Now I want to definitely do a Halloween quilt! I love all of the fabrics…and the colors you picked with the black are just so perfect. I also like how you arrange the blocks on the diagonal to “match”…careful planning like that is what makes your quilts come together so beautifully!
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I see all these amazing squares adn want to try everything! I finished up the project I was on, so I am going to tackle rearranging my craft room to set up the new machine and start on my Halloween quilt. I can tell I am procratinating because I am so nervous. Quilting is intimidating!
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I can honestly say I hadn’t given it any thought before, lol. Let’s limit the late BOM entries to the BOMs of the same year (though they can still be entered for other prompts they may fulfill - monthly prompt, small personal finish, completed goal, etc). I will update that it in the BOM info.
I love that you were able to find some of the older BOMs to work for your quilt. I’m a big fan of the Alison Glass “Cross Stitch” fabric you used in your green blocks. It’s such a versatile blender.
I love both of your quilts! I’ve found that sometimes a black background can make all the colors pop too much, almost like they’re glowing neon on the black. But that is so not the case with your quilt. You’ve done a beautiful job with fabric and block choices as well as the composition!
I’m with @AIMR, now I want to do a Halloween quilt too. The funny thing is, I already have a Halloween quilt in the works, but mine is just a patchwork quilt made up of Halloween colored charm squares. Yours is soo much more and very inspiring!
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@Mvanrh11, it sounds like you’ve got quite a few quilt tops that are already pieced! Do you plan on quilting them yourself? If so, do you have a go-to pattern that you like to use?
@marionberries, that sounds like a good bonding experience with your daughter. Are you guys doing video chat sessions?
@gozer, I’ve seen your sewing skills and they’re impressive. I think you’re going to be a quilting natural! Are you planning on doing the actual quilting yourself?
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@AudiobookLover yes. I have a small quilting/sewing machine that was given to me. Also, my aunt has a long-arm machine thing-a-mabob. Originally. she asked to set it up in the room above my garage and said I could use it. It’s been two years. I have finished the room and upgraded the stairs, but she has yet to set it up. I hope that if I get the quilt top done, she will set it up and show me how to use it. If not, I have the other machine.
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I was just looking at the purse you made. I think if you can do all that, you’ve got quilting in the bag 
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I have never done any sort of fancy free motion quilting on my sewing machine, but I have done some straight line quilting on my I-Spy quilts. The most difficult issue I run into is the weight of the quilt. I try to combat it by keeping the bulk of the quilt on the table rather than letting it drape over the other side (I have also copied a ‘weightless quilter’ concept that is like a helping hand to hold the quilt so it doesn’t drape, but I’ve yet to try my setup). The quilting gloves also help because they give me a grip on the quilt rather than it just being slippery under my fingers as I run it under the machine. The other thing that helps me with straight line quilting (and I’m using that term loosely, because I can’t sew a straight line to save my life) is a walking foot.
If you’re interested in doing free motion quilting, here is a helpful diagram and information on how @MistressJennie does hers and here is a post with FMQ tips and tricks.
For either free motion quilting or long arm quilting (without a computerized component), there are also fabric panels that you can purchase that have quilt designs printed on them so that you can learn and practice various free motion designs. Or, another product that I just came across is tear away quilting paper that you can get in a variety of designs. You baste the paper to the top of the quilt, quilt over the design, tear away the paper, and voila! you’ve quilted your quilt!
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WHAT??!! There are so many things that I have never heard of or even dreamed existed! Thank you. I am going to look into all that.
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@AudiobookLover I’m in Oregon right now visiting and it was fun going to Mill End Store withher. I miss that place and the emense selection.
I’ll be home in Connecticut by weeks end and we will video quilt going forward. Fun times.
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Finally, here’s my Q1 list!
- finish my Christmas quilt for Mr. Imma (ran out of black fabric)
- make the Halloween tablerunner I didn’t get around to last year
- Finish the 5 UFO’s I found hiding in my room…
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I love script fabric. It look very cool.
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Since I seem to be the first person to do the Barrister’s Block, and since we have some new quilters, I thought I’d share some tips:
Note: for these tips, I’m going to refer to the color sections of the block as ‘paws’ and ‘claws’. That’s just what I thought they looked like.
TIP #1. Don’t bother bisecting the squares. The directions tell you to cut squares, then bisect them to get two triangles. This is dumb, because then you would be sewing along a bias edge, which is likely to warp out of shape, giving you a wonky block. Instead match up your prints with your background squares, then draw a diagonal line on the back of your lighter pieces. Sew 1/4" away from the line on each side, then cut them apart. This is called the Two At a Time Method.
This works for both your big ‘paws’ and your small ‘claws’ HST’s. It also works even if you’re going for an ultra-scrappy look with every single ‘claw’ a different color, because you still would have needed to cut all 24 squares to start with, then after bisecting you would have a random triangle of each color leftover. This way you get two HST’s, that are neatly sewn each time, even if you chose to only use one of each color set.
I’m breaking Tip 2 down into an A and B, depending on the size of the block you’re making…
TIP #2 A - 12" BLOCK. Cut your small ‘claw’ squares at 2 1/2", rather than 2 3/8". First, 2 3/8" is a stupid, fiddly size to cut, and in doing so you’ll end up with leftover strips that are 2 3/8", which aren’t good for much. HOWEVER 2 1/2" strips are highly useful in quilting. You can use them as Jelly Roll strips or cut them further down into Mini Charm Squares.
