Sewing With Nancy

If you have volumes of fabric scraps, today you're going to learn how to sort your fabric stash into usable pieces. You might be surprised to find fabrics that you need to create a quilt right at your fingertips. Please welcome my guest, Judy Gauthier, scrap quilting aficionado. Welcome, Judy. - Thank you, Nancy. I look forward to talking about using odd-shaped scraps, separating them by color, and using them to make scrappy quilts. My quilt "Packages, Boxes, and Bows" shows why it is important to separate fabrics by color. While revisiting my scraps of fabrics, I was able to divide my stash into a rainbow of color. Once the fabrics were chosen, the piecing was a joy. "Rainbow Quilts for Scrap Lovers," that's what's coming up next on Sewing With Nancy.

gentle instrumental music

female announcer

Sewing With Nancy, TV's longest-airing sewing and quilting program with Nancy Zieman,

is made possible by

Baby Lock, a complete line of sewing, quilting, and embroidery machines and sergers.

Baby Lock

For the love of sewing. Madeira, specializing in embroidery, quilting, and special effect threads, because creativity is never black and white. Koala Studios, fine sewing furniture custom-built in America. Clover, making a difference in sewing, quilting, crafting, and needle arts for over 90 years. Fuller Brush Vacuums, dedicated to keeping homes clean. Amazing Designs and Klass Needles. We're gonna start with the sorting process. When you have lots of fabric, Judy, you use the cubby system. Yes, I do. I have a system that is along one wall in my sewing room, and my fabrics are sorted mostly by color but also by size. And the size that you have in those cubbies... Anything greater than a half a yard goes in the cubbies. Anything smaller than that goes in wire drawer racks, and smaller than that, even, goes into clear Rubbermaid-type tubs. And here you have-- these are a little bit more than a half a yard, but just to show that you sort things-- it doesn't matter if they're big prints, little prints. Right, right. You look at the background colors, and once you do this, if you just do this as a regular exercise, going through your scraps and going through your fabrics in your house, and start with red, like the colors of the rainbow, it's gonna gradually work its way more toward orange, gradually work its way more toward yellow and so forth. You will find that this system... I tried it recently, and it works so much better than just throwing them in my closet, which I tend to do. Even if you have small pieces-- now, you have one piece over there that's quite small. We don't need strips to do this technique. They can be odd-shaped pieces. Right, this is pretty much the antithesis to scrap quilting, in the sense that not everything in your stash is gonna lend itself to strip quilting. So much of it looks like this, and then what are you going to do with it? Well, what you are going to do is, you're gonna make this quilt called "Packages, Boxes, and Bows." And we're gonna look at a block. Judy, you have lots of fabrics in here. And you can see, this is one design block. And if you see how the colors gradate down... Now, the interesting thing is that you use always three sizes, or choose from three sizes of squares. And they are? 3 1/2", a 4 1/2", and a 5 1/2" square. So if you can cut out those three sizes from your scraps, or one of the three sizes, you can work on it. So you're working with templates, or you could use a ruler, cutting 5 1/2", 4 1/2", and 3" squares. And you have-- you're just gonna use square templates for this. Now, when working with this quilt, you started out with six blocks. Right. I have three lights and three darks. Of the same color. - Mm-hmm. And it is made up of two-- this block is made up of two different styles. Let's just quickly go back to this quilt, but... I didn't point this out earlier, but you can see, in the upper left-hand corner is one block; in the upper right-hand corner is another block, and just two of each. So first, we're going to make the block A, upper right-hand-- upper left-hand corner, and you're going to use two prints and two... Two of the solid white. - Okay. And I'll let you do some cutting. Okay, so like I said, with my quilts-- or the-- the instructional materials, you use only 3 1/2", 4 1/2", and 5 1/2" squares. So you don't have to worry about right sides together, wrong sides together; this is really pretty forgiving. And you just layer those two. So you've got your two prints and your two solids, or background pieces. And you're gonna use your rotary cutter and place the 3 1/2" template down in the lower right corner. So then you're gonna take your rotary cutter and cut across the top. Now, if you're afraid that you can't finish that cut without going too far, what I tend to do is rock my rotary cutter forward and apply just a little bit of pressure, and because I want to get this measurement exactly right on the next cut, I place the 5 1/2" template right snug up next to the 3 1/2, I remove the 3 1/2, and then I cut across. Ta-da. - Now all your cuts are made. Well, a little bit of a string there, but there we go. And on our table, we have those three pieces that you have created, and you're going to separate out these log shapes, and we're gonna save these for the next quilt. Right. Those go for a different quilt. And then this is what you piece together. Mm-hmm. That's correct. So explain this a little bit, Judy. So you can chain-piece. Because we don't want to waste any thread or time, you chain-piece this piece to this piece, and you've-- this piece to this piece. Sure. And here you can see a close-up of just chain-stitching these together, and then you add the final log, making it L-shaped. Correct. - So you'll have two of those. Two blocks like that. And, Judy, let me just put this over here, but you've already trimmed those to 4 1/2". Correct. You use the 4 1/2" template then and trim it. So then what's left over is one print and one solid of the larger piece, and we're going to make a half-square triangle. On this... particular mate, where we put right sides together, Judy drew a line down the center and then stitched on either side. And then you just cut right down the middle, and then this is what you get. Now, this is very clever, what comes next. So it yields two half-square triangles. Now, these were also left from that original process. So I'll take those. - Mm-hmm. And that is the 3 1/2" square, and you put those in the corner, like this. Let me just rotate this so it mirrors what we have here. And then, it's just kind of magical, but we drew a line from point to point within that smaller square and did the stitching. It's amazing we got the stitching done just that fast.

