Part 2: HST String Quilt Tutorial

Now that you have completed your HST Blocks we can move on to assembling the design.  To view Part 1:  HST String Block Tutorial, please see last Tuesday's Post HERE]

Materials Needed to complete quilt:
5/8 yard Bright print  for binding
1 1/2 yards  Coordinating Print for Border
2 yards Backing fabric for this project

Cutting mat, Ruler, & Rotary cutter
Sewing machine, thread
Iron & starch spray
Batting of your choice

Cut:
8- 2 1/2" X WOF strips for binding from "Bright Print" or another totally unrelated fabric
5- 4 1/4" X 50" strips for Border from coordinating fabric that is not your "Bright Print" and not your Coordinating Solid, this can be a fabric that was used in scrap materials in the String block-making.  This fabric will be cut parallel to the salvage.

If you are cutting borders from yardage, measure along the salvage 25", then fold the fabric so the measurement will equal 50" when trimmed.  Use your folded salvage as your constant in measuring because the outside salvage can vary in width, although most are constant, it is better not to take the chance. From the 1 1/2 yards listed you will have some scrap fabric as it is hard to describe the exact measurement of what is required.

Take the 50" length fabric fold in half and then fold in half again, making sure the folded salvage side lines up exactly to keep the fabric straight.  It may help to iron it in place to make sure you have a straight finish cut.  Trim off the salvage edge first, then measure out a 8 1/2" cut, subcutting into 4 1/4" cuts for the final border.  You want to start from the salvage edge and work towards the folded salvage so you can keep the largest piece of fabric for future projects!

Assembling the Quilt Top:
1.  Pick a layout or create your own.  Once you have the HST Strings on your design wall you can figure out if you need to make any modifications to ironing the seams one way or another.  For some, they prefer to just Iron them open to keep from the guesswork.

2.  Sew your blocks in rows, then sewing the rows together.

Choose your design, then start joining 2 blocks at a time

Connect each 2-block segment together to form rows

Once you have all your rows together, it is time to sew your rows into 2-row segments

The other benefit to assembling two rows at a time in the design I have chosen is that it would be easy to flip the direction of  the zigs or the zags or whatever design you have chosen

Next you connect the 2-row-segments together

In this particular quilt I only have 6 total rows, so this is the completed center measures 32.5" X 48.5"

Here is where each quilt will vary.  As I shared yesterday you have several ways you can arrange your blocks.  Lets look at some layout ideas for the whole quilt.

9 options for arranging your HST String Blocks, there are more!

3.  Now you have a completed Inner Quilt top.  Some choose to cut their Border strips lengthwise to get a seamless border, I just happen to be one of those persons.  There is of course some pros and cons to this method; you will want to watch that the pieces do not stretch or ripple when adding to the main quilt top.  You may of course choose to cut your border fabric perpendicular to the salvages or decide to skip the borders altogether!

Finish quilt top measuring 40" X 56" for toddler bed or crib quilt

Finishing the Quilt:
1.  If you have not already assembled your backing, this is the time to do so.  There is of course several methods to this process, just be sure that your backing is 2 inches larger than your Quilt top on all sides.  Also, check out Craftsy's free class on Creative Quilt Backs!

2.  Layer a sandwich of:  Quilt top, batting and  then backing fabric on the bottom with wrong side facing down, towards the batting.  

3.  Baste using traditional thread basting, pins or spray basting.  There are several tutorials out there so I will not cover that today. Check out: Crazy Mom Quilts (Pin Baste), or Stitch in Color (Spray basting) for more information.

4.  Once you have basted the three layers together it is time to choose your quilting process, please consider checking out the Free Motion Quilting Project out, which has literally hundreds of different stitches.  She also has excellent tutorials via video that has been posted to Youtube.

5.  Once you have the Top stitching complete, it is time to trim your quilt and add the binding.
(Check out: Carolina Fair Designs,  Crazy Mom Quilts, Cotton Creek Sewing, or Jaybird Quilts for tutorials on Binding prep)

*Shanna
I made this quilt top as part of my "A Scrapful Life" Scrap challenge.  I want to make projects using my scraps and stash, learning to make do with what I already have on hand.  If you would like to see my February post, look HERE.  I have a link up each month and Flickr group:  A Scrapful Life, if you would like to join me, but no pressure, its just a change in mindset for me.

