Scrap Basket Quilt Along - Step 5 Final Step

I'm spending more time in my studio, it is my happy place.

I am working on a number of projects, from finishing up UFOs to my upcoming demo project and filling it in with my Scrap Basket Quilt for leaders and enders.

Why use leaders and enders?  Again it goes back to ensuring we have that elusive 1/4" seam.

Without a leader, we often have tangled threads at the back of our blocks at the beginning.  These tangled threads can also result in a change in the tension of our stitches.

Without an ender, we often tend to have our stitches veer off to the right at the end of our blocks.  This can make joining together seams between blocks more difficult.

The added benefit of leaders and enders project is also saving thread which would otherwise be wasted on a "pig" or "bunny tail".

Just think about being able to complete a second project as part of your primary project.

I always have testers for my patterns.  I am grateful for all the help of my pattern testers - some are even so keen, that they work from a picture of a quilt and then take a look at the written pattern.

As everyone's fabric choices have been different, so every quilt will be different.  As you finish your quilt, don't forget to post your quilt on the Facebook Group - Modern Blended Quilts Virtual Show and Tell.

If you are not a member of this Facebook Group, sign up today.

Linda, has been really keen on this project and has already quilted and bound her Scrap Basket Quilt.  Linda's chosen solid is the lighter teal fabric.

Additionally, Linda has incorporated a signature print throughout the quilt and in her binding.

Linda quilted the vertical rows of the quilt with different quilting motifs.  The final result is just stunning!

So, finally is the schematic of the entire quilt.  It really is a "happy quilt".


Download the instructions for Step 5 from the link below:

Scrap Basket Quilt Along - Step 5 Final Step

Stay tuned for the next quilt along - details will be posted on Instagram and Facebook.

Feed your soul, take time to create.  It's not about keeping busy, it's about being at "piece"!

Circle Sampler Demo - Month 4

Today I hosted my Circle Sampler Demo on line with Zoom.

It was great to connect with our quilting community in a very interactive way.  I hope everyone on line enjoyed the online demo as much as I did!

Here are two of the blocks we discussed at our demo.

Color can be the one thing that can make or break a quilt design.  On our interactive call today we explored the concept of "Relative Color".

Joseph Albers in his "Interaction of Color",  states "Color is the most relative medium of art". Through experimentation, you will discover certain colors are susceptive to change when placed on a background of different colors.

If you would like a copy of the pattern for month 4 - please reach out to Addies Creative Fabrics at 2addies@gmail.com

Attached below is the link to the PowerPoint slides from the presentation.

  Circle Sampler Month 4 Demo - Powerpoint slides

"Feed your soul, take time to create.  It's not about keeping busy, it's about being at peace ("piece")!

Barricade - New Pattern Launch

Inspiration for a quilt often comes from the simplest of things around us.

My Barricade pattern was from one of those simple things - a roadway barricade at the Biltmore Hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona.

I had wanted to go to the Biltmore Hotel for several years now - I had to see the stained glass window Frank Lloyd Wright called "Saguaro".

On the visit to the hotel, my cellphone camera was working overtime.  The architecture inside and outside of the hotel is stunning.

Everywhere I looked I saw rectangles, rectangles and more  rectangles.  I finally used my cell phone to measure one of the blocks of the hotel - it was 2 cellphones high by 3 cellphones wide.

Hasn't everyone measured something in "cellphones''.

Oddly enough, I was so mesmerized by my surroundings, I almost missed the stained glass window.

The window is described as a stained glass window, but not in the sense of a true leaded stain glass window.

It is more like pieces of glass glued/affixed to a flat piece of glass. The window is located in a dark room, so it is hard to get a good picture of it.  I am disappointed with my picture of the window

The furniture, light fixtures, railings and doors in the hotel are all Art Deco and would be described as pieces of art.






When I stopped to take a picture of this barricade, Bruce (my husband), thought I had lost it.

On to the pattern,.....

Barricade was designed to use those special larger prints that we can never resist buying only to find you don't want to cut them up into small pieces.


There are two different larger print fabrics in this quilt.  The fabrics in my cover quilt were found by my quilt buddy, Armiel, on one of her many quilt shopping tours.  You know the ones - you get a text with a picture and caption that says "How many meters am I buying for you?"  I am eternally grateful for these texts and look forward to receiving many more!

The blocks are rectangles.  When I was making the cover quilt, I had four blocks left over - I'll make a pillow!  That thought translated into an alternate layout for the quilt.

The pattern has a baby, lap and queen sized quilt for the alternate block layout above and a baby and lap sized quilt for the big block layout.

Ask for Barricade at your local quilt shop.  Quilt shop owners,  can order the pattern from my distributor - Erie Quilt Art in Calgary, AB.

