Summer Mystery Quilt requirements

As promised, the first installment of our Summer Mystery Quilt starts today with (of course) the Requirements list.

The quilt finishes at about 62 inches square and is really simple piecing. Fabric choices are up to you – anything goes. We have tried to design it so that it looks stunning whether you have a dark background or a light one and no matter where you place your lights and darks or brights thereafter. You can make it from one colour family or choose several different colours. Its your quilt, your choice!

See you next week for further instructions . . .

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Summer Mystery quilt

We’re back, after a short break – the weeks just vanish and suddenly we’re halfway through the year and its a over a month since the last post. But . . .

Summer is coming, the long holidays beckon, many of the classes are on hold so we have a Summer Mystery Quilt for you starting on Sunday June 17th. It’s really simple piecing and a new step will be published each Sunday until about halfway through August.

See you in a few days time . . .

Simple Blocks – Album

This is the first of our simple blocks which has Mary’s Triangles units and, as with most blocks with these units, they are in the corners.

You can download the free pattern for this block here, along with a few ideas for quilts.

Just because the block has the triangles on the outside doesn’t mean that you can’t turn the units around and make a completely different block.

Notice that the colours have been reversed as well. If you mix these two colourings in a quilt  you get something far more interesting than just the blocks on their own.

Or you can put the blocks on point; all the same block but with a dark background –

– it looks far more dramatic than the light background.

But what happens if we turn those corner units so the triangles point outwards?

And then set into a quilt, with alternate colourings –

Its a very different quilt to the one we started out with.

The colouring (placement of lights and darks) of the block as well as the orientation of the corner units can have quite a dramatic effect on the appearance of the block and the quilts. Here’s a slide show of a few ideas –

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Springtime stitching

We have been promised that Spring is just around the corner – hard to believe with all the snow and ice – so yesterday when I found a couple of projects we had done with Young Quilters over the Easter holidays back in the 1990s I felt it was time to write them up properly and offer them as free patterns. They are both cushions, but could be little quilts as well, measuring 12 inches finished, without borders. As they were designed with Young Quilters in mind they are nice and simple and a quite young child could manage them with adult help here and there. They can be sewn by hand or machine, although I did them on the machine.

First of all we have a basket – which is actually a pocket on the front of the cushion. The original hand-written pattern says for keeping a book or small toy, these days it is more likely to be a phone or tablet perhaps. You can download the pattern here.

Although the pattern has lots of diagrams sometimes photos show things more clearly so here are the step-by-step photos I took when I made the basket pocket –

 

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The other pattern I found was a Snowball block turned into an animal – we apparently had dogs, cats, pigs and even hens, but the one I have chosen to do the ear templates for you today is the rabbit. Once you have made this one you might like to let your imagination run riot as our Young Quilters did on the day and see what you come up with. You could even add an appropriate tail to the back of your cushion or quilt.

You can download the pattern here.

Simple blocks – Mary’s Triangles

This little unit crops up in a number of blocks but is also a block in its own right. It has a variety of names including Jewel Box (or Block), Squared Triangles, Square and Triangles and the one I’ve picked – Mary’s Triangles.

You can make these units one at a time by cutting the individual squares and triangles or you can make two at a time with a very nifty method I read about so long ago I can no longer where, or when, but it has become an accepted method – it involves no triangles! You can download the Tutorial sheet for the unit here.

As with all units based on Half-Square Triangles you can have great fun with colour placement, scrappy looks and turning those units round. Here’s just a few ideas to get you started.

Start off by just putting the units together in a straight set, then change the lights and darks around, turn the blocks around, add in another colour for a bit of contrast . . .

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And here’s one I made earlier

What will you make? Download the instructions for Mary’s Triangles here – it has a few quilt ideas and a blank quilt for you to colour in or play with.

Simple Blocks – Monkey Wrench

There are several blocks called Monkey Wrench – this one is sometimes called Snail Trail and is essentially a 4-patch within several squares, so we’ve added it to the blocks associated with the Square-in-a-Square tutorial.

Just set on its own this two fabric block can look a bit so-so . . .

but turn alternate blocks around and you get the classic Snail Trail pattern.

But what if you add another colour?

The quilt could then look more like this

or this

Or add yet another colour

which gives you more opportunities for playing with the arrangements

or this – which reminds me of waves breaking on the shore

or this (which looks more like arm wrestling!)

You can download your free block pattern here.

 

 

 

Simple Blocks – Coxey’s Camp

This block comes under the heading of ‘Square in a Square’ although in reality it is a 4-patch turned on point and then given a fancy border.

 

There are many different ways to colour it in changing the emphasis of the block by changing the dark and light colours around.

Using the different colourings can add interest to the quilt setting too.

As does turning on point –

It makes a good block to alternate with other blocks – more complicated ones or much simpler ones. Have a play with some of the other blocks we’ve already featured.

You can download the block instructions here.