A Fabulous Quilt-a-Long from OLFA!

May 20, 2019
Good Morning, Quilters!

Today we will be joining the OLFA quilt-a-long celebrating the 40th anniversary of the rotary cutter, but first…

Welcome to all of the new quilters who have joined us in the last few weeks and those joining us from OLFA ! We are delighted you are here at Lori Kennedy Quilts!   LKQ is dedicated to bringing you all the best information about quilting with an emphasis on free motion machine quilting. There’s more about us here and be sure to check out the motif tutorial page!   Our newsletter sign up is in the sidebar!

Quilting Quiz

I don’t normally challenge new friends with a quiz, but today I thought a quick, Monday quiz would be fun!

True or False
  1. Early quilters traced cardboard templates and used scissors to cut each quilt piece.
  2. The rotary cutter was invented in 1959.
  3. The rotary cutter revolutionized quilting!
  4. OLFA means “quick cut” in Japanese.
Answers
  1. True. Early quilters used cardboard templates to trace and cut out each quilt piece with scissors. The templates were prone to distortion because of all the wear and were highly inaccurate!
  2. False. Yoshio Okado invented the rotary cutter in 1979. (How many of us were quilting before then?!)
  3. Absolutely true! The rotary cutter took the drudgery out of cutting quilt blocks and at the same time increased the accuracy of cutting multiple layers of fabric. I wonder how many quilters there would be today if every block had to be cut with scissors!
  4. False. OLFA is translated from two Japanese words and means “to break a blade”.  In 1956 the OLFA company created a revolutionary snap-off blade cutter.
My OLFA Garden Block

To celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the rotary cutter, OLFA decided to make a quilt. They asked several designers to create a block using OLFA cutters as the inspiration.

Those of you who have followed LKQ for awhile know, I LOVE flowers–so immediately I “saw” flowers!

Rotary cutter "flowers"
My OLFA Garden Block

My block  incorporates the fun new colors of the OLFA Splash rotary cutters in a cheerful floral design.

(Botanical name: Olfa whimsicalis)

Download the directions from the OLFA blog.

Find general directions for the quilt-a-long and learn how to post YOUR photos on the OLFA blog.

My OLFA Garden Block, Lori Kennedy
Tips for Stitching

I recommend cutting the background block slightly large-6-3/4″ and trimming after the applique is complete. This method allows for shrinkage that often occurs with applique.

You can easily resize this pattern to create a much larger block or simplify it by stitching just one flower.

Be sure add light batting under the large circles before applique.  This step really gives the block “POP!”

Small floral quilt
A Free Motion, Raw Edge Quilt

You might also like a raw-edge applique project I created last year for OLFA. This project incorporated free motion quilting over the raw-edge shapes to create a quick little quilt.  Find more tips for this project HERE

OLFA rotary cutters and scissors

Quilt-a-longs

Quilt-a-longs are fun and a great way to learn new techniques from a variety of quilters.  Be sure to check the OLFA website for more FREE blocks.

If  you love free motion quilting, we have an all-new quilt-a-long coming in August!

OLFA cutters and small applique quilt
A Few of My Favorite OLFA Supples

OLFA Splash Rotary Cutters

Endurance Rotary Blades

Serrated Scissors 

Foldable Cutting Mat

What’s In YOUR Quilted Garden?

Have YOU started the OLFA quilt-a-long?

Did YOU ever quilt without a rotary cutter?

Do YOU still have your first rotary cutter?

What’s YOUR favorite OLFA color?

We’d LOVE to hear!

Happy Whimsical Gardening!

YOUR quilt-garden elf,

Lorith

PS…This post contains affiliate links. If you choose to purchase–at no additional cost to you–I may receive a little “pin-money”.  Thank you for supporting LKQ in this way!

PPS…All tutorials, images and information are the property of Lori Kennedy Quilts and are intended for personal use only.  Feel free to re-blog, pin or share with attribution to LKQ.  For all other purposes, please contact me at Lori@LoriKennedyQuilts.com.  Thanks!

 

 

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