Monday, July 30, 2012

let's get acquainted, shall we?

My name is Audrey, and I'm the evil mastermind behind Hot Pink Quilts. I'm so glad you're here! If you're joining me from the Let's Get Acquainted blog hop, you already know the drill. If not, I'm going to tell you a bit about myself, share some pictures, answer some questions, then stun you with my mad quilting skillz.

But before I jump into that, be sure to check out Michèle-Renée's blog, Quilt Matters. Also, mucho thanks to Beth, who organized this shindig. Finally, thank you for stopping by!

I am Mama to two amazing little boys (2 years and 4 months) and the wife of a Ph.D. student. In the sixth grade, my mom taught me how to sew a dress, but no sewing machine and no additional instruction pretty much killed further sewing dreams. Until! My husband's grandmother gifted me her 1953 Singer sewing machine (Agatha), and my pal Karen taught me how to quilt. (Hi Karen!) When I'm not quilting or being a mommy or wife, I'm working on writing a five book YA series.

Now, here are copious pictures (or nine) of things I've made!


How long have you been quilting?
I started quilting in October....maybe November...of 2011. So not quite a year.
Favorite fabric (or wish list fabric):
I seriously heart Tula Pink. I have spent (and will spend) many many hours putting large quantities of her fabric into online shopping carts, only to face reality and my fabric budget.
Favorite craft book:
I apparently have joined the Elizabeth Hartman Practical Guide to Patchwork cult. It was the first modern quilting book I picked up, and I drooled over each and every quilt included in its luscious covers.
Favorite book (or book you are currently reading):
Right now? I adore Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta, and Savvy by Ingrid Law. There are about a kajillion others, but since this is supposed to be about quilting, I'll control myself. I'm currently reading Elantris by Brian Sanderson and Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard.
Favorite children's book:
Madeleine L'Engle was my favorite author when I was a kid, so I spent a lot of time immersed in her work. I was (and still am!) a huge Nancy Drew fan.
Favorite quilting tool:
My trusty sewing machine, Agatha. But since that's kind of cheating, I guess my rotary cutter with a fresh blade.

Okay, now that we've waded through all sorts of amazing and thrilling information and photos, how 'bout we get to the project? A good friend of mine is having a baby come late September, and of course, I had to make a quilt for her. After deciding on a design, then changing my mind and picking another one and repeating that cycle 3 or 4 times, I finally landed on this:


Baby K's Quilt
Materials Needed:
(36) 5" charms
3/4 yard fabric (2 different kinds) for border A & B fabrics
1 1/4 yard fabric for backing
1/3 yard fabric for binding
batting
coordinating thread

The quilt measures 42" square, and the fabric I used is Reunion by Sweetwater for Moda plus a lovely crimson batik. I have no idea what the backing or binding fabrics are, sorry! [Edit 12/8/12: The binding fabric is Sassy by Sandy Gervais. Thanks, Kelie!]

Cuts:
charm squares: cut all 36 into (4) 2.5" squares for 144 total squares
border fabrics A & B: (12) 3.5" x 12.5"; (18) 4" squares

1. Assemble the 2.5" charm pieces into four individual patchwork grids of 6x6. They should measure 12.5" square when complete. Of course, you're welcome to do as you'd like, but when I cut my charms, I made four separate piles so that each patchwork piece would have 1 of each type of fabric.

2. Using the 4" border fabric squares, create (36) 3.5" HSTs. If you're unfamiliar with HSTs, In Color Order has a great tutorial.

3. Create pinwheel blocks with your HSTs. (They'll measure 6.5" square.) I made five of my pinwheel blocks "spin" in one direction and four "spin" in the other direction. (See the picture below.)



4. Place 1 Border A and 1 Border B fabric pieces right sides together. Sew along one 12.5" end. Repeat this with the other 11 sets.

5. Assemble by row, then sew the rows together. (See the picture below.)



6. Baste, quilt, bind, and then you'll have your finished quilt! I quilted mine with straight diagonal lines through the corners of each patchwork square and 1/4" echoing the inside of the pinwheels and stripes. If you're into FMQ, I like the idea of feathers in the border stripes or Elizabeth Hartman's dogwood quilting in the patchwork sections.

