"Country Lanes" Quilts Through the Seasons series

when the leaves from the live oaks begin to fall among the pine trees I know fall has come to Julian well tabatha nigh love to take a walk down a country lane we don't even mind cheering it with the cows doing timotha well I like to kick the leaves tabatha likes to sniff out the squirrels just wonderful walk in the fresh air almost as wonderful as that fresh air is the beautiful country lanes well there are two easy blocks to make in it well the first one is really easy there's pumpkin colored roses on a dark green background perfect and the size of this matches the second block just the crossroads of two country lanes a country lane in brown Czech and another one in green put those two together and you have a beautiful easy quilt charming but quick to make well usually when I get to the crossroads I have no idea which way to go but today I know I'm taking you right to the sewing room and I'm going to show you how to make the country lanes quilt you when tabatha and I were outside the cows were hanging out with us and they wouldn't go away they were so noisy now I don't know if you notice but I was sitting on a bale of hay well the cows noticed and they weren't going to leave without their lunch oh my gosh Tabitha was so afraid but we got through we had a good time and now we're starting on country lanes well this is the first block and you can see there's an X right through the block where the crossroads now chain one is a brown tech chain - is this dark cream easy to do it comes from two and a half inch strips it's actually a nine patch and we're going to start right here in the very center of the nine patch with half strips of background chain one and background for a wall hanging you only need a half strip set that's pretty easy and then this is the second set for the nine patch it's the check with the background and the dark green for nine blocks you need to have to have strip sets pretty easy to do well it's fall and my hands are just so dry I can't even grab hold of these strips so I'm just going to take this solution it's non-toxic non greasy rub it on my fingers and then I can just go ahead and grip the strip's going to start right here take the check flip it right sides together to the background it's a quarter inch seam and to help me get that perfect theme I'm using this quarter inch but that actually has this bar right along there the fabric can't go past that bar and when you can do that oh you can get the straightest strips ever so I'm just going to line up the edge of these strips use needle down drop that bar right against the edge I have a 2.0 or 15 stitches to the end and I am just going to petal honestly I love strip sewing it's just so much fun fast you don't even have to think but it seems that when I'm stripped sewing I'm always just chasing my feet all over on the floor trying to keep touch of that foot pedal gives out of control yeah I'm at the end of that first set let me go to the second set I'm going to flip the background right sides together to that check just assembly line so right through there okay and we are going well let me show you what I've done to make my strip sewing really easy I have this base I put my sewing foot pedal right on top there's a non-skid material that holds it all in place I don't have to keep tasting it all around underneath my sewing machine it's out of tilt so I sit comfortably when I so that's the first two strips I'm just going to cut my threads do some pressing goes really quick have some more tips to show you - I really like to use this pressing that with the lines on because I hate bowed strips so I'm just going to line up these strips with the lines and the pressing mat run my iron right across there oops I'm a steam person open and then just lead that strip open with your fingers ooh right down there make sure there's no tucks no folds we're nearly done already okay now let me just put these back in place this one is going to go right here like this and let us put this one so we have the chain the background in the dark green good let's flip it right sides together and I'll give you another tip just in case you're not able to use your foot oh I had a friend that had some knee surgery and she found that she couldn't even press on the foot pedal well check out your machine because there could be a start/stop button on it if you push that button you can actually just so what not using your foot at all I took out my foot pedal you've got that button pressed and so you just go and all you have to do is just keep up guiding your machine now you can find out you know sometimes you get tired pedal to the metal pushing hard the whole time it'll just sew by itself just keep it going right through there and then when you get to the bottom just press your stop button cut your thread and you're done well I've got this one done I'm going to press the seams to the dark and then on the second set I'm going to add the green press the seam to the green but already got those all the ready to go just going to cut them apart now let's just set this up I like to get it done quickly so that it's ready for sewing so I'm going to just take this one put it on the bottom take a second set and I'm just going to put right sides together and lock those seams and my third one I'm just going to put right on the bottom kind of stagger them so they're already get them all lined up using this ruler for cutting they are two-and-a-half inch segments so I helped myself out by putting marks every two and a half inches just going to start right here in the end straighten that end take the piece get rid of it now go to two and a half and five seven and a half ten and you cut five sets this is for your nine patch let's get rid of that okay now we pick up the first set it's already right sides together so when you open it up like that this is how it's supposed to look so let me just grab these two and I'll sew them together you want to get the seams locked right in the middle line them up hold them tight with your fingers this diletto is just so useful right now and I still have my start/stop none finger match that up and then when you get to the bottom assembly line so let's just take a look at one and now we've got these two going along so that we continue the chain this time the piece is going to go in