Jen Arnall-Culliford Knitwear

Curiouser QAL: Flying Geese Diamonds

I've done a lot of thinking since my last post for the quiltalong, and I'm afraid that this will be my final official Curiouser tutorial/block design post. Preparing the pdf tutorial files and taking photographs of each stage in the sewing is a really time-consuming process, and at the moment my workload is so high that I can't keep it up on my own. If there were lots and lots of folks out there sewing along with us, it might feel slightly different, but as it stands I need to look after myself.

Having said that, I will complete this quilt, and I will post about how I do so. So if you are sewing along, then there will be ideas and inspiration to help you to complete yours. It just won't be in such a structured form.

This brings us on to today's quilt block: Flying Geese Diamonds.

This diamond design uses the same building blocks as the zigzags block that I published a few weeks ago. Do refer back to that post if you would like some photos of each stage of the creation of the blocks. There's a full tutorial for this block to download here:  Download 14 Flying Geese Diamonds

And this is how the block looks when you've made your Flying Geese, before they get sewn together.

I hope you like this design! I'm off to my sewing room (it was the dining room, but I've totally stolen it for crafting...) to work on some more blocks. I'd like to have this quilt finished by the summer, or thereabouts.

Curiouser QAL: Twelfth Block Diagonals

If you are following this quiltalong, you will have noticed that last week didn't see the publication of a block design. Sadly, Mélanie is going through some major life upheaval, and for a while at least, won't be posting to the quiltalong. I'm a bit in two minds about how to proceed, so I would appreciate some input from those of you who are still sewing...

I intend to make a quilt that is 35 blocks in size, and I've still got a couple of designs up my sleeve. But on my own, I don't think I have enough knowledge, time or creativity to complete the quilt with 35 original blocks. I was given a copy of Modern Blocks for Christmas, so I was wondering about using some of the designs from this excellent book to complete my quilt. In this way, I'm still learning new techniques, but won't have to come up with all of the ideas. This will mean that there aren't pdf tutorial files for each block, but the purchase of the book would get you everything you need if you would like to sew with me. Alternatively, I've considered completing the quilt by making more of the blocks that we've already published.

Over to you for your input! And in the meantime, here is the scheduled post.

This week's design makes two blocks at the same time. Bargain!

You can download the pdf file with full instructions here:  Download 12 Diagonals Tutorial

Or read on for a photo walk-through.

 Materials needed:

• 2 Squares (11 7/8" x 11 7/8") in two contrasting fabrics
• 2 rectangles (2.5" x 10") deliberately larger than needed
• 2 rectangles (2.5" x 13") deliberately larger than needed

Piecing instructions:

Mark the edges of one of the squares to give diagonal lines (see pdf for details of how wide each strip should be - don't look at my ruler below as I had a maths failure when I first sewed mine up!).

Place the second square under the first, and cut through both fabrics together to give 8 diagonal pieces in each fabric.

Carefully pair them up so that each new square will be made from alternating fabrics. Sew the strips together into pairs. Press the seams to one side. Following a recommendation on my quilting weekend, I find that adding a liberal spray of starch before ironing really helps to crispen the pieces and keep them from stretching.

Then sew all the pairs together to make two blocks that will be square once trimmed.

Carefully trim each block to 9.5" square.

Add borders to both blocks, and there you have 2 finished Curiouser blocks!

Please do add pictures of your blocks to our Flickr group, and add a link to the collection below.

Curiouser QAL: Tenth Block Flying Geese Zigzags

This week's block uses another traditional quilting piece - the Flying Geese block. These are then arranged to give a zigzag shape when made up in the right combination of fabrics. Here's the finished block:

The full directions on how to piece this block can be downloaded here:  Download 10 Flying Geese ZigZags Read on for photos of how the block is created.

Materials list:

• 2 squares (5.75" x 5.75") in two contrasting fabrics - can be print or plain
• 8 squares (3 1/8" x 3 1/8") of which there are 4 in each of the same two prints as before (I found that as I was using FQs, I could naturally cut 6 small squares of each fabric from a strip. If you do this, then the 4 spare squares - 2 in each colour - will be used in my block 14 design, so put them to one side...)
• 2 border rectangles (2.5" x 10") deliberately larger than needed
• 2 border rectangles (2.5" x 13") deliberately larger than needed

Piecing instructions:

Draw a diagonal across the wrong side of each of the small squares.

Place two small squares on top of one larger square, in the opposite fabric, with right sides together as shown in the following picture. Trim the corner of the two small squares where they overlap. Pin them down securely.

Sew a quarter inch seam along each side of the diagonal line.

