Monday, December 28, 2009

Mystery Monday - The Final Step in A Judy Hopkins Mystery

I hope everyone had a fabulous and safe holiday! I’m sure you’ve all been anxiously awaiting the final step to this fun mystery.

Join the rows to make a BUCKEYE BEAUTY quilt, turning every other row upside-down to form the pattern.

I have included pictures of the mystery quilts that were finished at the 2009 Quilts By Barb Quilt Retreat. I have yet to finish mine (the one that I’ve been showing in the other instructions) but no worries – I’ll be sure to blog about it when I do! I also do not know who’s quilt is who’s so if you would like credit please just leave a comment with your name and the corresponding letter that goes with your quilt top!

127

(A)

130(B)156(C)158(D)148

(E)

Add 6” borders in your choice of fabric. 1-1/3 yards of fabric will yield 7 selvage-to-selvage strips, 6-1/2” wide, for seamed borders. For borders cut from the lengthwise grain, you would need 1-1/2 yards of fabric.

TO ADD BORDERS: Seam the strips as necessary to make strips long enough to border the quilt; press seams open.

Measure the length of the quilt at the center, from raw edge to raw edge. Cut two border strips to that measurement and join them to the sides of the quilt with a 1/4” seam, matching the ends and centers and easing the edges to fit. Then measure the width of the quilt at the center, including the border pieces that you just added. Cut two border strips to the measurement and join them to the top and bottom of the quilt, matching ends and centers and easing as necessary.

106

This is the quilt that Diane finished as a sample for the Mystery Quilt. She decided to to her borders in a way that she deemed fit for the quilt. That’s the beauty about borders…you can do whatever you want! To see more pictures just click HERE!

If you’ve missed the earlier steps it’s easy to catch up! Just click on the links below:

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Step 7

Judy Hopkin's’ Mystery Quilt Singles patterns for individual quilters are available through Feathered Star Productions at www.MarshaMcCloskey.com

***If you participated in the 2009 Quilt Retreat or just decided to follow along with the mystery on this blog please send me your completed quilt pictures! I would LOVE to see them! Just email me at: lapaceksorchard@gmail.com and I will post them to this blog!***

Sunday, December 27, 2009

American Jane Quilt Series

Barb has recently listed a series of ‘American Jane’ wall hangings onto her etsy website.  Here’s an overview of these nostalgic and fun quilts.

American Jane Snapshot Quilted Wall Hangingquilts 090

This whimsical and nostalgic wall hanging quilt has ‘snapshots’ of different American Jane Scenes.  I used fabric from the Moda, American Jane Collection – Recess to bring people back to the ‘good ole days’.  This quilt would look great hanging in a child’s bedroom or playroom.

I used a rainbow-like pattern when quilting this wall hanging – I feel that it really accents the quilt nicely.

Approximate Size:  40” x 42”

Two Vertical American Jane Quilted Wall Hangings

quilts 106These wall hangings show snapshots of three different American Jane Scenes using fabric from Moda, American Jane Collection – Recess.  Buy just one or the pair to create a great look in a child’s bedroom or playroom.

Approximate Size:  25.5” x 15.5”

Ring Around the Rosie American Jane Quilted Wall Hanging

quilts 100An adorable scene of kids playing Ring Around the Rosie is the main focus of this wall hanging.  It is a fun, nostalgic and whimsical fabric panel from Moda’s, American Jane Collection – Recess.  The perfect decoration for a child’s bedroom or play area.

Approximate Size:  27.5” x 31”

Horizontal American Jane Quilted Wall Hanging

quilts 116This wall hangings show snapshots of three different American Jane Scenes using fabric from the Moda, American Jane Collection – Recess.

Jump Rope American Jane Quilted Wall Hangingquilts 120

How fun do these children seem to be having playing a nice game of jump rope!  I sure remember those days…what a great image for your child to wake up to each morning.      

London Bridges American Jane Quilted Wall Hangingquilts 123

This nostalgic retro scene of the children playing London Bridges brings a smile to my face.  This is perfect on it’s own for a child’s bedroom or play area or paired up with any or all of the other of my Dick and Jane listings.

quilts 128

Monday, December 21, 2009

Mystery Monday – Step 7

Join the blocks in rows of 6, alternating Block A and Block B. Start each row with Block A. Press seams all the same direction (trust me!) You will have 8 rows – and 2 blocks left over

033Maybe your group would like to pool the leftover blocks and have a drawing for them…or, put them together for a community service quilt.

If you’ve missed the earlier steps it’s easy to catch up! Just click on the links below:

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Don’t miss next week’s post…you’ll see the final quilt all put together!

