Monday, May 29, 2023

Calico Garden Sew Along - Week Eighteen!!

 




"APPLE BLOCK"
"PEACH BLOCK"
"PLUM BLOCK"
"PEAR BLOCK"
"PINK CHERRIES BLOCK"


Welcome to Week Eighteen of the 
"CALICO GARDEN"
Sew Along!
Join me here each week 
when I will be doing tutorials
 on the blocks for the quilt.

Of course because we are all sewing 
from all around the world  
we all have different time zones...
But I will be posting each Monday 
right here on my blog 
and you can follow my tutorials 
any time each week that 
 is convenient for you.


We are making the 
Calico Garden Quilt
90" x 90"



The quilt is made with my latest fabric
 collection called Calico...

I hope that you all have all 
received your templates and 
fabric kits by now...
 and that we are all ready to begin!!


If you still need them ...
just do a quick google search for 
"Calico Garden Quilt Kit"
to find shops who still have some left.


We are also using the
Calico Garden
Sew Simple Shapes

I have posted the
 post which details all of the supplies
 for the sew along and how it works.
I have also given the link there 
for the free PDF Download 
of the Sew Along Guide

to download the sew along guide.


As per the sew along guide 
cutting instructions
 you should have everything for 
  this weeks blocks  
 all cut and ready to go!

As per usual for week one in my 
Sew Simple Shape Sew Alongs
 the FIRST week tutorial is a video.

Because I now have my own 
 I have posted the 
 Blue Coneflower Block
Tutorial there.
to visit my channel and watch the 
tutorial and I hope that you love it!
Pretty please leave me a comment
over there and let me know:)

If you like what you see 
and my other videos there...
click on subscribe and click on the bell
 to be notified whenever
 I post another tutorial:)



Here's my Blue Coneflower Block 
that I showed you 
how to make in my video:)


for the tutorial on my
PURPLE CONEFLOWER BLOCK



to go to my tutorial for the
CALICO STAR FLOWER BLOCK

to go to my tutorial for the
Morning Glory Blocks


to go to my tutorial for the 
PRIMROSE BLOCKS


to go to my tutorial for the 
RED ROSES and MUMS BLOCK


to go to my tutorial for the 
Forget Me Not Block

to go to my tutorial for the
PICKET FENCE and GRASS BLOCKS


to go to my prepping tutorial for
HENS and ROOT VEGGIES

to go to my tutorial on the 
HOLLYHOCKS and 
RAKE and SHOVEL BLOCK


to go to my tutorial for the 
GARDEN GIRL

to go to my tutorial for the 
BEE SKEP BLOCK



to go to my tutorial for the  
TOMATOES BLOCK



Last week we made the

Click on the name of the blocks
 to go to these tutorials!



to go to my tutorial for the 
WHEEL BARROW BLOCK

 
for my tutorial on the
GARDEN TOOLS BLOCK
CLIMBING VINE BLOCK
BEES BLOCK


for my tutorial on the
"BUTTERFLY BLOCKS"
"SNAIL BLOCK"
"GARDEN BLOCK"


for my tutorial on making the 
"SEEDLINGS BLOCK"
"BLUE BIRD BLOCK"
and the...

"FRUIT BASKET BLOCK"


for my tutorial on making the 
"BROWN BIRD BLOCK"
"SPOOL AND FLOWER BLOCKS"


for my tutorial on the
 "TULIP BLOCK"
 "PINK PEONY BLOCK" 
and 
"CABBAGE BLOCK"



This week we are making 
the last five blocks for our quilt!
"APPLE BLOCK"
"PEACH BLOCK"
"PLUM BLOCK"
"PEAR BLOCK"
"PINK CHERRIES BLOCK"

Let's start with the 
cutting for each of the five blocks:) 




Here are my fabrics and Shapes 
for the Apple Block all cut...
all traced and ready to go!


