Transparendo Sewalong - Week 11

Welcome and thank you for joining us for the eleventh week of the Transparendo Sewalong. I have to admit, I am wondering if anyone is actually reading these sewalong blogposts? Writing a few words in the comments section below can't be that hard can it? Although a lot of the information below is a repeat of the previous weeks, it takes a good three hours to write a blogpost with informative information, good graphics, consistent content and interesting prizes.

Are you sewing along with us? You still can jump in and make 12 blocks for the quilt top as shown in the book and enter your finished quilt top for the random drawing in Week 15 for your chance to win a full-version copy of EQ8 sponsored by our platinum sponsor - The Electric Quilt Company.

Verena from einfach bunt Quilts  and I love sewing your blocks and look forward to seeing your finished quilt top in our Transparendo Sewalong (#transaprendosal). 

 This week's hashtag is #transparendosalw10 for Week Ten, Block Nine. 

 Please sign up for our newsletters to keep on top of the sewalong.

Sewalong Schedule

What is in store for you over the next fifteen weeks? Take a look at our line up. Each week there is a fun, new assignment to complete. The blocks accelerate in skill level with each new block and build upon previous blocks. Learn all types of new skills such as flying geese, nesting and twisting seams, and cutting extra-large pieces of fabric for squares and triangles.

Post your progress on Instagram with the hashtags: #transparendosal and the week -  #transparendosalw1 (week one, etc.) for your chance to be entered into a drawing. If you don't have instagram, you can send me a photo with your fabric selection at 72 dpi with a resolution of 800 pixels or less. The following Sunday, one lucky recipient will be chosen at random. Our sewalong is open internationally, so get out those sewing machines ladies (and gents)!

 

Email Karen with your weekly photo assignment. 

Email Verena with your weekly photo assignment. 

Week 11 Prize

In Week 11, we a wonderful Dream Bamboo Batting, crib-size, sponsored by our friends at Quilter's Dream Batting in Virginia, USA.

In addition, we have a set of Magic Pins from our friends at Taylor Seville Europe sponsored by Steidl & Becker.

Week 11 - (Block Ten) Sails in the Wind

Block Ten no longer belongs to the easy, cheesey, flipping easy blocks. This one is advanced due to all of those points that need to line up! Don't worry. You got this. Just take your time and allow yourself the patience to finish the different segements. Press in the direction as outlined in the instructions. If that doesn't work, press however you want. Remember, those are just guidelines. 

This block is based on a 12" Mosaic block found in EQ8. As an added bonus, I am going to walk you through the process of how to recreate this block in the Electric Quilt Software. Are you ready? Let's get started!

This is my final block using the current fabrics for our sewalong.

Sails in the Wind - Block 10, Week 11 in the Transparendo Sewalong - #transparendosalw11

Our Sponsors

We've been working really hard behind the scenes to bring some amazing prizes to our participants. We are so happy to announce our fabulous sponsors!

Gold Sponsors:

• Quilter's Dream Batting
• Steidl & Becker / Taylor Seville
  
• Adlico - AGF
• Goldschmied Klär
• easypatchwork
• einfach bunt Quilts

Platinum Sponsor

 The Electric Quilt Company

The wonderful folks at the Electric Quilt Company are sponsoring our Finale Prize of one full version of EQ8 at the end of the sewalong Week 15. To enter your finished quilt top with all blocks and borders, photograph and forward to me or post on Instagram. If you would like to purchase the program, we have a PROMOTIONAL CODE to receive 25% off the software. Enter EASYPATCHWORK25 at checkout. If you live outside of the US, you will be sent a physical item in the mail. After you receive the package, you will be informed how to download and install the software on your system. Please follow the Electric Quilt Company on Instagram and subscribe to their newsletter for other great deals. 

The winner of this week's drawing is Beate! You will be contacted shortly about how to collect your prize. Thank to all for participating. We look forward to seeing your beautiful blocks next week as well.

Please participate in next week's drawing. Take a photo and post for all of us to see on Instagram or send to me info@easypatchwork.de or Verena with a resolution of 72 dpi no larger than 800 pixels. One lucky participant will be chosen at random. The giveaway is open internationally. Void where prohibited. Open to quilters 18 years of age and older. Good luck to all. Thanks for joining us!

Preview

We look forward to seeing you next week, where we will be showcasing the Splendid Alps!

