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My last Peek-a-Boo I-spy for awhile--pics

16 years ago

This is destined for another ill friend in Japan. She chose the colors of the circles. Thanks to everyone who helped out so I didn't have to use any novelty squares with warm-colored backgrounds. My posting pics has been rewarded: I see that there is one turquoise flap at the top that I haven't stitched down yet!

Front

And back

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Comments (42)

northbound
16 years ago
Wow--love it! That is going to make her feel better for sure!

Sharon C.
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kathi_mdgd
16 years ago
That's Gorgeous,soooooooooooooooo different from the I Spy i made.TFS
Kathi
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Here are the directions I posted in December, when I finished the quilt. As you can see, each circle was separately lined with unbleached muslin, so the edges were already "turned under" and then I machine stitched them down. After finding that the 6" squares I got in swaps weren't quite big enough for the 9" circles, I cut down the template that I used to draw the round stitching line when lining the circles, so it is now 8&7/8" in diameter. My second Peek-a-Boo I-Spy was much easier to make, thanks to that change, and I have changed my original directions in a few places to reflect my experiences. 1. MAKE CIRCLES I lined them with unbleached muslin because it was cheaper and because I rather liked the effect of a bit of white edging peeking out on the rounded spots, but you could line the circles with their own colors: From the backing material, cut out circles (You are going to draw a line for where you stitch, so these do not need to be anywhere near perfect; just make sure they are big enough to take a 8&7/8" circular template and still leave around 1/4" for a seam allowance. Cut the same number of unbleached muslin circles, or--save yourself some trouble, though it wastes material, and just cut rough squares big enough to hold the colored circles you cut out. I used a 28mm Olfa cutter and an Easy Circle Cut "ruler" to cut the circles, having found one at a WalMart, though two local quilting shops didn't sell them. But so long as you make a round template for marking that 8&7/8" stitching line, you don't really need to cut out circles at all until after you stitch the colored "circles" to their linings. Then you trim all around them about 1/8" from the stitching. Before stitching, fold several at a time of the UNBLEACHED circles, or rough squares, in half and make a slit around 1" long right across the fold in the center with your rotary cutter. This will leave slits of about 2". They needn't be neat, as they are only for turning the circles inside-out. Be careful not to make this slit in the COLORED circles, only in their linings! You lay a colored circle on top of each muslin circle or square, check to make sure that there is enough for a 1/4" (at the very least, an 1/8") seam all around--but this seam allowance need not be even, nor do the white and colored circles need to match exactly--pencil around the template on whichever side will show the marking best, pin it if that makes you feel better (I skipped the pinning on my second quilt, and everything was still fine.), and stitch right on the line you marked. Trim the seam to about 1/8". Turn. Use a pointed Japanese chopstick or whatever else is handy to push the sewing line out all around to make a smooth pancake-like circle. DH did a lot of that for me. Iron on both sides. 2. SEW THE CIRCLES TOGETHER Now take a stiff piece of plastic or cardboard that you have cut to approximately 6&1/4" square--maybe a bit more. You want it the right size so that its four corners will just touch the edge of the finished "pancake". I had to fudge a bit on some of them or turn the circles around until I found a position where the square did what I wanted it to. Draw a pencil line all around this square on each of the unbleached muslin sides. Pin circles together with the pins through the penciled lines, AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE HAVING THE POINTS OF THE PENCILED SQUARES EXACTLY MEET EACH OTHER ON THE EDGES OF THE TWO CIRCLES you are sewing together. You will see why this is important when you begin to sew different rows together. If the points don't match up, you will have one circle flap that extends out longer