Personal labels 3 ways

Posted on May 11, 2014 by zippyquilts

The first quilt to have my new label on the back!

I’ve been thinking for some time that I’d like a “standard” Zippy Quilts label to sew into the binding of my quilts in addition to the usual label I put on with the name of the quilt and the date. I’ve seen several such labels and think they look cool. They make me think the creator takes herself and her work seriously enough to have a professional label.

I collected a bunch of ideas for making labels on my Pinterest page, here, if you want to look. Pinterest is great for gathering idea from around the web and organizing them all in one place. I also got some of those ideas by doing a search within Pinterest for “fabric labels”, which lead me to things other people had discovered.

It boiled down to just a few good options in 3 categories:

1. Print your own labels, sort of like I do my labels with the quilt name/date/etc. This would be fairly economical despite the cost of printable fabric, because the labels are small. However, the washability of some of the printable fabrics was in question, and there would be the need to finish the edges in some way to avoid fraying. Nevertheless, there’s a very nice tutorial on how to do it here, on the Emmaline blog.

2. Get commercially-made labels, either woven or printed, from specialty companies that make them. There are lots of companies that offer lots of different labels, from laundry tags like you sew into your kids’ clothes before they go to camp to really professional woven labels. The cost varies a lot, too. The main drawback was that, for the better looking ones, you have to order an awful lot. What if I had 1000 labels I didn’t much care for?

3. Design your own at Spoonflower and have them printed up on fabric for you to cut apart into labels. There’s a tutorial on how to do it here, on a nice blog called “While They Snooze”. This is what I ultimately decided to do. They’ll print either a sample or a fat quarter (FQ) for you, so I ordered FQs of 2 different layouts to see if I liked them.

Spoonflower labels–first layout

I cut them apart with pinking shears to avoid a hard edge and sewed a little hem around each one to prevent fraying. I think another time I’d make them a little smaller, but this is a good start. The Spoonflower site is easy enough to use that I never even had to contact them for help.

The second layout

My second layout left space below my name on each label so that I could cut out the label, hem the sides only, and then fold it in half, inserting the remaining raw edges in the binding. This avoids the need to sew it down separately on 4 sides. I may like this better, but I haven’t had time to try them much yet. The first one is going on my Quilt Alliance donation quilt, which I’m still binding. I think I’ll go back and put them on all this year’s projects.

If you get some labels made for your projects, write and let me know what you did and how it worked out.

Label on Quilt Alliance quilt back

Your Inner Designer, Part 2: Many block arrangements

Posted on May 4, 2014 by zippyquilts

In our last exciting episode (as they used to say on the radio), we took a traditional-type quilt pattern and tweaked it 3 (or more) ways to make different quilt designs.

Large blocks, with the intersections lined up

Now we’ll take some combinations of blocks and arrange them to make new designs. As before, your new designs can be drawn on graph paper (or with a computer program like Electric Quilt). It’s your choice whether to make them in cloth or not.

1. Combine two easy, familiar blocks.The usual advice is to combine blocks such that their seams will line up,like that first one on the left. This has the advantage of making more secondary patterns when you look at the combination overall, and the disadvantage of making the construction more tedious. Try it both ways. My personal preference is for the second design on the left. The different sizes of the pieces in the blocks make the quilt more interesting; I really don’t notice that the seams haven’t lined up.

2. Take a quilt made of just one block, or even just one patch, and color it different ways. Here’s one of my favorites. It starts as the traditional tumbling blocks pattern, but can also be stars, chevrons, or many, many other things. There is LOTS of room for experimentation here.

Tumbling Blocks

Zig-zags

Stars

Chevrons

Some folks make an outline drawing then copy it several times so they can color it different ways. I can see this going on for weeks if you attend lots of boring meetings where you can take your sketchbook 😉

3. Pick an asymmetric block, make lots of them (on paper or in fabric) and rotate them into different combinations. There are almost endless variations with HST (half-square triangle) blocks, for example.

These options should keep you busy for a LONG time. I suggest you buy a graph paper notebook and some colored pencils so you can keep your designs all together. Next thing you know, you’ll have more quilt designs than you could make up in a lifetime! You can just pick your current favorite next time you want to make an original quilt.

