Scrap Busting with Log Cabins!

I made a bit of a mess today and I liked it!

I pulled out my bin of 1.5" scrap strips and decided to do some sewing since I felt like sewing something but I didn't really know what to work on.

 

You can see how I arrange my strips.  I use those plastic shoe storage containers to arrange my scraps.  In this bin I separate them by light and dark and I put my little 1.5" red squares into a different container.

People ask me if I deal with my scraps right away or save them up.  I used to leave them and then deal with them at one time.  Now, however, I deal with them right away!  If I have potential strips I pull out my Go! cutter and 1.5" strip cutter and cut them down to size, put them into their bin, and put the bin away.

 

Here's the bin all nice and neat and easy to put away and easy to get out and work with.  If I take a few minutes at the time to deal with the bits it saves me a huge amount of time later.  I learned this lesson pretty quickly after I got my Go! and I spent a lot of time processing my scraps with my 2.5" strip cutter and my 2" square die.  Remember this mess a year ago? Nope - not doing that again!

 

The other thing I do is cut scraps directly into 2" squares for my leaders and enders which I love doing projects with!  Again, these get cut immediately after I am done with the fabric.  I learned that lesson too.  I have my Christmas scraps separated out from my regular ones and I do projects out of these periodically too.  Not sure what leaders and enders are?  You can check out my videos:

Leaders and Enders part 1

Leaders and Enders part 2

 Ok, so what am I going to do with the log cabin blocks???  I'm not sure yet :-D  I think that's why I like them so much.  You can do so many fun things with them. 

 

Like this!

 

Or like this!

I'm putting the blocks into the bin and will tackle them another day.  I'm log cabined out for now.

I FInished the Twister Baby Quilt!

 

Here it is!  All finished and I really like it.  I don't want to give it away - but what would I do with a baby quilt?  If you're looking for the tutorial on how to make this easy Twister baby quilt you can find it here.  I quilted this quilt using a 40 weight YLI variegated thread in a stars and loops pattern in the border and the middle.  And I used a 50 weight white thread in the white areas using a meander and loop pattern. 

 

Here's the back!  Isn't that a great fabric?  I have had this in my stash for YEARS now and I finally found a quilt to use it on.  I just love all the wizards!  It is an old South Seas Imports flannel print.

 

I think the backing really compliments the fabrics on the front.  The colours and stars in the feature fabrics look great when combined with the wizards on the back.  

But, I love that backing fabric so much I don't want to give it away!  I can keep it right?  To keep my knees warm maybe?

QR Code Quilt!

Go ahead and give it a scan - you know you want to!

 

Cool huh?  It really works!  This is a QR Code quilt that will take you right here to my blog if you scan it with a phone that has a QR Code scanner.  

First I had to generate a QR Code for my blog so I found an online generator and got a code.  I printed this out and figured out a plan for the quilt.

I saw several of these on various blogs and thought that it looked like a fun project.  Most of the ones that I saw were pure black and white quilts but I wanted to use my black and white prints and I wanted it to still scan so I chose the darkest of my black and white prints.  I also pulled out all the scraps of white fabrics I had.

 

 

I pulled out my Accuquilt Go! cutter and my 2" square die (my fav!) and started cutting.   Since a QR Code is a 25 x 25 grid I needed 600 2" squares so I was very happy I had the die for this!  I cut up all my white scraps and my black and white prints in just a few minutes.

Next came the laying out process - this took a long time but it needed to be perfect or the code won't work!  It wasn't hard to do it just took a while ;-)

Next, I sewed the squares all together and held my breathe while I scanned the top with my Blackberry - yey it worked!

At first I tried to put a red border around the quilt but the red interfered with the QR Code scanner on my Blackberry.  Apparently the red will work on Iphones but I couldn't test this.  So, I pulled the red border off and just put a little 2" white border around it.

I used a white batting for this quilt so that an off-white wouldn't show through.  I quilted the quilt using a 50 weight thread top and bobbin.  And, I was lucky enough to have just enough black binding already made that was left-over from a previous project - yey!

So, does the quilt scan for you?

Barn Quilt Design Contest!

Hey everyone!  This is a great contest that I think everyone should check out and enter - so I thought that I would share the info here!

