UPDATING TUTORIALS

CAPITAL 'T'

Capital T Block Tutorial

18" finished block

All seams are a scant 1/4” unless otherwise noted

Cutting:

Background Fabric

(1) 6 1/2"

(1) 6-7/8" x 13-3/4"

(8) 3-1/2" x 6-1/2" 

Feature Fabric

(1) 6-7/8" x 13-3/4" 

(16)3-1/2"

Assembly:

This block is put together in two simple units: A and B

Unit A

1. Place the two 6 7/8" x 13 3/4" rectangles with right sides together, lightest of the two fabrics on top. Lightly draw a straight line 6 7/8" from the short edge dividing the rectangle in half and forming two squares. Then draw two diagonal lines through the center of the two squares, sew a 1/4" away from the diagonal line on both sides.

2. Cut the rectangles apart on the drawn lines creating four half square triangle components. Press the seams to the lighter fabric. The finished units should measure 6 1/2".

Unit B

1. Lightly mark a line from one corner to the opposite corner on the wrong side of the sixteen 3 1/2" squares of the feature fabric.

2. Take a 3 1/2" feature square and place it, right sides together, on top of one of the 3 1/2" x 6 1/2" background fabric rectangle matching edges and making sure that the diagonal line runs as shown. Sew on the marked line. Repeat with the remaining seven 3 1/2" x 6 1/2" background rectangles and seven more of the 3 1/2" marked squares.

3. Cut 1/4" away from the sewn line as shown. Press the seam toward the focus fabric.

4. Take the remaining eight 3 1/2" feature fabric squares and place them on the units created in Step 3, right sides together, so that the marked diagonal line is as shown. Sew on the line.

5.  Cut 1/4" away from the sewn line as shown. Press the seam toward the feature fabric. One "geese" unit is completed. This unit should measure 3 1/2" x 6 1/2".

Putting The Block Together:

1. Join two of the geese units (B) created together as shown. Press seam away from the point of the geese. Repeat with the remaining six geese units to create a total of four new units. These units should measure 6 1/2" square.

2. Join the top and bottom Block rows by piecing two right triangle squares with one of the geese units as shown. Press seams toward the right triangle squares.

3. Create the middle row of the block by joining the last two geese units with the remaining 6 1/2" background square. Complete the Capital T Block by joining the three rows as shown. 

The complete quilt Block should measure 18 1/2" square which includes a 1/4" seam allowance on all sides.

A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING

Everything In Its Place

I'm quite late to the party with this one as it seems to have been all the rage circa 2016, but you know me I'm not very good at following trends!

When I first saw these popping up on Instagram I loved the idea of them but thought that's going to take an absolute age to make and mine won't end up looking like that. Now I know nobody likes a know-it-all but I was right, it was very time consuming and not a quick make but this was partly down to the modifications I made which meant mine did not end up looking like many of the others I'd seen!

I actually finished it quite a few weeks ago but I am only just getting round to telling you about it - I know I've been quiet for far to long, life's just got in the way of everything at the moment. Wedding planning is not for wimps #truth and it's also not the best idea to buy a new house at the same time, unless it has got as many bedrooms as ours does that can be filled with fabric! 

Although just blogging about it now I've been using my Everything In Its Place/A Place For Everything Bag for a little while, so at least now I can tell you about it and give it a little review as I go.

Firstly don't be put off by all the zips and pockets they make the bag extremely versatile and so functional especially if you travel quite a lot, want to be able to take your sewing with you on the go or just have it altogether while you're watching Netflix.

Secondly the bag appears to have 2 names 'Everything In Its Place Bag' or 'A Place For Everything' if you buy the pattern from By Annie. Annie Unrein offers the pattern as part of her class Sew Sturdy Travel Organisers on Craftsy and I can not recommend it enough, if you are able to splurge on the class you definitely should, I bought it especially for the A Place For Everything Bag but it does have a rather useful looking hanging cosmetics bag as well.

I mentioned already that I stalked Instagram a lot before I even attempted to make my version, particularly Misha Makes whose feed is super inspiring and her photos (above) are great to follow when making this bag. I've got to thank the lovely Hannah who very kindly talked me through her photos to get my modifications spot on and I'd also recommend having a good read of this post by Bloomin' Workshop. 

The Everything In Its Place Bag has become my EPP bag - it was always my intended purpose for it as I'm embarking on a massive, really special EPP project (stay tuned for more on this) but you can use it for whatever you like. In mine are all my EPP supplies and everything I need for a spot of Fussy Cutting.

The bag is made up of removable 'pages', both the pattern and the class show you how to make 2 pages and most examples out there follow this, I have 3 in mine because it suited my needs and as they are attached using Velcro you can add or remove them as you wish. The pattern includes various options and sizes of the pockets to pick and choose from, so it's worth spending some time planning what you want to use your bag for in order to determine what pocket configuration will suit your needs.

This is the layout and combination that worked best for me but the possibilities are endless, as you can see I went totally off script adding a 3rd page with major modifications pocket wise - I added another smaller mesh pocket with a zip and added a bigger vinyl pocket on the top half of the other side, specifically to keep acrylic templates in, some of which are quite large. 

Other modifications I made were to cover all my zips, add a base fabric under the Velcro to hide all the stitch lines and raw edges and to add a fabric panel to the 'top' page to neaten it off and make it pretty. I also had a go at adding a fabric string to hold my big spools of thread on - I used the smallest poppers I could find to keep it attached but they are still to big to fit through the middle of the thread so these will need looking at again.

I've been quiet but not idol over the several months that I've been MIA so I have got lots to tell you about in the pipeline that will hopefully make blogging a more regular part of my weekly routine! 

If you have made or are planning to make your own Place For Everything Bag get in touch and share your ideas - I could always be tempted to make another one.......

Happy Quilting

Kerry xx