Across the Sea Quilt-Along: Design Tips

Layout and design is one of my favorite parts of the quilting process.

I like putting the blocks together and rearranging them until I get them just right.

A design wall really helps. My design wall is simply a piece of batting tacked to the wall. I hope to make some design wall boards soon, but for now, this works just fine.

It was a game changer for me when I put up a design wall. No more laying out blocks on the playroom floor and scooting around on my knees. With a 3 year old and a baby, it was impossible to work on a quilt layout until they were in bed. Now, I can pop over to my design wall whenever I have a chance and move things around instantly.

For each quilt, I usually audition a few layouts until I find what works. I also snap pictures each time. The camera shows you things that your eyes don't see.

This was layout 1:

It was OK but I wasn't happy with the lighter colored blocks on the 4th and 5th rows.
A few switcheroos:

I edited a few blocks and added some different ones.  Now we're close.

Always good to have a helper!

After a few final tweaks, I had what I wanted.

I think it is all about what looks good to you. Stand back, take it in, take a picture, and sleep on it. You'll know when you look at it again, what to do.

Sarah has some tips for layout and design too. Be sure to pop over and see how she does it.

Now, get those crosses laid out and take some pics. We want to see your layouts in our Flickr group!

Up next on Monday, piecing the borders and your quilt top. The scrappy border really ties it all together. Just you wait and see!

Happy sewing. :)

Sewing Circles: A Tutorial

Hey y'all. I'm really flattered to be included in Sara's Sewing Back to School Series of posts this month at Sew Sweetness.

Today I'm over there with a NEW tutorial on sewing appliqued circles. I'd love it if you would pop over and check it out.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for an Across the Sea Quilt-Along post with design and layout tips!

Have a great day!

A Feature, A Giveaway and 6,000 Charms!

I'm so flattered to be featured today at Stitching by Starlight. Pop over and say hi to Angie and read my 10 for Ten interview.

 PS: There is a GIVEAWAY too! 
This weekend I put together the charms for our Rainbow Charm Swap Round 2. 

Whew, that was A LOT of fabric! 6,272 charms to be exact. I am super glad I didn't do the math before I started sorting! 

Can you spot my little helper?

These are the charms each person received. The picture doesn't do them justice- there are just so many in there (112 in each stack.) 

I have a quilt in mind to make with these but it will have to wait until some other projects are finished first, such as my Across the Sea Quilt-Along quilt. 

Next up- borders!

There's still time to join us in our QAL! 
For all of my Wantobe Quilters and Quilters registered for the giveaways at Sew We Quilt at Stash Manicure, I've had word from Madame Samm herself that this is a BIG week for great giveaways! You don't want to miss out! (Remember M,W,F are for wantobes and Tu,Th, are for quilters.) 

If you aren't registered yet, just email me your name, phone number and email address, and I will sign you up. 
Don't forget to include Jennifer @ Ellison Lane Quilts in your comments at Sew We Quilt at Stash Manicure to be linked with your registration and make your entry valid. Good luck! 
Whew! Lots' going on this week! 

Across the Sea Quilt-Along: Piecing the Crosses

Hope you've all had a great weekend and survived Irene, safe and sound. 

It's time to get sewing on our Across the Sea Quilt!

Cross Blocks on my Design Wall

You can find all the posts for this Quilt-Along here. 


Before we begin, please make sure your blocks are cut the correct size. There was a typo in the background measurements in my cutting post. (Now corrected.) SO SORRY! 


The correct measurements for all of the pieces are: 
Cross Fabric: (1) 4.5" x 4.5" middle
                         (4) 4.5" x 2.5" arms

Background Fabric: (4) 4.75" x 4.75" corners
                                   (4) 2.75" x 4.5" arms



(If you cut your background arm pieces 2.75" x  4.75" you need to trim them to 2.75" x  4.5.")


Materials Needed: 
fabric cut into pieces as indicated above
sewing machine
iron
thread
12.5" x 12.5" square up ruler


First: Sew your blocks with a SCANT 1/4" seam.  (A scant quarter inch seam is slightly smaller than 1/4" and for me this means moving my needle over one place to the right, but you can find out more by reading this. ) 


Remember, if you turn off your machine and come back, you need to move your needle again. Do yourself a favor and put up a sticky note on your machine to remind yourself! Trust me! 


A quick way to piece these cross blocks is to chain piece them. Sarah explains how to do this in her post today and you can also find more info on chain piecing in our flickr group. 


