Today's Quilter issue 64

THE NO. 1 QUILTING MAGAZINE WITH GORGEOUS PROJECTS & EXPERT ADVICE JO AVERY chats about the joy of mini quilt swaps ISSUE 64

Bloomin’ BASKETS Make this traditional design with added appliqué detail

TH

E

T SEN I A L G U ES E ID

Sew GHOLJKWIXO

LI

T

BY

CLASSIC CARNATIONS

Sew ‘disappearing’ blocks

S

MAGIC BLOCKS

TAKE A TRIP TO AMSTERDAM WITH THIS CHARMING QUILT

ND

A CL E M

EN

STITCH NICOLA DODD’S PRETTY CUSHION

SHINE BRIGHT PIECE A LONE STAR IN YOUR FAVOURITE FABRICS

1HZ Iè \RX Learn all about studying heritage quilts and the stories behind them. Plus, part 10 of the nautical BOM series

Nicola Dodd

Discover British SDWFKZèNV

SMART, ELEGANT, SOPHISTICATED

The world’s leading sewing machine manufacturer since 1921

janome.co.uk

Meet the team Editor Fiona Lawrence Deputy Editor Laura Pritchard Art Editor Rachel Bullen Production Editor Jessie Doughty Digital Editor Zoe Williams Features Editor Anne Williams Technical Consultant Lin Clements Contributing Editor Jane Rae

Contributors Jo Avery • Nicola Dodd • Janet Clare • Jenni Smith • Lin Clements • Sharon Keightley • Tina Prior • Lee Enever Photography Immediate Media unless otherwise stated.

Write to us Today’s Quilter, Immediate Media, Eagle House, Colston Avenue, Bristol, BS1 4ST or email: todaysquilter@immediate.co.uk

ADVERTISING Call: 0117 300 8206 Senior Advertising Manager Penny Stokes Client Partnership Manager Beckie Pring Senior Sales Executive Tiffany Jackson

MARKETING AND CIRCULATION Newstrade Marketing Manager Janine Smith Export Marketing Manager Rebecca Richer Direct Marketing Manager Penny Clapp

PRODUCTION Production Coordinator Ian Wardle Production Manager Rose Griffiths/Louisa Molter Production Director Sarah Powell

LICENSING Director of International Licensing & Syndication Tim Hudson

PUBLISHING Publishing Director Liz Taylor liz.taylor@immediate.co.uk Managing Director (Craft) Kerry Lawrence Managing Director (Bristol) Andy Marshall Chief Executive Officer Tom Bureau Printed and bound by William Gibbons Distributed in the UK by Frontline

WELCOME! As lockdown starts to ease, we are all venturing out a bit further, meeting up with family and friends we haven’t been able to see for months – in their back gardens of course! Nature and the great outdoors have become the main attraction again, and I am loving hearing the birds sing on my walks, seeing all the plants blossoming and generally appreciating the small things I never seemed to notice before – the flock of small brown birds near my house make the most lovely chirping sound when you walk past the hedgerow where they live. And with this in mind, the projects in this issue reflect this new appreciation for natural beauties. Our cover star, a classic Basket block with added appliqué, combines traditional design with flowers perfectly. Nicola Dodd’s carnation cushion is a delightful take on this pretty flower and is sure to brighten up your home, even on these rainy days we get here in the UK. New designer to Today’s Quilter, Jenni Smith, has taken Liberty fabric, which features iconic floral patterns loved by so many, and created a stunning Lone Star quilt. Shining bright in an array of gorgeous colours, you’ll definitely be having sweet dreams sleeping under this beauty.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your support over this difficult time. Each subscription bought, or magazine purchased at the shop has helped us get though the difficult period. You really are the driving force behind our magazine, so I do hope you enjoy this issue!

BUYING

Fiona Lawrence Editor

Paul Torre • Karen Flannigan • Jennifer Morgan

SUBSCRIPTIONS Call 03330 162 154+ For any queries visit www.buysubscriptions.com/contactus Order today www.buysubscriptions.com

PS: We love to hear from you - keep in touch online, by email or by post.

Todaysquilter

Lines open 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. Call from landlines will cost up to 9p per minute. Call charges from mobile phones will cost between 3p and 55p per minute but are included in free call packages.

Immediate Media Company Bristol Limited (company number 05715415) is registered in England and Wales. The registered office of Immediate Media Company Bristol Limited is at Vineyard House, 44 Brook Green, London W6 7BT. All information contained in this magazine is for information only and is, as far as we are aware, correct at the time of going to press. Immediate Media Company Bristol Limited cannot accept any responsibility for errors or inaccuracies in such information. Readers are advised to contact manufacturers and retailers directly with regard to the price of products/services referred to in this magazine. If you submit unsolicited material to us, you automatically grant Immediate Media Company Bristol Limited a licence to publish your submission in whole or in part in all editions of the magazine, including licensed editions worldwide and in any physical or digital format throughout the world. Any material you submit is sent at your risk. Although every care is taken, neither Immediate Media Company Bristol Limited nor its employees agents or subcontractors shall be liable for loss or damage.

Immediate Media Company Limited is working to ensure that all of its paper is sourced from well-managed forests. This magazine can be recycled, for use in newspapers and packaging. Please remove any gifts, samples or wrapping and dispose of it at your local collection point.

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

Todaysquilter

Todaysquilter

Todaysquilter

www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

In this issue, we’re delighted to feature…

Sharon Keightley

Jenni Smith

Nicola Dodd

BOLD & BEAUTIFUL

SHINE BRIGHT

TRAVELS IN STITCH

Red and white quilts have always been a popular choice to make an impact. Find Sharon’s take on this idea on page 20.

Lone Star designs are sure to impress, and this one is no different. Find Jenni’s version of it on page 34, choose some fabrics and get sewing.

Although we can’t quite take a holiday yet, why not visit the charming city of Amsterdam with Nicola’s design on page 49.

3

49

20

Be inspired by the beautiful city of Amsterdam in this refreshing pictorial quilt

Put your appliqué skills to the test with Sharon’s spectacular floral quilt

HAPPENING NOW

58 TEXTILE HISTORY Kate Smith’s best quilt research tips and her journey in studying quilts

07 INSPIRED BY… Sunny, sewing days

15 FRESH PICKS

90 TRAVELLING QUILTER Jane Rae doses up on some colour therapy as she explores her fabric stash at home!

GREAT READS

WORKSHOPS

31 CREATIVE CORNER WITH JO AVERY Jo chats about her love of mini quilts and the many joys they bring

63 ESSENTIAL GUIDE Learn all about sewing disappearing blocks in your quilts under Lin Clements’ expert guidance

44 BRITISH PATCHWORK Anne Williams takes a trip through the history of British heritage patchworks

79 BLOCK OF THE MONTH Complete Janet Clare’s tenth instalment of her Spoondrift series

14 SHOW AND TELL

DON’T MISS AN ISSUE! Make sure you receive every issue of Today’s Quilter – delivered direct to your home address.

Turn to page 28 for great subscription offers.

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/TODAYSQUILTER

4

WWW.TWITTER.COM/TODAYSQUILTER

WWW.INSTAGRAM.COM/TODAYSQUILTER

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

TH

79

63 ND

A CL E M

T

LI

S

MAGIC BLOCKS BY

34

T SEN I A L G U ES

E ID

Nicola’s floral urn cushion is sure to make a satisfying weekend project!

E

71

EN

Luscious Liberty fabrics are the shining star of Jenni’s latest project

15

T This issue’s Block of the Month

Fresh picks: All the latest quilting news

58

Today’s Quilter – August 2020 (ISSN 20593230) (USPS 020-750) is published 13 times a year (monthly, with Christmas issue in November) by Immediate Media Company Bristol Ltd., Eagle House, Colston Avenue, Bristol, BS1 4ST, United Kingdom. Distributed in the U.S. by NPS Media Group, 2 Corporate Dr., Suite 945, Shelton, CT 06484. Periodical Postage paid at Shelton, CT and additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address change to Immediate Media, 2900 Veterans Highway, Bristol, PA 19007, USA

MEASUREMENTS NOTE Either metric or imperial measurements (sometimes both) are included in each project, as per the designer’s preference. Converting measurements could interfere with cutting accuracy. Follow the same units of measurement throughout; do not mix metric and imperial. Read the instructions all the way through before cutting any fabric. Always make a test block before embarking on a large project.

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

Find out more about quilt research with Kate Smith

PROJECTS

PLUS

20 GARDEN OF ROSES Gracing our cover this issue is Sharon Keightley’s enchanting project in a traditional red and white colourway

03 WELCOME Fiona chats about what’s in this issue

34 LIBERTY LONE STAR Put your strip piecing skills to use and show off a favourite fabric collection with Jenni Smith’s stellar quilt 49 TULIPS OF AMSTERDAM Take a trip to the streets and canals of this beautiful city with Nicola Dodd’s charming pictorial quilt 71 COSY CARNATIONS Stitch a sweet cushion inspired by Baltimore Album quilts in a rosy palette

WWW.PINTEREST.COM/TODAYSQUILTER

12 YOUR GIFT A special supplement of individual blocks from some of our favourite designers!

28 SUBSCRIPTION OFFERS Try our free trial of our digital subscription!

84 DIRECTORY Quilting suppliers at your fingertips 85 TEMPLATES For the projects 91 NEXT MONTH A sneak preview of issue 65 WWW.GATHERED.HOW/TODAYSQUILTER

5

INSPIRED BY… Sunny sewing days

Take your sewing outside with hand appliqué and piecing!

THE PROJECT

HAPPY BIRDS To buy the Happy Birds, Pattern Booklet ( $25AU) Happy Birds Fabric Large Starter Kit ($150AU) or Happy Birds Fabric Small Starter Kit ($80AU), visit www.amitie.com.au

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

We love this colourful design by Jen Kingwell, featuring birds and plants. Jen says, “This was such a fun quilt to make. The centre appliqué block and style of border invites the maker to add their own special and unique alterations, with embellishments and personal touches encouraged! A mixture of hand appliqué and hand piecing in a medallion style quilt, I hope you enjoy making ‘Happy Birds’ as much as I and many others have.”

7

I N S P I R E D BY l

su n ny se w i ng d ays

Mix pink and reds to create the prettiest of colour combinations

SWEET SIXTEEN Sweet Sixteen is available from July.

View the full collection at www.makoweruk. com

8

New from Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts fame, Sweet Sixteen is a pretty collection of floral designs and coordinating prints featuring bouquets, ferns, stars and pinwheels in her signature reds, creams and soft pinks. Combine with her other collection, Perfect Union, which features similar prints but in shades of blue and cream, for added drama. To see all of her collections, plus buy patterns, kits and notions, visit www.laundrybasketquilts.com.

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

Images Š Laundry Basket Quilts

TH E FA B R I C

SUMMER INTRODUCTORY OFFER Craft

3 ISSUES FOR £5 3 ISSUES FOR £5 3 ISSUES FOR £5

3 ISSUES FOR £5

3 ISSUES FOR £5

Homes and Gardening

Food

3 ISSUES FOR £5 3 ISSUES FOR £5

3 ISSUES FOR £5

3 ISSUES FOR £5 3 ISSUES FOR £5 3 ISSUES FOR £5

Lifestyle

3 ISSUES FOR £5

3 ISSUES FOR £5

6 ISSUES FOR £1

3 ISSUES FOR £5 3 ISSUES FOR £5

History

3 ISSUES FOR £5 3 ISSUES FOR £5

SAVINGS Try a subscription for just £5* Sport

Science and Nature

3 ISSUES FOR £5 3 ISSUES FOR £5 3 ISSUES FOR £5

3 ISSUES FOR £5

3 ISSUES FOR £5

3 ISSUES FOR £5

Take advantage of our great trial offers and subscribe to your favourite magazine today. Or why not try a new one?

GREAT REASONS TO SUBSCRIBE:

Subscriptions for just £5* Save up to 35% after your trial period Enjoy easy and convenient delivery direct to your door Never miss an issue Perfect summer reading

YOUR TWO EASY WAYS TO ORDER: Order online at

buysubscriptions.com/SS20DPS or call our hotline: 0330 053 8660†

OFFER CODE SS20DPS

*This offer closes on 31st August 2020 and is valid for UK delivery addresses and by direct debit only. The discounts shown are savings calculated as a percentage of the full shop price, excluding Radio Times and Match of the Day which are calculated as a percentage of the basic annual rate. For overseas rates visit www.buysubscriptions.com. Should the magazine ordered change in frequency; we will honour the number of issues and not the term of the subscription. You are free to cancel your subscription at any time – if you cancel within 2 weeks of receiving your penultimate issue you will pay no more than the trial rate, this is with the exception of Radio Times and Match of the Day, which you will need to cancel 3 weeks before the trial is due to end. Radio Times and Match of the Day are published weekly. The Basic Annual UK Subscription rate for Radio Times is £193. This price is for one year and includes the Christmas double issue and a contribution towards postage. The Basic Annual Rate for Match of the Day is £117 for one year. These rates are correct at time of printing. We run trial offers throughout the year to give our customers an opportunity to try a new title before committing to a long term subscription. These are introductory offers and we reserve the right to reject or cancel any application for a trial subscription offer if the customer has previously purchased a trial offer for the same magazine or any other magazine in the Immediate Media portfolio. For a full list of our titles visit buysubscriptions.com/portfolio. †UK calls will cost the same as other standard fixed line numbers (starting 01 or 02) and are included as part of any inclusive or free minutes allowances (if offered by your phone tariff ). Outside of free call packages call charges from mobile phones will cost between 3p and 55p per minute. Lines are open Mon to Fri 9am – 5pm.

SEE OUR FULL RANGE OF MAGAZINES ONLINE

Your cover gift

BLOCK INSPIRATION SUPPLEMENT A collection of gorgeous blocks by top designers, featuring techniques and tips, for you to make today!

B

lock designs, whether they are small or large, simple or complicated, are literally the building blocks of quilts... pun intended! There are so many variations out there, ranging from beginner level to advanced, featuring techniques and skills that need some practice to master. But no matter which block you decide to make, if you love the design, you will enjoy the cutting and sewing of it, and hopefully produce a product you’ll be proud of.

So, we gathered some of the top designers around, many regular contributors for Today’s Quilter, and asked them to create blocks that are sure to inspire. And they did not disappoint. From Lynne Edwards and Carolyn Forster to Judi Mendelssohn and Jo Avery to name a

few, the pages of this supplement are filled with designs that will build your skills and have you heading to your fabric stash to find the perfect print to make each one.

Although each block is designed to stand alone, all of them are the same finished size, so if you like more than one, choose a colourway or fabric collection that will work, and mix and match to your hearts content.

LET US KNOW! Drop us a line – an email, letter, tweet or Facebook post – letting us know about your quilting. Whether it’s a new project, treasured heirloom, favourite fabric or imaginative mood board, we’d love to see what you’ve been up to and hear your stories!

WRITE TO US Today’s Quilter, Immediate Media, Eagle House, Colston Avenue, Bristol, BS1 4ST. EMAIL: todaysquilter@immediate.co.uk

Todaysquilter

12

Todaysquilter

Todaysquilter

Todaysquilter

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

Join in and be part of our community

SHOW & TELL The only thing better than putting the finishing touches to your latest quilt is showing it off! So let’s see what you’ve been up to this month…

WRITE TO US Today’s Quilter, Immediate Media, Eagle House, Colston Avenue, Bristol, BS1 4ST EMAIL: todaysquilter@ immediate.co.uk

A day on the water

Beautiful bluebirds I bought my first issue of Todays Quilter magazine in September last year (issue 53) and completely fell in love with Janet Clare’s Swooping Swallows quilt. I had never made a quilt before, but after making a Jelly Roll and block quilt, I decided I was brave enough to give this a go. I just loved every stage in the process, and I think I’m definitely an expert at HSTs now.

Denise, via email Wow, Denise! We are amazed that this is your second quilt. We love your colour palette of serene blues – it really brings out the quilts’ design.

Here is my project based on Jo Avery’s Harbour Houses project from issue 49, incorporating some fabric that I had dyed indigo. The boat template came from Janet Clare’s first Spoondrift block. A281 was the registration number of my father’s dinghy. Thank you for an inspiring magazine.

Kay, Lowestoft We love your little embroidered addition Kay. It adds a really personal touch.

Colourful cabins I’m really pleased with how this quilt turned out – it’s Carolyn Forster’s Sublime Scraps cover project from issue 61. I started off with a Moda Honey Bun and used up lots of scraps from my stash. I’ve been quilting for about 18 months and this is my first attempt at the Quilt as You Go method and absolutely loved it – so satisfying. The addition of some hand quilting makes it a great mix between modern and traditional. Tempted to do another!

Carol, via email All your scraps work in perfect harmony in your quilt, Carol. We’re sure Carolyn, the queen of the Quilt as You Go method herself, would give it her seal of approval!

Todaysquilter

14

Todaysquilter

Todaysquilter

Blocks galore Some months ago, Jane Rae kindly wrote about my patchwork life on the back page of the magazine. As a follow up, I thought you may like to see my ‘Lockdown’ quilt, made up of some of the samples I made for my classes through my 25 years of teaching. I have been lucky enough lately to have the time to play with the blocks, which bring many happy memories.

Jeanne, Torquay Stunning work, Jeanne!

Todaysquilter

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

$ç ëH ODWHVW TXLOWLQJ QHZV

FRESH PICKS Make a fabric postcard, a care pod or a cushion inspired by QGBI… it’s all in the making!

4

1 2

CLASSIC COLLECTION

PATTERN BOX Taking inspiration from their extensive collection, don’t miss The Quilters’ Guild’s beautiful collection of exclusive patterns celebrating our quilting heritage.

Guest designers, Jo Avery, Sandie Lush, Carolyn Forster and Sarah Hibbert, have delved into the archive to find patterns that piqued their creative interest, creating their own interpretations of these classic designs in a range of patterns for cushions.

“Each pattern introduces a different skill or technique as a way to develop and broaden your quilting knowledge, while offering a chance to challenge yourself – without biting off more than you can chew,” said Brand Manager, Catherine Candlin.

Each cushion is 16in square and available to buy as downloadable PDF. www.quiltersguildshop.org.uk

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

Basket of Blooms Appliqué Cushion by Jo Avery, inspired by a Naïve Appliqué Top 1830-1840 (inset)

3

Crazy Quit Cushion by Carolyn Forster, inspired by a Canadian Red Cross Quilt – 1940 (inset)

5

1

Basket of Blooms Appliqué Cushion

by Jo Avery £8

4

Log Cabin Cushion by Sarah Hibbert £8

2

Durham Wholecloth Cushion by Sandie Lush £8

5

Crazy Log Cabin by Carolyn Forster £8

3

Jessie Edwards Welsh Wholecloth Cushion by Sandie Lush £8

15

FRESH PICKS l

q u i l t i ng n e ws

CITY BREAK

ECO-FRIENDLY We love this organic fabric designed by Heather Moore aka Skinny laMinx for Cloud9 Fabrics. Heather was inspired by an “early afternoon scene in Lisbon, as women passing through the square scatter pigeons under the summer sun”.

This beautiful, fresh Courtyard Quilt pattern, by Michelle Engel Bencsko, is free to download from their website.

www.cloud9fabrics.com

CLOVE R STITCH G U I D E

Perfect Alignment Clover’s Sliding Stitch Guide Foot will keep you on the straight and narrow with complete accuracy as you parallelline straight stitch or matchstick quilt your projects. The guide can be set to a measurement as far apart as 7.6cm and is a great substitute for having to mark your quilt. It’s designed to fit most low shank sewing machines but is not compatible with all machines, so please do some research before you buy!

Clover Sliding Stitch Guide Foot £22

www.clover-mfg.com clover@stockistenquiries.co.uk

BEE HAPPY “Chic heels and shades feature in Lisbon Square”

Sweet summer fabric

This range of ironing accessories is ideal for quilters on the move, those working in small spaces or when you need to set up a sewing station close to your machine.

There’s a buzz in the air about the new collection from Michael Miller.

Honeycombs and hexagons provide fantastic geometric shapes for this new collection. In classic yellow, black and white with a little blue sky thrown into the mix, Queen Bee mixes hand sketched daisies, small printed panels and ‘bee’ themed text with some fascinating facts about these endearing warm weather visitors. As the fabric says… “Keep Calm and Buzz On”!

groves@stockistenquiries.co.uk

www.eqsuk.com

E A SY ACCE SS

Sew Easy Ironing Accessories

� Steam

Iron with fold-down handle 18 cm x 9 cm £28.99 � Quilted

Ironing Mat 60cm x 55cm £14.00 � Mini

Pressing Board with anti-skid feet 9 cm x 23cm x 10cm £7.90

16

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

FRESH PICKS l

q u i l t i ng n e ws

S M A L L B U T P E R F E C T LY F O R M E D

HAPPY MAIL Our inbox has been busy this month – in the space of 24hrs, we heard from quilters in different parts of the country who have been using their time indoors to develop two exciting projects that are guaranteed to brighten up someone’s day. Thanks to Sarah Sparkes and The Crafty Nomad, you can send a little ‘quilty’ love through the mail to friends and family with a themed postcard. Great minds think alike!

Rainbow Connection Jo, The Crafty Nomad, has been using her time in lockdown to create these gorgeous card sets with fun messages that combine her love of rainbows, sewing and modern design. Wouldn’t you love to send or receive one of these fun cards! Visit Jo’s website to place your order.

Create Every Day Rainbow Greeting Card (£2) and Rainbow Gift Wrap & Card (£2.50) Sewing Themed Postcards (pack of 6) £7.50 Squishy Virtual Hug Postcards £2.95 www.thecraftynomad.co.uk

Fabric postcards Sarah’s new book, Quilted Postcards – Little Quilts of Creativity, is the culmination of many happy hours spent making fabrics postcards, careful thought and research into how best to create a project book built up over years of teaching and patchwork and quilting, and lots of input from her family.

“It’s a fulfilment of a dream I have long had to publish a book. It is also a family project, I am the designer and maker; Tony, my husband, did all the photography, formatting, editing and publishing; and Laura, our daughter, deals with making what I write understandable,” said Sarah.

Quilted Postcards – Little Quilts of Creativity has 16 basic designs for the Quilted Postcards and a number of variations for each one (nearly 50 in total), with step by step instructions, lots of photos and hints and tips to make it as easy to make them. You can order your copy from Amazon or through the link from Sarah’s website. £19.99

www.tortoisecrafts.co.uk/quilted-postcards

LIGHT IN THE FOREST

Nature’s palette Sue Penn’s distinctive collection for FreeSpirit Fabrics combines beautiful painted trees against a backdrop of leaves and a multitude of stencilled shapes.

These swirling motifs evoke all the magic of the forest, rich with colour and texture throughout the seasons. “I love creating them because they are so full of life to me…

It will be wonderful to see what quilters will create from this collection,” said Sue. www.freespiritfabrics.com

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

17

FRESH PICKS l

q u i l t i ng n e ws

NEW FROM RILEY BLAKE

SHADES OF SUMMER Step into a summer of blue skies, soft grass and plenty of sunshine. This new range designed by Heather Peterson for Riley Blake is bursting with colour; all that’s needed is a patchwork quilt for the perfect summer outing. There’s even a clever faux patchwork design that could be incorporated into your overall pieced design or used to create a quick, pieced backing. www.eqsuk.com

E C O F R I E N D LY

Recycled Threads Packs Did you know that 1000m of Sew-all rPET thread can be created from just one recycled plastic bottle? Gütermann Recycled Thread Multipacks are 100% recycled, including the packaging, and are suitable for lots of machine and hand-stitching applications including quilting, decorative stitching, dressmaking and soft furnishings.

These new handy multipacks of 10 threads are available in three colourways 10 x 100m reels £15.95

Also available as a 20 thread set 20 x 100m £29.95

The Sew-all rPET range is available in 166 different colours (100m reels) and the Top Stitch rPET is available in 20 shades x 30m reels. Priced at £1.95 per reel. gütermann@stockistenquiries.co.uk

18

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

FRESH PICKS l

q u i l t i ng n e ws

S TAY C O N N E C T E D

Quilters Take a Moment Quilt lovers from all over the world are invited to gather for ‘Quilters Take a Moment’, which is taking place from 25th-26th September. This virtual event is replacing the Quilt Alliance’s Quilters Take Manhattan event, also planned for September.

