Category: Tutorials

Twister- the ruler, not the game

Marsha from Country Schoolhouse in Superior, Wisc is located at the tip of Lake Superior in Northern Wisconsin. This is where she created a MUST HAVE ruler to use with Moda Layer Cakes TM and Charm Packs.  The ruler is called the Twister. I have tested the ruler using Park Avenue by 3 sisters in stores May/June 2010.
These are the easy steps to why this is the MUST HAVE ruler.
Step 1
step 1
Arrange your layer cakes in a pleasing order. Sew them together. Add a border. For future reference I am going to call this piece a quilt top. You will cut this apart and sew it back together.
Step 2
step2
This is where it gets fun! Lay the ruler on your quilt top lining up the lines as shown on the ruler instructions. Continue cutting across the quilt top.
step3
This is the left overs after I cut the squares. There is a tiny amount left when you cut each of the squares so be careful as you cut.
step4
Step 3
“Twist” the blocks one turn and sew them together into rows. The only word of  caution is that the blocks are on the bias so be careful sewing them together. The border from your quilt top automatically makes a border around the pinwheels when sewn into rows. Pretty Cool!
block
Sorry about the brown carpet and the brown fabric but I think you can get the jist from the picture.
laying out the rows

Keep the squares in order and sew the rows together.
Step 4
final
Add additional borders as needed.
Ask for this ruler at your favorite quilt store. It is available in 2 sizes.
Order Lil’ Twister to use with charm packs.Stock # LTW5
Twister ruler works with Moda Layer Cakes.  Stock# TW10
Quilt and bind as desired.
Enjoy!

Prairie Points and Pillowcase tutorial

Moda Fabrics is a sponsor of the Million Pillowcase Challenge with American Patchwork & QuiltingI asked Jennifer Keltner, Senior Editor of American Patchwork & Quilting, what her inspiration was for such a big project. Here is Jennifer’s reply.
 The inspiration for the project came from wanting to launch something that everyone could participate in—no matter what your skill level. With a pillowcase, it is fun and easy to make, doesn’t take a lot of time, and is certainly a way to showcase great fabrics you might not otherwise work with (don’t fit your usual style, color, etc.) It’s also a great way to practice a new-to-you technique such as prairie points, foundation piecing, diagonal block seams, etc. By incorporating that technique in a pieced pillowcase band, you can experiment first before making a commitment to a big quilt project.

On a very personal level, I was touched by two stories which made me think about the power of pillowcases making a difference. One was from a guild member who knew that in her area foster children had all their possessions tossed into a trash bag when they were moved from place to place. She vowed to have her guild donate pillowcases so every foster kid in the county could tuck their few possessions into a handmade case and have a soft place to rest their heads during trying times. The second was a story of a mother who made pillowcases for her son who was in a cancer ward—she was desperate to brighten up his room and his day. She did, and after he passed away, she had the courage to keep on creating them for the other people’s kids in the same tough spot. She and her husband eventually formed the ConKerr Cancer Foundation to make a difference for kids with cancer around the country by making pillowcases. Turning their grief into an ongoing effort for good really spoke to my heart.

I’m so touched by the hundreds of stories and emails I’ve read about where and how people are donating cases. The ultimate story of how the Million Pillowcase Challenge is an outreach to others came to my attention last week. Check out this girl learning to quilt with her mom, very inspiring girl (you’ll know what I mean when you check out her blog). Scroll down to the Tuesday, February 23 posting and make sure to click on the link to her friend Kristen’s blog to see how touched her friend was to receive the pillowcase. If this story doesn’t give you goosebumps….whoa! The power of quilting and motherhood and pillowcases and big hearts all rolled into one!
http://sarahely8989.blogspot.com/

Thank you Jennifer

The staff here at moda fabrics have been feverishly making pillowcases. We are addicted! Jennifer also told me that they have a goal of 1000 pillowcases to be made by their staff. I will have to let the Moda crew know about that goal. The following pillowcase is a tutorial of the pillowcase I sent to APQ.

finished-pillowcase

The following is actually 2 tutorials, Prairie Points and Pillowcases.

PRAIRIE POINTS
Determine the size of Prairie Point you need. (I used a pattern from APQ  that required 3″ prairie points.)
I doubled that size and cut a strip, 6″ wide x 45″ long.

Fold the strip in half length wise and press to determine the middle. Start on one end of the strip and cut every 3″ stopping at the middle fold. From the other side of the strip make your first cut at 1 1/2″ then start cutting every 3″ being sure to stop at the middle fold. Your strip will look like the one below.
strip-cut-every-3-inches
6″ strip cut every 3″ alternating on each side so it it staggered

Lay the strip on your ironing board and press all the squares in the same direction. Leave the 1 1/2″ strip
loose. You will get rid of it later.

press-in-all-one-direction-with-a-tail

Then continue pressing all the triangles back onto themsleves in the opposite direction.

points-pressed-beforf-folded

 The strip of “Points” will fold together to create your strip of prairie points.

ironing-and-folding-the-points

By pressing the points in the same direction you can “nest” each of the points into each other as shown in the picture shown below.

folding-points-tino-themselves

folding-points-tino-themselves2
The points all line up nicely and rest inside each other. This step if reminds me of a caterpillar. To hold the “caterpillar” in place you can now top stitch this down to hold them in place.

