Heat Press Batting Together

Hi all!

I was recently asked to try out and review Heat Press Batting Together a fusible cloth tape for fusing your batting pieces together.  I have to admit at first I was quite skeptical since I can easily sew together batting pieces using a multi-stitch zig-zag on my sewing machine.  However, looking at my sewing job using my sewing machine I always seem to stretch out the batting a bit while I sew it and I have to fan-dangle the batting, after it is sewn, to get it to lay flat again.  So since I had a baby quilt I want to load onto my frame I decided to give the Heat Press Batting Together a try.

I first trimmed up my batting pieces so that they were even instead of jagged edges and laid it on my ironing board.

Lay the tape down across the cut rough side down and quickly press it into place.  This was honestly very fast and very easy.  I used a cotton batting here.

Once you have pressed it down you are ready to go!  So fast - so easy!!

 

The little blip in the seam was my fault since I didn't push the edges up against each other well enough at first - I thought that I would still show this picture though to show that this can happen if you're not careful ;-)  The seam is smooth and flat and is NOT stretched out at all - like when I stitch mine together using a sewing machine.

So final verdict - this is a great product!  I am definately going to use this product instead of sewing my batting together from now on.  It is much easier, does a better job, is faster and does not put excess lint into my bobbin area of my sewing machine.  Win - win - win!

The only negative I see is that it comes on a small roll with 10 yards of tape on a roll - I would love to see a larger roll of the tape so that I won't have to buy as many ;-)

Have any of you tried Heat Press Batting Together before?

On the Design Wall

I have finally finished sewing the blocks!  It feels like I have been working on these for a long time now - well I did sort the scraps back in 2008 ;-)  But, piecing these blocks took me a while.  Probably because the pieces were quite small - but wow - am I glad the quilt top is coming together!

 

Now I am just finalizing the layout before I put the little place tags on the blocks and start to sew the rows together.  I keep seeing blocks that need to be switched around so I think I'll sit on this for a day before I finalize anything else.

I am really enjoying this quilt.  I am enjoying watching it come together and I am really liking how all those little pieces are going into a quilt instead of the garbage bin!  This quilt has been quite a journey for me and I am really enjoying that as well.  I've been posting along with the journey - so I hope that you're not getting tired of this quilt!  But, if you haven't seen this quilt before you can take a look at some of my previous posts about it here, here and here.

The only thing is now I think it needs to be larger - it needs a pieced border I think!  Any thoughts?  Or should I take one step at a time and cross that bridge when I come to it?

Another Finish and A Publication!

Hey all!  

I thought that I would share with you some news - Accuquilt featured an article I wrote for them entitle "The 13 Cent Quilt Block using the GO! Bountiful Baskets" which you can view on their website if you'd like to take a look!  The article focuses on the Postage Stamp Basket block - which you know I love!  Writing the article was a new experience for me and I learned a lot - namely how much time something like that takes to put together LOL!  I hope that you'll take a couple of minutes to give the article a read and let me know what you think!

I've also been able to finish anther quilt.  This is my scrappy "Jelly Roll Race" quilt that I did out of my 2.5" strip bin.  It was so great to use some of those scraps and make a quilt completely from scraps and stash!  It was great to get this finished even though the top was only completed in August.

 

 

I quilted it using a 50 weight cotton thread top and bobbin in an all over wave pattern that really gives some texture to the quilt.

 

I also used up some of those Halloween 2" squares, as leaders and enders, making a couple of little fabric baskets and a zippered case while I was working on my Chimneys and Cornerstones blocks. It's great to be making progress on this quilt after all that cutting and cutting!

 

I am almost finished all 80 of the blocks needed for the center of the quilt - yep -80!  It seems like such a big number doesn't it?  Then I am thinking about one or two borders - and maybe piecing one of those borders from more scraps.  Lots of work still to do!  But, it is so nice to use up these bits and pieces.  

But, you know what?  I don't even remember buying a few of those fabrics!  I'm sure they aren't mine so where did they come from??  So, either scraps have babies, or, someone came over and dumped some fabric in my scrap heap when I wasn't looking!  Was it you??!!

