inspire.design.create

We're sooooo close!

So glad you came back—especially if you're refreshed and ready to tackle the remaining pieces of our Trophy Buck. If you're needing to get focused again, be certain to read the entire post this week. There's some motivation at the end to keep you moving toward the big finish!

I'm assuming you're ready to buckle down again, so we're going to be working on Panel 4 templates 84 through 103 this week. By now, you're probably able to paper piece in your sleep. And, if you've worked late into the night to stay on track, maybe some of you have even done that!

When you need to take a breath from all of this piecing, check out Debbie's guest post below.

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Longarm League Guest Post

by Debbie Sackuvich, Pink Dot Black

Hi, I’m Debbie—also known as Pink Dot Black! I’m a lifelong sewist, having picked up the sewing addiction from my grandma. I used to make all of my clothes before kids, then for some reason time was an issue. I raised three boys and I rediscovered my love for sewing about six years ago and decided my passion was quilting when I wanted to make something special for my future grandbabies.

I now have two absolutely adorable one-year-old granddaughters—who have just a few quilts now (Note! Not twins, two of my sons have daughters. 😊) My first quilt, however, was one I gifted to my parents. It took me a while as I free-motion quilted it on my 20+ year old domestic machine. I have added a few machines to my collection, including my beloved Singer Featherweight. I made the leap to add my long arm—a HandiQuilter Avante—to my studio earlier this year, complete with Pro-Stitcher.

Taking the Plunge

I first discovered Trophy Buck and foundation paper piecing February 28 when I was selected to be a pattern tester! I had never paper pieced anything, but I was taking a class at a retreat before I would start the pattern, so I’d be fine I told myself!

Oh wait! Everything is going into shutdown and there won’t be a retreat or a class?!?

I’d made a commitment to test this pattern, so I was going to really give a true test! I was so pleasantly surprised on that first section when my sections lined up, and I kept sending pictures of my progress! I’ll admit at first it may be intimidating to do a large project with a new technique like foundation paper piecing, but this was such a fantastic pattern and I do love my Trophy Buck!

I am so proud of my accomplishment. I love seeing this quilt done up in different fabrics! I can’t say I will only make one!

Foundation Paper Piecing Tip

My FPP tip is to not scrimp on cutting your fabric pieces. Give yourself plenty of fabric to work with!

Longarm Tips

Talk to your longarmer to let them know exactly what you would like to highlight and if there is something you would rather not highlight.  Allow backing to be 8” wider and longer than your top.

I joined Longarm League this year to go from hobby to quilting dreams! You can find me on Instagram and Facebook @Pinkdotblack. I’d love to see your Trophy Buck QAL!

Upcoming Giveaway

It's Sew Tempting, from Story City, Iowa, has gathered some goodies to keep you motivated to the end.  Stay tuned next week for the details on how to enter the giveaway.

Weekly Challenge

Share a photo of your first quilt (or at least the first one you remembered to take a photo of) using the hashtag #trophybuckquiltalong.

Progress shot from Teara Cornmesser at Lazy J Quilting

This week has been set aside as a break or catch up week!

If you're behind, no worries. This week should give you some time to focus on getting caught up. If not caught up all the way, at least a little bit closer.

And, if you're on schedule, take this time to replenish your creative juices. I guarantee that process is different for everyone, but an important part of having a hobby. Some of you may leave the sewing room to bake goodies or read a book and others may jump right back in and start another project.

And, who am I to judge? Especially since I'm planning to work on my next pattern!

Before you hie yourself off to your chosen distraction, be certain to check out Teara's quilting tips below.

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Longarm League Guest Post

by Teara Cornmesser, Lazy J Quilting Services

My name is Teara and I own and operate Lazy J Quilting Services. I offer longarm edge-to-edge designs and quilt finishing services in the Columbus, Ohio area, but I also accept mail in quilts. I've been quilting for over 20 years and started longarm quilting in 2018 when I purchased my Gammill Statler machine.

My favorite paper piecing trick is to use Scotch adhesive roller dots to secure my first piece. I like it because it’s easy to peel off and doesn’t leave a gluey mess.

