Quilting

Perspectives Block Tutorial

Create a beautiful illusion with this perspectives block. When the blocks are put together circles appear, but there are no curved seams. The block utilizes two different size triangles to create this illusion.

The tutorial is a FREE download below!

The Perspectives Block

I created this block using a vector drawing program.

It took quite a bit of trial and error, especially with the point triangles to sew the block. In this finished block, the dimensions not quite right, but I’ve since adjusted the measurements.

Figuring out how to square up the four side yellow, purple and green blocks as well as the four point blocks was also difficult.

I like to make slightly larger blocks and trim them down to size. I’m pretty good about making a consistent 1/4″ seam, but can usually perfect the block in the trimming process. And, I think I’ve figured out a process to trim everything.

I’m not to keen on the purple in this block, but I do like the design. And, I really like the design it makes in a whole quilt.

A block becomes a quilt

One set of 4″ squares are done.

Two more are cut.

One more to cut (not photographed).

My Quilt with Fabrics

I sewed this quilt using a variety of fabrics I had in my fabric stash. I wanted to keep to the color scheme in my drawing, for the most part.

I love the effect of the circle illusion. All seams are straight seams, but the angles of the triangles make curved lines appear.

I love how the circles intersect each other like a kaleidoscope quilt. You can either see circles or, if you pull back a bit, flower-petal-like curves. Because the picture is taken from so far away, it looks great, but up close, my seams don’t match up as well as my prefectionist self would like.

Sample Layouts

Here are a few different layouts with different color options.

This one really accentuates the circle affect.

How to Download the Perspectives Block Tutorial

To download the tutorial, enter your name and email below. You’ll need to confirm your email address. After doing so you’ll receive a link to download the Perspectives Block. That’s it!

Have You Made This Block?

If you make this block, I’d love to see it. Feel free to leave a link to your blog post or photo of it in the comments below!

Cat in the Hat Fabric Panel

Years ago I purchased some Cat in the Hat Fabric to make a quilt for my cousin’s son’s birthday. I loved how it turned out! At the time, I also got a Cat in the Hat panel, that I was saving for just the right time, now!

My two-year-old needs a twin-size quilt for his bed and he loves the Cat in the Hat on PBS Kids. Last night, I cut apart the panels and planned the quilt.

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Wonky Quilt Bee – Paper Pieced Quilt Blocks

These paper pieced quilt blocks were created for a quilt bee, the Wonky Quilt Bee. They are pieced and the patterns are available for free!

Paper pieced blocks in vivid colors. Made for a quilting bee. I love the colors and triangular pieces. #quiltknitshare #paperpieced

I finished the Wonky Quilt Bee blocks a bit late. The past two months, I had Jacey’s blocks. I waited until the last minute, so they sat there for quite awhile, unfortunately. Despite my tardiness, I love how the blocked turned out!

Both blocks are paper pieced. The above block is a Lone Star Burst. I first saw a version of it on Six White Horses. I’d downloaded a template for it ages ago, and knew it was perfect for Jacey’s quilt.

The second block I made is a Scrap Attach Block from from blank pages . . . (I know that totally sounds grammatically incorrect!). I love how the colors come together on this one.

I didn’t get a photo of all the blocks together before I packaged them up. I chose to leave my blocks unattached, partly because of time, but also because I wasn’t sure how they would all fit together and decided to leave that up to the next person on the list!

Wonky Quilt Bee

I’m still participating in the Wonky Quilt Bee. We’re taking it a bit slower this round, having two months to work on the other person’s block. We’re also doing a traveling quilting this round, so each person will receive a full quilt top at the end of our bee.

This month, I had Amanda from The Craft Junky. She asked for blocks that matched her personality (a tall order) and gave a list of things she liked. Here’s her list:

Dr. Who
The Alien Movies
Star Wars
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Joss Whedon
Firefly
Legos
Superheros (Batman is #1 fave!)
Lord of the Rings
Star Trek
Dr. Horrible’s Sing along Blog
Felicia Day
games and gaming
sewing
Harry Potter
Robin Hood
Merlin
Sherlock
The Labyrinth
The Princess Bride
Big Bang theory
Bigfoot
Yeti
Mermaids
Jackalopes
Kitsune
owls
foxes
otters
lochness monster
knitting
pictures and photography
Transformers
She-Ra
Thundercats
Tron
Monty Python
toys and dolls
vintage cameras, particularly polaroids
arrows, feathers, stars and triangles

I love her list! It’s awesome. Being an avid Princess Bride fan, I decided to go that route.

I re-created the Cliffs of Insanity and appliquéd “inconceivable” on it. The appliqué pulled the base fabric a bit, but I think it will be okay once everything is quilted.

The second thing I made was this long arrow. Originally, I’d intended on doing a feather, but it didn’t work out so well, so I transformed it into an arrow.

Here’s the entire quilt so far. I love seeing how everything comes together. I’m excited to see all the quilts as they move from person to person.

Wonky Quilt Bee – Traveling Quilts

The next round of our Wonky Quilt Bee is starting up in October. We've decided to do a traveling quilt, as we've seen a few other groups do. We have six members in our group. Each member will have two months to add to the quilt before sending it onto the next person.

