Extending the life of a favourite quilt

After almost 6 years of daily use,  my daughter's bed quilt came back home with me for some TLC last August.  When I visited my daughter last summer, she showed me several places where the hand quilting was coming out.  

Broken hand quilted stitching

I thought there were only a few spots and expected to make a some quick repairs while I was visiting, but when we went over the blocks indivudually, there were many, many spots with broken stitching.

More broken hand quilted stitching

It looks like the thread just broke in multiple places.  In hindsight, I realize the thread I used to quilt was rather old, and probably not very strong anymore.  Cue daughter's sad face.  For life reasons, this quilt means a lot, so the quilt came home with me so I could ponder the best way to extend its life.

I thought I could pull out stitches on either side of each break so I could knot and bury the thread to secure the stitching, then stitch new stitches in the gaps.  After mulling this over for a while, it occurred to me that if the thread of the original stitches had broken in so many places, more breaks would inevitably pop up after I repaired the current breaks.

Re-quilting the whole quilt by hand wasn't an option.  It took me a year and a half to quilt it the first time, and that was before I started getting tingling in my fingers after less than a half hour of stitching.

Machine quilting was one option, but daughter and I both wanted to preserve the look of the hand stitching.  In the end, I came up with a compromise.

Walking foot quilting in the ditch

I'm going to stitch in the ditch along all the curves.  I had hand quilted in the ditch originally, so those stitches are being covered up by the machine quilting, but it's hidden in the ditch so it won't change the look of things much.

All the visible hand stitching will stay as is.  Some will inevitably disappear where the thread has broken or will break, but some will survive and hopefully maintain the original character of the quilt.  The machine quilting in the ditch is dense enough to keep the layers together no matter what happens to the hand stitching.

It's a bit of a chore to turn the quilt, especially when lots of it need to go through the machine's throat space.

Lots of bunching to get through the throat

A little easier when there's less quilt on the right and more on the left...

I think it looks OK on the back too. If you look carefully you can make out the machine stitching over old hand quilting, the hand quilting I'm leaving as is, and a break in the original stitching.

I think it's going to work out.  I just need to keep plugging away a little each day so I finish the quilting in time to take it back to British Columbia next month when we attend her graduation from UBC.

Just keep stitching, just keep stitching...

Joanne

Pattern was Chic Country by Sew Kind of Wonderful. 
I added borders and tweaked the colours in the edge blocks to blend into the border.

PS:  If you would like to see the evolution of this quilt, I blogged about it in progress many times

• March 2016 - First peek at the fabric pull
• November 2016 - Starting to cut fabric
• January 2017 - Starting to piece and failing random colour placement
•  February 2017 - Redesiging the border and finishing the top
• January 2018 - hand quilting progress
• August 2018 - progress update
• January 2019 - finshed quilt on the blog (finished in late December)

Spinning multiple intersections

When we speak of spinning seam allowances when pressing, it's often in reference to one seam intersection in one block, such as at the center of a four-patch block. What happens when there are more than one intersection along a long seam?

Let's take a look at a nine-patch.

First, if you need to know what I mean by spinning seams or need a refresher about how it's done, go read this post.  Make sure to read all the way to the end for the spinning part. Go ahead.  I'll wait.

OK, back to the nine-patch: 3 rows of 3 squares. Here's the start of one, with squares sewn into rows.  The white arrows show the directions in which I pressed seams in each row.  By pressing the seams in the middle row in opposite directions to the seams in the other rows, I'll be able to nest and spin the seams.

Here's what that looks like on the back after I sew the top and middle row together.  The new seam is the horizontal one in the photo, not yet pressed.

Let's take care of the seam intersection on the left first.

You see that the center portion of the horizontal seam will end up pressed towards the top row.  That works out just right, as this direction is also the direction it needs to be to spin the seams at the second seam intersection as well, as you see below.

Adding the next row of squares, nesting seams, looks like this:

Spining one intersection sets the stage for spinning the other as well.

You can see how all the seam intersections are nice and flat.  

Note that I could have reversed all the pressing directions in the very first picture.   As long as they allowed seams to nest in the next step, I still would have been able to spin the seams at the intersections.  They simply would have spun in opposite directions to what is pictured here.

This example used a plain nine-patch, but it would also work where some or all parts of the nine-patch are pieced units.  You just need to plan pressing directions at each step to nest all seams when joining rows.  The following block is a fine example.

The white arrows show the pressing directions to press seams between units so that you can nest seams when joining rows. 

