I’ve had this video tutorial in the planning for a while – ever since I filmed my Fast Forward Quilting video last year in early September, where the Square-in-a-Square Block features.
Small Plates Lap Quilt (2013)
The Square-in-a-Square Block, in my opinion, has to be one of the most easiest, quickest and adaptive blocks available for all levels and types of quilters.
It can be made into any size, using a range of differing centre-square and sashing measurements and can be made into a block as traditional or as modern/quirky as you wish it to be!
Give it a go and see what you think!
Way back in 2006, when I first became interested in making quilts, I used the Square-in-a-Square Block to make my very first quilt!
My First Quilt! (2006)
So essentially, this block was the very first block I had ever constructed!
If you’re a beginner I hope this little tutorial, in some small way, can help you in your own patchwork/quilting journey!
The 12 Types of Procrastinators Comic by Angela Liao | Pinterest
Drawing your attention to the comic above, I can define my past week of quilting procrastination as the following –
The Cleaner | Sewing room must be tidy before any quilting can get done!
The Listmaker | I must do this, this and this before I can sit and quilt so I don’t feel guilty.
The Sidetracker| See last week’s WIP Weekly Update post – something about a Quilt Show entry that needed to be started but isn’t due for another five months!!
The Internet Researcher | It’s vital I keep up to date with the latest trends and must-haves in the quilting world…right? (Plus, cat videos are always crucial to watch, no matter what type of procrastinating you’re doing!)
The Snacker | Who doesn’t love a good snack when you’re purposely avoiding doing something?
The Watcher | I randomly started watching season nine of ER this week… Boy that show is good!!
The Perpetuator | Come 9 o’clock, I’m ready for bed! I tell myself: ‘Tomorrow will be the day I get stuck into it…hmm, maybe… I do still have four more eps of ER to watch before I finish the season.’
It’s a strange and amazing thing at what I’ll let myself do and tell myself to do just to put off doing some quilting.
Please don’t misunderstand: It’s not that I don’t like quilting a quilt; heck I love it to bits!
It’s just the initial getting started – the motivation, the time, the mindset, the energy and the heat (quilting a quilt in the middle of an Australian Summer bites!).
So that’s my excuse this week for not doing any work on my WIPs.
I’ll always be the first to admit that I easily succumb to procrastination’s sticky fingers. It’s a deep, deep flaw that resides in this little quilter…
I haven’t done as much as I had hoped for this past week on the Rail Fence Quilt.
I did do a few more lines of quilting here and there over the days but not to the point where it’s worthy for a WIP photo opportunity…
In the moments after I finished writing the previous sentence, I had a quick squizz at my quilting efforts on the R.F Quilt and felt compassion. (Weirdo alert!!)
So here is an up-to-date ‘progress-report’ image…
Current State | 27/01/14
Yeah….there’s not much difference from what it looked like last Monday.
I also must confess that I have been giving my time to another (new!) project.
I received an email Saturday morning from the NSW Quilting Guild containing information and forms for this year’s Sydney Quilt Show.
A more-than-mild wave of panic washed over me at that moment.
I hadn’t at all begun planning my entry for this show; the thought had always been at the back of mind but nothing else!
Although the Show isn’t until early June, it’s always nice to have things on-the-go from an early start!
Of the categories in the show, one or two stood out: Amateur Small or Wall Quilt (minimum size 40cmx40cm) as well as an Open category named Miniature (a quilt with a scaled down pattern with a perimeter of 200cm).
So early Saturday afternoon, I picked out a bunch of pretty and modern fabrics and raided my quilt book library for some block inspiration.
I had the thought of pairing two contrasting modern fabrics together and patch them together into a ‘traditional’ block formation.
In one of my favourite patchwork/quilting books, 130 Mini Quilt Blocks by Susan Briscoe, on page 46, I discovered an itty-bitty version of the Snail Trail Block that had a finished block size of 12.7cm or 5”! Perfect!
I have made this block before a few years back so I felt pretty comfortable tackling it.
Start to Finish | Mini Snail Trail Block
I quickly drew up a sketch to make sure the colours would sit well together – and they did!
The next hour or so I cut out all of the tiney-tiny pieces and begun sewing mini squares and HST together.
Four blocks were completed by yesterday; they were quickly sashed together and the quilt top is now ready to be quilted!! Whhhaaattt?!?!
(You know, I’m really liking this Mini-Quilt making thing – it’s quick, easy and non-stressful!)
The size of the quilt top measures 46cmx46cm or 18”x18” and fits into both Show categories as previously mentioned. I’m just not sure which one I’ll choose yet.