This Friday, March 16th, AccuQuilt will launch the 3rd Annual Barn Quilt Contest, and we wanted to give you an early start!
We will select one lucky Grand Prize winner to receive a prize package worth $3,450 which includes a $1,000 AccuQuilt Shopping Spree along with a trip for two to Omaha, NE to visit AccuQuilt's new headquarters for the public unveiling of the winning barn quilt design. You also receive two tickets to one of the Let's GO! Quilt Retreats for you and a friend. The Runner Up winner will receive a prize package worth $550, which includes a $250 AccuQuilt Shopping Spree and one ticket to one of the Let's GO! retreats. The winning designs will be proudly displayed on AccuQuilt's new home office. Plus, the Top 100 blocks chosen for the final judging will each receive $25 in AccuQuilt Rewards Points.

Key Dates to Remember
o Contest Entry Dates: March 16th – April 9th
o Winner Announcement: AQS Quilt Show & Contest in Paducah, KY (April 25-28) by quilting celebrity, Ricky Tims
o Unveiling Date: June 22nd, with a special presentation by quilting icon and TV personality, Alex Anderson

How to Enter:
No purchase necessary to enter, entries submitted via the "Submit Your Entry" button on the AccuQuilt
We can't wait to see your beautiful blocks. Good Luck!

You just need to design the block!  Cool huh?!

Good Luck everyone!

Look What I Found!

A box of goodies stuff!

I found this bin on a shelf and opened it and look at all the stuff that was inside!

 

A rug hooking canvas, a whole bunch of various scraps, some small rag quilt blocks and an applique project - WOW!

 

That was just the top.  Then I uncovered some half poinsettia blocks with lots of red half square triangle (HST).

 

Here is a partially pieced and traced Pineneedles Designs project.

 

And, a Zip-Lock bag full of Oriental 2" squares and 4" squares!  Wowzers! I'm not really sure what I had planned for these.  I was thinking of making another scrappy spool illusions quilt with them but the 4" squares don't quite fit on my 3" finished HST die :-(  If I do that I'll have to do my HST the traditional way :-(  Or - brain-wave - I could cut them all into 3.5" squares!  I have the die for that!  Hmm, I don't know - any ideas?

I remember doing all of these things but I forgot where I put them!  Guess I found out!  See, this is why I don't like to put things away.  I lose them when I put them away because I forget where I put them.

I cut all the scraps into 2" squares for leaders and enders - so that's done.  I'm not sure what to do with the rest of it though.  The orientals look really nice together - hmmm.  The applique project I might comeback to in the summer when I can sit outside and hand-cut.  I have no idea what to do with all the Christmas HSTs though.

Some-days maybe it is better to leave the box closed LOL!

I wanted to share this with all of you!

AccuQuilt and TheQuiltShow.com have teamed up to give you the ultimate experience for International Quilt Day! 

Join us March 16-18, 2012 as we celebrate all things quilting!

 

*Visit TheQuiltShow.com community for FREE and watch more than 100 shows hosted by Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims featuring the Top Quilting Teachers in the world

*Explore classrooms, unique tutorials, inspiring slideshows, and much more

*Enter the contest to win amazing prizes from companies you know and love—here a sampling of the prizes you can win:

• A BERNINA 550 sewing machine (yes! a new machine!)
• Gammill's Deluxe Chair—perfect for sewing at any machine
• Fantastic assortment of books from AQS Publishing, plus a 1-year membership to American Quilter's Society
• A selection of inspiring quilting books from C&T Publishing
• AccuQuilt's GO! Baby die cutting machine, GO! Value Die, GO! Birds die, and a 6x12 Cutting Mat 
• Bundle of 41 fat quarters from Ricky's Blended Solids collection, compliments of Red Rooster
• Box of silk threads from Superior Threads
• One of five DVDs from Why Quilts Matter
• One of five Stitched: The Movie DVDs

Plus, you'll have exclusive access to an episode of Why Quilts Matter, Stitched: The Movie, and many other sources of excitement and creativity in The Quilt Show community. Simply click here to get started. Enjoy, and we look forward to celebrating with you!

 

Pretty cool huh!??  I know that I'll be checking it out!

Scrappy Spool Illusions is Finished!

I decided to pull out my latest leaders and enders project and load it onto my machine quilting frame!

 

I love the way that it turned out!  I love the way that the pin-wheels and 16-patches look like spools set on-point.  I also love that it is scrappy!  And, that it is out of my stash.

 

Here is a close-up of the quilt on my frame while I was quilting it.  I did a very loose spiral quilting pattern that I free-motion quilted using a 50 weight thread top and matching bobbin.  I wanted the quilting to be looser so that the quilt wouldn't be stiff.