Highlights from this year’s programme include poetry from Gwen Westerman – poet, quiltmaker and Quilt Alliance board member; a presentation by Anna Maria Horner discussing ‘The Lifespan of a Quilt’, including a close look at one of her quilts from inspiration to label; and an interview with Dindga McCannon for Quilters Save Our Stories, conducted

by Dr Carolyn L. Mazloomi, founder of the Women of Color Quilters’ Network and Alliance board member.

Dindga started working as an artist in the 1960s, and her work is a fusion of traditional needlework and fine art mixed media techniques. There’s also a live discussion panel and a virtual gallery talk. We hope you can tune in wherever you are. www.quiltalliance.org/events/qtm $45 members or $65 non members

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

DOORSTEP CARE PODS

SEWING MATTERS This clever and thoughtful pattern for a Doorstep Care Pod didn’t escape our notice when Diane at Spencer Ogg shared the free pattern on YouTube and through her website. Designed as a pod that can be filled with essential items and left on a neighbour’s doorstep (with a protective flap to shield from the rain), it’s both practical and stylish. Diane’s also created a volunteer pack that’s just the right size to store a facemask, hand sanitizer and wipes… all that you need to carry to stay safe.

Her ‘how to’ videos are easy to follow and both projects can be achieved in just a few hours. The Care Pods pattern is easily adaptable so you can create lots of sizes to suit all of your storage/delivery needs.

If you get hooked on Diane’s friendly and accessible style with lots of tips for professional bag making finishes, why not browse her complete range of patterns. Her bestsellers are all available as PDF downloads.

Worsley Wallet £5.99 Packing Pods £7.50 Harris Tote £5.99 www.spencerogg.com www.youtube.com/c/spencerogg

19

APPLIQUÉ PROJECT

GARDEN OF ROSES Hone your appliqué skills in this contrasting crimson-toned beauty that encapsulates the elegance of the English red rose.

Designed and made by SHARON KEIGHTLEY

20

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

21

APPLIQUÉ PROJECT

GARDEN OF ROSES You will need Q Light floral print – 1 yds Q Light print fabric – 2 yds Q Solid red fabric – 2 yds Q Selection of red print fabrics for appliqué – 1 yds in total Q Backing – 76in square Q Batting – 76in square Q Binding fabric – yd Q in Bias tape maker (optional) Q Freezer paper (optional) Q Appliqué pattern – see Templates section

Cutting out

1

From the light floral print fabric, cut as follows: Q Eight (8) 8 in squares cut diagonally once to get sixteen (16) triangles.

Q Twenty-four (24) 4 in x 12 in rectangles.

Q Nine (9) 4 in squares.

2

From the light print fabric, cut as follows: Q Thirty-two (32) 2 in x 8 in rectangles.

Q Sixteen (16) 2 in squares.

Q Two-hundred-and-thirty-two (232) 3in squares cut diagonally once to get four-hundred-andsixty-four (464) triangles.

Q Eight (8) 4 in squares cut diagonally once to get sixteen (16) triangles.

Q Four (4) 2 in squares cut diagonally once to get eight (8) triangles.

Q Twelve (12) 1 in squares.

Q Sixteen (16) 2 in x 1 in rectangles.

BEHIND THE QUILT

BLOOMING BUDS “We all know and love traditional red and white quilts, made with two solid fabrics, for their strong visual impact. When thinking about the design for this red and white quilt, my love of using a blend of many fabrics in a single quilt naturally created a bit of a dilemma. My solution was to use only solid red fabric for the basket blocks and then to use a mixture of differently printed fabrics of the same colour tone for the appliqué and background.

I feel by using a selection of different fabrics it subtly softens the look while still retaining an impact. For me, it also makes the quilt more fun to work on as I get to play with more fabrics! I hope this helps you decide on how you are going to choose your fabrics for this quilt.” – Sharon Keightley

22

3

From the solid red fabric, cut as follows: Q Forty-eight (48) 2 in squares cut diagonally once to get ninety-six (96) triangles.

Q Two-hundred-and-thirty-two (232) 3in squares cut diagonally once to get four-hundred-andsixty-four (464) triangles.

Q Four (4) 1 in squares cut diagonally once to get eight (8) triangles.

Q Sixteen (16) 1 in squares.

Q Twenty-four (24) stems by cutting in x 13in on straight of the grain.

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

Finished size Q 68in square

Notes Q All seams are in.

Q Appliqué stems are made with in bias stem maker.

Q Finished Large Basket blocks are 12in square.

Q Finished Small Basket blocks are 4in square.

Q HST = half square triangle.

4

From a selection of red solid and print fabrics, cut as follows: Q One-hundred-and-ninety-two (192) leaves cut using the appliqué template.

Q Seventy-two (72) circles cut using the appliqué template.

Q Nine (9) flowers cut using the appliqué template. Note there are three parts to each flower.

Making the Large Basket blocks

5

For each block, pair fourteen (14) light print fabric triangles cut from 3in squares with a selection of fourteen (14) red solid fabric triangles. With right sides together, stitch together along the long edge with a in seam allowance. Press seams open and trim HST units to measure 2 in (Fig 1). Repeat to make two-hundred-and-twentyfour (224) HST units for the large basket blocks.

Q Fourteen (14) HSTs from step 5.

Q Two (2) 2 in x 8 in light print rectangles.

Q Six (6) triangles cut from 2 in red squares.

Q One (1) triangle cut from 4 in light print square.

Q One (1) triangle cut from 8 in light floral square.

9

Sew the remaining pieces for the basket block together as shown in Fig 4. Make sure the remaining red print triangles are facing in the correct direction. Make sixteen (16) basket blocks.

2 in sq.

8 ⁄ in triangle

Fig 4 4 ⁄ in triangle

8 in x 2 in

2 ⁄ in triangle

Fig 2

8

Sew the basket centre together as shown in Fig 3, using HST units and red print triangles.

Fig 1

Making the Small Basket Blocks

10

Take two (2) 1 in squares of each the red print fabric and light print fabric, and sew together in pairs, pressing towards the red print fabric. Alternate colour and sew together to form a four-patch unit (Fig 5). Make four (4).

6

Repeat step 5 to make twohundred-and-forty (240) HST units in total for the outside border.

Set aside for later.

7

Take the following pieces for one block. Lay out all basket block pieces in the order shown in Fig 2.

This will help keep all your pieces in the correct sewing order: Q One (1) 2 in light print square.

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

Fig 5

11 Fig 3

Draw a line from corner to corner on the back of eight (8) red fabric 1 in squares. Place one (1) red square onto one side of 23

P R OJ E C T l

ga rd e n of r ose s

Preparing appliqué shapes with freezer paper TECHNICAL TIP There are a lot of HSTs in this quilt so you may prefer to use a two-, four- or eight-at-a-time method. Just make sure you check the maths so that your HSTs will finish at 2in square (2 in unfinished).

a light 1 in x 2 in rectangle with RST, and stitch just outside of the drawn line (only a stitch width).

The stitching line is marked with a dashed line, as shown in Fig 6. Trim away excess to in seam. Repeat with the other side to complete a small Flying Geese unit (Fig 7).

Make eight (8) units.

1

Using the appliqué pattern (see Templates section) trace appliqué shapes onto freezer paper and cut out each shape. Remember to reverse shapes that require it.

2

Place the freezer paper template shiny side up onto the wrong side of your chosen fabrics and cut out with a in seam allowance around the template.

3

Turn the seam allowance over the template, using an awl or a pointed tool. Press in place with

4

Baste appliqué shapes to your background fabric, using an overlay or light box.

5 6

Stitch in place either by machine or by hand.

Remove your freezer paper templates through a slit in the back to finish.

Adding appliqué

1 in sq.

13

1 in x 2 in 1 ⁄ in triangle

Fig 6

an iron. The fabric will adhere to the freezer paper.

2 ⁄ in triangle

Prepare appliqué shapes for sashing strips and cornerstones using the appliqué method of your choice, or refer to the freezer paper appliqué instructions above. Bias stems can be made with a in bias maker, bias bars or your own preferred method.

Fig 7 Fig 8

12

Lay out the four-patch unit with two (2) Flying Geese, one (1) 1 in light square, two (2) 1 in x 2 in light rectangles, two (2) 1 in red triangles and one (1) 2 in light triangle (Fig 8). This helps keep all your pieces in the correct sewing order. Sew the basket centre together as shown in Fig 9.

14

The appliqué flowers have three (3) parts. Stitch in order, starting with the largest shape, onto the nine (9) light floral print 4 in squares (Fig 10) to make the cornerstones.

Fig 9

Fig 10

15

Prepare seventy-two (72) circles, one-hundred-andninety-two (192) leaves and twentyfour (24) 13in x in bias stems and stitch them onto the twenty-four (24) 4 in x 12 in light floral print rectangles, starting with the bias stems (Fig 11).

Fig 11

24

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

P R OJ E C T l

ga rd e n of r ose s

Assembling the quilt top

16

Sew the blocks, appliquĂŠd sashing pieces and cornerstones together to create the centre of the quilt, using Fig 12 to guide you.

17

Sew the HST units set aside in step 6 together into pairs, as shown in Fig 13. Half with the red sides together and half with the light sides together.

18

Sew together fifteen (15) of each of these units into a border strip, as shown in Fig 14.

Make four (4) zig-zag border strips.

19 20

Sew two (2) borders to each side of quilt top.

Sew two (2) small Basket blocks to each end of the two remaining borders. Sew these borders to the top and bottom of quilt top to finish (Fig 15).

Fig 14

Fig 12

Fig 13

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

Fig 15

25

P R OJ E C T l

ga rd e n of r ose s

Meet the designer Sharon Keightley is a self-confessed lover of vintage and reproduction fabrics, and her favourite thing to do is appliqué, mixed with piecing. Sharon loves experimenting with unique fabric styles and adding her own historic vision into her design work. She runs classes teaching the various methods she uses to create her appliqué and paper piecing projects. She shares her designs and many tips on her website, Sharon Keightley Quilts. www.sharonkeightleyquilts.com

26

Will you follow Sharon’s rich colourway or replace the red in this quilt with your favourite colour?

@sharonkeightleyquilts

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

yarn

fabric

needles & hooks

haberdashery

buttons

ribbons

Get

10%

OFF EVER

Y

ING! * Discount TH code:

es in st ock!

A ll 310 sh ad

TQ64

£1.99

er per fat quart

£3.24 per fat quarter

ids

Moda : Bella Sol

Dashwood: Celeste

love fabrics? you’ll love our fabric boxes! delicious curated collections in stash-building small cuts

nds!

We’re proud to stock all these leading bra

All 369 shades in stock!

£2.44 per fat quarter

£3.49 per fat quarter

Robert Kaufman: Kona Solids

lModa: FeareuncPhaGpienllonera Le B

£3.19

per fat qu arter

F R E E URKY DELIVE on orde2rs5 over £

www.bramblepatchonline.com West Street, Weedon, Northamptonshire, NN7 4QU � 01327 342212

Morris and Co

: Mineral

www.woolwarehouse.co.uk ww h use co.uk 01926 8828 18 or 0800 505 3300 | hello@woolwarehouse.co.uk k No minimum order. £2.95 delivery charge for UK orders under £25. * Discount code not valid on sale items.

SUBSCRIBE

Save time and hassle with an annual Free subscription! trial Start your

today!

GREAT REASONS TO SUBSCRIBE DIGITALLY! 1 The latest issue is available instantly 2 Receive a further 13 issues in your first year 3 All issues download automatically 4 Download it once… read it offline forever

iPad is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.

Perfect for your iPad or iPhone!

START YOUR FREE TRIAL TODAY! The digital version of the magazine does not always include the cover gift that you would find on print newsstand copies.

THANK YOU

To donate to the NHS please go to: nhscharitiestogether.co.uk

C R E AT I V E CO R N E R l

m i n i q u ilt s

Jo Avery's

CREATIVE CORNER MINI QUILTS

M

y love of mini quilts began when I started swapping them with others. When I first started my blog over a decade ago, the online quilting action happened through the photo hosting site Flickr. This was being cleverly subverted by groups of crafters who used it to organise all sorts of swapping activity, which involved sending handmade items around the globe. The most desirable of these was the Doll Quilt Swap (DQS), but before you could join, you had to prove yourself as a model swapper in one of the lesser groups. This was to make sure you knew how the rules of swaps worked and could prove your trustworthiness, quilting ability and participation level. Therefore, my first swap foray was as part of the Mini Quilt Swap, where I made a bit of a splash with my tiny patchwork pennant ‘Tudor Vine’. The theme was black and white with one other colour and not square or rectangular in shape. I was inspired by the architecture of the Yorkshire town of Knaresborough to create this embellished mini, which now strikes me as an incredibly niche subject! This proved enough to gain me entrance

My first m ini quilt w as made so any decen long ago t photos...

I don’t ha so a draw ve ing will ha ve to do

to the next round of the DQS, and my mini quilt addiction began in earnest.

The Doll Quilt Swap was a secret swap, volunteer Swap Mamas allocated partners based on experience and preferences, which were communicated in an online sign-up form. Once you had been sent your partner’s info, you could begin ‘stalking’ them – a term that was perfectly benign in our world, meaning that you would read their blog and look out for the images they ‘liked’ in order to make them something they truly loved. Every part of the creative process was documented and shared in the group, from the initial sketch and fabric pull to the construction and quilting. Hopefully, your partner would comment along the way (without knowing you were making this especially for them) and guide you with their feedback. Meanwhile, you hoped you had been assigned a lovely partner to make a quilt you would like. I don’t think I can accurately convey how exciting it was, once mailing time came around, and you waited, breathless with excitement, for the postie to arrive with your quilt, hoping it was one of the quilts you most desired! It was quite a gamble and didn’t always pay off.

But this was all part of the fun, and we were crazy for it in a way that now seems hard to explain, like the appeal of the Bay City Rollers or velour tracksuits.

Challenges

and ading hope bow – spre s Aurifil Rain ilt qu i in m rough positivity th

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

Mini quilts are not to be confused with miniature quilts, which are quite a different thing. Miniatures are made the same way as large quilts, but on a smaller scale using finer fabrics. Mini quilts are just small quilts where scale is not involved, they could measure anything from 12in to 30in, but I usually aim for 20in to 24in. Through the five or so years that I was continually swapping, I had the chance to try out a wide variety of techniques and gain valuable skills. This ability to try something new without committing to a whole quilt is one of the key advantages of making a mini quilt. You can get the same

31

C R E AT I V E CO R N E R l

m i n i q u ilt s

creative buzz but in a fraction of the time and material.

This is undoubtedly why it is such a popular item for an organised quilt challenge, and one I find difficult to resist. Last year, I entered the Quilters’ Guild Specialist Group Challenge for the first time. One of the antique quilts from The Guild’s collection, the Edwin and Mary Bloomfield Coverlet, was chosen to be reinterpreted by members. All the specialist group members were encouraged to make a version and, as a member of the Modern Group, I created a brightly coloured Pop Art inspired piece. The final gallery was curated by Lynne Edwards, and I was lucky enough to have my mini included. It was very rewarding to see my quilt as part of the fascinating display at Festival of Quilts, which later travelled to different shows around the UK. Earlier this year, our QGBI Scottish Region (16) set a challenge for each of the specialist groups to make mini quilts for their stand at the Scottish Quilt Show. Like the Bloomfield Challenge, the intention was to use the quilts to explain the different quilting genres and groups to the public. This challenge was themed by colour, with the modern group choosing grey and blue with one other colour. As these were the colours of my school uniform, I was initially unenthusiastic. However, this was meant to be a challenge, so I did my best and regular readers will not be surprised that I chose orange as my extra colour! I used improv curves and organically-shaped appliqué details to convey aspects of the modern style.

As ever, this provided opportunities for experimentation in piecing and quilting, which I will use again later in a larger quilt.

The most interesting mini quilt challenge I’ve been part of was called World Wide Whispers. This took the idea of Chinese Whisper quilts (which are inspired by

‘Pop Art Bloomfield’ – Specialist Group challenge entry for FOQ 2019

the childhood game) and involved groups from different countries. I was part of a Scottish group and we were joined by quilters from Ireland, The Netherlands, Canada and the USA. The first person in the group is sent a photo and they make a quilt inspired by this and send a photo of that quilt to the next person in the group.

The next person makes a quilt inspired by that photo, and so it goes on through 12 quilters (one a month through the year). Each quilter will only see the photo of the quilt before and no earlier pieces. By the end, you can see how far the original idea has travelled and what it has morphed into. I was sent a photo of a beautiful patchwork landscape with dolphins leaping from the water in the foreground. After a lot of consideration, I produced an improvised and abstract version of the landscape, which I hoped would give plenty of scope for the next quilter.

Multi-tasking

‘Wonky Uniform’ Modern Quilting explained through this challenge mini for QGBI Scottish Region 16

32

Recently, I’ve been making minis to help quilting friends promote their new books and fabric lines, or sometimes both things at once. When Sarah Ashford sent me a bundle of her new Dashwood Studio ‘Back to Basics’ fabric to play with, I made a mini quilt that I could also use for Nicholas Ball’s ‘Inspiring Improv’ Instagram Book Tour. Once Sarah’s fabric line came into stock, the completed improv triangle quilt proved useful in my Edinburgh shop as a merchandising tool. As usual, I had taken the opportunity to do a little experimentation while making it, machine quilting with Aurifil 12wt thread. The quilt will now be part of my samples for a forthcoming, thread based, lecture. I do like a bit of multi-tasking!

As a designer and ‘influencer’, I am lucky enough to be given free fabric on a regular basis (yes, I do love my job!). The lovely folks at Oakshott asked if I would like to pick eight fabrics from their gorgeous range to design

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

C R E AT I V E CO R N E R l

m i n i q u ilt s

Improv Triangles – multitasking to the max with this improv piecing study

‘Medallion Quarter Quilt’ makes good use of the vibrant shades of Oakshott fabric

and make a new quilt pattern. I was happy to oblige and came up with my Medallion Quarter Quilt. This 30in mini quilt offers all the fun of a medallion, or frame quilt, but with only a quarter of the work!

It is my favourite mini quilt this year and the only quilt that I have an actual printed pattern for.

Mini quilts can also be used as an effective way to communicate an idea or message. In these challenging times, rainbows have come to signify hope and positivity.

In Italy, children added the slogan ‘andrà tutto bene’ to their rainbows, which means ‘everything will be alright’.

The Italian thread company Aurifil wanted to reinforce this message to their sewing community and asked one of their Artisans, Sheri Cifaldi-Morrill, to design a

rainbow mini quilt with the message. They then asked some of their designers, including myself, to share ways of making both the quilt and the text and to create blog tutorials and inspire others to take part. I used Sheri’s beautiful FPP pattern and then added embroidered and needle-turn appliqué words, creating a tutorial with downloadable templates. This has been a wonderful community project to work on over the last few weeks, and I hope it inspires other to both create their own rainbow and to believe the message. I would encourage you all to try making a mini quilt. It is especially appropriate now, when supplies can be hard to come by and our focus and concentration are more than usually impaired!

Left, World Wide Whispers – an abstract and improv landscape for this intriguing challenge

A bit more: Jo Avery has been quilting for 30 years and writing her craft blog for the last decade.

She is an author and teacher with a range of workshops. She also organises annual sewing retreats for the Thread House and the Stitch Gathering. stitchgathering.co.uk joaverystitch

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

33

STRIP PIECING PROJECT

LIBERTY LONE STAR Use this satisfying strip piecing method to create a Lone Star that shines in a fusion of magenta and turquoise.

Designed by JENNI SMITH

34

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

35

STRIP PIECING PROJECT

LIBERTY LONE STAR You will need Q Abbeywood (A) – yd Q Adlington Hall (B) – yd Q Emily Silhouette Pink (C) – yd Q Hyde Floral (D) – 1yd Q Cosmos Bloom (E) – yd Q Emily Silhouette Blue (F) – yd Q Ascot Rose (G) – yd Q Chatsworth Blossom (H) – yd Q Wiltshire Shadow Midnight Ink (dark background) – 2 yds* Q Wiltshire Shadow Petal (border background) – 2 yds

TECHNICAL TIP Jenni recommends starching your fabrics before cutting, as strips are sewn on the bias for the Lone Star, and this will minimise stretching.

Cutting out

1

From Abbeywood (fabric A), cut as follows: Q Two (2) 2 in x WOF strips.

Q One (1) 5 in x WOF strip, subcut into four (4) 5 in squares.

Q One (1) 6 in x WOF strip, subcut into four (4) 6 in squares.

2 3

From Adlington Hall (fabric B), cut four (4) 2 in x WOF strips.

BEHIND THE QUILT

FUCHSIA FLORALS “Lone Star quilts have always impressed me with their traditional beauty, but the thought of producing one by English Paper Piecing honestly put me off !

When I discovered the method of strip piecing and cutting on the bias to achieve the same effect I was curious, and then, once I had tried it, I was smitten. The border was designed to give the quilt a contemporary feel and to encourage people to try out new skills.

“I have been writing my debut book, Quilting with Liberty Fabrics, over the past year, and have really loved seeing the Liberty Quilting Cottons develop. I was drawn to the fuchsia and turquoise colours in Liberty Flower Show Summer collection and loved studying the details in many of the 1930’s archive florals, which have been reimagined from the print archive. The Wiltshire Shadow fabrics work great as tonal blenders and feel special because of the iconic silhouette on them. I think everyone should have a Lone Star quilt in their life, and what could be nicer than one packed with Liberty fabrics.” – Jenni Smith

36

From Emily Silhouette Pink (fabric C), cut as follows: Q Three (3) 2 in x WOF strips.

Q One (1) 4 in x WOF strip, subcut into four (4) 3 in squares and four (4) 4 in squares.

4 5 6

From Hyde Floral (fabric D), cut twelve (12) 2 in x WOF strips.

From Cosmos Bloom (fabric E), cut seven (7) 2 in x WOF strips.

From Emily Silhouette Blue (fabric F), cut four (4) 2 in x WOF strips.

7

From Ascot Rose (fabric G), cut seven (7) 2 in x WOF strips.

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

Q Backing fabric (Wiltshire Shadow Raspberry) – 5yds Q Batting – 88in square

Finished size Q 80in square

Notes Q RST = right sides together.

Q HST = half-square triangle.

Q WOF = width of fabric. *includes enough for binding.

8

From Chatsworth Blossom (fabric H), cut two (2) 2 in x WOF strips.

9

From Wiltshire Shadow Midnight Ink (background fabric), cut as follows: Q Two (2) 15 in x WOF strips.

Subcut into four (4) 15 in squares and two (2) 11 in squares. Subcut the squares in half diagonally to create twelve (12) triangles.

Q One (1) 11 in x WOF strip, subcut as follows: – Two (2) 11 in squares. Subcut the squares in half diagonally to create four (4) triangles.

– Four (4) 3 in squares.

– Four (4) 4 in squares.

Q Five (5) 6 in x WOF strips, subcut one (1) of these strips into four (4) 7in rectangles.

Q Nine (9) 2 in x WOF strips for the binding.

10

From Wiltshire Shadow Petal (border background), cut: Q Eighteen (18) 2 in x WOF strips.

Subcut sixteen (16) into sixteen (16) 2 in x 30 in rectangles.

Q Six (6) 6 in x WOF strips.

Subcut one (1) strip into four (4) 6 in squares.

