This Week's Project!

 I've had the pattern and fabric for this project for a while,  it's been sitting in one of my fabric closets.  The pattern is called Cameos and the fabric is Mill House Inn, both are by Fig Tree and Co.  The green inner round is actually left over from the Fresh Cottons fabric I had for the Saltwater Taffy quilt.(also designed by Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree and Co.)  figtreequilts.com

The pattern is for a lap size quilt but I wanted to make this one a queen size for our bed so I bought extra fabric because I need 42 cameos instead of 20.

 I started out with rectangles and then added a square to each corner then trimmed.

 I then pressed each corner out flat

 and added the top and bottom, then the sides and

 trimmed the corners again.

 Now it's time to open the Honeybun (I used 2)

and add another round.

 Here is one of the finished cameos,  isn't it pretty?

 I have finished 20 of these and have 22 more finished except for the 3rd round.  I had no idea these would be so time consuming, though I know once this quilt is finished it will be well worth the time and effort.

This is only part of what I have trimmed off of the corners.

And Finally...Saltwater Taffy

Do you remember this quilt?  It has been in the quilting pile for months.  I finally finished it yesterday.

This view from the back looks like a stained-glass window.

The Fresh Cottons fabrics from Fig Tree Quilt Co. were so fun to work with. 

The pattern is called "Salt Water Taffy" by Joanna Figueroa.  The dimensions are 54 by 64, and the batting is 80/20 cotton poly.

When I was deciding how to quilt this I thought about what taffy looks like and I remembered one of my favorite flavors was pink with brown swirls.  Therefore I quilted swirls.

I chose one of the green prints from the Fresh Cottons collection for the back and a brown floral for the binding.  I know it might seem strange but I love the browns in this fabric collection because they remind me of my favorite chocolate pudding.  My family will know which one I'm talking about, the one from the Lion House Cookbook.

This is the first quilt that I have made for myself (that's my story and I'm sticking to it). I love, love, love it.

Now that this is done, my quilting que is empty.  I don't have anything to quilt until I get another quilt top finished.  I'd better get busy...... making some of that pudding.

More of the Process

I worked on the next set of blocks last night and this morning.

Instead of having four cream triangles on each corner there are three and then one of the red dot print.  I made 14 of these, they will go along with the 17 blocks that I made the other day totaling 31 blocks.

Next, I put together these red and cream half square triangles.

I sewed two together and then

A third.

It's time to trim again so I got out my template.

After trimming it looks like this.

I then started sewing triangles on the three corners,  two red and one cream.

I trimmed again so all the sides were straight.

I used my long ruler to measure 1/4 inch past the center and then cut off

 the excess fabric.

I have 16 of these to finish trimming tomorrow.  I made 18.

I will start putting it all together tomorrow.  This is what the bottom right corner will look like.

Today!

I started today by cutting squares that are 3 1/2 inches square from the cream broadcloth.

Then I cut each of the squares in half.

I placed the triangles over the print to be sewn like shown in the picture.

I sewed a cream colored triangle on each of the 4 Fresh Cottons print triangles.

This is now starting to look like a block.

I pressed each block in preparation for trimming.

I trimmed one side and then the opposite side so it measured 8 inches across.  Then I trimmed the last 2 sides.

Here is the finished result, a perfect 8 inch square.  I made 17 of these for the center of the quilt.

The Process So Far!

Well, here I am with 62 five inch squares of Fresh Cottons prints and 62 five inch squares of cream broadcloth.  Notice I have drawn a line diagonally across each of the cream squares.

I am now sewing one cream square to one print square, stiching 1/4 inch on each side of the drawn line. 

Next I cut on the line.

And I have two squares that look like this.

I always press to the print or the darker fabric.  This works very well for pinwheels because when you sew them together the seam allowance will fall on opposite sides.

I put four half-square triangles together for each pinwheel.  I sewed the bottom two together and then the top two then pressed the seams again and sewed the two halves together.

It will now look like this.  If you are very careful about your 1/4 inch seams and press well and pin carefully at the seams, your points should come together very well in the center of the block.

I then made a plastic template from the pattern that came with the quilt pattern.  I traced around the template with a pencil on each of the four corners.

Now it is time to start trimming.  I used my triangle ruler to get a nice straight edge instead of just eyeballing the pencil line.

This is what it should look like after it is fully trimmed.

Here are a few more.  I really like the look of these octagons.

Here is the pile of pinwheel blocks ready to be trimmed.  The quilt pattern calls for 31 of them so I guess I'd better get busy.

Fresh Cottons!

The fabric for my next quilt came in the mail on Tuesday, I'm so excited.  Ever since I first saw the Fresh Cottons collection I've loved it.  I will be making the Salt Water Taffy pattern by Fig Tree Quilts and hopefully entering it in the county fair in a few weeks. I started cutting yesterday and today I will be sewing the pinwheels together. Wish me luck.

Also, check out my Etsy shop.  Some of the quilts from the July Jamboree are for sale.  Just click on "jennteach" and it will take you right there.