than its neighbor, leaving you with the choice of stitching across the tip of the longer flap, which makes for a less pretty center where the flaps meet, or--much worse--in making sure not to stitch across the too-long point on one flap, you will stitch too far away from the shorter-pointed flap and end up with a little hole between the "squares" that make up the back of your quilt. When you can't make the points match up, I would go for stitching across the tip of the flap that is too long. This sounds confusing, but as soon as you begin putting the circles together and rows or groups of circles together, you will see what I mean. 3. PUTTING THE WHOLE THING TOGETHER When sewing the rows to each other, be careful to put pins right in the stitching line between the circles so that the points of the squares on the back will match up. I messed up a bit on some of them. Then pin along the line where you expect to stitch the rows together, and stitch. You may find that your penciled lines (made along the top of the square template) are no longer a good guide for this stitching. At this stage, ignore them if you have to; just try to stitch straight in such a way that you go exactly across the tips of the lines of stitching where you first sewed the circles in a row to each other. I put six rows together in the beginning, but stitching the flaps down on top of the pictures became a bit of a nuisance when I had to keep turning the quilt around. So for the remainder of it, I did 2 sets of 3 rows each, stitched down all their circle flaps except those that were going to be part of the seam when I joined these rows to others, and after that, put the whole thing together. I found that even when I joined 3 rows to the last 3 rows and then sewed those 6 rows to the previously-completed 6 rows, stitching down the last flaps in the middle was not too hard. If it had been a queen-sized quilt or something, though, I might have had trouble with the small opening in my old Kenmore. 4. INSERTING THE PICTURE SQUARES I used 6" squares I got from a couple of swaps. So long as your circles and penciled squares and the way you stitched them together is perfect, this size will be no problem. If, however, like me, you end up with some flaps that don't meet perfectly at the corners of the pictures and leave a bit of the unbleached muslin showing, you will have to fudge and use indelible colored pens to cover it up. Probably 6&1/8" or 6&1/4" squares would be ideal. But if the squares fit the space in the center of the circles too perfectly, then you have the problem of their corners tending to stick up here and there at the point where two flaps come together. That is why I made a 6&1/4" square template to mark the lines for sewing circles together, although the fabric squares are only 6". When you have put several rows of circles together, insert squares of low-loft batting (I used polyester) cut just a bit smaller than the pictures. Put the batting right over the slit (which I don't bother to sew up) in the circle lining and position the I-Spy square over it. If you realize that any particular corner is likely to have exposed lining because the circle flaps don't meet correctly, then try to make sure that in THAT corner, the I-Spy square covers all the lining. Pin the 4 circle flaps down over each picture square; I used those bent quilting safety pins for this and they were great. One pin per flap will do the job. Machine stitch along the curved edge of each flap, then stitch an "X" right across the picture, from corner to corner. I did not draw lines for this, and maybe I should have, but if I ever make this quilt again, I probably still won't draw lines. Enough is enough!! "Done is better than perfect," and all that. I hope this explanation will help anyone interested in making one of these quilts. At first making the circles was so boring that I thought I'd never do it again, but putting in the pictures and sewing the flaps down was fun and I did do it again recently. Besides, when you have put the rows together and sewed the flaps, you're ALL DONE! No more quilting to do; no binding to put on! So have fun!
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toolgranny
16 years ago
What a wonderful job you did. I just love it. She's so lucky to have you.
Linda
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geezerfolks_SharonG_FL
16 years ago
Jan, You're the Peek-a-Boo I-Spy queen!!!!!! Excellent!

