QUILTMAKER 100 Quilt Blocks Volume 12 Blog Hop

HEART BURSTS

 

Good Morning and Welcome to the blog hop for Quiltmaker's 12th Volume of 100 Quilt Blocks.

 

 

This block is so whimsical and SO me:)  I love the applique and the swirly vine too. Showing other layouts is usually what I do here but that will have to wait since it will be featured in the Spring:)

Stay tuned for that~

 

Instead, I would like to share with you an easy way to cut multiples of fusible applique.  Many times I hear quilters say that there is too much applique and that puts them off making and loving certain designs.  This particular block has 8 identical petals and is perfect for cutting multiples.  With this technique, you can cut your work time in third (pun intended:).

 

 

For the petals, cut a fabric strip @ 2-1/2" and a fusible strip @ 2-3/8".  Keeping the fusible strip just a tad narrower than your fabric strip keeps accidental guck (the technical term:) off the ironing board while applying.  Cut strip into 4" sections. 

Trace a petal onto freezer paper.  This will be ironed to the right side of one section.  Stack with the freezer paper template on top.

Binder Clips are our friends!  They give the stack stability while freeing up your non-cutting hand to hold without fear of the stack slipping and without cramping up (I know how intense this can get:).  I can cut up to 4 at a time relatively well with scissors that have a light serrated edge.  Cutting stacks of 3 is a more accurate way to do this when you are just starting out.

As you can see with the petals, I didn't put a clip on the side I would start cutting on.  Once that side is cut, I will place a clip there to keep that side together and reduce slipping.
On the leaf, I did place clips on the side I plan to cut first because the leaf shape is quite a bit larger with more chance of slippage.

Carefully cut your shapes and Wa La, I cut out 4 leaves at once without having to trace each and every piece onto the paper-backed fusible.

My other tip for you today is Roxanne's Glue Baste-It EZ Squeezie (in the accordion bottle).  Once I had all my bias strips done, I just placed a very thin line of glue onto my drawn vine guide and then pressed the vines into place.

 The leaf was fused in place before adding the vines so that once they were all in position I could zig zag stitch everything in place.

Here is a link to a previous post with more information on how to figure out dimensions for other applique projects: http://nestlingsbyrobin.blogspot.com/2015/02/tutorial-cutting-multiples-of-fusible.html

 

NOW TO THE GOOD PART:)))

Leave your comments here before Thursday and I will draw 2 lucky winners for a FREE copy of the new magazine.

 

Don't forget to follow the Quiltmaker Blog to read more fun blog posts this week.

 

If you are interested in receiving my newsletter, please leave your email address in your comment or head over to FB and private message me there:)

Thanks for following along! Robin

 





I LOVE October!

Hexie Pumpkins

Not just because it is my birth month, but we have somewhat cooler temps in FL (80s instead of 90s) and pumpkin 'everything' comes out of everywhere:) and my FB feed gets bombarded with beautiful Autumn pictures that I am so envious of!  My energy levels jump off the charts (usually) when surrounded by all that color and crispness.  Here in FL not as much but I can feel a difference than before all the aforementioned.  I just want to design design design!

 

This year I haven't had as much time to do so since I was still playing a bit of catch up over my crazy summer and preparing for my trip to Virginia to teach workshops at the Fairfax Quilters Unlimited guild.  If you are in the area, contact them and come play!

Beaded Holly class



Seahorse Workshop

Make sure you tune in for the November, Quiltmaker 100 Quilt Blocks Blog Hop of which I will be participating in for the release of Volume 12.  I have a fun new block in there.
In other good news, I have 2 quilts to finish when I get home for upcoming magazines so stay tuned for that as well. 
If you read this particular post because of the pumpkins, maybe you don't know about my shoe BOM.  Scroll through a few other posts and if you are intrigued, you will want to watch for the fun October boot next week:))

In the meantime, keep quilting!

NO COBBLER ELVES HERE-

I know I haven't posted in awhile but I have a very good reason!!  If you have been following along, I went to Market in May and the summer has just been a whirlwind of activity since then...

Dear friends from our past came to visit.  Then our sweet daughters came to visit with their boyfriends...SO much fun!  The second week in July my brother and nephew came to visit and it was great to catch up and see my brother as a father!

