BAM BOM Chevron Block

So, I volunteered (on behalf of NELA MQG) to put together a tutorial for the August block of the BAM BOM.  It was a simple chevron block.  Easy, right?  Maybe not.  Putting it together wasn’t so bad, but putting it on paper so others understand it was much harder than I expected it to be.

This tutorial is about the third draft, so forgive me it it’s still not clear.  I actually made my original version work by using a modified paper piecing version.  I used the paper template to piece the bottom chevron strips and help me place the middle and top chevron points.  That version gave some a lot of trouble though, so I’ve added some more room on all edges and reworded the template for straight piecing.  If you give it a try, let me know how it goes and what I could do (or say) better to make it clear.

There are two points I want to reinforce.

• The first is when cutting chevron strips from print fabrics, be sure that you cut them either right sides together or wrong sides together.  This ensures you will have two pieces that are mirror images of each other.
• Second, the bottom chevron point does not show on this block and the bottom triangle should be pieced to the bottom chevron from the outside points, NOT the center.  You will see in the tutorial, I have you square that center chevron to avoid that problem.

I want to thank Cheryl and Kimetha for trying my tutorial and for the great feedback.  Thanks so much.

If you’ve have good tips or seen a great post on creating good effective tutorials, please let me know!  Hope you enjoy this block and feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Edited 8/3/13:  I have played with this block again and I’m still coming in a little narrow on this block!  Frustrating!!  I’ve added length to a few of the chevron strips hoping to fix this. 

If you paper piece, I strongly, STRONGLY recommend you use the paper piece template.  Start your block with the bottom triangle and chevron and work your way up that template.  By the time you get to the middle chevron, you are really using the paper template as a rough guide and the final block will extend off the end of the paper.  With paper piecing, you have a much better chance of getting this block right the first time!

Good luck!!

Star Surround Quilt Along

Scrappy version from fabric stash

I’m still looking for ways to use up some of my fabric stash.  Recently I ran across a post by Melissa at Happy Quilting introducing the Star Surround Quilt Along.  This is my third QAL I planned to join with the intention of pulling from my stash.  I never got out of the box with the other two, but hopefully I will do better with this one.

I’ve at least made a start.  The fabric has been cut and waiting for the next step.  (The next problem is I’m just adding to my scrap bin!)

Crista’s Quilts and Intrepid Threads have put together some great fabric bundles for this QAL.  Below are only two of them.  You should go check them out.

Modern Patriotic by Christa’s Quilts

Sodalite and Citrin by The Intrepid Thread

Vintage Singers

Last weekend was pretty busy.  It all started earlier in the week when I found a Singer 301 on Craigslist in a nearby city.

Let me back up a bit.  It stared a couple years ago when my 25+ year old Viking died and couldn’t be repaired.  What is it with us and our sewing machines?!  They’re like a spouse or a beloved child.  I was a bit heartbroken over losing her.  (As a matter of fact she’s still sitting on my sewing room floor…I’ve GPT to say good bye to her!)

But all that led me to an interest in vintage Singers, most of which are older than I am and still running.  If they need repaired, you can still get most of their parts and repair them yourself.  I love that.  No more saying goodbye to a beloved friend.

In all my blogosphere stalking it seemed the machines I was most interested in was the Singer 221 and the 301, in that order.

Now, I’ve replaced my Viking with a perfectly wonderful Bernina, so I don’t NEED another machine!  So I set myself a limit.  I knew I would have a hard time finding the 221 within my price range, but since it was a luxury item for me, I wouldn’t allow myself to fudge on my max price.

Singer Featherweight 221

So fast forward to earlier last week… I find the 301, in what I mistakenly thought was a cabinet, for a good price.  In emailing back and forth and making arrangements to pick up, I stated my interest in the 221 and the owner had two and WAS WILLING TO SELL ME ONE!  I was so excited.  And the price she offered me was EXACTLY my max price I had allowed myself.  Talk about fate.

I was finally able to pull her out and put her through her paces on Sunday.  She is so sweet!  I’m thinking of names for her, but haven’t settled on one yet.

 

Photos of the Singer 301 are yet to come.  I haven’t had a chance to pull it out yet.  My daughter gifted me with a new grandson last week and it has kept us pretty busy.  She and her awesome husband have a 15 month old son as well and he is fascinated with his new brother.  Too sweet.

Dick and Jane almost finished …

This has been a busy weekend.  Too busy for one post.

Friday, I drove 90 miles (with a migraine!) to pick up a Singer 301 and this baby…

Singer Featherweight 221

More on that in my next post.  (I’m so excited to have found her!)

I finished putting up insulation in an aluminum shed that I hope to convert to a sewing room.  (Has anyone done that?   and were you successful in controlling the damp??)

 

I kept my grandson most of the day Saturday :-D.

 

Some quilting detail on the back of the quilt.

I FINALLY finished quilting my Dick and Jane that I stared so long ago.  You can actually see some of the original posts here and here.  Now for a label and the binding, and I’m DONE!  I will be glad to get this off my table.

The interesting thing about this quilt for me is the difference in the quilting done at the start and at the end.  I can really see the improvement in my quilting.  I still have a lot of work to do mind you, but still, I’m proud to have finished it.  This is an 80″ x 80″ quilt.  She was something to handle, let me tell you.

And there is still so much that I haven’t gotten to!!

Why aren’t the weekends longer??

 

What I’ve been doing this week…

Cutting scraps for hand pieced blocks:

Triangle City and Spring Carnival by Katie Jones; and Oriental Star by Nancy Cabot

 

Sewing for the Simply Solids Bee

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Trip to IKEA

After driving to the Dallas IKEA Saturday, I spent Sunday putting this baby together. It was really easy to put together. The last and bottom panel gave me the most grief. At that point everything has to fit and be square. Still, I was under two hours getting it together. Not bad.

(And all I really wanted to be doing was sew! :-(( )

Hope you had a great holiday weekend!