Bee in my Bonnet Row Along - Row One...

Good Morning!

Are you ready to row?

Yay!!!!

Grab your 3" squares...

(you will need 28 of them)... 

and let's get started on Row One of the 

"Bee in my Bonnet Row Along"

The first row is easy peasy and consists of 50 squares total.

Each little square finishes at the cute little size of 1" x 1"!!!

(which is why I recommend using small prints for this row)

What's that?

I hear you asking how are we going to get 50 one inch squares out of 28 three inch squares?

No worries.

Read on!

But first let me tell you that this row is a small "filler row" in between the larger rows.

This is a beginner project so of course we will be starting out with squares.

 I snapped a picture of the rough draft that I drew up when deciding how many rows would fit.

You can sort of get a little better of an idea of the layout by my drawing.

It shows how many rows...but not necessarily the order that they will be in.

Also...it doesn't show it here...but the border will be pieced:)

I hope this little sneaky peek takes a little of the mystery out of it for you!

*REMINDER...we will talk about background next week. We won't use any for this row.

Okay...let's get started!

Let's go through my important 

6 step quilting checklist together.

1. Make sure that you have a sharp blade in your rotary cutter and that your cutting mat and rulers are cute, clean and ready to use.

2. Plug in your iron..no steam please...especially when piecing small items.

 (A hot iron with steam tends to distort and to shrink 100% cotton fabric)

3. Make sure that your sewing machine is clean, oiled and running well....

it also wouldn't hurt to put in a new needle:)

4. Use 100% cotton thread in a neutral color

(I usually use white, cream or gray).

Wind your bobbin in the same thread and then wind a few more for backup:)

5. Make sure that you will be using an exact 1/4" seam allowance when stitching so that your seams line up correctly and your blocks turn out the right size.

Take note that you will ALWAYS sew with a 1/4" seam allowance throughout this quilt...unless I state otherwise.

6. Turn on some groovin' tunes...and by all means make sure that there is a doctor in the house...

(of course I mean Diet Dr.Pepper...haha:)

When you have successfully checked off the 6 steps...you are ready to row!

 Start by pairing up your squares with right sides together...different fabrics per pair.

Line them up on your design board and take them to your sewing machine for chain stitching.

Chain stitching means feeding them through your machine one right after the other without clipping your thread in-between....

a real time saver.

(not to mention thread saver too)

After you have stitched the 14 sets together down one side....

remove them from the machine and they will look like they are hanging on a clothesline.

Normally at this point ...

you would clip them apart...

BUT NOT THIS TIME!!!

Scroll down to the next step please:)

Feed them through your machine again...

sewing down the opposite side of each square.

Now they should look like this!

Now go ahead and cut them apart by snipping the threads in between with a small pair of sharp scissors.

I don't recommend using your large sewing scissors for this because it is too easy to snip into the fabric on accident.

Now set the seams with your iron by pressing the squares...

always press...

instead of ironing back and forth so that you will not distort your pieces.

Now grab a square set and cut it in half by carefully measuring in 1 1/2".

Take note in the photo where your seam is...and cut accordingly.

See?...

this is what they will look like when you cut them apart.

Continue until you have cut apart all 14 sets.

Now press all of the seam allowances going one direction...normally you would press them towards the darkest fabric if possible...but it really doesn't matter for these.

Now randomly stitch them all together end to end in one long strip just like the picture.

Don't sew the same color next to each other and... 

before sewing them together...make sure that your already pressed seams are going the opposite direction so that they will lay flat.

***IMPORTANT...after your strip is all sewn together...DO NOT press seam allowances yet.

First you will measure in 1 1/2" from the end and cut...

like this.

This is an extra piece...

save it for something else and scroll down to the next step.

Now because you have not pressed the seam allowance...the other half will naturally fold back down...which is good...

because you are going to measure in 1 1/2" again and cut...

but this time you will be cutting 2 layers at a time and a segment of 4 squares already sewn together will appear when you unfold it.

Sweet!!!!

Continue carefully cutting down the row...

with the other half of the previous cut segment folded over and measuring in 1 1/2".

When you are finished...

you will end up with 27 -  4 squares segments that should measure 2 1/2" x 2 1/2".  

If they don't...there could only be two reasons...either your cutting, your seam allowance...or both. 

Your 4 patches will need to be accurate to fit into the quilt.

You will have another 2 square segment leftover at the other end after cutting them all:)

Don't bother to sew them together because you won't need them.

