Kevin the Quilter: June 2019

Thursday, June 27, 2019

Simply Sensational Summer Scrap Quilt Clue #1

I'd like to welcome quilters from far and wide to......

the........

CLUE #1

Thanks to my friend Joyce for making

the PDFs for this Mystery Quilt!)

Remember, from the Introduction last week, this quilt is a 2 color quilt using high contrast colors. I am going to try to teach a few things while making this quilt. As far as contrast, I think we all can agree, that contrast is something that is very different from something else. When referring to colors for this quilt, I will be using batik fabrics in browns and neutrals. With this being said, I am including light values, medium values, and dark values of each of the 2 colors. This will provide the highlights and low lights I seek and desire in my quilt's coloration. Which ever colors you have chosen to use, make sure you have a wide variety of hues/values of each. The color placement within the quilt will not alter the design. Brown will be referred to as Color 1. Neutral will be referred to as Color 2.

Side note: I try to think ahead when it comes to my quilt making endeavors. I need a really nice fall quilt for my bed, therefore I chose browns and neutrals. I also love EASY summer time sewing. I hope this answers some of your questions concerning my color choices, and the name of this mystery/sew along.

Keeping things simple.......

When cutting.......cut accurately and consistently.

When sewing......sew accurately, using a consistent 1/4" seam.

When pressing......press seams the same way for all units made.

Please do NOT stress over seams not matching, or nesting. When it comes to scrap quilting, perfection is highly over rated in my opinion. Some of my seams are definitely not perfect!

Also, I do have to admit something to you all here. I am human, and make mistakes on a regular basis. Not just with quilting! LOL If there are any mistakes within the directions of this quilt, please accept my apology right here and now! LOL

Here is your first clue......

You can make this quilt using whatever size square you would like. Now how about that? You get to choose your own colors AND the size of square you want to work with???? YAHOOOO! Seriously, this quilt is built around a simple square, and (without giving anything away), as long as you keep everything the same size for your units, you can use any size square you want! 1.5", 2", 2.5", or even 3"! I personally wouldn't go any bigger than 3 because I don't like working with large squares. 1" may be going a little too small, just sayin'! So have at it quilters! Choose your own square size. I chose to work with 2.5" squares in keeping somewhat with the size of the inspiration quilt. I will be using 2.5" squares as reference in the directions, but, please remember, you can use which ever size square you would like.

So what will we be sewing this first month of summer????

4 Patches in Color 1

184 to be exact!

Using 2.5" squares

will yield a 4.5" 4 patch unit.

I encourage you to work from your smallest of scraps

with a "USE'R UP" mentality!

This is the way I typically work.

I love piecing twosies, then foursies!

Try not to match fabrics in your 4 patch units.

Be bold, and try to have 4 different fabrics in

each individual 4 patch you make.

If you do strip piece for these units,

please take into consideration utilizing

strips of varying lengths.

You don't want the same fabrics next to

each other all of the time, do you? LOL

If ever I do strip piece, I always cut down those

strips so I will have a larger variety of different

fabrics next to each other.

Look who helped Ole' Kevin the Quilter with this clue!

My beautiful, sweet Momma!

Oh, we had so much fun talking about her days working

in a garment factory! She enjoyed herself here at the

Quilt Cave, and you all KNOW

I loved having her and Dad here with me!

We reminisced about when I was a young boy sewing

with my Great Auntie Mae.

Boy, did I love spending time with her

during the Summer, and learned so much from her about

cooking and quilting.

Pressing matters are left up to you.

My lovely Momma was intrigued by the

spinning of seams.

I do spin my seams for these 4 patch units.

By doing this, my units lay flatter, and

MOST.......NOT ALL seams nest

in this quilt.

There are a ton of tutorials on the internet

concerning how to

spin seams. Look them up if you are

so inclined. If you aren't, press the way

you typically press your 4 patches.....

just remain consistent and press all of them

the same way.

Oh yeah......just so you all know.....

this quilt is Mother approved!

My Mom really loves this quilt!

HOOOORAY!

ALSO.....

We will be making the following.....

2 Patches in Color 1

Make 16 of these 2 patch units.

Press the seam to one side.

Using 2.5" squares will yield

a 2.5" x 4.5" 2 patch unit.

And....before you put Color 1 away.....

Cut 32 individual squares of your

Color 1 in your chosen size square.

Again, mine are 2.5" squares.

Totals for Color 1 squares used:

800

That's it for our first clue.

Don't be overwhelmed.......

remember, this is easy sewing.

Have fun digging in your scraps

to find a lot of variety for this first clue.

And, enjoy your summertime sewing!

Thanks for all of the encouragement!

Keep on Quilting!
Kevin the Quilter

Thursday, June 20, 2019

Simply Sensational Summer Scrap Quilt!

Hey all you scrap quilters!

How many of you all like things that are simple?

Do you like things that are sensational?

What about Summer......do you all like the season that is upon us?

And, how do you all feel about Scrap Quilts???????

If you said yes or loved any of the questions above, I implore you to join me and the quilters of Scrap Club hosted by Kevin the Quilter in the..........

