Inspire. Empower. Create.
Got a Jelly Roll burning a hole in your stash? Are you just itching to use it but can’t find the right pattern? Well, this mini tutorial is sure to spark some great creativity using a roll of 2.5″ precut strips and some backround fabric!
Watch the full tutorial and get all your supplies HERE!
Hello! I am Jen, and am a wife and mother first and foremost. My mother is a quilter and I learned so many things from her when I started showing interest as a teenager. Quilting is my heritage and I hope it will also become the heritage of my children and grandchildren. That is where my name comes from, Heritage Threads. Quilting binds generations together with threads of love.
I am very excited to have the opportunity to share the Flying Geese Log Cabin tutorial reboot with you today. When I saw this tutorial, I could not get the thought of solids out of my head and I knew this quilt would look amazing in this Kona Cotton Lush Lagoon color way.For the gray accents I used Kona Cotton Coal. It turned out to be a wonderfully modern quilt that fits my personal quilting style so well.
I first started by separating my strips into 4 groups, ranging from lightest to darkest.
I knew I wanted the center “log” of each block to be made out of the lightest fabric. Gather 48 of your 2.5” gray squares and 4 of the lightest strips. As you start off making this quilt, Jenny provides a great way to mark the center of the 2.5” squares. That is by ironing it in half. I love this method, but if you want to streamline your process a bit more, I really like marking a temporary line on my sewing machine with a long piece of washi or painter’s tape. Place the tape edge in line with the needle; keep the corners of the top square in line as you sew, and you’ll have a handy center line ready to go!
I decided to line 48 of my gray 2.5” squares on top of 4 of the lightest strips as I was sewing my center logs. I ended up with a line of logs like this.
I used a similar process for all of the logs, using up all of the lighter strips and continued through to the darkest hues in the color way.
One thing I always appreciate about Jenny in the Missouri Star Quilt Company tutorials is that she’s hilarious and knows how much I need repetition. Hopefully I’m not alone in the need for her to hammer the most important point home. Jenny says several times to make sure to put the dark goose in the top corner and sew down the side. I cannot tell you how many times I repeated this to myself as I made this quilt.
After you finish making all 48 blocks, be sure experiment with different layouts. I attempted the layout in the tutorial and it just didn’t work. I tried a few others before I settled on my final layout.
I picked this fun, bright Rhoda Ruth 108” wide backing for an added pop of color. I really like choosing an unexpected backing that doesn’t necessarily come from the same line of fabric as the front. The back can and should be just as exciting as the front of a quilt, in my opinion. Missouri Star has a huge selection of 108” wide backing and I am thrilled to know where to get more in the future!
Thanks for having me today to share this tutorial reboot. I cannot wait to see what you create! Share your projects on the Quilting Deals – Missouri Star Quilt Co. Facebook page or on Instagram/Twitter using #tutorialreboot!
Hello! I’m Heather Jones of Heather Jones Studio and author of the new book Quilt Local: Finding Inspiration in the Everyday (STC Craft | A Melanie Falick Book, 2015). I’m so excited to be guest blogging here at the Missouri Star Quilt Company Blog today. I’ve been a huge fan of Jenny’s for a long time and I especially love how accessible she makes quilting with all of her great free tutorials! I began quilting regularly about five years ago, although I have loved quilts my whole life. But, my great-great aunt Ollie is the only person in my family who quilted, so I didn’t grow up with quilts being made around me. So for many years I was kind of intimidated to start quilting, although I loved them so much. Lucky for us all, we have Jenny to teach us and virtually hold our hands throughout the process so can make just about anything with her help.
Today, I’m sharing a quilt I made using Jenny’s Irish Chain tutorial. If you’re familiar with my own work, it should be no surprise at all that I’m drawn to minimalist designs, and when paired down to two solids colors, the Irish Chain is a perfect project. I have always wanted to make one of these designs so this was the perfect opportunity for me to finally get started. It’s a simple pattern that uses a nine patch block and a square of background fabric, and when arranged in this manner, the nine patch blocks create chains throughout the design.
In Jenny’s tutorial she uses precut strips of fabric for her blocks, which is certainly a great choice for this project. I however, picked two colors of Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton, Sky for the background and Pickle for the chains, so I cut my strips from yardage.
I made a twin sized version using 3 ¾ yards of Sky, 1 ¾ yards of Pickle, and 4 1/8 yards of Kona Fog for the back. I also used an additional ½ yard of Sky for the binding.
As I mentioned, Jenny’s tutorial used a jelly roll precut, which is fabric cut in 2 ½” x WOF (width of fabric) strips.
So, I cut my yardage in those sizes, specifically cutting (19) 2 ½” x WOF strips of Sky and (23) 2 ½” x WOF strips of Pickle. I also cut (72) 6 ½” x 6 ½” squares of Sky for the background blocks out of my yardage.
The nine patch blocks are made out of strip sets, and for this size quilt, you need nine outside strips, made of two Pickle strips and one Sky, with the Pickle on the outside of the strip set, as shown above. You also need five inside strip sets, using one Pickle and two Sky, with the Pickle on the inside of the strip set.
Each nine patch is made out of two outside strip sets and one inside strip set.
One the strip sets are made, construction is so easy, and with a little chain piecing, these blocks come together very quickly. Jenny shares tips in her tutorial to make sure the seams nestle throughout the blocks that make all those little square line up so neatly!
And once the nine patch blocks are finished, it’s just a matter of alternating them with the background blocks to make the chains throughout the pattern.
Once the top and back were finished, I quilted it with my go-to allover freehand figure eight design. This has become my favorite quilting design because of its simplicity and I think it works well with so many quilt patterns. I used Aurifil 2600 (Dove) 40 weight for the quilting, which I think works really well with the colors in my quilt.
I used Sky for the binding and I love how it disappears into the background of the design.
And here’s a shot of the back, where you can see the Kona Fog that I used for the backing. It’s a bit darker blue that I think works really well with both the Sky and the Pickle.
Thanks so much for letting me share my project with you here at MSQC!
You can see more of me and my work at the following places around the web:
Blog: www.HeatherJonesStudio.com/blog
Instagram: www.instagram.com/heatherjonesstudio
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/OliveAndOllie
Look at this bright, happy quilt! It looks like rays of sunshine and it features the dresden blade that we love! It’s called Dresden Blades and the result is so fun! Switch up the fabrics and the look of the quilt will be completely different!
Jenny also shows how to use the leftover blocks to make an adorable table runner! Isn’t this so fun??
This week’s tutorial is one that we get asked about so often! It’s the Easy Cathedral Window Tutorial and you’re just going to love making this one! All you need is your favorite color/print charm pack and a solid/white charm pack and you can make this super fun mini quilt/table runner sized project!
