Wednesday 27 June 2012

Elvira's Star QAL#1

 The first thing DQ launched was a series of Quiltalongs. Quilters are partial to some methods over others and over a period of time, every quilter eventually finds her own unique style. With the QALs we hope to get the more experienced ones to lead the newbies, wannabes and other desis through a step by step programme which will encourage participants to pick up the basics or try out a new style. For a complete list of QALs, please check out the document on our FB page. (Click on button on the right to reach FB, our drawing room, where all the fun and action happens) Also do let us know if you would be interested in heading a QAL yourself.


DQ Elvira, who blogs at Chez Vies,  volunteered to do the first QAL. She is absolutely the Goddess of 'cute' and has an uncanny ability to throw colours and patterns in a way that makes her projects completely irresistable, cheerful and oh-so-cute! AND she loves HSTs ! So a star QAL it is ! Over to Elvira...



Hello DQs..I hope you’re all ready to take the journey with me. It might be bumpy but I promise there will be loads of fun too..;)

This is my first QAL tutorial. I’m a bit nervous to do this cos I am a novice quilter or can I say a daring beginner ..:D. Well, there’s always FIRST in everything so here we go.

First of all, we’re going to make a STAR quilt. This quilt is going to be SQUARE quilt, which can be used as a table cloth. The size will be 48” square which made up from 16 Star blocks. You can use your scrap if you like. I’d be using both, scraps and non scraps. There will be 4 different kind of stars in this quilt. So, buckle up!!

Now let’s begin:

1)      FLYING GEESE STAR - Make 4 blocks

Finish block size 12”

What you need:
3 colors of  fabric. 1 SOLID and 2 PRINTED fabric.
OR
You can OPT for 2 colors : 1 SOLID and 1 PRINTED.

But I prefer to use 2 printed fabrics.

The CUT:
a. WHITE/Background fabric:
     Cut  2 : 3 ½’ x 36” strips and cut into 16 pcs x 3 ½” Squares 
      Cut 1 : 7 ¼ ‘ x 36” and cut into 4 pcs  x 7 ½ squares

b. PURPLE FLOWER /Star points
      Cut 2 : 4” x 36” strips and cut into 16 pcs  x 4” squares

c. POLKADOTS/Star center
      Cut 1 : 6 ½” x  36” strips and cut into 4 pcs x 6 1/2” squares

HOW TO DO the Flying Geese
  1. Draw diagonal lines on the PURPLE flowers and put right side together on the WHITE background fabric as shown in the photos. Match up the lines.


  2. Sew ¼ inch on EITHER sides of the line. And CUT the LINE once you finish sewing . Open and press. And you will get this half geese block



  3. And place another 4” PURPLE flower on this pieces, right side together, pin and sew ¼ inch on both sides of the line. CUT The lines once finished and you’ll get this neat flying geese blocks


4. Repeat step 3  with the other half geese block

ASSEMBLY:

  1. Arrange the pieces as shown the the photos. (well, I like to arrange my blocks before sewing them together to minimize sewing mistake


2. Sew the first and 3rd  row. Sew the 3 ½” white background to either sides of the flying geese block.

3. Sew the flying geese blocks to either sides of the POLKADOTS piece.

4. Sew the row pieces together and your Star block is ready


5. Go and make another 3 blocks  ^_^

TRICK #1: Trick #1: after making the flying geese, measure the edge 1/4 inch from the triangle point and cut (to straighten it) :).


If you have any question, just write in the comments and I'll try my best to not confuse you any further *_^.

Enjoy the ride & happy quilting :)

Tuesday 26 June 2012

Bee Desi with Vidya2

Its Bee Desi time folks! We have with us the lovely DQ Vidya Parthasarathy, pyaar se called Vidya2 (as there are more than one Vidya, we had to serial number them!), Queenbee for the month of July 2012.


It is common knowledge that most DQs are afflicted with a serious strain of the 'can't-wait's. Queenbee Vidya2 couldn't wait to share with us her set of instructions for the blocks that the rest of the Bee members are going to be making for her. So, over to Vidya2...


Hi! 

Ok bees.. here comes the first one.. My inspiration is from Denyse Schmidt and I'd like the "Drunk love in a log cabin" block. I'm not sure if I love the block or the name better :-).

You can check out her website :  http://dsquilts.com/quilts.asp?PageID=1

And for some inspiration, take a look here. I'd like something similar please.

