Urban abacus

 

Hello Again

I have pictures to share today from the Urban Abacus class I taught last week. I love teaching, I get so excited seeing the girls "get" the techniques, stop being worried about what to come, and start having fun when they see it not that hard. Anyone can tell when the fun starts by the way the girls start talking about fabric choices for the next quilt they make.

Urban Abacus is from Sew Kind of Wonderful and uses the Quick Curve Ruler.  So far I feel this is about the easiest quilt to cut and piece using the Ruler.

We had the class at The Patchwork Angel, and again the shop helps us all relax and create in a very pretty and wonderful class room. During the class we get used to the cutting and then sewing curves and then the final trim of the blocks.  This all takes time to make sure everyone is confident so when the girls get home they can pick up right where we left off in class.


This pink and vintage quilt is mine as a class sample.  Everyone knows this is mine, cause it so pink.

 

Kaye is using bright purples,pinks and greens with a black background for a sons girlfriend.  He must think she is a keeper to deserve a quilt.

 

Robyn is sewing with some fantastic Aboriginal prints.  Robyn I am looking forward to seeing this one finished.



Daphne's quilt is going to be so cool and modern with black and white prints mixed with the aqua background



Bev is making her quilt in a classic blue and white combination




And lastly, Sue is using a beautiful collection of soft florals in pinks and greens with a cream background.



Wonderful work by all the ladies and I would love to see all of these quilts when they are finished. They will all be beautiful.



My next teaching gig is on Saturday 30th of May.  I will be teaching the Metro Hoops quilt by Sew Kind of Wonderful and the Quick Curve Ruler.  The class will be held at The Patchwork Angel again and I believe there are still a couple of spots left, give the girls a call and come along and join the fun.



This stunning version is from one of my students from the last time I taught Metro Hoops, very different to my white and pretty one above.

See you all soon

Metro Hoops Class

Hi everyone

This past Saturday I taught at The Patchwork Angel, the Metro Hoops quilt by Sew Kind of Wonderful.

Here is the great work done by all the girls

 Deb is making hers for a sweet little girl.  These colours are just perfect.

 Katherine is colours are just wonderful, the orange setting triangles just set off the blue so well.

 Wendy used almost the opposite to Katherine.  I loved these rings.

 

 Donna did a great job with these very pretty fabrics.

 

Next to Donna was Helen.  I love the way Helen uses colours and fabrics, the two backgrounds are perfect.  I have been quilting for Helen for a couple of years now and am always amazed at her selections.

 

Gals fabrics are very warm and cozy feeling.  The chocolate was a great match for them.

 

 Margot couldn't come to class until later in the morning, but she certainly didn't waste time and did a wonderful job catching up and learning what we had already covered.  Margot left with a ring complete and smile on her face.  Glad you could make it to class, Margot

 

 

 

Catherine with a C ( there were 2 in class) did a great job in class.  Catherines bobbin ran out halfway through the last seam at the very end of class, don't you just hate that. But her points meet where they are supposed to, just like all the girls blocks.

During class we learnt that not all 1/4" feet for machines sew a true 1/4", and that not all Jelly Rolls strips start at 2.5" either.  For this class it is important to start with the correct size strip sets.  A couple of the strips were narrower than needed so we used the practice curves cut from some pieces I gave the ladies at the start.

We talked about the seam not necessarily needed to be 1/4" but more importantly having the units been sewn together measuring accurately after the seam is sewn.  That is when sewing 4 strips that are 2.5' wide together the final unit should measure 8.5" across.  Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville fame has a great tutorial in how to get your units to finish at the size they should HERE. And HERE is a link to create an accurate seam guide for any machine. I hope you find these helpful.

Thank you ladies for a great class on a very wet Saturday morning.  I am waiting to see how your quilts turn out and to see you again in a class with me.

At the End of the Day

I got most of what I wanted or was on my Wish List for the day done.  I knew not all of it would be where I had hoped because there will always be other things that come along and slow you down.

So here is where I started just to recap

The yellow quilt was so very close to together at the start of the day.  Now here it is all together.  This is a Christmas gift, so far I am on track to have it done by then. 

 

I just love it.  The pattern is called Star Blossoms by Kim Brackett from her book called Scrap Basket Beauties by Martingale books.  The orginal has 12 blocks mine is 16 blocks and measures 65 x65.  It was super easy and quick to make.  Next is to quilt it.

I did get the bundles of fabric cut, not as far as I had hoped but I was getting tired at the end of the day and thought it was better not to cut them, just in case I stuff it up.  These are for Metro Hoops quilt by Sew Kind of Wonderful.  I am teaching this on August 16th at The Patchwork Angel. There is already a sample in the shop, this one will be a little different. It will also be bigger than the pattern size also.

And I got the borders pieced for the Fat Quarter Shop 2013 Mystery Quilt. Many Flying Geese units pieced and then sewn into the border strips.  Very happy with them, the border strips are the length I need to fit my quilt top.

So there you go.  I had tried to load these pictures last week but something wouldn't work right to make it happen.  Most probably it was user error.  Anyway here they are for you to enjoy

Keep stitching

Fiona