A fish for you

As requested, and then promised, I've prepared a tutorial for the fish block I used in my recent baby quilt (shown *here*).

When I was wanting to insert the row of pieced fish in the quilt, I couldn't find one that was quite like what I wanted.
After a bit of sketching, I had something I could draw up in EQ8...then I could work out what would be a good size for my particular project.

Anyway, without further ado, here's what I did.

Six Inch Pieced Fish

Here's what you cut —
Main body of fish - 1 x (3 ½" square) plus 1 x (4 ½" square cut into quarters) *more on this later*
Fins and tail of fish - 2 x (2" squares) plus 1 x  (4 ½" square cut into quarters) *more on this later*
Background fabric - 4 x (2" x 3½" rectangles) plus 2 x (2" squares)

plus 1 x ( (4 ½" square cut into quarters) *more on this later*

These are laid out as they will be in the finished block.

* If you look at the photo above you will see that the tail unit of the fish only requires 1 of the body fabric triangles, 1 of the tail fabric triangles and 2 of the background fabric triangles. This is ok if you are making a lot of fish as you will use the leftovers for more fish. If you're just making one or two fish, you may like to cut a paper template and use it to just cut the quarters needed, to save lots of loose triangles cluttering up your scrap bin. If you do make a paper template remember to keep the grainlines correct.
Here's what I mean —

Draw diagonal lines on the back of the 2" squares —

Place the 2" squares on two of the  (2" x 3½" background squares), and the (3 ½" fish body square) as shown below —

Sew on the drawn lines, press and trim the excess fabric from the back of the pieces —

Sew the above units together (whoops, I forgot to take the photo) as laid out in the above photo. Put aside for now.

Sew the triangles together into pairs—

And then sew the two pairs together. Trim this unit to 3½". The centre of the unit will be at the 1¾" mark.

Sew the two remaining (2" x 3½" rectangles) to either side of this unit —

Sew the two units together —

(See how I've pressed my seams so they nest nicely)(Yes, you'll notice an error below) —

Don't get distracted like I did —

Correct version of fish —

Your fish will now measure 6½"  - 6" once sewn into the finished quilt.

I hope this is clear and easy to follow. Just ask any questions in the comment section. And let me know if  you use it :-)

It's day three of lock down for me. Keeping well and truly sane so far.  For today's walk I didn't climb any big hills.

Instead I turned right at the bridge —

And had a flatter walk. It was a beautiful morning —

'til next time,

safe and happy stitches,

 

A flimsy and a (short) tutorial

While hunkering down with all the rain we've had recently I managed a little some sewing time, not much else to do once the animals are fed and the fire stoked!
I (finally) got Goodnight Irene, the scrappy sewalong hosted by Terry of Terry's Treasures, to the flimsy stage!! I am really happy with how she is looking! At this stage I have no idea how I will quilt her (any thoughts?) so I guess it's ok that she sits on the flimsy pile for a bit waiting her turn - it will give me some thinking time :-)

"Goodnight Irene" onto the flimsy pile :-)

I also had a little fun making this trivet/hot mat —

I had come across a video on YouTube, Potholders and Kitchen Quilts by Kaye Wood, and thought it would be nice to try it out. It was pretty straight forward to make, and a little different, too. So I don't have to watch the video again I started to take notes, and then thought that it could be a good idea to take photos to remind me and then I thought why not put them on my blog in tutorial form so I can easily access it all and so that others could make one too, if they wished ..... So here it is —
(Full credit to Kaye for her YouTube instructions; there is a lot more information on the video, including variations, than what I am writing here, so do go to the link if you are interested.)

Step One; Start with a Hexagon. The ones Kaye used were 8" (measured from a straight side to the opposite side) but mine is 8 1/2" so I adjusted some measurements accordingly.
(Kaye talked in detail about fussy cutting the main fabric so a feature or detail ended up in the centre of the star. I didn't bother).
You also need a 5" strip of contrasting fabric. Because my hexagon was slightly bigger I cut my strip at 6" wide. To determine what width to cut if you have altered the hexagon size, go to step two and play with a square of paper.
Press the strip right sides together and sew LESS than 1/4" along the bottom edge...see photo below :-)

 Step Two; Slice the strip into 5" pieces.... if you have altered the width of your strip, slice it at that measurement..ie.. My strip was 6" wide so it got sliced into 6" pieces. You will want 6 pieces.
Fold the strip as shown in the photo below, pressing as you do it so that you have nice crisp edges to your triangle. Find the centre of each side of the hexagon and pin on the triangles, matching up the centres.
(*If you are altering the sizes, the bottom of this triangle should measure about the same as a side of your hexagon*).

