A few weeks ago I asked my wonderful friend (who happens to be getting her degree in graphic design) if she could design me a new header for my blog. Didn't she just do an amazing job!!!! She also made me a blog button, an etsy shop header, a flickr icon, etc. etc. I am so excited!!!! Everything related to my quilting is now streamline, which makes me extremely happy!!
Oh, and my friend does do side jobs, just FYI :) You can see more of her amazing craftiness over here. If your interested let me know and I will get you in contact with her.
Okay, So I have been seeing those cool mosaics popping up everywhere. I love them!! Unfortunately, I had no idea how to make them. So I decided to remedy that situation this morning. So about 2 hour later, (and lots of downloads to flickr :) I present you with my 2010 quilts Mosaic :) Isn't it fun!!
There are a few of my little projects not pictured but these are all the "quilt" quilts I made this year.
This is our family now :) Isn't it just amazing what blessings 10 years can bring!!
Grab your leftover jelly roll pieces. You are going to be cutting them into 5" long pieces. You cut these the same way you did your 15" piece. Line your ruler up so that the end of the jelly roll is on the 5" line of your ruler and cut, then slide your ruler down another 5" and cut, and so forth. You should be able to get 3 pieces or "coins" out of each strip in your 22 pile (the pile that you cut 25" off before) and 5 pieces or "coins" out of each strip in your 18 pile (the pile that you cut 15" off before) You'll have a little scrap off of each strip. Yippee, everyone loves scraps!!
Grab your charm pack. You are going to be using 30 charms now and setting 12 aside with your 25" long jelly roll strips to be used for the pieced back. Hint - To get an even distribution of prints on the front of your quilt, get the 22 charms that you were only able to cut 3 coins out of your leftover jelly roll first. Then choose your next 8 favorites. Now take your 30 chosen charms and cut them in half .
Grab your "coins" from your jelly roll and your "coins" from your charm pack and you have a beautiful pile of "change" ready to be sewn together.
Grab your yard of white solid and lay it out on your mat, aligning the fold line with the 0 horizontal line on your mat. Align your ruler along the last line of your mat and trim a nice straight edge. Measure in 1 3/4". I like to normally just use my mat for this, but if the 3/4" throws you, you can always double check your measurement by placing another ruler along the side of your long ruler and ensuring that the edge of your fabric is lined up with the 1 3/4" mark on your second ruler. Go ahead and cut. Now without moving your fabric, slide your ruler over another 1 3/4" (use your second ruler to double check if necessary) and cut. Repeat this process until you have 12 strips.
Lets cut up the 12 strips. Start by aligning your ruler along the horizontal mat line at 21 1/2 inches (just below where the selvage edge ends). If you don't have a 21 1/2" line on your mat, line your 1/2 mark on your ruler with the 21" line on your mat. This should make your ruler edge now at 21 1/2". Trim off the selvage edge.
Now grab the last of your yard of white. Lay it out on the mat just as before and cut another 6 strips measuring 1 3/4" wide (See previous instructions if confused on how).
Now go ahead and sew 1/4" seam along the cut edge of your two pieces. After you have sewn one set of coins don't stop. Don't cut your threads. Just feed the next set of coins through your machine. This is called Chain Stitching and it saves tons of time! So go ahead and Chain Stitch all of your sets of 2 coins.
This is what you will have now: a huge pile of attached sets of 2. Now you can cut the threads between each of your sets.
You should now have a few stacks that each look like the set of 2 on the bottom. Aren't they cute! So here is where your personal preference comes in. I don't iron here. I don't feel it is necessary for me and I like how fast and easy it makes this quilt go together. With that said, if you don't like working with pieces that aren't totally flat, feel free to iron your seams.
Now the process starts over again, but this time we are turning sets of 2 into sets of 4. Once again, when grabbing your pieces, try to avoid the same prints next to each other. Now just repeat the process! Lay your sets of 2 right side together, chain stitch you 1/4" seam, and cut your threads.
You have sets of 4 and you guessed it, we are turning those into sets of 8. You are a pro at this now, huh! Repeat the same process of lining up right sides together, chain stitching and clipping threads.
