Sew Jewely

A giveaway and my last post on this blog

2011-04-02T05:56:00.000-07:00

Another one? Yes! How about a Charm Pack of Happier? Or Two? okay two then... Celebrating Happier in the shop.

Happier so fun and bright it made my day when the boxes came yesterday. It is all up in the shop just in time for you to use your coupon codes. The 15% discount codes will end on Monday as will the giveaway for the gift certificate.

I had too much fun yesterday meeting with the sales rep from Westminster/Free Spirit... Lots of yumminess coming for the shop.

This will be my last post on this blog ... I hope you will all follow me over to my new blog... all of the same posts are over there it just has a new address.

How to enter the charm pack giveaway:

Go over to the new blog and follow the steps!

Friday Fun Day!

2011-04-01T08:04:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

Just a reminder my last post on this blog will be this weekend. Please come follow me on the other blog. And there is a giveaway there too.

I hope you all are having a great Friday! Just yesterday my daughter got a new Nintendo 3DS so this little tute from Stephanie is right on time for me. Go over to The Quilted Fish and check out the cuteness!

Happier will be here today and up in the shop this evening. Don't forget, I will also cut to order for you. Have a great weekend!

What's coming next? And a day off from housework.

2011-03-31T06:48:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

I have finally gotten my website ready to be unveiled. It has all of the usual info and a coming soon page so you can see what I have ordered for the shop and when it is coming in. I am going to work this morning on making all of the images clickable so you can see larger images. I was so wiped last night that it is a miracle I got as much done on it as I did. You can find the website by going to the new blog and clicking the shop button. The 15% coupon and giveaway for $20 gift certificate end on Sunday, so don't miss out.
I had a meeting with the Andover rep and here is a peek at what is coming from them in a month or two:

Yay! 1001 Peeps!

This Friday night or Saturday morning I will have Happier Cottons from Riley Blake in the shop as well. Just in time for you to use your 15% coupons still. If you haven't looked yet here is a peek:

Cute!

Now how about that housework? Next week April 7-10 I will be participating in a blog hop to celebrate National No Housework Day. I know we all need one of those! There will be quite a few of us participating. Fun projectas all across the web. There will also be prizes and giveaways. To find out more you can click on the button on my sidebar and go to "If It's Groovy".

Hugs to everyone!

Talk Soon!

Don't miss this sweet ride...

2011-03-30T06:59:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

I just came in to tell you all about this super cool contest one of my favorite companies is having. Riley Blake is giving away a beach cruiser bike (it is totally adorable) to one lucky seamstress. Go check out the deets Here and Here

Don't forget to come to the new blog Here

Don't forget the giveaway... come over to the new blog.

2011-03-29T05:59:00.000-07:00

To see and enter. I would miss you all if you didn't...just go here.

Come see my new home on the web for a giveaway!

2011-03-28T06:06:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone,

I am so excited to tell you that my shop is now open. I have a limited inventory at the moment but I hope to rectify that in the next couple weeks. Here is a hint at what is there:

I am moving my blog to a new address so that it is in line with the shop name. I am hoping beyond hope that everyone will follow me over there. To that end I am having a giveaway to bribe you into moving with me :) You will have to go over there to see what it is. I know I am evil :) I am making the same promise that I made before that the blog content won't change significantly. I will keep shop announcements to a minimum (maybe one post a week) but will end the posts with a reminder sentence about any specials that might be happening in the store or new fabric that is in. I still want it to be a fun and play blog.

Here is the new blog address http://intrepidthread.blogspot.com/

Friday Fun day!

2011-03-25T06:29:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone... another great Friday! And since I know you don't have enough to do this weekend (wink wink) here is another awesome tutorial from The Quilted Fish's creative design team. Johanna brings you this adorable diamonds quilt tutorial:

Yummy new goodies....

2011-03-21T13:04:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

I am so excited look what came in the mail from Amanda and The Quilted Fish:

Sugar And Spice fat quarters and laminate. Love this line so much. And check out the adorable crown that the queen (Amanda) sent for us princesses. She is a doll! This is our fodder for new tutorials over at Amanda's blog. Aren't we the luckiest girls on earth?

I made my first purchase for my shop today, finally the paperwork is done. You probably already guessed it is this same line. I bought all of the blue and red colorway. I will have it up in my new etsy shop to start with (I am still working the bugs out of the online store). Be on a lookout for the Grand Opening celebration :)

Talk Soon!

Friday Fun day! A bit tardy...

2011-03-18T17:32:00.000-07:00

I am sorry I am a little tardy for FFD. I went shopping this morning with my lovely MIL and just got back. So what is The Quilted Fish serving up for you today, you ask? A gorgeous scarf to keep that winter chill at bay. Go give Jackie some love for this adorable project tutorial....

Use it up....

2011-03-15T09:42:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

If you remember a few days ago I had shown you some fabric that I bought while at In Between Stitches. I have not been buying a lot of fabric for myself because I wanted to save all my pennies for buying fabric for my shop (that is getting closer just a few days and I should have the last of the paperwork back). So when I buy fabric right now I have to have a project in mind for it or I can't have it. Saturday when I should have been cleaning (well I did clean some but...) I made a new bag for myself out of the Kumari Garden fabric and some linen I bought:

I have been carrying the same bag for more than a year it was time for a change. I totally love this for spring and summer. I kind of designed it while I went along so there are one or two things I would/will change, like the size and color of the sash.

I thought I would show you my last piece of art that I made for Brooke, now that she has already posted it, as well.

I gave her curly hair like Brooke too :)

And lastly for today... TTT I stayed the same... ugh I hate it when things slow down :) Hopefully next week will be better.

Talk soon!

3Cs Quilt along the borders...

2011-03-14T06:12:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

Here are the borders. Not that I didn't think you could do this on your own but just in case we have some newbies that haven't done it before. I know I promised a pre-view of the quilting but I am not ready with that yet. I got a little sidetracked this weekend making a bag and cleaning house becuase my in-laws are coming this week. I promise you show you when I get it marked and after I quilt it too... but that will be a week or two. So here are the borders...

1. From blue polka dot cut 2- 1 1/2" x 44 1/2" strips and 2- 1 1/2" x 45 1/2" strips

2. Sew the 44 1/2" strips to each side of the quilt top.

It isn't sideways and wonky. I am short and I have to get the quilt up high to get a picture over the top of my quilt frame which stands three feet in front of the design wall. You will see in the last picture. So I can't always get it straight when on my tippy toes :)

3. Sew the 45 1/2" strips to the top and bottom.

4. From of the large blue floral cut 2- 4 1/2" x 47 1/2" strips and 2- 4 1/2" x 52 1/2" strips.

5 Sew. the 47 1/2" strips to each side and the 52 1/2" strips to the top and bottom.

You see here is my quilt frame and my ironing board :)

Ta Da! All done. Pretty painless huh?

I hope you all enjoyed the quilt along and you think we ended up with a pretty cute quilt.

Talk Soon!

It's Friday Fun Day again...

2011-03-11T06:16:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

I can't wait for you all to see what my friend Candice has in store for you today over at The Quilted Fish. This adorable pillow tutorial:

I can't wait to see how she made thos flowers... how about you?

Talk soon!

Happiness Overload!

2011-03-10T14:39:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!

Oh my goodness! I had a wonderful morning/early afternoon. I took a little roadtrip up to Livermore to Inbetween Stitches. I had a special reason. My friend and fellow Quilted Fish Creative Consultant Team member, Brooke, is in California for her nephew's wedding. She and her delightful friend, Donna, met my daughter and myself there.

Here we are in the front window area (sorry Erin caught you talking, Brooke):

Dang my hair was already flat... I wish I could get a curl to stay in :)

We did some shopping (eh hem to say the least :) ) I got some Sweet Borderie and some of the new stuff from Dena Designs:

We had both brought little pressie's for eachother so we went to a coffee house and sat down to open them up with refreshments :) Look at the adorable mug rug she brought me:

I love it sooooo much! Look at those awesome dots! Sweet Divinity just makes me smile :) I will let her show you what I brought (if she wants) when she gets home.

One other thing happened before Brooke and Donna arrived... I had a star sighting... Alex Anderson was in the shop... I hid behind a shelf because I was so star struck! Hehe!

Thanks for meeting me today Brooke! It was so awesome! I agree that we need to have a retreat with all the team. How fun would that be? :)

Hugs!
Talk Soon!

We have some Winners!

2011-03-10T06:24:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!

We have 4 winners. It just worked out that the three that had a preference can have what they wanted... isn't that nice?

The Rolie Polie goes to jjd05c who said :

"I would love to win the Rolie Polie. But any of the bundles would be greatly useful for the hexagon quilt I am working on :) Thanks for the give away!"

One Charm Pack goes to Lynn who said:

"I find myself making quilts from charms lately, so I'll opt for a charm pack. Thanks for sharing!"

The other charm pack goes to Miss Tiffy who said:

"I would love any of the packages - if I had to choose, I would perhaps prefer the charm packs. But any of the packages would be great!"

Last but not least the Fat Eighths go to Sunnybec who said:

"How generous!! As a new quilter I am building my stash so I would be grateful for any of them. Thanks for the chance."

I have emailed the winners.

This was so much fun you guys. I truly wish I had hundreds of things to hand out, but you know me this won't be the last giveaway :)

Talk soon!

A little bit of Art and TTT

2011-03-08T16:01:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

I was so bad today.... I spent the whole day working on these three little pieces of art.. they are only 4" square. I love them. They will be a little mini board book, a gift for a friend of mine that is having a hard time right now.

For TTT it was 1.5 lbs this week. I just can't believe I am still losing... Weight Watchers seems way to easy. It probably helps that I work out an hour a day now. I love it :)

3Cs Row 5 and some other stuff ...

2011-03-07T16:53:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

I got to be lazy this week with the quilt along you will see what I mean :)

1. From your blue on blue fabric and pink on pink fabrics cut three 7 1/2" squares each. From your cream background fabric cut 24 - 2" squares, or if you pre-cut them when you cut row one go and find them :)

2. Make this row just like the one in row one :) Here alternating the pink and blue blocks.

3. Add the 5th row to the bottom of the quilt.

I know what a naughty trick huh? Sorry... but next week it is borders and I will give you a peek at how I am going to quilt it.

Here is my Urban Home Goods main swap item. We are to keep it to two items this time so it is this and the little linen zipper bag a showed a while back.

Hope to have some more fun stuff in the next few days so stayed tuned :)

Wow! Tons of messages this evening.

2011-03-05T17:58:00.000-08:00

I was out all day at my Modern Quilt Guild Meeting "BAMQG" and came home to lots of messages. Thanks everyone I will be answering tomorrow.

Talk soon!

