Fellow Quilters,

Today’s post is short but oh so sweet… this is the day that the September edition of Quilt Block Mania pops into quilters’ Inboxes around the quilting universe.  The theme for this month is Halloween, celebrating the month of October, ‘cause we want to give you the whole month of September to get your free Halloween-themed blocks made up.  There are 29 generous designers participating in this round, and each one has created a unique 12” finished block in the theme colors of orange, black and a touch of green.  You can download the free patterns at each designer’s blog or website.

“Which Hat?” at Pretty Piney
Black Cat at Inquiring Quilter
Ring of Pumpkins at Always Expect Moore
Haunted House at Powered by Quilting
Three Treats at Sew Brainy
Bat at Slice of Pi Quilts
Day of the Dead Skull at Duck Creek Mountain Quilting
Gypsy Wagon Fortune Teller at Orange Blossom Quilt
Monster at Seams to be Sew
Patchwork Pumpkin at Quilted Diary
Stacked Pumpkins at Perkins Dry Goods
Spooky Star at Block of the Mo .com
Leaf Ghost at Off the Wall Quilt
Leaf and Vine at Quilt Moments
Frankenstein at Around the Bobbin
Bat by Heidi Pridemore
Candy Corn by Quilt Fabrication
Dark night by Cotton Street Commons
Pumpkin by Sew on the Go
Pumpkin and Bat by ScrapDash
Pumpkin Chain by Stash Bandit
Happy Jack-o-lantern by Patti’s Patchwork
Foundation Pieced Creepy Eyes by Amarar Creacions
Spooky Trees by Aunt Em’s Quilts
Upside Down Witch by Appliques Quilts and More
Scaredy Kitty by Tacy Gray
Sun-Boo-Net Sue by Blue Bear Quilts
Spider by Oh Kay Quilting
Candy, Pumpkins, and Witch Hat by Utah Quilt Appraiser

Do you like to carve pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns for Halloween?  Do you look for the tallest pumpkin, or one of the mis-shapen flatter ones?  I like all pumpkins, so my Happy Jacks block features both tall and short jack-o-lanterns boasting toothy grins.

Happy Jacks 12″ block by Patti Carey

After all, I don’t want them to be too scary!  The pumpkins are easy to make, with simple sew-and-flip corner squares to make the triangles.  The faces are “quick-fuse” appliqued in place.  There is a partial seam in the block, and I will be doing a Facebook Live post at 4pm on Thursday September 3 as part of the Designer Tips & Techniques 3-day event September 1-3 from noon until 8pm EST where I’ll be demonstrating how I make partial seams “impartial” – please pop on over to see it live or watch the rerun anytime after 5pm.  It’s one of my best tips so it’s worth watching, if I do say so myself.

There are some small pieces in my block so it’s ideally suited for a small project such as a 4-block table runner

Four blocks makes a nice seasonal 14″ x 54″ runner

or perhaps an 8-block door quilt.

Eight blocks make a 28″ x 54″ door quilt

When my kids were young we had Halloween door quilts to decorate their bedroom doors.  Fun!  You can download the pattern for the block here.

Pumpkins aren’t just for making jack-o-lanterns.  They’re also great for pumpkin loaf.  Yum!

Pumpkin Loaf

Combine….
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
½ cup vegetable oil
1 cup pureed pumpkin

Add…
1½ cups flour
1 tsp each backing powder, baking soda and cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp each salt and allspice
½ cup each raisins and chopped walnuts

Pour into a greased 9×5 loaf pan.  Bake at 350° for 50-60 minutes or until tester come out clean.  Cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan.

Enjoy the September edition of Quilt Block Mania and we’ll see you next week for more exciting things that are happening this month!

Cheers,

Patti

Quilt Block Mania August blocks

We are officially half-way through Summer here in the northern hemisphere.  When I was a kid, August meant that Back-to-School flyers from the area department stores would soon be inserted in the local newspaper.  I would eagerly peruse each one, slowly and methodically going over each page to admire the offerings of fresh new notebooks, pencils, binders and the like.  I would carefully compare prices and make a list of required items to purchase from each store.  Then I would get on my bicycle and ride to each shop to acquire my coveted new school supplies for a new year of learning.  Yup, I was one of those kids that loved school – every subject, especially science and math.

Many quilters, particularly ones with school-age kids, also look forward to Back-to-School.  It is an opportunity learn a new quilting skill or start a new project.  My colleague Carolina Moore of Always Expect Moore has organized a Back-to-School-themed event for the August edition of Quilt Block Mania.  She invited fellow quilt designers to create a unique 12″ finished quilt block with a Back-to-School theme and roughly 40 of us jumped at the chance to have fun with this.  Each designer is sharing their block pattern for FREE on their blog or website today – you can find the links here.

Crayons by Slice of Pi Quilts
Lockers by Powered by Quilting
Math Problem by Pretty Piney
Chalk Board by Inquiring Quilter
Stack of Books by Carolina Moore
Pointy Pencil Block by Sew Brainy
Geometry by Duck Creek Mountain Quilting
Pencils by Quilting Room with Mel
School Bus by Orange Blossom Quilt
Book with Animal by Seams to be Sew
Stack of Textbooks by Quilted Diary
Shades of the Sun by Charisma Horton
Basketball by Devoted Quilter
Apples by Perkins Dry Goods
Box of Crayons by ScrapDash
Apple with leaf by Blockofthemodotcom
Crayons by Off the Wall Quilt
School Time Schoolhouse by Quilt Moments
School House by Utah Quilt Appraiser
Pencil by True Blue Quilts
Owl by The Whimsical Workshop
Calculator by Quilt Fabrication
Crayons by Linda B Creative
Applique Computer by DooHikey Designs
Modern Apple by Cotton Street Commons
Glue by Quilting Mod
School Girl’s Puzzle by Sew on the Go
Snack by Quiltfox Design
Backpack by Oh Kaye Quilting
Math Signs by Patti’s Patchwork
Bookworm by Appliques Quilts and More
Backpack by Tacy Gray
Schoolhouse by From my Carolina Home
Girl’s Favorite by Blue Bear Quilts
Origami Paper Plane by Amarar Creacions
Show up and Shine! by SewJoy Creations
School House with Children by Aunte Ms Quilts

There is everything from schoolhouses to a school bus, lots of pencils and crayons, books, calculators and backpacks.  There is even some math!

