set-in piecing simplified

An Excellent Rule!?! from Quilting through Rose-colored Trifocals!

An English Instagram friend recently posted

"if you finish a project, you can start three new ones"!!

Sounds like an excellent rule, don't you think??

And since I just finished a couple projects, I'm caving in to this one.

This is the first step of a new mystery quilt along led by the Darty Kite Pattern Company for EPP or hand-piecing -- Chrysalis Cascade Mystery!! Of course, I'm machine-piecing it.

I would like to EPP it, but my left hand voted NO so . . . . . .

My plan is to stash-dive for the fabrics and I started with this lovely floral ...

added by Mary Huey 6 months, 2 weeks ago. under chrysaliscascademystery , marti michell set g , mystery quilts , set-in piecing simplified , sew my stash

Alternative Piecing -- The Esther Block from Quilting through Rose-colored Trifocals!

A warm welcome to visitors from the Esther Block Sew Along! My name is Mary Huey and at this point, I'm a retired quilt making teacher and shop owner who is now committed to puttering my way through a very deep fabric stash!! I enjoy machine piecing more than just about anything because it's served me so well for so many years. As I settle into retirement I do find myself doing and enjoying more hand stitching including English paper piecing. Late in 2023, a local hand-stitching group to which I belong was exploring possible new projects and ...

added by Mary Huey 10 months ago. under esther block , set g , set-in piecing , set-in piecing simplified

Part 6 -- Dresden Star Tutorials from Quilting through Rose-colored Trifocals!

Time to share the last steps -- adding borders and some quilting ideas!

I added three borders to my finished top -- first border is the background fabric and cut 2" wide to finish at 1 1/2". Second border used up all my leftovers from the layer cake (plus a couple add-ins because it was pretty tight) -- it's cut 3" wide to finish at 2 1/2". The third border is the background fabric and cut 4" wide to finish at 3 1/2" wide.

The layer cake leftovers could be pieced together with straight seams but for the fun ...

added by Mary Huey 1 year, 4 months ago. under 6-pointed stars , dresden star , jelly roll , kite & crown templates , layer cake , marti michell templates , set h , set-in piecing simplified , tutorial , tutorials

Part 5 -- Dresden Star Tutorials from Quilting through Rose-colored Trifocals!

My blocks are finished!!

Time to set them into the quilt top!

For the lap robe size, I'm setting the rows horizontal -- for the crib size in the pattern, I set the rows vertical. Here, I cropped the photo of my current quilt and rotated it 90 degrees to illustrate that option.

NOTE: There are some other setting options that might appeal to you for hexagon shaped star blocks from a sew-along I did here on the blog in 2014 -- you can review them HERE.

Anytime I'm making a "scrappy" quilt, I begin the setting process by putting ...

added by Mary Huey 1 year, 5 months ago. under 6-pointed stars , dresden star , jelly roll , kite & crown templates , layer cake , marti michell templates , set h , set-in piecing simplified , tutorial , tutorials

Part 4 -- Dresden Star Tutorials from Quilting through Rose-colored Trifocals!

How is piecing the Dresden Star blocks going for you?

It's very quiet out there so I'm assuming I'm doing such a great job on the tutorials that there is no need for questions or you are all just watching me do this??

Whichever it is, I'm having a good time and making steady progress. I have 13 finished star blocks and 4 half-blocks in preparation for today's post.

Today, I'll cover making the half-blocks and cutting the setting triangles in preparation for

Part 5 to discuss the setting of this quilt.

As you ...

added by Mary Huey 1 year, 5 months ago. under 6-pointed stars , dresden star , jelly roll , kite & crown templates , layer cake , marti michell templates , set h , set-in piecing simplified , tutorial , tutorials

Part 3 -- Dresden Stars Tutorials from Quilting through Rose-colored Trifocals!

Are you ready to give this block a try? Today's tutorial is long but full of pictures which I hope will make it easy to follow. Read all the way through it first, then sew through it slowly. If you don't "get it", just do it and it will make sense as you finish the first block. If you didn't pull out a UFO for "leaders/enders" (I know you have at least one), do that before you start to sew. Not only will it make the rhythm of the process smoother, it will be a win-win ...

added by Mary Huey 1 year, 5 months ago. under 6-pointed stars , dresden star , jelly roll , kite & crown templates , layer cake , marti michell templates , set h , set-in piecing simplified , tutorial

Part 2 -- Dresden Stars Tutorials from Quilting through Rose-colored Trifocals!