That's Two,Two,Two giveaways in one (post)

2011-03-05T05:55:00.000-08:00

Do you guys remember double mint commercials? Am I dating myself? Actually, little known fact, I know one of the twins that was in one of those commercials when he was a baby LOL .... I digress...

I was cutting the last row for the 3C's quilt along and realized I still had a ton of Sweet Divinity left so I decided to cut it into bite size pieces and give some of it to you (don't worry I still have a ton). I had bought yardage before Amanda sent me some more. I cut up the rest of the yardage I had and I am passing it along to you. There is a small fat eighth pack (7 pieces), a small "Rolie Polie" (Riley Blakes version of a Jelly Roll) (19 pieces 2 1/2 by 22, cut from fat quarters 10 fabrics total) and two charm packs (34 pieces each with some multiples). I am giving away one bundle to each of four people.

The rules do each of these in a seperate comment to get more chances):

1. Leave me a comment telling me which bundle you prefer.

2. Blog or tweet about it and come back to tell me you did.

3. If you aren't a follower become one and let me know that you did. If you already follow let me know that too.

I will end the giveaway on Wed 3/9 at midnight Pacific time.

And for goodness sake make sure that you are not a no-reply blogger or you leave me a way to contact you in your post (there are instructions in my comment form to check this).

Good Luck Everyone!

The second giveaway is from my friend Jackie (also on The Quilted Fish creative Consultant team) it is her blogaversary and she is giving away some cute easter fabrics. so go give her some love and join her giveaway too.

It's Friday Fun Day!

2011-03-04T06:21:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

Head on over to The Quilted Fish and checl out my friend Brooke's adorable quilt tutorial. While you are there enter that giveaway that Amanda is doing for a bit of her latest fabric line, really, you don't want to miss it. Amanda also has the kits available for all of the past Friday tutorials in her shop.

Check out the adorable-ness...

Talk soon!

More Art and... A huge (at least for me) announcement.

2011-03-02T08:08:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to show you a peek of my new art girl. I am so loving this workshop. Christy Tomlinson is so inspirational and generous with her time and encouragement. I highly recommend her. The group in the class are all so encouraging. I promise that I will be back in the next day or two with lots of sewing and quilting stuff so don't run away okay?

It says "She gave her dream wings" which is what I am doing this week.

Now for the announcement... this is so scary because once I say it then I have to do it... (deep breath)... Starting soon after Spring Market in May I will be having a Grand Opening for my online fabric shop. Phew not so bad... kinda like ripping off a bandage. This week I am getting all of my business licenses lined up and it is so scary and fun. In the next couple weeks I will make my first purchases and hope to have a soft opening sometime in the next month or so. To start out it will be very small but I hope to build up as quickly as possible. I know there are a lot of online shops out there but there are not a lot of modern fabric shops in my area so this is for me as well as my Modern Quilt Guild.

I know a lot of you have told me that you like my blog because I am not trying to sell stuff so, in an effort not to alienate you all, I promise to keep my shop announcements to a minimum. I still want this to be a fun play blog and I want you all to want to be here as well. I am thinking of doing shop announcements for sales etc on Saturdays... and you know me there will be giveaways galore.

I hope you all will celebrate with me. This is a huge dream come true and I have my amazing husband to thank for it.

TTT and an apology

2011-03-01T18:08:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

Just want to apologize to all of my friends on The Quilted Fish Creative team for being so quiet the last few days. A few things happening here... daughter had a state composition test today and I went to one of my favorite blogs this morning and got a computer virus (thank heaven I can fix that, benefits of being a computer geek) and I have been working on my class as well...love you guys I am sorry I haven't been commenting much the last three days or so.

And for TTT 2 lbs this week I am up to a total of 25.5 lbs...weeeeeee

3Cs Quilt Along Row 4

2011-02-28T19:11:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

I am sorry I am late with this today. I started my art class today and got all wrapped up in it :) So let's get started:

1. From background fabric Cream Tone one Tone cut:

2- 2 1/2" x 42 1/2" strips

40- 2 3/8" squares

9- 1 1/2" x 8 1/2" rectangles

2- 2" x 8 1/2" rectangles

From each of 10 candy fabrics cut:

1- 4 1/2" square

1- 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" rectangle

2. In an effort not to reinvent the wheel I am going to redirect you to a tutorial written by my friend Sophie. Grab your ten 4 1/2" squares and your forty 2 3/8" squares and go here to learn how to make no waste flying geese. When you are done you will have 40 flying geese that will be nice and accurate and waste free.

3. Take two matching flying geese and the 2 1/2" by 3 1/2" rectangle that matches and sew them together in this order:

4. Grab the other two matching flying geese and add them to each end like this:

Yeah! Candy!

5. Arrange your candy pieces in a pleasing order and sew them together adding the 1 1/2" x 8 1/2" rectangles between each one like so:

6. To each end of the strip of candy add the 2" x 8 1/2" rectangles:

7. Shoot I didn't get a picture but you will sew the 2 1/2" x 42 1/2" strips to the top and bottom of the candy strip.

8. Sew the row to the bottom of the first three rows.

Isn't coming out adorable?

This is what I was up to today. My ~~first~~ third attempt and a new art form. IT was the first with any kind of training though :)

It says "She kept on going anyway"

It's that day again...

2011-02-25T05:32:00.000-08:00

You know the one... the one where you start thinking all about your weekend projects. If you need one more thing to do... who doesn't? You must go look at Jana's tutorial for The Quilted Fish after all... you know I love cupcakes and so do you :)

3Cs Quilt Along Row 3

2011-02-23T08:14:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!

Sorry it is a little late... let's get started....

1. From pink tone on tone fabric cut 3- 4 1/2" x 14 1/2" rectangles and 4- 3 7/8" x 7" rectangles

From each of three cupcake fabrics cut 3- 3 1/4" x 6 1/2" rectangles

From each of two cupcake fabrics cut 2- 3 7/8" x 7" rectangles

From cream tone on tone fabric cut 3- 4" x 15" rectangles

2. Print template here and tape together matching dashed line in the center and the cutting and sewing lines.

3. Grab two pink tone on tone 3 7/8 x 7 rectangles and two matching cupcake fabric 3 7/8 x 7 rectangles and cut them corner to corner this direction:

4. Grab the other two pink tone on tone 3 7/8 x 7 rectangles and other two matching cupcake fabric 3 7/8 x 7 rectangles and cut them corner to corner this direction:

5. Lay out three of each cupcake fabric and tone on tone matching triangles so they look like this (you will have an extra piece of each fabric left over):

6. Match you piece up right sides together so that each end has a point hanging over. The distance at the coner of where the two pieces match should be 1/4 inch on each side. Pin and sew 1/4 inch seam on each of the six pairs. Press toward the cupcake fabric.

7. When finished these should measure 3 1/2 by 6 1/2. Trim the points of the side and you will have something that looks like this:

8. Lay out three stacks of cupcake fabric 3 1/4 by 6 1/2 triangles and sew them together in sets. Press (direction doesn't matter).When finished they should measure 6 1/2 by 8 5/8. Trim to 6 1/2 by 8 1/2 (this was the only way to make these without giving you crazy measurements to cut and the 1/8 off one side doesn't even show) They will look like this:

9. Add the triangle units to each side so that your cupcake looks like this:

10. Sew the 4 1/2 by 14 1/2 pink tone on tone rectangles to the top of the cupcake bases press and set aside.

Here is my applique method. I think this is the simplest and I am not big on hand applique, altough these would be super easy to hand applique. I didn't want raw edge because I want this to be a childs quilt but if it were for a wall hanging I would probably go ahead and o raw edge. Use whatever method you like this is just one way.

11. Trace the sewing line of the template onto the non-adhesive side of your feather weight interfacing three times. Make sure there is at least 1/2 inch between each of the tracings. Use whatever marking method you prefer here the marks will not show because they will be turned under.

11. Cut the three pieces apart. You can do this roughly as seen below. Make sure there is at least 1/4 inch around he perimeter of all of the pieces.

12. Put the interfacing together with one 4 by 15 piece of cream fabric. The right side of the fabric should face the adhesive (bumpy) side of the interfacing.

13. Sew all the way around the marked line. Sewing the interfacing to the right side of the fabric.

14. Trim around the applique approximately 1/4 outside the line/stitching. Then clip the bottom curves of the applique. Clip into the corners being sure not to clip your stitching. trim your outside corners well.

15. Seperate the two layers and make a small clip in the interfacing.

16. Trim around the inside approximately 1/2 inside the stitching. Leave the interfacing behind the scallops this will keep the cupcake fabric from showing through the lighter cream fabric.

17. Carefully turn right side out use your favorite pointy tool to turn the corners (I like my chop stick).

18. Use your finger or the flat side of your chopstick and press around the perimeter. You can't use an iron here because you have fusible :)

19. Lay the applique on the cupcake. The points of the scallop should be just under the seam of the background and cupcake. The side points should be a little more than 1/4 inch insdie the edge of the block so they are not cut off when sewing the blocks together.

20. Use your iron and press the applique to the cupcake block. The fusible will be facing the block so that you have a nice fused edge to sew down. This is not a super strong hold like fusible web would be so if you need to re-position you can. This will be just enough to hold the applique in place while you edges stitch it on.

21. Set the stitch length a little longer on your machine that what you would use to piece. Top stitch close tot he edge of the applique, stopping to pivot at the points and tops of the scallops.

We won't add the sprinkles (buttons) until the quilt is quilted.

22. Sew your three blocks together and attach to the previous two rows.

She's looking cute :)

TTT

2011-02-22T21:52:00.001-08:00

oops... almost forgot TTT 3.5 lbs this week woot!

The Bag Book Review... Finally...

2011-02-21T07:18:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

A few weeks ago I had a giveaway and gave away this bag book:

It is called "Sew What Bags" by Lexie Barnes. I had a few people ask for a review of the book so here it is... a tiny bit late.

Here are a few more images from the book:

The first and second chapters are sewing basics.

I just wanted to give you an idea of the kind of projects that are in the book. I only made one project from the book and even then I changed it to suit my needs. I discovered after I bought the book that I was already a little past it as far as making bag skills go.

This would be an awesome book for someone that was fairly new to sewing or had never made a bag before. The first two chapters are all about how to sew. Then the project go from simple to more complicated with each chapter having a mix of easy to intermediate projects. The instructions are very comprehensive with illustrations and measurements. I believe even the newest sewer could use this book, unlike Amy Butler's new bag book (not that I don't love it, but it isn't for the faint of heart). This would be a super book for a teenager that wants to make bags too. There are a lot of fun projects like book bags and backpacks for the younger generation in it.

Hope this helps.

If you are looking for the 3Cs quilt along it will be back Wednesday. We have applique this week but I promise I will make it as painless as possible :)

Talk soon!

Two posts in a day... wow!

