Category: Quilts

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How to glue baste – English paper piecing

A woman is holding onto paper and sitting on the table

How to glue baste…

I know, I know. I know what you’re thinking. Why do I need to know how to glue baste?? So before we get into it…let me just say that I am not the authority on english paper piecing. There are so many ways to get a finished project, and I certainly don’t claim to be the one holding all the answers. But I want to let you in on what has worked so well for me after lots of trial and error. And before I go on, I just want to say: ALWAYS TEST NEW PRODUCTS LIKE GLUE STICKS ON YOUR FABRIC PRIOR TO USING THEM IN AN ENTIRE PROJECT. The glue I use has never done me wrong, but that’s not to say you might not have a different experience.

A person using a pair of scissors on a cutting mat.
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English Paper Piecing – Getting started and basic supplies

A woman standing next to a quilt and a cutting mat.

If you’ve spent any amount of time on my blog or Instagram, you know by now that I LOVE sewing and quilting. SO much so that I like to have a travel-friendly project I can take with me, whether it’s in the car, waiting at the doctor’s office, taking my daughter to the dentist, etc., to help pass the time. While English paper piecing is fun, it is much slower than powering up your sewing machine and zipping through a few seams. There’s something meditative about it that helps the craziness of the world to fade away for just a moment and let you appreciate the thoughtfulness of a stitch. English paper piecing appealed to me first when I was still an ag teacher. A lot of times, I’d be on a school bus with kids and nothing to do for hours while we traveled to judging contest OR I’d be stuck in a hotel room at night, not able to go to sleep and wishing for something productive to do. So I started dabbling in EPP. My husband bought me the La Passacaglia kit (Pattern by Willyne Hammerstein) for my birthday and I was totally hooked. I want to take the time to share my favorite English Paper Piecing supplies and tips in the video below.

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Horizon Challenge by Windham Fabrics

A poster with instructions for the horizon challenge.

I’m a sucker for bright, bold prints. Grant Haffner‘s Horizon collection for Windham Fabrics, is so inspiring! I loved the linear look of the prints and knew I wanted to create a quilt that showed this lines radiating out from the center of a block. Star blocks are my favorite, and I really enjoy the precision of foundation paper piecing that create the Starry Dreams blocks. I also fell hard for the Windham Artisan Cottons and knew they needed to be a supporting player in this game. Starry Dreams is the quilt that was born out of love for these collection, and there’s a free pattern available from Windham so you can create your own! Since I’m so inspired by these fabrics, I’d love to challenge you to check out the Horizon Challenge!

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Moroccan Tiles Sew Along – Week 6

A group of people that are sewing together.

Week 6 is here, and we’re finally in the home stretch!! Many of you have already completed the baby size and pieced your tops, and you’re ahead of the game. Last week, I popped in a catch up week due to the holiday weekend, and I hope you got to enjoy some time with your family (or squeezed in some extra sewing time 😉

What to do for Week 6:

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Moroccan Tiles Sew Along – Week 5

A bunch of different colored paper on top of a wall.

Guys!! We’re starting Week 5 of the Moroccan Tiles sew along! I’m putting up the week 5 post as scheduled, but week 5 is going to be 2 weeks long. So you’ve got until 11:59PM CST July 12 to post your remaining 3 blocks for the throw size. If you decided to go the route of baby quilt and you’ve already completed all your blocks, just post something Moroccan Tiles related. It can be your binding/backing fabric, another shot of your blocks, you sewing, anything having to do with the sew along! You’ll have an extra week this week because the end of week 5 initially fell on 4th of July weekend. We don’t have plans to travel, but a lot of people do. I don’t want to hassle you with a deadline when you’re trying to spend some quality time with the family!

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Moroccan Tiles Sew Along – Week 3

A group of three pieces of fabric sitting on top of a wall.

This week, we’ll be focusing on sewing together blocks 1, 2, and 3. If you’re brand new to sewing curves, I’ve got some great tips for you and some video tutorials to help you out. I made quite a few videos in case you’re a newbie, and it may seem like overkill, but I wanted there to be plenty of help available if you needed it. If you’re a seasoned curves-sewist, feel free to skip them!

The first time I sewed curved pieces, I was really intimidated by it all. Honestly, the first few blocks I made looked awful, I had puckers in my fabric, and it obviously wasn’t clicking with me. If this is you too, please hang in there! Practice makes it so much easier. There are several ways to sew curves together, and two of my favorites are pinning the fabric, and not pinning the fabric. I’ve made some videos to help, and you can see them here.

Alright, so here’s the breakdown for Week Two:

  • Sew together 3 complete Moroccan Tiles blocks
    • the SAL is paced for the throw size (9 blocks), but you can easily make more blocks per week to accommodate the larger sizes, or make less per week to make the baby size.
  • Follow steps #6-15 on pages 8-11 of your Moroccan Tiles pattern to assemble each block.
  • Don’t forget to match those stripes or fussy cuts if you went that route. I like to pin to match the patterns, or you can try glue basting for a great no-shift match!
  • This week, post a picture of your 3 blocks on Instagram using the #moroccantilessewalong hashtag.
    I’ll be randomly picking one winner from week three (you have to post the week 3 prompt on Instagram with the hashtag by 6/21/2019 at 11:59 CST) to win an awesome prize!  This week’s prize is a SunPrint 2019 FQ bundle from Sew Modern Chicky (the SAL shop sponsor). Check out the Original Sew Along post for more details & the rules.
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Moroccan Tiles Sew Along – Week 2

A person using a pair of scissors to cut fabric.

Week 2

We’re moving right along into Week 2 of the Moroccan Tiles Sew Along!  Head over to the Original SAL Post to review the details and schedule, if you need to.

YouTube tutorials

If you haven’t seen the list of video tutorials for the Moroccan Tiles quilt (they’re listed on page 2 of the pattern), you can see the full playlist of tips and tricks I made specifically for the sew along below. It starts with some different variations of the quilt (you can skip right through that video and onto the next), and goes right into using the templates.

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Quilting Hack – Stack and cut to save time

A person cutting fabric with a green cutter.

Everyone’s favorite thing to do is spend an entire day cutting out all the pieces of a quilt, right? UGGGGHHHH. I just cringed thinking about it. I want to sew, sew, sew–can’t someone else just do the cutting for me and lay everything out all nice and neat? Is that what heaven is going to be like? If this all sounds good to you, you’re going to LOVE the stack and cut method.

We all just want to spend our free time sewing and not doing the gross part that takes forever. When I’m cutting out the same shapes from different fabrics, I like to save a little time and stack and cut the fabrics together. It’s super easy and a HUGE time saver. Here’s what you need to do:

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Moroccan Tiles Sew Along – Week 1

A close up of pencils and a pair of scissors

Yes!!!  This is it, the start of the Moroccan Tiles Sew Along!  I’m so excited to start sewing with y’all.  Don’t forget to sign up for the SEW ALONG E-MAILS if you haven’t already so you don’t miss out on anything. You’ll get access to some great extras once you sign up for the sew along emails.

So if you missed the original sew along post, I’m going to run through the details once more here:

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