Look How Cute My Cat Is

That's all I wanted to say. James is the sweetest little kitty and this picture taken by the husband shows off his adorable little fangs. He has a bit of an overbite and I am trying to get a pic of how cute it is. The problem is that he likes extreme closeups.

Laying Out Your Quilt

Now let's all pretend we have finished all of our 36 blocks and are ready to move on to our next step. We need to lay our blocks out just like they will appear in our finished quilt and figure out what goes where.

If you used just one or two fabrics, this part is a breeze. They will either be all the same or will alternate. Any more fabrics and you will need to manipulate and move the blocks until you find a pleasing arrangment. I aim to not have two of the same color blocks touching, but will allow for them to touch diagonally since sometimes there is no way around it.

My process is to find a large, empty patch of floor and lay them out. Then once I think I have it right, I take a few steps back and get a good visual from that distance. Once I am pretty sure, I make the Husband take a look. He will usually make a few suggestions, many of which I will ignore and then I will say it's good enough and call it a day.

Once I am satisfied with the layout, I need to get the quilt blocks back off the floor before the cat makes a running dive into them and scatters them. This has happened a few times.

My process it to always start in the top left corner and pick them up in order across the row. You could go down. Do what makes you happy. Once you have a complete row, take a bit of paper and write row 1 and pin that to the stack, pinning through the entire stack to keep it in order. Repeat for each row. This way the are organized for when you are ready to sew them together.

If you are super organized you could make a diagram that is 6 blocks by 6 blocks and mark down your block positions in each block. I used to do this, but found it easy enough to keep track of using the pinning by row method.

You will want to sew each block together row by row, pinning at the seams just as before. Once you have a completely assembled row, you can pin your row number to the far left block and press of the seams you just created to one side.

Once all your rows are completed you can start joining the rows, using your papers marked with the row numbers as your guide. Take it block by block and match up your seams, pinning as you go. Again, press to one side and your quilt top is done.

Spread it back out and admire your hard work. Then take a picture and let me see it.

Everyone should check out Emma's progress. Her colors are beautiful and she is cranking out blocks like a pro.

Warning..There Will Be Cursing

WTF!?!?!?!!?

Read this


Seriously, what sort of pathetic fucktard would have a blog with the sole mission of bashing people they don't agree with? Someone needs to make some real life friends. I contemplated posting a comment, but I really don't think the friendless reject would allow my comment to stay.

You know what Jasper, I am willing to bet you have or will have plenty of children. Because worthless twats like you are always able to breed. The world is full of dull eyed, slack jawed morons who should have been taken care of by natural selection. Only we, as a planet, have become so consumed with being politically correct that we are no longer allowed to just let nature takes it course and let dumbfucks like you die the horrible death you are due. People like you are the reason we have to put warning labels on everything to be sure that some inbred doesn't drink the bleach or stick his head under the running lawn mower. Well Jasper, drink up.

I am guessing by your name that you are what would pass for a man, no matter how pathetic the actual organ really is (and just guessing based on the fact that you are a contributor for the Takedown, it must be really tiny). So how would you know the longing to be a mother? You can't. Just like I can't know the longing of having a dick big enough to use on a real live woman. That must be really hard on you, you tiny peckered little bitch. You should be grateful for ART so that you can reproduce.

And now I am done. I have sunk to your level and got it off my chest. With the exception of the losers who actually read the takedown, I feel safe that the rest of the world can sort out bitter people like yourself who bash those suffering from real issues to make yourself feel better about your lack of a sex life.

Well, it seems that fucktard is not in blogger's dictionary, but twat is. Weird huh?

Anyone Out There?

I have been slowly cranking out the blocks and was wondering how everyone else is doing. Do I still have any quilt along friends out there? I should be able to post the next steps soon and then we will be wrapping up the piecing part of our quilts.

If anyone is stuck or has questions, please feel free to email me or leave your question in the comments section.

Time to Start Sewing

Sorry for the disappearing act, but overtime at work has been plentiful and I am taking full advantage. Gotta add to the adoption fund.

Okay, so we should all have our fabrics cut out and our supplies assembled and it's time to start sewing the blocks.

Each block is made up of 4 main fabric pieces and 4 background fabric pieces. We will be sewing each main fabric piece to a background piece to form 4 small squares. We will then join those squares together to form the complete square. The techniques will be different for machine and hand so here is where we split up.

Hand Sewing:
Lay out one of each piece right side up like this. You should have one wide end on the top and one on the bottom so that is will form a square when the seam is sewn.


Take the pieces and put them right sides together, keeping them in the same position they were layed out in. Notice that they do not perfectly line up. This is correct and will for the square shape once the seam is sewn.