Here is my ‘Rithmetic block.  Using the assigned color palette I selected 5 shades from Northcott’s fabulous Toscana texture and created a block that includes the 4 basic math symbols: plus, minus, multiply and divide.

‘Rithmetic 12″ block

The block is fairly straight-forward and I had my sample completed in 30 minutes or so. I want to share 4 tips on making the “multiply” unit.  This block is constructed from a half-square triangle of background and 2 strips of color.
Tip #1: I centered a triangle on the shorter colored strip and sewed it in place.  When I sewed the opposite triangle in place I first finger-pressed it in half, then I aligned my first unit on my cutting mat so the strip of color was on a horizontal line and the tip of the triangle was on a vertical line.

Align triangle mid-point/tips along vertical line

Then I placed my creased triangle on the strip edge, aligning it with the same vertical line, pinned it in place and stitched.
Tip #2:  To cut the above unit in half, I positioned it on my cutting mat so that the 2 triangle tips were on a vertical line.
Tip #3:  When I added the 2nd half of the cut unit to the longer colored strip, I checked that the shorter colored strips were aligned for perfect placement.

The 2 colored strips are stacked so that they are aligned.

Tip #4:  When I trimmed the “x” unit down to 4″, I positioned the 2″ line of my ruler on the 2 “v’s” created by the crossed colored strips.  The “x” is now perfectly centered in the unit.

Align ruler with both v’s for perfect placement

The “+” units were super-easy, and the “-” and “÷” signs were included in the sashing within the block.  Just like that my block was done 🙂

My test block using Northcott’s Shimmer

I used some Northcott Shimmer from my stash for the colored parts and a lovely cream Stonehenge for the background.
I even mocked up a quick image of a 51″ x 64″ lap-size version in Electric Quilt – perfect for a math whiz!

20 blocks with 1″ sashing make a 51″ x 64″ lap quilt

Some unfinished business from my July 15th post for the Christmas in July blog hop:  E-Z Miter/Lone Star tools and complimentary patterns are going out to Susan Nixon, Judy Kowalski and Karen from Sunburnt Quilts.  Congrats!
This week is also the August edition of the Designers Tips & Techniques over on Facebook.  From roughly noon until 8pm EST today through Thursday a quilt designer will be going live on Facebook for 15 minutes at the top of the hour to share a neat tip or technique.  My time slot is Thursday August 6 at 3pm.  Here is the schedule – enjoy!

Tuesday August 4th
1:00pm Teresa Weaver https://www.facebook.com/yoursewingfriend
2:00pm Becca Fenstermaker https://facebook.com/prettypiney
3:00pm Debbie Wendt https://www.facebook.com/Wendt-Quilting-280123925340667/
4:00pm Sue Griffiths https://www.facebook.com/duckcreekmountainquilting/
5:00pm Marlene Oddie http://www.facebook.com/kissedquilts

Wednesday August 5th
1:00pm Nancy Scott http://www.facebook.com/MasterpieceQ
2:00pm Bunnie Cleland https://www.facebook.com/TriangleFrenzy
3:00pm Terri Vanden Bosch https://www.facebook.com/lizardcreekquilting
4:00pm Marija Vujcic https://www.facebook.com/MaraQuiltDesigns
5:00pm Heidi Pridemore https://www.facebook.com/heidipridemorewhimsicalworkshop/
6:00pm Reed Johnson https://www.facebook.com/BlueBearQuilts

Thursday August 6th
12:00pm Jen Belnap https://m.facebook.com/thesmittenchicken/
1:00pm  Kate Colleran https://www.facebook.com/SeamsLikeaDreamQuilts/
2:00pm Monique Kleinhans https://www.facebook.com/ladybugscabin
3:00pm Patti Carey https://www.facebook.com/Pattis-Patchwork-464368707643825
4:00pm Melissa Marginet https://www.facebook.com/melissa.marginet.quilter/
6:00pm Swan Sheridan https://www.facebook.com/swanamitystudios
7:00pm Lynn Kane http://facebook.com/puppygirllynn
8:00pm Dragonfly’s Quilting Design Studio https://www.facebook.com/dragonflysquiltingdesignstudio

Also happening tomorrow is the weekly edition of Sew What Zoomcast, hosted by my colleague Linda Hahn and her partner-in-crime Deb Stanley at 3pm EST.  This week’s special guest is appraiser Mary Kerr. The hour-long “show” can be accessed through Zoom Meeting No. 708 847 7971 Password 541374.

I welcome you to share this post with your quilty friends, and you can also subscribe by following the link up on the sidebar – thanks 🙂

Have a great week!

Cheers,
Patti

Fellow Quilters,

Happy Thursday!  This is another fun and exciting day here at Patti’s Patchwork – today is my day to share my block for the Quilt Designer Shop Hop.  I was beyond thrilled to be invited to join this event with some very well-known designers.

