Marie's Optical Illusion Quilt

I am only 2 years behind schedule, but I've had to put sewing on hold for two years since other events had a higher priority, but now I'm back having fun in my sewing room and my main goal right now is to finish my Dorinda Mystery Quilt.  Today I am posting a picture of my Rule #12 Block.

The Rule was to put words in it somewhere.  I accomplished that with a little machine embroidery quilt label.  The Technique called for a Buggy Barn block.  You can see my attempt at the Buggy Barn technique in the 2 wonky red and black heart blocks at the bottom of the block.  That was a fun technique and I kept it really simple.

I've never done a Buggy Barn quilt before, but it was fun and I'd like to try it some time.  I had a hard time coming up with some way to incorporate a Buggy Barn block in an Optical Illusion theme, so I just added them to the quilt label at the bottom and made a larger optical illusion.  I like the way the optical illusion turned out.  Hopefully I'll be back in the next few days with Block #13.

Pam's Wood Mystery rules 11,, 12 and 13

I am finally getting caught up. I only have two rules to go.

This is rule 11. I put two little heart shaped yoyo's at the bottom of two trees.

Rule 12 was the buggy barn technique and put words somewhere. I thought I would just put the name of my mystery in there.

Rule 13 was three tones of the same color. The only thing I could think of was to use the strip technique.

Rules 11 thru 13.

Rules 1 thru 13 - only 2 more to go!

Scarecrow rule 12

For the "buggy barn" technique I made the trees.  Those were fun.  So fun in fact that I decided to make a scarecrow Santa.  That may have been easier if I were making a BIGGER one.  But once I had a good start on this I continued even though the pieces were tiny to work with.   His face is pink and hard to see with the white bg.  I am going to put more details on the face and a pompom or button on the tip of his cap.

For the "words" part of the clue, as you can see,  I used fabrics with words.  The crow fabric has a sign that says, "When this you see, remember me" .  I have been putting words here and there throughout the quilt already.   So I thought fabrics with words would be fine here.  

I really do love this project and I am sorry to have fallen behind.  I hope to get up to date here pretty soon.

Lyn's Small Town Winter Caught Up

Here is what she did:
She made half yo-yo's on the silos. She paper peiced the yellow house. To follow the Buggy Bard pattern, she created a tractor. She also wrote 2011 on the silo by embroiding.

Moira's Rule 12 - Caught up!!

Yippee - I am finally caught up with the rules that have been posted and have everything done. For the remainder of rule 12 I made wonky 16 patch blocks. I made three different pairs of 8" finished blocks. Put five of them together and it fit perfectly across the width at the top of the quilt - serendipity because I didn't measure before hand, lol. Did these wonky blocks freehand and had fun with them. May use this idea to use up some fabrics that were from an online friends stash when she passed away. quick and easy - just my type of blocks. =)

Still thinking about what to add to the one section, but am getting closer to making a decision. At the moment am thinking of adding balloons in and around the lettering, with the strings going down through and around the lettering and the basket.

Bird Rule 12 Reveal

 I'm still here!!!  I have found that, even though my time is very limited, I still have time to do a block a month.  So here is my wonky penguin.  This was a tough rule for me.  I learned the hard way that buggy barn doesn't work well with curves!  I added the eye, the beak, and the feet later.  I am placing this block at the bottom right-hand corner, so I put the words in to identify the whole quilt.  Unfortunately, the whole block looks a little wonky in this picture.  I had planned to do the positive negative thing, but the size wouldn't work, and the second block didn't want to go together, so I am just including the positive piece.

Here is the penguin block added to the owl block. Can't wait to add the last block to the top of this strip and sew it to the side of the quilt.

Ann's Autumn Country Rule Release 12

This was a fun rule. The Buggy Barn designing was partly from my imagination and part from what was posted in the rule release. I trimmed the house blocks to 6 1/2 inches and the trees to 5 1/2 inches. The top house overlaps to block 11.

The sign says "CABINS FOR RENT ----->"

Here are the two blocks together. You see that I added a second "Yo-Yo" tree that also overlaps the two blocks.

Rule Release #12

Before we get to the rule, let me just say that everyone in the group voted to use the rules that already exist from active and inactive participants.  This rule comes from the original pool of rules submitted.

RULE 12

Rule:  put words in it somewhere


Technique:  I am calling this technique the "Buggy Barn" technique.  The idea comes from the way Buggy Barn patterned quilts are made.  You may use a real Buggy Barn pattern if you choose, but it would be a learning experience to try to make your own.

Follow the steps below:

1.  Draw a basic pattern of what you want to make.  Don't do anything too detailed and remember that it will SHRINK dramatically after it is sewn together.  Create "sections" that must be sewn together before they can be joined to other sections.  I like to label my sections as letters and the pieces in that section are listed in order by number. The photo below shows that there will be 7 sections (A-G).

Below is a sample of a wonky churn dash I drew.

 2.  Draw or trace your pattern onto freezer paper.

3.  Stack at least two contrasting fabrics with right sides up.  Place the freezer paper pattern on top and press it to the top fabric.  The waxy side will stick to the top fabric and hold it  in place while you cut.  Don't be concerned with leaving the outside edges large.  It will give you room to true up the block when you are finished.

4.  Cut along the lines between the main sections as shown below.

5.  Cut out the remaining sections after the main cuts are complete.  Once your sections are cut you can cut out each individual piece.

6.  Trade the position the two different fabrics to form the block pattern.  Sew the pieces together by section in order of number.  As you sew them back together REMEMBER THAT BUGGY BARNS ARE NOT EXACT.  You WILL HAVE TO trim the edge of each piece before you attach it to the next one.  The Buggy Barn style is always wonky and rarely fits together perfectly.

7.  If you started with two fabrics, you will end up with 2 separate blocks that are positive negative blocks.

Here is another example to look at.  This one will be a wonky house.

When I finished, my house looked like this.  Because the patterns don't always turn out like you think they will, I had to make some simple adjustmens.  My chimney was too tall so I added another piece of background to go across the top of it.  Also, my door was the same color as my background, so I added a piece below it to make the door stand out.  See the difference below.

Here is a link to some wonky trees I made for the Block Lotto last December.  I used this same technique to create them.

I LOVE Buggy Barn technique!!  Give it a try.

Below is a link to another tutorial from the block lotto.

block lotto tells and shows us how to make a tree


Size:  We are going to add to but not complete the column we started in rule 11.  Remember that this column will go on either side of the quilt.  Block #12 will need to be 17 1/2" wide ( 17" finished) by 19 1/2" tall (19 finished).  You can join block #12 to the top or bottom of block #11.  We are still short 19 more inches of completing this column, so you won't be able to join it to the quilt yet.


Due Dates: The next rule will release November 8th.  You can begin showing a full release of #12 any time it is completed.  Good luck and have fun.