Now, I go ahead and press all of my seams in one direction. Do this on all 27 of your sets. Yes, that is right, you should have 27 sets now. If you don't look around on the floor, you have lost a few in the process.
And there you have it. 27 beautiful Change Rows.
This is the layout for your block. You will be making 9 of them. Just a side note before we get started... I liked to make sure that each time I line up a row that I don't have an identical print across from each other and that I am keeping an even distribution of color. I love the look of random, but I tend to try to control the random a bit :).
So we can start by attaching the center strips to the coin stacks. Go ahead and set aside 9 coin stacks. On the remaining 18 stacks, lay a 16 1/2" white strip on the right side of your strip making sure your edges line up. Once again, I didn't pin here but if you prefer to, or if you find your edges aren't lining up, go ahead and pin. Chain stitch a 1/4 seam on all 18 stacks, clip your threads.
Now pressing. I went ahead and pressed toward the white, I did this to avoid bulk. With that said, there are some prints that you will be able to see through the white strip to the print below. So if that bothers you, go ahead and press toward the prints. Once again, this is a personal preference thing.
We are going to take those 18 strips that you just sewed and sew them together to create 9 total pieces. So this is how you are going to line up your two pieces. (You will be doing this with 9 sets).
Lay your right hand piece on top of your left hand piece with right sides together. Just flip it over, don't spin it or anything. Go ahead and pin making sure your edges line up. Oh and double check you flipped it right. You know you are aligned correctly if you are pinning the coins to the white strip underneath. Now go ahead and chain stitch your 1/4" seam along the 9 sets, cut your threads and press.
Now you should have 9 sets that look like this. You are now ready to add on the last row of change. So grab those 9 rows you set aside.
Lay the final row onto your pieced block with right sides together. Pin along the edge. And once again, chain stitch your 1/4" seam, clip your threads, and press.
You now have 9 beautiful blocks! Don't they just POP!!
Now that your blocks are done, you are ready to get your top all sewn up. Well start by laying out the rows. Go ahead and play with your blocks until you get a scheme that you like. Make sure that your block alignment matches this picture. (ie Row 1 and 3 blocks go vertical, horizontal, vertical while Row 2 blocks go horizontal, vertical, horizontal.) You will want to mark your blocks so that as you pick them up and sew you don't loose this layout. I find the easiest way is to take a picture that you can refer back to. Done :).
We want to attach the vertical sashings first. Lay your 16 1/2" white strips on the right hand side of your first 2 blocks in each row. Once again, I didn't pin, but you can if you want. Sew a 1/4" seam along the indicated line. Press.
Sew your rows together block by block. You will do this the same way you sewed your blocks together. Sew blocks 1 and 2 of each row together first and then press. Then add block 3, sew and press. If you get confused look back to the instructions of Step 3, its the same just on a bigger scale.
Yippee Skippee!! Your rows are done. Add your long sashing strips and border, and you are done. Grab those 6 super long white strips that you made back when you were cutting. They are a little long but no worry, we'll trim any excess.
Lay a white sashing along the bottom of your row 1 and another white sashing along the bottom of Row 2. Make sure that you have right sides together. (Seriously, I had to do some unpicking because I wasn't paying attention here, arghh!!) I didn't pin, I just lined it up as I sewed it (again, personal preference). Sew 1/4" seam and press. Go ahead and clip off any excess overhang.
So now you are here! You are ready to sew your rows together!
When pinning, you want to take care that you are lining the sashing between your blocks up. To do this, pin your seams on either side of your sashing first.
Double check that they are lined up by flipping up the edge and making sure that the pin are in line with the seams of the sashing. Nice and lined up, okay! Sew your 1/4 seam along the entire row and then press.
You're here now! Isn't it just beautiful! Now you are going to add the bottom row the exact same way. Go ahead, you can do it!
You are almost done with the top. Now it is just adding on the borders and they are a snap! Add your two side borders first. Lay a long white sashing along the right side of the quilt and one along the left side of the quilt. Once again, make sure that the right sides are together. ( We don't want raw seams on quilt tops :). I didn't pin. Line up your strip as you sew your 1/4" seam and then trim the excess at the end. Press.
