Pond Ripples

Yeah! The guest bed now has a quilt to call it's own, which I'm calling Pond Ripples.

Sorry I have no outside, full on, hanging pictures of this, due to the incredibly poor air quality we've had due to the Camp fire. An on the bed shot will have to do!

As larger version of the Becharmed baby quilt,

I'm pleased with how it turned out, given what I had to work with.

Turns out, my awesome background fabric was not enough to make the full 8 1/2" second side borders. Thankfully, though, I was able to squeeze out two borders that are 4 1/4" - it's that narrow third background border visible on the edge of the bed.

And I'm really ok with that, because I was going for some overhang on the edges, but not a lot. When quilts are really big, it's a lot to manage!

I've also discovered that this quilt is a brighter blue than what's in the room, and really makes the picture look dull. The blue we pulled out for the paint was in the bird's wings, and not the picture background. Oh well.

But, on an upside, this quilt is terrific for stash busting - I'm thrilled it used up at least 9 yards of fabric from my stash! And 5 yards of that was one piece I had for the backing - the quilt gods were definitely smiling down on me!

Overall, I'm glad I tried a larger size of the Becharmed quilt, but in reality, the pattern looks better as a baby quilt, and is written as such. Not only is it a great stash busting quilt, but also a perfect pattern for the beginner quilter.

The Becharmed pattern includes written directions for quickly making those 4 1/2" 4-patch units from 5" charm squares without sewing a single 2 1/2" square using my Charming 4-Patch Fast, Fun, and Fabulous tutorial. What could be easier???

Almost forgot! I decided on the Jester pantograph for this quilt and no straight-line quilting or feathers as for the baby quilt version.

And here's a picture of the back (plus that Seminole style minky blanket I'm trying to hide!). Both sides were quilted with a dark grey thread.

If you're in need of a fast, scrappy baby quilt, or just want to use up your stash, check out the Becharmed pattern.

Happy Quilting!

Midweek Makers #149

Welcome to Midweek Makers! Today, I'm announcing the winner of the Pumpkin Applique Block and Pumpkin Harvest patterns from last week's Pick a Pumpkin Blog Hop!

Pumpkin Applique Quilt Block 

Pumpkin Harvest quilt 

And the winner is, as randomly chosen by Rafflecopter, .....

Teri C! Congratulations, and enjoy the patterns! I also want to give a big thank you to everyone who participated - I certainly enjoyed reading all the responses to pumpkin carving, which appears to be not so popular. Maybe we'll be inspired to carve one next year? 

As for last week's Midweek Makers, I was fascinated by a the quilt-art shares from these talented quilters:

from Not Afraid of Color,

                                         

from Princess Bubbles Creates,

                                                 


and from Quilting and Learning.

                                         

I love how everyone is trying something new with fabric and letting their inner voice come through - nice job everyone!

Now it's your turn - what are you sharing today?

• Please link directly to your specific post, not your main blog page.
• Visit and leave a comment to two links: the one before and the one after your own. Everyone loves visitors, comments, and encouragement!
• Bring a friend! Invite your fellow bloggers to the party by spreading the word! 
• Please link to www.QuiltFabrication.com in your post or on your sidebar with the Midweek Makers badge

An InLinkz Link-up

A Larger Becharmed Quilt in the Works

I've started another charm (5") square project, this time a bigger version of the Becharmed quilt.

Since having guests last week, I've decided it's high time I make a quilt for the guest bed. Normally, one of my kid's crashes there for the occasional stay, and the bed is usually covered with minky blankets. Both blankets have a Seminole style design on them, with one beige, the other red. Let's just say they don't fit the decor of the room.

I've been wanting a quilt for this bed for a long time, but couldn't decide on a pattern. I did know I wanted it to be subtle and fit with the room, not be the focus of the room.

The room is painted in a greyed beige and a purple-ish deep blue, colors that were pulled from the very large picture on the wall. Yes, we've had it for many, many years, and hubby likes it there. 

So, my first fabric pull was non-yellow/gold beiges, and purple-y blues, with some that had a bit of aqua in them.

All fine and good, but the level of contrast is sky high! I want this quilt subtle, not screaming "Look at me!"

Pulling out the super dark blues and replacing them with blues that where lighter and brighter was better, but still too much contrast existed.

How about lighter blues instead of the beiges?? And staring me in the face in the bin was a large piece with circles on it:

Now we're talking! The contrast is down, the colors blend into the room, and I'm going to see if I can make this work!

It will be tricky, as the circle fabric has a chunk missing, but I'm going to try anyway. Maybe the quilt won't be as big as I want, but at least it will look better than those minky blankets!

And in case your wondering, that tree on the wall is a vinyl tree decal (affiliate link), and one of six. They are taupe in color, and on this wall, the tree looks beige, while the other five on the opposite beige wall, look grey. Super simple to decorate with! 

Inserting a Decorative Flange

Got a quilt that needs a little something to snazz it up, but you don't know what? How about adding a tiny extra decorative flange?

That's what I did within the border of the Pumpkin block table runner, making this project go from ho-hum to wow!

Notice this is within the border, not at the binding edge, which is the Piped Binding technique. The tutorial today is for placing a flange within the border or around a block with sashing.

And it's easy to do! Of course, on this project, I had to take off the outer border first after discovering how boring the borders were without the green flange. But what's a little seam ripping? Better to bite the bullet and make it right/beautiful, than to have a project that one is not happy with.

So, just how easy?

Cut narrow strips

For a tiny flange, approximately 1/8" wide, cut enough strips 3/4" wide. 

If the project needs a wider flange, use the chart below to determine the cutting size for the desired width:

Desired width of Flange	1/8”	1/4”	3/8”
Cut width of strips	3/4”	1”	1 ¼”

Anything more than 3/8" doesn't need to be an inserted flange, and should be a wide enough strip to just be sewn in.

If needed, stitch pieces together as if making binding (on the diagonal) to get the necessary length for the project.

Press the strips

Then, carefully press the strips in half, matching the cut edges. This step is important, so take the time to match those edges!

Baste the flange

Carefully line up the cut edges of the flange piece with the cut edge of the project. Use glue if necessary to hold it in place. If the edges are not in line, the flange will narrow and widen on the project, which is noticeable when dealing with such narrow widths.

Baste the flange to the project (border or block), 1/8" from the cut edges.

Overlap cut ends in the corners - do not apply like binding and fold to go around the corner.

Apply border or sashing strip

Attach the border or block sashing strip, carefully stitching a 1/4" seam allowance after lining up the cut edges. 

This is another area where precision counts - a wavy seam results in a wavy flange. Take your time - no need to rush!

If you're feeling super confident, the flange and border/block sashing can be stitched to the project at the same time, eliminating the flange basting step. I, personally, would rather do it one at a time, so as not to risk the flange moving.

Finishing up

Once the border/block sashing strip is on, carefully press open that strip, exposing the flange and keeping it flat.

When quilting, stitch-in-the-ditch in the seam of the flange/border or block sashing. If quilting on the free side of the flange, try not to catch it the quilting by lifting the flange up and out of the way, if necessary. Then admire your work!

Happy Quilting!