Film in the Fridge » Quilt Blocks

dinner date block tutorial

admin — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 14:16:08 +0000

So… remember this quilt? It’s still not finished, but I’ve had a number of requests for a tutorial, so I decided to put a quick one together for you today.

You might recall that I originally made my Flying Farfalle quilt using this technique, which was inspired by an image in Gwen Marston’s Liberated Quiltmaking II book. For my second quilt, I decided to change it up just a little bit, adding in a thin little strip of white to offset the bright colored points from the coal background.

I’m calling it Dinner Date because the coal background reminds me of a men’s suit with the pops of color as a fun tie.

So, to start, collect your materials…

For this quilt, I’m using Kona Coal as the background. I’ve decided to go with 6.5″ squares for this one, but you should feel free to switch it up as you’d like – rectangles, larger squares… whatever works for you! Along with your background fabric, you’ll need fabric for the points – I’m using up some of my colored solid scraps. The size doesn’t really matter, though I think it works best if you use a longer strip that’s at least 2″ wide. If you decide to include the thin white strip, you’ll also need some white fabric. My white fabric is 1″ wide.

Sew the 1″ wide white strip to the long side of your solid strip (1/4″ seams) and press. (I press my seams open, but feel free to do whatever works best for you).

I wanted my white strip to finish at 3/8″, so after sewing the white strip to the colored solid, I trimmed it back to 5/8″.

In order to sew the colored points to your solid background square, flip the colored strip over and position it along one of the corners, as shown in the photo above. (You will end up flipping the colored section back over that gray triangle after sewing your seam, so just make sure that the colored portion will adequately cover the background triangle.) I like my triangle points to be wonky, so I vary the angles when sewing the colored portion to the background fabric.

Sew along the edge of the white strip.

Repeat for the opposite corner, using another of your colored strips. Iron the points and you’ll have something that looks a little like the photo above.

And the back will look a little like this.

Using your background square as a guide, trim off the excess fabric along all sides of the square.

Since your colored fabric has now become the points of the square, you can trim off the excess background fabric that’s under the colored point. Just trim along the edge of the white fabric.

And voila! A finished block! Make several more and you can start to see the fun pattern when you put them together!

As always, let me know if there are any questions, and if you make a quilt like this one, be sure to add it to the FITF Flickr group!

a manly quilt

admin — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:38:50 +0000

I pulled out fabrics for this quilt a while back, and I finally got around to making a few blocks. I’ve been calling it my ‘manly quilt’, and I’m afraid it’s kind of stuck. So now, even if I decide to keep it for myself, I’ll always think of it as the manly quilt.

I really love that so many of the new Denyse Schmidt Hope Valley prints could be appropriate for a guy. In fact, I had these up on my design wall when my brother stopped over the other day, and he immediately said he thought it would look great on his bed… (and it actually really would, but we’ll have to see about that!)

(That greenish-yellow is really hard to photograph, and these pictures leave a bit to be desired. Hopefully you’ll take my word that it looks better in person!)

the weekend in photos

admin — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 14:25:53 +0000

A few additional string blocks for my new Anna Maria Horner voile string quilt

pulling out fabrics and dreaming of spring

sewing with some fun new fabrics

topped off with some cookie eating…

Not pictured: the cleaning, organizing, furniture rearranging, and grocery shopping. Cause really, who wants to see that?!

spotted squares… the second time around

admin — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:07:33 +0000

Remember the original Spotted Squares quilt? It was one of the first quilts I made and it remains one of my favorites. And now, thanks to a special request, you’ll be seeing it again soon!

I still have lots of blocks to make, but I love how it’s looking so far! I hope the new recipient will as well!!

homes for gnomes and faqs

admin — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 13:23:32 +0000

First up, blocks for a new quilting bee, Bee Imaginative. Kerri’s month is January, and she requested little houses. She sent along a wonderful array of red and aqua fabrics, along with some cute little gnomes.

I’ve seen so many of these cute little houses – originally here, by Ingrid Press, and then also here, here and here (to name just a few!), so I was excited to try them out myself… and they were really fun!

I started out with this one – just a cute little house with a crooked roof -

and then had enough extra fabrics to make this tall patchwork one -

Hope you like them Kerri!

As an aside, I’ve started a FAQ discussion in my Flickr group. I tried to think of those questions I’m asked all the time, but I’m sure I forgot a bunch. It’s a start though, so if you’re interested, head on over to check it out. And of course, please feel free to add any other questions you might have!

in progress…

admin — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:34:11 +0000

I don’t have anything finished to show you today, so instead I’ll give you a peek at what I’m currently working on…

A little patchwork (I told you… I can’t stop!)

A few additional blocks for my orange and purple Hope Valley quilt -

And as always, pulling out other fabrics and making up stacks for other potential quilts…

I love this combo, and think it would be fun to combine a few of my favorite Flea Market Fancy prints in with Denyse’s new Hope Valley fabrics!

a little more hope valley… in a quilt block

admin — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:50:11 +0000

Mmmm…. orange and purple… need I say more?

(fabrics from denyse schmidt’s new line, hope valley… of course!)

Wishing you all a very happy and relaxing Thanksgiving! Check back on Friday… I’m thinking maybe a little black friday giveaway might be in order!

block party blocks

admin — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:33:13 +0000

13 10 blocks to go…

the start of yet another quilt…

admin — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:04:41 +0000

Yep, once again, I’m starting another new quilt. I really should be finishing up some of the others that are currently draped over various pieces of furniture. (It’s hard to find a place to sit down around here lately!) They’re half completed for a reason though – I’m waiting for fabric for sashing for one, thread for another, and for inspiration to hit for a third…

So what’s a girl to do?

I pulled out this stack of fabrics the other day

And made up a few blocks

So far I’m loving it! I smile every time I step over the blocks on my way to the kitchen (that’s the trouble with using the floor as a design wall!) Morgan’s reminded of Neapolitan ice cream, and I keep thinking strawberries & champagne (and chocolate!)… though maybe that won’t be an appropriate name for a baby quilt…

another star…

admin — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:52:15 +0000

…this one for Amanda Jean, for her quilt for Quilts of Valor. I love the look of these maverick stars, and it’s something I’ve wanted to try for quite some time. She linked to this tutorial, in case you want to try your hand at some stars. Though beware, once you start, you might not be able to stop!