SharonG/FL
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coalaska
16 years ago
Jan, that's so beautiful. Great, great job.

Cheryl
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easystitches
16 years ago
How cool! She will love it! Jill
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sewsew_quiltr
16 years ago
So fun to see a few of my blue & green squares in your project, and to recognize plenty from our recent I-Spy swaps. As I look at your blocks I find myself saying OOOHHH!! I have that one too! I'm amazed at your speed in putting this quilt together. You are truly a power quilter! Your friends and family are extremely lucky to have the benefit of your wonderful work. I'm inspired to do a peek-a-boo myself now, the QAYG process really appeals to me. - Cathy
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love2sew
16 years ago
Yes, you are the queen of I Spy quilts! We delight in seeing each one and I am sure your friend will be delight too.
Jean
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minnie_tx
16 years ago
I love it and love the way the squares connect.
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minnie_tx
16 years ago
I love the front - can you post a closeup of several of the squares connecting? TIA
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nana24
16 years ago
So nice. You are a wonderful friend!
This pattern intrigues me; maybe someday.

TFS
Sally
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redpenny
16 years ago
She will love it!Great quilt and quilting!
Red
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janice__indiana5
16 years ago
I love your Peek a Boo quilts! I think I might use this idea when I get ready to use my eye spy swap squares. When the time comes, you can sure bet I will have lots of questions for you! Thanks for sharing!

Janice
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minnie_tx
16 years ago
This time when I looked all the circles stood out to me. Before I was just seeing the little pillows. I love it.
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minnie_tx
16 years ago
And I love quilts that have FEET!!
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gerizone5
16 years ago
That is one beautiful quilt. How long did it take? Looks like lots of work. You did a great job.

Geri
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geezerfolks_SharonG_FL
16 years ago
Minnie, lololol You think we can talk Jan into giving a class on how to make a small Peek-a-Boo quilt with feet? @:)

SharonG/FL
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maryliz
16 years ago
What a cozy, attractive quilt! You are so nice to make that for a friend. That will certainly cheer her up. The diagonal bands of color give it a very nice look.
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agnesd
16 years ago
Adorable!! What pattern is that?
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minnie_tx
16 years ago
"The diagonal bands of color give it a very nice look." MaryLiz now I had to go back and check out the diagonal bands of color.

Such an intriguing quilt.
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teresa_nc7
16 years ago
Great quilt! I'm almost tempted to try an I Spy using this method....maybe in the future.
Teresa
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biwako_of_abi
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for the encouragement, all.
Minnie: I hope these will do. As you will note, not all the intersections are perfect! In some, there is a bit of overlap of the points on the flaps, and in others, there is a gap that shows the corner portion of a novelty square too much. I hate that last kind of mistake the most. As for the overlapping, there is a fine line between getting overlap and trying so hard to avoid it that instead you get a tiny hole where the 4 corners come together. But it doesn't pay to be too nervous about this sort of quilt, and the interest of the pictures seems to take people's eyes away from the oops spots.

LOL, I got a bad shock when I previewed this message for the first time. I had put the code for the two pictures one right below the other, so GW pasted them together and it looked as if, at the bottom of one and the top of the other, the seam was so wide that the points of the flaps were completely cut off. I couldn't imagine how I had missed that and rushed to check the quilt; but of course, those were just the edges where I had cropped the picture. (When you are getting on in years, you can believe that you have done something stupid without noticing it. In this case, even the panicking was stupid because I should have noticed that the colors of adjacent circles were the same.)
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sew_self-taught
16 years ago
It is so beautiful! And fascinating to look at too. I hope your ill friend will soon be feeling better.

Nina
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fran1523
16 years ago
That is a real treasure. Beautiful work and very unique.
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day2day
16 years ago
An interesting design. I like it. I've seen instructions for the peek-a-boo pattern somewhere. Was it on this forum? I would like to try it. Could you point me in the right direction,Jan? Great job. TFS.
Geraldine
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cannahavana
16 years ago
Hi Jan~ I love those cool colors! I have saved your pics in my inspiration folder. I would love to make one some day.

Rebecca
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geezerfolks_SharonG_FL
16 years ago
Geraldine, Here's a link to what they call Circle Patchwork directions that I've had for a long time.

Here's another one for using jeans and the circle is not doubled.

http://www.equilters.com/library/jeans/jeans_gallbaros.html

For those of you who have access to jeans, this is a neat way to recyle them....would be great for college.......

