Fresh Cut Quilts Pattern Co.

Mitered Corner Baby Blanket Tutorial

2011-12-12T13:10:00.000-07:00

Well it has been longer than I thought since I last posted on here! My how the holidays do keep us all busy! We got our house all decorated on December 1st and the tree was done on the 2nd. I had serious doubts as to whether this would get done that early this year! My husband is really the driving force there though. He loves Christmastime and loves for the house to be decorated. He actually wanted to begin decorating the first weekend of November, and I said no!

I am now 24 weeks pregnant with our little bundle of joy, and this little one will be a boy. I am in good health and so is the baby, which was my main concern but we are all tickled to get to experience the fun of having a little boy in the house.

On that note, I have been preparing for this new arrival. I have always wanted to learn how to make a mitered corner baby blanket. I just never took the time to figure it out before now. So I surfed around blogland and found a tutorials on this technique. With no intention of criticism I have to tell you that there are some very good instructional lessons in blogland, and a few that are downright confusing and lacking in information. From all of them I took my lessons, and figured it out. I hope that you will find this tutorial to be one of the less confusing ones, and that you can have success in making these super easy and fun baby blankets.

Before you begin I will say that you can use cotton fabric, flannel fabric, Minkee fabric or a combination of a couple of these. My baby is going to be a spring baby so I went with a center fabric that is soft flannel, or Minkee and the main back fabric that is a cotton. For winter babies you may want both pieces to be flannel for warmth. This blanket went to a friend of mine who is having a baby girl later this month.

What you will need:
40" square of the main fabric (this will be the back and come around the sides to finish it)
30" square of center fabric
Thread to match
WOW! That's easy right! You can make this any size as long as the main fabric is 10" bigger square than the center fabric. I like mine to be a bit bigger because I use receiving blankets for everything from a makeshift changing pad, to a nursing cover, to a rain cover for baby. I find the bigger size more useful as the baby grows and moves more. It just covers more "real estate" :) So if you have a piece of fabric that is only a yard and is just perfect for the main fabric, use it. Make the center panel 25" and the main fabric 35".

Press and cut both fabrics to the appropriate square size. These must be square! It won't work well if they are even a little off. To check the square of the fabric, fold the square in a large triangle in half, then fold in half again to make a smaller triangle. If all the four points match up perfectly at the points of the triangle, then your fabric is square. They should not have any fabric overlapping at the folded edges. If it is not square, unfold and double check the measurements on your cutting mat.
Fold the larger square in half to make a big rectangle, then in half again to make a smaller square. Press at the folds. Repeat and fold the smaller square, then press.
Unfold the squares. With right sides together, on one side of each square match up the pressed folded mark of the smaller square to the larger square and pin. Then pin all the way across. They will not match up on the ends. That's the way it should be, don't worry about the overlap of the larger square.
Begin 1/4" in from the edge of the smaller square, and sew a 1/4" seam all the way down the side of the two pieces of fabric. Stop 1/4" from the edge.
Now repeat steps 3 and 4 on the opposite side of the squares. It is easier to pin then sew one side, then continue on to the opposite side once that is done. It will help keep your blanket more square in the end. If you pin it all, then sew all the sides in round, it can end up sort of wonky in the end. It won't lay flat if that happens, trust me.
Repeat steps 3,4, and 5 on the opposite two sides of the squares. But on one side, be sure to leave a 5" opening in the middle of the seam. The opening must be in the middle of the seam, not at the end of the seam. If you did it wrong, unpick a 5" opening in the middle, then sew the end of the seam. Trust me here! The picture shows it right side out, do not turn your blanket yet!
Lay the blanket out flat on a table, on your cutting mat, or even on the floor. Hey I'm not proud, I admit I sometimes crawl around on the floor if it means the job is going to get done. Try to get the smaller square centered on top of the larger square. The larger squares edges will fold over to create the finished edge of the blanket. Try to make sure those edges are about even in measure. The points at the corner will look floppy and strange- that is a "good thing"!
Choose a floppy corner, and pinch together the edges facing you. Fold over the floppy part that sticks up to one side. It should naturally create a 45 degree angle where the fabric comes together. Press down the fold and give it a bit of a crease. Then fold it over to the other side and give it a crease. This will help in the next step, so you are sure to be marking the correct direction of the angle. I skipped this step once and seriously regretted it. I ended up with the angle going the wrong direction, and it all looked more like a giant flat pillow, than a blanket. It all had to be unpicked, trimmed down and started over-what a mess.

