I made this quilt recently, and when I posted it on Instagram (follow me here) a few people asked for a pattern. This isn’t exactly a pattern per se, but close! You’ll need my book Quilt Talk® for the letter patterns, but I’ve done the rest of the math for you: measurements and construction notes are below!

Begin by choosing the colors for your words. If you have a fat quarter of each you’ll have plenty. You might squeak by with a fat quarter of background, but I’d recommend having a half-yard on hand in case you decide to get fancy with how much background you put around the word block.

I chose my colors in a gradient, light to dark. I chose to make NEVER and THELESS in the same color to bring that word together, despite it being split across two lines. I don’t have KONA recommendations for you as I used a mixed bag of fabrics from my stash, and there are at least three different companies’ solids in my house! Make it your own – you’ll love it more!

If you haven’t already switched over to newsprint for your paper-piecing, this would be an excellent time to start as you’ll appreciate it on the smallest letters. It’s more see-through than regular copy paper, and tears off with far more ease. I use the Carol Doak Foundation Newsprint by C&T, but any newsprint that will go through your home printer will do.

The words are 17” wide (finished) and the interior word panel is 28” long (finished). I added a 2” border all round to make it 21” x 32”.

All the letters are CAPITALS.

The kerning/K-space (space between the letters) is a bit fussy, but happily, these things are easy to stretch a little with a hot iron, or ease, as needed.

Start by copying the letters:

• SHE x 2 – copy at 170% for 6.4” tall (just a hair bigger than 6 3/8”)
• WAS WARNED – copy at 50% for 1 7/8” tall
• NEVER – copy at 100% for 3 3/4” tall
• THELESS – copy at 70% for 2 5/8” tall
• PERSISTED – copy at 57% for 2.14” tall (just a hair bigger than 2 1/8”)

Measure your letters as you print them to make sure you maintain size, and adjust accordingly if they’re off. See Quilt Talk® p12 and 13 for printing and sizing tips.

Paper-piece away… I recommend looking at Quilt Talk® for the section on pre-cutting (p13) for letters as it will speed things up for you, and save you fabric.

How I paper- piece begins on p15 if you need a refresher. I like to peel the paper from my letters before I set them – if yours feel wobbly give them a spritz of starch or sizing.

Kerning/K-space (listed in descending order of size):

• SHE x 2: cut 4 @ 6 7/8” x 1 5/16”
• NEVER: cut 4 @ 4 1/4” x 1”
• THELESS: cut 6 @ 3 1/8” x 7/8”
• WAS WARNED: cut 5 @ 2 3/8” x 3 /4” and 1 @ 2 3/8” x 1 5/16” for between WAS and WARNED
• NOTE: There is no K-space between W and A in WAS or WARNED (this tucks the A next to the W more gracefully)
• PERSISTED: cut 8 @ 2 5/8” x 3/4”

Put the K-spaces between their letters, and give each word a hearty press, with steam as needed, to make it 17 1/2” long (including the seam allowances).

Cut 5 @ 1 1/2” x 17 1/2” to put between the rows of words. You could experiment with reducing the word space between NEVER and THELESS for more impact.

Border, quilt, and bind as desired. I recommend something simple on the quilting so as not to dilute the words. I find a simple cross hatch to usually be quite effective – I did a diagonal diamond cross-hatch on this one, one inch apart, basing the diagonal on the interior angle of the V in NEVER. If you choose to make a wallhanging remember that, because a wallhanging doesn’t get the wear of a quilt that gets cuddled a lot, you can afford to be simpler/less dense about your quilting.

This is for personal use only – please don’t sell what you make.

Please post yours on IG – and tag me @huntersds and #neverthelessquilt so I can see it!

The post Quilt Talk® Bonus Pattern – Nevertheless appeared first on Hunter's Design Studio.

So I’ve decided to start putting a few of them into fabric, and as I do, I’ll be blogging the pattern notes for them here… consider them free/bonus additions to my book, Quilt Talk®, just for you. Just to be clear, you’ll still need the book to access the letters, but I’ll have done a lot of the setting math for you

I started plotting the letters of this one while I was in the writing phase of the book two years ago (TWO YEARS! ARGH!), but life got busy, and it ended up in the UFO pile. I paper-pieced the letters sometime last year, and again, it stalled. A couple of weekends back, I got real, and got to setting the letters. And from there, the finish was an easy one!

I used the Barcelona line from Brigitte Heitland/Zen Chic – not only is she a talented designer, but she’s a lovely human as well! I used her highly successful Comma line for the Rackafrax quilt in the book.

