Dreamscape Block Blog Hop: Day 7

Hello, fabric lovers! 

It's the last day of our Dreamscape Block Blog Hop. We hope you've enjoyed all seven block tutorials we've shared here--bookmark them to give them a try after Thanksgiving! 

For this blog hop, we selected a six-color palette from our luscious Dreamscape prints to play with: Navy, Cloud, Lime, Grape, Daffodil and Lead. You'll love the variety of blocks our designers have created! And make sure you enter each day's giveaway for a chance to win fat quarters of these six Dreamscape prints! Enjoy!

Here's Wendy! 

Hello Friends,  Happy Thanksgiving to you!  I am happy to be a part of the DreamScape Blog Hop! 

Each blog hop participant was given the following fabrics to come up with a 12" block.

My "Diamond Layer" block is going to look like this.  It consists of making two sub-units twice.  Easy peasy  - you shall see!

Constructing Unit A

Let's tackle the top right and bottom left sub-units - as they are the same. 

a.  For both unit A's, we will cut

(1) 7" x 7" square from Daffodil and Cloud

(2) 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" square from Lime

(2) 5 1/2" x 5 1/2" square from Grape

(2) 3" x 3" square from Lead

b.  Then, I turned all my squares over, and drew diagonal lines on the wrong side of each square, except for the Cloud square.

c.  HST UNITS.  Place the Daffodil square on the Cloud square, right sides together.  Sew 1/4" away from, and on right and left sides of drawn line.  Cut along the drawn line to yield 2 HST units.  Aligning the diagonal seam against the 45 degree line of quilting ruler, square HST units to measure 6 1/2" x 6 1/2" raw edge to raw edge.  These two HST units will be the starting point for Unit A.

d.  The Lime corner triangle is shown to be on the Daffodil side of the HST unit.  So, place the Lime square, right sides together, at the Daffodil corner of (1) HST unit.  Sew on the drawn diagonal line.  Trim 1/4" away from sewn line.  Open and press to reveal Lime corner triangle.

IMPORTANT NOTE:  That sets the precedent on how to add subsequent squares in Unit A, as well as Unit B.  I will not go through in detail for subsequent steps as they are the same.

e.  So, on the cloud side of the HST, first place the Grape square, right sides together, at the Cloud corner of the HST unit.  Sew on the drawn diagonal line.  Trim 1/4" away from the sewn line.  Open and press to reveal Grape corner triangle.  Repeat with Lead square to complete (1) Unit A.  Repeat to make (2) Unit A.

Constructing Unit B

a.  For both unit B's, we will cut

(1) 7" x 7" square from Daffodil and Lead

(2) 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" squares from Navy

(2) 5" x 5" squares from Lime

(2) 4" x 4" squares from Cloud

b.  Follow the same method used to make Unit A to make (2) Unit B - take note that Navy is on the Lead side of the HST unit, and Lime and Cloud on the Daffodil side of the HST unit.

Block Assembly

a.  Sew (2) Unit A and (2) Unit B in a four-patch manner to complete the block.

What to do with the trimmed off "dog ear" triangles? I save all of them for a future projects. :) 

Thanks so much for dropping by.  I hope you like my block "Diamond Layer" block as much as I have liked making it. :)

Thanks Wendy!

For a chance to win a bundle of the six Dreamscape prints we used, leave a comment below letting us know that you follow us on at least one of our social media platforms (either right here on the blog--options in the right hand sidebar, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest), as well as telling us what your favorite Thanksgiving dish. We'll randomly pick a winner and announce it next week! Giveaway is open through Sunday, November 27th at 11:59 pm EST.  

Follow along each day of the hop!

Tuesday 11/15: Chris from made by ChrissieD

Wednesday 11/16: Alison from Little Bunny Quilts

Thursday 11/17: Stephanie from Stitched Together Studios

Friday 11/18: Kristen from KD-Quilts

Monday 11/21: Benartex blog design team

Tuesday 11/22: Debby from Debby Kratovil Quilts

Wednesday 11/23: Wendy from Ivory Spring 

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Christmas in July Tutorials: Day 4

It's Day 4 of our Christmas in July hop! With school supplies and pumpkins and other harvest decor out in stores, Christmas doesn't seem so far off! We're happy to help you get started on the holidays!
Today, Wendy Sheppard from Ivory Spring is sharing her holiday pillow and ornament grouping using the Holiday Magic collection.

Here's Wendy!