What is the Quilt Designer Shop Hop, you ask?  Well, it’s one of the best quilty deals around!  Ten uber-creative quilt designers joined forces to bring this fabulous FREE event to you.  Each designer has designed a unique block in Electric Quilt (one of my absolute essential quilting tools) using the theme “Moving forward …separate but working together, inspired by life under quarantine!”  These have certainly been interesting and challenging times – we are separated right now, however we are moving forward and reaching out to each other virtually instead of in-person.  Our blocks are different takes on this theme. But there’s more!  Each designer has taken the 10 different blocks and designed a unique quilt layout for them.  Not only do you, fellow quilters, get 10 fabulous blocks, you also get a plethora of ideas on how to put them together to make an awesome quilt.  It has been so much fun to see the blocks and the quilt designs.  The Quilt Designer Shop Hop started July 13 and runs through to tomorrow July 17, and the blocks are FREE until Saturday July 18, so be sure to pop on over to the other designers’ blogs to pick up the patterns and layout ideas.  After Saturday the blocks will be $2 each, which is still a fabulous deal for a multi-block quilt.  There are other online events of this caliber but most of them are not free.

So, let me tell you about my block, To the Stars and Beyond (now available at Patti’s Patchwork).

To the Stars and Beyond

If you are one of my regular peeps you know I am a lone star fanatic.  My block starts with a star, because we are all under the stars.  Then I added some funky folded triangles to the expanding corners of the block to show that we are reaching out to each other.  These folded triangles are kind of like inverse cathedral window – we tuck the fabric under the bias edge of the triangle instead of folding it back.

Fold the bias edge of the triangle under to create a curve. I think it’s time for a new ironing board cover!

Then we hand- or machine-stitch the curved edge in place.  It adds an interesting twist to the block.  I like to use an open-toe foot to give me maximum visibility.

Invisibly stitch the curved edge in place

To make the lone star I used my E-Z Miter & Lone Star tool because it helps me quickly and accurately mark the exact spots to start and stop sewing the diamonds and setting pieces. My block was done lickety-split.  I used Northcott’s Dream Weaver ombre for the star – can you see the ombre effect in the diamonds? – and the coordinating Dublin linen-look texture for the background.

I was a bit nervous watching the quilt layouts that the other designers showed in their blog posts – what if one of them did the same design as me?!?  So far, they’ve all been different – and great!  So here is my layout.

My layout for the Quilt Designer Shop Hop

I used 2 of each block for a total of 20 blocks.  The quilt, including the 2” sashing and 6” border measures 70” x 84”.  There are tall people in my house so this could be a generous throw, almost a twin-size.  I originally used white in the block backgrounds and gray in the sashing, then I switched it around and was much happier with the result.  I think it gives the quilt a more contemporary look.

If you’re visiting today from one of the other designer’s blogs I would love if you could click on that Follow button up near the top.  You can also subscribe to my newsletter on my Patti’s Patchwork website.  I usually only post on my blog and newsletter once or twice a month – I’m too busy designing!

If you haven’t had a chance to visit the other designers’ blogs, here are the links to collect your block patterns (free until Saturday).

July 13 Tamarinis https://www.tamarinis.com

July 13 Laura Piland https://www.sliceofpiquilts.com/

July 14 Sherry Shish https://poweredbyquilting.com

July 14 Amy Friend https://www.duringquiettime.com/

July 15 Kate Colleran https://seamslikeadream.com/

July 15 Becky Jorgensen https://patchworkposse.com

July 16 Leanne Parsons https://www.devotedquilter.com

July 16 Me!  https://pattispatchwork.com/

July 17 Swan Sheridan https://www.swanamity.com

July 17 Cherry Guidry https://www.cherryblossomsquilting.com

Please show them some quilty love for the work they’ve put into their blocks and designs.  Check out their websites, subscribe to their newletters and peruse their patterns and notions for sale.

I would love to see YOUR version of a quilt using these blocks.  Which layout did you like the best?  Which color combination most appealed to you?  Please share your thoughts and feedback.  We love hearing from you 😊

Cheers,

Patti

Fellow Quilters,

Today is a busy day here – I am participating in 2 exciting events.  If you’ve hopped in from the Christmas in July Pattern Parade Blog Hop, welcome!  If you’re one of my blog followers and are thinking “Patti, what are you talking about?!?”, allow me to explain.

Carole from My Carolina Home has organized the Christmas in July one-day blog hop with 22 participating bloggers:

Table Toppers, Home and Kitchen
Inquiring Quilter
Duck Creek Mountain Quilting
Cooking Up Quilts
The Quilted Diary
Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Morning Glory Designs
Scrapdash
Days Filled With Joy

Small Projects
Geeky Bobbin
Sunburnt Quilts
Tamarinis
Tuning My Heart Quilts
Prairie Sewn Studios
Puppy Girl Designs
Ladybug Buzz
Dragonfly’s Quilting Design Studio

Traditional and Modern Quilt Patterns
Ms P Designs USA
Quilt 2 End ALZ
Patti’s Patchwork (that’s me)
Cotton Street Commons
Brown Bird Designs
From My Carolina Home

Today each blogger will be posting a free pattern in their blog.  This could be for a holiday-themed project such as placemats, a table runner, tree skirt, lap or bed-sized quilt to decorate your home for the holidays.  Or it could be a quilt-related project – table topper, home or kitchen décor, lap or bed quilt – that is not holiday themed, that you could make as a Christmas gift.  From personal experience I can tell you that the best time to start making a holiday décor project or a holiday gift is NOT mid-December – it is July!  Hence the well-known phrase “Christmas in July”.  And with 22 projects to choose from, you’ll likely want to make several between now and mid-December.