 

Several people on my Facebook page asked how the quilt was put together or for a pattern so I will do my best to break it down here.  You can see that the quilt is formed from pin-wheels - 15 going one direction and 16 going the other.  Can you see how the alternating pin-wheels form a line and become the tops and bottoms of the spools?  The other block is a 16-patch of alternating colour and white.  The pin-wheel directions alternate rows - one row goes one way the next row the other way.

Now, this is the important part - see in the picture how the white of the 16-patch touches the white of the pin-wheel?  And, the colour of the 16-patch corner touches the colour of the pin-wheel - does that make sense?  If you flip the blocks you won't get the spool illusion.

OK now here are the details ;-)

You will need 

32 - 16-patches each containing 8 white squares and 8 coloured squares

     so 256 @ 2" cut white squares and 256 @ 2" coloured squares

(I cut my white squares before I had my Go!  But, you can absolutely use die #55022 to cut allll of those 2" squares - luckily all the coloured 2" squares were cut with my Go!)

31-  pin-wheels all together so you will need 62 sets of half-square-triangles (HST)

You can do your HST following your favorite method.  If you are doing your HST by drawing a line and sewing up each side etc you will need to start with 62 white squares cut at 4" and 62 coloured squares cut at 4"

If you are using a Go! you can use die #55009 Half square - 3" Finished Triangle or die E from the mix and match set and cut 62 sets of HST.

All the pin-wheels and 16-patches should come out to 6.5" square unfinished.

Then pay attention to layout and alternate the pinwheels every row.  Make sure that you lay out your quilt blocks first!  If you don't you might end up with a mess like I did and have to rip it all out :-(

I hope that you enjoy the quilt and if you make one please share it on my Facebook page so that we can all enjoy it!

Any questions?  Please feel free to leave them here :-D

Another Tumbler

A friend of mine made this tumbler quilt after seeing mine.  We both had purchased the same big block quilt kit (ie 10 quarter meters of fabric) probably 7 years ago and they sat in our stash   I made mine into a tumbler quilt and she liked it so much that she made hers into a tumbler too!  I had purchased two of the kits - yes two so my quilt is larger.

 

Notice the smaller tumblers around the edge?  How cute are they?  This is a great way to use up the remainder of the 10" strips  from cutting the large tumbler.  I think it is lovely.

I quilted it in a 40 weight YLI variegated cotton thread that worked wonderfully with the colours of the quilt.  I love this thread - it didn't break once while quilting and the colours are just wonderful.

Just thought that I would share!

Happy Quilting!

Easy Baby Quilt with the Large Twister Ruler

 

Here it is!  The tutorial that I have been promising for a while now.  If you have been reading my blog you know that I really <3 the Twister rulers.  I think that they are so cool and fun to use.  I also teach classes on how to use the Twister rulers.  One of the examples I show is a baby quilt that I created using the large Twister ruler - and my participants have been asking for a pattern - so here it is!

 

 

First, you will need to sew together a large 9-patch using 5 squares, cut 10", of one fabric and 4 squares, cut 10", of a second fabric.  Sew 6.5" (or 6" if you cut tight) borders onto this 9-patch.  

So far so good?

 

Here's where the fun starts!  Grab your large Twister ruler and start to cut the top apart again!  Twist each of the blocks a quarter turn to line up the outer edges and sew them all back together again - but make SURE that you keep everything in order or you won't get the nice inter-locking pin-wheels.

 

Here it is all sewn back together again!  Super cute!

 

Add a 1.5" cut first border - I used the yellow print.  Next, add a 4.5" cut border.  this will make your quilt top approximately 39" - 40" square.  This is my preferred size of baby quilt that I make.  It's large enough to be useful but small enough that you can still carry them around.

I love this pattern because, although it looks complicated and difficult to make, it is actually very simple and very quick to make!  Now I just need to quilt it.

 

 

This is the only negative to the Twister rulers - there is quite a bit of waste.  However, I just grabbed my 3.5" half square triangle (HST) die for my Go! cutter and cut up those off-white bits. I'm combining them with kiddie-print scraps to make a scrappy preemie quilt top - easy and very cute.  The other squares are approximately 5" so I think that I will make them into a smaller 9-patch and add some borders to make another preemie quilt top.  So, even though there is waste, the pieces are large enough that you can do something great with them.