Fold the small squares up against the sewn seams and pin them out of the way. Then place another two small squares on top of the large piece, trim the corners as before, and make sure that the diagonal goes from the top to the bottom corner of the larger square.

Pin securely, and sew a quarter inch seam on each side of the second diagonal line. Then carefully cut along the diagonal line.

Remove the pins and then cut along the original diagonal line to make 4 pieces from the large square.

Now open up the pieces to reveal the Flying Geese blocks.

Repeat the process with the remaining fabric and press all of the blocks open.

Trim off the "dog ears" and any wonkiness, and arrange the blocks according to the following picture, to create the zigzag shape:

Sew the blocks into two strips of 4, and then sew these two rectangles together to create the finished centre of the block.

Add borders as before, and there you have another finished block for the pile!

Please do upload your pictures of your blocks to our Flickr group, and add a link to the collection below.

Winner! Curiouser QAL

Hiya!

Just a quick post to let you know that BendigoBlue has won the 4 fat quarters! There are 3 people (apart from Mélanie and me) who've uploaded pictures of 4 blocks to our Flickr group (LittleTreehouse had 2 entries as she has 8 pictures loaded up).

I'll message you on Flickr to get your address and this fabric will be on its way to you.

Congratulations!

Curiouser QAL: Eighth Block - Pinwheel

Apologies for the delay in publishing my block. I hope that you've now had a chance to catch up with Mélanie's two blocks from last week. Given the short hiatus in the schedule, we have postponed drawing the giveaway, and we will now be closing that at midnight GMT on Sunday 22nd January. For each 4 blocks that you have uploaded photos of to our Flickr group, you will get one entry to the giveaway. The prize is the 4 FQs as shown in my Fourth block Curiouser post. There's no cash alternative to the offered prize, but we are happy to post abroad if needed.

So, on with today's design.

This is a traditional pinwheel block design, and is our first design using triangles. Triangles are slightly more tricky than squares and rectangles, because there is an edge "on the bias". This means that the fabric isn't only cut along the grain, and it is much more stretchy on the bias. We don't want our pieces to stretch, as then they won't fit together properly. But there's really no need to worry about the triangles. Just don't pull them around too much! The detailed instructions on how to make this block are in the following pdf file:  Download 8 Pinwheel Tutorial

Materials needed:

• 2 squares (5 3/8" square) in one fabric (print or plain)
• 2 squares (5 3/8" square) in a second fabric (also print or plain, but contrasting with the first fabric)
• 2 x rectangles (2.5" x 10") and 2 x rectangles (2.5" x 13") for the outer border - I used a print fabric, but if you want to use a plain, then do!

Brief piecing instructions:

Cut the squares as detailed above.

Match the pairs of contrasting fabrics and with RS together, pin securely and mark adiagonal line across each pair.

Sew a 0.25" seam along each side of the diagonal line, and then cut in half along the marked diagonal line. Press the triangles open with the seam to one side.

Trim, and arrange the squares to give the pinwheel shape. Then sew the squares together in pairs.

 

Then sew the two rectangles together to make the centre block.

Add borders as before, and voila! Another finished block.

I decided it was probably worth cutting a whole heap of border strips in one go, since I already know how big they need to be. So here's my pile of 2.5" strips all ready and waiting to be used:

As usual, please do leave a link with the widget below, if you blog about this design.

Curiouser QAL: Blocks 7A and 7B

After all the excitement of London, I decided to dedicate Friday last week to catching up with sewing. I completed the sewing for my next 4 block designs for the Curiouser QAL (yes, that's 4 designs done! I just need to write them up now...), and while I was at it, Mélanie had published two patterns, so I whipped them up too!

Without further ado, here is 7A -  Stripes and Squares:

I am really pleased with this one. I've been wanting to use the fruity fabric in something where you would see enough of the print for it to make sense, so this is perfect!

And here is 7B - Stripy Squares:

I'm delighted with the centre of this block, but I'm not at all convinced that the border does it any justice. I think that the print is too big, and it fights with the design in the middle. So I might well remove the border and replace it with something else. I'll see how I feel in a week or two probably...

Curiouser QAL: A short delay

Apologies for the lack of a Curiouser QAL post today. I had hoped to get my design pdf written this evening, but I'm trying to get some urgent work stuff out of the way before I go to London on Sunday, so I'm not going to get it to it. Things are pretty busy here for the next fortnight, so fingers crossed I'll get it sorted at the weekend, but please bear with me if there aren't any posts for a few days.

Mélanie is waiting on arrival of a new camera before she can get caught up with hers as well. Apologies from both of us, and normal service will resume shortly.

