Four-at-a-time half hourglass blocks

 I've already posted how to make quick hour glass blocks here.  These are great, but if you are trying to nest seams, or are using more than 2 colours, that process results in blocks which are mirror images and/or with seams that spin in opposite directions. I recently came across a method for making 4-at-a-time half-hourglass blocks, which are all identical, removing the mirror image problem. This process will let you make identical blocks, with up to 4 different colours, with no worries about reversed blocks.

 First, cut 4 squares of fabric - one for each quadrant of your hourglass - which are 1 1/2" larger than your FINISHED size for your block in your quilt.

1. 
   layer 2 fabrics which will be side-by-side in your block. Looking clockwise on your finished block, put the first one on top.  Draw 2 diagonal lines on the top block. 
2. Now, going clockwise from those diagonals, in each quadrant mark a sewing line from the edge of the block to the center.  (See diagram below.  Dotted line is my sewing lines)
3. 
   Now, starting a one corner, sew on your sewing line to the center, stitch along the center, then out the opposite sewing line to the edge.  Repeat for the other 2 sewing lines.



4. 
   Cut the block into 4 sections along your original diagonal lines


5. 
   Open up and press to the top fabric. You will have 4 identical sections as shown here
6.  Repeat with your other 2 colours, being sure to layer them the same way (colour that sits the farthest couter-clockwise on top). 
7. 
   Now you can sew 2 half-hourglass pieces together to make your block. All of your blocks will be identical, with no mirror imaged sections. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Oldie

 I started this quilt at a workshop with Krista Hennebury back in 2017. She came to our local modern guild and presented her "Speed Date with Improv" workshop. This top was my result, after playing at the workshop and then heading home to put it all together into a somewhat pleasing arrangement.  And then it sat.

And sat.

And now, 9 years later, it is QUILTED! 

You can see a few things changed after the original photo was taken.  But the finished top has been hanging in my closet for years.  Matching backing & binding was easy, even 9 years later, because Kona White is pretty standard.   It came out of the closet this week to play with some new thread.

A study in red, white & black, I did a lot of ruler work

A bit of free motion

And some fancy feathers for a bit of variety.

Chilhowie

Chilhowie was Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt for 2022.  I essentially used a lighter version of her fabrics, with a dark background.  Some of the fabrics are scrappy, but so similar in tone that they look like a single fabric - I decided I didn't want another really scrappy quilt this year.

The backing was made from one super-sized block and I added borders to extend the feeling of the pattern to make it big enough.

 

Complete with label - which I stitched right into the backing.  No way that one's going missing.

 

2023 Quilt Along

For the past several years, I have designed a quilt - either a mystery quilt, or a quilt along/block of the month - for a couple of guilds I belong to.  This year's quilt-along was a bit challenging. Usually I use EQ8 for designing, but it doesn't play nicely with non-standard settings, and this one was definitely non-standard. So I reverted to the trust pencil and graph paper to sketch it out.   And I enlisted the help of a pattern tester to make sure it was correct, and achievable.

This one is called "A Wing and a Prayer", because I mentioned to a quilting friend that I pulled fabric from my stash that "looked like enough" to make my version as I designed it. So, before I knew the fabric requirements.  I got lucky for the most part.  I ran out of background twice, but my fill-in matches pretty well, so you can hardly tell. And the binding is not what I would have chosen, but it was what I had enough of to make it. So it has a little flange of my 3rd background fabric, and the main binding is the blue.

The center section is made as a square, then turned on point, and the corners with the 9-patches were added, and finally the top/bottom border. The quilt ended up 66x90" - a bit bigger than I planned, so I also offered instructions & fabric requirements for smaller versions - a baby quilt that ends with the triple border around the center square, and a lap quilt without the top & bottom borders.

There are 2 months left in the quilt along, and I can't wait to see what everyone has done with it.

Down on the Corner

 I participated in a virtual mystery quilt in January, with Quilt-agious quilt shop.  They do one every year, and this is my second time.  The pattern was a lot of fun to put together, and the weekend was great fun.  The finished quilt had 12 blocks and was sized for a double (queen?) bed.  I decided to split the blocks in half to make two donation quilts for Victoria's Quilts Canada. I added borders to bring the half quilts up to size, and substitutes a couple of blocks on the second one to make up for the missing bits, so that I didn't have to remake any blocks.

I do wish I had used a different background for the stars, but that is the risk with a mystery quilt.

Goats in Pyjamas

 I was inspired by a pattern the other day, and decided to make myself a little baby goat in pyjamas. The pattern is from Art East, and it is just the cutest thing!  She was just the right size for a laptop bag, so I used some faux-suede I had sitting around for the background/body of the bag, and a few bits and pieces from my scraps for the goat herself.

My new laptop fits perfectly, and Chloe is an adorable addition.

Frolic leftovers

Back in 2020, after I finished Bonnie Hunter's Frolic mystery, and her Unity quilt along, I had a lot of bits and pieces left over. I'd used the same fabrics in both those quilts, so I took all the odds and ends, and made several new blocks - most a variation on Frolic's blocks, and then some random playing with Unity leftovers.  I played around with the bits, added in some additional fabric, and came up with this quilt.

I quilted it some time ago, but was avoiding binding it, because I went with a flange binding - it was the only way to stretch the fabric to finish it.  But that's such a job, to sew 280" of 2 binding strips side-by-side to make the binding. But I finally did it, got it bound, and it's off to Victoria's Quilts next month (as soon as I make a bag and get it into the wash).