Paper Pieced SpoolsWall Hangingby Kelly Nagel

Original Design for Sulky of America

“Paper Pieced Spools Wall Hanging”– 2 –

Project Overview

Fabric:• 4 - Quarter yards of fabric for the spools

• 1 - Fat quarter of white fabric (see cutting instructions)

• 1 - half-yard of grey fabric (This gives enough for the quilt top and the binding.)

• 1 - yard fabric for backing

Thread:• Cotton + Steel 50 Wt. Cotton Thread by Sulky® #753-1001–Bright White and #753-1366 - Greige

• Sulky 30wt cotton Blendables® #733-4061 - Poppy, #733-4087 - Blue Heaven, #733-4052 - Lime Batik and #733-4030 - Vintage Rose

• Sulky Bobbin Thread - White (I use this in the bobbin for the entire quilt process.)

Supplies:• Sulky Paper Solvy®

• Feet for your sewing machine – I used the standard presser foot, quarter-inch foot, and walking foot for this quilt.

• Batting (I used Warm and White®)

• Quilter’s ruler and rotary cutter

• Scissors that can cut paper

• Sulky KK 2000™ Temporary Spray Adhesive• 4 straight pins (really, just 4)

• Fabric marking pen or pencil (I used a FriXion® pen)

• Piece of cardboard - approximately 8-1/2” x 11” - I used the back of a note pad or you can use cardstock.

Downloadble Spool Pattern:Download the PDF spool pattern here.

Cutting Instructions:NOTE – Don’t cut the spool fabric! You will paper piece that and will cut during that process.

CUT:

• 8 – 11-1/2” x 2” strips of the grey fabric

• 16 – 2” squares from the grey fabric

• 1 – 22-1/4” x 2” strip from the grey fabric

NOTE – The rest of the grey is for binding. I cut mine at 2-1/4” strips.

• 8 – 11-1/2” x 2” strips from the white fabric

“Paper Pieced Spools Wall Hanging”– 3 –

Instructions

Step 1Print 4 of the paper-piecing patterns onto Sulky Paper Solvy.

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Instructions - continued

Step 2 Cut the pattern using ‘paper safe’ scissors to separate the two sections.

The top section is numbered with a’s after each number; the bottom section is numbered with b’s after each number. The line that separates the sections has 2 guide marks.

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Step 3Start with section 1a. Turn the Paper Solvy over to the wrong side, and lightly spray KK 2000 in the center of section 1a.

Step 4Place the wrong side of the fabric to that wrong side of the Paper Solvy. Be sure to cover the entire 1a section plus some seam allowance. HINT: Hold it up to a light source to be sure.

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Step 5Take a piece of card stock or thin cardboard (I used the piece of card board that had been the back of a pad of paper); and line it up on the line between 1a and 2a.

Step 6Fold the paper down and make a crease on the line. You will see the wrong side of your fabric underneath. You should see at least a quarter inch of the fabric.

Note:

You aren’t going to sew this first piece down at this time.

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Step 7Take your ruler and line it up along the paper edge at a quarter inch. Cut off the excess fabric with your rotary cutter to give you a nice, straight guideline for the next piece of fabric.

Step 8Leave the paper folded down. With the paper folded down, put another piece of fabric, right sides together, underneath the first piece of fabric. Line up the top edge and be sure the second piece of fabric covers section 2a WHILE IT IS FOLDED DOWN! This really is the key. If the fabric covers plus a quarter inch while the piece is folded down, it will always cover after it is sewn.

“Paper Pieced Spools Wall Hanging”– 8 –

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Step 9Fold the paper back up; hold all the pieces in place, and sew through the Paper Solvy (printed side up) on the line between 1a and 2a.

Step 10After stitching the line, open up the second piece of fabric and marvel at your work and how the fabric perfectly covers the area.

Helpful Hint:

I reduced my stitch length just a little to 2.0, and I used 50 wt. Cotton+Steel Thread

by Sulky for piecing. This combination, along with sewing slowly, allows you to get very accurate stitching.

