A Little Sewing 03-08-11

As I have said before, I haven't been sewing for almost a year.  An occasional mending job and some fiber postcards are about the extent of it.  But here it is the end of the year at Surfside Quilters Guild and time to make a quilt for outgoing president Sharon Whelan  - for which members make the blocks.  The very first president's quilt I participated in was twenty-nine years ago for Orange County Quilters Guild - which is celebrating a thirty year anniversary tonight.  I was the newsletter editor for the first few years of that guild, as I am with SurfsideQG, and I appliqued a hat, since I always wear a hat.  Since then I have made hats for various president's quilts - memorably for Nancy Ota and Maggie Ezell of Beach Cities QG.  This year I am again a (retiring) newsletter editor, Nancy Ota is in charge of organizing the quilt for the outgoing president and the theme is "The Beach".  A hat seems appropriate.  Click image in enlarge.  

A 5" finished block is required.  First I folded a square diagonally and cut a hat shape.  I didn't like the brim, so I used tape to add paper over the offending brim and cut a new brim shape.  Then I centered that on a five inch square of paper and traced around it to make a smooth outline.

Using freezer paper and a fine point Sharpie I traced it again and added tic marks so I could later match up the pieces.  I allowed a half inch on all sides to provide room for trimming the block to match the size of all the other blocks turned in.

After selecting the fabrics, I cut apart the freezer paper pattern and ironed the appropriate pattern pieces to the various fabrics.  (Shown here on a black background to clearly show the pieces).

After clipping some curves I sewed everything together and pressed the seams so that the hat would have a natural look with the hatband on top of the crown and the background recessed.

Here is my hat!  There is a red thread X in the exact middle of the block so that whoever trims it can line it up accurately (I hope).  The threads are not knotted and will pull out easily.  When the quilt has been assembled and quilted I will add a 3-D flower to the hatband. 

This is all Ruth McDowell's method and I was thrilled to find that I had not forgotten how to do it during my sewing hiatus.  A few things that I did differently:  Ruth teaches to mark lines on the shiny side of the freezer paper and tic marks/numbers/notations on the dull side.  This will provide the image in the original orientation.  However, since I was working with a symmetrical image the orientation is the same either way.  It is easier for my brain to mark everything on the dull side of the freezer paper.  Also, I use lots of pins, which Ruth does not need to do; I find that increasingly my arthritic hands have a hard time holding on to small things, which makes the pins even more important today.   Especially when working in such a small size block.  Ruth has written quite a few books that explain her construction techniques and include a wealth of tips and hints to make the process easier.  All her books are published by C&T Publishing  www.ctpub.com , so you can check their website for titles.  Two of the best are "Ruth B. McDowell's Design Workbook" and "Ruth B. McDowell's Piecing Workbook" - signed copies are available in the shop on Ruth's website  www.ruthbmcdowell.com , at the C&T website, or check your local quilt shop. 

Ruth has recently posted three new original flower quilts on her website, each is a joy.