Greetings Gang
I’m so excited today to be a part of the Fat Quarter Gypsy PopUp Blog Hop. So many great designers and quilting professionals get an opportunity to show you how we use the Popups in our daily lives and how we spice them up in our own special way.
I love using the Popups for all types of uses… from catching thread on the side of my sewing machine and longarm… to cute storage in my studio… to holding my scraps for my next project and displaying in my quilting booth. I even made one for my car to hold my leftover straw papers from my iced coffee while traveling. This one sits by my spot on the sofa and holds my scissors, needle case and seam ripper for any projects I finish in front of the tv. Everything is ready for my latest Netflix binge.
I love to spice up my PopUps by playing with my line of quilting templates and making new designs. Joanne used my CWQ Charm Hexie template and the instructions from my Sew Many Hexies pattern to make this awesome PopUp for Fall Market 2015. Joanne’s instruction sheet for making this PopUp is HERE.
I used the Tumbler piecing pattern from my latest book, What a Load of Scraps, to create this PopUp using my CWQ 3” Tumbler Template. The easiest way to create your own PopUp with piecing is to sew mini blocks together to create a piece of fabric or “mini quilt top” until you can trim to the desired size of PopUp fabric listed in the pattern. I used the Medium PopUp insert for my design and trimmed my mini tumbler quilt top to the Medium PopUp size listed in the Stacking PopUps pattern. Then I cut a lining fabric to the same size and followed the finishing instructions in the Stacking PopUps pattern. I love this method because I love straps… and I love using my scraps to create all types of fun projects around the house and the studio. PopUps are a perfect place to use up all of your scraps.
My new favorite templates to use for all quilting projects are my CWQ Nested Petal Templates and my CWQ Petal Keychain. I used my 5” Petal from my Nested Petal Templates and the design technique from my Scrap Petal Garden pattern to create this Large PopUp for The Fat Quarter Gypsy Fall Market Booth. I love the chevron fabrics as a petal.
Not to be outdone… My petal keychain template (which comes with the accompanying circle template for the center) made this cute little floral version of the FQ PopUp.
I like to play with the layout of the pieces and see what types of designs I can make. For this design I made five petals for each flower and then placed them on the fabric before beginning the construction so that I could stitch them down. I used Terial Magic to stabilize all the fabrics before cutting so that when I stitched them to my fabric I would have nice clean stitches and no puckers.
Here are a couple of ideas that I came up with playing with our templates on fabric in the design phase using the Medium Popup. It’s so much to play with the shapes and see what you can come up with. In the first design I used the 5″Petal from the Nested Petal Template to create an orange peel design. In the second design I used the Tumbler Keychain and the Hexie Keychain templates to make a modern flower or snowflake design.
Once I have the layout decided, I follow the pattern to cut the pieces for the Popup. I will attach the applique to the fabric prior to completing the instructions. Designing for the Large PopUps can be really fun too. The larger the size the larger the block you can use to adapt to the pattern. Here are a couple of layout drawings that I put together for the Large PopUp. These designs use our Nested Petal Templates and our Petal Pal Keychain templates. The second two designs are based on the block for a new CWQ pattern “Bountiful Blooms”.
Hopefully you are excited to finish one of your own. Thanks for visiting the blog today. Subscribe to the Blog to keep up to date with all the happenings here at the Cabin.
Want to make a Popup of your own? Check out the PopUp Store to purchase a PopUp for yourself or come and see me at my upcoming shows and events. Also, check around at your favorite quilt shop. Additionally, you can find all the patterns and templates referenced in this blog on our website store. Don’t forget to enter a chance to win our PopUp Giveaway drawings (there will be two winners) tonight and the Grand Prize drawing at the Fat Quarter Gypsy.