laughter

Baby Lock

And then, underneath is a sample, and it's cut. And we can kind of finger-press that open. Now, what are we gonna do with these? Now, this is the only problem with the waste. This little piece does get wasted, but I have been known to save those little pieces. This little piece, okay. - But this piece gets used. And we're going to put it right sides together... Up on this corner. Yeah, that would help, wouldn't it? So that you have it extending 1/4" on either side. So then you stitch across the bottom, and I'm just going to-- across the angle, and we stitched right there, and there's your block. Now, you can do some trimming that we have here. And as we take a look down at our quilt, we have... Judy, you have trimmed these, three of the four. I guess we have one that... What did I do with it? Here we go. That hasn't been trimmed, but you can see the trimming. And then when they have all been sewn together, you get a box, a bow, and a package in one quilt block. If you have leftovers from making the quilt "Packages, Boxes, and Bows," consider creating yet another quilt from your stash entitled "Color Brick Road." Small rectangles that are left over are sorted using the rainbow gradiation as your guide. Just like Judy-- Judy Gauthier-- you might find yourself chanting, "Follow the Color Brick Road, follow the Color Brick Road." I know The Wizard of Oz is your favorite movie. It's my favorite movie. So that worked with this quilt and this design. And this is leftovers. These are leftovers. Yeah, that's right. I don't throw anything away. -