The next blog on designing your own quilts will be the first Sunday in June. Meanwhile, remember that it can be fun to try out a design by making just a small quilt. You could make a lot of HSTs and combine them in 4 different ways for a set of 4 placemats, for example. Have fun!

This is made from HSTs that finish 3″ square, set 4 x 6 so that the mat is 12″ x 18″

The same HSTs have been rearranged here

Using the same fabric in different arrangements is a fun way to make a unique set of placemats

I recently saw this arrangement touted as an “easy herringbone quilt”

Gallery Show!

Posted on April 27, 2014 by zippyquilts

Leaf, made in class with Laura Wasilowski

The Asheville Modern Quilt Guild is lucky enough to meet in a nice conference room in the building occupied by both the Quilt Alliance and the Handmade in America organization. Because of those connections (and the quality of our work) we will be having a show of our members’ work at the gallery maintained by Handmade in America. This is an organization representing craft artists from Western North Carolina (that would be us!) The work they represent is very high quality, so we are thrilled to be invited to display our work in their gallery, located at 125 S. Lexington Avenue in Asheville. (The entrance is on Hilliard Avenue between Church and S. Lexington.)

I’m including pictures in this post of the works I’m submitting, but I hope any of you who are in the area will come see the show. It will run April 29 – August 19, with an opening reception 2-4 p.m. on Sunday, May 4. We have several fine quilters in our group, and they really do make “all kinds of quilts”, as the title of the exhibit suggests. Please come!

Improv I, my original design

Bubble Up, my oritinal design

Quilt Alliance Challenge

Posted on April 20, 2014 by zippyquilts

After thinking I would use Sunbonnet Sue as my inspiration,

Scraps!

I did a total about-face and chose a scrap quilt instead. I LOVE scrap quilts, and since I certainly HAVE a lot of scraps, it all works out 🙂

Here’s the process for this year’s Quilt Alliance donation quilt. I wanted to use tiny scraps and have one tiny star. I used Electric Quilt (EQ7) to print a foundation pattern for a star that finishes about 3″ square. The first one I made, using the brand of fabric we’ve all

Paper foundation for star

Foundation pieced star, finishing 3″

depended on for solids, was just a little off. Turns out the “beefy” thick texture of that fabric doesn’t lend itself well to tiny, tiny points (the center square here is 1/2″ x 1/2″). So I re-generated the foundation pattern and, as often happens, decided on a little design change at the same time. Then I made the star using Moda Bella black, which is a lighter weight cloth that folded more crisply in such a small space.

Joining scraps

Scraps

Improvisational piecing

For the rest of the quilt I pulled out my zippy-colored Michael Miller cotton couture scraps and just sewed them together as I took them out of the box. Eventually I had to cut a few more “scraps” to finish the top. There were so very MANY seams that I was glad of the lighter weight of this cloth, almost like voile. It took many days to do this, quite a bit longer than I had expected for a 16″ x 16″ quilt! The smallest pieces finish about 1/4″ squares or triangles!

Quilt Alliance Challenge 2014

So here it is! I would love to count the pieces, but I don’t think I have the energy left to do it! Besides, who wants to know a thing like that? 😉

Stash smash: 8 inch squares

Posted on April 13, 2014 by zippyquilts

I’m slowly working my way through my stash, and currently my focus is on “unfinished projects”. There seem to be a lot of them 😉

8″ Squares

I found this stack of 8″ squares that was made as the start of a quilt a while back. I didn’t like the pattern once I got started on it, so here’s this stack with no purpose. Not my favorite fabrics is part of the problem, I think.

Of course, SOMEBODY sure would like these fabrics, so I had options:

1. Try to give them to friends. But those friends probably would try to give me some of their stash in return!

2. Put them in the donation pile. Several problems with that idea; never mind!

3. Make them into something. Since I make a fair number of donation quilts for Ronald McDonald House, that seemed like the best bet.

So I paired lights with darks and cut each pair into 3 unequal strips. I did the cuts at random intervals, but parallel to the sides to keep the blocks from getting too wonky. Then I traded the center strips and sewed the strips back together to make a set of 2 blocks.

