Thursday, June 16, 2016

A New Farm Girl Friday - Happy Anniversary Farm Girl Vintage and a free Farm Girl Layer Cake Block Tutorial - Farm Girl Layer Cake!!


Good morning cute people! 
Today I'm celebrating Farm Girl Vintage 
along with my amazing publishers 
It's Sew Emma by making a cake!
Go check out 


to see all of the cute participants:)
I'm super excited to show you 
how to make my new block called 
Farm Girl Layer Cake:) 



I designed this block to celebrate the 
one year anniversary of my third book 


It's been so much fun 
seeing stacks of Farm Girl quilts 
from my book being made in sewing rooms 
and quilt shops everywhere...
so I thought it would be fun
 to celebrate by
 making a cake together!


Every celebration needs a cake right?
And what better kind than an old fashioned yummy layer cake
 made with lots of love and sprinkles...
just like grandma used to make...
and of course she put it on a vintage cake stand:)

 to download the free cutting sheet 
and then I'll show you how to make it!

After you have downloaded the recipe...
decide which size cake you will be baking and
cut all of your ingredients. 


Cutting is for a 6" block...


And a 12" block:)

I made both sizes of course...
 but today I'll be showing you 
how I made my 6" block.


I always lay my block out on my design board
 to make sure that I like my fabric choices 
and that I have cut everything:)

*NOTE* - I also cut a green  2 1/2" x Width of Fabric for binding.
1 strip is enough for the 6" block 
but you will need 2 if you are making the 12" block.

Now lets bake a cake!


*Take note when laying out ...
that the bottom rectangles for the cake stand (M) (L) 
are laid out tall and the rectangles for the top of the 
cake stand (N) are laid out wide as pictured:)

**Also take note***  
that piecing instructions 
are exactly the same 
whether you are sewing the
 6" block or the 12" block:)

Lets start with the top layer of the cake.

1. All of the smallest background squares are (G). 
Place one on each side of the heart tops (P) with right sides together.
Also place the bottom pieces of the heart (Q) onto 
the top inside corners of pieces (H) 
and stitch from corner to corner like this.
2. Trim an approximate 1/4" seam allowance and press your seams OPEN.
3. Place back down on your design board for the next step.
4. Yes...I said press your seams open!

You will find that by pressing open...
 (especially when sewing small pieces) 
that your blocks will lie flat be more accurate. 
In a few of these steps its not necessary...
 and I will let you know when we get there!


1. Place a (G) square onto the other side of the heart tops (P)
 and sew the other easy corner triangle.
2. Place them back onto design board.
3. Yes...continue to press seams open:)
4. Sew the two heart tops and
 the two heart bottoms together like this.


1. Sew (E) to the top of the hearts and the 
frosting (K) to the top of the bottom cake layer (I).
2. I pressed the seam towards the (E) rectangle 
and pressed frosting/cake seam open.
3. Sew a (B) on both sides of heart top and press toward (B)
Sew the bottom layer of cake/frosting section
 to the top layer and press open. 
sew the side pieces (D) to 
each side of the cake and press towards (D).
4. Sew these two sections together making sure that
 the center seams in your heart line up. 
Press seams open:)


The top of your cake is out of the oven...frosted and decorated...
and now its time to place it on your cake stand!

***TIP***
Here's another thing that I do to get my blocks to lie as flat as possible.
After pressing each section...
(I use a good hot iron with absolutely no steam)
I lay it out on my design board while its still hot from pressing 
 and smooth it out flat...
the batting on the design board will keep it in place...
 and then...



I quickly put a ruler on top on hold it down firmly until the block cools off.



I do this especially when sewing small blocks or little pieces in a large block.
By pressing open and using a good hot iron and my design board...
my blocks are flat and accurate.

YaY!

Now for the cake stand:)

1. Sew the easy corner triangles onto the (N) pieces of the cake top. 
Use one (G) for the left side of the end piece and the other little squares are (J).
2. Repeat for the right side of the cake stand top pieces.
3. Trim as usual:)
4. Press seams open and lay back out on your design board.


Sew them together like this:)



The back of mine:)

There are a lot of seams in this section but don't worry...
just be sure to use an accurate 1/4" seam allowance 
so that it doesn't end up too long or too short 
for the top piece that you are sewing it to. 

