Monday 25 November 2013

How to Cut and Prep 12 Churn Dash Blocks in less than 2hrs

This Crazed Quilter has been at it again ")

Have you ever wondered how some people 
are able to make quilts soo quickly

do often think to yourself it is not just possible

well today I am going to show you it can be done 
and done very quickly 

So here is how this all started 
after a customer came to me 
with a request for a Applique Farm Scene 
quilt with some nice patchwork blocks 
around the center...mind you with a deadline 
of the 14th of December 2013
so I thought to my 
(and yes i do have way to much time alone)
how can I do this and quick really quick 
as she not only wanted one she wanted 2 single 
bed quilts 

AUGH!!!!!!!!!!! came to mind 
I can't do this....

but after some serious thinking 
I though I can do this 
with Churn Dash as my patchwork block 
I ran this past the customer and she 
loved it ") 

so my next task was to get this done

so this is how you can have 12 Blocks prepared and cut 
 and ready for sewing in less 2hrs ") 

so this is what a Churn Dash Looks like ") 




 So lets get started ") 
you will need the following:
(***WOF*** width of fabric )

4 strips of Blue fabric cut (WOF)
4 strips of Green fabric cut (WOF)
approx 7 x 2.5 inch strip of Blue Fabric cut (WOF)
approx 7 x 2.5 inch of Green Fabric cut (WOF)
1 x 4.5 inch square a colour of your choice
Rotary Cutter
Cutting Matt
Ruler
Water Soluble marker 
thread for project 
and Sewing machine 


Now on to the Fun Stuff ") 



1. we need to cut 2 strips of fabric across
the width of the fabric measuring 
4&7/8's of on inch 
now you will need to contrasting 
colours 
(i used Blue and Green Batik)

2. Now take you fabric marker and mark 
4&7/8's of an inch as shown in the image below
and continue this along the strip measuring from each line marked
4&7/8's of an inch 

3. then mark corner to corner...so it looks 
like the image below continue along 
the strip :) 



4. Now take your blue strip and place it onto of the 
green strip and take to the sewing machine 
Now we sew :) 1/4 inch either side of the 
diagonal line :) 
** refer to image below **

5. Now once you have done this 
take to your cutting mat and 
cut along the vertical line 
until you have your squares 

6. then cut along the Diagonal line 
on each square *refer to image below*
now you have your 1/2 square triangles ") Yay


7. now it is off to press your 1/2 square triangles 
first set your seams and then press open your squares
you will need 4 of these to make one 
Block **refer to the image below** 
8. Now we cut some 2.5 inch strips 
one blue and one green...we need to cut 5 of the blue 
and 5 green to make enough for 12 blocks ") 
**refer to the image below** 

9. take your strips to your sewing machine and sew them
together...and repeat with remaining strips chain 
piecing if you like ") this speeds up the process 
somewhat 

10. Now take your strips to the ironing board 
and set your seam and press open.

11. Now take your ruler 4.5 inch square and cut 
into 4.5 inch squares

12. Now the customer had picked out this fabric 
for the center blocks..but if it was my quilt I would have had 
a green square ( but that is just me lol)
anyway I am fussy cutting her so you can see in the 
image below that I have taken my 4.5 inch square ruler 
and placed it over where I wanted to cut...I Cut 12 squares
for 12 blocks  


13. now sort you piles into the following 
for each block
4 x Half square triangle
4 x green & blue strips
and 1 x 4.5 inch center square 

and there you go 12 Churn Dash Squares 
all cut and prepped and ready to sew together 
in less than 2hrs :) 

Happy Quilting ")  

Wednesday 6 November 2013

Woo Hoo More Renovations on the Shop ")

With the hot weather closing in fast 
my hubby decided that we need to do
some speed Reno's 
 to seal up the tin  roof in the shop 
as it was radiating some serious 
heat...

so over the last 2 days while the 
kids were at school we got stuck 
into it ") 
 
so it is was off the the hardware store 
to get our supplies 

we decided to go with wool insulation 
and then we used a foil sheeting that 
held the wool insulation in place 
(not sure what it is called so we will call it blue paper LOL) 

yes I know very technical am.... hehehe

then we purchased so 9mm Ply 
varnished to seal it :) 

now that is some heavy duty insulation going 
on there apparently altogether that would 
give you a rating of 5 :) :) 

so here are some of the pics that I took while 
were doing the reno ") 

and yes I did get in trouble a Lot for 
using my camera  LOL
but if I don't take photos 
who will...and I would like to 
have some documentaion of the
whole process of building up 
my business from scratch

so here we are just starting 

as you can see the tin is exposed
              
above we started to put the noggins
up so we can put he insulation in ")


next we move on to the wool insulation :)
and to our relief it was not making us itchy



here you can see all the Wool insulation in
now we move on the putting up the
as I like to call it the Blue paper LOL 


finally we have all the blue paper up
there I go again being all technical LOL 


Next was the ply...now let me tell you
I know one thing I am not
cut out for construction  but I gave it
my best...and the I thought that my arms
were going to drop off

you tell by the pics here below LOL
not so good 

here we are nearly 
finished the lining of the roof 
this is on the second day 
we were starting to get a 
bit tired now 
but it was starting to 
come together ")
after lots of shifting this here and that 
there we maneuvered
around all the machinery 








And Finally we are at the end of the journey
we have put the last sheet up
after 18hrs of work
we done it
just have to put some more finishing touches like curtains
and hang some quilts on the walls
and get some joins sealed

but as you can see it has really come together
Nicely ")

thanks to the best Hubby in the world 
fabric and Long-arm machine
Class area


it was amazing as we were working
we could really feel the difference
in the heat reduction

Now all we have to do is install the Air-Con
and I can then say goodbye to Hot
working conditions ")

I can tell you
I am one happy Chicky right now ")

Happy Quilting