Favorite Finish Monthly Linkup - March 2021

Welcome to March's Favorite Finish Monthly Linkup!

I guess my favorite (and only finish) for March was my Supernova quilt.  I've been spending way to much time at the computer lately and am looking forward to more sewing time :)

Ready for the party?  

Here is a reminder of the party details:

• The linky party will open at 12:01am EST on the last day of the month and will be open for 5 days, through the 4th at 11:59 pm EST.

• For instructions on how to link up blog, Instagram, or pictures from your computer (new - there is now a way to just upload a picture without a web link) to the party, click here.  

• If linking a blog post, I ask that you please add a link back to the party.

• Please visit at least 3 other links (and preferably leave comments) to share the love and celebration :)

I hope you join in by checking out the posts or linking your favorite finish of the month!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

 

 

Supernova Quilt and Pattern

My newest quilt, Supernova, is finished and the pattern is being released today!  The Supernova pattern is now available in the Meadow Mist Designs pattern shop. 

I love star designs in quilt of all types and thought that it would be fun to combine different stars into one quilt top.  Supernova combines Star in a Star blocks and Ohio Star blocks together into one design.  The pattern is fat quarter friendly and contains lap and twin sizes too! 

FABRICS & MATERIALS

The first fabric I picked for the Supernova quilt was actually the light blue / gray background fabric.  It is FreeSpirit Gray, but is really more of a blue in person.  From there, I picked some fat quarters already in my stash in navy, red, and yellow.  

Prints - Navy prints by Carolyn Friedlander, red print by Bonnie and Camille, plaid print by Cotton & Steel, and yellow print by Maureen Cracknell
Fabric A - Bella White by Moda
Bg Fabric - FreeSpirit Solids in Gray 

I have a bolt of a yellow Country Fair print by Denyse Schmidt that really went well with the yellow Maureen Cracknell print on the front of the quilt.  Then I bound the quilt in a red polka dot print to finish the quilt.

QUILTING PLAN AND DESIGN

For the quilting, I decided that I wanted to add texture to the quilt without taking away from the piecing so I went with an allover design using my favorite paisley shape.  Because the paisley shapes are larger, the quilting does go pretty quickly.  I used Aurifil 50 wt thread in Dove for the quilting, the light gray thread blended well with both the background and the white areas.

SUPERNOVA PATTERN DETAILS

The Supernova pattern is written at a confident beginner level and is fat quarter friendly. The flying geese are made using the no-waste method.

The pattern contains instructions to make both a lap sized quilt and a twin sized quilt.

Supernova is on sale in my pattern shop as a digital pattern at a special introductory price of $9.50 through Sunday, March 28th.  Once you make a Supernova of your own, you can share it via social media using the hashtag #SupernovaQuilt.

In my pattern shop, you can combine this intro sale price with an additional coupon for more savings. Use the code "TWOPATTERNS" for $2 off 2 patterns and "THREEPATTERNS" for $4 off 3 patterns.

MANY THANKS

I would like to thank Yvonne @Quilting Jetgirl for her amazing tech editing skills and quilting ideas.  I would also like to thank the Warm Company for the Warm & White batting (my favorite!).

ALTERNATIVE COLORWAYS

I love playing with EQ8 to see how patterns look in different colorways.  It is always so interesting to render quilts with different prints, background colors, and more.  Here are some alternative colorways I came up with.

PINTEREST 

I have been more and more active on Pinterest (check me out here).  If you would like to save Supernova for later on your Pinterest boards, here is a pinnable image.

Remember, you can get the Supernova pattern in the Meadow Mist Designs pattern shop for only $9.50 through Sunday, March 28th.

In my pattern shop, you can combine this intro sale price with an additional coupon for more savings. Use the code "TWOPATTERNS" for $2 off 2 patterns and "THREEPATTERNS" for $4 off 3 patterns.

 

Rock & Roll Quilt Tutorial

As an OLFA Creator, I had the opportunity to create a new tutorial for the OLFA blog in 2019 called the Rock & Roll Baby Quilt. Since then, the OLFA blog has been updated and the pattern is no longer on their blog so I am reposting the free quilt pattern here for you :)

Rock & Roll Baby Quilt

SIZE 40 ½" x 52 ½"

My good friends have a baby boy due in a few months and I wanted to make them a fun baby quilt for their shower. The pattern is very beginner friendly and a great way to use up scraps. The blocks form X's and O's for lots of hugs and kisses.

PATTERN NOTES

• Width of fabrics (WOF) is assumed to be at least 41". A fat quarter is assumed to be at least 18" x 20".
• A scant ¼" (a thread width smaller than ¼") seam is to be used throughout the construction of the quilt unless otherwise instructed.
• The quilt finishes at a baby size of 40 ½" x 52 ½"

MATERIAL REQUIREMENTS

Print fabrics: 8-10 fat quarters or strip scraps (1 ½" to 3" wide by at least 8" long)
Background fabric: 1 ¾ yards
Binding fabric: ½ yard
Backing fabric: 1 ⅔ yards
Batting: 49" x 61"

CUTTING INSTRUCTIONS

Print Fabrics

Begin by cutting about half of each fat quarter into 1 ½" to 3" x 18" strips (shorter side of the fat quarter) and then cut more strips as needed during piecing.