laughs

Baby Lock

And your blocks, I think, are fascinating. As you look at all the prints that we have here, they don't follow a theme, except color. Right. They don't. I really like to add interest to a quilt by making the viewer of a quilt have to look more than once. I think that that's really important with your quilts, is to have enough variation in print scale and size to make the looker be interested. And as we look-- a close-up of these quilt blocks, you'll see that you will have... Here's, like, a modern print. Here's a pretty traditional one. It can all mix together. It's the color that makes this work. Right. Absolutely. So you don't have to be specific about design. Right. - Quilt design, that is. And this block has two major rectangular shapes. We'll look at block A, which we'll make first. You'll soon see that we're using leftovers from the preceding quilt, and then block B is this smaller section in between. And just like that, you'll see in a few minutes how that's worked out. Now, Judy, here are the pieces that were left over, right here. Right, these are the leftover pieces from "Packages, Boxes, and Bows." Except for the white-- the white sections. So this was a 3 1/2" by 2". Mm-hmm. Correct. And a 5 1/2" by 2". So you do need to cut... 3 1/2" by 2" background pieces. So let's start to lay out how this quilt is arranged. So we just have a stack left over from the last quilt. Right. - I'll put one of those there. And we'll put another one next to it and make a 1/4" seam. Yeah, and notice that these colors-- normally, maybe you wouldn't put that together, but it works here. You could chain-stitch a bunch of pairs together. And then you add this piece to that side. So, easy as that. Here we have the same piecing done. And then those two are added to the top. You can see the longer length-- we'll just move this down a little bit. So then, if these were the other leftovers, the long-sided ones, you would add them as well with the coil. We wouldn't put that one there. We'd add them with a 1/4" seam. And we're just assuming you can sew that 1/4" seam, which I think you certainly may and can. And then we'd have another one on this side. Right. Now, after those have been stitched-- so you're gonna-- this is scrappy, remember. We're loving those scraps. When you get the two halves completed, the 5 1/2" log-- a little extra thread-- it's gonna be too long. Right, so we're gonna trim that off. So you can use a ruler. You can use the templates. Whatever you're comfortable trimming with. And you're gonna trim it equal to the smaller pieces. And if you lay it right over here... I'll give this a trim too, here on this side, yeah. There we go. - Perfect. Be friends with your rotary cutter. Yes. - And then lay them together. And you have block A. Here you go. That's it. So, a lot of rectangles. I like the rectangular shape. Then block B is just taking this center section, so you could make more of those. On my side of the table, I have four of the logs that are 3 1/2". They'd be stitched together, as you can see here, and then the white is added on each end, so it's a really simple shape. And when we put these together, Judy-- I'm just going to kind of make a faux quilt design, but you'll soon see how that "Color Brick Road" is coming into life. So scraps of fabric, little bit, big pieces-- not in this one, just a lot of small pieces, but the rainbow of color makes it work. And what a charming design to use up all of your fabric scraps. Fretwork designs were originally carved from wood to adorn furniture or musical instruments using a fretsaw. The same geometric style can be translated into a quilt pattern using a rotary cutter and fabric scraps. The technique is reversible appliqu. Learn how to sort your fabrics into 5 1/2" and 4 1/2" squares, and then let the fun quilt making process begin. Now, fretwork can be adornment, and it can be... Worrying. - Worrying and fretful. So if you ever have a worrying day, you can make a quilt block. Yes, absolutely. - And these are carefree. This is the most carefree quilt of them all. So it can change your worry into fun and play. And let's take a look at these blocks. They don't look like they're exact because they're not. Right, they are purposely cut so that they have a wonky appearance in the center. They're not a perfect square. They're odd-shaped, and they're very different from one to the next. And the fabric combination is anything but planned. Right. Anything goes with this. You just kind of look at your-- like, for example, this is campers, and there's some plaid in the middle of that, and... The one above it, you can see, the sizes in the middle are totally off; they're not square. It just is an interesting combination, but yet, this all works. It all goes together. So to do this, we're going to do some marking. So you have a 5 1/2" square. So we're gonna use all three sizes again, and then use the 3 1/2" ruler... Yeah, and you're gonna trace around the 3 1/2" template. But it doesn't matter, really, where you put it. No, it doesn't have to be in the center at all. Just plunk it down, trim around it. And then after you have marked it, then you're gonna do this cutting that is going to be carefree. So you're gonna cut it in any kind of fashion, so long as you stay away from the very edges of the corners that you've traced. And you're just going to make an X, and each time that you do that, you're going to do it in a different spot in the block. So you might go a little high on this one and a little lower over here. And then you do-- the pressing comes next. Right, so then you're going to take it, and you're going to press those leaflets-- or whatever you want to call them-- back. Uh-huh. So you're pressing outward, and they... Form a window. Form a window that is going to be different from one block to the next. This iron's nice and hot. Good. -