Making the strip sets

11

Sort the 2 in x WOF strips into five (5) separate groups, as follows: Set 1 Q Abbeywood (A) Q Adlington Hall (B) Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

Q Emily Silhouette Pink (C) Q Hyde Floral (D) Q Cosmos Bloom (E) Set 2 Q Adlington Hall (B) Q Emily Silhouette Pink (C) Q Hyde Floral (D) Q Cosmos Bloom (E) Q Emily Silhouette Blue (F) Set 3 Q Emily Silhouette Pink (C) Q Hyde Floral (D) Q Cosmos Bloom (E) Q Emily Silhouette Blue (F) Q Ascot Rose (G) Set 4 Q Hyde Floral (D) Q Cosmos Bloom (E) Q Emily Silhouette Blue (F) Q Ascot Rose (G) Q Chatsworth Bloom (H) Set 5 Q Cosmos Bloom (E) Q Emily Silhouette Blue (F) Q Ascot Rose (G)

Q Chatsworth Bloom (H) Q Abbeywood (A)

12

Piece each group by joining the strips in the correct sequence, as in step 11. Pin the long edges of strip 1 and strip 2 RST and sew using a in seam allowance. Offsetting the ends by about 1 in will conserve fabric. Press the seams from the right and wrong sides to ensure they lay flat. Next, pin the long edges of strip 2 and 3 RST. Alternate which end you begin sewing each strip to prevent them from twisting out of shape. Continue until all five (5) strips have been sewn.

13

Lay the strip set on your cutting mat and trim one end on a 45-degree angle (Fig 1A). Turn the strip set so the straight edge you have created is on the left and subcut into eight (8) 2 in wide units and label as Set 1 (Fig 1B).

14

Repeat for sets 2 to 5 so that you have a total of forty (40) units, labelling each group clearly.

37

P R OJ E C T l

l o n e st a r

Fig 1A

Fig 1B

15

Take one (1) unit from each strip set in number order and lay them out horizontally to create a diamond formation (Fig 2).

Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4 Set 5 Fig 2

16

Lay the unit from set 1 on top of the unit from set 2, RST, and mark a in line from the top edge. At this point, take time to accurately pin each matching cross seam. It is important to have a in overhang on the left and right of each unit (Fig 3A). Sew and press.

Add the set 3 unit in the same way, followed by 4 and 5. This will create one (1) diamond (Fig 3B). Repeat to make seven (7) more diamonds.

Press each diamond well.

Mark

19

Take one (1) of each piece from steps 17 and 18, and sew together along the long edges to create a square (Fig 5). Pin all cross seams carefully. Repeat to make three (3) more Lone Star quarters.

Fig 4A

20

Sew two (2) quarters together to make two halves of the Lone Star. Press the centre seams in opposite directions. Sew the top and bottom halves together to create the Lone Star centre (Fig 6). The quilt should measure 48 in at this point.

in seam line

Fig 4B Fig 3A

Fig 3B

17

Lay out a diamond with one (1) 15 in and one (1) 11 in background fabric triangle (Fig 4A).

Position the small triangle and the diamond RST, aligning the top corner. Sew and press the seam towards the triangle. Position the large triangle to the left side of the 38

diamond, RST, aligning the top corner once more. Sew and press.

Repeat three (3) more times. Trim down the excess of the background triangles by lining up the 45-degree line on your ruler with the edge of the diamonds (Fig 4B).

Making Border 1

21

Place one (1) Emily Silhouette pink and (1) Wiltshire Shadow Midnight Blue 4 in square RST, aligning the raw edges. Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of the

18

Repeat step 17, laying out the pieces in the opposite orientation – position the large triangle to the right side of the diamond and the small triangle to the left. Repeat three (3) more times so you have four (4) of each.

Fig 5

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

P R OJ E C T l

l o n e st a r

fig 6

22

Join together with the Emily Silhouette pink and Wiltshire Shadow Midnight Blue 3 in squares to make the four (4) corner units, as shown in Fig 7. The finished corner unit will measure 6 in square.

23

Join a 6 in x WOF and a 6 in x 7in strip of dark background fabric to create a 48 in long border strip. Repeat three (3) more times.

24

Fig 6

Make 4 Fig 7

lighter square. Sew a in seam either side of the drawn line. Cut along the drawn line and press the seam towards the darker fabric. Trim to 3 in square. Repeat with three (3) more pairs to make eight (8) HSTs.

Join two (2) of the strips created in step 23 to the left and right sides of the Lone Star.

Join two (2) corner units created in step 22 to each end of the remaining strips with points facing inwards.

Join these strips to the top and bottom of the Lone Star. The quilt should now measure 60 in square.

Making Border 2

25

Sort the remaining 2 in x WOF strips into three (3) separate groups, following each of the print orders that follow:

Set 6 - Make four (4) Q Hyde Floral (D) Q Ascot Rose (G) Q Hyde Floral (D) Set 7 - Make one (1) Q Adlington Hall (B) Q Wiltshire Shadow Petal (border background) Q Adlington Hall (B) Set 8 - Make one (1) Q Cosmos Bloom (E) Q Wiltshire Shadow Petal (border background) Q Cosmos Bloom (E)

26

Piece each group by joining the strips in the correct sequence, as when constructing the strip sets for the Lone Star.

Press the seams from both sides.

27

Trim the edge of the strip set on a 45-degree angle (either left or right leaning depending on what is needed as follows). Now turn the group so the straight edge you have created is on the left and subcut

TECHNICAL TIP There are lots of parts in this quilt so a good labelling system will help keep your pieces organised.

Make a chart with snippets of fabric so you can refer back. Sandwich bags or binding clips are useful for keeping groups together, and lettered and numbered pins are helpful too.

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

39

P R OJ E C T l

l o n e st a r

2 in units wide leaning either left or right as outlined in steps 28-30.

Q Left leaning = the 45-degree line will run from top left to bottom right of the fabric.

Q Right leaning = the 45-degree line will run from top right to bottom left of the fabric.

28

From Set 6, use two (2) strip sets to cut sixteen (16) left leaning 2 in wide units (Unit A).

Use the other two (2) strip sets to cut sixteen (16) right leaning 2 in wide units (Unit B).

29

From Set 7, cut four (4) left leaning 2 in wide units (Unit C) and four (4) right leaning 2 in wide units (Unit D).

40

30

From Set 8, cut four (4) left leaning 2 in wide units (Unit E) and four (4) right leaning 2 in wide units (Unit F).

31

From one (1) Wiltshire Shadow Petal 6 in x WOF strip, cut off a 45-degree angle and subcut into four (4) 2 in wide left leaning units (Unit G). Then cut off a 45-degree angle in the other direction and cut four (4) 2 in wide right leaning units (Unit H) (Fig 8).

32

From four (4) Wiltshire Shadow Petal 6 in x WOF strips, cut four (4) of each Units I, J, K and L, as shown in Fig 9, measuring 9 in from the straight edge and cutting a 45-degree angle.

Save the remaining fabric.

Unit G

Fig 8

9 in J

I

Unit H 9 in K

9 in

L 9 in

Cut 4 of each

Fig 9

33

Referencing Fig 11, join together the units created in steps 28-32 to make the border unit in the following order. Make four (4): I-A-C-A-G-A-E-A-J.

34

Trim the left side of the strip so that the point of the first diamond sits 2in away from the left side (Fig 10). Then trim the strip to 30 in long. Add a 2 in x 30 in rectangle of Wiltshire Shadow Petal to the top and bottom of the strip (Fig 11).

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

P R OJ E C T l

l o n e st a r

35

Referencing Fig 11, repeat steps 33-34 to create four (4) right leaning borders with pieces in the following order. Make four (4).

K-B-F-B-H-B-D-B-L.

36

Join one (1) of each border unit together. Repeat to make a total of four (4) borders.

37

Subcut the remaining Wiltshire Shadow Petal from step 32 into four (4) 5 in squares.

2in

Fig 10

I

A C

A G A

E A

Fig 11

J

K

B F

B H B D

B

L

38

Make HSTs with Wiltshire Shadow Petal and Abbeywood 6 in squares following the instructions in step 21. Join together with the 5 in squares of Wiltshire Shadow Petal and Abbeywood to make the four (4) corner units measuring 10 in square.

39

Join a diamond border made in step 36 to the left and right sides of the quilt. Join two (2) corner units to each end of the remaining borders, then join to the top and bottom of the quilt (Fig 12). The pieced quilt top should now measure 80 in square.

Quilting and finishing

40

Layer the backing, batting and the pieced quilt top and baste together using your preferred method.

41

Quilt as desired and bind to finish. Add a label with any info you want on the back.

Fig 12

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

41

P R OJ E C T l

l o n e st a r

Meet the designer Jenni Smith is a quilt designer and teaches in her Ilkley studio, as well as online via her education platform www.justonequilt.com. She is also an Aurifil Designer and Janome expert. Jenni learnt to quilt in Toronto 15 years ago and hasn’t stopped. Her debut book Quilting with Liberty Fabrics is out in Autumn 2020. www.jenni-smith.co.uk

42

Jenni Smith Sews

This stellar showstopper is the perfect excuse to put your favourite fabric collection to use!

jennismithsews

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

© 2020 moda fabrics • all rights reserved

JC 204 - Mizmaze 72" x 72"

I’ve never particularly got along with maths. At school Pythagoras, trigonometry, algebra and equations just made me feel a bit thick. So, it’s quite amusing that I now spend a good part of my life doing just that: calculating areas and angles, and adding that pesky quarter inch to everything!

I do love maths equipment though; the rulers, protractors, and best of all- the graph paper. Give me some indigo ink and a piece of squared paper and I am very happy.

‘Geometry’ features isosceles triangles, right angles, quadrants and cubes in my favourite colours with the �������� �� � ���� ����� ����� ��� ����� ϐ����Ǥ

Yardage, Precuts, and Patterns Available in April! modafabrics.com

T E X T I L E H I S T O RY l

b r it i sh pat c h w o rk

1718 Silk Patchwork Coverlet, 1718, maker unknown.

The earliest known British patchwork with initials and a date worked into it, this is a truly iconic item. Pieced over papers, the complex design comprises 182 blocks of geometric, floral and figurative motifs. As a rare survivor of work from this period, it is internationally significant and has been studied by numerous experts

textile history

BRITISH PATCHWORK Anne Williams takes a look at some wonderful heritage patchworks that help to tell the story of this British tradition.

44

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

T E X T I L E H I S T O RY l

b r it i sh pat c h w o rk

Cockermouth Frame Quilt, 1890–1900, maker unknown. Made from a variety of cottons, this quilt features a four-star central design, with frames (borders) including half-square triangles, flying geese, zigzags and squares on-point. The red squares radiating out on the diagonals from the centre square form a large X over the surface of the quilt

Images © The Quilters’ Guild Museum Collection

O

ften we use the terms ‘patchwork’ and ‘quilting’ interchangeably, but they are distinct crafts with different, although linked, histories. It isn’t known for sure when patchwork – the joining together of different fabric fragments to make a new piece of cloth – began in Britain, but it has been established that it was being done in the early eighteenth century.

It is frequently assumed that patchwork was a craft borne out of thrift – a way to create a new object from carefully saved leftovers and pieces of good material salvaged from textiles worn beyond repair. For the poor, this may well have been the case, as people had to be inventive with their limited resources. But further up the social scale, where items could be made for desire rather than need, this wasn’t necessarily the case, and new fabrics were often bought especially for patchwork.

Early beginnings In the early 1700s, patchwork was a popular pastime for high-society ladies. Silk was the fashionable fabric for the wealthy, and scraps of this expensive material would be saved and recycled to form colourful pieced designs. Few quilts have survived from this time, but one of the earliest known dated British patchworks is the iconic 1718 Silk Patchwork Coverlet (see left).

Containing over 120 different silk fabrics, only

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

someone well-to-do would have had the financial means and the leisure time to create this complex design of blocks featuring geometric, floral and figurative motifs. As well as being a rare and beautiful object in its own right, this coverlet is an important touchstone of the fabrics and techniques used during this period.

Square blocks, frequently halved or quartered, were the predominant geometric shape in the early to mid-eighteenth century, and many square-based designs can be seen in the 1718 Silk Patchwork Coverlet. The coverlet was constructed by piecing over papers – a key technique in traditional British patchwork, which is usually referred to as ‘English Paper Piecing’ (EPP) or ‘mosaic patchwork’. In this method, patches are formed by wrapping fabrics over paper templates that are then whipstitched together with the papers left in place until at least all the adjacent patches have been joined. As paper was costly, it’s likely that paper templates first came into use in upper-class households. Anything no longer needed might be used, like old letters, envelopes, accounts or printed documents – papers left in place can sometimes give a fascinating insight into a quilt’s and its maker’s stories.

By the end of the 1700s, silks gave way to printed cottons and their status as the latest musthave fabric was demonstrated by the use of dress

Above top, Early Printed Cottons Hexagon Coverlet, 1790–1820, maker unknown. At the end of the eighteenth century, mosaic patchwork started to appear and cotton prints were becoming fashionable. This piece has been carefully designed, with fussy-cut hexagons arranged in rosettes, with each ‘round’ using the same fabric to create a pattern of larger hexagonal shapes Above, Small Frame Coverlet, 1840–1849, made in Wales, possibly

by Lydia Davies from Aberystwyth.

The central square is surrounded with frames (borders) of squares, rectangles and triangles. It is made from printed cottons that include various striped, checked and floral designs

45

T E X T I L E H I S T O RY l

b r it i sh pat c h w o rk

and furnishing cottons in many quilts from this era. Another development was the appearance of other geometric shapes that could be fitted together across the patchwork’s surface.

Patchwork for the masses As the nineteenth century got underway, cheaper printed cottons started to be produced and patchwork became more accessible to all classes of society. Piecing over papers remained a common technique, and all-over patterns in which geometric shapes were joined in a mosaic layout gained in popularity. In Britain, hexagons were the most frequently used shape, though others were employed too, such as diamonds and triangles, as well as octagons and pentagons that had to be combined with other shapes to form patterns that would lie flat. Endless arrangements were possible and British patchworkers displayed considerable individuality, but hexagon rosettes of various forms were a popular design (see page 45, top right).

Frame quilts – designs where a central panel is surrounded by a series of borders (frames) – were also a feature of the 1800s. They seem to have been produced in both poorer and betteroff households, ranging from simple utilitarian patterns to extremely elaborate confections. The centre panel might be pieced and/or appliquéd (i.e. a design formed by applying fabric pieces to a background material), or it could showcase a feature fabric (see page 45, bottom right). Printed panels, at the height of their popularity in the first quarter of the 1800s, might also be used. Floral designs were common (see above, left), but panels were also printed to commemorate events, such as royal occasions or battles.

One of the challenges in making a frame quilt is ensuring that each frame is the correct size. Plain frames can be cut to length, but once pieced units are introduced, sums need to be done carefully to ensure a perfect fit. Given the lack of education

46

for most women in the 1800s, it’s perhaps not surprising that many frame quilts from this time display some technical flaws and distortions. The Cockermouth Frame Quilt (see page 45, left) contains many fudges, especially in chopped-off points in the frames of half-square triangles and flying geese. These idiosyncrasies can give old quilts tremendous charm and personality, but it would be difficult to replicate such an informal approach now without the work looking either contrived or just very poorly made!

Crazy patchwork Until the mid-1800s, patchwork had largely been done to make bedcovers, but that all changed with the Victorians. With their fondness for excess, crazy patchwork developed as a vehicle for the well-heeled to show off their fabric collections, embellishments and embroidery skills in objects that could be displayed throughout the home – table covers and throws, tea cosies and chair cushions were all popular items. Constructed by applying irregular fabric patches – typically, velvets, silks and brocades – to a foundation fabric, this technique may seem to have more in common with appliqué, but because the entire foundation is covered, it’s classified as patchwork. Seams,

Above left, Thorne Quilt, 1824, by J.H. Thorne, thought to have been made in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. The centre of this frame quilt contains four blockprinted panels, which are repeated at the corners of the third frame (border) – printed panels were at the height of their popularity in the early nineteenth century.

The squares and rectangles in the frames are made from a range of printed dress and furnishing cottons Above, Embroidered Crazy Patchwork Coverlet, 1886, maker unknown. This small piece made from velvet and silk fabrics was possibly a table cover. Each patch has been elaborately embroidered with a range of stitches, and some have also been decorated with applied motifs and sequins

THE QUILTERS’ GUILD MUSEUM COLLECTION We would like to thank The Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles for their kind permission to use images of patchwork items from their Quilters’ Guild Museum Collection. We have only been able to show a small selection of the wonderful pieces from this Accredited Museum collection that contains around 1000 examples of British patchwork, appliqué and quilting. Items range from the iconic 1718 Silk Patchwork Coverlet (see page 44) right up to recent pieces by contemporary quiltmakers. Much of this fascinating and inspiring resource can be viewed in the online Collections catalogue. www.quiltmuseum.org.uk

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

T E X T I L E H I S T O RY l

b r it i sh pat c h w o rk

Wheels Quilt, 1850–1900, maker unknown. Made from printed cottons, this quilt has been hand-pieced and machine quilted. The placement of the striped, floral and checked designs creates a wheel effect in each of the thirty blocks

Images © The Quilters’ Guild Museum Collection

and often the patches as well, were adorned with fancy stitches and trims, as can be seen in the late Victorian Embroidered Crazy Patchwork Coverlet (see page 46, right).

Round the block Block quilts are often thought to have their roots in America, but examples pre-dating an influence from across the Atlantic were made all around Britain, though British blocks are mostly simpler in design (see above, left). The British and Dutch are widely credited with taking patchwork to the ‘new country’, and it has been suggested that many American blocks may have developed from these European traditions. There is greater variety in American blocks, and giving them names often of symbolic importance is also a characteristic that isn’t customary in Britain.

Another misnomer is that the Log Cabin is an American design. However, there is evidence of this strip-based pattern in Britain from the early nineteenth century onwards, and a folded version, known locally as Rooftop, has long been made on the Isle of Man. In the States, Log Cabin became very popular in the second half of the nineteenth century, especially after the American Civil War. In the Log Cabin block, strips (logs) are added around a central square to create a light/dark diagonal split, which offers the opportunity for a plethora of layouts. In the example shown above, right, the blocks have been arranged to form dark and light crosses.

Decline and revival The twentieth century saw many social changes, with women experiencing greater freedoms away from the home. Coupled with cheaper and more plentiful materials, patchwork and quilting were no longer a necessity and they became dying crafts, though neither ceased altogether. In the 1970s there was a resurgence of interest in crafts

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

as a leisure activity, and patchwork was part of that revival. To begin with, the EPP hexagon was ubiquitous and, although this technique fell out of fashion, it is currently enjoying a comeback, in part due to a renewed interest in slowing down and savouring the process of handwork. As the 1970s advanced, American patchwork increasingly held sway, and it has had a great impact on the craft in Britain. But many are rediscovering Britain’s patchwork heritage and the fantastic inspiration it can provide for today’s quilt-makers.

Above, lderton Log Cabin, 1880–1900, maker unknown. This Log Cabin design includes a wide range of printed cottons of different colours and designs, with Turkey Red used in the centre of alternate squares

FURTHER INFORMATION If you would like to find out more about the traditions of British patchwork, and the allied crafts of quilting and appliqué, there are many books on the subject. Here are just a few to get you started.

Quilt Treasures by The Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles, 2010 (first published

by Deirdre McDonald Books in 1995). This book, which catalogues the British Heritage Quilt Project that took place between 1990 and 1993, is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in British textiles.

Quilts 1700–2010: Hidden

Histories, Untold Stories edited by Sue Prichard, V&A Publishing, 2010. Published to accompany the landmark 2010 exhibition of the same name, this lavishly illustrated and comprehensive catalogue explores and celebrates 300 years of British quilt-making.

Patchwork and Quilting in Britain by Heather Audin, Shire Publications Ltd, 2013.

This small, accessible title, written by the curator of The Quilters’ Guild Museum Collection (see page 46), is the perfect primer on the history of quilt-making in the UK. Patchwork by Averil Colby, Batsford, 1958 (out of print but second-hand copies are often available). Although written prior to the 1970s patchwork and quilting revival, this title is a seminal publication on the history and development of patchwork in Britain.

47

The

Possibilities are Endless

Recycle your magazine and seven days later it could come back as your newspaper

www.recyclenow.com

PICTORIAL PROJECT

TULIPS FROM AMSTERDAM Take a trip to this enchanting city with Nicola’s charming quilt, featuring tulips, canals and, of course, a bicycle!

Designed and pieced by NICOLA DODD Quilted by JAYNE BRERETON AT QUILTERS TRADING POST

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

49

PICTORIAL PROJECT

TULIPS FROM AMSTERDAM You will need Q Fabric for the canal houses – Five (5) fat quarters Q Fabric for the tulip flowers – Seven (7) fat eighths Q Green fabric (leaves) – Five (5) fat quarters Q Red fabric (windmill) – One (1) fat eighth Q White fabric (windmill sail) – One (1) fat quarter Q Aqua fabric (windows) – yd Q Background fabric – 3 yds Q Cotton batting – 75in x 82in Q Backing fabric – 4 yds Q Binding fabric – yd Q Embroidery template (see Templates section)

BEHIND THE QUILT

CITY JEWELS “I first visited Amsterdam as a young architectural student and was totally enchanted by its impossibly tall houses reflected in a maze of canals. I have revisited it endless times through the pages of favourite novels, stepping back in time to Amsterdam’s ‘Golden Age’ of the 17th century with Tracy Chevalier, Deborah Moggach and Jessie Burton. I returned last autumn and, knowing that I would be making this quilt, visited the delightful Den Haan & Wagenmakers fabric shop, a few blocks north of the Nieuwe Kerk. If you are visiting Amsterdam, I can highly recommend it, just to visit the beautiful premises… although I doubt you’ll leave empty-handed. I chose some fat quarters from Dutch Heritage ‘Surat’ to base my colour palette on. A shot cotton background fabric, by Oakshott, provides a suitably watery setting for my house boats, canal houses, neat rows of tulips and whirling windmill. And if you’ve ever visited Amsterdam, you’ll know that I really had to include a bicycle!” – Nicola Dodd

Cutting out Before you start cutting the pieces for the house blocks, please note that you will mix the pieces for the lower floor of the houses between blocks.

1

Choose two (2) FQs for the plain gable canal house and cut each one as follows: Q One (1) 6in square.

Q One (1) 3 in x 6 in.

Q Two (2) 2 in x 4 in.

Q Four (4) 1 in x 12 in.

Q Three (3) 1 in x 8in.

Q Two (2) 1 in x 10 in.

Q Two (2) 1 in x 5 in.

Q Two (2) 1 in x 4 in.

Q One (1) 1in x 9 in.

50

2

Choose one (1) FQ for the crowstepped gable canal house and cut as follows: Q One (1) 3 in x 6 in.

Q One (1) 2 in x 6 in.

Q Two (2) 2 in x 4 in.

Q One (1) 2 in square.

Q Four (4) 1 in x 12 in.

Q Two (2) 1 in x 10 in.

Q Three (3) 1 in x 8in.

Q Two (2) 1 in x 5 in.

Q One (1) 1 in x 5in.

Q Two (2) 1 in x 4 in.

Q One (1) 1in x 9 in.

3

Choose one (1) FQ for the Dutch (curved) gable canal house and cut as follows:

Q One (1) 3 in x 6 in.

Q One (1) 2 in x 6 in.

Q Three (3) 2 in x 4 in.

Q Four (4) 1 in x 12 in.

Q Three (3) 1 in x 8in.

Q Two (2) 1 in squares.

Q Two (2) 1 in x 10 in.

Q Two (2) 1 in x 5 in.

Q Two (2) 1 in x 4 in.

Q One (1) 1 in x 9in.

4

Choose one (1) FQ for the small Dutch (curved) gable canal house and cut as follows: Q One (1) 3 in x 6 in.

Q One (1) 2 in x 6 in.

Q Three (3) 2 in x 4 in.

Q Four (4) 1 in x 8 in.

Q Two (2) 1 in x 8in.

Q Two (2) 1 in squares.

Q Two (2) 1 in x 10 in.

Q Two (2) 1 in x 5 in.

Q Two (2) 1 in x 4 in.

Q One (1) 1in x 9 in.

5

From each of the tulip flower FQs, cut as follows. Note: you will mix and match the fabrics: Q Three (3) 2 in x 4 in.

Q Three (3) 4 in squares.

Q Six (6) 2 in squares.

6

From each of the five (5) green FQs, cut ten (10) 2in x 11 in and one (1) 2 in x 3 in piece. Note: you will have a few pieces left over: Q From one of the FQs also cut one (1) 2 in x 17 in piece (for the green barge), and one (1) additional 2 in x 3 in piece (for the windmill door).