Working at Northcott, I can tell you that we time the arrival of our holiday collections so that they ship to quilt shops in June/July because that’s when quilters are planning their holiday projects.  Quilt magazines also feature holiday-themed projects in their Summer/early Fall issues.  When Northcott’s holiday collections come along I jump at the opportunity to design with them.  Between holiday projects for my Patti’s Patchwork pattern shop and for quilt magazines, I design and make 2-3 holiday/winter quilts every year.  I have lost count of how many holiday quilts I own but if I had to guess I would say at least 30.  Christmas quilts go onto the beds in my home December 1.  Holiday lap quilts come out to be tossed over the back of chairs and couches, and holiday wall-hangings replace artwork hanging on walls.  The more the merrier!  Can one have too many?!?  I think not!!

For my Christmas in July Pattern Parade project I chose the gorgeous The Scarlet Feather collection by Deborah Edwards for Northcott.  The stunning 24” x 42” wreath panel had me at “hello”.  Anyone who knows my quilting style knows I’m a sucker for panels.  But I also want you, my fellow quilters, to experience the joy of having holiday quilts on your beds at Christmastime, so my pattern is for a bed-size quilt.  Queen-size actually.  And it won’t take you from now ‘til mid-December to get it done.  No siree Bob! The quilt is a classic lone star (yes, I’m a sucker for lone stars as well) with enormous setting squares and triangles, and nice W-I-D-E borders.  Here’s a picture.

Grand Holiday Lone Star by Patti’s Patchwork

Isn’t she a beauty?  You can download the Grand Holiday Lone Star pattern here.  This quilt uses 6 panels, so just a heads up that you’re going to want to get your fabrics soon before the stores sell out.  Northcott has THE BEST feature on their website to help you find the fabrics you’re looking for.  The Product Finder is toward the top right corner of each collection’s page.  When you click on it and click on your preferred state/province, a chart pops up listing the shops that received the collection and which fabrics from the collection they received.

Find a shop with checked boxes for the fabrics you’re looking for

Simply find a shop that received the specific fabrics you want and check with them for availability.

The Scarlet Feather 24″ x 42″ panel

Each panel has a lovely 8” wide poinsettia border on the selvage edges so you’re going to have a few of these left over.  What can you do with them?

• Use them as bands on matching pillowcases for your bed – you’ll need an additional ¾yd – 1yd of coordinating fabric for each pillowcase, depending on whether you use the panel strip for the band lining or use the coordinate for the band lining.
• Use them for an easy table runner. Triangle Frenzy or The Quilt Company have some patterns using 60° rulers that would be perfect.
• Use them for projects by the other bloggers today
• Use them to customize ready-made or store-bought items such as hand towels, aprons, toss cushions, etc.

The Grand Holiday Lone Star pattern is perfect for using my E-Z Miter & Lone Star tool, the handiest gadget ever for fast foolproof mitered borders and foolproof lone stars.  You can find a YouTube video on my website or watch a (fuzzy) Facebook Live tutorial on making mitered borders with the tool (it was my first Facebook Live recording and my practice round was crystal clear).  I will be adding a video soon for making lone stars with the tool.  Of course, you could make this quilt the old-fashioned way without the E-Z Miter & Lone Star tool but once you’ve used it, you’ll understand why I’m such a fan of it.  In the pattern I include a helpful tutorial on how to use directional border prints for your quilt borders – it’s at the end of the pattern.  You can use this same concept on most directional border prints.

The Grand Holiday Lone Star is not the only quilt I’ve designed using Northcott’s The Scarlet Feather collection.  Check out PC252 Stellar Medallion.

PC252 Stellar Medallion (includes wall, throw & queen)

Here are some other Christmas patterns from Patti’s Patchwork:  PC242 Carpenter’s Star(a split lone star),

PC242 Carpenter’s Star (includes wall, throw & queen)

PC224 Gifts Galore,

PC224 Gifts Galore (includes wall, lap, throw & double)

PC185 Stacks of Presents,

PC185 Stacks of Presents (includes wall, throw, twin & queen)

PC147 Holiday Gifts, (a fat quarter pattern)

PC147 Holiday Gifts (includes lap, twin & queen)

PC144 Poinsettia Medallion,

PC144 Poinsettia Medallion (includes wall and queen-size)

PC133 Festive Frostings

PC133 Festive Frostings (includes lap, twin, queen & king)

and the ever-popular PC119 Oh Christmas Tree (a jellyroll pattern).

PC119 Oh Christmas Tree (includes wall, lap & queen)

If you’re reading this before 3pm EST today I invite you to pop onto Zoom for my trunk show on Linda and Deb’s Sew What! Zoomcast.  It’s fun and free.  Log on to Zoom and find the event at Meeting No. 708 847 7971 and Password 541374.  Knowing Linda, it will be highly entertaining.  Have a social beverage in hand for your chance to win prizes.

I am blogging July 16 in the Quilt Designer Shop Hop

Finally, tomorrow is my day to blog and go live on Facebook as part of the Quilt Designers Shop Hop – 10 talented designers, 10 great website tours, 10 free blocks, and 10 creative inspiring quilt designs using these blocks.  Please subscribe to my blog today to catch all the quilty goodness tomorrow.

If you’ve read this far, I have more good stuff for you.  What – more?!?  If you leave a comment on my blog telling me what Christmas gifts or projects you make, I’ll randomly draw 3 winners to receive an E-Z Miter & Lone Star tool.  If you also tell me which of my Christmas patterns is your favorite, I’ll throw that in if I draw your name. If you prefer a different one to make as a gift, I could make that substitution.  Please leave your comment by midnight Sunday July 19 to be eligible.  Good luck!

