Rainbow explosion and THE perfect pillow

I just realized I never showed this pillow on my blog.
I made it for the X-Factor Swap more then two months ago when I still had a bit of time. The theme of the round was scrappy squares and I decided that making the pillow out of squares of the same size would be too easy so I cut squares in two sizes.
Bonus: this way it is much more complicated to get the layout right then if all squares were the same size :)
Extra bonus: piecing is a huge pain and there really is no easy way out :)

After all votes were in, I was surprised and sooooo very happy to find out I won first place. Which meant I got the pillow that won second place :)
It came all the way over from the US and was made by Melissa. Thank you again Melissa, it truely is a beautiful pillow!

And while I am at sharing beautiful pillows, this one was custom made for me by Susanne. I'll never know how she could sew a pillow this perfect for me because we have never met in person; but the second I saw it, I knew it was mine! Aqua and orange with white, triangles, clear lines, paperpiecing and a little twist (see those little triangles at the bottom falling out?). It can't get any better!
Thank you Susanne!

I hope you are enjoying the weekend!
I so wish I could have gone to the quilters' meeting in Berlin this weekend but it just wasn't in the cards for me. Girls, I hope you are having fun!

Johanna

Sweet Divinity Diamond Quilt - Repost

This Post was originally published at the Quilted Fish in 2011. In the mean time I made another quilt with the pattern which you can see below.

Just another word on pinning: I have seen people pin the image below but without a link to the tutorial which led to other people repinning and even blogging about it but wondering how they can construct the quilt. So, to be fair to everyone, if you pin, then please include a link, either to this site or the original. Please be fair, not just for me but also for your fellow quilters. Thank you!

Also, if you don't know the original source, you can always do a google image search :)

Sweet Divinity Diamond Quilt

Hi everyone,
Let’s get started right away with a nice and easy diamond baby quilt!

This one measures 33x39 inches / 80x96cm and is perfect for that little cuddly baby you want to keep warm  - but you can also just make it bigger by adding more diamonds to the sides if you prefer.
And don’t be afraid of those diamonds, I show you that you absolutely have nothing to fear, we just have to use a bit more pins then we usually do :)
Supplies:
*Some large scraps of your choice – I used 12” squares from all 21 prints of Sweet Divinity
*White fabric for the sashing – ¾ yard
*Fabric of your choice for backing – 1 yard (or 1 ¼ yard if you plan on using a directional print) and binding –  ½ yard
*Template for the diamonds
*Pins
*Rotary cutter, cutting mat, and ruler
*Iron
*Your sewing machine
*A bit of time
Steps:
1. Prepare your fabrics and press nicely.
2. Create the template for your diamonds: First draw a cross on a sheet of paper. Measure 4 ¾ inches across and 7¾ inches upright and mark the axes of your cross there.

Now, you have to connect those marks to each other and add your seam allowances and you get this:

And if you want your template to be bigger you just add some inches to either side of the cross...
Also, if you don't like constructing your own template, just print out the image up there and either enlarge or shrink it to the size you want.

3. Lay the template on your fabric. If you have enough fabric chose nice areas of the prints like those big flowers of Sweet Divinity. My diamonds are cut on the bias because I wanted to represent the prints as accurately as possible. If you use fabric without directions in their prints then chose to cut your diamonds with the edges on the grain (you can also chain piece them that way!). It will be much easier to piece.

4. Cut out your fabric and make sure that all your seam allowances are correct. I used 35 entire diamonds and 12 half diamonds that were cut horizontally (for the north and south ends of the quilt) and 7 half diamonds that were cut vertically (for the east and west ends of the quilt) . If you have a lot of fabric you can just cut 44 entire diamonds and cut 6 of them in half horizontally and 4 of them in half vertically.

5. Cut your white fabric into sashing strips. Mine are 1” wide. If you use a seam allowance of ¼ “ then your sashing strip should be cut 1 ½ “ wide.

6. Lay out your diamonds and arrange them in an order that you like.

7. Take a picture with your camera so that you won’t forget your order or label little pieces of paper and stick one to each diamond.

8. Take one of your sashing strips and begin to chain piece your diamonds to it. Please make sure that your diamonds don’t shift or lose their shape by either feeding then into your sewing machine with the sashing strips on top or pinning the diamonds to the sashing strips.

9. Remember to leave enough space at the end of each strip because we will make a diagonal cut after each diamond. Repeat until you have either all left or all right, bottom or up sides of the diamonds pieced to sashing strips. If a half diamond doesn’t have that specific side because it is sitting at one of the ends of the quilt just leave it.

10. Take the strips and press the seams to one side. Repeat until all strips and their diamonds are pressed.

11. Now align your ruler to the edge of the diamonds and cut along the diamonds and the attached sashing. You should now have 35 diamonds, 5 horizontally cut in half diamonds, and 4 vertically cut in half diamonds with sashing attached to one side.