So, what do you think?  Do you like my Twister baby quilt?  If you make one I hope that you will share a picture here or on my facebook page.

Happy Quilting!

This is What I Was Going For!

Ta Da!

This is what I was going for!  It makes a really neat optical illusion when everything is placed correctly.

 

Many of you thought that the bottom row of pinwheels was incorrect; but, they were actually correct.  Every first row has the pin-wheels going one way; and, every second row has the pinwheels going the other way.  However, every first row SHOULD have had the 16-patches rotated a quarter turn so that the whites matched up and the colours matched up.  Now that is not to say that you couldn't have it the other way - with the colour to the white and the whit to the colour - but I really wanted it to "float" like this.  What do you think?  Do you like it?  I think that the other way would be really nice too (hmm maybe another leaders and enders project??) but I really like how the HST and the squares kind of look like spools this way.  Tilt your head when you look at the picture and maybe you'll see what I mean.

6 of you guessed correctly that it was the 16-patches that were out of place.  Most of you thought that I was going for the other setting though and not this one but that's ok!  The pattern was in my head.  So using a random number generator I pulled #2!!

haddie has left a new comment on your post "A Request and a Challenge!":

well I say Nothing Because if your consistent in the mistake then maybe it was meant to be!.. But if I had to guess the 16 patch should be turned so the one white square does not end up in the middle of the White triangles... Lovely work!!! Leaders and enders? And I also try to only buy Cnd as the shipping is horrible. 

Haddie you are the winner!!!  Congratulations!

And on another note I thought that I would share with you the outcome of the crazy shipping quote!  I contacted the designer and quoted the shipping charge to her and she was shocked!  She had no idea that her shipping charge to Canada was coming up like that and immediately worked to change it.  She was absolutely lovely in her e-mails to me and thanked me for letting her know.  Needless to say I have now ordered the pattern I wanted and have paid a much more reasonable $3.45 shipping charge.  

All's well that ends well!

So, my Canadian friends, when you get a crazy quote like that please DO let the company know - they might not be aware that something like this is occurring!  And, my US pattern/template/product designers/sellers, please check your shipping costs to Canada because you might just be losing business if your shipping charges are outrageous!

It's great when everything works out in the end isn't it?

A Request and a Challenge!

Hey all!

I have a little request for retailers in the USA.  I'm a Canadian, as most of you know, and a quilter.  I do try to purchase things from the US via the mail and I have to say that a lot of US retailers make it hard on your northern neighbors :-(  Today I wanted to purchase a really cute pattern from a small US company.  The pattern cost was $9.00.  I went ahead and put it in my shopping cart and filled in my information and pressed check out.  This is the total I got including shipping (I copied and pasted it here):

Order Summary

1	XXXXXXX pattern	$9.00
Subtotal		$9.00
Shipping (Priority Mail International® Flat Rate)		$32.95
Tax		$0.00
Order Total		$41.95

Billing Information

Katrina Chapman
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Canada

 I've blanked out the company and the pattern name etc for privacy reasons but I just wanted to call your attention to the fact that my shipping cost for 1 (as in one) single pattern was $32.95!!!!!!!!!!!!  No other shipping options were listed.  I sent an e-mail off to the company notifying them of this outrageous shipping charge and I hope to hear back from them about it.

This is not the first time this has happened to me.  A while ago I wanted to purchase a template that was $5.00 on the website.  The shipping for one small template was quoted to me as $15.00.  Needless to say I didn't purchase the template.  Another time it was a self-published $20.00 book that the shipping quote came up as $48.00.  I just don't believe that shipping should double, triple and quadruple the cost of the item itself.

Why am I writing this?  Because if you have a small pattern writing company or product company you may be losing a lot of potential sales to customers in other countries because of crazy shipping quotes.  How many other non-US customers took a look at the pattern/template/book loved it and wanted to buy it and saw the shipping amount and simply did not purchase and did not notify the company directly.  I'd say most of them - probably.  So for everyone's sake make sure that your shipping costs are accurate or that you have us mail you for a quote if you that isn't feasible.

Alrighty!  Off of my soapbox LOL!!!

Here's my challenge to you!

Can you see the mistake I made in this quilt top?  Here's a hint - I was consistent in this mistake.  I have now ripped the top apart and have re-pieced it but I thought it might be fun to see if you can spot the mistake. 

 

All the correct answers will put into a hat and a winner will be drawn for a a little prize from me!  now don't cheat and look at the replies before you guess!!

Have fun!

