Quilt Class - Week 4

This past Sunday was week #4 for my quilting class.  Its hard to believe that there's only 2 more classes left.  I think I will miss going to class every Sunday.  While its a little bit of a pain to pack up the sewing machine and take everything with me, its fun going and sewing/chatting with the other women.

So this past class we learned three different techniques on how to make Flying Geese blocks.  The first two ways were traditional methods.  One was cutting the triangles before hand and sewing all the pieces together.  The second was cutting rectangles and squares and sewing the diagonal lines and trimming away the excess after the block is sewn.

The last method, which is more modern, uses a ruler by Eleanor Burns.  Its a bit different, but you actually end up with flying geese blocks that are the correct size and it only requires sewing 4 seams in order to do it.  Its a bit labor intensive with the final cutting and pressing seams open, but its definitely worth it.

I had made flying geese blocks a while ago using the traditional methods. See my post here.  I ended up making lots more flying geese than I needed because half of them were the wrong size.

So here's the final blocks made with the flying geese from class:

 

The picture isn't great.  I took it late last night in a room with a CFL light bulb (yuck!).  Also, because the background fabric is close to the carpet color, I had to put my dark green sweater underneath the blocks so you could actually see them.  Not all the points are perfect, but they are pretty darn close.

Stashbusting 2011 - Week 13

This past week was somewhat productive.  Not a lot of fabric used, but some.  Mainly it was  for the quilting class (0.65 yards) and for the scrappy quilt (0.42 yards).

My quilting machine did get fixed this week, but not until Saturday morning.  Thankfully, it was just thread caught in the bobbin that had caused the timing to get off.  That will teach me to use cheap Sulky thread instead of good quality thread.  I was trying to get the quilt quilted, so I wasn't picky with my thread and didn't want to wait for Superior to ship.  Serves me right...If I had just ordered the good thread and waited, I probably would have gotten the quilt done this past week anyway and wouldn't have broken the machine.  oh well...live and learn.

I also ended up buying fabric last week.  My cousin is having a baby this summer, so I picked out some nice, bright-colored fabric for the baby quilt.  Damages....5.25 yards.  There's 2 yards for background material and 13 fat quarters.  I only need about half of each fat quarter, but I wanted to get a good variety of colors..so I'll have some left over for another project.

So here's the numbers for this week:
Added This Week:       5.25 yards
Added Year to Date:    37.64 yards
Used This Week:         1.11 yards
Used Year to Date:      16.17 yards
Net Year to Date:        21.47 yards

Still haven't used as much as I have bought.  I find that I always buy about 1/4 yard extra for fabrics and then I count only what I actually use.  So even when I buy fabric for a quilt and make the quilt, I still have added to the "stash".  I have to really get moving on the scrap quilt to use up some of the excess! :-)

Quilt Class - Week 3

This past week was the 3rd week of class.  This week the main technique was strip piecing to create nine-patch blocks.  I've never cared for strip piecing just because its so hard to get the entire length of the seam exactly straight.  I always end up with little "wavies" in the seam...no matter how careful I am.

I think the reason I've had problems in the past was that my strip piecing used really long strip sets (full width of fabric).  In class, we cut the strip in half, so it was only 22" long.  This made it a bit easier and my seams didn't seam to waver as much.

Along with 4 nine-patch blocks, we had to make 4 friendship star blocks.  I was able to complete all the blocks between time in class and a few hours at home on Sunday evening.  I don't have pictures yet, but I plan to post some pictures later this evening.

As with the past few classes, I haven't really learned anything new, but its nice to get out of the house for a few hours and spend some time with other ladies who quilt.  I'm enjoying the class and I think I may take another class there after we're done with this one....one a little bit more advanced. ;-)

Updated with picture

Quilting Class - Week 2

Yesterday I had my 2nd class of the beginner's quilting class that I'm taking at a local quilt shop.  (If you want info on class 1, its here.)

This week, we moved on to making half square triangles (HST) and making a pinwheel block.  I've obviously made a lot of HST in my quilting time, so that wasn't anything new.  However, the instructor did show me how to do the "pinwheel" thing with the seams on the back of the block.  I've read how to do it a few times, but haven't figured out how to do it.  Its amazing how easy something seems when someone actually shows you how to do it.

So here's the blocks we made this week.  I got two of the blocks made in class, and then the remaining two I got finished up as soon as I got home.

Here's the little "pinwheel" of the seams on the back of the block.