If you fussy cut some of your blocks, as I did, you will want to mind the direction of your arms on the cross.  You can chain piece your arms then follow the steps below. 


I press my seams OPEN. (Here's a great link to how to press seams open.) I do not backstitch as I piece. 


1. Lay out your fabric as you like it.

2.  Sew the arms to the middle square of the cross. 

3. Sew the background arms to the cross arms. (You can do this to all arms now or just the top and bottom.) 

4. Turn your fabric over to the back and press the seams OPEN. (Do not move the iron back and forth, just lift and press the iron down.) Press again on the front. 


5. Sew the corners to the cross arms on the top and bottom rows. 

6. Press the seams open as in step 4. (If you didn't sew the side arms of the background on already, do it now.)

7. Take your top row and place it right sides together with your middle row. Line up the seams and pin the top and middle rows together. 

Sew them together making sure the seams on the bottom are flat as you go. 


8. Sew the bottom row to the middle row as you did in step 7. 


9. Press seams open and press the front. 

Squaring Up your blocks: 
The block you just completed will be close to 13" x 13" but before we sew them together for the quilt top, they need to be trimmed to 12.5" x 12.5." 


Using your 12.5" x 12.5" square up ruler, position the ruler in the middle of the block and trim the excess from each side so your block is now 12.5" x 12.5" square.  

Please let me know if you have any questions. I am happy to help! Our Flickr group is also a great resource. Be sure to check it out. 


Up next: Design and Layout Tips on Thursday! 

Sunday Special: Pinterest Paper Piecing

Sew Much to LOVE!

I learned how to paper piece this week at our Charlotte Modern Quilt Guild meeting (thanks for the tips Gail!)

Now I just need an Add a Quarter ruler, and I'm ready to go!

Paper piecing totally inspires me- there is some AMAZING paper piecing talent out there...hello Ringo Pie Bee!

I WILL be able to do that too. :) Give me some time- it WILL happen!

Enjoy and be inspired!

Source: whynotsew.blogspot.com via Jennifer Mathis on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Jennifer Mathis on Pinterest

Source: feeds.feedburner.com via Jennifer Mathis on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Jennifer Mathis on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Jennifer Mathis on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Jennifer Mathis on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Jennifer Mathis on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Jennifer Mathis on Pinterest

Source: cuttopieces.blogspot.com via Jennifer Mathis on Pinterest

Source: sewwequilt.com via Jennifer Mathis on Pinterest

Source: caroldoak.com via Jennifer Mathis on Pinterest

Inspired yet?

Saturday Spotlight: Meet Amy!

It's Saturday- time for another Follower Spotlight!

So excited for y'all to meet my friend Amy from Stitchery Dickory Dock.

She and I get to meet in person in October at the Sewing Summit, and I just know we are going to hit it off like long lost pals. PS: There are still openings at the Sewing Summit- come on, join us!!!

Amy is a super talented mom and has loads of creativity. Be sure to check out her finished quilts and read more about her here.

She is also hosting a fussy cut fabric swap and has space for a few more.

So let's meet Amy! 

Stats:
Name: Amy Gibson
Family: Russell (husband of 8 yrs), and daughters Nora (3) and Charlotte (15 mos)
Location: Denver, CO
Blog:  www.stitcherydickorydock.blogspot.com
Flickr:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/stitcherydickorydock/

What is your favorite:
place:  Paris
sound: my daughters’ giggling, rain & thunder
movie: The Pursuit of Happiness
book: Is it pathetic that I haven’t finished a book all year?  The time when both my kids are actually sleeping simultaneously is like gold - so I’m either sewing, speed cleaning the kitchen, or enjoying a Law & Episode rerun & Sonic ice cream Blast when I just need some relaxation.  

word: sweet
article of clothing: sunglasses- preferably large, vintage, and cheap!
food: it’s a 3-way tie between avocados, melted cheese, & garlic
dessert: chocolate in any form- the darker the better.  Mousse?  Molten Lava Cake?  Yes please!
album:  I think I’m too ADD to listen to an album all the way through.  I like to mix it up.  My iPod filled with stuff like Thievery Corporation, Empire of The Sun, Kings of Convenience, Lily Allen, and Michael Buble.

non quilting/sewing website: www.weelicious.com   www.regretsy.com  www.ohdeedoh.com
fabric line: toughest question ever!  Perhaps Joel Dewberry’s Aviary, or Sandi Henderson’s Meadow Sweet
sewing tool:  my 5” Dovo scissors
color: chartreuse

completed sewing project:

