The Reptile Quilt For My Reptile Man

Have any of your kids ever become so enthralled by something that it's all they ever talk about. My oldest son, Bryan, was like that in 3rd grade. I was nuts for snakes, lizards, snakes, frogs and did I mention snakes? You get the jist of it right? All he talked about were these animals, every report for school was done on snakes or lizards, which he then read on the loudspeaker at the school. I spent many afternoons in the herpertarium with him so he could see the snakes they had there.

So when I saw Meadow Friends by Deb Strain I knew that I had to make Bryan a quilt with it. I used the Boy Jelly Roll for the Key to Friendship Quilt Along. Earlier this week I basted, quilted and bound it so I had it to give Bryan when he came home for Thanksgiving.

I had no trouble figuring out how to quilt this...it spoke to me right away. I quilted around the key part of each block. I just had no idea how difficult it would be to do the quilting that way. I was turning the quilt every 2" - 5". Here's a closeup of the back to show you the quilting.

And Bryan loved it! As a matter of fact Tyler liked it too, I guess I forgot how much he loved frogs when he was younger. I have a big quilt planned for Tyler so he will not be forgotten :)

Here's a pic of Bryan snuggling with the quilt a few minutes ago.

Have you finished anything lately?

Corner Triangles aka Connectors....A Tutorial

A while back on twitter I asked what a square with a small half square triangle (HST) on one of the corners is called. We decided it was called 'corner triangles'. Then I went to my quilting class that week and found out that the term is called connectors, although I like corner triangles better.

On Wednesdays post about the Friendly Quilt Along I promised to show you a way to sew the connectors on...
"On Saturday, October 8th I will be showing you a very easy way to sew the connector squares on with out pinning or drawing on the back of the small square or even just guessing where the diagonal really is. It's a fool proof way that will make this quilt go fast."

Like so many other things I learned this technique from Gail at The Berry Patch. She is probably the most knowledgeable quilter I know, I always learn something new and wonderful at her classes.

For each square you will need a larger square (mine is 5") and a smaller square (mine is 2.5"). These sizes are not set in stone, your pattern might be different.

1. First you need to get your machine ready. Do you have a marked line (like with a sharpie) or a piece of take along your 1/4" line? Just about everyone I know around here does. What you do is put your needle in the down position and raise your presser foot. Insert a ruler against the needle and lower your presser foot. Line up a line on your ruler perpendicular to a line on your machine table so you know your ruler is straight, ie. the 4" line on the ruler. Then with a fine point sharpie draw a line against the ruler or place a 1/4" piece of tape in the same spot. I didn't have any 1/4" tape when I did this so I used a piece of painters tape that I cut with my rotary cutter to 1/4". And don't worry about the sharpie, you can always remove it with denatured alcohol.  

Now you are ready to start piecing.

2. Take your 5" square and place the 2.5" square on one corner, right sides together. Make sure the corner and edges line up. When I talk about the top left and bottom right part of the small square it is from this position I am referring to.

3. Take the squares to your machine. You will start sewing from the top left corner of the small square and sew down to the bottom right corner. Line your top left point up with your needle and the bottom right corner with the left side of the tape. Stitch down the center of the triangle, watching the tape line (your machine will keep sewing if you look away from the presser foot and needle for this, I promise).

If your bottom right corner of the small square follows the line the needle will end up right at the bottom right corner. There you have a perfect diagonal line. 

4. Press the square over to make a triangle.

5. Normally you would be told to trim the bottom 2 pieces under the triangle, but I think it's best to only trim the center. If you are off by any amount (and lets face who isn't at times) keeping the bottom part (in other words the part of the big square) will keep your square integrity and give you the correct line to sew on.

There you have it...an easy way to sew on the diagonal...no pins, no pencils and no guessing.

There's so many applications this can be used for, not just connector squares. Can you think of any others?

I am off to Quilt Sitters and Sit and Sew at The Berry Patch today and will pick a winner of the Quilting Design Wizard later. If you haven't entered I am giving you a few more hours :)

Are you planning on joining the Friendly Quilt Along? I hope so, this is a great quilt and is so easy now that you know how to make these pieces.

Sha :)

The Friendly Quilt Along Blog Hop

It's time for another Friendly Quilt Along! Last month Carolyn of ...Just One More Stitch and Tiffany of Another Pie in The Sky and I made the Key to my Heart pattern.  If you missed the blog hop you can catch up by clicking on the blog names above and here's my quilt. I love to see how the same pattern looks so different with each fabric line. And they all look fabulous!

This time The Friendly Quilt Along is open to everyone! The pattern we will be using is Snake Charmer by Little Louise Designs, it's available in both PDF and hard copy format from The Fat Quarter Shop.

Isn't this a cute quilt? And it is so easy, I promise. It calls for 2 charm packs and some yardage, but can also be made with 8 FQs instead of the charm packs. Since it's only a crib size I plan on making it a little bigger, it's such an easy pattern that shouldn't be a problem. Although it could be a nice throw for the winter. I like to have a small quilt on my lap when at the computer and when watching tv and this is the perfect size.

On Saturday, October 8th I will be showing you a very easy way to sew the connector squares on with out pinning or drawing on the back of the small square or even just guessing where the diagonal really is. Its a fool proof way that will make this quilt go fast.

You have between now and November 12th to finish the quilt. I wanted to give those of us going to Quilt Market/Festival or Sewing Summit some time to recover before working on the quilt. On the 12th we will all post our quilts on our blogs and will have links to each others blogs too. Dont worry if you don't have a blog or don't want to hop with us, you can always send me the pics and I'll post it for you. Or you can remain anonymous and just make the quilt, it's totally up to you.  

I have made a flickr page so we can show off all our great quilts too.

Tiffany at Another Pie In The Sky is working on a button for us. Speaking of that, make sure you check out her design services. If you are in the market for a new design for you blog or even just a button or signature she's the one to go to.

I hope you will join us. Last months quilt along was a lot of fun, this one promises to be also.

Sha :)