Charlotte, Author at Carol's Quilts

Pacific Stars Mystery Quilt Month Six – Final Layout!!!

01/10/2017 By Charlotte Leave a Comment

Woot! You made it! This month we’ll sew the last four blocks of the Pacific Stars mystery quilt – and they aren’t tricky – and then put all your blocks together to reveal your masterpiece.

I had so much fun laying out all my blocks together. I think that’s the best bit of making a quilt – when it all comes together and you can finally appreciate all your patience and hard work.

Right, are you ready?

Cutting Instructions for Month Six

From the light blue Fabric G cut:

Four 4 ½ inch squares

All your other pieces should have already been cut in previous months.

Construction

Use four light grey Fabric A 2 1/2 inch squares, eight turquoise Fabric C 2 1/2 inch squares and four purple Fabric E 2 1/2 inch squares to sew four, four patches using the layout shown in the photo below. Press seams in a clockwise direction when viewed from the front. We’ll call this Unit A.

Sew eight half square triangle units (HST) using four light grey Fabric A 2 7/8 inch squares and four turquoise Fabric C 2 7/8 inch squares. Press seams open. Remember, Carol’s squares to triangles tool makes quick work of making accurate HST. Have you tried it yet?

Sew eight light grey Fabric A 2 1/2 inch squares to the light grey sides of the HST units you just made, making sure you sew four to one light grey side and four to the other light grey side – see the photo below. We’ll call these unit B. Press as indicated by the photo.

Here’s the layout of your block below. I find it helpful to layout my blocks like this as I’m working on the individual units within them so I don’t get myself confused. I’d rather not use my seam ripper more than I have to!

Sew the light grey Fabric A rectangles to the long side of Unit B that has the turquoise side of the HST (four will be on one side and four on the other as in the photo above) and press as indicated by the photos below.

Following the layout photo below, construct the top row by sewing the light blue Fabric G 4 ½ inch squares to Unit B, pressing the seams towards Unit B. Sew Unit A and B together for the bottom row of the block, pressing the seams towards Unit B. Sew the two rows together, spinning your seams in a clockwise direction when viewing the block from the front.

You will have four identical blocks, all measuring 8 1/2 inches. And you have finished sewing all the blocks for the Pacific Stars mystery quilt. Go you!!

Final Layout

What do you think?!! Are you ready to join all those blocks together?

Below is a diagram showing where all the different months go. Take care with the mirror image blocks. I use a design wall (or a design floor!) to set everything out.

Once the whole quilt is laid out, join the centre blocks together in fours to make a large nine patch (you will add the long skinny blocks as a border after these centre blocks are sewn together).

For example, for the top left large block (refer to the photo below) join a month six to the month four, press seams to the month four block. Join a month four mirror image to a month two, press seams to the month four block. Join these two rows together and spin your seams. Note: when joining these large final blocks, MOST of your seams will nest, but not all. This is just how it has all worked out when designing and constructing a large quilt with lots of small pieces. Pin your seam intersections to help with precision if necessary.

Repeat with the other eight large blocks.

These are the large blocks you will have when you have done this next step: four each of the two blocks shown below;

four of the block shown below;

and one of the block show below.

Now you need to join these nine blocks together. Join the red section as a four patch, spin and press your seams in the direction of the red arrow. Join the two yellow section blocks together, press seams in the direction of the arrow. Sew the three blue section blocks together, pressing seams in the direction of the arrows. Now join the yellow section to the red, then the blue section last. You should be able to spin and press your seams on these joins also.

Add the final long skinny blocks one at a time using a partial seam to start. You can see how to do this in the photo below. Lay out the border blocks where they belong then sew the left hand side strip on starting a little way along the seam. Then sew on the top strip, you will be able to start right at the beginning for this one and sew right to the end. Continue sewing on the right hand strip and the bottom strip. Once you have sewn on the bottom strip you can finish the first seam on the left hand strip and YOUR PACIFIC STARS MYSTERY QUILT IS DONE!!

Now you can press it, baste it, quilt it and bind it – that makes it sound like a quick, easy process doesn’t it?! This is a good lap size quilt but if you would like a larger quilt you could either add plain borders, or I designed it so that you could extend the pattern out further to make it larger that way too.

Thank you so much for joining me on the journey of making the Pacific Stars mystery quilt. I had a whole lot of fun designing, making and writing this quilt up for you all to share. I hope to see some of your quilts over on Carol’s Facebook page when they are all done. Or show us in-progress photos, we’d love to help keep you motivated to get your own Pacific Stars mystery quilt finished.

Charlotte blogs at The Slightly Mad Quilt Lady

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Pacific Stars Mystery Quilt Month Five

03/09/2017 By Charlotte Leave a Comment

Hi everyone! How’s your Pacific Stars mystery quilt going? Is your energy flagging a little or are you rearing to get to the finish line? If it’s the former, one of my best tricks for motivation is setting my timer. I like to set it for 15 minutes and then get stuck in to whatever work I’m putting off. After 15 minutes I often feel like continuing and I wonder why I was procrastinating! Or, if it was something truly horrid, like washing windows, after 15 minutes I give myself a reward (a few minutes of reading, quilting or maybe even chocolate) and then I set my timer and get going again. It’s amazing how fast you can get through a task if you don’t put it off!

So now we are into month five. This is your second to last set of blocks – month six will have the last four blocks and then the setting instructions. Are you excited to finally see how the Pacific Stars Mystery Quilt all goes together?! I know I’m excited to see some masterpieces emerging!

This month the blocks are mirror images of month three. Do you remember that month 3 was a whole heap of half-square triangles (HST) units? Well, put on some good music or an engrossing audio book, whip out your trusty squares to triangles tool, and get your HST zen going!