2011-02-18T09:32:00.000-08:00

There might be more than two as well...

So many things have been running through my head lately. I met a wonderful new friend a few weeks ago (I am gonna highlight her and her blog below) who is completely brand spankin' new to quilting. I can't even remember that time in my life 16 yrs ago. I guess the fact that I have sewn almost all my life (started machine sewing at 5) it didn't seem like a big learning curve when I started quilting. Since I lived in Germany and didn't have a lot of access to fabric stores etc (only one car for two of us), I taught myself to quilt from McCalls quilting and American Patchwork and Quilting. I made a few mistakes in the beginning, like ironing my seams open (which lots of people do now but was a big no no back then), but I learned pretty well from those magazines. I even learned the right way to do binding from them. I digress... I am helping, by little bits and pieces, her to learn quilting. It made me want to write some very basic quilting directions. Like how to get a perfect 1/4 seam when you don't have a 1/4 foot... How to make sure your seams match and your points are pointy. So I am wondering if these kind of things are already out there.

In the mean time let me tell you about Becky, my new friend. Becky is becoming a grandma today at the ripe old age of ( maybe I shouldn't tell you but she is younger than me)... well, it might actually not be until tomorrow you know how these things can go with a first child. Becky is an amazing artist. She paints, yes, really paints. I am so in awe of people that can stand in front of a blank canvas and create something beautiful out of it. She also has an extensive scrapbooking resume, she is part of quite a few manufacturers design teams. So as I help teach her to quilt she is introducing me to art and scrapbooking. Her emails are looked forward to everyday...

This is one of her paintings that is available at a really reasonable price.

Every week she posts layouts for scrapbooking, her quilting progress, her wonderful photography, and her art work. Please go take a look at her blog... I think you will enjoy her.

...and a bit more about art. As I said Becky is helping me understand art and one of the things she introduced me to is The She Art Workshop it is an online mixed media art class. It starts Feb.28 and I am so excited. I tried making a little something before Valentines day on a piece of recycled cardboard just for fun. I think it is really bad but that is why I am taking a class right? I am calling it road kill... thought about adding a tab here called "Road Kill" where I could post these things but... someday I hope to have something that looks less like roadkill and I don't want to jinx myself LOL The person putting on the class is named Christy Tomlinson she has a long history in the scrapbooking world and it is really interesting. She always has something creatively inspiring posted so you might want to check her out too :)

There and There and Here.... Tutorials galore...

2011-02-18T06:23:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

It is a busy and exciting day!

First go check out Sally's tutorial for The Quilted Fish an adorable little sheep mini quilt.

Next... I am guesting over at the Riley Blake Blog called Cutting Corners today. Come check out the button bracelet part two it's so Groovy :)

Last I wanted to let you know that the 3Cs Row Three might be a day or two late. I forgot that Monday is a holiday so I won't be here to post. I am planning to have it ready to go by Wednesday. Thanks for your understanding :)

Talk soon!

What I Worked on Yesterday and ...

2011-02-16T15:03:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

All day today I have been working on a fun new tutorial for you all... unfortunately it has to remain a secret a little longer so... since I can't show you what I worked on today I will show you what I worked on yesterday...

Yesterday I made two little linen zippered pouches for my partners in the Scrappy Mug Rug Swap and the Urban Home Goods swap. This is the package my Mug Rug partner is getting.

... I am a bit embarrassed to share this because I don't want you all to think I am tooting my own horn but, the girls at Lizzie B Cre8tive posted a picture of a bracelet that they made from my tutorial on Amanda's blog. It is so cute and I am so honored.

Talk soon!

Woot... kits for the charm bracelet are available and TTT

2011-02-15T15:00:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone,

Go check out Amanda's new website, she has the kits for my charm bracelet and KarrieLyne's pillow available.

And 2 more pounds for TTT... woot... I feel skinny... well, almost LOL

3Cs Quilt Along Row 2... and Feeling Groovy

2011-02-14T08:40:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

Ready for Row 2? This is the easiest of them all... I think it took me 10 minutes including cutting...

PS. Check the bottom of the post for a little sneaky peek of something else I am working on today.

1. Cut an 8 1/2 inch by WOF strip From your background fabric.
.

2. Subcut your strip into:

2- 3 3/4" by 8 1/2" rectangles

5- 7" by 8 1/2" rectangles

(this is all I had left after the sub-cutting of my strip... just so you know you may have to cut an extra strip if your fabric is a bit narrow)

3. Cut one 2 1/2" strip trim to 42 1/2" in length

4. Cut 6- 1" by 8 1/2" rectangles of the fabric you are using for your lollipop sticks. (I love dots... in case you didn't already know that)

Here are all of your pieces for this row

5. Using a 1/4 inch seam sew your back ground rectangles and stick rectangles in this order:

Press toward the sticks

6. Sew the 2 1/2 inch strip to the bottom of the sticks and the lollipop tops to the top of the sticks.

Voila! Your first two rows are done and you have lollipops!

Here is a little sneak peak of something I am working on today... Are you Feeling Groovy?

I Am A Guest so... Be My Guest...

2011-02-11T06:05:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone!

Today is the day! My first tutorial for The Quilted Fish went live this morning... Come on over and check it out.

PS. Monday Amanda will be offering kits to make the bracelet as well as the cute pillow that KarrieLyne posted for her last Friday.

Sneaker Peeker....

2011-02-10T08:03:00.000-08:00

Here is a little sneaky peeky of my tutorial that will be on The Quilted Fish's blog tomorrow morning. Can't wait to see you all there.

Frame finishing tutorial...Part 1

2011-02-09T07:36:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

I am still having technical difficulties with the second method's pictures so I am going to redo them all today. In the mean time here is the first method of finishing those adorable frames.

1, Choose a few strips of fabric or scraps and make a piece of your own fabric from them. I decided to use some 2 1/2 inch strips from my scrap bin in pinks and reds for Valentine's day. Make sure that you have 2" to 3" larger than your frame when you are finished piecing them together.

2. take your piece of cardstock or poster board and draw around your frame on the outside and on the inside of the opening. You will need to do this twice and cut two pieces. Laying aside one piece for use on the back of the frame.

3. Cut out each piece just inside the marked line on the outside of the frame and outside the marked line on the center, in other words you are cutting off your marked line.

4. Lay one of your cardboard pieces on your sewn piece of fabric making sure there is at least 1" on all sides.

5. Place your ruler on the template and past the edge by 1" cut all the way around. The easiest way to do this is leave the piece in one place and rotate your cutting mat. Then you won't have to reposition the pieces each time you cut.

When you are done it will look like this.

6. Turn the fabric over and on the wrong side, with the cardboard centered, mark all the way around the outside. (You will see in the second photo I marked the inside too but that isn't necessary I realized later.)

7. Take a scrap of batting the same size as the frame and lay it on the back side of the fabric so that it is inside the drawn line. You do not want your batting to be larger in this case because it will make it more difficult to wrap around the frame.

8. Pin baste in your preferred method, I like to use straight pins on small items because they are easier to remove when I am quilting.

9. I am sorry I didn't get a picture of this, but I straight line quilted 1/4 inch away from each seam on both sides. You can see the quilting in the finished picture at the top. Quilt as desired.

10. Place the cardboard back on top of the batting and mark around the inside of the frame/heart.

11. Cut out the center leaving approximately an inch inside the marked line.

12. Clip the corners to within 1/4 inch of the marked line.

13. Place the cardboard back on the batting. Get your amazing wonder glue (E-6000) and start turning the inside of the frame one clipped piece at a time. This take a little patience because the glue doesn't dry super fast. The best way to do this if you don't have a ton of patience is to use binder or large paper clips to hold the pieces down while they dry. This glue is not like super glue in that it won't glue your fingers together but it will get on them and dry. It is rubbery so you can peal it off or rub it off. Once it is dry it is water proof and super strong. You might have toput a little extra under the batting because it seams to absorbe the glue and a little under the fabric to hold it to the batting.

14. Once you have the inside of the frame fabric glued to the cardboard. Glue the rightside of the frame to the inside of the cardboard. I put glue around the center and around the outside... I was working fast so didn't get a picture of the glue on the outside.

It will look like this.

15. Put a dab of glue on the each corner of the frame and fold the corners in as shown in the photos.

16. Glue all of the edges around the frame.

17. Take the second piece of cardboard that you cut and trim the inside of the frame about 1/4 inch so that it fits around the iside clips. Since the frames don't have a back you need to leave the wholce center open to put a picture in it. Make sure that the sides and the center are slightly smaller than the frame, once you have the backing fabric on you don't want it to show from the front of the frame.

18. Cover the cardboard the same way that we did earlier with the cardboard and frame. I just used one pice of fabric for this.

19. Glue the back to the frame.

All done! Ain't she cute?

The frame finishing tutorial... and TTT

2011-02-08T06:29:00.000-08:00

I am sorry I am having technical difficulties so the frame tutorial will be a day late. See you tomorrow morning with 2 ways to fix up that frame.

For TTT... another 1/2 lb down. Yay!

She's Done it Again!

2011-02-07T22:19:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

Look at this amazing line of fabric "Sugar and Spice" By Amanda Herring of The Quilted Fish. She only used every one of my favorite colors red, green, and aqua... All my dreams have come true :) I can't wait to get my grubby fingers on it :)

First Row of the 3C's Quilt Along

2011-02-07T05:42:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

So glad to see you here... are you ready to get started?

If you are worried about having enough fabric for the borders you might want to cut them first. The inside borders (blue dots) are 1 1/2 inches by your row width (this might vary depending on your 1/4 inch seam) it should be about 44 1/2 for the top and bottom and the sides should be 1 1/2 by 45 1/2. The second (outside border) should be 4 1/2 by 52 1/2 for the top and bottom and 4 1/2 by 47 1/2 for the sides.
The first row is the top of your Lollipops:

1. Choose six fabrics to represent the tops of your lollipops. Cut one 7 1/2 inch square from each fabric. If you are working from small pieces you might want to cut them like this:

rather than by cutting strips first.( It is easiest to do this by rotating your mat as you make your cuts.)

2. Cut 24- 2" squares of background fabric. It takes 2 WOF strips to get 24 squares. Later on you will need more 2" squares so if you would like to cut them all at once you will need a total of 48, 24 for this row and 24 for row 5. I cut 3 WOF strips to give me the 48 and put my extras in a zip lock bag labeled row 5. When you are done you should have a pile that looks like this. (Somehow I missed getting the blue dot lollipop in the picture so you should have 6 pieces not five like my pictures shows.)

3. Place your ruler diagonally on the wrong side of the background squares and draw a line with your pencil. Repeat for all 24 squares. (If you already know how to make snowball blocks you can meet us at step 5.)

