Rhonda's 2nd Boston Block Hotpad - Part 4

Now here is the way I put together a Quilt block top for the hotpad.

This is the quilt block we are making:

 


In the last lesson we discussed how to make a Boston Block and the HSTs.
If you have those block units ready to go then we can start putting them together.

I like to divide the quilt block into 4 patch sections to sew together.
The bottom row are the 4 corners and the top row are the centers of each side. the pinwheel is the center of the design.


I lay them out and then lay the left square on top of the right square. then tack the left edge where the seam will go through


Here you can see all of them tacked on the seam ready to sew together
When you tack them you tack the left edge and then I turn them so they are set right to go under the needle.


Sew the seams and then iron the seam open on all of them.


Now place the sewn pairs of squares together into the 4 patches as shown above
Tack them in place and sew them together.

Once you have the 4 patches made make sure you iron them well and I like to iron the seams open. I prefer to have it as flat as possible.

So here are the 4 patches sewn


Sew the top left 4patch to the middle top 4patch
And the center left 4patch to the center 4 patch
Sew the top right 4 patch to the center right 4 patch


Again lay the left square over the right square and tack in place


Sew the seams and iron them open



Sew the bottom joined 4 patches onto the top two joined 4 patches 
Sew the bottom right 4 patch to the top joined 4 patches on that right side.


Sew the right side to the left side


Use a ruler to check the size and square up the quilt block if needed


and the finished Quilt Block.
If you used a 1 1/2" template you should have an approx. 6 1/2" quilt block
Depending on your seam allowance your quilt block may vary a bit.

Okay we have a 6 1/2" quilt block now.

I usually aim for an 8 1/2" unfinished quilt block top for my hotpads. You can of course use any size you like.
To get to the size I like I use borders.

These borders can be anything you can come up with. To reach an 8 1/2" size I add borders to the sides and then trim down to the size I want.
I don't measure my strips other than to make sure they are a bit longer than my sides and a bit wider than I expect to use. For this size I will need at least 1 1/2" width on each side.

I add the short sides first and then trim the ends and sew on the long sides. Then I trim the whole thing to 8 1/2".


Here are some other ideas you might want to consider. These might make for a larger hotpad.

To get this one I sew two strips together and then trim down the red strip in the center. then add the other dark strip to the red center strip. I trim it to the size I want it and then add that to the quilt block. Repeat for the other side and then add the red squares to the other prepared strips. Then sew the strips with squares onto the quilt block. If this is confusing just ask and I will be happy to show this in more detail.


Another way to add a border is with a piano border or I call it a strip border
These strips are some I had ready so they dont' go color wise but you get the idea


Here you can see I added borders that overlap. 


And here I turned the quilt block on point and added corner triangles


These borders aren't sewn on as I was just showing you possibilities.

Tips and Troubleshooting:

Make sure your squares are matching at the corners. Take the time to check for this as you join the Bostons and HSTs. This is one of the main reasons things become crooked and seams don't meet or points are lost


To keep fabric and seams from moving I prefer to tack things in place
I think pins can still allow too much movement.

I take the needle through the fabric just below the seam join and then up and out above the seams. Take this stitch at least once or twice. Make sure the thread is tight and not loose.



I tack at the edge on each end where the seam will go through. I also tack anywhere there are seams to match



When I tack I often like to check to see if my seams are meeting after I tack them but before I sew the seam. 
You can see the seams meet just in front of my thumb there. It is good to make sure you got the tack on there in the right place and that it is holding well. This is one benefit of using tacks that you can't do with pins. 


After sewing squares or 4 patches make sure to measure to make sure it is the right size. This will help to make sure you end up with the size of quilt block you want. Now is the time to fix things that might not be quite right.

Here I checked a joined pair of squares and they were crooked. I like to turn them over so I can see them from the back. I think it is easier to see if they are crooked.

Crooked 

Measured you can see it isn't straight


And fixed


To fix this I tightened the seam. to do this you just decide where it needs to be fixed and sew along the seam and make the seam a bit wider.