Curiouser QAL: Sixth Block

It's time for block 6 of the Curiouser & Curiouser quiltalong! This week we are making a block that is inspired by my go-to cot quilt design. It is a simple idea - you sew strips of fabric together, then cut them into stripy strips and put sashing between them. Bob's your uncle (he really is my Uncle!), you have a quilt top all set to go.

Materials

• 3 strips of fabric 2" x 14" prints or plains
• 3 strips 1.5" x 10" plain fabric for sashing
• 2 border rectangles 2.5" x 10" and 2 border rectangles 2.5" x 13"

I've prepared a pdf file explaining how to make the block, and I'm afraid that I had to sew this in the evening, so I haven't got any decent pictures for the pithy instructions. I'm sure that if you've done a bit of piecing before then you won't have any trouble working this one out! Download the full instructions here:  Download 6 Coin Block Tutorial

I hope that you are all enjoying the blocks for this quilt! Please do add a link below if you have blogged about this design. 

Curiouser QAL: Catching up with blocks 3 and 5

I've been a bad QAL partner, and haven't been keeping up with Mélanie's beautiful designs. Anyway, I've got there after an afternoon holed up with my sewing machine, and here are the results:

I present to you Block 3 - the simple 9-patch. You can find the tutorial here: 9 Patch design.

And to follow, the disappearing 9-patch. The tutorial for this one is here: Disappearing 9-patch.

I think that this one is my favourite so far. I would love a whole quilt in these fabrics. I'm a big fan of the disappearing 9-patch. :)

Phew! I'm up to date! It's tough at this time of year to find time for crafting, isn't it? If you'd like to see other people's blocks so far, then head over to our Flickr group and take a look - BendigoBlue, Little Treehouse and Twinkle Toes UK have all shared their pictures with the group. I find it so inspiring to see different fabric choices in the same designs.

Don't forget the giveaway for those who've posted at least 4 blocks to the Flickr group. More information can be found on this post.

Curiouser QAL: Fourth Block

I'm sorry that it's been a little quiet here this week. It's not only the alarm at the discovery of exactly how much yarn I have in my stash, but also a snotty cold and plenty of work. The end of the year always seems to manage to bite a little more than anticipated.

Mélanie and I are really enjoying seeing the finished blocks for this QAL, but we thought we would encourage a few more of you to post pictures to our Flickr group. So here is a little incentive... Anyone who has posted pictures of 4 completed Curiouser QAL blocks to the Flickr group by midnight GMT on Wednesday 11th January, will get one entry into a giveaway for these 4 fun fat quarters.

 

If you have posted 8 finished blocks by then, you will get two entries (and we will be delighted by your ability to keep up with us!!). The winner will be drawn at random from all entries and we will announce the winner on Thursday 12th January 2012. I'm happy to post the FQs anywhere in the world, so do get sewing!!

Anyway, moving on to today's design...

Here is my second block design for you - this time, it's a 16-patch block (see how we're cranking you up from 4, to 9, and now 16?). Detailed instructions are included in the following pdf download file: Download 16 Patch Tutorial You will need a copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader in order to open the file.

Tools needed:

• Cutting mat, rotary cutter and cutting ruler
• Sewing machine (or patient hand-sewing)
• Iron & ironing board
• Pins

Materials needed:

• 2 darker coloured rectangles (2.75" x 12") print or plain fabric (deliberately longer than needed)
• 2 lighter coloured rectangles (2.75" x 12") print or plain fabric (deliberately longer than needed)
• 2 x rectangles (2.5" x 10") and 2 x rectangles (2.5" x 13") for the outer border - I used a plain fabric, but if you want to use a print, then do!

Cutting instructions:

Cut the list of fabrics specified above - please do ask if you're not sure about how best to do so.

Brief piecing instructions:

Please download the pdf file above for more detailed instructions.

Sew the strips together in pairs - light with dark, or graded dark with mid, light with lighter, you can please yourself with the arrangement.

Be careful to keep the ends aligned.

Having sewn two long rectangles, cut each piece into 4 pieces, 2.75" wide, and turn them round and match them up to make 2x2 squares. Sew the pieces together and press.

Arrange the 4 squares as you like, and sew them in pairs with right sides together.

Press the seams and then sew the two rectangles together, taking care to match the seams as closely as possible.

And that makes the completed centre block.

Add borders as before...

And you're all done! Share a link below if you have blogged about your blocks. And please do post pictures to our Flickr group.

Please do stop by Mélanie's blog and see how she gets on with my design. I shall be back early next week with a whole mountain of finished objects - including my 9 Patch Block from Mélanie's design last week.