Cutting them just 1/8" bigger means that when you are done, you will have room to trim down your HST’s to the right size. (The pattern doesn’t say, but for the 12" block, you’ll trim them down to 2".) If you do the 2 3/8", you will have no margin for error, and if you’ve not sewn them at exactly 1/4" seam, your HST’s might be too small. I know people don’t love trimming down pieces. (Especially in this case 28 HSTs for a single block!) However, if you do, your whole block will come together more easily when you do the rest of the assembly, and you’re far more likely to end up with the right finished size block.
TIP #2 B - 10" BLOCK Just as above, I would advise you to cut your small ‘claw’ squares at 2 1/2", rather than 2 1/8". Again, 2 1/8" is a fiddly size to cut, and you’ll end up with leftover strips that aren’t good for much. 2 1/2" strips are highly useful in quilting. You can use them as Jelly Roll strips or cut them further down into Mini Charm Squares. Don’t think of it as ‘wasting’ 1/4" strip of fabric. Look at as preemptively creating scraps you are more likely to use than you would have otherwise.
Cutting them bigger, also means that when you are done, you will have room to trim down your HST’s to the right size. (The pattern doesn’t say it, but for the 10" block, you’ll trim them down to 1 3/4".) If you do the 2 1/8", you will have no margin for error, and if you’ve not sewn them at exactly 1/4" seam, your HST’s might be too small. I know people don’t love trimming down pieces. (Especially in this case 28 HSTs for a single block!) However, if you do, your whole block will come together more easily when you do the rest of the assembly, and you’re far more likely to end up with the right finished size block.
TIP #3. For the ‘Paws’ larger HSTs, you can cut them the same size the pattern says, and since they are larger, you shouldn’t have as much trouble with getting them the right finished size. If your blocks are somehow too small, it would only be by about 1/16" - 1/32" over a 5" piece, not enough to mess up your whole block. (I still advise doing the Two at a Time Method)
HOWEVER: The same rule of scraps applies, as did above. When cutting a strip, to get my larger purple and orange blocks, I started by cutting a 5 1/2" strip, and then a 5 1/2" block. That way I had room to trim them down perfect. (I did the 12". If doing the 10" start with a 5" strip.) This also meant that I could trim the rest of the strip down to 5", and put it with my scrap 5" strips, or further into 5" squares, aka Charm Squares. Again, this size is highly useful in quilting, and also could be further cut down into two 2.5" strips or squares if needed in future.
TIP #4. This isn’t necessary, but if you have a choice of background fabrics, choose something that isn’t uni-directional. Because you’re going to slice and dice it, and it will get spun around so much, if you pick something that has one ‘right way up’, then you’re going to be annoyed when so many parts of it are sideways and upside down. The black script fabric I used had script written in every direction, so when sewn, it still feels like the same background. For example a good prints would be a small polkadot. A poor choice would be a stripe, or a print of cats all sitting the same way.
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Awesome block…and the tips sure will save frustration! I always hated those weird fiddly cuts…No room for any error! ha
I have bookmarked your comment so I can use them for this block!
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This is wild! Love it! And thank you for the tips. I had read the directions and already said, no that’s stupid.
I haven’t settled on colors for this one yet, thanks for going first!
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@marionberries, Did I ever tell you I figured out why that one quilt block came out 12" instead of 12.5"? Somewhere around April or May of last year, I measured a finished BOM, and noticed it came to just 12", not 12.5", and complained about that here. Then you made it and yours was right. It was driving me nuts for the longest time.
I have a 1/4" piecing foot for my machine, but I never use it, because it’s so narrow, that the fabric doesn’t feed through the feed dog teeth very well with it. But it’s a computerized machine, and I can change my needle position 6 steps in either direction. Long ago measured and figured out that by using my regular foot, and setting it 3.5 to the right, I get a perfect 1/4" seam. So I always, always set it that way when quilting. I was totally doing that when I made the ‘wrong’ block.
And I know I cut everything precisely. If I didn’t, my blocks and quilts over years and years would have been coming out wrong, and they always come out just right.
So what the heck was wrong???
It was the damn hand dyed fabrics from Darn Good Yarn. 
They weren’t pre-washed, dried, and sized, the way good quality quilting fabrics are. So each time I cut a piece perfectly, then stitched it just right, and finally took it to the iron to press, I was SHRINKING it with the iron! So if a block had 3x3 or 4x4 components, each little component was shrunk just a bit, and then the whole block came out wrong. ALL of my blocks in that muted rainbow solids quilt are wrong by at least 1/4" and some up to 5/8"! While it looks okay in the picture, that whole damn quilt top is wonky.
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I have linked your post to the BOM, thank you for sharing such helpful tips!
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That is really good. She is so clear. Thanks
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Ive had pieces shrink when ironed, especially when I spritz them or steam them. Your mystery is solved, but still frustrating!
My Pfaff standard foot is a centimeter not a 1/4" foot and I have to do the same, move the needle to the right. Took me a while to figure that one out. Even the 1/4" foot with a guide doesn’t do a scant and they don’t make the hole in it big enough to move the needle much. I use magnetic guides when possible.
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