Jaybird Quilts

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Circle Quilt Tutorial

I made this quilt for Elijah & Aliyah and gave it to them a few months ago. As you can see Jonah has already begun to claim it for himself!

Quilt Details

Fabric is Celebrate Seuss & Cat in the Hat by Robert Kaufman

Pattern - Circle Quilt Tutorial

Quilted by me

Started on 12/2/10

Finished on 4/15/12

Quilt measures - 52" across

To easily create this quilt I used a 10° Wedge Ruler by Phillips Fiber Art that is 22½" long. It allows you to cut long wedges that are accurately 10° wide.

Supplies

1. I made this quilt entirely from my stash & mostly from scraps. If you are going to buy new fabric I suggest getting the ruler first so you can plan out how many wedges you'll be able to cut etc. ( I don't recommend Fat Quarters as the ruler is longer than the Fat Quarters. )

2. I used batting tape to put leftover pieces of batting together. I did a tutorial on batting tape last year. If you are using new batting you'll need a piece at least 58" x 58"

3. I used scraps for my backing too. If you are using new backing fabric you'll need to make a piece at least 58" x 58" ( 3 1/4" yards will give you 58" x 80" )

4. I used scraps for my binding. You will need enough fabric to make at least 175" of bias binding. I posted a chart on calculating bias binding in one of my binding tutorials.

1. To make the quilt you will need to cut 36 wedges 10° wide. (360° total) Adjust this quantity if you are using a 15° or other degree ruler. I decided to use 18 fabrics and cut 2 from each.

2. Start with 2 wedges and arrange them as shown.

3. Pin and sew a 1/4" seam along one side.

4. Press seam open or to the darker fabric. I press my seams open 95% of the time.

5. The result!

6. Continue adding wedges. Initially I made one half of the quilt with 18 wedges. I suggest dividing the wedges in 4 sections of 9 wedges.

7. I arranges the remaining 18 wedges on my design wall so that I could make sure the order of the fabrics was the same for the second half.

8. This photo shows you the top right section of 9 wedges sewn together.

9. Then I completed sewing the top left section of 9 wedges.

10. Next I sewed the top 2 sections together to complete the top half of the quilt.

11. Then I sewed the 2 halves together to complete the quilt top. (Minus the hole in the center.)

12. The hole in the center was approximately 4-5" in size. I decided to cut a 10" circle to applique over the hole. That way it would cover the opening and hide any mistakes near the middle. I fussy cut one character from the Dr. Seuss fleece so that it would also have texture for the kids. 13. Layer, Baste & Quilt. I quilted straight lines along the wedges to keep it simple. Here is some pre-binding photos of the quilt that I recently found in my Project Life album. I can't believe how little Aliyah is!!

14. Bind the circle quilt with bias binding. I used a scrappy bias binding made from solid navy & the multicolor stripe. Make at least 175" of bias binding. How to make scrappy bias binding. How to bind curves. -- As I mentioned this quilt was originally a gift for Elijah & Aliyah. Here is my Dad helping Aliyah open the quilt at Hanukkah a few months ago.

Aliyah's first move was to do a twirl on the quilt.

Then they started searching for the books they have read.

...and then they went back to opening more presents of course!

Jonah is a big fan of the quilt.

My SIL Karin loves it because it is small enough to bring to the park, but big enough for Jonah to chill & have tummy time.

Occasionally they still stake their claim on the quilt.

I'm just glad it has gotten so much use & is loved so much!!

Want to link to this tutorial?

Here is a button you can use.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial!

Additional tutorials can be found here.

No part of this tutorial may be reproduced without written consent of Jaybird Quilts.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Snack Time

I'm excited to share a new pattern with you today! Snack Time is another fun quilt that uses my Hex N More Ruler... and still no Y seams!

This pattern will be shipping to shops in just a couple of days! I'm in Portland at the moment teaching at Block Party with Quiltmaker. Today {Thursday} I'm teaching a Hex N More workshop. I'll be posting photos over on Instagram & Facebook if you want to see what we are up to! You can get the PDF quilt pattern here.

Quilt Details

Fabric is Kona Solids by Robert Kaufman

Pattern - Snack Time, JBQ 131

Quilted by Angela Walters

Started on 2/3/13

Finished on 3/2/13

Quilt measures - 51" x 72"

Here is the back of the pattern. It features 5 size options.

--
I posted a few photos to Instagram while I was working on this quilt.

I went back and forth when deciding on what fabric to use. In the end I decided to use Kona solids by Robert Kaufman. Specifically I used the Kona Brights Roll Up.

I backed the quilt in white Kona fabric and bound it in white bias binding.

Ready to see some of the cover shoot outtakes?

I loved the clouds and the lighting on the quilt, but the fence just wasn't tall enough to see more of the quilt.

Here is a detail of Angela's quilting. She quilted a different "snack" in each row of blocks. Honestly I love how her brain works!!

More clouds... lets go inside before it rains!

More detail. I could stare at Angela's quilting for hours... oh wait I do!!

Last one on the fence. I ended up using this photo on the back of the pattern.

This half door didn't do much...

...and neither did these steps.

I did like these steps and almost used this one on the cover.

