While I was making progress on the Rings quilt, I was also making progress on Scrap Dash. As I said before, I am using the Scrap Dash blocks as leaders and enders for the Rings quilt. I get more done, which is great.
I started in the middle, because I couldn’t really reach the top row without a stool. You can see that the middle has shrunk up quite a bit.
I plan to put another column of blocks along the right hand side. The quilt is supposed to have the Churn Dash blocks around the whole exterior of the quilt and I plan to follow that advice.
Scrap Dash Progress – mid-April 2021 (detail)
I think the section where I have sewn the blocks looks nice. I like how the 1.5×2.5 strips create a path through the quilt.
I was able to finish all the Rings blocks over the weekend. I had hoped to put it together also, but, with one thing and another, it didn’t happen. Still, I am pleased and look forward to getting the piece together.
Recently, I posted the first part of the tutorial for the Large Pocket #2. That tutorial included a pocket that would help you organize your WonderClips.
Today we will finish putting together the second large pocket. As I said in the previous tutorial, the Clippy pocket is not part of the original pattern, but using that tutorial, you can easily add it to P1 and still have enough space for other tools.
Seal the edges of the mesh with doublefold elastic like you did on Large Pocket #1.
UCAB Bind Mesh Pocket
The first step is to bind the top of the mesh pocket. Take the fold over elastic and fold it in half. Use WonderClips to hold the elastic in place.
Using matching thread, sew along the edge of the binding closest to the mesh. I used a straight stitch.
Add Mesh pocket
Mark 3” down from the other side of the right side of P1.
Tip: Make sure, before sewing that both pockets (Clippy & Mesh) have their openings in the same direction up. When the two raw edges are held WST, both pockets should have their openings up, closest to where the zipper will be sewed.
Line up top of mesh with 3” line.
Sew bottom of mesh pocket to P1.
Mark with blue tape
Mark your pocket divisions with blue tape – make however many you want. I have two, separated by one line of stitching
Lay zipper on top of L1 with zipper pull facing up.
Line up P1 with Clippy Pocket on top of zipper right side down.
Natalie Patton does something really clever with her zipper. She folds the ends of the zipper tape at a 45 degree angle and pins it. This makes it look really neat and tidy once the zipper is sewn in.
Fold zipper end
Layer fabric with zipper
Zipper’s 45 degree angle
In the pattern (pg.10), she talks a lot about pinning, horizontal pins, etc. I found it to be kind of confusing.
The photo (left) shows how I interpret her instructions. I tried it and it worked for me. Sotak Handmade has a video where she adds the zipper using a similar method.
Once you have the zipper tape folded and pinned, continuing layering the last piece of fabric on top.
Three layers waiting to sew in zipper
The edges of the folded zipper tabs stick out a little bit from the side of the piece where you will be sewing. This is ok and how it is supposed to look.
Sew along clipped edge to secure zipper. I use my quarter inch foot, but you can use your zipper foot, if it works for you. Make sure you move the zipper out of the way as you sew so it doesn’t interfere with your seam.
Zipper’s 45 degree angle
Fold zipper end
Sew along second side of zipper
Layer second side of zipper
Open up three layers.
Top stitch near zipper. Follow the same directions for the second side of the zipper.
Measure pleat on the bottom
Pleat the bottom.
I use the ½” marking on a ruler to mark the ½”. Push it into the bottom.
Clip to keep it in place and sew along the edges using the seam allowance noted in the pattern.
**I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.
While I didn’t achieve my goal of having all the Put a Ring on It rings done before the weekend, I did make more rings.
One problem was cutting. I didn’t have all the arcs cut, but that was a good thing to do while I listened to the meeting. I made good progress at cutting and have about half a block left to cut to finish 9 blocks.
Put a Ring On it Block 8
As a result of cutting during the meeting, I was able to make good progress Saturday after the meeting and Sunday.
I am, however, running out of design wall space. Scrap Dash is taking up almost every inch of space on my large design wall and my random and various other projects are taking up a lot of space on my small design wall. Now, the leftover significant portion of space is filled with Put a Ring on It rings.
Put a Ring On it Block 6
One issue I am having is that I keep thinking how I want to change this project and what I don’t know about the tools to do it. I think I would like skinnier arcs better. I know that means smaller cornerstones, but what else does it mean? Would I have to change the size of the center? Probably.
A few days ago, I posted the second part of the tutorial for the first Large Pocket needed to complete the Ultimate Carry All Bag by Natalie Patton. This is the tutorial for the second Large pocket.
