Up Next: Christmas Strip Quilt

 2.5 inch strips of random lengths. 

 Half red.

Half green.

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Method:  Grab one red, then one green, sew.  One more red, one more green.  Sew.  Repeat.  Repeat.  Repeat ... until I have about a five mile long fabric strip.  Then I'll cut that strip up into 48 patchwork strips of 62 inches long each.  Sew again.  :-)  This will be a twin-sized quilt for Eli's bed.

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Progress photos soon.  I'm linking with Fabric Tuesday.

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Posted by Riel Nason on The Q and the U

Selvage Angel: Winging It

 Today I thought I'd show a few process photos of the making of the selvage angel.  I started the wings.  Like the Tinkerbell wrapping paper I drew my template shape on? :-)

 I decided to make each wing out of two sections to add a bit more interest.  It allowed me to angle the selvages in each part.

 Because I am using brown tones and more muted colours than in my usual selvage creations, I am using just selvages with words of the same muted colour tones.

The pair.

Next up, the face.  (And of course, everything needs tweaking and shaping.  It will not be so blocky looking in the end ... or I hope not anyway.)

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Posted by Riel Nason on The Q and the U

Just One Little Christmas Pillowcase

Have a great weekend everyone!
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Posted by Riel Nason on The Q and the U

A Small Start on the Christmas Selvage Angel

 I finally started a little bit on the selvage angel.  I drew out a better "pattern" (I use that term so loosely).  This gives me a better idea of the rough shapes I need to make with the selvages.

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I also washed, ironed and sorted the beige selvages that I am using for the angel's robe and hair.

 I started sewing all the selvages together for the robe.  I still need to add more to the top, but this is probably 2/3 of the height I need.  I used a glue stick to help me out this time. It allowed me to lay out a whole bunch of selvages before I even went to the sewing machine.

 This is the thread I bought to use.  I am using the copper metallic thread for sewing the beige selvages together now.  You can see the stitching in the photo below.  I like the subtle sparkle it adds.  It is the first time I have sewn selvages with a thread that shows, but I wanted to try something different.  I really feel the pressure to sew as straight as I can. :-)

Thanks for stopping by!

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I'm linking up with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced and WIP Wednesday at The Needle and Thread Network.

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Posted by Riel Nason on The Q and the U

Christmas Quilt Top For Tess

 This year I am determined to make a Christmas quilt for each of my children.  Since they already have 2 Halloween quilts a piece, it was time to move on to a new season.  This is my daughter's quilt, done to quilt top form. 

 She has a double bed, but I think this quilt is closer to Queen size.  It was photographed in front of double doors and my six-foot-tall husband is standing on a dining room chair behind there.  :-)

 I love, love the fabrics in this.  So bright, cheerful, modern, fun and girly!  Many are Michael Miller fabrics and Robert Kaufman Christmas fabrics from this year and last.  There are also some other non-Christmas fabrics I mixed in because I thought the colours worked.

 Those are eight inch squares.  I alternated between plain squares and those with a single frame.  I had a lot of fabrics to work with so I am really pleased with the variety of squares.  I think I only had to repeat a fabric combination on the framed squares maybe twice.

I'll be sending this out to be quilted.  It is simply too big for me to attempt! (See you soon Tina)

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Thanks for stopping by!  Happy Quilting.

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Posted by Riel Nason on The Q and the U

Simple Selvage Squares Quilted and Bound

 All done!  Yay!  My husband and I drove to Halifax (4 hours away) earlier this week so I could be interviewed on Live at 5 and take part in a reading series to promote my novel  The Town That Drowned.  As we drove, I happily sewed down the binding on this quilt.

 Although each of my kids have asked for this quilt, it is mine all mine! :-)  (They are each getting Christmas quilts soon anyway)

 The tutorial I wrote to make the squares is here, should you want to make one of these quilts too (It's a fun project!).  The squares are 6 inch squares.

 And look what showed up in our yard overnight.  In this pic the quilt is camouflaging itself.  With all the selvages this quilt has more white in it than any quilt I've made.