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

Q Pale grey embroidery thread for the bicycle

Finished size Q 67in x 74in

Notes Q Read through the pattern before starting this quilt.

Q Assume a in seam allowance, unless otherwise stated.

Q Assume the fabric width is 42in, unless otherwise stated.

Q FQ = fat quarter.

Q FE = fat eighth.

Q RST = right sides together.

Q WST = wrong sides together.

7

From the white (windmill) FQ, cut four (4) 5in x 8in and two (2) 2in x 14 in pieces.

8

From the red (windmill) FE, cut as follows: Q One (1) 2 in x 17 in.

Q One (1) 1 in x 7 in.

Q Two (2) 1 in x 3 in.

Q One (1) 5in x 8in.

Q Two (2) 2 in x 3 in.

Q Two (2) 2 in squares.

9

From the aqua (window) fabric, cut as follows: Q Three (3) 3 in x WOF strips, subcut into fourteen (14) 3 in x 8in pieces.

Q Two (2) 2 in x WOF strips, subcut into ten (10) 2 in x 4 in pieces and ten (10) 2 in squares.

Q One (1) 2in x WOF strip, subcut into two (2) 2in x 4 in pieces and three (3) 2in x 9 in pieces, trimmed lengthways to yield five (5) 1in x 9 in pieces.

10

From the background fabric, cut as follows: Q Three (3) 9 in x WOF strips.

Subcut as follows: – Two (2) 9 in x 33 in pieces.

– One (1) 9 in x 19 in piece.

– Two (2) 9 in squares.

Q One (1) 7 in x WOF strip, subcut into four (4) 7 in squares. Then, from the trimmings, cut two (2) 6in squares.

Q Seven (7) 4 in x WOF strips. Set Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

aside six (6) strips for the border.

Subcut the other into one (1) 4 in x 10 in piece and two (2) 4 in x 3 in pieces.

Q Five (5) 2 in x WOF strips, subcut as follows: – Four (4) 2 in x 17 in.

– One (1) 2 in x 7 in.

– Six (6) 2 in x 3 in.

– Fifty (50) 2 in squares.

Q Seven (7) 2in x WOF strips, subcut as follows: – Two (2) 2in x 9in.

– Four (4) 2in x 3 in.

– One-hundred-and-twenty-eight (128) 2in squares.

Q Seventeen (17) 1 in x WOF strips, subcut as follows: – Twenty (20) 1 in x 17 in.

– Twenty-one (21) 1 in x 11 in.

– One (1) 1 in x 5in.

– Two (2) 1 in x 2 in.

– Four (4) 1 in squares.

11

Fig 2A

Fig 2B

directed (Fig 2A). Then snowball the bottom corners of the tulip flower with two (2) 2in background squares (Fig 2B).

15

To make the leaves, snowball the top and bottom of a 2in x 11 in green piece with two (2) 2in background squares, as shown in Fig 3A. Repeat, reversing the placement to make the mirror image leaf.

From the binding fabric, cut eight (8) 2 in x WOF strips.

Making the tulips

12

To make each tulip flower, choose a 4 in print square and two (2) matching 2 in squares, plus a contrasting print 2 in x 4 in piece.

13

To make the top row, mark a diagonal line on the back of two (2) 2 in background squares and pin one (1) RST to the end of a 2 in x 4 in contrasting piece. Stitch on the line, flip ‘open’ and press – to snowball the corner – trimming away the back pieces. Then join the remaining square to the other end in the same way, as shown in Figs 1A and 1B. Repeat on the opposite side of the unit with two (2) 2 in print squares (Figs 1C and 1D).

14

Join the 4 in print square to the bottom, pressing as

Fig 1A

Fig 1B

Fig 3A

Fig 3B

16

Join the leaves to each side of a 1 in x 11 in background piece, pressing towards the background (Fig 3B). Then join the tulip flower from step 14 to the top of the leaf unit, pressing away from the leaves. Repeat to make eleven (11) A tulips.

17

Finally, join a 1 in x 17 in background piece to the righthand side of ten (10) of these tulips, press towards the background (Fig 4).

Fig 1C

Fig 1D

51

P R OJ E C T l

Fig 4

A tulip

t ul ips f r o m a mst e rd a m

Fig 5

B tulip

18

Repeat steps 12 to 16, but this time, join the tulip flower to the bottom of the leaf unit. Make ten (10) B tulips. Join a 1 in x 17 in background piece to the righthand side of nine (9) of them, press towards the background (Fig 5).

Making the bridge

19

Snowball the top corners of a 2 in x 7 in background piece with two (2) 2 in red squares, as shown in Fig 6A. Join a 1 in x 7 in red piece to the top (Fig 6B), then a 1 in x 3 in red piece to each side, pressing as directed (Fig 6C).

20

Finally, add a 9 in x 19 in background piece to the top, pressing away from the bridge.

Making the barges

21

Join a 2in background square to one (1) side of a 2in x 4 in window piece, then join a 2in x 9in background piece to the other side, pressing as directed. Join a 2in x 14 in white piece to the bottom, taking care with the placement and pressing away from the window (Fig 7A).

22

Add a 2in x 3 in background piece to each end of the cabin unit, then add a 2 in x 17 in green piece to the bottom, pressing away from the cabin (Fig 7B).

23

Snowball each end of the barge with 2 in background squares, as shown in Fig 7C. Then, join a 2 in x 17 in background strip to the top and the bottom of the barge unit.

24

Repeat steps 21 to 23 using the 2 in x 17 in red piece, reversing the placement (Fig 7D).

Making the windmill

25 Fig 6A

Fig 6C

Fig 6B

To create the sails, first prepare the four (4) 5in x 8in white pieces by marking a point 2 in from the bottom left. Trim diagonally, lining up the ruler with the mark and the corner (shown in red). Discard the smaller portion.

Repeat with the 5in x 8in red piece, reversing the direction of the cut so that it is a mirror image of the sails (Fig 8).

Fig 7A Fig 7B

Fig 7C

Fig 7D Fig 8

52

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

P R OJ E C T l

26

Prepare three (3) of the 7 in background squares by marking a point 4in from the top right-hand corner and 2in from the bottom right-hand corner. Using those points, mark a placement line, shown in white in Fig 9A.

27

Position a trimmed sail piece right sides down on the placement line and stitch in away from the edge before flipping ‘open’ and pressing (Fig 9B). Turn your unit to the wrong side and trim excess, using the background square as a guide (Figs 9C and 9D). Make three (3).

Fig 10B, and then repeat steps 26 & 27 with the remaining trimmed sail piece to create the final sail.

x 4 in (Fig 12B). Join the steps to the bottom of the door, pressing the seam open.

30

34

To make the base of the windmill, join a 2 in x 3 in red piece to each side of a 2 in x 3 in green (door) piece, pressing towards the door. Then join 3 in x 4 in background pieces to each side (Fig 11).

Fig 11

Join the sails in two (2) rows of two (2), taking care with the placement to make a windmill – the sail from step 29 should be bottom left. Then join the base, pressing towards the sails. Sew a 1 in x 17 in background piece to the right side.

Fig 9C

To make the windows, join a 1 in x 4 in house piece to each side of a 2 in x 4 in piece, pressing towards the windows. Then add a further 2 in x 4 in piece to the end (Fig 13A).

35 31

Fig 9A

t ul ips f r o m a mst e rd a m

To assemble the lower floor, join a 4 in x 6 in house piece to the bottom of the window unit (Fig 13B), pressing away from the windows, then join the door unit to the window unit, pressing towards the door. Finally, add 1 in x 10 in house piece to the top, again pressing away from the windows or open if preferred (Fig 13C). Make five (5) – three (3) with a right-hand door and two (2) with a left-hand door (Fig 14).

Fig 9B

Making the lower floor of the houses

Fig 9D

Before you assemble the lower floors, you will need to decide which house you will be assigning your lower floor unit to, as it will affect the position of the door. Refer to the diagrams and quilt pictures for help with placement.

Fig 13A

32 Fig 10A

Fig 10B

28

To make the bottom sail, prepare the remaining 7 in background square by marking a point 4in from the top left-hand corner and 2in from the bottom left-hand corner. Using those points, mark a placement line, as before.

Position a trimmed red piece right sides down on the placement line and stitch a in away from the edge before flipping ‘open’ and pressing (Fig 10A). Trim as before.

29

Rotate the unit left through 90-degrees, as shown in

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

To make the door, join a 2 in aqua square to the top of a 2 in x 3 in green piece, pressing towards the door, then join a 1 in x 5 in house piece to each side (Fig 12A).

Fig 13B

33

To create the steps, join a 1in x 9 in house piece to a 1in x 9 in aqua piece, pressing the seam open. Then cut this unit in half and re-join, again pressing the seam open. Trim the steps unit to 2 in Fig 13C

Fig 12A

Fig 12B

Fig 14

53

P R OJ E C T l

t ul ips f r o m a mst e rd a m

Making the plain gabled house

36

Make the windows by joining a 3 in x 8in aqua piece to a 1 in x 8in house piece (Fig 15A).

Make three (3), then join these three (3) units together, always pressing towards the aqua.

with a 6in house square. Stitch in away from both side of the line and cut the two (2) units apart. Press the units open, with the seam towards the background, and trim to 5 in square (Fig 17A).

41

Join the two (2) half-square triangles, pressing the seam

37

Cut the windows vertically into three (3) 2 in sections, as shown in Fig 15B.

38

Re-join the three (3) window sections, alternating them with four (4) 1 in x 12 in house pieces, as shown in Fig 15C.

Fig 20

piece, taking care with the placement as before and pressing as directed.

Then add a 1 in x 2 in background piece to each side, pressing towards the background.

Fig 17A

47

39

To make the attic window, join a 2 in x 4 in house piece to each side of a 2 in aqua square, pressing towards the aqua.

Then join a 1 in x 10 in house piece to the bottom (Fig 16).

40

To make the gable, mark a diagonal line on the back of a 6in background square and pin RST

Fig 17B

Fig 18

open, then trim away 1in from the bottom edge, as shown in Fig 17B, so that the gable unit measures 4 in x 10 in.

42

To assemble the upper floors, join the attic to the windows unit, pressing towards the attic, then add the gable, pressing away from the attic. Make two (2) plain gabled houses.

Fig 15A

Making the crowstepped gable house

43 44

Repeat steps 36 to 39 to make the windows.

Fig 15B

To make the gable, first make a strip set by joining a 1 in x 5in background piece to a 1 in x 5in house piece, pressing towards the background. Then cut into four (4) 1 in sections (Fig 18).

45 Fig 15C

Fig 16

54

Fig 19

Refer to Fig 19 for the next two steps. Join a 1 in strip section to each side of a 2 in house square, taking care with the placement, as shown, and pressing as directed. Then add a 2 in x 3 in background piece to each side, pressing towards the background.

46

Join a strip section to each side of a 2 in x 6 in house

Join the gable sections together then assemble the upper floors as described in step 42. Make one (1) crow-stepped gable house.

Making the Dutchgabled house

48 49

Repeat steps 36 to 39 to make the windows.

To make the gable, snowball the top of a 2 in x 4 in house piece with two (2) 1 in background squares (Fig 20). Then join a 2 in x 3 in background piece to each side, pressing towards the background.

50

Snowball the corner of a 2 in background square with a 1 in house square. Make two (2).

Then join the snowballed units to each side of a 2 in x 6 in house piece, pressing as directed (Fig 21).

51

Join the gable sections together then assemble the upper floors as described in step 42. Make one (1) Dutch-gabled house.

Making the small Dutch-gabled house

52

Make the windows by joining a 3 in x 8in aqua piece to a 1 in x 8in house piece. Make two

Fig 21

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

P R OJ E C T l

t ul ips f r o m a mst e rd a m

(2), then join these units together, always pressing towards the aqua.

Cut the windows vertically into three (3) 2 in sections.

53

Re-join the three (3) window sections, alternating them with four (4) 1 in x 8 in house pieces.

54

Repeat step 39 to make the attic window, and steps 49 to 51 to make the gable and assemble the house. Make one (1) small house.

Fig 22

Assembling the quilt

55

To make the house row, mix the lower floor units with the upper floor units so that the prints are distributed evenly, then join them together, pressing towards the lower floors (Fig 22).

56

Arrange the canal houses on each side of the bridge section and join, pressing the seams open (Fig 23).

Fig 23

57

Using the template as a guide, embroider the bicycle on top of the bridge with the pale grey floss.

58

To make the upper canal row, join a 9 in background square to the left-hand side of the green barge and a 9 in x 33 in background piece to the right, Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

Fig 24

55

P R OJ E C T l

t ul ips f r o m a mst e rd a m

pressing towards the background.

Make the lower canal row in the same manner using the red barge and reversing the positions of the background pieces (Fig 24).

59

To make the upper tulip row, alternate six (6) A Tulips and five (5) B Tulips with background strips and join them together, pressing towards the background strips. Add the B tulip without a background strip to the end of the row (Fig 25).

Fig 25

60

To make the windmill and tulips row, join a B tulip to an A tulip – taking care with the placement – and add to the lefthand side of the windmill, pressing towards the background strips.

Fig 26

61

Join the rest of the tulip units, alternating, and join to the right of the windmill, again pressing towards the background (Fig 26).

62

Finally, join the rows together, pressing towards the canal rows. Add the 4 in borders to the sides followed by the top and bottom, joining border strips as required.

Press towards the borders (Fig 27).

Quilting and finishing

63

Cut the backing fabric into two (2) WOF x 75in pieces, trim off the selvedges and join together using a in seam, pressed open. Trim to 75in x 82in.

64

Sandwich the batting between the backing and the quilt top, baste, then machine or hand quilt.

65

Join the binding strips endto-end and press in half WST along the whole length. Trim away excess batting and background – taking the opportunity to ensure your corners are square. Finally, bind the raw edge using your preferred method.

Fig 27

56

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

P R OJ E C T l

t ul ips f r o m a mst e rd a m

Walk along the canals and admire the tulips with this delightful quilt

Meet the designer Nicola Dodd has been quilting since 2010 after chancing upon a quilting website and becoming hooked. Having designed all her working life – as an architect and as a garden designer – the temptation to start designing quilts was irresistible and she established her pattern company, CakeStand Quilts, in 2015. A regular Today’s Quilter contributor, Nicola now has a successful blog, where she enjoys sharing tutorials, and is a regular contributor to the Moda Bakeshop. www.cakestandquilts.com

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

cakestandquilts

@nicolajdodd

57

T E X T I L E H I S T O RY l

st udy i n g h e r it a ge q u ilt s

Studying HERITAGE QUILTS Anne Williams chats to Kate Smith about her fascination with finding out more about antique quilts...

What sparked your interest in heritage quilts?

In the late 1980s, I was in Liberty’s in York buying dressmaking fabric. On display was a reproduction of the Jane Austen quilt*. Although I have sewn all my life, patchwork and quilting had not been on my radar, but I was captivated by the patterns created by the piecing and wanted to learn how to make my own quilt. I joined a local class, where I was persuaded to go along to a Quilters’ Guild Regional Day. The afternoon speaker was Dorothy Osler, a leading authority on British quilt-making traditions, who talked about historic North Country quilts – I was hooked!

How did you begin to study old quilts?

Some years ago, I joined The Quilters’ Guild and discovered one of their Specialist Groups is the British Quilt Study Group (BQSG), so I joined that too. You don’t have to be actively involved in research to join the group, but members are encouraged to study an aspect of quilt research that appeals to them. For those who want to get going on a project, the group runs Study Days where you can find out how to select a research topic, get

58

Above, An internal corner of the centre panel and part of the outer border of Kate’s Hartley quilt. The corner features some of the motifs found in the quilt centre and the border contains open spirals and abstract feathers

started, and the various approaches you can take.

Do you have a favourite area of quilt research?

I’m especially drawn to projects that include elements of social history.

I love looking into quilt-making in a particular geographical location, such as Northern England or Wales,

which can help to paint a picture of the region where the quilt was made. I also enjoy studying signature quilts. The names on a quilt can sometimes be followed up in local records, which can give a wonderful insight into both time and place.

Do you own any heritage quilts?

I’m accumulating an ever-growing

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

* In the early 1800s, Jane Austen, her sister Cassandra and their mother made a patchwork coverlet, which is now in the collection at Jane Austen’s House in Chawton, Hampshire. You can see the quilt at www.janeaustens.house/object/patchwork-coverlet

A

re you curious about heritage quilts? In this occasional series, we chat to quilt-lovers with a particular enthusiasm for old quilts – collecting them, their care and finding out more about these captivating objects. This issue, we catch up with Kate Smith, who tells us about her passion for antique quilts and investigating their stories.

T E X T I L E H I S T O RY l

Photography: Artist’s own

Above, The ‘Rose in a ring’ centre of Kate’s Hartley quilt – this pattern is reminiscent of North Country quilting designs; Below, The card that came with the Hartley quilt, the wholecloth Kate bought in Ripon – her first heritage purchase and the starting point of her first serious research project

collection. When I first became interested in heritage quilts, I hadn’t realised it was possible to buy them.

But when I saw an old wholecloth in an antique shop in Ripon in North Yorkshire, it just had to come home with me. Most of my quilts are North Country wholecloths, but a few patchworks and Welsh quilts have slipped in as well.

information. I started off by trying to find the people mentioned on the card, but ended up uncovering quilt-making activity in a previously undocumented area of Yorkshire. In fact, I’m continuing to look at quilts from this area, and am also investigating what influences there might have been on the local quilt-makers.

What was your first research project?

My research started with the first quilt I bought – the wholecloth I found in Ripon, which I call the Hartley quilt – though not until many years later. A very intriguing card (see right) came with the quilt, and my original aim was to try to determine the quilt’s provenance from this limited

What advice would you give to someone about to start a research project?

Set out with a clear aim, such as ‘Who was this quilt made for?’. Sometimes your goal won’t be achievable, but

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

st udy i n g h e r it a ge q u ilt s

in trying to track down the answer, you might be led in unexpected and intriguing directions. So, be openminded should new avenues for exploration reveal themselves. Don’t speculate before you have enough information to be certain – my first assumptions about the partial details on the card that came with the Hartley quilt turned out to be completely wrong! Similarly, if you are studying

59

T E X T I L E H I S T O RY l

st udy i n g h e r it a ge q u ilt s

K ATE SMITH OFFERS SOME TOP TIPS FOR GETTING STARTED ON QUILT RESEARCH

1

Choose something you are really interested in, such as an old family quilt or one you have bought and are curious about. Research takes time and effort so you need to be motivated to see your studies through.

Above, Kate’s reference sketch of her Hartley quilt, which shows the main quilting patterns and layout

an old family piece, take everything you are told about it with a pinch of salt until you can verify the details you have been given.

Is there a standard procedure for investigating a quilt?

If the starting point of your studies is an actual quilt, begin by finding out any history already known about it, for example, when and where was it made, by whom and what has happened to the quilt over the years. Has it been passed down through generations of the same family, has it been sold through auctions? The quilt will also need to be physically examined and the details recorded – this is a valuable reference in itself, but it also allows easy comparison

A photograph of a relative of the people for whom Kate’s Hartley quilt was made, which was taken at a family interview that was part of Kate’s research

60

2

If you don’t have anything of your own to study, try approaching your local museum. They might have a suitable item in their collections they would love to find out more about, but don’t have the time or resources to do it themselves.

3

Set out with a clear aim, but don’t be too prescriptive – often the unexpected turns are the most fascinating.

4

Read and learn as much as you can about the topic you wish to study. It will widen your knowledge

with other similar pieces. The Quilters’ Guild has developed an excellent ‘Description and Examination Form’ that provides a comprehensive list of

and also help to inform the way your own research is undertaken.

5

Ask for help if you need it.

Everyone has to start somewhere and others may have expertise you don’t yet possess or can suggest resources you are not aware of.

6

Consider joining a research group like the British Quilt Study Group (see page 61) or participating in a group project. Support from fellow enthusiasts will help to keep you going if you are flagging, and it may also be useful if you are unable to travel to certain locations.

7

If you find you really are getting nowhere, just cut your losses and start another project. You will have improved your skills and understanding, so next time your results will hopefully be more fruitful.

structured questions. Photographs are also incredibly useful, especially as digital images enable you to zoom in to see minute details. Sketches of layouts, quilting patterns and so on, with accompanying notes as to scale etc. should also be made.

What other resources might you use?

The internet is a mine of information. If you are studying a particular type or age of quilt, comparison with other similar pieces is essential. Many museums have excellent online databases, which are a good place to start. If possible, try to see the items of most interest in person – research visits can often be arranged, though these usually need to be requested well in advance. If you are studying social history, genealogy sites are indispensable – as are newspaper records, which are now often available online. Books about British quilt history will give you a good grounding in the subject, as will reading other peoples’ published research, such as the papers presented in Quilt Studies, the BQSG’s annual journal. Some people selfpublish their research online, but bear

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

T E X T I L E H I S T O RY l

st udy i n g h e r it a ge q u ilt s

FURTHER INFORMATION The British Quilt Study Group (BQSG), a Specialist Group of The Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles, has lots of information about quilt research on the ‘Research’ area of their website, which is accessible to all. Members of the BQSG receive the group’s newsletter and its annual research journal, as well as contact with like-minded people, who can help you with your research. Find out more at bqsg.quiltersguild.org.uk Quilt Treasures (2010, The Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles [first published in 1995 by Deirdre McDonald Books]) is an invaluable reference for anyone interested in British quilts and its quilt-making heritage. The book is available from www.quiltersguildshop.org.uk Above, Handmade card quilting templates, which Kate was shown at the family interview she conducted as part of her research

in mind that this material won’t have gone through a peer-review process.

When conducting my research, I accessed unpublished research notes made by well-known social historians that are kept in a university library – these threw up lots of previously unknown information.

Face-to-face interviews can be hugely informative. When studying the Hartley quilt, I visited a relative of the people for whom my quilt was made.

I learnt so much more from her than I could ever have gleaned from a website.

Make sure you keep a record of your research activities, for example, books and journals referred to, websites consulted, places visited, people interviewed, etc. and don’t forget to include the date. If possible, any information gathered should be verified.

exciting when you unearth longforgotten or previously unrecorded stories. Quilt-making is often regarded as trivial or just a hobby, but there is real history out there if it is taken seriously and studies are undertaken.

For information about North Country quilts, Kate’s favourite books are North Country Quilts by Dorothy Osler (2000, The Bowes Museum and Friends of The Bowes Museum) and Quilts and Coverlets: The Beamish Collections

by Rosemary Allen (2007, Beamish North of England Open-air Museum).

What do you most enjoy about quilt research?

I love the whole process. It’s also very Right, As part of her studies, Kate viewed a similar quilt in the collection of Ryedale Folk Museum in the North York Moors National Park. The tape measure indicates the scale of the quilted motifs, which could be recorded and then compared with those on Kate’s Hartley quilt

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

61

U SE K R E EA PA D G ER E 28 S

OVERSEAS READERS

TRY 3 ISSUES FOR JUST $9.95 when you subscribe today!

SAVE

78%!

*

SPECIAL OFFER! TRY 3 ISSUES FOR JUST $9.95, SAVING 78% OR $32!* SUBSCRIPTION PRICE

INCLUDES DELIVERY FROM UK NEVER MISS AN ISSUE 13 ISSUES A YEAR

Order now – don't miss out!

US PRICING

Try 3 issues for $9.95 and then pay just $14.97 every 3 issues by quarterly continuous credit.

OR $49.95 for 13 issues (1 year subscription) by credit card or check, saving 75% or $148.92!

US READERS SUBSCRIBE ONLINE AT:

www.buysubscriptions.com/TQPUS20 OR call toll-free on 1.855.827.8639 and quote TQPUS20 (Lines open for orders and enquiries 8am-8pm Eastern time) EUROPE & REST OF WORLD PRICING EUROPE: 76.99 – 1-year debit/credit card AUSTRALIA: AU$ 129 – 1-year debit/credit card REST OF WORLD: £94.99 – 1-year debit/credit card VISIT WWW.BUYSUBSCRIPTIONS.COM/TQP64 or call +44 (0) 1604 973 762 and quote TQP64 Terms and conditions: *US savings are calculated as a percentage of US Basic Annual Rate. The US Basic annual rate is $198.87, which includes event issues (issues charged higher than standard cover price) published in a 12 month period. Europe and ROW have no standard newsstand price and therefore we cannot advertise the specific savings you will make. North American subscribers will be charged in US$, European subscribers in , Australia subscribers in AU$ and Rest of World in GBP. This offer is for new print subscribers only. You will receive 13 issues in a year. Prices correct at point of print and subject to change.

