The Tilda Apple Bloom Quilt - Stage 2 - Sewing Log Cabin Blocks!

So after all the preparation carried out in stage 1 it's finally time to get out the sewing machine! yay! Again this stage also needs to be quite methodical I'm finding as again when it comes to the next stages further down the line I'm pretty certain I'll be rewarded for careful and as precise sewing as I am able to do now. 

One step at a time - BLOCK 1 - First I've taken 1 piece of each strip for the log cabin from my carefully pre- labelled sections (I am  now feeling quite smug that I'm a virgo and therefore my prep & organisation is coming in to its own!). Next following the guide from the pattern starting with pieces A & B I have sewn these together making sure the fabrics are the right way up to follow the fabric designs. Making sure I open the seams at the back each time I sew another piece of fabric in to place I have continued alphabetically (see pic) adding sections C & D.

Each time as the Log Cabin BLOCK gets bigger I have opened the seams at the back to make sure when they are pressed and ironed at the end they will sit perfectly flat ready for quilting later. 

Although the Log Cabin design looks fiddly and a little complicated to look at, I've found it's actually a fairly straight forward pattern to follow as long as you line each piece up as you go along and make sure the seams are open at the back when adding the next piece. I was constantly checking back with the pattern and making sure the fabrics were all facing the right direction etc. Once all the pieces are sewn together it's time to get the iron out (that's if you're naughty like me and not been doing them as you go along!). I started by ironing the back opening all the seams and ironing them completely flat before turning the complete BLOCK over to iron the front ... and here it is my first LOG CABIN BLOCK completed. It's a great sense of achievement to know I've been able to master this having cut SO much fabric out for this quilt! 

I have to say I'm loving how all the fabrics work together but then when working with Tilda especially from one of their ranges you always know everything is going to tone in so well! Here's a quick peep at the boring bit - the back with all the seams sitting nice and flat.

So the quilt pattern I've chosen to use has 2 different BLOCKS repeated 8 times, so on to BLOCK 2 and the same process again starting from the centre.

Each BLOCK has 13 pieces so it's a bit of a repetitive process adding one piece at a time, making sure the fabric design is the right way round and ensuring the seams have all been opened at the back each time before adding another piece. The end result is worth it though! Here's BLOCK 2 completed.

In total there are 16 BLOCKS to sew to make up the quilt pattern I have chosen ... and I've now managed to make 5, three of BLOCK 1 and two of BLOCK 2. By adding the blocks in to a photo collage you can see how my quilt is starting to take shape ........ only 11 more of these to go!!

Obviously mine will be straight!! LOL these pics look all wonky it's just the angle they were taken at I promise they are nice and straight! I'll keep updating this Stage until all 16 are complete so you can see where I am up to. But so far so good, all is well in my new world of quilting and I'm still smiling .......... for now! 

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It's the 24th June and feeling pretty accomplished today as I have finished all the 'log cabin' Blocks for my quilt! eeek !! The quilt effectively now looks like this (obviously not joined together or quilted yet! but all blocks in place ready the the next stage!)

The next step will be getting ready for Stage 3 - the SASHING - so I think I have something like 33 off white pieces to cut out and a similar amount of the little squares to make the corners of each block! 

Will try and get some cut out at the weekend and one block done so you can see if time permits!

Hope you're enjoying progress I know things are going to start getting trickier from hereon in! 

Sarah X

The Apple Bloom Quilt - - Stage 1 Preparations - Follow My Progress as I make my very first Quilt

Hi there, so I have finally decided to induge myself by making a full sized quilt!! eek! I have made several patchwork projects previously but mainly bags & cushions, never a quilt! So now the dress rehearsals are over and this is it! Earlier in the year when Tilda released their Spring fabric collections & the new catalogue appeared I was instantly drawn to the Apple Bloom range & the amazing quilt photo on the back of the catalogue. I have probably been looking at it every other day ever since gradually building up the courage! I'm not quite sure how this will end but this is the picture that inspired me and this is how it should end!!

I am breaking this 'little' project in to stages and so Stage 1 is PREPARATION! with all that fabric at stake there is no room for error! Thankfully the Tilda website has all the information here http://www.tildasworld.com/the-apple-bloom-quilt/ . I have printed off the instructions, then made myself a template of each size of each piece of the 'Log Cabin' pattern ready to start cutting the fabrics. If anyone wants to try this themselves I purchased 2 x Tilda Apple Bloom Fat Quarter Bundles and now having cut everything I can tell you this was the perfect amount but you will also need to buy 1/2 metre of the 'Yarn Green' fabric and a fat quarter of 'Yellow Tan Sun' as these were absent from the bundles. 

The quilt is made up from 2 BLOCKS of LOG CABIN patterns and these repeat alternatively throughout the quilt. Little tip - I made sure that when I was cutting the fabrics I always referenced the Block pictures so I knew if it was a horizontal or vertical piece I was cutting in order to make sure the fabric patterns were always going to look their best on the quilt.

I dont have a rotary cutter which I know is a cardinal sin for any 'serious quilter' so I made sure I was cutting evenly by laying the template on to the fabric in the right direction and then allowing a 1cm seam when making the final cut.  Each time I cut a piece of fabric I have ticked it off my sheet so that I know this one is done and then labelled & pinned those together so for example: 1A is a reference to BLOCK 1 and piece A, and so on ... (see pic below)

This cutting out stage is quite lengthy as you will need eight lots of each piece and there are 13 of them on each BLOCK. Actually how many is that!??! ... infact it's 104 pieces altogether for each block so you will have 208 pieces once all the LOG CABIN Blocks are complete (note at this stage I haven't cut out the off white fabric or the corners for joining all the Log Cabins together this will come later in the project as I have decided to sew all the log cabins together first) 

As with any project that's worth doing well preparation is the key to success as the old saying goes 'Fail to prepapre & prepare to Fail!' so you can see why I have taken my time at this initial stage of the cutting process, making sure all the fabrics are horizontal or vertical depending where they appear on the Log Cabin design, and labelling each set of pieces and placing in to two bags - one for Block 1 and another for Block 2. (see pic below) I am sure this is going to make the next stage so much easier as 'ALL' I need to do now is sew the Blocks together piece by piece until I have 8 Blocks of each Log Cabin design so 16 in total!!! 

This little lot should keep me busy for a while - next stage 2 - sewing my first 2 Blocks one of each!! I'll be posting back here once those are done with some more updates of how I'm getting on!

Wish me luck! 

Sarah X