Today we will start the second of the large pockets. The directions for this step in the pattern start on page 8, step 2 of your pattern.
My version of this Large Pocket #2 includes a type of Clippy pocket that I added. The elastic holds your WonderClips and the pocket holds a rotary cutter.
Fabric and supplies layout
This Clippy Pocket is not part of the pattern, but I will share how to make it.
The picture shows all the pieces with which we will be working. If you want to omit my Clippy pocket, skip those parts of this tutorial. If you want to include it, make this Clippy Pocket before starting on the bulk of Large Pocket #2, but after you have cut all the pieces. Having the small bits and bobs ready makes the assembly of Large Pocket #2 easier.
Cut the pocket fabric 4.5 x 12.5”
Cut the SF101 interfacing 4×12
Apply SF101 to wrong side of fabric
Cut double fold elastic (you can also use a strip of fabric) 4.5” long. You can add two strips if you want more space for WonderClips
Clippy Pocket Fabric folded, finger pressed
Fold pocket fabric in half and finger press. You want the short edges to touch when you fold and finger press. The folded piece will be 4.5”x6.25 (approx.)
Pin RST with Elastic
Unfold and pin elastic to piece 1/3 down from the fold or 1 ¾” down from finger pressed center
Sew around edge
Sew around edge, leaving an opening the bottom to turn and avoiding the top with the fold.
Press Clippy Pocket
Press.
Clip corners Tip: try to press the opening seam allowances as straight as possible
Turn RS out
Turn RS out, push out seams, especially corners. Make sure seams are crisp, the press again.
Measure to place Clippy Pocket
Measure to place Clippy Pocket -2
Place Clippy Pocket in place on P1 by:
Measure 9” down from top
Measure ½” over
Place Clippy Pocket
Pin in place
Cut an additional piece of double fold elastic 9 1/8 – 9 ¼”
Measure down 3” from the top of P1. Place elastic in this location.
Tuck one end of the elastic under the Clippy pocket to hide the raw edge
Pin in place
Mark the elastic so that your tools will fit. At some point prior to this, I looked at all the tools I thought I would use and measured them to make sure they would fit.
Attach Clippy Pocket and divide elastic
Sew around 3 sides of the Clippy Pocket (not the top), ensuring that you catch the elastic in your seam.
Sew on your marks in the elastic
Add D-ring using a scrap of double-fold elastic or some fabric. Sew it in the seam allowance. I backstitch or go over the stitching a few times. This helps prevent the D-ring from becoming unsewn.
Leave long tails at the start and end of your seams, pull threads to the back and tie off with knots
If you are not adding the Clippy Pocket, cut your elastic 20″, mark and sew, following the directions on the pattern.
Check back in a few days for the rest of the tutorial for putting the large pocket #2 together.
I updated the About page to include the most recent podcast in which I was featured.
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Carnivorous Plant inspiration
Projects, Classes, Patterns & Tutorials
You know you want to make a flock of chicken ornaments. Check out this tutorial from Ann Wood Handmade. She has a number of free patterns and resources, including a slightly grumpy looking apple core ornament. This site, which is new to me, came through the Oliso newsletter. They frequently have interesting sites to visit. They also tell you about new products and when irons are back in stock. Sign up for their newsletter through MailChimp.
Barbara Brackman is starting a new appliqued BOM. Free patterns will be released on the last Wednesday of the month. It is taking place on her Civil War blog, but think about what you could do with more contemporary fabrics.
As I may have mentioned, I signed up for Winsor & Newton’s articles on color. The recent one is about about Green, specifically Chromium Oxide Green. What caught my attention was “What humans do have in common is a shared ability to recognise variations of green better than any other colour.” I have been thinking about this in the context of our 6000 piece puzzle. We have done all the easy bits – the castle, the wall, the lakes. Now we are on to trees (green), mountainsides (green) and sky (flat blue). It is a matter of trying every piece in every space and celebrating when you find one piece. BUT that has nothing to do with what I was talking about. I have been trying to sort the green pieces in this puzzle and I realized that I my efforts were working, but I wanted to sort them in much more detail. While driving down the highway recently, I glanced at the mountains and noticed (again) how many greens I could see. Somehow all of these experiences came together with the Winsor & Newton newsletter.
The other thing the article says is “The average number of colours humans can distinguish is around a million.” A MILLION!! Sheesh! No wonder my photos never look like what my eye can see.