Here you can see where I had to fix some 4 patches


I pinched the side I thought would bring it back to square
to decide where to straighten the seam


And here I straightened it
When you do this you do need to make sure you don't sew over the fabric in the seam as you can catch it and bunch up the seam instead of fixing the problem.


And here it is fixed


I like to iron my seams open so I thought you might like to see the back of my quilt block


Thanks for following along!! Rhonda

Rhonda's 2nd Boston Block Hotpad - Part 3

OOPS!  This lesson should have been posted before the previous lesson. Sorry about that!  Rhonda


Welcome to my second Boston Block Hotpad Class

In this lesson we are going to discuss fabrics and colors. This is only in regard to my designs. For other projects you may want to blend your colors and do other treatments.

This is the quilt block we are going to make



Of course 100% cotton is the best choice as far as the type of fabric to use.
Whether you use batiks or civil war fabrics or country prints is all up to you and what you like.

However to make a design stand out and be noticed you need to pick your type of prints or batiks etc carefully.

When I design I use alot of contrast in my colors. This makes certain areas of the design stand out. So choosing the right color combinations will affect how your finished product looks. 
I know alot of people are not comfortable with choosing colors. So I'm going to give you some basics to use as a guideline. 

Colors break down into different values:
as you can see this starts light and gets a big darker as it goes til you reach the dark values.

Light 


Light with a print


Light Medium


Medium


Light Dark


Dark


Look at the design you want to make and see how many different colors you will need. In this quilt block I have designed you will see 5 different colors.

You will need to choose:

a light background - light enough so the colors show up against it.
a medium red - Make sure it isn't too light
a light red/pink - It needs to show against the background color 
a medium green -This should be not quite dark but not too light either
a light green - light enough to show against your medium but not blend with the background

You don't want to let your colors blend. To get the right look you need to choose fabrics that you can see seperately when they are laid side by side. If you have 2 shades of yellow and you lay them together you should have strong different values.

You can also achieve a contrast by using fabrics that are different as in say one is a large check pattern and the other one is a leaf pattern.

Here are some examples of what not to do:

This one is too light and blends too much together


This one has been split into too many different colors
It's too busy looking. If you want to make it a scrappy
then make it all a scrappy look keeping the values in mind


This one could be okay but for me it is too much the same values
It doesn't stand out as well as it could if you used different values.


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Okay now here are some good color combinations. They all use strong contrast so the design will stand out.
You can easily see each individual color apart from the others. 

Whatever color combinations you like make sure they all stand apart.
Of course we all know about the color wheel and if you look up one online you can see what the opposite colors are. Red is opposite of Blue etc. Keep this in mind when you choose your colors.


  

Fabric amts you will need:

Red a strip 3" x 8"
Pink a strip 3" x 6"
Light Green a strip 3" x 33"
Med Green a strip 3" x 21"
Dark a strip 3" x 24"

2 short borders - 2" x 7"
2 long borders - 2" x 9"

Backing will need to be about 9" square
I use poly batting - traditional which is really dense
and I cut two layers.

If you prefer to use insulbrite feel free to use whatever you are comfortable using.

You will also need a loop. I use a new shoelace and cut a length about 2 1/2" long.

I don't use binding so that won't be a part of this project.

Quilt Retreat June 11-14 2015

Still looking to add some more quilters to our retreat next June! If you are interested let me know at patchesbyr@yahoo.com.

Missouri Star Quilt Co is a fascinating place to visit. If you are wanting to come don't miss out!
It's in Hamilton Missouri. Quilt shops to visit great restaurants and lots of quilting inspiration!

I'll be teaching two classes - showing my shortcut methods and maybe the Dresden Kaleidoscope also.

Come join us and have a blast!  Rhonda

Rhonda's 2nd Boston Block Hotpad Class --- Part 2

Last week we discussed colors and fabrics. This week we are going to make the Boston Blocks and HSTs(half square triangle) blocks.

Over time I have developed several shortcut methods that make piecing easy and quick. I call it my cut down method.