Another Skeleton Finished!! And a Winner!!!!

Yey!!  I have completely finished another skeleton!!

My son's quilt is completely finished - binding label and everything!  I ran outside, while the rain had stopped, to take some pictures of the quilt when the light was so nice.  I threw the quilt over my flowers and snapped away!  Towards the end of the pictures it started sprinkling again so I ran inside.

 

This is the quilt that I started a long long time ago.  When my oldest son was 8 he picked out the fabrics from my stash and he chose the pattern.  He was very specific in what he wanted.  He wanted green, yellow and blue bars in that order and he didn't want prints - he wanted almost solid fabrics.  I cut the strips and he sewed them together on my sewing machine.  He did a great job!  We made this top right around the same time that I was working on my younger son's pumpkin quilt back in 2007!!  Needless to say he is a little older now ;-)

When I asked him what fabric he wanted for the border he chose the print - but it was one that would really have to be mitered so I put it on a hanger and let it sit for a while.  When I was asked to review Lapel Stick I thought that it would be a great chance to try it out while mitering the borders so I did a tutorial and review and mitered the borders.  Then, guess what?  I put it back onto the hanger and let it sit until I had time to do the quilting.

 

Don't those borders look great though?  The miters worked out really well.

Now that I have my new frame I loaded the quilt onto the frame and asked my son how he wanted it quilted.  I asked if he wanted big squiggles or loops?  He said - NO!  Straight lines LOL!

 

So straight lines it is!  I used a 30 weight Sulky Blendable cotton thread top and bobbin and machine quilted crossing straight lines.  Some stars just magically appeared and added to the fun.   He is really happy with it - and really happy that it is finally finished!!  

This quilt took me a few years to finish - mostly because I allowed myself to get side-tracked and work on other things instead of sticking to it and finishing.  But, honestly, I like that I've had a bit of a back-log of quilts to get through once I got my frame.  It gave me some instant practice quilts AND it kind of justified the purchase of the frame.  Part of me wants to rummage through my closet and see if there are any more tops ready to quilt hiding in there.  And part of me doesn't want to LOL!!  I know I have a couple of WIP's in there (works in progress) so I don't count those.  One is my rework quilt that will be hand-quilted and one is the Dessert Nine-Patch that I am still trying to decide if I want to put a border on.  I just can't decide yet for that one.  I still have a couple of baby quilts to load on though so maybe the rummaging will wait for another day ;-)

So what do you think?  Have I spawned another generation of quilters in my house?

Ok ok I have kept you waiting long enough - or did you skip to the end?? 

I used the random number generator at random.org to choose between 1 and 195 VALID entries.  The rest of the entries were no-reply blogger - sigh - this means I had no way to contact these people - sorry guys!  I had a lot of interest in the give-away for the kit so I might just do more give-aways like this - what do you think?

And the winner was comment #60!!!

Mommarock has left a new comment on your post "Fall Chisel Table-Runner":

This is the greatest idea! I would make this :)

Congratulations Mammarock you are the winner of my fabric kit!  I hope that you like it!

Cut - Sew - Cut - Sew

I hope that you all enjoyed my fall table-runner tutorial and I hope that if you make one you'll post it to my Facebook page so we can all see it!  There are still a couple days left to enter my give-away so if you haven't yet go and enter!

I got so inspired by the other tutorials on the hop that I decided to pull out my Halloween fabrics and cut up a tumbler quilt with my tumbler die.  Well - I was shocked at how many Halloween fabrics I had!  I pulled them out of my drawer and I swear they just kept coming and coming LOL!  Some of these fabrics were 7 or 8 years old and there were a few that were huge amounts!  The purple one is about 5 or 6 meters of fabric and I remember purchasing it off the 50% off table.

Well, I sorted through the pieces - some were left-overs and some were untouched pieces so I pressed and stacked them all up!

 

Then I got out my large tumbler die and started cutting.  I lay the fabric on top of the die so that the lengthwise grain is going perpendicular to the roller.

 

Run it though the cutter.

 

Then flip around and line up the strip to reduce waste and cut again.  The part hanging off the right side doesn't interfere with anything at all. This is how I cut all my tumblers.