Are you ready?

Today, I'll review the templates and cutting.

For one block, you need six pairs of blades, six kites, six background diamonds and a 1" finished hexagon to applique to the center (I'll cover preparing the hexagon in Part 3).

Let's start with a look at the templates to use.

The last page of the pattern has the three pattern pieces drafted without seam allowances and was done in a response for requests from students wanting to hand piece the block or English paper piece. These can be used to make rotary cutting templates if ...

added by Mary Huey 1 year, 6 months ago. under 6-pointed stars , dresden star , jelly roll , kite & crown templates , layer cake , marti michell templates , set h , set-in piecing simplified

Dresden Stars -- a Tutorial Series from Quilting through Rose-colored Trifocals!

In 2015, another shop owner showed me a vintage quilt with a unique six-pointed star block I had never seen. I took pictures and set out to discover the name and source of the block. But alas, I could not find anything. I was mid-stream in my obsession with six-pointed stars and "needed" to piece that block so I figured it out from scratch. It was so much easier to piece than I expect that I wrote my pattern, Dresden Stars to share what I figured out with others.

Fast forward to the pandemic (why does that sound so wrong ...

added by Mary Huey 1 year, 6 months ago. under 6-pointed stars , dresden star , jelly roll , kite & crown templates , layer cake , marti michell templates , set h , set-in piecing simplified

It's been a GREAT day!! from Quilting through Rose-colored Trifocals!

The design wall is empty today!! My version of Katja Marek's Homage to Grandmother's Flower Garden is completed -- well, the top is finished!!

I've spent part of everyday since New Year's Day assembling the subsections into bigger sections until there were two diagonal halves. All that was left to stitch were dozens of 3/4" seams -- stitch one, stitch a "sew-off", stitch another, and so on.

My goal was to finish the piecing by the time I leave for a retreat in a week where I started this project last winter. Managing my neck arthritis is ...

added by Mary Huey 1 year, 11 months ago. under homage to grandmother's flower garden , machine piecing , marti michell set n , set-in piecing simplified , sew my stash , stash busting

What's On Your "To-Do" List? from Quilting through Rose-colored Trifocals!

Greetings from a sunny ( and balmy) snowy Northeast Ohio!!

It's 37 degrees F. and after the cold days last week, it feels quite nice. I might not even wear gloves outside today?!? Yes, all those comedy routines and jokes about us apply when the winter sun is shining and it gets up to freezing! We are on the downhill side of winter and the year round resident birds like cardinals and tufted titmice have started territorial singing as the daylight increases. Hearing them cheers me right up and is a signal to my brain that spring is coming!!

How ...

added by Mary Huey 2 years, 10 months ago. under 2022 ufo's assault , english paper piecing , homage to grandmother's flower garden , set-in piecing simplified

Between Projects? from Quilting through Rose-colored Trifocals!

To make the statement that I'm "between projects" is probably misleading as I always have two or three actively going at any one time so to say that implies that I finish one project and then (rationally) chose a new project.

When I finished the #100days100blocks2019 quilt top and it's backing, I decided I better finish the Rose Star quilt top next as the two quilts will need to be presented to my granddaughters at the same time. So up on the design wall it went.

The row of blocks on the right are the start of a ...

added by Mary Huey 5 years, 1 month ago. under rose star borders , set-in piecing simplified

The Quilting Has Begun!! from Quilting through Rose-colored Trifocals!

The quilting of my scrappy blue hexagons quilt has begun!!

Found the perfect thread in my stash and revved up my APQS George for the first time all summer!?!

I'm keeping to a simple grid that follows the ditch of the seams and crosses through the center of each hexagon.

I've used this approach before and like the simplicity, the sturdiness and the effect.

I can come and go from the stitching over the next few days and hopefully be binding this sweet little quilt next week!!

After a record fast trip to eastern Pennsylvania to watch my ...

added by Mary Huey 5 years, 2 months ago. under hexagons , layer cake , machine piecing , modern hexagons , scrappy blue hexagons , set-in piecing simplified , y-seam

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