Saturday 14 October 2017

.: iFussy Cutters' Club blog hop stop :.

Hi hi hi, it's been a while, more on that right down the bottom*.

I have the happy good fortune today to be part of my friend Angie's blog tour for her wonderful new book Fussy Cutters' Club - A Boot Camp for Mastering Fabric Play. You can click through and read Angie's post launching the book here. I'll wait.


Fussy cutting has long been my main love about sewing - it's so fun to personalise projects and gifts using 'just the right' fussy cut motif.

Angie's book has 14 fabulous + fun projects, as well as a huge amount of really helpful technical info that will guide you through the fussy cutting process. There are projects for beginners and the more advanced fussy cutters amongst us.

For my blog hop stop, I chose to make the "1-2 Sucker Pouch' zip pouch, for two reasons:
1. I loved the shape of it and the pattern + construction method looked very nifty AND
2. Angie had chosen to use a precious Aunty Cookie for her pouch! - total no brainer.

I loved Angie's pattern and her use of Aunty Cookie so much, that I went ahead and made TWO pouches, BOTH with an Aunty Cookie!



Here is Angie's pouch from the book. Isn't it fabulous! - and just quietly, 'make quilts not war' - excellent suggestion.

image courtesy of C&T Publishing 
Angie's instructions for the pouch are really clear, and broken down into plenty of steps. Just be sure to read through everything first, and go slowly through each step, as the construction of the pouch is unlike any zippy I have made before - so intriguing!


The pouch is a fun way to showcase a combination of favourite fabrics, from the very tiny to the marginally less tiny.


See what I mean?


I can never have enough fussy cut words, and this project is perfect for them. 'Crafty zippy' below is from Berene Campbell's HappySewLucky shop on Spoonflower - it's called 'improv adjectives'.


Too much fun! 


Another fun little part of Angie's pattern, is that you can change the look of the ends of your pouch, depending on how you sew your fabrics together. 


That's a neat little trick, don't you think?


And my one little hot tip for when you make your own '1-2 Sucker Pouch', is to sew around any 'internal' raw edges you create as part of the pattern. 


I could not end my hop stop without sharing Angie's pic of 'Totes Amazeballs', another awesome project from her book. Along with some spectacular smaller fussy cuts, it features Vee and my 'Priscilla, Queen of the 'Burbs' screen printed cockatoo panel. We are both really thrilled and honoured that Angie chose to use Priscilla in such an amazing project AND that she included it in her book! 
image courtesy of C&T Publishing


Thanks so much for stopping by to share in the '1-2 Sucker Pouch' fun. Angie has created a website for the book to help provide you with all the information you need - head over to Fussy Cutters Club - there are gorgeous pics and links to create your own fussy cut world, and more importantly, the link you need to purchase your own copy of Angie's book. I can't wait for mine to arrive, I am checking the letter box every day! 

Please scroll down and get clicking to see the very sweet projects that some super talented peeps have made (or are still making!) as part of the blog hop.




7 October C&T Publishing

8 October Lisa from  Sweet Little Pretties

10 October Alyce from Blossom Heart Quilts

12 October Kerry from Kid Giddy + a giveaway!

14 October - today!

16 October Molli Sparkles + a giveaway!

18 October Peta from She Quilts a Lot

20 October Kirsty from Bonjour Quilts

22 October Nicole from Snips Snippets

24 October Bernie from Needle and Foot + a giveaway!

26 October Kristy from  Quiet Play Designs

28 October Lucy from Charm About You

30 October Sandy from Upstairs Hobby Room + a giveway!

1 November Raylee from Sunflower Stitcheries + a giveway!

3 November Bec from Skyberries Handmade

4 November and it's back to Angie from GnomeAngel


* Vanita  (Vee) and I are taking an indefinite break from cat&vee but have held on to the blog for now, though it's long sat silent. Our Etsy shop is closed, and we haven't used Pinterest in forever. We're both still active on instagram at @hellofromcat and @hellofromvee, so come and say hi over there. Cat x 
SaveSave

Thursday 19 January 2017

.: Farmer's Wife sew-along block 91 Sarah :.

Here is Sarah. Sarah was the most straight-forward of all my Farmer's Wife tutorial blocks to sew - there is a not a y-seam in sight!



