Hexagons

Hello out there, I hope you all are enjoying your Summer. It's been hot for me, in the low 90s. But it's now 'cooled' down some and we even have a chance of Tstorms for the next few days. I love Summer on the Ridge!

Back in 2009, the Gals on the Q&N forum had a fabric swap. Well, we have had a LOT of fabric swaps. LOL, they are so much fun. In this case, we were swapping Sweet 16's. That's sixteen 9"x11" rectangles, all with the floral theme.

I cut my rectangles in 4, and made some 4" hexagons. I wanted them big, so that I can machine sew them together.

Then I sewed these down on some squares.

Those top three are going to go on my quilt-as-you go hexagon table runner. I need to buy some batting, then I can do a tute for you....as I know you all love quilt-as-you-go runners :)

Then I made another one, to show you how my table mats are coming out.

I sandwhiched this top with backing and batting, and quilted it down. Then I started adding some borders.

Now it just needs some binding.

Let me know if you want me to take you step by step thru the quilt-as-you-go process :)

Have a great day and,

Thanks for stopping by
Dorian

Playing with colors

For some new to the quilting world, choosing colors is one of the hardest parts of creating. Does this blue go well with that pink? Is this red too bright or too dull? Does purple look good next to green?

It’s not only about one color with another, because there are so many different shades and values of each color. That you can make almost any color look good next to another.

The color wheel is a great place to learn about colors and their values. There are primary colors, secondary colors, contrasting ones too. Here are a few different styles that you can choose from, when selecting a color wheel.

There are also nice color cards out there, like for paint, but for fabric. Here’s one from Moda.

These are great tools for  learning about color values, and is a good first step. You can play around with this just by looking in a big box of crayons! You know, those large ones that hold a billion colors ;)

Playing with fabric might be more fun though! Go to your local quilt store and look at their fat quarter bundles. This is a great way to see different values and contrasting colors. Most fabric lines have at least 10 different prints, showcasing the various colors to match the focal fabric.

The most important thing though, is too think about what colors YOU like. Or what colors the person you are making something for, likes.

So lets start with your focal fabric (I’m going to pretend shop online with you, while I talk with you about colors).

I’m going to buy some of this darling monkey print, from the Urban Zoologie line, for a baby quilt.

Looking at this fabric you will see four different colors. All in two or three different shades. So those colors are good ones to choose to go with these monkeys.

These lines are part of the Urban zoologie line, as are the dots. So you know the shades of blue/orange/green will all go well with monkeys.

But I like to add some solids or some tone on tone prints too. Or things get too busy. You want a spot or two to rest your eyes.

If you look at solid fabrics, you will see they are usually arranged by the shades of color.  You have pastels,  dusty’s, bright’s and darks. It a good idea to keep with the same shade throughout your quilt or project.  Although mixing  lighter colors with the darker ones,  will give you a great contrasting pattern. So you have to think about your pattern too. As many have secondary patterns within them, and they show well with contrasting colors.

Although there isn’t no tried and true color rules. You want your project to flow nicely together. So sticking to the same shades, or highly contrasting ones, are a good bet.

For my project, I think the dusty shades will go well. They aren’t too bright nor too dark. Here are some colors I’ve chosen to go with the monkey’s.

You’ll  notice that the green is a bit darker than the green in the monkey print, but it’s still in the dusty family. It’s not a bright nor a pastel.  The blue is almost the same exact as the light blue on the monkey. And the orange is very close too.

Here's how they look all next to each other.

Summary: Stick with colors in the same category. Contrasting fabrics go well together. Keep in mind the pattern and what you want it to say. Pick a focal fabric, and pull colors from it for your other fabrics. Using shades that are lighter or darker are fine, as long as they are in the same category.

I hope I haven’t confused all you new quilters with my rambling.

These are MY thoughts on colors, and there are thousands of thoughts out there.  So please don’t feel my way is the only way. This is just how I do things.

Hope you’re enjoying your Summer.

Baby quilts

The Gals and I on the forum love making baby quilts. They are small, lovely and fun to do together. If a member is expecting a Grandchild, or niece/nephew/etc. then we all pitch in and make a quilt. We have volunteers to make blocks, send in backing/batting/binding and border fabric, one for piecing, one for quilting.

This is one of my favorite patterns to put together. It is SO CUTE. Especially the soft pastels on the white.

We got the free pattern from quiltpox, thank you!

The pattern is simple, just these two blocks.

I have to add the small white border, then I can ship it off to another member for quilting.

Do you like to make baby quilts too? What is your favorite pattern?

Have a great day,

Thanks for stopping by,

Dorian

Octagonal table topper, part 2

Hello out there! You are all so quiet, hope you're enjoying the Summer.