Thanks to my good friend Alycia of Alycia Quilts

and her son, Little Bit, for the cool badge!

Feel free to add it to your blog

and help spread the word!

Scrap quilting means different things to different quilters.

For me, it is about using a huge variety of fabrics in one quilt.

Although I do LOVE utilizing the smallest of scraps in my

quilt making endeavors, I will definitely cut from larger pieces

of fabric such as fat quarters and yardage to enhance

that variety. Variety is the spice of life, and it is the same

for me in my quilting artistry. I hope you will consider

doing the same during this mystery/sew along.

Let's get some of the particulars out of the way,

concerning this mystery/sew-a-long shall we?

The Simply Sensational Summer Scrap Quilt is

based on an antique quilt in my personal collection.

It measures approximately 69"x 82".

However, YOU will be able to determine

if you would like your version to be

a little larger, or a little smaller

in our first clue!

This quilt embodies simple, traditional quilt making

techniques, which is something I love.

When I say this is going to be simple.....

I! MEAN! IT!

Clues will be posted here on my blog

on the 4th Thursday during the months of

June

July

and

August.

Yep! You read that correctly!

3 EASY clues that will help you create a very

striking quilt and help you "dent" that

scrap/stash! Notice, I didn't say bust! LOLOL

PDFs will be added as they become available.

PDF UPDATE!!!!
HERE
(My apologies for all of the confusion!)

Consider this an easy pallet cleanser that you can do

in between other piecing this summer.

No specialty rulers needed!

Did I mention it is some super easy sewing???

Perhaps you are seeking an easy design to

use your scraps in making a donation quilt?

Maybe you have always wanted to step out

of your comfort zone and try something new?

I would like to encourage you to participate and consider

donating this quilt to a charity, philanthropic organization,

or church in your area.

You are probably asking yourself at this point....

is he going to give us a color pallet to go off of???

What about yardage requirements????

Well......

this is designed to be a 2 color quilt, so what I want you to

do is...... analyze your scraps/stash.....

go on......

I will wait........

Find 2 colors that you have A LOT of

and that have

STARK CONTRAST.

We will be working with

lights, mediums, and darks

in each of the 2 colors you choose.

We will also be exploring color saturation.

Trust me......if you are a scrap quilter

like me, you will have

MORE than enough

fabrics (yardage requirements) to work with.

Don't stress......just take delight

in using up some fabrics.

I personally challenged myself to visit one of my

fabric bins

that rarely if ever gets peeked into.....

My batiks scrap/stash bin.

I selected to work with brown batiks.

In the photo above you will see

red browns, gold browns, green browns, light browns,

medium browns and

dark browns.....

I am working from pre-cut strips, irregular scraps, as well as

fat quarters and yardage.

All are batiks in my version of this quilt.

And, for STARK CONTRAST

I am working with.....

neutral batiks.

These range from very light, to mediums,

to darker gray tones and beige,......

you can see above

there is quite a variety in the neutrals.

The one important aspect is that these

contrast against the browns.

You can choose to work with any 2 colors

you would like to!

Some options might be:

Blue - Red

Red - Green

Neutral - Black

Black - Gold

Brown - Yellow

Again, the choice is yours.....

just make sure you have a lot of

scraps/stash in the 2 colors you choose

and that the 2 colors have

STARK CONTRAST.

This quilt truly is too easy

NOT to do!

It reminds me of the good ole' summer time

when I was a kid, sewing with my

2 great aunts!

I hope you will choose to join me in this

fun quilt along mystery.

And......enjoy what summer brings......

yellow crook neck squash and zucchini from my garden

already being harvested here at the
Quilt Cave.

I turned the squash into...

this scrumptious casserole.

HERE

is the link to this

delicious, cheesy squash casserole I made.

Thanks for all of your encouragement!

Keep on Quilting!

Kevin the Quilter

Thursday, June 6, 2019

2019 Spring Session of Scrap Club hosted by Kevin the Quilter

Hey Quilters!
I want to thank all of you for the lovely comments you have left concerning my super amazing cat, Valentino. You all are the best!

As usual, I want to share with you the wonderful final reveal we had recently at the 2019 Spring Session of Scrap Club, hosted by Kevin the Quilter.

This session the quilters had the freedom to do any type of quilt they wanted. Pieced, applique, modern, traditional, art quilt and so on. This gave each artist an opportunity to represent who they are as a quilter.

You know, they did NOT let me down!

Noooooooooooooooooo sir-eeeeeeee!

I never cease to be amazed by the talented quilters of this group that assembles in O'Fallon, MO.

We had 2 divisions for prizes, over 40"x40" and under 40"x40".
The only rule was, your project had to include a tree.
I realize this is going to be a super ginormous post.
And, I want you all to realize, I have very limited time in between flying and
other life duties that prevent me from having as much time as I would like to
make posts on the blog. So please, just enjoy the beautiful works you are about to see.
I promise you, it will be well worth your time to scroll though all of the photos.
It is impossible for me to list patterns used, because I wasn't given that information.
Also, the tree inspired projects did NOT have to be quilted due to time constraints.

Come along for the Final Reveal of Scrap Club's "Tree Inspired" projects.