Here is a list of the
  Calico Garden 
Sew Simple Shapes 
needed for this block:

1 - O-14
1 - O-15
1 - O-36
2 - 0-60
2 - O-66

You will need 2 pieces of 
prepared 1/4" straight bias
for the stems.
3" of brown for the apple and 
2" for the strawberry.
Press all of them in half.


Cut your background  
6" x 10"



Here are my fabrics and Shapes 
for the Peach Block all cut...
all traced and ready to go!


Here is a list of the
  Calico Garden 
Sew Simple Shapes 
needed for this block:

1 - O-13
2 - O-14
2 - O-15
2 - O-36
5 - O-66

You will need 5 pieces of 
prepared 1/4" straight bias
for the stems.
3" of brown for the 
peach, plum and pear
 and 
2" for the strawberries.
Press all of them in half.


Cut your background  
8" x 10"



Here are my fabrics and Shapes 
for the Pink Cherries Block all cut...
all traced and ready to go!


Here is a list of the
  Calico Garden 
Sew Simple Shapes 
needed for this block:

2 - O-4
2 - O-14
2 - O-15
2 - 0-66

You will need a piece of 
prepared 1/4" on the bias
for the stems.
Press them curved...
you will need about 8"

You will need 2 straight bias 
2" each for the strawberries.
Press both for strawberries in half.


Cut your background  
6" x 10"



Here are my fabrics and Shapes 
for the Plum block all cut...
all traced and ready to go!


Here is a list of the
  Calico Garden 
Sew Simple Shapes 
needed for this block:


1 - O-36
4 - O-60
2 - 0-66

You will need a piece of 
prepared 1/4" straight bias
for the plum stem.
3" of brown and pressed in half.


Cut your background  
6" x 10"



Here are my fabrics and Shapes 
for the Pear Block all cut...
all traced and ready to go!


Here is a list of the
  Calico Garden 
Sew Simple Shapes 
needed for this block:

2 - O-4
1 - O-13
3 - O-66

You will need a piece of 
prepared 1/4" straight bias
for the pear stem.
3" of brown and pressed in half.

You will need a piece of 
prepared 1/4" on the bias
for the stems.
Press them curved...
you will need about 8"

Cut your background  
6" x 10"


Okay!
Because all of these blocks have 
mostly the same shapes
I'm going to sew them in groups
starting with all of the leaves!

My leaves are sewn and you 
will not need to clip before turning:)


Leaves are turned, shaped and pressed! 
Now let's sew the strawberries:)


After strawberries and tops are sewn...
you will need to clip the cleavage
in the tops only before turning.


Strawberries are ready to go.
So sweet! 

Now let's sew all the remaining fruits.



Cherries, pears, peach, apple
 and plums are sewn...
you will need to clip the 
cleavage
and/or inner curves in 
everything but the cherries:)


Turned, shaped and pressed:) 
I love these colorful fruits!


Now all that we have left to
 sew are the pea pods:) 
No clipping is needed before turning.


Pressed, shaped and ready to plant! 
Now let's go to the work table
and layout each block:)
But first..


Let's sew the peas onto the pods!
Now of course you can decide 
when you want to sew them on
 but I think it will be 
MUCH easier to do them now:)


I grabbed my stash of 
Cute Little Buttons 
and started laying out some of
 the green ones to audition them!


Each pod needs 5 buttons 
and I sewed mine on with 
green thread from my Aurifil set.
Sew cute!


Sewing...


And done!!!
I think I may be having too
 much fun playing with buttons:)

Now all of the peas are ready 
for their blocks and 
we can start laying out each one.

Let's start with the Apple Block...


I started by placing a pod at 
the top and the apple at the bottom.
They should measure 7 1/4" 
tall from tip to tip.


The apple is in the center 
of background but the pod is not.
Place it 1 1/4"in from the left 
so that there's a little bit more room
 on the right to embroider 
the 3 little leaves on top of pod.
These are optional too...
you may feel like they are not needed.
As for me...I haven't decided yet lol


Next I placed the other
 peapod and also the strawberry.
I made sure that they were not wider
 than 3 1/2" together in the middle of 
the block because it finishes at 4" wide.
I pinned and glued!
Oh!
The stem on the apple is about
 3/4" tall and the strawberry
 stems are about 1/4" tall.

