Quilts and Other Stuff from Frances

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Boring to Beautiful – Stitched out

Yesterday I posted about taking a simple ruler and turning it into a great design……

The BIT question was whether or not I could actually QUILT IT!!!

It got off to a slow start as I forgot to turn on the camera (TWICE), and messed up the design once.

But…attempt number 4 was apparently the charm……

Check out the video…..

I am excited about this design and now I want to pull out all of my Spin-E-Fex rulers and see what I can do with them!!!

Have you ever used these rulers and what were YOUR results???


If you have an interest in ruler quilting, check out this online course…..

Click HERE for more information

From Boring to Beautiful!

If you have been following “Free Motion Friday” for this past year, you know that I have been playing with grid quilting. I started with basic square grids and moved to big circles, and the latest have been small circles in a square design.

If you have missed any of these, please check out my YouTube Playlist……

So, this week I have been thinking about ways to design my own “grids” using tools that I already have.

My first thought was using one of the Westalee Spin-E-Fex rulers and I pulled out the simplest of all of the rulers…..

….the Westalee Spin-E-Fex #4.

At its simplest, it makes this shape……

I know….pretty boring.

If the shape is repeated four times, it makes these shapes…..

Also, nothing to get excited about!!

But, what if I combine those shapes….maybe like this…..

That has promise for a 6″ block!!

What if I add loops on each side…..

It looks even better when you turn it 45 degrees……

NOW….what if I add more “loops” to the corners…..

That is okay, but not my favorite.

How about if I add 3 loops to the corner but have two of them going a different direction?

Oh WOW…..I really like that one!!

I like that it gives the illusion of having two circles around the outside. If you can’t see it, just squint!!

Now the question is…..can I quilt it??

I like that it will only require four guidelines, but I will definitely have to be VERY INTENTIONAL in my practice to make sure that the points end up where they are supposed to!!!

Come back tomorrow and I will stitch this out for the first time…..ON CAMERA!!

NO PRESSURE!!!!

As I proofread this post, I realized that I have drifted from my original “grid quilting” design but sometimes you just have to go where the creativity takes you!!

In this blog, I post DAILY stories about creativity, techniques, tools of the trade, and lots more about the wonderful art of quilting. If you are enjoying these posts, please subscribe to be notified of each new blog as it becomes available.

Cat’s Cradle Blocks

Several years ago I bought this ruler from Creative Grids…..

I was CERTAIN that I could make tons of quilts using it.

But, then I couldn’t find a pattern that I liked…. and then some things got stacked on top of the ruler…… and then it got stored in a drawer…….

AND FORGOTTEN!!

Today I was looking through some patterns I have collected over the years and came across one page with all of these patterns……

…..and look at this one……

Now I could have fun using some of THESE designs….especially using some of the copious drawers of scraps that I have!!!

So I have the tool……I have the pattern……

Now I need the time…..

Have you made a quilt using these blocks? If so, I would love to see them!!

If you enjoy this daily blog, please share it with your friends!!!

Thank you…….

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