scrappy quilt – Monday Morning Designs

modern quilts, quilt blocks, quilting, quilts, Uncategorized

Breaking the Bias Edge Bias

September 13, 2019September 13, 2019 Deb Gehringer

I admit, I fear the bias edge. I’m not sure why really, I never had that terrible of an experience with bias edges. I guess I’m mostly afraid that something terrible is going to happen and because of that, I go out of my way to avoid them. Well, no more.

A recent quilt pattern I’ve been working on instructs you on the usual steps when making a HST—draw a diagonal line then sew ¼” from the line. Since the blocks in this quilt are multi-colored quarter square triangles, I was having a hard time getting my points aligned, so I figured I’d have better luck if I cut on the diagonal line, then sewed. I knew I’d be dealing with bias edges but I gave it a try and guess what? Not only did I have greater accuracy, it was actually easier. I fear the bias edge no longer! (I also had to remind myself that as an experienced quilter such avoidance/fear is kind of irrational). 🙂

Fast forward to my newest project that’s made up of half quarter square triangle units. It’s called Four Patch Charm and it’s similar to an Around the World quilt. I opted for this one because of the funky border and offset center and it’s forcing me to make bias edged units.

I’m continuing to make quilts with fabric I already have, and I chose a variety of golden yellows/oranges for this one. After cutting fabrics, I set to chain piecing (bias edges were present) and within 35 minutes I had 96 triangle pairs sewn.

The next step, pressing seams open…

then attaching the large half square to complete the unit. Lastly, press and trim.

No problem! Quilters know to handle bias edges gently, and to ensure that I handled them by the seams and put them on a ruler to move them from my pressing board to my sewing desk. I’m happy to say that no stretching or misshaping has occurred; I’m pretty confident everything will go together smoothly.

Now that I’ve tried a few different techniques, I won’t think twice about projects that require bias edges. If you’re like me and have avoided them, don’t! They’re not nearly as scary as you think.

modern quilts, patterns, PDF pattern, quilt binding, quilt blocks, quilting, quilts, Uncategorized

Five Squared Quilt

August 12, 2019July 24, 2021 Deb Gehringer

Looking for a colorful quilt that’s easy to make and designed to bust your stash? Give my Five Squared quilt a try! It’s a great way to use your scraps and it’s precut friendly. The PDF pattern is available for purchase at my Etsy shop.

Five Squared is geared for using what you’ve got on hand, and it’s an excellent choice for beginners. I realize a beginner quilter might not have that many scraps, but don’t worry, you can use 5 charm packs instead. And remember, with scrappy quilts, anything goes…

Because I like a controlled scrappy look, I decided to make mine using color-coordinated blocks with as many different colorways as my fabric would allow. I used only what I had, I bought nothing new (with the exception of the backing).

That said, I went through all my fabric and ended up with 14 different colorways: red, pink, coral, taupe, gray, aqua, teal, orange, dark blue, purple, beige, yellow, green and low volume. Ideally, 2 of 15 different colored blocks would balance out the quilt equally, but I improvised and made 4 low volume blocks instead.

I wish I could take all my quilts to be professionally quilted but it’s not in the budget, so most of the time I do the quilting myself. While it’s not my favorite part of the quilting process, once I get going I don’t mind it all that much.

I quilted mine with serpentine stitched lines approximately 7/8″ apart, marked with a hera marker. I used Aurifil 50wt thread 2026, Chalk.

Here’s something interesting…while i was working on my quilt I did a story on Instagram asking quilters if they, at some point while quilting, unpin and repress their quilt. I was curious because I do when I’m nearing the right-hand side edge, and here’s why. At that point I’ve had the quilt rolled up pretty tight to fit through the throat of my machine, and it’s rather wrinkled. When I get to that section, I feel that taking extra time to press and repin gives me a smoother, flatter finish. Do other quilters do this I wondered? Here’s what they said…

Overwhelmingly no! I was surprised not many people did. Who knew? Guess I’m in the minority on that one.

Anyway…for the backing I purchased Dear Stella Fabrics Flockstar Blush because it had every color in it that I used on the front. I absolutely love this fabric!

And it blended lovely with Moda’s Rainy Day! Umbrella Pink that I used for the binding, which I also had on hand, left over from when my Boxed Candy Toss Quilt was featured on the Moda Bake Shop.

Here’s my finished Five Squared quilt.

Not that I’m wishing away summer by any stretch but I am looking forward to cooler weather so I can finally use this beauty!

quilting, quilts, Uncategorized

Scrappy Nine Patch Quilt

May 2, 2018May 3, 2018 Deb Gehringer

It seems as though a lot of quilters plan out their projects; I see plenty of Instagram posts with lovely planners available for purchase along with planner images of scrawled notes and ideas. While I’m an organized person to a fault, I just couldn’t see myself planning out my quilts. I’m not exactly sure why, I suppose it’s because I just like to wing it from time to time. Enter my Scrappy Nine Patch quilt.

A while back I had been thinking about making something scrappy, mainly because I rarely do and I was tired of looking at fabric left over from so many past projects. One day while working on something else, I completely switched gears and began pulling fabric and putting together scraps in color combinations. Now I know why scrappy projects are so much fun; you don’t need an exact plan (other than a pattern), anything goes and nothing is considered wrong.

I set to work making a variety of nine patches—if a fabric looked good, it went in. It’s funny how I still can remember what projects I used those fabrics for, what collection they’re from, why I bought them, etc. I guess that’s why scrappy quilts are also called ‘memory quilts.’

Here are a few of my block groups.

Had a little fun putting this together…

Upon completion, I was surprised that I ended up using 144 different fabrics! I wouldn’t have guessed I even had that much variety in my stash at the time. In all, I made 48 blocks, added sashing, and ended up with a throw quilt measuring roughly 49″ W x 57″ L. And it definitely helped with my stash down.

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I’ve since gifted this quilt, but because it was so fun to make I’m thinking about making another one, with an entirely different selection of fabrics, of course. And I won’t be planning it either! 🙂

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Stars & Four Patches Quilt

September 24, 2017October 31, 2021 Deb Gehringer

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While vacationing out west last summer, I visited a beautiful quilt store in Garden City, Idaho (Quilt Expressions). Upon entering, I instantly fell in love with a gorgeous red, white and blue quilt I knew I’d have to make for myself. Before leaving, I purchased the red and blue fat quarter bundle, and because I wanted mine to have an Americana look, I chose Bella Solids Natural as a background fabric.

I didn’t start this quilt until December—figuring it was about time since I bought the fabric in July. Once the top was finished, I decided to have it professionally quilted because it was on the larger side and I didn’t feel I could do it justice. And wow, am I glad I did!

My longarmer, Laurie, suggested a block-by-block pattern and I agreed it would look great…and when I saw it I was floored. She even added an additional scalloped allover edge because the design didn’t go far enough into the borders. Needless to say, I absolutely love it!

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As of today, I have two holiday-themed quilts, this one and a Christmassy one. I plan to continue on, but which one do I do next?

Quilt top is a variety of fabric manufacturers. Quilt backing is Moda Sundance Trail/Light Blue Flags by Sara Khammash. Binding is Benartex Moose on the Loose/Stars Cranberry. Finished size is approximately 71″ x 88″.

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