Basically you sew fabric pieces together and then cut a square out of the center. As a miniaturist this allows me to use small pieces without actually handling small tiny pieces. The piecing just sort of happens when you cut out the pieced square.

Once you learn how to make that particular “Block” unit then you make as many as you need in the colors you need to make the quilt block you choose. 
Once you have made all the quilt blocks then those become a quilt or other project you choose to make. 

The size of the “Block” unit is whatever you want it to be. I am a miniaturist and I mostly use small sizes. But the method is about the piecing not about keeping it small. You can use any size template you want depending on how big you want the quilt block to be. 

For this Hotpad project we are going to use the 6 x 6 grid design. This means there are 6 rows of 6 Boston Blocks per row. I like the pieced quilt block to be 6 1/2" so I can add borders to get an 8" finished Hotpad. This size uses the 1 1/2" template. If you want yours to be larger you can use a larger template. I have made them bigger and used them for a trivet under dishes and my daughter has used them as placemats. 

Here is the quilt block and the layout of the "blocks"

        


So now we break it down and see the different "Blocks" and the colors I used. 

Boston Blocks
you will need to make:

4 Blocks        4 Blocks       4 Blocks      4 Blocks     4 Blocks 
                  

Half Square Triangle Blocks

4 Blocks        8 Blocks      4 Blocks
          


Okay now on to how to make the Boston Blocks

When I developed this method I wanted something that didn't have alot of math involved. I wanted it quick and easy to make.

so I used swatches of fabric. I call it rough cut when you just cut off a piece of fabric. You can use scraps also. 

You need a light a medium and a dark for this first one. After that follow the colors you need to make the other Bostons.

Here you see two different sets of swatches. One set the medium is on the rt side and the other set the med is on the left side. This makes them mirror images. You will need to watch for this when making your blocks.



Here I've sewn the top two swatches together
I trimmed the bottom of the joined swatches to a straight edge

Next sew on the third swatch to the joined swatches

  


Place the template on the seams so the corners match the seams
Don't let it move while you cut it out


And here you have a Boston Block cut out


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Now here are a couple of other ways to make the Bostons

You can use strips to join the top two fabrics. Cut them at least a bit more than half the width of the template on point.
You can cut the joined strips the size you need. For the 1 1/2" Bostons the strips need to be cut at least 1 3/4" sections. Then use the sections and sew on the third fabric to the edge. Make sure you place the medium on the side it needs to be for the color placement you need. As in the mirror image blocks.

Another alternative for those who want to take the time to save a bit of fabric you can cut squares and then cut them into triangles. For the 1 1/2" size you need to cut at least 2 1/4" squares. For the third or bottom fabric cut the squares from corner to corner for two triangles. And for the quarter triangles cut the same size square but cut them into 4 triangles from corner to corner.



This will allow you to have less leftovers.

Speaking of leftovers. - I never worry about leftovers. I reuse the scraps into other "Blocks" or make more Boston Blocks. You can also use them to make crumb blocks or crazy quilt blocks.

One thing I hear alot is what about Bias. I don't pay any attention to the Bias edge. Yes you will have sides that are cut on the bias. But if you tack then you dont' have to worry about Bias edges.

I tack where seams meet and I tack on the edge of joining two blocks. This keeps the fabric from moving so no stretching. I think tacks work better than pins. Pins can still move but tacks stay put. 

A tack is a stitch or two in place. Put the tack where the seam is going to go through. then you don't have to take it back out.

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Now I know there are alot of ways to make HSTs. But I think my way is quick and easy with little waste.

I use strips.

It doesn't matter if your seam allowance is perfect. I didnt' use a trimmed edge but you can. As long as you pay attention to sewing a straight seam you don't have to pay attention to seam allowance.



Sew two strips together
Open and iron the seam open. (or to the dark if you prefer)

place your strips on a cutting mat. I like to fold up the length so I am only working with part of the strips at a time. It's easier to turn the mat if the strips are folded up some.



And here are your HSTs


When you get the HSTs cut out you can pull apart the strips and sew them together on the other side and continue cutting out HSTs.


Next week we will look at how to put the quilt block together and then finish the hotpad.