chuckles

Baby Lock

All right, so now, once you have that pressed, you can see that that's definitely wonky. And here's another one that you pressed earlier that shows that, here's the original tracing. You can maybe see those corners. You didn't cut to the corners. So this was 5 1/2". The tracing was 3 1/2". And then you place this over a 4 1/2" block, so-- of whatever you'd like. And then this one, we've already pinned. And after pinning several, now it's time to do the sewing. When creating Judy's designs, we've been using basic 1/4" seam allowances using quilting needles and all-purpose cotton thread for the stitching, but this time, we're going to change and not use 1/4" seam allowances but topstitching, and you're ready to show the technique, a trick, of getting those corners right. Right. So because we had these corners cut and they were kind of wonky and you're stitching at a topstitching distance on the edge here, you can take a wooden toothpick, a rounded wooden toothpick-- Really technical. Yes. Very highly technical tool. Just roll that little end under. Roll that little corner under, and that'll really help to-- and you can also apply just a drop or so of stitch sealant on there. But that will help keep the raw edges from poking through. And if you'd like to sew that, that's great. So you're just topstitching. Yep, topstitching, oh, maybe 1/8" away from the edge. When you come to that corner, slow down and stay right at that edge... "Without falling off the cliff," is what I like to tell my students when they're little girls or little boys and they're learning to sew. And you already turned that one, so the next-- so you're not really making a sharp point. You're kind of turning-- sewing across the corner. And if you-- and you use the turning tool at each corner. Mm-hmm. As you mentioned, if you need to give those little corners some extra support, you could use a drop of seam sealant. Let it dry. Just a little bit. Yeah. Good. There we go. There you have it. So then, after doing the stitching, you could-- not could-- you should do some trimming, and, Judy, you want to show the back of that block, how you've started to do the trimming? There it is. It's trimmed off. So you're trimming off not only this piece of fabric but the little window pieces that you've created at the first step. And you trim all four sides so that the bulk isn't there. Then if you'd like, you can certainly create a nine-patch. This is how Judy created her blocks, using five of these fretwork, getting rid of her worries sometimes just by using up scraps of fabric, and then placing in the corners the background fabric. When many blocks are put together, then you have a lot of space. I think why this works so well, Judy, is that you have this background resting space... Right. - For your eye. So that even though there's a lot of busy-ness-- many different fabrics put together into this area-- it all works together because you have equal amount of... Negative space. - Negative space. Background space. So in this first program of "Rainbow Quilts for Scrap Lovers," we've made three different designs that certainly can dwindle all the scraps that are in your fabric stash. Some people think of sewing and quilting as stitching two pieces of fabric together, but it can be much more. Please welcome four students from the Belleville Middle School who learn life skills of communication, history, sacrifice of veterans, and quilting all in one amazing project. Welcome to Sewing With Nancy. We have Adrianna Herritz, Josh Kean-- see if I can get these names right. Jacob Kean. - Jacob Kean. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Then we have Raina. Raina Nicholson. And Erica Long. Welcome. Welcome, Jacob. - Thank you. Now, this is an interesting project, because it was a project that started in a history class. Tell us a little bit about it. It almost started with you, actually. We talked a bit about how, every year, the eighth grade has done some sort of quilting thing, and our teacher, Mr. Gentilli, showed us a video from a few years ago where a couple of people, who had now graduated by then, were on this very show. And they made some quilts, and they did history and research, and... Adrianna, tell us a little bit what-- how you researched. Um, so... We had to ask our veterans questions at home, keeping the whole project a secret from them so they wouldn't know what was going on. And then we would go to school. On Thursdays, we'd take a field trip to the library, and we'd either read books or go online and research on different websites that were credible. And I must mention that they are doing research on Quilts of Valor for three veterans. They made three interesting quilts. And, Erica, the first quilt we're gonna see is a quilt for your dad. Yeah. And tell us a little bit about your dad and where he served. My dad was in the Air Force for 25 years, and he was in... Well, first off, we had to move around a lot. Oh, sure. And he was in Operation Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Provide Promise, an d a couple other more things, and it's just something that, you know, this project has made me learn so much about my dad and want to appreciate him even more than I already do. And you did research on the quilt project. A friend of yours, or a classmate of yours did the design of that quilt. Yeah. And then you went to a store, a store in local-- and they were a great help. Tell us about that a little bit, Jacob. The people at Patches and Petals, which is a very local quilt store to us, were very helpful, very kind. They donated their time every Thursday to help us make sure that this was a good experience. And, Raina, you made a quilt, or a quilt was given in honor of your grandpa. Mm-hmm. But not just the four of you worked on it; it was a number of students. The entire eighth grade class all got a chance to work on the quilt, either sewing or ironing or picking out fabric that would go best within the quilt. And you told me all earlier that you've never really quilted before or sewn before, and these are amazing quilts. Raina, your grandpa really did an amazing thing. He guarded Martin Luther King, Jr. And that-- you learned about this during the history and so forth. Yeah, I thought it was very interesting because, as a child, he had told me about how he had guarded Martin Luther King, Jr., and I thought, you know, as a kid, that was really cool, so I wanted to try to honor him with that. And, Adrianna, you then designed with the language arts class, history class. You did a presentation of these quilts. So after we had done all our research, which was about three or four weeks of research in and out of class, we then went into our groups depending on what block you were in, and we designed our presentations. We added the information we thought was important. So, Erica, did you get to give the quilt to your dad? Yes, we-- the way it went is, we did our presentations-- we had our finalized presentations, and we went onstage, we presented, and then at the end of it, each of us got to give our quilts to our dads or grandfather, and we wrapped it around them. Aww.

