I’m moving along on my quilt with 3 rows now complete.
Working on getting the rest of my hst blocks completed today.
How are you coming along??
Orbit QAL :: Errata
An error was found in the pattern! Thank you so much to Rebecca for finding!
Under Piecing:
#2 says that you need (10) half square blocks, (4) print/background and (6) reverse.
It should read:
You need (12) half square blocks, (4) print/background and (8) reverse.
I have updated the pattern with this change.
The cutting instructions are correct, so you would have just been wondering what to do with those extra few pieces!!
Thank you again, Rebecca!
Filed under Orbit Quilt Along
Orbit QAL Week 2 :: Piecing
I’ve enjoyed seeing peeks at the fabrics some of you have picked out!
Today starts Week 2 in the quilt along and we’ll be piecing our quilt together over the next 2 weeks.
The four blocks in the quilt are very straight forward in construction and should give you no trouble at all.
If you’re new to half square triangles, I wanted to share a little picture step-by-step on putting those blocks together.
Click on each collage to see the image up close.
The triangles are sized just enough to allow you to square up a small bit. I really don’t like a lot of waste so you will notice there is not much to trim away.
You can always enlarge your original square size to 6.25″ or 6.50″ to give you a bit more wiggle room.
If you’re familiar with hst blocks you won’t necessarily have to pin. Pinning is helpful though to make sure your pieces don’t shift and eat up your small trimming allowance.
I recommend making all of your hst blocks first because they are the most tedious (the trimming). It’s nice to have them out of the way! You can cut and pin (or stack together) each individual unit and then chain piece.
Week 2 and 3 are for piecing together your quilt. This includes the individual blocks, rows and on to sewing all the rows together to make your top.
Use the quilt layout guide at the back of the pattern to help you as you go. I keep it open on my computer as I sew.
Use the flickr group to ask questions, or do so in the comments! Any questions you have, I’m happy to help!
I will be sharing my progress over the next 2 weeks and I’d love to see yours too.
Lindsey
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Feb 11th, :: Getting Ready! (fabric selection + supply list)
Feb 18th, Week 1 :: Pattern release + cutting/organizing
Feb 25th, Week 2 & 3 :: Piecing + quilt layout
March 11th, Week 4 :: Backing + Basting your quilt
March 18th, Week 5 & 6 :: Quilting & Binding + Link Up Opens to add your finished project
April 1st, Link Up Closes and Winner selected from photo pool
Filed under Orbit Quilt Along, Quilt Along, Quilts, Sewing, Tutorial, Uncategorized
Orbit QAL :: Pattern Release
I’m excited to kick things off today and get started on our Orbit quilts!
The pattern is ready and can be downloaded below.
Each week we will work through a section, starting today with Cutting and Organizing.
I’ve illustrated cutting for all pieces to give you an idea of how to arrange your cuts.
I’m a visual person, so I find it helpful to see what I’m doing along with the instructions.
You don’t have to cut exactly like this, it’s just a guide to get you started.
Remember when cutting to:
• Square up your fabric and measure your fat quarters to make sure they are the correct size. Nothing worse then starting to cut only to realize your fat quarter was not the right size to begin with!
• Start with a fresh rotary blade, it really does make a difference
• Cut accurately. A mis-cut can make piecing very difficult! Measure twice, cut once.
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Now let’s talk organizing!
A key part of putting this quilt together easily is to be organized.
While you don’t have to color in a mockup, you will need to use the Quilt by Number sheet to assign a number to each of your fabrics.
The cutting and fabric placement is all done by number.
I like to put my pieces in a Ziploc freezer bag, grouping each number in a separate bag. When you need to stop for the day, you can zip up your bags and not worry about losing any pieces.
Or if you’ve just put them into piles, you can stick a post-it note on top and call it a day. It doesn’t have to be fancy.
Other ideas I’ve seen:
• Use an expandable file folder to keep cut pieces organized
• Use paper plates to stack pieces together
• Organize your rows with saved bread ties
• Use Q-pins, numbered quilting pins to help you stay organized
• Using dollar store baking sheets
Share any tips you have in the comments and if you have any questions while cutting, please let me know.
I’ll share my cutting progress this week in the flickr group. Share yours too!
Filed under Fabric, Orbit Quilt Along, Quilt Along, Quilts, Sew Along, Sewing, Tutorial, Uncategorized
Orbit QAL :: Printable Mockup Sheet
I apologize for being a day late!
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Here are the links to the printable PDFs:
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With two kiddos, my sewing time needs to be pretty focused if I’m going to accomplish anything.
The Quilt by Number sheet has a number for the placement of the fabrics so that you can number your fabrics and know exactly where to place them.
This helps me be productive and makes my sewing pretty mindless.
Mindless = relaxing for me!
The Plain Jane version is blank so that you can color it in however you’d like.
