HST and life lessons

And the task for another week of the Star Surround QAL is done!

Half Square Triangles.

And I learned few things doing this task:

1. I conquered the HST... the first time I tried them (quite a long time ago) I didn't follow such a nice tutorial, so I didn't know that is the final trimming  the magic trick that makes them perfect!! :) after I pressed them open, I saw them all wonky I panicked... but then I kept reading the tutorial and I learned that I need to trim them down and now each of them is perfect! :) I am sooooo happy!
HST you don't scare me any more! :)

2. I may have some problems counting up to 10, because I found out I had two extra green squares ;) well, it's better two extras than two missing :)

3. I don't like the "assembly line" approach... don't get me wrong, the tutorial Melissa put together is great, but my body (and mind) doesn't like to do the same movement for more than 3 times in a row (any movement/task)... the assembly line approach maybe saves time, but after each part (chain sewing, cutting, trimming, pressing) one part of my body was sore :) this is why I prefer paper piecing! because it involves a good mix of designing, printing, cutting paper, piecing small parts, putting together pieces, taking off paper, pressing, and embroidery... a good variety of tasks for my body ;)

And on that topic, let me introduce you Lucy Van Pelt, my first Peanuts/Snoopy paper piecing pattern :)



The pattern will be available here as soon as her friends are ready to join her :)

But for now, my job for the QAL is done and I am looking forward to conquer another classic that I never tried (Flying Geese) :)

Disney Mystery Quilt - Block 7 and more patterns!!

Today there is not going to be one, not Two, but THREE new patterns...
and also a tutorial if someone is interested :)

So let's get down to business :)

Pattern 1:

Here we are with Block number 7 of the Mystery Quilt.

If you have any other question, don't hesitate to ask.

The Seventh Block of the Quilt is Merlin.

You can find the pattern in the Free Patterns section.

Have fun, and post a comment below for any question/advice/comment!

And if you tried any of the blocks, please leave me a comment below, or send me a picture of the block or publish the block on the FiS Flickr Group (or all of them :) ). I would love to see your work!!


Pattern 2:

I finally released the second pattern from the Music Series!!
This time is a complete set of notes (quarters).
They are pretty easy to realize because the basic pattern is always the same, the only thing that changes is the space above/below the note and/or it's orientation on the staff.

You can find the pattern in my Craftsy store! :)

Pattern 3:

WARNING: this is an untested pattern. But I keep seeing them around and I could not resist. I don't have a project for him right now, so this is why I didn't test it. But I will share him with you because maybe there is someone that wants to test it! :)

The pieces in the pdf are not colored because the pattern is as it comes from QuiltAssistant (and color indicators on small pieces are more confusing than helping for me :) ).

It makes a block 10.5'' x 7.25''.

You can download the pattern from here.




Tutorial?

It has been a very crafty month... and since birthdays are approaching I started putting together gifts.
I wanted to make a Card Wallet, but none of the ones I found around had the shape/size I wanted. So I took what I like from each of them and I made my own version.

So

++

In particular, this are my likes/dislikes of the three projects:
1) Mega card wallet
likes: more than 4 cards capacity, different pages;
dislikes: too tall for my small purses, pocket opening on top, unfinished back of the pockets.
2) Boys wallet
likes: finished back of the pockets (because of folding), super-easy to assemble;
dislikes: only few cards capacity, pocket opening on top, no closure system
3) Business card holder
likes: closure with button, pocket opening on side;
dislikes: only few cards capacity

So I created a wallet that:
- easy to assemble and has finished pockets' back (folding technique make it super fast and very clean finished look)
- different pages (most of them with pocket orientation on side)
- detachable pages (so even if the final pocket is about 1''), it may be bulky for small bags: so I used snaps to attach the inside pages. Now when I use the small purse I can just grab the internal pages instead of the entire wallet!)
- 12 side pockets + 2 vertical pockets (card size) + 2 vertical pockets (smaller than card size): so plenty of room for all my cards (and for few coupons and cash too)!!

This is the final result of this first prototype:

 

All the different pages (on the left) and the detachable inside pockets (on the top)




The first time I made it, I didn't take any measure, I eyeballed everything :)
But I will make more of those for sure because they make fast and nice Christmas presents ;)
So if someone tells me is interested, next time I can write down all the measures and take some pictures in the process to put together a tutorial about that. :) :)
If you are interested just drop me a comment below or send me and email!

Because I am not a traditional kind of person :)

I cannot simply follow the directions that other people give me :)
I just need to add my touch of craziness in everything I do.
And this QAL is no different.

