Shortcuts

I’m always looking for shortcuts to speed things up. I cut out my lock in quilt and decided that on the rectangles that need to be cut in half diagonally, maybe I could use the accuquilt cutter on them……

I used the 5″ strip cutter and laid the rectangles on it, matching up the cutting lines with the corners of the triangles.

Wow! That was quick!

After I cut all the rectangles in half for that quilt, I decided that I could cut the flying geese units that I’m making for another quilt the same way.

I’m doing the no waste method on them and after finishing the first step, I was able to cut them apart quickly!


I love shortcuts!! It didn’t take much time at all to get them cut apart. Wish I could find a quick way to square them up!😳

Oh well……a few minutes saved is better than none!

Theresa

Purple string quilt ready for quilting

I finished the purple string quilt tonight and it’s now ready to be quilted. 

It will get an edge to edge quilting design on it.  The string sashing was perfect for finishing off those blocks. This quilt will be one of the quilts I will show in my lecture on string quilts that I am working on putting together.

Now back to sewing more strings!

Theresa

Ruby’s treasures blog hop winner.

I hope everyone enjoyed the blog hop featuring the Ruby’s treasures fabric line from Barb Eikmiere. After being asked to participate in the hop and deciding which block I would showcase, I thought about an old box of old Kansas City Star patterns that I had. I dug the box out and discovered that I have 49 original patterns from the Star newspaper that were Ruby McKims designs.

I didn’t know at the time that I had picked a design from one of the patterns that I had.


I looked through all my patterns to see if I had any of the patterns that the other hop hosts had used. I didn’t, but I do have the one that Barb made using the beggar block pattern and her Ruby’s treasure fabric line.


What fun it was to discover that I had the original block pattern that had been published in the paper.

I hope you enjoyed the blog hop and the winners are  Gloria Cotten  for the fat quarter bundle and Kathy Cummings Slaughter for my e-book.  Congrats ladies!

Have fun and enjoy using The Ruby’s treasures fabric line!

Theresa

http://www.101patchworkpatterns.com/

https://alwaysquilts.com/2016/11/08/rubys-treasures-blog-hop/

Ruby’s Treasures Blog Hop!

Day 3 is my turn to jump into the hop. Each day of the hop Inspired by Fabric will be giving away a FQ bundle, so be sure to go and sign up to follow their blog, either by email or blog reader, and then come back and leave a comment on my blog. I will give away an e-book of my book “Sew, Slice, Spin and Sash” from all the comments.
Ruby Short McKim wrote only one book, 101 Patchwork Patterns and all the patterns are free to download at http://www.101patchworkpatterns.com/
 
It was hard to choose from all the patterns, but I finally chose to make the Dutchmans Puzzle block.

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It’s made using 8 flying geese (FG) units and my favorite way to make FG is doing the no waste method.

Let’s get started.

From blue print cut 1-    7 1/4″   x  7 1/4″ square

From the pink and blue print cut 1-    7 1/4″  x  7 1/4″ square

From the background cut 8-  3 7/8″  x    3 7/8″ squares

(oops, I marked the BG squares before taking the picture)

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On the background squares, using a mechanical pencil, mark either a diagonal line from corner to corner, or do the double line, like what is shown below.  If you make the single line, sew 1/4″ on both sides of the line.034

Place two of the background squares onto each of the large squares.
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Sew just to the side of the marked line.
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After sewing all 4 lines, cut apart between the sewn lines.
 

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 Press away from the large triangle.
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Take the remaining background squares and place on the large triangles.
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Sew on the drawn lines, cut apart.
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Press away from the large triangle.
You now have four FQ units of each color.
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At this point, I like to trim off those little pieces sticking out.
You now have everything ready to sew your block together. Using a dark and a light goose, make 4 blocks with the dark goose on the bottom. Press toward the top goose.048
Sew 2 blocks together. Make 2 sets. Press toward the blue goose in the upper right hand square in the picture below.
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Now sew the two sets together, and your block is done!
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When pressing the final seam, make the little twist in the center, so that your seams will lay nice and flat.
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Here’s the other colorway I chose.062
Don’t forget to leave a comment to get in on the drawing.
Have fun hopping!!!Next stop is Pat Speth!
Theresa
—-Blog Hop schedule and blogs—-

Friday 11/4: Barb Eikmeier @Barb’s Favorites

Monday 11/7: Donna Lynn Thomas @DonnaLynnThomasQuilter

Tuesday 11/8:Theresa Ward @AlwaysQuilts

Wednesday 11/9: Pat Speth @NickelQuilts

Thursday 11/10: Reeze Hanson @MorningGloryDesigns

Friday 11/11: Kelly Ashton @KellyQuilter

And here’s the link to Inspired by Fabric, our blog host

Design wall 5/2/16 Vintage shirting blocks complete

My design wall this week has my finished top from the blog hop. It’s hard to believe that all 4 blocks are the same pattern. Each block looks so different just by changing the placement of the colors. You can find the tutorial to make my block here https://alwaysquilts.com/2016/04/22/vintage-shirting-blog-hop/ or go to Barb’s site http://barbsfavorites.com/its-blog-hop-time/ to find all the different blocks made from her line of vintage prints by Paintbrush Studio.

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For the sashings, I wanted to use up the leftover fabric, so I made them scrappy using a triple sash along with 9 patches for the cornerstones. I am happy with the final outcome and hopefully I can get it quilted soon.

So that’s what is on my wall this week. To see what others are working on visit www.patchworktimes.com

Theresa

Blog hop

It’s started and of course as usual I seem to be running behind! So to get you caught up (and ME!) visit http://inspiredbyfabric.blogspot.com/2016/04/vintage-shirting-blog-hop.html and sign up to win some great prizes.

 

Barb has posted her block and each day this week the rest of us will be posting ours. My day will be Friday the 22nd.

Vintage Shirting & Dress Prints Blog Hop Schedule:

Thursday 4/14: Blog Hop Introduction
Friday 4/15: Barb Eikmeier @Barb’s Favorites
Monday 4/18: Donna Lynn Thomas @DonnaLynnThomasQuilter
Tuesday 4/19: Kelly Ashton @KellyQuilter
Wednesday 4/20: Reeze Hanson @MorningGloryDesigns
Thursday 4/21: Sally Schneider @SallySchneider
 Friday 4/22: Theresa Ward @AlwaysQuilts
Leave me a comment this week letting me know that you signed up as well as any comment you have about the fabric, blocks or fun you’re having on the blog hop and I will choose a winner from all comments to receive an e-book of  “Sew, Slice Spin and Sash”(Martingale).
Hope you join in on the fun! Good luck!
Theresa