Winding Ways

I decided to play a bit today!

I got out a die that I have never used before, The Winding Ways die, and I pulled out some red and cream fat quarters I've had sitting around for a while.  I thought about making the pattern that came with the die but I really didn't like the way that the two prints worked together so I pulled out this cream print instead and I think I like it.

What do you think?  Maybe the lighter print in the middle with the darker red around the outside as a border?  I think I might just have to get cutting up the cream print and piece the blocks and decide later.  Sometimes I really like to work like that - just decide as I go along instead of pre-planning everything - it can be fun.  It can be frustrating too LOL!  But, it can be fun.

That said - if you'd like 22 free patterns from Accuquilt you can grab them here!

So are you a planner or do you decide as you go along?

I'm Back!

I'm Back!  

Did you miss me?  If you belong to my Facebook page I announced that I was going to Cuba for a week with family - and we had a great time!  Great music, great food, great people - what could be better??  Oh ya, I got to go swimming with dolphins!!  Yey - that was so much fun!

 

Aren't they cute??! I just loved the whole week but this was a highlight for me so I thought that I would share.  I will definitely be going back to Cuba again - it was just the nicest tropical vacation I have ever had.

 

Before I left, I managed to get this quilt completely finished and bound and onto our bed.  It only took from 2007 to 2012 to finish from start to finish LOL.  Ok I DID put it away from 2007 to 2011 so some of those years don't really count right?

I just thought that I would check in with you all and let you know that I am still around and that I am back safe and sound from my Cuban vacation.

Happy Quilting All!

My Latest Rag Quilt!

I just finished this the other night but I had to wait for good weather to photograph this.  This is my latest rag quilt and I just love it!  I've had these flannel-tiks in my stash for YEARS now and I was so happy to turn them into something so cuddly!  This quilt has already been claimed by my youngest son he slept with it last night.

 

This quilt was all cut with my Accuquilt Go! 8.5" rag die so the fringe is cut before you even piece it together - yey!!  I love this die - it is one of the reasons I bought the Go!  Some people tell me that they don't like rag quilts - and frankly - I just don't get that.  Here in Canada we can have some fairly cold winters and there is nothing better than a rag quilt to snuggle with.  This one is very warm since I used 6.5" squares of batting in the middle instead of an extra layer of flannel.  I love the heaviness of it.  So cuddly.

I did something a little bit different in this quilt.  I free-motion quilted it in a meander pattern.  Why?  Well, two reasons.  One, I am tired of the X!  Two, sometimes the batting will sag in the middle of the blocks if you don't catch it into the fringe so by doing a meander the batting will stay put.  Plus, if you are new to free-motion quilting these are excellent little squares to practice on!!  Flannel is so forgiving and helps hide uneven stitches ;-)

 

Isn't the back cool??

This was my husband's suggestion.  I was going to do a very geometric trip around the world sort of pattern; but, he suggested a gradient and I LOVE it!  I love how the red/orange is slowly progressing into the green.  It's like a fire spreading.  Now go back and look at the first picture again and you can see how the reds and oranges come through to the front.  I really like the effect.

All these fabrics were in my stash for so many years it is just so good to see them turn into something.  All the batting squares were left-overs off the sides of projects and when I was finished I didn't have any batting left in the house!  Rag quilts have to be my favorite use for batting left-overs.

Now where did that rag quilt go?  Oh there it is - my son came home from school and snapped it up!

Using the Scraps From the Lil' Twister Ruler

Hi all!

I teach how to use the Lil' Twister ruler frequently (because I seriously <3 this ruler) and the most frequent question I get is - what do I do with the waste?  So, since I was piecing a new store sample yesterday I thought that I would share with you all what I do with mine.

 

The Twister ruler is really cool - you can make interlocking pin-wheels easily from a straight set of blocks with a border.  You can see the twister ruler on the bottom with a couple of cut blocks.

 

Once the twister is cut and re-pieced there is waste from the sides and from the center of each block.  Luckily I have my Accuquilt Go! cutter - but you can do this with a rotary cutter as well - don't worry!

 

The waste from the center of each block fits wonderfully on my 2" square die (you all know how I love my 2" squares).  So, I just load up the die with over-lapping scrap squares.

 

And, run it through my cutter.

After that, I sort out the little bits of scraps and toss them.  What's left is a bunch of 2" squares - yey!

