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Tag Archives: Emperor’s Jewels QAYG Quilt-Along

Constructing the bottom half of the Emperor’s Jewels Quilt

01 Friday Jan 2016

Posted by sewjournal in Sew journal, Uncategorized

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Emperor's Jewels QAYG Quilt-Along, sewing, sewjournal blog

Sew blocks 4, 5, 6 and 7 together as shown below.

 

imageNow, because we sewed four blocks together before we QAYGed, we need to sew four blocks together for the backing to maintain the patchwork look. Optional though. If you want to just use one piece of fabric for the back that’s fine too.

I pieced some fabric together in a similar pattern to the front. See below:

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Then I sandwiched the joined blocks and backing with some batting and hand quilted the blocks. Then I joined this section to section one using the technique shown in the earlier posts.

Here’s the bottom half of the quilt finished. What do you think?

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Emperor’s Jewels QAYG Block 7

13 Sunday Dec 2015

Posted by sewjournal in Sew journal, Uncategorized

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applique, Emperor's Jewels QAYG Quilt-Along, hand quilting, patchwork, sewing blog, sewjournal blog

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I made this block using appliqué. If you would prefer to make it using foundation piecing, feel free. I’ll show you how to draw it up and then how I made it.

The block measures 28.5″ X 4.5″. I printed a few sheets of the 1/2″ graph paper I gave the link for in Block 6 and taped them together. Then I drew the pattern as below.

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I drew a rectangle 28″ x 4″ (no seam allowance on the pattern, I added that later) I marked every inch with a dotted line to make it easier to work. Then I drew a line from the bottom corner to the 2″ mark on the top level and from there down to the 4″ mark on the bottom, and so on till I got to the other end. Then I went back to the beginning at the left and drew a line from 1″ up from the bottom left corner to 1″ down from the 2″ mark and so on all the way across. I shaded in the areas as shown.

Now, you can have the zig zag part all one colour but I wanted it to look like a ribbon that twisted so I chose two colours, a pink and a purple. I realise now that I did this the hard way. I cut the pink and purple fabrics into 2.5″ x 4.5″ strips and sewed them alternately together. Then I added a 1.5′” x 4.5″ strip at each end. What I could have done is sewn a 28.5″ x 2.75″ pink strip to the same size purple strip and I would have got the same effect in the end without as much sewing. Oh well. That’s what trial and error is all about. This quilt is a voyage of discovery. 🙂

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Then I transferred the unshaded shapes from the drawing onto freezer paper.

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Then I cut around these shapes using the fabric that would look like the background, making sure to leave at least 1/2″ at the bottom edge to accommodate the seam allowance and wiggle room.

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I then put the shape, shiny side up, onto the wrong side of the fabric and ironed the edges over as shown.

I then placed the shape in position onto the fabric, ironed it to stick down and appliquéd it down and repeated along the row. I left the edges until last. Note that the bottom edges are not sewn and they get straightnened up when the block is completed.

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When you have done them all you can slide the freezer paper out from the unsewn edge, press and square up the block.

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Good luck!

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Emperor’s Jewels Block 6 Part 2

04 Friday Dec 2015

Posted by sewjournal in Sew journal, Uncategorized

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applique, Emperor's Jewels QAYG Quilt-Along, hand-piecing, patchwork, quilting blog, sewjournal blog

Part 2 is mainly appliqué. Here’s where we finished up last time.

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Now we are going to appliqué some strips down the centre of the middle blue strips. You will need four pieces of fabric 6.5″ X 1.25″. Take each strip and press it in half. Then open it out.

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Then press one edge into the centre.

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And then repeat with other edge.

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When you have done that for all four strips, get your block and mark (I used pencil) the centre line.

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Then line up the fold in your strip with that line and pin it to the block.

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As you can see you don’t want it to go all the way into the centre and you can let it hang over the edge of the block. Then appliqué the strip and repeat with the others.

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Now we are going to make the diamonds for corners. To make your template, draw a square 4″ X 4″ and mark 1″ from each corner like so.

