Two Simple Scrap Quilts

 I'm working on two scrap quilts using the same block... a 2" x 4" finished rectangle. I ran out of enough variety so I'm cutting more from the mountain of scraps I have.

I used my AccuQuilt 8" Qube rectangle die to cut the 2-1/2" x 4-1/2" rectangles. I have been cutting these from scraps off and on for about a year. After cutting, I put them in a little container from the dollar store.

Piecing the Winding Ways Quilt

 This was on my bucket list of quilts to make. Many years ago my friend, Ramona, taught a Winding Ways class at Fabrics Etc. in Webster Texas. I didn't take the class but I always admired the sample quilt hanging in the shop.

In this video I show you how to cut the pieces with the AccuQuilt and then piece the blocks. If you don't have an AccuQuilt yet, you can use templates to cut and piece the block the same way I describe in the video.

Catching Up From Last Week

The Five Oaks Retreat is open and ready for your reservations. For information about the retreat house and to see the booking calendar click here --> The Five Oaks Retreat.

Even though we are ready for your visit, there are still some things we want to do in the next several months. Last week there was a lot going on here:

• The studio got some much needed lighting.
• Several contractors came by to give us bids on adding an exterior door and remodeling a bathroom.
• Open house was done.
• Two quilts finished.

Attaching Straight Binding

Update January 10, 2021:  This article was originally posted several years ago. Since then I have changed a few things:

1. I no longer cut my strips 2-1/2" and use a 3/8" seam allowance. Instead, I cut the strips 2" wide and use a 1/4" seam allowance.
2. Since I use a 1/4" seam allowance now, there is no need to use a walking foot.

I like the look of the narrower binding and not having to change to the walking foot each time.

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Many quilters dread the process of attaching a quilt binding. I love to attach bindings because that means the quilt is nearly finished. Here is a tutorial on how I prepare, attach and finish my bindings. The only special tool I use is a walking foot.

Bargello Quilt Basics: 3 Steps to Bargello Quilts

Bargello quilts can look intimidating, especially for beginning quilters. The three basic steps to making a bargello quilt are:

• sew the horizontal strip sets,

• cut the horizontal strip sets into vertical strips, and

• sew the vertical strips together.

Once you understand these basic steps, you can make any bargello quilt. In this tutorial we follow the process to make the quilt shown here.This simplified version uses 1/2 yard of 13 fabrics. The quilt finishes approximately 60″ x 76″ without borders.

I use Electric Quilt to design most of my quilts. I found this to be a great tool for auditioning fabric choices. If you are using Electric Quilt, put “bargello” in the search box and find "How Do I Create a Quick Bargello?" to find step-by-step instructions.

Electric Quilt Version

Finished Quilt

Most bargello quilts are pieced in smaller sections or panels. Piece the sections or panels together to make the quilt. In this simplified version, we make three identical panels to sew together.

Prepare the Fabric

First, determine the placement of the fabrics. The colors should flow from one fabric to the next. Some ideas are light ot dark and color groups.

TIP: Lay out the fabrics and take a picture. Try other combinations and take a picture each time. Look at the pictures to determine final placement.

Number the fabrics from 1 thru 13. Next, cut the fabric into strips. From each of the 13 fabrics, cut 6 strips, 2-1/2″ x WOF. This 2-1/2″ width is common in many bargello designs but can vary between designers.

Finally, cut a swatch from each fabric and make a swatch chart like the one shown here.

Step 1 - Sew Horizontal Strip Sets

For this simplified version, a strip set consists of one strip from each fabric. The fabrics are pieced in order from 1 thru 13. For other bargello designs, you may have more or less colors or the colors may be repeated in a strip set.

Tip: To keep the seam lines straight alternate the sewing direction Sew the first two strips together from left to right, sew the next strip right to left and so on.

Press

Press the seams to one side, alternating the pressing direction.

I press from the wrong side.

By alternating the pressing direction, most of the seams will be interlocked when the strips are sewn together in the third step. After pressing, check the front to make sure the pressing is even.

Fold the strip set, right sides together and stitch fabric 1 to fabric 13. This forms a tube. Do not press this seam.

Step 2 – Cut Horizontal Strips into Vertical Strips

With the strip set still folded in half, cut the vertical strips.

Your instructions will have a chart or table showing the width to cut the strips.

For this quilt, there are 5 different cut widths in 1/2″ intervals. Other bargello quilts might have a different number of strips with 1/4″ intervals. Cut the required number of strips for each width. For now, each strip you cut is a loop. Keep the loop intact. Use boxes or bags to sort the loops by width. This will come in handy for the next part of this step.

Loops to Strips

Next you cut the loops apart at various seams. Your instructions will have a chart showing where to remove the stitching. The partial chart below shows how to lay out the panel in columns. Use this chart along with your swatch chart. For Column 1 choose a 2.5″ strip. Remove the stitching between colors 10 and 11. Place this strip on your design wall or table with color 11 at the top.

Here you see some of the columns in place on the design wall. Columns 1-6 are already sewn together. Placing the columns together like this is very important so you can check the design before swing them together in the next step.

Step 3 – Piece Vertical Strips

The last step for this panel is to sew all the vertical strips together. Start at one side and sew the strips together. since you pressed the seams in alternate directions, most of the time your seams will interlock. Change the direction of any seams that need it. Once all the strips are sewn, press the vertical seams in one direction. To complete this quilt, make two more identical panels. Stitch the three panels together.