Now do step 8 again with another corner. I do it this way, so I don't have re-lay the blanket over and over to get it all straightened for each and every corner. Two corners at a time saves a little time.

Bring together the two seams of one of your corners so the center square fabric is getting folded into a triangle inside the main outer fabric.

Note where the ends of the sewn seams are. I have a pin in that spot. This is where you will begin your mark and where you will begin to sew in a minute. Lay the ruler on your triangle fold and line up a straight line with the folded edge of the fabric. Mark the triangle flap with a pencil line as shown. You can pin it if you want. Repeat with the other corner.

Sew along the drawn line. Then be sure to check how the blanket lays. It should lay pretty flat with the little sewn triangle flaps poking up and a nice 45 degree sewn seam. Trim 1/4" or so away from the sewn line. Turn your blanket right sides out. Lay it all nice a flat. Then press the edges and the center really well. For the opening, press under the seam 1/4". Then sew all around the blanket along the seams. I used a decorative stitch, but you can zigzag it, or straight stitch it if you wish. Just be sure the opening gets sewn closed. I also like to sew a big "X" through the center to keep the fabric from shifting when it gets washed.

And you are all done! Enjoy!

Here are a couple of other ones I made. These are for my baby. I love the book "The Little Engine that Could" so I had to have this fabric! My mom read that book to me a lot when I was little. The other one has the superhero kids on it--I got that one because of my husband's love of superheroes.

See how cute my dotty fabric goes with other fabrics? Love that!

Ruffled Pillow~Free Pattern

2011-11-28T10:15:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I finished getting the pattern prepared for my Ruffled Pillow. It's really more of a tutorial, but it's downloadable/printable! I thought that might make it easier for you if you want to make it.

The Ruffled Pillow is super easy to make, but it looks complicated. That's just my style you know. And don't let the pleats in the ruffled flower center fool you. They really are easy, and I don't make you measure them unless you really want to!

If you haven't noticed it yet, I added a couple of pages to my blog. One is the FREEBIES page. That is where you will find the links for my free projects that I offer. There is a button at the top of the page that will take you there. More are soon to come. I am still working on a couple but I hope to have the Mitered Corner blanket tutorial up this week, and the Easy Cathedral Windows tutorial up later in the week too. With this new baby of mine coming, I have been working on a few baby projects that I will share as well.

So that is what I have to offer for Cyber Monday kids. A special free pattern that is fast, easy, and so girly! It will make a great gift!

A reader from Holland shared this.....

2011-11-27T10:29:00.000-07:00

Monique from Holland shared with me that she has already made the embroidery from the Mug Rug pattern I shared for the Blog Hop. She must be an amazing stitcher to get it done so quickly! She chose to combine my embroidery design, with a pattern from none other than Cath Kidston! By the way I love how it looks in brownwork! So here is the link to the post, it is in Dutch though. Google will translate if you use Chrome to surf the net.
http://goodoldhousehold.blogspot.com/2011/11/with-great-thanks-to-cath-and-kari.html

The sachet turned out beautifully with her lace and linen, and it looks very charming with the embroidery on the front. What a lovely gift that will make with the Lavender from her garden. I may have to remember to harvest my lavender next year to do the same! Thanks Monique!

Thanksgiving Dessert

2011-11-21T16:52:00.001-07:00

So each year when we go to my mother in law's house for Thanksgiving, I bring the pie. I love to bake. I think it ranks right up there with quilting for me. It makes me happy to bake tasty things. My sister has accused me of trying to become Betty Crocker and Suzy Homemaker or some such nonsense. I'm not that good, trust me.
But this year I wanted to make something other than Pumpkin Pie and Apple Pie. I am bored with making Pumpkin Pie each year and I think the guests are bored with it too. My husband's family is primarily British, so Pumpkin Pie was never something they had on the table until I came into the family. It was new and different at one time. They always had Trifle, which I think is sort of nasty. As a matter of fact until I was around, there wasn't much pie being made or eaten. That was a sad state of affairs for sure!