Spinning seams at one intersection will flow into the seams being oriented properly to spin seams at the next intersection, and so on.

This may seem a little daunting at first, but it will really make sense when you start pressing.  Just remember to always start with pressing to nest seams, and the rest will flow from there.

Of course, there will be occasions where you will end up with an intersection that can't be spun,  but I find it's always worth spinning wherever I can to minimize bulky seam intersections.

Have you tried spinning seams?  Do you have any tips to share?  Let me know in the comments.

Happy quilting,

Joanne

Spring Flowers, quilty versions

It's a  beautiful spring day here.  The blue skies and blooming daffodils are inspiring me to pull out some garden-inspired quilts.  I thought you might enjoy a round-up of my collection.

Prairie Mix

I'm not sure what I love more in Prairie Mix:  the fun little flower blocks, the pieced yellow pointy border accent, or the red and white dot border fabric.

Prairie Mix by canuck Quilter Designs made in 2020

Despite the assorted shapes in this quilt, I only had to cut and sew squares  and rectangles.  Thanks to stitch-and-flip corners, I didn't have to deal with a single individual triangle. You can read more about the making of this quilt here and see more pictures in this post.

Prairie Mix block

Sweet Trails

I love a twist on a classic block.  Sweet Trails extends the snail's trail block to turn the mollusc into a flower.  Snails are fine, but I like flowers more :)

Sweet Trails by Canuck Quilter Designs made in June 2023
with Island Batik's Heavy Metal collection

I couldn't avoid cutting and working with triangles for this one, but they were worth it.  I did make a lot of test blocks to test cutting sizes and trimming measurements to choose the most consistent method for the pattern.  Read more about the block and the pattern.

I need to finish some these and make a few more for another quilt.

Sun Seekers

This is a scaled down version of Sew Kind Of Wonderful's pattern Soak Up the Sun.  I didn't want to sew as many curves as the original required, and I wanted to use up a pile of neutral scraps, so I filled the background with scraps squares and made just 3 sunflower blocks.  I addded prairie point embellishments in the border, just because I could and they seemed like fun.  You can see Rosie liked this one.

The Rosie picture is more fun, but here's a beter view of the whole quilt.

Sun Seekers finished in 2020
Block design by Sew Kind of Wonderful

Fabulous Phlox

This one's brand new!  I need to give it a post all its own.  I'll add that to my list :)

Fabulous Phlox by Canuck Quilter Designs
made with with Island Batik's Everlasting collection

I made this one for Island Batik's Spring 2025 catalog that was just released.  They sent me fabrics from their new collection Everlasting.   When I first drew this, I almost discarded the idea because of all the HST, but making them with triangle papers (template included in pattern) made them quick and easy.  I love that there were no sashing and no borders to fiddle with.  The layout is juts blocks on point.

I think it's lovely on a light background too, though I've only mocked up, not sewn, that version.

Fabulous Phlox design by Canuck Quilter Designs
mocked up in Island Batik's Everlasting collection.

Focus Squared

This one isn't inherently a flower design, but I used a floral fabric as the focus print.

Focus Squared by Canuck Quilter Designs

I just love that hydrangea print. I'm sorry I don't have any information about it.  It's several years old so I'm not sure you could find this exact rpint now anyway, but I'm sure there's something equally pretty available now.  This is a great flower-themed quilt without the extra effort of piecing or appliqueing flower blocks.  

That's all the flower qulits I've pulled out of storage for now.  Do you have a favourite flower quilt?  I've seen some really lovely ones online.  Which have you made?

Happy quilting,

Joanne

Making QST from HST

 A QST unit is a quarter-square-triangle square, a square made up of 4 triangles.

Traditionally, it's made with 4 individually cut triangles, each triangle one quarter of a square, with the straight grain of fabric on the long side of each triangle.  This involves sewing on the bias, which can invite stretching and distortion.

In this tutorial I'll share how to make QST without cutting individual triangles or sewing bias edges.

Let's agree on a couple of definitions before we start.  

• The finished size of a unit is the size of a unit after it is sewn to other parts of the quilt, with the seam allowances taken in by the seams.
• The unfinished size includes 1/4" extra on all sides for seam allowances.

 For example, an unfinished 4 1/2" unit will be 4" finished in the quilt.

Please note that I prefer to make units a touch oversized then trim down to exact size and perfect shape.  This is more forgiving of slight variations in sewing.  The measurements I share will reflect that.

