The Whimsical Workshop Studio: 2015

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Christmas Wishes from The Whimsical Workshop

Christmas Wishes featuring Basics from P&B Textiles
66” x 66”
Designed by Heidi Pridemore

To me, Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. I love this time of year with the beautiful lights, gathering together with family & friends and the wonderful cool weather we experience here in the Phoenix! It one of the few times in the year that we really need quilts to stay warm, so the timing is always perfect to break out my Christmas quilts. This month I designed a lovely Christmas Throw named “Christmas Wishes”. Now you may be thinking, it is a week before Christmas, how could I complete this quilt in time? Well the beauty of Christmas is that is comes every year. So now is the time to start planning for next year. This pattern would also work well in any color family, so you can make one for each season.

The Christmas Wishes quilt is perfect for cuddling under with that someone special. It will also be great addition to my Christmas quilt collection as well as yours. Christmas Wishes has a vintage look but you can use bright holiday prints or modern Christmas fabric to make a quilt that fits your holiday décor or as a gift for a lucky person. We made this quilt using the AccuQuilt Go! Big Electric Fabric Cutter and basic fabric from P&B Textiles.

This month’s featured dies are the GO! LeMoyne Star-9” finished (55453) and GO! Equilateral 4 ½” sides triangle (55429). The pattern for Christmas Wishes is now available at our website for download here. The pattern will have all instructions to make this lovely quilt.

The GO! LaMoyne Star die makes cutting blocks for this quilt a dream. But as you can see above there are ALOT of pieces to it. If that seems undaunting, this is a prefect project to do one block at a time. There are only nine blocks in the quilt, see it already sounds easier!

One thing to about this quilt is that all the pieces have bias edges. So be careful not to stretch or distort the pieces as you work. Here are some tips for working with bias edges. First, starch and press your fabric before cutting, this will add some stiffness to the fabric and makes it easier to work with. Second when pressing your pieces, do so lightly and do not starch while pressing your pieces this will also help keep down the distortion.

When making this quilt, always press toward the dark fabric. By doing this the light and dark halves will nest together because the seams will mirror each other.

Each main block is made up from sixteen units. To make one unit you need to make two halves, one that uses a light diamond with dark triangles and one that uses a dark triangles and light triangles. This seem pretty straight forward but it is amazing how mixed up the pieces can get if you do not lay out your blocks before sewing. Trust me, I know what I am talking about J. The images above show how the light half goes together and the image below shows the dark half going together. They are mirror images of each other so carefully follow the images in the pattern as you go.

Once you have the two halves made, sew them together to make one unit as shown in the image below. Press towards the Dark Diamond unit. Now you just need to repeat to make all the units, easy peasy! Once all the units are together, follow our directions on assembling the blocks and then the quilt top.

For the outer border, I used the GO! Equilateral 4 ½” sides triangle to create the border design. This die is designed so well that it makes this task a piece of cake. I will definitely not shy away from triangle quilts with this die in my library. AccuQuilt designed the die to create mini triangles on two sides of the main triangle. You can use these mini triangles to align the two triangles together so the go together in a snap. Also the die is designed with blunt ends on each point so you do not have to trim the “dog ears” from the triangles after they are pieced together that happens in traditional piecing.

It is hard to believe this is our sixth free project we had done with Accuquilt and P&B Textiles and I have many other great ideas for future projects. I hope you have enjoyed following along with our Blog these past six months and as always I would love to see what you come up with.

Make sure to visit my blog each month where I will share with you some tips and tricks on cutting and assembling of the project of the month along with posting the free pattern on our website www.TheWhimsicalWorkshop.com You can also see our pattern and post at www.pbtex.com and www.accuquilt.com

Until next time…..

Heidi

Please visit us at www.TheWhimsicalWorkshop.com to see all of our patterns and fabrics.

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

November Free Pattern-Some Like It Hot...Pink

Some Like it Hot…Pink featuring Urban Scandinavian from P&B Textiles

54” x 54”

Who doesn’t like Black and White prints with a touch of color. This month’s quilt Some like it Hot…Pink is pays homage to this theme and to the wonderful film by the same name. I can just see Marilyn Monroe loving this quilt. I used hot pink instead of the traditional Red to spice it up a bit just like she did. You could also use Bright Blue, lime green or any other bright color to change it up a bit. We made this quilt using the AccuQuilt Go! Big Electric Fabric Cutter and UrbanScandinvain fabric from P&B Textiles.