this order flip it right sides together sew it along there and then press the seams away from the center let me finish my 9 patch and I'll show you how to add to that block we're moving right down that road I have my 9 patch done the first thing you want to do is measure a nine patch now if you had a perfect quarter of an inch seam this block should measure six and a half inches just put your diagonal line right down through there six and a half right here and here whatever yours is you want to mark that down and remember it's okay if it's six and a half just means you had a little wider seam now take your nine patch and stack it up with your chain number two in the upper left corner you want to add two and a half inch background strips to both sides to continue that block so I'm just going to take this first one flip it right sides together the seam is on the top so you're just going to sew right over that seam as it's pressed now it would be great if you just assembly line so you could just sew right down along the whole strip keep on butting them on but I'm just going to show you one you know when I go out on a country road I love a GPS system I think those GPS systems save a lot of marriages okay I have it on one side the background on one side now I'm just going to take another two and a half flip it right sides together and sew it along here now when I was just back in Tennessee oh I love those country roads because they are painting quilt blocks on all of the barns and they are even interviewing the people that live on those farms asking about the blocks why did they select that particular one and usually it's because it's a family quilt and they're those those paintings our biggest life they're wonderful ok now just set the scene on both sides open and press right towards the background let me just get these nice and straight you know not only are they painting the barns in Tennessee but I've heard they're painting them in Ohio that's another country road system I'm going to have to take now if this block is six and a half then when we cut this apart this should also be six and a half so just cut it you're going to put side pieces on all of them now once you know whatever measurement your block is you're going to cut a background strip exactly the same size so this one is six and a half on each side I added a green on the other side I added the check tricky this time so that the seams lock together you press them in towards the background right here they're going towards the background but you'll see that when they go together they're going to lock right in place okay get that ruler there are two and a half inch sections again we are on the road this is going really quick if you're making five blocks you're going to need to have two of these for each block or a total of ten two and a half inch strips I'm just going to stop there so I can show you how they're going to fit together you want to continue that chain pattern so obviously it's going to go like this and on the other side we're going to turn it like that the green is going right through now when you flip it right sides together those are just going to line up perfectly as soon as you get both of those strips at it on measure it once again if you had a perfect quarter of an inch your block should be ten and 1/2 inches square doesn't matter if yours is a little bit smaller whatever it is go ahead and take your large-scale floral and cut four blocks exactly the same size for a wall hanging well I'm going to get all of these blocks done cut my large scale prints and I'll show you how to lay that top out I have my five chain blocks and my for large scale prints all laid out this is what I did I took my chain blocks and turn them so that that brown check makes a continuous diagonal line right through the quilt and then in the corners they are going at the same angle here and also down here well the green naturally picks up a diagonal line in the opposite direction Y could just sew this whole thing together but it would look so much better if the chains continued right into the borders so I cut my background into rectangles that are six and a half inches by ten and a half inches and they are going right beside all of the chain blocks now the six and a half measurement comes from the nine patch the ten and a half measurement comes from the size of the finished block so whatever yours is that's what you're going to cut your rectangles now I need something for right here on the sides continuing that chain and right down here and I did three different sets of strips this is my first set of strips that I did or Row one this is the two and a half inch strip you know that but on the other sides I put four and a half inch background and then just press those seams towards the background well Row 2 is easy it's all two-and-a-half inch strips with three background one green and one check again all the seams go towards the background this is pretty easy to remember but they're all going to lock together and then the third row is the six-and-a-half measurement with a green and a check on the well when you lay those together they're actually mere image pieces if you look and see this one is for the bottom and the top and then again here at the sides mirror image so let's just take it out see how we get it to go take one of each row 1 Row 2 Row 3 and I'm just going to start out here Row 1 on the outside edge and then Row 2 turn your strips so that you can continue that chain and then right here goes just like that going right through there this is looking good okay over here for the side we're going to pick up those same three pieces but start out here Row 1 and take Row 2 this is good and then just turn whoops a wave right in there Row 3 so that makes the continuous chain going right down through there we've got some lonely corners pretty easy again this is what it looks like the one corner you're going to make - exactly like this one quite simple the center is made of the chain 1 the background on either side and then for the second and the third you need to have four and a half inch back round two and a half inch let's go like that just turn that one around Dada we've got the Czech corner and right up here we're going to do exactly the same thing turn it like that and it's just the two backgrounds with the chain and one like this