Enjoy today’s events and I’ll see you tomorrow.

Cheers,

Patti

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Fellow Quilters,

I’ve got lots of quilty bits and bobs to share with you today.  My colleague Millie laughs every time I say this.  What are bits and bobs, you ask?!?  Odds & ends.  Tidbits.

My friend Linda Hahn of Frog Hollow and her bestie Deb Stanley host a weekly event Wednesdays at 3pm EST on Zoom called Sew What! Zoomcast – it’s quite entertaining.  Linda interviews a different guest quilting celebrity each week, then Deb does a quilt-related demo, and the hour-long zoomcast winds up with prizes.  Who doesn’t like free stuff?!?  Past guests have included Stevii Graves, Banyan Batiks Creative Director Karen Gibbs,  and last week’s guest Joyce Hughes.  Joyce thread paints on quilt panels to create truly stunning pieces of art and tells me that anyone can achieve the same results.  This week’s guest is the iconic Nancy Mahoney.  To watch, log into Zoom using Meeting No. 708 847 7971 Password 541374.  Linda has invited me to be her guest on July 15^th so mark your calendar!  Same meeting and password.

Did you see my Facebook Live post on June 16 as part of the June edition of the Designers Tips & Techniques Virtual Show?  You can still watch the rerun on my Patti’s Patchwork Facebook page.  The video is somewhat fuzzy – of course my test run was clear as a bell.  Hubby has picked up a new stronger modem so my next post should be much better.  Yes, I’m doing it again.  The July edition runs from noon until 8pm EST July 7 – 9 and my time slot is July 8 at 4pm.  The schedule is here.  I hope you’ll tune it to learn lots of quilty goodness.  I watched all the episodes last month and really enjoyed it.

Fellow designer Andi is coordinating a Patriotic Quilt Mashup – a video slide show of patriotic quilts just in time for July 4^th.  I shared videos of 2 quilts from my PC236A Panel Plus pattern.  I snapped a photo of one of the quilts taped to the outside wall of the cabin.

Happy July 4th!  PC236A Panel Plus pattern option #1

I’ll be sharing the mashup video on my Patti’s Patchwork Facebook page as soon as Andi posts it.  Fun!

I’m also participating in a 1-day Christmas in July event on July 15^th (it’ll be a busy day!).  Each of the 21 bloggers is sharing a freebie so you can get started on those quilty Christmas gifts.  What better time to start than now?  I love, love, love Christmas quilts, and will be sharing a pattern for one.  If you’re a blog subscriber you’ll automatically receive the link.

Also happening the week of July 13 – 17 is the awesome Quilt Designer Shop Hop – 10 designers – 10 websites – 10 blocks.  Each designer has created a block for this fun virtual hop and will be sharing it for free during the hop.  We created our blocks in Electric Quilt, so each of us will also be coming up with unique layouts for these stellar blocks.  I’ll be blogging and Facebooking (is that even a word?!?) on July 16 as part of this exciting event.

In my last post I shared a photo of my mammoth-leaf basil plant and asked for advice on how to help it flourish.  Well, my SIL came to my rescue and suggested that, when I want to harvest some, I prune it from the top, thereby ensuring that the plant doesn’t start to flower.  I googled this and, sure enough, if I cut a stem just above a 2-leaf split, I can force the plant to grow 2 stems where 1 existed.  I’ll let you know in a week or 2 if this is successful.

I also had to resort to google to fix my broken sewing chair.  The hydraulics were dying a quick death.  Every 5 minutes I had to lift the seat back up.  The quick fix I saw online, if I don’t mind the chair being always at a fixed height, was to remove the base, insert a length of PVC pipe and reattach the base.

My steno sewing chair with a quick fix

My handy son had a spare piece of pipe, so 15 minutes later my chair was fixed (for me).  I’m a happy camper!  I’ll eventually paint it, but for now it’s good :).

I’ll see you in a week or so.  In the meantime, Happy Canada Day and Happy 4^th of July!

Happy Canada Day! PC215 Canadian Shield

Cheers,

Patti

Fellow Quilters,

This is a quick post with a couple of updates and reminders – quick because I know some of you are very busy trying to get your Time to Quilt quilt-along tops assembled for tomorrow’s deadline.

In my last post 2 weeks ago I asked for some inspiration and motivation from you so I could finish my Super-size Shimmer quilt top.  I offered up a fabric prize as YOUR motivation to send me a picture of your assembled top or finished quilt by end-of-day tomorrow June 12^th.  Your picture can either be emailed to me at patti.pattispatchwork@gmail.com or posted on my Patti’s Patchwork Facebook page.  To further motivate you I snapped a photo of the lovely prize – a fat quarter packet of all 14 pieces from new Northcott designer Brett Lewis’ premier collection Stag & Thistle.

Who would like a fat quarter pack of Brett Lewis’ Stag & Thistle?

It is gorgeous!  I debated about keeping it for myself and finding something else for the prize before my moral compass re-aligned itself.  I look forward to seeing your photos.

In my last post I also shared that I would be doing a Facebook Live post as part of the Designer Tips & Techniques 3-day event June 2-4.  Well, the event was postponed and rescheduled to June 16-18. The full schedule is here and my time slot is June 16 at 2pm EST.  It will still be my very first Facebook Live and I hope to see you over on my Facebook page.  I have also signed up for the July 7-9 schedule and my time slot is July 8 at 4pm.  I should be much better for the 2^nd event 😊.

