vintage christmas sampler

Vintage Christmas Quilt – Resurrected

Let’s change gears, Halloween to Christmas!  Last year I spent a great deal of time working on my Vintage Christmas Sampler, but I never finished it. Life happened, finishing up Christmas gifts happened, ok, and a whole bunch of other excuses too.  Well, this year I am starting in October but I have made a couple of changes.

My original plan was to do a 4 x 5 block layout with sashing and a border to make the quilt on the larger side.

I decided that I would like to do an on point layout. This meant I would need to eliminate 2 blocks, so I easily chose the 2 directional blocks and I’m thinking of turning those into a wall hanging. So here is the new layout. Please don’t look too closely at my messy floor.

Last night I started putting the rows together with some red holy print fabric. I am so happy with the results – can’t wait to share the big finish with you!

What are you all working on?

Stocking Block Tutorial

Today I owe a huge thank you to my best friend Lisa. I have known Lisa since we were 11 years old. We lost contact in our early 20’s and found each other again on MySpace in 2007.  This past year I got her interested in quilting and she helped me out with this tutorial. I made the stocking block back in July and never took any pictures of how I did it. Last night I sent Lisa a picture of the block with measurements and I talked her through how to make it on the phone and she did a beautiful job – the vintage block is mine and the modern block is hers. Thank you thank you thank you Lisa! You rock!

This is the final block of the Vintage Christmas Sampler Quilt, if you have made it this far, CONGRATULATIONS!  As of this post, all my blocks are completed but I have not finished the top. My plan is to border each block alternating between red and green solid and then sew the blocks together to make the top.  I am certain this won’t actually happen until some time next year!

Here we go, cutting:

From red cut: two 2″ x 2″ squares, one 1.5″ x 1.5″ square, one 1.5″ x 2.5″ rectangle, two 3.5″ x 2.5″ rectangles, and one 5.5″ x 3.5″ rectangle.

From green cut: one 3.5″ x 2.5″ rectangle

From white cut: two 2″ x 2″ squares, two 1.5″ x 12.5″ rectangles, two 3.5″ x 10.5″ rectangles, and one 3.5″ x 7.5″ rectangle.

NOTE: all seams are 1/4″

Next, using the red and white 2″ squares assemble your Half Square Triangles (HSTs) – trim them down to 1.5″ x 1.5″

Next, assemble toe section:

Next, assemble heel section:

Next, assemble cuff section:

Next, assemble center section of block:

Add side borders:

Add top & bottom borders:

Congratulations! Another finished block! If you are like me and this is your last block then you have finished all the blocks for your quilt!

As soon as I finish the quilt top I will post pictures – this will not be until sometime next year, but I am really excited to get it done. This is the 4th quilt that I have designed and I am really excited about it. I would also love it if you are making this quilt and you want to share you pictures with me!

Happy Sewing!

NOTE: Don’t forget, I am one of the bloggers who is going to lose Google Friend Connect in March 2012, please take a moment and follow me via Bloglovin’, Facebook, RSS or networked blogs.  You are important to me and I want to be able to stay in contact with you!  Check my side bar for all the best ways to stay in touch after GFC goes bye bye!

Indian Mats Block Tutorial

First and foremost, I would like to start with an apology. I am sorry for not having this up when I said I would, which was before the end of November. I have been sick for the past few months and I have let a few things slide – this project was one of them. My sincerest apologies to those who have been quilting along with me this whole time.  I did not want to say anything here about being sick because this is my happy place, the place where I’m not sick.  Ok, enough sick talk – let’s sew!

This is block number 7 from my Vintage Christmas Sampler and it is attributed to Nancy Cabot (I think she must have designed practically every quilt block known to man!).  To make this block you will need to download my paper piece template. I am sure there are other ways to do this, but I really wanted to practice paper piecing with simple patterns and this seemed like a good block to do that with.

Please print 4 templates – make sure that the square with the dashes measures 6.5 x 6.5 inches.

This is a picture tutorial, please let me know if you have any questions or if you cannot download the template – I will be happy to email it to you!

Tip: when I paper piece I like to reduce my stitch length to 1.5 – this will make it easier to tear the paper away after trimming the block at the end!

Tear paper away after cutting along dotted line

Sew blocks together using a 1/4″ seam and you are all done!

If you are new to my blog and to my Vintage Christmas Sampler – the rest of the blocks can be found here along with links to all the tutorials. The final tutorial will be posted in the next few days, again I apologize for the delay.

If you haven’t already – make sure you enter the two giveaways I have going on, one from Fat Quarter Shop and one for the SewMamaSew Giveaway Day.

Have a happy day!

NOTE: Don’t forget, I am one of the bloggers who is going to lose Google Friend Connect in March 2012, please take a moment and follow me via Bloglovin’, Facebook, RSS or networked blogs.  You are important to me and I want to be able to stay in contact with you!  Check my side bar for all the best ways to stay in touch after GFC goes bye bye!

 

Vintage Christmas Sampler – Waterwheel Block

Waterwheel BlockThe next block in the Vintage Christmas Sampler is the Waterwheel Block. I saw several variations of this block in the Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns. I drew a few of them out and didn’t like the proportions of the blocks, so I started over and this is the block I ended up with, I hope you like it!

Get the know how after the jump! …

Vintage Christmas Sampler – Fireflies Block

I love this block. It is block number 1316b – Fireflies.  It is in the Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns and is attributed to James.  It is a fun block and great for featuring a printed fabric. This is the next block in my Vintage Christmas Sampler.

I started out as I usually do – sketching the block onto my quilting graph paper to determine the appropriate cutting measurements. Note: when using graphing paper – you are drawing out the FINISHED size of the block – this means you will need to add half an inch to each block to account for seam allowances.

Get the know how after the jump! …

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