For this quilt, I took the blank sheet and added my fabrics for the big orbits. I wanted to get a feel for how they would play next to each other.
Once I found the best spot, I glued them down.
OCD, yes? haha…
Hopefully this will help you in planning your quilt and making the most of the time you have!
xo, Lindsey
Filed under Orbit Quilt Along, Quilt Along, Tutorial
Orbit QAL :: Supply List
The quilt along starts next week!
Today I wanted to talk about fabric and supplies to help you get ready.
The pattern directions are written using 13 different fabrics + 1 background fabric.
If you follow the pattern design layout you will be using each of the fabrics in 3 different places, as shown below.
I call these ‘Orbits’, ‘outer squares’ and ‘center squares’.
You can also easily use up scraps and spare fat quarters if you want a scrappy feel to the quilt.
With my sample, I used a random collection of fabrics from my stash and scrap bin + my 1 yard of background fabric.
Below I’ve listed out two different supply lists.
The first is for those who want to follow the pattern exactly.
The second is for those who are trying to stash bust and want to use what they have.
I’ve also made them into a PDF that you can download and print.
————
Original Supply List: 60 x 60 finished quilt size
(All listed amounts are for 44″ wide quilting cotton)
• ( 1 ) yard background fabric
• ( 5 ) 1/2 yard cuts (for full circle orbits & accents)
• ( 8 ) fat quarters (for half and quarter circle orbits & accents)
• ( 3 3/4 ) yards backing fabric
• ( 5/8 ) yard binding fabric for 2.5″ wide strips OR ( 1/2 ) yard for 2.25″ wide strips
• batting that measures at minimum 64 x 64
You will also need the usual:
• sewing machine/needles/thread
• rotary cutter/ruler/mat
• basting spray or pins
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Fair warning, the scrappy list is a bit more wordy! 
Please remember that using scraps is not an exact science. I’ve given you measurements for the cuts you will need to make and my best estimate of yardage you can do that with.
Going the scrappy route requires a bit more time on your part to make it work. It’s not hard to do it this way, you just need to be more organized with your pieces and have time for digging through your scrap bins!
**I am breaking it down by design element with the idea that you are using a different fabric for each element. If you want to use the same fabric for more then one element, you will need to do the figuring based on my measurements. Please pay attention to the bold sections that tell you how many of each element there are in the pattern so that you pull together enough fabric.
Scrappy Supply List: (broken down by pieces) 60 x 60 finished quilt
• Background :: ( 1 ) yard 44″ wide fabric
• each Full Orbit :: (2) fat quarters or (3/8) yard
(**There are ( 5 ) full Orbits in the pattern)
The full orbit is just a few inches shy of being cut from 1 fat quarter. (I know, annoying! Sorry!) You also need to take into consideration directional prints if you want the fabrics to ‘flow’ around the circle.
( 4 ) 10.5″ x 5.5″ rectangles
( 2 ) 6″ squares cut on the diagonal to make ( 4 ) HST (half square triangle)
(click on the image to enlarge)
• each Half Orbit :: (1) fat quarter
(**There are ( 4 ) half orbits in the pattern)
( 1 ) 10.5″ x 5.5″ rectangle
( 1 ) 6″ square, cut on the diagonal to make ( 2 ) HST
( 2 ) 5.5″ squares
(click on the image to enlarge)
• each Quarter Orbit :: (1) fat quarter or scraps that equal the below measurements
(**There are ( 4 ) quarter orbits in the pattern)
( 2 ) 5.5″ squares
( 1 ) 6″ square, cut on the diagonal to make ( 1 ) HST. Set aside extra half.
(click on the image to enlarge)
• each full Outer Square :: scraps for measurements below
(**There are ( 5 ) full Outer Squares in the pattern)
( 2 ) 10.5″ x 3″ rectangles
( 2 ) 3″ x 5.5″ rectangles
(click image to enlarge)
• each half Outer Square :: scraps for measurements below
(**There are ( 4 ) half Outer Squares in the pattern)
( 1 ) 10.5″ x 3″ rectangle
( 2 ) 3″ squares
(click image to enlarge)
• each quarter Outer Square :: scraps for measurements below
(**There are ( 4 ) quarter Outer Squares in the pattern)
( 1 ) 3″ x 5.5″ rectangle
( 1 ) 3″ square
(click image to enlarge)
• each full Center Square :: scraps for measurements below
(**There are ( 4 ) full Center Squares in the pattern)
( 1 ) 5.5″ square
(click image to enlarge)
• each half Center Square :: scraps for measurements below
(**There are ( 8 ) half Center Squares in the pattern)
( 1 ) 3″ x 5.5″ rectangle
(click on image to enlarge)
• ( 3 3/4 ) yards backing fabric
• ( 5/8 ) yard binding fabric for 2.5″ wide strips OR ( 1/2 ) yard for 2.25″ wide strips
• batting that measures at minimum 64 x 64
You will also need the usual:
• sewing machine/needles/thread
• rotary cutter/ruler/mat
• basting spray or pins
I know this is A LOT of information! I tried to be as thorough and detailed as possible.