Cutting Instructions

You should have all your fabrics already cut from month 3. You will need:

From light grey Fabric A:

Four 2 ½ inch squares

Two 2 7/8 inch squares (if you like to trim your half square triangles after making them, cut these as 3 inch squares)

Fourteen 4 7/8 inch squares (if you like to trim your half square triangles after making them, cut these as 5 inch squares)

From the dark indigo blue Fabric B:

Four 2 ½ inch squares

Four 2 7/8 inch squares (if you like to trim your half square triangles after making them, cut these as 3 inch squares)

Eight 4 7/8 inch squares (if you like to trim your half square triangles after making them, cut these as 5 inch squares)

From turquoise Fabric C:

Two 2 7/8 inch squares (if you like to trim your half square triangles after making them, cut these as 3 inch squares)

Two 4 7/8 inch squares (if you like to trim your half square triangles after making them, cut these as 5 inch squares)

From the medium grey Fabric D cut:

Four 4 7/8 inch squares (if you like to trim your half square triangles after making them, cut these as 5 inch squares)

Construction

Sew sixteen HST using eight light grey Fabric A 4 7/8 inch squares and eight dark indigo blue Fabric B 4 7/8 inch squares. These should finish at 4 1/2 inches. Press seams open on all HST blocks.

Sew eight HST using four light grey Fabric A 4 7/8 inch squares and four medium grey Fabric D 4 7/8 inch squares. These should finish at 4 1/2 inches.

Sew four HST using two light grey Fabric A 4 7/8 inch squares and two turquoise Fabric C 4 7/8 inch squares. These should finish at 4 1/2 inches.

Sew four HST using two dark indigo blue Fabric B 2 7/8 inch squares and two turquoise Fabric C 2 7/8 inch squares. These should finish at 2 1/2 inches.

Sew four HST using two dark indigo blue Fabric B 2 7/8 inch squares and two light grey Fabric A 2 7/8 inch squares. These should finish at 2 1/2 inches.

Use four light grey Fabric A 2 ½ inch squares, four dark indigo blue Fabric B 2 ½ inch squares and the eight 2 ½ inch HST units made in the above instructions to construct four, four-patches as shown in the photo below. Press seams in a clockwise direction (away from the HST unit in the top row and so on). We’ll call this block A.

Sew four light grey Fabric A and dark blue Fabric B 4 ½ inch HST units to four light grey Fabric A and medium grey Fabric D 4 ½ inch HST units, making sure that you sew the two light grey sides together – as shown in the top part of the block in the photo below. Press seams to the medium grey HST unit. This is the top of the next block B.

For the bottom part of block B, as shown in the photo above, sew the four Block A’s to four light grey Fabric A and dark blue Fabric B 4 ½ inch HST units, making sure you sew the dark blue sides of each unit together (see the bottom row of the photo above). Press seams towards the HST unit.

Finish constructing block B as shown in the photo below. You will need four of these for your mystery quilt and they should measure 8 1/2 inches. Spin your seams clockwise (when viewed from the front) when pressing.

Next, use the remaining 4 1/2 inch HST units to construct four blocks as shown below. Spin your seams clockwise (when viewing from the font) when pressing. These should also measure 8 1/2 inches.

When you are done, you should have eight blocks all measuring 8 1/2 inches. They will be mirror images of month 3’s blocks. So if you are impatient, you could start playing around with your blocks and see if you can guess the final layout!

Now go share your Pacific Stars mystery quilt progress over on Carol’s Quilts Facebook page, we love to see your blocks. And remember, you can ask me questions in the comments section below or on the Facebook page if you are unsure of anything.

Charlotte blogs at The Slightly Mad Quilt Lady

Pacific Stars Mystery Quilt Month Four

06/08/2017 By Charlotte Leave a Comment

Wow! We’re into the second half of the Pacific Stars Mystery Quilt and I’m getting really excited to see everyone’s versions of this beautiful quilt.

First up I’ve got photographs and a list of all the blocks you should have so far. It’s easy to get a bit confused when you are working on a mystery quilt like this – I’ve got a master pattern to refer to, but you don’t!

All blocks should measure 8 1/2 inches, except the long, skinny ones you made in month two. These should measure 4 1/2 inches by 52 1/2 inches.

You should have four of the blocks above that you made in month one.

You should have four of the blocks above left and four of the long skinny blocks above right, both of which you made in month two.

And then you should have four of each of the blocks above, made in month three (last month).

So, now that you have everything in order. Let’s move on to some patchwork!

Cutting Instructions for Month Four

From light grey Fabric A cut:

Sixteen 2 ½ inch by 4 ½ inch rectangles

Eight 2 ½ inch by 8 ½ inch rectangles

From turquoise fabric Fabric C cut:

Sixteen 2 ½ inch squares

From the dark pink Fabric F cut:

Eight 2 ½ inch by 4 ½ inch rectangles

You will also need from your already cut fabrics:

From light grey Fabric A:

Eight 2 1/2 inch squares

Four 2 7/8 inch squares (3 inch squares if you choose to trim your HST after making them)

Four 4 7/8 inch squares (5 inch squares if you choose to trim your HST after making them)

From turquoise Fabric C:

Four 2 7/8 inch squares (3 inch squares if you choose to trim your HST after making them)

Four 4 7/8 inch squares (5 inch squares if you choose to trim your HST after making them)

From the purple Fabric E:

Eight 2 ½ inch squares

Construction

You are making eight blocks this month, four the mirror image of the other four, which can get a little brain-bending in terms of unit placement and seam pressing, so let’s look at the layouts now so we have something to work to.

Sew eight half-square triangle units (HST) using four light grey Fabric A 4 7/8 inch squares and four turquoise Fabric C 4 7/8 inch squares. Have you tried Carol’s Squares to Triangles tool yet? I find it a useful tool to speed up the process and keep my accuracy when making HST units (ignore the dark blue fabric square in the photo below – use a light grey one!). Press seams open. We’ll call this unit A.

