I don't do a lot of traditional piecing at all, but I'm fascinated by blocks that use fun tricks, like the disappearing 9 patch, etc. And I also always notice the ones that don't require much math, because that seems to be one of my 'things', even though I have always liked math! I'm always looking for tricks to show you :-) The other interesting thing about this block is that it ends up the same size that you cut your initial squares, hmmm.... :-) For this one, I started with 5 squares that were 9 inches each. Neither of those numbers are required, there are lots of ways to vary this block! You can use any size square or rectangle (not toooo small), and more than five fabrics, even if you only cut five sections. The number of fabrics is how many blocks you will end up with. You do want at least as many fabrics as sections you will be making so they are all different. Since I was using light colored sashing, I used medium-ish fabrics. The fabrics themselves do not need a lot of contrast as they will be separated by sashing, but mostly you just don't want them too close to the sashing value. Black sashing would be cool too! The rest of the fabrics can be as matchy or scrappy as you want. Stack all five fabrics, then whack a chunk off, I did approximately 1/3, but no measuring required! Do the same with the fabric that's left, only in the opposite direction. Keep cutting chunks off the remaining fabric, alternating directions each time. I tried not to make them all the same width, but I didn't measure. This is the fun part! Take one of the fabric stacks and move the top piece of fabric to the bottom. Then take another one and move two, then three, then four. One stack stays the way it was. Now your fabrics are arranged so each block will have one of each! Next, stitch them back together, in the reverse order that you cut them, but inserting a 1" strip (cut size) of sashing. Press the seam toward the sashing, and keep the stack in order! Keep going until all seams are done. Look, it's still 9 inches! On the back, the seam allowances should just meet. The one inch sashing takes the place of the seam allowances so you don't lose anything! Pretty cool! (If you leave out the sashing, this doesn't work. However, I do have tricks for that too, maybe another tutorial!) If you use the same size sashing to join the blocks, you won't lose anything there either. So, for a 54 inch wide quilt, you'd need 6 nine inch squares to make 6 blocks across. Easy math! (You do still have to calculate the amount of sashing... I used three WOF strips for these five 9" blocks to give you an idea. But you just have to add up the length of all of your cut lines after cutting up your squares to find out how much one block interior needs. Calculating the strips to attach the blocks is pretty easy) Variations: As I said, you can use more fabrics than you have sections, every block will just not have all of the fabrics that way. But if you restack them the same way, they will still all have five different ones. Or you can do them in batches, and they don't all need to be cut exactly the same as the previous batch. (I see some of you cringing, ha!)
Also, you can cut them into more or fewer pieces. Since you don't lose seam allowances, it doesn't matter how many seams you add! The initial pieces (and therefore finished blocks) can be rectangular instead of square. You can even cut them diagonally, but it gets a little trickier to line them up. I hope you will try this fun block! Sign up for my newsletter (sidebar) for all of the tricks I have up my sleeve, it's a lot, ha! Happy New Year! Beret
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I recently announced that I have been wanting to focus more on teaching, since I really love it! And it's more than just teaching art quilting; I also want to empower you by showing you that you can do more than you might think. In my classes I always say, "I don't want to STRESS you, but I do want to STRETCH you!" It's so fun to see people make something they didn't know they could! It ends up giving you confidence in other areas of your life too. Creating art is important all by itself, but it can be so much broader as well. I've added a few updates, mostly to the Framed Collage class, but one in the Simple Secrets class too! On that note... First, I'd like to welcome all of the new class members after our Black Friday week sale! I hope you will at least get a chance to peek into your class even though it's a busy season, so you will be motivated to get at it after the holidays are done! And I also hope you will join the facebook group for your class. I am looking into another platform for classes and community both that will be so much nicer than what I have now if I get it going, hopefully after Christmas. Second, I'd love some feedback! I know I want to focus on teaching, but what is it that YOU want to learn? Are there specific techniques, such as collage, or free motion stitching? Composition? Color theory? Or, are you interested in having your own creative business? I don't know everything, but I have learned a lot in my 14 ish years of doing this, and lately I've been learning even more thanks to classes I have been taking, and I'd love to pass it on! The business side of all of this is as interesting to me as the creating and the teaching. Or is there something else that I do that you would like to learn more about? I'd love to hear from you! If you get my newsletter, there is an actual survey, but for here, please comment below 😊 And, last, but not least, in addition to the printed greeting cards, we are gradually adding more art prints to the Etsy shop as well. I posted earlier this week that they are lower priced due to not being technically archival quality, hopefully we'll have those next! BUT, even when people have them in their hand, it takes a second to realize they are prints and not actual fabric, so the quality must be pretty good still! I like that they are an economical way to share my creations. (And also more 'normal'... people are more used to printed cards than quilted ones! 