***Take Note***
 Because there are several 
shapes in these small blocks 
for this week that you will 
ALWAYS 
need to pay close attention to the
 finished sizes of each block to 
keep everything within the measurements
 when pinning and glue basting your blocks.
The 4 1/2"...6 12" and 
8 1/2" Trim-It Rulers 
will be very handy for this:)



"APPLE BLOCK"
 is all ready for applique!
When it's completed...
press it from the back and trim to
4 1/2" x 8 1/2"


Now let's do the Peach Block.
I pressed all of my backgrounds in half
 so that I knew the exact center.
This block is the only one of this
 weeks blocks that finishes at 6" wide.


I went ahead and laid everything out
 and pinned and then took pics for
 you of important measurements.
First one is height which is 7 1/2" tall.


Width of green pear and bottom 
strawberry is no wider than 5 1/2".



The width of the peach and the plum
together is also 5 1/2" 
and these two are centered 
on the background fabric.


"PEACH BLOCK"
is all ready for applique!
When it's completed...
press it from the back and trim to
6 1/2" x 8 1/2"


Next up is the Pink Cherries Block:)
Let's talk about the stems first.
Mine are about 3 1/2" long 
and one end is pressed under.
When you go to press under pay attention
 to which way you need it to curve.



I centered my strawberries pretty
 much touching and they
 measure a little over 3 1/2".
That's cutting it pretty close 
& 1/2' but I think they'll be okay!


7 1/2" tall after adding the cherries:)
Cherries are 1 1/8" from 
side edges of background.
Remember that you don't 
want them wider than 3 1/2".


When pinning the stems I trimmed the
 longer one slanted at the top 
so that it would tuck under
nicely under the short stem like this.


All pinned and glued:)


"PINK CHERRIES BLOCK"
 is all ready for applique!
When it's completed...
press it from the back and trim to
4 1/2" x 8 1/2"


Now it's time for the Plum Block...
and the rest of the peas!


The height on this block is 7 1/4".
Nothing is really centered 
width wise because I off set the
 peas for the embroidered tops.
I placed my ruler on the left side
 of the background fabric and placed 
the middle peapod and the plum 
right at that 1 1/2" mark.
The other two pea pods shift 
to the right by 1/4" ...


like this:)


3 1/2" is the width of the plum and the vertical peapod.


Pinned and lovingly Sue Glued!


"PLUM BLOCK"
 is all ready for applique!
When it's completed...
press it from the back and trim to
4 1/2" x 8 1/2"


Lastly is the Pear Block:)
This block also has the red cherries.
Take note that they are done in the
 exact same way as the pink cherries 
except they are facing the other way...
which means that the curve in 
the stems are opposite than the pink:)


This pear is on a slant and is
 1 1/4" in from the left side...


and the right side as well.


The cherries are 1 1/8" in from the left...


And 1 1/8" in from the right.


The height is 7 1/2" tall.


Pinned and glued.


"PEAR BLOCK"
 is all ready for applique!
When it's completed...
press it from the back and trim to
4 1/2" x 8 1/2"




Well now we have all this adorable
fruit growing in our 
Calico Garden Quilt...
and can you believe that's it 
for the blocks and after they are ALL
appliquéd you can go ahead and sew them
all together into the sections shown 
in the guide and per the instructions!

I have been faithfully working 
a bit ahead of you so that I 
could have my quilt all completed and 
quilted and bound for the 
Big Finish next week...
I'm hoping to get it back
from the quilter in time!!

When I do...
I'll take lots of pictures of my 
 quilt and close ups of the
 quilted blocks and   
show to you in the BIG FINISH
 post which will hopefully
be next week as planned:)

In the meantime...
Happy Sowing!!
xx
Lori