This and this are my inspiration. I love the words and the way the colors all work together. I love that the background is a myriad of solids neutrals.

I haven't had much time to sew, but have been doing a bit to work on my starter blocks. So far, I've only been able to complete one word, and that may be it until I receive the quilt back next year. Time is so limited right now and I want to send it soon!

I'm very excited to see how everyone's quilts take shape. I love that we have two months to work on them and mull over our additions and designs without feeling too rushed to meet a deadline.

I'm sending along bits of fabric, some are FQ I purchased specifically for this project. Others are things I had on hand. I'm also sending along five neutral solids that will hopefully tie it all together.

Work in Progress Wednesday (on Thursday)

*I wrote this post this morning and published it. Then I realized that it's Thursday. Yeah . . . it's been a busy week*

It's been a busy week, so not much sewing has taken place. This week's work in progress is the same it was a couple weeks ago, with a bit more progress: Tokyo Subway Map quilt top.

I have two more seams to sew together before I'm done with the top. The blocks were put together as part of a bee I was involved in a couple years ago (yes, it's taken me that long to put the top together!). Each person selected a block and strip pieced the colors together to make 25 of the same block. We then sent them to the bee coordinator who sorted them and sent us 25 different blocks.

SInce each block was pieced by someone else, some of the seams are a bit difficult to fit together. I had a lot of diifculty getting everything to fit, but since it's a bee quilt, I kinda gave up on being too worried about it. In the problem areas, either the seams don't match, or I had to allow the fabric to bunch or fold over to make them match. I think I prefer the fabric folding to the seams not matching. At least, from a distance, it looks like it's perfect!

Wonky Quilt Bee – July

As the month is nearing a close and work is starting to ramp up, I knew I needed to get these blocks done or they would be late! The blocks are for Knottygnome. She wanted small buildings and city themed houses, trees, etc. She's looking to make a similar quilt to this one. I made small blocks, but didn't add as much white space around each one as she will need. I figure that she can add her own white space depending on how she wants to fit them together.

I ended up making her three blocks. I usually just stick with making two blocks, but I wasn't entirely satisfied with my first two blocks, so I made a third.

The first two blocks, I just fussy cut and sewed together, piecing as I went. I had to backtrack a bit on the house, but it still came together. I realized after a bit that the roof and sides of the house would need to be y-seams and I don't know how to do y-seams. I tried and it didn't come out right. I ended up sewing a bit of white on the end of the house and cutting the roof a bit; my original had more overhang.

This one is supposed to be a skyscraper with traffic and a store front. It didn't come out as well as I imagined it would. It seems really busy. Of course the entire block is 8", so it's a lot going on in a small area.

The tree came out well. I decided to paper piece it and drew up my own template, which I didn't photograph until I was done with each segment. It took a bit of trial and error to get the template just right. The sections needed to be drawn in such a way that allowed me piece it together. In a way, I had to backward map the sections.

One thing to remember about paper piecing is that what you draw will actually be a mirror image of what you get. I forgot about that until I was done and the tree was opposite. It's not a big deal, since it's a tree, but other things could be more important.

The other point to remember is that you need to have a 1/4" seam allowance in all areas. I remember to do that with this block, but I could see myself easily forgetting the seam allowance.

I paper piece a couple times a year, but it seems I always need a refresher on how to start. It took me a couple tried on the first seam to get it right. After that, though, the block went together quickly.

This is the first time that I'd designed my own paper piece template. It was challenging, but not beyond my skill-set. I can see myself trying it again, sometime.

I can't wait to see everyone else's blocks and the quilt when it comes together!

Tree Wall Hanging

I finished it!

These blocks were made a while ago by my Wonky Quilt Bee friends. I'd sent them small bits of fabric, the white and the brown for the tree trunks. The request was applique trees. I love how all the tress turned out.

The quilt is sashed with Kona Teal. It has become my new favorite color. It makes each block stand out on it's own, and yet ties it all together. The binding is Kona Teal, too. Usually, I'd use some print for the binding, but I wanted the binding on this quilt to blend in with the rest of the quilt. I contemplated using white to set the binding shashing apart from our green wall, but went with the Kona Teal. I'm glad I did. It makes everything flow well. There's no hard edge and your eye is drawn to the trees, not the sashing.

The quilting is simple stippling. White thread for the white area and teal thread for the teal area. I stippled pretty small puzzle pieces. For some reason, the quilting on the white went really well. Then my machine started acting up when I switched to the teal thread, even though it was the same manufacturer. I found a ton of suggestions on how to adjust your machine for FM quilting on this blog. What finally worked for me was increasing the tension and making sure I went really fast.

I've set a goal of finishing projects this summer and this is the only one I've finished so far. Admittedly, I have finished a few quilt tops and am gearing up for the backs and quilting. I've decided, though, that summer time is not a good time for quilting. It's too dang hot! I quilted this during nap time one day and was sweating hard! Thanksfully, I have plenty of quilt tops to finish!