Journey to Nebula - Lucky Charm Finishing

 

Welcome back to my Journey 2 Nebula blog posts. I got a little behind on my blog for Week #3, finishing the "Lucky Charm" pillow.  If you would like to see how I cut my Half Hexagons pieces check out my blog post on Cutting the Star 60 way, HERE.

The first thing I did after I finished cutting out my pieces was to arrange them the way I wanted the pillow to look in the front. 

Once I had them all arranged, I still had 10 of the Half Hexagons leftover, which will be filled in on the sides.

I found the halfway mark on the Half Hexagon pieces and cut all 10 pieces vertically.

Then place them on the sides of the pieces.  I choose one color of the Half Hexagons to give them all a border effect.

I figured out a way to make the stitch of the row go faster and to stay organized.  I started by pulling two rows that I had placed on my small design board and placed them into stacks. 

I then started stitching the Half Hexagon pieces from each of the stacks one from the first stack.  Once the first pieces where sewn, I then grabbed pieces from the second stack.

Once I had the second match piece sewn, I snipped the first row pieces off and Pressed all the seams open.

Then continued the stitch on the next piece from the first stack. Repeating the steps over and over until the rows were complete, pressed thoroughly.  Then started sewing the next couple rows until all the rows were ready to be sewn together.

Once my rows were ready to be sewn together, the process of sewing the rows went fast.

My pillow-top is now complete, ready to quilted.

Here are my finished pillow and the back of the pillow.  I had fun machine quilting this project; these projects have been great for practicing my skills.  

I can't wait until today to start my next project in the Journey to Nebula Quilt Along.

Tina

Journey to Nebula Quilt Along - Lucky Charm - Cutting Star 60 way

 This week the Journey 2 Nebula is starting a new project.  We are making the "Lucky Charm" pillow by Jaybird Quilts. This pattern uses 5" charms or 2 1/2" strips to make Half Hexagons.  

The pattern is written by Hex N More Ruler by Jaybird Quilts.  I will be using the Studio 180 Design Star 60 tool with leftover 2 1/2" strips from the last project, Island Batik "Islander Batik" Collection.  

Right Handed

Left Handed

After referring to the Half Hexagon Cutting Chart, I found the 2 1/2" strip width under the Precision Column.  Then moved one column to the right titled Bottom Horizontal Line  (Precision) and found the 4 1/2", this would be the number we will be using on the tool to line up the tool on the strips.

Place the folded strip on your cutting mat, starting on the left side of the strip for Right Hand and the right side for Left-Handed. 

Position the Star 60 tool on the fabric aligning the 4 1/2" Horizontal line on the strip.  This is the number we found in the chart.  This will give us the exact size of the hexagon we need. 

Once your tool is in position, trim up both sides of the tool.  

Right Handed

Left Handed

To cut the next half-hexagon, rotate the tool 180° and align the 4 1/2" horizontal guideline. Cut up the next side.

Continue doing this until you get all the half hexagons you need.  You can get 10 Half Hexagons out of a strip.



For this project, you need a total of 60 half hexagons.  So choose 6 different strips.

Right Handed

Left Handed

Now we need to trim off the tips on the bottom. Place your half Hexagon with the longest end of the half hexagon on the cutting mat. Then position the 4" horizontal line on the top of the Half Hexagon and aligning the 4 1/2" Diamond Point Guidelines along the sides of the Hexagon. 

Trim up both sides.



Continue with the rest of the Half Hexagons.  I just love how easy it is to cut out and trim the tips of the half hexagons.  

Next week, we will continue making our Lucky Charm pillow.  See you next week.

Tina

A Whole New Studio

Before

For a long time, I wanted to give my sewing studio a facelift, so to speak. I have been wanting to paint and move furniture around so I can have a filming area for videotaping.

 So over the labor day weekend, with my husband's help, we began the process.  I started a couple days before packing and moving all my sewing supplies, fabric, and machines out.  We also started moving the furniture a couple days before, so I could shampoo the carpets.  

Saturday, we began the process by a trip to Home Depot and Lowes to get paint and new trim boards.  Then we started the task of painting. It took a couple of coats of paint.

It starting to look like a whole new room.  The paint makes the room much brighter.  Now to add the trim boards around the room.  I really hated the old dark wood trim that we originally put in place. The new trim boards really add to modern to the feel.  

Now it was time to reset up the furniture in a different configuration. 

I set up the filming area first, then add the other sewing desk for my primary sewing machine.  Next, I added a curtain rod up high behind the filming area to hang a quilt from.