European and ROW subscribers: if you are dissatisfied in any way you can write to us or call us to cancel your subscription at any time and we will refund you for all unmailed issues. N. American subscribers: Minimum subscription term is 12 months. If at any time during the first 60 days you are dissatisfied in any way, please notify us in writing and we will refund you all unmailed issues. Offer ends: 31st December 2020.

ESSENTIAL GUIDE Making ‘Magic’ Blocks Magic or disappearing blocks are great fun to make. They start off as simple run-ofthe-mill blocks and end up surprisingly complex

“Patchwork has the wonderful ability to surprise and intrigue us, and this month we show you how to make four ‘magic’ blocks.”

– Lin Clements Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

63

ESSENTIAL GUIDE l

m a g i c bl o c k s

WHAT ARE MAGIC BLOCKS?

M

agic blocks, also called disappearing blocks, are the names given to blocks that start out in one simple layout, but by judicious cutting, re-arranging and sewing, become a different looking block. Sometimes it’s hard to see how the final block is the result of the original block, hence the words ‘magic’ and ‘disappearing’. There are many blocks that you can try this technique with and you may already be familiar with creating a Disappearing Nine-patch block, which is something of a favourite with quilters.

This block and three others are described for you in this article (see Fig 1) so you can experiment with making these blocks. One of the main benefits of making a magic block is that it is a way of creating a more complicated block from a simple one, and thus is a quicker way to achieve a complex look. There are many ways to cut up a block and many layout permutations once you start playing around with the subunits, so it’s an ideal way to develop your creativity. The block layouts shown in this article aren’t the only way to re-arrange the units, so do feel free to experiment with this fun technique.

Magic blocks can be created from ‘normal’ blocks in various ways and we explore some in this article, for example: Q A block can be cut into equal-size sections, perhaps as thirds or quarters.

Q The rearrangement of the cut-up pieces may involve changing their positions or rotating some parts, or both.

Q A block can be cut diagonally, with opposite triangles matched up to make smaller, square units.

Q Blocks can also be made as a pair that are then sewn together around the edge and cut up diagonally.

Fig 1

Examples of ‘magic’ blocks

Disappearing Nine-patch block

Disappearing Pinwheel block

Disappearing Stripes block

Disappearing Broken Dishes block

This small table runner uses two Disappearing Pinwheels and two Disappearing Broken Dishes in an alternating arrangement (the blockmaking methods are described on pages 67 and 68). You could also use the blocks for a cushion in a fourpatch layout. For this project the blocks started with 6in cut squares, to make 5 in unfinished half-square triangles. A 10 in starting block eventually made a 9 in unfinished disappearing block

64

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

ESSENTIAL GUIDE l

m a g i c bl o c k s

DISAPPEARING NINE-PATCH BLOCK The Disappearing Nine-patch block is a favourite for the magic treatment, probably because it is so quick and easy to make. The final block can also appear slightly different, depending on the number of fabrics used – see the photographs, right and below.

1

In the example shown here a Nine-patch block was made from squares cut 2 in – one from Fabric 1, four from Fabric 2 and four from Fabric 3. (You could have all nine squares in different colours and this is shown in the pink sample, right.) If you have many Nine-patch blocks to make, you could use strip piecing for speed. The method described here makes a 6 in square (unfinished) Ninepatch block, which then yields a 6in unfinished (5 in finished) disappearing block.

2

Make the Nine-patch block as shown in Fig 2, sewing the squares together in three rows and then sewing the rows together. Check the block is 6 in square (unfinished).

3

Using a rotary cutter and ruler cut the block exactly in half, in both directions, as shown in Fig 3A. If you can, rotate your cutting mat, rather than moving the pieces, to ensure they stay in close alignment as you cut. Once the block is cut into quarters take the top right quarter and rotate it 180-degrees, as in Fig 3B. Do the same with the bottom left quarter. Sew the units together in pairs and then sew the pairs together, aligning the centre seam neatly.

Fig 2

This sample of a Disappearing Nine-patch block used nine different fabrics to create a scrappier look. The centre square was darker, to provide a little contrast in the final block

Making a Nine-patch block

Fabric Fabric 3 2 Fabric 1

Fig 3

Making a Disappearing Nine-patch block

A

This Disappearing Ninepatch block used three fabrics sewn using the method shown in Fig 3, which provides a strong interlinking pattern (the blue fabric). Four such blocks sewn together, each rotated 90-degrees, would create a larger block with a distinctive pattern, as shown in Fig 4, below

Fig 4

Four blocks in an interlinked pattern

B

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

65

ESSENTIAL GUIDE l

m a g i c bl o c k s

DISAPPEARING STRIPES BLOCK I’ve called this block Disappearing Stripes, but as you can see, the stripes don’t completely disappear but end up angled in two different directions. The method is different to the Disappearing Nine-patch block, with four new blocks being made (two different pairs). These can then be combined in different layouts. The instructions give measurements for 9 in square (unfinished) striped blocks, which then produce a Disappearing Stripes block 6 in square (unfinished).

1

For the blocks shown in the photograph below, six strips were cut 2in x 20in, which is sufficient for the two initial blocks needed. (You could also cut them 2in x 10in and make two strip-pieced units.) The colours were graded from light to dark but you could use any colour scheme (Fig 5A). You could also create a block with more strips, changing the strip depth as needed.

Fig 5

2

Sew the strips together using in seams, to create a strip-pieced unit. Press the seams open or to one side. Check the unit is 9 in high and then cut two blocks from it, each 9 in square (Fig 5B).

3

Place one block right side up and the other block wrong side up, but rotating it 90-degrees so the strip direction is different (Fig 5C). Align all edges of the blocks, press to ‘stick’ the blocks together and pin. Sew all

around the edge (Fig 5D).

in from the edge

4

Press the sewn blocks and then cut them apart along both diagonals, as shown by the red lines in Fig 5E. Open out each unit and press the seams. You will have two different pairs (Fig 5F). The four blocks can be sewn together into a four-patch arrangement if you wish – Fig 6 shows two layout examples.

Making a Disappearing Stripes block

A

B

C

Strips cut 2in x at least 20in

RS WS

9 in

9 in squares D

E

F

6 in blocks (unfinished) Fig 6

Combining blocks in different layouts

12in block (unfinished) Two Striped blocks can create four Disappearing Stripes blocks, as two different pairs. The number of strips you begin with determines the look of the final blocks; the six strips used for this initial block makes disappearing units that have six stripes angled in one direction and three angled in the opposite direction. You could also play around with different strip widths for a random, scrappy look

66

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter / daysqu uilter

ESSENTIAL GUIDE l

m a g i c bl o c k s

DISAPPEARING PINWHEEL BLOCK In this magic block, half-square triangle (HST) units are used to make a Pinwheel block. Once this is cut and rearranged a new star-like pattern emerges. I’ve given measurements here for a 9in unfinished Pinwheel block, which is easy to cut into 3in segments.

The resulting magic block is 8in unfinished (7 in finished). The Disappearing Broken Dishes block that follows is the same size, making them easy to combine in a design, as seen in the table runner on page 64. Of course, you can make the blocks any size you wish – although it helps to have an unfinished size that is easily divided by three. In the diagrams below just two fabrics have been used, but in the stitched examples shown right, four fabrics were chosen.

1

Begin by making the HST units. Make them from squares cut 5 in, using a two-at-once method, as shown in Fig 7. Trim each unit to 4 in square unfinished. For one block you need four HSTs.

2

Arrange the four HSTs in the pattern shown in Fig 8A (a Pinwheel block), sewing them into a four-patch arrangement.

Press the block and check it is 9in square.

3

Take a quilting ruler and rotary cutter and cut the block into 3in sections, shown by the red lines in Fig 8B. Take care to keep the parts of the block together as you cut. The parts are shown numbered in Fig 8C.

4

Take the parts and rearrange them as shown in Fig 8D – note that the orientations of the parts stay the same (that is, they are not rotated), but the positions are changed. Once the parts are in the correct places, sew the block together in three rows, pressing the seams of rows 1 and 3 in one direction and the seams of row 2 in the opposite direction. Now sew the rows together, matching seams neatly and then press. Check the block’s size (Fig 8E).

Fig 7

Making half-square triangle units WS

M ar d ke lin e

RS

5 in cut squares Fig 8

4 in units

Fig 9

Making a Disappearing Pinwheel block

A

A Pinwheel block looks completely different once it is cut up and rearranged. This sample used two different HSTs. However, you could use four different HSTs, to create a scrappier look, as shown in Fig 9 below. In this diagram you will also note that a different layout has been used for the final block

B

Creating a scrappy look and a different layout

C

3in cut

4 in unfinished

9in D

E

8in unfinished block

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

67

ESSENTIAL GUIDE l

m a g i c bl o c k s

DISAPPEARING BROKEN DISHES BLOCK This magic block uses half-square triangle units to form a patchwork block known as Broken Dishes. I’ve given the same measurements for both of these HST magic blocks, so both end up as 7 in finished (8in unfinished) blocks.

1

Begin by making the HST units.

Make them from squares cut 5 in, using a two-at-once method, as shown previously in Fig 7. Trim each unit to 4 in square unfinished. For one block you need four HSTs.

2

Arrange the four HSTs in the pattern shown in Fig 10A (a Broken Dishes block), sewing them into a four-patch arrangement. Press the block and check it is 9in square.

3

Take a quilting ruler and rotary cutter and cut the block into 3in

Fig 10

sections, as shown by the green lines in Fig 10B. Take care to keep the parts of the block together as you cut. The parts are shown numbered in Fig 10C.

4

Take the parts and rearrange them as shown in Fig 10D – note that this time the positions of the parts stay the same but each part is rotated 180-degrees (as indicated by the upside-down numbers). Once the parts are in the correct places, sew the block together in three rows. Now sew the rows together, matching seams neatly

and then press. Check the block’s size (Fig 10E).

5

The measurements for the Disappearing Pinwheel and the Disappearing Broken Dishes are the same, so you could combine them.

Fig 11 shows how they might look alternating for a table runner.

Making a Disappearing Broken Dishes block

A

B

C

D

E

Fig 11

68

Combining blocks

Half-square triangle units arranged as a Broken Dishes block (9in unfinished) look quite ordinary, but a bit of cutting and rearranging creates a much more interesting block. This sample used two different HSTs

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

ESSENTIAL GUIDE l

m a g i c bl o c k s

MAKING MAGIC BLOCKS – TROUBLESHOOTING Magic blocks are easy to make and stimulate our creativity.

Here are answers to some questions about such blocks.

Help! How can you decide whether a normal block can become a magic block?

Help! Where can I find block drawings to experiment with?

Try this… Making any block takes time, effort and fabric, so it’s best to avoid making a block, cutting it up, rearranging it and sewing it, only to find that the result isn’t very interesting. I find that the easiest way to experiment is by drawing a ‘dummy’ block on paper and colouring it in. The drawing doesn’t have to be perfect, but using graph paper will help to keep it square.

It doesn’t have to be the actual size, but big enough to handle the cut-up pieces easily. I draw the block twice, so that I can cut one dummy vertically and horizontally and the other dummy diagonally, to see which work. An example is shown below, drawn on graph paper (Fig 12A) and then roughly coloured in (Fig 12B). You then need to decide how you will cut up the block and rearrange it. In the example shown, the Shoo Fly block was cut into quarters (Fig 12C). Lay out the sixteen paper units as in Fig 12D and begin to play with some new layouts. Fig 12E shows two possibilities. Once you have a layout you like, you can choose fabrics and make the block for real.

Try this… Books, magazines and online images of blocks are all good sources. If you have copies of Today’s Quilter then you could look through back issues to find blocks. Magic blocks work best when the original block is quite simple, such as one using a 2 x 2 or 3 x 3 grid layout. If you have a printer/photocopier, you can photocopy a block you have seen in a book or magazine and use the enlargement feature on your printer to print it out at a useful size, ready to be cut up and rearranged. For example, you could make two copies of the Square in a Square block in Fig 13A. It looks interesting if it is treated in the same way as the Disappearing Stripes block in Fig 5. The four units are shown here in Fig 13B and could be sewn together in different ways.

Fig 12

Experimenting with a dummy paper block

A

B

C

Fig 13

A D

Playing with a copied block B

E

About the designer Linda Clements is a leading technical quilting expert, editor and writer who, for 25 years, has worked on many fabric and craft titles for David & Charles and other leading craft publishers.

Among the many quilters who have trusted Linda to ensure their books are both accurate and reader friendly, are Lynne Edwards MBE, Susan Briscoe, Pam & Nicky Lintott, Pauline Ineson, Mandy Shaw and Lynette Anderson. Linda’s own book, The Quilter’s Bible, is the must-have guide to patchwork, quilting and appliqué,

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

and includes everything she has learnt working with the industry’s best designers. For Today’s Quilter, Linda is working with the team to select practical and creative techniques. She will then go in-depth, exploring the methods, taking them from the basic premise to their full technical and creative potential. You can cut out and keep this section to build your own bespoke technical handbook.

ESSENTIAL GUIDE NEXT ISSUE: EXPLORING CORDED QUILTING Next month we will discover how to work the raised technique of Italian channel quilting

69

ew n e Th

of e m ho

NEW , s of free patterns Step-by-step tutorials Video guides

Explore fresh project ideas for all your favourite crafts with the brand new website for makers everywhere. Discover easy-to-follow patterns and tutorials for crochet, knitting, sewing, quilting, papercraft and stitching, and learn new skills from experts you can trust.

www.gathered.how g

WEEKEND PROJECT

COSY CARNATIONS Whether you know them as Carnations, Clove Pinks or Gillyflowers, the pretty Dianthus flower, with its elegantly pinked edges, is beautiful enough to grace any garden urn.

Designed and made by NICOLA DODD

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

71

WEEKEND PROJECT

COSY CARNATIONS You will need Q One (1) Charm Pack OR fourteen (14) 5in print squares Q Pink print fabric (urn) – one (1) fat sixteenth (9in x 11in) Q Green fabrics (leaves and stems) – yd Q Background fabric – yd Q Lining fabric – 24 in square Q Cushion backing fabric – yd Q Cotton batting – 26in Q in bias tape maker (optional) Q Spray starch and basting glue (optional) Q 24in cushion pad

Cutting out

1

From the 5in squares, cut as follows: Q From eight (8) of them, cut one (1) 3in square and two (2) 1 in squares.

Q From two (2) of them, cut one (1) 2 in square and one (1) 1 in square.

Q From two (2) of them, cut one (1) 3in square.

Q From one (1) of them, cut four (4) 1 in x 2in pieces.

Q From one (1) of them, cut one (1) 1 in x 4in piece and one (1) 1 in x 5in piece.

2

From the fat sixteenth of pink print fabric, cut one (1) 1 in x 9in piece and one (1) 1 in x 7 in piece.

BEHIND THE PROJECT

VINTAGE INSPIRATION “At last year’s Festival of Quilts, I was lucky enough to spend some time in quiet (and, frankly, awestruck) contemplation of a selection of Baltimore Album quilts on loan from the International Quilt Study Centre & Museum in Nebraska.

“I particularly loved the blocks of flower-filled urns and baskets that featured in most of the quilts and saw the potential for making a more achievable oneblock project like a cushion. I then promptly forgot about it until I found a beautiful, vintage needlepoint cushion featuring an urn design that recalled those beautiful quilts.

“Once I’d settled on the little Carnation flower block that gives the cushion its name, I knew I wanted to use my big stack of soft pink and faded red French General scraps (most of them are from past projects for Today’s Quilter). This really is the perfect project to use up those precious scraps of fabric that you just can’t bring yourself to throw away. It’s a big block too, so nine would make a lovely quilt. And I don’t know about you, but I certainly have enough scraps to make those nine!” – Nicola Dodd

72

3

From the green fabric, cut as follows: Q Five (5) in bias strips (they will be approximately 12in long).

Q Twelve (12) 2in x 3in pieces.

Q One (1) 1 in x 4in piece.

Q Two (2) 1 in x 3in pieces.

Q Two (2) 1 in squares.

4

From the background fabric, cut as follows: Q Two (2) 4 in x WOF strips, subcut into two (2) 4 in x 24 in pieces for the border.

Q One (1) 4in x WOF strip, subcut into one (1) 4in square and one (1) 2 in x 4in piece, then trim the strip to 3in wide.

Q One (1) 3in x WOF piece (plus Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

Finished size Q Approx. 24in square

Fabrics used Q A selection of fabrics by French General by Moda Fabrics.

Notes Q WOF = width of fabric.

Q HST = half-square triangle.

Q RST = right sides together.

Q Please read through the pattern before you begin, assuming a in seam allowance and a WOF of 42in. I would always recommend making a test block.

leftover strip from previous bullet point), subcut as follows: – Two (2) 3in x 8in pieces.

– Four (4) 3in x 5 in pieces.

– Two (2) 3in x 3 in pieces.

– Two (2) 3in x 2 in pieces.

Q One (1) 2 in x WOF strip, subcut into two (2) 2 in x 16 in pieces for the border.

Q Two (2) 2in x WOF strips, subcut into two (2) 2in x 3in pieces and twenty-four (24) 2in squares.

Q One (1) 1 in x WOF strip, subcut as follows: – Two (2) 1 in x 2 in pieces.

– Three (3) 1 in x 2in pieces.

– Ten (10) 1 in squares.

Q Three (3) 1 in x WOF strips, subcut as follows: – Four (4) 1 in x 5 in pieces.

– Four (4) 1 in x 4in pieces.

– Ten (10) 1 in x 3in pieces.

– Eight (8) 1 in x 2 in pieces.

– Four (4) 1 in squares.

Q From remnants cut two (2) 1in x 5 in pieces and three (3) 1in x 3in pieces.

TECHNICAL TIP There are a lot of background pieces, so you might prefer to cut the WOF strips then subcut pieces as you need them.

Making the petal units

6

First, make a HST unit by marking a diagonal line on the back of a 3in print square and pin, RST, to a contrasting 3in print square. Stitch a in away from both side of the line and cut the two (2) units apart. Press the units with the seam open and then trim to 2 in square (Fig 1). Set one (1) aside for the next petal unit.

5

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

Fig 2

8

Snowball the right-hand end of a 1 in x 3in background piece with a matching contrasting 1 in square (Fig 3). Again, taking care with the placement and pressing the seam open.

Fig 1

7 From the backing fabric, cut two (2) 14 in x 24 in pieces.

care with the placement. Stitch on the line, flip open and press – to snowball the corner – trimming away the back layers and pressing the seam open (Fig 2).

Mark a diagonal line on the back of a matching 1 in print square and pin to the left-hand end of 1 in x 2 in background piece, taking

Fig 3

73

P R OJ E C T l

c osy c a r n at i o n s

9

Join the three (3) sections together, pressing as directed (Fig 4). Make eight (8) petal units.

Fig 9

Fig 6

12 Fig 4

Make 8

10

Make the central receptacle by joining a 1 in x 4in green piece to a 2 in x 4in background piece, pressing the seam open. Then snowball both top corners with two (2) different 2 in print squares as shown in Figs 5A-5C.

To make the left-hand receptacle, snowball the top left-hand corner of a 3in x 3 in background piece with a 1 in green square (Fig 7). Repeat with another piece for the right-hand receptacle, reversing the placement.

Fig 10

pressing away from the leaves (Fig 10). Make two (2).

17 Fig 7

Making the leaves

13 Fig 5A

Make 2

Snowball one (1) end of a 2in x 3in green piece with a 2in background square, as shown in Fig 8A. Repeat at the other end, taking care that the seams are in the same direction (Fig 8B). Make six (6).

Join a 2in x 3in background piece to the bottom of a leaf unit and a 1in x 3in background piece to the top, pressing away from the leaf. Then join a 1 in x 4in background piece to the side, taking care with the placement (Fig 11). Make one (1). Repeat to make another section reversing the placement of pieces.

14

Repeat step 13, reversing the placement, as in Fig 8C. Make six (6).

Fig 5B Fig 11 Fig 8A

Make 1 and 1 in reverse

Fig 8B Make 6

Making the seedheads

18 Fig 8C Make 6 Fig 5C

11

Repeat step 8 with a 1 in square matching the print on the left corner. Join to the left-hand side of the unit. Repeat with another rectangle, this time matching the print on the right corner and reversing the placement. Join to the right-hand side of the unit (Fig 6).

74

Snowball the bottom corners of a 3in print square with two (2) 1 in background squares, and the top corners with two (2) 1 in background squares (Fig 12). Press the seams open.

15

Join a right-hand and left-hand leaf to each side of a 1in x 3in background piece, pressing away from the leaves (Fig 9). Make one (1).

16

Join a pair of right-hand and left-hand leaves to each side of a 1in x 5 in background piece,

Fig 12

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

P R OJ E C T l

c osy c a r n at i o n s

Fig 17A

Fig 17B

24

Join the base to the bottom of the urn, then join 1 in x 4in background pieces to each side, pressing away from the urn.

25

Join a 1 in x 3in background piece to each side of the 1 in x 4in print piece, pressing towards the print. Then join a 1 in x 9in pink print piece to the bottom, pressing towards the pink. Finally, join this unit to the top of the urn, again pressing towards the pink print (Fig 18).

19

To make the two sepals, snowball each end of a 1 in x 3in green piece with two (2) 1 in background squares. Press the seams open, then trim away in from the bottom, as shown in Fig 13.

Fig 15

22

Join the 1 in x 7 in pink piece to the bottom, then snowball the bottom corners with two (2) 1 in background squares, as shown in Fig 16.

Fig 13

20

Join the sepals to the bottom, pressing towards the seedhead, then join a 2 in x 3in background piece to the bottom of this (Fig 14). Make two (2).

Fig 18

Preparing the stems

26

Prepare the in bias strips with spray starch, if you are using it, and allow them to dry thoroughly. Make bias strips using the in bias tape maker, following the manufacturer’s instructions.

Press, gently curving two (2) of your stems as you do so. Make five (5).

Fig 16

23 Fig 14

Make 2

Piecing the urn

21

To make the decorative band, join the long sides of the four (4) print and three (3) background 1 in x 2in pieces together, alternating the colours (Fig 15) and pressing towards the print.

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

To make the base, mark a diagonal line at one end of a 1 in x 2 in background piece, place at a right-angle at the other end of the 1 in x 5in print piece, RST, as shown, and sew along the marked line (Fig 17A). Trim as previously described and press open. Repeat at the other end, reversing the placement (Fig 17B).

Assembling the cushion front

27

To assemble the top row, join two (2) petal units, pressing the seam open, then join a 3in x 5 in background piece to each side, pressing away from the petals (Fig 19).

Fig 19

75

P R OJ E C T l

c osy c a r n at i o n s

28

To assemble the second row, join two (2) pairs of petal units, pressing the seam open and join to each side of the central receptacle, again pressing open (Fig 20).

Fig 22

Fig 20 Fig 23

29

To assemble the third row, join the right and left receptacles to each side of the leaf unit made in step 15, pressing away from the leaves, then join the remaining petal units, pressing open (Fig 21).

Fig 21

30

Join rows 1 to 3, pressing the seams open, then join a 3in x 8in background piece to each side.

31

To assemble row four (4), join the leaf units made in step 16 to each side of the 4in background square, pressing towards the square.

Then join the single leaf units to each side, taking care with the placement (Fig 22).

32

To assemble the bottom row, join a 3in x 5 in background piece to each side of the urn, pressing away from the urn. Then join a seedhead to each side, pressing away from the seedhead. Finally join a 1 in x 5 in background piece to each side, again pressing away from the seedhead (Fig 23).

33

Join all but the bottom row together, pressing the seams open.

