Monday, June 4, 2018

My Jingle Applique BOM is Back On the Design Wall

I'm going to be BRIEF today, I promise.  I've got a lot on my agenda for this week, but managed to sneak in an hour in the studio yesterday to cut some new setting triangles for my Jingle BOM (Block of the Month) from 2013.  Jingle is my oldest work in progress and it bothers my son Anders that I started it five years ago and haven't finished it yet, but now that I've resolved the bleeding red dye dilemma I'm looking forward to finishing this quilt this year.  That's right, you heard it here first -- Finishing my Jingle quilt is a GOAL for 2018!


New Setting Triangles for My Jingle BOM!
Brief recap to bring you up to speed: Jingle is a free BOM designed by Erin Russek of One Piece At A Time in 2013, and as of this writing, the patterns and instructions are still available for free on her blog here.  All of the border block patterns are free; the only pattern you need to purchase is the large center medallion and that's just a $10 download from Erin's etsy shop here.  Totally worth it, IMO.  This is my very first applique project of any kind, and all of the applique is needle turned and hand-stitched according to the excellent, amazing, unbelievably awesome instructions and video tutorials on Erin's blog.  


So this is the way blocks for this quilt are set in Erin's original design:


Erin Russek's Layout for Jingle
I love the blocks, but I don't really love setting the center medallion on point with those gigantic plain setting triangles.  I want to set my center medallion straight and fill in with some pieced inner borders.

It took me awhile to pick up where I left off, by the way.  I had cut out all of the setting triangles from the red poinsettia fabric originally, but now I've decided that I like it better with alternating red and green triangles, hence the green triangles that I cut out this morning.  There was a moment of panic, thinking that my triangles might have shrunken severely when I was soaking all the excess red dye out of them -- and then I remembered that I have Kaye England's special setting triangle ruler for Nifty Notions, and that's what I had used to cut my poinsettia setting triangles.  I really need to leave myself better notes when I pack projects away in "time out!"


Specialty Ruler for Cutting Setting Triangles
What I love about this ruler is that you can use it to cut both your setting triangles AND your side triangles from the same cut width of fabric, with the fabric grain oriented properly on both triangles, and it does the math for you based on the finished size of the blocks you're setting on point.  So in my case, these blocks are finishing at 9" and the ruler is clearly marked to indicate that 9" blocks require a 7 1/4" strip.  Easy-peasy, fairly fast once I refreshed my memory on how to use the ruler (instructions are available here), and more accurate than trying to cut out gigantic squares that are bigger than my rulers and then attempt to cross-cut them diagonally into QSTs and HSTs.  I do love my fancy toys...

The other thing I needed to refresh my memory on was how I am supposed to sew these oversize triangles to my blocks once I've cut them out. There are lots of tutorials out there explaining the math for cutting out side triangles and corner triangles from cross-cut squares, and explaining why the setting triangles need to be QSTs (with the straight of grain on the LONG side) and why the corner triangles need to be HSTs (with the straight of grain on the SHORT sides), but this is the video I found that also explained how to sew these oversized triangles to your quilt blocks once you've cut them out:



I know this is a "no brainer" for some of my readers, but one of the main reasons I document these things in my blog is for my own benefit -- so I can find those instructions and tutorials again six years from now, when I can't remember how I did it the last time!

My next step for Jingle -- and this is my To Do on Tuesday goal for the week -- is to assemble the on-point block borders with the setting triangles and corner triangles, trim the excess fabric from the setting triangles, and measure them.  My center applique medallion has an oversized, untrimmed block background, and I think it's best to see what side the borders will finish at first and then work backwards to figure out what size borders will fit between that on-point block border and the center medallion.  

Maybe I will even be able to use one or more of my Accuquilt GO! Baby dies to cut out those inner pieced borders! 

Today I'm linking up with:

13 comments:

Rebecca Grace said...

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Leslie said...

Cant wait to see your finished Jingle quilt! I went to site & downloaded diections & blocks for quilt but the center block is unavailable. Might you know where I can download it from? Thanks

Rebecca Grace said...

Leslie, I couldn't reply to you directly because you're set to "no reply." The center medallion was the only pattern that needed to be purchased, but the link in Erin's post about it isn't working. However, I DID find the pattern available for purchase in Erin's etsy shop here: https://appliqueaddicts.patternbyetsy.com/listing/584602057/miss-kringle. Have fun making your Jingle quilt -- I hope I finish mine before you finish yours, though! :-)

chrisknits said...

Gorgeous! It will be a stunning quilt when done. You can do it!!

time4stitchn said...

Love you quilt! Your applique and patched blocks look wonderful. It will be an awesome addition to your collection and house. I can see why your son wants you to finish it! And I can't wait to see it done, too.

dq said...

It is a stunning quilt. I can't believe you chose this for your first applique' project.

Christine Slaughter said...

This is such a gorgeous quilt and I am so glad it's out of time out and you resolved the red dye issue! I can't wait to see this finished. A fantastic goal for 2018!!

KaHolly said...

I remember Jingle! I even downloaded and saved all the patterns, but applique just isn’t my thing, so it never got made. Yours is going to be beautiful! I love your setting. Great job sticking to it!

beth s said...

Wow! What a gorgeous quilt!

Linda @ kokaquilts said...

A gorgeous applique quilt, very festive!

Sandra Healy Designs said...

Such a lovely quilt, can't wait to see it finished!

Deb from Frugal Little Bungalow said...

thank you for the tutorial link :) I hooked up to it earlier today to save it to you tube :)

What a beautiful project!

Diane Harris, Stash Bandit said...

This is so cool! I recognized the applique immediately as Erin's design work. She's a friend of mine, ever since we were co-workers on the staff of Quiltmaker. How are you coming along with this quilt? I hope you're closing in on your goal to finish in 2018, or shortly thereafter! Thumbs up!