Do you have the March April Issue of McCall’s Quilting? As usual, it is full of inspiration for Inklingo quilters.   

When Inklingoist Tilde Binger in Copenhagen received her copy in the mail, she immediately identified several patterns which use Inklingo shapes, and she wrote to the Inklingo Yahoo group about it.   

Inklingoable Patterns!

It is easy “to inklingo” any pattern that uses the same shapes and sizes. These tips will point you in the right direction. If you don’t have the magazine, you need to rush out and buy it! If you can’t find it locally, get a back issue from McCall’s web site. Issues of  McCall’s usually include several Inklingoable designs, so you should consider subscribing (no affiliation).   

The designers have used wonderful color palettes and the photography is great. Not only that, but there is more info on the McCall’s web site for each quilt, and KITS are offered so you can make the quilts with the fabrics in the photos. How cool is that?   

Colonial Star
(pages 30-32) and online at http://www.mccallsquilting.com/articles/Colonial_Stars with a “web bonus” (Check it out!)  

The eight-pointed stars in this quilt are commonly called Sawtooth Stars or Evening Stars. They are made with Flying Geese.

Inklingo Flying Geese require less fabric than the method in the magazine. The yardage is easy to calculate using the magazine, the suggested cutting layouts in the Inklingo Catalogue of Shapes, and Monkey’s Cheat Sheet.   

Step 1

 1. Cut one square (unprinted, 4.75 in);  print 8 triangles (1.75 in HST, 5.75 x 6); and cut into squares for each set of 4 Flying Geese.  (Dimensions are provided in the Inklingo Catalogue of Shapes for HST in every Inklingo collection, so you don’t have to do any math.) 

2. Stitch

3. Cut

4. Press

5. Stitch

6. Cut

7. Press

No measuring, no drawing lines on fabric, no weird rulers, no paper to pick off, no waste! Flying Geese with Inklingo are faster and more precise than any other method.

The Inklingo method makes 4 identical Flying Geese units at a time, and that is exactly what you need for each star in this quilt. There are detailed, illustrated instructions in The Inklingo Handbook (pages 66-67), and in the Inklingo Triangle Tips (free PDF under the Machine Piecing tab on the web site).  

This pattern also uses 1.75 inch HST (half square triangles) in Sawtooth Squares and 3.5 inch Inklingo QST (quarter square triangles). See the Triangle Tips PDF for illustrated instructions for those too.  

Chimayo Dinner Party
(pages 48-51) and online http://www.mccallsquilting.com/articles/Chimayo_Dinner_Party     

This is a Dresden Plate design in great contemporary fabrics. See the notes on pages 46-47 about using wild prints. There is also more on Virginia Robertson’s web site.

With Inklingo, you can skip all of the tracing and templates and use the Inklingo Dresden Plate Appliqué Collection.  It includes the blades with folded points and several other blades to mix and match.   

The instructions for folded blades are in the Dresden Plate Design Book—74 pages, also FREE from Inklingo! 

Notice that the blocks in the magazine finish at 10 inches. You can use the Inklingo folded blades on a 10 inch background (11 inches unfinished). 

However, if you print the backgrounds with Inklingo (optional), the blocks finish at 9 inches. If want your quilt to be exactly the same size as the one in the magazine, you will need to add a row of blocks on one side and on the bottom edge. That means making more blocks, but if you do, the quilt will have an odd number of rows in each direction, so the corners can match, if you prefer a symmetrical layout.   

The Inklingo Dresden Plate Applique Collection includes everything you need. Order and download the Dresden Plate Design Book  (free, $20 value) first, to see complete instructions. Consider using the other blades too.

Cubism
(pages 52-54) and on the web site at http://www.mccallsquilting.com/articles/Cubism 

This a creative diamond design with wonderful use of color that is characteristic of Karen Combs. She designed this one to use her fabric line, and there is a kit available online. Be sure to check the photos on Karen’s blog too.

The magazine includes a template for a 2 inch 60-degree diamond. Inklingoists skip the tracing and the templates, and print the diamonds on the back of the fabric with Inklingo instead! No templates, no tracing, no measuring! 

The yardage requirements are the same (or less) with Inklingo, and you have a choice of four layouts to print on the fabric, depending on where you want the straight grain.

The cutting lines, stitching lines, crosshairs, and matching marks will make it a breeze to assemble this quilt—so you will be ready to start a new one when the next issue of McCall’s arrives!  

There are other quilts in this issue which use Inklingo shapes, but this should give you a good start. 

Inklingo Resources

The Index of Shapes (under the Support tab at Inklingo.com)
The Catalogue of Shapes in each collection (yardage requirements, cutting layouts, etc.) 
Monkey’s Cheat Sheet (under the Support tab at Inklingo.com)
The Inklingo Handbook (first chapter, Printing with Inklingo is free)

If you have not tried Inklingo yet, you can get started in the next few minutes with the free collection. Quick Start!

Some day, we hope all magazines will include references to Inklingo methods. In the meantime, refer to The Inklingo Handbook and the wealth of information on the Inklingo web site, and jot the numbers down on Monkey’s Cheat Sheet.

The Inklingo Yahoo Group is a great place to ask questions (and get answers) too. I hope you will join us there.

Linda & Monkey

Don’t you just love stars? We do. These stars are fast and easy when you print the shapes with Inklingo, and there is a brand new downloadable collection with 60-degree diamonds and triangles (60 DIA 1.0).

Sixty-degree diamonds are used in classic traditional designs like six-pointed stars and tumbling blocks. Inklingo makes them more precise, simpler, and faster than techniques like English Paper Piecing or acrylic templates, so now everyone can make them. 

Shapes in 60 DIA 1.0

There are Inklingo sixty-degree diamonds with 0.5 inch sides, 0.75 inch sides, 1.0 inch sides, 1.5 inch sides, 2.0 inch sides, and 3.0 inch sides.  Now that the Shape Collection # 1 CDs are almost all gone, there is a new Inklingo download  for one-inch diamonds and related shapes.

With Inklingo, you can print 12 perfect diamonds on a fabric scrap 6 x 6 inches (enough for 2 stars), or 12 half diamonds on a fabric scrap 4.75 x 6.5 inches (enough for one star).

2. Join the two halves. “Circle the intersection” in the middle for a perfect center to your star. This is illustrated in The Inklingo Handbook on page 55:  Pass the needle around through the seam allowances, one pair at a time, in the crosshairs, before backstitching and sewing the last half of the seam. The thread goes around the intersection one and a half times. You will love the results!

The DVD lesson (60 minutes) with Jane Austen Writing Table Quilts illustrates continuous stitching, circling the intersection, and pressing techniques with a pre-Inklingo pattern. The sale price makes it a fantastic value, for yourself or for a friend, especially if you are new to hand piecing.

If you are looking for a small project or hostess gifts for the holidays, coasters are great. (We can’t stop making them!)  Monkey Exercise # 001 is a downloadable pattern with all of our best tips for finishing coasters for your friends. It was written using shapes on the Inklingo # 1 CD. The long half diamonds in the new download add even more design options and new info for custom page sizes.

Tiny quilts are great for coasters, pincushions, needle case covers—and relaxation! There are worksheets in the shape collections and many ideas online for using stars made with diamonds, half diamonds, and triangles.

As you can see, we cannot stop making them.  It is perfect therapy while recovering from a very sore throat.  (I have one. Monkey is fine.) Thank you for visiting!

Linda & Monkey