I wanted to keep the Wednesday at 3pm time slot open because my friend Linda Hahn hosts a weekly Facebook Live event called Sew What! Zoomcast.  She posts the zoom link on her Facebook page and replays the weekly post on YouTube (just google Sew What! Zoomcast on YouTube to find the previous recordings).

My feeble attempts at gardening continue.  I stopped at a local nursery to pick up 2 patio plants and added 2 cherry tomato plants and a basil plant to my purchase.  I have a delicious recipe that uses cherry tomatoes and basil.  I’m not sure what type of basil I bought but the leaves are enormous.

My new basil plant has enormous leaves

I want this plant to flourish so if anyone has advice on how I should care for it please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Time to head into my sewing room to finish a magazine project and practice my Facebook Live again…

Cheers,

Patti

Fellow Quilters,

Apparently I have slipped back into my pre-Time-to-Quilt-quilt-along blogging schedule.  It’s been 3 weeks since my last post – where does the time go?!?  Spring garden clean-up has taken some of that time.  After weeding the beds, I divided some daylilies and planted 2 flats of annuals that Hubby bought.  I must admit that I am not a very good or enthusiastic gardener.  Except for a few obvious species, I can’t tell the weeds from the perennial flowers.  My friend says a weed is just a flower that you don’t like.  I feel that way about the mini begonias that Hubby bought.  I have never liked begonias.  I think I shall do the flower buying next year – just saying.  I have left quite a few green sprouts in several of the beds, waiting to see if they are more recognizable in another week or two.  I almost pulled out all the Evening Primrose thinking it was a weed.  Hubby bought the last rhubarb plant in town – a scrawny pathetic thing – that will probably need 3 years to establish itself before I can harvest any.  The rhubarb plant at our old house was finally at a stage where it was producing a nice sized crop.  I really wanted to dig it up and bring it with us when we moved last year but thought the hole in the ground surrounded by bricks might be rather obvious.  I would also like to plant 2 pear trees though Hubby says he needs to do some re-leveling of our backyard before that can happen.

So, speaking of the quilt-along, I managed to get 2 of my sets of blocks sewn into quilt tops AND quilted.  The FIGO Midsommar mini one was easy – small, with straight-line quilting.

Midsommar-time quilt done!

I used a variegated thread with orange, pink and purple – it was perfect.  I loaded it on my longarm machine and used the channel lock function to stitch perfectly even straight lines in no time flat.  I used my extra test blocks on the back for a splash of color.

The back of Midsommar-time

Then it was on to the Vino version.  I added the outer borders and loaded it on my machine.  I decided to use some plastic Baptist Fan templates for the quilting – I haven’t used them in forever.

Plastic Baptist Fan templates

I pulled out what seemed like half my thread stash and finally decided on a variegated thread.

The variegated thread matches nicely with the prints.

I threw the quilt on my son’s bed (when he comes for an overnight stay) just to take a photo and I’ve decided that it belongs there.

My Vino Time-to-Quilt found a home.

So that leaves the stack of super-sized Shimmer blocks.  I’m not motivated so I’m asking for your help.  Inspire me!  Show me your finished Time to Quilt quilts or quilt tops.  You can either email me a picture of your quilt/quilt top at patti.pattispatchwork@gmail.com or post a picture on my Pattispatchwork Facebook page.  If you do this by June 12^th (my son’s birthday), your name will go into a draw for a bundle of fabric.

Speaking of Facebook, I am participating in a fun 3-day event June 2-4. The Designers Tips & Techniques Virtual Show takes place from noon until 8pm each day.  Each participating quilt designer has selected a time slot and will do a 15-minute Facebook Live post at the top of their hour, demonstrating their tip or technique.  The schedule is here.  My time slot is June 3 at 3pm, and I am madly researching how to do a Facebook Live post.  Between you and I, I am very nervous!  What if my post doesn’t go live as planned?  What if I forget what I’m going to say, or leave out vital details?  What if my internet goes down part-way through my talk?  Hubby has jury-rigged a device to hold my phone – lots of duct tape was involved.  I still have several dry runs to do before June 3.

I am also participating in a Designers Shop Hop July 13-18.  Just like with a traditional shop hop, each designer will have a free unique block pattern in their online shop for the duration of the hop.  Quilters travel online to each shop to collect the block patterns and see what each designer has done with the blocks to make a quilt.  Stay tuned for further details – I’ll be posting more information on my Pattispatchwork.com website, on Facebook and in a future blog post.

Time for me to do another dry run of my Facebook Live demo…

Cheers,

Patti

Fellow Quilters,

Happy Saturday !  I was sitting down yesterday to write my blog post when my plans got derailed.  Back on track now.  I am sitting at my kitchen island “office” looking at snow flurries outside my window.  Hellooo!?! It’s May!?!  It’s supposed to be 17°C (60°F) at this time of year.  No matter, I suppose, if I need to stay inside and social distance – a good opportunity to get my Time to Quilt blocks sewn together and into a quilt top.  If you’re following along, Northcott has a backing prize up for grabs.  For your chance to win, select at least 12 of your blocks and assemble them in a quilt top, then go to Northcott’s Facebook page on Monday May 11^th to post a picture of your quilt top.

So, on Wednesday I talked about assembling your blocks in a straight setting using the same principle we used to sew some of our blocks together.  The chain-piecing of each row of blocks to the next row makes assembly of our blocks and quilts warp-speed.  The added bonus is that it keeps the units or blocks in the correct orientation and order.  I showed how I will sew my FIGO Midsommar make-it-mini blocks together – straight-set with no sashing strips between the blocks.  So how do we apply this concept if we have an on-point setting such as the one I’ve selected for my Vino quilt?  Let me show you.