12. Lay them out in the order you wanted. You will now have rows that have sashing between them and rows that don’t.

13. Now attach the diamonds that have sashing between them to each other. This step is a little tricky because it involves matching diagonally cut seams but don’t worry, with a bit of precision this is really nothing scary.

14. Take two diamonds that lay next to each other. You can draw a little line with a disappearing marker on the sashing at the exact spot where your seams will meet at one edge. Alternatively, you can stick a pin there or cut a tiny mark with your scissors. Now match that spot to the seam allowance of the diamond next in line. Pin along the sashing using a lot of pins because the diamonds are cut on the bias and are more likely to shift.

 

15. Sew and press your seams to one side.

16. Take another sashing strip and pin it to one of the long sides of the rows you just created. If a sashing strip is not long enough, piece two together. It is important here that you pin a lot. If you cut your diamonds on the bias your rows will want to shift and pinning will prevent this. I usually try to avoid pins whenever possible but it is vital to use them here or you will have to undo your seams because your quilt top will be too wonky to be quilted.

17. Sew and press your seams to one side.

18. Now comes the most difficult step! We now have many rows and each of them has a sashing strip running down one side. They now need to be connected to each other. Take two of your rows (that lay next to each other) and a ruler.

 Align the ruler with the seam of each diamond that runs crosswise to the sashing you have just sewn on. Mark or pin the spot where the ruler and the outer edge of that sashing meet. Let your pin stick out a bit over your fabric edge. You should have at least one mark for each diamond.

 19. Now we match those marks on the sashing of one row to the seams of the diamonds on the next row, pin like crazy (important!) and sew them together.

 20. Repeat with all rows and press your seams to one side. You should now have a wonderful quilt top that you can back, baste, and quilt.

21. If you are like me you would have to learn how to free motion quilt first, but I am sure that straight line quilting would also look fabulous on this one!

22. Enjoy!
And thanks for stopping by!

I made this tutorial, so please don't reproduce, sell or distribute it without my permission. Feel free to pin or share the link with others but please be fair. And please, do share pictures of your quilts made with this tutorial! I would love to see them!

Johanna

Hello (and a mini tutorial)

Long time, no see! Sorry to have been absent for such a long time! I have been to Spain for a few months and trying to make the best out of life in general :) Today I was featured over at Kim's blog and she shows my labels and the Sweet Divinity Diamond Quilt that I made a tutorial for some time ago.

Well, I thought this would be a great opportunity to show you the pillow I have been making for my secret partner in the German swap Swap*pen:

 

It's EPP and actually was quite some work to figure out but the stitching was quite relaxing and didn't take as much time as I (secretly) feared it would. It was quite fun and I would love to give you the template I have been working with. I called it *Royal Bloom* just so that it has a name.
 
 

Just right click on the following picture, print it out (with no special settings), please credit me when you are making one of your own and please only use it for private projects. The size of the printout shouldn't matter, you will always get a consistent and great flower any time.

As for the instructions: Print out the template six times, preferably on sturdier paper, then cut out the shapes along the curvy lines. Use them as a template and cut out fabric (don't forget to add seam allowances!) and then just wrap the fabric around it using one of your favorite hexagon methods. After that you arrange your pieces and just sew them together. It is tricky in the center but it worked fine for me. And then I just appliqued it to the front of my pillow case. 

 

Have fun sewing! Johanna

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Blogger's Quilt Festival - 488

Hello everyone and thank you for visiting!

I have always loved to look at all the entries in the Blogger's Quilt Festival but was always too busy to participate. Well, this time I am busy studying Spanish. And where to better learn a foreign language then in one of the sunniest cities in Spain :) 

  

When I arrived here, we were having winter like weather in Germany and I was delighted to be greeted with blue skies and temperatures that I associate with summer. Fast forward to now: rain that won't stop and that makes me wish I had taken a quilt with me. More precisely, I am wishing for my flannel quilt made with Anna Maria Horners "Folksy Flannel" line. 

  

 I hoarded these fabrics for what feels like forever before finally deciding that it needed to be turned into something because I wanted to look at them more frequently. It took me hours to get settled on that zigzag pattern, mostly because I was looking for a pattern that didn't require too much piecing (because flannel is not very cooperative) but that wasn't too simple. Finally I gave in to the zigzag thingy and cut my fat quarters into smaller brick like shapes.

Because I don't have a design wall, I laid everything on our living room floor which was barely big enough and we all had to tiptoe around it. It took me hours to finally get the layout to work out (I tried to make the patterns match and keep everything as rainbowy as possible), I had just enough fabric to make the quilt and not a single inch more. I even pieced some of those bricks because some of the fqs got distorted after being washed. I remember watching two James Bond films in February while discussing the layout with one of my roommates, who oddly seemed to enjoy our conversation (after all, most boys don't).

Here it is all rolled up and I just love the rainbow it creates. Just like I love all things rainbow.
And doesn't it look so cuddly? I wish it was here with me :)

 I backed it with a flannel panel I had since I ordered the fq stash. You can see that I didn't have enough of Folksy Flannel and I had to add white flannel around it. I used a special high loft cotton batting and quilted some swirls, just a few so it wouldn't take away any of the cuddliness (is that even a word?).

