Archive for March, 2013

March 28th, 2013

Block Rock’n Week 1 – Bowie

by Julie Hirt

Every Friday for  12 weeks I’ll post a free foundation / paper pieced block template.   The block names will be named after bands, singers or maybe even a song title. Week one is named Bowie.

bowie1

 

I’ll be pleasuring your ear buds with a video to go along with each Rock Block of the Week.  Depending on my mood I can really get into some David Bowie, here is one of my favorites.

embedded by Embedded Video

 

I would love to see your block if you make one.  Feel free to:

 

Due to changes within a Craftsy, I am moving the patterns to Etsy. 
Buy the entire series of 12 blocks for $5 or each block for $1.  

Download HERE

Feel free to share within sewing groups if you use this pattern as your Bee block!
It does NOT need to be purchased multiple times. Same with the series purchase.

 

Have a blog? Grab a button and share the fun – this is a free series! Code is here.

blockrocknbutton

Let me know if you have any questions.  If you aren’t familiar with paper piecing I recommend signing up for Don’t Call Me Betsy’s Lucky Stars Block of the Month. She has awesome tutorials with her monthly blocks and you’ll get the hang of it quickly.

 

CategoryBlock Rock'n, Quilty Stuff | Comment11 Comments »

March 24th, 2013

Oilcloth Lunch Bags

by Julie Hirt

Why did I make these?  Because I needed an excuse to buy some oilcloth.

blueoilcloth

I really didn’t have a use for oilcloth but I was desperate to buy some.  I made the blue and red bag using this pattern. You can choose different prints for the side panels and just use pinking shears to finish off the top.

greenoilcloth

The green bag was made using this pattern. This one is closer to the true size of a paper lunch bag and has a finished top seam.

oilclothbags

And… here are my oilcloth bags on my oilcloth covered kitchen island. I know, a bit overkill.  I put the cover on our island a few weeks ago because I am *desperate* for spring. I need to see some green!  It’s March 24th and we just got 8 inches of snow. Go away already.

The tabletop was easy to cover – just cut your oilcloth to size with a few inches of overhang, then tape underneath.  I’ve read the painters tape will hold the fabric in place for months with no problem.  The actual top is wood and this is so much easier to clean!  Now I have an excuse to buy more designs so I can change this out.

oilcloth

Off  the top of my head, I think these bags are good to:

  • use as a lunch bag
  • store crochet or small yarn projects
  • organize miscellaneous crafts
  • use as gift bags

Maybe my friend Chelsea at Whatcha Makin’ Now would like one? I owe her this and more after she made me these freakin’ amazing Jell-O Sugar Cookies for my birthday.

Any other ideas for oilcloth?

 

CategorySewing & Fabric | Comment5 Comments »

March 23rd, 2013

Quilted Parisville Pillow

by Julie Hirt

Last night I decided to make some pillow shams to match my big purple quilt that was recently finished.  After making the shams I found a Parisville jelly roll!  Holy crap, I forgot I had that.

tulapillow

So I decided to make a patchwork pillow to match the bedding.

Recently I was at Tuesday Morning and they some truly hideous pillows on clearance for like $10.  When I realized one was down filling, I snatched it up just for the insert.   It’s a 20″ form and it’s perfect and squishy.  Now that I have 2/3 left of a jelly roll I think I’ll keep hitting up Tuesday Morning for a discounted pillow.   I’ll make an army of them for the bed!

tulapillowback

I stole the Scrappy Trip Along idea and just made one block that was 10 strips wide.  Worked out perfectly for the size.

tulapillowcorner

I did simple quilting  on the front and back. You can’t tell in the picture but every other row the thread changes from navy or purple.

There is a 1″ box on the corners.  For some reason pointy pillows really bug me. Like the corners totally distort the shape or something.

tulapillowside

Thanks to my recently acquired zipper knowledge (Weekender), I was able to add a zipper!  This is a nice change from my standard envelope back. I feel fancy!

Now I’m ready to wash this up and get that crinkly quilted goodness.

The shams – I had a dozen or so left over blocks  from the quilt and wanted to *quickly* make simple shams.  That turned into quilted shams with pieced backs and 2″ flange.   Oy.

I’d like to post more pictures but the lighting in my room is too dark and I can’t take them outside because it’s SNOWING. Again.  Blech.   I posted this on Instagram this morning, so you can kind of see what I did.

sham

It all sort of blends together but the sham is on top of the quilt. Each one has 2 ‘geese’ with borders. I really wish I had thought of making these before I sent the quilt off.  Then they would have those awesome quilted feathers too. Oh well!