A couple of other notes before moving on to how I used it in my pillowcase.
If you want a strip longer than approx 41″ of points just make another strip and nest it into the last point on your strip. This is the perfect size  for making prairie point border on a baby quilt or throw.
The length of the prairie point strip will always be the length of the fabric. The only thing that varies is how many points and how far apart they are.
For example, cut an 8″ strip for 4″ prairie points and you will have fewer but bigger points. The strip will still be approx 41″/42″ long.
Cut a smaller strip 4″ for 2″ points and you will have a bunch of cute little tiny points. The strip will still be approx 41″/42″ long.
 NOTE TO SELF: Love the 2″ point idea. Go make some tonight.

DISCLAIMER:
The instructions listed below are almost like doing a magic trick. Everytime we finsh one we say Ta Da!!
However it is very hard to illustrate it in pictures. So my word of advice is to make a sloppy copy pillowcase just in case you mess up. And I also want to say TRUST ME! you will love this method. It is two seams! remember Magic! TA DA!

PILLOWCASE CONSTRUCTION:

Pattern used is one of the free downloads from APQ.
Fabric featured  is Whimsy by Fig Tree & Co.
Casing- Cut 9″ x 45″
Body of pillow 28″ x 45″
You choice of small flange, ric rac etc.
In the instructions below I have used the prairie points from above.
prairie-points-pinned-to-casing
 Lay CASING piece right sides up. Pin the points or trim of your choicealong the edge.
With me so far?

prairie-points-pinned1

Lay Pillowcase fabric right side down towards casing fabric.  Lightly roll the pillowcase fabric until you can see the casing fabric below. This will seem odd but it does work.

casing-pinned-to-pillowcase
 Taking the exposed casing fabric and roll it up to the top enclosing the entire pillowcase fabric. Pin  together. Now you may think that you are making fabric sausages, but you’re not. This is also where you have to really trust me.

pillowcase-rolled-in-tube.

SEAM 1: Sew the tube together. I know it seems odd, but this IS where the magic happens.

casing-sewn

Once you have done this step, literally grab a section from inside the tube and start pulling. (Love my great picture?This is where I needed the video.) Keep pulling until you have turned the entre thing right side out.
TIP: You must say TA! DA! as you pull so that the magic happens!

in-a-knot

This is what it looks like when it comes out of the tube. The casing is completely sewn without doing any handwork!

pillowcase-flat

Fold the Pillowcase right sides together.
SEAM 2: Sew down the side and across the bottom.

sides-pinned

You now have a finished pillowcase. Serge or Zig Zag the edges if you choose.

finished-pillowcase

Sleep tight!

My Quilt Updates

The quilt for my new little niece is finished and in the mail. I changed some of my plans on the border. I was inspired by Camille’s quilts with ric rac. I called my friend Gina Halladay and frantically ordered enough ric rac to sew around the border. Love it! I was going to sew it down but someone suggested that a baby would love touching the loose edges. Good idea, stiffy! I chickened out of appliqueing Savannah Lynne Tardy along the border so I had her name quilted along the border.(thanks, Maggi Honeyman) Also there are 2 Aunt Lisa’s in this family, so I am Aunt Izzy. Maggie also quilted “made by Aunt Izzy” in the corner. I can’t let the other aunt Lisa get credit for the quilt. Can I? Emily quilt is in the mail, give Savannah a big hug for me. Bear with me while I talk about myself a little more!

Yes, I was a cover girl on the April issue of McCalls Quilting. (no honey, not the cover of the sports illustrated swimsuit issue!) I just found out that this quilt will also be hanging in Paducah, KY. Wowser! Well, it will be hanging in Hancock’s of Paducah’s store, not in the actual show. I think I could still be able to say I had a quilt at Paducah, right?!

One thing you will not see in the magazine is the back of any of my quilts. Each year I choose a theme for my quilt backs. 2 years ago everything I made had plaids or wovens on the back. Last year was the year of the dots, the bigger the better for my quilt backs. This year is pieced backs. This is my attempt to use my stash, you know make room for new stash while helping the environment and the pocketbook. (or at least that what I tell my husband)

I took a quick picture of the back before I had to SHIP MY QUILT TO PADUCAH.

How time flies? My first post as modalissa was right before I headed of to Quilt Market. At the time, I gave you a preview on my Honeybun TM log cabin quilt. At least twice a year I make a quilt using as many different moda fabric collections as I can. I know this is psycho, but it makes me happy sewing and thinking about each of the designers.

