Joan from Moosestash Quilting announced the “Fairy Tales Blog Hop” a few months ago and I eagerly hopped aboard knowing that a great quilt project would come to mind. Well, the muse eluded me for weeks on end; I just couldn’t come up with anything. Joan spoke about quilting Fairy Tales and now that I think of it I should have done the fabric stash organization as my fairy tale, but alas, I just thought of it – a fairy tale of organized fabric! My fabric stash did come to the rescue and is part of the answer to what is Kathleen making for the hop.
I began looking at blocks in Electric Quilt and Block Base +. I found a block that I loved, called “The Castle Wall”, that was published in 1931 in the Kansas City Star. It had all the beauty of a castle: the octagon shape for the courtyard, the squares for the battlement and the diamonds for the turrets. Now that some preliminary decisions are made, I am off to build my castle wall.
I remembered I won this beautiful fabric from Bernie, of Needle and Foot, in one of her contests. [By the way, Bernie is closing her shop so stop by and help her retire sooner – I may be going back for more!]. The fabric is from Maureen Cracknell’s Mystical Land and fits the ticket with its unicorns, hummingbirds, stars, bears, owls, and moons. I am making my mystical castle, maybe in the mists of Avalon, a story that gripped my imagination when I read it years ago.
Now, the real trick was piecing this lovely block. I went to my friendly Electric Quilt 8 and got to work, but in the end I printed the templates from Block Base +. Why you ask? Simple – there were more options in the updated version of BlockBase +. I print the templates without seams on freezer paper, in lieu of making templates and tracing. I trim the 1/4″ around the blocks then, begin the tedious task of sewing, starting and stopping for each seam. Fairy tale #2 in this would be that I finished 3 or 4 blocks and made the table runner I was thinking of, but time was not on my side, so I came up with a nice little wall hanging.
For those of you who are curious about this technique. The slide show goes through the steps. It is isn’t hard, but tedious. The first time I used this was when I was teaching a class and the student spoke English, but had a quilt in a tiny book in Swedish and we could only do it from the diagrams. She wanted to make it on the machine and this was the easiest way we could make the templates!
I stopped to admire my work and realize I could have paid more attention to which corners I placed the setting triangles on. Because I didn’t I was now faced with putting the square on point if I wanted it to work out.
I guess this another installment of “the block tells you what it wants to be”. I was pleased with the decision and checked to see how the fabric would work. I first added a border of pink to make it float, and then I added the setting triangles.
Then I made a backing, with the leftover pieces, saving the leftover purple for the binding. I must say, I used almost all of the fabric for this little quilt. I squared the quilt before putting on the frame. The ruler I had was a 9 1/2″ square, but, I knew if I put the diagonal line on the triangle edges, I would get a better cut. If I am thinking ahead (and I was) I make those triangles oversized so I can trim. Butting the edge of a smaller ruler next the triangle, allowed me to make one long cut.
Now on to the quilting decisions.
I decided on a pattern called Denali from Anne Bright that is on the HandiQuilter ProStitcher Library. We have been to Denali, and it is magical, so it seemed fitting for this quilt. That being said, I loved the design, but I wasn’t really sure about the triangles and setting it into them. It worked. I did the 4 setting triangles and then divided the square into a top/bottom triangle. It worked, with a minor glitch. You may notice that the additional tab is off center, that is because it probably needs only one nail to hold up the dowel, so I though about it!
I wanted to use up the fabric on this piece, so I made a back with leftover bits. I loved that teal fabric and although I could have saved it, it felt like it belonged on the back of the quilt.
Be sure to check out the other blogs – I am sure there are some terrific ideas out there. And come back tomorrow, if you can, for my tips and tutorials blog!
Remembering Avalon
25″ square
Fabric Line: Art Gallery Fabric, Mystical Land, by Maureen Cracknell
Pantographs: Denali and Denali Double by Anne Bright
Quilting Thread: Navy and Grey Glide and DecoBob Gray (bobbin)
Monday June 21
Becky’s Adventurers in Quilting and Travel |
Creatin’ in the Sticks | Food for Thought |
Kathleen McMusing | Samelia’s Mum | VroomansQuilts
Tuesday June 22
Karrins Crazy World | Quilted Delights |
Quilting & Learning – What a Combo! | Selina Quilts |
Sewing Up My Fabric | Stitchin at Home |
Wednesday June 23
Just Let Me Quilt | Websterquilt | Inflorescence |
Elizabeth Coughlin Designs | Just Because Quilts |
Domestic Felicity |
Thursday June 24
Scrapdash | That Fabric Feeling | Ms P Designs USA |
Quilt Schmilt | Patchouli Moon Studio | Days Filled With Joy |
Goofin’ Off Around the Block |
Friday June 25
Quilt Fabrication | My Bumbleberry Life | Songbird Designs |
Words & Stitches | MooseStashQuilting
Coming Up on the Blog:
12″ House Block/s
Tips and Tutorials on the 22nd! – 6/22
OMG – will I finish????