Hello Again, Everyone!  This is Wendy from Ivory Spring.  It's always good to be back.  I trust that all of you are well.  I am honored to be part of Benartex's Christmas in July blog hop!  And my project is a very quick and easy home dec project, hen-and-chicks-style!

I have loved the patch print fabrics that have been coming out lately.  But I realize sometimes they can be a bit challenging as to how to best feature them in my projects.  I oftentimes use them as quilt backing fabrics, but today, I am bringing the Holiday Magic patch print fabrics to the front of the stage!

***

Supplies:
An assortment of Christmas fabrics from Benartex's Holiday Magic collection to include patch print fabric.
Craft stuffing
Basic sewing notions
Optional: Ribbon pieces if you want to make them into hanging ornaments like I did.

***

First up is my "mother hen" ornament pillow.
1.  I cut around the word "CHRISTMAS" from the black patch print fabric with a 1/4" seam allowance.  I was too lazy to measure just how long the rectangle is - so I just cut the accompanying pieces a little longer than the patch print rectangle.  [Okay, I did measure the patch print rectangle out of curiosity, and found the way I had cut it measures about 19-1/4" long.]  The holly print is at 1-1/2" wide, and the gift print is at 2-1/2".  The trick is to piece all the rectangles together, and then trim them straight after that.
[Flexibility tip:  You can certainly adjust the widths of the accompanying pieces to suit the final size of your pillow.]

2.  Here you see the front of my pillow top all pieced, trimmed and pressed.

3.  I lay it on my pillow back fabric, and cut a piece of fabric that is the same size as the pieced pillow front. [If you are making this into a hanging ornament, you will be positioning your ribbon piece at this point]

4.  Then, I sewed the front and back pieces, right sides together, leaving an opening.  The corners are trimmed, and the pillowcase is turned inside out -- all ready for me to stuff with stuffing.  I like to press my pillowcase somewhat into shape before I stuff.

5.  Hand stitch the opening shut, and the pillow is done!

Next, we will make the "chicks."

1.  Here you see I have cut individual letters from the cream patchprint fabric that spell out C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S.  I measured 1/4" around the outer frame around the letters and cut square that are about 2-5/8".  Again, I am using the piece and trim later method.  So I cut all my accompanying  pieces  at (1-1/2" x 5-1/2").

2.  I sewed the accompanying pieces, in no particular preference to the swatches for a scrappy look, to the letter C square, and trimmed as necessary. [Yikes, I need a new cutting mat!]

3.  Here you see the front of the pillow ornaments, ready to be assembled.

4.  As before, I would cut the pillow back fabric to size based on the pillow front.  Place the front and pieces right sides together, sew and leave an opening.  This time I attached a ribbon piece.

5.  Then I clipped the corners, turn the pillow inside out, press and stuff!  Voila, a hanging pillow ornament.

Making these project has been really fun - I intend to finish up all the Christmas letter ornaments in time for Christmas!  These ornaments will be perfect to teach my 5 year old to spell Christmas!
I hope you liked my little hen-and-chicks Christmas project using the patch print fabrics from Holiday Magic, and will use these fabrics in your Christmas projects this year!

Thanks so much Wendy!
Would you like to win a fat quarter bundle of Holiday Magic? It's easy! Simply sign up to follow the Benartex blog (use the email or Bloglovin' buttons in the right hand side bar and leave a comment letting us know that you do). In the comment, let us know--do you make your own ornaments? For a second chance to win, follow our Sew Interesting page on Facebook and leave a comment here letting us know you do. The giveaway is open through Monday, July 28 at 11:59 EST and the winner's name will be randomly selected and announced next week on the blog. Be sure to head over to Wendy's blog as well to check out her other work!

Check out the rest of our Christmas in July tutorials:
Day 1: Debby from Debby Kratovil Quilts and Season's Greetings

Day 2: Benartex Blog Design Team with Holiday Balis

Day 3: Lisa from Stubbornly Crafty with Christmas Pure & Simple

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Friday Inspiration

Here's a little inspiration for your Friday:

"Spiral Squared," by Wendy Sheppard of Ivory Spring. Wendy used the Zest collection from Kanvas, paired with white, to create her geometric design.

"Spiral Squared" by Wendy Sheppard,
featured in McCall's Quilting magazine, January/February 2014 issue

We asked Wendy to tell us more about this cool quilt:

What did you find appealing about the Zest fabrics?
I was attracted to Zest by the geometric designs. I am a geometry-oriented person, and my heart sang when I saw the fabrics in yellow and gray colorways.