 Step Three; Sew down the centre of each triangle (where the folded edges meet)to secure it. This is indicated by the pin in the photo below.

 Step Four; To complete your trivet you need some Insul Bright and some cotton batting (this absorbs condensation), both cut the same size as the hexagon. Make the hexagon for the back about 7/8" bigger all round. This will be folded to the front as binding so use a fabric you like for this!!
Lay the background down, wrong side up, then centre the cotton batting, the Insul Brite and the top piece (right side up) on top of it.
Pin through all layers to prevent them from moving, then press over the edges of the backgound twice to form a binding. Pin in place.

Step Five; Carefully machine stitch the binding on. Sew around the outside of the folded triangles (but not on them) to add more definition to the star.

Tada! One finished trivet! These don't take too long to make and I think they would make nice little gifts :-)
I'm keen to make some more...these would be fun as coasters and placemats too..... Maybe they will inspire some of you too.
And thank you to Kaye Wood for her video.
Happy creating everyone, and thanks for visiting,

A Scrappy Project

(A post where I use a (small) ufo, sew some scraps AND make a Christmas gift!)

We all know Raewyn likes a challenge, so when SewCalGal announced she had some for us this year I was keen to learn more :-)

[You may remember the Free Motion Quilting challenges she has run the past 2 years, I had a lot of fun with them].

One of her 2014 challenges is the  "Handmade Christmas Challenge" which really appealed to me - oh to be more organised for Christmas time! As I was already hoping for more of a Handmade Christmas this year, I was sold! 

We are asked to make a Christmas gift or Christmas decorating item, to share it, and some tips, hints or even a tutorial to inspire others. 

Easy enough, you may think, but where to start?!!

Blocks from Flirting with Flowers by Vicki Tucek, now called the
Pickledish Patch.

These little blocks were part of a free block of the month project which Vicki Tucek (The Pickledish Patch) offered during 2010. (They are still available, for a small charge, on her site). It was one of my first forays into needleturn applique and I really enjoyed making them. As is often the way, I never quite finished the project and the blocks have sat forgotten, but not unloved, waiting for attention for a while now.
I pulled one block out recently and have given it a new life. I decided it was the perfect size for a book cover.
I have a formula I use when making book covers. Close the book and measure the full size of it; that is, run the tape measure across the front, around the spine and then across the back. Add 9" to this measurement. Then measure the height of the book and add 1" to that.

Then it is a matter of joining your fabric pieces until you get to this size. Approx. 4 1/2" at each end will be inside flaps so I usually keep those unpieced, but for the rest of the cover I play around until the fabrics that I want to use all fit together.
Then I back it with a light iron-on pellon, or similar, and lightly quilt it. The quilting may not be necessary but I like the finish it gives. For this one, I stitched in all the ditches and then free motioned around the applique pieces.
Once I've joined the lining to the front at each end only, I make the flaps by tucking the side seam in. [If you don't know this method, let me know and I will share that, I didn't take a photo at the time and it is easiest to illustrate by a photo]. [Explanantion for lack of detail further on in post].

The ladybird is too cute!

Quite by accident I discovered a good way to do the lining; rather than starting with one large piece the size of my cover, I join two pieces together so there is a seam down the centre. Leave an opening in that join - you can pull the cover through it to turn it right side out...I find it a lot neater than leaving an opening in one of the outside edges.

Finished cover 

Internal shot!

Without too much fuss, we have a book cover!!
I hope you've found these points useful and maybe they will inspire you to pull out a lonely block and turn it into something new.

Apologies for the lack of photos for this tutorial/post. While I was finishing it off yesterday afternoon I was mentally distracted by a bushfire raging across the road. Devastating and heartbreaking. Some of our beautiful bush across the road has gone, as well as some Reserve Land and the neighbour's bush and pines. Apparently the gulleys of big trees are still intact but the ridges are burnt out. There were some huge flames. Helicopters were working into the night and are back there this morning. I'm not looking forward to having to face facts and actually see the damage myself.
No-one was hurt, no stock were harmed, no buildings or vehicles were 'in the way' and rain is forecast so I guess we have plenty to feel thankful for.

To see more Christmas sewing projects click *here*
To go to Scrap Basket Sunday, hosted by Kim's Big Quilting Adventures, click *here*
Thank you to both lovely ladies for inspiring and motivating us yet again :-)
Happy stitching everyone,
Have a great day,