Quilting Treasures “Harmony” Summer Mystery Sew-Along / Part 4

Hello Friends, Happy Saturday to you all!  I am glad you are back for the latest installment for Quilting Treasures Harmony Summer Mystery Sew Along!  Before I start with today’s construction, I want to say a big thank you to those of you 36-plyers who have been so sweet about the little hiccup.  I trust that Quilting Treasures took care of you by sending you the replacement strips to make your strip set having a total of 40 strips!  Thank you again for being sweet and gracious about it.

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If you are new joining in, and would like to access previous posts, click:

HERE for introductory details

HERE for Installment #1

HERE for Installment #2

HERE for Installment #3

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YOU MAY WANT TO DOWNLOAD TODAY’S INSTRUCTIONS IN PDF FORMAT TO FOLLOW ALONG HERE. [Please note that this file is the MOST updated version!  Always check the postings on this site for the most updated versions of instructions.]  Instructions will be available on this site through Oct 31, 2016.

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We will actually be solving part of the mystery today.  So, we begin by sorting out what we need for today’s installment.  We will need the four patch units made on July 9, the pastel row units made on July 23, selected strips and vanilla weave fabric.

The ready made units:

The vanilla weave fabric, and strips (L-R): soft green weave, daffodil leaf, apricot leaf, party pink leaf, turquoise leaf, azalea spiral square.

CUTTING & SEWING

#1.  VERY simple — to start solving the mystery, the units you will need to make for today’s installment are a bunch of flying geese units.  40 total.  Refer to the instructions to cut all the necessary pieces, and make 8 flying geese units each for daffodil leaf, apricot leaf, party pink leaf, turquoise leaf and azalea spiral square.

#2.  VERY important — do be careful when you cut the square 2-1/2″ squares from the strips because a 42″ strip cuts exactly (16) 2-1/2″ squares.  In the event of a cutting error, you may substitute from leftover fabrics.

#3.  FRIENDLY reminder — when you make the flying geese, try not to heat set the units with the iron until later. So you can see my flying geese units are not exactly flat at this point of the process.

Also, I would go ahead and square up the flying geese units as best as I can, and trim off any excess as necessary. You can see in the following picture even though I had sewn as carefully as I could, and that I hadn’t used the iron, distortion still happens.

#4.  After the flying geese units are constructed, follow the instructions to sew them to the four-patch units to make a star unit.  Now, if you want the points to match up nicely when you sew the flying geese units to the four-patch units. You might try the following:

a.  Crease downward the flying geese where you can check to see if the “V” of the flying geese unit matches up to the seam intersection of the four-patch unit at the “guess-timated” 1/4-inch seam allowance.  If they don’t match, scooch until they do. :)

b.  If all check out, I place a very fine pin (transparent blue in picture below) where the “V” of the flying geese unit meets the seam intersection of the four-patch unit.  I would very very carefully sew over that very fine pin by moving the hand wheel of my machine when I get close to that pin.

c.  And hopefully after you sew your units together, your points would line up somewhat decently for you. :)

d.  You will find out a star unit will start to emerge as you follow along the instructions.  It wasn’t till after the star units was completed that I used the iron to heat set the sewn unit. When I did use the iron, I pressed and not ironed.

#5.  After a star unit is constructed, you will now have the necessary puzzle pieces to solve part of the mystery!  Sew all the constructed units together to complete 1 block.

#6.  Refer to the instructions for fabric placements to make a total of 10 star blocks!!!

And that’s it for today!!!  I hope you have had a bit of Sherlock Holme-ish kind of fun today.  I shall see you next week to solve the second part of the mystery. :)  Have a lovely rest of your Saturday.  Hugs to you all!

Quilting Treasures “Harmony” Summer Mystery Sew-Along / Part 3

VERY VERY VERY Important Public Announcement – please read carefully before proceeding: 

It was brought to my attention that some of you might have ended up with strips sets of 36-ply instead of 40-ply! Not good… but what fun is a mystery without a bit of mysterious twist?  So, in order to determine whether you have the 36- or 40-ply, you have to put on your detective hat and do a quick look-see.  If you have TWO strips of the weave pastels (namely, cloud blue, powder pink, soft green and butter), then, you have the 40-ply, and all is well.