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Here is a link to the printable graph paper I used which is marked in half inch squares:

Then draw lines from the top left corner to the 1″ from the left mark on the bottom of the square, from the 1″ from the bottom on the left to the bottom right corner, from the bottom right corner to the 1″ from the right on the top of the square and from the 1″ below the top right corner to the top left corner. See below.

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Transfer this diamond by tracing onto freezer paper, four times and cut out.

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Take your chosen fabric and place the freezer paper on the wrong side of the fabric, shiny side up. Cut around the shape leaving around 1/4″ extra. Take your iron and press the seam allowance onto the freezer paper as we have done in previous blocks. Then position your diamonds, freezer paper side down onto the outer squares and press first from the front to stick them in place and then from the back to secure them. Then appliqué them to the background.

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Then do the same with the other three diamonds. Cut the background away and remove the freezer paper as we did for previous appliqué and press.

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Now we’re going to place a series of 5 circles down the vertical line. Four will be half and half, black and pink and one will be quartered.

We make the circles by sewing a strip of the black and a strip of the pink together then cutting it into a square of fabric big enough to cover a 1.5″ perfect circle template.

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Remember the centre of the joined fabric is the stitch mark NOT the edge of the seam. It may seem obvious but it’s an easy mistake to make.

Take some thread and sew a running stitch around the circle leaving the thread in the needle when you have completed the circle.

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Trim off the square edges then pull the thread tight around the circle.

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I sewed a couple of cross-circle stitches to hold it tightly in place and finished with a couple of backstitches.

This is what your circle should look like front he front.

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Measure your block so you can position your circles equidistant from one another and pin in place. Make sure you place the black fabric half on the side nearest to the pink square edge and vice versa.

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The appliqué the circles down and cut the background away to remove the Perfect Circle templates.

To make the central circle take two pieces of joined fabric and sew them together to form quadrants, then use the technique mentioned above to create the circle and appliqué it in place.

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Your finished block should look like this.

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Emperor’s Jewels Block 6 Part 1

21 Saturday Nov 2015

Posted by sewjournal in Sew journal, Uncategorized

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applique, block swap, Emperor's Jewels QAYG Quilt-Along, hand-piecing, quilting blog, sewjournal blog

image
The last block was relatively simple, this is a little more involved so I’ve split the instructions over two posts.

Block 6 Requirements.

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Four x 4.5″ squares of fabric 1 (blue)

Two X 1.5″ X 5.5″ strips of both fabric 2 (black) and fabric 3 (pink)

Two X 1.5″ X 4.5″ strips of  both fabric 2 and fabric 3

One strip of fabric 1, 12.5″ X 2.5″

Two strips of fabric 1, 5.5″ X 2.5″

Four strips of fabric 4 (shocking pink) 6.5″ X 1.5″

One strip each of Fabrics 2 and 3, 18″ X 1.5″

Four 4.5″” squares of fabric 5 (shocking pink with stripes)

Freezer paper.

Construction

Sew a 2.5″ strip of fabric 2 to one side of the 4.5″ square of fabric 1.

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Then sew the 5.5″ strip of fabric 2 to the adjacent side.

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Repeat this with another blue square and the other black strips, then do the same with the remaining squares and the pink strips.

Then take one of the smaller 2.5″ wide blue strips and sew it onto the edge of the square where there is a seam.

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Then sew one of the pink strip squares to the bottom, this time sewing the non-seam side to the blue strip. Repeat for the other two squares and then sew each of the combination strips to the 12.5″ X 2.5″ blue strip.

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We’ll add the appliqué pieces in the next post. Stay tuned…

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Emperor’s Jewels QAYG Quilt-Along Block 5

12 Thursday Nov 2015

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Emperor's Jewels QAYG Quilt-Along, piecing, quilting

 A nice easy block. 

Block 5 Requirements

One strip 12.5″ X 2.5″

Two strips of different fabrics 12.5″ X 1.5″

Three 1.5″ squares

Freezer paper.

Method

Sew the two thinner strips together then see the wider one on the end. Take three 1″ squares of freezer paper and, using the techniques we’ve used previously, applique the 1.5″ fabric squares onto the wider strip at regular intervals. Then you’re done!

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