the exact same piece just turned around well the pieces are nearly all in place all I have to do is just show the top together add a background around the outside edge add a border and I'm done fall is the perfect time of the year to stitch up a patch of pumpkins and they're just so much fun to do so dig into your fabrics pull out all of your oranges and see what you can create this is just such a cute guy it's made out of orange flannel good old stem Brown pipe cleaner here now this guy is a lot rounder he's got some sparkly berries in here a green pipe cleaner little orange and green berries orange leaves so cute well I'm just going to do one at 7 inches by 17 inches and with the leftovers I can even do these cute little guys with 4 by 8 inch rectangles so simple you know actually I think that your kids would really enjoy doing this with you as well so I'm just going to take my rectangle I cut a bunch of them they're so much fun to put out at your Thanksgiving dinner table why not people will love them so take your rectangle and just fold them right sides together this is the 7 inch side 7 inches by 17 now you could leave a real long tail right at the beginning and use it for your gathering stitch or just go ahead and zip it right down read your own needle okay cut your threads and then take and fold your seam open just press it open take it to the iron or finger press it with your fingers I have a needle threaded and I am ready for some hand sewing it's a double strand knotted on the end and this time what's so much fun is you get to take really big stitches not any of those cute little stitches do about 1/8 inch from the end and just go in and out the whole way around and then when you get back to the end just draw it tight and line up tie it off well I've got one already started ready to show you okay this is what it looks like kind of looks like a little hat right there that we have so once you have that drawn up and knotted on the ends just turn it right-side out and now that's on the bottom it's stuffing time then once you have it stuffed firmly one more time take your hand sewing needle just run a gathering stitch right around here well I've got one already gathered this is what it looks like and when you gather make sure you leave a little hole right in the very center so that you can put the stem well the jute comes next and the measuring is simple you probably need about 2 and 1/2 yards that'll be perfect you can use a jute or you could also use pearl cotton just to wrap around here and give some dimension ok let's find that seam I'm going to find the seam and line up the first jute right along that seam leave a tail right there and go halfway around and then guess the tighter you squeeze the more dimension you'll have in the pumpkin ok half again and then go one more time so that you divide it actually in six parts pull it a little tight and evenly spaced and then one more time let's see what we've got here okay move those doop pieces around there so it kind of looks even and then just tie off the top of your jute you could leave that hanging on there if you'd like and you're ready for the next step but I'm just going to cut mine off okay let's find out where that hole went I need my stem I need a little bit of glue you know my favorite time going out to the pumpkin patch was with Orion and Justin oh they were just so cute running around having their little pumpkin race you know my son grant is pretty shy he just won't join in on all of that fun but with great time great memories okay how about some leaves we need some leaves right now we've got a glue those right in there you can put them right at the side squeeze some glue okay the pipe cleaner is an easy trick just take it fold it right here take a pencil and just wrap that around there this is so easy that's nice curly there how about a little bit more wrap right here we're doing good this is going to get stuck into the glue as well and how about some really fun festive berries just put right in there and add to the whole festivities well it's great time in the fall enjoy your country lanes and add some pumpkins mountain mists padding published the country lanes pattern in 1937 its pattern number 64 well the Stearns & Foster company from Cincinnati Ohio the manufacturers mountain mists has been in business since 1846 that's a long time well I love to collect their old patterns and brochures now this one is quilt patterns old and new and it shows country lane with a list of 240 other patterns it's described as a simple but refreshingly new and very effective modern elaboration of the old favorite 9-patch design well the quilting lines are quite unique with four squares echo quilted you know you could do that with your walking foot and your quilting guide you know by the way we could also buy an 81 by 96 roll for two dollars and fifty cents well here's the country lanes on a pattern wrapper in color alongside their traditional red and blue tumbling blocks that's typical for mountain mists and if we would just send ten cents we could get another pattern so much fun now if we're going to call a quilt modern this would be my choice made by louis breslov which she used a bright mottled orange for her background and parrots are perched in the jungle for her solid square it's you know her backing is certainly a perfect match well the colors just perk you up don't they well sandy Thompson's country lane is toned down just a bit with a woodsy flavor you know it is so thick it's very warm and soft kids would just love to snuggle under it well I've taken you through the seasons we started out with fabrics and deep scarlet red forest green and a touch of gold for my winter palate this one is perfect for holiday decor and then we moved into spring with beautiful soft shades of green and yellows to announce the new season all the flowers just abound in buds and new growth and now the fall with rich pumpkin and green finishes the year the next time we're together I'll have some great tips on machine quilting for you so whichever country lane you choose today I hope it includes some enjoyable quilting you you

Channel: Quilt in a Day

Views: 16,592

Rating: 4.98773 out of 5

Keywords: quilting, eleanor burns, quilt in a day

Id: Hctav1sQzJU

Length: 26min 33sec (1593 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 14 2016