So dig out those larger print fabrics you have in your stash or the ones you have been eying in your local quilt shop and make a Barricade quilt for that someone special.

Scrap Basket Quilt Along - Step 4

From my last post on, "That Elusive 1/4" Seam" you could read between the lines and see that I was working on Step 4 at that time.

There are several things that can impact the accuracy of our 1/4" seam allowance.  Things like:

• the sewing machine you are sewing on, where you are switching between machines
• the accuracy of your pressing and
• the type of thread you are using.  

As I have already posted about differences between sewing machines, let's move on to accuracy of your pressing.

In Step 4 you will be pressing your seam allowances open to eliminate the bulk when sewing the rows together.

It is far easier to press the seams open on this row than to force the seam allowances in another direction on the other rows where you have the HST's.

I use a pressing stick when I am pressing seam allowances open.  The stick's curved surface ensures there are no extra folds of fabric on the right side of the fabric on either side of the seam.  

I don't press with out a stick.  I carry a smaller 10" in my notions bag for when I am away from my studio.

The weight of your thread when piecing can also impact the size of your blocks.  I use So Fine by Superior Threads to piece.  This thread is a 50 wt polyester thread.  The heavier your thread (ie: a smaller number) the more fabric will be taken up when it passes over top of the seam, making the block smaller.

Recently when I was in Mesa, I was using Bottom Line, another Superior Thread.  It is a 60 wt polyester. With this finer thread I noticed a difference; there was less fabric being taken up when it passed over top of the seam, making my blocks larger.

My words of advice this week, take the time to follow the process of checking the size of the joined 2 1/2" squares in this step.  You don't want to get to the end of piecing a row with 32 squares only to find the row measures 1/2 - 1" longer or shorter than 64 1/2".

Trust me on this one.

Enjoy this step and don't forget to post your Step 4 on the Facebook Group - Modern Blended Quilts - Virtual Show and Tell or on Instagram using the hashtag #scrapbasketquiltalong.

Download the instructions for Step 4 from the link below:

Scrap Basket Quilt Along Step 4

Scrap Basket Quilt Along - Step 3

That Elusive 1/4" Seam
That perfect 1/4" seam, we often take it granted.  It does make a difference!

A dear friend of mine has often said, she always sews a complete project on the same sewing machine.  I thought it shouldn't make a difference, but yes it does.

Alas, 1/4" feet are not all the same from machine to machine, especially when you are sewing on different brands of sewing machines.

I started my Scrap Basket Sampler on my newer Pfaff machine.  It has an adjustable needle position that moves in small increments.  This is a valuable feature.  My classroom machine at home is also a Pfaff with the same adjustable needle feature.  At home when I am switching between machines, I know the adjustments for each machine to get that perfect 1/4" seam.

But alas at my vacation home, I have an inexpensive Brother machine that I thought didn't have an adjustable needle position that moved in small increments.  Read the manual Susan!  Depending on the choice of two straight stitches, yes it does have the same feature.  I had been merrily sewing along  assuming that I couldn't adjust the needle position in small increments.  I have owned this machine for over 5 years and only found this feature this past week.

As a result, I had to resew, 32 - 2 1/2" squares into a long strip to get the correct length for a row of my quilt.  Lesson learned, know your sewing machine.

On to Step 3!

This step hints at the overall design of the quilt and starts to show the movement in this quilt.

Ghosting, It can be a Problem
As I have been working with some lighter fabrics, the instructions for the strip sets have you pressing the seam allowances open.

Ghosting can be a real problem.  Ghosting is when the seam allowances of a darker adjacent fabric show through to the right side of a lighter fabric.  By pressing the seam allowances open, it is only the seam allowance from the same fabric that shows through to the right side.  In my quilt, I have been using precuts of Pond fabric by Elizabeth Hartman.  What is surprising in this line of fabric has several light fabrics and a white on black print - a real nightmare for Ghosting.

Additionally, with the HSTs, we end up with a lot of bulk at some points in this quilt.  By pressing the seam allowances open, we reduce the amount of bulk where the strip sets meet the HSTs.

"Natural Direction" for Pressing Seam Allowances
 It's often easier to press seam allowances in one direction than another direction.

A good example of this is when you are sewing the 6 1/2" x 2 1/2" joined HSTs to the 6 1/2" x 4 1/2" or 6 1/2" x 16 1/2"strip sets in steps 7 and 8.  The seams just want to be pressed towards the strip sets.  The diagonal seams in the joined HSTs create more bulk as compared to the strip sets with the open pressed seams.

So, do press the seams towards the strip sets.

A rule of thumb that I use, press towards the block or unit with the fewest seams.

Enjoy this step and don't forget to post your step 3 on the Facebook Group - Modern Blended Quilts - Virtual and Tell or Instagram using the hashtag #scrapbasketquiltalong.

