Hi All :)
HAPPY NEW YEAR :)
Well, do you remember back in December last year, (lol, sounds like such a long time ago now!!! :)
I WON this amazing book "The Quilt Block Book" by Nancy Wick.
I had great fun browsing thru it over the holidays and finally came up with a Quilt Block that I thought would be a challenge (for me) and fun to create :)
(If you didn't see my "I WON" blog post you can check it out HERE :)
So, here is the square quilt block I chose to make and the final result, plus the tutorial on how I did it :)
The Marbles - Quilt Block Tutorial
So, I have to tell you that I am really not good at following written directions and so I really need great visuals to get me motivated and to help me know what the end result will be. When following a skirt pattern, for instance, I can usually make the skirt from the pictures alone, I rarely read the instructions. So, I was really excited that this Quilt Block book had wonderful visuals and concise, clear instructions, (cuz I did have to read these, lol :)
Here is the pattern I chose and the fabric I felt might work :)
You can see from the design below that you can use lots of contrasting fabrics on fabrics to create multiple Block Squares to create an eclectic quilt.
My mind was going crazy with color combos but I had to stay focused on making the first one :)
First, I cut out a 6.5ins square of my red with tiny white hearts fabric, (I just had to remember to line up the little white hearts in a straight line for the first cut ) easy enough (this is classed as an easy pattern but wait..... :)
Next I used my "Wunder-Under" to trace the "Marble" applique pattern from the book :)
I then, with out thinking, pinned the pattern to the right side of the fabric, oops!!!
It seemed like the obvious thing to do, I cut it out and realised that the pattern would be all wrong because when I tried to fuse the web to the reverse side of the fabric it would be off, so then I had to read the instructions, pin the fusible side to the side you want it to be fused too, sounds obvious but I wasn't thinking (possibly too much celebrating over the Holidays, I guess, lol :)
So, then I pinned the traced pattern and fusible web to the reverse side of the fabric, all was well :)
I ironed the fusible web (on a low-med heat - no steam) to the reverse side of the fabric and gently peeled off the paper backing on the fusible web.
The next step was to position the "Marble" applique on to my Square, I measured to make sure it was centered and then I pinned the applique to my red fabric and fused it to the fabric using an iron (again, low - med heat, no steam)
I really like how the patterns and colours worked together. :)
I think I will try the Blue fabric as the background square the next time and either use the Pink dot again for the "Marble" applique or maybe the Red with White Hearts, what do you think? :)
There is one last step I wasn't able to complete because my sewing machine is being very temperamental (she's old, but don't tell her I said that, lol :)
Anyway, as you can see from the image below, in the demo photo in the Book they have added a decorative shell stitch to the inner and outer circle, which serves 2 purposes - it pretties up the applique and makes it looks complete and you could use either a neutral colour thread or a contrasting thread and the other thing is it will stop the fabric from fraying. :)
Well, I hope you enjoyed my Tutorial and please let me know what you think :)
Have a lovely Weekend :)
Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.
