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Creatively Combining Blocks

So I also wanted to talk about one about some of the possibilities for combining these blocks and these air just just a couple of possibilities I wanted to show off a quote somebody had asked o or maybe you had asked j k about how do you make how do I determine how many blocks I'm going to, which is a question from the chapter but it's a very traditional kind of question, you know, it's so you say, oh, I want to make it to fit standard king size bed how many blocks and I'm going to need because the assumption is that, you know, once I determine that and I know the pattern on we'll go out and buy x amount of fabric and that will be enough for like, my quilt obviously this this particular process doesn't necessarily, um it doesn't necessarily work for that kind of thing where I can say well, just by this amount of fabric and then that will work for my quote because you're just kind of making it as you go you don't know how it helps what the size of the blocs they're going to be, but that...

doesn't mean that you can't this is exclusively for making, you know, little tiny blocks like this or even a little tiny quilt this is a quilt it's it's a variation on a very traditional quote called ocean waves which on this is just a small version of it this is just a wall hanging size piece so it's you know, thirty by forty or thirty by fifty and um but it's all improvisational e pieced so you know, I mean, I could go through and tell you that you know, this is a block so it took I don't know for a six maybe eight blocks to make it, but they all came out different sizes is about putting it together, but I decided to make the very same quilt but to make it come out here and show it to make it for ah bed and has a definite time um so it's the same idea, the same kind of ocean waves variation but here too I mean it's hard to say I didn't start out knowing exactly how big each block is going to be, and I didn't actually know at any point I just knew that I was making them and and that you know, I had to respond it's just about it's just like the pyramid thing you're just responding from one block to the next I did make some design decisions like I wanted the the midpoint of the diamonds to mostly meet in the middle s o I did that I also ocean waves is traditionally made out of just triangles, but I wanted to combine these kind of nested squares like we talked about making yesterday so you know, the ocean wave is usually just a half square triangles and syriza house where trying those for your malko so then you can have points a little easier social ways, it's usually just like I said it's serious a half square triangles, but what I did was want to combine some of these just simple squares in between that and so I added that and I even nested in some circles, and the great thing about this is you could use so many different kinds of fabrics. I had this thing about collecting african fabrics, and I have some my hand dies in here, and then you know, fabrics, and you could just find it any old fabric store. And so it really is a vehicle for, um, for using too, getting to play with fabrics that you don't often get to play with, which is really it's it's a treat um now what they really stunning here, malcolm, though, is that you've you've used so many different stitches for the actual quilting, right different patterns now, did you quilt before you put it all together? Wanted you then or did you quit once? It was one solid piece, one solid piece, there is a technique I've never done it before called quotas you go where you make a block and then he quoted in the new attacks into another block they've already quoted in that kind of thing I've never done that technique but this is yeah you make the whole top and then you basic which is something we're going to learn in a later segment um and then you you quilted yes it previously asked me about whether it ever used any of the decorative threats so this uses what what's called a variegated threat it goes from one color to the next I don't honestly remember exactly what color it went to one from the next, but if that's what it does and it's just a nice way when it comes up across something that's dark and attend it's it's in its light cycle well then you that really stands out um now for a technique like that there were obviously your you're manipulating the fabric quite intricately in the machine is that really good for beginners or do you recommend? I mean we're never going to talk about quoting the right segment just curious from the guinness point. So free motion machine quilting is definitely a technique that takes a little bit of practice but it's not something that a beginner couldn't learn it's not you know something you gotta wait years till you do I mean I made one quote that I had hand quilted and then I learned howto do free motion and you know, you get some scrap pieces of fabric and you practice it and then then you pretty much got it. You know, this is a stunning piece, so I made this for my daughter's bed, my middle daughter's bed and kept seeing it on the floor. You know, I was like, hey, what's the deal I made you this nice quote lies on the floor. I can't you make your bed so eventually, eh? Took it away. Give it to some kind of stash on the back is also you've chosen a really beautiful contrast fabric for that as well. That's just one solid