Mid-Mod 1

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

mid-mod-1

Over at Pincushion, I wrote about a wonderfully inspiring trip I took to Palm Springs a few months ago. This quilt is my first to be born of that inspiration.

I’ve had this happy fabric in my stash for a few years now and was finally able to put it to good use. I really like how it turned out although, I think if I make it again, I will use squares at the top. I don’t think the rectangles are quite generous enough.

Below is the pattern I wrote for the one with the rectangles. I will remake it using the squares and post that in a week or two.

This finished quilt measures approximately 37″ x 51″ and makes a generous baby quilt. It took me about 5 hours from start to finish. This is one you could definitely finish in one day. (These instructions assume the reader knows how to quilt and bind.)

Let’s get started.

You will need three different colors of fabric plus a background fabric, back and binding, for this quilt.

Using the measurements below, (I added the quarter inch scant to these written measurements) cut your fabric pieces. Remember to add 1/4 inch seam allowance.

Color 1:

3 rectangles 4″ x 7.5″

Color 2:

1 rectangle 4.5″ x 37.5″

Color 3:

3 rectangles 30″ x 7.5″

Background:

12 pieces 3″ x 7.5″
2 pieces 36″ x 3.5″
2 pieces 36″ x 4.5″
2 pieces 10″ x 3″
2 pieces 10″ x 4.5

Your back should be about 40″ x 55″.

Your binding should be about 190″ long.

Once you have your pieces cut, you are ready to piece your quilt top.

mid-mod-1-rec-step-5 Woohoo! You’re done!

Now make your quilt sandwich, baste, quilt and bind. Please share your finished quilt with me. Send your pic to [email protected]. I love seeing what you’ve done and how you’ve made it your own!

Six Squares

Monday, June 9, 2014

I loved making this quilt! Because the pieces are large, cutting and piecing them was simple and fast.

For some reason I though it was going to be a lot more complicated but it was simple. I also enjoyed working with these colors. I love the dramatic effect of yellow and black but I rarely choose to work with that combination.

This quilt is approximately 50″x 62″ when it is finished and it took me 2 days. Day 1- cut and piece the top and back Day 2- quilt and bind

Fabric you will need:

7 coordinating fabrics, 1/2 yard each. One for each square and one for the binding.

1 background color, (mine is in white) 2 yards

1 color for the back, 2 yards (You may use a fabric from one of the squares or another coordinating or contrasting fabric.

Batting, at least 55″x 70″ inches

Let’s get started.

Begin by deciding which fabrics will belong to which square and mark your pattern accordingly.

Now start cutting your fabric using the measurements below.

As you cut each piece do two things.

Write the measurements on the back of each piece of cut fabric as you cut.
Separate your cut pieces into one of 4 piles, one for each section of the quilt. These two things will save you a huge headache when you start piecing.

Tip: Cut all of the pieces of each color at once.

Is everything cut? If no, keep cutting. If yes continue.

Now your going to sew each section. The pieces in each section has a blue number, to show the order in which I sewed them together. If you see a way that makes more sense to you, do it. Then, without delay, send me a note telling me how you did it.

Sew each section.

Next, your going to sew the sections together.

Square up the edges and your done with your quilt top!

Make your quilt sandwich and baste.

Quilt your quilt, I used a meandering free motion stitch (as usual).

Bind your quilt

Send me a picture of your finished quilt. I’d love to see how you made it your own plus I can steal your ideas while I’m at it. 🙂

Happy Trapezoid Pattern

Thursday, May 1, 2014

This quilt is 38″ x 50″ and took me approximately 15 hours to make from start to finish. I did it over 3 days, which is how create most of my quilts.

Day one, I cut and arrange.

Day two, I piece the top and baste the quilt sandwich.

Day three, I quilt and bind the quilt.

Tools you will need:

Circular cutter
Cutting mat
Cutting ruler with a 20° mark or a template
Pins
Seam ripper
Iron

Materials you will need:

10-14 different fabrics, 1/2 yard each When choosing your fabrics you will want even numbers of prints and solids as well as even numbers of dark and light.
Fabric for the back, 2 yards
Fabric for the binding, 1/2 yard
Batting

Directions:

Begin by cutting your fabric into trapezoids.

I start by cutting 4.5″ strips and then sewing them together to make one long strip. The length will depend on how you many colors you use. Each trapezoid will be 13.5″ long. Knowing that, if you need three trapezoids of that color, the length will be about 40″ long.

Then using the 20° mark on my ruler, I cut a 20° angle creating the first edge of the first trapezoid.

Then I measure and mark 8.5″ and 13.5″, line up the marks and made another cut.

You may find an easier way to do this step. If you do, you are bound by Quilter’s Law to share it with me. 🙂

You will need to cut a total of 50 trapezoids. Base 1= 8.5″ Base 2=13.5″ Height =4.5″

When all your fabric is cut, begin arranging. Five down and ten across.

Tip: If the arraignment isn’t what you imagined, don’t be afraid to change things up. It is hard for me to switch gears when things don’t work out as planned, so I’m saying this mostly to myself.

With this quilt, I planned on doing red solids with red prints and blue solids with blue prints but I ended up with a solid-print-solid-print sequence. Play with it until it looks good to you.

This is what I ended up with and I love it.