Sew eight half-square triangle units (HST) using four light grey Fabric A 2 7/8 inch squares and four turquoise Fabric C 2 7/8 inch squares. Press seams open. We’ll call this unit B (no photo, I’m sure you all know how to sew HST units after last month!).

Sew eight purple Fabric E 2 1/2 inch squares to the ends of eight dark pink Fabric F 2 1/2 inch by 4 1/2 inch rectangles. Sew eight turquoise Fabric C 2 1/2 inch squares to the other ends of the rectangles. Press four of these with the seams going one way and four with the seams going the other, as in the photo below.

Sew four light grey Fabric A 2 ½ inch by 4 ½ inch rectangles to one turquoise side of the large HST unit, units A, and sew the other four rectangles to the OTHER turquoise side of the large HST unit, units A. Use the photos below for guidance. Press four of these with the seams going one way and four with the seams going the other, as in the photos below.

Sew four light grey Fabric A 2 ½ inch squares to one light grey side of the small HST units, unit B, and sew the other four squares to the OTHER light grey side of the small HST units, unit B. Use the photo below for guidance. Press four of these with the seams going one way and four with the seams going the other, as in the photo below. We’ll call this unit C.

Sew units C to the light grey side of the large HST unit, units A. Take some care here because we need to get the right units together in terms of how we have pressed the seams. Study the photographs below to help you construct your units and to see how the final seam is pressed. Let’s call this large unit, unit D. We’re nearly there!

Sew eight light grey Fabric A 2 ½ inch by 8 1/2 inch rectangles to the top edge of the eight unit Ds. Press the seams towards the light grey rectangles on all eight blocks. Sew the eight strips with the pink rectangles onto the bottom edge of the eight unit Ds, making sure that the purple square is below the small HST unit, unit B. The way you have pressed the seam allowances mean that if you have the correct layout, the seams will ‘nest’. Press the seams towards the pink rectangle strip on all eight blocks. See the example in the photo below.

So now you have eight, 8 1/2 inch blocks, half of them the mirror image of the others, and you are done for month four of the Pacific Stars Mystery Quilt!

Remember to head over to Carol’s Quilts on Facebook and share your progress there and check out what other people are doing with their quilts. And please leave us a comment below to let us know how you’re going, or if you have any questions.

Charlotte Scott blogs at The Slightly Mad Quilt Lady

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Pacific Stars Mystery Quilt Month Three

02/07/2017 By Charlotte Leave a Comment

Hi! And welcome back to the third clue for the Pacific Stars Mystery Quilt. Do you like my inspiration picture? This is how I picked the teal/turquoise colour for my quilt. Those are my kids swimming from our boat to the beach at one of the many islands in the Bay of Islands where we live. It was taken in Summer and I’m thinking longingly of those hot days when the Pacific Ocean begs to be swum in!

Once you’ve sewn this month’s blocks you’ll be halfway to having a gorgeous quilt top together. Has anyone been trying to figure out the final layout yet? I hope it’s still a mystery!

This is the month of half-square triangles (HST) – you need to make a fair few, so if you need a refresher on how to make HST units, refer back to month one. I use Carol’s squares to triangles tools to make the process quicker and more accurate.

Cutting Instructions for Month 3

From light grey Fabric A cut:

Twenty-eight 2 ½ inch squares

Twelve 2 7/8 inch squares (if you like to trim your half square triangles after making them, cut these as 3 inch squares)

From turquoise Fabric C cut:

Twelve 4 7/8 inch squares (if you like to trim your half square triangles after making them, cut these as 5 inch squares)

From the medium grey Fabric D cut:

Eight 4 7/8 inch squares (if you like to trim your half square triangles after making them, cut these as 5 inch squares)

Construction

You will have already cut quite a few of the pieces needed for this month, so remember to look in your ‘already cut’ pile if you can’t find the pieces you need.

Construct sixteen HST using eight light grey Fabric A 4 7/8 inch squares and eight dark indigo blue Fabric B 4 7/8 inch squares. These should finish at 4 1/2 inches. Press seams open on all HST blocks.

Construct eight HST using four light grey Fabric A 4 7/8 inch squares and four medium grey Fabric D 4 7/8 inch squares. These should finish at 4 1/2 inches.

Construct four HST using two light grey Fabric A 4 7/8 inch squares and two turquoise Fabric C 4 7/8 inch squares. These should finish at 4 1/2 inches.

Construct four HST using two dark indigo blue Fabric B 2 7/8 inch squares and two turquoise Fabric C 2 7/8 inch squares. These should finish at 2 1/2 inches.

Construct four HST using two dark indigo blue Fabric B 2 7/8 inch squares and two light grey Fabric A 2 7/8 inch squares. These should finish at 2 1/2 inches.

Use four light grey Fabric A 2 ½ inch squares, four dark indigo blue Fabric B 2 ½ inch squares and the eight 2 ½ inch HST units made in the above instructions to construct four, four-patches as shown in the photo below. Press seams in a clockwise direction – towards the HST unit in the top row and so on). This is block A.

Sew four light grey Fabric A and medium grey Fabric D 4 ½ inch HST units to four light grey Fabric A and dark blue Fabric B 4 ½ inch HST units, making sure that you sew the two light grey sides together as shown in the photo below. Press seams to the dark blue HST unit. This is the top of the next block B.

Now you are going to sew the bottom of block B. Sew the four, four-patches made above (Block A) to four light grey Fabric A and dark blue Fabric B 4 ½ inch HST units, making sure you sew the dark blue sides of each unit together (see the bottom row of the photo below). Press seams towards the four-patch.

Using the two units just made, construct the block B as shown below, you will need four of these for your mystery quilt and they should measure 8 1/2 inches. Spin your seams when pressing.

Next, use the remaining 4 1/2 inch HST units to construct four blocks as shown below. Spin your seams clockwise when pressing. These should also measure 8 1/2 inches.