Unlike last week where we only got 2 "logs" onto the 16 log cabin blocks in class and then had to make all 16 full blocks during the week, this week I only need to make the 4 pinwheel blocks.  So I'm done!  ;-)

They all measure up to 8.5" square, so they are spot on what they need to be.  Its also nice knowing that I won't spend most of the week making blocks for this quilt.

Along with the pinwheel blocks above, below are the 16 log cabin blocks I made last week.

I still enjoy the class even though I definitely know a lot of the techniques already.  The other students are already coming to me for questions when the instructor is tied up with someone else.  So part of my class time is helping the other students, which I enjoy doing.  I definitely have a good time at class, so that's what truly matters. :-)

Quilting Class - Week 1

On Sunday, I went to the first of six sessions for a beginner's quilting class at a local quilt shop.  Throughout the course of the class, we'll be making blocks to complete the quilt below.

The basic techniques are taught in-class and then you finish the blocks up on your own at home.  This first week, most of the time was spent going through how to straighten your fabric, press it, and cut the strips.  The last hour of the class was spent actually sewing the center pieces of the log cabin blocks to the first strip to form the "logs" of the block (the two cream colored pieces next to the red square in the above picture).

By far, I was the most experienced quilter there.  There was another woman who is probably in her 60s that has made some quilts, but nothing very recent.  Most of the other women there (6 of us total) had either done no quilting or had just tried it once or twice without much success.  Despite not really "learning" anything at the first class (it was all stuff I knew how to do), I had a good time.  The instructor said that while there are 16 log cabin blocks, people just really have to make 4 of them in order to do the appliqued heart during week 4 or 5.

When I got home from class, I cut the remaining strips necessary to sew all of the log cabin blocks.  The pieces are all set to go, I just have to start sewing them onto the blocks.  It will be a bit tedious since you have to add one strip, then press, then add the next strip, and press, and so forth.  There's a total of 12 "logs" that have to be added around the center square, so its 12 times of sewing and pressing on each block.  Plus, to make sure it goes together correctly, you have to make sure everything is the proper size after each log is added.

These are the fabrics that I'm using for the quilt.  The red is the accent fabric to match the red in the pattern picture above.  Then I have 3 shades of blue that will replace the greens in the picture.  Then I have three different creams/tans to use as my "lights".

 

I hope that I'll be able to get to putting the log cabin blocks together this week so that I can bring them to class completely finished.  Plus, I'll then be able to share more pictures along with counting the fabric as stash used. ;-)

Stashbusting 2011 - Week 10

My post is a little bit late, but better late than never, right? ;-)

I used a little bit of fabric this week when I went to my quilt class Sunday afternoon.  Its not much, but its a little bit.  All said and done, in class, I used 0.2 yards of fabric.  I will be using more this week as I have to complete 16 log cabin blocks by next Sunday's class.

Added This Week:       0 yards
Added Year to Date:    24.9 yards
Used This Week:         0.2 yards
Used Year to Date:      8.43 yards
Net Year to Date:        16.47 yards

I plan on posting some pictures later this week, so for now..this is a picture-free post.

How did everyone else do?

Quilting Class

I've finally done it....I've signed up for a quilting class.  Despite quilting for 4 years now, I've never actually taken a class on quilting.  A LQS (local quilt shop) is having a Beginning Quilt Making class starting March 6th and running on Sundays for 2 hours for a total of 6 weeks.  A few things drew me to the class:

1.  The quilt shop is a total of 5-10 minutes from our house...very convenient and they just expanded. ;-)

2.  I thought I might meet some new quilters in the area who are also relatively new to quilting.

3.  There are some techniques that they'll be doing that I haven't done yet.  By the look of the quilt they plan to make as a sampler, there's some log cabin blocks, applique, and I think some piecing of fabric with curves, which I haven't tried to do yet.  They'll also show how to put a hanging sleeve on the quilt, which I haven't done.

4.  Aside from techniques I haven't done yet, they're going to go through some of the basics of cutting, pressing, getting that perfect 1/4" seam, etc.  While I think I'm pretty good at that stuff, I think it would be useful to actually have someone show me how to do it and see if I'm doing something incorrectly.

Now that I've signed up for the course, I'm both excited and a little nervous.  I'm a bit of a loner and don't gravitate toward "group" settings.  I'm sure the people there will be very nice and friendly (almost all quilters are), but there's a little bit of a worry that I won't "connect" with anyone there.  I'm probably over-thinking this, but I really hope that I'll enjoy the class and meet some people.