A Year of Stash Busting Quilts- Free Pattern and a Giveaway!

 

My major goals for 2023 are to focus on growing my blog and getting LOTS of quilting done, using my overgrown stash of fabrics!

So, I have decided that I am going to provide a free quilt pattern, here on my blog, every month this year.  It will be a pattern designed to use my stash, help teach beginners how to quilt, and offer ideas and projects that all quilters can use to make their quilting life easier.  

I will also TRY to offer a modest giveaway with each pattern.  

Look for patterns to be posted by the first Friday of each month.  

The January Giveaway:

For some reason, I have ended up with 3 of these lovely polar bear panels.  I know that one of them came from my sister when she went to Alaska.  She chose just the right one because it was one I had already selected for myself and had in my stash.   I think the third one arrived because I found the kit on sale and wanted more of the coordinating fabrics.  

I will be giving one of these panels away to go along with this quilt pattern.  

How to enter the drawing:  You will get one entry for each of the following:

• Become a follower of this blog
• Share a link to this post on your own blog
• Show me a picture of a block you make from this pattern

That is up to 3 chances per quilter to win this lovely panel.  I will be adding entries to a numbered list in the order they are received and then will use a random number generator to find our one winner.  I will draw for the winner on Tuesday, January 31, 2023.  

All entries need to be received by Monday, January 30, 2023.   

The January Pattern: Polar Ice

60 X 68 Inches

This quilt was designed to use stash fabrics and a panel you have been holding onto.  So, be creative, go with what you have! I can't wait to see... 

Yardage required:

1 panel of your choice- see trimming instructions below. 

2.5 yards of blue- a variety of scraps is fine as long as you can get two 5 inch squares from each scrap.

1.5 yards of white- again scraps are fine as long as you can get at least two 5 inch squares from each piece. 

Binding will require approximately 20 inches by WOF.

Backing will require approximately 3 yards of fabric.

A Cutting Chart is provided at the end of the pattern.    

Note: The panel I used had to be trimmed down.  I wanted multiples of 8 (8 inch blocks) so I decided I would trim it down to fit an area measuring 24 inches by 32 inches finished.  I also wanted a border on my panel so I had to subtract that from my panel size. 

Trim panel to 20.5 inches by 28.5 inches. (You can do it.  Think about how long you have had that panel...)

Border strips to trim the panel:

     Cut into four strips at 2.5 inches wide by width of fabric.

          Cut two of these at 28.5 inches for the long sides

          Cut two at 24.5 inches long for the top and bottom. 

 Here is a picture of the trimmed and bordered panel.    And, due to my rusty math skills, I had to remove the top border, trim some more off the panel and then reattach the border.  But all is well that ends well...    

The ice blocks are 8.5 inches unfinished.  They are made from half square triangles that measure 4.5 inches unfinished.

Note: any time you want to use this method for half square triangles, you take the measurement that your blocks need to be (in this case, 4.5 inches) and add 3/8ths of an inch. That means your squares will be cut at 4 7/8ths inches.  

One Ice Block, made up of four half square triangle blocks, each of them need to measure 4.5 inches square before you sew them together.  

For Each block:

Cut two white squares and two blue squares that each measure 4 & 7/8ths inches square. 

Note: You need 44 blocks for the Polar Ice Quilt.  That means you need to cut 88 blue squares and 88 white squares in pairs of 2 of each color.  It takes 2 blue and 2 white squares to make one block.  I used 4 different white fabrics and 7 different blue fabrics. 

On the wrong side of each white square, draw a diagonal line down the middle as pictured below.

 

Match a white square with a blue square, right sides together, and sew, using the diagonal line as the edge of your ¼ inch seam.

Sew on each side of the line.  Then cut the triangles apart on the line.  Press open towards the blue fabric. 

 

 

 

 

 

Lay out a block before you sew it together so that you can make sure you have it oriented correctly.  At this point, I start pressing my seams open so there will be less bulk at the points. 

At this step I also start pinning my blocks.  Because the seams are pressed open, they are harder to match.  They do not nest against each other. 

Match these center seams and pin. 

The end diagonal seams still nest so they are a little easier to match but I still pin them. 

 

I did not trim my squares at any point after the initial cutting and, as you can see, it measures a perfect 8.5 inches. Just check to make sure the blocks turned out decently uniform and correct.  

Lay your blocks out and arrange how you like.  I chose to arrange mine from light in the upper left hand corner to dark in the lower right hand corner. 

In the diagram below, the blocks are randomly placed. 

* To finish the quilt top, I added 2 inch borders.  They are cut at 2.5 inches wide.  Two strips joined together and trimmed to 64.5 inch lengths for each side.  I joined a light strip and a dark strip for the left side, joining them on a 90 degree angel, as you would for binding strips. The right side got a solid dark strip. 

* For the top and bottom, cut your borders 60.5 inches long, joining strips to achieve this length.  The top strip was again a combination of a light and dark strip joined on a 90 degree angle.  The bottom received a dark strip. 