Please leave a comment below and tell everyone that your are sewing along. Be supportive and comment and contact other participants. We would love to hear your thoughts. Take care of yourself and keep on sewing happy. 

Transparendo Sewalong - Week Six

 

Hi everyone and thanks for joining us for another edition of the Transparendo Sewalong. We are here to share with you the sixth week with another fun block assignment. Make all 12 blocks, sew together the quilt top as shown in the book and enter your finished quilt top for the random drawing of all participants in Week 15 for your chance to win a full-version copy of EQ8 sponsored by our platinum sponsor - The Electric Quilt Company.

Verena from einfach bunt Quilts  and I are really excited to support you and our quilting community with tips and tricks and well as soon good old fashioned quilting fun with our Transparendo Sewalong (#transaprendosal). 

 This week's hashtag is #transparendosalw6 for Week Six. 

 Please sign up for our newsletters to keep on top of the sewalong.

Sewalong Schedule

What is in store for you over the next fifteen weeks? Take a look at our line up. Each week there is a fun, new assignment to complete. The blocks accelerate in skill level with each new block and build upon previous blocks. Learn all types of new skills such as flying geese, nesting and twisting seams, and cutting extra-large pieces of fabric for squares and triangles.

Post your progress on Instagram with the hashtags: #transparendosal and the week -  #transparendosalw1 (week one, etc.) for your chance to be entered into a drawing. If you don't have instagram, you can send me a photo with your fabric selection at 72 dpi with a resolution of 800 pixels or less. The following Sunday, one lucky recipient will be chosen at random. Our sewalong is open internationally, so get out those sewing machines ladies (and gents)!

 

Email Karen with your weekly photo assignment. 

Email Verena with your weekly photo assignment. 

Week Six Prize

In Week Six, we have a set of eight different easypatchwork patterns to enjoy, sew and make at your own pace. All patterns have full-size foundation papers so no carrying your papers to the copystore. Simply trace against a good light source such as a window on light-weight paper. 

 

Week 6 - Holiday Star

This block uses a very classical quilt block, the Ohio Star with a square, transparent filter overlaid on top. Do you see the square?

When I designed the construction of the quilt block, I wanted the patches to lay flat. To achieve this, some fun twising and nesting seams were used. Anyone can construct a block using flying geese, but those types of patches just don't lay flat enough for me. I like this method better using QST or quarter-square-triangles. 

When you sew the two quarter triangles together, align the tips. Don't worry about anything else aligning at this point. the block will be trimmed later.

Continue to sew the patches together to get two larger, Half-Square-Triangles (HSTs). You shouldn't have to trim anything at this point. Now you will align the two HST units together, nesting the center seam, pin in place 1/4" inward from the raw edge. Sew.

Trim off the dog ears and open up the unit. Check to see if the centers tips are aligned and there is a cohesive line through the middle of the block.

First check to see if points (A) are aligned and not cut off. The check to see if there is a straight line (B) running through the middle of the block aligned correctly.

If there is too much space between the points, you may have to trim off some excess fabric to get the patch trimmed back down to 1/4" or sew with a larger seam allowance or a generous 1/4".

After the unit is sewn together, flip it over. Remove the first two stitches of where the seam crosses to pop and rotate the intersecting seams. Now all of those seams will rotate and lay flat! 

Before sewing all units of the block together, make sure you trim and square the block. Align all five points shown with the red arrows before square up two adjacent sides with a rotary cutter.

Lay out all patches and sew the block together in rows.

Be brave! Unpick the seams that do not match up. It will be worth it in the long run.

And may we have a drum role please . . . . . . . . 

Holiday Star - Block Five in the Transparendo Sewalong - #transparendosalw6

Here are a few examples of quick quilts make with the Holiday Star Quilt block. I would love to see what you come up with.

  

This Week's Tip

Don't be afraid to go out of your comfort zone to grow. We all have fears and insecurities about certain things in life. Allow yourself the room to explore and try new things. Don't be worried that it doesn't suceed on the first try. No one was born perfect. We all have our imperfections. Through repetition, diligence and perserverence we all can achieve greatness.

What does this have to do with sewing? The quilt blocks in this sampler will start to become a little more challenging. Some seams may not line up. You may have have to rip some seams and sew the block again to get the points to match up. Don't worry about that. Work at it as long as you feel comfortable. Allow yourself to make mistakes. 