I’m also torn on what I’ll name this sweet little mini; I have two in mind…
Golden Trail
— OR —
Yellow Brick Road
Which one would you choose??
So there we have it.
Perhaps next week I’ll have more progress on my R.F Quilt to show and not have to confess that I’ve been distracted (again!) by other things.
Jeez, a week sure can creep up on you in an instant!
I’m deeply baffled at how it can be the fourth-ish week of the New Year already! *WOW*
In the last seven days since we spoke, some quilting progress has been made to my Rail Fence Quilt…
Delicious quilty lines!
Predictably, I’ve started quilting my usual straight-line formation. (It’s easy and I’m lazy!) I’ve opted for a pattern quite similar to the way I quilted my Jacob’s Ladder Quilt, but on this one the quilty lines are a lot closer creating more of an intense surface design and texture.
To go along with this R.F Quilt, I’ve filmed and uploaded a very simple and informative tutorial on how to make the Rail Fence Block. I tried to make it as down-to-earth and helpful as possible especially for all you beginner quilters out there.
Let me know what you think of the video – I’m 100% open to any positive constructive criticism. I would love to know what I could to do improve my teaching skills and/or production/filming/editing skills.
Do you have any suggestions for quilt blocks that you would love to see me demonstrate?
Comment below and I’ll definitely take your ideas onboard!
Well, it’s now time to go and enjoy this glorious summer afternoon with a lovely icy-cold beverage, finger-licking snacks and a heart-warming rom-com!
So I thought to keep me honest and on track with my WIP* New Year Resolutions, I would try my very hardest to post every Monday updating my progress on getting these quilts finished.
Whether this is a good or bad thing I haven’t worked out yet!
Believe it or not, I have made some headway in completing my Rail Fence Quilt. (You know, the quilt top with all the spots…)
During the week, I blew out my fortnightly budget by buying a whole lot of batting in preparation for all of these quilts I need to finish.
I set out the same afternoon and patiently basted up the R.F Quilt and it’s now ready to quilt!
Along the way, I also took some time out to start filming a little tutorial on how to make a very simple Rail Fence Block (perfect for all you beginners out there!).
This, unfortunately, is still in the editing process and will hopefully be ready to upload near the end of this week! Whoo!
So, without procrastinating anymore, I think it’s time to get quilting!
I’m not normally one of those resolution-kind-of-setting people making plans at the beginning of each New Year and then failing two weeks later…
So when I made up my mind to set out some quilting resolutions for 2014, I made sure I would choose goals that I knew I would happily follow through on.
(I may regret this!)
I start so many new projects each year, each month, each week, each day that it’s absolutely ridiculous!
Worse yet, three quarters of these projects don’t get finished or are ever seen again!
This year, that changes!
I have a total of six quilts that I’ve ‘started’, all at different stages of the quilt-making adventure, that I resolute to FINISH over the course of this year.
I may even go to the point of saying that I need to get all these finished before I start a(nother) new project! (Oh no! Can I take that back??)
So, there are four quilt tops that are ready to be sandwiched and basted ready for quilting and two stacks of completed blocks that need to be pieced together.
Some of these quilt tops may seem familiar…
From top left to bottom right –
This is a small lap quilt or baby quilt I began two years ago using the Rail Fence block along with some sweet polka-dot fabrics that I was madly in love with at the time. I’m thinking, once I’ve finished it, I’ll put it up for sale in my madeit store. Watch this space!
The next one is my Scrap-Happy String Quilt! I accidently made this quilt a whole lot bigger than I originally intended to last year after ‘trying’ to demolish the never-ending growth of my scrap fabric! I freely admit that the size put me off from ever wanting to get it finish. And yet, I know that when I do get around to finishing it, it’s going to be B-E-A-utiful!
Two years ago, I tried the endless struggle to not let my fabric scraps overwhelm me! (See previous quilt top!) So when I discovered an awesomely scrappy-kinda-quilt PDF pattern by Anna Maria Horner, I sung out loud the Hallelujah Chorus and pressed print! I have no idea why I didn’t get the chance to finish this little gem: the size is like a lovely cozy lap quilt and I simple adore the crazy mix-match of the prints together! (Hmm, that’s a head scratcher!) But the ball has been set into motion again and this little sweetie will be finished!
