myQuiltGenie Blog

Garden Quilt Along - Birdhouses

2012-02-10T07:00:00.001-06:00

Birdhouses Picture Block The birdhouses block measures 12 inches square finished. The most important part in making this block along with other picture blocks is to label your cut pieces and take care to use the right ones when putting the block together. There are no templates needed for this block because the birdhouses are made with trimmed diamonds. Fabric Cutting Instructions Sky

Garden Quilt Along - Friendship Flowers

2012-02-04T10:46:00.000-06:00

Garden Quilt - Friendship Flowers The Friendship Flowers block measures 12 inches by 18 inches finished. You will need a background fabric, flower centers, 3 assorted flower petal, leaf and stem fabrics. Cutting Instructions Background Cut 12 squares 2½ inches. Cut 6 squares 3 inches. Cut 3 rectangles 6½ by 7 inches. Flower Center: Cut 3 squares 2½ inches. Assorted Flower Petals: Cut 2

Garden Quilt Along - Tulips

2012-01-20T07:00:00.000-06:00

The Tulip block measures 12 inches by 15 inches finished. You'll need a background, stem/leaf, and 5 assorted flower petal fabrics. Downloadable pdf version is available. Cutting instructions Petal fabrics – Cut 1 rectangle from each of 5 fabrics 2” X 8½" Leaf and Stem fabric Cut 1 strip 2” wide and at least 20” long. (leaves) Cut 1 strip 1¼” wide. (stems) Background fabric: Cut 4 strips 2”

Garden Quilt Along - Flower Pot

2012-01-16T09:19:00.000-06:00

The Flower Pot block is a picture block and measures 9 inches by 12 inches finished. You will need 7 fabrics (left) or 4 fabrics (right) plus templates for the flower pot base and seedling leaves. Unless otherwise notes, all seams are ¼ inch. Refer to diagram for fabric piece placement. Fabric 1 - sky: A. Cut 2 rectangles 3½ by 4 inches. B. Cut 1 rectangle 4½ by 3¾ inches. C. Cut 1

Complimentary Quilt Blocks

2012-01-12T07:00:00.000-06:00

When trying to find 2 or more blocks that work well together in a quilt, it's best to choose them based on the same grid size. For example 4 patch blocks work best with 4 patch blocks. Next, because they will be alternating quilt blocks, odd numbers of rows and columns work best for the quilt layout. For this example, I chose the Broken Dishes, Economy and Diamond Star blocks in a 3 by 3

Quilt as Desired

2012-01-11T07:00:00.000-06:00

To this day, nothing is so difficult for me in making a quilt than trying to figure out how to quilt it. I can do a pretty good meander, echo and stitch in the ditch, but that's getting boring. Several years ago I read a book about expanding your quilting repertoire (I wish I could remember the name of the book now), and the best advice I got from it was to practice, practice, practice. The

Quilt Sandwich

2012-01-10T11:32:00.000-06:00

Getting a quilt ready to be quilted is a very important step in how it will look when it's all finished. The first thing to do is to lay backing fabric with right side down and tape sides, top and bottom taunt. There is very little stretch on the straight of grain. Next, tape the corners taunt also. When doing so, be careful not to overly stretch on the bias. Lay the batting on top of the

Stained Glass as you go quilt method

2012-01-09T21:48:00.001-06:00

A few months ago I came up with the idea of using piping to create the stained glass look in a quilt. I used it in a paper piecing project where I learned that some quilt blocks aren't well suited to using piping although I was fairly pleased with the results. Next I tried it on a crazy quilt style block and it worked fabulously plus it was very easy and fast. Finally I decided to try

Old Maids Puzzle block

2012-01-07T14:13:00.000-06:00

The Old Maid's Puzzle block is a simple nine patch layout block using squares and half square triangles with between 2 and 7 fabrics (picture uses 4). Instructions can be found on the www.myquiltgenie.com website. As does often happen in quilting, there are either multiple names for the same block or there are multiple blocks of the same name. I found another variation of the Old Maid's

Garden Quilt Along - Intro

2012-01-06T14:50:00.002-06:00

This time of year I always get inspired to start planning an enormous garden which will provide fresh vegetables well into the next winter. By the time everything is ready to plant outside, my plan is reduced to a more manageable size. When the frost starts in the fall I tell myself "next year plan smaller". Maybe making a garden quilt would be even better :) I helped design this quilt for a

54-40 or Fight quilt block

2012-01-05T09:48:00.001-06:00

The 54-40 or Fight block is made using four patch units and peaky & spike units. It is set in a 3 by 3 square grid layout and uses 3 fabrics. This block works best with sizes that are easily divisible by 6. Instructions to make a 12 inch block are below. Fabric 1 - background, green: Cut a 2½ inch strip for four patch units and a 4½ inch strip for peaky and spike units. Fabric 2 - purple: Cut

Dutchman's puzzle

2012-01-03T07:00:00.000-06:00

The Dutchman's Puzzle block is made with 8 flying geese units or 16 half square triangle units. Each block generally uses 3 different fabrics, a background with 2 complimentary fabrics. To figure out how big the flying geese units should be, divide the finished block dimensions in half (12" ÷ 2 = 6" wide) and divide the finished block dimensions in fourths (12" ÷ 4 = 3" tall). Add seam

1904 Star quilt block

2012-01-02T15:28:00.002-06:00

The 1904 Star block is made with squares, half square triangles, quarter square triangles and peaky and spike blocks. It uses 6 fabrics and in this example I used 3 color groups. For a 12 inch block, finished pieces sizes are... Center square = 3 inches Half square triangles in corners from 3 inch square Quarter square triangles from 3 by 1½ inch rectangle Peaky and spike unit is 4¼ inches