Sponsors

We've been working really hard behind the scenes to bring some amazing prizes to our participants. We are so happy to announce our fabulous sponsors!

Gold Sponsors:

• Quilter's Dream Batting
• Steidl & Becker / Taylor Seville
  
• Adlico - AGF
• Goldschmied Klär

Platinum Sponsor

 The Electric Quilt Company

The wonderful folks at the Electric Quilt Company are sponsoring our Finale Prize of one full version of EQ8 at the end of the sewalong Week 15. To enter your finished quilt top with all blocks and borders, photograph and forward to me or post on Instagram. If you would like to purchase the program, we have a PROMOTIONAL CODE to receive 25% off the software. Enter EASYPATCHWORK25 at checkout. If you live outside of the US, you will be sent a physical item in the mail. After you receive the package, you will be informed how to download and install the software on your system. Please follow the Electric Quilt Company on Instagram and subscribe to their newsletter for other great deals. 

The winner of this week's drawing is Sandra! You will be contacted shortly about how to collect your prize. Thank to all for participating. We look forward to seeing your beautiful blocks next week as well.

Please participate in next week's drawing. Take a photo and post for all of us to see on Instagram or send to me info@easypatchwork.de or Verena with a resolution of 72 dpi no larger than 800 pixels. One lucky participant will be chosen at random. The giveaway is open internationally. Void where prohibited. Open to quilters 18 years of age and older. Good luck to all. Thanks for joining us!

Please leave a comment below and tell everyone that your are sewing along. Be supportive and comment and contact other participants. We would love to hear your thoughts. Take care of yourself and keep on sewing happy. We look forward to seeing you next week, where we ill be showcasing the Double Nine Patch block!

Transparendo Sewalong - Week Five

Hi everyone and thanks for joining us today. Here we are again to share with you the fifth week of our sewalong. Verena from einfach bunt Quilts  and I are here to support our quilting community with tips and tricks and well as soon good old fashioned quilting fun with our Transparendo Sewalong (#transaprendosal). Are you looking forward to it? We are too! 

 This week's hashtag is #transparendosalw5 for Week Five. 

 Please sign up for our newsletters to keep on top of the sewalong.

The Pattern Book

Today is our fifth week of the sewalong. If you don't have the pattern, you can order from my Etsy webshop - Transparendo The Transparency Sampler Quilt from Karen Ackva - Etsy.de. If you live in Germany, you can also pick up some great coordinated fabrics packs especially curated by Verena for the sewalong - einfach bunt Quilts. We highly encourage you to get the book! There a lot of helpful ideas listed including coloring pages to color your own design.

Sewalong Schedule

What is in store for you over the next fifteen weeks? Take a look at our line up. Each week there is a fun, new assignment to complete. The blocks accelerate in skill level with each new block and build upon previous blocks. Learn all types of new skills such as flying geese, nesting and twisting seams, and cutting extra-large pieces of fabric for squares and triangles.

Post your progress on Instagram with the hashtags: #transparendosal and the week -  #transparendosalw1 (week one, etc.) for your chance to be entered into a drawing. If you don't have instagram, you can send me a photo with your fabric selection at 72 dpi with a resolution of 800 pixels or less. The following Sunday, one lucky recipient will be chosen at random. Our sewalong is open internationally, so get out those sewing machines ladies (and gents)!

 

Email Karen with your photo assignment Week Four or

Email Verena with your photo assignment Week Four.

Weekly Prizes

In Week Three, we have a set of Taylor Seville Magic Pins, 1 x Fork Pins and 1 x Extra-ong Pins sponsored by Steidl & Becker (Wholesale Distributor) 

 

 

 

and one Quilters Dream Black Poly Batting in Crib Size sponsored by Quilters Dream Batting.

 

In Week 4, we worked on the Jewelry Box quilt block that uses the stitch-and-flip method of sewing. The transparent sampler blocks are getting a little trickier to sew and are advancing in skill level. Read more about different sewing techniques and how to achieve these looks in the Transparendo book.  

Week 5 - Translucent Argyle

Today is a very important day here in Bavaria, Germany. We have elections. Although I am unable to vote, I am very proud that the other members in my household are off to the voting poles to make a difference. Don't think you can make that difference with your vote? Of course you can when other people share the same values and opinions as you do! 

On to this week's sewalong assignment - the Translucent Argyle block is very similiar to the first block we sewed - Love Birds. This block is then framed with right-angle-triangles on all four sides which creates a totally different block.

