Lap Quilt Club February 28th meeting

It was great to see everyone at the February 28th meeting of the Lap Quilting Club!

The Quilt Club monthly session started off with a “show and tell”.  Quilters Diane, Faye, Jane, Shashi, Sharon and Janet showed template sets made, quilt blocks they had constructed and materials they had chosen for their Lap Quilt. Plans are coming together! To inspire everyone I displayed my completed twin size Lap Quilt. Everyone was able to see how the blocks fit into the quilt.

Once the show and tell was over I showed the group how the 4 patch blocks are created from the 12″ square. We covered the 4 patch, double 4 patch, pin wheel and rail fence blocks. You should create these 4 blocks at home to keep on schedule with your Lap Quilt creation. I have created a link to the construction and lesson plan  so you can make a plan. I hope you will let me give you construction tips before you create additional blocks. I have been working on a power point demonstration of the Lap Quilt construction. When we are are done creating the quilt I will give you a link to reference the notes. Our next meeting is March 28th at 2:00pm in the Bradford room at MAC center in Salisbury, MD. All are welcome. each club meeting is $5.00 and you can enroll at the door.

In our February meeting I demonstrated the pin wheel block construction and showed how to use the “E” template from the Lap Quilting book. Two fabrics were placed right sides together and the “E” template was used to determine the width of a cut strip across the 45″ width of fabric. I drew the “E” template on the strip back to back and showed how to sew the 1/4″ seams for easy and fast construction. Once I sewed the 1/4″ seams on both sides 45 degree line of the triangles drawn, I cut the pieced triangles apart. Janet demonstrated how the triangles are pressed. The seams are pressed in one direction to make piecing perfect. Diane had a flannel layout board and I used it to form the pinwheel block layout to make it easy to piece the block.  I included pictures of all the techniques demonstrated.

I showed how to use a rotary cutter and how I chose the strip size to cut using the Lap Quilt book. I pieced the rail fence strips together and pressed the seams to one side from the right side. Using the “A” square I drew the 6 1/2″ squares and cut them by hand. The layout was created and then the rail fence block was pieced using the 1/4″ foot.

We talked about the importance of the 6″ square, the 12″ square and the 6″ by 24″ ruler to use in creating the Lap Quilt.

Next month we will work on the mitered borders. Plan on purchasing your border fabric in one piece to fit the size of the quilt you making. The yardage chart is on page 11 of the Lap Quilt book. For my demonstration quilt I am using white to set off a pastel quilt block of pinks, blues, greens and yellows. I recommend quilters add the borders and mark the borders as you go so the job does not become an overwhelming task. I will show you how to use a stencil to mark borders in lesson 3.

For Club meeting #3 cut your borders across the width of the fabric using a 3 1/2″ strip. You will need 2 strips 45″ X 3 /2″ per block. You will need a 12″ square to mark the backs of the 4 patch, double four patch, and rail fence to define the 1/4″ seam.  You will be able to find all the rulers on Amazon.

In Lesson 3 I will also demonstrate an easy version of the bow tie quilt block. Bring 3 “A” squares of one color and 2 contrast “A” squares of another fabric to make the bow tie. I will sew the block and let you try the technique on my machine as time allows.