So, you should have eight blocks that should all measure 8 ½ inches. You are officially half-way there!

Now go share your mystery quilt progress over on Carol’s Quilts Facebook page, we love to see progress! Remember, you can ask me questions in the comments section below if you are unsure of anything.

Charlotte Scott blogs at The Slightly Mad Quilt Lady

Pacific Stars Mystery Quilt Month Two

04/06/2017 By Charlotte 5 Comments

Hello! Welcome back to the Pacific Stars Mystery Quilt. How did you all get along last month? If you didn’t get all your blocks finished, don’t stress, you can always catch up this month.

For this clue you will need the pink and purple four patches that you made last month, and we will do some more cutting and piecing, making four square blocks and four long, skinny blocks – just to keep you guessing!

Let’s go!

Cutting Instructions JUST for Month Two

(you can be all smug now if you cut out the entire quilt in Month One!)

From light grey Fabric A cut:

Forty 4 7/8 inch squares (if you like to trim your half square triangles (HST) after making them, cut these as 5 inch squares)

Four 5 inch by 9 inch rectangles

From the dark indigo blue Fabric B cut:

One 9 ¼ inch square

Sixteen 2 ½ inch squares

Sixteen 2 7/8 inch squares (if you like to trim your HST after making them, cut these as 3 inch squares)

Twenty 4 7/8 inch squares (if you like to trim your HST after making them, cut these as 5 inch squares)

From turquoise fabric Fabric C cut:

Sixteen 2 7/8 inch squares (if you like to trim your HST after making them, cut these as 3 inch squares)

From the medium grey Fabric D cut:

Four 4 ½ inch squares

Four 5 inch by 9 inch rectangles

From the purple Fabric E cut:

Four 2 7/8 inch squares (if you like to trim your HST after making them, cut these as 3 inch squares)

From the dark pink Fabric F cut:

Four 4 ½ inch squares

Piecing Instructions for Month Two

(Use a ¼ inch seam for all construction)

Construct eight half-square triangles (HST) using four purple Fabric E and four dark indigo blue Fabric B 2 7/8 inch squares. Refer to last month’s instructions if you need a refresher on how to make HST. I used Carol’s squares to triangles tool to make the process easier. Press seams open. (If you used 3 inch squares, trim down to a 2 ½ inch HST unit now.)

Repeat with four turquoise Fabric C and four dark indigo blue Fabric B 2 7/8 inch squares to make another eight HST units.

Use these sixteen HST units, eight 2 ½ inch dark pink Fabric F squares (which you cut in month one) and eight 2 ½ inch dark indigo blue Fabric B squares to construct four-patch units as shown in the photographs below. You want four units with the turquoise on the bottom row and four units with the turquoise fabric on the top row. Be careful with the turquoise and purple colours, fabric placement is important to the end design of the mystery quilt! Spin your seams clockwise (towards the HST unit in the top row and so on, see Adrianne Read’s video for a recap on spinning seams).

Using the four pink and purple four-patches from last month, the eight four-patch units from the above instructions and four medium grey Fabric D 4 ½ inch squares, construct four blocks using the layout shown in the photograph below. Spin your seams clockwise when looking at the right side of the block.

In the photo below you can see the seam pressing – remember it’s anti-clockwise when looking from the wrong side. You can see how I spun the seams on the four-patch units too. Seam pressing can get a bit confusing. If you get it right, it really helps your points meet and your quilt to lay flat. But if you get it wrong, it’s not the end of the world – you’ll just have a little more bulk in some joins.

Right, that’s the first set of mystery quilt blocks made for this month, so pat yourself on the back and go grab a cup of tea!

Next, construct four flying-geese units. Use the dark indigo blue Fabric B 9 ¼ inch square. With right sides together, place two light grey Fabric A 4 7/8 inch squares (and if you cut 5 inch squares, you will need to trim these down now) at opposite corners of the large square. Use Carol’s squares to triangles tool and rule two lines half an inch apart from corner to corner through the small squares.

Stitch along the drawn lines then cut between the lines. Flip the small triangles out and press seams open. In the picture below, the top triangle has it’s small triangles flipped out and I’m showing it from the back so you can see the seam pressed open. The bottom triangle is yet to have it’s small triangles flipped out and pressed.

Place another light grey Fabric A 4 7/8 inch square right sides together in the corner of one of the large dark blue triangles. Use Carol’s tool again to rule lines diagonally across this square half an inch apart. Sew on the lines, cut between the lines, flip the small triangles out and press seams open to make two flying geese units. Repeat with the other large dark blue triangle to make two more flying geese units. You should have four flying geese units in total.

Next, use four light grey Fabric A 4 7/8 inch squares and four dark indigo blue Fabric B 4 7/8 inch squares to construct eight HST units. Press seams open.

Construct eight half rectangle triangles (HRT). This is probably the trickiest bit of patchwork in the whole quilt, but if you read through it all first, then take it step by step, you’ll be fine. If you are used to using speciality rulers to construct HRT, go ahead, but I’m going to give instructions here for those without special tools.

On the right side of two light grey Fabric A 5 inch by 9 inch rectangles mark a dot 1/4 inch up from the bottom edge on the left and down from the top edge on the right on one rectangle and the top edge on the left and bottom edge on the right on the other rectangle, as shown in the photographs. Cut between these two points. You will end up with two triangles pointing one direction and two pointing the other. Repeat with two medium grey Fabric D 5 inch by 9 inch rectangles.

Take one light grey Fabric A triangle and one medium grey Fabric D triangle of the SAME shape and place them right sides together matching the cut edge from end to end. Pin and sew with a 1/4 inch seam. You are working with bias edges so go gently with your fabric as you stitch or you will distort your pieces.