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HOW TO MAKE QST UNITS

Step 1.  Choose four fabric squares, each 1.5" larger than the desired finished QST size.  This is enough to make four QST units.

Step 2.  Referring to this tutorial and the notes below make 2 HST, trimming them to 1" larger than the desired finished QST size. 

• Refer to the diagram below to see how to distribute the 4 fabrics between the HST to get the desired fabric distribution in the final QST.

• The four squares you started with will yield two HST1 and two HST2.  You'll use one of each to make one pair of matching QST.

• Press either towards Fabric 1 in HST1 and towards Fabric 4 in HST2, OR away from Fabric 1 and away from Fabric 4

These are the two HST I will be working with.

Step 3:  Draw a line, diagonally from corner to corner and perpendicular to the seam line, across the back of one HST.   This will be a guide for sewing in step 5.

• If you do not have an accurate 1/4" guide on your sewing machine or presser foot, you may prefer to draw guide lines on either side of the diagonal, 1/4" away from the diagonal, as I do below.

Step 4:  Layer HST1 over HST2, right sides together and with seam allowances in opposite directions.  

If you have pressed in the directions specified in Step 2, the fabrics should fall in the right order.  You can check by folding HST1 back lightly along the drawn line to preview the QST.  

Step 5:  Making sure the seams are butted up tightly next to each other, sew 1/4" on each side of the diagonal, across the existing seams.

Step 6:  Cut between the sewn lines to separate into two units.

Step 7:  As you press a unit open, spin the seam allowance to reduce bulk in the center.  The second half of this tutorial explains how to spin seams.  Alternatively, press seams open or to one side.

Step 8:  Carefully trim the QST unit 1/2" larger than the desired finished size, keeping all the seams intersecting the corners of the unit.

• Position the rotary cutting ruler over the unit, shifting the ruler as needed until the markings for the size you need intersect seams in all three corners and the a corner of the ruler intersects the last corner of the unit.  

• The  example below shows trimming to a 4" square.  The points circles in red highlight the measurements. Please note that I have exaggerated the amount of fabric to trim away in the example below so that you can see the intersection points more clearly.  Using the measurements in this tutorial, you would need to trim away less than 1/8" on any side.

• A:  The diagonal seam bisects the corner of the ruler.
• B:  The 4" mark along the top edge of the ruler meets the diagonal seam.
• C:  The horizontal and vertical 4" measurements lines intersect over the diagonal seam.
• D:  The 4" mark down the side of the ruler meets the diagonal seam.

Step 8:  Trim away the excess fabric at the top and right side.

Step 10:  Turn the unit 180 degrees and position the ruler so the required measurements are flush with the two sides you trimmed in the last step.  In this example, the 4" vertical and horizontal measurements are flush with the previously trimmed  edges.

Step 11:  Trim the excess fabric at the top and side.

The QST unit is now complete.  Remember, it includes 1/4" seam allowance on all sides, so it will be 1/2" smaller once it is sewn into the quilt.

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For quick reference, here's a summary of relevant measurements:

• Starting squares:  finished QST size + 1.5"
• HST trimmed size:  finished QST size + 1"
• QST trimmed size:  finished QST size + 0.5"

For example, for a 4" finished QST:

• Starting squares: 4" + 1.5" = 5.5"
• Trim HST to: 4" + 1" = 5"
• Trim QST to: 4" + 0.5" = 4.5"

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I hope you have found this useful.  Please share in the comments if you have any tips and tricks for making QST.

Happy quilting,

Joanne

Viewing fabric selection in grayscale

As I was reminded when I was testing my Sparks pattern over a year ago, contrast between colours is not necessarily the same as contrast between values.  I'll show you why it matters, then one method to check value with a phone camera.

Why it Value Matters

Colour versus Value

You can definitely see four distinct colours in the photo on the left.  There is contrast between all the colours.

The picture on the right is the same picture viewed through a grayscale filter to show value instead of colour.  It looks almost like there are only three different fabrics rather than four.  The yellow and tan both appear light in value, while the orange and red are medium dark and dark.  There is much less contrast between the two fabrics on the left.  

Why does this matter?  Despite seeing the colors clearly, when these fabrics are used together there will be much less contrast between the yellow and tan than between the red or orange and the tan.  This is not inherently a problem. If you don't need the same strength of contrast, it's fine.  However if you need the contrast between the yellow and tan to have the same strength as the contrast between the tan and the other fabrics, this will be a disappointing collection.