piece. Yeah, I'm not a lot of people will peace backs will face the entirety of back. I'm not a on a backed peace or thiss doesn't make any sense to me, but some people really enjoy using up the last of their fabric or putting a little extra something on the back and and that's fine, but usually I used just a solid piece of fabric beautiful peso anyway. So this is just a way to combine some squares with with the end of the half square triangles when this case the half square triangles um so and obviously lots of colors, and I previously I had talked about making decisions about how you're going tio views, color or value and obviously there was chris it's pretty stark it doesn't take, you know, lots of looking to figure out that I decided that the you know there foreground was going to be in reds or shades of reds and the background was going to be in blues so it was just a simple kind of decision, but if you make that decision it makes the pattern a lot clearer when you're working improvisational I'm going to show you how one other piece that combines ah half square triangles with, um another technique or another block and it's actually just adding a adding a kind of a neutral a bit to the background so obviously all these are half square triangles and then all I did was add a gray triangle to the back two to square it off to make them into squares. I think I'm going to go ahead and demo that real quick because there's there's a few little tricks toe adding that squared off piece um and and it's a chance for us to maybe working some color when we've been working a lot of black and white and we will be working in the next segment so it's just basically, you know, again lots of solids um and I think my initial idea I'm not absolutely sure that kept up with all of them with it some would be, uh cool colored half square triangles and some would be warm colored house square triangles so in my demo I'm going I'm going to stick to my original plan and then add the neutrals in the background so I'm gonna pick out a couple of um cool colors and I might even pick out a print as well um and make some half square triangles and then the other thing is that the in the pillow it's basically said well when you put it on its point like that is very cleverly called setting it on point um so um I didn't come up with that either that or flying keys none either one of those is mine previous quoting just show I really appreciate that it's not like they're traditional quoting whereas you must get the same color maybe you didn't get enough you go back to get some more I've had that happen to me now and you'll find a different blue right? And I like that you can use a lot of scraps oh yeah you know so that's that's and that's you know I mean people collect so many scraps and then they say I don't know what to do within and so this is these are perfect projects for that all they have to do is if you decide I'm going to do a quote that's primarily in yellows woman collect all your yellow scraps it couldn't be simpler to solve your problem and it'll make more room for fabric other fabric purchases so really yeah yeah you know all right so this is gonna be one of my to have square triangles if I can keep my rotary cutter on the table and the other one could just be if I was making a whole bunch of blocks and the other one could be one of those and I'll pick two others two other cool colors some other kind of green in there so while I'm putting this together white somebody all show off what you've got done so far holly how's it going e I've gotten a little so I could dio my yeah I was just going yeah when we when I show you how to do kurds you could add um just like a solid color of some sort to kind of really make it into this kind of you know snake like thing that set on ah background of some sort does that make sense yeah yeah all right what about you jenny having lots of fun ok bring some I've got the inspiration from your shit so what you wearing color inspiration yeah yeah I'm playing around actually slight curve there yeah yeah yeah coming through the blue in the black looks really good together with the white is good thank you for your inspiration was I'm actually I do genuine legally colorblind so that looks nothing like this to me teo what about our ladies over here alison how are you doing? So this was what we started with the flying geese yeah, so I have a row or a column can you hold that up for greg so you can see that that's cruel so I guess it could be this way or this way and then I made these pyramids into a row and I put them together in the wrong direction like holly did too the first time and hasn't taken apart this's fun time that agreeing this is great. Thank you sara have you been working? Yeah plans for two keith I don't know anyone and put them together yeah, you've got the contrast there as well that's good they'll do that and then I go I've got some pyramids going you know, how did you offset them? You said do I'm something of a really I mean I mean it's literally like I said back off set them you put young row here in one row here obviously is goingto have mohr pyramids in one road versus yeah, they're going they're gonna have to have different starting point it could only go on so long at some point you're gonna have tio cut them all on india yeah ok no that's fun I want to do that ok so here's my other and again I only need one so when will be what will be the one I'll