Check out more from Carol Thelen:

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Carol's Quilt Shop @ Five Oaks Retreat

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The Five Oaks Retreat

My Indian Summer Borders

Buy the Pattern

This tutorial is especially for my beginning paper piecing students. 

Indian Summer by Quiltworx was originally printed more than a few years ago. The revised version was released earlier this year. Here is my version made in 2011 I believe.  

Once the paper piecing is complete you will trim each unit just outside the outer solid line. The inner solid line is your seam line.  Lay the blocks out on a design wall or floor. Two units are placed together to make one square. Once you are happy with the layout you can begin piecing the units into squares then piece the squares into rows then piece the rows together.

When to remove the paper?? First try piecing with the paper intact. The advantage of this is the paper keeps the fabric stable (no stretching) and you can stitch on the printed seam line. The disadvantage is it takes longer to remove the paper. If you are careful to not stretch the fabric and use a 1/4" foot you might feel comfortable removing the papers before stitching the units together. Use the method that gets the best results for you.

Four of the triangle units are left over after piecing the interior of the quilt. I  included one of these in each edge of the border. Here is how I pieced the borders.

You will need 2 yards of fabric for the borders and the binding. The border strips are cut along the lengthwise grain which means the strips are cut parallel to the selvage edges.

Here is a short video from Marti Michelle explaining why you want to cut strips on the lengthwise grain.

When the fabric comes off the bolt it is folded in half with the selvage edges together. We don't want that. Press the crease out of the fabric. Fold the fabric by placing the raw edges together as shown below.

Now fold it again in the same direction by taking the fold up to the raw edges. Keep the selvages straight on both ends.

Repeat the folding until the piece is small enough to fit on your mat for cutting. If you started off with 2 yards of fabric, you would need to fold twice to get 18" and you will have 4 layers of fabric to cut.

You should now have something that looks like this.

Check that your selvages are lined up on both sides and the fabric is smooth.Start by cutting off the selvage on the left. Then cut 4 strips that are each 8" wide. Square up one side of each strip. You will use one strip for each side of the quilt.

You can cut binding strips from the remaining fabric. Cut 4 strips at 2-1/2" for the bindings.

It is best to work at a table where you can lay the quilt flat.  Decide the approximate place you want to place the triangle unit for each side. You will be attaching the borders to the sides of the quilt first. These are the long sides.

Lay the pieced quilt top on the table and with the left edges lined up, position one border strip against one side. The border strip will extend past the right side edge. Next position the triangle unit on top of the border strip in the approximate area you want it.

Now you will work with just the border strip and triangle unit. Line up the bottom edge of the triangle unit with the bottom of the border strip. Place your ruler along the edge of the triangle unit.

 To allow for the seam allowances, slide the triangle unit to the right until the distance from the ruler to the triangle unit is about 1/2".

 Slide the ruler over so it is once again aligned with the edge of the triangle unit.

 Cut the border strip along the edge of the ruler. Keep the left side of the border strip in the same place. Set aside the border strip on the right and work with just the left side and the triangle unit.

 Next we need to mark the seam allowance on the cut edge of the left border strip. Holding the cut edge, flip it up as shown so you are looking at the wrong side.Notice that the cut edge is now horizontal and at the top and the bottom edge is at an angle on the left. Place your ruler along the cut edge and mark a 1/4" seam line.

 Mark the seam line on the bottom edge (which is now angled and on the left). We are marking the intersection of both seam lines. This intersection will be used to line up the triangle unit with the border.

 The picture below shows the intersection we marked on the back of the border strip and the seam line point of the triangle unit. These are the points we will match in the next step.

Now flip the end of the border strip back down so the right side is facing up. Place the triangle unit as shown.

 The next two pictures show how the intersections are matched. Here is how it looks from the wrong side of the border strip.

Here is how it looks from the wrong side of the triangle unit.

Place another pin or two to hold the pieces together. Don't worry about the extra fabric in the border strip for now.

 Sew the triangle unit to the border strip using the solid seam line on the triangle unit as a guide. Press the seam towards the border strip.

 

Align your ruler along the right side of the triangle unit as shown and cut off the extra fabric in the border strip.

Now we are going to work with the right border strip you set aside earlier.

 Fold the point from left to right making sure you line up the bottom edges and top does not overlap. BEFORE YOU CUT ANYTHING Look at the next 2 pictures to see what we will be doing.

Here is how you will cut. 

You will end up with a triangle cut off the end. Discard the triangle.

 Just as you did before, flip up the end of the right side border and mark the seam line...

 and the intersection as shown.

 Match the intersections as you did before but this time you will not have extra fabric in the border. Sew the triangle unit/left border strip to the right border strip.

Press the seam allowance towards the border fabric. You will have a little nub at the top. Just cut it off evenly with the top edge of the border.

 There you go. Now to attach the border to the quilt top.

 Measure the length of this side you are attaching this border. Using this measurement and starting from the left side of the border strip you just completed, measure and cut the strip to this size.

Pin and sew the border strip to the quilt top and ease in any fullness.

You will repeat this entire process for each of the remaining three sides of the quilt top in this order:

1. The remaining long side of the quilt top.
2. The top edge of the quilt top.
3. The bottom edge of the quilt top.

Happy quilting!

Carol

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