Christmas Fence Almost Complete

I got my Christmas Fence quilt back from my LAQ this week and I am so happy with it.

I asked her to use a birds and berries panto that she has.

She used thread the color of the sashing to quilt it and I am so happy with it. 

 I trimmed it up last night. 

 I just need to put the binding on it now.  

I will be binding it using the same fabric as the sashing.

 If you want to make one just like mine, the tutorial is posted over here.  

I would love to see it if you make one.  

Please post it to my Flickr Group.

I used the Grunge green on the back. 

 I got it at Crazy Quilt Girl's shop if you are looking for backing.

In fact I bought all my fabric for this quilt there.

 The line is Blitzen.  

Stop on in she is having a Super Sale at the moment.  

Great prices and fantastic customer service too!!

Close up of the fabulous quilting!

I'm sorry but Fatty McFatty wanted to say "meow" while I was posting.  

Yes, yes, everyone loves you Aiden!  

Sheesh, needy beast!

Oh and Abbey wants to know if anyone wants to play?  

Anyone??

Silly dog!

~XOP~

Christmas Fence QAL Top Finished

I have been a busy beaver getting this top finished.

  I learned a few things along the way too that I thought I would share with you. 

 I wasn't thinking about the fact that the lines needed to line up across from the sashing! 

 I would not be happy if they didn't at least mostly match up! 

 So here goes. 

 First I sewed the sashing on each of the blocks like this.

I sewed it to each right side except for the last block. then it was time to sew the blocks together, remember you have to match the side sashing lines so they will look like they hook together. 

 First I tried lining them up, pinning and flipping to check then sewing.

Not too bad.  Then I tried by lining them up by holding it up to the light and lining them up like this.

It also worked ok.

I got all the blocks sewn into rows next was to sew on the horizontal sashing.  I sewed it to the top of each row and one on the bottom row.

Now came the tricky part. 

 I needed to line up those little segments again. 

 I was not happy with the results from the other two methods above. 

 They were all right but not as consistent as I would have liked so I tried another way

 (sheesh, how may ways are there to do this anyway??)

First I lined the little strips up like this.

I held my finder on the spot on the top fabric and 

stuck a pin on each side from one seam through to the seam on the other side. 

 I did this on BOTH sides.

You can see where the pins go through to the other side. 

 If they didn't line up then I moved them until all was lined up.

Then I put a center pin in. 

 Then it was time to pin all the intersections and sew them! 

 I found that this gave me the best,most consistent results.

.  

Obviously, you can use whatever method works best for you! 

 If anyone has other suggestions for making these things line up 

feel free to share them in the comments! 

 I am always open to better ideas.

After I sewed the rows together, I sewed strips to the sides too. 

 I'm not sure how many I ended up using in total. 

This would also vary depending on the size quilt you are making too.

If you can't use 1 1/2 strips to make your sashing for one row you will also need more strips.

 I was able to cautiously cut the selveges off so I could use one and a half strips together 

 and that worked for each row. 

 That means I cut 14 strips to sew to the horizontal rows. 

 There were 4 additional strips, 2 for each side. 

 You will also need to cut enough strips to cut the 10 1/2" segments 

for the sashing in between the blocks. 

 All the strips are 1 1/2" wide.  

Now I bet you want to see the finished top right? 

 Here is it!

Top half

Bottom holf

Whole quilt top

So there you go.  This top is finished.  Now it's off to the quilter with it. 

How are you progressing with your Christmas Fence??

~XOP~

Christmas Fence QAL

I *finally* had a minute to lay out my Christmas fence blocks.  

I didn't end up keeping all the blocks in these positions but moved, and moved them around.  

I think it am done but without a design wall it is difficult to know for sure.  

I am just going to go for it.  

It is really so beautiful all laid out!  

How are you progressing on your quilt?? 

 Have you laid yours out yet? 

 I can hardly wait to begin to sew this together.  

I will be putting sashing between all the blocks and between the rows too.  

I would love to know if anyone else is working on this and how you are coming along!

Happy Sewing

~XOP~

Christmas Fence QAL Progress

I finally had some quality sewing time and got all 42 of my blocks made.  

How are you progressing with yours? 

 I did have some help though = )

As I was cutting and sewing along I realized that perhaps, 

just perhaps, 

I might have enough left overs to make an additional 7 blocks, for a total of 48!!! 

 I would have to piece the outside colored part, but I was pretty sure I could do it.  

(you would only need 6 unless you are using Blitzen too.  

With Blitzen there is one fabric that matches the sashing so I didn't want to use it).  

I managed to get 6.  

BUMMER!

Then I put my thinking cap on and you know what?  

Necessity really is the mother of invention!

TA-DA!

If I pieced all the little pieces, I could eek out one more block!!! 

