Monthly Archives: February 2018

Free Tutorial – Scrappy Toddler Tumbler Quilt

Posted in EQ8, Finished Projects, Home Accessories by

This tutorial is an adorable toddler quilt designed with EQ8 Software by The Electric Quilt Company .  Running about 45″ square, it’s a One Block quilt using the Tumbler shape.  I was able to use my Sizzix Bigz L Die Tumbler that is 5″ x 5″ to make my blocks but I also include templates if you don’t have a die cutter machine.

The super cute woodland animal print I had is the feature fabric and then I used fabric from my stash to give it that scrappy look.

This quilt was designed with the new updated Electric Quilt 8 design software.  This version is more intuitive and easy to use and still has all the great things you expect from Electric Quilt.

 

When I designed this little quilt, I used the one block design from Electric Quilt and it allowed me to edit the Tumbler shape and size in my design so it matched the tumbler blocks I die cut with my Sizzix cutter.  You can cut a lot of very accurate blocks in a short amount of time with a die cut machine.  Don’t worry, if you don’t have a machine, I also provide templates for you to use.

Toddler Tumbler Quilt

Finished size is approximately 40″ x 40″

WOF – Width of Fabric

Materials

  • 1 yd of main print fabric
  • 3/8 yd of Seven coordinating fabrics
  • 2   yds  Background print for binding, backing and some tumblers
  • 50″ x 50″ piece of batting
  • Sizzix Die Cutter
  • Sizzix Bigz L Tumbler Die 5″x 5″ unfinished, 4 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ finished
  • Or you can use this Tumbler Template

Directions

Cut Fabric:

From background fabric, cut:

  • 1 — 54″ x WOF Rectangle for pieced backing
  • 1— 54″ x WOF Rectangle for pieced backing, subcut into:
    • 1 – 12″ x 54″ strip for pieced backing
    • 4 – 2 1/2″ x 54″ strips for binding
    • Use remaining to cut approximately 14 tumbler blocks

From each of the seven coordinating prints, cut:

  • 14 Tumbler blocks

Assemble the Toddler Tumbler Quilt top

  1. Layout your tumbler blocks in a pleasing arrangement.  There are extra blocks so you can play with the placement until you like it.  There are 9 blocks in a row and 11 rows of blocks.
  2. Sew the tumbler pieces together in rows so the angled sides are on the left and right of the block.  I pressed the seams open.
  3. Then sew the rows together.  Press the seams open.
  4. Piece together the backing so that it is at least 4 inches larger than the quilt top all around.
  5. Make a quilt sandwich with the quilt top, batting and backing.
  6. Pin baste the quilt layers together.
  7. Quilt as desired.  I just straight line quilted about 1/2″ away from the seams.
  8. Sew the 2 1/2″ strips together for the binding and add to the quilt.  The angled sides are pretty gentle so you can just ease the binding around.  You are finished!

I would love to see your Toddler Tumbler Quilt, tag me on instagram @lorimillerdesigns.

Looking for the EQ8 Design Instructions?  You can find them HERE.

For more projects and tips and techniques on using EQ8, visit my Electric Quilt blog series EQ8 Lessons with Lori.

For more information on EQ8, go to Electric Quilt 8 Software.

Published – Cookie Cat

Posted in Finished Projects, Home Accessories, Published by

MEOW!  Cookie Cat is here, my latest quilt made to celebrate my sweet kitty, Cookie.

You can find this fun little quilt in the March 2018 issue of American Quilter Magazine.  This magazine is published by the American Quilt Society (AQS).

Note: If any of you would like to join AQS in February, you will get access to the March digital issue as soon as you join, plus you can get 6 additional issues, a full year, in print.  Also, if you join and log into americanquilter.com, all AQS members have digital access to ALL American Quilter magazines back to 2013.  I just happen to be a member, so I though I would share.

Here is the real Cookie Cat, he loves to help me with my quilting.

As usual, I designed this cutie with Electric Quilt design software.  It makes the process easy and I had quite a few iterations on this block until I got it where I liked it.

I started quilting at my cottage in Northern Michigan.  I have a well used Featherweight Singer up there and it pieces a quilt quite nicely.

I generously received cotton solid fabric from  American Made Brand to make this sweet quilt.  The pieces are sized at five inches so they are charm square friendly too.

There are two variations in the colors for the blocks.  These are large 18″ blocks.  I love a large block, easy to sew, easy to have a large quilt quickly.

Here is my fancy light box at the cottage.  Yes, its a window from the second story, so I have a lovely pine tree backdrop.  I just taped the template to the window and then moved the block to where I wanted the face and taped the block to the window.  Then I traced with a water soluble marker.  Once I had the face on, I hand embroidered the whiskers.  The little nose is a piece of fleece.

I went a little crazy with the quilting.  I wanted to try out my Babylock Jazz on a larger quilt.  It may look like a jumble, but the large throat made it easy to do free motion quilting and the walking foot quilting.

Here you can get a better idea of all of the quilting.  I made the tiny swirls so tiny around the kitty, that took me forever.  Next time, I will make those babies just a bit bigger to get it done sooner.  I cant complain too much, I do love all that texture it creates, especially since the kitty is so basic.

I have enough scraps to make a baby quilt with just four blocks.  That just might be a great idea if you want to try this block but not make a twin size quilt.  Just one block would make a super cute pillow too.

Happy Stitching!