Pie should be another food group in my opinion. Birthday Pie sounds so much more appealing to me than Birthday Cake. So here is what I have decided:
Cinnamon Bourbon Pecan Pie (minus the Bourbon)

So this year I am making Pecan Pie, and really wanted to add the Bourbon to it but I won't. Pregnancy has it's drawbacks. Though I doubt baby would actually get any Bourbon from such a small amount, I better not chance it. The picture above is from the Karo Syrup site. I add the Bourbon to that recipe. They have some really terrific recipes on there.

Pumpkin Cream Pie

And I am also making this Pumpkin Pie from the Pioneer Woman. That is her picture, not mine. I haven't made mine yet. But I think it will be a nice alternative to the traditional.

So what dessert are you serving for Thanksgiving dinner?

Days 4 and 5 of the Blog Hop

2011-11-17T09:10:00.000-07:00

On to days 4 and 5 of the Blog Hop! If you missed Day 4 like I did, hop on over today and see my friends Anni Downs of Hatched and Patched in Australia and Barbara Jones of Quilt Soup! Both are wonderful ladies who have terrific projects for you.

For today, Day 5 of the Hop we have Leanne Anderson of The Whole Country Caboodle, and Brenda Pinnick! I am sure they have both got fun projects for you too, and don't forget to get the Secret Words from each designer for the big giveaway at Henry Glass.

Day 2 and 3 of the Blog Hop!

2011-11-14T21:49:00.000-07:00

Today is day 2 of the Holiday Blog Hop and I sure hope you have gone over and checked out my pal's blogs! In case you missed them go see The Noble Wife Jacquelynne Steves and Liz and Beth at LizzieB!

For tomorrow's round up you'll need to check out 3 designers' blogs. Here they are:
Lucy Morey of Hot Scott Patterns, Vicki Oehlke of Willowberry lane, both of whom are somewhat new to the Henry Glass team of designers, and the Little Quilts ladies who own and run a shop and design fabric. They will have something great to share with you and be sure to look for the secret words so you can enter the big giveaway at Henry Glass Fabrics

Lucy Morey

Vicki Oehlke

Little Quilts

I hope you are all enjoying the hop as much as I have!

Holiday Blog Hop Day One-

2011-11-13T12:47:00.007-07:00

Day one of the Holiday Blog Hop begins!

Welcome to the Henry Glass Jolly Holiday Party! We are so glad that you're here to celebrate the holidays and to join in on all of the fun that we are going to have. There will be giveaways, stories and lots of inspiration.

This is how the blog hop will work:

Visit with each designer. You'll find her wonderful holiday post and a special design that she's made for you.

Here's the exciting line-up:

November 13, 2011 Fresh Cut Quilts and Jillilly Studio

November 14, 2011 The Noble Wife Jacquelynne Steves and Lizzie B Cre8ive

November 15, 2011 Vicki Oehlke Willowberry Lane, and Little Quilts and Lucy Morey

November 16, 2011 Barbara Jones of Quilt Soup and Anni Downs of Hatched and Patched

November 17, 2011 Leanne Anderson and Brenda Pinnick

November 18, 2011 Janet Nesbitt and Pam Soliday of the Buggy Barn and Renae Allen of RGA Design

Dana Brooks of Lazy Daisy Cottage

November 19, 2011 Linda Lum DeBono, and Chelsea Anderson

Each day the designers of the day will post on her site. Click on the links above to go to the designers' blogs some holiday fun. In each post you will find each designers' secret holiday word. Collect all of the words and post it on the Henry Glass blog from November 19-24 and we will draw a name to win the grand prize.

What's the grand prize? Lots of fabric, of course, and each designer will be sending you something special.

I have been asked to answer a few holiday questions so you can all learn a little more about how my family and I celebrate our holidays. So here goes.

1. What is your favourite holiday food? I love roasted turkey on Thanksgiving and because my husband's family is British they also serve roasted chestnuts which I have grown to love! For Christmas, I think it could be anything that is served and I would enjoy it just because it is such a wonderful day to be with my family. But the one thing I remember and miss the most at Christmas is my Mom's Ambrosia Salad. She always used fresh fruits that were not necessarily in season, walnuts and handmade whipped cream in it. I think she may have added vanilla and some cinnamon to the whipping cream sometimes too, but I can't remember. It was the best part of Christmas dinner to me.

