How to make nice foundation paper pieced stars

When I made these stars for the Gossip in the Garden quilt I had many questions how I did it.

Here goes:

I used my EQ7 program to draw the sections for easy printing.
I am sorry to say that my scanner is not in a good mood these days, so I can not upload this drawing for you, but you can easily photo copy from your own Gossip in the Garden pattern or draw on paper. The section, of which you need 4 to make 1 star, measures 2 inch + seam allowance.

This is how I handle the grain of the fabric - you might want to do it differently, that is all up to you! :

Next - I fold the paper on the drawn line, to make the sewing easier:

Next - take the Star part from the cut apart paper above and use it as a drawing guide to draw around on the back side of the fabric you plan to use for your star.
Cut out the shape with scissors and a generous seam allowance:

My Sewline glue pencil is my best friend - but any water soluble glue stick can be used, as long as you use it with a light hand.
Glue the star fabric to the back side of your already folded paper section:

I then cut the seam allowances to the right width - 1/4" - with my Add-a-quarter ruler - any ruler with a 1/4" grid will do:

For the side of the star I cut strips, 1 3/4" - sew from the printed side of the paper, with a very short stitch.

Fold the background fabric out and repeat the seam on the other side of the section:

 

Cut the seam allowance to 1/4" on 2 sides, like shown below:

Sew 2 and 2 sections together and then join to a star, without taking the paper off - use pins where seams need to match.

Press well, remove paper, then cut the block to size!

Well done! Have fun!

Hanne

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to you, wherever you are :-)

I have been spending the last 5 days with friends at a quilt retreat, sewing all day, sleeping at home at night.
We have had the best of days, with a lot of laughter and fun.

I leave the chocolate to the others to eat - Kvikk Lunsj (biscuit chocolate) + oranges and nuts are a significant part of Norwegian Easter traditions, but I can not have them........Good for my waist line though ;-)

I am still keeping on keeping on with the Gossip in the Garden quilt, and it is still good fun.

Making piles are a great inspiration to me - showing me what I have done - who does not like a pile of finished blocks?
The finished blocks to the left and the partly finished to the right.

I wish you all the joy
that you can wish.
William Shakespeare

 

Hanne

Houses, 3" and 6"

I have had many nice feedbacks this autumn about the Tiny Shipshewana House foundation paper piecing pattern - thank you :-)
They are fun to make and you can easily combine the 3" houses with 6" houses.
I promised someone to share the 6" pattern earlier, but lately things has taken time, TTT :-)

I will share my files with you, both the 3" and the 6" houses.

3" -  HERE and HERE

6" -  HERE and HERE

I have draw this house myself, in EQ7

You can make as many houses as you like and turn them into quilts or smaller things,  to keep, to give away or to sell, adjusting the size of the block if you so prefer,
BUT,
I will ask you kindly not to teach from my pattern and
not to copy it to your blog or website.
You are welcome to refer your friends to my blog to print their own pattern :-)
To get the block to print in the right size, make sure you un-check the Fit To Page option on your pdf print page.
If you make house blocks I will be so happy if you show me a photo :-)

Have fun - enjoy Advent :-)

Hanne

Houses in my heart

I am building and building, and I have so much fun with these small 3" houses!
Lucky me have got scraps from friends to put into my houses too, and that makes them even more fun and special!

I have had a wonderful oval weekend with friends at a hotel 1 hour from where I live.
The company was great, the food was great, and it was a lot of laughter and fun.
Gretha has a lot of lovely photos HERE.
Thanks Gretha, for letting me use the 2 photos below :-)


If you will like to build houses with me, I am happy to share my pattern with you.
I have drawn the house myself, from scratch, in EQ7.
I call the house block Tiny Shipshewana House, in anticipation of a new travel to Shipshewana, Indiana, USA, in November 2015.

I have not seen anything exactly like this house online, in any book or magazine,
and the block is not in the EQ7 library.

You can download the pattern in 2 parts HERE and HERE - one page to show you how to divide the foundation paper piecing pattern into sections, and the other page for printing multiple houses to 1 page.

If you are new to foundation paper piecing you can do a search online and find a lot of tutorials for the technique.

Please keep in mind that this is my pattern and I enjoy sharing it with you.

You can make as many houses as you like and turn them into quilts or smaller things,  to keep, to give away or to sell, adjusting the size of the block if you so prefer,
BUT,
I will ask you kindly not to teach from my pattern and
not to copy it to your blog or website.
You are welcome to refer your friends to my blog to print their own pattern :-)

To get the block to print in the right size, make sure you un-check the Fit To Page option on your pdf print page.

If you make house blocks I will be so happy if you show me a photo :-)

In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures ~ Kahlil Gibran

Hanne

A new neighbourhood

I am building a new neighbourhood :-)

I am building the block by use of drawing tools in EQ7, from scratch, and I am foundation paper piecing the houses by machine.

The block above, called Tiny Shipshewana House, is not in the EQ7 library, and I have not seen any house exactly the same online or in any book or magazine.

I am leaving the old neighbourhood behind.
Not with grief, but with a sense of wonder, as I burnt the midnight oil searching the internet and found that same house as I pieced earlier in so many places, published on blogs and websites, in many different sizes, including the 3", several people having drawn it in different versions of EQ over the years, like I did.
It can be downloaded a lot of places.

I am leaving that wasp's nest, and return to my sewing now :-)

I will be away from Quilt Corner this weekend, bringing my Tiny Shipshewana House blocks and other nice sewing, spending time with friends. I am so looking forward to quality quilting time away from home!


Hanne

Tiny houses, tiny scraps

Inspired by different blogs and and many quilts i have seen online I draw this tiny house in EQ7, and it all went downhill from there - or maybe not that downhill really ;-)

I have always loved foundation paper piecing and it is nice to work with small pieces of fabrics, and EQ7 is the very best tool to make foundation paper piecing patterns.
I even enjoy picking all the small pieces of paper out after a block is done.
My sewing machine is my friend :-)

I plan to do a lap quilt, but I know that I can not stick to doing one house a day for long.
Life gets in the way, health gets in the way every so often too, so I guess I will stick to my normal whimsical self, and work in skips and jumps, as usual.

With a sharpened pair of scissors:

and some assorted scraps:

I was ready to hit the building business.

This morning I also found a lovely box just the right size for my tiny 3" blocks

I have been posting my blocks on Instagram as I finish them - you can find me as hannequilt - 5 down, a lot to go.
Many people has asked for my EQ7 drawing, but I can not share it.


I am sorry, but I have been made aware at I have been doing a copyright violation by sharing my houses with you, as the house block is copyrighted by Jeanneke at www.jeanneke.com
I am so sorry for having stepped wrong. It was not my intention.

Jeanneke has a lovely blog with a lot of house quilts HERE and another blog HERE
She makes her houses by hand and she sells a lovely rubber stamp which makes hand piecing very nice.

Note: I have edited my text and my quilt plan to reflect what I have been made aware of since I first posted this blog post

Hanne