Part 1: HST String Block Tutorial

Half-Square Triangle (HST) String Block Tutorial

Inspiration:  Film In The Fridge's String Block

Materials Needed for Whole Quilt:
Bunch of coordinating Scrap pieces,
1 yard Bright print for center strips & binding
1 yard Coordinating Solid for HST Blocks
1 yard Coordinating Print for border
1 yard Muslin or paper for foundation
 Backing fabric

Glue Stick
Cutting mat, Ruler, & Rotary cutter
Pencil or Quilting temporary marker
Sewing machine, thread
Iron & starch spray
Batting of your choice

For 14 blocks Cut:
14- 9"X 9" Muslin squares for foundation piecing, can use paper too
14- 9"X 9" Coordinating Solid Squares
14-2.5" X 13' strips for center of string block
Scrap Strips ranging from 1" to 2" in width

Making Block 1:

1.  Make sure your 9"X 9" foundation blocks for strings are "Starched" as they are easier to utilize and it will help keep it from stretching.

2.  Finding center of  each foundation block,  lightly glue a  Bright print Strip to exact center of each block

3.  Right Sides together line up a Scrap Strip  to the edge of the  Bright print Strip, sew a 1/4" from the edge, then iron it back.  I like to spray with Heavy Starch as I continue the process to keep it from shifting or stretching.

4.  You will continue to add Scrap Strips  to each sides, ironing & starching as you go until the  foundation block are covered on each side of the  Bright print Strip which should still be in the exact center of the block.  You can chain piece your blocks, adding your Scrap Strips  to each sides before ironing & starching, then repeat the process.

Trimming Block 1:

1.  First make sure you starch and give your block a good iron to make sure everything is pressed.

2.  Be sure you have a fresh or sharpened Rotary blade in your cutter.  Because you are dealing with several layers of fabric you want to make sure the blade is sharp and cuts cleanly.

3.  Flip your block over.

4.  Next you will use your cutting mat to line up the corners; you will not be just trimming where you see the foundation block because there may have been some shrinkage as it dips into the valley between the stitch lines.

5.  Line up your ruler up using the lines on the cutting mat, then you will make your first trim.  I have not picked up a rotating cutting mat yet, but I use a smaller cutting mat for trimming that I can just turn instead of re-positioning the block for trimming up the next side.

6.  Trim up the next 3 sides, making sure that your block measures 9"X 9".  We pick this measurement to have an unfinished HST Block measuring 8.5" X 8.5", the finished HST block measuring 8" X 8" when it is all said and done.

If you would like a different measurement for a finished block size adjust your string blocks to measure 1" more on each side than your desired finished block size.

 You can use the strings blocks at this point and they will turn into a mighty fine project or move on to the further directions below to make them into HST String Blocks.

Completing a HST String Block:

1.  If you used paper as your foundation, this is the time to remove it from the String Block.

2.  Take each 9"X 9" Coordinating Solid Square and mark it from one corner to the opposite [see photo 2 below].  Mark all solid squares at once.

3.  With right sides together, match a String block and a marked solid square, making sure the marked side is up! [Photo 3]

4.  Sew 1/4" on each side of the line [Photo 4], iron seams to set and then cut apart using a ruler along the marked line [Photo 5]

You will end up with 2 HST String blocks [Photo 6] when you iron to one side (this may depend on how you plan to assemble your quilt as well) or iron seams open if you prefer.  Be sure to spray with starch.

Product:

 Here are some ideas of the kind of blocks you can make:

 Return for PART Two next Tuesday, when we shall complete a quilt top from these blocks.

Click HERE for part Two!

*Shanna
I made this block as part of my "A Scrapful Life" Scrap challenge.  I want to make projects using my scraps and stash, learning to make do with what I already have on hand.  If you would like to see my February post, look HERE.  I have a link up each month and flicker group if you would like to join me, but no pressure, its just a change in mindset for me.

I'm In A Bind...

Once you have basted the three layers together it is time to choose your quilting process, please consider checking out The Free Motion Quilting Project , which has literally hundreds of different stitches that she has shared with others.  A great idea is to make a solid square quilt with different stitches chosen from her collection!  It's on my some day list to do as well.
[Edited 01/03/2012:  Leah added a Quilt-a-long, can be found HERE]

How to make binding:

1.  Carolina Fair Designs How to make 4 yards of bias tape from 1 fat quarter
2.  Crazy Quilt Mom How to use a jelly roll to make binding
3.  Cotton Creek Sewing Bias tape binding I would like to try.
4.  Jaybird Quilts One of my favorite quilt bloggers has several tutorials on bindings, her tutorials also include instructions for attaching the binding to your quilt or even curved pieces, brilliant!

Basting Day: "I'm Stuck Like Glue..."

Welcome to Basting Day!  I am a woman of the modern century  who enjoys every short cut to my projects I can muster without sacrificing quality, so I have fully embraced the spray basting process.  However, I will also walk you through the old fashion process as well, with hopefully a few tips that might help in the process.