 

Next I take the border scrap pieces and use my 1.5" finished half square triangle (HST) die.  These pieces won't fit on the 2" square die so the HST die comes in very handy.  I think these might also fit on the 2" finished HST die too; but, the 1.5" HST die and the 2" square die work perfectly together.

 

Once you have a bunch of these scraps, you ca,n either save them for a leaders and enders project, or, just start piecing away!  I am going to do a scrap split nine-patch project with mine.  Here are the scraps laid out and ready to be pieced.

 

And here they all are sewn together.  I think that maybe a couple hundred or so more of these and I would have a really neat quilt!  Obviously there is a lot of different things you could do with squares and HST but I've always been so attracted to the split nine-patch.

I thought that I might share this tip here since so many people wonder what to do with the scraps from the Lil' Twister ruler.  Do you have any other suggestions for things to do with these scraps?  I'd love to hear them.

Happy Quilting!

Hurry Up and Wait!

Happy New Years Everyone!

Well I did something New Years Day that I've wanted to do for years but kept forgetting to do!

Every year Planet Patchwork hosts a new years day mystery quilt and I've been wanting to do it for years now - but, somehow I would usually forget.  Well, this New years morning I woke up, and, since I "like" Planet Patchwork on Facebook the start of the mystery quilt came up on my Facebook feed.  I thought that it was an omen or something like that and I immediately started hunting through my stash to find the fabrics for the yardage requirements.  

Since one of my New Years resolutions is to use my stash as much as possible, I dug into my Asian prints bin and found the 23 fabrics required and set to work! I made my choices quickly since I was already a bit behind in the pre-cutting - I just went with my gut and initial impressions.  

I followed along with the clues and worked for most of the day and voila!  I had a finished quilt top!  It was really fun to follow along with the other quilters on The Planet Patchwork facebook page.  I also LOVE that this quilt is completely from my stash using up some fabrics I bought for the stash and also some scraps - it's a mix of collections and designers but I think that it all works well.

 

I pulled the orange Asian print from my stash - it was on the 50% off table and I couldn't resist!  It has sat in my stash for about 6 years so it's time to use about 4 meters of it for the back I think ;-)

 

Next, I pulled out my scrappy chimneys and corner-stones quilt and got to work on a piano key border.  Once again I used my 1.5" Accuquilt Go! strip die and cut all the strips for the border from scraps and from some random green and blue fat quarters in my stash.  At first I thought that the final border was too wide for the quilt; but, once I got all 4 borders on the quilt I started to really like the impact!  And, once I laid the top out over our bed, I really liked the way that the piano-keyfell over the edges of the bed.  The wide border is staying ;-)

One thing I did, before adding these borders to the quilt, is sew along the edges at about 1/8" in so that they don't stretch out or warp when the quilt is one the frame.  This only took a few minutes but I think I'm going to be really happy I did this while I'm quilting it.  

If you can believe it I also have a navy backing fabric in my stash that I am going to use for the back of this quilt too!  It was also on the 50% off table so I snapped it up and there it sat - well, it will work perfectly for the back of this quilt.  So far so good with keeping my resolution!

So, why haven't I loaded either one of these quilt tops onto my frame to start quilting?  Well, in a couple days my LQS is having a sale and I think that batting will be 25% off; so, since I will need about 6 or 7 meters of batting for both quilts, I'm going to wait a bit and save a few $$$!  Oh well, I can use that time to actually decide how I'm going to quilt them!

So - did anyone make and quilty resolutions?

A Retreat at Home!

Have you ever done this?  Had your own quilting "retreat" in your own home?  

Well, I decided to do just that this past couple of days.  I decided, after doing so much sewing for dead-lines, to just work on some loose-ends and do some of my own "stuff."  I have to say it felt wonderful!  I stayed in my PJ's and sewed on what-ever I felt like working on and did I ever get a lot done!

 

First I decided to put together those little postage stamp baskets that I made a long time ago for my Postage Stamp Basket video tutorial into a nice little wall quilt.  I just love vintage blocks in 30's prints!  I plan on hand-quilting this so I've layered it and will hand-quilt at my leisure now ;-)

 

Next I was a couple months behind on Accuquilt's BOM so I decided to get caught up on that.  The block on the left I am less than thrilled about - I had altered their piecing method to make the blue one solid strip but I think that it is just way too much blue!  I think I am going to rip that off and alter the block so there is less blue and maybe a couple more leaves.  It just doesn't seem to fit to me.  Or, maybe I'll just sub out the entire block with something else.  I haven't decided yet.