YESSSSS. 

Thank goodness I carefully cut off the selveges or I would not have been able to do it. 

Although this means I may need additional sashing, sigh, it's always something!!

So here are my 48 blocks all stacked in color stacks.

I did work on my Holiday Lane project too but I can't show that to you yet. 

 I think you are going to LOVE it though. 

 I am having a blast making my non-pillow 

(and that's all I am going to give you!)  

You will have to stop back later when I have my assigned day!

How are you progressing on the Christmas Fence blocks? 

 I hope to lay mine out so I can sew them together soon too.

Happy Sewing!

~XOP~

Christmas Fence QAL Blocks

I was home from work yesterday.

I met a good friend for lunch and then came home to work on my CF blocks.

 I managed to get 20 of the 42 blocks made so far.  

You already saw the first 2 but here are the other 18.

I am totally loving the way these are coming out so far.  

Please excuse the poor photos, I took them this morning in the dark!

We went to the apple orchard on Sunday and picked up a box of apples to make apple sauce with.

APPLES + JACK = APPLEJACK 

 LOL

Have you had time to get any blocks made?

~XOP~

Christmas Fence QAL

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.  

Mine was busy, as usual.  

I think I live in busytown!  

I did manage to get a few blocks finished for the QAL. 

 I want you all to be able to begin sewing too.  

The pattern we are following is from Cindy at Hyacinth Quilt Designs. 

 She called it Garden Fence.  

The original pattern can be found here.  

Thank you Cindy for allowing us to use your pattern!

I am calling ours Christmas Fence since we are using Christmas fabric for our quilt. 

 You will get 42 blocks when you are finished if you are using a Charm Pack and a Jelly Roll 

to make yours like I am making mine.  

Since I am using one of the fabrics contained in the Charm pack and Jelly roll for my sashing, 

I will have to do some creative piecing for a couple of my blocks 

using left overs from each of the jelly roll sections.
If you are using a JR you will have to do the same.
There are only 40 strips in a JR, so we will have a couple of multi color blocks.
I'm kind of excited about those blocks!

That's what we quilters do though, right? 

 Use what we have.  

I will show you what I mean when I get there. 

Here is how I cut my block:

Using your charm pack you will cut all the charms to 4.5" x 4.5 "

From one Jelly Roll Strip you will cut 4 pieces 2.5" x 3" and 4 pieces 2.5" x 5"

I cut all my sashing at one time but for each block you will cut 

4 pieces 1.5" x 2.5"

2 pieces 1.5" x 4.5"

2 pieces 1.5" x 6.5 "

If you want to cut all your sashing strips for the blocks at the same time be aware that 

I cut 32 1.5" x WOF strips and was able to get all 42 blocks worth of sashing from that.

  I cut several different ways to maximize the number I got out of the strips so I could cut as few strips with as little waste as possible. 

You may need to cut a few more strips than I did, just play around with this.  

For the sashing between blocks you will need to cut 35 1.5" x 10.5 inch strips.  

Those will go in between the blocks to form a row.  

There will also be 1.5" strips between the rows and then around the center of the quilt. 

 I am not going to talk much about that here and now as none of us are actually at that point yet. 

 I like to have the rows made so I can measure and then cut.  

That's it! 

 Super easy right? 

 If you want to play along just leave me a comment telling me you are going to join in. 

 I have a Flickr group for anyone making anything from my patterns, tutorials or QAL 

so please put your photos there to share with and inspire others!

Here are the first 2 blocks I have finished so far:

Please take the button on the side bar and put it on your blog if you are participating. 

 Even if you don't have time to do it right now, 

I would appreciate you using the button so you can spread the word!

I can't wait to see all the quilts spring up out there.  

Please remember to share  your creation in the

  Flickr group!

Oh, and one more thing, hop over to Cindy's and thank her for such a beautiful pattern and for her allowing us to use it in our QAL! 

 Thanks Cindy!!

~XOP~

Christmas Fence Quilt Along

There is still time to make that last minute Christmas quilt.  Yeah, let's rock and roll this baby out!

Here is what you need to get started:

One Jelly Roll
One Charm Pack
3.5 yards of sashing/framing fabric.

I haven't figured out the outer border or if I am going to use a border, so you will have to stay tuned.

I chose Blitzen by Basic Grey for Moda.  My sashing/framing fabric is Grunge in mint.

If you want to make the same quilt, you can find the fabric at Crazy Quilt Girl's online shop.

So gather up your fabric and I will be back, hopefully, after the weekend with what we will be making!

I just made a Flickr Group for anyone that has made something from one of my tutorials or patterns.  

I hope to be back with a block tutorial on Monday.

~XOP~

Second Post on the QAL is here.
Third Post is here
Fourth Post is here
Fifth post is here
Sixth post is here