Golden Days: Quilt Along With HeartSong Quilts Months 2, 3, and 4

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Golden Days Template of the Month

Month 2 – Linda’s Wreath – Finished size 15” x 15”–Make 1

This month’s block is another applique block and we are only making one.  You are receiving one yard of fabric per month, which is obviously too much for just one block, but remember there are lots of blocks to come along with filler blocks at the end.

I really don’t have much to add to the instructions, so here are the fabrics you’ll be working with this month:

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Here’s my finished block:

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Month 3 – Wagon Wheel – 12 ½” x 12 ½” finished size–Make 3

This is a pieced block with curves 🙁

The instructions are great, but experiment with the outer T6 piecing.  I made the first one by stitching the 4 units together, then adding the center circle.  I found this difficult because the diameter of the center pieced circle was not exactly the same size as the diameter of the circle I was adding it to.

I found it easier to leave a seam allowance on each ‘end’ of the T6 template and sew them one at a time, then joining the pieces as you would a set-in seam.

This month’s fabrics:

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Finished Blocks:

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Month 4 – Hopscotch – 12 ½” x 12 ½” finished size–Make 3

I LOVE the look of this block, but I sure wouldn’t want to make a King size quilt with it! 16 small curved pieces per block, plus lots of small triangles to complete it.

Just a few notes to begin, T11 is not a 60 degree triangle although it looks close.

In cutting the T7 and T8 pieces, take the time to cut the ‘dog ears’.  It will make piecing so much easier!

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Press T7 outward toward T8.

Here are the fabrics for this month:

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Finished Blocks:

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Good Luck everyone!  See you next time.

Blessings, Ann

Bakers Dozen: Quilt Along With HeartSong Quilts Month 6

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Baker’s Dozen Block of the Month

Month 6– (8) Harlequin Blocks and (4) Corner Blocks

This is our last month together working on Bakers Dozen. I have really enjoyed the journey, and I loved working with all of you.

If you are interested, we are offering Jen’s latest Template of the Month, Golden Days.  We still have openings in our May group, so I hope you decide to join us. Click here to sign up.

By this time, you are getting down to the bare bones of your fabric for this project.  The pattern called for 8 yards of a variety of fabrics, and 7/8 yd for the inner border and binding.  If you have run out of fabric, please let me know.  You can always add some of your own stash for the Corner Block Strips.

Having said that, this is where I used some of my smaller scraps for the triangles:

Harlequin Blocks found on pages 23 -25.  Make (8)

***Please Note:

Each block has (2) T13 and (2) T13 rev.  Make sure you have these in the right place before you sew, or your block will not fit.

The drawing in the pattern make T16 and T17 look identical – They are not!

Once again, I suggest you cut all your pieces out and place them on your work table.  Sew section by section to avoid confusion.

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Finished Harlequin Blocks:

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Corner Blocks found on page 26. Make (4)

I don’t have much insight on this block as it is pretty straight-forward. The photo in the pattern shows each corner block with the same strips in the same order.  I did not have enough fabric to accomplish this.  I used what I had left, and I’m very happy with the result.

Finished Corner Blocks:

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Quilt Assembly:

This quilt is at its essence a center medallion with pieced borders.  The biggest problem with assembling this type of quilt is that each border has to fit exactly.  You may have to ease (sometimes quite a bit) in order to make this happen.

When I started to add the 2nd pieced border (the one with the Checkerboard Blocks) I actually ended up removing a row from two of my Checkerboard blocks to make this row fit.  I would challenge anyone to look at my finished quilt and see that I did that.

My Completed Bakers Dozen:

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Once again, thanks again for making Bakers Dozen with me!

May God Bless You all.

Ann Powers

Golden Days: Quilt Along With HeartSong Quilts Month 1

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Golden Days Template of the Month

Month 1–Austin Block, make one

Hello Everyone and welcome to Jen Kingwell’s latest Template of the Month!  Thank you for joining me on this wonderful adventure to play with fabrics and colors.