 

Once I had finished cutting the tumblers I grabbed my 2" square die.

 

I cut all those scraps into two inch squares for my leaders and enders.

 

And I ended up with this! About 180 tumbler blocks and who knows how many 2" squares to make something out of.  I'm not sure what I'll make yet - but I WILL make something ;-)  I'm thinking of this great fabric basket.

I was all set to sew when I saw a cut out tumbler baby quilt that I really NEED to get finished sitting in pieces on my cutting table.

 

So instead of piecing the Halloween tumbler I pieced this baby quilt top.  I really like how it is not symmetrical.  I decided to go this way just for some visual interest.

Once I got that finished I found ANOTHER baby quilt that I had started - hmmm.

 

So I spread it out and I think I will just add some white sashing and them a first and second border.  I haven't really decided yet.  So much for the Halloween tumbler quilt today!

And last but not least!

 

I finished whipping the edges of my pumpkin house chair pad rug!  The binding tape is all sewn to the back and it is finished!  I really like how it turned out - not to finish the other little rug I've been working on.

So what are you all up to today?

Fall Chisel Table-Runner - NOW CLOSED

Hi everyone!

Welcome to all the new viewers who are blog-hopping along with SewCalGal's Fall Themed Accuquilt Blog Hop!!!  Thanks SewCalGal for another great hop!  I hope that you like my project and Give-Away!  But, you'll have to wait until the end to get to the give-away ;-) I hope that I can keep you entertained until then.

For my project I decided to do a simple Fall table-runner featuring a few Accuquilt Go! dies; but, if you don't yet have a die cutter this can still be cut out with a rotary cutter.

Ok - let's get Going!!

Approimate Fabric Amounts

4 x 0.25 meter of fabric for the chisels
0.20 meter of a neutral fabric
0.15 meter of fabric for the first border
0.70 meter of the pumpkin fabric for the second border and binding

First let's start off with 4 x 0.25 meter cuts that will form your chisels.  Place your fabrics right sides together (to get mirror image shapes) and cut two thicknesses of fabrics to get 4 chisels total - 2 of each mirror image.  To cut, place the selvage edge along the outside of the long edge of the chisel die so that the length-wise grain runs perpendicular to the rollers.

Next grab your 3.5" square die - or cut these with a rotary cutter - and cut 8 x 3.5" squares of a neutral fabric.  Also cut one square 6.5" of your neutral fabric using either your 6.5" square die or your rotary cutter.

 

Grab your new pumpkin die - or the Fall Medley die if you prefer something else - and cut 4 of the small pumpkins.  I layered 4 layers all right sides up so that all of my pumpkin tops would be the same way.

 

Applique the pumpkins onto the 6.5" square in the layout shown - or choose your own layout.  I used a 40 weight rayon thread in orange and used a blanket stitch to applique mine down.

Lay out your pieces  as show on both sides of the applique.  See how the mirror image chisels make a really nice braid effect?

 

Sew one square end of the chisels to the 3.5" squares.  And, sew the other end of the chisels to the 6.5" square.  Then, starting with a chisel without a 3.5" square attached, working outward, sew the chisels onto the 6.5" square one at a time, butting seams, until you get to the last of the 4 layers.

 

Using your 1.5" strip die cut 4 strips 1.5" by the width of fabric and add on the first border - start with the two long sides first and then add the points.

Cut 4 strips 3.5" by the width of fabric for the outer border and add those on in the same method as the first border .

Quilt as desired.  I quilted a 1/4" in on the chisels, using a 40 weight rayon thread, top and bobbin, and then I quilted a dense pebble design in the cream squares for some dimension.  I looked at my border fabric and tried to emulate the swirling pumpkin vine with my quilting in the border.  I hope this close-up gives you a better idea of my quilting.

  

I bound the table-runner using the same fabric as my border print since I just loved it so much!

So what do you think?  I think this is a quick and easy table-runner that would look good in any season of fabrics - Halloween, Christmas, Easter etc.