 

The week before my brother came to visit, I decided that my husband and I deserved a new quilt.  We have a sort-of comforter that I made back in 1995 before I knew how to quilt.  The applique is awful and the binding falling off, not to mention that it barely fit a queen and we now have a king.  What is that saying about the Cobbler's family.......?



So that week was spent pulling out a design of mine that is a variation of the block from Vol 7 of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks. I proceeded to get all the fabric cut for 20, 18" blocks that would be paper pieced.  I did have to buy some yardage but I had about half of it in my stash plus some of the fabric left from the original quilt from 1995.  This would be my first attempt at a scrappy quilt and you will see that it is very controlled scrappy!  Even with the preplanning, I had a hard time letting some of the fabrics fall where they may.

After my brother left, it was time to get to work chain piecing all the parts for my blocks.  It was now July 15th and I had to have this to the quilter by Aug 3rd.  How about a shout out for overestimating your abilities....
Did I mention that I was doing this as a surprise for our Anniversary and that is why the deadline! I felt I had plenty of time but between company and then my husband taking time off every time I turned around, I started to panic.  I only had weekdays to work and he was cutting into them.... 

 I even started a second quilt as a decoy quilt so that if he asked what I had been up to all day, I could say, "see!".  How crazy is that??  Now I have to finish that too but I do love a deadline for getting lots done!

 

Here is one of the blocks placed together to see if I like where the fabrics are falling. 

I was able to finish in time (actually a day early) and sneak the quilt off to the quilter on a workday on my way home from guild to avoid suspicion.





When it came home, I was just blown away by how perfect the design was.  When Kathy showed me the design on the computer, I just couldn't see it on the blocks.  It gives a sort of celestial map feel to the quilt. (The colors are right in the above photo and a bit too light in the detail photos if you are wondering.)

In the above photo, you may recognize the fabric with the gold stars in it that is in 3 of the corners.... That is the original fabric. 
In the below photo, you may be able to see the circular design the quilting gives.  Thank you, Kathy and John, of Cape Haze Quilting for getting this done for me.

 I was able to bind it and label it and surprise him!  There are 24 total or partial stars on this quilt.  The label makes the 25th star to commemorate our 25th Wedding Anniversary.  I love you Jim with all my heart and am very proud that we made it!!!  Now we can sleep under the stars every night!

CONGRATULATIONS!

The winner of the magazine is Mary who wrote about spending more time in mixed techniques thanks to the blog tour:)  That is the fun of this- Inspiring quilters to try something new!

The winner of a free pattern is Dana who chose Coastal Christmas.  I love pictures of finished quilts-HINT, HINT, HINT:)

Now for a sneak peek to see how many of you come back to visit me:)



Pumpkin Star

This is one of my new patterns going to Market in less than 2 weeks.  I am pretty excited about this little cutie.

Have a great weekend.


Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks, Volume 7, BLOG HOP

Welcome back for Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks,

Volume 7, Blog Hop!

You are so smart to get sneak peeks at what the designers are offering this time, as well as get yourself entered for fun prizes!

If this is your first time here, Welcome.  I'm Robin Koehler, a designer of fun, new quilts that range from whimsical applique to paper piecing.  I have been very busy preparing for Spring Quilt Market where I will unveil brand new Autumn designs.  So if Autumn is your season, check back in June so you will have plenty of time to get one done for snuggling.

Of course, I am again thrilled to be a part of this amazing ride!

VOLUME 7

For those of you that have been along for my ride since Vol. 2, you may remember that I am always in the 'foundation pieced' section.  This time you will find me in the 'mixed technique' section, block #635.  There is still paper piecing involved but I also mixed in some regular piecing.

Clown Go Round #635 by Robin Koehler of NESTLINGS by Robin

I went through a few color variations before deciding on this particular one.  Since 2008 I have been playing with this block while attempting art quilts.  Even when trying to make art, I could feel the pull of traditional quiltmaking on my work.  Here is what the very first one looked like....

I really love the contrast of the gold and the black, and that it is on point, but I will be disassembling this soon to remove it from the canvas and probably frame it instead.  If you notice, the 9 patch from above has been reversed, using the paper pieced blocks in the 4 directions layout vs. the corners.  Hopefully you can also see that I used the block template for my quilting lines in the corners.

