how it turned out, and even though the thread was in a constrasting color to the burgundy fabric, it showcased the quilting.

This quilt top was quilted free-hand, without marking the quilt top or using masking tape.  Simply slowing down the speed, working on one square at a time, focusing on the opposite corner of each square instead of watching the needle, all aided in making the quilting a success!

Quilted Top

The back looks really nice too!

The Back

And, I think, the back complements the top very well!

Back and Front

Cheers!