The theme this month of "maker" is pretty broad, but it was pretty easy for me to narrow down into one of my favorite little joys in life - thread. Who among us hasn't been overcome with joy over a brand new spool of thread? Just me? I'm easily overcome, maybe, but a fresh spool is a fresh slate of possibilities!
Variegated thread is always fun to use in quilting, but did you know it can also be a fabulous inspiration for fabric pulls for a project? Not only do the colors generally coordinate really well, but you know exactly what thread to use to quilt your project in the end!
This block is a great way to learn or practice my Accordion Sewn HSTs™ method of making half square triangles from an ordered accordion that you KEEP in order while cutting it apart and laying all the half square triangles out. Matching up all the fabrics with each other creates that fun look of a thread changing color as it meanders across a quilt. (Please use your imagination if you are thinking "um, this doesn't look a thing like variegated thread to me" LOL. If nothing else it's a peek into how my designer brain works)
If you are not familiar with the Accordion Sewn HSTs™ check out my video on the basic technique at bit.ly/oompahhsts. If after watching that you want to give the method a try with this block but are nervous about the cutting apart portion, know that I am amazing and have created a video SPECIFICALLY FOR THIS BLOCK that will walk you right through it all. The link to that video is on the pattern, and both pattern and video will be available until 2/29/2024.
Don't want to use the method? Totally fine. Alternative "plain old hsts" directions are given as well. Your block will just look mega-variegated. Never a bad thing.
Get the pdf for my Variegated Threads block HERE, and have fun making some colorful blocks! And most importantly, please visit and support all of us sharing our designs with you this month!
Gear Quilt Block by Carolina Moore
Hammer by Patchwork Breeze
Canning Jars by Crafty Staci
Rotary Cutter by Katie Mae
Cricut Maker by Appliques Quilts and More
Spool and Bobbins by Inquiring Quilter
Music Maker by Scrapdash
Variegated Thread by EvaPaige Quilt Designs
Pretty Spools by Sew Worthy Mama
Pottery by Inflorescence Designs
Quilt Maker by QuiltFabrication
Maker block by Patti's Patchwork
Heart Hand by Brown Bird Designs
Quilting Bear by Colette Belt Designs
My Favorite Things by Robin Kinley Designs, Etc.
Cross Stitch Block by Slightly Biased Quilts
Paint Palette by Tourmaline & Thyme Quilts
Sewing Friends by Epida Studio
Make My Mark by Cristy Fincher
I Love to Make quilt block by Victoria Peat
Rainbow Glimmers by Craftapalooza Designs
Sweetgrass Basket by Emerald Falls Quilts
Maker Block: Sewing Machine by Oh Kaye Quilting
Pincushion by Flowerdog+Co
Painters Tools FPP by Amanda Harris
Starting in January 2022, I took part in a casual challenge to complete a temperature quilt through Sue Pelland's Block a Day Temperature Quilt facebook page. I figured if I was ever going to do one, I needed to feel accountable to keep up, and just knowing a group was out there to check in with by posting a photo every few months, whether they cared if I did or not, did keep me going!
If you are unfamiliar with a temperature quilt, it is a visual representation in fabric of the high and low temperatures for a year of one's choosing. There are so many different ways to show this data in designs and fabrics, and a quick google of "temperature quilts" will send you down a rabbit hole, never to return. Like with most areas of art, there are no hard and fast rules and the artist is in charge of the major decisions in planning. With a temperature quilt, the major decisions really boil down to What Pattern, What Temperature Ranges, and What Fabrics.
What Pattern:
I love me a circle, and I wanted something that was going to be quick and easy to make so that I could keep up every single day that I was home - and catch up easily when needed because of travel. I chose to cut a 3 1/2" square of fabric to represent the low temperature, and fuse and machine applique a 2 1/2" circle to represent the high temperature for each day. Easy. Every day took me less than five minutes to accomplish, and that included picking out fabrics. I used Sue's Hearts and More™ templates to easily cut the circles.
What Temperature Ranges:
A lot of times, the ranges on these quilts are pretty small, between 3 - 6 degrees, and a single fabric is chosen to represent each range. Being a scrappy designer and quilter, I chose to make my temperature windows 10 degrees (or 11, in one case, because math is hard), and instead of one particular fabric to represent each, I just chose a color. Then all of my scraps were in the game, and I knew the end result was going to be pretty cool looking.
What Fabrics/Colors:
Once the ranges were set, all I had to do was choose what color I'd be assigning each range. I chose what made sense to me as far as how colors make me feel. Yellow for the 50s just says spring warmth, teal for the 20s just seemed the right amount of icy cold, black for over 100 because days that are that hot bring out the blackness in my mood. (I'm not a summer person AT ALL). I chose to not use red because I don't like red. So even though it seems fiery and hot, I went with magenta and dark purple for the 80s and 90s because I knew we'd have a lot of them and I at least wanted it to look good. My quilt, my rules. Love that.