Flip your triangles out and press your seam open gently. You will need to trim a little off each short end to make a 4 1/2 inch by 8 1/2 HRT, but you need to be careful as the seam needs to be in a particular place to form a point when you sew it in place. Place your ruler on your unit as shown below – matching up 1/4 inch in and 1/4 up so that mark sits on the seam line. Trim the excess. Now when you trim the excess off the other end, the 1/4 inch in and down mark should rest on the seam line on that side too.

You will end up with a 4 1/2 inch by 8 1/2 inch HRT unit that looks like the photo below. Note that the seam lines end slightly away from the corners, unlike half square triangles where it should end right in the corners. Repeat to make three other HRT units.

Use four dark pink Fabric F 4 ½ inch squares, the eight half-rectangle units, the eight HST units, the four flying geese units and sixteen light grey Fabric A 4 ½ inch squares (which you cut in month one) to construct long rows as in the photo below (you will have a total of four rows). Press all the seams to the left (towards the pink fabric in the first seam, and so on).

Now celebrate ‘cause your mystery quilt sewing is done for the month and you are totally awesome! And don’t forget to head over to Carol’s Quilts on Facebook and share your progress – we all love show and tell. If you use Instagram, the hashtag is #pacificstarsmq See you next month!

Charlotte Scott blogs at The Slightly Mad Quilt Lady

Pacific Stars Mystery Quilt Month One

07/05/2017 By Charlotte 14 Comments

Welcome to the Pacific Stars Mystery Quilt Along!

My name is Charlotte Scott and I’m a New Zealand quilter and designer. I’m really excited to have been invited by Carol to share this six month adventure with you! Each month I’ll give you instructions for part of the quilt with the final layout being revealed in October. Once it’s complete, your beautiful quilt will measure 56 inches square, perfect to snuggle under on the couch or gift to someone (very!) special.

I live on a boat in the Pacific Ocean. New Zealand is a beautiful country, but I think the area I live in really takes the cake in terms of scenery. The blues and teals and turquoises of the ocean glow in the sun and then when the sun goes down the blues deepen to indigo and purples. I never get tired of looking at the water, so I decided to use the Pacific Ocean, both the sea and stars, as my inspiration for the mystery quilt.

What level of skill do you need? Well, if you have basic patchworking skills you’ll be fine. I’ve stuck with piecing only, no applique this time around, but you’re free to add your own if the fancy strikes you. We’ll be using Carol’s squares to triangles tool to make easy half-square triangles, but you will be able to use another method if you prefer. Because you’ll just be doing a handful of blocks per month, you’ll never feel as if you’ve bitten off more than you can chew!

So, are you ready? Let’s dive right in!

Fabric Requirements

This is a scrap and stash mystery quilt. I made the quilt top ENTIRELY from fabrics in my stash, and scraps from my scrap basket. So when looking at the fabric requirements, you have to imagine putting your bits and pieces together and visualising them as yardage. Because using scraps and bits and pieces can necessitate imaginative cutting, I have been fairly generous in the listed fabric requirements. I have based measurements on 100cm (40 inch) wide fabric. I recommend all fabric to be quilting weight, 100% cotton, prewashed and ironed.

1.75 m (2 yards) light grey (Fabric A background fabric)

1 m (40 inches) dark indigo blue (Fabric B main fabric)

60 cm (24 inches) turquoise fabric (Fabric C medium, analogous to main fabric)

50 cm (20 inches) medium grey fabric (Fabric D medium neutral)

25 cm (10 inches) purple fabric (Fabric E dark, analogous to main fabric)

25 cm (10 inches) dark pink fabric (Fabric F medium, complementary to the turquoise)

25 cm (10 inches) light blue fabric (Fabric G light version of main fabric)

You will also require fabric for the backing and binding to finish your quilt. But I recommend you wait to see the finished quilt top before you make any final decisions .

(the light blue is missing from the following photo of my fabric choices, but you can see it if you scroll further down this post)

Here’s an alternative colour way for those of you who aren’t particularly struck by the blues, they are laid out next to the corresponding original fabrics so you can see the comparison. The red would be the main fabric with a cream as a background and so on. Or you could go brights or moderns – I’m looking forward to seeing everyone’s individuality coming out in their fabric choices!

For those of you who like to cut everything out before we start piecing, get stuck into the following cutting directions. For those who like to break up their cutting, I will give you some cutting instructions every month. They will be the instructions for the blocks we are making that month, plus a bit extra. For example, if we need four, 4 ½ inch background squares for the blocks in month 1 and we also need eight for month 2 and eight for month 5, we will cut 20 in month 1. This means you get more efficient cutting, but still don’t have to cut out the whole quilt in one go.

Cutting Instructions for the WHOLE quilt:

From light grey Fabric A cut:

Twenty eight 2 ½ inch squares

Sixteen 2 ½ inch by 4 ½ inch rectangles

Eight 2 ½ inch by 8 ½ inch rectangles

Twelve 2 7/8 inch squares (if you like to trim your half square triangles after making them, cut these as 3 inch squares)

Twenty 4 ½ inch squares

Forty 4 7/8 inch squares (if you like to trim your half square triangles after making them, cut these as 5 inch squares)

Four 5 inch by 9 inch rectangles

From the dark indigo blue Fabric B cut:

One 9 ¼ inch square

Sixteen 2 ½ inch squares

Sixteen 2 7/8 inch squares (if you like to trim your half square triangles after making them, cut these as 3 inch squares)

Eight 4 ½ inch squares

Twenty 4 7/8 inch squares (if you like to trim your half square triangles after making them, cut these as 5 inch squares)

From turquoise fabric Fabric C cut:

Sixteen 2 ½ inch squares

Sixteen 2 7/8 inch squares (if you like to trim your half square triangles after making them, cut these as 3 inch squares)

Twelve 4 7/8 inch squares (if you like to trim your half square triangles after making them, cut these as 5 inch squares)

From the medium grey Fabric D cut:

Four 4 ½ inch squares

Eight 4 7/8 inch squares (if you like to trim your half square triangles after making them, cut these as 5 inch squares)

Four 5 inch by 9 inch rectangles

From the purple Fabric E cut:

Twenty 2 ½ inch squares

Four 2 7/8 inch squares (if you like to trim your half square triangles after making them, cut these as 3 inch squares)

From the dark pink Fabric F cut:

Sixteen 2 ½ inch squares

Eight 2 ½ inch by 4 ½ inch rectangles

Four 4 ½ inch squares

Two 4 7/8 inch squares (if you like to trim your half square triangles after making them, cut these as 5 inch squares)

From the light blue Fabric G cut:

Four 4 ½ inch squares

Two 4 7/8 inch squares (if you like to trim your half square triangles after making them, cut these as 5 inch squares)

Cutting Instructions JUST for Month One:

From light grey Fabric A cut:

Twenty 4 ½ inch squares

From the dark indigo blue Fabric B cut:

Eight 4 ½ inch squares

From the dark pink Fabric F cut:

Sixteen 2 ½ inch squares

Two 4 7/8 inch squares (if you like to trim your half square triangles after making them, cut these as 5 inch squares)

From the purple Fabric E cut:

Twenty 2 ½ inch squares

From the light blue Fabric G cut:

Two 4 7/8 inch squares (if you like to trim your half square triangles after making them, cut these as 5 inch squares)

Piecing Instructions for Month One

(Use a ¼ inch seam for all construction)

Construct four half-square triangles (HST) using two dark pink Fabric F and two light blue Fabric G 4 7/8 inch squares. I use Carol’s squares to triangles tool to make it easy – here’s a link to her instruction video – or follow these instructions:

Layer a 4 7/8 inch dark pink Fabric F square right sides together with a 4 7/8 inch light blue Fabric G square. Use Carol’s squares to triangle tool to rule two lines half an inch apart diagonally across the centre (see photograph).

Sew carefully on the drawn lines. I like to position my needle just a thread width on the inside of the line. Cut between the two sewn lines.

Unfold into two HST units. Press seams open. (If you used 5 inch squares, trim down to a 4 ½ inch square now.) Repeat with the other squares.

Sew the four HST to four dark indigo blue Fabric B squares making sure you sew the dark pink side of the HST to the dark blue square. Press seams towards the dark blue square.

Sew four 4 ½ inch light grey Fabric A squares to four 4 ½ inch dark indigo blue Fabric B squares. Press seams towards the dark blue fabric.

Assemble the blocks as shown in the photograph. You should have four of these for your mystery quilt. When pressing, spin your seams as shown in the photo below. Not sure how to spin your seams? Watch this video from Adrianne Read.

Sew eight 2 ½ inch dark pink Fabric F squares to eight 2 ½ inch purple Fabric E squares. Press seams to dark pink fabric.

Make four four-patches as shown. When pressing the seams, spin your seams as shown.

And that’s it for Month One of the Pacific Stars Mystery Quilt. Easy peasy! Feel free to ask any questions in the comments for any clarification that you need.

If you’d like to share with others, head over to Carol’s Quilts Facebook page and you can share photographs of your work in progress – I’d love to see your colour choices!

Otherwise, see you next month.

Charlotte Scott blogs at The Slightly Mad Quilt Lady

How to Use Freezer Paper

08/04/2017 By Charlotte 4 Comments

Freezer paper for quilting

Freezer paper is the most wonderful, versatile stuff for quilters and crafters. It was originally designed as a wrapping to protect food in the freezer, but quilters realised there were many more uses for it and we are still coming up with new uses every day!

If you’ve never used freezer paper, or only know one way to use it, watch this video. It’ll give you a whole raft of ideas of what to use it for. It’s not just for applique but also stencils, labels, English paper piecing and many more ideas. Freezer paper is a cheap, versatile product that will help you turn out beautiful, well-crafted quilts.

Freezer paper is a US product so it is not available in New Zealand supermarkets (it is NOT greaseproof paper or lunchwrap), but you can buy freezer paper for quilting here at Carol’s Quilts by the metre. It’s a must-have in my sewing room.it bothit both when I make my art quilts and when I’m relaxing and making a traditional quilt.

Enjoy the video and if you know of any other uses for freezer paper, leave a comment, we’d love to learn from you!

The Great NZ Quilt Show

23/03/2016 By Charlotte 2 Comments

I’m getting excited! May is on its way and with it, The Great NZ Quilt Show!

The Great NZ Quilt Show is being run by Aotearoa Quilters, our national association, and promises to be several days of wonderful quilt related activities. This is the inaugural show and it is envisaged that it will be held biennially to alternate with national symposia.

This year The Great NZ Quilt Show is being held at The Howard Morrison Performing Arts Centre, 1170 Fenton Street, Rotorua, from 6-8 May.

The show will have an Aotearoa Quilters members exhibit; the best of New Zealand Flight Challenge quilt exhibit; a merchants mall (yay!); and an exhibit of the Best of Show quilts from all the past Symposia. I’m really excited about seeing this exhibit – it will be like walking through history!

Best of Show winner Manawatu Symposium 2015 by Melanie Martin. Click on the image to hear my interview with Melanie about her winning quilt.

There is also the award evening to look forward to; floor talks by judges; a talk by Norma Slabbert on the Year 60 project; and long arm quilting of donation quilts (bring your donation quilt tops for quilting or finished quilts for donation) for the Cosy Kiwi Kids charity group.

If you are travelling to Rotorua, check out the directory tab above to locate quilt stores along your travel route. You can check the Aotearoa Quilters website or Facebook page for more info about the show, and here is a link to the Rotorua information site so you can feel like making a week of it, you can find out what else there is to do in the thermal wonderland city.

Cottage Flair – the local Rotorua quilt shop, find more details about them in our directory.