Take a pin and insert it at the top left corner at the intersection of the seam lines you marked with your pencil. Make sure it goes through the same top left intersection on the back piece also. Now take your threaded needle (I like to use a double strand of thread for added durability) and make a knot in the top right corner, making sure you are going exactly through the intersection on both pieces of fabric. Then take another pin and put it through the center (you can just eyeball it, no need to measure it exactly) right on the seam line through both pieces of fabric. See the below pic for clarification. This will help keep your seams lined up as you sew.


Now sew across this line using a running stitch. Here is a really basic sample of running stitch in case you are not familiar. I usually stack 4 or 5 stitches on my needle before pulling it all the way through the fabric. This will increase your sewing speed a lot.

Once you have sewn all the way to the other end of the line, make another tight knot (I usually knot twice for added security) and clip your threat leaving about a 1/2" tail. Do this for all four sets of pieces. Once they are all sewn, you can press them with the seam going towards the darker colored fabric. It honestly won't matter too much which way you press, just be consistent and always press to either the main or the background fabric. This will make your final seams lay nicer in the end.

Once they are neatly pressed, lay them out in the block formation like this.


Now you are going to flip the top 2 blocks, right sides together and sew the joining seam. Repeat for the bottom 2 blocks.


Now you will have this.


Now piece the top and bottom blocks together, pinning like this. Be sure to pin right on the intersection of both side when you get to that center seam.



Once you are done, iron your new seams, again towards the same fabric you chose before and when it's done, flip it right side up and give it a good press, straight up and down to really flatten those seams.


Repeat for a total of 36 blocks.

Machine Sewing:

You will be using a 1/4" seam for this quilt. You may have a 1/4" line on your machine that you can use as a guide, but if not, then you can make one with permanent marker or you can tape a piece of paper to act as a guide. Practice on scrap material until you are sure you can sew a consistent 1/4" line. Once you find the 1/4" mark, go slowly and it will work and you will build up your speed with practice.

Lay out one of each piece right side up like this. You should have one wide end on the top and one on the bottom so that is will form a square when the seam is sewn.


Take the pieces and put them right sides together, keeping them in the same position they were layed out in. Notice that they do not perfectly line up. This is correct and will for the square shape once the seam is sewn. Make sure your edges on the side you are about to sew match perfectly


Take a pin and insert it at the top left corner at the intersection of the seam lines you marked with your pencil. Make sure it goes through the same top left intersection on the back piece also. Now do the same for the other end (pretend that is a pin and not a needle in the pic below) Then take another pin and put it through the center (you can just eyeball it, no need to measure it exactly) right on the seam line through both pieces of fabric. See the below pic for clarification. This will help keep your seams lined up as you sew. Once you get comfortable, you may not need to pin for this step.


Now sew across this line. You may want to use your machine's back stitch at the beginning and end of the seam to lock it in.

Do this for all four sets of pieces. Once they are all sewn, you can press them with the seam going towards the darker colored fabric. It honestly won't matter too much which way you press, just be consistent and always press to either the main or the background fabric. This will make your final seams lay nicer in the end.

Once they are neatly pressed, lay them out in the block formation like this.


Now you are going to flip the top 2 blocks, right sides together and sew the joining seam. Repeat for the bottom 2 blocks.


Now you will have this.


Now piece the top and bottom blocks together, pinning like this. Again, pretend that needle in the picture is just another pin. Be sure to pin right on the intersection of both side when you get to that center seam.


Once you are done, iron your new seams, again towards the same fabric you chose before and when it's done, flip it right side up and give it a good press, straight up and down to really flatten those seams.


Repeat for a total of 36 blocks

Tip for everyone:

You may want to make a bunch of the first step squares and then iron so you are not jumping up and running to your ironing board every few minutes.

If anyone is confused, gets stuck or just has questions, please feel free to email me or post your question in the comment section.

I will give us a few days to get started on our blocks and then I will post the next step. Don't feel rushed, because I can assure you that I will not be ready for the next step, but a really industrious machine sewer might be and I would hate to keep them waiting any more than I already have.

Cutting our Fabric

Time to cut our fabric. We will be cutting the same shape from our background and our main fabrics. The way you will cut will be different depending on if you are hand sewing or machine sewing.

Hand Sewing :

Lay out your nicely pressed fabric with the wrong side up. If your fabric is light you will be using your mechanical pencil. If your fabric is dark, you will be using your chalk marking tool.

If you have a problem with the fabric moving around while you are marking, you can clip a sheet of fine grit sandpaper to a clipboard and lay your fabric on this as you mark. Just be careful not to move the fabric around on the sandpaper too much or you could damage your fabric.

