Tag Archives: tutorials

Jan7

Lil’ Twister Potholder Binding Tutorial

Posted on January 7, 2013 by Linda

What’s on my design wall today? Two Lil’ Twister Potholders completed using my potholder or small project binding tutorial.

In a previous post, I gave brief instructions for using a 5 inch square to make this little potholder with the Lil’ Twister Tool by Country Schoolhouse.

After several inquiries about how I attached the binding with the little loop, I’ve prepared a complete tutorial! Here’s the pdf of Lil’ Twister Potholder Binding Tutorial .

Have fun!

Check out Judy at Patchwork Times for other Design Wall Monday Projects! 🙂 Linda

Apr12

My Version of Rectangles and Squares Quilt

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Linda

My Version of Rectangles and Squares Quilt

A couple of quilters asked me about my Rectangles and Squares Quilts, so here’s a mini tutorial on how to make your own.

Bryana + Sam Quilt is finished, and the greys and browns version is a work in progress. I’ve sewn the body together, and need to add the borders. For this one, I am adding a mottled black border which contrasts the squares, unlike Bryana’s which has matching borders and squares.

Check a previous post that refers to the inspiration for these quilts. I like the way the AllPeopleQuilt pattern clustered the colors, but didn’t take advantage of strip piecing like The Baby Bricks pattern. So, I just combined the two patterns to create my quilts! For Bryana’s quilt, I used larger blocks that finish 9″ x 3″ and the grey blocks finish 2″ x 6″. You can use fat quarters or width of fabric. The construction is the same for each.

The smaller block is a 4 1/2″ strip of print fabric (rectangles) and a 2 1/2″ strip of background fabric (squares) sewn together and pressed toward the print. Cut the strip set into 2 1/2″ segments. Do this for all the fabrics, arrange them and sew together! That’s it!

The larger block is a 6 1/2″ strip of print fabric (rectangles) and a 3 1/2″ strip of background fabric (squares) sewn together and pressed toward the print. Cut the strip set into 3 1/2″ segments. Do this for all the fabrics, arrange them and sew together!

This would be a fun one to do scrappy if you wanted to cut individual squares and rectangles, but this method is so fast you can have all the blocks done in an afternoon. It takes longer decide on the layout!

I hope this makes sense to everyone! Thanks for looking and just keep stitchin’ !

Linda

Apr3

Adding Borders Tutorial

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Linda

Adding Borders Tutorial

As a longarm quilter for hire, I see lots of quilts and sometimes there are border issues. I have often shared my easy method for attaching borders, so here’s a quick demo outlining my method for you. I’m a very visual person, and this method always makes sense to me. This is not an original idea, and I don’t remember where I first saw this!

This technique is for “I” borders, the vertical borders are added first, followed by the top and bottom horizontal. However, this method works for “H” borders, too, where the top and bottom horizontal is sewn first, followed by the vertical sides.

Step 1 – Lay your quilt center on a flat surface, for me it’s usually the floor, smoothing without stretching. Lay 2 lengths of prepared borders across the quilt vertical, keeping the 2 layers together.

note: Your quilt should lay flat. If it doesn’t, fix it before you attach the borders!

Step 2 – Slide a cutting mat under the fabric and cut slightly off the edge of the quilt (do not cut the quilt!) using the ruler to make a right angle cut of the border. Carefully slide out the mat and repeat on the other side of the quilt.

Step 3 – Pin border to the vertical sides of the quilt, easing if necessary. Sew and press borders.

Step 4 – Lay the quilt on a flat surface, smoothing without stretching. Lay the prepared border across the horizontal middle of the quilt top and repeat Step 2, cutting the border to the width of the quilt top. Again, do not cut the quilt when trimming the border, trim slightly off the edge.

Repeat Step 3 – pin and sew borders to top and bottom horizontals and press.

All done!

This works for multiple borders, too. Just repeat all the steps.

I also use this method for borders with cornerstones. For that I cut the vertical and horizontal lengths in the first step, adding the cornerstones to the horizontal lengths, pinning and sewing after step 3.

I hope that makes sense! Let me know if it works for you.

Thanks for looking and just keep stitchin’ !

Linda