My Vino blocks laid out in an on-point setting

Here is a photo of my quilt blocks laid out in my almost-final arrangement.  Now, I needed 50 blocks for this, so I quickly whipped up another pair of Block 4 since it was so fast.  Even though I am putting sashing strips between the blocks and cornerstones at the intersections of the sashing strips I have not laid them out with the blocks because I don’t need to – I will add them as I’m sewing the blocks together.  So you may be thinking that this doesn’t look easy to sew into rows.  Let’s take another picture, on an angle this time – can you see the rows and columns now?

We pick up the units in columns 2-12 from bottom to top

Just like for the straight-set layout, we’ll pick up the blocks in all but the first column from BOTTOM TO TOP.  We’ll include the setting triangles as well, keeping them aligned as they are in each column (this part is important).  Note that the first “column” is just the corner triangle. Then we label each stack and flip all but the first column so that the pinned label is still at the top edge.

Label each stack and pin the label to the top edge so that all the pieces are attached

I leave the corner triangles from Stack #6 and #7 aside – I’ll add them at the end.

The bottom triangle from Stack 6 and top corner from Stack 7 are set aside and attached at the end

Gather them up in order and take them to the sewing machine.  I’ve got my pile of sashing strips and cornerstones handy as well.

My piles of cornerstones and sashing pieces are handy

We are going to add our sashing/cornerstone pieces between each stack of blocks.  Now, for Step 1 let’s take that first column (the corner triangle) and add a vertical sashing strip to it – center the triangle on the sashing piece so that there is ⅜” of triangle protruding beyond the top and bottom edge of the sashing (remember this tip from Block 3?). For Step 2 we are going to add Stack #2, but notice that there is nothing to sew the setting triangle units (the first and last pieces in our stack) to.

Steps 1-3

We can add the block to the sashing piece and we can also add the horizontal sashing pieces above and below the block by sewing them to a cornerstone (see Step 2 in the diagram).  Step 3 is adding a vertical sashing/cornerstone column – we can add the triangles from Stack #2 at this point.  We continue adding stacks alternately with vertical sashing/cornerstone columns, also including the horizontal sashing pieces between the blocks in each stack.  My mantra as I’m working is “wide (block) column, then narrow (sashing) column”.

Continue adding Stacks 3-12

By the time we’re finished sewing the stacks together, the piles of sashing and cornerstones are gone.  Then we sew the horizontal rows together.  I pressed all my seams toward the sashing.  This means that I pressed away from the cornerstones, and everything nested beautifully when I sewed the horizontal rows.  Here is my quilt top at this point, just waiting for the outer border.

Just waiting for the outer border

Now, because I wanted full cornerstone squares around the perimeter, I had to use extra-large setting triangles and add them at different stages than I do when I usually sew an on-point layout – it requires another level of concentration and coordination (ugh!).  Apparently 2 large mugs of tea is not enough caffeine for this job, so I had some unpicking to do.  I timed myself while assembling this quilt – it took 6½ hours.  Let me know how you do!  I rewarded myself with a beverage courtesy of the mixologist – a homemade concoction of banana, apple juice, crème de cacao and orange-flavored Blue Curacao (which made it green).

Our fruity concoction as a reward for getting my quilt top (almost) done

Speaking of the mixologist, Hubby finally selected a winner from the comments left on May 2^nd’s blog – it is Judy Duffy.  Congratulations to Judy!

Good luck with your quilt tops.  I look forward to seeing them on Northcott’s Facebook page on Monday.

Cheers,

Patti

Fellow Quilters,

Good Wednesday morning!  Are you continuing to Stay-at-Home-and-Quilt?  I had a conversation with a friend recently – she was asking what we had learned about ourselves during this stay-at-home period.  For me it’s probably been virtual learning, though sadly not much in my life is different since I work from home.  Hubby has learned to borrow virtual books from the library.  And he has learned several new cocktails.  The most recent ones were a choco-nut banana “martini” that I think is really more of a blender drink (he bought too many bananas and we’re trying to use them up before the fruit flies find them).

Sunday’s choco-nut banana beverage

Also a chocolate-orange-banana concoction using a homemade chocolate orange tawny port (yum),

Monday’s cocktail

and most recently a modified version of White Russian using Goldschlager – he had a miniature bottle of this and wanted to use it.

Tuesday’s cocktail du jour

He doesn’t like cinnamon so he didn’t use much.  Apparently Goldschlager will be on the menu again soon.

So, big news on Northcott’s Time to Quilt Facebook page – there is another prize up for grabs.  Northcott is throwing in a backing prize.  To qualify, create a quilt top with at least 12 of your blocks by Monday May 11 and post a picture on Northcott’s Facebook page.  The winner will receive enough backing for their top.

Today’s tip:  I have a great tip for you today – it’s all about assembling your blocks into a quilt top.  Remember way back on Day 6 when I talked about sewing the units of your block together and keeping the rows connected by a thread chain?  I also talked about this on Day 7 wen we sewed the center part of Block 7 before adding the large triangles to the corners.  So, we can apply the same principle to assembling our blocks into a quilt top. I worked with the FIGO blocks for this example. I arranged my blocks in 8 rows of 6.

