Red, White and True progress and other pretties

Pat F

 I had Sampler Clubs Monday and Tuesday nights, and got to see the progress on a few of the local  Red, White and True quilts.Aren't they gorgeous?

Karen

Karen has been posting about hers on her blog, Hazel Dell Quilts. It's even prettier in person.

Gretchen

Gretchen chose more muted reds and blues which gives it an antique look. I can't wait to see more! The final sewing directions will be posted on Monday, along with an really big giveaway...you won't want to miss it.

Rachel S and Jo M. downloaded  pictures of their Red, White and True quilts to the Flickr page...stop over and take a look!

Susan at Hanging by a Needle and Thread changed the layout a bit and it's so cute! Variations make life interesting.

 I finished quilting my daughter's duvet turned quilt Monday, so I took it with me to the store on Tuesday so that I could square the edges on their large table. I hadn't really squared it before I quilted it, as it was pretty straight after cutting it apart. She thought she wanted a neutral binding, but I had this blue striped fabric from my mom's stash (circa 1994) that I liked with it and my daughter agreed.

 I got the binding sewed on one side, still need to finish it.

 It really is pretty, I can see why she wants to keep using it as a quilt.

 Dianne brought her Highlights Sampler 20 to show off. She has one more border to add and the top will be finished.

 Betty brought the Lone Star quilt she started in class last spring. She had our friend, Cindy, do some custom quilting on it and it is gorgeous!

 Laura has the center block finished on her Simply Posies Sampler 21. It's always so much fun to see everyone's progress on my class projects.

I loaded the black/gray Circle and Spin quilt yesterday and quilted one pass. I'm using a black/gray variegated thread and the Leafage panto. I had plans to cut out a new design, but I started tweaking it and ended up on the computer most of the day fiddling with it and another design. So I never did get any cutting done, except for mowing the grass. Maybe today I will get it figured out...

A layer of tulle

Is everyone busy working on their Red, White and True quilt?The  Quilt Along finale is next Monday. You will get the border directions as well as be able to enter a really excellent drawing. And it is something all quilters covet....more details soon!

I declared my Happy Village finished, so the next step is to back  it, place a layer of tulle on top and quilt. I had no idea what colors of tulle to buy, except I knew for this quilt I didn't want the tulle to darken it. I picked out several colors I liked and tried them out. Above you see the village with no tulle.  I took all the pictures in the same lighting at the same time, so hopefully it's a true representation. (Conrad also found a new love during this process and had to leave the room until I was finished!)

One layer of any of these is still pretty light, but the tulle is used to hold everything in place as you quilt and after, so is just used as an enhancement.

Light pink tulle

Look them over and see what you think.

White tulle

I didn't notice a lot of difference between the five colors I had chosen.

Light, bright green tulle

I thought the greens brought a little brightness to the mix.

Green tulle

The blue enhanced the blues a bit.

Medium blue tulle

Which one would you choose? I have it layered and ready to quilt, so I want to get started on it today.

Red, White and True Quilt Along Sewing #5

Are you ready to sew this quilt together? Gather your colorful Axel blocks and let's get started!

 Throw Assembly

Line up your 12 Axel blocks as shown, paying attention to the direction of the Color One and Two stripsets. If you are careful, you should be able to turn your blocks so that the pressed rows within the blocks are already going in opposite directions. If you have a few that don’t, you can repress them."The red stripe is always horizontal in my layout.

Sew the blocks in rows. Press each row in the opposite direction so that the seams will dovetail when you sew the rows together. That's it! You are ready for the borders next week. 

Twin Assembly

Line up your 24 Axel blocks as shown, paying attention to the direction of the Color One and Two stripsets. If you are careful, you should be able to turn your blocks so that the pressed rows within the blocks are already going in opposite directions. If you have a few that don’t, you can repress them. "The red stripe is always horizontal in my layout.

Continue making rows to make the twin size as shown below. 

Sew the blocks in rows. Press each row in the opposite direction so that the seams will dovetail when you sew the rows together.

Ta Da! You are finished! 

Read on for some alternate layouts.  You can get easy to print free PDFs of all the directions on my Craftsy page. Check out the pictures in the Flickr group and add your own! 

I love this as a patriotic quilt, but I knew I would want to make it using different fabrics too. So while I had the blocks on the design wall, I played around with a few other settings for the twelve blocks using just what I had made for the Red White and True quilt.

Throw Alternate #1

There are other layouts possible, so before you sew yours together, play with the blocks a bit in case you want to make it again using different fabrics.