“Paper Pieced Spools Wall Hanging”– 9 –

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Step 11Continue to stitch both sections the same way, then square up the piece being sure to leave a quarter inch around all four sides.

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Step 12Now, attach the 2 pieces together to make the center of the spool. Grab your 4 pins.

Step 13Put the two sections, fabric right sides together and line up the two guideline marks. Put two of the pins straight through the top at the top of each guideline mark and be sure they are exactly at the guideline marks on the back.

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Step 14Once they are perfect, pin on either side to hold the pieces in place.

Step 15Take out the center pins and pin the rest of the seam.

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Then sew the 2 pieces together. Ta-da! You have your first spool center!

Note:

See where my seam allowance isn’t a full 1/4”. It’s OK! Don’t fret the small stuff.

“Paper Pieced Spools Wall Hanging”– 13 –

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Now it’s time to remove the Paper Solvy!

1. Get a cotton swab and some water 2. Dip the cotton swab in the water

Helpful Hint:

If you plan to wash this quilt, just leave the Paper Solvy in and it will dissolve when you wash the quilt like magic!

3. Run the wet swab on the sewing line 4. The Paper Solvy will dissolve on the stitching line and the rest will lift right out without stressing your stitches!

“Paper Pieced Spools Wall Hanging”– 14 –

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Step 16Paper piece the other 3 spool centers in the same manner. These blocks should measure 9” x 11-1/2” when finished.

Step 17Sew an 11-1/2” x 2” grey strip to either side of each spool center. Set these aside while you prepare the top and bottom of each of the spools,

“Paper Pieced Spools Wall Hanging”– 15 –

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Step 18Take the 2” grey squares and draw a line, corner to corner, down the center of each, on the wrong side of the fabric.

Step 19Lay the grey squares on top each end of the white strips, right sides together with the lines positioned as shown in the picture. Pin these if you would like, or just place them, and hold them as you sew them.

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Step 20Sew on the line that you drew.

Step 21NOTE: You can chain-sew these.

Helpful Hint:

If you go back and sew another line, just over a quarter inch on the outside (the part that will be cut off) of each piece, you will get a bonus half square triangle. Cut between the two stitching lines and each piece will be left with 1/8” seam allowance. This gives you 16 bonus half square triangles to make something small and adorable.

“Paper Pieced Spools Wall Hanging”– 17 –

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Step 22After the sewing, press the seam lines to set the threads into the fabric and then press the grey piece open.

Step 23Sew these strips on the top and bottom of the spools; ensure that the angles are going the right way so it looks like the top and bottom of a spool of thread (See the picture)

Step 24Choose which spools you want next to each other and sew them together.

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Step 25Sew the long grey strip in the center of the spools sets that you just sewed together.

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Step 26Your quilt top is finished!

“Paper Pieced Spools Wall Hanging”– 20 –

Quilting the Top

Step 1Layer the backing fabric (wrong side up), batting, and quilt top (right side up) - and spray-baste together with KK 2000 Temporary Spray Adhesive.

Step 2Audition the threads for the quilting!

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Step 3I did straight line quilting throughout the piece using my walking foot.

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Step 4For the center of the spools, I quilted triangles to create the look of a cross wound spool of thread.

Step 5The outside of the spools, I did simple echo quilting.

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Step 6After quilting, give the quilt a good pressing. All those straight lines have a tendency to cause the quilt to draw in.

Step 7Square up the quilt. Add the binding, and you are done!

Step 8Last step, add a hanging sleeve and enjoy your new wall hanging!

Helpful Hint:

I sew my binding on with 50 wt. Cotton+Steel Thread by Sulky. I use this thread for the machine part and the hand-work part. It is nice and thin, so it makes for more accurate sewing and is easy to use to hand sew the binding on the back.

BONUS PROJECTPaper Pieced Spool Wall Pocket

by Kelly Nagel

“Paper Pieced Spools Wall Hanging”– 24 –

As Seen On The Sulky Blog!

Makes a great wall pocket to hold those essentials, or a really cute holiday stocking!

Uses the same pattern and technique as the spool quilt.

Get Started Today »