Items to have on hand before beginning:
1.  A basting spray
2.  Breathing mask
3.  Blue painter's tape
4.  A Lint roller (clean surface of fuzz)
5.  Goo-be-gone (clean off stickiness)
6.  Empty cardboard tube or fabric bolt cardboard (makes for a smoother transfer)
7.  Batting cut one inch bigger than project
8.  Backing fabric cut 3 inches bigger than project, even if pieced together
9.  Curved safety pins (optional)

There are several ways you can go through this process.  In the picture I chose to first add my batting to my top, then after rolling it back onto the cardboard tubing I added my top/batting to the backing fabric.  You can pick up these cardboard tubes for fabric stores that sell home decor fabric--often for free.

Learn from my fail:  I would like to tell you several pitfalls to this method so that you can have a happy harmonious basting day (or at least a better one than my started out to be before I thought to use tape)!  First, you will notice that nothing is taped down. That is a very important thing to note because as you will see in the second example of basting a little bit later, this stops your backing fabric to avoid the dangers of shifting while you are adding fabric and spraying.  Secondly, the thicker the item is on the cardboard that you are applying, the slower you will need to go to smooth out the fabric and to constantly watch to make sure your application of said project is even.

I want to cover more step to Step details with the next installment,where I am going to continue by showing a step by step of how I prepare every thing before hand.  So gather your items and meet back up with me tomorrow.

In honor of Basting day (part 1) I have a video to share!  A friend showed this one to me; I love how the video interprets the song a whole different way...

WIP: Countdown...

Today I am feeling a little behind.  I sort of dreaded Wednesday coming this week because I haven't completed much lately.  Yeah, I know I am technically supposed to be resting, but since I lost 11 lbs of extra water I was carrying around last week, I am feeling pretty good in comparison!  For those concerned, I am laying down for most of the day...well, most of it.

In less than 2 weeks I have my first baby shower for Nugette (hopefully someone will have guessed her name by then)!  In 3 weeks my husband's parents (and maybe Grandma!!!) will be coming for a visit for a couple of days so we can celebrate Christmas together.  And so the countdown begins...7-13 weeks from now I will have a precious baby girl to put somewhere...sigh.  It's not beginning to look like Christmas here in our household or outside.  We might get another freak snow storm in January/February just in time for baby girl, we might even have to turn the heat on this year (just for her, mind you).

So, with so much to do, (as my husband incredulously noted) I started another project...or 2 or 3, errrr rather 4...Yes I did.  I am working on the "Melting Rainbows" which has about half of the zig-zagging down, but I needed something I could work on sitting on a mountain of pillows or standing for a few minutes.  It also wasn't really going well with the swollen hands.

I have a series of tutorials that I have been working on for a couple of months to put up when baby girl comes home.  In part so I don't feel disconnected, in part so I feel like I am accomplishing something.  Yes I know, feeding and caring for my little girl will be quite the job!  I have plans to fill up my Quilt top basket (I replaced it with a bigger basket with a handle).

My goals for this week/month:
1.  Finish and save my hopelessly unaligned "Advent Calendar"
2.  Finish another tutorial project and write up the post on it.
3.  Finish "Melting Rainbows" by next Friday
4.  Purge through my WIP's by the end of the month.  (Am I really ever going to finish that project?)
5.  Get practice squares ready for the FMQ challenge, Laura's FMQ-QAL & practicing other stitches from Leah Day's FMQ Project (seeing a trend for 2012?)

Project Stats for this week:
New Projects:     4      

In Process:       31
UFO's:               0 (WIP's left at year's end)
Finishes:           4

I am linking up to Quilt Story for Fabric Tuesday!

Lee from Freshly Pieced is taking a break from WIP Wednesday until the beginning of the year.

A Tumbler Quilt Top Tutorial

A tumbler quilt can be a quilt quick project that gives you a little more variety than a simple square-to-square quilt.  You can purchase a special ruler that you can use to cut your pieces, but I will also show you how you can make your own template.

Tools needed for this project:  an iron, an ironing surface,  hand-sewing needles, machine needles, thread, bobbins, scissors, rotary cutter, a rotary cutting mat, a cutting ruler, a pen/pencil, cardboard measuring 5 in. X 5 in., fabric in proportions listed for this project, binding clips (optional), and sewing gloves (optional).

Fabric needed for this project:

1.  1 (42-pieced) charm pack-prints or various prints cut to measure 5in. X 5 in. (41 blocks needed in all).

2.  1 (40 or 42-pieced) charm pack-solid or 3/4 yard of a solid or small print fabric for Main blocks.  (Note: Directions for cutting fabric yardage will be listed in project details).