My FIGO blocks are arranged in 8 rows of 6

Notice which blocks are in the first and last rows (top and bottom).  Okay, now I stacked the blocks in Column 1 in order from top to bottom, so #1 was on the top and #8 was on the bottom of the pile, keeping the top edge of each block at the top edge of my stack.  I basically walked down the quilt, adding each consecutive row’s block to the back of my stack. I pinned a #1 tag to the top center of my stack.  Then I started on Column #2.  I picked up the last block (Row 8), then added the block in Row 7 to the back of my stack, then the block in Row 6 to the back of the stack, and so on until I got to Row 1.  I now have a stack of the 8 blocks from Column 2 with the block from Row 8 on the TOP of the stack and the block from Row 1 on the bottom of the stack.  I pinned a #2 tag to the top center of my stack.  I continue to Column 3, working from bottom to top – the block from Row 8 is on the top of the stack and the block from Row 1 is on the bottom of the stack.  All the columns except the first on are picked up from the bottom to the top.

The first stack has blocks 1-8 (1 on top) and the rest of the stacks have blocks 8-1 (8 on top)

When you look at the photo you will notice that the block on stack #1 is from Row 1 and the blocks on stacks 2-6 are from Row 8. THEN I flip Stacks 2-6 over so that they are face down AND the pin is still at the top.

Flip Stacks 2-6 over so that the pin is still at the top

See that pin at the top?

This keeps the blocks in the correct alignment in the quilt. Now I can take stacks 1 & 2 to the sewing machine and sew them together.  Stack 2 is ready to be added to Stack 1 – the block on the top of the face-down stack is from Row 1 and it’s in the correct alignment to be sewn to the right edge of the first block in Stack 1.  Once I sew Stack 2 to Stack 1, I pin my #2 tag to the Row 1 or top block. I grab Stack 3 and sew the blocks to the Stack 2, then continue, adding Stacks 4-6.  All the blocks are attached in a lattice and all the vertical rows have been sewn.

Each stack has been added – the vertical seams are all sewn and thread chains connect the rows to make a lattice

I usually finger-press the seams in the odd-numbered rows to the left and the seams in the even-numbered rows to the right.  Now I simply sew my horizontal rows.  Done!

Tomorrow or Friday I will show you how to apply the same concept to an on-point layout with sashing as I assemble my Vino quilt.  It makes assembling the quilt 3 times faster than sewing each row together, then placing it back into the layout and sewing all the rows together.  I will also announce the winner of the free pattern then – Hubby hasn’t made his choice yet and he’s gone to pick up a rack of moose antlers from his harvest last Fall.  They’re not going to hang above the fireplace, that’s all I’m saying.

Cheers,

Patti

Fellow Quilters,

Good Sunday Morning!  If you’ve been following along with the Time to Quilt quilt-along and read right to the end of yesterday’s post you know there is a prize up for grabs if you post a comment about the quilts shown in yesterday’s post.  Silly me – I forgot to include a deadline – so the deadline to leave a comment to be eligible for the prize is Tuesday May 5^th at 11:59pm EST.  Thank you for all your comments so far, and for the lovely emails that I have also received.

I’ve got a few more quilt ideas for you to consider today, as I alluded in yesterday’s post.  I played around with my 12” super-size Shimmer blocks and came up with some ideas that could also work with the 9” blocks.  Let’s take a look.  My original Shimmer quilt with the 4 color palettes I selected was rather colorful.

My original design idea for my 12″ Shimmer blocks

Partway through the quilt-along I decided to replace some of the color in the blocks with black and my resulting quilt looked like this.

My revised design with black in some of the blocks

I liked it much better – I found that the black calmed it down.  I had an email conversation with one of my fellow BMQG members who was following along and making the 12” blocks – we discussed different layout options.  I mentioned that this version is rather large – 94” x 118” – and I might consider removing a row of blocks to bring the quilt down to 94” x 107” and use the extra row of blocks in a bed runner.  I still wasn’t entirely happy with my color choices for this quilt, so was also considering taking out the coral blocks and using them for another smaller quilt.  So I opened up EQ and started playing.  By selecting only the blue/green/purple blocks and placing the blocks on-point I came up with this arrangement and a size of 94” x 113”.

My blue, green and purple blocks arranged in an on-point setting

Now I like this quilt! Okay, let’s play with the coral blocks.  I recolored 2 pairs of blocks to remove some green and purple and placed the blocks on-point with an alternate block.  Here’s what I got.

My coral blocks set on-point with an alternate chain block

How cool is that?  With a 4” border this quilt is 63” x 80”, a nice throw size.  Now, in EQ it’s very easy to make adjustments to quilts simply by clicking a button, so I wondered what size this layout would be if I used the 9” blocks instead.  Here’s what my quilt image looked like.

I reduced the block size to 9″ but didn’t change the border width – surprise!

My work-around in EQ to get full squares instead of half-squares for those outer ½-blocks was to add a narrow border with triangles to make the other half of the square (you can see that inner border on the blue-green-purple version).  When I reduced the block size it reduced the length of those border blocks but not the height of them so the triangles became pointier.

The original border block (using cream instead of black) and the shortened block

Look at those outer large “squares” in the alternate blocks – they’re now arrowheads!  Haha!  An accidental design choice – I like it!  Have you made any accidental design choices?  Maybe ran out of one fabric and your substitute created a surprising but happy result in your quilt?

I think the few downpours of rain yesterday impacted the mixologist’s choice of cocktail – we had Hurricanes, not necessarily the cocktail of choice for a cruise, however they were quite tasty.

Hurricanes were on the menu yesterday

My friend Daphne has posted some notes on her blog about what she plans to do with her Tapa Cloth blocks,  Apparently she has recruited her resident mixologist as well 🙂

I’m off to get a pattern written today.  I have 1 more post relating to the quilt-along that I want to do, with a great tip for assembling your quilt.  If my pattern-writing goes well, I’ll blog again tomorrow, otherwise it’ll be Tuesday.

Cheers,

Patti