Use your fingernails to open the center seam allowance...

 and then press them open with your iron (from the back)so that they lay nice and flat.

27 scrappy happy 4 patch squares:) 

You will only need 24 but it's always a good idea to make a few extra if you need some to play with as needed.

Lay 24 of them out in a row on your design board to chain stitch together.

You will need 24 total stitched together for the row.

When you stitch them together...join the sides with the open seam allowance and then press that seam allowance open as well.

When I am piecing tiny blocks together...I usually press my seam allowances open because I like them to be as flat as possible:)

Join them together in sets of 2 at first...then sets of 4...and so on...until you have 24 total joined together.

like this.

A row that measures 2 1/2" x 48 1/2"

Yay!!!

First row complete:)

Was it fun?

I thought sew!!!

Please share pictures of your first row on the flickr group...

click here

to join!

I really like this method for sewing small squares together...

 It's much faster, easier and more accurate than cutting 50 - 1 1/2" squares and sewing them together individually...right?

Of course if you are doing another project...you can cut the original squares larger for bigger finished squares.

I will be posting the next row tutorial 2 weeks from today...

but I will be posting row along updates in-between as needed.

If you don't want to miss any of them...make sure that you scroll up...and on the right side of my blog in-between the camera and the typewriter...you will see where you can subscribe to get my posts directly into your email inbox...very convenient:)

Thank you all for rowing along with me:)

Until next time...

xx

Lori

P.S. If you are new to my blog and my teaching methods...and you are wondering what the heck  a design board is...

click here 

for my explanation and tutorial.

I promise...this quilt will be alot easier and more enjoyable if you use one.

I made 2 of them to use when sewing the blocks for this quilt.

I cut one foam core board in half and made 2 the same size...

(so that I can sandwich my blocks in-between them for protection while traveling to class)

More "Row Along" Fabric Info...

Hello again cute people!

 I'm so excited with the positive response to yesterdays post.

I'm so glad that you all will be 

"rowing along" with me!

I've had several of you ask a few questions about the fabric for the

 "Bee in my Bonnet Row Along" 

so I thought I would answer them in this post.

Question: What do you mean when you say

that this will be a scrappy quilt and how much fabric do I need?

It means that the quilt will not be made from one line of fabric you can just use scraps from your stash.

The focus will be on the colors that I posted about previously....for example...I am using the color red throughout the quilt but this doesn't mean all of the red will be from the same piece of fabric...I will use several reds from my stash that I think go well together as far as color tone and style.

The same goes for all of the colors I will be using.

If you want to buy some new fabric to fill in gaps that you might have in your stash...

I would suggest not buying more than a Fat Quarter each. The key is variety!

If you are overwhelmed in choosing fabrics...all you have to do is simply choose the same colors that I will be working with in the tones that you like.

For example...about the color red again...if you don't care for cherry or tomato reds because they are too bright for you...choose deeper reds to work with.

If you don't like aqua...choose the shade of blue that you like....

if you don't like apple greens....choose deeper shades.

 Continue choosing your fabric the same way until you have several pieces of fabric together in each of the 6 or 7 colors....keep in mind you will need at least 6 to do justice to the quilt.

(You could also add a color such as orange or purple...just because I am not working with them in this quilt...does not mean they won't be nice in yours:)

After choosing several scraps or fat quarters from each color....

keep them all together to use throughout the quilt along.

 This doesn't mean that you will use every piece for every row...how many you use at any given time will depend on the type of blocks in the row that you are working on.

Don't worry!

This is a stress free quilt along and we are just going to have fun playing with fabric scraps!

It will all work out in the end!

Remember...this is not a quilt where you will be buying all of your fabric at once before you start.

We will be doing one row at a time and that's all you need to think about at once!

With that being said...I thought I would show you which fabrics from my pile that I have chosen to use for the first row that we will be doing.

First I chose 1 piece from each color that I thought went well together. 

They all have small scale designs on them because the pieces in the first row tut will be 1" finished and I don't want the designs on the fabric to get lost in the cutting:)

Then I chose 1 more print from each color that each had a little more white in them...making the tones and textures a little bit more interesting together.

So for the first row I chose 14 different fabrics...2 different pieces from each color.

When choosing what to use from the pile that I have gathered...

First...I always make sure that I have several different scales of polka dots and flowers.

I usually add a plaid or a stripe, then I throw in a few fun prints like the bee fabric and Pam's darling red on pink letter fabric that you see above. 

And last but not least... I always add a gingham fabric or two in at least one color.