34

Unpicking a few stitches in the seams as necessary – shown as red dots – glue baste or pin the stems, before machine or hand appliquéing them in place (Fig 24).

Re-stitch the openings in the seams, then add the bottom row, pressing towards the seam.

35

Join 2 in x 16 in border pieces to each side then 4 in x 24 in border pieces to the top and bottom, pressing towards the borders.

36

Fuse the batting to the wrong side, then hand or machine quilt the two (2) layers together to make the cushion front – Nicola chose to hand quilt a simple design – before trimming away the excess batting.

Making the cushion

37

Turn a double in hem on one (1) long side of both back pieces and topstitch.

38

Lay the quilted cushion front right side up, then lay the two (2) back pieces on top, right sides down, overlapping the hemmed edges.

39

Lay the lining on the top and pin around the perimeter, marking a 5in opening. Sew a generous in from the edge, sewing around the corners several times to reinforce them.

40

Clip the corners of the cushion before turning right sides out, using a knitting needle (or something similar) to gently push out the corners.

41

Press lightly, then slip stitch the opening closed before inserting the cushion inner.

Fig 24

76

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

P R OJ E C T l

Meet the designer Nicola Dodd has been quilting since 2010 after chancing upon a quilting website and becoming hooked. Having designed all her working life – as an architect and as a garden designer – the temptation to start designing quilts was irresistible and she established her pattern company, CakeStand Quilts, in 2015. A regular Today’s Quilter contributor, Nicola now has a successful blog, where she enjoys sharing tutorials, and is a regular contributor to the Moda Bakeshop. www.cakestandquilts.com

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

cakestandquilts

c osy c a r n at i o n s

This sweet and homely cushion would look perfect in your favourite reading nook or cosy spot

@nicolajdodd

77

JUST

£9.99! *

Boost your patchwork and quilting skills with 34 step-by-step tutorials and projects!

ORDER ONLINE www.buysubscriptions.com/ultimatequilting or call 03330 162 138† AND QUOTE ‘THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO QUILTING PRINT 1’ *UK calls will cost the same as other standard fixed line numbers (starting 01 or 02) and are included as part of any inclusive or free minutes allowances (if offered by your phone tariff). Outside of free call packages call charges from mobile phones will cost between 3p and 55p per minute. Lines are open Mon – Fri 8am-6pm and Saturday 9am-1pm for orders only. Overseas please call +44 (0)1604 973 746. Price applies to UK orders only. EUR price £11.99, ROW price £12.99. All prices include P&P. Please allow up to 28 days for delivery.

BLOCK OF THE MONTH l

sp o o n d r if t q u ilt

Spoondrift BLOCK OF THE MONTH NO.10

FISH SHOAL Designed by JANET CLARE Made by PIPPA COCKHEAD

Ò$ KXJH VKRDO RI DSSOLTX© àVK KDSSLO\ VZLPPLQJ WRJHëHUÓ Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

79

BLOCK OF THE MONTH l

sp o o n d r if t q u ilt

BLOCK OF THE MONTH

FISH SHOAL BLOCK

You will need Q Ships Pearl – yd Q Cowes Ocean – 15in x 6in Q Starfish Dark Ocean – 15in x 6in Q Ships Dark Ocean – 3in x 6in Q Starfish Ocean – 3in x 4in Q Stripe Sand – 3in x 4in Q Stripe Dark Ocean – 3in x 4in Q Seaweed Sand – 3in x 4in Q Seabirds Sky – 3in x 4in Q Fusible web for appliqué Q Templates (see Templates section)

Finished size Q 12in square

Notes Q Important note: the ‘You will need’ list is an estimation of fabric needed to make the two blocks featured in this article. If you are cutting from the full yardage requirements list for the quilt project, do not subcut these sizes.

Proceed straight to the ‘Cutting out’ list below. Use leftover scraps wherever possible to be economical with fabric.

Q Read through all instructions carefully before proceeding with cutting.

Q Use a in seam allowance throughout.

Q Plan carefully and consider the print directionality for all pieces.

Cutting out

1

From Ships Pearl, cut as follows: Q One (1) 12 in x 6 in piece.

Q Two (2) 6 in x 3 in pieces.

Q Eight (8) 1 in squares.

create the four (4) nine-patch units that appear at the corner of the block.

Note there are two different designs on opposite corners. Stitch units together in three (3) rows (Fig 1).

2

From each of Cowes Ocean and Starfish Dark Ocean, cut fourteen (14) 1 in squares.

block. Check the orientation of everything, then piece the top and bottom row. Now sew the rows and rectangle together to complete the block background (Fig 2). Press well with the seams open so the background is as flat as possible for the appliqué.

3

Cut the following fish for appliqué, using the templates: Q Ships Dark Ocean – three (3) fish.

Q Starfish Ocean – two (2) fish.

Q Stripe Sand – two (2) fish.

Q Stripe Dark Ocean – two (2) fish.

Q Seaweed Sand – two (2) fish.

Q Seabirds Sky – two (2) fish.

Making the block

4

Take eight (8) Ships Pearl, fourteen (14) Cowes Ocean and fourteen (14) Starfish Dark Ocean 1 in squares. Taking care with the fabric directionality, arrange the squares to 80

Fig 1

5

Gather the rectangles cut from Ships Pearl and the nine-patch units. Arrange into the rows of the

Fig 2

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

Adding the appliqué

6

Arrange your appliqué shoal very carefully on the pieced background using Fig 3 as a guide, or in your own layout. Once they are pressed in place with the iron they cannot be removed, so take your time!

7

Set up your machine for freemotion stitching. For most machines you will need to lower the feed dogs and add a darning foot so it is ready for free-motion quilting. Janet used free-motion stitching and matching threads to secure the fused appliqué to the background fabric.

This step could also be satin stitched or even button-holed by hand.

8

Using a matching or contrasting thread, stitch around the appliqué.

When you’ve finished, pull threads to the reverse of the fabric and tie off securely. Press.

Ebb and Flow fabric swatches Keep this safe so you can refer back to the fabric grid 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

Fig 3

Preparing the fish fusible appliqué

1

Lay a piece of fusible web (paper side up) over the fish templates and trace. Roughly cut the pieces out with paper scissors leaving a small allowance all round.

2

Place the pieces paper side up on the reverse of your chosen fabrics and iron to fix in place. Now cut them out as carefully as you can on your traced pencil lines.

3

Peel off the backing paper.

If this is tricky, scratch the middle with a pin and peel it away from there.

1. Cowes Pearl 2. Cowes Dark Ocean 3. Cowes Ocean 4. Cowes Sky 5. Cowes Sand 6. Woven Texture Ocean 7. Seabirds Pearl 8. Seabirds Sky 9. Seabirds Sand 10. Seaweed Pearl 11. Seaweed Ocean 12. Woven Texture Pearl 13. Seaweed Sky 14. Seaweed Sand 15. Starfish Pearl 16. Starfish Dark Ocean 17. Starfish Ocean 18. Woven Texture Sand 19. Stripe Pearl 20. Stripe Dark Pearl 21. Stripe Dark Ocean 22. Stripe Sand 23. Ships Pearl 24. Woven Texture Sky 25. Ships Dark Ocean 26. Ships Sand 27. Whales Pearl 28. Whales Ocean 29. Whales Sky 30. Woven Texture Dark Ocean

Meet the designer After completing a degree in fashion and textiles, Janet worked as a freelance designer for many years. Janet creates lively designs for quilts and stitcheries that combine her unique joint appliqué templates and free-motion drawing technique. As an experienced speaker and teacher, Janet regularly host talks and workshops focusing on the design process and creative techniques. She’s also written five books, including Freya and Fred, Hearty Good Wishes, A Field Guide, Home Quilt Home and The Wordsmith. You can get in touch with Janet by emailing her at: janet@janetclare.co.uk www.janetclare.co.uk

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

STOCK UP ON FABRICS FOR YOUR QUILT! Ebb and Flow has now arrived in the UK. Contact Janet and Tony for more information using the email address provided.

Janeteclare

81

BLOCK OF THE MONTH l

sp o o n d r if t q u ilt

BLOCK OF THE MONTH

RIGGING

Cutting out

1

From Ships Pearl, cut as follows:

Q Five (5) 4 in x 2 in pieces. These can be fussy cut to showcase the print.

Q Two (2) 4 in x 1 in pieces.

Q Two (2) 2 in squares.

Q Sixteen (16) 2 in x 1 in pieces.

Q Eight (8) 1 in squares.

2

From each of Cowes Ocean and Starfish Dark Ocean, cut twentyfour (24) 1 in squares.

Making the block

4

Gather the remaining rectangles and squares and arrange with the four-patches in rows, as shown in

1 in x 2 in 4 in x

4 in x 2 in

2 in

in

4 in x 2 in

4 in x 2 in

4 in x 2 in

Fig 1. Check the orientation of everything before you begin, then piece each row in turn. Sew the rows together to complete (Fig 2).

Press well.

2 in

4 in x 2 in

3

Take eight (8) of each of the 1 in squares, and sew two (2) of each together into four (4) four-patches, alternating print.

4 in x 1 in Fig 1

82

Fig 2

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

All the yarn, accessories & patterns you need to hook these favourite characters

COMPLETE CROCHET KIT!

ONLY £12.99 With Free UK Delivery!

on sale 4 august 2020

Pre-order your KIT today!

CALL 03330 162 138† and quote ‘Peter Rabbit Crochet Kit’ ONLINE www.buysubscriptions.com/craftspecial †UK calls will cost the same as other standard fixed line numbers (starting 01 or 02) and are included as part of any inclusive or free minutes allowances (if offered by your phone tariff). Outside of free call packages call charges from mobile phones will cost between 3p and 55p per minute. Lines are open Mon to Fri 9am-5pm. Overseas please call +44 (0)3330 162 138. *Prices including postage are £12.99 for UK residents, £15.99 for Europe and £16.99 for Rest of World. Please allow up to 28 days for delivery.

For advertising opportunities call Tiffany Jackson on 0117 300 8203 or email tiffany.jackson@ immediate.co.uk

Useful guide to quilting goodies!

DIRECTORY Find the fabrics, accessories and more that you want from this month’s issue.

84

SHOPPING

FABRIC COLLECTIONS

ACCESSORIES

Shades of Summer www.eqsuk.com

Sew-all rPET threads gütermann@stockistenquiries.co.uk

Light in the Forest www.freespiritfabrics.com

Sew Easy Ironing Accessories groves@stockistenquiries.co.uk

Queen Bee www.eqsuk.com

Doorstep Care Pods www.spencerogg.com

Lisbon Square www.cloud9fabrics.com

Clover Sliding Stitching Foot clover@stockistenquiries.co.uk

Liberty Flower Show Summer www.eqsuk.com

Quilters’ Guild Cushion Patterns www.quiltersguildshop.org.uk

Moda French General my.modafabrics.com

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

TE M P L ATE S All the templates you’ll need from issue 64...

BLOCK OF THE MONTH APPLIQUÉ TEMPLATES ACTUAL SIZE PLEASE NOTE: Appliqué templates are reversed and do not include seam allowances.

A B

D C

Thank you for making this project from Today’s Quilter. The copyright for these templates belongs to the designer of the project. They work hard to create projects for you to enjoy, so please don’t re-sell or distribute without permission. Please do not make any part of the templates or instructions available to others through your website or a third party website, or copy it multiple times without permission. Copyright law protects creative work and unauthorised copying is illegal. We appreciate your help.

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

85

T O DAY ’ S Q U I LT E R l

t e m pl at e s

GARDEN OF ROSES APPLIQUÉ TEMPLATES ENLARGE 200% PLEASE NOTE: Appliqué templates do NOT include seam allowances.

Thank you for making this project from Today’s Quilter. The copyright for these templates belongs to the designer of the project. They work hard to create projects for you to enjoy, so please don’t re-sell or distribute without permission. Please do not make any part of the templates or instructions available to others through your website or a third party website, or copy it multiple times without permission. Copyright law protects creative work and unauthorised copying is illegal. We appreciate your help.

86

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

T O DAY ’ S Q U I LT E R l

t e m pl at e s

TULIPS FROM AMSTERDAM EMBROIDERY TEMPLATE ACTUAL SIZE

D OW N LOA D TH E S E T EM P L AT ES F UL L SI Z E Visit our blog: www.gathered.how/ todaysquilter today!

Thank you for making this project from Today’s Quilter. The copyright for these templates belongs to the designer of the project. They work hard to create projects for you to enjoy, so please don’t re-sell or distribute without permission. Please do not make any part of the templates or instructions available to others through your website or a third party website, or copy it multiple times without permission. Copyright law protects creative work and unauthorised copying is illegal. We appreciate your help.

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

87

FOR YOUR STASH DEVON

CORNWALL

STEP BY STEP A shop in the heart of North Devon, catering for the beginner and experienced quilter alike. We offer classes and workshops in all things patchwork.

COAST & COUNTRY CRAFTS & QUILTS

11-13 George Arcade, South Molton, Devon EX36 3AB

Hundreds of Beautiful Fabrics, Felting Supplies & Kits, Luscious Linens, Trimmings, Embellishments, Threads, Patterns & Books From Around the World, Sewing Machines, Workshops & so much more! Open Mon - Sat 10am-4pm (closed bank holidays). 01872-870478. coastandcountrycrafts.co.uk

HAMPSHIRE

CHESHIRE

stepbystep-quilts.co.uk 01769 574071 KENT

PURPLE-PIXIE

SEW I DID

SEW BUSY

Everything for the quilter.

Beautiful selection of fabrics, notions and wadding.

Nantwich Indoor Market.

Tues, Thurs and Sat.

Stockists of quality cottons, cotton jersey, denim, linen, ribbons, haberdashery and sewing gifts amongst others.

Shop In-Store or On-Line for our fabulous fabrics from Lynette Anderson, Liberty, Makower, Moda, Timeless Treasures and more! Notions, EPP supplies, Cross stitch, Courses, Workshops and Social sewing. Group visits welcome.

The Hop Farm Family Park, Maidstone Road, Paddock Wood.

Kent, TN12 6PY. 01622 296510.

sew-busy.co.uk

purple-pixie.co.uk.

07780 793676.

LAKE DISTRICT

LANCASHIRE

LINCOLNSHIRE

L & C FABRICS We stock a vast range of 1000s of quilting and dress making fabrics. Haberdashery, Workshops, classes and a sewing retreat. Free customer car park at the rear of the store.

FOBBLES

TEMPTATIONS

Specialist Patchwork Shop in the Lake District offering mail order service and shopping by appointment for your convenience.

Everything you need for Patchwork and Quilting.

Hundreds of quality cotton fabrics, wadding, haberdashery, Brother Sewing Machines.

fobbles.co.uk

temptationsbentham.co.uk

NORTH WALES

NORFOLK

SCOTLAND

SCOTLAND

SHERINGHAM

PEMBERTONS

Fabulous fabrics, notions and haberdashery for all your patchwork & quilting needs & yarns, beads, books and more!

24 Church Street, NR26 8QS

Everything for the Quilter, fantastic selection of machines, cabinets, habby, fabrics & notions. Friars Street, Stirling. psmc.co.uk

ABBEY SEWING MACHINES

owltreecrafts.co.uk

01786 462 993

217-219 Grimsby Road, Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, DN35 7HB 01472 600874 lcfabrics.co.uk lcfabrics@live.co.uk

FIND US ON FACEBOOK AC

28 Queens Road Craig-y-Don Llandudno Conwy, North Wales LL30 1AZ

thequiltingbeecyd@gmail.com 01492 878599

Tailored to meet your personal needs whether you are a seasoned sewer or buying your first machine.

01387 249 580

PXVW KDYH IDåLFV DQG VXSSOLHV SCOTLAND

SOUTH YORKSHIRE

SOUTH WALES

HAPPY HARE

PELENNA PATCHWORKS

THE PEACOCK & THE TORTOISE, PERTH The Peacock and the Tortoise is FOR SALE as a going concern with ample opportunity for expansion. Enquiries initially via email to thepeacockandthetortoise@ gmail.com. Quilting, Patchwork, Embroidery, Haberdashery & Textile Craft Shop.

29 George Street, Perth, PH1 5LA. thepeacockandthetortoise.co.uk 01738 717009

SUFFOLK

An independent sewing store in Chapeltown, Sheffield, stocking a range of fabrics, including Michael Miller, Riley Blake and Tula Pink.

handmadehappyhare.com

TYNE AND WEAR

Online shop stocking hundreds of patchwork fabrics & quilting tools – use code TD1000 for 10% off your first order!

pelennapatchworks.co.uk WEST SUSSEX

SIX PENNY MEMORIES Visit our website for all your Patchwork and Quilting Fabrics, Sewing Notions, Books and Patterns. Watch Kim on Create & Craft TV.

THE COSY CABIN

CHALK HILL BLUE FABRICS

For all your Quilting needs.

A large range of fabric, notions and workshops. Free parking, all on one level.

six-penny.com sales@six-penny.com 07908748856

thecosycabin.co.uk 01284 811222. IP28 6QU WEST YORKSHIRE

WEST WALES

Supplier of patchwork fabrics, threads, waddings and notions. Find us on Facebook.

01903 230008 Chalk Hill Blue Fabrics

WEST YORKSHIRE

THE FABBADASHERY

CALICO KATE

THE QUILT CABIN

“A Patchworker’s Paradise” 36 High Street, Lampeter, SA48 7BB

Traditional patchwork and quilt shop, offering quality branded fabric. Longarm quilting available.

01570 422866 calicokate.co.uk

0759 090 1926 thequiltcabin.co.uk

A truly delightful selection of high quality fabrics to meet all your sewing needs.

Weekly sewing & craft workshops close to the historical Piece Hall.

The Fabbadashery 10-12 Clare Rd Halifax HX1 2HX. 01422 647574

thefabbadashery.com The Fabbadashery

NEW , s of free patterns Step-by-step tutorials Video guides

Discover easy-to-follow patterns and tutorials for crochet, knitting, sewing, quilting, papercraft and stitching with the brand new website for makers everywhere.

For advertising opportunities call Sophie Roberts on 0117 300 8801

www.gathered.how g

or sophie.roberts@immediate.co.uk

HOME

Rachel Hauser’s field guide offers practical guidance to quilters getting to grips with colour

COLOUR THE64RAPY

Kerstin Neumüller and Douglas Luhanko’s handbook includes history, recipes and projects – all that you need to know to start creating your own hand-dyed fabric

IS SU E

This British Oakshott! t colour at point for g tin ar st It’s all abou t ess is a grea ectrum sp ur lo co based busin e full ploring th quilters ex

7KH GLDU\ RI D WUDYHç LQ J

TXLOW HU

A VOYAGE AROUND MY STAsoSmH e colour therapy Jane Rae enjoys closer to home…

– phone box where I live here’s an iconic red tele t ou gh ou thr red 00 scatte one of the remaining 50 you as r ou col of rst bu nty a jau the UK. Not only is it it’s s, nth e, but for the last few mo drive through the villag h pictures of allest galler y, filled wit become the world’s sm n equally as bee has d Instagram fee beautiful rainbows. My y making rne jou ir the on friends chromatic, as I follow my r Fo 365 days ilts (#tempquilt2020). their Temperature Qu s the low ord king a block that rec of the year, they are ma r for ou col a ng for every day, usi and high temperature each temperature. e Quilter’s chel Hauser’s book, Th Last year, I bought Ra atch cards sw e I love the detachabl Field Guide to Color, and ations. bin com r n myriad colou that allow you to auditio anised in org ers art qu fat g e showin There’s a full colour pag so utterly It’s r, patterned and plain. gorgeous stacks of colou this o int ng ct of actually breaki pleasing, that the prospe ess feels wrong. smorgasbord of lovelin oyment do we have the daily enj ly on t no As quilters, lves but we can indulge ourse of playing with colour, the many gh ou story of colour thr further by exploring the r and tho Au d. e been publishe excellent books that hav

T

90

love lay, describes when her journalist Victoria Fin nt in me mo d; a serendipitous affair with colour starte ght cau s wa eye ng when her a bookshop in Hong Ko and w’ llo Ye n dia ‘In ptions of by the beguiling descri ite nt on to research and wr we e Sh ’. een Gr ld ‘Emera had I r, yea The Paintbox. Last Colour: Travels Through ny Jen by ion to a presentat the pleasure of listening tor y her research into the his red sha she as Balfour Paul nd tla me, many quilters in Sco of indigo. Closer to ho ether

by Sally Tuckett who, tog have attended lectures into ch ear res ive der took extens with Stana Nenadic, un tton Co d nte Pri d Re e Turkey Colouring the Nation: Th d. tlan Sco in Industry ng, dyeing, piecing or Whether we’re researchi sic stash, colour is an intrin simply organising our of act ple sim e Th . of quilting par t of our enjoyment rking wo of h, bat dye a o int ico submersing a piece of cal y gre of de nding up every sha on a ‘fabric pull’ or rou nk thi I y. rap the our kind of into one perfect stack is in mind when she said had e Le ggy Pe that’s what n Sing A Rainbow.