For all your questions, here are the answers:

- What size should you be making the block ?
  15"x15" finished block

- What about the fabric?
  Use it from your stash

- What about colours?
  Solid colours ONLY, a maximum of 4 colours - 1 white and 3 other colours of your choice

- Any embellishment?
 Nope, I like it plain and simple. But I would love it if you would embroider your initials or name on the block :)


- Thread colour?
  Your choice

- By when should you send it to me?
  Anytime before July 30th

- The address?
  Bee members will receive the addresses by email


Oh well, can't wait!! :-)

Love 
Vidya :) 
















Monday 25 June 2012

A quick roundup

Like any self-respecting group of quilters, we have activities to keep our hands and heads busy. Here's a quick roundup of current activities :

1. Desi QALs - The first thing DQ launched was a series of Quiltalongs. Quilters are partial to some methods over others and over a period of time, every quilter eventually finds her own unique style. With the QALs we hope to get the more experienced ones to lead the newbies, wannabes and other desis through a step by step programme which will encourage participants to pick up the basics or try out a new style. For a complete list of QALs, please check out the document on the FB page. Also do let us know if you would be interested in heading a QAL yourself.

2. Monthly Challenges - Rules for the monthly challenges are announced at the beginning of the month and participants have to prepare and post their entries before the end of the month. These challenges will test different abilities of the quilters like skill, precision, creativity, neatness and sense of colour and balance. Most of all, the challenges aim to push the participants to raise the bar for themselves and encourage them to figure out how to stay within the boundaries of rules and yet think out of the box to create something drool-worthy.

3. Bee Desi -  Bee Desi is starting off with a very simple format. 12 bee members, each chooses a month, decides if the other 11 are to make her blocks from their own stash or from fabric sent by her, settles on her quilt pattern and sends out instructions (and maybe fabric). The others have a month to make the blocks as per the instructions and mail them back to the queenbee. At the end of her month, the queenbee has 12 blocks to put together in a very special quilt for herself and at the end of 12 months, all Beedesis have a quilt for themselves. The first Bee is full and a 2nd one is in the pipeline. Interested folks may please post on the FB page or write to us at desiquilters@gmail.com.

Its almost the end of June, and there's quite a bit of excitement what with DQs looking forward to the challenge entries as well as the next QAL and Bee Desi kick-off.

Don't you just loove the happy excitement?!

Saturday 23 June 2012

Block Party Who?

Desi Quilters is launching its first Bee today, called...BEE DESI. The updates will be shared on the Bee Desi page. Thanks to the internet, there is now a lot of interest in quilting from total newbies as well as those from related crafts. And since terms like block party, bee, etc are used interchangeably, many are left clueless and too intimidated to join these totally fun activities.

Well, a bee (or a block party) is nothing but a group of quilters who decide to get together and sew. In those days women, usually friends, neighbours and community folk, used to take turns at hosting these bees. Everybody would gather at the queenbee/queenmum's house and over food, conversation and some bonding, make her a block or work on her quilt. So something that would've taken weeks or months to complete would be done over a sitting or two. Their stories and friendships were quilted right INTO the quilts.

Of course, bees evolved and kept pace with the virtual world. One look at Flickr is all it takes to be awestruck at the number of virtual bees and the wide array of themes/topics/varieties doing the rounds. Bee Desi is starting off with a very simple format. 12 bee members, each chooses a month, decides if the other 11 are to make her blocks from their own stash or from fabric sent by her, settles on her quilt pattern and sends out instructions (and maybe fabric). The others have a month to make the blocks as per the instructions and mail them back to the queenbee. At the end of 12 months, each bee member has 12 blocks to put together in a very special quilt for herself. Now if THAT doesn't tempt you to start, pray tell me what will? :-).

With more members wanting to join the Bee, a second one will be started a little later and will run simultaneously. That will probably have a theme, so watch this space for updates.

BEE HAPPY ! BEE DESI !!

Friday 22 June 2012

Namaste and Welcome!

Welcome to our Desi World. A place where we share lives, forge friendships, and oh, quilt. We are a group of happy people, here because of our connections...quilty connections, desi connections.

We hope you find this a fun place to learn, share, inspire and be inspired. Or just chat.

So come on in and make yourself at home. Bring your quilts, grab a coffee, share some gyan and maybe pick up a tip or two.

Namaste  _/\_