Five Friday Favorites: Free Quilt Block Patterns

I'm always on the look out for fun new quilt blocks to try and there are so many great (and free!) tutorials out there.  Today I thought I'd share my current favorite quilt block tutorials and maybe they'll become your favorites too.

#1:  Churn Dasher

This block has always been one of my favorites.  You can find the tutorial for this block here on the Generations Quilt Patterns website.  She even includes instructions for different size blocks.

At the end of the tutorial she shows all of the variations on this one block.  It's fun to see how different one quilt block can look just from changing the fabric placement!

See the E-Z Quilt variation in the photo above?  It's similar to my scrappy New England quilt block tutorial.  I also love the 'Domino' version of the block.  I can imagine that would make a great secondary design when used in a a whole quilt!

#2:  Pretty Posy 

Pretty Posy quilt block tutorial from Sew Fresh Quilts blog

This sweet quilt block is from the Sew Fresh Quilts blog.  It's so cute done all in solids!  One flower finishes at 9", so a mini quilt with four flowers (like the one in the photo) measures about 18" square.  I have a spot on my wall that I'd love to fill with a mini quilt like this!  At the bottom of the tutorial, she shows what the full quilt would look like both with and without sashing.  Love them both!

#3:  Ribbon Star Block Tutorial

Ribbon Star Block tutorial from Freshly Pieced blog

The Ribbon Star block tutorial is from Lee at Freshly Pieced.  This one is on my list for two reasons.  First, I love a good star quilt block.  You just can't go wrong with a sawtooth star!   Secondly, I love the folded ribbon look in this block.  You could really have some fun playing with color / fabric placement on this one!  If you click on the link and scroll to the bottom of the tutorial you can see other color variations of this same block.  

#4:  Flying Kite quilt block

I've seen this one done before as a foundation or paper pieced block, but I love that you don't have to do either in this tutorial!  The block pattern is available as a free downloadable and printable page from the Fat Quarter Shop.  It was a part of their Wishes Quilt Along in 2014.  

#5: Disappearing Pinwheel block

tutorial & photo from the Sewn Up blog

So this is really cool.  Really.  One block, with 11 different variations.  It's from the Sewn Up blog - you really just have to go and watch the video.  It's about a minute and a half long.  You have a minute and a half, right?  This is just so clever.  Basically you make a pinwheel block then cut it up and re-arrange the pieces.  Here is the link to the video and instructions to make the first variation of the block.  What a fun sampler quilt these would all make!  Or, you could do a swap with friends and have them each make a different variation and then exchange blocks.  

Thanks for joining in with me as I share my current favorite quilt block tutorials.  Want to see more?  Check out the Fave Quilts site.  They're a great place to find full quilt tutorials, but did you know they have a whole section dedicated to just quilt blocks?  Currently they're up to about 27 pages of quilt block tutorials.  Go check it out here, and have fun perusing!

Slow Sewing + giveaway winner

I'm spending some time this weekend doing some slow sewing.  It's such a therapeutic thing for me.  I'm not a fan of knitting or crocheting, but I do really enjoy english paper piecing.  

I've recently finished my pink hexden quilt, and I'll be sharing that soon.  I also have all of my red pentaring blocks done and ready to be made into a quilt top.  With those last two EPP projects finishing up I decided I'd better get a new one going!  So I started this new project shown above.  I'm using the One Room Schoolhouse fabrics which I just love love love (designed by Brenda Ratliff for RJR Fabrics - see more here.)

I decided to do a little larger hexagon - these are 1.5" on each side.  I like this size because it shows off a bit more of each print.  I glue baste my hexagons, and then I've been stitching them together into groups of three.  

I haven't quite decided what I'll do with them next.  I have a few ideas that I'm testing out, but I like what I see so far!  

Want to learn more about english paper piecing?  One of my favorite EPPers is Sue Daley and she has some great YouTube videos about English Paper Pieicing.  

Episode 1: How to Sew Hexagons

See all of her videos here (be sure to click on "load more" at the bottom to see them all)

If you're ready to get started, you can find the 1.5" hexagon papers here (my favorite source for EPP papers.)  One Room Schoolhouse fabrics can be purchased here at Pink Castle Fabrics, and here at Fat Quarter Shop.  

And before I sign off, I need to announce the winner of the Wonderland fat quarter bundle.  Congratulations to commenter #19 - Linda! 

Five Friday Favorites: Sources of Inspiration!

Today we're talking about color!  I think many quilters are intimidated with the thought of pulling together fabrics for a quilt - particularly when those fabrics aren't all from one line.  So today I'm sharing with you five sources of inspiration to help you put colors and fabrics together for your next quilt project.

#1:  A Main Print

I'm putting this one in the #1 slot because it is the quickest and easiest way to find coordinating colors.  And it's my favorite method!  Just find a multi-colored print that you love and look at the colors contained in it. The print above is from the Les Fleurs line from Cotton + Steel.  Take a close look.  You might be surprised at just how many colors are in one print!  Usually the colors in the print are also found on the selvages - think of it as a super handy cheat sheet.

Once I identify my favorite colors in a print, I choose some coordinating prints from there (dots, stripes, small florals, etc.)  Just as an example, I created the dots above to show you all the colors found in the print.  Below you can see just two color combinations you could pull from this one inspiration print!  No one says you have to use ALL of the colors - just choose your favorites.

color inspiration option 1

color inspiration option 2

You can see from the examples how the "feeling" of the quilt would change depending on the combination of colors you choose.  

#2:  Design Seeds

This site is full of gorgeous color palettes.  I could spend hours here just gawking at all of the pretty color combos.  For quick reference, I keep a pinterest board full of my favorite combos from Design Seeds (and other sites) so when I'm needing fast inspiration I head there first.  