This finished size for “Do No Harm” is 20” x 40” and this is how to do it:

• The construction is similar to “She Just Ignored People…” in the book (p 101)
• Copy the letters for do no, but, and no at 120% (“o” is 3”)
• Copy the letters for harm, take, and shit at 150% (“a” is 3.75”)
• Just to note, if you’re not keen on having a cuss word on your quilt, you can either play with the spelling by substituting an asterisk or exclamation mark for the “i”, or just change the word to a sentiment that suits you better.
• The K space for the letters is 1/2” finished. The Word space between do and not is 2” finished.
• The A&D strip for the 120% letters is 1.5” finished, and for the 150% letters is 2.375” (2 3/8”) finished
• The Leading is 1.5” finished, except under do not and no, where is is 1” finished.
• The top and bottom are 3” finished.
• The width is 20”. So to calculate the size of the strip on either side of the word, measure the word, subtract 0.5 to get the finished word size, then subtract that from 20, then divide the result in half (one for each side) then add 0.5 to each piece for seam allowance. As an example:
  • 8.5” word
  • minus 0.5 for seam allowance = 8
  • Subtract 8 from 20 = 12
  • Divide 12 in half = 6
  • Add 0.5 to each for seam allowance = 6.5” – so cut 2 pieces 6.5” x height of the word, and sew to either side of the word.

Quilting ideas:

• I find that a simple cross hatch, or straight lines works well with this kind of lettering, preferably done in a thread that doesn’t scream against any one fabric. I used medium gray Aurifil 2605 in this instance, with the cross hatch about 1” apart.
• You could also densely quilt down the background with pattern or stipple to allow the letters to stand up.

I hope you have fun making this one!

The post Quilt Talk® Bonus Pattern – Do No Harm! appeared first on Hunter's Design Studio.

Enjoy!

This tutorial is done with the 6” block.

(And apologies for the state of my hands in the pix… I had an allergic reaction that made my skin peel, and go figure, my hands were taking the brunt of it as I was photographing this!)

Print out the paper pattern(s), and separate the 4 block quadrants, leaving a generous 1/2” of paper all around. Ignore the numbers on the patterns in some of the pix – I was working with an earlier version

Start with piece 1/A. Put a swipe of glue stick in the seam allowance…

… align the fabric and stick it down. I don’t usually use glue, but with small pieces like this it really keeps slippage to a minimum.

Fold the paper and fabric back to make a crease along the outer edge of Triangle 2:

Make the crease sharp enough so you can see it on the fabric side:

Stick a pin up from the paper side to mark the point of the triangle:

Put a swipe of glue stick into the seam allowance:

And place the Prairie Point, aligning it to the pin and crease, with the raw edge parallel to the seam, and stick it to the glue:

Pull out the pin, and place 2/B on top, aligning the edges for the seam:

Pin here if you like. Sew it down, overshooting each line by a 1/4”. I find I get less slippage on all these layers using the walking foot – you’re going over 6 layers of fabric when you get to the triangle:

Fold the paper back…

… and trim the seam allowance to 1/4” – you can do this with any ruler, or the Add-A-Quarter Ruler if you have one:

You’ll trim very little of the prairie point on the 15” and 6” blocks, but trim a decent amount on the 4” blocks. Turn the block over, and press, or finger-press:

Flip the block paper-side up, and using your ruler, fold the paper up at the NEXT seam:

Crease the paper back to expose the edge of piece 2/B:

And using your ruler, trim this with a 1/4” seam allowance. This sets up the next edge perfectly for aligning:

I don’t usually do the above step when I paper-piece, but in this application it makes the rest of the block so much easier to get aligned.

With the paper-side down, fold back the paper and fabric to crease the outer edge of Triangle 4:

And align the second Prairie Point, with the help of a swipe of glue in the seam allowance. I find that I don’t need to use the pin for any of the points after the first as I can see where it should go in relation to the seam before it – which is good, because that whole pin thing is rather awkward!

And keep going until you get to the last piece – don’t forget piece D! But not Prairie Point 13:

Trim the block, adding a 1/4” seam allowance:

And with a swipe of glue stick in the seam allowance, glue the last Prairie Point in place (or sew baste it). It will get sewn in when you put the 4 quadrants together:

Piece the remaining quadrants, and don’t take off the paper yet:

Sew them together in pairs first, pressing away from the point of Prairie Point 13:

Then sew the halves together:

Flip the block over, and unpick the seam allowances in the center of the block – just the allowances, not the seams! Fan them out so they “spin” in the center. This allows you to press all four quadrant seams in the right direction to allow the prairie points to lay flat, while taking bulk out of the center.

Give the block a final press from the front! Peel the paper out, and perhaps press it one more time.

Turn your block into a thing!

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1. Table Extensions

Whether you sink your machine into some kind of sewing furniture (I use both the Janome Table and the Sew-Ezi table), or spring for the portable extension for your machine, having the bed of your machine extended across a table will allow you sew with more accuracy. The table gives you space to line up and straighten out your fabric before it reaches the needle.

2. Velcro on the Foot Pedal

I sew on carpet, so my foot pedal is fond of going walkabout. A chunk of the hook side of sticky-back Velcro allows it to get a grip on the carpet. Your space isn’t carpeted? Try a decent sized square of the rubber mat sold for lining cupboards (I carry one in my portable kit so that if I sew somewhere else I’m ready for either).