*Tip: Take a picture of your arraignment so you have a reference if you need it.

Begin piecing each column. There should be five trapezoids in each column.

Piecing angles can be tricky at first. If you line up your corners and then sew it together, (as shown below) your edges won’t line up. Booooooo!

You will need to stagger the corners using the 1/4″ scant seam allowance (as shown below) then your edges will look like this. Yea!!!

angle-yes

I pin my first five or six pieces to make sure I’m right on but after sewing a few I can usually eyeball it.

Double check the edges after each seam is sewn, to make sure everything is lined up correctly.

Remember to press each seam as you sew.

Repeat until all ten columns are sewn.

Now we’re going to start sewing the columns together. Pin column one to column two, where each of the seams meet and sew.

happy trap 10

Confession: Normally, I go to great lengths not to pin. This is one instance, however, that lots of pinning is worth my time. Pinning will make sure all your seams meet together.

Continue to pin and sew each column until all 10 columns are sewn together.

Press all your seems one more time. This will help to make sure the edges of your quilt are nice and straight.

Square up the edges by cutting off the extra fabric.

Your top is done!

Next, make your quilt sandwich.

Baste your quilt.

Quilt your quilt.

I quilted along the angles to make this chevron design.

I felt like it needed a little more quilting so I went back and quilted the inside of every other trapezoid. In this case it ended up being all the solid trapezoids.

I love how it looks.

Bind your quilt. There are many ways to bind a quilt. If you are new to quilting there are a zillion tutorials out there. I think Allison at Cluck Cluck Sew has a great tutorial for machine binding.

You’re done! This is mine.

I’d love to see your finished quilts! Please send any pictures you’d like to share to [email protected].

Mondrian Inspired Quilt Pattern

Friday, April 11, 2014

This is one of favorite quilts. Super simple and it looks good to me every time I see it. Here is the pattern. I will post a more detailed pattern later but I wanted to get this one up today.

If you make one of these, I’d love to see it. Email me a picture!

Pioneer Pouch

Monday, March 3, 2014

The youth of our stake are going on a Pioneer Trek this summer. I was asked to make a pattern for a little pouch that the kids can carry with them. I’m posting it here so that people can see it easily.

1. Begin with a piece of muslin 8.5 inches wide by 24 inches long.

2. Fold each end twice, about .5 inches, and iron. Ironing will help hold it in place while you pin and sew.

pioneer-pouch-2

3. Pin in place.

PP3

4. Using the edge of the presser foot as your guide, sew along each end.

PP4

It should look something like this when you finish sewing.

PP4a

5. Fold your fabric in half with the seams on the outside and press the fold. Again, if you press the fold your fabric will stay in place better as you pin and sew. Pin the sides together.

6. Using the presser foot as a guide on the edge of the fabric sew along each side. When you finish sewing, it should like this.

7. Cut a piece of strap about 50 inches long. Depending on your height you may want it longer or shorter. You can adjust the length to your preference.

8. With the pouch still inside out, center each end of the strap onto each top corner of the pouch. Pin in place. Sew the strap in place. PP8

9. Reinforce the strap by sewing something like this.

10. Turn the pouch right side out and you’re done!

Let me know if you see any mistakes or improvements I can make.

Bibs

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

So my friend Sue makes these darling bibs and yesterday I went to her house and she taught me how to make them. We used the Slobber Monkey pattern from Heather Bailey at mynameisheather.com (which is my new favorite website) and used fabrics that we already had.

We needed two pieces about 10″ x 12″ and batting. It is such a great way to use up smaller pieces in your stash.

It took me about an hour to do my first one. Once I understood what I was doing, I was making them in about 30 minutes.

I came home from Sue’s and made another watermelon bib and three more! How cute is the elephant one?

I’ll admit it, I may be just a little obsessed.

Welcome to Yellow Bug Quilts!

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Hi, I’m Rachel. I like TV on demand, plum tarts and introducing my kids to my favorite things like the So I Married and Axe Murderer soundtrack.

I don’t like staying up late, chasing my dog around the neighborhood and taking the trash to the curb when my son forgets to do it.

The very first car I owned was a yellow ’72 VW Super Beatle and it looked very much like the one above. My dad helped me buy it for $600 and it didn’t have reverse. No lie. It wasn’t as inconvenient as you might think, I just had to be careful about where I parked. You know, the only time I ever got stuck was when someone else parked it for me.

As a young stay at home mom with two toddlers, I remember thinking of creativity as something that happened after all the work was done and at that point in time the work was never done. Consequently, I starved myself of imagination, inspiration and a whole lot of beauty. It took a sweet, more mature friend to kindly remind me that I’d be much happier if I was feeding myself creatively on a regular basis.

She was right of course, in fact I remember the first thing I made after my self-imposed artistic draught. I actually felt part of my brain working that hadn’t exercised in a long time. It was intoxicating. That was a life changing moment for me and I promised never to let that happen again.

My hope for this blog is two-fold: First I want it to be a place to journal my current projects. Second, I want this to be a place someone can come and feel encouraged to be creative. By sharing the creative the process I go though, as well as my failures and triumphs, I hope you will be motivated to act on your own creative impulses.

In the future I plan to share my patterns and produce tutorials as well.

Best,
Rachel