Look at how much color can fool the eye...Same layout as above but because the center fabric matches the bottom corner of the

paper piece segment, you get a completely different feel.

Same fabrics from the layout in the magazine with different placements.  I truly love them all but chose the one that got into the magazine for being most photogenic and graphic in a thumbnail view.  As fun as the bottom one is, you lose the block detail with all the red.

 

Lastly, what about leaving out the 9 patch squares completely and just placing the paper piece blocks together.....

What a fun star block this makes.  This is how we see most paper piece designs but the next time you look at one, think about breaking it apart and adding in some solid squares instead:)

 

Thank you for stopping by and reading about the journey of one little block!

 

Now for the giveaways-

Giveaway #1

1. Visit my website.

2. Come back here and mention which of my patterns is your favorite in your blog comment for a chance to win it.

3.  On Friday, 8pm EST, I will draw a random number from the comments left on the blog so make sure I have a way of contacting you.

Giveaway #2

A lucky commentor will have a chance to win a copy of 100 Blocks Volume 7 by random number from all the blog comments.

Plus you will want to visit Quiltmaker's blog for a chance to win more fun prizes from them. You will also find a complete list of all the participating designers.



Quiltmaker: Quilts From... is still on stands.

Remember this block from Volume 5 of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks?

 

It was picked up for their, Quilts From 100 Blocks magazine and was released this Spring-March to be exact.  I saw that it is still on stands with a really fun way to change it up for the summer.  It isn't too late.
When you click on the link above, you will get a peek at what is inside.  Look for Watermelon Days.
Enjoy and see you at the next HOP!

Quiltmaker 100 Block blog WINNERS!

Congratulations to Debbie Trail who won a free copy of the magazine from Quiltmaker.

Congratulations also go out to VWLady and Shar who won NESTLINGS patterns of their choice.

 Las Flores de Amigas

Butterfly Cabin

The patterns chosen were Las Flores de Amigas and Butterfly Cabin, both of which can be found on my website along with lots of other fun designs.
I was pleased and surprised by the choices of patterns in the comments.  Patterns that are some of my absolute favorites were overlooked and vice versa:)  Admittedly the above two are in my favorites category, so Thank You!

Hopefully those of you who didn't win today will purchase your favorite pattern anyway as a gift to yourself.  Enjoy the magazine when it comes out and stay in touch!
Robin

Quiltmaker's Blog Tour

Hello Quiltmaker fans!  Today is day 3 of Quiltmaker's Blog tour to launch Volume 6 of the very popular 100 Blocks.  Welcome and let's talk about my block, Tropical Flags!

 

It is an honor every single time to be included among so many wonderful designers, some I call friend as well.  This time I worked out of my normal color pallette and kept with the paper piecing...it is just too much fun.

Tropical Flags Block #522 on page 28

If you go to town and make all the above blocks, you get a really nice size quilt (48 x 60) even before borders.  I also really like the secondary pinwheels.

Want a bit more bang for your buck?  Try breaking the block apart and alternating the quadrants with other blocks.  In this variation, I used half square triangles.

 

Put a bunch together for this variation.  With 12" blocks, you will have a 48" square wall hang in no time.

 

I have so many ideas once I get going on one of these designs because the possibilities are endless.  Have some fun with the design and send a picture when you finish:)

 

Now for the giveaways-

Giveaway #1

1.  Visit my website.

2.  Come back here and mention which of my patterns is your favorite in your blog comment for a chance to win it. 

3.  I will draw a random number from the comments left on the blog so make sure I have a way of contacting you.

 

Giveaway #2

Two lucky commentors will have a chance to win a copy of 100 Blocks Volume 6 by random number from all the blog comments.

 

Plus you will want to visit Quiltmaker's blog for a chance to win more fun prizes from them.  You will also find a complete list of all the participating designers.

 

 

 

100 BLOCKS, Volume 6 IS HERE!

My advance copy arrived yesterday and again I feel honored to be among so many talented designers!  Next week the blog hop starts and I look forward to chatting with you all again...My day is Wednesday, Nov 7th.  You will be able to find the links to all the hop participants here, plus comment for chances to win wonderful prizes.
SEE YOU NEXT WEEK!
Robin

What I have been working on...