Now, confession time. I don’t always do a great job of making sure my thread matches what I’m piecing. And it’s even more difficult when you’re working on a project that has light and very dark colors in it. In order to fix this—and save my perfectionist sanity—I keep a Micron fine-tip pen handy for touch ups.

I take the pen and carefully color over the light colored threads, taking care not to get the ink on the fabric. And just like that the threads disappear!

I’ve used this technique on many of my quilts and Micron pens come in several colors. I like Micron pens because they’re chemically stable, waterproof, and fade resistant. I’ve used them on signature quilts and they’ve held up beautifully!

My preferred longarm guideline is that your backing is at least 8” wider and 8” longer than your top. Don’t be afraid to ask me anything!

Communication is key for a good relationship between you and your longarm quilter. If you’re unsure about anything, it’s always better to ask!

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Weekly Challenge

Share your favorite non-sewing activity on the hashtag #trophybuckquiltalong.

If you've stayed on track so far, you'll be almost three-quarters of the way done. Gold stars all around even if you've slipped a bit behind!

The focus this week is Panel 3 templates 75 through 83. Once those are done, you can move on to the assembly of Panel 3 to wrap up the week. It should go fairly fast, because there is little fussy matching of templates.  What can be better than that?!

We have another guest Longarm League poster this week sharing a bit about herself and some favorite tips. Meet Danelle!

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Longarm League Guest Post

by Danelle Howard, Cottage Path Quilting

A Bit about Me

Hi there, my name is Danelle. I’m the longarm quilter behind Cottage Path Quilting in southwest Missouri. Around here the deer are plentiful! I just knew I had to participate in this quilt-along as soon as I saw it announced. Being a member of the Longarm League gave me the chance to not only sew along but offer some great discounts on finishing Trophy Buck quilts for others! And, I’m going to have fun telling certain friends about the huge buck I got this year.  ;)

Once completed, this quilt is going to migrate South to Texas as a Christmas gift for my brother. Actually, he is the first person I ever made a full quilt for. Twenty-six years ago I made my first bed size quilt for his wedding. It was a king size double wedding ring (shown below). At that time, I hand pieced and quilted everything. It’s the way my grandma and all the ladies at our church quilting circle quilted, so that’s what I learned. It still blows me away that I now quilt with this amazing, huge APQS Lucey longarm machine...and that other quilters trust me with their amazing works of art. I love being part of a hobby that allows us to connect past, present and future technology and tradition!

My Best Advice

I am very new to Foundation Paper Piecing. This is definitely the largest project I have done yet! My best tip for other beginners is to buy a little extra fabric and then BE FEARLESS! I let these patterns intimidate me for far too long. There are great tips included each week of this QAL. I’ve personally tested the post about fixing mistakes and it works, lol. And fearlessly ask questions. Reading comments from others in this QAL, I’ve learned to use fabric clips instead of pins. A seam roller is near the top of my Christmas gift list. And ALWAYS triple check that I’ve picked up the correct fabric for the piece I’m sewing.

Longarm Tips

• One of the best parts of FPP is how exact/precise it is! However, quilt tops can still get a bit wonky around the edges. Especially if you add a border as I plan to do. With these very bold, graphic designs, some of our normal quilting tricks for handling unevenness just won’t work as well. Measure the entire quilt in three places for both width and height but ALSO across diagonal corners to see how close it is to ‘square.’ If something is off don’t panic or start trimming, just let your quilter know you are aware of it and we can discuss how to handle any issues.
• Depending on your personality, that final step of tearing out the papers can seem like drudgery or a personal triumph! Don’t be tempted to rush this step though. Adding a paper layer that hasn’t been removed to multiple seam allowances can make for messy stitches in those joined areas.
  

See that little scrap of paper? I almost didn’t either!

I’m just halfway through the piecing of this quilt (photo below) but, as a longarm quilter, my mind is racing with ideas and designs for the final step. Feel free to reach out with any questions you may have about finishing your Trophy Buck. But for now, I hope you are enjoying seeing your buck come to life one funny looking scrap of fabric at a time!