 This photo shows the backing and binding.  The backing is a large scale Jennifer Paganelli print.  The binding is a Lakehouse fabric -- pink and orange stripes.  The binding fabric definitely called my name.

I quilted it myself.  On one side of each seam I used a straight line and on the other side a wavy line (a stitch on my machine, I didn't have to move the fabric around).  I used the regular foot on my machine, still no walking foot for me.

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This quilt is being featured today on ...

Thanks so much Heather!

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See you next week!  Hope everyone has a great weekend.  Posted by Riel Nason on The Q and the U

Christmas Fabric

 This year I decided to buy some Christmas fabric.  I had a little bit last year, but not a "stash" really.  Some of these pieces I bought with specific projects in mind.  Some I didn't.  For example, the two Hallmark Free Spirit fabrics above I don't have a plan for, but they were simply too pretty to leave behind.

 These candy canes are for Eli's Christmas quilt this year.

 These snowmen may or may not end up in the same quilt as the candy canes.

 I bought this Studio E fat quarter bundle with no plan in mind.  I just liked it and it was on sale.  :-)

And finally a few more fat quarters to use in the Selvage Angel.

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Thanks for stopping by!  Posted by Riel Nason on The Q and the U

This Christmas It Will Be A Selvage Angel

 So, last year it was a Selvage Snowman, but this year it's a Selvage Angel.  My very rough plan is above.  That's as good as my design/pattern is going to get.  I'll be making it up, freestyling, as I go along and, good or bad,  posting my progress on the blog. 

 It will be a large wall hanging, not a bed quilt.  I have no idea just how large it will turn out, but I am definitely aiming for smaller rather than larger.

 And, to make it more fun this time, I am stepping COMPLETELY outside my normal colour range.  This was inspired by the large pile of beige selvages sent to me by Linda of 13th Street Studio.  She completely spoiled me with this huge stash.  There are more than plenty to make a beige dress for the angel as well as to give her beige hair.  So, to go with this beige ...

... I opted out of my usual bright fabrics this time and went with black, ivory, gold, beige and brown.  The two fabrics above are likely the main fabrics, to be used for a lot of the background, and the fabrics below will make up the patchwork border.

 The colours aren't reading quite true on my computer screen, but the fabrics do go quite well together I think, even if I don't love them. 

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So, I have the plan, and the selvages, and the fabric, at least.  Plus some gold metallic thread for quilting.  Now I just need to start the actual making of it.  I have some book promo commitments this week, but maybe by late in the week I can get a wee bit of time to start. 

And just for fun, here's a pic of my shopping cart when I was buying fabric today.  I buy it in Calais, Maine at a place called Marden's.  I go infrequently, so when I get there, I load up.  Plus the prices are awesome -- everything in my cart was between $1.99 and $4.49 a yard. 

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Happy Quilting!  Posted by Riel Nason on The Q and the U

12 Days of Christmas Sampler Quilt Along: Modern Selvage Snowflake Block

Welcome!  Today it's my turn to show my block and tutorial for the 12 Days of Christmas Sampler Quilt Along.  You can join the Quilt Along at any time.  More information and the master list of all the bloggers participating is here.

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So, I thought a lot about what to make, and in the end I couldn't resist a selvage creation.  It's just what I do.  And a sampler is a sampler right?  The more variety the better I figure.  But I know that using selvages isn't for everyone, so I compromised by making a block with just a wee bit of subtle selvage flair ...

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So here we go.  You will need a pile o' scraps, white thread, and a single selvage strip about 1 1/4 yards long.

 Choose your centre fabric.  This is what you will be putting the snowflake on, so a solid is a good choice.  Something with a small or subtle pattern would also work.  Cut a 6 inch square.

 Grab a pencil, pen, or whatever you usually use to mark fabric with.  Draw a line down the center of the block.  Then measure one inch down from the top and one inch up from the bottom on each side edge and make a mark.  Join the lines across the centre of the block to create an X with all lines intersecting in the middle. 

