Hopfaldera

Circle in circle quilt block

In August I will be making the quilt for the Comfort circle of do.Good Stitches (the European circle of this online charity bee). That means that I also get to say what blocks will be made. 

I can tell you it was hard to choose. There are so many options. I looked all over the internet and came to the conclusion that I would like the quilt to have a strong looking design and a happy color scheme. In the end I was inspired by an instagram photo (this one by @instaamy), found out there was a tutorial in a smaller size, so I wrote a tutorial for a 12" block.

This is the block:

Circle in circle quilt block

I would like my fellow bee members (Hi!!!!) to use the following color scheme: 

or a little more organized:

Comfort circle members, I hope you can find fabrics in your stash in these colors: fuchsia, bright yellow, lighter green, navy blue, and teal. The fabrics should read as having one color, but they can have white in them or be tone on tone. The background fabric we're using is white.

Here is the tutorial:

Circle in circle quilt block (12" finished block)

Cutting instructions:

center fabric (inner circle)

(1) 6 1/2" square

ring fabric (outer circle)

(2) 3 7/8" squares (you can cut 4" squares and trim your HST's to 3 1/2" later) 

(4) 6 1/2" x 3 1/2" rectangles

(4) 2 1/2" squares

background fabric (white for my bee)

(2) 3 7/8" squares (or 4")

How to construct the block:

Take your 2 1/2" ring fabric squares and draw a diagonal line on the back of each of them. Place these squares on the corners of the center fabric square and sew on the drawn lines. Cut away the excess fabric 1/4" outside the sewn line and press the seams open.

Then take the 3 7/8" (or 4") squares (2 ring fabric and 2 background) and cut them in half diagonally. Combine a background and a colored triangle, sew them together on the diagonally cut edge using a 1/4" seam, and press the seam open to create a half square triangle unit (HST) that measures 3 1/2" square (unfinished). Repeat until you have 4 HST's.

Now you have 9 units that you can sew together like a nine patch block.

Both my blocks:

If you (other people than my fellow bee members) use this tutorial, please let me know. I would love to see what you make!

Enjoy!!

 

Double Dutch round robin quilt

And I FMQ-ed and FMQ-ed and then it was finished! My Double Dutch round robin quilt.

Size: 49" x 49"

Piecing by: (from the middle) me, Marjolein, Mari, Nicolette, Eva-Marie, Lotje, and me again, A.K.A. Double Dutch

Quilting: free motion quilting by me, my very first project quilting like this! I used a lot of thread, at least three full bobbins and corresponding top thread. I used polyester thread, that I also normally sew with.

Binding: scraps of leftover binding from previous projects

Batting: 100% cotton

Backing: red and white gingham from the market

Now I'm going to show you lots of detail shots of the quilting of course, what did you expect ;-)

This free motion quilting was so much fun! Like doodling on your quilt. I got the information on how to FMQ from all over the internet, and from these two books: Free-motion quilting with Angela Walters and The practical guide to patchwork by Elizabeth Hartman.

My top tips would be: 

* Pull the bobbin thread to the top of your work so it doesn't get tangled in your work at the back

* Practice a bit to get a feel for the process and to figure out the settings for your machine. I found that I needed to put my machine on half speed, but that all the normal tension settings stayed the same.

* Just do it. Start on a 'for keeps' project soon. And keep going even if your stitch lengths aren't all perfect (or aren't perfect at all). Don't be hard on yourself! Who in your real life is even going to look at your stitch lengths ;-)

* Have fun!!

 

Practice makes ...

...another quilt. Before I want to free motion quilt my little quilt top that is part of my goal for July, I am practicing my FMQ skills bit more.

After three practice quilt sandwiches (small rectangles of fabric with a backing and a bit of batting in between), I have started on something that will not end up in the bin, but will be a useable object. I was confident enough to start on this quilt top below.

It is the result of a round robin travelling quilt block that I started and got rounds added to it by the members of Double Dutch, our Dutch modern quilt group.

Here is a peek at the back and more specifically at the FMQ I did on the middle of this medallion.

I'll show more soon. This FMQ-ing is fun!!

Goal for July

July will be a full and busy month. The last weeks of school have already started for my kids with the last tests of the year, parties, a musical, camping for my son, an internship at a thrift shop for my daughter. These will even be the last weeks at elementary school for my son, and for us the last weeks as parents at the elementary school. For more than 11 years we have walked around at that school, baked cakes, brought tea and coffee to activities, made gifts for the bazaars, fed chickens, made lanterns out of beets, made sure sticks, drawings, stones and what have you were taken to school (it is a Waldorf school...). It was a very big part of our family life, because a Waldorf school asks for a lot of involvement from parents, especially in the early years, but still now towards the end. I will be collecting and making gifts, a drawing has been made, flowers will be brought. Next year we will have two secondary school kids! At different schools, so new challenges lie ahead. 

What can I do between all those activities (and I haven't even menioned that we will have a sailing trip at the start of the vacation as well)? I have to pick a small goal to complete.

My plan is to finish a mini quilt that I have pieced already. I want to free motion quilt it. It will be my first FMQ project. I'll also put on a binding and make a wall hanging out of it, so I should add some kind of hanging rod casing.

The blocks are made using Tula Pink's City Sampler: 100 Modern Quilt Blocks. It is a beautiful and very inspiring book. I only made 9 blocks for my first project from it, but there are so many more wonderful blocks. I'm sure I'll make more of them, not this month though.

I already practiced a bit of FMQ. Now I should just go for it I guess... it is a bit scary, but I made this mini especially to finish it with FMQ, so I will just do it!

I'm linking up to A Lovely Year of Finishes as soon as I can.