Thimble Blossoms Scrappy Sampler QAL : Sashing, Layout and Borders

Hey there!

It's our last week in the Thimble Blossoms Scrappy Sampler QAL and I was too excited not to share my finished top last Friday ... so if you follow me on Instagram, you've already seen it!  If not ...here it is!

I really loved making this quilt and my quilt top is currently on the way to a longarmer who will be working a little magic on it.  I will be sure to show you all those details when I get it back.  :-)

I have created a document to help you with creating the top and bottom borders as well as the sashing to get the top together.  You can download it here.

When I was piecing this together, I started by piecing rows together as shown in the photos below (sorry they are a little dark, but hopefully you get the idea).

Piece the Lollies together all in a row.  Remember the one where we left off a side border?  That goes on the end.  Join the tulips together as shown in the layout file linked above.

Then piece the "Wave" (Vintage Tulips alternate blocks) - there is no sashing between these.  And finally, sew the Swoon blocks together with sashing between them.

Follow the layout diagram to sew rows together and piece the top and bottom borders.  (Here's the link to the background fabric cutting tips again, if you need it.)

I hope you've been having fun if you are sewing along! I'd love to see your finished quilt tops - tag me on Instagram (@sewlux) and use #TBScrappySamplerQAL - it has been so fun seeing your quilts come together over the past few weeks. :-)

I will be back when my quilt comes back from the longarmer with quilting details and a fun link up (probably late July but I will keep you updated).

P.S.  Did you miss out? Find details and all the links to the QAL here. :-)

P.P.S. I am already thinking about planning another sampler QAL when the next round of patterns are released.... would anyone be interested?

Thimble Blossoms Scrappy Sampler QAL : Swoon Sixteen

Happy Monday! 

This week we are moving ahead on our Thimble Blossoms Scrappy Sampler quilt. :-)

So far, we've made five Lollies, one Piccadilly Circus, three Tulips, and three "wave" blocks. 

This week, we're working on the Swoon Sixteen blocks.  This is the mid-size swoon - Camille has both an original (24") and a mini size.  You're wanting the newest pattern, which finishes to 16".  The pattern for this quilt is here if you need one.  We're going to make THREE swoon blocks - no changes to the pattern.  :-) 

My blocks are a little wrinkly - sorry about that!  My initial photos weren't great so I retook them and they got a little rumpled in between.

I really like that this Swoon pattern calls for three prints instead of two.  I think it adds a little fun! 

And one more ...I can't decide which one is my favorite. 

See you next Monday - I'll share the layout, borders & sashing!  We're soooo close and I can't wait for you to see it!

If you are on Instagram, show me your wave blocks and tag them #TBScrappySamplerQAL !

Happy Sewing! :-)

Thimble Blossoms Scrappy Sampler QAL : Vintage Tulips Part Two

Happy Monday! 

This week we are moving ahead on our Thimble Blossoms Scrappy Sampler quilt. :-)

So far, we've made five Lollies, one Piccadilly Circus, and three Tulips. 

This week, we're working on the alternate blocks from the Vintage Tulips pattern (I'll refer to this as the "Wave" section of this quilt).  The pattern for this quilt is here if you need one.  We're going to make THREE alternate blocks following the pattern directions with ONE change....

Refer to Step 6 in the Block Assembly section of the pattern.  You'll make six square blocks (b).  For THREE of the SIX blocks, omit the top row (A/2.5/A).  You'll join one complete (b) block with one altered (b) block.  Refer to photos below as a guide. 

TIP:  Before I cut my pieces for this section, I went ahead and cut the pieces for my three Swoon Sixteen blocks (next week's blocks).  The reason for this is that I am using our kit and therefore need to cut some of these "wave" pieces from some of the scraps.  If you are using our kit, I would recommend you do this to ensure you have enough room to get your Swoon pieces next week. 

I tried to include a variety of prints and colors in these cuts.  I chain pieced all the background pieces to the prints, which made the assembly super quick!  

Then I laid them all out to try and make sure colors & prints were distributed well before sewing the pieced strips together into blocks. 

We're getting so close!  Just one more week of blocks making and then we'll reveal the quilt layout!

If you are on Instagram, show me your wave blocks and tag them #TBScrappySamplerQAL !

See you next Monday for our next installment!

Happy Sewing! :-)

Out with the Old (clearance!)

With so many new collections arriving (and with more on the way), we're making room on the shop shelves...

There are over 375 prints in our clearance category at $6/yd or less!  A great time to pick up backings and favorites before they are gone. :-)

See you tomorrow with more of the TB Scrappy Sampler QAL!

Happy Sewing!

Cotton + Steel Holiday Collections

New Cotton + Steel Holiday collections have arrived!

Spellbound is a fun take on Halloween.  We love the color palette in this one!  It would go great with prints from the Black & White collection as well.

And Tinsel is also here!  Fun and retro this is sure to spice up any holiday project!

Happy Sewing! :-)

Thimble Blossoms Scrappy Sampler QAL : Vintage Tulips Part One

Happy Monday! 

This week we are moving ahead on our Thimble Blossoms Scrappy Sampler quilt. :-)

UPDATE:   I made a planning sheet to help you with your background fabric cutting.  You can access it here.  (I will also link this on the main QAL page.) 

