Hearts for Haiti

Hi there,
I know everyone is busy, but most of us are mothers and naturally have a soft spot for orphans. My former Department Chair (French teacher) has been traveling to Haiti each January for 15+ years and was there for the earthquake. In the last email we received, she said that the orphanage where she works while in Haiti was demolished. They are sleeping out in the open and blankets was one of the top things on the list.
I am trying to organize some charity quilts for the children in Haiti. I tried to find something online that was organized and could not locate something already started by the quilt blogging community. If you are interested let me know. Might be a good way to use up some of your wanted/unwanted stash. We are trying to incorporate a heart somewhere in each quilt.
I came up with this Hearts for Haiti title and am trying to have things ready to go from now until Valentine's Day. I will be posting more info on my blog if you think you might be interested.
~Donna

Assembling Tutorial

Hello ladies,

I just finished uploading all the pictures for the assembling tutorial. It is posted on my blog *Allz I'm Sewing is...* I know that the pictures may seem a little small, but for some people, the larger pictures take too long to load, so I chose the medium sized image. I hope these pictures will help. I am putting a picture here because we haven't had any lately. A few of the pictures in the tutorial may seem dark, but that is because the sun was beginning to set as I finished last night.

If you find grammatical/spelling errors in my tutorials- it will bother the school teacher in me...so please let me know : )

Happy sewing to all,

~Donna

Cutting Tutorial

Hi there,
I have just put together some information on how I have been cutting the pieces for the Twirling Star. It is posted on my blog. I will try to complete the sewing one today, there are lots of pictures involved so it is a little time consuming. I may not get the assembling section done until tomorrow. Geri, I hope this helps you and anyone else who is a little apprehensive. I am sure there are many ways of doing this, but this is just how I have proceeded.
~Donna

HELP!

I'm sorry girls, but I just don't get it. I'm pretty new to quilting, and I know a lot of you said this was your first time for paper piecing, too. So what did you do? I don't even know how to start. I looked at the tutorials, but I'm still confused.
(Donna, I promise I will figure this out before I cut into your fabric.)
Do we cut the paper and use it like a clothing pattern? Or, is there some magic in the foundation paper you sent us? Please help!
I am very excited to learn this new technique, and I am so glad I have all you ladies to help me do so! Please don't think I'm a dunce :) I look forward to hearing from you all...
Geri

Thanks for the encouragement and comments : )

Hi everyone,
I just wanted to say thanks for making me feel better about the Twirling Star. I received my 1st block today from Luv2create and Rene did a great job. I am also making additional blocks in case I want the quilt to be larger than the 12 blocks will be....or if I am just a greedy bugger and want a lap quilt for my husband and another one for me!
FYI, if you are having trouble and need more of the white fabric, it is Kona White-just a plain solid. I chose it because some of the fabrics have a bright white in them and others have more of a cream and the Kona is in-between the two. I purchased a large amount of fabric, so if anyone needs more because we are all on a learning curve, please feel free to contact me and I will send you more.
Have a great weekend ~

Maybe I am worrying too much???

I am a little worried that everyone thinks block # 26 is really pretty, but a pain in the neck to do. So, I emailed the lady who placed the block in the 100 Block magazine (Nancy Mahoney). I also gave her the link to our bee site so she could see. Here is a copy of her response. She also gave me a link to a tutorial on e/howto, but the page is no longer available. I think the tutorial with the gnomes is also helpful and I know the link is good.
I hope it helps anyone who is struggling with the block.

Hi Donna,
First let me tell you how delighted I am to see the different color combinations of the Twirling Star block. I particularly like the red/white/blue version. Paper piecing isn't difficult, but can be a bit tricky at first. The hardest part for most people, is working with the paper. The fabrics are always placed on the plain, unmarked side of the paper and then the fabrics and paper are turned over so you're sewing on the paper's marked side. This is probably the reason some stars are reversed.

Another tip is to mark your colors on the paper foundation, this will help you place the fabric correctly.
Feel free to contact me if you have any other questions.
Thanks,
Nancy

My Practice Twirling Star Block

Okay I really like the design, but I had a really hard time making it! I was completely confused the whole time and didn't think I did it right until the end. Does anyone have any tips that they would be willing to share? Like what size did you cut each piece of material for the blocks? I had the hardest time with that.

Crystal

Mailed

Donna,
Your block was put in the mail today!

Okay, here is my test block that I went back to today to finish. I noticed that my centers to not match. Oh well, I won't see it on a galloping horse anyway!

Mine's done!

Donna, finally done! Wow, was this a challenge! I used my own fabric as a test and found my stars going the wrong way, so I decided I would make mine like that, but yours I turned it around. I will be sending this ouut in a few days. Sure want to see this quilt, so hurry and sew it up! Wanda

Paper piecing tutorials

If you are looking for additional information on paper piecing, along with the gnome tutorial and the freezer paper tutorial from Rene, you can go to this page in You Can Quilt This and there is a free tutorial using Trees. It is on the second row in the middle. It is one of the tutorials I read before doing my block.