“Miss Modd” quilt I just finished for Nora’s bed.  The fabric’s kinda folky Swedish mod girlie, and the pattern is a disappearing 9-patch block that I stumbled upon while playing around with pieces on my design board.  It’s so bright & happy- I can’t look at it without smiling.

quick finish sewing project: modern log cabin & dresden quilted pillows for my couch


coffee or tea:  definitely coffee, lots of cream, pinch of sugar
coke or pepsi:  neither- I don’t like soda (call me crazy!)
chocolate or vanilla:  um, vanilla with chocolate chunks and swirls?  My ice cream tastes are complex.
mountains or beach:  mountains
football or baseball:  football, love NFL
dog or cat:  cat
minivan or suv:  SUV for now...vowed I never would go MV, but might need to cross over to the dark side if we have a 3rd munchkin.  Big auto slide doors on both sides = happy mommy.  

What is your day job?  Mom/Cook/Housekeeper/Chauffeur.  Up until last November I worked full time as a model booking agent for 8 years at a top talent agency in Denver.

What is your dream job?  to be a nationally well known fabric and pattern designer

What is your favorite time waster?  Facebook

You win the lottery, what is the first thing you buy?  a house

Isn't she great? Pop over and say hello and tell her I sent you.

Be sure to come back Monday for piecing instructions for our Across the Sea Quilt-Along (Amy's making it too!)

Happy Weekend!

QAL Cutting Directions Typo!

Friends, I am SO sorry but there was a typo in my cutting directions.
YIKES!

The CORRECT background fabric measurements are:
4.75" x 4.75" (squares/corners)
and
4.5" x 2.75" (rectangles/arms)

The pictures had the correct measurements but the typo came at the beginning of the background section.

If you cut your background rectangles/arms 4.75" x 2.75" you will need to trim them to 4.5" x 2.75" before moving on.

SO  SORRY!!!
Jennifer

Across the Sea Quilt-Along Progress

Hey Friends!

Hope you've had a chance to get started on your cutting.  If you missed the QAL posts, you can find all of them here.

Everybody is choosing such fabulous fabrics for their crosses. Here are just a few of their selections.

1. Across the Sea QAL fabric, 2. Across the Sea Modern QAL, 3. Across the Sea QAL fabrics?, 4. Across the Sea QAL, 5. christmas_cheer, 6. Layer Cake for Across the Sea Quilt Along, 7. colour choices, 8. Parisville by Tula Pink, 9. Untitled

Sarah has several more high lighted over on her blog today too. Pop over and have a look.

Stay tuned for a sneak peak of mine!

Get ready for Monday: It's Piecing Day!

Mountain Air and a Finished Quilt

We spent this past weekend in the NC mountains with my family.

The Blue Ridge Mountains

We are really lucky to have such a wonderful retreat in such a beautiful spot. I've been coming to our mountain house since I was a little girl as my grandparents lived there in the summer. Now the house belongs to my parents, and we all love it there.

You can see Grandfather Mountain from our porch.

The mountains mean a lot to us: my parents honeymooned there, James asked me to marry him there, my brother got married there last year, and we spend Thanksgiving there with all of our family every year. It's a good place.

My mother's amazing garden. 

My daughter got to spend the week with her grandparents which was fun for everyone. Plus it was my parent's 40th anniversary on Sunday, and it was nice to be there with them for that milestone.

Humming birds have always been around our house and there are so many that my dad refills two feeders every day! Seriously, at one point, I counted 11 humming birds at the feeders, vying for a spot all at once.

It was a great weekend, and we surely loved the cooler weather.

I've been working on my blocks for our Across the Sea Quilt-Along and am loving them. I will confess to changing my mind on the background after I got started so my seam ripper and I spent some quality time together today.

I'm having a ball checking out everybody's fabric choices in our Flickr group. Thinking about joining us? There is still plenty of time! The piecing instructions will be posted on Monday but until then, you can find everything you need to know right here.

I also had a chance to finish this little stroller quilt for my Etsy shop. I used Modern Workshop by Moda and my favorite IKEA kid's fabric on the back.

Those little animals are just so happy.  I quilted it with my new favorite Aurifil variegated thread- LOVE- and it was just the perfect thing for this colorful quilt.

Inspired by Rachel's post about machine binding, I decided to give it another try and really like the result.

I sewed the binding on the back then folded it over to the front side where I sewed it on with a zigzag stitch.

I think it adds to the whimsy of this quilt and is a good choice for durability.

So tell me, what are you working on?

BTW, I'm linking up to Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story today.