 

CategoryQuilty Stuff, Sewing & Fabric | CommentNo Comments »

March 20th, 2013

WIP Wednesday

by Julie Hirt

This is my first time joining in on the Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday.  I’m looking forward to seeing what everyone is doing!

Last week I took the plunge and joined a couple of Block of the Month Clubs.  I was able to get caught up in the Lucky Stars group.

January – Funky Star:

funkystar

February – Exploding Star:

explodingstar

March – Ninja Star:

ninjastar

I’ve also purchased the The Farmer’s Wife Pony Club book. I’m having a blast reading because the stories are so cute.  I’ve decided to incorporate these into my block making schedule, hoping to finish at least one per week.   I think I’m just going to go all scrappy and use whatever fabrics I feel like.  These are 8″ blocks and I’ve stuck with my paper piecing theme and chose “A Dandy” for my first block.

The Pony Club is nice because you can use up some of those tiny pieces that you just can’t throw away.

dandy

See the center of that?  It’s a Bubblegum Basics print and I can’t find it ANYWHERE.  It was in the first group of fabrics I ever purchased (just started sewing a couple of years ago) and I saved a 3″ scrap.  So glad I did, I love that print.

I also decided to start Block Rock’n, so I’ll be working on that this weekend.   What are your current projects?

 

 

 

CategoryQuilty Stuff | Comment12 Comments »

March 19th, 2013

Free Block of the Week: Block Rock’n

by Julie Hirt

I came up with an idea today and hoping you’ll join me!

Block Rockin Beats by the Chemical Brothers came on when I was driving home and a light bulb went off. I thought blocks named after bands or songs would make an interesting series.

blockrockn
I just started paper piecing recently but I think I’ve grasped it pretty well. I love playing around in Illustrator and it’s so much fun to come up with ideas for paper piecing. I’ve already came up with a couple and figured they would play well into this series.

No promises but I pledge to:

  • Release a new block at least every *other* week – will do my best to every week
  • Test the dimensions and make every block before posting
  • Each block will be 12.5″ (12″ finished)
  • Provide easy printable PDF files
  • Have 12 weeks of Block Rock’n

BEGINS FRIDAY, MARCH 29th 2013

Here is a look at the first two I’ll release.

sneakpeak

 

Have a blog? Grab a button and share the fun – this is a free series! Code is here.

blockrocknbutton

 

Be sure to check out Freshly Pieced and WIP Wednesday! Link is in my Link Parties above.

Hashtag #blockrockn

CategoryBlock Rock'n | Comment24 Comments »

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March 16th, 2013

Big Purple Quilt

by Julie Hirt

I’ve been sick all week and haven’t been able to do any sewing. Makes me so mad! I like to make at least one block in the evening. I was hoping I would be up for it today, but it’s just not happening.  At least I have something to blog about.

What would you call this one? It’s a humongous, King sized, HST, flying geese type of quilt. This took me a long time to finish because I lost interest. It was so boring to work on and even more boring to look at. I finally finished it up and sent it over to Tia Curtis. She did an AWESOME job turning my plain Jane into something truly fun.

geese (4)

Check out these these feathers! I believe she used King Tut Superior thread with a purple variegation (Egyptian Princess?)

geese (7)

The prints are curved cross hatching.  After washing, the texture is simply amazing. Makes it even harder to get out of bed.

geese (8)

This was the first quilt I’ve sent off to be quilted, it was entirely too big for me to tackle.  I no longer have qualms about sending off a quilt.  If I need long arm services in the future (and I’m sure I will), I’ll be using Tia.

At the moment, Tia happens to live pretty close to me and I was lucky enough to meet her and check out her quilting lair.  It’s freaking RAD!  She has two long arm set ups and tons and tons of space. She also has more fabric than I’ve ever seen outside a quilt shop. For real. She’s so fun and I wish she lived even closer, I’d camp out in her quilting area.

Tia also has additional pictures with better views of her kick ass feathers. She free motions those! Check out her Camp Follower blog too, she’s truly a sewing inspiration.

I’m also really happy with the back.  It was my favorite print in the collection and it’s super busy, but I just love it.

geese (2)
geese (6)

 

FABRICS
Parisville by Tula Pink – Fat Quarter Bundle
Solid is Kona Cotton in Berry

 

 

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CategoryQuilty Stuff | Comment2 Comments »

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