With block # 26, I had 2 difficulties during my practice block. The first was that I didn't pay attention to the fact that section 1 was for lights and section 2 was for darks. I just started sewing. This resulted in my sections not alternating from dark to light.

I solved this problem by cutting up all of my sections and separating sections 1 and 2. I sewed all four section 1's at the same time using the light fabrics of both color sets. Then, I sewed all four sections of section 2 using all the darks.

My second difficulty came with the first background of white. For some reason I was unable to get the angles just right. Finally, (after lots of seam ripping) I was able to re-cut the piece to be exactly 1/4 inch larger and I marked the right and wrong side. According to all the tutorials, the fabrics is supposed to be cut on the wrong side. Because the fabric was white, I didn't think about the right/wrong side of things, but it matters for the angles. Once I could manage the first white background piece I had little trouble with the 3rd and 4th piece.

I hope this helps those of you who, like me, had never done this before. I have since made 2 gnomes and I just love them. As soon as my camera battery is charged, I will show you them. It is such a good was to use up little scraps and create a beautiful center for a pillow, purse or an entire quilt.
~Donna

Paper Piecing Tutorial...

I found a tutorial I wanted to share. I am working on a new PP Block and found this tutorial helpful as far as how to trim the seams. I also found that using printer paper for the foundation was easier for me to work with. I sewed along the lines of the template with my UNTHREADED needle (instead of creasing the seams)...this too helped with seeing the pattern on the other side when laying out the fabrics. Hope these tips help. I wish I would have figured this out BEFORE I did Donna's block.

http://www.twiddletails.com/store/index.php?main_page=page&id=21

Looking for a reason to master foundation piecing?

I came across this site on flickr and fell in love with the gnomes or gnomelings as Sonja Callaghan calls them. Here is a link to her flickr pictures. Also she has a blog and that is where I was able to find the patterns. If that isn't enough...she uses the 3 patterns to teach about paper piecing.

Artisania is the name of her blog on Wordpress. I wish I could put a picture right here, but I am not sure of the copyright. Please go and see, you will be very motivated and the tutorial is really good.

Donna's Block

Donna,
I finished your block tonight. It was my last finish of 2009!
I hope you are pleased with it. I had a little trouble, and one of the points is off. I was afraid to rip it out. If you can't (or don't want to) use the block, let me know and I will refund your fabric. I didn't square it up, and will let you do that.

Even though I had some problems, I LOVED making this block and plan on making a quilt using this block for one of my next quilts.


Thanks Donna for giving me the courage to try something besides sewing squares and strips together.

Mail Call...

Donna,
I received your envelope in the mail today. Beautiful fabric choices...I have to admit I am am a little intimidated though! I think I will pull some scraps and try it before making your block...

Mailed Out Your Goodies Today

Well, 11 envelopes went out today. They may take longer than I had hoped because I realized I am the only person on the east coast! Most of you are in the mid-west or the western part of the country.

Here is my first version of the block. This (I probably shouldn't admit this...but...) was my first time foundation piecing and I did have a learning curve, but once the first 2 sections were done, it became easier.

I have some additional pictures of my organization and mailing process on my blog if any of you are interested. The cutting and organizing did take more time than I had envisioned, so keep that in mind for your month. Luckily, I had the paper items copied last week, so this week was just cutting, measuring and mailing.

I will put more specific tips/pictures of my adventure with this block next week, but here is my first foundation block # 26.

Thanks again,

~Donna

Preview for my Beach Quilt

Well, here it is...block #26, Twirling Star. I will be asking everyone to leave off the circle applique just because I don't really know which color I would like it to be. I think I will have a better idea when I see all the blocks together.
In the mail within the next week, you will receive 4 sheets of foundation paper with the template already copied onto it.

A copy of the original template (never know when mistakes will happen), for those of you without the magazine.

and a copy of the instructions from the magazine.

Here are my fabrics thus far...I still need a few more so I am off to Wish Upon a Quilt today for some additional choices. The greens...

The yellow/golds...

My reds...

And my favorite...the blues! These are all from Crystal Palace.

Later in the month I will try to post a couple of pictures of the beach place so you can see why I have chosen the colors. Hopefully it will make things come together for you.

Thanks in advance for all your efforts! I am soooo excited!

~Donna

Somewhere between Christmas and New Year

Happy Holidays to everyone!
I am pretty sure I am going to use block #26 from the
new edition of 100 Blocks. It is a block that uses triangles but
eventually has a circular look to it. It is named Twirling Star. I
also like block #86, Spring Blossom-but this one has more pieces, so I think the
Twirling Star is the best choice.
I am choosing red, blue, green and yellow so that it
will match my little place at the beach. I will send out the templates,
instructions and fabrics beginning Dec. 26
I hope everyone is as excited as I am.
Donna

Right Around the Corner

I sent the mailing list to Donna today!! YAY!! Let the fun begin!

Getting Closer!

I just realized that January is right around the corner! I can not wait to see what block Donna has us make and what fabrics we get to use! Donna have you gotten all that figured out yet??