 

I found this panel in my stash with  co-ordinating fabrics and thought that I could whip up 4 preemie quilts for our local NICU.  I try to make several of these every year.  Sometimes I make just 4 or 5 but other years I have made 20 or so :-D  I love the safari fabrics and I think that they might appeal to new parent who have been to Africa.  When I look at these I think about a couple of our friends who have spent time living in Africa and how they would be perfect for them!

Our NICU likes our preemie quilts to be about 22" square to 24" square.  If you are interested in making some of these for your local NICU make sure that you check to see what they would like first - since I have been told that other hospitals like other sizes.  If you would like to see a tutorial on how I do the "inside-out" method to make these so that you don't need to do a binding you can find one here.

 

I used the same fabrics and another jungle print for the backs.  I love how they turned out!  Now I have 4 little quilts for 4 little babies ready to be turned in.  Wait!  I'm the one collecting the preemie quilts for our guild LOL!  Looks like I'll just go put them with the others ;-)

 

After I had finished trimming allllllllllll those HST I decided to get those pin-wheels finished and ready for my next leaders and enders quilt.  This was a picture I had found on the web and really liked it so I adapted it for my 2" squares.  I love the optical illusion it creates.  When I showed my husband and Mother the blocks I needed they argued with me for a couple of minutes telling me that I was wrong!  So, finally I had to cover up all but one row of the quilt and show them the blocks - pine-wheel, 16-patch - etc - and then they could see it. 

I needed 15 pinwheels going one way and 16 of the mirror image.  That is all finished now and I am happy with the way that they turned out.  Now I just have all those 16-patches to finish.  I feel a little guilty working on this leaders and enders quilt when the one I am working on is not finished yet.  But, I've found that when I feel like working on something I should strike while the iron is hot!

 

Next I pulled out all those rag squares I cut with my 8.5" rag die when I was demoing the Accuquilt Go! for a local quilt shop and for my rag die video tutorial and had set aside to work on later - sigh.  These are ready to be quilted now but I am debating on how I want to quilt them - just the large X or free motion?

I pulled out all my long pieces of batting scraps and was able to cut enough squares of batting (6.5" square) to line the entire quilt!  This will be a 7 x 9 setting  63 squares all together all from scrap batting!  Yey I love using up scraps of batting for rag quilts!  I remember years ago I worked for a quilt shop and people would come in and say - I need 3 meters of batting for this rag quilt.  I would always ask them if they had any batting scraps, cut from the edges of finished quilts, sitting around?  Usually, unless they were a newbie, they would say YES!  I would then suggest that they use those up and then come back and buy what they needed to finish.  People would be thrilled I had made the suggestion.  I'm not sure that the quilt shop was thrilled LOL!  But, people were happy to find a use for those bits.

Sometimes I/we can get bogged down by stuff; UFO's, WIP's, stash, scraps, batting bits, to do lists etc.  The last couple days I gave myself permission to get some of those things done and out of the way or at least make some progress on them.  I used only what I had on hand and what I had already started.  I have to say - I feel great!  I was able to bust some stash and de-clutter my mind and sewing area and now I feel like working on these projects more now and getting more things out of the way.  YEY!

Wow that was a long post LOL!  Are any of you working on UFO's or WIP's?

Merry Christmas and My Next leaders and Enders Quilt

Merry Christmas ~ Happy Holidays everyone!!

I hope that you all are having an amazing holiday!

Since I had some time yesterday I decided to pull out my next leaders and enders project and do a couple of test blocks ~ just to make sure that everything was going to work!

This leaders and enders is completely from scraps - I love using my scraps up and making something useful from them.  The white fabric is actually left-overs trimmed from the back of a quilt if you can believe it.  But by cutting tight I should have enough to make the center of a lap quilt.  It's great because these were pieces that were destined for the garbage bin.

These are the blocks.  A simple 16-patch and a pin-wheel.  Nice and simple and traditional.  And, a great way to use up some scraps!  The half-square triangles (HST) are 3.5" unfinished and the small squares are 2" unfinished.  If you want to see what this quilt looks like put together you can see it here.  I'll need two sets of pin-wheels - one going one direction and the other going the other direction (if that makes any sense). 

This should be a fun project - maybe I'll just sew it - I'll wait and see what I feel like doing.  It's just a small lap quilt so it might be a nice one just to work on.  I think I can officially count this as a UFO since I had cut it out a few years ago too!  Hmmm . . . . first UFO finish of 2012 maybe??

