Thursday, February 14, 2013

The Bee in my Bonnet Thimble Ruler...and another free pattern!!!



Introducing...
"Jump Rope"
another free pattern from me to you!
(Happy Valentine's Day to all of you 
sweetie pie readers out there...
I heart every one of you:)
(you can download it HERE)



I made this quilt using my 
along with 5" and 10" squares:)
I know that this shape is now called a 
"tumbler"...
 but my grandma and her sisters used to 
call it a thimble...
 and that's what I went with!


And yes...


More gratuitous photos of my kids.
Sorry for the shadows on the quilt:)


Obviously I took these at the same time 
as my Honeycomb quilt that I showed you yesterday:)


Still a windy day and trying to get a full shot of the quilt was a challenge:)


As you can see...there are two sizes of Thimble shapes in the quilt...



Sewn together top to bottom in strips.
When you sew two small thimbles together...
they are the same size as one large thimble...
making the possibilities endless!


I called the quilt "Jump Rope" because the strips reminded me of the jump ropes I used to play with at recess with all the girls.
You know the kind...
they were made of kind of colorful elongated hard plastic beads?


This quilt is super fast to cut and sew up.
Again...
I used my fabric lines all mixed together 
and 
I used yardage and 4 fat quarters 
for the back of this one.
I don't know if you can see the binding...
but it's scrappy too!
I used up leftover 2 1/2" strips by sewing them together for the binding.

Jump Rope makes a great lap quilt and 
I think it would make a fun and easy baby quilt too!


Let's talk a little bit about different ways that you can use the rulers.
I'll show you a few variations using the small ruler.
I rotary cut this thimble from a 5" square.
Easy peasy.
You can cut several...flip them around and sew them into rows.
OR...



You can sew 4 squares together...
In this case 2 1/2" size...



Line up the lines on the ruler 
 with your seam lines ...



And cut a scrappy Thimble!!!



Then you can alternate with scrappy and plain if you want:)



You can also cut  two different 5" squares in half and sew the strips together...



Line up with the center line on the ruler...



And cut.



And sew into rows this way.
These are just a few possibilities...
you could also flip the ruler and cut so that the different fabric strips 
are on each side of the thimble instead of on the top and bottom.




And for the ends of each row...



Place 2 - 2 1/2" x 5" strips with wrong sides together...
line up with the center line of the ruler and cut at the same time so that you have one in reverse...



Like this.




Or simply cut a thimble shape in half.



Sew them onto the ends of the rows so that they
 end up straight and not slanted!
YaY!!!
This makes it soooo much easier to bind:)



You can do the same thing using the large rulers and four 5" squares sewn together like I did in my Jump Rope quilt.

See what I mean?
lots of possibilities with these rulers.
A good way to play with pre-cuts and also to use up those 
extra strips and squares that we all seem to accumulate:)

And now that my rulers are here I will be using them a lot ...
I have several tutorials planned using all of them...
so stay tuned my friends...and have a quilty week end!!!
xx
Lori



25 comments:

Darlene said...

Another adorable quilt, Lori. Very, very cute. Thank you for another pattern.

Anonymous said...

LOVE the colors and fabrics!!! ♥

Renea said...

Thank you for the free quilt patterns. I love your quilt, fabric, patterns and blog. I am also playing along with your Bee in My Bonnet Row Along. Thanks for all the inspiration!!

Rosa said...

It`s just beautiful!!

judi garber said...

The scrappy thimbles looks so fun, Lori. I may have to try those.

Carol said...

Couldn't be cuter Lori...love them! Thank you for the patterns...

Tammy said...

Super cute. Thanks for the pattern.

Melanie said...

You are so clever! I am so happy to find your blog. Keep up the great work.

Melanie said...

You are so clever. I'm so glad I found your blog!

dream quilt create said...

I love the quilt, it is darling! I love the way you showed us different ideas as to how to use the ruler. Thank you for all of your creativity!

PamKittyMorning said...

Super cute! Love the scrappy possibilities!

Beth said...

Cute quilt and great instructions. (I wish I could underline, to show how great I think they are!)

Lesauri said...

I love the look of this quilt. Thanks for the tutorial.

Cecilia said...

This is so great! I love your work and I am so excited to be taking your classes at Fabric Fest in September! Yay!

Helen L said...

Such a great quilt Lori!! I really want to try this one! And I love the pics of your kids!! So cute!! I really love your daughter holding the quilt and checking her phone! LOL! SUCH a teenager shot!! Keep up your fabby quilt work: you continue to inspire me!!

Debra Howard said...

Girl! Your quilts are always so happy! I need to get busy and make some more myself. Yours inspire!
Debbie

mascanlon said...

Thank you so much for the free patterns! I am off to order rulers, oh how I love rulers and fabric and patterns ....everything about this passion of ours!

Pots and Pins said...

Hi Lori! Your quilt is beautiful - and your kids adorable...thought it was funny that your daughter had to check her phone during the "photo shoot!" So "today!" Love, love, love this one! I can now buy Riley Blake fabrics close by - YAY - so I'm going to look for your ruler - if I can't find it here I'll pick it up at Material Girls! Thanks! xo, Nan

Nanette Merrill said...

Very smart. I've made tumbler quilts for ages but you've got a new twist. So I love that. good for you.

And I love the plain blue/turquoise with it. I made a quilt for one of my girls with that plain color. I wish I still had it. I guess I can make another.

Sharon said...

Love that!!!! Do I order the ruler from you for my website Lori??? Very cool.

Sharon said...

Love that ruler Lori. Where do I order them from?? You or Riley Blake??

Anna said...

I love it, congratulations.
A hug.
Anna

Unknown said...

Just Gorgeous!!!
It is my first time visiting your blog and it has been a pleasure. You are a really sweet person and your work is also like this.
Many thanks fr the way you explain your works, step by step!
From now on, you have a follower fromValencia Sapin and I'll share your blog with my friends!!
I also have two kids boy and girl and even they are smaller I love the family atmosphere you show..
Just congratulations and I'll try to find this ruler here
Kisses
Elena
elenaysuslabores.blogspot.com.es

Rosemary said...

I was looking at the barns and thinking how much I loved them and wanted to make them and then you wrote the magic words ... a quilt-a-long ... I am sooo in! I love your quilts, ideas and attitude. So positive and so very sweet. Thank you for sharing your wonderful ideas!!

Anonymous said...

Thimble makes so much more sense for a quilter! Love your quilt.

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