Sunday, April 13, 2014

April Showers: 3-D Bowtie

Thanks to all who left comments about their favorite quilting tool, gadget, or notion on the blog post below.  I asked Matthew to pick a random winner, and he chose Jeanne Gwin. 

Jeanne, please send your mailing address to dakotacabinquilts@ndsupernet.com, and we’ll send you your packet of Wonder Clips.  Congratulations!

Soooo…. I’ve been collecting Bonnie & Camille cut goods for a couple of months now, and finally finished enough other projects to treat myself.  I couldn’t wait to start stitching with the fun & fresh April Showers collection.

First, a tough decision… fat quarter bundle, layer cake, mini charm, charm… hmmm…

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I would have loved to unbundle those fat quarters and start a bed sized quilt.  But, not today.  Hopefully, soon!

Instead, I settled on a charm square quilt (the pattern actually specified (3) packs of mini charms, but I thought it would be easier to work with 5” squares rather than 2.5. This little 3-D Bowtie pattern in the Moda Candy Book  has been calling my name for a couple of weeks now, and I thought it would look cute in the bright small scale April Showers prints

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First, I sorted off  suitable charm squares:

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Some of the prints were either too white, or too large in scale:

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Then, I cut (4) 2.5” squares from each of the 5” charms. The bowtie blocks took a little bit of practice to master, but I quickly got the hang of it. 

First, fold a print wrong sides together.  Lay it on a 2.5” background square:

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Put a matching print, right sides together, on top, creating a little “sandwich”:

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Align the edges, and stich down the side, creating a little folded tab:

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Set the tab on top of a print square:

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Add a background square to make a second little sandwich, and, again, stitch along the side:

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The result is two sandwiches with a central tab:

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The tab gets tucked between the two sandwiches, as they are sewn right sides together,  and forms a little 3D pouch (the center of the bowtie):

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When the final seam is sewn, the result is so dang cute!

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I had to really think about fabric placement for the directional stripes.  First this:

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Then, this:

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Then, this:

 

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To make these:

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This is a better picture of the little 3D center than the one above.  The little pouch in the center gets neatly tucked into the final seam.

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The striped bowties are so crisp and pretty!

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Fluffy helped  me sew, until she was booted from the cutting board, so I could carefully arrange…

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More bowties!  The pattern only called for twenty, but I just couldn’t narrow it down to any less than 30.

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I added a 2” inner border, and a 3 inch outer border:

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Ta Da!  Ready for quilting.  Finished size: 28” x 32”

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Kits are now available:

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You can find one here. 

Kit sells for $35.00, including backing, plus you do need the Moda Candy “Oh So Sweet” Pattern Booklet ($10.00).

~ Happy Quilting.