Your squares should look like this:

4. Place one background square on the corner of a lollipop square as shown, and sew on the marked line.

5. Sew again 1/2 inch away from the marked line toward the outside of the corner.

6. Cut the corner apart half way between the two rows of stitching. Set the half square triangles aside we are going to use them at the end to make our label. Repeat for all four sides of the blocks.

7. Turn the corners out and press. If you know what order your lollipops will be in then iron every other block toward the lollipop and every other block toward the corner. That will make it easier for you to sew them together and match seams.

8. When you are done pressing you should have 6 blocks that look like this. Lay them out in a pleasing order and sew them together matching seams.

Ta Da your first row! I told ya it was easy :) If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.

Printable PDF located here.
I created a Flickr pool if anyone wants to put pictures there of your project. Click Here.

Going Postal

2011-02-05T08:47:00.000-08:00

The pictures say it all....

It is finally "The Day", run don't walk....

2011-02-04T06:52:00.000-08:00

Today is the first guest post by The Quilted Fish's Creative Consultant Team. KarrieLyne that creative Rock Star you probably know from Moda Bakeshop Tutorials or her own awesome blog is your first one up to bat. Click Here to go see what she made up for you....it is sooooo adorable!

How about a little Valentine Pressie and a PIF?

2011-02-03T07:07:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

Would you like to make a little present for someone for Valentine's and only have about $1 out of pocket? Go to Michaels (or Ikea) and pick up one of these cute heart frames, they literally cost $1. Grab a scrap bucket or two and meet me back here on Tuesday. ~~(You might want a few embellishments like buttons, and a craft glue that works on fabric, my favorite is E-6000 which is available at Michael's as well)~~ I decided to do a mini supply list ( I always assume everyone is a pack rat like me and has stuff laying around but I shouldn't)

1- Frame to cover
1- tube of extra strength fabric glue (E-6000 is awesome)
1-posterboard or a couple pieces of card stock at least as big as the frame (I like to recycle priority mail
envelopes for this, you know the kind your fabric comes in when you order a ton of it online :) )
Scraps of fabric or one large piece at least 2 inches larger than the frame
1- piece of batting as large as the frame and other scraps of batting
A few buttons, beads, pieces of ribbon or what not (hehe that is a technical term)
Sewing needle
Large embroidery needle or large safety pin
Pencil
Thread to match embellishments or fabric
Scissors

Hollie Had a Pay it Forward post a day or two ago and I was lucky enough to be chosen to receive a present from her sometime in the next year. In order to receive this I had to agree to PIF to 3 others in the next year. If you are willing to make 3 gifts and PIF on your blog please leave me a comment here telling me you will. I will enter you in a PIF giveaway and maybe sometime in the next year you will receive a hand made pressie from me. I will leave it open until tomorrow night.

If you are not interested in being part of the giveaway you can still comment. I will just sort through the do's and don'ts :)

It is TTT....

2011-02-01T13:53:00.000-08:00

Tush Trimming Tuesday...

You say what the heck? You see, my friend Jana has Weight Loss Wednesdays where she updates on how she is doing on her diet. I think that is a great way to stay motivated. So I told her I would steal the idea... except I think I will do mine on Tuesday (a down time on the blog normally anyway). So if you don't like the sound of Tush Trimming Tuesday come up with another word that means subtraction that starts with a "T" (if you do, and I like it, there might be a little prize in it for ya).

So as of today I have lost 20 lbs on Weight Watchers....weeee... long way to go because I have *mumble* lbs to lose. It is a great start though. So in honor of TTT here is my T quilt, or cross quilt, or plus quilt... making it for my partner in the Urban Home Goods Swap . It is a table runner. Will be 18 x 36 when finished.

Are you a joiner?

2011-01-31T07:58:00.000-08:00

I know I am... I love quilt alongs. Isn't it fun to see what everyone does with the same block or quilt? There are a ton of quilt alongs going on right now in blog and flickr land. I hesitated to start another one among the myriad that are already available, but as I have been saying to some of the people who have commented, don't worry I am not taking it away. It will still be here when you get around to it :) I have decided to simplify a bit this year. I had planned on joining quite a few of the quilt alongs that are going on right now, but I am de-committing :) I find that I am more excited about doing some things that I design myself this year. Here is quilt along that I am continuing though:

How could I not continue this one?

The January Bag

2011-01-29T13:58:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

Remember back here when I told you about my city outlawing plastic grocery bags? I promised then that I would be making one bag a month this year so that in January of 2012, when we either have to pay for paper bags or bring our own, we would be ready. I almost let January slip past but just in the nick of time...

The January bag.

My garage doorknob is doing the modeling honors LOL. I made it this morning.. took pics to do a tutorial then figured there were plenty of tote bag tutorials out there. Next week you might see a little tutorial on how to make your sides look as good as the back and front though.

Have a great weekend!

We Have a Winner....

2011-01-29T05:05:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

Thanks so much for entering my "We Made it to 100" Giveaway.

Our winner is:

Anita said...
Oh my word, a "simple" give away! I love it and I love love your blog, happy 100!
January 25, 2011 7:14 PM

Anita I have emailed you. I had a couple requests for a review of the book so I took some pictures and I will do that in the next couple days.

Thanks again to all that entered.

Supply List for the 3C quilt...

2011-01-28T09:29:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

First please notice that we won't start sewing until Monday 2/7 now. I forgot that something special is happening next Friday that you won't want to miss :) Second, though I did fabric estimates for the 3C quilt, I did not add a lot of extra in. So add fudge room if you are like me and make cutting mistakes sometimes. The ones that say 1/4 yd or an F8, if you get the 1/4 yd you will have fudge room. The larger amounts you might want to add an extra 1/8th to if you worry about having enough. One other thing, the scale of the fabrics in my rendering are not accurate (they are the best I could do with the pictures I could get) so it will look slightly different to the picture (mostly the florals are a little larger etc). The list is of the fabrics exactly as they are shown in the drawing but I will be using scraps so I might be substituting here and there,. I will let you know if I do. You do not have to use these fabrics, of course, use what you like or what you have in your stash if you want.

Quilt is approximately 52" x 54"

Supply List:

All Fabrics "Sweet Divinity" by The Quilted Fish for Riley Blake

C6105 Cream Sweet Daisy (cream background)

1 ¾ yd

C6100- Blue Sweet Main Floral (large blue floral)
1 yd if piecing border
1 ½ yd if not piecing border

C6101 Blue Sweet Dot (blue small dot)
¼ if piecing border
¾ yd if piecing border includes binding
1 1/8 if not piecing border includes binding

C6101 Cream Sweet Flower (green background medium floral)
¼ yd or F8

C6106 Pink Sweet Dot (pink small dot)
¼ yd or F8

C6010 Blue Sweet Flower (blue background medium floral)
¼ yd or FQ

C6100 Pink Sweet Main Floral (large pink floral)
¼ yd or F8

C6103 Pink Sweet Vine (pink floral lattice)
¼ or F8

C6102 Pink Sweet Trinkets (pink small motif print)
¼ yd or F8

C6102 Blue Sweet Trinkets (blue small motif print)
1/4 yd or F8

C6105 Pink Sweet Daisy (tone on tone pink floral)
5/8 yd

C6105 Blue Sweet Daisy (tone on tone blue floral)
¼ yd or FQ

C6104 Pink Sweet Stripe (small multi color stripe)
8” x 8” piece

C6104 Blue Sweet Stripe (small multi color stripe)
8” x 8” piece

C6104 Cream Sweet Stripe (small multi color stripe)
8” x 8” piece

Backing
Approximately 2 1/2 yds

Very Light Weight Fusible Interfacing (if you want to do easy turned appliqué)
20 x 20 piece
or
Fusible Web
20 x 20 piece (if you want to do raw edge appliqué)

Buttons different sizes and shapes
approximately 40

Other embellishments of your choice (optional)

Thread to match

Fabrics are available:

Here

and

Here

Are You A Pretty Princess?

2011-01-27T15:52:00.000-08:00

Do you know one? I am not one, but I play one on TV... :)

I do know a pretty princess. You think I am going to say my daughter don't you? Well, she is a girl and she is my princess but if I called her that, or especially "Pretty Princess", she would smack me (tomboy much?). No, my pretty princess is my niece Ashley... she loves all things pink. (You do still like pink right Ashley?) I designed this quilt with her in mind. It is a girl's best friend. You know the 3 Cs? No, not cut, color, and clarity. It is candy, cupcakes and cookies.

Approx. 52" x 55"

Of course I am using Sweet Divinity by The Quilted Fish. Starting in two weeks and for the next 5 weeks I am going to post a row by row tutorial for making this quilt. Would you like to quilt along with me? This will be a super easy peasy quilt along. Perfect for beginners. I will post the fabric requirements tomorrow. We will start piecing Monday after next 2/7/2011 (this was edited because something else you all will want to see is coming next Friday, trust me it is super cool!)

Blog Awards.... and my friend at Adventures of a Cross Stitch Drama Queen

2011-01-26T09:50:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

Two of my good friends/blog buddies have given me blog awards lately...

First by Anna aka "The Peaceful Piecer"

Then by Hollie aka "The Undercover Crafter"

I love these two ladies and their blogs...you will notice that a few days ago I featured Hollie... but I really was in a conundrum. The purpose of these awards is to feature blogs with less than 300 followers... to post links to three blogs that you love that are not as exposed. My problem is I have a bunch of favorite bloggers with fewer than 300 followers so how can I choose just three? So my solution to this is to do as I started a few days ago, with Hollie, and feature a blog once a week. I want to make it meaningful and actually tell you the things I love about each one of them.

Today I want to introduce you to Jana at "Adventures of a Cross Stitch Drama Queen". I am so happy to call Jana a friend. She is also on The Quilted Fish's Creative Consulting Team with me. She does a lot more than Cross Stitch too, let me tell ya. This girl is what I always wanted to be, truly witty and funny (I mean belly laugh funny) not to mention beautiful ;) Please, just go and read a few posts, and tell me if you don't agree. While you are there why not leave her a comment and tell her how beautiful she is.... I mean who doesn't want to hear that :)

I gakked this from her blog... the scooters slay me...

The "We Made it to 100" giveaway...

2011-01-25T15:13:00.000-08:00

Yep, we made it. So here is the giveaway:

"Sew What Bags by Leslie Barnes and 5 fat quarters of Soul Blossoms from Amy Butler.

There is only one comment necessary this time. This is a giveaway for my regular readers and followers so no need to post anywhere else. Just leave me any kind of comment on this thread and you are entered. Please only enter once. Please make sure there is a way for me to get a hold of you.

Edit: oops forgot to say when I was closing the giveaway. It is open until midnight Friday night Pacific time.

Talk soon!

And we have a winner....

2011-01-25T06:22:00.000-08:00

My friend good old Random.org chose our winner out of the 213 qualifying entries....

