Row Along 2018: Row 3 Dresden

Row 3 is here and I really think you all will be pleasantly surprised while making this one. It looks really impressive and in my opinion is much simpler to make than it appears. Follow the instructions in the book exactly, pay attention to these tips in this post and also watch our videos in the Facebook Group for extra help and you should end up with a beautiful row.

Fabric:

You will use 23 fabrics for the Dresden Spokes on this row, cut from Fat Quarters, Fat Eights or even scraps. You will also need a fabric for all of the center half circles, use your leftover solid red from Row#2 or a new fabric and it doesn’t necessarily need to be red ( I really wanted to use black but than chickened out at the last minute). Lastly you will use some of your background fabric.

Cutting: 

Background Fabric- In the book it has you cut the backgrounds 10.5″ X 6″, this is the intended measurement and will probably require small shims of the background on the outer edges once you see where your width ends up with all rows at the end (see page 15 in the book re: shims).You could also cut these backgrounds larger than our directions, at 11″X 6″. If you do this, you will end up with trimming a little teensy bit off both ends when you are putting all of your rows together. Either way is fine, I will be using the shims technique, as I like the look of them squeezed a little closer together, but you can do either.

Dresden Spokes- Make a template of the Dresden Spoke #1 pattern in your book from velum or something similar (I suggest even making a few in case you cut into one as you go, than you already have a replacement). This is a silly tip but actually really helpful, use a piece of scotch tape on the back of the velum to adhere it to fabrics when you cut. The tape can be reused over and over as you cut each fabric and holds just enough to make a huge difference. Its best to cut fabrics in pairs and a small ruler is really helpful, a 1″ X 6″ or a 2.5 X 4.5″.

THE NEXT STEP IS THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP WHEN MAKING THIS ROW! You must trace the Dresden spoke #2 pattern onto the wrong side of all of your spokes after they are cut. It is not exactly 1/4″ in all spots, if you trace 1/4″ with your ruler or skip this step all together you will have issues getting the finished dresden to fit and lay flat correctly. This traced line is also your stitch line later. It is REALLY IMPORTANT and will make all the difference in having this row work perfectly for you. Be sure to center the pattern as best as you can each time you trace it.

Making the Dresdens:

Follow the directions on page 21 in the book, they are great with lots of pictures. There are 3 videos #1-3 in our Facebook group that will help you to turn the Dresdens right side out correctly, get perfect points and press them precisely.

Putting the Spokes together: 

Follow page 22 instructions paying extra attention to the following tips.

Before you stitch your spokes together, I strongly suggest picking your fabric placement for all 5 blocks and taking a photo with your phone, or attaching a labeling system to ensure that the colors are all spread out evenly.

When pinning pairs together to stitch, make sure the top and side points are lined up perfectly. If the bottom ends are off slightly, it will not be a problem, but if your points (especially the side point) are off it will be an issue.

Next and most importantly, when stitching spokes together use your traced pencil line as your stitch line, not your 1/4″ foot. See our video #4 in the Facebook group for more assistance here.

Adding the Background:

If you follow our directions carefully, you should be able to fit a Dresden made up of 9 spokes onto a background easily. Make sure to line up your middle spoke point to the middle fold line you make in step 1. Use a basting glue to adhere all 5 to the backgrounds, do not worry if the beginning and last spoke is hanging over the background a little, this is totally fine and you can trim it after you stitch them into place. See our #5 video on the FB page for more help on glue basting your Dresden into place.

Machine Applique: 

We love our favorite machine applique method for attaching the Dresdens but you can also use Hand Applique or another Machine method if you prefer. Remember, when using a mono-filament clear thread, it is only used on the top, NOT in your bobbin, just keep your regular thread down below. If you have a needle down option on your machine it is VERY helpful to keep everything in place when you have to pivot to turn up and down the points while stitching (if you do not have this option on your machine, just hand crank the needle into place and it does the same thing).

Applique Centers: 

The Half circles are dynamite in red but could be any other color that you think sets off your Dresdens, I ended up switching to a polka dot last minute, just because, and I really love it. Follow the directions carefully on page 24. I suggest making 1 velum template before you make all 5 and make sure your piece covers your opening easily. If your piece seems a little too small, cut your velum template slightly outside the drawn line and this will fix this problem. There is a great little video (#6 in the FB group) that shows how the seam allowance in turned over with your awl and some glue stick.

YOU GUYS! Your pretty much done!

Optional Embroidery:

The outer red embroidery is totally optional, but I love it and think it really adds a little extra pizazz. You can also change the color to match your center if you did not use red. Someone in our FB group had black centers with black stitching and I really loved it.

I hope everyone really enjoys making this row! Also after all 5 are stitched together, remember to wait to add shims or trim, it is really best to do this to any rows where its necessary at the very end, once all rows are finished and measured. As usual we will have a giveaway for some of our favorite products we used for Row 3, you can enter in the FB Group or Instagram.

11277 Hamilton White F’17

ROW ALONG with us in 2018!

Most of you already know we have a newly released book with C & T Publishing called Quilting Row by Row.  The book is inspired by a class we did a few years back, where we made the beautiful row quilt pictured above, one row a month. At first the quilt might look a little daunting , but if you tackle it a month at a time, a row at a time, it becomes much more do-able. You know the saying: How do you eat an Elephant? One bite at a time. Its just like that!