You can sew Sarah without foundation paper piecing or templates - I rotary cut all the pieces, and worked out the quilt-maths to make the HSTs and flying geese star points all by myself! - which is a pretty massive achievement, as quilt-maths and I are not friends. As you know, I cannot share the measurements here as it would breach the author's copyright - but if you can figure out the size of the corner squares, knowing that the unfinished block is 6 1/2" square, you'll be off and running.

If you would like a little quilt-maths help for the HSTs and flying geese (they provide a MUCH better explanation than any I could share here):
For HSTs - click through to Alyce's very helpful tutorial.
For flying geese - click through to this Quilter's Cache tutorial. Of the three different methods shown, I like their 'Speed Piecing Method A' the most.

So let's get started
As mentioned, there are three basic units needed to make Sarah:
1. Corner squares.
2. Half square triangles.
3. Flying geese (star points).

In keeping with Sarah in the book, I chose only three fabrics.  You will need:

Fabric A (navy lions)
1. Four corner squares.
2. Two HST squares.

Fabric B (low volume lemons + flowers)
1. Two HST squares.
2. Four flying geese bases.

Fabric C (orange)
1. Eight squares for flying geese star points.




Make your HST and flying geese units
Once you have cut all your fabrics, you will need to rule a diagonal line - I always just use a sharp pencil - on the back of all eight of your flying geese star point squares; and on the back of your two low volume HST squares.


To create your HST units, place your low volume + print squares RST, then sew 1/4" either side of your drawn line (refer to the pic below - you may need your glasses or to zoom in, as yes, I realise now it would have helped significantly if I had thought to use a higher-contrast thread for these tutorial photos).

To create your flying geese units, place one star point square on one flying geese base, with the diagonal drawn line running from a top corner to the bottom middle, as pictured below.  Sew directly on the drawn line.

Once you have sewn all your HST + flying geese lines:
- for the HST units, trim directly ON the drawn pencil line. You will have four HST units.  Iron the seam open.  Trim each HST unit to the same size as your four corner squares (the navy lions in my block).
- for the flying geese units, trim 1/4" from your sewn line, being sure that you are trimming off the small outer triangles and not the flying goose base (in the pic below, you would place your 1/4" ruler line directly on the sewn line, with the outer edge of the ruler running 1/4" from the sewn line down to the right underneath).  Iron your seams open.



Place your remaining four star point squares on the other end of your flying geese units, with the drawn line running from the top corner to the bottom middle, as shown in the pic below. Again sew directly on the drawn line.  Trim 1/4" from the sewn line, being sure to trim off only the small outer triangles. Iron your seams open.




Block layout + sewing it together
Lay out all the units of your block as they will appear in the finished block, taking particular care with any directional prints, and ensuring that the fabrics in your central HST pinwheel are correctly oriented.

Sew the HST pinwheel together - join the top squares + bottom squares - this is one of the few times I iron seams to either side, to make sure the seams nest nicely when sewing the pinwheel together.


Sew your corner squares to the top and bottom flying geese units - iron the seams to the corner squares.

Sew your flying geese units to the central HST pinwheel - iron the seams to the pinwheel.

Sew your three rows together, taking care to match up your seams.

You are done!  Here's a pic of Sarah on point - which will work equally well as squared, unless you are sewing with directional fabrics like I have :-)


Good luck with your Sarah - she is a dream to sew.

The book you will need for the Farmer's Wife sew-along is The Farmer's Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt: Inspiring Letters from Farm Women of the Great Depression and 99 quilt blocks that honour them by Laurie Aaron Hird for Fons & Porter/F+W; RRP $28.99 - click here to purchase.


For all information about the Farmer's Wife sew-along, please click through to Angie's GnomeAngel blog - she has a separate tab for all the Farmer's Wife info, as well as a whole heap of info for her 2017 sew-alongs - it's definitely worth taking the time to make a cup of tea and have a good read through everything.  And if you would like to sew Sarah using Marti's fabulous templates, please take a click through to Marti Michell's blog for all the info.

Thanks very much for joining me for all my Farmer's Wife tutorials - this is my last one! xoxo cat



SaveSaveSaveSave
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...