Here is a link that might be useful: Circle Patchwork
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day2day
16 years ago
Thanx,Geezerfolks. Also thank you to Jan( biwako of abi) got your message,Jan.
Geraldine
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rosajoe_gw
16 years ago
Thanks for the site too!!! I love it Jan I still have plans to make and eye spy one day.
Rosa
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kathryni
16 years ago
What a beautiful quilt! I'm sure your friend will really enjoy it. Kay
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nanajayne
16 years ago
I have a question, do you use a sq. of batting behind the patterned sq.? I would think it would be a little lite wt. with just cotton. Jayne
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biwako_of_abi
Original Author
16 years ago
Nanajayne: Yes, I do. I use a square of low-loft polyester batting that is smaller than the 6" novelty square, but still big enough so that the stitching around the flaps catches it and holds it. That way I don't have to stitch across the novelty squares and possibly detract from the pictures. On my first one or two of these quilts, I did stitch an X across them, but now I use Roxanne's Glue Baste It to hold the batting squares to the novelty squares, the novelty squares inside the circles, and the flaps down on the squares. No pinning necessary and no shifting of the batting. It's been wonderful!
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marty_mo
16 years ago
I love it ~ it's so cheery!! A job well done. Many happy and healthy thoughts to your friend.

Marty
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minnie_tx
16 years ago
Just got back to the thread.

WOW!!Thanks for posting those close-ups!!
Stunning and no need to apologize for the intersections. As far as I'm concerned they look pretty perfect!!

Thanks again!
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nanajayne
16 years ago
Thank you for the information. I think I am going to put the technique on my to do list. I am not sure I would have enough novelity fabrics to do one but I think it would be an interesting way to show different patterns. I wish I could be as talented as you are. I agree it looks great to me. Jayne
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biwako_of_abi
Original Author
16 years ago
Jayne: What you need is an I-Spy swap! You could propose one. It's a great way to get more squares for little money. I think we did 2 or more such swaps one year.
Thanks for the nice words!
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geezerfolks_SharonG_FL
16 years ago
Jan, Do you use a circle cutter? I've been thinking about getting one.....

SharonG/FL
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biwako_of_abi
Original Author
16 years ago
Sharon: I don't know about any other kinds of cutters, but the ruler with all the slits cut in it so you can use a rotary cutter is, IMHO, a waste of time. I used it for my first Peek-a-Boo, but it doesn't cut perfect circles. You have to be awfully careful about where you place it on the fold, since the slits are only for a 1/2 circle. And then the slightest difference in the distance of the cutter from the edges of the slits throws the circle off.

I was cutting out all the circles and then trying to sew 1/4" from their edges. Well, first of all, the lining circles and the colored circles wouldn't match up properly. There was no way to be sure my circles were accurate so that they could be joined in rows and the while quilt put together so that the intersections of seams would match up.
It was a nightmare. I was so glad when I got the idea of making a template and penciling circles in and stitching on those lines and cutting out afterwards.

Now, although it wastes a bit of material, I rip out squares of the right size, pencil the circles for sewing, and trim the seams later. It is heaps faster.

Can anyone say if there is some other sort of quilt where having a circle cutter is worth it?
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geezerfolks_SharonG_FL
16 years ago
Jan, Sewing circles on the squares then trimming sounds like the way to go! Would be easier sewing, too. Thanks for the info.....

SharonG/FL
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nanajayne
16 years ago
Thank you for the info. I really like the idea of sewing on the line. I have done it with an applique techique but would never have thought of it for this. I have never participated in a swap and I am not sure I understand the details. Jayne
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FlamingO in AR
16 years ago
You are such a perfectionist, I don't care what you say, it's perfect to me! I just love your quilts, Biwako.
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biwako_of_abi
Original Author
16 years ago
Jayne: Swaps are really fun. The first one I participated in was an I-Spy swap. Here is a link to a thread that I started when I was hoping someone would do another swap: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/quilt/msg0614130616877.html

I will also give a link to some directions that were once posted for a swap, so you can see how it works.

All you have to do is post a thread asking if anyone is interested, and you may find that quite a few are. If you decide to host the swap, it means posting directions like Crafteedee's and laying out everyone's offerings on a large surface or the floor (bad for people with back trouble!) and moving the squares around so no one gets her own back and everyone gets the same number of squares that she sent in. People would help with suggestions as to the best way to do it. They may still be in the archives somewhere here. I really enjoyed hosting, the one time I did it, but it took hours to complete it. Fortunately DH was out of town and I could stay up really late.

Here is a link that might be useful: Crafteedee's directions for an I-Spy swap
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