Paperless Piecing Star Quilt

Template

Quilt Top: Before being Quilted

I made this quilt in the winter of 2013 after seeing it demonstrated at Eduquilters.org a group that meets in Satellite Beach, FL. They are a fantastic organization committed to projects like children's hunger, education kids in schools quilting, and donating quilts to homeless children and those less fortunate . Spearheaded by Margie Engel, who is a friendly force of nature and the dynamic Sheryl Milner together they hold a torch for educating the art of quilting. What a Blessing they are! I was welcomed into their group and this was one of the first projects I worked on there and it came out spectacularly. Being a novice quilter, it was gratifying to learn some techniques in a very positive way with a demonstration and then time to work on the project. I adore fabric and color.

You fold a pattern and stitch along the sides as a template

Stitching along fold

Lining up the fold of pattern with pieces of cloth

The Blocks!

An Idea I never ran with!

Stitching along fold line

Variations of what you can do with this Template!

Lining things Up!

Variations

Cutting out the block after stitching together the pieces that are sewed together along fold lines

You assemble 4 of these stitched patter pieces to create a star. Ingenious!

This is Sheryl Milner stitching along the fold

This is the Quilt after I had it quilted out and it looks fantastic. I had it professionally quilted at www.thequiltplace.com . The Quilt Place is a state of the Art Quilt Shop in Rockledge, FL run by a wonderful woman named Theresa. Not only do they have several long arm quilting machines constantly working, they have over 12,000 bolts of fantastic quilting material. I think they did a fantastic job!

These are the Quilts I made in the winter of 2013

I really loved making this series of quilts and it was a fantastic learning experience for me!

Template - Measures 6"x6"

Sheryl Milner's Instructions: 

RST=Right Sides Together

The Numbered Side of the Pattern is the WRONG side of the block. This is the side all the sewing is done.

The back side of the pattern is blank, it is the RIGHT side of the Block. This is where the fabric will show.

1. Fold the line between #1 and #2. This will be your sewing line.

2. Lay fabric for #2 Right Side Up on the Table

3. Lay the fabric for #1 Right Side down on top of #2 (basically RST with fabric #1 on top)

4. Lay paper pattern with it folded back on fabric leaving 1/4" of fabric beyond the paper. Space #1 on paper will be lid back on fabric. Pin or hold in place and unfold the paper over so you can see the sewing line.

5. Sew on the Line. You can take a couple of stitches beyond the end of the line.

6. Turn over to the fabric side and finger press the seam.

7. Fold back the paper between #2 and #3

8. Trim off the excess fabric of #2 so only 1/4" shows beyond the fold line.

9. Lay Fabric #3 with RS (Right Side) up on table.

10. Lay your pattern on top of #3 RST matching the edge of the fabrics.

11. Unfold the paper so you can see the sewing line. Sew on line.

12. repeat, repeat, repeat until all pieces are sewn on. 

13. Trim block to size leaving a 1/4" all around

14. Paper is removed after all the pieces are sewn together.

Happy Quilting,

Melissa

Crazy Psychedelic Brown Bag Strata Quilt - Photos and Instructions

I went to an event at Coastal Eduquilters 
http://www.eduquilters.org 
in Satellite Beach, Florida in January 2013 and they handed everyone a Brown Bag with 2.5 inch x 45 inch fabric strips in it. The action was to: "Make a Quilt". This is how we did it. I did not choose the fabric colors but the fabric was very high quality cotton quilting fabric and I would never have chosen such bright colors but I was game to try anything and after putting it together I liked it and I liked the process of it. I have made small quilts but I think in reality this was my first ever quilt where I got instruction and support, made with other quilters in a very positive and uplifting way. I loved it and the bug of quilting sort of bit me making this quilt. 

Supplies:
128 2.5"x45" strips of 8 different fabrics
12.5 Square Ruler
Sewing Machine and Quilting Supplies

1. Make 4 stratas (strip Pieced unit). A strata is made by sewing lengthwise 9 different strips together. Sew each strip together by sewing in a different direction each time you add a strip, this will insure a Flat strata, not curved. Must measure 18" x 45"

2. With the 12.5 Square, lay it on the strata, as shown above, cut two squares out on a diagonal, centering each and you will get a diagonal square as shown (below)

3. Now separate the seam between strip 4 and 5, of the leftover inside pieces as shown (above), turn these pieces upside down and sew strips 1 and 9 together to form another 12.5 square. Square it off with ruler and cutter.

4. Repeat this strata process 3 more times for a total of 12 blocks. Take the 12 blocks and arrange as desired

5. Take the extra pieces of sewn together strata and sort them by the way the diagonal strips go together. Sew them together to make long lengthwise borders. Extra strips can be cut in half lengthwise to make the inside border of 1.25 inches and they arrange the diagonal pieced strips around the inner border for the outer border. This way you use up all your material to get 

the quilt top.

This is me arranging the
12 squares on a design wall

Quilt top sewn together

The Quilt after it was professionally quilted in a
curlique pattern hanging on my cloths line

You can see the Quilting in the Day Light

Curlique

Close ups of the Quilting

Backing with solid Blue Binding

Close Up of Backing
 I used a Red Quilting Thread

Above: Two other quilt tops being done by friends at the same time. I am showing this so you can see the fun and variation you can have designing this Strata Quilt. If you sew 4 of them together, you have a nice Queen/King Quilt. The size of these are 44 inches x 54 inches which is the size of a large baby quilt or a small child's quilt. Makes an interesting wall hanging as well.

My finished Crazy Brown Bag Quilt!

This project was a lot of fun. I was handed a bag of strips and this is what came out of it. I enjoyed just trying to make it work. In my wildest dreams I would never have picked out this fabric myself but it was fun using what was at hand to create something beautiful and interesting. This is the first time I had ever made something that I had professionally quilted. I had it quilted at "The Quilt Place" http://www.thequiltplace.com in Rockledge, Florida. This is a world class quilting store with floor to ceiling quilts, fabric, ideas, patterns, a classroom, and a quilt retreat facility nearby. I really enoyed making this so I thought I would document the process here. Someone told me they thought this was the ugliest quilt they had ever seen and I have to laugh because my experience of making it was such a joyful and positive thing that it just makes me happy.

Happy Quilting,

Melissa

Butterfly Table Runner Photos to Match Place Mat Project

I made three butterfly squares from a pattern in the book "Picture Piecing" by Cynthia English

I used leftover material from my Ocean Themed placemat project:

 http://www.seagoddesstreasures.blogspot.com/2013/03/make-your-own-ocean-themed-place-mats.html

The Placemats I was looking to match 

with the Butterfly Runner

This is a photo of the paperless Piecing Method used to make the butterflies
Details of method and Cynthia English books at: http://www.englanddesign.com

Basically I surrounded each butterfly with 1 inch strips of fabric and then sewed the background fabric around it using 2 inch strips around the edge and 4.5 inch strips between the butterflies. I sandwiched in a batting and backed with a pretty coordinating blue batik fabric. Then I stitched in the ditch around the butterfly squares to hold everything together.

I hope this project was inspiring to you!

Happy Quilting,

Melissa