Number 4 was:

Mommarock said...

I blogged about your giveaway at http://runtomomma.blogspot.com/2011/01/sherbet-pips-giveaway.html but I hope I still win ;)

January 19, 2011 6:58 AM

Mommarock I have emailed you and will get your little lovelies out as soon as possible. Thanks to everyone who entered stay tuned for more fun and a new giveaway later today.

Tonight is the night...

2011-01-24T06:54:00.000-08:00

I pick the winners of the Sherbet Pips giveaway. Be sure to enter by midnight tonight. I will leave you with two words.

Cupcake and Swimming Pool

Okay it is three words but who's counting?

Wow... almost to 100....

2011-01-22T06:57:00.000-08:00

Wow, everyone! Thanks for following along. I am almost to 100 followers (actually there are a few more that follow through RSS feed) but the ones that show here on Blogger are the ones I am using to count. If I get to 100 this week I will do another giveaway... I mean we have to celebrate right?

So how about this... five fat quarters of Amy Butler's Soul Blossoms and a really fun book "Sew What Bags".

As of writing there is only one more follower to go. So if we get there by Monday when I close the Pips giveaway, I will start a giveaway for these on Tuesday :)

I am still getting tons of comments from people that are No Reply... this is the last time I will mention it. If you don't know if you are no-reply do these steps:

Log into blogger on your dashboard page, click where it says "edit profile" on the left side of the page. Then check "SHOW EMAIL ADDRESS" in the 3rd line down, and at the bottom of the page click SAVE PROFILE!

If you do not want your email attached to your comments then leave your email in spelled out form in your comment so I can get a hold of you.

Meet "The Undercover Crafter"

2011-01-20T09:35:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking about highlighting one of my blogging friends every week and today is the perfect day to start since I entered Hollie's giveaway for some Amy Butler fabric.

Hollie is one of the Round Robin participants and she is an amazing artist. You should go check out her blog. She is so interesting. She just got back from her honeymoon to some very interesting places. Today is her one month anniversary and her one year anniversary to blogging so go give her some love. Maybe you will win some fabric :)

Just a reminder...

2011-01-19T21:05:00.000-08:00

If you do not have an email address attached to your comment for the giveaway I can't notify you if you win. I had about 20 comments with no reply emails. So if you are a no reply commenter please mail me with your email address so that I can attach it to your name in case you win. You can email me at jewelsarmcandy at gmail dot com. If you did not receive a reply to your comment then you are one of the ones that I do not have an email for. I have replied to all of the comment as of 9:00 PM Pacific Time on Wednesday...

I just don't want you to miss out :)

Sherbet Pips Giveaway

2011-01-19T06:38:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

Like I told you a few days ago I was so lucky to get into Miss Julie's fabric shop and get some Sherbet Pips charm packs. I had a goal and that was to get some to play with and to give some to one of you to play with. I am giving away two charm packs. I have gone back and forth about whether to split them up or send them both to one person. I have decided to send them both to one person... after all you can't make much with one charm pack....

So here are the ways to enter:

1. Leave a comment.

2. Become a follower and comment that you did, or if you already follow, remind me :)

3. Blog, Twitter, or Facebook about the giveaway and come back and let me know in a seperate comment.

Make sure that there is a way for me to contact you when you comment if you are a no reply blogger. The giveaway runs until Monday 1/24 at midnight Pacific time. I will announce the winner Tuesday morning.

That's it...easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Talk Soon!

First Quilt Hope In Quilt

2011-01-18T08:31:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

A few months back... okay 6 months back LOL... I bought some charm packs to use for hexagons. I wanted to have something to do on the plane on the way to and from Rome. Here they are:

So yesterday as I was cleaning up and re-organizing my sewing room (aka the living room) I came across the left over charm squares. They were mostly boy colors so I decided to make a disappearing nine patch with them. Low and behold I had just the right amount to make four D9P blocks. I added a teal border and voila a baby boy quilt for Quilt Hope In.

I just adore these little owls.

My goal for today is to get my chores done early and get this little guy quilted.

Come back tomorrow for the Sherbet Pips giveaway.

Talk soon!

Pour Some Sugar on Meeeee....(AKA I Has Pips and I's Gonna Share)

2011-01-15T13:56:00.000-08:00

(Yes, I was a teenager in the 80's, gotta love Def Leppard)

Woohoo! I got some sugar in the mail today!

Edit: I just realized that I didn't say why it was "Sugar" because it is "Sweet Divinity" and "Sherbet Pips" (which are a type of candy BTW besides being cute fabric)

First from my favorite Fish (The Quilted Fish) Amanda....

Holy Guacamole look at all this stuff Batman! I want to play with it so bad... can't wait until Monday when I have a minute. Dots, dots, dots I am in heaven. Just wait until you see what I make with this!

Second I was lucky enough to elbow my way to the front of the line when Miss Julie put up her new pre-cuts for sale and look what I got to share with you! Yes!!! Piiiiips! I am so excited. If you haven't seen it in person yet just wait you are gonna love it! I am giving away two (yes two) charm packs. I will post the giveaway soon... very very soon! So stay tuned.

Don't they look cute in my begonias?

The Stash Buster Block

2011-01-13T09:25:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

I decided to try to get the center for my Good and Fun Round Robin Quilt done yesterday. I am on a mission to bust my stash this year. I had a pile of fat quarters and half yards of Joel Dewberry's Modern Meadow so I took them out and thought I would do a film strip style block with them. My husband loves what I came up with but... I think it is the lack of Raspberry, Red or Tangerine that keeps me from adoring it... otherwise I think it is pretty okay... I put the measurements and layout below so that you can bust some stash with it too if you want...you can twist and turn the four blocks any way you want but I laid them out a lot of ways and liked them best like this.

One of the things that I like about this block is that it doesn't take much background fabric (something I am always notoriously short one) ;)

ooops you get to see my lack of ironing here LOL

For each block you need:

2 background rectangles 1 1/4 by 12 1/2

1 background rectangle 1 by 6 1/2

1 background rectangle 1 1/2 by 2 1/2

4 background rectangles 1 1/4 by 2 1/2

4 squares 2 1/2

2 rectangles 6 1/4 by 6 1/2

1 rectangle 3 by 12 1/2

I made a mistake and had to use green out LOL

Hey! I thought I lived in California!

2011-01-13T05:52:00.000-08:00

The other morning I had to go to the dentist and I had to scrape ice off my car....

After taking the picture of the ice I stepped back onto the porch and turned around... don't I have a lovely view? I guess I won't complain about the ice :)

Why No Jewelry On Sew Jewely?

2011-01-12T08:57:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

As those of you who have been following me a little while might know I don't just sew, I also make jewelry. I started making jewelry a couple years ago because I had an itch to learn something new. So why don't you see my jewelry on the blog? The simple truth is jewelry is super hard to photograph. No picture that I seem to be able to take can truly capture it. I am determined to get better at jewelry photography this year. I am also determined to learn something about composition since I am rarely satisfied with my photos even when they are in focus and everything else...but I digress. What this post is meant to be about is jewelry. You will see more of it around here from now on... don't worry you will also see more sewing. So here is my latest attempt at jewelry photography...

Bronze, garnet, acrylic,czech glass,swarovski, charm necklace.

This necklace is a departure from my usual pieces. I normally work with precious metals, gemstones, and swarovskis (okay so there are gemstones and swarovskis in it). I don't know why but one night I just decided to make something different and this is what came out. There are deep dark faceted garnet beads that I thought really set off the lavender acrylic focal piece... I love the heart charms... then I added a little pearly white and crystal clear to lighten it up a bit. I think it is a nice piece for valentines too... I think I will put it in my etsy shop and send the money to Heartline for the Teen Mom Home I better get it there quick before it is too late for Valentine's :) EDIT: here is the link if you want to see the listing in my shop.

Speaking of jewelry... wonder what this is going to become...

Yummy Sweet Divinity

And speaking of sewing... I started out with this yesterday...

Begonia is blooming...so pretty.

And it became this:

Talk soon...

Thirteen Years Ago Today...

2011-01-11T07:43:00.000-08:00

I was in a hospital room, looking out at Mount Rainier, or at the TV (it was a Sunday and I was watching the NFL Playoffs... Redskins vs.... I don't remember), waiting for the girl who is the light of my life to show up... she finally did at 3PM after 26 hrs of labor :) Here are some growing up photos.... she is 4 inches taller than me now... and it is 1/11/11 what a cool number.

In need of a replacement bird....

2011-01-10T18:00:00.000-08:00

Due to unforseeable circumstances one of the participants in the Good and Fun Round Robin had to withdraw. We are in search of one more participant. If you want to join in please let me know.

Here are the rules in case you want to know what you are getting yourself into :)

Rules for Round Robin

1. Make a center square for your quilt any size you like. It depends on what you want to get in the end. You will receive back a quilt that is 15 or more inches bigger than what you send in length and width.

2. Choose some co-coordinating fabrics 1/4 yds or 1/2 yds depending on how big your center piece is. If you are sending a 12-20 inch center then 5-10 quarter yards or equivalent. More if you are sending 20 inch or larger center.

3. Get a list of swappers. I will get this out as soon as I get everyone’s info.

4. Send your center and co-coordinating fabrics to the person in the list after you. Ideally I would like everyone to send out their centers and fabrics by the last week of January so that the other quilters have a full month to work on the quilt before it has to be passed on. The first month is the hardest sometimes.

5. Each swapper adds at least 5 inches to the height and width of the center block. This can be done in a variety of ways. Adding at least 2 1/2 inch borders, five to the top and one side, 5 to the bottom and one side, 3 on one side 2 on the other... etc... But be creative, plain strip borders would be a little boring... You can definitely add larger borders too but 5 to the length and width is the minimum.

6. Expect to use some of your stash to supplement whatever the owner sent... half the fun is seeing other people’s stash.

7. You have one month between switches (super important to be on time) then you send it to the next person in the list. The swap should happen no later than the 5th of the next month.

8. When you receive your quilt back you can either finish it and donate it to Quilt Hope In or make another item for their shop (Or you can make an item anytime the more the better) Quilt Hope In is accepting all hand made items it doesn’t have to be a quilt.

9. I created a Flickr album for us to share our progress on our center pieces and during the swap months but let’s try to keep it mostly a surprise… so say you create some blocks for a quilt you can show the blocks but maybe not how you are putting them together… or just a corner of the quilt… or something so that when the owner gets it back it is a lovely surprise.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/1603355@N23/

10. I may have forgotten something or things might not be perfectly clear so if you have questions just let me know and I will address them. These are the only rules I can think of for now but things may come up that I haven’t thought of so don’t get too frustrated if we are learning a little as we go.

Whoop...the cat is finally out of the bag....