3. Noodle on the Knee Lift

The bigger machines of today all have knee lifts, and as the machine throats (or Harp Space, if we’re getting technical) get bigger, the knee lift gets further out to the right. Reaching it can be a bizarre form of inner thigh stretch. Buy a pool noodle that has a big hole through the middle, saw off a chunk (a bread knife is perfect for this) and slide/tug/push it on. It will bring the knee lift edge closer to you, and you won’t have mismatched thighs! Bonus: One pool noodle will get you three or four pieces so share with a friend!

4. Different Rotary Cutters for Different Uses

I keep a selection of cutters around so that I can make it easily through different techniques. The 60mm one is for batting, fusible fleece, and when I’m cutting through more than 4 layers of fabric. I have an extra 45mm one specifically for cutting paper, or trimming paper pieced blocks (this gets my older blades). The 28mm is for smaller pieces and curved templates.

My favorite rotary cutters:

5. Cone Stand Hack

Don’t have a cone stand? Do this instead… Grab a big coffee mug or a big canning jar. The base of the cup or jar needs to be bigger than the spool’s base or it will wedge. If using the jar, go wide-mouth so you can get your hand in if needed. Pop the thread into it and set it up next to your machine. Tape a safety pin (closed, sharp point down) to the edge of your machine such that you can go from the jar into your thread path in as straight a line as possible. Thread through the end hole in the safety pin and into the thread path.

6. Slider on the Machine

Cover the path to the needle of your machine with a chunk of Supreme Slider (I had a damaged one that I cut in half for this). It will help stop seams from flipping the wrong way underneath as you come into the needle. For paper-piecing, it helps the paper slide across the machine bed, and stops the dreaded flip of the underneath piece. Tip: rinse the slider off at the beginning of every sewing session to keep it sticking on the bed.

Get yours here:

7. Needle Threader

If you can see to thread a needle easily, huzzah! File this away for the day after your 40th birthday for when, suddenly, your arms need to be longer to read anything. This little goody is the Desk Needle Threader made by Clover. Put the needle in eye down, lay thread across the path, push the lever, pull out the threaded needle. It also has a cutter across the top so you don’t have to risk your scissors to the capriciously enforced rules of the TSA.

Purchase your needle threader here:

8. Sticky Notes

Do you go back to same machine settings over and over? Keep them close by on sticky-notes. I also use them to mark cuts of fabric when I need to keep it all straight.

9. Zippy Bags

I use these relentlessly to corral projects and their parts. Being as I paper-piece a lot of words (and always precut for them), I bag the parts for each word as I’m cutting. I play a lot less 52-pick-up when I move things around in bags.

10. Tweezers

I keep two sets on hand – one has teeth in the tip, the other has flat ends. I use the first mostly for pulling paper out of paper-pieced seams, and the flat ones for pulling up threads at the machine.

11. Non-sticky Hand Lotion

Fabric will steal the moisture from your hands, so I use these little tins of hand lotion bars. Lavishea and LoLo Bar make my two faves, and I like the citrusy smells. Dump the bar into your hands, give it a quick rub, pop it back into the tin, and massage the lotion into your hands. Neither of these products leave a sticky residue! Bonus: when your hands have some moisture, you’ll be able to grip the fabric better, and pick up single pieces from stacks.

12. Scrap Pillow Case

No matter how many scraps you keep, there’s still a point at which you’ll toss out the smallest bits of fabric. Put together a simple pillow case from that “what was I thinking?” fabric you bought a while back, and throw your scraps into it. When it’s full, run a sturdy seam down the edge, and drop it by your local animal shelter next time you’re out running errands.

Ooops – that was twelve sewing studio hacks! No matter!

The post My Top Ten Sewing Studio Hacks appeared first on Hunter's Design Studio.

So as I munched on said chocolate (the wonderful 70% Super Smooth Belgian Mini Bars from Trader Joe’s) I pondered a way to end the “under-folding.” Not that I like having problems to solve, but I find solving these kind of puzzles fun.

I thought that a slicker surface might help – slick enough that nothing at all could drag the fabric and pull it out of place. And lo and behold, I just happened to have a Supreme Slider*  in the studio.

They are designed to give you a more slippery surface when doing free-motion quilting, but lo and behold, they do the same for paper-piecing.

I put the edge right up in front of the feed dogs and yep… worked like a charm. I might even buy a second one and cut out the feed dog hole to fit. The only downside I’ve found thus far is that I can’t see the bobbin run out (it’s a top loader) – but even when I can see it I forget about it until I’ve sewn a mile or two on empty, so that hardly registers as a complaint.

OK… back to the studio! What are your favorite paper-piecing tricks?

*I’m not a rep for the Supreme Slider – just a fan!

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