Being a Mum of two young children, I don’t get to take much time off, so a couple of days away, immersed in something that I’m really passionate about, is total heaven for me. It recharges the batteries of my soul and I come back to ‘real life’ refreshed and grateful and ready to go again. When was the last time YOU took a couple of days for yourself? Perhaps it’s time you recharged your creative batteries with a day or two away – shall I see you in Rotorua? Make sure you introduce yourself and say hi!

And if you can’t get to Rotorua, over in the right hand column, click on the link for Quilting Events in New Zealand. There are lots coming up and you’re sure to find one that tickles your fancy.

Gorgeous Easter Sewing Projects

16/03/2016 By Charlotte 3 Comments

Easter, and the long weekend that comes with it, will be on us before you know it. Have you ever sewn up some little Easter baskets or bunnies? If you haven’t, here are some ideas for Easter sewing projects. Either make them before Easter to add some fun and magic to the day, or tackle them during Easter weekend for something to keep you busy (and your hands from reaching for another chocolate egg!).

Pam, from Leaves and Stitches, made some sweet Easter egg placemats using fused appliqué. She shares a tutorial and downloadable PDF’s of the patterns on her blog so you can make your own placemats using colours that appeal to you. Imagine presenting Easter breakfast for your children or grandkids on these fun eggy placemats?!

To keep the chocolate load to a manageable level, how about replacing some of the eggs in the kid’s baskets with one or two of these adorable fabric bunnies? Courtney from Optimistic Mommy blog, shares this super simple and easy Easter bunny project that can be made using six or nine inch squares of fabric. Did I hear someone say scrap buster?!

We’ve mentioned egg baskets, but have you thought of making your own? These lovely little Easter baskets are made by Peta from She Quilts A Lot and they feature some neat wool appliqué. If you haven’t tried to work with wool, this would be a great project to start with as it’s just a small bit of wool appliqué on the front of a cotton fabric basket. Fill it with eggs (and fabric rabbits) and you have a wonderful, personalised Easter gift.

Okay, I said, “Awwww!” out loud when I saw these! I know my little 8-year-old would love one of these bags. They call it an Easter basket, but I think it’s a wee bit big for a basket to fill with treats, my tummy hurts just thinking about it! This bunny bag is pretty sweet whatever you decide to use it for, and it’s available as a free beginner pattern from pen + paper patterns via Craftsy.

These folded fabric Easter egg ornaments are just breathtaking. This isn’t a free pattern, but the intricate beauty of them is astounding and I urge you to have a look at Staci Ann’s website, The Ornament Girl. They would be lovely Easter heirlooms that come out each year to decorate your Easter table.

Lastly, and this one is just for fun! How about this egg gathering apron from Lori Griffiths of Fearless Makers? Now, I actually used to have chickens before I began living on a boat and this apron would have been just the thing! Can you imagine it filled with Easter eggs?! Yum!

Happy Easter everyone! No matter how you spend the holiday, have a safe and happy one.

X and O Quilt Block

12/03/2016 By Charlotte Leave a Comment

There are lots of versions of X and O quilts out there on the web to oogle at, but I think I’ve found the simplest tutorial so you make your own X and O quilt block. What’s even better than being simple, is that it’s such a great video; fun, fast and comprehensive.

The block that Teresa Downunder shows us in this tutorial is actually called Road to Tennessee. But it can be arranged in so many different ways! I like it best as the X and O quilt block, so that’s why I’m sticking to calling it that! Of course, if you played around with colour combinations and darks and lights, you might have a quilt that looked completely different again. The possibilities are endless!

Teresa Downunder has a great little YouTube channel with more of these fast and fun quilt block tutorials and her blog has written and photographed tutorials if that is more of your thing.

PS – save the little triangles you trim off the blocks, sew them together on the long side, open them out and you have a cute little half-square triangles to use for something else. Coasters perhaps?

Thanks to Teresa Downunder

Super Easy Quilted Table Runner Pattern

03/03/2016 By Charlotte 1 Comment

This quilted table runner pattern is so super easy that it’s almost cheating! I love this idea for using up scraps of Christmas or other holiday themed fabric, or for making a really quick gift as a housewarming present or a hostess gift. This would also be a great project for beginners or to introduce a newbie to quilting.

Art Gallery Fabric is a fabric company with a modern feel. They describe themselves as contemporary elegant and have designers such as Pat Bravo, April Rhodes, Sew Caroline and Angela Walters on board. And as with most quilting fabric companies these days, they have a great website with inspiration, tips, free-projects and lots of other information.

Art Gallery Fabric has teamed up with sewing and quilting bloggers from around the world to form the ‘Fat Quarter Gang’. They publish tutorials and patterns for funky homemade projects. One of these is the Strippy Quilted Table Runner tutorial written by Rachel Griffith of P.S I Quilt blog.

Have a look at the tutorial, you won’t believe how simple it is. Rachel has a neat little trick that makes this quilted table runner super easy! And if you machine bound it, it would be even quicker.

Have fun!

Thanks to Art Gallery Fabrics, The Fat Quarter Gang and Rachel Griffith of P.S. I Quilt

Design your own quilt blocks – using paper and fun!

25/02/2016 By Charlotte Leave a Comment

There is amazing quilt designing software available, but for those of us who are a bit more tactile, or just want to play once in a while, here is a fun way to design your own quilt blocks. All you need is some scrapbooking paper, a ruler and a pair of scissors. Oh, and don’t forget your sense of discovery and play – we’re here to have some fun!

I ruled 3 inch squares on the back of one sheet of scrapbooking paper. Then I layered up four sheets and cut out the squares. Don’t be too worried about accuracy – no perfect seam matching required! My little helper had great fun doing this, so consider this a child-friendly activity too.

Cut some of the squares into half-square triangles and use the leftover bits of paper to cut 3 inch x 1 1/2 inch rectangles. You can also cut some quarter square triangles too. That’s it! Now you get to play!