2011-01-10T11:03:00.000-08:00

I can finally tell you all about the reason I have been so excited lately... That's right, Tracey, no more teasing...

I am so honored and humbled to have been chosen by Amanda Herring of The Quilted Fish to be on her design team. She is calling us Creative Consultants aka. The A Team (for Amanda). The other ladies on the team are just amazing and I have no idea how I will keep up, but I will give it a valiant effort. Come see Amanda's Blog and learn about the whole team.

What did I tell you? Aren't they an amazing bunch? We get to make fun messes with Amanda's gorgeous fabrics and she is going to let us hijack her blog once a week too. Stay tuned for lot's of fun stuff!

It is all rolling along

2011-01-06T08:24:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

I am excited that the Round Robin I am organizing is coming along.

I sent out rules today and opened a flickr group (click on the button my side bar to see) even though there is nothing in there yet. I have high hopes for us :)

For-gedd-about-it

2011-01-02T18:45:00.000-08:00

Remember this post Crafting resolutions ... what was I thinking? Like God wouldn't say "Oh you think so do you?" So forget about it all... I have decided that I am not going to hold myself to those boring goals... the only ones I am totally committed to are the two quilts for the Girl's home in Sacramento and doing as much as I can for Quilt Hope In... the rest doesn't matter. I am only making what I want to make this year. If those UFOs stay UFOs so be it. There are way too many fun things going on to hold myself down. I am gonna do a few things that are a little beyond my comfort zone... Oh yes! I have big plans.

Here is something that I want to do:

This is a block for Birdie Stitches which is a BOM by Little Miss Shabby. See the adorable button on my side bar? I have been wanting to do something with embroidery and here it is.

Something Super Exciting Is Happening.

2011-01-01T19:39:00.001-08:00

I will tell you about it as soon as I can. (jumping up and down)

Happy New Year

2011-01-01T15:33:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year Everyone. Thank you for your get well wishes they mean so much to me.

I have spent a little time on my Fig and Plum bed quilt. I finally found the perfect pattern for me. Pretty but not too fussy. It will look like this:

The only thing I changed from this is that the peach diagonals are scrappy from the fat quarters instead of using yardage. The blocks are all finished I just have to do the applique center and it will be ready to put together. It only took me two days. As soon as I can be out of bed for more than a few minutes without being ill I will get soem pictures of the blocks. It will be 90 inches square.

Yuck alert...if you are squimish don't read beyond here......

If you are wondering how I burned myself... I was using the baster to get some juice from the turkey I made yesterday and squirted the 350 degree liquid all over my chest. I threw myself to the sink and washed down with cold water immediately then used ice but I have huge blisters some larger than quarters all over my chest. I am wearing an old t-shirt because it is oozy and icky but I will live. There are only two small places where it is really bad (worse than blisters). Thank heaven I didn't hit my face.

Hugs... talk soon.

Ugh

2010-12-31T23:18:00.001-08:00

cooking mishap = third degree burns... yuck!

Merry Christmas Every One!

2010-12-24T05:36:00.000-08:00

Thank you Tiny Tim. Just a quick post to say the have the happiest of Merry Christmases ever. It is 5:30 am here and in about an hour I will start cooking. Other than brief breaks for eating, candlelight service, sleeping and opening presents, cooking is all I will be doing for the next 3 days. Hugs to you all. See you soon.

Brown Bag Challenge

2010-12-22T07:26:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

Over at Stash Manicure what seems like a year ago (but wasn't) a brown bag chalenge was issued. My partner is a wonderful lady in Australia and she sent me some challenge fabrics to make a quilt from... I have to use 90% of what she sent in one quilt. I took the challenge to mean they all had to be in the top of the quilt but it doesn't say that anywhere in the rules, I don't think. Anyway, here is a picture of the fabrics and postcards she sent, as well as my Material Obsessions 2 book:

It is quite a mix of colors and styles as you can see. The chartreuse batik was the one that really had me stumped. The book is a great inspiration tool. The way those two take challenges and make them their own is wonderful. I took this picture way back when the fabric first came I don't know why it never made it into a post. All of the fabrics are cut up and ready to be sewn together... actually the center (about 30" square) is sewn together already. The quilt will be a mixture of piecing and applique. It will be completely different from almost anything I have done and I think that was what this challenge was about. I got to use my Sizzix cutter for the applique pieces. I am enjoying it more and more as I use it. This challenge is a great way t o make me step out of my comfort zone as far as technique and color choices. Even the different styles of fabrics are a challenge... I never would have thought to put batiks with the other prints here. I just hope the quilt comes out presentable :)

Talk Soon!

Still looking for one more Round Robin participant

2010-12-20T08:34:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

I am still looking for one (maybe two) more round robin participants. It doesn't start until late January or early February so it won't interfere with the holidays at all. I am thinking carefully about what I want to make for the center of mine already. What I know for sure is it has to come from my stash. Check out this post for info Round Robin.

My 2011 Crafting Resolutions..

2010-12-19T14:56:00.000-08:00

I probably will not have any time in the next two weeks to post... I might up until Thursday of this week but then family and our son get here and all bets are off... so if I don't make it back... Merry Christmas, dear friends.

Here are my crafting resolutions for the new year month by month (including UFO finishing). The biggest one is not to buy a ton more fabric. I have enough to last the year. I know I will buy a little, especially since I have already seen some spring lines that I can't pass up. I want to use up a lot of my fabric this year.

1. Finish Tic Tac Toe quilt donate to girl's home in Sacramento. Finish Charity quilt for BAMQG. One new thing for Quilt Hope In. Work on hand quilting Erin's hope chest quilt. Work on mom's quilt.

2. Finish Pinwheel quilt donate to girl's home in Sacramento. One new thing for Quilt Hope In. Work on hand quilting Erin's hope chest quilt. Work on Mom's quilt.

3. Finish basket quilt. One new thing for Quilt Hope In. Finish Mom's quilt for her b-day on the 20th. Finish Erin's hope chest quilt.

4. Finish Layer Cake quilt for MIL's B-day. Finish pumpkin quilt and donate to Quilt Hope In.

5. Finish Plume Quilt. Finish fall quilt. One new thing for Quilt Hope In.

6. Finish tea party quilt. One new thing for Quilt Hope In.

7. Start Christmas presents. One new thing for Quilt Hope In.

8. Finish tesselating stars and houses quilt. Work on Christmas presents. One new thing for Quilt Hope In.

9. Finish Jell Roll quilt. Work on Christmas Presents. One new thing for Quilt Hope In.

10. Finish hexagon quilt. Work on Christmas presents. One new thing for Quilt Hope In.

11. Finish Christmas presents and ship Canadian ones. One new thing for Quilt Hope In.

12. Work on last minute Christmas gifts (there are never enough) One new thing for Quilt Hope In.

I also just got my swap pillow from my partner for the Pillow Talk Swap Round 4

Isn't it cute?

Going Green or else....

2010-12-15T11:18:00.000-08:00

My city is making news today. Last night the city council voted to outlaw plastic bags. Here is the article from the local Newspaper http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_16859889?source=most_emailed . We are a large city (more than a million resedents) so I guess that is big news. You know what you will be seeing once a month on the blog from me now? A new grocery bag a month is my goal for 2011 then we won't be caught un-prepared in 2012.

Last of the Christmas Sewing

2010-12-14T07:31:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

I am done! I have been almost done for a week or two.... I just had to get motivated to do the hand work on the last of it.

Did you notice anything different around here? I changed my name to match my etsy shop name...and it really fits me better anyway. On with the show....
Some scarves I started a while ago... I call them infinity scarves but Anna Maria Horner is selling kits that make the same thing and she calls them figure eight scarves... same thing different name. Wouldn't you know it I bought the fabric to make them from her as well...voile and flannel.

I made these mittens for gift card holders. You can get the fabric (quilters cotten) from Connecting Threads as well as the free mitten pattern. I love how it looks just like knitted mittens. Even close up.

And here are some improv trees for the Block Lotto . I was happy that I got my "have to(s)" done so I could get some "want to(s)" done

So I think the Christmas sewing is done unless I decide I need to make some Dalliance Gloves too :) I might... I just might!

Talk Soon!

PS... sorry for the kitchen table pics... my sewing space was invaded by the Christmas tree.

PPS still looking for one or two more people to do a round robin in Jan/Feb see older posts for info.

Sometimes I wish....

2010-12-13T10:01:00.000-08:00

I owned more than this little scrap of the net. Sometimes something comes along that I want to throw my whole world into and I want others to come along and do the same. I wish I could get the word out to a million people.

Some of you may know Traceyjay she has introduced me to The Hendricks family and Heartline Ministries . I want to do so much for this organization but I am not rich. I wish I could give them everything they need for the Teen Mom Home but I can't. What can I do? I can make things for the Quilt Hope In etsy shop (check). I can adopt a room, taking it on faith that God will help me find the funds ~~(I am trying to adopt the pink bathroom~~) (didn't get a bathroom am sending funds instead). I can tell you all about it, and hope that you get involved too (check).

Still need some round robins... and some things I have been working on.

2010-12-11T09:22:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

We are still in need of a couple of people to participate in the round robin I posted about here. It doesn't start until January or early February so it won't interfere with your Holidays :)

Go check out Quilt Hope In to see a post about the women and children we will be helping.

Here are a few of the Christmas presents I have been making:

For my Niece a Cosmo Bag from Amy Butler's new book Style Stitches ( I design my own most of the time but I couldn't resist this book)

I love how this turned out and the covered button! I will never make one again. It has 50 or more pieces ... took forever to cut out :)

Another Amy bag... they were special requests. This one for my Aunt:

And this one for my cousin:

Here is a gratuitous picture of my animals... just because.

Aren't they cute? Doesn't it look like they love each other? This is really what they are thinking:

Let's have some fun and do some good

2010-12-09T07:28:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

I have been thinking on this for a while. First of all have you all met TraceyJay? Tracey is heading up a campaign, Quilt Hope In, to help orphan children in Haiti by making quilts to auction to raise funds for Heartline Ministries there. I have already donated fabric and have pledged to make items for the etsy shop. Here is my idea for us:

1. Let's do a round robin quilt swap (a few more details below)
2. Let's make an item for the etsy shop of Quilt Hope In (this can be your round robin quilt or another item I am not picky :) )

Whaddya think?