If you have any questions or are confused about anything, please leave a comment.
I will answer comments in this post instead of emailing back to you so that others can benefit from your question.
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Tomorrow I will share a PDF printable coloring page of the quilt design so that you can make a mockup if you’d like.
I’ll share how I make mine, complete with fabric and glue.
I like to see the real deal before I commit to cutting, haha!
Lindsey
Filed under Orbit Quilt Along, Quilt Along, Quilts, Uncategorized
Sweetheart Quilt Block
The pattern and tutorial have been posted today at Sew Mama Sew!
Click here to check it out, I hope you enjoy.
If you decide to make one, I’d love to see it! Be sure to add your project to the flickr group.
Daisy Jane Winner
The winner of the Daisy Jane bundle from Honey Bee Good is #120, Brynn!
Congrats Brynn, I’ve sent you an email.
Thank you all for entering and showing Honey Bee Good some love!Lindsey
Filed under Uncategorized
Valentine Hop Winner + Orbit QAL
I have the winner from the Valentine’s hop.
Congrats to Feathered Nest Studio, you’ve won the fat quarter bundle of MonaLuna fabrics from Lima Sews!
Great idea! A favorite childhood craft of mine was definitely building miniatures for my dolls! Little furniture, little dishes, houses, etc. Thanks for the chance to win
I also have some info on a Quilt Along that will start Feb 18th!
I designed a free quilt pattern for RJR fabrics new line by Mary McGuire called “Cold Spring Dreams”. Available in March of 2013
The quilt is called “Orbit” and finishes at 60 x 60. A great snuggle quilt size! It can also easily be increased to bed size by adding a few extra rows.
I’m increasing my sample, below, to a king size to use in our master bedroom.
The quilt along will run for 6 weeks starting on Feb 18th and closing on April 1st.
The full PDF pattern will be available on Feb 18th, so you will be able to move ahead of schedule if you’d like!
I will be sewing along with you using the “Cold Spring Dream” line and you’ll have a chance to win some for yourself at the close of the sew along.
You, of course, can use whatever fabric suits your fancy! I think the design would be striking in all solids too.
•••••
Feb 11th, :: Getting Ready! (fabric selection + supply list)
Feb 18th, Week 1 :: Pattern release + cutting/organizing
Feb 25th, Week 2 & 3 :: Piecing + quilt layout
March 11th, Week 4 :: Backing + Basting your quilt
March 18th, Week 5 & 6 :: Quilting & Binding + Link Up Opens to add your finished project
April 1st, Link Up Closes and Winner selected from photo pool
•••••
On April 1st I will randomly choose an entry to win a fat quarter bundle of Cold Spring Dreams, donated by RJR fabrics.
Finished quilts and quilt tops are accepted. (It must be the entire quilt top, not just a portion).
I had a fabric photo shoot this morning to show you how beautiful the colors are!
I hope you’ll consider joining in. The quilt is simple to put together, so it should be a fun and relaxing time!
Join in the LRstitched flickr group and feel free to grab a blog button to spread the word!
You can also click on the Orbit Quilt Along tab at the top the page to find all posts related to the quilt along.
<div align="center"><a href="http://lrstitched.com/orbit-quilt-along/" title="orbitquiltAlong"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8372/8415951312_f45c9975a7_o.jpg" alt="orbitquiltalong" style="border:none;" /></a></div>
You can find the Cold Spring Dreams line available online now at:
Filed under Fabric, Giveaway, Orbit Quilt Along, Quilt Along, Quilts, Sew Along, Sponsors.
Giveaway :: Daisy Janie “New Leaf” FQ Bundle
Happy Monday!
Today I have a giveaway from Honey Bee Good.
Karen is offering a fat quarter bundle of the beautiful new fabric from Daisy Janie called “New Leaf”.
These are not typically my colors, I’m not a big fan of yellows and oranges, but these are truly gorgeous.
I purchased some of this new line to make a little mini quilt for Valentine’s Day.
I quilted it with 12 wt thread from Aurifil. This is a very heavy weight thread and it stitches really beautifully.
This color is a variegated pink, #4660.
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To enter to win the fq bundle, just leave a comment!
Open to all readers. I will use random.org to pick a winner on Friday, Feb 8th.
If you just can’t wait to buy some, you can find “New Leaf” here.
Karen has also put together gift sets of fabric that include 6 fat 1/8″ pieces and a coordinating wooden spool of thread all packaged in a pretty box.
Use code GIFTBOX at checkout to receive free shipping on these boxes until February 9th! You can find all of them here.
Good luck!
P.S. I will share a free pattern for the heart mini this week!
