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Friday, April 29, 2022

Teeny Tiny Garden Basket ~ Part Two

 If you've ever wanted to try making an applique handle basket block, now is a great time to give it a whirl.  You don't need a lot of fabric, and you'll see it's not hard at all.  So....please join me in this tutorial!

Ready to begin the handle applique adventure?  No worries....I'll take you through every step of the way.  

Follow along with the instructions in your Garden Basket pattern.  If you need the pattern, click here.

The first step is to cut your bias strip.  Follow the directions in the pattern to cut the strip.



Using the Clover 1/4 inch bias maker, push the pointed edge of the bias strip into the wide part of the tool.

You may need to help the fabric through by inserting the tip of a pin in the slot on the bottom and push the fabric until it comes out a bit.  

Stop when the fabric begins to come out of the narrow end.

Grab a little of the fabric, and then iron the fabric as you pull the tape maker along, ironing as you go.

The bias maker automatically turns the (tiny) raw edges of the strip under while you press it in place.  Voila!  Amazing and so, so easy!  Trim the bias strip to the size for the handle as stated in the pattern.

Mark the triangle as instructed in the pattern (that way you will get a perfectly symmetrical handle every time!), then stay stitch the ends of the handle in place at the very bottom of the triangle.

Smooth the handle with your fingers and glue in position.  The center of the handle should touch the square you drew at the top of the triangle.

Hand or machine stitch the handle to the background triangle.

If hand stitching, I recommend using silk thread.  You can read my silk thread tutorial here.

Sew the basket bottom unit to the handle unit.  So darn cute already!

Add the basket side units....

...and the bottom triangle.  Your basket is done!  If you're like me, you wanna make more of them....lot's more!

Remember, if an applique basket isn't in your wheelhouse, no worries!  The Garden Basket pattern includes this all-pieced basket for you to make instead.

I added the three petal appliques to my basket a bit later in the process.  


Also, I received a lot of emails inquiring about the background fabric I used, and the pieced fabrics in the basket block.  

The pieced fabrics are mostly from my Prairie Dry Goods collection, but used many fabrics from other collections, too.

The background fabric is from my Farmer's Daughter collection and can be purchased here.

If you enjoyed this tutorial, I'd love to know.  My blog comments haven't been working well for a long time, so if you'd like, email me with your thoughts: Pam@HeartspunQuilts.com

Next up....we will tackle the pieced border and finish our quilt!

IN THE STUDIO.....I'm working on a bunch of new things and need to make some room for the new stuff that will be coming.  So, I've selected a bunch of patterns and put them on sale for $5 each.  Click here to browse the sale patterns.

Keep your needle busy and your heart content.  Be well....


Friday, April 22, 2022

Teeny Tiny Garden Basket ~ Part One

Welcome to part one of my Teeny Tiny Garden Basket sew along.  I'm delighted you're joining me!  

In my first Teeny Tiny quilt instructions, I wrote that when we first begin to learn piecing, we struggle with piecing large pieces.  As time and practice hours go by, we get better and better.  Once that 1/4 seam is mastered, there is nothing we can't do!  But, still....many of us remain intimidated by tiny pieces thinking there's no way we can do that.  Oh, but aren't those tiny pieces and blocks just the cutest?

The secret to working with tiny pieces in pretty simple.  Master your 1/4 inch seam, give yourself time to adjust to holding small pieces of fabric, and don't be in a rush.  Take your time.  All of this advice still holds true.

If you're still struggling with sewing an accurate 1/4 inch seam, you can read my previous blog post here to learn very helpful info.   Master your 1/4 inch before proceeding with your tiny pieces.  Once you do, you will have success in everything you piece.  It's time well spent.

If your 1/4 inch seam is good to go, then let's get started!

Following along with your Teeny Tiny Garden Basket quilt pattern, today, we will make our basket block base.   

Make your Half Square Triangle units, remembering they are trimmed to the size you need.  

Arrange the Half Square Triangles and assorted dark print triangles as directed.  

Sew them together into vertical rows; press.  

Then, sew the rows together; press.  Nice work for week one!  Remember - there is a no-applique version of the basket in the pattern for those of you who don't enjoy applique.

If you're just joining us, you can buy the Garden Basket pattern here.

We will continue next Friday when I give you step by step instructions of how I made my applique handle.  If you've ever wanted to try this technique, this is the perfect time to do so.  I promise....it really isn't hard at all!!!  

I highly recommend that you pick up the Clover Bias maker, 1/4 inch size, at your LQS.  It's not expensive (under $10) and worth every penny.  Easy to use and the results are amazing!

 If you'd like to work ahead, by all means do so.  PLEASE - Post photos with hashtag #teenytinyquiltclub 

In the meantime....keep your needle busy and your heart content.

Be well.....

Friday, April 15, 2022

Teeny Tiny Garden Basket ~ Reveal!

 Welcome to my new Teeny Tiny Quilt Club project called... 