Ca in I ‘listen with your eyes’

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

NEXT ISSUE On Sale 6th August

LOVE & MARRIAGE Family and friends will fall in love with this gorgeous Double Wedding Ring quilt

*Please note, gift and contents may be subject to change

Photograph courtesy of Jonathan Avery

BEAUTIFUL BARGELLO Shades of blue, pink and grey combine in this sublime quilt to create a stunning, flowing design

ART DECO DIVINE Master the skill of reverse appliqué while sewing this stained glass beauty

&RORXUV RI ëH VHDVRQ Wow with Jo Avery’s showstopping Double Wedding Ring design • Sew Amanda Little’s half Log Cabin design • Discover how to work the raised technique of Italian channel quilting with Lin Clements Your gift! Lynne Edwards’ sampler supplement Issue 65 on sale 6th August 2020

INNOV-IS XP1 Sewing, quilting and embroidery machine

• Superior embroidery frame 272 x 408mm (10.7 x 16”) - Our largest embroidery area • Super long arm 13.1” (332mm) workspace • Camera detecting buttonhole function • Over 1,100 built-in embroidery designs • Revolutionary built-in projector • My Design Centre • Includes 5 Year warranty

£10,999 + FREE

Upgrade kit & Luggage set worth £799.99

INNOV-IS V3 Embroidery machine

£1,999

• Large 300mm x 180mm embroidery area - ideal for larger projects • Large LCD touch screen – including on-screen editing for embroidery projects • Thread sensors, auto tensioning and easy threading for easy use and a professional finish • Over 200 built-in embroidery designs • Full spectrum LED lighting • Automatic thread cutting

+ FREE

Upgrade ki t1 & LED poin ter embroidery foot worth £297.98

INNOV-IS F420 Sewing machine

• • • • • • • •

£599

140 stitches, including 10 buttonhole styles 5 Styles of lettering (uppercase) Advanced one action needle threader SFDS: Square Feed Drive System Lock stitch button Knee lift Memory function User-friendly LCD screen

+ FREE

Creative Quilt Kit worth £149.99

INNOV-IS A80 Sewing machine

£449

• • • • •

80 stitches Automatic 1 step button hole 5 styles Advanced one action needle threader Stitch length and width control Start/Stop button and slide speed control • Lock stitch button • Quick set bobbin

+ FREE

g

Creative Quiltin kit worth £149.99

Scotland David Drummond Edinburgh EH12 5HD The Sewing Machine Shop No.29 Fochabers IV32 7DU Karelia House Ltd By Aberfeldy PH15 2LS Pembertons Sewing Machines Stirling FK8 1HA Aberdeen Sewing Machines Ltd Aberdeen, AB25 1UR North East Sewing Machine Sales Whitley Bay NE26 2SY Tullys Sewing Machines Sunderland SR1 3JG Noth West Bamber Sewing Machines Ltd Eccles M30 7HY Hobkirks Sewing Machines Ltd Blackburn BB2 2AJ Jaycotts Sewing Machines Chester CH1 4LT /RUG·V 6HZ .QLW &HQWUH Accrington BB5 3DE M&S Sewing Machines Heywood OL10 4NN R&T Machines Blackburn BB1 2AL Temptations Bentham LA2 7HQ Fabrics at Fleetwood Fleetwood FY7 6DU Cumbria Sewing and Craft Barrow-in-furness LA14 1PU Etty Lilly Bolton Le Sands LA5 8DB Weaverdee Middlewich CW10 0GF Superior Sewing Centre Carlisle CA3 8PW Bizzie Fingers Lytham St Annes FY8 1SZ Yorkshire & The Humber A61 Woodseats Sewing Machines Ltd 6KHIÀHOG 6 *) Sewing Machines and Crafts Keighley BD21 1AD Fabric Mouse Richmond DL10 7SN School of Sew Leeds LS28 5UJ Stocks Sewing Machine Ltd Leeds LS119RT Singer Sewing Centre :DNHÀHOG :) 4( Sewing Centre Barnsley S70 1SZ The Fabbadashery Halifax HX1 2HX Midlands Brewers Sewing Machines Wolverhampton WV2 3AF Couling Sewing Machines Lincoln LN5 8AN DC Nutt Sewing Machines Walsall WS3 3SS Grain Sewing Machines Ltd Nottingham NG6 8UY Frank Nutt Sewing Machines Birmingham B14 7AA GS UK Ltd Nottingham NG2 3DE Sewing Machine Centre Shrewsbury SY1 1XJ The Lorna Knight Sewing Academy Leek ST13 7NX L & M Nutt 6XWWRQ &ROGÀHOG % %6 Leicestershire Craft Centre Market Harborough LE16 7NJ Refresh Sewing Leominster HR6 8BT East Anglia Bedford Sew & Knit Limited Bedford MK41 7LE Franklins Group Limited Colchester CO2 7DU Franklins Group Limited Ipswich IP1 3EL Franklins Group Limited Chelmsford CM2 0LG Sewing Machine World Kings Lynn PE30 5DD Stitch X Stitch Stowmarket IP14 1HH Backstitch Cambridge CB23 7EY Wales Cliffords Sewing Machines Swansea SA1 3JY J&B Sewing Machine Co Ltd Newport NP19 4SY J&B Sewing Machine Co Ltd Cardiff CF11 8AA Sewing Machines Direct Wrexham LL12 0PJ Sewing Innovations Techsoft UK Ltd Bodelwyddan LL18 5TQ South East Bobbin Along Worthing BN11 3EG Dowlings Sewing Machines Wickford SS11 8YJ GTS Sewing Machines Banbury OX16 9PQ Hastings Sewing Centre Hastings TN34 1RE Lewisham & Deptford Sewing Machines Ltd London SE8 3NT Maidstone Sewing Centre Maidstone ME14 1ED Home of Sewing by Regent Ilford IG1 2AG Rona Sewing Machines Waltham Cross EN8 7AP Sew Devine Reading RG6 1JQ The Sewing Centre London SW11 3BP Sewing & Craft Superstore London SW17 7AA The World of Sewing Tunbridge Wells TN1 2QP The World of Sewing Orpington BR6 75Q Tysew Southall UB1 3AF Sueco UK Portsmouth PO3 5BZ Stitched By You Alton GU34 1BN Sew Creative 3HWHUVÀHOG *8 (: South West &DIÁH &UDIWV Weston Super Mare BS24 6SE Exeter Sewing Machine Company Exeter EX1 2LD Franklins Group Limited Salisbury SP2 7SU The Sewing Studio Redruth TR15 2DB White Orchid Corfe Mullen BH21 3UX Threads Minehead TA24 5BT Norhern Ireland Sew N Knit Belfast BT14 1AB

0131 313 1002 01343 823961 01887 822 027 01786 462 993 01224 478555 0191 2525 825 0191 565 7995 0161 707 7786 01254 693 555 01244 394 099 01254 389 171 01706 366 943 01254 520 63 01524 261 868 01253 870 470 01229 823714 01524 734 713 01603 339818 01228 599880 01257 721 721 0114 255 2822 01535 609466 01748 811593 0113 4182718 0113 242 9378 01924 374471 01226 248230 01422 647574 01902 458 885 01522 521 841 01922 497 603 0115 927 1155 0121 444 3978 0115 844 8000 01743 343 902 01538 371 682 0121 373 5497 01858 466692 01568 610044 01234 217 096 01206 563 955 01473 221 188 01245 346 300 01553 773 362 01449 257070 01223 778118 01792 655 928 01633 284 646 02920 402 418 0800 622 6224 01745 586845 01903 200 771 01268 570248 01295 701384 01424 420 108 0208 692 1077 01622 670 254 0208 4780 669 01992 640 250 0118 926 8664 0207 228 0036 020 8767 4724 01892 533 188 01689 638 638 0208 574 1750 02392 697621 01420 544033 01730 858020 01934 838 327 01392 275 660 01722 554 466 01209 216 942 01202 886 001 01643 708372 028 9045 6012

Offers valid from 1st June to 31st July 2020

brothersewing.co.uk

For full details visit your www.brothersewing.co.uk or visit your local Brother stockist.

BLOCK INSPIRATION souvenir supplement with The Quilters’ Guild Beautiful designs to make today!

Celebrate theA fabric collection steeped in heritage!

An exclusive design supplement

BUILD YOUR SKILLS WITH THESE TECHNIQUES • Foundation paper piecing • Folded fabric curves • Hand piecing • Appliqué

*Calls from landlines will cost up to 9p per minute. Call charges from mobile phones will cost between 3p and 55p per minute but are included in free call packages.

WELCOME

02 2

We love a good quilt block, be it a quick one you can sew up in no time, or a more complicated one that takes you a while to make. And no matter how long you’ve been sewing, it’s always a delight to stumble upon a design that excites you. Whether it’s because you get to learn a new technique you’ve been wanting to try or to master one you’ve been struggling with. The wonderful thing is, the blocks in this book allow you to try out the technique without committing to a whole quilt (though you might like them so much you create your own quilt design).

Plus, there are top tips from our talented designers to make sure you sew with ease. So open up the pages, find a design you love, and start sewing!

Fiona Lawrence Editor

Editor Fiona a Lawrence Art Editor Rachel Bullen Deputy Editor Laura La a Pritchard Production Editor it r Jessie Jessiie Doughty Contributors Tina Pri Prior, ior Kit K Cheung Designers Jo Avery, Victoria Carrington, Lin Clements, Lynne Edwards, Katharine Guerrier, Carolyn Forster, Mary Mayne, Judi Mendelssohn Advertising Manager Penny Stokes Production Coordinator Ian Wardle Printed in the UK. Supplement presented with Issue 64 of Today’s Quilter magazine. © Immediate Media Co. Not to be sold separately.

To subscribe to Today’s Quilter call 03330 162 154* or go to www.buysubscriptions.com

Todaysquilter

Todaysquilter

Todaysquilter

Todaysquilter

www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

Technique: FABRIC FOLDING

Block 1 of 8

CURVED FLYING GEESE Designed by LYNNE EDWARDS

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

3

FABRIC FOLDING BLOCK

CURVED FLYING GEESE You will need Q Background fabric – one (1) fat eighth Q Windmill fabric – yd Q Outer ‘geese’ fabric – one (1) fat eighth

Block size Q 14 in square (14in square finished)

Notes Q Seam allowances are otherwise noted.

in, unless

make twelve (12) triangles.

Q From outer geese fabric, thirty-six (36) 1 in squares.

3

From background fabric for the final border, cut two (2) 1 in x 12 in strips and two (2) 1 in x 14 in strips.

Making the centre windmill section Based on a classic Four-Patch block, the Folded Windmill is made from two (2) layers of cut squares.

The top layer of squares makes

Fig 1A

Fig 1B

Cutting out

1

For the centre windmill block, cut as follows: Q From background fabric, four (4) 2 in squares.

Q From windmill fabric, four (4) 2in squares.

Q From outer geese fabric, two (2) 1 in x 4 in strips and two (2) 1 in x 5 in strips. (See step 11 before cutting).

2

For the curved geese strips, cut as follows: Q From windmill fabric, thirty-two (32) 1 in x 4in strips and six (6) 4 in squares. Cut each 4 in square in half on the diagonal to

4

TECHNICAL TIP There are a lot of folded and layered elements in this design, so it is best to avoid thicker fabrics to make less bulk in the seams.

Fig 1C

Fig 1D

the windmill, the bottom layer the background. Each windmill square is folded, pressed and pinned onto a square of background fabric before they are joined to make the block.

The blades of the windmill may be left as straight folded edges (Fig 1A), curved back and stitched on one bias folded edge (Figs 1B and 1C) or on both bias folded edges (Fig 1D). Lynne chose the last version for her block as the curved Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

BLOCK 1 l

edges showed up well with the calico fabric used.

4

Fold each of the four (4) 2in windmill squares in half diagonally, right sides outwards (Fig 2). Press.

5

Fold the top corner of each of these triangles down in front, as in Fig 3, matching the raw edges at the side exactly. Press. Note: Make sure each folded square is folded in exactly the same arrangement as shown. If some are folded one way and some the other, the arms of the windmill will not be pointing in the same direction and the design will not work.

6

Place each folded shape onto the right side of a 2 in square of background fabric (Fig 4). Match the corners of both shapes carefully.

Pin with two (2) pins as shown – this way the pins are kept clear of the seams when the background squares are stitched together. The folded square is slightly smaller than the background square, so the top point will not match the corner of the background square.

Top tips To avoid having pins between the layers of fabric as you join the pieces together, you could use a fabric gluestick to keep the folded corner of the windmill in place.

It can also hold the outer corners of the folded windmill on to the background fabric. Restrict the glue to no more than a in spot within the seam allowance of the windmill. Most fabric gluesticks are quite wide in diameter and precision sticking of small areas can be tricky. I place the fabric on a piece of paper so that when I use the gluestick, most of the glue goes on the paper, with just the tiny bit that I want finishing up on the fabric.

7

Take the layered squares and arrange them into two (2) rows each of two (2) squares (Fig 5).

Fig 3

Fig 6

Fig 7

Fig 8

Fig 5

Fig 2

c ur ve d f ly i ng ge e se

8

Pin the top two (2) squares together, matching the edges of the layered fabrics exactly. Make sure the folded corners butt together to make a diagonal mitre at the centre corner of the block.

9

Stitch a in seam through all the layers. Press the seam open to reduce the bulk (Fig 6).

Repeat this with the bottom row of two (2) squares.

11

Catch the outer corner of each arm of the windmill with two (2) small stitches through all the layers to secure it (Fig 8). The block should measure 4 in square – if your block is a little smaller because of all the layers, don’t worry. Cut the strips from step 1 to 1 in wide instead of 1 in and trim the block after that to the required size. I leave the curving back of the bias edges until the whole block is finished.

Adding the centre frame

12

Stitch one 4 in long strip to either side of the block (Fig 9). Press the seams outwards

10

Pin and stitch the rows together, matching the centre seams and mitred folded edges carefully. Press the long seam open (Fig 7).

Fig 4

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

Fig 9

5

BLOCK 1 l

c ur ve d f ly i ng ge e se

from the block. If your block turned out smaller than 4 in square, trim the ends of the strips even with the sides of the block.

13

Pin and stitch the 5 in long strips to the top and bottom of the block (Fig 10). Press the seams outwards. The block needs to measure 5 in square, so trim it to size if necessary.

fabric triangle onto the right side (Fig 12A). Match the point of the folded goose triangle with the point of the background triangle with the raw edges exactly level. Pin as shown in Fig 12B.

16

Take the next folded triangle of geese fabric and pin or stick it to the top corner of a 1 in x 4in strip (Fig 13). Make sure the goose triangle

(Fig 16). Match the raw edges exactly.

This makes strip B, used alternately with strip A to make the plait.

19

Arrange the new strip B alongside the joined pieces (Fig 17).

Flip the strip over onto the joined section and pin and stitch it in place.

Press the seam towards strip B (Fig 18).

20

Continue to make the braid, using four (4) A strips alternately with four (4) B strips, following the steps above (Fig 19).

Finishing the border strip

21

Once the starting triangle and all eight (8) strips are joined

Fig 13

is pinned to the front of the fabric at the right hand top corner as shown, and match all the raw edges exactly.

This is strip A and is used alternately with strip B to make the braid.

Fig 10

17

Start at the bottom end of the braid and work upwards (just the opposite of plaiting hair!) by next arranging the triangle and strip A, as

Fig 16

Fig 11

Making the Curved Flying Geese section

14

Fold each 1 in square of outer geese fabrics in half with right side outside and press (Fig 11).

15

Take one (1) of the 4 in triangles and pin a folded geese

Fig 17

Fig 14

Fig 18 Fig 15

Fig 12A

in Fig 14. Flip the strip over onto the triangle and stitch the two together with the usual in seam. Press the seam towards the long strip, pressing from the front of the work (Fig 15).

18 Fig 12B

6

Take another 1 in x 4in strip and pin or stick a folded ‘goose’ triangle to the front side of the strip, this time at the top left corner

Fig 19

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

Fig 22

Fig 23

22

Pin and stitch a second triangle to the other side (Fig 21). Keep the top point of this triangle level with the equivalent point on the first triangle, as shown.

Trimming the border strip Fig 20

together to make the plait, pin and stitch a 4 in triangle to the top of the plaited border, where the next strip would have gone (Fig 20).

Make sure the triangle extends a generous in above the plait, as shown. Press the triangle out from the plait, ironing from the front.

Fig 21

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

Note: At this stage, the braid is very stretchy and may be slightly curving as a band of strips. Press it firmly from the front of the work, easing it into a straight band as you press.

23

The plait needs to be trimmed to 3 in wide. There is no obvious way to do this because the flying geese triangles do not have a central line, but are scattered across the band, flying in formation like real birds do. Trim the strip to 3 in wide by cutting approximately in beyond the side points of the geese triangles on the right hand side of the strip (Fig 22). Check that there will be the same amount beyond the side points on the other side of the strip before you cut. If you are uncertain, cut both sides in from the ends of the triangles, and then trim each side evenly until the strip is exactly 3 in wide.

24

Now trim down the top of the plait to exactly in beyond the top point of the final goose (Fig 23). Then trim the strip at the bottom end so that it measures exactly 9in long. Because of the stretchy quality of the strips leave the curving back of the geese edges until the block is assembled, when it will be more stable.

25

Repeat steps 14–24 to make four (4) border strips, taking care to trim each strip to exactly 3 in x 9in.

Fig 24

7

BLOCK 1 l

c ur ve d f ly i ng ge e se

Assembling the block

by rolling each diagonal folded edge back into a curve and stitching it in place. Working one triangle at a time, push the folded bias edge back, stretching it to create a curve.

Pin the curved edge at the centre, as in Fig 27A.

26

Arrange the four (4) strips of geese around the centre unit (Fig 24). Start by flipping strip A over onto the centre block, with right sides facing. Match the left end of the strip with the left side of the centre block, as shown in Fig 25A, and pin in place.

Fig 25A

36

27

Stitch part-way along the pinned seam, starting at the left end and leaving the final 2in unstitched (Fig 25B).

28

Open the strip out away from the centre block, pressing the seam out from the centre towards the framing strip (Fig 25C).

Fig 25B

29

Place this section back with the other framing strips in the design. Pin and stitch strip B to the main section (Fig 26A). Press the seam outwards from the centre as before.

Stitch along the edge of the curve, using your stitch of choice (Fig 27B). To backstitch as I’ve done, place the needle one or two threads behind where the thread is emerging, so that the stitch made looks like a tiny pin-prick without any real length. Work the next stitch in front, leaving a small space. I don’t always take my needle through to the back of the work, as there are so many layers to get through, but every few stitches I dig a little deeper to fix the curved edge onto the background to make it more secure and less vulnerable to wear and tear.

30

In the same way, pin and stitch strip C to the main block, pressing the seam outwards (Fig 26B).

31

Now pin and stitch strip D to the main block, making sure strip A is held away from the centre (Fig 26C). Strip D will finish at the top of the block centre, allowing the rest of the strip A seam to be sewn easily.

Fig 25C

Fig 26C

32

Finally pin and stitch the last seam of the block, continuing the stitches of the original part-stitched seam for strip A. The block should measure 12 in square at this stage.

Adding the final border

Fig 26A

33

Pin and stitch the 1 in x 12 in strips to either side of the block. Press the seams outwards from the block.

Fig 27A

34

Pin and stitch the 1 in x 14 in strips to the top and bottom of the block. Press seams outwards from the block to complete it. Trim the block to 14 in square.

Rolling the folded edges

35 8

Once the block is assembled, then it’s time to transform it

Fig 26B

Fig 27B

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

Technique: FOUNDATION PAPER PIECING

Block 2 of 8

SPIKE CENTRAL Designed by LINDA CLEMENTS

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

9

FPP BLOCK

SPIKE CENTRAL You will need Q Fabric A (white solid) – yd Q Fabric B (pink solid) – one (1) fat eighth Q Fabric C (purple solid) – one (1) fat eighth Q Fabric D (blue print) – one (1) fat quarter Q FPP templates (A, B and C) – four (4) copies of each

Block size Q 14 in square (14in square finished)

Notes Q Seam allowances are in, unless otherwise noted.

Q Press seams open, unless otherwise instructed.

Q Templates include seam allowances around the outer edges only.

Q RS = right side.

Q WS = wrong side.

Q RST = right sides together.

Q WOF = width of fabric.

Q FPP = foundation paper piecing.

Q Fabric A – eight (8) 2 in x 4 in (Pieces 2 & 3).

Q Fabric B – four (4) 4in x 6 in (Piece 1).

Q Fabric C – four (4) 2 in x 4in (Piece 4).

C

3 A B

D

A, Unit B and Unit C. Cut out the templates with a little extra paper past the solid outer line.

4

3 1

For the four (4) FPP Unit Bs, cut the following totals: Q Fabric A – eight (8) 2 in x 5 in (Pieces 4 & 5) and four (4) 4in x 5 in (Piece 1).

Q Fabric D print – sixteen (16) 2 in x 5 in (Pieces 2, 3, 6 & 7).

4

For the four (4) FPP Unit Cs, cut the following totals: Q Fabric A – four (4) 3in squares

2 Unit A – make make44

4

1

5 1

Fig 1

6

2

3

Cutting out

1

It is easier and more economical to pre-cut the fabrics needed for the FPP shapes. See Fig 1 for the block layout and Fig 2 for the FPP units needed. Copy the FPP templates so you have four (4) each of Unit 10

Unit B – make 4

7

2

3

Unit C – make 4

Fig 2

2

TECHNICAL TIP When trimming the FPP units to their final size, hold the ruler very firmly, as it’s easy for it to pivot and slide on the thick seams. Make sure to trim on the outside of the outer line.

For the four (4) FPP Unit As, cut the following totals: Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

BLOCK 2 l

B

A

Foundation Paper Piecing

4

1

3

e

3

Cre as

WS

4

4

2

2

RS

3

1

1 2

Must be at least in

Fig 3A

Fig 3B

D

Fig 3C F

E

RS

1

2

4

1

3

3

WS

Trim excess fabric in away from the seam

2 3

WS

Fold paper out of 1 the way

4

RS

4

3

RS 1

5

2

6

3

4

7 8

Fig 3D

Fig 3E

G

Fig 3F

H

I

RS

WS

4

4

3

3

ase Cre 1

WS

RS

4

3

1 1

2

2

RS

2

WS

RS

RS

Fig 3G

Fig 3H

J

Fig 3I

K 3

2

1 1

RS

(Piece 1).

Q Fabric C – eight (8) 2in x 3 in (Pieces 2 & 3).

WS

WS

1

Q Fabrics are placed on the back (blank side) of the template but sewing is done from the front (printed side), along the marked lines.

Q Reduce your stitch length to about 1.5 when sewing, to make it easier to tear the paper away later.

Q Add the fabric pieces in the number order on the template.

You may find it useful to make notes on the template in pencil for which colours will be used for each section.

Q Continue the stitching a stitch or two past the beginning and end of the line, unless otherwise instructed. This will ensure your seams are secured.

Q Once a piece is added, trim the work to a in seam allowance, making sure that the paper template is folded out of the way.

Q Remove the paper from the numbered sections in the reverse order, if possible.

C

RS

RS

sp ik e c e ntral

4

3

L

2

RS

3 4

1 RS

5

2

6 7 8

5

For the other units in the block centre, cut the following: Q Fabric B – four (4) 2 in squares.

Q Fabric D – one (1) 2 in square.

Making the block

6

Start by making the Unit A FPP units. Take one of the Unit A templates and turn it to the blank side. Place a Fabric B Piece 1 RS up on the template, over the shape 1 area. Pin in place. Fold the fabric and paper along the line between shapes 1 and 2 and crease (Fig 3A).

Use this crease to judge where to place the Fabric A Piece 2. Place the fabric RS down and ensure there is at least a in seam allowance, as in Fig 3B. Pin in place. Turn the work over and sew along the line between shapes 1 and 2, as in Fig 3C. Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

RS

Fig 3J

Fig 3K

7

Fold the paper out of the way, along the line you have just sewn (Fig 3D). Rotate the work to a comfortable position for cutting then, using a quilting ruler, trim excess fabric to a in seam allowance (Fig 3E). Put the paper back in place and press the work (Fig 3F).

8

Fold the fabric and paper along the line between shapes 1 and 3 and crease. Place the Fabric A Piece 3 in the same way you did before, making sure there is at least a in seam allowance, as in Fig 3G. Pin in place. Turn the work over to the printed side and sew along the line

Fig 3L

between shapes 1 and 3, as in Fig 3H. Fold the paper out of the way as before and trim excess fabric, leaving a in seam. Press the work (Fig 3I).

9

Sew a Fabric C Piece 4 in place using the same process and then trim and press (Fig 3J).

10

Use a quilting ruler to trim the unit to 4 in square, cutting on the outside of the thick outer line on the template (Fig 3K). Remove the paper template and then press once more (Fig 3L). Make three (3) more Unit As like this.

11

BLOCK 2 l

sp ik e c e ntral

11

13

To make the Unit B units, use the same basic FPP process as described before. Use the precut Fabric A and Fabric D pieces, sewing them together in the number order shown in Fig 4. The trimmed, unfinished unit should be 4 in x 6 in. Remove the paper templates (using tweezers for the sharp-pointed areas). Make four (4) units in total.

4

1

6

2

Fig 4

To assemble the centre of the block, take four (4) of Unit C, four (4) 2 in Fabric B squares and one (1) 2 in Fabric D square and lay them out, as in Fig 6. Using scant in seams, sew the units together into three (3) rows. Press the seams open. Sew the three (3) rows together, using scant in seams, matching seams neatly and press.

Check the unit is 6 in square.

Note: A scant seam is used here because the seam allowance is a bit thicker for the FPP sections and should give you more accurate piecing. If your unit turns out larger,

5

7

3

just go back and sew with a full in seam.

14

To assemble the block, follow Fig 7, laying the block units out in three (3) rows. Using scant in seams, sew the three (3) rows.

Press the seams open. Using scant in seams again, sew the three (3) rows together, matching seams neatly and press. Check the block is 14 in square.

Unit B

12

To make the Unit C units, use the same basic FPP process as described before. Use the precut Fabric A and Fabric C pieces, sewing them together in the number order shown in Fig 5. The trimmed, unfinished unit should be 2 in square. Remove the paper. Make four (4) units in total.

1 2

3

Fig 5

Unit C Fig 7

Fig 6

SPIKE CENTRAL

Unit C

1

FPP TEMPLATES

Unit A

4

3

2

ENLARGE 200% Includes seam allowances.

Unit B

3

1

4

5

1

2

12

6

2

3

7

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

Technique: HAND PIECING

Block 3 of 8

WISHING STAR Designed by CAROLYN FORSTER

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

13

HAND-PIECING BLOCK

WISHING STAR You will need Q Medium print (A) – one (1) fat sixteenth Q Light print (A) – one (1) fat sixteenth Q Dark print (B) – one (1) fat eighth Q Pale background (C) – one (1) fat eighth Q Frame fabric (D) – two (2) fat eighths Q Block templates

Block size Q 14 in square (14in square finished)

Notes Q RS = right side.

Q WS = wrong side.

Q All templates are finished size, so you need to add the seam allowance once you have drawn round them on the WS of the fabrics.