We will be using TWO strips of the following pastels today (L to R: powder pink weave, cloud blue weave and butter weave), shown in the picture below.  The pastel strips are the lightest of colors among the strips.

If your strip set has only ONE strip for the weave pastels, then… you will not be able to complete the correct number of the units today until Quilting Treasures sends you the extra strips.  If you are one of the 36-ply-ers, please email me your mailing address AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, latest by this coming Thursday (July 28), so that I can forward the address to Quilting Treasures.  Quilting Treasures WILL take care of sending you the missing strips, but you have to email me your mailing address!  My email address is: wendy2@wendysheppard.net

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If you are new joining in, and would like to access previous posts, click:

HERE for introductory details

HERE for Installment #1

HERE for Installment #2

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YOU MAY WANT TO DOWNLOAD TODAY’S INSTRUCTIONS IN PDF FORMAT TO FOLLOW ALONG HERE. [Please note that this file is the MOST updated version!  Always check the postings on this site for the most updated versions of instructions.]  Instructions will be available on this site through Oct 31, 2016.

Happy Saturday, Friends.  I hope you have had a good week.  It’s time to get my box of Harmony strips out for today’s installment.

Basically, we will just be sewing together 2 1/2″ squares together to make row units for today’s installment.  Easy peasy, as long as you keep track of what goes where.

CUTTING & SEWING BRIGHT ROW UNITS

#1.  Very simple.  Divide the following strips into 2 groups.

Group 1:  L to R – marine swirl, tangerine swirl, royal spiral square, sunflower swirl, melon weave. Cut from each strip 10 (2 1/2″ x 2 1/2″) squares.  Arrange the squares in the same order, and sew together to make a row unit. Make a total of 10 units.

Group 2:  L to R – geranium leaf, carrot spiral square, crocus leaf, bubble gum swirl, deep ocean spiral square.  Cut from each strip 10 (2 1/2″ x 2 1/2″) squares.  Arrange the squares in the same order, and sew together to make a row unit. Make a total of 10 units.

#2.  You should have something like this upon completing this step.

CUTTING & SEWING PASTEL ROW UNITS

#1.  Identify and layout these strips:

2 cloud blue weave, 2 powder pink weave, 2 butter weave, lilac weave, melon weave, butter cream weave, powder blue weave, turquoise blue weave, green mist weave, cotton candy weave, peony weave, soft green weave

NOTE:  At this point, some of you might only have 1 cloud blue weave, 1 powder pink weave and 1 butter weave — if that is the case, remember to email me your address as stated in the public announcement at the beginning of this post.

#2.  Cutting the strips:

From the cloud blue weave, powder pink weave and butter weave strips, cut: (20) 2-1/2″ squares

From lilac weave strip, cut: (8) 2-½” squares / From melon weave strip, cut: (2) 2- ½” squares

From each of the remaining strips, cut: (10) 2-1/2″ squares

NOTE:  Cutting is tight on the pastel strips.  You should be able to cut 16 (2 1/2″ x 2 1/2″) squares from each strip. In the event of finding yourself not having enough of a certain strip to cut the required number of squares, there should be some leftover from these strips that you can use to substitute (if you have the 40-ply strip set): melon, butter cream, powder pink, cloud blue, soft green, butter.

#3.  Make (8) Row Units 1a and (2) Row Units 1b.  These row units only have 4 squares arranged and sewn together.

1a: L to R – cloud blue weave, powder pink weave, lilac weave and butter weave.  Arrange squares in the same order and sew to make 1 Row Unit.  Make a total of 8 units.

1b: L to R – cloud blue weave, powder pink weave, melon weave and butter weave.  The order is the same, except swapping out melon weave for lilac weave.  Arrange squares in the same order and sew to make 1 Row Unit.  Make a total of 2 units.

You should have units looking like these upon completing this step.  Top shows (8) 1a units, and bottom shows (2) 1b units.

#4.  Divide the following strips into 2 groups.  Row units in these 2 groups have 5 squares arranged and sewn together.