Now onto the GIVEAWAY!! How would you like to win a die-cut FABRIC kit for everything for the top and binding of this table-runner?  NOW CLOSED

 

Yes, everything you see pictured there - ok NOT the Go! cutter - just the fabric LOL!  All the fabric you'll need for your own fall table-runner.  You just need to supply the sewing, thread, backing and batting.

Ok here's the fine print!

For one chance to win you can comment on this post.  Tell me why you would love to win the kit or what you would do with the finished product.

For a second chance to win, become a follower and leave another comment here for a second entry.  If you already follow my blog that's fine just leave a comment here telling me that you do.

Every comment is your entry - 1 comment one entry ;-)  You have a total of two chances to win.


Please, please make sure your blogger is not set to no-reply!!!!  Please see a previous post here on how to make sure that you are not a no-reply blogger!  If a no-reply blogger is chosen then I will be forced to draw another name and I really don't want to do that!  GOOD LUCK!!

I will draw a winner, using a random number generator on Sunday - after the hop is all finished.

If you have any questions you can also leave them here and I will do my best to answer them!

Want to keep hopping?  Please see my last post for the other blog-hoppers participating.

Good Luck!  NOW CLOSED

Fall Themed Accuquilt Blog Hop!

I just wanted to share with you all that SewCalGal and several quilters with Modern Quilting Tools are hosting a Fall Theme AccuQuilt Blog Hop the week of September 26th.  Yes this starts today!!!

We will be celebrating the arrival of Fall, share some tips, tutorials and inspiration with you on how we use our Accuquilt products, and they will be a few giveaways in this blog hop too.  But most importantly, we want you to come join our blog hop and have fun.  So you'll need to hop to each blog on their day to see what they are offering up!

Here is our schedule:

Monday, September 26th

• Darlene (SewCalGal) - www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

Tuesday, September 27th

• Terrie (Bits & Pieces) www.terriesandelin.blogspot.com 
• Sharon (Craizee Corners) www.craizeecorner.blogspot.com

Wednesday, September 28th

• Katrina (Sunshower Quilts) www.sunshowerquilts.blogspot.com pssst that's me!!

Thursday, September 29th

• Connie (Quilting by the River) www.conniekresin.blogspot.com
• Mary (the Tulip Patch) http://www.tulip-patch.blogspot.com/

Friday, September 30th

• Polly (Polly's Porch) www.auntpollysporch.blogspot.com 

I hope that you will come and see me Wednesday to see what I have prepared for the hop AND to enter my GIVEAWAY!!  I think you'll like it!!

Ok start hopping!! 

I Finally Finished the Tumbler!

I told you all that you were going to get sick of me posting finishes eventually LOL!  Well, here is another quilting skeleton done and bound and already wrapped around one of my children - yey!!

 

Here is the tumbler quilt that I cut out almost a year ago!  I cut the tumblers out, using my Accuquilt Go! in October of 2010 but then I got a little side-lined ;-)  I put the top together in February but then it just stayed as it was until now.

I pulled out the top and loaded it onto my frame and it was quilted in no time!

 

I used a 30 weight cotton Sulky Blendable thread in a variegated colour range top and bobbin and quilted the quilt quite loosely so that the brushed cottons would remain soft and cuddly.  It is a simple meander with loops added in for a bit of variety.  Again, since this is a throw I didn't want heavy quilting - I wanted this quilt soft.

What is absolutely great is that it is already being used - even as I write this and one of my sons has asked that it be on his bed tonight.  I don't know what better validation there can be for a new quilted project than someone laying claim to it right away.  It's just really nice!

Tomorrow I teach an Intro to Machine Quilting and that is always lots of fun!

Any quilty plans for the weekend?

If you would like 22 free patterns from Accuquilt you can sign up using this link!  You won't regret it!

Even More Quilting!!!

You guys are going to get sick of me showing the quilts after I finish the quilting aren't you??!!!  Oh no!!  But really - I am just having such a great time finishing up these project that have been sitting around in my quilt closet.  Some people have skeletons in their closet - I have quilts LOL!