We placed the cutting table on the other side, along with my ironing board stand, after setting up all the lights and camera tripods in between the cutting table and filming table.  We decided we needed to make a filming stand that we could place all the filming equipment on.

So this last weekend, my husband build a 5' x 6' frame that goes across the filming table.  We bought some clip-on tabletop stands for the Led Light stand and a ring light for the camera.  It is sturdy and excellent. We can leave everything set up all the time.  Works perfectly.

Finally, we took one of the Grid walls I used at quilt shows and hung it on the wall.  I then added all my Studio 180 and Sue Pelland tools. 

I'm so happy with my new studio,  now to get back to work and start making more quilts, and taping some video to share with you all.

Tina

Aztec Dance BOM - Month 4

 

Block 4 in the Aztec Dance block of the month is now available.  I hope you are keeping up with the blocks because we are getting close to the end.  Just two more months and we will be finished.

You can purchase Block 4 Here.  Remember, you have two options for buying the pattern. First, My website is set up for both Printed and Downloadable PDF versions. For my International customers, I have an Etsy website.

Month 4

This month we will be basically doing a review of units we have made in the past months. We will be starting off with using the Studio 180 Design Wing Clipper® tool to make two different colors of Flying Geese units.  Additionally, we will be using the the Tucker Trimmer® to make some Shade Four Patch units. Finally we will be using the Square Squared® tool make our Diamond in the Square units. 

Flying Geese

Let's get started with the Flying Geese units. This is the first time we have made these units in this Block of the Month. So Let's get started.

Start by using your Quilter's Magic Wand, mark two lines, each 1/4"away from the center diagonal on the two small squares. Position the two small squares diagonally on the opposite corners of the larger square.

Remember to nudge the small square in toward the center in a couple threads.

Stitch on the drawn lines, then cut apart between the line of the stitching on the center diagonal.

Press the seams toward the small triangles.

Place the remaining marked small squares on the units, again remembering to nudge in a couple threads from the raw edge of the large triangle section. Then cut apart between the line of the stitching on the center diagonal.

Right Handed

Left Handed

Align the diagonal guidelines of the Wing Clipper® with the seams of the seams of the Flying Geese unit.  You'll automatically be centering the tool over your pieced unit. Refer to your Block Instructions for Trim downsizes for your block size. Trim the sides and across the top. 

Right Handed

Left Handed

Rotate your flying geese unit 180° and reposition your Wing Clipper® 1 to the align the previously trimmed raw edges with the proper size for your unit and the "X" at the top with the intersection of the seams. 

Repeat to make 16 of both color variations of Flying Geese.

Shade Four Patch

We will be making 16 new Shaded Four Patch units just like we did last month, the only difference is the colors are slightly different.

Take your Narrow and Wide Strips and stitch them together along the long side. Press the seam allowance toward the wide strip. Cut the strip set in half to make 2 strip sets.

Pair the two strip sets right sides together with the narrow strips on opposite sides so each narrow strips lay over a wide strip.  Sub cut the strip sets into 8 sections that measure the width of the narrow strip. keep these sections together.

Stitch each pair along the long side. Snip the seam allowance at the half way mark between the two squares all the way to the seam. Press both seams away from the patch.

Using a ruler with a 45° angle mark. Place the 45° line on the edge of the unit and Draw a 45° sewing line on the wrong sides of the unit.  Making sure the line runs from top to bottom and goes through the corner of the square where the stitching lines meet. Draw a second line on the opposite side of the unit through the other square.

Center the marked unit over the blue rectangle. Stitch on both the marked lines, Cut 1/4" away from the two stitching lines on both sides. Press toward the larger triangle.

Right Handed

Left Handed

Position the sizing diagonal of the Tucker Trimmer over the unit, so that is lines up with the unit size diagonal seam line of the Shaded Four Patch unit and assuring the common diagonal lines up through the corner of the square at the center of the unit. Trim the first two sides.

Right Handed

Left Handed

Rotate the unit 180° and line up the Tucker Trimmer over the unit again, aligning up the diagonals and cut sizes with the previously trimmed edges and trim. Repeat to make a total of 16 Shaded Four Patch units.

Diamond in the Square

For last the three months we have been making Diamond in Square units, so you should have a good handle on how to make these units by now. If you need a refresher please read the first blog post on Diamond Half Square units.

Assembly

Now that all our units are made it is time to start assembling the blocks.

Start by stitching the two different flying geese units together.  

Once these units are together we can layout our units according to the block layout in your instructions and stitch them together. 

Make 4 Block 4's.

See you next month!