Sampler Quilt 2011 - Finishing

2011-12-22T07:00:00.000-06:00

Quilt Sandwich Backing & backing should measure at least 60 inches by 75 inches. Place pressed backing right side down on a flat surface large enough to lay flat; tape in place at sides, then corners. (Optional) Lay batting on top of backing and smooth wrinkles; tape in place at sides, then corners. (If using slippery batting, spray baste to baking and top.) Put pressed quilt on top right

Sampler Quilt 2011 - Border

2011-12-20T07:00:00.000-06:00

Cut 6 strips 4½ inches wide. Sew border strips together with a ¼ inch seam end to end to form a continuous border strip. Press seams to one side. Cut 2 pieces from continuous border fabric strip the length of quilt top measuring from middle of quilt top. Sew borders to sides using ¼ inch seam. Press toward border. Cut 2 pieces from remaining continuous border fabric strip the width of quilt

Sampler Quilt 2011 - Sashing

2011-12-18T07:00:00.001-06:00

When choosing a sashing fabric pick a color that stands out from quilt blocks but doesn't over power them. Darker colors will set blocks back and lighter colors will bring blocks forward. The cornerstones can stand out and glitter. Cornerstone Fabric: Cut 4 strips 2 inches wide. Sub cut 7 rectangles at least 18 inches long. Sashing Rectangle Fabric: Cut 6 strips 6½ inches wide. Sub cut into 6

Sampler Quilt 2011 - Week 48 - Autumn Tints

2011-12-16T07:00:00.000-06:00

The Autumn Tints quilt block is made with squares and four patch units using 4 fabrics set in a 2 by 2 square grid layout. Fabric Instructions Background: Cut 4 squares from 2 inch strips. Fabric 2: Cut 2 squares from 2 inch strips. Fabric 3: Cut 2 squares from 3½ inch strips. Fabric 4: Cut 2 squares from 2 inch strips. Four Patch Instructions Layout 2 Background square opposite

Sampler Quilt 2011 - Week 47 - Bachelors Puzzle

2011-12-09T07:00:00.000-06:00

The Bachelors Puzzle block uses 4 fabrics of squares and half square triangles set in a 2 by 2 square grid layout. Fabric Instructions Background: Cut 8 half square triangles from 2 inch strips using a half square triangle ruler. Fabric 2: Cut 4 squares from 2 inch strips. Fabric 3: Cut 8 half square triangles from 2 inch strips using a half square triangle ruler. Fabric 4: Cut 8 half

Sampler Quilt 2011 - Week 46 - Arkansas Crossroads

2011-12-02T07:00:00.000-06:00

The Arkansas Crossroads uses 4 fabrics of squares and half square triangles in a 2 by 2 square grid layout. Fabric Instructions Background: Cut 4 half square triangles from 2 inch strips using a half square triangle ruler. Fabric 2: Cut 4 squares and 4 half square triangles from 2 inch strips using a half square triangle ruler. Fabric 3: Cut 4 squares from 2 inch strips. Fabric 4: Cut 4

Sampler Quilt 2011 - Week 45 - Broken Pinwheel

2011-11-25T07:00:00.000-06:00

The Broken Pinwheel block is made with tri square triangle units using 3 fabrics and is set in a 2 by 2 square grid. There is a subtle difference between quarters of this block, so pay careful attention to how the quarter square triangles are sewn together. Fabric Instructions Background: Cut 4 quarter square triangles from 2 inch strips using a quarter square triangle ruler. Medium: Cut 4

Sampler Quilt 2011 - Week 44 - Whirlwind

2011-11-18T07:00:00.000-06:00

The Whirlwind block uses half square triangle and quarter square triangle pieces to make a sailboat unit or what I like to call a tri square triangle unit. You'll need 2 fabrics, a half square triangle ruler and a quarter square triangle ruler to make this block. Fabric Instructions Background Fabric: Cut a 2 inch wide strip. Sub cut into 4 quarter square triangles using a quarter square

Sampler Quilt 2011 - Week 43 - Windblown Square

2011-11-11T07:00:00.000-06:00

The Windblown Square block is set in a 2 by 2 square layout using 4 different fabrics and half square triangle units. Fabric Instructions Fabric 1 - light: Cut 12 half square triangles from 2 inch strips. Fabric 2 - medium light: Cut 4 half square triangles from 2 inch strips. Fabric 3 - medium: Cut 8 half square triangles from 2 inch strips. Fabric 4 - dark: Cut 8 half square

Sampler Quilt 2011 - Week 42 - T Block

2011-11-04T07:00:00.000-05:00

The T-Block quilt block is made with half square triangles and squares and uses 2 fabrics. It's set in a 3 by 3 square grid layout. A fabric and instruction calculator is available at www.myquiltgenie.com for your own projects using the T-Block. Fabric instructions Background Fabric: Cut 1 strip 2½ inches wide. Sub cut into 1 square and 7 half square triangles using a half square triangle

Sampler Quilt 2011 - Week 41 - Pineapple Star

2011-10-29T07:00:00.000-05:00

The Pineapple Star block is constructed with squares, square goose (a.k.a. peaky and spike) units and a square in a square unit. You can design your own projects with the Pineapple Star calculator setting variable sizes and quantities. Fabric instructions (templates) Background: Cut 4 triangles from 2½ inch strips using template A. Cut 4 squares from 2½ inch strips. Accent 1: Cut 4

Sampler Quilt 2011 - Week 40 - Economy

2011-10-22T23:45:00.001-05:00

The Economy block uses squares, half square and quarter square triangles and works best with block sizes that are easily divisible by 2. Visit the Economy block calculator for your own projects of various sizes and quantities. Fabric instructions Background fabric: Cut 4 half square triangles using a half square triangle ruler from 3½ inch strips. Accent 1 fabric: Cut 4 quarter