As always, there are a few challenges for us, but she promises it is a bit simpler than previous quilts. Thank you for that, Jen!

There are several applique blocks along with pieced blocks (I have not received the entire pattern so I can’t give you specifics on the blocks).

You will receive 12 yards of fabric over 12 months, but no duplicates.  Hang on to each month’s fabrics so you have a generous supply with which to work.

Please join HeartSong’s private Golden Days Facebook group which you can find by clicking here.

Jen Kingwell also is setting up a Golden Days Facebook group. Search Golden Days – Private Group for TOM Participants.  Both Facebook groups open you up to wonderful groups of people who are working together on this quilt from all over the world.

Month 1: Austin Block, make one

Confession time…my challenge for myself is to learn how to do needle turn applique if it kills me!  This will be my first attempt (so don’t look too closely at my stitches).  I will be posting a video on the HeartSong Quilts Facebook page with some basic information and a couple of things that I found to be handy.  Click here for HeartSong’s Facebook page.

The mylar templates in this months kit are really nice as they are heat resistant.  After cutting around your traced template with a 3/8” seam allowance, you can press the seams over the template if you want to get a head start of the needle turning business.

 

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I decided to put my circles on my flowers before I stitched them to the background fabric.  I found it a little easier to manipulate the smaller piece.

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Here is my completed Austin Block.

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This was a lot of fun!  Until next time, happy stitching!

Blessings,

Ann

Golden Days: Quilt Along With HeartSong Quilts

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Hi All:

We’re getting ready to kick off the Golden Days Template of the Month program.  We just received the pattern and templates for the first month, so Ann is busy making it (and having fun while doing so, I might add).  Here’s a photo of Ann’s work thus far.

ann working on month 1

Even though we don’t have the entire quilt pattern, Ann has been auditioning fabrics based upon what we know about the quilt.

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Here’s a photo of the entire quilt made by Jen Kingwell, as well as a photo of the block for Month 1.  You can see that Ann’s quilt will be quite a bit brighter and will pop a bit more.  She will be using whites and brights as background fabric rather than grays and creams.

Whole Quilt Photo

Golden Days Block 1

We anticipate receiving the template kits in the next week or so, and we will mail them out shortly thereafter.  The scheduled start date is March 1, and if we get them on time, we’ll get them to you shortly thereafter.

If you haven’t signed up yet, we still have room.  Click here to sign up.

Happy Quilting!

Bakers Dozen: Quilt Along With HeartSong Quilts Month 5

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Baker’s Dozen Block of the Month

Month 5–(8) 12” Star Block with Cross and (4) 12” Eight Pointed Star Block

12” Star Block with Cross is found on page 16.  This block is pretty straightforward so I don’t have any special knowledge or instructions.

For each block, you need four foundation pieced corner squares for a total of 32!  As I mentioned before, I did not make sure each corner piece was identical, I felt it would be too much to ask of myself to keep track of which strip went where.  If you want to make sure each corner is the same, you will need to make them four at a time.

For me, I decided to make all 32 at the same time.  Actually, we will need another 16 for the 12” Eight Pointed Star blocks, so we’ll need 48 in total.

I don’t know if it is easier, but I decided to draw my diagonal lines across the whole sheet, and then cut the squares 4” x 4”

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Any extra pieces I used to add to blocks that needed a corner filled in

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Here’s my pile of 4” x 4” striped pieces

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Eight Pointed Star Block 12” is found on page 27.  This is the same block we made in Month 1.  The only difference is this block is 12”.  If you need a refresher on ‘Y’ seams, and set in seams, please refer to this information found in Month 1.  Also, remember that we posted  videos with some helpful tips on this on the HeartSong Facebook page and on the Bakers Dozen Quiltalong with HeartSong Facebook page.

As I mentioned before, you will need four foundation pieced 4” x 4” corner blocks for each block, for a total of 16.

Unfortunately, I neglected to take a picture of any of these blocks before I put them all together.  No reason, I just forgot.