When cutting the patches for this block, make sure to take the time to cut correctly. Depending on your presser foot and how you sew a 1/4" seam allowance, you may want to add just a little bit to your patches. Also when cutting squared patches, remember to use the 45° angle on the ruler to make sure it really is squared.

Some of the patches will be cut once or twice across the diagonal. When doing this, do not pick up the patch. Rotate your quilting ruler and place it across the diagonal of the patch. Hold the ruler in place and cut with a sharp rotary cutter.

I like to press my seams to one side and almost never open. Everyone has their own preferred method. I just love it whenever I can get seams to nest and twist. It reduces seam bulk! That makes me happy! Also, one of my previous tips was to keep your iron in off mode. Press the seams after the block is finished at close to being finished. Why? Not only does it save energy, but also allows your seams to nest later. When all of the seams are pressed, it is hard to interlock the seams.

Now it is time to sew the additional right-square-triangles to all sides. Lay out the triangles on the coordinating sides and press the seams to get wonderful nesting seams.

To trim the block to 12 1/2" squared, use a large 15" ruler if you have one. If you don't, then invest in one. It is worth its weight in gold! The ruler shown below is more than 20 years old.

Align the 45° angle of the ruler with the upper right corner (if right- handed). Align point 2 (12 1/2") followed by point 3 which should be 6 1/2". Then carefully align points 4 and point 5 also at 12 1/2". Once everything is aligned, carefully hold the ruler down with a flat hand and then cut two perpendicular sides consecutively for a squared block. Rotate the block 180° and cut remaining two adjacent sides consecutively aligning the 12 1/2" marks on the ruler.

Ideally, you will have a 1/4" seam allowance above the points in the middle of each side of the block. Don't worry too much if it is off a bit. When the block is sewn into an offset setting in the sampler quilt, it will not longer be visible.

Translucent Argyle - Block Four in the Transparendo Sewalong - #transparendosalw5

Are you curious to see how a one-block quilt would look when repeating the Translucent Argyle? Here a couple of explames of how beautiful it could be.

This Week's Tip

When aligning and nesting the seams of the triangles onto the 16-Patch block, make sure you have a 1/4" overlap on the start and stop of the patch. This ensures that the triangle is aligned in the middle. Since we already aligned the seams in the middle, this is less important on this particular block. 

When you start sewing the triangle to the 16-Patch block, start with the needle in the down position which will allow you to catch the 1/4" overlap without readjusting the patch.

Don't forget to clip off the dog ears or extra fabric or trim back to the seam allowance as well.

Sponsors

We've been working really hard behind the scenes to bring some amazing prizes to our participants. We are so happy to announce our fabulous sponsors!

Gold Sponsors:

• Quilter's Dream Batting
• Steidl & Becker / Taylor Seville
  
• Adlico - AGF
• Goldschmied Klär

Platinum Sponsor

 The Electric Quilt Company

The wonderful folks at the Electric Quilt Company are sponsoring our Finale Prize of one full version of EQ8 at the end of the sewalong Week 15. To enter your finished quilt top with all blocks and borders, photograph and forward to me or post on Instagram. If you would like to purchase the program, we have a PROMOTIONAL CODE to receive 25% off the software. Enter EASYPATCHWORK25 at checkout. If you live outside of the US, you will be sent a physical item in the mail. After you receive the package, you will be informed how to download and install the software on your system. Please follow the Electric Quilt Company on Instagram and subscribe to their newsletter for other great deals. 

The winner of this week's drawing is Dana! You will be contacted shortly about how to collect your prize. Thank to all for participating. We look forward to seeing your beautiful blocks next week as well.

Please participate in next week's drawing. Take a photo and post for all of us to see on Instagram or send to me info@easypatchwork.de with a resolution of 72 dpi no larger than 800 pixels. One lucky participant will be chosen at random. The giveaway is open internationally. Void where prohibited. Open to quilters 18 years of age and older. Good luck to all. Thanks for joining us!

Preview

Next week we will be working on Block Six - Holiday Star. This is a really fun block especially as a one-block wonder quilt. I will have a few examples for a Christmas and holiday quilt for you.

Please leave a comment below about anything you would like to share with us. We would love to hear your thoughts. Take care of yourself and keep on sewing happy. We look forward to seeing you next week!