use? And one I would say for later was making a series of glocks, so if I had my little design wall here, I mean, I have plenty of room on my table, I would set him up on my design wall, they're goingto they're gonna go point to point like that, ok? And I'm going to make to warm colored ones I'm actually gonna put it together as a four patch and then add the kind of background all this useless gray is my background. So now I need to warm colored, um and differently, I'm going to use different fabrics you could use the same I thought, I don't think it be is interesting, but, uh to warm colored have half square triangles, you save your half square triangles if you made two at a time and then just, you know, they be so you have a bin of, like, bit so one leftover bits, you know, every once in a while I do kind of go through things and make baskets of, you know, things that have been sewn in any way, shape or form. Um but sometimes it just ends up in the, you know, pile of of fabric but yeah, I do every once in a while kind of go through and try to organize that so I know what I've got, you know, that's already sewn and maybe I want to come back to it at that point so um it's some organization in my life make another one and then I can start to put together and I only sold half of this one that didn't seem necessary toe so the other side system not really going to make a second block isis yellow so I have a question for you how do you all make color decisions? Because and I ask because what I'm noticing is in demo ing here I'm making mind really, really fast a lot faster than I probably would at home where I may be contemplated a little bit more than maybe even needs to be contemplated. Um so I'm wondering how you all make color decisions? How about you, jenny? You think about that and I keep to their team depending what you're making a cz well and of course the season is wrong being abilities and you also need time to, you know, play around as well, right? Johnny is very, very organized before we start to today she actually lined up all her colors across the front of that that's important tio she's the person I want to be yeah, but you do that don't so you could see what colors work with each other right? It makes it faster and you know gives you it overall sense of what? You got it yeah, by stranded I would have and my, you know, own colors right? Because it was being think of an idea very quick I just remind everybody at home is it's always great fun to be a student here created fly particularly for these hands on crafting classes another alvar students always have a good time and they create some wonderful stuff if you'd like to be here in the studio either in scene san francisco or indeed also in seattle check out our front row we need to do is go to the canada look at what's coming up, see what the live classes are that you'd like to be part of and then go to creative life dot com slash and applied to be a student here in the studio with us and maybe we'll see you here on a creative life course very soon. I know red scorpions watching today and she comes up from san diego it's very hot today to join us in the creative by studio from time to time we're looking forward to seeing her against him but maybe we'll see you here soon very in the studio as well, so check that out creative life dot com slash front row all right so long it's ready to put the other set together on and then we'll make sure you feeling I'm putting them together in the wrong spot we could be like this like this yeah I was about to put them together the wrong spot I think I'm gonna add actually a little piece a little something right there looks just online instead of on the other side of the line no big deal all right so these two guys will go together and then both of the pairs will go together and then we'll add the corner pieces okay I was glancing at it one make sure that I pressed into the up it's inside just cause it'll be easier to detect those um it seems in together if I do that when they fit really well just I just got lucky all right and then from these down so again it's on point like this kind of one of get rid of that white thread and maybe even term over here a little bit that I was gonna have all had one corner to whatever I can get in you'll get a sense of how they get added in and then that will be enough I love actually this sort of patchwork of different colored it looks really really cool so again I want to work with a smaller piece I don't want to be dealing with this whole giant yard or whatever it is and I know that I want tio square off, I want to basically make a triangle, so waste is little is possible, ok, so we've got this. We've got time to make at least one other corner, and then obviously I would go around and at each of the four corners, and then just as I go just the once I finish it, then I would, you know, make it so it was basically a square. I wouldn't square it off, but I would make it so it was basically a square. I could probably even use this other end. Yeah, here I've got a little bit of a curve. They want to take advantage of that, go ahead and seen that on there. Impressive flat here to we're gonna we're gonna want straighten that out a bit. Can't really excess didn't straighten it out. This way, we basically sport off two of the two of the corners of our on point. Um, diamond. There you go, and then you just add the other two and you'd have your block.