You might remember this quilt from a loooong time ago now.  You can see me working on it back in May if you like.   I started this quilt, for a friend, quilting it table top; and, since the summer was just so hot and humid, I let it sit there for a long time.  Did I mention this is a queen sized quilt?

Well, after I took the last quilt off the frame, I thought that I might try loading this one onto my frame and finishing up the boarders.  Keep in mind that I had had to finish was the outer section of the boarder and the inside of the circles.  That's all I had left to do but I just needed the kick in the behind to get me going.  So load it on I did and I finished it!

What do you think?  I think this is a spectacular quilt!

Here are a few close-ups of the quilting

I quilted this quilt using a 50 weight cotton Guetermann thread top and bobbin in a pattern, that I was taught, is called 1-2-3.  I love how this turned out.  The Dresden Plates, appliqued swags and the sashing all pop out and take center stage.  The quilting on this quilt took well over 20 hours to complete but I think it was well worth it!  Most of the quilting was completed table-top but that last little bit around the outside was done on the frame.

I really hope she likes it when she sees it tomorrow!!!!!

Ok, now to get another skeleton/quilt out of the closet and onto my frame so that it can see daylight!!!

Yey to finishes!

Twisting Around the World

Hey all!!

If you are a member of my Facebook Page you might remember a while ago when I posted the layout to this little quilt.  Well, I finally finished it!  It is quilted, bound, labeled and everything!

 

Some of you, on my Facebook page, guessed correcty ~ it is a Twister Quilt, using the 'Lil Twister ruler set in an around the world quilt setting.  I absolutely love how this turned out!  What do you think?  Of course, I always like the way that the Twister quilts turn out don't you??

I had to get this finished, well I didn't have to, I just really wanted to get it finished, for an open house at my local quilt shop tomorrow.  I am teaching the Twister ruler again and I thought people might like to see this option so I worked to finish this up today.  I quilted it using a 40 weight gold rayon thread top and bobbin in a swirl pattern.  I always like gold rayon thread ;-)

So, what are you all working on today?  Any quilty plans for the weekend?

Another Quilt Off the Frame!

Tada!!!

I just took this off the frame and squared it up!  It is another quilt that my friend gave my to quilt on my new frame!

 

Isn't it great??!!!  It is a court-house steps quilt that she set on point and I just love it!  Sorry for the picture inside and hanging over the quilt frame but it is just pouring outside and I am giving the quilts back tonight when I go hand-quilting.

I quilted it using a large meander again, since it is scrappy flannels and brushed cottons on the top and flannel on the back, using a 50 weight cotton thread top and bobbin, and I didn't want it to become stiff since it is soooo soft and cuddly.  I wanted the quilt to maintain it's drape even after quilting.  

I really hope that she's happy with the quilts!!  Well, I guess I will find out tonight!

A Quilt is Off the Frame!!

Yey!  I took the plunge and loaded a quilt top onto the frame, this morning, and, I finished it!

This isn't my work actually - a friend gave this to me to quilt since she had it for a while now.  It is a big block quilt made of brushed cottons.  Since they are so cuddly anything heavy in the quilting would completely take away from both the simplicity of the quilt and how nicely it would feel - so I used a brown 50 wt cotton thread, top and bobbin, and quilted a large meander across the quilt.  Nice and simple but very soft and effective.

 

Here's the really cool part!

 

This is the back!!!

She used up her scraps and pieced the back of the quilt so that it is completely reversible!  Neat idea huh?  I love it - I have to remember that piecing the back doesn't have to be simple or obvious - it can be more random and free.

It was great to be able to use my new frame to quilt something - anything - just something to give me a shove to get going.  I really enjoyed using my new frame and I think that it will really help me get some of those UFO's out of the quilt closet and onto beds or wall!

So what do you think?  Good frame project?  I should mention - she gave me two brushed cotton quilts to quilt for her so I'll have another one coming up soon!!

Working on a Roly Poly Owl Quilt and Mr Iggy

Have you seen the great Roly Poly Owl Tutorial over at the Tulip Patch Blog?  Well if you haven't seen her blog yet you should run over now and check it out!  She has some great tutorials and lots of inspiring projects.  When she did a cute little owl quilt using the 3.5" Accuquilt Go! Drunkard's Path die I knew I just had to pull out my large DP die and get Go!ing on this project!