I cut all the white fabrics before I got my Accuquilt Go! die cutter so all of those 2" square were cut by hand and the half-square triangles started off as 4" squares to be trimmed down later.   So that work was all done already.

 

I chain-pieced the HST and cut them apart but then I had to trim all those little guys.  Since these were not cut with the 3" finished HST die so I had to pull out my Eleanor Burns Triangle Square Up ruler and get trimming.  Keep in mind I have not had to do work like this since I got my Go!  I forgot how much work that is when you have lots of HST to deal with!  It took me about 1 1/2 hours to trim all of them while we were watching a movie.  Oh well at least it is done.

Don't get me wrong there are pluses and minuses to cutting this way or using the die cuts.  If you are an accurate piecer using the die-cut HST is much faster and much easier.  However, with the Triangle Square Up ruler you can accommodate any inaccuracies in your 1/4" seam.  It is a very forgiving way to piece - it just takes a lot more time to do all the trimming!  The other nice thing about the ruler is that it has multiple sizes right on the ruler so one tool will do the job.  If I am only cutting a few (and I didn't have the die) this is the way that I would cut; but, if I had to do this amount again I would get the die! 

Before I got my Go! this was my favorite way to make HST.  I NEVER thought that I would like using the HST dies - I was POSITIVE that I would just trim and be happy but I think I might be a little bit spoiled now LOL!

Anyone else find a it of time to do some quilting?

I Made MYSELF a Stocking - and I bought a little something

Ok - how cool is this - I made myself a stocking!

  Yes you read that correctly - I made MYSELF a stocking!  It's not for someone else, it's not a gift.  This is for me!!!!

 

I've only had the pattern for a few years now LOL!  What gave me the kick in the pants is that our quilting guild was having a stocking challenge for our Christmas party.  I decided that this was an excellent opportunity, not only to participate, but, also to actually MAKE this stocking for myself that I have wanted for years now.  The pattern is called "Steppin' Out" by Lorraine Designs and I just love how fierce this boot looks.

Of course after I finished this my boys decided that this could easily become a pirate boot/stocking - sigh - so much for a funky, cool stocking all for myself LOL!  BTW I did hang my stocking by the pirate nutcracker on purpose.

Just to let you know our guild had a voters choice in 4 different categories for our stocking challenge and I won "Most Unique" - yey!  I was very happy!

 

Next I bought myself a little something-something that I have been wanting/needing for a while.  I bought the 1.5" finished half-square triangle die.  Why did I buy this?  Well, if you have been reading my blog for a while you know that I love my 2" squares a lot for busting scraps and making projects out of nothing.  This die works really well with my 2" square die in that I can make half square triangles that will finish at the same size as my 2" squares.  This die will allow me to use up even more scraps and have even less waste; and, it will allow me more freedom in patterns I choose for leaders and enders!  For instance the Split Nine-Patch!  I am very happy to add this to my die collection.

So there you go!  I made myself something and bought myself something!  Are you doing anything for yourself this holiday season?

WINNERS!

Hi everyone!

Sorry this post is a day late but time just got away from me yesterday!  Ok let's get to it!  We have two drawings. 

The first draw is for the die-cut applique shapes from SewCalGal's Christmas blog hop.  There were 186 valid entries into the draw.  the rest were anonymous or no-reply - sorry guys!   And the winner, drawn from a random number generator is (if you can believe it) comment #1!!!

sosarahsew has left a new comment on your post "A Christmas Tree-Skirt and GIVEAWAY!":

I made a tree skirt 18 years ago from some fabric my parents brought back from Norway. It had 8 scenes of Norwegian Christmas that I fashioned into an octogon tree skirt. I accidentlally left it in the bag with the old fake tree I gave to my son since he is in his first home, so now I need something new!
 

Congrats Sosarahsew!!!  you will receive all the die-cut applique shapes to make your own tree skirt!

 

Next is the drawing for a Lapel Stick - the best fabric glue stick!  There were 18 valid entries into this give-away and the number drawn by random.org random number generator is #11!

Gene Black has left a new comment on your post "Review of the Slice Fabrique and a Fabric Postcard...":

The Slice Fabrique is certainly interesting. I would like to try one.

I would also love to try the Lapel Stick. I have seen a few people using it online and I love trying new products. 

Congrats to both of you as soon as I get your address your prizes will be sent out!