In the past, I've lockstitched my quilting lines or just run them off the quilt, and this was the first quilt that I actually buried my threads. I had thought it would be a complicated and tedious process, but it really wasn't. It did take some time, but I would finish quilting one patchwork section, bury the threads, and move on to the next. The time was worth the effort as the starts and ends of the quilting lines look a lot cleaner.



This is the first time I've attempted to write out a project, so if you have any questions, or if anything is unclear, let me know by email or in the comments area, and I'll do what I can to clear things up. (Thanks!)

32 comments:

  1. Lovely baby quilt and great tutorial! The pinwheel blocks work so well in the corners

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  2. That looks so super cute, that I may have to make one!

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  3. great post and love your diagrams!

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  4. nice to meet you! gotta love those grandmas and their sewing machines. i love how a humble little sewing machine can keep providing generation after generation the opportunity to make handmade gifts for their loved ones!

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  5. Such a cute quilt design and wonderful tutorial! Thanks,
    Amanda
    amanda@materialgirlquilts.com

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  6. Hi There, lovely to meet you and what wonderful quilts you have made in such a short space of time! Great tutorial, the baby quilt is gorgeous :-)

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  7. Great to learn more about you - how exciting that you working on a YA series! That is such a cute quilt - I love the design and I think your tutorial was great!

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  8. Hi Audrey nice to meet you. It is such a beautiful quilt and great tutorial. I love you sewing machine "Agatha" it reminds me of the one my mom had.

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  9. Nice to get to know you. Really cute boys! Nice layout on the quilt instructions.

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  10. Nice to meet you Audrey. I see in an earlier post you love large scale prints. So do I. In a big way too as many of my quilts make use of lots of large scale prints all in one quilt. Ps Your sewing assistant is adorable.

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  11. I have the perfect backing for that quilt! I wasn't sure I'd ever be brave enough to use the color combo as the basis for a quilt, but I really like how you've used the cornflower blue and red here. And the pattern is wonderfully versatile!

    Smart move to marry the PhD student rather than be one yourself. I should have gone that route--it sounds way more fun to write YA stuff than a dissertation! ;)

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  12. Love your quilt and the way you used to colors on the borders! Nice to meet you!

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  13. Stopping by from Plum and June. I love the baby quilt. The colors are fabulous. Red is my favorite color.

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  14. Your baby quilt is lovely, it will be much appreciated I am sure. Nice to meet you too!

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  15. I love the pinwheels in combination with the big patchwork.

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  16. Thanks for sharing, this is a very cute quilt!

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  17. Wow, I love the sashing/border pattern! Very effective! I married a PhD student too, right as he was finishing up experiments and getting seriously into the writing stage. So for the first 6 months or so I was a PhD Thesis Widow, lol! Although I'm working (part-time, by distance) towards doing my Masters dissertation in a couple of years time so the "favour" will be returned ;)

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  18. Great tutorial! And lovely to meet you as well!

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  19. Thanks for the really clear tutorial - it's a great pattern too! Nice to meet you through the blog hop:-)

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  20. Nice to meet you! Nice quilt. I've been looking for a cute little design for a baby quilt!

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  21. I read Elantris earlier this year! I found it different from most fantasy books which was a nice change. I also really liked the Mistborn Trilogy that he wrote.

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  22. Nice to meet you, Audrey! Love that baby quilt, and Reunion is such a cute line. I've been drooling over quite a few Tula Pink fabrics lately myself!

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  23. Fab quilt and fun write up, love the design and colourway :)

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  24. Nice to meet you Audry! Very cute quilt and an adorable blog!

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  25. Very sweet quilt! Love the pinwheels at the corners!

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  26. Hi Audry, Lovely to meet you. I'm stopping by (sorry - very late!) from the blog hop. Your mosaic is great and I love your quilt tute. I especially like the way you've used the red and grey :)

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  27. Oh Audry I see we both have the wonderful experience of the good old Singer Sewing Machine...what colour was she?

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  28. I am stopping by on the blog hop - nice to "meet" you! What a sweet baby quilt. Baby quilts are so satisfying to make and give. Yours is interesting because it's scrappy but it's held together by the solid - I really like it!

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  29. I love this pattern!! Great tutorial and nice to meet you. I'm going to poke around your blog some now ;)

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  30. What a darling quilt! Thanks much for sharing!! Nice to meet you on the hop!

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  31. The biding is from the line Sassy by Sandy Geravis (spelling may be off)! I love the quilt! So cute!

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