Your light and dark "split" is not in the traditional corner spot, like in a Sunshine and Shadows Log Cabin design. Can you talk about how you decided where to divide the light and dark sections?
I wanted to use only rectangles or squares to construct the quilt top so that even the most beginning quilters wouldn't be scared off by having to do triangles. I am hoping the quilt would appeal to even teenagers to try out quilting because it is a design with a bit of "cool" factor.


Why did you decide to use just a yellow print in the outer two borders? 
I want the focus to be on the spiral itself.  So, the subdued yellow print in the two borders are just supporting the central design.


Favorite print in the collection? 

The backing fabric.

How do you envision this quilt being used? 

Though contemporary in design, I can actually see the quilt display in an old fashioned home decor setting for a contrasting accent.  

The machine quilting is beautiful! Tell us about it.

The white negative space was perfect for quilting.  Since the width isn't too wide, I decided to just do textured quilting to let the fabrics really shine.  A note to machine quilters - such negative space is perfect for practicing a quilting motif because any mistakes will be masked in the overall look of the quilt.  

See more photos of Wendy's quilt, including close-ups of her machine quilting on this quilt, and her other work, here.

See the entire Zest collection here.

Find McCall's Quilting here.

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Holiday Blog Hop!

We're into December already...how did that happen?! 
Did Black Friday and Cyber Monday leave you feeling shopped out? 
We have just the cure. 

Starting Wednesday, we'll be sharing a week's worth of fantastic tutorials in our Holiday Blog Hop. 

We know December is busy, so we've jokingly named this the "Yes! You really do still have time to sew one more present" blog hop. But really, sewing a handmade gift is so much more satisfying and relaxing than waiting in yet another line at a big box store. (Now if you're shopping for fabric, that's another story.) The beauty of the tutorials we'll be sharing is that while they would make lovely gifts, they're not seasonal, so if December is just too full, you can come back to them in January when life calms down again. 

Here's our line-up:
Wednesday: Benartex blog team
Thursday: Jennie from Clover & Violet
Friday: Benartex blog team
Monday: Melissa from My Fabric Relish 
Tuesday: Erin from Why Not Sew
Wednesday: Wendy from Ivory Spring

Stop by our blog each day to see the featured tutorial and find out how you can win a fat quarter bundle of Benartex fabric.

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A Christmas quilt you can still finish this year!

 If you're anything like us, you had grand plans to finish a quilt for the holidays early this year, and it didn't happen. And with Thanksgiving around the corner and December fast approaching, you're probably feeling like it's not going to happen. We can help you change that feeling! Meet the "Boxing Day" quilt.

Wendy Sheppard of Ivory Spring designed "Boxing Day" for The Quilter magazine. This quilt combines super-easy pieced blocks with pre-printed panel squares from Michele D'Amore's Home for the Holidays collection. 

"Boxing Day" by Wendy Sheppard;
featured in The Quilter magazine December 2013/January 2014

Wendy will take us on a little tour of her quilt and design process.

What attracted you to the Home for the Holidays collection? 

The colors - I love the traditional Christmas colors.  To see the palette of the collection come in softer tones was exciting, and I love how the blue was mixed in for a slightly contemporary look.

Why did you decide to mix pieced blocks and the fussy-cut squares together in the design?  

The panel has 6 different block scenes, and since I wanted a larger quilt, I needed something else to fill in the gap, so to speak.

What prompted you to add the solid colored square in the pieced blocks?

After deciding on what pieced blocks to use, I wanted the blocks to reflect the spirit of Boxing Day.  The solid colored squares represent the goodies contained in the "gift boxes."

Can you talk about your layout decisions?

I was trying to use the vertical strip layout to show a slightly different way to incorporate panel and pieced blocks in a quilt.  I wanted the focus to be the quilt center.  Therefore, I didn't use a print for the outer border.  And I intentionally did a relatively narrow outer border to emphasize focusing on the quilt center.  I chose the red narrow sashing to frame the quilt center so that the eye would be drawn to all the interesting details in the quilt center.

What do you like best about this quilt?

The fabrics - the prints are just perfect for a fresh, and yet traditional quilt.

Talk about the machine quilting motif you chose.

I quilted my Jester's Hat motif in large scale for texture.  I didn't want the quilting to take away from the fabric prints. I have written about my Jester Hat motif about here, here and here).

Thanks Wendy! What a great holiday quilt!

See the entire Home for the Holidays collection here. 

Purchase the kit for this quilt here.

Read more about Wendy here and see her post about "Boxing Day" here.

Find The Quilter magazine here.

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