The Present quilt block

Ah, the best laid plans....It's been a while since I last posted here, but I am still an avid fan of Jenny Doan and her quilting tutorials. My goal is to make her quilt blocks each week and show you. The fun will be seeing her blocks in my fabric interpretation, as I love to see how others make theirs!

I LOVE Jenny's version of the Present quilt block. It will make a beautiful pillow cover (which I am making), a quilt, or a table runner.

This block has two important piecing lessons which I will show you.

       1. Jenny loves doing "snowballing" of corners. This is definitely a skill to do well, as Jenny uses this technique in many of her quilt block designs. You have to have perfect 1/4 inch seams, or things will be wonky. Learning this shortcut will make your piecing go fast and fabulous!

2. Another skill is matching up thin strips of fabric - in this case the "ribbon" of the present. This is a very difficult technique that just HAS to be mastered because if your seams are off your piece will look shabby and amateurish. I'm trying to sell the things I make and I would never TRY to sell them if they weren't almost perfect(preferably perfect)!

So, I took four squares and sewed them together with two strips of the darker fabric for the ribbon. I sewed the two blocks horizontally - left to right. I combined the top and bottom. The challenge was to match the two ribbon strips, so take the bottom block and lay the top block over it, matching the ribbons. Pin them together and then the rest of the seam on each side. Do it until it matches perfectly, hopefully just the one time!

The top bow strip is three rectangles. The middle one is snowballed with two pieces of ribbon material. Here is where the problems began! When I sewed the bow strip to the present block, I saw the bow was not centered exactly in the middle of the ribbon. Then I saw the top edges of the bow strip were very uneven. So, out goes the trusty "picker" and off comes the strip. I first trimmed up the top edges of the strip, then re-centered it on the block and it looked better - until I eyeballed the top right bow. I cut off the 1/4  inch seam allowance! Arghhh!

Out comes the picker - again. I had to re-do the whole strip. Is this the stuff that drives you crazy when piecing? Me too. But I did it.

I added the borders and was happy with it!

I get so very frustrated doing piecing, and I wonder how many of us give up completely because it is an exacting art. I know the secret to success is practice, practice, practice - and pay attention to the details!

I love piecing because I view it as an art: The beautiful fabrics are my canvas and I need to hone the techniques like a painter to make them the best they can be. 

I hope you'll join me here at Jenny and Annie and I'd love to hear about your experiences and tips to successful piecing! That will be the most fun!

Happy piecing, my friends!

~Ann Bailey

Easy Pins and Paws Quilt Block

I was thrilled to see Jenny's "Easy Pins and Paws Quilt Block" tutorial! This is the cutest block and I plan on making lots of them.

I am learning more and more that "piecing", or cutting small pieces and sewing them together to form a block really can be challenging. It's the actual accuracy of the cutting that makes it a challenge, as well as being careful when sewing.

In this block I am working with my pink fabric, and with a white Kona cotton charm pack as the background.

A charm pack is a package of usually about forty 5 square inch pieces of fabric, either solid or in a line of coordinating colors. This is what is called "pre-cuts" fabric that comes in different sizes already cut for you, such as the 5" and 10", and 2.5", and more.

This is a fairly simple block with four pieces for the kitty and three for the background. I have made four kitties and in the upper photo I put a sample of the different pinks I used.

This is another block (see previous post) where you will need to "snowball" some corners - to make the kitty's back and to make the ears. I got a lot of experience doing this as I made my four blocks.
Jenny Doan's snowballing technique, while I'm pretty sure she didn't invent it, replaces making half-square triangles. The more you do the easier they become.

 Here's my completed kitty block. As you can see, it needs to be "squared up", or straightened. I expect the block to be about 9.5 square inches.

+Annie's Tips: Check and double check your cuts and 1/4 inch seams. This will be a continuing theme!

                                                                      Purrrrrty in Pink 
- my four pink kitty blocks that I will make into an 18" pillow cover that will delight some little girl!

This block would make an adorable baby quilt, mug rugs, place mats or wall hangings.  Everybody who loves cats will love this block. There are a lot of ways you can make this even more creative, such as embroider eyes and noses and whiskers on the kitties! Have fun!

Please sign up for my posts as I quilt along with Jenny Doan's tutorials.

Thanks for reading...
~Ann

Having fun with Jenny Doan's tutorials!

I am a huge fan of Jenny Doan, owner of Missouri Star Quilt Company in Hamilton, Missouri.

Jenny is a "sewist", a quilter, a successful business owner and from all appearances looks like a sweet, fun lady!

She puts out a tutorial video every Friday morning showing us a brand new quilt pattern. Maybe it's not brand new, but a new take on an old quilt block. She shows us shortcuts to make complicated blocks easy. I wait in anticipation every Friday! Fortunately it's there before I get up.

Enter Julia Childs. Julia Childs? What in the world does she have to do with quilt blocks?

Not a thing.

But the movie "Julie and Julia" is one of my very favorites. It stars Amy Adams and Meryl Streep. Amy is a young woman who loves to write and loves to cook. She desperately wants to do something to elevate her humdrum life as an office worker. She is enthralled by Julia Childs. She comes upon the idea of starting a blog and commits to taking each recipe in Julia Childs' famous book "The Art of French Cooking", and cooks it, writes about it every day for a year -  and - well, you need to watch it!

As I'm watching Jenny Doan on her brand-new tutorial video this week, I had a GREAT idea! This Christmas, I made about 30-40 pillow covers for sale and for gifts and really enjoyed doing so. I also thought, "I watch all these videos every week and I know I won't make quilts out of them, but I'd like to make something with the blocks if only just to try them. And after all, I do have that immense stash of fabric....". I also love to write, and love to sew and create.

So here we go: My latest blog - Jenny and Annie - where I will make Jenny Doan's quilt block every week and make it into a pillow cover. And then it will go on my Etsy shop for sale: PinwheelsandYoYos at                                              www.etsy.com/shop/pinwheelsandyoyos

The plan for now is to make two pillow covers a week (more if I have the time). Jenny has almost 300 tutorials on YouTube. So I will make an old one,  and the newest one each week!

Sign up below, make a comment and enjoy my new adventure!!

Ann Bailey