Depending on how much you stop by, you may remember this post from May when I had a new block in Quiltmaker's 100 Quilt Blocks.  I will wait while you go read it:))
http://nestlingsbyrobin.blogspot.com/2012/05/volume-5-has-arrived.html

Back in February while at the Mancuso Mid-Atlantic show, I bought this piece of fabric for my mom.  She has a Pfaltzgraff kitchen and this indigo was perfect.  I have never worked with true indigo fabric before and the hand is very stiff until you rinse it extremely well following the instructions that come with it.  After rinsing, it sort of has the hand of a light chambray.  It worked very well for paper piecing.

So when Mom comes to visit, this will be my gift to her.

The blue in this photo is truer to the real color.....better lighting:)  I love how it turned out and if she didn't already know I was making it, she might not get it!  Love you Mom:)

Volume 5 Has Arrived!!

I am honored to once again be included among today's top designers in the newest issue of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks.

                                                                 

Pinwheel Salute

For all the paper piece lovers out there, here is another versatile block to play with.  Pinwheel Salute is a great block that can be rearranged and / or changed to the colors of your heritage.

 

Here I have shown German and Irish for my heritage and the blocks are arranged differently as well.

This fun little quilt uses 8 copies of the template in the magazine.  Then add 4, 6-1/2" x 12-1/2" border strips.

The quilting was done with a star stencil, quilting wiggly lines along the paper piece seams, and tracing straight lines into the border strips.  It was quilted with a variegated Red/White/Blue thread for more POP.

It finishes at 24-1/2" square and there is still plenty of time to get one done for Memorial Day or 4th of July;)

Now that you are here, don't forget to leave a comment, including your email address, for a chance to win a FREE copy of the new magazine. 

I will draw a winner on Friday, May 4th.

For a chance to win a free pattern of your choice from my website, LIKE me on Facebook.  I will draw a winner from my

new friends on Friday, May 4th as well. 

For chances to win the block itself plus lots of other fun gifts, be sure to visit the official Blog Tour blog:)   

So glad you hopped by and have a great week!!

The Blog Tour's a comin'

Starting Monday, April 30th, Quiltmaker's 100 Block Blog Tour will be in full swing.  This is Volume 5 and my block, Patriotic Pinwheels is in!

Every tour is full of chances to win fun prizes like free copies of the magazine and the signed original blocks too.

So join me on Wednesday, May 2nd for a fun variation of my block and opportunities to win giveaways from myself and Quiltmaker. .
See you around the block:))

AND THE WINNER IS....

Today I get to help give away a free copy of Quiltmaker's 100 Quilt Blocks...YAY!
Thanks to a random number generator the winner is BillieBee of Billie Bee's Blog-CONGRATULATIONS!

AND since I have an extra copy, I generated a second number which belongs to Nancy of A Little Bit of Heaven blog.  I will need your contact information in order to mail this out to you.  Please email me at robin@nestlingsbyrobin.com

Thank you to everyone who stopped by and took the time to leave a lovely comment on Monday...I wish everyone could win:)
Some of the comments:
"versatile", "love the variations and different colorways", "so many design possibilities", and someone even like the "tilted" look it can have once put together-Thank you, I enjoy that 'tilted' look too.

This has been such a fun week as I tried to peek in as much as possible to the QM blog to see the other designers and to pop over to some of your blogs as well.
A BIG GIANT WELCOME to my new followers as well!  I will be visiting each of your blogs very soon:)

It isn't too late to sign up for the tree skirt-along.  IF you send me an email to robin@nestlingsbyrobin.com I will send you an email when the next set of instructions goes out since I know how easy it is to forget something:)

If you feel a bit timid about paper piecing, not to worry:
Starting on the 17th (after I know the magazine is out), I will be posting additional tips for paper piecing.

I am so excited about the formation of my own little tree skirt group and can't wait to see our accomplishments.  One of the comments stated wanting to make this as a table topper and, Donna, you are so right...  I had that in mind until tree skirt was suggested by a friend.
Remember that everything is attainable is small steps.  I read every single comment and found 14 who want to do the tree skirt along with another 7 'maybe's.  IF every one of us finishes a top, what a wonderful SHOW AND TELL we will have!

I look forward to all the variations.  You may think with just red and white there won't be, but there are so many shades of red:)  Variety makes the world go round...see you soon.

