Yet Another Way.....

In the past couple of days, a couple of people that I follow have put up tutorials on how they do quilts.

Debby of Petit http://petitpunt.blogspot.com/ has a wonderful one with a blue quilt made of men's shirts.

Mercedes of Liberty Biberty http://libertybiberty.blogspot.com/ did a scrappy block quilt of many colors.

They are both beautifully done. Go to both sites and check them out. Worth the trip. Both tutorials are great.

Theirs are both machine made. I am way too lazy to dig my machine out of the cupboard and put it back after I'm half way done. Then dig it out again to do more.....So I decided to throw in my two cents, for what it's worth.

I learned to do English paper piecing years ago for real quilts. I have don a couple of mini quilts that way. Unfortunately both are gone to other homes and it was before I learned to take photos of everything.

Everything that I need fits in a small box. It is very light and doesn't have to be plugged in to work.

I use the hexagon on a protractor as a pattern. You can use any shape that will make a quilt piece. I usually do the paper pieces on graph paper. I did these on unlined paper and it is harder to keep them straight. Anyway, I drew up a bunch of hexagons and cut them out with a pair of small scissors. I keep thinking that I should look for a paper punch in that shape. It would be much easier and more uniform.

Next I use a glue stick to stick the paper pieces to the backside of light weight cotton fabric, being sure that one of the straight edges of the pattern is running with the grain.

Cut them out with about 1/8" all around. Fold the edges to the back and making a crisp corner fold, stitch twice in each corner to hold it down. The back will look kind of messy but It will look better later. The front of the block is in the second photo, the back(messy) is in the last one.

Now you pick out a couple of hexes and, holding them right sides facing, whip stitch them together, trying not to catch the paper. Select another one and whip stitch two sides of that one onto the two that you have done. Keep doing that until you have six hexes around the center one if you want to make a Granny's Flower Garden type of quilt. Each seven hexes will make a flower. If you want a traditional looking quilt you will add a strip of green hexes between all of the flowers. If not, you can do any pattern that suits your fancy.

I have a large quilt started that has black as the center and scraps all around each one. That makes a pretty pattern.

After you finish piecing the hexes press the quilt. Then you can take a pin and pull out the papers. from the back. To finish, I usually simply sew the hexes with their uneven edges to a base fabric and turn it under and hem. If you get bored or frustrated after one flower, you can always applique it to a pillow.

Any more I can't seem to finish anything with out Tessie butting in. I guess she got bored with trying to get into the secret room.

Now she has her favorite piece of puce material and thread to match. She is threatening another do it yourself project if I don't make her a purple quilt. Have I mentioned that I hate puce with a purple passion?

Back to the RED and WHITE quilt.

See you tomorrow.