Monday, June 27, 2016

Big Heart Block for Pulse Tutorial - #QuiltsForPulse

This is a free heart block tutorial inspired by the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild donation effort. 



As soon as the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild announced their donation effort to provide survivors, victims families and first responders with quilts following the tragedy at Pulse nightclub, I knew that this was exactly how I wanted to help. Sewing is my happy place, and I wanted to share that with people healing from such a horrible event. The guild has posted additional donation details here.
----
I made a heart quilt top (10" finished heart blocks, 5 columns x 6 rows) and sent it off to Teresa Silva of Quilting is My Bliss for quilting. And then I invited friends & members of the San Diego Modern Quilt Guild over for an afternoon of charity sewing where we made 3 more quilt tops. And then we had all of these extra scraps to work with.

When you create a 10" heart block following the tutorial on Cluck Cluck Sew you have large triangles leftover. These can be sewn into Half Square Triangle (HST) units. You can then use the HST units to create a large 24" heart block.


I decided to go monochromatic for my large hearts. I had enough blues to separate them into piles of light and dark. The photos below show me creating the light blue heart.

1. Trim HST units to 4 1/2" square.




2. You'll need 10 HST units to make each big heart. Arrange as shown on a table.

3. Next you'll need to cut 20 squares at 4 1/2" to complete the inside of the big heart. This is a great way to use up scraps or leftover charm squares.

4. Then you'll need to cut 6 background squares at 4 1/2" to complete the block. 

5. Sew the squares together into rows and press the seams open to minimize bulk.
 

6. Sew the rows together and press the seams open to complete the big heart block. It should measure 24 1/2" square at this point. 

Here are the 2 big heart blocks I've made so far with one of the quilt tops of 10" hearts to show you the scale.
 

I'm planning to make 9 big heart blocks & sew them together to make a 72" x 72" quilt top.


Share your big heart blocks with us on social media using the hashtag #BigHeartBlock so we can be a part of your sewing experience.


 
© 2016 Julie R. Herman. All rights reserved. 
No part of this tutorial or pattern may be reproduced without written consent of Jaybird Quilts. Items from this pattern may not be produced for commercial resale. 
For more information visit http://www.jaybirdquilts.com/

Monday, June 13, 2016

Sweet Tooth Block 8 - Bubble Gum

My Sweet Tooth Block of the Month books are available now at local and online quilt shops! Since the book is out now, I wanted to share some inspiration for anyone looking to make a Sweet Tooth quilt. 

Sweet Tooth can be made in twin or queen sizes. This quilt is made using my Hex N More and Super Sidekick rulers. 

If you will be making your Sweet Tooth quilt from one of the Robert Kaufman Kona quilt kits (available now!), all of the strips in the roll up are in block order. Also, all of the Kona colors used in each block are noted in the Sweet Tooth book. This photo shows the fabrics that are in Roll 3. (The rolls are marked.)


To make Block 8, you'll use Kona SunnyKona ChartreuseKona CoralKona Azalea and Kona Cerise:




Sweet Tooth Quilt Block 8 - Bubble Gum


You can sign up to participate in a Sweet Tooth block of the month program with a local quilt shop or guild (ask around if you're looking to join one!), order a Sweet Tooth quilt kit, or craft your own Sweet Tooth quilt with your favorite 2 1/2" strips!

I'm making a Sweet Tooth quilt using Tula Pink prints. Here are my Bubble Gum blocks in Tula Pink:



You can see the other Sweet Tooth blocks I made here:

Kits featuring the Kona Cotton solids I used to make the twin size quilt are available now. Kits include the Sweet Tooth book, 60 Kona Cotton 2 1/2" strips + all of the background and binding fabric to make the quilt.

If you're looking to order a Sweet Tooth quilt kit, they are available to order now from Hawthorne Threads and Fat Quarter Shop. You can also find the books now at Fat Quarter ShopHawthorne Threads, as well as other local and online quilt shops.
Tell us in the comments below: Are you making your Sweet Tooth block with fabric from your stash, from a quilt, in a BOM program or did you buy some special fabric just for making your own version of Sweet Tooth?
Remember to share your photos on social media with the #SweetToothQuilt tag & have fun!


© Blog post written by Julie Herman
For more information visit http://www.jaybirdquilts.com/

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

My Tula Pink Chipper Boomerang Quilt

Now that Tula Pink's Chipper is in stores, I wanted to give you more info on the fabrics I used to make my Chipper Boomerang quilt that I showed you back in March.

I made this lap size color blocked version of my Boomerang quilt using Chipper. I added in a bit of True Colors and Eden as well.


If you want to make a color blocked version of Boomerang like I did, here are the fabrics you'll need. FYI most fabrics are Chipper. 6 are from True Colors and 2 are from Eden. (You may want more fabrics if you plan to fussy cut some of the designs with animals etc.)




Follow the directions on the bottom of page 2 of the pattern using the "Fat Quarter" section. To get the color blocked look you will want all of your blocks to end up 1 color and not scrappy. Pick 2 fabrics that are orange and make all orange blocks. Continue with green and then purple.


Use the remaining FQ of fabric from these 2 designs in place of the setting fabric on page 4. (You'll also need to use some scraps of any of the green fabrics for the upper right and lower left corner triangles.)



---


 Here is a closer look at the orange section.

The middle green section.

And here is the purple section.


I was torn on which stripe to use for the binding, so I decided to use all 3. The result is pretty cool, but it was a lot of work and I don't know if I would do it again.


Honestly it was a lot of trial and error and getting to know my seam ripper better than I wanted to! The seams to put the binding colors together are sewn at a 60 degree angle rather than the 45 degree angle we are all used to using.





Since the front had a lot going on... I decided to keep the back simple and use Free Fall by Tula Pink in one large piece.

Did you know that Tula Pink named this fabric Free Fall because the birds fly in all directions? That way you don't need to worry about a top or a bottom when using it for a quilt back. For this one I didn't piece in my label, which is very rare for me!!


So how did I mark the details of the quilt? I wrote them in by hand on one dot near a corner.


What fabrics are you using to make a Boomerang quilt? Tell us about it in the comments below.
And don't forget to use the hashtag #BoomerangQuilt on social media so we can share in the fun!




© Blog post written by Julie Herman
For more information visit http://www.jaybirdquilts.com/