Group 1:  L to R – cloud blue weave, powder pink weave, powder blue turquoise blue weave, green mist weave. Arrange the squares in the same order, and sew together to make a row unit. Make a total of 10 units.

Group 2: L to R – butter weave, cotton candy weave, peony weave, soft green weave, butter weave.  Please note that picture only shows butter once on the left.  Arrange the squares in the same order, and sew together to make a row unit. Make a total of 10 units.

Your units should look like these upon completing all the pastel row units.   If you look at the right row units, the top and bottom patches of the unit are BOTH butter weave, even though the bottom patch looks slightly orange-y due to the lighting.  You are good as long as you have 2 butter patches arrange and sewn in that unit. :)

Again, if you received the 36-ply strip set, you will not be able to make all the required row pastel units.  SO, you will need to email me your mailing address to rectify your situation.  We are going to have a week break for catching up next week.  I will be back on August 5 with Installment #4.  Until then…. meanwhile, I hope you continue to have a lovely summer!

Ready, almost set….. Secrets to share?

Hello Friends, only 3 more days, and we will have the first part of our Summer Mystery Sew-Along revealed!  Are you ready?  Come back here at 7am EST for the first installment of instructions.  I know some shops are having sewing parties – that sounds so fun!  Check with your local quilt shops to see if they are participating in the Quilting Treasures’ Summer Mystery Sew-Along.  If not, you can easily follow along if you purchase the supplies from the participating shops.  Click here for the list of shops.  Please note that the list might not be the most updated version. Anyway how, I think we will have quite a bit of fun together sewing together this summer!!!

I know there are so many projects out there that tempt us quilters.  I am one who is consistently tempted, and have to admit to you I have started a few quilts myself that are not work related.

A couple of things that I find helpful in keeping me keeping on with the projects:

#1.  I make sure they projects are easily accessible.  I keep them in handy tubs so that I don’t have to hunt for them when I have a few extra minutes to work on them.

#2.  I work on the blocks (if they are pieced) here and there in between piecing work-related quilt blocks.  I have to admit it takes extra concentration to keep the measurements straight when I am working on different blocks.  But that helps grow my non work-related blocks. :)

SO — what are your secrets in juggling multiple quilt projects?  I should dearly like to know!

Do you love mysteries?

I have to admit I am not a huge fan of mysteries.  Even when I read a book or watch a movie, I have to know the ending first before getting into it.  But…. I am collaborating with Quilting Treasures and hosting a Summer Mystery Sew-Along starting July 9.  Go figure!!!

We get to play with these beautiful fabrics!

I can promise you that the things we have to do aren’t going to be demanding — because it’s summer after all.  The instructions come in 6 installments (July 9, July 16, July 23, Aug 6, Aug 13, Aug 20) to make a 46″ x 66″ lap sized quilt.  I hope you will join me?

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Click here if you haven’t known about the incredible Harmony Line, newly released by Quilting Treasures.

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Below are the official participating shops where you can contact to purchase the supplies.  If you are customers of these shops, please tell them I thank them for being a part of this cooked up Mystery!

Candy’s Quiltworks, Northridge, CA

Nimble Thimble, Gilroy, CA

Blue Iris Quilt Shop, Palo Cedro, CA

The Quilt Corral, Willows, CA

Country Cloth Shop, Angels Camp, CA

Kathy’s Fabric Trunk, Del Norte, CO

Quilter’s Dream, Loveland, CO

Rossville Quilts, Rossville, IN

Sew Unique by Jackie, Granger IN

Sew What’s New, Las Cruces, NM

Patchwork Angels, Endicott, NY

Quilty Pleasures, Geneva, NY

Pinwheels & Posies, Dickinson, TX

Tea Time Quilting, Houston, TX

Sew Much More, Nederland, TX

Quilters Crossing, Tomball, TX

Quilter’s Apprentice, Terrell, TX

Sew Let’s Quilt It, Dallas, TX

Savvy Quilters, Savoy, TX

Patti’s Last Resort, Acton, TX

Rahrah’s Fabrics & Quilting, Lubbock, TX

Tomorrow’s Quilts, Waco, TX

Wimberly Stitch Studio, Wimberly, TX

Beefore It’s A Quilt, Port Lavaca, TX