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Weekly Challenge

Catch up if you've fallen behind and share a progress shot using the hashtag #trophybuckquiltalong.

If you’re caught up to this point, you are nearly halfway done!

It's probably not a surprise, but we're going to be working on Panel 3 templates 55 through 74 this week. Hopefully seeing your buck come to life before your eyes will give you enough motivation to keep at it!

But if not, Nicholas of Mystery Stitch Designs (one of our Longarm League supporters) shares some tips below that he uses to speed up foundation paper piecing.

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Foundation Paper Piecing Tips

by Nicholas Turcan, Mystery Stitch Designs

Then, I like to sort the templates by their starting fabric. Once I have several different stacks of templates (each with the same starting fabric), I cut the first piece of fabric and glue baste it in place. Next, I start new piles where all of the second fabric colours are all the same. By doing it this way, I am able to chain piece several units onto each fabric and spend less time going back and forth to the iron and cutting station!

Assembling

I HATE PINNING! There, I said it!

When I am quilting, I have found several different methods to eliminate pins. For instance, when assembling FPP units together, if you imagine (or pencil in as shown in the photo) an extension of the 1/4” seam allowance to the edge of the paper, that is exactly the point where the second fabric should cross under.

This is the same method I use when assembling diamonds but it actually works with any angle. Being able to line up my pieces this way—without having to stop for pins—really speeds up the assembly process!

Pressing

I know some people like to finger press or use a roller to press units open at the machine, but I prefer to take my units to the iron and press my seams open. I find that this makes a much flatter quilt top which, in turn, makes a much nicer finished product.

Quilt Along Support

As a member of the Longarm League, I will be offering a 20% discount off edge-to-edge quilting to those participating in the Trophy Buck QAL if your top is received by February 28, 2021. If you have never sent a quilt out to a longarmer, you can go to www.mysterystitch.com and read the quilting page for more information on how to prepare your quilt!

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Weekly Challenge

As you can see in the photo above, Nicholas has pushed the boundaries on the color palette. You can also see a sneak peak of how he is gradating the sky using different shades of blue. 

Even if you're not caught up, this week share a progress shot using the hashtag #trophybuckquiltalong. You never know, your progress may spark the quilting bug in someone else!

Can you believe October is here already? I’m not one of those count down people, but I am amazed at how quickly the holidays are coming up. Yikes!

If you're making your Trophy Buck as a holiday gift, it's definitely time to buckle down and stay on track. But, don't forget, there's a catch up week (Week 8) coming soon if you need it! And, if you don't need the extra time, you can start planning your next project. Because you can never have too many projects going at once—am I right?!

This week, we're working on Panel 2 templates 50 through 54 and Panel 2 assembly. If you have slipped a bit behind, the full schedule is below and weeks 1 through 4 link to the corresponding blog posts. You got this! Just take it one piece at a time.

Review to Date

WEEK 1–Gather Materials and Prep Pattern
WEEK 2–Panel 1 Templates
WEEK 3–Panel 1 Templates and Assembly
WEEK 4–Panel 2 Templates
WEEK 5–Panel 2 Templates and Assembly
WEEK 6–Panel 3 Templates
WEEK 7–Panel 3 Templates and Assembly
WEEK 8–Catch Up or Take a Break!
WEEK 9–Panel 4 Templates
WEEK 10–Panel 4 Templates and Assembly
WEEK 11–Sew Top

Sneak Peek

I know it doesn't look like much right now, but I've started working on a small companion piece to the Trophy Buck. Stay tuned for details! Any guesses on what it might be?

Weekly Challenge

Let us know the lucky recipient of your Trophy Buck (if it's not a secret!) by sharing his/her name and a progress shot with the official hashtag #trophybuckquiltalong.

No relevance to anything, but I just had to share this photo. I had my two panels on my ironing board before I hung them on the design wall when they shifted like this. I was leaning toward naming my buck Kingston, but may have to reconsider Picasso!