Good luck, have fun, and I’ll be back in a month!

Delilah: Sew Along with HeartSong Quilts Month 12

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Hooray!

We are almost there!  What a fun and challenging journey this has been.  Thanks for going with me.

This is our final month, and we are making (9) Black Cockatoo Blocks.  The instructions for the pinwheel and filler blocks are also included as well as finishing instructions in this month’s information.

Black Cockatoo Block:  *The pattern for this block is a mirror image of the colored photos in the quilt.  I’m a visual person (as most quilters are) and this threw me.

I made a copy of the block at the bottom of page two and wrote the template numbers on each piece.

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The other thing that bugged me was the T50/T47 diagram. With all my reference photos reversed, I had a really hard time until I rotated the unit to the position that it appears in the block.  I don’t know if any of that makes sense, but hopefully the photo will help.

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Once I laid out the pieces correctly, it was just a matter of sewing them together.

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I have no good advice on pressing the seams, so I’ll leave that up to you.

Finished blocks:

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Filler Blocks – Pinwheels – make 31 blocks.

The pattern instructions are pretty straight forward, and after all the blocks we’ve made, pinwheels are easy.

I only have one tip I’d like to add and you can take it or leave it.  If you cut (2) contrasting fabrics at 3 ¼” x 3 ¼”, sew a 1/4” seam all around the outside edges, then cut 2 times diagonally, you will have four half square triangles for your pinwheel.

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Finally, Quilt Construction:

I love the way Jen puts the quilt together in sections.  This way, you can move blocks around depending on your own color preferences.

I used color pencils to outline each section, which helped identify them as I put the blocks together on my design wall.

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I have really enjoyed making Delilah with all of you.  Please, post a photo of your finished quilt when you are done.  We would all like to see your hard work come to fruition!

 

Also, be sure to sign up for Golden Days, Jen’s newest Template of the Month.  We’ll have a lot of fun making it.  Once again, we’ll have a blog, videos, and a facebook page. Click here to see the details.

 

Here’s my completed and quilted Delilah!

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Thanks again, and may God Bless you all!

 

Love, Ann

Bakers Dozen: Quilt Along With HeartSong Quilts Month 4

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Baker’s Dozen Block of the Month

Month 4 – (4) Jewel Box Blocks and (8) Checkerboard Blocks

Hello, everyone!  We will now begin the blocks consisting of the second border.  You can sew the center blocks, inner border and the first border with the blocks from the first three months.  I like the fact that we can build the quilt as we go.

This month, we will be making (4) Jewel Box blocks found on pages 14 & 15; and (8) Checkerboard blocks found on pages 15 & 16.

Jewel Box Block:  The drawing in the pattern makes this look like a square, it is not.  The templates are diamonds or triangles.

Once again, I suggest you lay out the pieces, and sew each section.

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Watch those sneaky T6 corner pieces…I kept sewing them the wrong way around.

Here are my Jewel Box Blocks:

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Checkerboard Block:  The pattern tells us to cut 42 -  1 ½” squares for each block!  That’s 336 – 1 ½” squares!  Not for this girly I can tell you that.  I cut 1 ½” strips and sewed six of them side by side, then sub cut and sewed these together to make my blocks.  I made several strip sets, so it was plenty scrappy for me.

I made four from page 15, and four from page 16.

Finished Checkerboard Blocks:

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Thanks everyone for posting your progress. So fun to see the blocks.

Until next time, keep yourselves in stitches!

Ann

 

Delilah: Sew Along with HeartSong Quilts Month 11

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Delilah Month 11–Princess Cut; make 9 blocks.

Hi Everyone and Happy New Year!  Hope you all had a wonderful Holiday and a break from all that the world throws at you.

We are almost done with this amazing quilt, but what a fun journey it has been for me,

This month we make 9 Princess Cuts.

First things first — there is a correction to the pattern under CUTTING.

The first line reads: Cut 4 x T32.  Please change your pattern to read: Cut 8 x T42.  That’s it, probably a little typo.