 

Cutting Chart

Piece	Size	Number to cut
Ice blocks- blue squares	4 7/8ths inch squares	88
Ice blocks- white squares	4 7/8ths inch squares	88
Panel	20.5 inches wide by 28.5 inches long	1
Panel border sides	2.5 inches wide by 28.5 inches	2
Panel Border top/Bottom	2.5 inches by 24.5 inches	2
*Outer Border sides	2.5 by 64.5 inches	2
*Outer Border Top/Bottom	2.5 by 60.5 inches	2

*- please see border notes above

If you prefer to have a printable PDF of this pattern, you can find it at my Etsy shop for $2.00  https://www.etsy.com/shop/AndraAndIvy

Thanks so much for following!  Happy Quilting to all!

After Christmas sewing

  Christmas Irish Chain/9-patch

I started this a few days before Christmas, just to give me something Holiday-ish to work on once gifts were completed.  I got it put together yesterday and it is ready to quilt once I have a backing for it.
It is lap size so I will get some nice flannel for the back so it can be used for cuddling. 

I have some very lofty goals this year for quilting, one of which is to try to do a Christmas gift item every month.  That is the goal that will be left in the dust very soon, I am sure, but it would help me out so much when Christmas comes!


 

Up closer, so you can see some of the scraps used.  I have a few more  quilts in mind with these squares.  I have plenty of them!

Step 3 of the Frolic Mystery. 
I am skipping step 4 for now because I want to see how those quarter square triangles will be used. before I cut them.  It also might be a step that I end up simplifying for the quilt, we will see.  I love Bonnie's quilts but they are very hard for me to stay focused on with all their small pieces.  I have a bunch started that haven't been finished.  Maybe if I simplify this one a little, it will see a finish this year.

Orca Bay is one that is high on my finish list this year. 

Step 5 is done except I am 10 squares short and ran out of grey.  Off to the fabric store tomorrow, I guess. 
I also started a Star Wars scrap quilt that I need some white and grey for so it will be a necessary trip for sure. 

Also accomplished today, the layout for my daughter's "Ghastlies" quilt.  I do not have enough fabric to complete the borders though so that will also be a trip to the fabric store soon.  Cutting to commence soon. 


Look at all I can accomplish when I have vacation and am home alone.  I even did an hour on the elliptical yesterday- none today. 

Hope you all are feeling accomplished and doing what you love as the new year approaches.  This is the LAST FRIDAY OF 2019!

Long Weekend progress

Still no finished projects to show but my fifteen minutes to stitch is adding up.

I have one quilt loaded onto the machine in hopes of being quilted tomorrow, 3 more waiting in line, one upstairs that just needs a backing put together and many more that are just blocks or rows to be sewn together.

This turquoise scrap quilt, started years ago, will maybe see a finish sometime soon.  Half of the blocks are ready, another half are ready to sew into the half square triangles.

I have spent the last few hours working on a quilt with my Gone with the Wind fabric from years ago.

Here are some of the blocks in their beginning stages.  I am embroidering quotes from the movie to use as well.  I am kinda making it up as I go along since the blocks are not all the same size.  It may end up being a basic row-by-row quilt.  It is making me want to watch the movie again.  It has always been one of my favorites but it has been many years since I watched it.

On another front, my daughter just had her Junior Year Recital on Friday night.  She is studying Opera Voice Performance.  She did an amazing job!  So proud of all her hard work!  Love to hear her sing!

Already disappointed with how fast the three day weekend is going.  Still have way too much to do to pack it into one day tomorrow.  The fairies must be busy too because they have not cleaned my house yet...

Joining in on a Block of the Month

 I decided, last week, to join in on this Block of the Month from A Quilting Life.  https://www.aquiltinglife.com/2019/01/2019-block-of-the-month-january.html/

I originally planned on using fabric that I had but then decided I wanted solids and I just didn't have any.  While there, I found this cute little paper airplane piece so had to throw that in as well. 

You really just need to make a bunch of half square triangles and then each month you will get layouts for the blocks.  I chose to use the directions for "8 at a time Triangle Square Units" from the Nov/Dec 2017 Fons and Porter Love of Quilting.  My blocks are larger than the ones  from the quilt along.  I started with 10 inch squares and so my finished units are for 4" and my blocks are 16". 




I am loving the crisp look of these blocks and I think it will be a beautiful quilt. 

I still need to make a third block for January. 

I am moving very slowly on this bee quilt as it is the focus of the 15 minutes of sewing for each day.  So far I have only managed 3 days this week so the block of the month took up a lot of that.  I am hoping tomorrow will be spent getting some borders put on and some rows together of other quilts.  The pattern for the bee quilt can be found in the Jan/Feb 2017 issue of Love of Quilting.  It's called "Grandmother's Album".

I also have some binding to sew down and a long run to fit in this weekend.

But, this morning, my family is attending a Mary Poppins themed Tea at a local tea house.  Looking forward to the special family time after the stress of my son's car wreck, buying a replacement car, and before the kids start back at University on Monday.  

Can't believe that January is half over already!

Sew with love this weekend!