Here is what I accomplished today!  Aren't they cute?  The four owls together measure 14" square so it is the perfect size for the center of a baby quilt.  I just ordered the smaller DP die because I was thinking about doing 4 smaller owl for the corners but now I think it might be too busy - hmmm - thoughts?  We'll see what happens - maybe I will find just the perfect owl print for the boarders and use that instead.

 

I am in love with this die!  It cuts really well and makes beautiful curved blocks.  The only thing I will say about this block is that you MUST pay attention to the grain when you are running the die through the cutter.  My first cuts I didn't do this and I didn't get accurate cuts.  The next time through I paid attention to the grain and they were PERFECT!!  Joy!!  Yes, I guess I am gushing. 

Oh well, I need to set this aside until I decide what I want to do with the boarders.

 

I have also been working on Mr Iggy and I am almost completely finished with the hooking!  I just have the ground under his feet, and the eye on the crow, to complete and then he is ready to hang for Halloween.  What do you think of the background?  Isn't it a cool wool?  I just love the spot died wools and will have to do some of my own soon. I am sooo enjoying hooking again now that I have found my hook again! It's amazing the progress you can make in just over a week when you're enjoying yourself!  Maybe I will get onto that last bit now.

The Finished Go! Pumpkin Quilt

Hey all!  The fall weather seems to be here - at least right now - and with the return of fall comes the return of quilting weather yey!!

I decided to finish up the machine quilting on my Accuquilt Go! Pumpkin wall hanging I started a little while ago in the middle of August.  this was the free pattern that came with the pumpkin die and I thought it was really cute!  I had decided to have a bit of fun with the machine quilting so it took a little longer to finish than you'd think - being a smaller wall hanging.  Are you wondering what I mean?  Take a look at the second picture - a close-up.

 

Here is a close-up of the machine quilting.  you might want to click on the picture to enlarge it.

 

I used a 60 weight cotton thread in the background areas using a tight pebble design that makes the pumpkins and the half-square triangles really POP!  Then I used a 40 weight rayon thread, top and bobbin, to quilt a free-hand leaf vine motif.  Before you ask, no I didn't do this on my new frame - it was all table top.  The pebbling is very small and I wanted lots of control over the quilting.

If you like this pattern, and would like some more free patterns, you can sign up for the accuquilt newsletter by using the following link:

 

I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome the followers of Sweet P Quilting and Creations to Sunshower Quilts!  Paulette kindly featured my blog on her amazing blog today showing my love for my Go!   My regular readers know how much I love my Go! and I love to spread the word.  Well Paulette kindly helped to spread the love today so I would like to say a HUGE THANK YOU and I hope that you will enjoy reading my blog.

Paulette has an amazing blog that is absolutely full of inspiration, ideas, tutorials and a taste of her life. Paulette also owns her own Go! so you'll find lots of inspiration there.  I know that you will want to grab a cup of tea and just over there now - you will be happy you did! 

My New Addition!!

I am so excited!  I have a new addition to my sewing room and it is finally ready to unveil!!! 

Drum roll please!!!!

Ta Da!

 

This is my new frame for my mid-arm sewing machine!!  It is the Imperial frame by the Grace Frame company that I bought through my local Pfaff dealer.  I might eventually get a longer harp machine but for now my Hobby Grand Quilter is working just fine as I am practicing.  It is gliding so smoothly and moves at a nice light touch - yey!!   I bought the frame for doing all over designs on quilts (like my Jelly Roll Race quilt) - I'll still take the machine off the frame and use my table-top set-up for detailed work.  Maybe this will eventually change, but, for now, I have more control, and, finer motor patterns, table-top.

It took a couple days to put together - hence the wait time since I announced it on my Facebook group LOL!  My kids, husband and my Mother all helped in putting this frame together so it truly took a village to build this baby!  After it was finished I couldn't wait to load some muslin onto the frame to start stitching!!

Now what to name my frame????  Hmmm - any ideas?

I Found It!!!!