🤣) I hope everyone is able to slow down and enjoy this season and not be too rushed. We've had plenty of snow here, so it definitely looks Christmasy! Beret In all of the excitement of the magazine cover/article, I forgot to post several new products, but now there are even more, so it worked out ok :-) And remember, both online classes are still approximately 25% off through Monday! First, there are three new Trish Stuart projects. Two new greeting card kits featuring her artwork on velvet, (a humpback whale and a cute puffin!) and a panel with 12 mini panels so you can make lots of them if you want! I think picking the background fabric for each one is so fun. The first few people to order the panels will get a few extra mini panels also! Click the photos to go to that page. Then we also have the first batch of printed cards up. These we put on Etsy, as our website fusses if we have too many products (working on that!) and we plan to have lots more! There are eight designs for now. (click photo to go to Etsy) I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! I had all of my people together, which I'm always very thankful for! Beret
Fun mail!! Earlier this week I posted about a boring mail day; a big pile of bolts of what my kids used to call 'white stuff'. (Interfacing, fusible web, and fusible fleece. But necessary so we can include all the things in our kits!) WELL.... yesterday completely made up for the boring mail day with one of the coolest ever! My first time having one of my quilts on the cover of a magazine, Art Quilting Studio! I still can't believe it :-) It's an honor just to be in it, even more on the cover! Focus shift I thought this would be a good time to talk about a bit of a focus shift for me. My business has gone from making things to sell at bazaars, to kits and patterns, and now more teaching. Each time I add something, the old things are still there, and I'm getting spread a little thin! (I may be looking to start building a team soon, so keep your ears open if that might be something you are interested in. The first things I hire for will be computer related; video/photo editing, managing some online things, so they can be done from anywhere, you don't have to live near me!) So, I've spent the last year really thinking about what I want to prioritize! And I always come back to teaching. I love helping people in their creative journey almost as much as doing it myself! I will still be doing kits, but future kits will be more geared toward things I can teach, or that go with classes I already have. But I like to think of my kits as a little packaged class, too! I will probably be scaling back the bazaar portion, but I may still do some, because I do love that too. They just take so much time that I feel would be better spent in other areas now! Sale! And all of this is a good time to have a class SALE! Consider it our Black Friday sale, but for more than a week :-) Starting now through Monday, Nov 27, both of my online classes will be approximately 25% off. Simple Secrets for Starting Art Quilting Reg $79 now $59 Framed Collage Reg $49 Now $36 I know it's a busy time of year, but because of the format, they will be waiting for you after the holidays if you don't have time now! And, the Simple Secrets one especially has parts you can do in a very short amount of time, they are great for fitting into little nooks and crannies of your life. Ok, this is pretty long so I'll stop jabbering! I hope to see you in my classes, and there should be more coming, plus maybe a few other new things I haven't had time to get to, hmm... :-) Happy Thanksgiving, and happy sewing! Beret I somehow managed to sign myself up for two bazaars in one weekend... The Raven Art Show is at the Morris Thompson Center Friday, Nov. 4 from 5-8 pm. Then the UAF Women's bazaar is 10-4 Saturday at Pioneer Park. On Friday it will be all bird themed items, and then Saturday will be a wider variety. I have several new things this year that I'm excited about! First, I've added cards that are prints of some of my quilts, mostly raven so far, but there will be lots more coming! Then, I've also been really having fun with paper crafting lately (I needed a new hobby, ha!), so I have some handmade paper cards as well. I even hand carved a couple of raven rubber stamps for those. The cranes pictured below are from a stamp by local artist Maggie Hallam. On Saturday I will have a wider range of paper cards, and they will be a fundraiser for the Helping Hands Alaska ministry! 100% of proceeds from those cards will go to them. Then, I also have prints this year! Again, mostly raven/bird themed, but I will be adding lots more there hopefully soon also. This is just a few, there are 25 designs, and two different sizes of most of them. I'm calling them posters, because this batch is not archival prints, but still good quality. Hopefully the next batch WILL be archival, and the price will be a little higher also, these are going to be very reasonable, $8-12. The printed cards will be on the website soon after the bazaars, and hopefully the archival prints will come soon too. I will also have my usual quilted greeting cards, kits and patterns, and a few finished quilts. I hope to see those of you who are local this weekend, it will be fun to connect with people in person again!