Art met science when I decided to make a smaller version of the same design, using 2" cut squares and 1" circles, to show the daily temperatures for the same place, Pepperell MA, in 1969, the year I was born. The only difference was I didn't machine applique the circles because, to be honest, I didn't feel like it. Sometimes that's the only reason you need.
It was no surprise to me that the temperature trended upward as a whole from 1969 to 2022. I've lived through it and I know I used to wear sweatshirts on summer evenings as a kid, safely grew up without air conditioning in house or car, had more predictable seasons aligning with the calendar, and wore a heavy coat all winter and had snow on the ground from December to March.
Side by side, you can see that summer weeks were hotter and lasted longer into fall in 2022 than 1969, and that while winter temperatures (teals and dark blues, and pinks) were common again at the end of 1969, 2022 still was seeing more limes and yellows, and even a coral (60s) the last week of December. I didn't need a 2022 temperature quilt to tell me 2022 was a hot summer, or that fall just didn't cool into winter, or that this has become common. But the contrast, and seeing what I used to experience, albeit in fabric, is jarring to me.
A few highlights, because you know I love data:
1969 | 2022 | |
Number of days above 90 | 5 | 23 |
Number of days below 10 | 26 | 16 |
First day to hit above 60 | April 6 | February 17 |
Average daily temperature, February | 25 (teal) | 32 (dark green) |
Average daily temperature, July | 66 (coral) | 77 (orange) |
I was asked why I couldn't just "let a quilt be a quilt" when I showed part of my 1969 one in progress on my EvaPaige Quilt Designs FB page. I get that people aren't used to me making political/scientific/controversial statements very often at all on that page, and that is intentional. I enjoy that space being one where we look at beautiful things, we laugh, I share my foibles, and those who support my quilt design business are always welcome, no matter our differences. But art is messy. Art can make you think. Sometimes art is uncomfortable. This visual of our warming world is unsettling to me, even though I've lived 53 years of the reality and it isn't a surprise; I don't want to dismiss that. It doesn't mean the quilts are not beautiful. I love them both. Anyone is welcome to just let these quilts be quilts. But if you'd like to see more in them, you are welcome to do that as well.
I hope this has helped anyone who might want to make a temperature quilt start to think about how to do so. It is easy! It really is! Once the planning is over you just go for it!
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When Pat asked me to play with her fabric and take part in the blog tour to show it off, I thought maybe she had forgotten that I am a scrappy designer who struggles to be contained with a finite number of fabrics, but when Pat asks, you say yes and ask questions later. It turns out, I think she just wanted me to stretch my creativity with a line of fabric, and I had such fun doing so!
I ended up making two projects focusing on the panels in the Bird Song line. Panels! I know! When have I ever used panels in my designs? Well, I'm telling you, there is a first time for everything, and I thoroughly enjoyed how they made these projects come together really quickly.
I created this table runner (or wall hanging, you decide what works for you) from three of the six smaller square panels and a variety of the coordinating fabrics. How pretty is the shade of blue that Pat chose to be the dominant blue in this colorway? So summery and joyous.
I used a simple "boxing in" of each panel with a couple of the coordinating fabrics, and then added some flair with...you guessed it...some half square triangles in the corners, which were of course created with my Accordion Sewn HSTs™ method.
If that photo looks weird to you, or you are saying "How in the WORLD would that make half square triangles? This chick is crazy," it just means you haven't had the pleasure of my life changing technique yet! I invite you to check out my YouTube videos and hopefully be inspired to try some of my books or patterns that use the technique!
As can happen when I get all excited about making accordions, I wasn't quite sure how I'd use them in this project until I got a few done. I ended up deciding they just needed to be random little pops in the corners of the panel blocks, kind of like a photo corner might look.
But then came my true moment of zen. I was feeling guilty about how much of the panel fabric I hadn't used in my project, when I looked at this piece in a whole new way, and decided that the blue/yellow flower border around the large panel would make a really awesome binding for this little project!
I mean, granted, once I cut the blue/yellow flower strips away from the rest of the panel to make them into a binding I discovered that I needed to ask for more panel fabric from Benartex because now I didn't have quite enough length of what I needed for the binding, thereby totally ruining my attempt to be efficient and use up fabric with little waste but THESE ARE JUST DETAILS. Whatever. One of my mantras: Fabric - they make more.
I mean, worth it, though. Even the having to join the ends by matching the prints; I admit I shocked myself with my skills.
Kind of a fun way to look at a panel, I think - breaking it down and seeing what elements can be used where. So why stop there? Now I had TWO pieces of the larger panel, and another moment of efficiency guilt and not wanting to waste them. So....
...enter a cute tote!
Since I'm not a three-dimensional designer as a rule, I used a few of the guidelines I found here, Sweet Quilted Tote {free sewing tutorial} - SewCanShe Free Sewing Patterns for Beginners and adapted a few of my own twists. The SewCanShe tutorial is great for helping those like me think about what goes where when creating a project that is not meant to be flat.