Cut at random intervals

swap the center strip

First assembly

I stacked the sets again and cut them at irregular intervals, switched the middle strip again, and re-assembled them into irregular 9-patch blocks:

Cut the new blocks the other way

swap the center strips again

Two blocks finished!

Now they are a donation quilt top for Ronald McDonald House, and this one will be suitable for an older child, since the fabrics aren’t juvenile novelty prints. Success! Another stack gone! And another donation quilt done!

I’m taking part in “Aunt Marti’s” UFO challenge so to finish 12 UFOs in 2014. It might help you get your UFOs done, too. Click HERE for the link to the original post where she tells you how to do it.

Nine Patch Quilt

Hope you have a good week. Maybe some of your leftovers would make good donation quilts, too!

Find Your Inner Designer – Part 1

Posted on April 6, 2014 by zippyquilts

Some of my readers have asked about how I design quilts, so I’ve decided to do a monthly series of posts to lead you to design your own original quilts. I know there are several courses and lectures out there on “principles” of modern quilt design, but this series is about a practical approach. So here is Part 1: Start by tweaking a design you already like.

Start with a traditional-style pattern you want to make. By traditional-style, I mean one with multiple similar blocks, probably arranged in a grid. Here’s my example, which really is more of a modern design because the blocks are improvisationally cut, but it has the blocks in a grid

I saw this quilt at the house where we have retreats

Now experiment, tweaking this pattern (or a similar one) 3 different ways:

1. Change the size of the blocks. A quilt made up of 20 blocks each 10″x 10″ will look quite different from a quilt of the same size made up of 80 blocks 5″ x 5″.

20 Triangle Blocks 10″ x 10″

80 Triangles 5″ x 5″

You can go up or down in size, but change the size of the blocks. If the math gives you trouble, either get help from a friend who LOVED algebra in high school, or use a computer program like Electric Quilt to re-draw the blocks in the size you want and give you instructions for cutting them. If you want to make the blocks very small, consider paper piecing: Just draw your paper base and you don’t need any math because the pieces you use to construct the block on the paper base aren’t cut exactly to size.

.
2. Change the size of just one (or a few) block(s):

Substitute one large block for 4 of the small ones!

Either replace one block with 4 little blocks 1/4 the size of the usual, or replace 4 regular blocks with one big one. Either tweak makes the overall quilt design more interesting.

Substitute 4 little blocks for one large one–or for several large ones!

3. Add (or subtract) a little: Instead of making the usual grid of blocks, add a strip or a row of blocks to each row to make some of the grid offset. I like to put the insert at a different place in each row.

Insets make the blocks move out of line in some places, adding interest

Another option is to remove the sashing and/or border(s) from a quilt, or to insert an extra border.

Removing the border makes the quilt look more modern

Adding an inner border may add interest to the design

You don’t have to sew any of your designs unless you want to; just draw them out on graph paper (or your computer program), and color them if you like. The drawing counts as a design! And don’t worry that modifying somebody else’s design isn’t “original”. You have to start somewhere, just like the designer of your pattern did!

Now, go try some of this! I like to make baby quilts to try out new designs or techniques—not too much commitment in time and materials, but I learn a lot. And watch for the next post in this series; I’m going to do a design post the first Sunday of each month for a while.

Pop-up Show

Posted on March 30, 2014 by zippyquilts

Asheville Modern Quilt Guild Show

Here are some pictures from the Asheville Modern Quilt Guild’s Pop-up Quilt Show, held Sunday, March 16 at the Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We had good attendance and gained several new members! As you can see, we had some members demonstrating quilt making, as well. If you missed it, the Guild will have a show at the Handmade in America gallery in Asheville from mid-May through mid-August. Meanwhile, here are some of our members and their quilts:

First, here’s Diana Kantor with her amazing table runner. It has 3-D folded flowers and leaves in addition to that beautiful quilted design in the center!