Books, Fabrics, Notions & Supplies
The Glenstone Museum in Maryland is having a Faith Ringgold exhibit. Faith is an artist who sometimes works in textiles and quiltmaking. She expand one of her quilts into a book called Tar Beach. There is a book that goes a long with the exhibit. The buying process is a little strange, but I am sure the book will be fascinating.
I was a little disappointed in the colors I received from my recent zipper order. It occurred to me that there might be such a thing as a YKK zipper color card. There is! I’ll add it to my WAWAK order next time I get zippers. It is also available at ZipperStop on Etsy, but is slightly more expensive.
**I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.
Remember a few weeks ago when I was thinking about circles? I was fortunate that Latifah agreed to show me how to make the cuts using the Clammy to make my Orange Peel Circle. She took time out of class on Saturday to show me two methods of making the shape.
I went away and tried out the technique. I came up with piece on the left. I used the 12 inch Clammy** for this test. It was always in my plan to use different sized Clammies. After this test, I won’t use many of the 12 inch circles – a few, but not many. It is too big and looks like it takes up too much space. I am going to try one of the smaller Clammies later, 10 inch** for sure, but the 6 inch** maybe as well, and see what I think. I am full up on design wall space so I need to finish some things before I commit to any other projects. Even tests have to be put on the back burner.
Still, I am pleased I know how to to do this now.
**I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.
I made some more rings from Saturday’s class and the Put a Ring On It pattern on Sunday and during the week.
New Ring 2
New Ring 1
I was trying some hide and seek type effects with the ring on the left, but I won’t be repeating that. I am not taking it out and it will blend in fine with the other rings.
They don’t look that great (or terrible) on their own, but together they look a lot more interesting. Still, I am making some progress.
I worked quite a bit on Scrap Dash over the weekend, using the project as leaders and enders while working on my Latifah class project. It didn’t look super before class, though i was making progress. By the end of class on Saturday I had made progress with which I was happy (photo, left). The pattern was really starting to emerge and I was getting excited about putting blocks together. I was able to do bits and bobs in between the Put a Ring On It rings. Every little bit helps.
Scrap Dash, Sunday afternoon
I continued working on Sunday, a little more on Scrap Dash than on the rings. I feel like I made really excellent progress. While I don’t have all of the pieces for Scrap Dash on the design wall, I do have a significant number.
I have also started to put some of the blocks together.
Sadly, I found out I don’t have enough of the 1.5 x 2.5″ rectangles for the border. I need to think about whether to cut a million more, leave off the border or do something else. I haven’t yet used the rectangles in blacks, whites and greys for the center of the quilt. I might try and see if they look good as a border. I don’t think I have enough for a whole border, but it would be a start.
I can’t even think about fitting a border on the design wall, so I’ll have to see once some of the blocks are together and the seam allowances have shrunk up.
Scrap Dash Churn Dash
Speaking of which, I have sewn a block or two just to see what they look like and to shrink up the seam allowances so I can fit more on the wall.
You can see the background, which I think really makes the quilt look bright.
One of the things that Latifah wanted us to use in class was a 28mm rotary cutter. This is used for the inset Clammy cuts, especially on the 8 inch Clammy, which are used to cut the arcs.
I thought the class was a good opportunity to try a new cutter since I would be cutting a lot with the 28mm. The handle of the one I have isn’t comfortable so I shy away from it as much as possible. The new cutter came midway through class so I was able to try it out a little during class and a lot after class. I love the Clover 28mm cutter!**
Current rotary cutters of choice
The handle fits really well into my hand. It doesn’t have an automatic closing mechanism like my favorite 45mm rotary cutter**, but the closing mechanism is very easy and convenient to use. I am sure having a new, sharp blade didn’t hurt the experience either.
Clover has a 45mm rotary cutter** and I am tempted, but I like the curved shape of the Olfa 45mm. I’ll stick to what I have for now.
Big thumbs up to the Clover 28mm cutter**. Try it if you are in the market for a new 28mm cutter.
**I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.
Even though I can teach a vast number of quiltmaking skills, I don’t know everything. The guild hosted Latifah Saafir on Saturday via Zoom to teach us her pattern, Put a Ring on It*.
This pattern uses two of Latifah’s Clammies, the 12 inch** and the 8 inch**. I was super pleased to receive these as gifts between my birthday and Christmas.