More about the Round Robin to start in January/February:
FYI: It is early in the morning and I don't know (or can't think straight with half a cup of coffee) all of the details but the bare bones are:
1. Make a center square for your quilt any size you like
2. Choose some co-ordinating fabrics 1/4 yds or 1/2 yds depending on how big your center square is.
3. Get a list of swappers (I will keep it to 4 members per group, hopefully we will have at least one full group)
4. Send your center and co-ordinating fabrics to the person in the list after you.
5. Each swapper adds at least 5 inches to the height and width of the center block. This can be done in a variety of ways. Adding at least 2 1/2 inch borders, five to the top and one side... etc... But be creative, plain strip borders would be a little boring...
6. Expect to use some of your stash to supliment whatever the owner sent.
7. You have one month between switches (super important to be on time) then you send it to the next person in the list.
8. When you receive your quilt back you can either finish it and donate it to Quilt Hope In or make another item for their shop (Or you can make an item anytime the more the better)

Please let me know if you would like to join. I would like to have at least one reference from another swap if possible only because this is a bit of an outlay for us all and it would not be good to have things go missing.

I am going to post on flickr about it too.

PS: Tracey is giving away a Go cutter on her blog check it out :)

Winner and winner... chicken dinner...

2010-12-03T09:05:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

Today we have the winners of my scrap giveaway. I put you all in order by time that you sent a comment and which stack you chose. Then I used random.org to pick the numbers.

For Gobble Gobble:

Peaceful Piecer who said: what fun! I'm a huge fan of Sandy Gervais so that's my pick. Thanks for a chance to win

For the Authentic:

Duff who said: The authentic has my vote! I do not know of a specific charity, but the church by me takes fabric to make quilts that will be sent overseas. Perhaps a church in your area does the same?

Thanks to everyne who entered. I will get these in the mail as soon as you send me your mailing info.

A question and the giveaway...

2010-11-30T14:34:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

This is going to be a short and sweet post.

Question:

Do you know of a charity that takes quilting fabric? If so can you send me the info?

Thanks in advance!

Now the giveaway. This is not an elegant giveaway. I have a ton of fabric I will never use again. I wish I knew a place locally that would take it but I don't. So I didn't fold it nicely and put a bow on it but it is a ton of fabric for free. There are two bundles so two winners will be drawn. All you have to do is tell me which one you like best. Please pick just one.. then I will put the names in seperate lists and draw winners for each.

1. Gobble Gobble by Sandy Gervais... a 1 gallon bag full of strips (for wonky log cabins but think of the spiderwebs etc that could be made) plus yardage... I haven't measured the yardage and I won't but it stacks up high as you can see compared to the gallon bag:

2. Authentic a small bag of large scraps and some yardage. There is a little there of all the fabrics in the line. It is the remnant of a fat quarter pack (some are full pieces that were too girlie for my son's quilt) There is one piece larger than a fat quarter as well. This is pre-washed.

Giveaway ends Thursday night at midnight PDT.

Back to our regularly scheduled program...

2010-11-28T16:22:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

I had a hard October... which put me behind for my commitments in November..which made me too busy to post on this here blog. Everything seems to be evening out here so let's get back to some fun times. Whaddya say?

Sweet sweet Meghan made me this adorable Mug Rug...and it came on my birthday... how perfect is that?

As usual I am going to do a little giveaway this week. I will post about it tomorrow.

In the mean time here are some things I have been up to...

It was Pillow Talk Swap time again and my partner wanted a beachy pillow in Tiffany Blue and Tan with a lot of White. She had a lot of shell pillows in her inspiration photos so I made her this:

It is 20" and the center is pebbled (a first) around faux trapunto (another first). The rest of the pillow is quilted in a bubble pattern. It was my first snail trail set of blocks as well.

I also was part of the Scrappy Mug Rug Swap here is what I made:

The front and...

the back.

Here is the lovely package I received from my partner Yarntini :

I feel so spoiled... look at all the great stuff :)

I finished this for my MIL for Christmas:

I joined the Layer Cake Quilt Along and these are the first two blocks:

My birthday was last week and my husband bought me a whole wall of Guterman thread and a 35" x 70" cutting mat (I have been making do with an 18" x 24" all this time) what a great guy :)

Hope everyone had a great Holiday! See ya tomorrow!

Talk soon!

Let's all eat... pie!

2010-11-26T05:14:00.000-08:00

I don't mind making my own birthday ~~cake~~ er pie (much) ... going shopping now!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T09:14:00.000-08:00

I will be back with blogging in about a week. It has been crazy busy here. Have a lovely day!

Gratuitous photo....

Finished and Stella Approved.

2010-10-23T19:55:00.000-07:00

My Dream on quilt from the Fat Quarterly Quilt Along

.... and the winner's are!

2010-10-16T08:34:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the lovely comments you all warmed my heart this week. I wish I had something to send to everyone.

Winner of the Fat Quarters is:

Sarah Craig said...

I'll read you not being profound, if you'll read me not being profound! Actually, I really enjoy your blog - keep up the good work and congratulations on your 100th post!

The winner of the Sizzix Sidekick is:

scottylover said...

Wow congrats on 100 posts! I haven't had the guts to start a blog. Not sure what I would write about anyway! I sure do love reading them, though and have added yours to my reader.

Thanks for the chance to win these goodies!

Sandy A

Thanks to everyone for playing. They will be going in the mail as soon as I get your addresses :)

Happy Day... and the number 100

2010-10-12T16:22:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

I do not know what was wrong with me yesterday but... phew I am glad it is over. If you didn't read it DON'T. I still think that the Sizzix is a great deal. Especially if you get the new one becuase all kinds of dies fit in it. I just bought the older one so of course it didn't work perfectly with the new fangled stuff :) Silly me. I am still super excited about it and having a great time playing with it.

Today is my 100th post ... it took me long enough huh? Well, I can't always think of interesting things to say and I hate to drone on and bore everyone. I have two fun prizes to give away for my happy 100th.

First as hinted at before:

Six fat quarters of this lovely Anna Maria fabric. One of each of the fabrics you see here.

Second in an attempt to share my joy of all things Sizzix:

This Sizzix Sidekick (Hello Kitty dontcha love it?) some adhesive

shantung textured papers (to make stickers), and the snowflake die I

demonstrated before (you could make snowflake stickers for your Chritmas card

seals). I don't think the little one will cut fabric but

you are welcome to try.

We will have two winners and the first winner will get the fabric, the second the Sidekick.

The only rule for this is that you leave a comment on this post (you will want to give me a way to contact you too). You don't have to follow me or do anything else. I wanted this to be for just those who like me enough to hang around even when I am not being profound :) I will pick a winner on Saturday morning. Comments are open until midnight Pacific Time on Friday 10-15.

Thanks for all the comments. Thanks for the friendship. Thanks for the inspiration.

Hugs!

Julie

Ps: I am now a follower of all my followers...duh...why didn't I think of that before. Those who's personal blogs I couldn't find I am not following. let me know what your blogs are and I will add you.

I take it all back.... post #99

2010-10-11T09:08:00.000-07:00

Ugh... it is hard to admit when you are wrong... I was wrong. I got the Sizzix... I got the dies...

The newer Sizzix is slightly wider than the one I bought, and the Go! dies do fit in it (I have seen it with my own eyes). They don't fit in the older version that I bought. Luckily hubby has a band saw and he knows how to use it :) So don't believe Accuquilt when they say the die is 6" it is actually 6 3/8th

See it is such a small amount over you can hardly see it in the picture.

so that extra 32nd of an inch that my machine is narrower makes it impossible to use without cutting it down.

The Sizzix dies do work fine, of course. I bought the 2 1/2 half square triangle die thinking that it meant 2 1/2 inch sewn square or 2 inch finished... I was wrong it is 1 1/2 finished.

Oops started pulling it off before I took a picture.

The funny thing is neither Sizzix or Go! make a 2 inch finished HST and that is the size I use most.

Edit: Pat says "Actually, the Go! has a die that makes the 2" finished HSTs -- it's the die that comes with the cutter. The die has a 4" (finished) square, 2" (finished) squares), and HSTs that make a 2" (finished) square." Yay! So now we know.

So now I am trying to decide if I want to tough it out with the Sizzix or ask for a GO! Baby for my birthday. I think I want both... the Sizzix for all of the amazing shapes it cuts and the Go! for just the geometric stuff.... hmmm decisions decisions.

Keep a look out tomorrow is my 100th post and a give away. I have a couple of fun things for you.

Talk soon!

Are you ready for "quite a tale"?

2010-10-04T16:55:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone...

Jumping right in here... you know how everyone is hosting give aways of Go! Cutters? You may or may not know I haven't won one :) I really have been trying ever so hard. So on Friday, when they announced the Go Baby, I promptly told my hubby I wanted one for my birthday. I can't afford a Go! I know lots of people can and I am really happy for them. I just can't and I understand that. My frugal little heart still hopes...

PS: I Have a Notion has Go Baby pre-orders for a super price. (oops sorry about the youtube video I was trying to show someone how to make a wig, no it isn't me in the video) link is fixed.

Sunday rolled around and I got an email from Joann's (yay coupons) and there is a sale for Sizzix die cutters. I don't scrap book. No, seriously, since the digital age came we don't even have printed pictures. I have done some stamping, but if I got a new hobby there would be no place to house it :) .... but I digress. I always wondered if those dies would cut fabric. Guess what, you might already know, they do!!! Now Joann's has the Big Shot and the Big Kick on sale for $69.99 frugal little heart beats faster... but will they have dies that I as a quilter will want to use on fabric? Oh joy of joys, YES! They have teamed up with Westmister Fibers to offer quilter's dies. Now I know they are new to the market and don't have a lot of dies available for quilting yet but they have thousands of other dies to choose from and some of them are perfectly well suited to applique shapes. But guess what else??? Promise not to send the Accu Police after me? The Go dies work in the Sizzix machines (at least the ones that are a size the fit into the platform) probably the ones that the Go Baby can use, but I will have to check so don't quote me. Unfortunately the Sizzix don't go in the Go machines because they are thicker.

So today I got out my Joann's coupon (just in case there was something else there I couldn't live without) and went with my little pocket book to pick up a Big Shot... they only had the Big Kick but they are the same as far as I can tell and the dies I want to use work in both... this is an older version but again the only difference is the color, and I like red anyway... ta da!

Ain't she cute?

Comes with a multi purpose platform (for use with different thicknesses of dies) and two cutting mats/boards.

Aren't these adorable? (used my coupon on the reindeer he wasn't on sale) Can't you just see a cute little Christmas wall hanging.

This little tiny thin die is called a Sizzlit it is not recommended for fabric. Did that stop me? I figured one thickness of fabric was no worse than a piece of card stock. It worked fine, I might not do it all the time... just sayin'. Above you see the die on one of the cutting mats and the platform.

With the fabric on the die. When cutting fabric with the thinner dies putting a piece of paper on top is supposed to help... so I used some junk mail (Joann's is good for lots of things).

With junk mail on top.

with top cutting mat on

ready to go

cranking

Yay! Junkmail snowflakes!

Yay! Fabric snowflakes. Just iron on some fusible before you cut and they are ready to go.

