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.

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.

  The lovely check in ladies!



 The freebie table!

  Welcome Quilters!

 
 
  Thanking my quilters that help
make Scrap Club hosted by Kevin the Quilter
happen!

 Work it for the runway Colleen!
Sporting her new
Scrap Club hosted by Kevin the Quilter
t-shirt!

 Surprise prizes were given throughout the evening
in the photos above and below!
 
  Tammy's "Round Tuit"
UFO challenge was completed!

  Fun games......

 and, more prizes!



And then it was time to see all of the quilts/tops
in the under 40"x40" category!















 






(1 quilt by Pat Z was not photographed regrettably!)

  Helen B. won the drawing for the under 40" category!
She was the lucky winner of a 
$100 gift certificate to


 More prizes above and below!
  


And then it was time for the quilts from the over 40"
category.

 My sister and brother in law's
25th Wedding Anniversary quilt.
This is "Tree Farm" by
Edyta Sitar.


































  And the winner of the over 40" category,
recipient of a $150 gift certificate from
is Sharon N!

  From the bottom of my heart,
I want to thank ALL of the quilters
of Scrap Club, hosted by Kevin the Quilter
for letting me be a part of such
a talented group of artists.


Stay tuned for a very SPECIAL
announcement concerning an exciting
opportunity for you all
to participate along with
Scrap Club this summer!



Thanks for all of the encouragement!
Keep on Quilting!
Kevin the Quilter