So let me interview myself to explain my project ;)

Q: What size are you going for?
A: Since I am an unconventional person, obviously I chose the only one missing in the cutting tables ;) which is a 16'' block, 2x2

Q: Why??
A: Because I am crazy? ;) well actually not just because of that.
Also because I don't want to follow the instructions in putting together the top and quilting it either :)
I want to use this project as the quilt to try (for the first time) to free motion quilting!! :)
In particular I am going to follow the class that Leah Day has on Craftsy (called "Free motion quilting, A Sampler") and I want to use the Quilt-As-You-Go approach so I will quilt each block separately and then bind them together. So to see if I like that technique the minimal amount of blocks I need is 2x2... so I will go with that.
(BTW... as a side note... I am really not comfortable in following instructions as they are... also for the FM class I had to find a different project to try it on ;) I always need to add my personal twist on things =P)

Q: Which color scheme did you choose?
A: The rules that I chose for myself are: rule 1) I should use fabric that I bought and didn't use in the last 6 months in any paper-piecing projects (big prints, Christmas, patriotic are hard to put in my Disney-style blocks, so I want to use them here :) ); rule 2) I am not going to buy any new fabric for this project: I have to figure out a way of piecing small pieces if I don't have enough of a fabric for a specific part.
This is the reason why the fabric you see above is so scrappy and eclectic :) I have no idea how they are going to turn out together, but my rules are my rules :)
And cutting the fabric was not so easy, because of my rules ;) actually I started piecing some squares because I run out of few prints... and I run out of background fabric (I felt 10 square short :( ). This is why I added another similar green... I will see how to incorporate that in the design... but I think it should be fine...

Q: Why do you always make things more difficult than necessary??
A: Because I like challenges ;) This is why I never pieced traditional blocks before... I thought they were not enough "intellectually challenging" for me... but with all my additional rules, this project is definitely challenging enough for me now!

So now, let's set aside the squares (on the right) and the left over pieces (on the left) and let's wait for the next part of the challenge ;)

Very crafty weekend!!

I have so many things to update you about!!

1. I joined Pinterest :) so if you want to be updated on my evolution as a crafter, you can follow me here 

2. I finished my Piano Project and I love it!

(more pictures in my Flickr collection)

3. I finished the block for my first block swap (Block Swap Adventure)! This is the block:

And considering that I never pieced a traditional star block, I am pretty happy how this Missouri Star turned out!! :)

4. I joined the Star Surround QAL and decided to go with a super scrappy look. this is my fabric selection (I decided that everything has to come from my stash, so it is going to be very scrappy, christmasy and patriotic at this time ;))

5. I finally completed the set of objects that compose the Birthday present for my Mother-In-Law. Still need to sign and date each of them, but here are some pictures:

Again, I am pretty proud of the result because all of them are first time experiments!! :)

You can find the link with the tutorials in the description of the pictures in my Flickr collection

6. And I am almost done with the second pattern for the Music Series... stay tuned... it is going to be available soon in my Craftsy store!

Let's play!

The Music Themed, wall hanging quilt is done!
I also call it the Piano project and you can see why :)










Soon I am going to share patterns for notes and other music symbols so that you can paper-piece your own song ;)

But for now  the Treble Clef pattern is already available in the Free Patterns section (note that the pattern is for a block 10.5 inches high but in my wall hanging I reduced it to 4.5... and everything else has been reduced accordingly...)

Note that the two songs I picked are not random songs... let's see if someone is able to recognize them ;)
A big clue is in the border...

Pinterest

Just a quick post...

I noticed that people "Pin" my blocks and photos on Pinterest... and with nice comments too :)
Thanks to all!!

So I decided to join Pinterest myself and post my new blocks/projects also there.
Here is my link, if you want to follow me there :)

http://pinterest.com/tweloq/

Disney Mystery Quilt - Block 6

Here we are with Block number 6 of the Mystery Quilt.

The Sixth Block of the Quilt is Archimedes on the Hat.

You can find the pattern in the Free Patterns section.

Have fun, and post a comment below for any question/advice/comment!

And if you tried any of the blocks, please leave me a comment below, or send me a picture of the block or publish the block on the FiS Flickr Group (or all of them :) ). I would love to see your work!!

Let's Celebrate!

Happy 4th of July Weekend!

There are many things to celebrate this weekend for me!
... the 4th of July...
... the 100 clicks on my first Disney pattern...
... and the completion of the Disney Quilt! Hurray!!
If you want to see pictures of the final quilt just follow this link
(but remember that the Mystery is revealed there :)).

And what is the best way to celebrate all that?
I think that the best way is to offer a new free paper piecing pattern! :)

This is my first non-fandom-related pattern and for that reason I published it both here and on Craftsy (below you find the links).

It is the first of a series of music-related paper piecing patterns that will allow you to sew your favorite song on a quilt! :) I already started my project, and soon I will show it here, but for now, let me introduce you:

The Treble Clef!

You can find the pdf of the pattern:

• in my Free Pattern page
• in my Craftsy Store (make sure to follow me on Craftsy if you want updates about my next patterns)

(note that the pattern contains only one single clef... the picture shows three because I wanted to be colorful and in 4th of July theme ;) )

If you have any comment, please do not hesitate to write me!!