chuckles

Baby Lock

I bet they were surprised. How about your grandpa? Yeah, my grandpa really enjoyed his quilt. And I remember, like, a couple days after we had done the presentation, I had went to his house, and I had showed him every single piece and, like, what it meant for him and, like, for me, 'cause there's a music block on there that he really liked because he's listened to his son and me play, like, the piano and guitar, and he really enjoys that, so... And, Jacob, what was the best part of it for you? It was... It was fun to get out of class every Thursday, of course... Sure, of course. But it was a really sort of touching, inspiring thing that... we've got these people and we don't thank them nearly enough. This is the highest award a civilian can give to a veteran, and it was inspiring. Well, this Quilts of Valor program that you worked on with history and language, I'm impressed, and thank you for being with us. And thank you for watching. I hope you will be back with our second program of "Rainbow Quilts for Scrap Lovers." You can always go to NancyZieman.com and re-watch this segment with these great kids. And, as always, thanks for joining me. Bye for now.

announcer

Nancy and her guest Judy Gauthier transform fabric scraps of all sizes, shapes, and prints into beautiful scrap quilts. Judy's book Rainbow Quilts for Scrap Lovers features 12 quilt designs as well as helpful hints to manage your stash. Get the book, plus a DVD of highlighted tips, for $23.99 plus shipping and handling. To order, call 800-336-8373 or visit our website at sewingwithnancy.com/3111. Order item number BD3111. Credit card orders only. Visit Nancy's website at NancyZieman.com to see additional episodes, Nancy's blog, and more. Sewing With Nancy, TV's longest-airing sewing and quilting program with Nancy Zieman,

has been brought to you by

Baby Lock, Madeira threads, Koala Studios, Clover, Fuller Brush Vacuums, Amazing Designs and Klass Needles. Closed captioning funding provided by Riley Blake Designs. Sewing With Nancy is a co-production of Nancy Zieman Productions and Wisconsin Public Television.