You can see that mine is just a smidge longer.



Whenever this happens...
 I place the longer piece on the bottom when sewing the two together
 because I know that the feed dogs will 
pull the bottom piece through at a little faster rate 
than the top piece so it will ease in nicely....



Like this:)



Make sure to press your seams open and use my 
design board and ruler trick!



Now sew the easy corner triangles (G) onto 
the bottom rectangles (M) (L) of the cake stand like this. 

Sew the side pieces (F) to the cake stand center (O)
Press these seams towards the (O) 


After trimming the easy corner triangles on the bottom...
sew them together and press the seams open.


Before sewing to the cake stand center you will need to 
sew the easy corner triangles (C) onto the top outside corners.



I use my Seams Sew Easy
 so that I don't need to mark any lines 
on my easy corner triangle squares...
and for an accurate 1/4" seam of course!

I also use an open toe foot when piecing 
so that I can see exactly where 
my needle goes into my fabric at all times...
I don't like to assume it's lining up 
if I can't see it under a presser foot:)


Now the bottom of the 
cake stand pedestal is finished...



With seams pressed open of course!



Now sew the two pedestal 
sections together and 
add the side pieces (A).
Press towards the (A).


YaY!

Your block is complete:)



I added the optional borders on mine because
 I'm making a Farm Girl potholder just like on page 
number 120 in the Farm Girl Vintage book:)


One more view of the back of my block:)


I prepared my cakes for quilting 
by layering the blocks with batting and backing fabric.


I prepared a binding for each as well.

to see my machine quilting 
and binding tutorial:)


Here is my 6" Farm Girl block 
fresh from the oven!
(it finishes at 8" with the borders)


And here is my 12" Farm Girl Layer Cake 
completely baked and ready for a celebration!

(it finishes at 14" with the borders)

Thanks so much for joining me for another Farm Girl Friday!


to see other Farm Girl Layer Cakes 
that others have been baking!
xx
Lori





Monday, June 6, 2016

BLOOM Sew Along - The Big Finish!!!


Well the last day of our super fun sew along is finally here.
Thank you so much to everyone who has participated in making my 
BLOOM Quilt:)


I have loved working/playing with my 
Calico Days 
fabric collection for this project...


And especially loved using my first set of 



After finishing block 20 last week...
I cut my outside strips and squares for the inner pieced border...


And laid them out on the sides of my quilt
 to audition for fabric placement before sewing.

***TIP*** 
I always use my iPhone to snap a few photos 
when laying out borders and sashings to help me remember placement:)


Once I had all of my blocks and borders sewn...


I chose my backing and binding fabrics...
then it was time for the quilting:)


I love love love how my 
BLOOM Quilt turned out!


My good friend Juli Stubbs 
did the quilting for me
 and she did a beautiful job as usual:)
Thank you Juli!!!

I took a few close-ups so that you can see how I asked her to quilt it.


I asked her to quilt around the appliqués and to only
 quilt ON the appliqués around the flower centers. 

On each background block I asked for small loops to make the appliqués pop:)

I love how the quilting compliments each block without taking away from the detail.


I asked Juli to do straight line quilting on the sashings like this.
She used a natural (barely off white) 
thread on all of the blocks and 
sashing borders and squares.


On the outside border ... 
Juli quilted double straight lines
 and used a thread 
that matches the print:)


BLOOM now hangs on my bedroom wall and I smile every time I look at it:)

If you want to make one too...
to download the free pattern.

to purchase the 
BLOOM Sew Simple Shapes 
and get started!


All of the BLOOM tutorials for each week 
will still remain on my blog.

I have set up a link to each week
 in the order they were posted here...
on the right side bar of my blog.

Just look over to the right and scroll back up until 
you sew the block that you are looking for and click on it!

Easy Peasy:)

(if you can't see the right side bar of my blog...
 you are viewing it on your phone 
and will need to view the full web version)


Once again...a big 
THANK YOU!!!
to those participating...
it's been sew fun:)

I can't wait to see your finished 
#BLOOMQUILT

My next post will be all about
 my next sew along...
 so stay tuned!
xx
Lori






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