Beret I'm slowly but surely making progress sticking to a schedule for myself, which means hopefully I'll show up here a little more often. Since my last post, we had our final kid wedding, two in 9 months was a little rough 😂, and I have had a busy summer with quilt shop orders, apparently tourists are back! I also did a several fun classes, in Delta Junction and Soldotna. I usually manage to post on Instagram, which autoshares to my Facebook page, but I really want to focus more on blog and newsletter! (which I've been saying and not doing for awhile now...) Sale! First of all, with all of the back to school things happening, I thought it would be fun to do a "Back to School" sale on classes! So, through Labor Day weekend, (ending Monday, Sept 5 at midnight AK time), my two online classes are 25% off! Framed Collage Class, regularly $49, now $36 Simple Secrets to Starting Art Quilting, regularly $79, now $59. Sample projects from the Framed Collage Class. Easier than they look, I promise 😃 That's actually the goal for all of my products, for you to make something that looks more difficult than it is. Sample projects from the Simple Secrets class. Also, not as difficult as they first appear, it's all about the secrets 😊 Each of these quilts uses at least one. For example, the first one, Moonrise, is simple appliques on pretty fabric, with a couple of embellishments. When you break it down into parts/principles, it becomes not only doable, but repeatable in designs of your own! There are built in projects, but I also encourage you to do at least one of your own. Introductory video, except that it says the class is not ready and it is! However, due to my geek squad going fishing this weekend, you probably won't receive your welcome email and access until Monday sometime. We'll do it as soon as possible! Another reason to change platforms, (see below)... this one has too little automation! New Platform coming
I've taken some fun classes myself this year, and I'm finding it a bit addicting, I love to learn new things! Including better ways to do classes... 😂 For longer term, I'm really hoping to move my classes to a platform that is much more streamlined and easy to use, plus includes a community right there, so I'm not dependent on people joining my facebook groups for interaction! (which seems to not be popular, only 25% participation for one class, and about 10% for the other, where it's even more important!) I love that part of it, and my classes are basically 'alive', because they keep growing as I think of things to add. And just one community for all of the classes, so you don't have to join anything, and it will all be in one place. Stay tuned! New kits coming I've done lots of work on two new collage quilt kits, but I keep having to move them aside for more urgent things. Right now I'm getting ready for bazaars for the first time in three years! I love doing them, but I am starting to see that it might not be practical for the long term, they take at least 1/4 of my year! We'll see how it goes! It's definitely fall here, we've been able to get out a little and see the amazing colors, which we get on the ground/tundra, most of the trees just turn yellow. I hope you will join me in one or both of my classes while everyone is in back to school mode! 😊 Happy sewing! Beret Good heavens, I need an assistant! I've been working like mad all week putting the final touches on this class, and forgot to post it here! I'm extending my pre-launch/introductory price so you still have a chance to get it. Goodness.... I'm extra excited about this one, it has been in the works longer than my other class. It encompasses much of what I do. It's called Simple Secrets for Starting Art Quilting. It will be the same format as the other class: self guided, with a facebook group for questions and interaction. I will probably try to add some Zoom sessions for this one also, which will be open to anyone regardless of where you are at in the class. I'm hoping it will be a stress free zone for you to learn lots of fun tricks of art quilting! The class will launch Saturday, March 5, and the introductory price of $59 will go through Tuesday, March 8. Then it goes to $79, still a great value in my unbiased opinion 😃 To sign up, click here: Simple Secrets class And here is video with a little info! I hope to see you there 😊😊 Beret Today's post is a departure from my usual art quilting, but it was too cool not to share! I've been trying to do some fun things this week as it's not only the week between Christmas and New Year's, but we've been having epic snowstorms back to back preventing us from leaving the house! It's also the time of year when many of us regroup and plan for the next year. So, I've been doing some paper crafting and also working on a planner for this year. (I definitely let my schedule get out of control multiple times this year, hoping to reel it in for 2022...) I'm not a committed bullet journal person, but I have been having fun playing around with it. But this trick has lots of other uses anyway! I really wanted something temporary to mark pages, but not a ribbon or a bookmark. I decided to try magnetic tabs, and I think they will be great. I have already learned a few things, so I will share them here, as well as several paper cards I made this week while watching it snow! (and snow.... and snow... 