Background Fabric

1. Cut 5 strips 7 ¼" x WOF

a. Sub-cut the strips into 24 squares 7 ¼" x 7 ¼" (each strip can yield 5 squares)

2. Cut 5 strips 2 ½" x WOF. (borders)



PIECING INSTRUCTIONS

1. Sew print strips together and trim to make 24 strip-pieced squares 7 ¼" x 7 ¼". If your strips are 15" or longer, you can sew the longer strips together and cut multiple squares out the strip sets.

2. Draw a diagonal line using a removable marking device on the back of the background square (shown as the solid line).

3. Place a background square on a strip-pieced square (with the strips going vertically) right sides together with:

Half (12) of the drawn lines on the back of the background square going from upper left to lower right

Half (12) of the drawn lines on the back of the background square going from upper right to lower left

4. Sew a ¼" seam on each side of the solid line (shown as the dotted lines). Cut on the solid line and press seams towards the background fabric to make a half square triangle (HST). Repeat to make 48 HSTs (measuring about 6 ½" x 6 ½").

5. Trim each HST to 6 ½" x 6 ½" and try to have at least ½" width of the strips on the sides of the HST (We started with oversized squares to leave a bit more wiggle room.) Using the OLFA 6 ½" Square Ruler and the OLFA Rotating Rotary Mat make trimming quick and easy.

6. Layout the 48 HSTs according to the quilt top diagram making sure that all of the strips are running horizontal across the width of the quilt.

7. Sew HSTs into rows and then sew rows together, pressing all seams open to make the quilt top, before borders are added, should measure 36 ½" x 48 ½".

8. Cut a background strip 2 ½" x WOF in half, sew each half background strip to a full background strip 2 ½" x WOF, and trim to the average height of the quilt top, approx. 48 ½". Sew borders onto the sides of the quilt top, pressing seams open or towards the borders.

9. Trim 2 strips 2 ½" x WOF to the average width of the quilt top, approx. 40 ½". Sew borders onto the top and bottom of the quilt top, pressing seams open or towards the borders.

The finished quilt top should measure approx. 40 ½" x 52 ½".



FINISHING

1. Because of the width (40 ½") of the quilt top, it may be possible to use a single width of fabric for the backing. If you find the backing fabric a little narrow, you can use scraps from making the strip-pieced squares to widen the backing.

2. Layer the quilt top, batting, and backing.

3. Baste and quilt as desired. For my quilt, I used straight lines in the pieced sections and an open swirl design in the background. I used Aurifil 50wt thread in a light gray/blue to match the background fabric.

4. Cut the binding fabric into 5 strips 2 ½" x WOF. Sew together the strips end-to-end to make the binding. Bind and enjoy your quilt!

I would love to see what you make with the Rock & Roll Baby Quilt tutorial!  You can share on social media using #RockandRollQuilt and tag me.  Thanks!

Happy Pi Day!

To quilty engineers, scientists, Pi lovers everywhere,

Happy Pi Day!

 
I am a chemical engineer and got my degree at Carnegie Mellon University (known to be a super nerdy engineering school). We did not have many of your typical college parties, but holidays like Pi day (March 14th for 3.14) were always huge celebrations.

Students spent most of the night writing out the thousands of digits of pi on the sidewalks all through the campus. I always try to celebrate pi day now with a celebration including some pie.

A number of years ago, I made a pi quilt for my engineer husband containing 49 paper pieced digits of Pi and I thought that I would post it again for the occasion.  You can find the Paper Pieced Numbers and Pi Quilt pattern in my shop if you would like to make your own.

Go have a piece of pie today to celebrate Pi Day :)

Easy, Inexpensive Way for Great Quilt Pictures

As a quilt pattern designer, I need good quality, full pictures of my quilts.  My husband holds my quilts up for pictures sometimes, but for when he is not available I needed another solution.  

I would like to show you today how I take quilt pictures of my quilts.

In the images above, the one of the left is a picture of the Morewood Mystery quilt on the ground.  The ground is lumpy so the quilt does not lay flat and the quilt looks trapezoidal shaped.  The picture on the right used my method for full quilt pictures.

To hold up my quilts I use a backdrop stand.  I got mine from Amazon for only $40!  There are more expensive versions, but mine has lasted and works well.  Disclaimer: If you have a very heavy or large quilt, the top bar can sag a little due to the weight.  You can find the backdrop I bought from Amazon right here (affiliate link)

Once I have the backdrop stand setup (I take almost all of my photos outside due to better lighting), then I pin on little ribbon loops using straight pins on the top of my quilt.  

To make the loops: I cut ribbon that had wrapped a fat quarter bundle cut into about 6" lengths and then stitched the edges together.  

You can see the loops from the back and front of the quilt below.  For a lap sized quilt I usually use about 5 loops spaced across the top of the quilt.

Once the loops are attached to the quilt top and threaded onto the top pole, I hang the quilt up and take my pictures.  Note:  If you are outside, be sure that it is not too windy because the quilt now acts as a sail and the backdrop will blow over.

You can either leave the pole and tabs in the photographs, or you can edit them out using programs like Adobe Photoshop, Corel PhotoPaint, PicMonkey, or others.

I love this method for being able to take consistent, high quality flat shots of my quilt without the need for helpers to hold the quilt.  

You can find the backdrop holder on Amazon.

Link this tip?  You can pin it for later...