This month’s featured dies are the Go! Qube Mix & Match 8” block (55776) and Go! Square-6-1/2” (6” Finished) (55000) . This a group of dies that all make up a variety of the 8” finished squares. With this group of dies, the design possibilities are endless. I finally settled on three different blocks to make up this quilt that linked to together to create a seamless center block. I added the wide borders to create a resting area from the intricate center.

The pattern for Some Like It Hot…Pink is now available at our website for download here. The pattern will have all instructions to make this lovely quilt.

When working with a project that has so many different parts the best tip I can pass on to you is to Stay organized!!!!! When working with an assortment of dies or for any larger projects, keeping everything organized will help the project go together easier and will cut down on errors in cutting or piecing.

I would recommend going through the cutting instructions and do all the traditional cutting first, labeling each group of pieces as you go. I also have the dies laid out and as I cut the pieces meant for that die, I lay those pieces on top of the die so I do not mix up any of the pieces.

I always cut the entire project at one time, before I start sewing. I also label everything with little round label stickers, you can find at the office supply store. I always cut the project as if someone else is going to make the project. For us at the studio this is a real possibility. I recommend this step, even if you know no one else is going to sew the project but you. Just think if you put it up for months in between cutting and sewing (you know this can happen). When you pull out the project to finish it, having it organized and labeled will help you know where you left off.

Once I finish with the traditional cutting, I set up the Go! Big Electric Fabric Cutter and die cut all the shapes at one time, again keeping everything labeled. This makes the process go quicker and doing all together will help you catch it, if you are missing a piece.

Once I have all the pieces cut, I lay out each block to make sure I have all the parts and I have them with the correct block. Once this is done, I am ready to start sewing.

Most of the piecing for these blocks is very straight forward and easy to do. Except on the first block, there is a diamond shape that is sewn together with a triangle. This can be a little tricky. To make sure this unit comes out correctly, make sure to offset the diamond ¼” before sewing it together as shown here.

Once all the blocks are sewn together you are ready to start assembling the quilt. Start with the center section first and work your way out. Once the blocks are sewn together you are ready to add the borders.

I hope you have as much fun as I did making this whimsical quilt. You can play around with the all the different die shapes to come up with your own blocks for the center block. You can also add more rounds of blocks to make the quilt larger. As always I would love to see what you come up with.

Until next time…..

Heidi

Please visit us at www.TheWhimsicalWorkshop.com to see all of our patterns and fabrics.

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

October Free Pattern-Twas the Night Runner

T’was the Night featuring Urban Scandinavian from P&B Textiles
46” x 22”
Designed by Heidi Pridemore

Christmas is coming! This month’s FREE pattern is a beautiful table runner, perfect for your holiday table. I designed this runner using the AccuQuilt Go! Big Electric Fabric Cutter and Urban Scandinavian fabric from P&B Textiles.

We are also excited to do our first FREE give-away this month. P&B Textiles was so kind to make us a fabric kit for this project and one lucky reader will win! Just leave a comment about your favorite holiday decoration (any holiday) on our blog, making sure in include your email address and I will draw the winner on 11/1/15.

This month’s featured dies are the Go! Reindeer (55353) and Go! Sleigh and Snowflakes (55322) . The applique dies makes this project so quick and easy, perfect if you are a last minute sewer like me. The elegant designs of these applique dies worked so well with the Urban Scandinavian Collection from P&B Textiles to make a modern and elegant runner.

I also used the Half-Square Triangles (55063) to cut the pieced inner border. See our free pattern for other optional dies for cutting the outer borders.

The pattern for T’was the Night runner is now available at our website for download here. The pattern will have all instructions to make this lovely quilt. We also have included the instructions for quilters who do not have a GO! Big Electric Fabric Cutter yet.

This month’s Blog is about finishing the applique shapes with a blanket stitch or Machine Applique.

First, following the free pattern, prepare, cut and press the shapes onto the listed backgrounds. Since the dies on this project have complex edges, I thought that this would be a good time to go over finishing the raw edges of each shape. So I made a video on how to finish the edges that you can check out here . I also included some tips below for you to check out.

First I highly recommend using an open toe foot on your machine whenever you are doing a decorative stitch on an edge of fabric. This allows you to see what you are doing while stitching. I cannot stress how much this will help you when you are doing a blanket stitch on a piece. I have done 100’s of quilts and I still struggle with this stitch when I have to use someone else’s machine and they do not have an open toe foot for it. Here is what the foot should look like along with an example of the stitching with it.