Link Up:
Put Your Foot Down #104
Wednesday Wait Loss #229
Free Motion Mavericks
Friday Foto Fun #183
Finished or Not Friday
UFO Busting #150
June’s Favorite Finish
Magical indeed!!! On point just adds to the look. I had to chuckle at making a block from Swedish instructions. I have done that many time with Japanese instructions, and it’s tricky!
That was a creative way to look for a fairytale. It’s so cool to see how far back quilters were thinking of a design like that. I wonder what made them think of that?
Beautiful castle walls!
A quilters Tale! I love it! The little quilt is beautiful!
I love how the center looks like a medallion and seems to float.
Love the pattern and pretty fabrics, and your block “spoke” well to tell you what it wanted to be!
That’s a neat pattern–I had never heard of it before. Love the fabrics! Thanks for sharing!
Beautiful block. The fabric is perfect also. The unicorns are just magical. Thank you for sharing!
Creative and well done! 🙂
I knew you’d come up with something fun, and you did! I like the block on point, too. Nice finish!
Your quilt is so pretty; I love the fabric choices you made.
Oh my gosh, you nailed it! Literally all the way around. I have to laugh at your fairy tales of organized fabric. Guess what I did yesterday? LOL!! Then you seriously came up with the perfect block and mastered all the pitfalls it tried to give you! You are amazing! I love reading about how things all come to be. Thanks for being a part of the hop.
Oh I really love this piece. The name of the design is perfect for this hop but your original statement of a fairy tale based on organizing your stash made me laugh out loud.
Beautiful castle wall wall hanging! I can’t imagine sewing all those odd shapes together!! Great job!
this turned out so pretty. thanks for sharing
Beautiful project, thanks so much for sharing your technique.
Hi Kathleen! What a fun story to go along with a wonderfully suited block for a fairy tale. I have to say that I would have been lost trying to come up with something for this hop! The castle block and the fabrics you chose, not to mention the tale that was shared, is just perfect-o. {{Hugs}} ~smile~ Roseanne
Any prince or princess would love to live in your rendition of a castle because it is beautiful! I loved reading all your steps to this lovely quilt…thank you for sharing!
Placing the block on point is a beautiful solution. I agree that the block itself has all the makings of stuff of fairy tales with its name and shape. What a fun quilt!
Hi,
Awesome block, love the colors your using.
Have a great day!
Very pretty block!
What a great story in the block making process it looks great well done
Kathleen it is the perfect block on point for a Fairy Tale hop. Lovely fabrics and thanks for sharing your great tutorial.
The block and the finished little quilt is beautiful! Have you eve thought of compiling a book from all of these challenges you have made? Happy summer quilting in Maine!
Wow, what a block and I loved the whole story of the block and how you made it work – even if it had to be put-on-point! Excellent.
It turned out fantastic! It’s fun to see it grow from a block to a mini quilt.
Such a lovely quilt! Thanks for sharing.
A great creative process and a unique take on the Fairy Tale theme led to a very beautiful quilt!
Oh wow Kathleen, what an absolutely glorious block! Love your take on the fairy tale theme.
Wow! What a beautiful mini you created Kathleen! The Mists of Avalon is one of my all-time favourite books!! I lived in that book…. I need to make this block – it’s a good’un.
Beautiful block!
This came out beautifully Kathleen!
The backing fabric pic wouldn’t come through, but everything else looks fabulous and I love it on point. Ah, mystic Avalon!
The block is a great interpretation of a castle wall. I also see a crown when I look at it. Thanks so much for sharing how it came together.
Hi Kathleen that’s a really lovely quilt – I love the fabrics! Take care.
Very Clever!
This is SO pretty, Kathleen — totally worth the fuss! I love those challenging vintage block designs! I am so curious about what the different printing options are through BlockBase, because I did purchase that program as soon as it came out. I know that I have been able to print templates from EQ8 both with or without seam allowances included in the past. I haven’t played with the new BlockBase separately from EQ8 at all, though. What additional functionality does it have for printing templates? Does it print alignment marks or something else that facilitates piecing?
That is a very cool block! I Love how you used it and built around it, it’s so pretty! xx
Talk about several “make it work” moments! The result though is lovely. Sometimes these things are just meant to be. Thanks for sharing on Wednesday Wait Loss.