I finally found it!!!  *Pumps fist into the air*  I found my rug hooking hook!  

I know I haven't said anything but I have been looking for my favorite hook for over a month now!!  Crazy I know - I didn't even mention this to my husband because it is so silly.  I was even about to order a new hook from Gene Shepherd since I love his hooks - but stubborn me - I kept looking and looking every so often hoping it would turn up.  I did try to use a different hook for a bit but I really like my hook and wanted it :-(

Well my bad little hook rolled under my cutter and until I got down on my hands and knees to search through a bin, and happened to look up at the cutter, it was completely hidden from my view.  Can you see the hook in the photo?  Sigh - so there is sat until last night when I finally found it. 

 

Well, needless to say, I hooked for a few hours last night on a pattern I had started a loooong time ago.  It is a Star Rug Hooking Company pattern that was a free pattern in Rug Hooking Magazine a while back.  I don't know why I love her patterns so much - maybe it is that they have such a sense of whimsy to them and are just so primitive and CUTE!

 

Isn't he a cutie??  It's Mr Iggy going out Trick or Treating.  I had Mr Iggy's head and the crow hooked but that was about it until last night and then I couldn't stop hooking - yey!! My youngest son - the one who loves pumpkins, said; "Mommy that's a silly pumpkin!"  I asked why he was silly and he said, very matter of factly, "Silly pumpkins have a mouth that go up and down, Happy pumpkins have a smile, angry pumpkins have a frowny mouth and scary pumpkins have a mouth like this" (makes a wide-mouthed circle with his mouth).  I had to laugh!  So apparently Mr Iggy has a silly pumpkin treat holder LOL!

Oh it is so wonderful to actually find something that I have been looking for for so long now (ok only about a month but it felt a lot longer)!  it is so nice to get back to hooking too - the cooler weather always makes me want to get back into hooking again.

So what would you have done?  Keep looking or buy a new hook?

A Busy Couple of Days!

Now that the weather has cooled down a little bit I decided to spend some time in my swing room and have some fun!  I have to say I actually got quite a bit of sewing done - yey!

Have you seen those Jelly Roll Race Quilts yet?  Well I think that they are a pretty cool idea so I thought that I would try one out (you can find the instructions here).  But, no Jelly Rolls at home - woops!  But, what I DO have is a great big bin of various 2.5" strips that I cut a while ago using my Accuquilt Go!!  Want to see that mess that I transformed into useful strips?  Here it is!  So I pulled that bin out and selected a blue/green/brown/burgundy sort of pallet and eye-balled what I thought looked like approximately a Jelly Roll amount and then followed the method.  Mine ended up a bit on the skinny side, I guess I needed a few more scraps ;-) , but, considering that this was all just scraps and left-overs,  I am really happy with how this turned out!!  I might add some boarders - or I might leave it as a lap quilt for the couch or car.  I'm undecided - any thoughts?

Next I pulled out my new Accuquilt Go! Pumpkin die and decided to try out the free pattern that comes with the die.  I had all the dies needed to make this completely with my Go! cutter so I thought that I would give it a try.  I love pumpkins and so does my youngest son.

 

I am in LOVE with this wall-hanging!  Once again this was completely out of my stash and I was able to use up some odd bits and, again, left-overs.  This is the first time that I have almost completely die-cut a project like this (ok well except for the Jelly Roll Race quilt above - that was all cut with the 2.5" strip cutter) and I am amazed with how easily everything went together.  I love those pumpkins and I think it will look nice hanging on a door - once I finish it!

Pretty great pattern for a free pattern that came with the die!  If you would like more free Accuquilt patterns you can get 22 free patterns by signing up for the Accuquilt newsletter!

My youngest son, the one who loves pumpkins, came down-stairs and saw it and said "Ohhh can I have that to hang in my room when you finish it!!??"  I laughed and said "Of course!"  Talk about some validation - that really made my day!

Looking at these two quilts together I seem to be in an orange/tan/green/deep colour sort of phase.  It must be because fall is approaching!

Now I just have to quilt these quilts!

Are you working on any fall projects?  Or are you finding you colour palette changing now that summer is starting to ebb?