Throw Alternate #2

I'm making a baby quilt with the same amount of blocks, and a fourth coloring of the block. I wanted to use some of the airplane border fabric in my blocks, so substituted the border fabric in the corners of three of my background Axel blocks. Same amount of blocks, but different look. You could also switch the orientation of the red/blue stripes to change the look. There are many possibilities.

My baby quilt version

Twin Alternate #1

There are many more possibilities for the twin since there are many more blocks. What do you see? I've added a coloring page for each size to the PDF, so print it out and see what you can come up with!

Twin Alternate #2

Would you live here?

I've been playing in my happy village the past few days. It's starting to come to life! I was trying to use my original eleven fabrics for the roofs, but it was too much of the same. So I got out some scraps to use instead...I think it adds more color and depth. You could use all scraps for this quilt if you wanted to as the scale is small.

It's kind of hard to know when to stop adding things to make it look just right. The author says to walk around your  village and see where you need more. I also took pictures and looked at them. You see things in pictures you might not notice when looking directly at a project. The camo blue in the lower right corner sort of looks like water when I see it in the pictures. I got it because I thought it would add depth and movement to the quilt.

You can cut out around the actual print in the fabric to add form for your design.

I like it for my first attempt. It is ready to finish....I think. Would you live here?

                       

Are you ready for the next Red, White and True QAL direction tomorrow? Cheryl at Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting is! She is making three twin size quilts...and she is all caught up! Check out her blog for some inspiration.

Jenelle of Bizy Stitches won the Suzy's Zoo Fat Quarter pack! Congrats Jenelle! Thanks to everyone for participating! There will be a special giveaway at the end of the Red, White and True QAL....stay tuned!

Only a few hours left to enter the giveaway and busy-ness!

 The QAL giveaway of Suzy's Zoo fat quarters ends tonight at midnight, so you need to enter today! Go HERE and enter through the Rafflecopter link.

Update: Jenelle won the Suzy's Zoo fat quarter pack! Congrats Jenelle!

You might remember this Circle and Spin to the Moon that I was working on a few weeks ago. I debated whether I wanted borders or not. I decided on one narrow border, so picked up this black mottled batik when I was at Cut Up and Quilt last week. I cut border strips and added them yesterday, plus prepped the quilt for loading on the quilt frame. I will have to take a picture when it's finished, as I forgot to take one yesterday with the border.

I am using this dark, but colorful fabric for the backing, so pieced it yesterday too. It's ready to be loaded when I get my daughter's duvet/quilt finished. I quilted a few more rows on it yesterdaybut haven't made it up there today. I'm about half way through.  

As much fun as it is to finish a project, it's just as much fun starting one! I have been itching to start a Happy Village(s) using the book of that name by Karen Eckmeier. I chose some fabrics with care....

 and cut them as instructed. Little piles of jiggedy jaggedy cuteness.

 Then it was time to play!

 I spent several hours playing with the pieces to get to the first stage...

 I put a few rooftops on, but then got tired so stopped for the night. You can see that it's starting to look like a village.

I spent  this morning getting the post and pattern ready for the next Red, White and True QAL post on Monday...I had written the pattern for the PDF, but added a coloring page for each size today, plus several different versions of the pattern. Hopefully that will help inspire and get the creative juices flowing for another quilt using that pattern. It really is addictive, isn't it?

After lunch, I went outside and did some weed spraying and went for a bike ride. I've been trying to get my "bike legs" back since I haven't ridden much in the past year, so only rode for 20 minutes.  It's hot out so I have been sitting here cooling off for an hour or so....might be done for the day!

Odds and ends of sewing and other stuff....

My friend, Dianne, has been working ahead on her Red, White and True Quilt Along quilt and finished the twin top the other day. Since I didn't make the twin, I was excited to see one finished and thought you would be too. She did a great job! 

Pat F. is all caught up with this week's blocks finished, so she is ready to put the blocks together next week. I love seeing these quilts coming together, so please share as you make yours, whether it is now or later on. My Flickr group is open for you to upload your pictures.

I got the label made for the RWT quilt and sewed it on this morning while chatting on the phone with my sister. It is now officially finished!

I made another  Runaround Bag out of this cute fabric the other day too. They are so fast and easy to make.

My daughter asked me to take their duvet cover and make it into a quilt. I cut it apart and loaded it on the machine yesterday...it's like quilting 2 sheets together so it's going well. I'm using my favorite panto, Leafage by Keryn Emmerson since there is so much off white. I'll take some pictures when I'm finished. 

I've also been working on a new Happy Villages project..I'm really excited about it....more about that tomorrow.

Tomorrow is the last day to enter the RWT Quilt Along giveaway...better go enter now!

Lots of odds and ends of sewing going on around here and more planned for today, so I'd better get busy!