 

This quilt holds a special place in my heart, not just because I love each print and because somehow freemotion quilting seemed to work on it (most of the time I can't get my quilts to cooperate :) yet this one was really wonderful) but also because it reminds me of evenings spent deciding on the layout and discussing it with others which I usually don't do.

Quilt Stats

Finished quilt measures : 1,4m x 1,8m / 55" x 71" 

Special techniques used :none

Quilted by : me!

Best Category :Throw Quilt, ROYGBIV Quilt, Home Machine Quilted Quilt

Please go and check out all the other wonderful quilt entries in the festival, they are simply stunning!

Enjoy the festival!

Johanna

Winner, Bee fabric and Account settings

Thank you to everyone who entered the Dolce giveaway! 

I will hope to do that soon again, I just love giving stuff away!

And the winner is:

who is Junebug. Congratulations! I will email you in a bit to get your address.

In other news, October is my month in the Bee Europa.  I have been busy deciding what to send out and what to request. I really love sewing things for others, most of the time it is something I wouldn't have come up myself and I love the challenge!

This time the challenge was to request something new that hasn't already been done and which I can later give to someone special. I decided to go with paperpieced letters with fabrics from a Kona Cotton bundle that I picked up at Sew Fresh Fabrics on Etsy. I really love this bundle and I think that the recipient will do so, too. Because I want to surprise him/her :) I won't tell you more but I will post pictures as soon as the quilt has been gifted.

So, last but not least, a question for you. I have been told that blogger apparently set back some of my settings on this blog and that word verification was turned on (thank you again for telling me!). So I turned it off and promptly received tons of spam mail. So now I have turned off the anonymous comments but I know that some people like to comment who don't have an account at any blogging. 

Should I turn the verification thingy back on and know that this bothers tons of people? Or should I stay with my setting of not getting anonymous comments? 

Of course I would just prefer to not get spam comments :)

Have a great day!

Johanna

PS: Tomorrow is "Tag der deutschen Einheit" (Germany Reunification Day) which will be celebrated in almost every city here. I can't believe it has already been 22 years! If you want to read more, please go here.

Craft Month

Hi everyone!

It has been craft book month for the past 30 days :) and of course I had to wait until the very last minute to participate. There is something about a looming deadline that lets me get creative.

Let me say that I rarely buy craft books. I own three, one of them Amy Butler's Style Stitches. Now, I know that this is probably one of the books almost everybody has at home and the Cosmos Bag is probably the most made bag. 

But if you want to use faux leather (not quite sure you would call it that, basically it is plastic and sewing with it has the same advantages and challenges that coated fabrics create) you are probably wondering if this bag is even possible to make.

 

The short answer is: yes! I simplified the pattern a bit: no outer side pockets and no clipping the edges on the bottom panel the way it is described in the pattern. You also have to be carefully when sewing with faux leather because every stitch shows and your stitches shouldn't be too narrow because it can tear the fabric apart.

I must also say that this is not an easy pattern to make - contrary to what the description says. Having a lot of experience with sewing patterns comes in handy but if I hadn't had them I doubt I would have tried. Last time I made the pattern, I was shocked to see how huge it turned out so this time I shrank all the pieces to 75%. I think it is the perfect size now!

Because I was afraid that the handles may come undone if I pieced them together, I cut them in one single piece. Now, getting the lining and the outer fabric to match up was quite a challenge but I basically folded the seam allowances to the inside, put the left sides together, put paper clips in place instead of pins and just topstiched through both layers. No turning necessary :)

And here it is on me (yes, with a heart the same color as the bag!). If you made this bag, let me know how you thought it went, I would love to hear it.

Have a great start into the week!

Johanna

Thank you and a giveaway at the end

Thank you everyone for repinning me! I am very grateful that you helped me!

Unfortunately, I didn't make it under the first ten people to fill up their repins, so no fabric for me. I must say that I found it a bit unfortunate about how everything was handled. I do understand that giving away that many bundles is too much for a business but as a shop owner myself I usually limit the things I give away (or I keep an eye on the giveaway to make sure it doesn't bankrupt me).  But I really don't want to restart the discussion here, a lot of people made their point over at the blog post announcing giveaway winners.

Now, onto happier things. This quilt was made with the help of my friends from Bee Germany and uses Dolce from Tanya Wheelan and two solids. It doesn't have any batting, just a back and a front and I simply quilted around the stars. Now I can use it as a table cloth and not just as a summer quilt.

And now onto the giveaway! In order to say thanks to you, I am giving away a small stack of Dolce by Tanja Wheelan. There are a few FQs and some Fat Eights in there as well as some scraps.

I weight it and it makes for 2 yards of fabric. 

 

Just leave a comment over the next three days and I will select a winner on Sunday. I will send it anywhere in the world.

 

 Good luck to everyone!

Johanna