#3:  Pinterest

photo credit:  thezhush.blogspot.com

Speaking of Pinterest....it sure is helpful for all sorts of things, isn't it?  Like I said above, I have a whole board of just color inspiration, but ....just by looking at some of your other favorite pins you can gather a color palette to use!  This photo is from a board I created when I was re-doing my son's room.  I pinned it because I liked the blinds used in the room, but later I realized I also really liked the colors in the photo!  So go and take a look at some of your other photos on pinterest and see what inspires you!  (photo source link here)

#4:  Your own photos

Life is beautiful.  Nature is beautiful.  We all take thousands of photos of our life - but have you ever thought to use those photos to help you choose the colors of your next quilt?  Take a look at your favorite photos in your phone.  Why are they your favorite?  Can you pull out color inspiration from them?  Give it a try!  

#5:  Palette Builder from play crafts

This one is fun (and addictive)!  You can use this site to upload a photo and it will help extract colors from the photo.  The best part?  It gives you the Moda Bella solids color name that corresponds to the color.

I uploaded my photo (takes a just a second or two), and the site automatically chooses 6 points in the photo to color match.  See the white dots on the photo?  You can drag those around the photo to change the colors.  Then see on the right hand side?  It lists the names of the coordinating Moda Bella solids.  You can also just take this to your local quilt shop and use the color swatches to choose some blender prints to bring into the quilt.  

I did another example below.  This photo was from a trip we took to Oahu.  What a great source of inspiration, and a great way to help preserve memories!

You can find the Palette Builder here, and also here on the Moda / United Notions website.  Give it a try!

Where do YOU find your color inspiration?  I'm always looking for new ones, so please share!  

Wonderland Quilt + FQ Giveaway

Happy Friday everyone, and welcome to my stop on the "Late for a Date" blog hop.  The blog hop is featuring the Wonderland fabrics designed by Josephine Kimberling for Blend Fabrics (you can see more of the fabrics here.)  

Update: This pattern is now available in my shop as the Make Believe quilt pattern. Shops can order through distributors. Read more about the Make Believe pattern here.

This fun fabric line is inspired by the world of Alice in Wonderland - with cards, clocks, teacups and more.

You know, my one and only experience with Alice in Wonderland is the old Disney cartoon from waaay back in uh, like 1951.  Oh, and I've ridden the (slightly strange) Alice in Wonderland ride at Disneyland.  I think maybe it's time I get around to reading the book, do you?   Have you read the book?  I'm hoping it's better than the movie.  

When I first designed this quilt, I imagined it with a white background.  But the Wonderland fabrics just didn't "pop" enough.  So I next tried a solid black and got the result I wanted.  I always find it interesting to see how a quilt changes just with a change of background.  So if you're working on a quilt and you just don't love it, try swapping out the background for another color, or maybe for a print (like swiss dots, or a linen-look print).  

And now are you ready for the giveaway?  I'll be giving away this stack of fat quarters - simply leave a comment below telling me your favorite character in Alice in Wonderland.  I'll randomly choose a winner and announce it here next Friday, October 14th.  

Giveaway now closed - thank you!

There's only one more week left on the blog hop!  You can find links to the past posts and projects below.  And you can find the Wonderland fabrics here at the Fat Quarter Shop very soon!  

• Veronica – SewVery – Chair Pocket Tutorial
• Tina – Emily Ann’s Kloset – Heart Quilt
• Jen – Tie Dye Diva – Heart Pocket Tutorial
• Caroline – Sew Can She – Patchwork Bench Cushion
• Amanda – Jedi Craft Girl – Alice’s Crossroads Quilt
• Bev – Flamingo Toes – Time for Tea Pillow
• Andy – A Bright Corner – Wonderland Quilt
• Charlie – CapturedThreads – October 14

How To Match Prints for a Pieced Border

Occasionally when I'm adding borders to a larger quilt and I have to piece them together, I want the prints to match so my seams are invisible.  It can be tricky to match prints either for a border or a backing, so I thought I'd share this trick with you today!

First of all, cut your border strips a little wider than you need.  The repeat in this print is pretty small, so I cut my borders only 1/2" wider than I needed.  Next, find where the two border pieces will match up.  (Just lay one over the other until the patterns match.)

On just one of the border pieces, fold over at the match-up point and press to make a nice crease.

On the folded under section, apply a bit of glue stick.

Press into place, matching prints.  The glue will hold it in place until you stitch it down, and allows you to readjust a couple of times until you get it lined up just right.  

In the photo below, do you see how the edges of the strips are not lined up?  That's ok!  That is why you will cut your borders a little wider than needed.  We will trim them down at a later step.  

Flip back the top border, and with a pencil, mark along the creased line from the previous step.  This will be your stitching line, so if you can see the creased line just fine then no marking is needed.  

Sew along the fold line with a regular straight stitch. 

Then trim seam allowance to about 1/4"

Open and press.  Trim width of border to what you need it to be.  Remember in the photo above when the edges of the strips didn't match up?  This is where we trim those up and make them pretty again. 

Your borders are ready to use!  

A few things to keep in mind:

• This works great for small scale prints.  For larger scale prints, you may need to cut your borders even wider to match the prints, depending on the size of the repeat in the fabric.
• Before cutting the borders, find the repeat in the fabric.  That will help you determine how much wider to cut the borders.  The larger the repeat, the wider you'll cut the borders.
• Some fabrics are busy enough (and not so geometric) that you might not even need to match the prints in your borders.  I would say that most of the time I don't bother matching!
• This technique also works if you're using a print as the quilt backing and want to match the prints for a seamless look.