Cloud 9 New Block Blog Hop

Hello, and welcome to my stop on the Cloud 9 New Block Blog Hop! It is my pleasure to bring you a brand new block tutorial using this gorgeous collection of cirrus solids from Cloud 9. There are over 60 participants who have created new block tutorials and I hope you visit all of them! A special THANKS to our hosts (who are also having giveaways)

Yvonne @Quilting Jetgirl and Cheryl @Meadow Mist Designs!

When I saw this color family, the first thing I thought of was playing with transparency, so that's what I've done, in a (hopefully) easy and fun way! 

Through the Glass Block

Materials Needed:

• ·       ¼” yard each: Cloud 9 Amazon, Shadow, Iris and Lilac. You will have plenty of fabric left for at least 2 more blocks.
• ·       Sewing machine
• ·       Cutting mat/ruler (Block-Loc ruler is helpful for trimming half square triangles)
• ·       Rotary cutter/scissors
• ·       Frixion (or other) marking pen

Block Instructions

Step 1: Cut

Amazon (background)

(1)    2.5 x 2.5”

(4) 2.5 x 4.5”

(3) 4.5 x 4.5”

(1) 3 x 3”

Shadow

(1)    2.5 x 2.5”

(1)    4.5 x 4.5”

(3)  2.5 x 4.5”

Iris

              (1) 3 x 3”

              (2) 4.5 x 4.5”

Lilac

              (1) 4.5 x 4.5”

Step 2: HST Time!

We need to make half square triangles by two different methods. I like to chain piece, so I arranged all my squares, sewed them all, and then trimmed them.

1.           Pair the Amazon and Iris 3” squares right sides together to make a traditional HST. Draw a diagonal line and sew ¼” away from either side of the line. Press, cut on the line, press one HST open and then trim it to 2.5”.

2.           Pair the Amazon and Iris 4.5” squares right sides together and pin.

              Pair the Lilac and Shadow 4.5” squares right sides together and pin.

              Sew both all the way around the square ¼” from edge.

3.           Press, then cut diagonally both ways. (A rotating cutting mat works great for this.)

4.           Press the HSTs open and trim to 2.5”. I used my 2.5” Block-Loc ruler and it speeds things along nicely!

This leaves us with

(5) Amazon/Iris HSTs and (3) Lilac/Shadow 2.5” HSTs. One Amazon/Iris HST and one Shadow/Lilac HST are scraps.

Step 3: Sewing Part 1

 (again I did all the pairing and then chain pieced this step)

1.           Pair 2 sets of Amazon/Iris HSTs together as shown and sew RST (right sides together.)

2.           Pair 2.5” Amazon square with Amazon/Iris HST as shown and sew together

3.           Pair 2.5” Shadow square with Shadow/Lilac HST as shown and sew together.

4.           Pair 2 Shadow lilac HSTs together and sew as shown.

Step 4: Sewing Part 2

1.           Pair the 2 Amazon/Iris HST units with Amazon 2.5” x 4.5” rectangles as shown and sew together along long edge.

2.           Pair the 2 Shadow 2.5” x 4.5” rectangles with the Amazon 2.5” x 4.5” rectangles and sew

 together along long edge.

3.           Pair the Shadow/Lilac HST set with Shadow 2.5” x 4.5” rectangle and sew together.

4.           Pair the Shadow/Lilac HST unit with Amazon Iris HST unit and sew together

5.           Press all units open

Step 5: Arrangement

Arrange your block pieces as shown and sew together into 3 rows and then join the rows together.

Result: A 12.5” “Through the glass” quilt block... in the sunshine, through the window and all mixed up!

Thank you for  visiting and don't forget to visit all the other fantastic participants!

Kathy @Kathys Kwilts and More
Paige @Quilted Blooms
Mary @Strip Quilts Pass it On
Allison @Woodberry Way
Seven @The Concerned Craft
Olusola @Alice Samuel’s Quilt Co.
Ann @Brown Paws Quilting
Jodie @Persimmon + Pear
Vicki @Orchid Owl Quilts
Kitty @Night Quilter
Shelley @The Carpenter’s Daughter who Quilts
Jayne @Twiggy and Opal
Geraldine @Living Water Quilter
Shannon @Shannon Fraser Designs
Lisa @Sunlight In Winter Quilts
Jessica @Quilty Habit
Cassandra @The (not so) Dramatic Life
Deanna @Stitches Quilting
Denise @Craft Traditions

Last bits of sewing 2015 - Star Plus Birthday/Christmas Quilt

Squeaking in just in time for Christmas - tada! My son's birthday quilt was finally finished and put in the washer at about 1 a.m. on Christmas Eve. Ok fine, technically it was Christmas morning. I even had to sneak down and get it out of the dryer around 8 a.m., stuff it into a gift bag and ram it under the tree before he woke up. Luckily, he is very easy to sneak by early in the morning.  His favorite colors are green and orange, so I started out early in the summer with an improv green triangle idea set in a navy background, but I never got farther than one column completed. I've had this set of Simple Marks Summer charm packs for quite awhile without a specific project in mind. These charms, with the addition of Kona white, ash and steel were a great combination for him. This also gave me another opportunity to play with and learn more about EQ7.

blocks finished about 17.5"

fun with basting!

looks pretty good on my own bed - tempting!

All finished!

Quilt Stats:
Fabric: (3) Simple Marks Summer charm packs
             Kona white, steel & ash yardage
Blocks - 17.5" unfinished
Binding - Kona steel, leaf and ash
Finished quilt - 70" x 70"
Inspiration:  Chandelier Quilt along at WeAllSew.com. My hst's and pluses are of equal height & width - measurements, cutting instructions and finished block/quilt sizes from quilt-along were not used.

New Blogger Hop & a little shopping

Hello again! I don't know how it's already the end of June! The month is slipping by and the school year is finally coming to an end. I was on a roll with getting some sewing done, but the World Cup has slowed me down a bit - have you been watching? Exciting!

Speaking of which, we had the opportunity to attend the USA/Germany soccer match a couple of weeks ago and managed to get our ugly mugs on TV. We even got a message from back home saying one of our family members had seen my son on CNN jumping around like a lunatic after our 2nd goal.

So anyway, it's Week 2 of the New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop and my Hive has 4 new places I hope you'll visit.

Wanda of wandadotson.com (IG: wandaslifesampler)
Tish of tishnwonderland.blogspot.com (IG: tishnwonderland)
Brianna of theironandneedle.blogspot.ca (IG: theironandneedle)
Sandra of thebiasedge.wordpress.com

I've been fooling around with a new pouch idea and I have been wanting to try EQ7, so I jumped in and got it yesterday! My naughty confession of the week is that I hate reading instructions and since I'm savvy enough with the computer, I jumped in and started using it to design a PP block. The result?

hahahahahaha! What a mess! I had to hang my head in shame and start watching the instructional videos. I did have a little better success on my 2nd attempt, but I haven't watched the video on where the heck it saves your designs, so I can't see it.  Oh wait.. let me look again. 

ok here's a simple block idea

So far, I like EQ7, but some of the instructional blog posts I found were at least 4 years old, so I'm hoping it's not obsolete tomorrow! Do you have the program? What's your favorite thing about it?

FMT