We will work one row at a time starting with the easiest and working our way up to the harder ones. You will learn a new fabulous quilting technique, that you will be pretty great at by the end of each row. And at the end of the year, you will have finished your own version of the beautiful quilt above. We know you want to make one! So make one with us! Come one come all, beginners and intermediates can quilt along.

So lets do it! Join our ONLINE ROW ALONG starting in January. We will be posting the row for you to work on, extra tips for each row, plus most months will have a bonus free pattern that you can make once you have mastered the technique for that month. And of course we will also have some GIVEAWAYS for those of you quilting along with us, because hey, we all love to win a quilty prize, right?

Who’s excited for 2018!?

Stay tuned for our Getting Started Post at the end of December and than the first Thursday of every month we will be posting that months Row. Make sure to get a copy of our book from us or at your LQS, its the main thing you will need and fabric of course. We have a few kits left, pick up fabric from your fave shop, or use up some of that stash.

Start a group and Row Along together, or get going on your own, either way it will be a blast!

We have a BOOK!

We are sooooo excited to announce our first ever BOOK is coming out! It is being published with C & T Publishing who did an absolutely amazing job partnering with us to create our vision perfectly. In “Quilting Row by Row” you can learn and perfect many quilting techniques one row at a time, while making the most beautiful quilt. The rows are made in order of difficulty, so that even beginners can make it and will finish up being an expert.

The book will start showing up in stores near you in October (please make sure to tell your favorite quilt shop about it). Copies are available from us directly now and have FREE SHIPPING, YAY!  We also have fantastic fabric packed QUILT KITS with all fabrics picked by us available.

Stay Tuned, we will be announcing a ROW ALONG soon, where you can sew along with us one row at a time with lots of additional tutorials, videos and some FUN surprises and prizes. We can’t wait!

Sunny Chevron Quilt

This is our Sunny Chevron Quilt. I really loved making this and it was super simple. Our pattern is written for a small Throw size as shown in our picture or a Queen size if you would like a larger version. The design works with a number of fabric choices, but we opted for a white background and a mixture of several Riley Blake Collections. We use this pattern for some of our Beginning Quilting classes and some of our students have made this with a Black Background, the results were also wonderful. This pattern is VERY Beginner friendly, so don’t be nervous, just get stitching!

A PDF pattern is available for purchase for just $5:

Sunny Chevron Quilt Pattern

If you love our fabrics, we also have kits! Click the links below to purchase:

Throw Size Sunny Chevron Quilt Kit

Here is a close up of the backing, and the bias binding. We just love using stripes on the bias!

My Sewing Room & Favorites

I am a little obsessed with being a bit of a voyeur into others sewing rooms and creative spaces. There is a lot of inspiration and its so interesting to see how unique everyone’s space is, whether its a room, a whole floor of your house, or even a corner in a bedroom. So I decided to start a regular feature on our blog. It will be a peek into a stitcher’s space, plus some tips and favorite must haves. I will be the guinea pig and share my space, but next time, we would like to share yours! Please Email us with “Where I Sew” in the title, so that we can feature you! Just send us a few pics, and a few of your favorite things or must haves, we will pick someone every few weeks, and if you are featured we will send you some of our favorite goodies to thank you!

I am Erin, one of the Piper’s Girls and this is my sewing room. I recently moved and in my new house, I have a space that I just love! It has wonderful light, its much larger than my old room and has become my own private “happy place”. Here’s a few pics and some of my favorite things that make creating so enjoyable for me.

For me, there are two things I have in my room that improve quilting the most for me. The first is having a great sewing machine table that has an insert so that I can sew with my machine flush with the table. The second is having a design wall, for me it is so much better than laying pieces out on the floor. It was such a luxury when I first put one up. I made my own, by wrapping and stapling batting around a giant art canvas, but you could also attach the batting directly to the wall. You quilt blocks stick perfectly to batting!

I have finally gotten pretty organized with all my tools, collections, stash and so on. Here are a few of my favorite ways to keep my mess at bay and keep things neat and tidy.

I make a lot with scraps! My stash is really pretty small for how much I sew, but I have tons of scrap. I keep my scrap organized by color, in giant clear zip lock baggies, that are in these drawers from Ikea by color.

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Another favorite item, from Ikea! This rolling cart keeps my WIP’s neat and tidy and out of sight. I liked them so much, I saved up for 3, and totally want another.

I still need to wind, most of my floss, but hey its a start.

You can’t have too many pin cushions, right? The little fine clover pins sticking in these are so fab, if you haven’t tried them, you must! It is a little scary how excited a pin can make me, apparently I need to get our more.

To cap it off, my most favorite new item is our own Piper’s Girls invention! Our magnetic floral scissor holder. I always wear it around my neck when I am sewing and I always know right where my snips are when I need them, and as a bonus it looks cute! Thanks for visiting, I hope you will share your spaces with us in the future!

I Love Patchwork

Are you familiar with the term Zakka? It is a Japanese word meaning miscellaneous goods. In the sewing world it has become a work to describe the myriad of objects that you can make for your home. They are sweet and simple items with a certain old fashioned aesthetic that enhance the environment that you live in day to day. Because they are made by you, they represent your personal style perfectly. I Love Patchwork is a new book by Rashida Coleman-Hale that is packed full of Zakka projects.  Her fabric choices are so beautiful, I want to copy everything exactly as it appears in the book! Everything included is worth making, but I  am particularly in love with the two items below. The little lamb is a must! I don’t think I have every found a calendar that I have deemed worthy to hang on my wall, I always hide them inside the cabinet. But the fabric version below will have a prominent place on my wall once I can get it made!!