Thursday, July 29, 2010
Lovely Little Handmades Giveaway!
Lovely Little Handmades is having a great giveaway this week. Check out this post for more information!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Quilt Along and Chubby Stars!
It's week 6 of Amy's Simple Sampler Quilt Along so we are up to 12 blocks! This weeks blocks were fun and I learned something new on each of them. Here they are:
And here are all the blocks together:
After I finished these blocks this evening I decided to try Traceyjay's Chubby Star Tutorial that she posted today. These blocks are super cute! I definitely want to make a whole quilt with these blocks but for now I just did one block using some scrap fabric. The tutorial is great and my block turned out pretty good, but don't look to close since a couple of my points didn't line up exactly! Here is it:
I had just enough of the fabric in the center that I could fussy cut to get it centered perfectly. If you are interested in making this block go on over to Traceyjay's blog to check out the tutorial. She has some cute examples for you to see with some great fabric choices.
Also this week I took a machine quilting class! It was a really fun class held at The Quilting Squares Quilt Shop in Franklin, TN. We practiced free motion quilting with and without stencils. I am hoping that this will help me get over my fear of quilting so that I may actually finish a quilt very soon! Maybe by the end of the week. I will post it if I do!
Happy quilting, everyone!
Sue
And here are all the blocks together:
After I finished these blocks this evening I decided to try Traceyjay's Chubby Star Tutorial that she posted today. These blocks are super cute! I definitely want to make a whole quilt with these blocks but for now I just did one block using some scrap fabric. The tutorial is great and my block turned out pretty good, but don't look to close since a couple of my points didn't line up exactly! Here is it:
I had just enough of the fabric in the center that I could fussy cut to get it centered perfectly. If you are interested in making this block go on over to Traceyjay's blog to check out the tutorial. She has some cute examples for you to see with some great fabric choices.
Also this week I took a machine quilting class! It was a really fun class held at The Quilting Squares Quilt Shop in Franklin, TN. We practiced free motion quilting with and without stencils. I am hoping that this will help me get over my fear of quilting so that I may actually finish a quilt very soon! Maybe by the end of the week. I will post it if I do!
Happy quilting, everyone!
Sue
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Simple Sampler Quilt Along Week 5
It's week 5 of Amy's Simple Sampler Quilt Along. The blocks this week are so cute! And they weren't too difficult to make. The first is a 6-grid chain. If mine looks a little wonky that's because it is :)
The second block is a 4 patch variation with hour glass blocks. It might be a little wonky too.
And here are all of the blocks together.
I can't wait to finish the blocks and put this quilt together! Now that I am finished I am going to have fun looking at everyone else's blocks. I am sure they all turned out great!
Happy Quilting!
Sue
The second block is a 4 patch variation with hour glass blocks. It might be a little wonky too.
And here are all of the blocks together.
I can't wait to finish the blocks and put this quilt together! Now that I am finished I am going to have fun looking at everyone else's blocks. I am sure they all turned out great!
Happy Quilting!
Sue
Saturday, July 17, 2010
My Cool Moves
So I was sewing together a quilt top today when my 3 1/2 year old, Nathan, came downstairs from his nap. Usually I don't sew when the kids are up since they love to touch everything to figure out how it works, probably not a good idea with a sewing machine! But he was quite curious as to what I was doing so he watched me for a little while and wanted to know what I was going to do next, pin, sew or press. When I was almost done he said "Mom, you've got some cool moves with that quilting machine!" I have no idea where he picked up the phrase "cool moves" but I took it as a compliment and gave him a big hug. Such a sweet little guy! He made my day!
So I put my cool moves to good use and finally finished the main part of my daughter's quilt top. I don't know why this has taken me so long to complete but I am happy to be done with this top! Well, almost done, I still need to add a border and decide if I am going to add ric rac like the pattern suggests. But since I am so happy with my progress I had to blog it! Here it is:
The fabric is Summer Song by Riley Blake that I adore! It is so bright and cheery. We are going to redecorate Kaitlyn's room around this quilt and fabric. The solid is white from Kona. It makes the pinwheels look really crisp.
I used the Wild Thing pattern by Camille Roskelly of Thimble Blossoms. I really love her style and choice of fabrics. You probably already know she designs fabric for Moda (wow!) and that her latest line is Bliss which is absolutely beautiful! I would love to be creative enough to do what she does! I think I am going to try her Picnic Rollup quilt next using Bliss.
I hope you all have made some progress on your quilts this weekend but if you haven't maybe you have been doing something else fun and exciting!
Happy Quilting!
Sue
So I put my cool moves to good use and finally finished the main part of my daughter's quilt top. I don't know why this has taken me so long to complete but I am happy to be done with this top! Well, almost done, I still need to add a border and decide if I am going to add ric rac like the pattern suggests. But since I am so happy with my progress I had to blog it! Here it is:
The fabric is Summer Song by Riley Blake that I adore! It is so bright and cheery. We are going to redecorate Kaitlyn's room around this quilt and fabric. The solid is white from Kona. It makes the pinwheels look really crisp.
I used the Wild Thing pattern by Camille Roskelly of Thimble Blossoms. I really love her style and choice of fabrics. You probably already know she designs fabric for Moda (wow!) and that her latest line is Bliss which is absolutely beautiful! I would love to be creative enough to do what she does! I think I am going to try her Picnic Rollup quilt next using Bliss.
I hope you all have made some progress on your quilts this weekend but if you haven't maybe you have been doing something else fun and exciting!