Garden Basket

Teeny Tiny Garden Basket is our next project.  The truth is, I love, love, love basket blocks and have wanted to make a basket with an applique handle for a long time.  While it is my intention that the projects for this club be very small, this one grew to 12 inches square.  Yes, small but not teeny tiny.  The basket block is perfect for spring, and I didn't have another project for spring ready to go, so I took creative license, and went ahead anyway. 

While designing the quilt, I really did want to keep it small, but all the things I tried just didn't make this basket the center of attention, and I really wanted it to be the focal point.  So, this is the final result, and I hope you like it!

Now, if applique is a FOUR letter word for you, don't worry!  I love the appliques on this quilt, but if you don't applique, you are welcome to fuse your pieces or use wool.  There's also an alternate option (above) to make a basket without applique.  

Just a refresher on how the club will work...

Anyone can participate, and I sincerely hope you all do!  Starting next Friday, I will post a three week sew-along sharing a tip or two as we piece this project over the next few weeks.

Click here to download the Teeny Tiny Garden Basket pattern for small fee.  

You can begin to choose your fabrics, prepare and cut your pieces.  Be creative and make yours anyway you'd like! If you want to work ahead, do so!

Let's meet back here next Friday to begin our sew~along.  I'm so, so jazzed to sew this small quilt with you!

In order that we can all see each other's progress, fabrics, and quilts, please use hashtag #teenytinyquiltclub  Oh, it will be so fun to get inspiration from each other!!  

If you're not sure how to view photos tagged with #teenytinyquiltclub, you can enter it as search within Instagram and  Google's search bar.  So post away with the club hashtag.  

So....let the fun begin! 

P.S. If the text size appears large and small in different paragraphs, I apologize about that.  I'm not typing it that way.  Blogger is doing that for some odd reason.  Crazy!


Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Teeny Tiny Quilt Club ~ New Quilt Coming Soon!

 
The next quilt in my Teeny Tiny Quilt Club will be revealed Friday, April 15th!!  While it is my intention that all of the quilts for this club would be tiny,  the next quilt isn't quite as tiny as the last one.  It be small, but in the design process, the quilt took me another way, and grew a little larger.  Still....it's pretty small and I sincerely hope you love it as much as I do!

Friday, I will reveal the quilt, along with the link to purchase the pattern.  You can choose your fabrics, and get them all cut ahead of the beginning of our sew-along date.  I'm sorry, but I won't have kits for the quilts in this club as they would be very labor intensive to cut, and would really raise the price of the kit.  I know you have loads of fabrics in your stash and scrap box....so use them up!  We will all be making room for more new fabrics!!  Teehee.

Mark your calendar and let's meet right back here on Friday.  I can hardly wait to share this wonderful quilt with all of you!!!  

Keep your needle busy and your heart content.....Be well....

Wednesday, April 6, 2022

Blue Quilts Quilted

 The two quilts made from my new Old Blue Calicos fabric collection are back home from being quilted and photographed.

I thought I would share photos of how they turned out.  We've had a whole lotta rain here this past week and it's overcast today.  Great for seeing the quilting details....not so great for seeing the fabric in it's true colors.  The quilt above (and below) is Charleston Landing.

The quilt details look wonderful.  The blue fabrics look washed out against the daylight coming through the window.  Poor baby has been in a box and you can see the folds.  Time to lay it out on a bed for awhile!


Look at how different the colors of this fabric appear in the two photos above.  Amazing!  The bottom photo is closest to what the fabric really looks like.  This print is one of my favorites from the line.  It also appears in Pinks of the Past and probably would look wonderful in any color.  It's c1850 and speaks to my heart.
This quilt is called Nines in the Middle....a Log Cabin block with a Nine Patch in the center.  
I love, love, love Log Cabin blocks! 
I didn't have enough fabric left of my sample yardage of any of the Old Blue Calicos prints to use as the backing for this quilt, so I used what I had on hand.  This backing is actually a super soft woven fabric called Shot Cloth.  Marcus had it a few years ago in about 20 colors.  It's so soft and lovely, I adore using it as a backing.  Not to mention how well it shows off the quilting.

I know lots of you recently received your Charleston Landing and Nines in the Middle kits, and I wanted to share the quilted quilts with all of you.  Both of the quilt patterns are available here.

You can shop for Old Blue Calicos fabric yardage and Fat Quarters at your LQS or buy them here.

IN THE STUDIO.....I am a busy bee planning future stuff, but also wanted to share some news that is a bit of a bummer.  First of all....there will be a delay in getting my next fabric lines in due to the ever growing shipping problems.  Looks like the end of summer before the next collections are delivered.  Sigh.  And, it also looks like the price of cotton, which just saw an increase, will be going up again.  As I said....bummer!  

For some good news, I will be offering another project in my Teeny Tiny Quilt Club!  The quilt is made, and I'm hand quilting it now, writing directions, and getting everything ready for you.  It will be sometime this month.  Hint: start cutting (40) 1 1/4 squares in scrappy colors and prints.  I'm super jazzed to show you the quilt!  

In the meantime, keep your needle busy and your heart content.  Be well....pray for Ukraine.