I made sure both panels were cut to the same size, then did some simple wavy crosshatch quilting just to dress things up and make it look like I put in a little effort. In all honesty, the quilting part took like 20 minutes tops.
Once again, I saw some of the panel in a new light and cut 2" strips with the floral-y print centered in the strip. I added some iron-on stablilizer to the reverse side, then sewed them into tubes and turned them right-side out. Straps! Cuteness!
Full disclosure - because I did not want to be crowned The Most Disorganized Pat Sloan Blog Tour Participant Ever, I ended up using a (very old) coordinating print that I had on hand for the lining of the tote rather than asking for even MORE fabric AGAIN. But imagine it in one of the Bird Song prints rather than this basic beige, which is probably from 2007. I show this photo mostly to show that I got the handles on correctly (ie the print in the direction I wanted and the handles on the correct side of the bag) the first try, which was a bit of a miracle, honestly.
Once I had the two sides of the tote together, I boxed the corners of both the lining and the quilted parts. It's a great way to strengthen the corners and also help the tote to stand upright on its own - helpful during photo sessions.
One last photo because I haven't killed these flowers yet.
So, you've made it this far in my ramblings; that for sure deserves at least the possibility of a prize! Comment on this post with any kind of bird story from your life. Maybe you've traveled internationally with a bird watching group. Maybe every spring you get a nest in the same tree. Maybe as a child you were attacked by a seagull on the beach and it is burned in your memory. Maybe no matter how many times you are in charge of Thanksgiving you just can't seem to cook dinner without calling the Butterball hotline. We take all kinds of stories, good and bad, and the winning comment will be chosen at random, but must involve a bird.
Should my winner be in the US, they will receive this Birdsong layer cake courtesy of Pat Sloan and Benartex.
Should my winner be outside the US, they will receive this thread set courtesy of Pat Sloan and Aurifil. (Side note- it's my dream to create an Aurifil thread collection and I'm very jealous of this delicious one.)
Be sure to check out ALL of the blog posts this week - we all have prizes to give, so you'll up your chances of winning. But more importantly, SO MANY GREAT IDEAS for using the Bird Song fabric! Creative people are the best people!
Their IG handles and company names are here:
@abrightcorner (A Bright Corner)
@rosebudscottage (Rosebud's Cottage)
@carolasmussen (Carolina Asmussen Designs)
@pamkittymorning (PamKittyMorning)
@fatquartershop (Fat Quarter Shop)
@aurifilthread (Aurifil)
@ivory_spring (Ivory Spring)
@evapaigequilts (EvaPaige Quilt Designs)
@jacquelynnesteves (Jacqueline Steves)
@bluenickelstudios (Blue Nickel Studios)
@quiltjane (Want it, Need it, Quilt it)
@patternsbyannie (Patterns by Annie and ByAnnie.com)
@benartex_fabrics (Benartex)
@byhilaryjordan (By Hillary Jordan)
Enjoy!
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Link to the block directions download: Quilt Block Mania - December 2021 Candy Land FREE BLOCK – EvaPaige Quilt Designs (evapaigequilts.com)
Be sure to check out all of the other designer blocks as well. Oh my gosh every one of them is just so CUTE!
Puzzle Cube Quilt Block by Carolina Moore
Swirlybirds by Scrapdash
Rocking Horse by Appliques Quilts and More
Old-fashioned toy by Blockofthemo.com
Wooden Toy Blocks by Penny Spool Quilts
Xylophone by QuiltFabrication
Stacked Rings at Patti's Patchwork
Toy Truck at Blue Bear Quilts
Bullseye at Pretty Piney Quilts
Toy Plane by Mom and Me Quilting Co
Nutcracker by Inquiring Quilter
Water Colors at Perkins Dry Goods
How to Theread a Book by Craft Towards Joy
Sling Shot by Faith and Fabric
Candyland at EvaPaige Quilt Designs
Shape Sorter Block at Patchwork Breeze
Colorku at Love to Color My World
Toy Wagon by Cristy Fincher
Baboushka dolls by Duck Creek Mountain Quilting
Baseball by Masterpiece Quilting
Get the quick and savory directions here: Quilt Block Mania - November 2021 Avocado FREE BLOCK – EvaPaige Quilt Designs (evapaigequilts.com)
Enjoy all the blocks!
Hot Dog Quilt Block by Carolina Moore
Corn off the Cob Quilt Block at Scrapdash
Pumpkin Pie by Appliques Quilts and More
Ice Cream Cones by QuiltFabrication
Citrus Wedges by Patti's Patchwork
Peppers at Blue Bear Quilts
Pineapple at Duck Creek Mountain Quilting
Strawberry by Mom and Me Quilting Co.
Home for the Holidays by Inquiring Quilter
Red Delicious at Perkins Dry Goods
Pumpkin Quilt Block
Little Lemons by Love Sew Modern
Sew the Carrots Go Round Block at Patchwork Breeze
Cake Quilt Block at Masterpiece Quilting
Avocado at EvaPaige Quilt Designs