My second tip is to adjust the stitch length and width to fit the shape you are stitching. Most of the time, I use the stitch setting that are preprogramed in the machine but if I am doing a small piece such as the snowflake on this project, I adjust the stitch to fit the shape. I also will do this throughout the project. I keep the stitch size the same on each shape but if the project dictates it, I will vary the stitch sizes throughout the project. On this project I used a smaller stitch on the snowflakes and regular stitch for the sled and reindeer. Stitched Pieces

For my last tip, is practice. Unless you are like me and have to do this stitch every week, you will need to warm up and practice before doing it on your final project. I recommend using scrap material to make up some sample pieces to work on first. The best shapes to use are stars and hearts. They have points and curves to practice on. Machine applique is a lot like machine quilting. You will need to warm up before starting and remember to relax while stitching.

Please make sure to check out our video on this finishing stitch for more tips on Machine Applqiue.

By using the Go! Dies to make this runner, I saved time and the shapes came out perfectly. Oh how I loved not having to cut each shape for the project and it allowed me to move on to the fun part of the project, sewing of course.

I hope you have fun making our runner for the upcoming holidays. As always I would love to see photos of your finished projects. Also remember to leave you comments on our Blog post http://heidipridemore.blogspot.com/ to be entered into our giveaway.

Until next time…..

Heidi

Please visit us at www.TheWhimsicalWorkshop.com to see all of our patterns and fabrics.

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Bountiful Gift runner featuring Go! Fall Harvest Die

Bountiful Gift

featuring Assorted Basics from P&B Textiles

57” x 23”

Hard to believe Fall is just around the corner! This month’s FREE pattern is a beautiful table runner, perfect for the upcoming holidays. I designed this runner using the AccuQuilt Go! Big Electric Fabric Cutter and Assorted Basics fabric from P&B Textiles.

This month’s featured die is the Go! Fall Medley (55041). The applique die makes this project so quick and easy, perfect if you are a last minute sewer like me. I used this die to create the harvest wreath block for the center of the runner. I paired the center block with an elegant and easy to piece block that adds interest to each side of the wreath. Then I used the applique leaves and acorns on the outer border corners to frame the runner. The fabrics I used for this project are a wonderful combination of basics from P&B Textiles which truly showed off the appliqued designs and the large selection of colors and patterns they offer, made it so easy to select a gorgeous palette of fall colors, perfect for this design.

The pattern for Bountiful Gift is now available at our website for download here. The pattern will have all instructions to make this lovely quilt. If you enjoy making this runner for fall, you can replace the pumpkins with flowers and change the colors to make another runner for Spring.

This month’s tip is about prepping the applique shapes and how to position them on the project.

First, following the manufacturer’s instructions, press fusible web to the wrong side of each fabric for the applique shapes. Then cut the fabric into the squares or rectangles as listed in the cutting instructions. This makes is easier to die cut the shapes.

Now on to the die cutter. Use the Fall Medley Die and Go! Big Electric Fabric Cutter to cut the shapes as listed on the pattern. Now you are ready to start assembling the center wreath!

First find the horizontal and vertical centerline by folding the center rectangle in half each way and pressing it to mark the centerlines.

Refer to the photo on the pattern cover to position one pumpkin on each centerline. Do not press down the shapes until you have them all in place.

Next position the gold leaves in place tucking them under the pumpkins. Repeat to add the brown and green leaves.

Adjust the leaves and pumpkins as desired and once you are happy with the layout, press the shapes in place with a hot dry iron.

Finish the raw edges with a decorative stitch such as a satin or blanket stitch to finish the center block. Now that the center block is finished you are ready to finish piecing the runner top.

After you finish assembling the runner top, you are ready to add the corner applique shapes to the runner. First position the orange leaf so that is a running 45º in each corner with the stem facing towards the runner center. Then position two acorns and tops on top of each leaf. Press the shapes in place and finish the edges just like the center wreath.

By using the Go! Fall Harvest Die to make this runner, I saved time and the shapes came out perfectly. Oh how I loved not having to cut each shape for the project and it allowed me to move on to the fun part of sewing quickly.

I hope you have fun making our runner for the upcoming holidays. This "Bountiful Gift" is sure to add a personal touch to your Thanksgiving table this year! As always I would love to see photos of your finished projects.

Until next time…..

Heidi

Please visit us at www.TheWhimsicalWorkshop.com to see all of our patterns and fabrics.