8 TECHNICAL TIP Carolyn finds it easier to lay these blocks out in full, so she can see what it will look like finished – it makes it easier to see which pieces need to be stitched.

Join the halves to make the block centre (Fig 3). Remember to make a backstitch before each seam junction and again when you start the next section of stitching. This way you won’t have a gap. Never stitch the SA down, instead pass the needle through one side to the other.

9

Stitch B pieces to either side of C, as shown in Fig 4. Make four (4) star point sections.

Cutting out

1 2 3 4

From the medium print fabric, cut four (4) pieces using Template A. From the light print fabric, cut four (4) pieces using Template A. From the dark print fabric, cut four (4) pieces using Template B.

From background fabric, cut eight (8) pieces using Template C (marking the centre balance points onto the fabric).

lines, matching the start and finish first, before adding any pins along the sewing line as needed. Stitch in pairs along the long side (Fig 1).

Start with a knot and a backstitch, ending with three (3) backstitches at the end of the marked line to secure. Make four (4) pairs.

7

Fig 2

Join these pairs together to form two (2) halves (Fig 2).

5

From frame fabric, cut four (4) pieces using Template D (marking the centre balance points again).

Piecing the block centre

6 14

Pin the light and medium A pieces together along the drawn

Fig 1

Fig 3

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

BLOCK 3 l

12

Now stitch these longer units to the remaining sides of the centre unit (Fig 7).

w i sh i ng st a r

(Fig 8). Carolyn used two (2) prints on opposite corners.

Adding the frame

13

Join D pieces together to form the frame for the circular block

Fig 4

10

Stitch two (2) of these star points to opposite sides of the central unit (Fig 5)

11

Stitch C pieces to either end of the two (2) remaining star point units (Fig 6). Make two (2).

Fig 8 Fig 6

14

Pin the frame to the block, by matching the seams and the balance points of C to those of D. Fill in the gaps with more pins as needed (Fig 9).

Fig 5

Fig 7

Fig 9

15

Stitch all around the complete circle, removing pins as you

work.

Fig 10

16

Press. As with all hand piecing, you can press to distribute the bulk at the seam junctions, allowing the seams to press flat (Fig 10). This can vary from stitcher to stitcher, but the picture here is a guide.

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

15

BLOCK 3 l

w i sh i ng st a r

TEMPLATE D

WISHING STAR BLOCK TEMPLATES ACTUAL SIZE PLEASE NOTE: Hand-piecing templates do NOT include seam allowances.

TEMPLATE A

TEMPLATE C TEMPLATE B

16

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

Technique: FUSIBLE APPLIQUÉ

Block 4 of 8

BERRY-GOROUND Designed by MARY MAYNE

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

17

FUSIBLE APPLIQUÉ BLOCK

BERRY-GOROUND You will need Q Background fabric – 10 in square Q Border fabric – one (1) fat quarter Q Green fabric scraps Q Fabric for the small circles (yellow) – 4in square Q Fabric for the large circles (red) – 4in x 8in Q Green embroidery thread Q Fusible interfacing – 12in square Q Templates

Block size Q 14 in square (14in square finished)

Notes Q Seam allowances are otherwise noted.

in, unless

corner (Fig 3). You will use these lines for placement of the leaves later.

Appliqué leaves

6

Trace eight (8) leaf shapes and one small circle (using the templates provided) onto the fusible interfacing (paper side), leaving a

Cutting out

1 2

For the centre square, cut one (1) 10 in square.

5

Using a removable fabric marker, mark the centre of the block with horizontal and vertical lines, and then diagonally from corner to

Fig 2

For the borders, cut two (2) 10 in x 2 in strips and two (2) 14 in a 2 in strips.

Piecing the background

3

Sew the 10 in x 2 in strips to either side of the 10 in centre square (Fig 1). Press the seam outwards (towards the border strips).

4

Sew the 14 in x 2 in strips to the top and bottom of the centre unit (Fig 2). Again, press the seams outwards (towards the border strips).

18

Fig 1

Fig 3

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

BLOCK 4 l

small gap between each shape for cutting out.

the fusible interfacing (paper side) leaving a small gap between each shape for cutting out.

7

Roughly cut out the shapes – leaving about in around the drawn lines. Place each leaf shape glue side down onto the green fabric scraps and press in place. Once fused, cut out the leaves along the drawn line. Repeat with the small circle, also on a green fabric scrap.

8

Remove the backing paper from each leaf and position the leaves onto the background square, using the marked lines as a guide for placement. Place each leaf with the base at the centre point and the top of the leaf on the line, overlapping each leaf until the last, which can be tucked under the first (Fig 4).

Press in place.

b e r r y - go - r o u n d

13

Roughly cut out the shapes – leaving about in around the drawn lines. Place all of the large circles onto one fabric, and all of the small circles onto another. Press in place. Once fused, cut out the circles along the drawn lines.

14

Fig 5

TECHNICAL TIP Pull the threads through to the back of the block and tie off after sewing each leaf – if you wait until the end you will have a birds nest of threads to untangle!

9

Place the green circle over the centre of the panel and press in place (Fig 5).

Remove the backing paper from each of the large circles and position at the end of each embroidered stem (Fig 7). Press in place. Once fused, remove the backing paper from the small circles and place one on each of the large circles towards one side as shown in Fig 8. Press in place.

15

Using matching threads, blanket stitch around each “berry” to complete the block.

10

Stitch the pieces in place using a blanket stitch on your machine – sew around the raw edge of each leaf. Then, remove the marked lines from the block.

Embroidered stems

11

Transfer the curved shape for the stems using the template provided (Fig 6). Using green embroidery thread, stem stitch along each drawn line. Remove the marked lines from the block.

Fig 4

Appliqué berries

12

Fig 6

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

Trace eight (8) large circles and eight (8) small circles onto

Fig 7

Fig 8

19

BLOCK 4 l

b e r r y - go - r o u n d

BERRY-GO-ROUND TEMPLATES ACTUAL SIZE PLEASE NOTE: Appliqué templates do NOT include seam allowances.

LARGE CIRCLE

LEAF

SMALL CIRCLE

Point where leaves overlap

Line up with edge of leaf

STEM CURVES TEMPLATE

20

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

Technique: APPLIQUÉ

Block 5 of 8

JOSEPH’S COAT Designed by VICTORIA CARRINGTON

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

21

APPLIQUÉ BLOCK

JOSEPH’S COAT You will need Q Background fabric – 14 in square Q Assorted print fabric scraps – one (1) fat quarter total OR 1 in wide scraps Q Lightweight fusible interfacing – 14in square Q Single sided fusible appliqué paper OR Bondaweb (depending on chosen method) Q Templates

Block size Q 14 in square (14in square finished)

Notes Q There are two appliqué methods included here, choose one.

Q RS = right side.

Q WS = wrong side.

paper in stages, folding the edge of the fabric around the glued paper as you go (Fig 4A and 4B). Repeat this technique with the flower centres.

Appliqué paper method

1

Using the templates, trace the following onto the non-glue side of the appliqué paper, then cut accurately around the lines: Q Forty-two (42) petals.

Q Seven (7) full centre circles.

Q Six (6) of each part centre circles.

3

Trim the corners and clip into the seam allowance where the shapes curve, but don’t cut right to the edge of the appliqué paper (Fig 2). The more cuts you make, the smoother the curve will be.

Fig 3

Fig 4A

2

Adhere the shapes to the wrong side of your chosen fabrics and cut out, leaving approx. in seam allowance around the edge (Fig 1).

Fig 4B

Fig 2 1

4 Fig 1

22

To form the petals, apply glue to the points of the appliqué paper with a glue pen. Fold the fabric seam allowance over the points making sure you don’t fold the appliqué paper and lose the points (Fig 3).

Glue around the edge of the appliqué

5

Take the 14 in background square and adhere the interfacing to the WS, centred. Finger press in half. Open out and fold again in the other direction to mark the centre.

6

Place the background fabric RS up. Position four (4) petals along the centre fold, ensuring the two (2) Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

BLOCK 5 l

jose ph ’s c o at

central petals meet where the fold lines intersect (Fig 5).

Fig 5

7

Adhere in position using basting glue or a glue pen, then hand stitch around each shape with a neat slip stitch.

8

Add additional petals to create a full flower (Fig 6). Ensure that all points meet at each intersection.

Adhere the outer circle petals with glue, then remove the centre petals.

Hand stitch around the petals (Fig 7).

9

Replace the centre petals, adhere and stitch.

10

Repeat steps 8 & 9 using the remaining centre fold petals as a guide.

11

Add the additional petals to the sides as per the main photo and apply as before.

12

Adhere and stitch each flower centre in place one at a time, using the full circles in the middle and the part circles on the outer edges, alternating.

Raw edge appliquĂŠ method Fig 6

1

Using the templates, trace the shapes onto the paper side of Bondaweb leaving approx. in between each shape. Cut out roughly, leaving approx. in around the outside of each shape: Q Forty-two (42) petals.

Q Seven (7) full centre circles.

Q Six (6) of each part centre circles.

2

Adhere the Bondaweb shapes to the wrong side of your chosen fabrics with an iron and cut out accurately around the lines.

Fig 7

Join us at www.gathered.how/

3

Remove the paper from the back of the shapes.

4

Take the 14 in background square and adhere the interfacing to the WS, centred. Finger press in half. Open out and fold again in the other direction to mark the centre.

5

Place the background fabric RS up on an ironing board. Position four (4) different petals along the centre fold, ensuring the two (2) central petals meet where the fold lines intersect (Fig 5).

6 7

Press petals with an iron to secure in place.

Add additional petals to create a full flower (Fig 6). Adhere with an iron.

8 9

Position all of the remaining petals then adhere with an iron.

Stitch around each of the petals using your preferred method (for example, straight stitch, free motion, blanket stitch etc).

10

Adhere and stitch each flower centre in place, using the full circles in the middle and the part circles on the outer edges, alternating.

23

BLOCK 5 l

jose ph ’s c o at

JOSEPH’S COAT APPLIQUÉ TEMPLATES ACTUAL SIZE PLEASE NOTE: Appliqué templates do NOT include seam allowances.

CENTRE CIRCLES

PETAL

PART CENTRE CIRCLE 1

PART CENTRE CIRCLE 2

D OW N LOA D T H E S E T E M P L AT E S FULL SIZE Visit our blog: www.gathered.how/ todaysquilter today!

24

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

Techniques: FPP AND APPLIQUÉ

Block 6 of 8

CAMPANULA Designed by JO AVERY

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

25

FPP AND APPLIQUÉ BLOCK

CAMPANULA You will need Q Four (4) different low-volume prints – 12in square of each Q Four (4) different red prints – 2 in x 10in strip of each Q Pale turquoise fabric – 13in square Q A mixture of dark blue prints – 10in square in total Q Yellow fabric – 4in square Q Card or Mylar plastic, and aluminium foil (optional) Q Templates

Block size Q 14 in square (14in square finished)

Fig 3

so it covers section A2. Fold the paper back at the seam line between sections A2 and A3 and trim the fabric to in beyond the paper fold (Fig 3).

Cutting out

1

From each of the four (4) lowvolume prints, cut one (1) of Template C. Cut the remainder into 2 in strips for the FPP templates.

2 3

8

From the pale turquoise fabric, cut four (4) of Template B. Fig 1

From the dark blue prints, cut five (5) petals using Template D and one (1) small circle using Template F.

4

Repeat this process to cover section A3 with low-volume fabric and A4 with red. Continue to alternate these two fabrics, with lowvolume covering the odd numbers and red covering the even numbers, until the whole template is covered.

9

Press and trim away any excess fabric to size along the outer line of the paper template (Fig 4). Fold in half along the length and finger press to find the centre point. Repeat with the turquoise B inner curve piece.

From the yellow fabric, cut one (1) large circle using Template E.

Assembling the block

5

Trim a piece from one (1) of the 2 in low-volume strips and place on the back of one of the FPP Template As, with the wrong side facing the back of the paper and ensuring that the fabric covers the whole of section A1, plus at least in overlapping section A2 (Fig 1).

6

Pin one end of a 2 in red strip RST with the low-volume piece so that, when flipped over at the seam 26

Fig 2

line, the red fabric will cover section A2 plus at least in overlapping section A3. Flip the template so that the paper is uppermost and sew along the seam line between sections A1 and A2. (Fig 2)

7

Flip the template back over, fold and then press the red fabric over

10

Place the two shapes RST, lining up the pressed centre lines and pin. Place a pin at either end of the seam, lining up the straight edges. Gently smooth out the raw edges between these three pinned points, bringing together and lining up both pieces of fabrics, use extra pins to secure (Fig 5).

11

Begin sewing together, gently easing around the curve and Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

BLOCK 6 l

Circle appliqué tips Circles are one of the hardest shapes to appliqué well. The method below helps you achieve perfect curves and can also be used for other curved shapes such as the petals: Q Make a template from thin card, or heat proof template plastic (Mylar) using the inner seam allowance from the circle template.

Q Cut a rough square of aluminium foil slightly larger than the fabric. Place your fabric circle wrong side up on the foil square.

Q Place your card or Mylar template on top, centred, and carefully enclose it in the foil, pressing tightly all the way round and smoothing the edge.

Q Press both sides of this foil packet very well, using your iron on the highest setting.

Q Carefully (it will be hot!) unwrap your foil and take out your fabric circle.

Q If required, you can gently give your folded edges another press with the iron.

Q Using spray starch prior to pressing will also help.

Q Slip stitch the circle in place with matching thread.

making sure you keep the two raw edges together. Be careful not to sew any pleats or puckers into the seam and not to stretch the fabric. Press (Fig 6).

12

Repeat this process to join the outer curve pattern piece C to the other side of A (Fig 7). Press.

Make another three (3) of these quarter blocks using a different lowvolume and red print each time.

folded edge, using a matching thread and tiny, neat slip stitches (Fig 10).

There is no need to stitch the inner points as they will be covered by the circles (Fig 11).

15

Appliqué the large yellow circle to the centre of the block (Fig 12). Stitch the smaller dark-blue circle on top of this. See ‘Circle appliqué tips’ box to the left for help with these. Press.

Fig 6

13

Sew the quarter-blocks together in pairs to make two halves. Sew both halves together to make the block (Fig 8).

Fig 9

14

Lay out your five (5) dark blue petals so that their inner points meet in the centre and that their outer points are spaced between every four spikes around the ring (Fig 9). Pin in place and appliqué by turning under the edges by a scant in and stitching close to the

Fig 10

Fig 4

Fig 7

Fig 11

Fig 5

Fig 8

Fig 12

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

c a m p a n ul a

27

BLOCK 6 l

c a m pa n ul a

CAMPANULA

I------------------------------------------------ 5 in

--------------------------------------------------I

FPP & APPLIQUÉ TEMPLATES ENLARGE 200% Includes seam allowances.

A1 B B A2

A3

D OW N LOA D T H E S E T E M P L AT E S FULL SIZE Visit our blog: www.gathered.how/ todaysquilter today!

A4

A5 A6

A7 A8 A10 A11

A9

FPP TEMPLATE A

E

E

I ---------------- 2 in --------------- I

FF

DD

C \

28

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

Techniques: FOUNDATION PAPER PIECING & CURVED PIECING

Block 7 of 8

NEW YORK STARBURST Designed by JUDI MENDELSSOHN

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

29

FPP & CURVED PIECING BLOCK

NEW YORK STARBURST You will need Q Fabric As (light) – one (1) fat quarter in total Q Fabric Bs (dark) – one (1) fat quarter in total Q Fabric C (background) – one (1) fat quarter Q Four (4) copies of the Inner Arc FPP template Q Four (4) copies of the Outer Arc FPP template Q One (1) copy of the Block Background template Q One (1) copy of the Block Centre template

Block size Q 14 in square (14in square finished)

Notes Q Seam allowances are in, unless otherwise noted.

Q RST = right sides together.

will be at least in fabric overlapping on all sides.

6

Flip paper over and, on your sewing machine, sew on the line between section 1 and 2. Remember to shorten your stitch length for foundation paper piecing. Sew from the outer edge of the curve in towards the centre. Start and finish sewing just beyond the edge of paper.

Cutting out

1

From Fabric As (light), cut as follows: Q Twenty (20) 1 in x 2 in pieces, for Inner Arc FPP templates.

Q Twenty-four (24) 2 in x 3in pieces, for Outer Arc FPP templates.

2

From Fabric Bs (dark), cut as follows: Q Twenty-four (24) 2in x 2 in pieces, for Inner Arc FPP templates.

Q Twenty (20) 2in x 3in pieces, for Outer Arc FPP templates.

Q One (1) shape using the Block Centre template.

3

From Fabric C, cut four (4) shapes using the Block Background template.

30

Piecing the FPP templates

4

Cut out the Inner Arc FPP template with roughly in extra around the outside line. Place the template with printed lines facing up and position a stiff, straight edge (like a postcard) on the line between number 1 and 2 with the postcard covering section 1. Fold the template paper over the edge to crease.

7

Turn the foundation paper over so that the fabric is uppermost. Flip the top piece of fabric over and press.

8

Turn the paper back over so that marked lines are on top. Place the edge of the postcard on the next line and fold the paper over on that line against the edge. Trim excess fabrics to a in seam allowance.

5

For sections 1 and 2, use two (2) pieces of fabric (after that use one fabric at a time). Position a light and dark 1 in x 2 in piece RST with right-hand edges aligned (as if you were going to sew the seam together on the machine as usual). Place the folded foundation paper onto the fabrics with the dark fabric next to the paper. Ensure that there

Fig 1

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

BLOCK 7 l

10

Fig 2

Repeat, alternating light and dark fabrics, until the whole Inner Arc FPP template is pieced (Figs 1-6). Dark fabrics should be used on the odd numbers and light on the even numbers. Press well and trim to size along the outside edge of the template, then carefully remove the papers.

n e w yo rk st a r b urst

piece on top and easing the edges together. Press.

16

Repeat this process to join the Outer Arc unit/background piece to the Inner Arc unit.

11

Fig 3

9

Place a dark piece of fabric for section 3, right side up, and position the template piece on top, aligning the trimmed seam to the edge of fabric piece. Flip the paper back and sew on the line as before.

Make four (4) Inner Arc units in this way, and then use the same method to make four (4) Outer Arc units. Note: the inner arc has light spikes (even numbers) and dark backgrounds (odd numbers) and the outer arc has dark spikes (even numbers) and light backgrounds (odd numbers).

Assembling the block

12

Clip the inner curve of the background piece less than approx. in apart and about in deep (Fig 7).

Fig 8

17

Complete all four (4) quarters of the block in this way, and then join together in a four-patch block.

18

To make the Block Centre, cut a circle of fabric using the outer line of the template and a cardboard circle using the inner line. Hand sew a long running stitch approx. in from the edge of the fabric

Fig 4

Fig 7

13

Fold a clipped background piece in half and mark the centre with a pin, then fold an Outer Arc unit and mark with pin.

Fig 9

Fig 5

Fig 6

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

14

With the clipped background curve on top, line up the two pins and pin the pieces together.

Line up one end of the Outer Arc unit and adjoining background piece and pin. Then line up other end and pin – use at least three pins, more if you prefer (Fig 8).

15

Revert to a regular sized stitch on your machine and sew, keeping the clipped background

circle then place the card template in the middle. Pull on the thread ends to gather the fabric around the template. Press well on both sides then remove card. AppliquĂŠ the circle to the centre of the block with slip stitch. Note: Judi chose to make the centre from the darker colour, but an alternative is to use a light centre circle (Fig 9).

31

BLOCK 7 l

n e w yo rk st a r b urst

1

NEW YORK STARBURST 2

BLOCK TEMPLATES 3

4

ENGLARGE 200% Includes seam allowances.

5

6

11

8 9 7

10

7 10

8

9 5

11

INNER ARC

1

D OW N LOA D T H E S E T E M P L AT E S FULL SIZE Visit our blog: www.gathered.how/ todaysquilter today!

2

3

4

6

OUTER ARC

BLOCK BACKGROUND

BLOCK CENTRE

32

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

Technique: MAGIC 8 HST METHOD

Block 8 of 8

PINWHEEL DIAMONDS Designed by KATHARINE GUERRIER

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

33

PINWHEELS BLOCK

PINWHEEL DIAMONDS You will need Q Light fabric – one (1) fat quarter Q Dark fabric – one (1) fat quarter Q Tracing paper

Block size Q 14 in square (14in square finished)

Notes Q Seam allowances are in, unless otherwise noted.

Q RST = right sides together.

Fig 3

TECHNICAL TIP When pinning the paper to the pinwheel, use a flat headed pin so that your ruler will lie flat over the blocks.

Make 40

Fig 4

need thirty-six (36) HST units for the block.

7 Cutting out

1

From the light fabric, cut as follows: Q Five (5) 5 in squares.

Q Eight (8) 3 in squares.

Q Four (4) 3 in x 6 in pieces.

2

Draw two (2) diagonal lines corner to corner and stitch in both sides of each line (Fig 2).

Assembling the pinwheels

8

Arrange four (4) HSTs on a flat surface, seams all radiating from the centre and alternating the dark and light triangles to create a pinwheel.

From the dark fabric, cut five (5) 5 in squares.

Piecing the HSTs

3

Place one (1) 5 in dark square RST with one (1) 5 in light square (Fig 1).

Fig 1

34

4

Press seams to the dark side of each HST on the back and front, making sure you are not pressing pleats in the seam (Fig 4). Trim off the “dog ears”.

Fig 2

5

Cut the square into quarters along both horizontal and vertical lines half way, measuring 2 in from the edges, then cut across both the diagonal lines to give eight (8) HST units (Fig 3).

6

Repeat with the remaining 5 in squares to make a total of forty (40) HST units. You will

9 10

Stitch together in pairs. Press these seams open.

Stitch the pairs together to complete the pinwheel and press the final seam open (Fig 5).

Trimming the pinwheels

11

Cut a 3 in square from tracing paper. Place this tracing paper Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

BLOCK 8 l

template over the pinwheel at a skewed angle and pin.

12

Trim away excess fabric around all four (4) edges of the template (Fig 6). Seams will

block (Fig 7). Repeat to make two (2) of these strips (A and E).

p i n wh e el d i a m o n d s

lock together giving a good match.

Referring to Fig 10, stitch the strips together, matching seams. Trim the block to 14 in square.

15

Stitch three (3) of the 3 in squares and two (2) of the pinwheel blocks together alternating, starting with a light square at the top (Fig 8). Repeat to make two (2) strips (B and D).

AA

BB

CC

DD

E E

16

Stitch three (3) blocks and two (2) squares in a strip, alternating, starting with a pinwheel at the top as in Fig 9 (strip C).

Fig 5

17

Press the seams away from the blocks, towards the light squares and rectangles. When the strips are stitched together seams will

ALTERNATE SETTING

Fig 6

no longer bisect the corners, giving the pinwheel block an impression of movement. By positioning the template at slightly different angles variations can be introduced between each pinwheel.

13

Fig 10

the pinwheels. Lock seams to match points, then press the final two (2) seams open.

5

Stitch two (2) of the light rectangles to the top and bottom of the block. Press seam way from the centre.

Repeat to make nine (9) tilted Pinwheel blocks.

6

Stitch a pinwheel to each end of the remaining two (2) rectangles. Press seams away from the pinwheels.

Assembling the block

14

Starting with the left hand vertical row, stitch two (2) of the 3 in x 6 in either side of a

7 Cutting out

1

From the light fabric, cut as follows: Q Five (5) 5 in squares.

Q Four (4) 9 in x 3 in pieces.

Q Four (4) 3 in squares.

2

Add these to both sides of the block to complete. Press the final seam open. When the strips are joined the block will measure 14 in square. Trim the block to 14 in square.

From the dark fabric, cut five (5) 5 in squares.

Preparing the pinwheels

3 4

Prepare the pinwheel blocks, as in steps 3-13 above.

Fig 7

Fig 8

Fig 9

Join us at www.gathered.how/todaysquilter

Refer to the layout in Fig 11 and make up the centre ninepatch using pinwheels and 3 in squares. Press seams away from

Fig 11

35

Gorgeous blocks by top designers for you to sew today!

Supplement with issue 64 of Today’s Quilter