Add the top and the bottom border. And you do it the exact same way you did the side borders. I know you can barely sit still. Go ahead and sew and press!
And there you have it!!! A beautiful stunning quilt top!! Don't you just love your Sugar Pop N Change!
We'll start the pieced back by making the corner blocks. You need 4 corner blocks. Start by pulling out those 12 left over charms. Grab 4 and cut them in half. Now remember those scraps you had left from your jelly roll? Go ahead and get 4 scraps and cut four 2 1/2" squares out of them.
That's all the prep. Now you are ready to sew your 4 corner blocks together. Here is the layout.
Lay your top row onto your bottom row. Make sure that you line up your seam. Pin and then sew your 1/4" seam and press.
Your 4 blocks are ready to be trimmed down to size. The corner blocks need to be 6 x 6. You don't want to trim on the sides that has the 2 1/2" block. Line your 6" ruler along the side of your block and trim.
Okay, onto making your coin rows. We are going to do this the easy way! It isn't quite as random but turns out super nice for a border. Layout your 22 25" jelly roll strips. Play with the layout until you get a nice flow of prints and colors that is pleasing to the eye.
Once you have them the way you like, stack them up right to left. Now you are going to stitch all of the rows together. Start by getting your first two strips from the pile, align them right sides together. Sew 1/4" seam. Don't worry about pressing, it can wait. Oh, and if your ends don't match up perfect no worry, I left some wiggle room in the cutting for that. Go ahead and grab the next row on the pile. Align it to your pieced set and sew your 1/4 seam. Keep repeating this process until you have sewn all 22 of your strips together.
Press your seams in one direction. This is what you should have.
Now we are going to turn this strip into your 4 borders. Fold your strips in half so that they fit on your cutting mat. Line the fold line up along a horizontal line of your mat. Now you want to make a straight edge so line your ruler up along the vertical line of your mat closest to the edge of your fabric and cut. Measure 6 inches over on your mat. Align your ruler and cut. Repeat this 3 more times.
You now have 4 beautiful change rows for your border. Wasn't that easy?? And now you are ready to put the back together. Get your 1 1/4 yard piece of coordinating fabric. Make sure it is squared up. (I cut mine to 43 3/4" inches square so that the selvage wouldn't be left on.) Sorry, My photography skills are not near what my quilting skills are :) Here is the layout for the back.
We'll start by adding the side borders to the back. There might be a little bit of overhang. No worries, we'll just trim later. Lay each of your borders along the right and left side of the quilt. Pin, sew your 1/4" seam, and press. Trim off the excess overhang.
Add your top and bottom border. If you had to trim your sides, it is most likely that you will have to trim your top and bottom as well. However, this time you have to trim your sides first, so your corner blocks will actually end up in the corner :) Lay your top and bottom border out. Now, go ahead and trim off any excess so that you only have 1/4" overhang from the center back piece. Sorry, that doesn't make a lot of sense but the picture make it a lot easier to understand. Trim all 4 of your border edges as such.
Now you are ready to add your corner pieces. Lay your corner piece so that the 2 1/2" block is in the center. Lay the block over onto the border. Pin. Do this with all 4 blocks. Sew your 1/4" seam and press.
So this is where you should be now. You are so close. Now it is just adding the top and bottom border.
Lay your top and bottom border onto your center panel. Make sure to align your corner block seams (where my scissors are pointing.) You know what to do: Pin, Sew, and Press!!!
And Ta Da!! Your back is finished!!
And bind! Remember those 15" strips you set aside. Put them in a mixed up color order and sew them up to make your binding strip. There is a great tutorial here on binding if you haven't done it before.
One super fun and bright Sugar Pop N Change Quilt that measures 53" x 53" and even has a cute pieced quilt back!!! Happy Quilting!!
I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial and if you make your own Sugar Pop N Change Quilt I would love to see it!! You can email me a picture at happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com or add it to my flickr group here or post it to social media with #happyquiltingwithmc ;) I can't wait to see your Sugar Pop N Change Quilts!!!
Thanks so much for popping in today and every day ;) I hope you all have a very Happy Quilting Day!!!