Hello & Good Morning to you on this chilly Australian winter morning!
The heater is pumping, Coldplay are repeating their mellow tunes through my computer speakers and a hot cup of Earl Grey is happily steaming next to me. But most importantly, my fingers are itching to present to you a new Quilt Block Tutorial!
One of the most viewed posts here on my blog is this one. It’s where I first begun sharing the creation of my Jacob’s Ladder Quilt.
Quilt Top Construction
And now, two years later, I’ve created a tutorial for those who would like to make this block themselves!
Here’s a quick low-down of the measurement and cutting instructions…
For the 4-Patch Units cut x20 assorted 2.5″ squares.
For the HSTs cut x2 white 4&7/8″ squares and x2 grey 4&7/8″ squares.
The finished size of the 4-Patch & HST units should measure 4.5″.
The finished size of the block should measure 12″.
Blooper Collage!
If you’re planning on making a fair size quilt with this block, I made 16 blocks to make this quilt…
My finished Jacob’s Ladder Quilt!
Like I said at the end of the video, if you’re going to give this block a go, take a photo of it and send it to me! You can email me (3and3quarters@gmail.com), Tweet me (@3and3quarters) or Instagram me (@3and3quarters)!
I have learnt a great, great, GREAT deal from Craftsy: hexies, foundation paper piecing, general block construction, fabric cutting, ironing techniques – you name it, I’ve learnt it from Craftsy!
Another one of my most successful [and favouritist] quilts came from a Craftsy class and that is my ‘Jacob’s Ladder Quilt’.
For ages I was looking for the perfect project to use my beautiful DSQuilts fabrics with and along came the Jacob’s Ladder Block episode in the Magical Jelly Roll Quilts class.
And, whaalaah – what I produced was a beautiful, scrap-happy, two-tonal quilt that everyone seems to have fallen in love with!!
{ #FOUR – INSTAGRAM }
I’ve been on Instagram for a good few years now, but only recently have I used it as a form of inspiration.
Instagram has given me the access to follow the accounts of some of my most favouritist quilters, thus allowing me to see what they’re currently working on, where they’re getting their inspiration from as well as take a glimpse into the glamorous [and sometimes not so glamorous] side of a quilters life.
Just some of the Instagrammers I follow…
It has also given me the chance to network with other quilters and creative minds from all over the world, sharing in each other’s current creative pursuits!
I’ve also found that Instagram, like Pinterest, is a great resource to see what is currently in ‘vogue’ within the quilting world – i.e. what fabric lines, shades, tones and prints are in, what forms of quilting others are using to finish their quilts, what shapes and designs of blocks are being made etc.
Plus, it’s a great little resource that’s nice and handy on my phone! SCORE!!
{ #FIVE – BLOGGERS }
I love reading other quilting blogs – it’s where people can be completely honest about their work.
Blogs give us the opportunity to share passionately about where we find our inspirations, what we hope and dream for in the future and how we somehow manage to find sprinklings of time to indulge in our love for patchwork and quilting. We use this platform to share our life-loves, our families, our struggles, and our successes, our obsessions and adventures!
Apart from my long list of wonderful WordPress blogs that are tiered up in my Reader, here are just a few other creative blogs that I love to ponder…
This seems like a bit of a medieval notion doesn’t it!? Getting inspiration from books when we have a wealth of knowledge at a finger tips on the web!?
You may not know this, but I’m on of those ‘self-taught quilters’ who learnt the fundamental basic of patchwork and quilting from books!
My first ever patchwork/quilting book!My little library!
If I was stuck on a particular element of quilt making, I would search and search for the answer in a book before I would ever think about consulting the Internet.
I’m proud of my little library of patchwork/quilting books. I admit, it is growing ever so slowly…some of those good quality quilting books can be a tad pricey!
Have you got any favourite patchwork/quilting books that you love? Please, do tell!!
So, my encyclopedia of inspiration has come to an end. Although, I will never rule out including more in the future!
Honestly, after all that writing, I simply find inspiration for my work from everything around me – nature, movement, colour, shapes, mood, space, texture, people, experience – the list is endless!
I find that the resources that I’ve listed in this post allow me to harness the ideas that are raging through my head into do-able realistic projects. Otherwise, they’d still be up there, Dub-Stepping and Flash Dancing away in my brain!
Oh, indeed it IS the most wonderful time of the year! The Christmas tree and decorations are up, the chrissie tunes are on full rotation and craft-upon-crafty-ideas are wafting through the air! While visiting my local shopping centre this morning, I couldn’t help but smile to myself when I caught a lyric or too of a crooning Christmas carol over the PA system – all the while dodging shoppers with trolley loads of presents mind you!
FYI, I hate crowds. Especially those with a fanatical/crazy buzz to them. I just feel like shouting out: It’s okay people, the world won’t run out of toys!!
Today is also a wonderful day as I finished my Jacob’s Ladder Quilt! I had planned to finish it once the craziness of Christmas was over but my impatience gave in. I oddly experienced a very weird rush of enthusiasm and patience to simply sit quietly and finish hand-tacking the binding. Even Lucy, my dog, was overtaken with a quiet patience as she snuggled and snored next to me through out the whole process (this is a behaviour rarely seen from her).
It took a while to get it all done but I’m glad I took the time out of my ‘Handmade Christmas’ bubble to finish this deserved quilt.
I made an ‘arty’ effort of taking some lovely photos to share with you – showcasing the front and back – while dodging pesky buzzing bees and shooing little flower flies from attempting to crawl down my top. I also managed to avoid the spider webs that were trailed across our Colour Bond fence, picked sticky flower petals out of my hair, while ensuring the sun didn’t blind me as I avoided overexposing my photos – Phew!
It’s gone. Posted. Ready to be hung and judged by strangers….
It’s actually quite a nice feeling to finally sit back and not have to worry about getting it finished before the cut off date. Ah, relief!
However, this does not mean I haven’t been doing anything. On the contrary I’ve started, unexpectedly, another new quilt as well as completed my August Craftsy BOM.
I’m currently taking another class on Craftsy called Magical Jelly Roll Quilts. Although I’m not using jellyrolls, charm packs or layer cakes, I’ve been able to finally find the perfect project to break into my luscious Denyse Schmidt fabrics. The first project is making a Jacob’s Ladder Quilt. This is what the block looks like…
It’s made of five four-patch units and four half-triangle units. It’s quite an easy block to make up but is time consuming to put together (cutting, sewing and pressing). Here are the stats for this quilt:
320 (2.5inch) squares
64 half-square triangles
80 four-patch units
16 blocks
1 quilt
I am happy with how it’s coming together. It’s looking very scrappy, which I intended it to be, and have only four more blocks to make to complete the quilt top. I’m thinking of adding a flying-geese border with the left over 2.5inch squares to frame the main quilt design – I think that might look good. I have no idea what I’m going to do with it when it’s finished; I might stash it away and enter it into a quilt competition some time down the track.
[CLICK HERE]To see my Jacob’s Ladder Quilt Finished!
[CLICK HERE]To see my Jacob’s Ladder Block video tutorial!
It’s August! (Winter’s almost over! Huzzah!) Which means I had two new Craftsy BOM to make. Stars are this month’s theme and I learnt how to make the Ohio Star Block and a Double Star Block.
I like the Ohio Star Block best (the top one), it’s simple yet has character.
Any-who, I’ve got four more Jacob’s Ladder blocks to make up and then some much needed crashing-on-the-couch-and-watching-mind-numbing-tv to do….
3and3quarters 