This week I received my copy of McCalls Quilting- June 2009. There on page 40 (same as my age 🙂 is my log cabin quilt. I forgot how much I love this quilt. It is so easy but the way the blocks are sewn makes it look as if there are staggered seams. Basically half the blocks start with a dark center and half start with a light center. Maggi quilted it and really made the quilt sing! This quilt is scrappy and so to get your started on your very own, I am going to give away my extra strips from this project. There I go again, helping the environment and your pocketbook. All you have to do is guess how many pieces are in the quilt.

A couple of clues:

Not how many different fabrics, how many pieces. Simple multiplication- pieces in a block X how many blocks plus corner strips.

Tricky part- I have pieced the back, so this is where you just have to blindly guess. Sorry had to make it interesting.

Okay I admit it, they use a picture of me from when I was 40. Thank you, Beth!

I will draw a winner on April 19th. That way if you go to the show you can see the quilt in person. The AQS show in Paducah is April 21- 26.

I thought I would add a picture of the Prize. I will even throw in the blocks in all stages and the wonderful storage box holding the strips.

Support your favorite quilt magazines, quilt shows and independent quilt stores!

Emily’s baby quilt

It must be that time in my life. Everyone around me is having babies or grand babies. (Don’t get any idea, kids) My niece and nephew, Daniel & Emily Tardy are due to have her first child (we know it is a girl) next week. Their nursery has a light fabric with a wonderful big paisley full of greens and blues. I didn’t have any of the fabric to be able to match a quilt to, yet I trudged on. I love the Denyse Schmidt style of quilts, so I thought I would sew some wacky log cabin or something nice and graphic. Changed my mind mid stream. At market, Quiltsmart had a pattern to make an orange peel and I thought this design would be perfect. Viola!

Easy, easy. easy and fun! With quiltsmart the templates are printed on lightweight fusible interfacing. First cut the interfacing, sew them to the fabric pieces and turn like a pillow. The exposed side of the interfacing is fusible so no or little pinning is required. Iron it in place and sew it down with whatever method you prefer. You can leave the interfacing in or cut it out from the back side of the quilt. Viola! Viola! You may notice the petal shapes above have printed lines across the middle. For my baby quilt I wanted smaller petals than the quiltsmart interfacing featured. I reduced the shape 50% and traced it on to the interfacing. I only used a little bit of the interfacing for this project, so I will have plenty left to also make this quilt full size using scrappy prints.

Normally, you would sew these petals on to squares and then assemble the blocks. I didn’t want all the petals to line up (intentionally or not! ?) so I am appliqueing the petals on the background as a whole piece.
I am going to add the name and date running across the borders as soon as I know. So far,
I have (name goes here) Tardy, Feb (date) 2009 ready to applique as soon as I hear the news. Quilt it and ship it!!
NEWS JUST IN!
Savannah Lynn Tardy has been born. I’ve got to get to work on the borders.

Happy Holidays!

Loose ends!!
One of the odd things about working at Moda is the Christmas holidays. We work on Holiday 2009 while also trying to accomplish Christmas 2008 at home. ( I am sworn to secrecy about Holiday 2009 but it is going to be GREAT!) We took a break from work and went to lunch on Friday.We had our annual ornament exchange. Pictured below are a few of the people in marketing, sampling and new product development. I think Rudolph bit Outlaw in the rear. Guess which one is Outlaw?With that being said I felt like I should follow-up on some loose ends.

Thimbleblossoms drawing.
I am delighted to be working on a quilt for Wendy! She won a drawing on Camille’s blog. Never did I expect to receive such a wonderful surprise in the mail. Camille sent me a selection of her patterns, a stocking full of chocolate and a James Taylor Christmas Cd. I have enjoyed sewing and snacking. the problem is I have also started a couple of her other patterns also. This quilting addiction is crazy! ( thank you, Camille)

Hexagons
I told you that I would post how to do English Paper Pieced hexagons by machine. I use the same technique that Blackbird Designs uses to do all of their applique quilts. Leaving the paper in, butt two of the hexagons together and sew. I use a fine zig zag stitch. The key is to use good quality nylon thread. Not the cheap stuff that is almost like fish line! The stitches almost disappear once the paper is removed. Join hexagons in sets of 2 and repeat. When you line up the next set of two slip the hexagons under the first set. This helps hold them in place as you chain piece. If you are doing the traditional hexagon flower you will have to pay close attention to fabric placement. I am doing a striped border of hexagons so mine are all constructed in rows.

Do not worry about taking out the paper or the basting stitches until you have sewn several of the sides together to hold them in place. Here are several rows sewn together. How long would this take by hand?

Once the rows and or sections are arranged you can continue to join the sections using the same technique. You do not have to have an entire section down to start sewing them together. More can be added section by section.
A section sewn together!
Enjoy, try it and let me know if you have any questions.
I love this artist.

So I will close this posting by singing out load in my home to each of you this Christmas Carol. Have a wonderful Holiday with your friends and family,
Lissa