Diana Kantor

And here’s Erica Kilgo with her very fun Bricks and Bubbles quilt:

Erica Kilgo

Here’s Amy Anderson with three of her beautiful quilts:

Amy Anderson

Here is Connie Brown with some of her amazing art quilts:

Connie Brown

Emily and Miriam Coffey weren’t able to be there, so I don’t have their pictures, but here is one of their beautiful quilts:

Emily and Miriam Coffey’s quilt

And of course we had our Opportunity Quilt on display so people could take an interest and maybe even buy tickets:

Asheville Modern Quilt Guild Opportunity Quilt

Hopefully you’ve found these quilts inspiring. If you’re interested in joining our guild, here is a link to our Facebook page.

Next week I’m starting a series on designing your own quilts.

Pantone Challenge–Go Vote!!!

Posted on March 23, 2014 by zippyquilts

The online Pantone Challenge is accepting Reader’s Choice votes now.

Go HERE to vote for your favorite quilt in each of the 3 categories:

Quilts (full size)
Mini quilts
Just the Top (entries that aren’t quilted yet)

You have to scroll down quite a ways to get to the entries. Pick one favorite in each category. Vote by clicking the heart in the upper right hand corner.

Mine is #36 in the second category, Mini Quilts. So many fun quilts to look at!

Radiating Orchid mini-quilt for the Radiant Orchid Challenge, 15″ x 15″

Pantone Challenge

Posted on March 19, 2014 by zippyquilts

You’re getting this blog early because of the deadline for the Pantone Challenge. I’ll be back to my regular schedule on Sunday, March 30.

The Quilt Alliance’s TWENTY challenge was so much fun last year that when I heard about the Pantone Radiant Orchid Challenge I decided to enter

Radiating Orchid mini-quilt for the Radiant Orchid Challenge, 15″ x 15″

This challenge is via link-up with one of the two sponsoring blogs, On the Windy Side and Play Crafts. You can go to either blog to see the other entries and get details.

Luckily I had a pretty orchid color FQ (fat quarter) in a collection of modern solids (came from my smart son-in-law at Christmas!). And I took a piping class with Susan K Cleveland a few years ago where I learned to make little bitty piping. I’d already gotten the Alison Glass green fabric to go with the modern solids, so I was ready to roll!

Using piping to help turn under the edge is one of my favorite ways to applique circles, and I wanted a little extra definition for the edges. I had to make templates (yikes!) to cut the green and, naturally, the print turned out to be directional so I had to be careful how I cut it (double yikes!).

As always, I learned several things making this project. Using templates wasn’t so bad; I made them from freezer paper & ironed them onto the fabric for cutting. And Susan’s method for joining the ends of the piping worked perfectly so you can’t tell where it begins and ends as it circles the shapes. So, it was fun and now it’s done! 😉 Have a good week!

3 Lessons from an Older Quilt

Posted on March 16, 2014 by zippyquilts

I recently got to borrow a quilt I made for our daughter when she left for college 12 years ago, and I learned several things from looking it over.

The Cheerful Child Quilt

First, it was much softer than when I made it. This is notable because when I gave it to her, she wondered, “When will it be soft like Granny’s?” Many of the quilts she grew up with were made by my grandmother (her great-grandmother). Those quilts, made from the 1930s through the 1950s, were soft by the time our daughter slept under them in the 1990s. She was happy to get the quilt but was disappointed with the stiffness of new fabric. Having learned that lesson, I subsequently backed quilts for her with minky, which is very soft from Day 1.

“Punch bugs” were popular cars when our daughter was in high school

Second, some fabrics have held up better than others, and the price of the fabric does NOT seem to be as important as other factors. Pastels have not held their brightness well over time, and “sparkles” on some of the fabrics have worn off. On the other hand, the car and child prints in the photo at left were inexpensive novelty prints but have held up well.

Third, and most gratifying, my work has kept the quilt intact. There are no ripped seams, loose binding, or quilting that has come undone. I pieced this quilt on my old faithful Bernina and quilted free-motion stars on the same machine. (That’s when I learned that sending a quilt to a longarm quilter is worth every penny–my shoulders ached for days!) I backed it with a sheet, which was my practice for years despite all the dire threats that sheets are inappropriate for quilt backing, and that worked out fine.

My quilting style has changed a lot since I made this quilt, and I certainly am much more technically adept now. It was great to see that an earlier quilt has survived our daughter’s college and young adulthood intact, even if it isn’t as bright as it once was.

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