😂) These are really easy, but I did learn a few things... First, fold your paper before cutting it to size. I wanted mine to end up 1 1/2" wide and about 1 1/8" tall, but that's up to you. I already had these small scraps of paper, but they were still big enough to make two at a time. So I folded them, then trimmed to 1 1/8" from the fold with the rotary cutter. I cut strips of adhesive magnets about 3/8" wide, but again, measurements are flexible. I learned that while my magnets were nice and thin, ( I have some thicker/stronger ones too, but thin is nice for this), they didn't always stick very well. So I made sure my magnet strips were going to stick together before attaching them to my paper. Not sure why some didn't, and it did seem to matter a bit which way I had them turned, so try both directions. Then, it's actually easier to attach them to the paper if they are stuck together anyway. I also decided to add a thin strip of double sided tape in the crease. This gave it some stability, but also keeps them from sliding too far in, I wanted the tabs to stick out. I left the magnets and tape a bit long, then trimmed after they were attached. I then was able to get two 1 1/2" tabs from each of these. I had already added washi tape along the edges of my pages, which helps the tabs stay on a little better also. Just put it on the edge of your page, using only half the width of the tape, fold it over to the back, then trim the corners to match the paper, another favorite tip! (which I saw online somewhere...) For me, that marks the sections, and the tab will mark the exact page I'm on. If you carry your journal around or it gets jostled a lot, this might not work for you, but mine just sits on my desk so it's fine. You could experiment with stronger magnets, or put them all the way across instead of just on the edges. Lots of ways to be creative with these, but I am going to love being able to move them around! They would also make good bookmarks! I hope you will try it, and if you are new here, I hope you will look around at our art quilty patterns, kits, and tutorials 😃 Two of our designs were featured in today's Keepsake Quilting email, and are in the current catalog. But of course available here too!
Here are a few paper cards I made this week (while sorting paper!) and some of our epic 35+ inches of snow! That big lump is our grill 😂 Blessings for the new year, Beret I recently participated in the online Raven Art Show sponsored by the Alaska Songbird Institute. I made a different shape of framed collage quilts than I had before, and they were really fun. (And they all sold quickly, plus I have several orders for more, hopefully I will keep making them to sell too!) I will update the class with some tips on making these. I also updated my gallery page, so there are lots more pictures there! Framed Collage Class update, price increase coming November 29:
When I first made this class, it had four designs in it. It's up to I think 12 now, and I haven't added information on this newest batch yet! You can still choose to keep it simple and stick to the original designs, which are at the beginning of the class, or you can keep going and try some of the added ones. Or branch out on your own, which is always my goal! But because I have invested tons of time into adding to it, I feel that I need to raise the price a bit. It's still a steal for how much information it contains 😊, and is not overly expensive! You get permanent access to it. It was $35, and will be going to $49 on Tuesday, November 29, after black Friday weekend is completely over. So you still have 11 days to get the current price! These quilts are really fun, if you haven't tried it, I hope you will! Click online classes above, or here to sign up! If you are already in the class, look for an email coming soon with some other information about it. Also coming soon, a couple of my kits in the Keepsake Quilting catalog! I've had a little time to come up for air between a major wedding dress alteration and sewing my daughter's wedding dress, hopefully I will still be able to fit in a little art quilting during that one! These mini pocket prayer quilts have been popular on the internet recently. The idea is you give it to someone with a note saying to keep in in their pocket, so whenever they feel it, they remember God's love for them, or a Scripture, or whatever you decide to suggest. They fit in a greeting card, so they'd be a great addition to a quilted one! You could even make it match 😊 They're a quick, fun project, but also a little tedious! I came up with a way to make the process a bit easier, and it also adds a little pocket to your pocket quilt 😂 You could tuck your note into the pocket. There are endless ways to vary them, of course, but this is a quick way to make the basic four patch version. I hope you will try it, and happy sewing! Beret |
Beret Nelson's On The Trail Creations Blog PageBeret NelsonI am a homeschooling mom of three fun kids, who are now old enough that I have a little time to pursue my passion for sewing! After several years of making quilted cards and art quilts, I'm now designing kits and patterns. Some of my designs have been in Keepsake Quilting and Art Quilting Studios magazine! I teach classes online, and am starting to do more traveling and teaching. I also have many tutorials, including some on YouTube. I am blessed to live in Alaska where I am surrounded by the inspiration provided by the beauty of God's creation! Free mini art quilt workshop for new subscribers!
"Like" my facebook page!I am also an independent distributor for Plexus supplements, since I credit them with enabling me to be healthy enough to do all these fun things! They target blood sugar and gut health, which are at the root of so many modern health issues. E-mail me for more info, or check out my website! I am as passionate about getting people healthy as I am about getting people creating :-)
beret@onthetrailcreations.com or https://plexusworldwide.com/beretnelson Archives
March 2024
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