3.  1/2 yard of coordinating fabric for Binding

4.  1 1/2 yards of fabric for Back

Note:  2 3/4 yards of fabric total for Main blocks, Binding, and Back fabrics if you would like to use the same fabric.

5.  3/4 yards of fabric for the Sashing; this fabric should be different than the other fabrics to show a nice contrast and frame the patterned blocks.

6.  A package of crib-sized batting or a piece of batting measuring 45 in. X 55 in.

Preparing the template:

Step 1:  Mark the pre-measured and cut piece of cardboard 1 inch from the left side inwards.
Make the same mark 1 inch from the right edge.

Step 2:  Make a line with a pen or pencil from the left bottom corner to the  mark one inch from the left top corner.  Connect the right bottom corner to the mark 1 inch from the right top corner.

Step 3:  Your template should be marked in this way, if it does not look like this picture start your template over. Cut along the marked lines to complete the making of your template for this project.

Using your template: 

Step 4:  From your charm pack or precut fabrics (cut into 5 in. X 5 in. squares) choose 1-4 squares stacked.  Placing the template on the squares, line your ruler up on the edge.  Careful not to cut the template, use the rotary cutter to cut through the fabrics.  Repeat this step on the other side.

Step 4b:  This is what your cut charm squares or mixed prints should look like.

Step 5:  To cut your pieces from the solid or small print fabric for the main print in this quilt You must first prepare the fabric.  Iron your fabric so that the salvage edges meet, then take the center fold to the salvage edges, iron it again.  This will make it easier to fit your fabric on a cutting mat and allow you to cut multiple pieces at once.  Once you have cut 5 inch wide strips from the quartered fabric, use your template and ruler alternately as pictured here to cut your pieces.  You will need 40 pieces cut from the fabric to complete this project.

Step 6:  Starting with a "mixed print" tumbler piece alternate blocks until you have 9 rows with 9 blocks each for a total of 41 "mixed prints" blocks and 40 "main print/solid" blocks.  The important step is to get the blocks down; you can then take time to rearrange to suit your liking.

Construction of Rows:

Step 7:  With right sides together you line up the sides of the blocks, making sure that they do not overlap on the ends.  Iron all seams towards the "main print/solid."  You can sew several pairs together one right after the other, snip threads between pairs and iron without having to stop and start after each pair.  It is sort of like a factory's assembly line.  This will cut some time off your project!

Step 8:  With rights sides together, aline the pairs so they can be sewn together.  Continue this until the whole row is complete.  Move onto the next row until you have 9 complete rows.

Step 9:  Now it is time to connect the rows together!  With right sides together, pin in place the two rows, if you have ironed all seams to the "main print/solid" the rows should nest into one another.  Even so, it is wise to pin them together so they do not shift in the sewing process.

Step 9b:  This is what your quilt top should look like once you have assembled all 9 rows together.

Step 10:  Folding the quilt top in half with the flat ends together, lay it on your cutting mat.  Place you ruler where each narrow part of the tumbler meets.

Step 10b:  Using your rotary cutter, cut along the ruler to form a straight edge.  Repeat this on the other side of the existing quilt top.

Step 11:  Prepare your sashing and binding fabrics as described in Step 5 of this tutorial.  For the sashing fabric you will want to cut 4 pieces of fabric measuring 5 in. X WOF (Width Of Fabric)

Step 11b:  This would be a great time to also cut your binding fabric.  I will explain the different binding cuts and techniques in "Finishing a Quilt Tutorial" that I will work on next.

Step 12:  First, trim the salvage from one end of a sashing strip. It is very important that you attach the sashing to the longer side first!  With right sides, pin the long side to a sashing strip; pinning will help the seams to stay put while attaching.

Step 12b:  There will be a little bit of excess fabric on the end.  You can use a rotary cutter or a pair of scissors to trim this off, just make sure it is straight.  Iron the seams towards the sashing.

Step 12c:  This is what your quilt top will look like after you have attached the sashing to the two longer sides.

Step 13:  Attaching the sashing to the ends of the quilt top will repeat Steps 12a & 12b.    The reason for attaching the longer sides' sashing first is so that all the measurements and pieces form a quilt with a full back (for a regular sized piece of fabric).  If you would like a bigger quilt you can play around with the sizes and perhaps cut your sashing pieces vertically instead of horizontally.  You may need to cut and add blocks to your existing number if that is the direction you would like to go.  You may also need to make the quilt backing from several pieces; next week's tutorial will explain.

Completed:  One quilt top measuring about 41 in. X 50 1/2 In.

The neutral version in green, teal, light blue and a touch of Red

The feminine version in pinks, purples, lime green & peach