 Measure 2 inches out from the centre on each line and make a mark.

 Then measure 1 1/4 inches from the centre onto each line and make marks again.

 Join the centre marks with lines as shown.  Then draw 1 inch lines on each of the outer marks as shown.  This is your snowflake pattern.

 Next grab your selvage.  I am using a plain white piece here so you actually don't even know it's a selvage.  Feel free to use the parts with words.  Christmas fabric selvages with words like "Snow" and "Christmas" etc. would be fun to use.  Trim the selvage so just 1/4 inch of fabric is showing above the white part.

 Fold the 1/4 inch of fabric to the back so just the white part is showing on the front.  Press.

 Cut 12 pieces of selvage measuring 1 1/2 inches each.  Cut 2 pieces measuring 8 inches each and 1 piece measuring 7 inches.

 Take 6 of the 1 1/2 inch pieces and fold 1/4 inch on each end to the back.  Press the fold into place.  Each piece will now be 1 inch long.  Set these aside.

 Take the other 6 pieces that are 1 1/2 inches long and place them over the middle lines of the snowflake as shown above.  Use scissors to trim each edge at an angle.  Don't worry about raw edges here as these will be eventually covered over and won't show.

 Time to sew the pieces down.  Use white thread.  Sew very close to the edge of the selvage the whole way around.  Since these are small pieces you can just hold them in place to sew, or if you want, use a touch of adhesive, or a pin to hold them in place.  Sometimes now I use a touch of glue stick, but it really is fine to just hold it -- no fancy supplies needed.

 This photo shows how close I sew to the edge.  (Click to enlarge the photo if you like)

 Sew all the centre pieces into place.  Then sew all the pieces with the folded edges over the little lines near the edge of the snowflake spokes.

 Take one of the 8 inch selvage pieces and sew across the diagonal.  This will start to cover raw edges in the middle.  Make sure they are under this selvage piece.  Then, sew the other diagonal.  Then finally, use the 7 inch selvage piece to sew down the middle.

 Ta da!  Trim the extra selvage bits off.

 Cut 4 pieces of fabric that are 1 1/4 inches wide.  Two should be at least 6 inches long and two should be at least 9 inches long.  I prefer (and especially when using scraps) to cut pieces a little bigger and then trim back to size at the end.   Oh, and notice I got some orange into my block, hee, hee.  (For those who are stopping by the blog for the first time, I sometimes get teased about my use of orange)

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Sew these pieces around your snowflake block using a 1/4 inch seam as shown in the photo below.

 Now, once sewn, tilt your block at a slight angle as shown in the photo above.  Then trim the block to 7 inches square.  Your framed pieces will be cut at an angle.  This makes the snowflake look a bit more like it is falling I think.

 Next cut 4 more pieces that are 1 1/4 inches wide.  Two should be at least 7 inches long and two should be at least 11 inches long.  Sew this frame around the block using a 1/4 inch seam.  Then, this time, tilt your block slightly the other way, and then trim it back to 7 3/4 inches square.  (See the angled pieces in the photo below).

 Finally, cut 4 pieces that are 3 inches wide.  Two should be at least 8 inches long and two should be at least 14 inches long.  Sew around the block using a 1/4 inch seam.  Trim the finished block back to 12 1/2 inches square ... aaaaaannd  you're done! 

Variations: 

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The snowflake doesn't have to look like mine.  The same technique can be used for a simpler or more detailed flake.  This tutorial I wrote last year may give you some ideas. 

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Those frames don't have to be at an angle.  I think it makes the block a bit more interesting but they certainly could just be straight ahead frames.

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The eight pieces making up the frames in the middle section could be eight different fabrics which I think would look cool.

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I am so excited to see the blocks everyone makes.  Share yours in the Flickr pool for the Quilt Along if you'd like.  If you have any questions, leave them in the comments and I'll answer right in the comments too so everyone can see the answer.

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Thanks for stopping by!

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Posted by Riel Nason on The Q and the U