I started by building a basic nine patch block. Then I decided to grow it by adding another round. What was most fun about this series was to see how small alterations could change the whole look of the quilt block. I tired three different variations of the same block – just a small change each time. Can you pick out the changes ?

I designed some not-so-great quilt blocks too, but no harm done because no fabric was being cut and no seams were being sewn (no unpicking required!). I just pushed all the paper shapes into a pile and started again.

Here is another arrangement that I quite liked, also with some small changes that significantly alter the overall look of the quilt block.

And why yes, that IS a nerf bullet next to my paper quilt block! Here might be a good time for some quilter truth. You see, we work when we can, how we can. We are flexible, creative, multi-taskers! Here is a photograph of the ‘whole picture’ just to give you an insight into my quilting world. I’m working on the dining room table, mess everywhere, and my helper has given up and moved onto making teddy clothes with fabric scraps.

This was my last quilt block that I designed. I put all the shapes into a plastic bag so I could have a play another day if I felt like it. I had all my ‘blocks’ on record with my digital camera so if I want to make any of them in fabric I can. But I kinda feel like I’ve already made them all just because I saw them laid out on my table. How very satisfying indeed!

So, have you got any pretty paper lying around? Have a go at designing your own quilt blocks, no fabric required!

Colour! Choosing a Glorious Colour Palette for Quilts.

17/02/2016 By Charlotte 3 Comments

Ahh, the seduction of colour! Colour schemes can be described as wild, luscious, soothing, shocking, brave, rich – so many wonderful adjectives! So how do we decide on a colour palette for quilts? Do you start with a piece of focus fabric? Or do you start with a colour and choose fabric from that?

One fun way to work with colour and chose a colour palette is to make use of one of the many tools available to us on the web. You don’t have to have a deep knowledge of colour theory, you can just play and find a scheme that works for you. Here are three colour palette tools that I had a lot of fun with.

Do you have a digital photograph that you adore? Load it up to Pictaculous and this tool will generate a matching colour palette. You can then email the colour swatches to yourself! Pictaculous will also provide a list of suggested colour palettes from a couple of other colour websites. In the photos above you can see the image that I uploaded and in the photo below are the swatch suggestions that Pictaculous gave me.

TinEye Labs Multicolr Search Lab is fun to use. Pick up to five colours from the box on the right and the search lab searches 20 million creative commons images on Flikr to give you a whole set of photographs with those colours in them, in the ratios you choose. Fun, fun, fun! And it gives you a good impression of what a quilt might look like made up, rather than just a line of swatches. Below are two vibrant schemes that I picked.

You’ll see that I kept the blues, but changed the warm colours for red based colours and changed the ratios a bit. It changes the look significantly.

If you would like inspiration from other people, check out Colourlovers.com. You can browse over 4 million colour palettes put together by colour lovers from all over the world. You could even sign up, then create your own colour palette to share! I like that they have tabs to choose to look at the newest schemes, the most commented on and the most favourited collections. Be warned, this site is addictive!

So however you like to use colour, you will find a tool on the web to help you develop a colour palette for quilts. And I can bet you that you’ll have a lot of fun doing it!

How to Find Time to Quilt

11/02/2016 By Charlotte 2 Comments

How to find time to quilt is a common quilters conundrum. Let’s explore how to squeeze some more quilting time into our busy lives.

When non-quilters are admiring my work, one of the most common questions they ask is, “Where do you find the time?”. The other statement I hear frequently is from quilters themselves, “How do you get so much done?”.

Now I know many more prolific quilters than myself, but over the years I have discovered some strategies that help me in my quest of finding time to quilt. We all know that we should be cooking with a slow-cooker; baking in bulk and freezing; and ignoring the dust a little longer than Martha Stewart does, but take the time to think a little deeper and examine how you work as a person.

Here are my three top tips on how to find time to quilt:

Pick an appropriate time to quilt, a time when you are alert, focused and are not going to be interrupted.

On my days at home, I used to do all the housework when the kids were at school and then I used to try and quilt in the afternoons. That was an exercise in frustration, as I was constantly interrupted. I quickly learned that I could fold washing AND help with homework and I was better off to allocate a couple of hours in the quiet mornings to quilt. I got a lot more quilting done in the same amount of time with fewer mistakes. So find the time that suits you and your family activities and then schedule it in like an appointment.

Find your time-sucking distractions and minimise or eliminate them.

I don’t watch TV. Yup, it’s true! On average, New Zealand adults watch just under two hours of TV as a primary activity (and extra as a stimulus when doing other activities). Wow! Imagine if you quilted for two hours every day! My hubby will sometimes watch a DVD and I’ll sit with him and hand sew to keep him from feeling neglected, but don’t ask me what happened last night on Shortland Street, I was too busy quilting!

Get ‘Sew’ Organised.

“Arrrgh!” I hear you say! “Of course if I was more organised I’d be able to find more time to quilt!” But what I’m talking about is not major life re-organisation, just building little organisational habits in your sewing room – easy!

Keep all the supplies needed for one project together. Stackable boxes work well because you can label the outside and easily see at a glance what projects await your attention. Open the box and your fabric, pattern, notes, thread and half-sewn pieces are all right there. No searching required = more time to quilt.

Keep notes on a project as you go. Index cards work well. When you stop work on a project, write down the next step you intend to do, or tick off what you’ve done if you’re working on a pattern. Then you don’t waste valuable quilting time remembering what you had to do next.

The QuiltWoman.com blog asked five of their designers how to find time to quilt. Their five tips include harnessing the power of a quilting group and advice on how to stay motivated. You can check out the blog post here.

Now tell us your best tips for how to find time to quilt, we’d love to hear from you!

How to Make a Quilt Label

04/02/2016 By

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Freezer paper for quilting

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