This would have to be the BIGGEST quilt I have pieced together! Seriously this quilt will be a beast when it’s finished! I remember I found the pattern to this quilt when I had a craving to tackle a quilt featuring curved piecing as well as one where I could only use block colours. Bingo! This quilt was perfect! The original design for this quilt came from Jen Carlton Bailey and her quilt 5-HTP Squared. I started this quilt (named Colourplay) this time last year (January 2013) and I distinctly remember that as it got to the part where I needed to baste and proceed onto quilting, the harsh Australian Summer decided to get even. In that week alone we suffered through 40-45C+ heat. Every. Single. Day. Because of this, I was put-off from quilting it (which I was also internally dreading because of it’s size!) and conveniently forgot all about it until a few weeks ago when I decided to commit to some silly New Year resolutions lark! I know completing this quilt will challenge me. I know that I’ll need to be as strong as an ox to quilt it. And I know that I’ll need to be so much more patient than I already am to reach that moment of completion! I say: bring it on!
And now onto the quilt blocks that are ready to be pieced!
At the top is my stack of Craftsy’s 2012 Block of the Month blocks that have, so unfortunately, been sitting on my sewing table over the past year, yearning out to be finished! This was and still is my very first Sampler slash Block of the Month type of quilt. It symbolises a lot of new skills that I learnt along with some simply wicked modern fabrics that I do and will always love!
Although I identify myself as an Australian, I’m also a self-obsessed Anglophile and absolutely adore the thought of quintessential British living! If given the opportunity to live in another country apart from Australia, I would choose England hands-down! From Sydney to London is my ultimate dream. Full. Stop. Thank you very much!So to help immerse myself into that dream, I started to make some Union Jack paper-pieced blocks with the intention to make a tip-top Britishy quilt all for me! Yeah…obviously that hasn’t happened yet. My quilt in progress was inspired by this quilt made by Amy Smart at Diary of a Quilter.
Alternatively (833 words later!), you can watch me display and chat about each of these quilts here…
Other Quilting-related New Year Resolutions I’ve got in the bag include –
Entering local quilt shows, in particularly the Sydney Royal Easter Show (application form submitted this morning!!) in April and the Sydney Quilt Show in June.
Challenging my quilting skills by attempting block patterns that force me into a spinning vortex of stress and anxiety!! *Falls into a foetal position*
Sooo, watch this space for these WIPs or ‘Works-In-Progress’!
I’m pumped and ready to get going!
Have I inspired you to get your unfinished quilts and projects out and onto the road of completion? Let me know and we can discuss our progresses together!
It’s not every day that I would rock out in a felty-jingly-sparkly antler headband with a plastic Christmas crown on my head and make funny pouty faces at my computer…
But this Christmas, I did.
(And I am not ashamed of it!)
Along with that, this Christmas I also followed on the tradition of my Handmade Christmas pledge.
The majority of gifts given this year were handmade, a few were not. (Hey, I’m only human!)
First off, I made six Lil’ Santa Stockings personalised with hand embroidered names for my four nephews, one for a good friend’s son and another for my 30 year old brother!
I filled each one with an array of ‘boy’ things such bouncy balls, lollipops, stickers/tattoos, a boxes of chalk, Pez and other fun stuff personalised for each boy/man!
They all went down a treat and I couldn’t be happier!
Moving on…
For two of my close couple-friends I made some very cute Wine Bags.
I bought them each a bottle of some organically produced Shiraz (with a very pretty and simplistic label!) and popped it in the bag. I also placed a handmade Hessian Bird Ornament around the neck of the bottles as an extra little gift.
For my oldest brother and sister in-law, I gave them four Christmas Tree frames made from popsicle sticks, each with a photo taken of their sons this year.
I thought they would become sweet mementos to place on the Christmas tree each year.
Each of these gifts featured in my 12 Days of Christmas Crafts Series I posted on YouTube (and my blog) in the 12 days leading up to Christmas.
If you want to see how each of them have been made and want to get into some early inspiration for Christmas 2014, follow these links…
It’s Day 11 already! And in 2 days time it’ll be Christmas!
Todays festive project is what I made and gave to some very special friends of mine.
I filled each bag with a bottle of some organically produced Shiraz (I bought it because the label looked pretty!) and hung a little Hessian Bird Tree Ornament from the neck of the bottles.
The final product will be in my Handmade Christmas Low-Down blog post that I’ll write and publish after Christmas!
~~~~~~
So tomorrow comes with the last Christmas Craft episode of this little series!
I can’t wait to share it with you – it’s one of the most simplest projects yet!
Holy-Moly, can you believe it’s only 3 more days until Christmas?! Oh my!
Surprising, I’m pretty much ready for the big day. I have a few cooking chores to do over the next few days but apart from that, I say ‘bring on the big day!’
If you’re still stuck on what to get that special someone aaannnddd you’ve got a knack for sewing up some quick seams, stay tuned for tomorrow’s Christmas Craft…it involves a bottle wine!
3and3quarters 