100 Quilt Blocks Blog Tour Monday

IT'S COMING..... On newstands November 16th, Volume 2 of Quiltmaker's 100 Quilt Blocks...can you feel the anticipation? This is my first time participating in the 100 Quilt Blocks Collector's Edition and also my first time participating in a blog tour....it is all very exciting. There will be many giveaways here and there including the original signed blocks from this issue. You will want to go 'there' (100QB Blog) to visit all the designers linked to the blog tour and to enter the drawings for fun prizes. Everyone who leaves a comment on my blog will be entered to win a free copy of Quiltmaker's 100 Quilt Blocks Volume 2. At the end of this post you will find an additional opportunity to create, participate, and win so come along for the journey:)

Here is my block, "Spiked Pinwheels" #125 on page 34. The paper piece template is available in the magazine. I have been experimenting with paper piece designs lately which is quite a departure from the applique designs I am used to creating. The first time I tried paper piecing, I was very intimidated and not overly thrilled. Now I find it easy and even enjoy the monotony of taking out the paper. Paper piecing offers such accuracy and the designs I am working on now offer the quiltmaker a variety of personalized creations based on color placement and block rotation.
You will need 4 quadrants to make one block and this is what the colorway in the magazine looks like in a 3 across x 4 down block layout...look at that wonderful secondary design. Keeping the center fabric a light color really gives you a sparkling star effect.

This photograph shows a completely different look by rotating the quadrants before sewing the block together. I was amazed at the striping you get when you multiply the blocks into a quilt. Think of all the color possibilities.

Then one day as I was driving down the highway, I noticed a soybean field that had started to turn that acid green color. Along the highway rows of white and bright purple wildflowers had been added-what a striking color combination.
I know not everyone loves earthy autumn colors the way I do, so here is a completely different colorway for you---

I love the vividness of this and notice I only used 3 colors in this version vs. 6 in the original block. I also alternated the color placement in the center vs. using the same color in the same placement in all 4 quadrants.

This is how a quilt would look in this colorway/layout. The German in me is a bit put off by the crooked feeling it gives off but that is also what makes it kind of cool! Just changing the color placement in the centers gives it a zig zag feel.

I felt that the picture of the whole quilt might overwhelm some especially if this is your first attempt at paper piecing (I promise it is easy!) so I pared it down to a 4 block layout. Once these triangle pieces were added, I started to get very excited.

Who is up for a challenge?? I have never made a tree skirt before and I think this pattern would be perfect so here is what I am proposing:

Peppermint Swirls.

The instructions for this tree skirt will be given in 3 sets:

November 8th: The center 4 blocks and initial fabric requirements

November 22nd: The striped triangle sets

December 6th: The finishing instructions including cutting the hole, quilting, and binding.

These dates make each step very attainable and gets it finished in time for a sweet Christmas gift.

You will need:

1 Yard each of red fabric and white fabric. This will complete 4 blocks with enough left over to add the stripes to the triangle sets in the next installment.

The instructions for the block will be in the magazine (on stands Nov 16th). You will make 4 quadrants for one block and you will make 4 blocks.

NOTE: See the color layout here and notice that the centers have been reversed for 2 quadrants. Two quadrants have a red/white/red placement and two have a white/red/white placement which allows for the swirl effect.

My paper piecing tips are:

1. Lower your stitch length to help perforate the paper as you sew. On my machine, I lower it to a 1.4 and I use regular copy paper as my foundation.

2. I would suggest using the Add-a-Quarter Ruler if you have access to it.

3. I also take a colored pencil and place a checkmark in each area of my templates to match the color fabric I am to put there...helps to keep me from getting confused:)

Paper piecing isn't your thing? Please let me know why in the comment section (be sure you leave a way for me to contact you) so that I can still enter you to win a FREE copy of 100 Quilt Blocks. I will announce the winner on this blog on Friday Morning. Good Luck:)

Paper piecing is your thing? Great! Follow along for the next 5 weeks, email a picture of your completed top (I am giving us all a Nov/Dec craziness out:) to robin@nestlingsbyrobin.com , and with your permission I will be posting all our wonderful tree skirts in a special Dec 14th post.

In addition, every completed top will be entered into a drawing for 2 FREE patterns of the winner's choice from my website. They make great stocking stuffers:)