Square in a Square Paper Piecing Templates

There are many different ways of making square in a square blocks, but especially for smaller blocks I think that paper piecing is an ideal way to make accurate and quick square in a square blocks.

For the smaller square in a square blocks, sewing those bias triangle edges onto the squares can be sometimes very frustrating.  Paper piecing means not having to worry about the bias side of the triangle moving while I sew or keeping a perfect 1/4" seam allowance.  

For a mini quilt I made a few years ago making, I needed a bunch of 2" (finished) square in a square blocks.  I created the block template in Corel Draw and thought that the template might be helpful to other quilters.  

I created a set of ten (10) templates for 2" up to 6 ½" (finished) square in a square blocks in ½" increments.  You can get a copy of the Square in a Square Template Set (for free) by signing up for my Meadow Mist Designs Newsletter.  

Please note: the file does not contain paper piecing or fabric cutting instructions, the file is only the templates for paper piecing.

When printing these templates, print at either “no scaling” or “100% scaling”.  Each page contains a test 1” square to ensure the correct sizing of the blocks.

I hope you find the templates useful :)

Free Square in a Square Paper Pieced Templates from 2" to 6 ½" (finished) by signing up for my newsletter.

Happy sewing!  I would love to see what you make with the templates!

 

Trio of Plus Sign Pillows ++ a free pattern trio for pattern newsletter subscribers

To celebrate the soon-to-be release of my book Modern Plus Sign Quilts, I have created a Trio of Plus Sign Pillows that I am offering as a FREE bonus for my pattern newsletter subscribers (note this is different than receiving my blog posts via e-mail).

The Trio contains one regular (traditionally pieced), one paper pieced, and one appliqued pillow pattern and I made them to match my new couch :)

If you would like these patterns for FREE, then you can sign up for the newsletter right below: (if you are reading this in an e-mail you may need to click over to the blog to see the sign up form.

You can sign up for the Meadow Mist Designs Newsletter right here:

Meadow Mist Designs Newsletter

Nordic Playlist - Quilt Finish and Tutorial

I am excited to share another finish with you today! The Bear Creek Quilting Company has such wonderful fabric, I was so excited to when Shari sent me a fat quarter bundle of Paradiso by Kate Spain for Moda.  I used the bundle to create a queen sized quilt called Nordic Playlist which is now living on my daughter's bed and she loves it :).  

Nordic Playlist finishes at about 90” x 90”, a nice double/queen size.  Each 18” x 18” (finished) block in the quilt uses a fat quarter of a print along with some background fabric, so the size of the quilt is easy to scale up and down.   The free quilt pattern is now up on the Bear Creek Quilting Company's blog! 

I used a horizontal looping pattern for the quilting and just followed all of the seam lines for virtually no marking.  It still took a really long time to quilt and I will posting some tricks I learned soon for horizontal quilting a larger quilt with a domestic sewing machine easier.

I backed the quilt using a 108" wide Robert Kaufman print that was perfect for the Paradiso line (with the added bonus that I did not have to piece the backing).  Instead of using yardage for the binding, I used three of the left over fat quarters from the line for a matching, yet scrappy binding.  

 

Taking pictures of the queen sized quilt proved to be quite a challenge, anyone have tips on getting good pictures of a quilt that large?

Once again, here is the link to the free pattern :)

I am linking up to Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story, Sew Cute Tuesday @ Blossom Heart Quilts, Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts, Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation, and WIP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced, Link a Finish Friday, Whoop Whoop Friday, Thank Goodness Its Finished Friday, Finish It Up Friday, Fabric Frenzy Friday, and Show Off Saturday @ Sew She Can.

Kona Pineapple Block - Free Pattern

Our February program for the Greenville Modern Quilt Guild was all about paper piecing so I used the opportunity to try out a block that has been on my to-do list, a classic pineapple block.  After making one block, I don't think that I am up for a making an entire lap or bed pineapple quilt, but I think a mini would be very doable.

For this block,  I customized a paper pieced pineapple block from EQ (finishing at 7" square) and used leftovers from a Kona summer 2013 charm pack, giving the block a very fun and scrappy look.  

I thought that I would share the block pattern with you in case you too had a pineapple quilt on your quilt bucket list, here is the 

FREE quilt block on Craftsy.  

The pattern file contains the block template finishing at 7" square and a quilt color page to try out different color schemes.  The pattern does not contain paper piecing or fabric cutting instructions.

I hope you pop over to Craftsy to download the free pattern and if you make a block or a quilt, please share your results on the flicker group Meadow Mist Designs and/or on Instagram using the hastag #MeadowMistDesigns.

Edited to add:
Thank you so much for your enthusiastic response to the Kona Pineapple Block Pattern, it has made it into the top 20 best selling free patterns!

I am linking up to Link a Finish Friday, Whoop Whoop Friday, Thank Goodness Its Finished Friday, Finish It Up Friday, Fabric Frenzy Friday, and Show Off Saturday @ Sew She Can.

