Snowman

Howdy-

I love winter and I love the snow and so does my Little. We are outside for a bit each day enjoying the fluffy white winter wonderland that has blanketed our little town.  The Post Independent reported that Glenwood Springs has received nearly 60 inches this winter- our average is only 37. We still have more snow coming this weekend and perhaps a few more spring snows to enjoy. 




This snowy weather brings fun adventures like- sledding, learning to run a snowblower ( I'd never used one prior to this winter's heavy snows), and romping in the snow drifts. However, I also like to be warm and cozy. I look forward to coming back indoors and getting all cozied up underneath a warm quilt and reading some books with my Little. Which brings me to the purpose of this blog post. I have completed one of my goals for the year. My Snuggly Snowman Quilt.

Back in October of 2015 at Glenwood Sewing Center, I came across some adorable soft flannel snowmen that I just couldn't live without. I promised myself that before it winter was over, I'd enjoy a snuggle or two under a cozy flannel quilt. Nancy Zieman has a great pattern that I thought would fun and bring out the best in the large print fabrics I was going to use. This is a pretty versatile and fun pattern that goes together fast and easy. There are so many different ways you can play with the blocks. I chose to do two sizes. 18" square and 9" square with the hopes of making the snowmen seem as if they were falling like snowflakes. I played with the color placements a little before I was satisfied- as is the case with most of us.

I chose to do some simple quilting on because I didn't want the quilting to detract from the soft flannel.

Don't rush the winter, for in a few short months, we'll be wishing for some reprieve from the heat!

Half Square Triangle Lifesaver

Okay Quilters-

The Saturday Sampler group that I attend has been doing the Go Big Blocks. Each month there are TONS of HSTs. I have been doing the semi-traditional method- yielding 2 HST for each block.

When we, my sister-in-law and I, got the pattern for this month, there were 56 HST. I know in the long run this isn't a lot, but I was tired of them and it seemed like so many. My sister-in-law was over and she was also tired of the monotonous HST method we were using. So we did some research....i.e. go to Pinterest.

We found several solutions to quickly assembling many HST here and here.  The first tutorial is for making big batches- 18 HST at once. The second is for making 8 HST at one go. After adjusting our pattern for big batches, we found that with the fabric from our kit we were limited to the 8 at one time HST method.

We decided to give it a try. It was so much faster to do 8 at once. It actually cut our time in half. I am looking forward to giving the 18 HST method a try soon!!

It is so fun to find different ways to get the same thing accomplished in sewing. I have two more Saturday Sampler meetings at Glenwood Sewing Center, so maybe I'll find another method I like better, but for now. These two are my go to HST methods!

Until next week-
Jesslyn


Our HST triangles were going to be 4.5" blocks.

1) Cut out your 10 inch squares

2) Mark the diagonal in both directions.
















3) Sew 1/4'' on both sides of the diagonal in both directions.

4) Cut the block in half horizontally and vertically. ( I was so glad that I had a spinning rotary mat for this process, because it is important to leave your square in place for both the horizontal and vertical cut.) Then cut between the sewn lines on the diagonal in both directions.

Vertical/ horizontal cuts

Diagonal cuts

4) Iron open and trim to 4.5" blocks. This is another instance were having a spinning rotary mat comes in very handy. It makes trimming blocks a breeze!

New Year...New Projects

Happy New Year Quilters!

As the new year begins... my goal setting and list making starts in earnest. Let me be clear- I AM A TO DO LIST JUNKIE. I thrive on making to do lists. It is such a thrill to cross something off the list that sometimes I will add an extra to the list just so I can cross it off or break down a larger item so I have more to cross off!

This year I have a "To Do List" of quilts. I want to make 12 different quilts this year. Each quilt will fall in a focus group: color, quilting, design, or technique. 

-Color- Color plays a huge role in how a pattern plays out in a quilt. It amazes me how a quilt can change simply based on the different colors chosen. Besides playing with the different colors, you also have to take in to consideration the values of those fabrics. So in the Twister quilt, I'll be playing with colors and in the Neutral Quilt, I'm going to play with values. 

Twister Quilt- Color Play

Neutral Quilt

-Quilting- I have many quilt tops that are in limbo. I get the top pieced, but then can't decide how to quilt the top. It is almost as if I am paralyzed with the fear of ruining a quilt top. I want to be comfortable with quilting designs that this is no longer a huge struggle.

As I peruse Pinterest, I'm drawn to the beautiful quilts quilted by Angela Walters and Judi Madsen. Their designs are not only beautiful, but I'd say make the quilts stand out. I aspire to quilt as beautifully as either of these women. Of course, in order to do that one must practice, practice, practice. But on these quilts I'll pay special attention to the quilting.

I am most excited about the QAYG quilting sampler. For the Saturday Sampler at Glenwood Sew this year, they've been teaching big blocks. I've decided to take each of those blocks and focus on quilting using different designs in a few new books that I got for Christmas. The idea is that each block being 36" square will be the perfect size to focus on quilting and overall design. Then I'll connect them to make one beautiful quilt. 

QAYG- Quilting Sampler

Hexagon Quilt- Halloween

Saturday Sampler- Green and Purple

Quilt Blue Scrappy

-Design- I want to stretch my imagination and design two original quilts. It may not seem like much to only design two quilts, but for me it will be a challenge. I find so many beautiful patterns out there that I think that my originality and creativity are stifled because it is far easier for me to buy a pattern than to sit down and create. 

Original Design Quilt

Monster Quilt 

-Technique- Every quilter has a desire to get better, to broaden their horizons and find new or different ways to create the same block. I'd like to explore some of these different techniques and find one or maybe a few that I like enough to be my go to techniques. 

Flying Geese

Double Disappearing Nine Patch

Drunkard’s Path Baby Quilt

-Seasonal- I want to make quilts for each season, starting with Winter. 

Snowman Quilt

I look forward to sharing with you my progress for the year. I hope you join me in creating a "To Do List" of Quilts to complete this year as well. 

Can't wait to see the creative juices flow!!
Until next time-

Jesslyn