So now I need to order some quilting dies when I save up a few dollars. As soon as I get some I will be back for a review...with the Go ones too :)

PS: one more post until the big 100

Talk soon!

Almost finished... and a question..

2010-10-04T07:18:00.000-07:00

Here is my Dream On Quilt:

It is almost finished... I even got the machine part of the binding sewn on yesterday. It is tangerine... LOVE IT!

Here is the back... you can't see the vertical lines in the picture but it is quilted horizontally and vertically with wavy lines. I wanted to keep it simple 'cause it is that kind of quilt :)

So my question is do any of you have favorite scrapbooking blogs? I would love to find a few. You might (with luck on my part) get to see why I am asking tomorrow.

Talk soon!

I have a little crush....

2010-09-26T12:58:00.000-07:00

...or six!

(Innocent Crush by Anna Maria Horner)

And guess what? I am gonna share. Remember I said my 100th post was coming... just 4 posts away!

I finally have a design wall. I have needed one forever (of course who doesn't) but never had a place to put one. This now stands behind the quilt frame where my ironing board was.

I will just have to put up and take down the ironing board from now on. There is no way I could have gotten this quilt right without the wall... this is my quilt for the Fat Quarterly Quilt Along.

I have a couple more posts planned ... gotta get to that 100....

Talk soon!

Help Needed

2010-09-21T16:03:00.000-07:00

I like bright colors... have ya noticed?? My husband is an engineer...all you ladies married to engineers know what I am talking about right now. My husband is conservative :) I made a quilt with Fandango by Kate Spain...

I want it on the bed... my husband ... not so much. So I have some pretty Fig and Plum... a whole fat quarter pack... it is the perfect colors for him. I need a pattern ... I have been looking and looking I can't find one. It has to be something not too fussy. I don't want to spend a year making it becuase then, when the dog gets on the bed, I will freak out. Any suggestions? Please!!!

A question...

2010-09-20T13:01:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

Only 6 more posts until my hundredth... I missed my blogiversary in August (just too busy getting ready for Italy) but I am going to do a nice give away for my hundredth so stay tuned.

My question is... would you mind seeing posts about the clothing I make for my dolls? The dolls I collect are called Asian Ball Jointed Dolls and some people are bothered by the way they look. They have glass eyes and are jointed so that they pose pretty realistically. I have a friend that says they freak her out like clowns do. I don't want to drive anyone away by showing them, but sometimes I do create for them and would like to share it if anyone wants to see. Please, answer honestly. I promise not to be offended :)

And here is a gratuitous Rome shot... I promise more for those who asked.

I won't forget...

2010-09-11T07:58:00.001-07:00

Urban Home Goods Swap and Another Quilt Along

2010-09-08T16:47:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

I joined the Urban Home Goods Swap a few weeks ago knowing that I was going to be missing 2 weeks right in the middle... but I did get it all done and it went in the mail today.

Here is the machine cover all finished.

And here is all the goodies together. Her sewing room and living room are red, black, and white but she likes green and blue, birds, and owls. So this looks a bit eclectic but I think it really works for her and that is what matters. She asked for a bag/purse or sewing machine cover (I did both). I put in the owl pin cushion and five fat quarters from Nest on a whim.

Fat Quarerly is having a quilt along and you know how I can't resist those :) I picked Dream on and some Kona Lime (the colors are off in this photo but you get the picture)

That is all for now will be back soon with something fun... promise!

Talk soon!

I need to get motivated...

2010-09-07T06:40:00.000-07:00

I just can't get motivated to sew the binding on this sewing machine cover. It has to be mailed by Friday... I will do it tonight if it kills me.

I also have to get a new quilt on the frame today. I am quilting it for a charity raffle at my church. Wish me luck :)

What I did on my summer vacation....

2010-09-06T09:25:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

We are back from Rome. I have tons to show you... hope you don't get bored. I know haven't blogged for a while so I thought I would show you what I have been sewing... then some pictures from Italy...

Here are the projects in no particular order:

Dresdens (20 of them... possible for a quilt for my bed)

I had some fat quarters of Verna leftover from another project and made these strippy blocks...gotta get them sewn together.

Here is the last Jelly Roll block.

I sewed some hexagons on my trip (this is just a few of them):

We don't celebrate Halloween (really) but I fell in love with this line of fabric called Moondancers. The witches crack me up. So I thought I would make a few kitchen odds and ends for my etsy shop and family.

This is a tablerunner:

These are going to be pot holders:

I am making a bed quilt for myself from Fandango... this will be the first time I have made myself a quilt for my bed. So far I love it... these are half of the blocks.

Last but not least the Pat Sloan quilt along with Old Red Barn Co on flickr (left over Mill House Inn... I decided I couldn't buy any new fabric for this quilt along):

Thus concludes the sewing portion of our program....

ROME

It was hard to decide what pictures to show of Italy these are just a few of the over 600 we took (don't forget you can click the pictures to see them larger):

This is the villa where we stayed, Roman Villa Silj.

My husband, son, daughter and I inside the Colosseum.

Inside the Colosseum looking down into the animal/people cages.

The Trevi fountain.

The kids at Pompeii (I know you can't tell where they are I just like the picture):

The dog the day after we got back... wanting all of the attention:

Let me know if you want to see more pictures of Italy I didn't want to overwhelm...

Talk soon...

I am so flattered.

2010-08-12T06:18:00.000-07:00

I am so amazed at what I saw this morning while browsing my reader:

This is a quilt I designed in EQ6 around a block from the Jelly Roll Quilt Along. Konda From Moose On the Porch Quilts decided to make it in real life. I can't wait to see how her version looks.

I have not fallen off the face of the earth....

2010-08-10T07:12:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

Italy is just three days away and I am so excited, nervous, wound-up, and stressed out. My only excuse for not being around here for so long is that my son arrived from his other home on July 29th and he lives in the room where my camera and the computer with it's software is. So the only thing I have to show you is my second to last Jelly Roll Sampler block:

We will be back on August 28th and I promise not to take too long to show pictures of my trip as well as all of the other sewing I have been doing.

My one year blogiversary passed quietly a couple weeks ago and I still have plans to celebrate it with you all, so don't forget about me while I am gone.

Talk soon!

Signature Block Layout Tutorial

2010-07-20T07:43:00.000-07:00

One of the quilters on the flicker group asked for a tutorial so this is a quick one.

(Click on the pictures to enlarge them)

First you will need to cut your corner and setting triangles. It might be best to starch the squares before you cut them into triangles as that will help keep the bias edges from stretching out of shape. If you don't have starch don't worry about it just be careful not to stretch your triangles before they are sewn.

Cut two 3 3/4 inch squares then cut them in half diagonally as shown by the line on the above picture.

Cut seven 6 7/8ths inch squares and cut them diagonally twice as shown by the lines above.

You will end up with triangles that look like this. The lines on the edges show where the bias edges are. These need to be handled carefully until they are sewn to the edges of the blocks so that they don't stretch.

Here is your first row (this you see as the top right hand corner of the quilt). Do you believe it? Just plain old rows you sew together but instead of being horizontal they are turned 45 degrees. See no big deal. I numbered the pieces in the order you should sew them.

The arrows show where to line up the corners. The tops of the triangle will stick out above the block that is supposed to happen.

Then find the center of the block and the center for the corner (top) triangle and pin them at the center and along the top edge. Sew that triangle on.

This is your next row... sew that triangle to the left and the other to the right of the row... just continue this until you have all of your rows... it is easiest to look at the diagram of the whole quilt to understand how that goes.

Then sew the rows together. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. (Now if I just had a design wall)

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Post Script to my previous entry...

2010-07-16T14:36:00.000-07:00

About my previous entry about ~~old fashioned~~ vintage style, country charm style.... whatever we should call it ... I in no way meant to insult anyone or anyone's style. As a matter of fact I keep seeing more fabrics I want to buy that would not be considered modern (Bar Harbor is a big one) but I know if I bought it it would just sit around and never get used. I still look at it all, and think of all kinds of stuff I could do with it, but in the end if I am going to spend my time and money on something (for now) it will be modern fabrics. Thanks so much for all of your suggestions... but how about I give it to you guys instead? Okay... big announcement coming soon.

And just because I would feel remiss if I didn't add a photo... how about my kitty in one of the fabric boxes... she is so funny.

Does anyone love old fashioned anymore?

2010-07-16T07:54:00.000-07:00

Hi...

Where have I been?

Getting ready for Italy.

It seems that my jeans and tank tops are not going to cut it in Italy. Even though I could never pass for a European I need to at least try not to stick out so much (very un-healthy for an American at the moment). So I am making some dresses and blouses to wear with skirts and dressy capri pants. I have two pair of sandals (gotta skip the tennies) and I went shopping for a few more dresses and some bike shorts for under the skirts. August in Italy is going to be so hot... but I am not complaining... really.

This still needs a zipper and a hem ... but it is coming along:

It is just a prototype I will probably just wear to church here. I wanted to make sure that the pattern worked for me before I made it out of the voile and embroidered cotton I want to use for the Itally trip. This is a tunic length blouse but I am making a couple of dresses out of this pattern as well.

As the the title of the post... I find myself in a dilemma. When I came back to quilting last year I went back to buying the same kind of fabrics that I used to buy. I hadn't been introduced to the modern designers and fun bright fabrics (that weren't novelty prints) yet so I bought a lot of old fashioned looking fabrics.

Last Christmas I bought a ton of Figgy Pudding and Glace. I even made a purse out of Glace and carried it around until way past Christmas. Now when I look at these fabrics I am left a bit cold. I have a ton of fabric I don't even consider using anymore. I am going to donate it to my church's craft group. I find now I have to buy new Christmas fabric to make things with even though I have yards of Glace left. I gave away Figgy Pudding a month ago or so if you remember. I decided I wanted to make some trivets and pot holders for my etsy shop. I used Glace to do the tester:

This is 20" in diameter. I am going to bat it with that thermal stuff so you can use it as a trivet for a turkey platter. When I look at it I have no excitement over it. I wonder if my In-laws would like it.

So am I the only one that wants to use nothing but modern fabrics? Is anyone else bored with the stuff they used to like? Let me know.

Hexagon Top and Jelly Roll Sampler Blocks

2010-07-09T14:18:00.000-07:00

Yes! This took forever to piece together but at least it is done (I will probably add a border and some applique to it to make it twin size though):

Click on the picture to see it better :)

New Jelly Roll Sampler blocks:

#8

This was a pain to make and I am not happy with how muddy it looks... hopefully it will blend with the others.

I like this one.

#10

I love this one!

None of my blocks are just like the samples so I have dubbed them "The Sesame Street Blocks" (one of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn't belong). But what is new? I always did go my own way.

These have been my only projects this week. I have been so busy cleaning house that I haven't done much sewing.

Talk soon...