The pattern is fairly complete and pretty easy to follow. The class was worthwhile, because Latifah gave us tricks and tips and helped us troubleshoot. The Clammy tool and the pattern really make this, essentially a Double Wedding Ring, pattern accessible to almost anyone. Obviously, I wouldn’t suggest it as a first quilt or if you haven’t tried curves, but otherwise, you can do it.
Martha Negley Vegetables
We had to select fabrics and cut pieces before class. I used an older Martha Negley fabric for the background. The background isn’t very much of the quilt. I wanted something different after looking at all the various versions of this quilt plus other DWR versions online. I didn’t want to make the traditional light background. I also didn’t want to copy the version on the cover. I thought of text prints for the rings, but defaulted back to my Frolic! color scheme with a variety of red-violets and the dark blue.
Two Rings Finished
During class I was able to finish two rings. I wasn’t pleased with the green I chose for the squares. That was one good thing about being at home. I was able to grab some other fabrics and switch them out. I’ll mix up the rings so the green doesn’t look like big green blobs in the center of the quilt.
I am making a 9 block (1 ring=1 block) quilt. It will be about 48 inches x 48 inches. I didn’t want to commit to something larger and even this number of blocks is feeling like too much. I am going to power through. If I can get a ring a day done this week, I can finish all the ‘blocks’ by the end of the week and be ready to put the quilt together at the weekend. I don’t want this to become a UFO. I want to get it down and ready for quilting.
What I really wanted out of this class was to learn to use the Clammy rulers. I think I have started on that process, but didn’t get very far. This class was all about the Put a Ring On It pattern and making that. Learning various Clammy techniques was not on the agenda. That was sad. I hope Latifah comes up with a Clammy Sampler class. I get the sense that this tool is an awesome method for making circles in quiltmaking.
*No affiliation. Both a PDF and print pattern are available. I got the printed pattern and really liked the format.
**I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.
Yes, I think I am calling this quilt Scrap Dash instead of 30 Something.
Scrap Dash (30 Something)- April 7, 2021
I spent some time on Wednesday standing in front of the design wall and rearranging various units. The more I do this the better it looks.
I can also tell what I need to work on next. In this case, I need more half square triangles. I prepared a bunch for sewing at Craft Night, but haven’t actually sewed them yet. The process in this quilt was: 1. cut squares; 2. draw lines; 3. sew; 4. cut apart; 5. square up. I don’t really mind this process, but I wish they had chosen a better system like using the Simple Folded Corners Ruler. I wasn’t able to find a tutorial using the size pieces I had already cut, so I just went with the drawing method.
I finally made a One Hour Basket that has been on my list for a long time.
I finally made it thinking I was making it for the multitude of remotes I have in my workroom. I am not going to use it for that, because I used fusible fleece and not Soft & Stable, so it wasn’t as stiff. I wanted a One Hour Basket that I could use to organize my various card decks. This one won’t work for the remotes, but it will work for the decks.
I have undoubtedly become a Sew Sweetness groupie. I want to spend time making all of the projects I have in my library.
The Piebald Pouch is my first finished project from Minikins Season 3. I have to say that it went better than many of my other pouch and small bag projects. For whatever reason, all of the pieces and parts went together smoothly and I had very little trouble.
Except for the front panel. You can see that I didn’t line up the flowers properly, so the ones on the front panel are sideways. I still like it.
The pouch is a little bit of an odd shape. This one is for me and I am not sure how I will use it.
Piebald Pouch – open
This was a fairly easy sew. I started it last week and would have finished it sooner, but have been so swamped that I just didn’t have a moment. It was fun and a charge to finish it on Sunday.
One of the reasons I wanted to finish the HST Donation Top/Back was to free up space on my large design wall.
30 Something/Scrap Dash- early April 2021
I have a lot of pieces and part ready to sew together for the 30 Something top and I was having trouble envisioning how the whole thing was going to go together. I needed to get it on the design wall.
I have to say that I was kind of regretting cutting all the pieces for this quilt. Once I saw it start coming together, I got really excited. I think my fabrics look a lot better than the 1930s vintage and repro fabrics in which the original was made.
My background is an Art Gallery black on white called Raise the Volume from the Capsule Collection. I love the look of a background the doesn’t change amidst all the vibrant scraps.
I have been thinking about the title of the quilt. 30 Something just doesn’t cut it and I don’t like it anyway, but the quilt was not speaking to me in terms of a name. As I put the parts on the design wall, I realized that some of the blocks were Churn Dash blocks and I thought of the name Scrap Dash. I’ll have to see if it sticks.