You could go ahead and use the T42 template, but it is a 45 degree angle, so if you cut  a 2–5/8” x 2-5/8” square, then cut diagonally 2 times, you will get four 45 degree triangles. Cut a second 2-5/8” square and you have eight triangles for the center of the block.

With all the points in this block, pressing is super important.  Just remember to press the seams of T45/T44/T43/T42 to the left.  Press T45 Rev/T44/T 43 Rev/T42 to the right and all should be well.

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Press seams open when you join these sections.

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Finished Blocks:

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Thanks for with sticking with us!

See you next month!

Bakers Dozen: Quilt Along With HeartSong Quilts Month 3

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Baker’s Dozen Block of the Month

Month 3 – (4) Aircastle Star Blocks, (4) Combination Star Blocks, and Eight Willow Blocks

 

Hello Everyone, welcome back!

This month we are making the rest of the 6” blocks that will be used in the two borders that surround the center medallion blocks.

Aircastle Block, pages 9 & 10:  Confession time…I got really confused in reading the pattern, and trying to decide which fabrics to use and my color placement.  I drew a little cheat sheet with the pieces numbered to correspond with my fabrics and the sizes to cut each.  This really helped me.

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I also cut each piece for each block and arranged them in the appropriate place, before I began to sew.

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Here are my finished Aircastle Blocks:

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The next set of blocks will be the Combination Star Blocks, pages 11 & 12.  As in all the other blocks, lay out your cut pieces before you begin sewing.

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This blocks has triangle points that meet in the center of the block.

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If you have trouble with triangle points, I’ll show you how I keep my points “pointy”.  Insert a straight pin at the point of the first triangle, and then through the point of the second triangle.  Do this on each point to be joined.

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Pull the pin so it is straight and the two pieces are lined up together.  Put a pin on either side of the seam to hold that exact place tight.  When you sew this piece, do not remove the pins, but GO SLOWLY over the pins so the seam doesn’t shift.

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Finished Combination Star Blocks:

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The last eight blocks we will make for this month will be Willow Block, page 13, which is a rectangle.  Finished blocks size will be 7 ¼” x 6”, but again, your finished block size may vary.  All of my blocks are measuring ¼” smaller.  The point is they are ALL measuring ¼” smaller, so they will fit together beautifully in the finished quilt.

You will need to cut templates for this block.  Sadly, none of the triangles are 60 degrees or 45 degrees.  I did discover that by cutting a 3 ¾” x 4 ¾” rectangle and cutting it diagonally we can make two T8 triangles.  Make another 3 ¾”x 4 ¾” rectangle and cut it diagonally the opposite way to get two T8 reversed triangles.  Of course, if you want four fabrics for each corner, you’ll have to cut them one at a time.

The Willow Block has two options so I’m going to make four of each.

The first version of this block has the two diamond points meeting at the center.  For this reason, I have pressed one set of seams toward the center, and the opposite set of seams toward the outside.  This will allow you to “snuggle” your seams together for a perfect fit.

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Use the same technique with a straight pin at the points on both diamonds.  You’ll be able to feel the seams and just make sure they line up properly.

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First four Willow Blocks:

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Luckily the alternate version of this block is much simpler, no points to align. Yippee!

Here they are:

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Thanks to all of you who are sharing your blocks on our Facebook page. Have fun and see you all next month!

Xox,

Ann

Delilah: Sew Along with HeartSong Quilts Month 10

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Delilah, Month 10 – Mayflower, Make 9 Blocks total

Hi everyone, we’re getting close to the finish line!

There is a “Y” seam in this block, but after all the blocks we’ve done, this is a piece of cake.

Just a couple of notes:

T-40 IS a 60 degree triangle, so it won’t matter which point you use as the center.

T-41 IS a half square triangle, so you could cut (2) 2 – 7/78” x 2 – 7/8” squares, cut diagonally to make (4) half square triangles.

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Other than that, I can’t really add anything other than my finished blocks:

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See you next month,

Ann