I've finished my topper, although I made the large outer border with some applique in mind. I think it just 'screams' for some applique or embroidery. But I am not up to it right now.

For your backing and batting, cut a square that extends about an inch beyond the sides, and center your block on it. Smoothing and pinning as normal (sorry, forgot to take a picture). Quilt and trim.

Do you see my mistake? That fold there . It's from not mitering that corner (the one with the pin in it) at the right angle. I was off a smidge. And didn't realize it till it was quilted. No, I am NOT going to take it out. LOL, I thought about it, but decided that since this was just for me, I will leave it.

 

Ok, on to the binding. This particular binding is 2" wide. I usually use 2.5", but this one was already made and seemed to fit fine.

Start in the middle of one straight side. When you get to the corner, take a back stitch and snip your thread. You noticed I stopped right at the corner, not 1/4" away from it.

Fold your binding back on itself, matching the fold along the seam.

Hold that fold, and unfold the rest the binding and fit it to the next side. Using a pin to keep that fold in place.

Sew that side, stop at corner, repeat all the way around. Sewing the ends together as you normally would.

Turn your piece over. Fold the binding down, making sure you go OVER the seam line. Put a pin on either side of a corner.

Fold the corner, tucking under the right side, and folding the left over it. Making  a nice corner seam. Pin.

After it's all pinned on, sew it down. Either by hand or machine.

Here is my front and back, yes, I machine sew the back of my binding down. You can read how I do it here.

Close up of my quilting. I'm getting good at straight lines...practice, practice! :)

And my finished topper.

 

Hope you enjoyed my little tute. I love comments, so feel free to jabber away ;) If there is something you would like to see me post about, let me know.

Have a great day!

Thanks for stopping by,

Dorian

Octagonal table topper, part 1

Well Summer has arrived finally. We are having some partly cloudy, partly sunny days in the 70s, perfect weather!

So I thought I'd do a tutorial on my hexagon table topper. This is a great thing to show case some of those large prints, or those that you are having trouble cutting up.

Start out with a nice sized square, mine is 10"x10".

You want your corners to be cut, so that all 8 of your 'sides', or strait edges are roughly the same size. So  you want to cut your square at close to the third mark. I placed my ruler so that I was cutting 3" up and over.

Cut all your corners the same way, the same length. Now all my straight sides are roughly 4".

Pick your border fabric. I chose some red strips that are 2" wide. Cut four of those strips 2" longer than one straight side. So I cut mine 6". Fold one hexagon side in half and pinch, to mark the middle. Do the same for your border strip. Pin at the pinch, and sew with a 1/4" seam.

Add your four 6" border like this.

Take your ruler, place the corner of it right along the edge of one side, and lay the ruler down along the diagonal corner to the outside edge of the other strip. Add an inch, and cut four more strips. Mine are 10" long.

Place one 10" strip on diagonal corner. And sew a 1/4" seam.  Place ruler along side it and cut off the ears.

Now to make your hexagon a hexagon, and not a square at this point, place your ruler from one side to the other along the corner strip edge. Making sure you cut off the same length on each side (just like you did your first square).

Cut off all your corners. 

Now all my straight sides are now 5.5". My next border is 4.5" in width, and I am going to show you how to miter the corners. So to the 5.5", add twice the width, so 9". Cut eight strips that are 14" long.

Fold one side of the hexagon, and the strip you are going to add to it, pinch to find your middle. And pin together. Sew 1/4" seam, making sure you START and STOP 1/4" from the corner. You can even put a dot at each corner, so you remember to stop/start there. Sewing with the octagon on top.

 

This time you can add your strips straight around, you don't have to add them on opposite sides and then the corners. Pin back the first strip, so it doesn't get in your way.

When adding your next strips, make sure you start EXACTLY at the end of your previous seam. Not on it, not in front or behind it. Right on the end.

When you have all your border strips on, it will look like this.

These corners are a smidge over 60 degrees. If you have a ruler that measures exact degrees, you can use that to make your miters.

I don't have a ruler like that, so this is what I do. Fold your topper so that two sides are right sides together, matching up all sides.

 Lay your ruler along the fold of your topper, making sure the edge is right at the end of the seam on your border.

Draw a line from that tip of the seam, to the bottom of your strip.

Pin and sew RIGHT on that line. Making sure you start at the very end of that seam, not on it, before it or after it.

Cut off the end, leaving a 1/4" seam.

Do that for all your corners. It's so important to get that degree just right. Or your topper wont lay flat (as this one will once I iron it ;)

 

I'll be back in a few days, to talk about quilting this and adding some embelishments. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Dorian

©Copyright D. Lucas, 2011 This is my tutorial. You are welcome to use any of my tutorials for personal use. You are not permitted to use my pictures or my words without linking back to the original and giving me credit for them.