Download the instructions for Step 3 from the link below:

Scrap Basket Quilt Along Step 3

Scrap Basket Quilt Along - Step 2

Wow, that was a lot of HSTs to make in our first step, but it will be worth it!  In this step we will use 72 HSTs in the construction of 3 vertical Row A's.  Let's get started.

In Row A we have 3 units of 8 HSTs sewn together 2 HSTs wide by 8 HSTs tall.  It is easier to accurately piece units if the vertical seams of the HSTs nest when the HSTs are placed right sides together.

Let's look at the photograph below.

In the First Step of the Quilt along, the seam allowances of  HST were pressed towards the darker fabric.

In the layout at left, the HSTs have been placed to form two scrappy flying geese.

I have found my piecing accuracy for this block is best when I sew the horizontal seams between the top and bottom HSTs first.

After flipping the top HSTs on right sides together on the bottom HST, the diagonal seams need to nest.  The nested seams will lock together preventing the blocks from slipping out of position when sewing.  I often even press the nested blocks to further lock the blocks together.


If your seams will not nest with your desired layout, take the time to repress the seam allowances to ensure they will nest.

See the photo at right to see the nested seams.

To ensure I don't flip a block when I get to my sewing machine, I pin the side of the block which I am sewing.  This small step prevents a lot of "unsewing".

I like to use "leaders and enders" (blocks from a second quilt I am sewing) or piece of fabric at a start of a series of chain pieced blocks.

Not only do the leaders and enders prevent the corners of a block from being forced down into the throat plate of your sewing machine, but it also prevents sewing a seam that veers off an accurate 1/4" seam.


Once the two horizontal seams are sewn and pressed the joined geese are sewn together along the vertical.   See more details in the instructions.  

Download the instructions for Step 2 from the link below:

Scrap Basket Quilt Along - Step 2

Happy sewing this weekend!

Scrap Basket Quilt Along - Step 1

I've been busy cutting my solid and scraps for the quilt along, all done!

Now on to Step 1.  Included in the quilt are a number of half square triangles ("HST's").

Here are some of my finished HSTs, aren't they pretty?

When I first started quilting, HST were not my favourite quilting block.  I was always so disappointed when I lost the points on the corners of the block.


What I didn't realize at the time was that I had not set myself up for success in the first place!









I was initially taught to:

•  cut two 2 7/8" squares, 
• draw a line from one corner to the opposite diagonal on the reverse of one square,
• place the two squares right sides together
• stitch a seam 1/4" on either side of the drawn line,
• cut the block apart on the drawn line,
• press to set the seams, and open the blocks and press the seam allowance towards the darker fabric square and 
• you should end up with two - 2 1/2" HST which when sewn into a quilt should be 2" finished.

The technique above didn't set me up for success.  The finished blocks didn't always measure 2" and often I had cut off the points of the block.

Later in my quilting life, I was introduced to Studio 180 Design tools.  Thank you Gail!

Using these tools the method changed, I now:

• cut two 3" squares,
• line up the laser line my Magic Wand from one corner to the opposite diagonal on the reverse of one square and draw a line on either side of the Magic Wand
• place the two squares right sides together
• stitch a seam on each of the drawn lines,
• cut the block apart in between the on the drawn lines,
• press to set the seams, and open the blocks and press the seam allowance towards the darker fabric square,
• press to set the seams, and open the blocks and press the seam allowance towards the darker fabric square,
• trim the blocks to 2 1/2" finished using my Tucker Trimmer and
• I did end up with two accurate 2 1/2" HSTs.

The accuracy of my blocks improved because:

• it is easier to cut a 3" square
• it is easier to stitch a straight line when you are stitching on a drawn line and
• it is easier to end up with an accurate 2 1/2" HST if you a trimming down a larger block.  

The technique becomes even better when you can make 8 HSTs at the same time by starting with two 6" squares. 

With the eight at once technique you draw 4 lines - 2 lines on either side of my Magic Wand placed diagonally on the square, and 2 more lines on either side of my Magic Wand placed on the other diagonal on the square.

Stitch on all four drawn lines and then cut the block apart.  Press the blocks and trim all 8 blocks to 2 1/2" using the Tucker Trimmer.

The Magic Wand and Tucker Trimmer are essential tools in my quilting bag.  You can ask for the Magic Wand and Tucker Trimmer at your local quilt shop.

For complete details of this technique and the HSTs to make for Step 1 of the  Scrap Basket Quilt Along.

Download the instructions from the link below.

Scrap Basket Quilt Along - Step 1

Don't forget to post your progress on Instagram or Facebook using the hashtag 

#scrapbasketquiltalong

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's progress!

Happy quilting!

Stay tuned for Step 2 on February 15th, 2020.