Keep in mind that our goal is to trace out the actual lines we will be sewing on. This means we need to leave about ¼” around the outside of each shape (so about ½” between shapes).

Make sure your template is right side up (really there is no wrong side up, but you will have to keep your template consistently the same side up or you will not have pieces that fit together.) The way I had you mark your templates in the last post will result in whirlygigs that spin the way I think is the cutest. It just works for my head, but both ways are fine.

Flip flopping your template upside down and then right side up (but never flipping it over) will allow you to get the most pieces with the least waste from your fabric (See my paper example below for clarification). Just start in a corner and place the straight side against the straight edge of the fabric and trace around the shape. Flip and trace until you run out of fabric and then start a new row. Don’t forget to leave your seam allowance between each piece and each row.



The line just needs to be dark enough to be visible when you sew. I trace a bunch of pieces of each color and then start sewing because I am undisciplined and can’t be bothered with doing the logical thing and preparing all my pieces at one time. Do whatever makes you happy.

You will need to cut the following number of pieces for this pattern

Background - 144 (Everyone will need this amount)
1 Color Main - 144
2 Color Main - 72 each color
3 Color Main - 48 each color
4 Color Main - 36 each color
6 Color Main - 24 each color

Once your pieces are traced you will use your scissors to carefully cut each one out, leaving the ¼” border. I cut the rows out and then cut off the pieces from each row.

Machine Sewing:

If you have never used a rotary cutter, please read this quick tutorial.

Lay your pressed fabric out and neatly fold it in half selvage to selvage. Use your quilting ruler and rotary cutter to square up the edge of the fabric that was hand cut at the fabric store. Just take off enough to get a straight edge. This will give you a good clean start. Once you have a nice, straight edge, cut the fabric into 4” strips. You will need the following number of strips:

Background - 8 strips
1 Color Main - 8 strips
2 Color Main - 4 Strips each color
3 Color Main - 3 strips each color
4 Color Main - 2 strips each color
6 Color Main - 2 strips each color

Take the 4” strips and unfold. You can stack 2 or 3 strips as long as you make sure they are perfectly placed on top of each other. Place the strips face down.

Make sure your template is right side up (really there is no wrong side up, but you will have to keep your template consistently the same side up or you will not have pieces that fit together.) The way I had you mark your templates in the last post will result in whirlygigs that spin the way I think is the cutest. It just works for my head, but both ways are fine.

Start at the end of the strip(s) and using your template only as a guide for placing your quilting ruler, start cutting out the pieces. You will flip flop the template from top to bottom, but never flip it over. See the paper diagram below for clarification.



You will need to cut the following amount of pieces from each fabric:

Background - 144 (Everyone will need this amount)
1 Color Main - 144
2 Color Main - 72 each color
3 Color Main - 48 each color
4 Color Main - 36 each color
6 Color Main - 24 each color

Use this method to cut out the main fabrics and the background fabrics, but be sure not to cut your backing or binding fabrics. Once you have your pieces cut you will be ready to start sewing them into the blocks.

Template Cutting Time

Okay, so we are ready to make our template and start cutting our fabric. You will need to know if you are hand sewing or machine sewing at this point, because your templates will be different sizes (for the machine sewing template you will have ¼” seam allowances already added to the template)



Instructions for Hand Sewing template:



Cut a 3.5” square from your template plastic or stiff cardboard ( a cereal box would work great). Take your time and make sure you get a perfect square, because a wonky square will only cause you heartache in the end.




Once you have your square, take your ruler and measure over 2” from the left side on the top and make a mark right at the very edge of the top.

Now make a mark 1.5” from the left on the bottom.




Now take your straight edge and connect your dots until you have this .




Carefully cut along the line and take one of your shapes (you only need one) and lay it out so that it looks just like this.




Now write “ 7" Whirlygig template”, or “this end up” or something on it in permanent ink so that you will know at a glance if you have your template right side up.



Instructions for Machine Sewing template:



Cut a 4” x 4.5" rectangle from your template plastic or stiff cardboard ( a cereal box would work great). Take your time and make sure you get a perfectly squared off rectangle, because wonky corners will only cause you heartache in the end.

Once you have your rectangle,lay it out with the 4.5" part at the top and bottom and the 4" on the sides.

Take your ruler and measure over 2 1/2” from the left side on the top and make a mark right at the very edge of the top.

Now make a mark 2” from the left on the bottom. Sorry for the blurry pic.




Now take your straight edge and connect your dots until you have this .




Carefully cut along the line and take one of your shapes (you only need one) and lay it out so that it looks just like this.




Now write “7” Whirlygig template”, or “this end up” or something on it in permanent ink so that you will know at a glance if you have your template right side up.



Next up is cutting into our fabric.