This is how I choose for a scrap quilt...and I hope this helps those of you who have asked.

After choosing which prints to use for the first row...

I cut two 3" x 3" squares from each of the 14 fabrics for a total of 28.

You can go ahead and cut yours too if you want or you can wait for the tutorial in a few days.

Of course we will be using a background fabric in this quilt but not for the first row.

We will talk about choosing background fabric later....

 For right now...

 just decide on your colors and then pull them together for the quilt. 

I really hope this has answered your questions about the fabric amount and colors!

I'll chat back at you in a day or so!

xx

Lori 

P.S. The Bee in my Bonnet Row Along 

Flickr group has just been created...

Click here 

to join up!

Announcing the Bee in my Bonnet Row Along......

I spent a little bit of time in my studio this morning choosing some

 fabric from my stash for a new "row quilt" that I will be

 designing and teaching.

This class will be for 

beginning quilters... 

taught to the women in my church group.

 But...

 I am happy to announce that I am inviting all of you to join me online ...

because I will be doing a free tutorial on each and every row of my quilt!

I will be posting a new tutorial every two weeks ...starting this week and we will finish up in the spring.

So if you want to join the

"Bee in my Bonnet Row Along"...

 grab some fabric from your stash 

and get ready for the 

first row along tutorial this coming week.

The quilt will be a twin size scrap quilt...and I will be using 

"my scrappy happy colors"...

which are the tones that 

I love to work with the most:)

But...

of course you can use your very own 

happy colors 

if they don't happen to be the same as mine:)

I've just pulled 8-10 from each of the colors that I will be working with to give you an idea of what to choose for your quilt.

For the first few blocks...I will be working with small squares so I have chosen small to medium scale prints.

Shades of Aqua

Leaf and Apple Greens

Tomato and Cherry Reds

(and of course...my signature red gingham)

Butter and Squash Yellow

Rosy Pinks

 Pewter Grays

 and 

Milk Chocolate Browns

I always add a neutral color or 

two like these to my quilts.

I am using gray to tone down 

my "happy colors" just a little...

And I like to use the brown

 to add warmth...

therefore...creating a 

charming vintagey palette:) 

The fabrics are laid out 

on my cutting mat.

Although I will only be choosing 12 

of the prints for the first row...

(two from each color way)...

I will keep all of them together to use throughout the quilt and I will also be adding more prints as I go along.

 Although I have already designed the quilt...

I havn't completed it yet...

(I will be adding a row to the quilt every two weeks)...

You cannot see the finished quilt now.

 It will be somewhat of a mystery quilt...

or a happy surprise quilt...

however you want to look at it...haha

But just to give you an idea of what

 the quilt will be like...

It will be an original Bee in my Bonnet pattern designed by me and totally free!

I will be using and teaching my 

"easy corner triangle method"

for most of the blocks.

Anyone and everyone is welcome to 

join in on the fun...

let's row along together!!!

The rows will be...

 flowers, spools, apples, fall leaves, mittens, mugs, baskets and butterflies.

There will also be rows of small 

traditional blocks inbetween.

I think it's going to be a really fun quilt to make 

and I can't wait to get started!

Until then my friends...

Have a quilty kind of day:)

xx

Lori

Love This Book Series!!!!

It's no secret that 

I'm no stranger to the library...

Yep...

I'm a library card carrying kind of girl:)

I have always loved books.

So I wanted to tell you all about a series that I have read this summer that I

 really really love:)

The first in the series is called

"The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie"

The setting is in the charming country landscape of 1950's England.

The books are written in the voice of 

11 year old Flavia De Luce... 

who lives in an old victorian mansion 

with her father and two older snobby sisters.

Flavia is my new heroine.

 She is a chemist/crime solver...

 who loves to get back at her older sisters for being so snobby. 

I fell in love with her immediately...

she makes Nancy Drew look like a 

goody two shoes...haha!!!

Come to find out...

I'm not the only one who feels this way about Flavia!

 The books have won several awards and there is a Flavia De Luce fan club!!!

Second in the series....

Third in the series...

And the latest in the series.

There will be another coming out early next year called

 "Speaking from Among the Bones"

 and then another 

after that called

"The Dead in their Vaulted Arches"

I can't wait!

I don't normally read murder mysteries

 but these were just too wonderful 

to pass up and besides...

 getting to know Flavia De Luce 

is the icing on the cake :)

I love a good series...

how about you?

What's your favorite reading this summer?

I'd love to know...

I'm always looking for the next good read:)

xx

Lori