Sunday, December 20, 2009

2010 Quilt Retreat Getaway Weekend

Announcing:

2010 Quilt Retreat Getaway Weekend

When:  November 12, 13 and 14, 2010
                    Optional November 15, 2010

Where:  Baymont Inn Hotel and Suites Convention Center
                     Belmont, Wisconsin


Details and registration at www.Quiltsbybarb.com

We would love to have you join us.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Mystery Monday – Step 6

029Using the LIGHT/DARK half-square triangle units and the LIGHT/MEDIUM four-patches, make 25 Block B.  Combine the fabrics at random.  032The blocks should measure 6-1/2” x 6 1/2” (raw edge to raw edge) when sewn.  Press seams however you wish.    030 

If you’ve missed the earlier steps it’s easy to catch up!  Just click on the links below:

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

031

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Show and Tell – The Yard that Keeps on Going….

The Yard that Keeps on Going...... is another section of the Quilt Retreat Getaway Weekend's sponsored by Quilts by Barb ‘Show and Tell.' Before I get into the pictures I’ll explain what the ‘Yard that Keeps on Going...........’ means.

The Rules:

1. Everyone gets one yard of Barb's own hand dyed fabric from Quilts by Barb. This one yard piece is Barb's selection. You may trade your one yard piece with anyone in the retreat group BUT you MAY NOT trade for a different yard of hand dyed fabric from the Mini Store.

2. The fabric is yours to do what you want. If you bring an actual finished project back to a future retreat where you use ALL OR MOST of the one yard piece of hand dyed fabric, you will receive another FREE yard of Hand Dyed Fabric from Quilts by Barb to make a second project of your choice. (No pictures of projects please; we need the real thing!) The rules will stay the same, year after year. The fabric will always be Barb's choice.

3. The fabric must be used on the quilt front; it cannot be used as a quilt back. Would we accept a mini whole cloth table topper with cool machine quilting on the full piece of hand dyed fabric? Yes, absolutely.

4. Use your imagination. All the fabrics handed out each year are from the same dye batch. The coloring will vary but the fabrics will all have some similarity.

5. This will be an “extra item” Show and Tell each year. We want to see who has fabric going and going and going through our 10th anniversary!

The following are pictures from the 7th annual Quilts by Barb Quilt Retreat. Some is the fabric from the 5th retreat, some from the 6th…097 074 075 076 077 078 079 080 081 082 083 084 085 086 087 088 089 090 091 092 093 094 095

I’m excited to see what everyone comes up for next years’ retreat!

Monday, December 7, 2009

Mystery Monday – Step 5 of a Golden Oldie

001Using the LIGHT/MEDIUM half-square triangle units and the LIGHT/DARK four-patches, make 25 Block A.  Combine the fabrics at random.  The blocks should measure 6-1/2” x 6-1/2” (raw edge to raw edge) when sewn.  Press seams however you wish.

004  ***Note:  This is one of those designs that creates an occasional pressing conundrum no matter what you do.  If you press seams open, you may have more difficulty matching matching points and seams, and you’ll have no “ditch” to stitch in when you reach the quilting stage.  If you press to the side you may have to twist some seams on the back when you assemble the blocks and/or the quilt, to make them butt together properly for easy joining.  You choose!002 

If you’ve missed the earlier steps it’s easy to catch up!  Just click on the links below:

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

003Don’t forget to tune in next Monday for Step 6!

Monday, November 30, 2009

Mystery Monday – Step 4 of the Golden Oldie

Cut ALL of the strip units you made in Step 3 into segments 2” wide.  You will need 100 LIGHT/MEDIUM segments and 100 LIGHT/DARK segments.

Join the segments to make 50 LIGHT/MEDIUM four-patches and 50 LIGHT/DARK four-patches as shown.  Combine the fabrics at random.  The four-patches should measure 3 – 1/2” x 3 – 1/2” (raw edge to raw edge) when sewn.011

If you’ve missed the earlier steps it’s easy to catch up!  Just click on the links below:

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Don’t forget to tune in next Monday for Step 5!

Monday, November 23, 2009

Mystery Monday – Step 3 of the Golden Oldie

008Join 10 of the 2” x 21” LIGHT strips to the 2” x 21” MEDIUM strips to make 10 strip units that look like this (below).  Combine the fabrics at random.  The strip units should measure 3-1/2” wide (raw edge to raw edge) when sewn.  Press seams toward the MEDIUM fabric.009  Join the remaining 2” x 21” LIGHT strips to the 2” x 21” DARK strips to make 10 strip units.  Combine the fabrics at random.  The strip units should measure 3-1/2” wide when sewn.  Press seams toward the DARK fabric.

If you’ve missed the earlier steps click on the links below:

STEP ONE

STEP TWO

Stop by next Monday to see what Step FOUR brings!

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Show and Tell - Miscellaneous

Here’s some more show and tell from the 2009 Quilt Retreat Getaway Weekend sponsored by Quilts by Barb. This time the projects could be whatever the person wanted to show off…limit of one. Enjoy!073 045 046 047 Tried to get the quilting but was difficult in the few minutes I had and the lighting situation…048 049 050 051 053052 054 055 056 057 058 060 062061 064 065 066 067 068 070 071 072

I did my best to get pictures of everyone’s project but things moved pretty quickly so I apologize if you’re not shown…