July's Finished UFO

I gave this quilt away before I got a photo of it finished... Now I have a picture to share - here it is with its new owner - my grandson - MYLES

Happy Birthday DAD

My dad turns 70 today, happy happy birthday dad .... that's 5-y-o me on his lap

My oldest UFO

I made eight of these OWL blocks, from a pattern I found in an Australian women's magazine. Simply can't recall which one.

I started it 26 years ago. How old is YOUR oldest UFO?

September - start a quilt - finish a quilt

I didn't get to complete a UFO for August, as per my new years resolution starting July 2012... but, I did start and finish two quilts in August so I am letting myself off the hook. You can see them on my Finished Quilts page.


FINISH
Now, it's time to make a commitment to a UFO for September. I have chosen to complete the Double Wedding Ring quilt that I started in the mid 80s. (EEEkkk 20 years ago!). It is by machine, using the Mary Ellen Hopkins method, and I started it in a workshop organised by Patchwork Plus (then of Hurstville) and taught by Noreen Dunn (since passed away).

START
I have had a hankering for a Dresden Plate quilt lately. So maybe that will be the new quilt for September. I have a delightful little collection of Liberty Craft Fabrics that are appealing to me.

what are you starting/finishing?
x dls

What I'm loving ...

Aldi's coffee pod machine makes great coffee!
The new Sally Hansen Manicure nail polish! It has a flat, broad brush and it is so easy to use!

Gift Quilt #2 for August

This is the second quilt I have finished for birthday gifts in August. 

See the Finished Quilts page to see it unwrapped.

Tutorial - sewing blocks together in onesys, twosys, foursys

Have you heard of onesys, twosys, foursys? This is the term where you sew blocks to together in groups, making ever larger blocks and avoiding numerous long seams.
This method helps you keep control over matching seams, and avoiding the blocks from becoming untrue.

It means that you sew multiples of shorter seams together, avoiding the longer ones until the very end. In this method I have worked at completing rows of seven in shorter seams then sewing them together across all seven.

When working on your own quilts, after laying out the blocks, assess where you should start with onesys, twosys and foursys first, then you may even sew eightsys ... it depends on the amount of blocks.Just keep working in building larger squares as long as possible.

After completing 63 x 8in blocks, I laid them out on the bed (my makeshift design wall.) Seven blocks across and nine down.
 
Then I sewed them together in onesys = one block to one block, working across the rows. The last block wont have a partner, yet.

Then they are sewn together in twosys = a set of two is sewn to a set of two. Match the seams at the intersection, and pin carefully. The last two end ones, of eight of the rows can now be sewn together.

As you complete each row lay them back down on the bed, or design wall, in the correct orientation.

Sewing the foursys ... 

Align the four sides as accurately as possible, and place a pin in the centre seam intersection on each side - this will assist keeping the block squared and true.

Then, along the edge to be sewn, add more pins, and sew the seam.

If, as you sew a bubble appears before the needle/foot .. like this ...

Gently pull the fabric towards you, and it will flatten and feed under the needle/foot correctly.

As I near the end of the seam i peak under to check the edges are correctly aligned still. I can see that the two previous seams, under my fingers, are still aligned, indicating the edges are also still correctly aligned. I could rely on the previously placed pins, but I like to make this extra check.

This is the sewn seam, see the perfect seam intersection at the centre of the blocks. 

Sew the end twosys onto the end of three of the foursys. This will give you three rows of two blocks completed.

To the last foursys, sew a twosy. Then stitch the 2 x foursys+ones together, then add the twosys to the end.
AT this point the longest seams you have had to sew are the three rows.

Lay all seven rows on the bed/design wall.

Pick up two rows, and carefully pin at each seam intersection across the row. You are effectively sewing seven blocks together across the row - this is the longest seam.

Sew all four 'rows' to each other across the seven blocks.