Meadow Star Table Runner - Free Pattern for Camelot Fabrics

I am happy to introduce my third quilt pattern for Camelot Fabrics called the Meadow Star Table Runner which is now available as a free download on Camelot's website.

The quilt pattern is a modern take on a classic quilt block, and is shown using the Itty Bitty collection by Andrea Turk for Camelot Fabrics.  By adding some more blocks, you could easily make this pattern into a baby, lap, or bed quilt.

Here are some other versions of the quilt using Camelot fabrics:

Please go take a look and download the free pattern and check out all of the patterns I designed for Camelot Fabrics.

I hope that if you make a Meadow Star table runner or quilt that you will consider adding it to the Meadow Mist Designs flickr group :)

I am linking up to Link a Finish Friday, Whoop Whoop Friday, Thank Goodness Its Finished Friday, Finish It Up Friday, Fabric Frenzy Friday,  Sewjo @ My Go Go Life, and Show Off Saturday @ Sew She Can.

New Colorways of Cracker Lattice at Camelot Fabrics (Free Pattern)

I designed a pattern for Camelot Fabrics (free on their website) back in June of this year and since then, Camelot has produced the pattern in 6 different colorways.  I love seeing a quilt in different colors as the pattern can look so different using different colors, prints, and values.  Here are the 6 colorways offered by Camelot Fabrics as free patterns: (The titles contain links to the patterns.)

1.  London Fog

2.  What’s Cookin’ 

3.  Heavy Metal

4.  Botanical

5.  Elixir

6.  Scented

I hope that if you make a Cracker Lattice quilt that you will consider adding it to the Meadow Mist Designs flickr group :)

I am linking up to MOP Monday @ Tweety Loves Quilting, Anything Goes Mondays @ Stitch by Stitch, Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story, and Sew Cute Tuesday @ Blossom Heart Quilts, and Show and Tuesday @ Freshly Squeezed Fabrics.

Best Wishes Quilt Runner - Free Pattern for Camelot Fabrics

I am happy to introduce my second quilt pattern for Camelot Fabrics called the Best Wishes Table Runner which is now available as a free download on Camelot's website here.

The quilt pattern is a modern take on a classic quilt block, and is shown using the Paisley Please by JACK!E for Camelot Fabrics.  By adding some more blocks, you could easily make this pattern into a baby, lap, or bed quilt.

Please go take a look and download the free pattern. I hope that if you make a Best Wishes table runner or quilt that you will consider adding it to the Meadow Mist Designs flickr group :)

I am linking up to MOP Monday @ Tweety Loves Quilting, Anything Goes Mondays @ Stitch by Stitch, Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story, and Sew Cute Tuesday @ Blossom Heart Quilts, and Show and Tuesday @ Freshly Squeezed Fabrics.

Rainbow Rail Fence Quilt and Tutorial at Bear Creek Quilting Company

I am happy to announce that I have my first guest post and tutorial over at the Bear Creek Quilting Company!  When Shari asked me if I was interested in guest posting and making something out of their wonderful fabrics, I jumped at the chance.

When I was looking through their huge section, I immediately fell in love with the Kona roll-ups with all of their rainbow goodness.  I used one Kona Sunset and one Kona Sunrise roll-up (by Robert Kaufman) for this double bed sized quilt (80" x 80").  The finished quilt is living on my son's bed right now who loves rainbows.

Please hop over here to for the tutorial and more pictures of the finished quilt.

Once again, here is the link for the quilt and tutorial.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful week!

I'm linking up to Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts.

I am also linking up to Link a Finish Friday, Whoop Whoop Friday, Thank Goodness Its Finished Friday, Finish It Up Friday, Fabric Frenzy Friday,  Sewjo @ My Go Go Life, Show Off Saturday @ Sew She Can, and Sew Solid Sunday at Esch House Quilts.

College Blog Hop

Hi and Welcome to Day 6 of the College Days Blog Hop hosted by the wonderful Soma of Whims and Fancies!   I was so excited when Soma asked me to be part of her upcoming blog hop.  I said yes before I even knew what the hop's theme.

For college, I went to Carnegie Mellow University over in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for Chemical Engineering.  When I heard the theme of the hop I immediately thought of the late nights studying and all of the 101, 201, etc classes we all took.

There are some paper piecing super stars in this hop and I have been in awe of their designs. Being a new paper piece designer, I designed a very beginner friendly College 101 block.  There are two versions of the block:

Version 1 - Block with paper pieced 101 and embroidered "College"

Version 2 - Block with paper pieced 101 (for those that do not wish to add the embroidery.

The block (both versions are included in the pattern) can be downloaded for free on Craftsy right here.

For my version, I used Kona White as the background, some shot cotton (sorry I don't remember the color) for the letters, and some gray thread for the embroidery.

This 10" (finished) block can be used as one block in your college hop quilt or separately as a pillow, book cover, mini quilt, wall hanging, or tote bag.

Please head over to Whims and Fancies to check out the rest of the patterns!