Happy Quilting!
Sue
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Simple Sampler Quilt Along Week 4
I just finished this weeks blocks for Amy's Simple Sampler Quilt Along. Unfortunately my sewing machine and my brain were not cooperating for the process. But I think my blocks turned out OK. Just don't look too closely at them :)
This first block was a log cabin. This is the first time I have tried to make a log cabin and I loved it! I really like the way it turned out.
The second block was a mosaic and was made using half square triangles. I had made a couple of HSTs before but never this many at one time. I was really surprised at how long it took! I got a little tired of doing them, especially since my machine was not cooperating, but now that I see the block completed I really like it. I can see how I could get better at making HSTs with lots of practice.
And here are all 8 blocks together:
I wish I could post about my other quilting projects but I haven't made much progress on them lately! I am taking a machine quilting class in a couple of weeks so I decided to wait until after the class to complete any of the 3 quilts I have going. I have promised myself that I won't buy any more fabric until I complete at least one of my projects - but I am getting weak! Wish me luck :)
Sue
This first block was a log cabin. This is the first time I have tried to make a log cabin and I loved it! I really like the way it turned out.
The second block was a mosaic and was made using half square triangles. I had made a couple of HSTs before but never this many at one time. I was really surprised at how long it took! I got a little tired of doing them, especially since my machine was not cooperating, but now that I see the block completed I really like it. I can see how I could get better at making HSTs with lots of practice.
And here are all 8 blocks together:
I wish I could post about my other quilting projects but I haven't made much progress on them lately! I am taking a machine quilting class in a couple of weeks so I decided to wait until after the class to complete any of the 3 quilts I have going. I have promised myself that I won't buy any more fabric until I complete at least one of my projects - but I am getting weak! Wish me luck :)
Sue
Monday, July 5, 2010
What a Great Monday!
Usually Mondays are slow to start and are spent remembering all of the fun of the weekend. But today was a different kind of Monday for me. First of all, my husband was off of work so that is wonderful in itself! Then I took the kids to my MOMS Club meeting, where they totally behaved for the entire meeting, and after that we all went to Subway for lunch. This afternoon I finally used the spa gift certificate I got for my birthday and had an amazing 1 hour Swedish massage. It was SO relaxing! Everyone needs to get one of those every once in a while. After my massage I knew the kids would be napping, and probably my husband as well, so I decided to take advantage of my kid free time and I went to a quilt shop that I have never been to before. I visited The Quilting Squares Quilt Shop in Franklin, Tennessee. I was in heaven! They had lots of designer fabrics that I have only seen online, lots of books, patterns and notions as well. I decided to sign up for a class there in a few weeks and I am really excited about it! I am sure I will be spending lots of time in this cute little shop in the future! After the quilt shop I did a little more shopping and got a great deal on a Hanna Anderson dress for my daughter at a consignment shop. It was brand new with the tag that said it was regular $40 and I got it for $8.50. Score! Now all of this probably sounds so boring and unexciting to most of you but it was an unusual day for me to have so much freedom to do what I wanted to do in peace. It probably won't happen again any time soon so I certainly enjoyed it while I could. I did miss my little ones though and was happy to see their sweet little smiling faces when I got home :)
Another reason today was good is that it is Week 3 of the Simple Sampler Quilt Along on Amy's Creative Side! This weeks blocks are super cute and build on the skills demonstrated in the first 4 blocks. I have to say that I am getting better with my accuracy each week. I also love the little tips that Amy includes in the instructions. The are very helpful for a beginner like myself. Can't wait for next weeks blocks! Here are some pictures from this week:
Block 5:
Block 6:
All 6 blocks together:
I hope everyone had a great 4th of July and a Happy Canada Day! Have a great week!
Sue
Another reason today was good is that it is Week 3 of the Simple Sampler Quilt Along on Amy's Creative Side! This weeks blocks are super cute and build on the skills demonstrated in the first 4 blocks. I have to say that I am getting better with my accuracy each week. I also love the little tips that Amy includes in the instructions. The are very helpful for a beginner like myself. Can't wait for next weeks blocks! Here are some pictures from this week:
Block 5:
Block 6:
All 6 blocks together:
I hope everyone had a great 4th of July and a Happy Canada Day! Have a great week!
Sue
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Simple Sampler Quilt Along Week 2
I have been enjoying this quilt along so much! It's not only fun to make the blocks but it is really fun to look at the other participant's blocks and the different fabrics they are using. I can't wait to see how the different quilts will turn out! This is week 2 and I just finished my blocks so here they are!
Block 3:
Block 4:
And the first 4 blocks together:
There is still time to join the quilt along! You can go to this page on Amy's Creative Side to get started!
I have made a commitment to myself, and now to all of you in blog land, that I WILL finish a quilt this week! I have been so good at making quilt tops but I have been scared to make a quilt sandwich and bind it. But I am going to go for it! Hopefully I will have a finished quilt to share by Sunday!
Hope everyone is having a great week!
Sue
Block 3:
Block 4:
And the first 4 blocks together:
There is still time to join the quilt along! You can go to this page on Amy's Creative Side to get started!
I have made a commitment to myself, and now to all of you in blog land, that I WILL finish a quilt this week! I have been so good at making quilt tops but I have been scared to make a quilt sandwich and bind it. But I am going to go for it! Hopefully I will have a finished quilt to share by Sunday!
Hope everyone is having a great week!
Sue