Two weeks ago, we made five Lollies blocks. Find the post about those here.  And last week, we made our Piccadilly Circus block - see the details here.

This week, we're working on our Vintage Tulip blocks.  The pattern for this quilt is here if you need one.  We're going to make THREE tulip blocks following the pattern directions.  There are no changes this week to the pattern.  (Next, we will make the alternate blocks from this pattern with a small change.)

I made my tulips all from red prints.  If you use any directional prints, pay careful attention to how prints are oriented. 

One tip I would share is to also pay careful attention to the direction your diagonal lines when you are creating the angles on your leaves.  If you make them wrong and don't catch it right away you'll have to start over.  (Ask me how I know... ;-)  Just follow the diagrams in the pattern closely.

I love these big blocks!  I definitely want to make a whole quilt of tulips. :)

If you are on Instagram, show me your Tulip blocks and tag them #TBScrappySamplerQAL !

See you next Monday for our next installment!

Happy Sewing! :-)

Moda Bake Shop - Sunset Ridge Quilt

Hey there!

Just wanted to pop in and share a fun quilt I made for the Moda Bake Shop last week.

Stop by and see the quilt and tutorial here.

This is SO fast and easy!  We'll have kits available soon.  :-)

Happy Sewing!

Smitten Quilt Along : Large Block Five and Small Block One

Hey everyone!  How are your Smitten quilts coming along?  I've really enjoyed seeing all your blocks on Instagram. :-) 

What's awesome about this month's blocks is that there are NO y-seams!  Yippee!

For more details on the Smitten Quilt Along, visit this post here for dates and supplies, etc.  If you haven't purchased templates, go ahead and make your's using the pattern and template plastic or other material of your choice.  (Be sure to add the seam allowance if making your own templates.)

Cut out your fabrics and then mark your pieces.  Mark the wrong side of your fabric pieces with dots where the 1/4" seams would meet.  (The acrylic templates have holes, making this super easy!) Alternatively, you could use your ruler and pen to draw lines along the seam allowances to mark your start and stop points.

Since this block is mostly triangle-based, we can piece the whole thing with NO y-seams.  You'll use your dots for reference, but you can sew through them to the edges and chain piece. :-) 

Sew a triangle to two opposite sides of the the center hexagon.  And sew a triangle to four of the diamonds as shown. Press toward triangles.

Then sew two of the pairs to the center unit. Press away from center.  
And add the remaining two diamonds to two other pairs making two units of three pieces. Press toward diamond.

Next, the 3-piece units to the sides.  I used pins and pinned through the dots to keep things lined up well. 

Press away from the center.  This is a complete Small Block One.  It's also the same as the center of Large Block Five. :-)

We'll add the border to make the Large Block Five in the same way as we just did for the center/small block one.  

Sew a triangle to two opposite sides of the the center hexagon.  And sew a triangle to four of the diamonds as shown. Press toward triangles.

Sew two of the pairs to the center unit. Press away from center.  

Then add the remaining two diamonds to two other pairs making two units of three pieces. Press toward diamond.

Next, add the three-piece units like you did for the center.  Use pins through your dots to keep everything lined up well while sewing. 

And that's it!  :-)  Now cut and make a few more...

Here is my first Small Block One.  

Easy, right?!  I really love playing with all the different fabric combinations for these. :)

I hope these photos were helpful to you...  I am looking forward to making a few more myself and to see your's too! Don't forget to use #smittenquilt and #smittenquiltqal on Instagram. :-)

If you have questions, leave a comment, email me or tag me on IG!

Happy Sewing!  :)

Thimble Blossoms Scappy Sampler QAL : Piccadilly Circus

Hey everyone!

It's another Monday and we're moving right along on our Thimble Blossoms Scrappy Sampler quilt this week. :-)

Last week, we made five Lollies blocks. Find the post about those here.

This week, we're working on our Piccadilly Circus block.  The pattern for this quilt is here if you need one.  We're going to make one block, following the pattern's directions with one change - cut your background square at 26.5" (this is slightly bigger than the pattern calls for, but necessary for our final quilt layout).

I am using the kit from our shop.  So I spent a little time using the kit's planning guide to decide what fabrics to use where.  Once I chose and cut my fabrics, I laid them out and rearranged them a few times until I liked the combinations for each of the two different blade's strips.

I want to point out that if you are using fat quarters or fat eighths for this project, you'll need TWO sets of strips that are at least 21" long to be able to make your blades.  Just cut half from each strip set.  Here's a few tips when you go to cut your blades ...

First, press the strips in opposite directions so you can nest your seams when joining the blades together.

Second, if your set of four strips isn't quite as tall as it should be, line up the middle seam with the line on the pattern template for each cut.  You'll be able to fudge the joints at the top of the blades a little, if needed, when you sew the blades together.

Third, press the seam open before turning the blade point right sides out.  This makes it a little easier to get everything flat versus trying to press it open once its turned.

I stitched my center circle down with a small zig zag stitch in red thread.  I used a white thread to stitch down my dresden to the background square (don't forget to adjust the size of the background square ... see note above).

 This block was pretty easy to make and was definitely a lot of fun!

If you are on Instagram, show me your Piccadilly block and tag them #TBScrappySamplerQAL !

See you next Monday for our Tulip blocks!

Happy Sewing! :-)