Monday, June 18, 2012

5" Charms Scrappy Tutorial

5" Charms Scrappy


I did several of these quilts years ago, and recently was reminded of the technique, so I'm offering you a quick tutorial on how to make them. It's very simple, and you can use up a bunch of those 5" charms you've been saving! You can do this totally scrappy, or control your color-way if you prefer. (For example, use various purple charms.) Feel free to share a link to this page with your friends!

First, decide what fabric you'll be using for your sashings. Cut a strip width-of-fabric X 8-1/2", then cut 2" strips from that.

Gather up your 5" charms, and cut them in half diagonally.

Place one half face down on the sashing piece, centering it so that the same amount extends on either end. Stitch 1/4" from edge. I used white thread so that you could see it clearly, but I would use a thread that matches the sashing as a rule.

Press away from the sashing.

Lay the second half of the charm face down on the opposite edge, and stitch it the same way.

Lay a square-up type ruler on the unit, using the 45 degree line SMACK IN THE CENTER of your sashing, corner to corner. Trim to square it up to 5-1/2" square.

This is what a trimmed unit should look like.

Four units together form an "X" and makes this a 10-1/2" unfinished block. Just sew your blocks into rows of whatever size you want your quilt to be. SO EASY!!!

Happy Quilting!
Jean MaDan


This is my finished quilt! Below is the other side.... 
I did this side with scrappy stars... I like the way this reversible quilt turned out!!


A lighter version made by Candace:
This is the quilt CANDACE WRAGG made using my tutorial! Good job, Candace!


Saturday, June 9, 2012

Certainly Stars!

Since my "Bonus Bears" is on the longarm now, I decided to start a new project. This time I thought I'd better draw it up in EQ BEFORE I started sewing, to help me keep track of where I wanted to go. So, I got my pattern all designed and plan to start making it tomorrow!


Certainly Stars!
56" x 66"


Do it totally scrappy, or control your colorway... either way, these look gorgeous! I think it would look great with a black or colored background, too!

I was right! Here's my completed Certainly Stars with black background, and I really like it!

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Bonus Bears

Bonus Bears



I decided to use up about 480 bonus 1-3/4" HSTs in brown and cream to make a new quilt. And yes, it does require a lot of additional background and border fabric to DO, but if you were doing a quilt WITHOUT those bonus HSTs it would take even more, not to mention all that wasted fabric! *grin* It's going to make a great Christmas gift to a guy in my family! (Always thinking ahead on that sort of thing!) Anyway, I'm really happy with the results.

Happy Quilting!
Jean MaDan