More detail. This photo really shows how Angela did loops, swirls, and two different flowers in the center of the blocks. She did 9 different designs in the 9 rows.

I love the lighting in this last photo.

Snack Time will be in shops next week!! If you are here at Block Party with Quiltmaker I have a few copies and they will be in the on site shop starting tomorrow.

So out of curiosity... What is your favorite snack?

Monday, March 11, 2013

I've been a bad blogger

Did I really just go two weeks without blogging? eek! Sorry about that!

I wish I could say that I've been MIA because I have been busy sewing. Unfortunately I was MIA because I got sick... again. This is the 3rd time this year. I usually can't avoid getting sick at least once in the winter, but I can't tell you the last time I got sick this much. It hasn't been fun.

Anyway I was feeling a bit better yesterday and went to the San Diego Modern Quilt Guild meeting for the first time. It was nice to get out and meet some local quilters. It did also remind me how much I miss my friends in the Philadelphia MQG.

After they have their meetings they stay and sew. I grabbed a bunch of my Remix fabrics and figured I'd start working on my Toes in the Sand blocks.

I love how Ann Kelle keeps adding more prints to the Remix line. Did you know there are over 100 now!

I love these new big chevrons.

and the ovals

and the triangles... lets just be honest I love it all.

I made my first two blocks yesterday.

I'm going to mix all the new Remix fabrics with my stash of older Remix!

I'll be posting these blocks in the Flickr Group for the Toes in the Sand Quilt Along. You can also follow along on Instagram with the hashtag #toesinthesandqal
Come join us!

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Nancy Zieman's Hobo Tote Blog Tour

disclosure: this is a sponsored blog tour by Clover, Nancy Zieman & Sew Lazy

Welcome! Today is my day to post about the new Hobo Tote I just made! If this is your first time visiting you can learn about me, check out my patterns, my free tutorials and you can subscribe to my blog over in the right column to stay in touch! --->

Here is my finished Hobo Tote!

Print Fabrics = Mimosa by Dear Stella
Solid Grey = Kona Iron by Robert Kaufman

The Pattern comes packaged with plastic templates for cutting and marking.

Here is my bag in progress. I used a fat quarter stack of Mimosa by Dear Stella. The new Jumbo Wonder Clips by Clover came in handy for holding all of the layer together.

What you can't see in this photo is the interfacing. Sew Lazy provided us with Face-it Soft and Stiff Stuff to make our bags. This stuff is great. If you haven't worked with it yet I suggest you try it out. The Stiff Stuff is strong enough to give life to your bag without being so rigid that it is difficult to sew.

It is no secret that I'm a fan of Wonder Clips. Examples can be found here, here, here, and here. Like I said.. I'm a fan. Here is a photo of the original ones with the new Jumbo ones to give you some scale.

Back to my Hobo Tote. Here are my pieces once I added grey trim. I used Kona Iron to add some pop to the bag.

Since I was using fat quarters I didn't have pieces big enough to cut the lining. I solved this by using 3 fat quarters. I cut each into two pieces 9" x 21" and sewed three pieces together as shown. I then cut my lining from these larger pieces.

I decided to use more Kona Iron for the pockets.

The Jumbo Wonder Clips came in handy again for holding the bag together before I finished top-stitching.

Here is a detail shot of the binding added to the center of the bag. The instructions direct you to machine sew it, but I'm a sucker for hand sewing with binding. I used my original Wonder Clips to hold the bias binding in place while I worked around the curve.

Here is my finished Hobo Tote again!

--

Blog Tour
Take a minute to check out the other stops on the tour to see a variety of Hobo Totes!

February 19 Nancy Zieman
February 20 Jenny Gabriel
February 21 Fran Ortmeyer
February 22 Tori Thompson
February 23 Carol Porter
February 24 Jina Barney
February 25 Joan Hawley
February 26 Julie Herman <-- Me! Thanks for dropping by!
February 27 Eileen Roche
February 28 Cindy Cloward
March 2 Nancy Zieman

--

Giveaway!
Clover and Lazy Girl Designs have added Giveaways to the Hobo Tote Blog tour.

Clover Needlecraft will be sending three random winners a Clover Prize Package valued at $75. Names will be announced on Nancy's blog post on March 1, 2013.

Prize Package 1
Here is what’s included in each of the three prize packages:
Trace ‘n Create Bag Template—Hobo Tote Collection
Shape ‘n Create Bag Stabilizer
Pin ‘n Stow Magnetic Wrist Pincushion
Satin Bronze D-Rings
Double-Sided Basting Tape 1″
Create-a-Strap Wrap ‘n Fuse Piping
Magnetic Snap Closure

Prize Package 2
Lazy Girl Designs is giving away a Lazy Girl Interfacing Pack that includes 1-1/2 yard cuts of Stiff Stuff and Face-it Soft ($17 value) to three additional random winners.

How to enter the giveaway
For chances to win one of the six prizes, please post comments on Nancy's Blog Post. Share your thoughts about the Hobo Totes you see on the blog tour and/or about the Hobo Tote you’re planning to make. Six random winners will be selected and posted March 1 on Nancy's Blog.

--

Clover Needlecraft provided the template set, and most of the notions for this project. The interfacing was provided my Sew Lazy.