You can see how the difference in the strength of the contrast affects the design.  While the block design is clear in the orange and red, it fades away in the yellow because there isn't enough contrast between the yellow and the tan background.  

I rearranged the fabrics to balance areas of high contrast and lower contrast to rescue most of the blocks in this quilt.

How to check value using a phone camera

I'll demonstrate using my new fabric selection for the Colour Value Mystery Quilt-Along (QAL).  You can read my previous post about how I had to tweak my original selection because of two fabrics being more similar than I had thought.  

The pictures here are screenshots of the camera app on my Pixel phone.  Your phone may be different, but hopefully you can figure out the equivalent steps for your phone app.  If you're lucky, you might even be able to adjust a setting on your phone to just view everything in grayscale from the start.  My old phone had this feature and I miss it!  If you have Pixel phone and know how to turn that on, please let me know!

Step 1.  Take a photo of the fabric, arranged from lightest to darkest. (Note the black strip at the top of these images is the top of the phone screen, not one of the fabrics!)

Step 2: Click on the thumbnail image of the photo, circled in red above, which will take you to the screen below.

Step 3:  Click on the Edit button, circled in red above.  That will take you to the screen below.  The area circled in red has various tool options to choose from.  Swipe left until you find the Filter option.  When that option is highlighted you'll see smal versions of your photo with various filters, right above the toolbar.  

Step 4: Swipe left through the versions of the photo until you find the Onyx filter.

Step 5:  Click on Onyx.  You'll see the photo with the grayscale filter applied.

Step 6:  You can click on Save a copy if you'd like to save the grayscale version to review the results later.

Here's my fabric selection, from lightest at the top to darkest at the bottom.  

I hope you find this useful!

Happy fabric pulling!

Joanne

PS:  There's  still time to join the free Colour Value Quilt-Along!  Click here to go register.

Revising my Mystery QAL fabric selection

I'm hosting a mystery quilt-along again this year.  Though I'm doubling the number of fabrics to four this time, I still want the colour selection to be fairly easy despite participants not knowing what the quilt will look like in the end.  

I chose a design that hinges on having 4 different colour values:  dark, medium-dark, medium and light.  I chose blues for the three darkest fabrics and a light on white print for the lightest.  These digital swatches of Island Batik foundations looked pretty good together.

From left to right:  Island Batik Foundations Marine, French Blue, Chambray and Glaze

I ordered my fabric, spent some time setting up the technical behind-the-scenes parts of the QAL, then squealed with delight when the fabric arrived and the colours were just as gorgoeus as I had hoped.

If I was so delighted, you ask, why am I revising my fabric selection?   Well, part of the beauty of batiks is that they are handmade and each bolt will have some variations.  Usually I love the interest that colour variations add to the quilt.  This time, there was a problem.

When the fabric arrived, I stacked the pieces togethher and saw the strong contrast between each of the fabric, just as I needed.  Today I unfolded the fabric to take some pictures and found this:

Where did my dark fabric go?????

The fabric has different shades of blue through it. I was expecting more of the dark navy you see in the upper right in the photo above, with just a small amount of the lighter blue for texture.  That's what I saw when I first saw the fabric.  When I unfolded it, there were larger patches of the light blue that blended very, very well with my medium-dark fabric.  That's not going to work.  I need strong contrast for this design.

Folks, this is reminder that nothing beats seeing a fabric in person before you buy if you have the option!  This afternoon I trotted off to my local quilt shop to see if I coud find a substitute dark batik.  Yes, I should have shopped there first and not only seen my fabrics before I bought, but also supported my local shop so they can stay in business so I can run there the next time I have a fabric emergency.

Thankfully, I found a dark that I think works.  It's Indigo Vines by Lunn Studios from Artisan Batiks: Kasuri.  I hadn't planned on using a print, but I think it will be OK.  In fact, I think that little bit of print will add a little extra interest to the quilt. 

I can't wait to get started on these quilts.  Yes. Quilts, plural.  Depending where you use the different colour values in the design, you'll get either a slighly traditional or a slightly modern quilt.  I just couldn't pick so I'm making both :)

The free Colour Value Mystery QAL will launch on March 13th and all clues (instructions) will be sent by email every Thursday for 8 weeks.  Registration will open this Friday, February 28th.  If you're on my mailing list, you'll get an email with the link.  I'll also share on Facebook and Instagram, and add a link to the right sidebar of this blog.  After registering, you'll receive an email with the fabric requirements for either version in a choice of 5 sizes, baby through king.  I hope you'll join me!

Happy quilting,

Joanne