2. Does your family have a favourite holiday tradition? My Mom always made a big pot of Wassail each year which was our version of Hot Apple Cider.

3. Did you like or hate sitting on Santa’s lap? I don't really remember sitting on Santa's lap. But my kids look forward to it. My oldest almost didn't do it last year and I don't know if she will this year. She thinks she is too old!

4. Was there a gift that you really desperately wanted? Did you get it? I wanted an Easy Bake Oven in the worst way and one year I got the Holly Hobbie Easy Bake Oven-- my big sister was green with envy! We had lots of fun with it though. My Mom didn't like the mixes much, so when she baked a cake or cookies she would give us a little batter to use and cook with. We thought we were geniuses in the kitchen!

5. What’s your favourite holiday movie? I have a couple of favorites that I never like to miss watching each year. The Preacher's Wife (the original with Cary Grant), Miracle on 34th Street in black and white of course, and It's a Wonderful Life.

6. Favorite holiday song? Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree by Brenda Lee is my favorite holiday song.

You can hear it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6xNuUEnh2g

7. Do you make many holiday presents? What do you like to give? It really depends on the year. Some years, I get very ambitious and make gifts and some years I don't. I have made quilts for family members in the past, but don't do it each year. Some years my girls and I make ornaments or a craft while they are on Christmas break. Last year it was a gingerbread house, I swore I would never try that again. If I do it will be with a hot glue gun to keep the walls up!

8. Would you prefer a large fully decorated tree or one like Charlie Brown’s tree? I grew up in Oregon, so each year my dad would find a Christmas tree vendor selling trees out of his truck on the side of the road for $5.00 and bring one home. We never went to the lit up parking lot vendors to get one. Some years it probably looked a little sparse in places, but they were always pretty and stayed fresh forever. Now we have an artificial tree because in Utah you just about need a loan to buy a fresh tree, and my oldest daughter has allergies so it is easier on her.

9. If you could go back in time, when would you say was your most favourite holiday memory? My favorite holiday memory is each of my kids' first Christmases and every year after with them.

10. Do you like a big family gathering at the holidays or do you prefer a small dinner followed by hot chocolate by the fire? When I was little none of our extended family lived near us, so it was always quiet and at home. I prefer to keep it just my little family nice and quiet, by the fire. That is not what I get though! We have a huge gathering of my husband's family at someone else's house. Someday though, it may be different and I may long for those loud, huge family gatherings!

I made up this Mug Rug in hopes that you may find it useful for making your own holiday gifts. This along with a mug and maybe some APPLE CIDER mix, or Hot Cocoa mix is sure to please anyone on your gift list!

Pattern PDF

So now you need to go see my friend Jill over at Jillily Studio

and tomorrow you need to go and see my other friends Jacquelynne from The Noble Wife and Liz and Beth at Lizzie B.

(For those of you who need extra help finding the secret word-- look for the word in BOLD, plus the theme of my mug rug is a huge hint to that. The word is in my post twice in bold lettering.)

Coming Soon....The Blog Hop!

2011-11-07T12:01:00.000-07:00

Get ready for the 2011 Henry Glass Blog Hop!

Last years Holiday Blog hop was great fun and this years is sure to be better! We have a great line-up of Henry Glass fabric designers participating beginning on Day 1 with Yours Truly and my dear friend Jill Finley.

(I have to say I am so privileged to be a part of such a great group of designers with Henry Glass, but I am grateful to be able to call so many of them friends!)

There will be projects and prizes and all kinds of fun on each designers' blog each day!

Hope to see you there!

Giveaway winners announced

2011-11-02T09:02:00.000-06:00

Sorry this has taken a bit to announce. My internet service was interrupted when I got back home from Houston and wasn't fully functioning until last night.

The winner of the Go! Baby Die Cutter and two dies is Kathy comment #82 congrats to her!

I also decided to choose another person to win a Fat Quarter Bundle of Daisy Dance and that winner is Lori Kay comment #36.

They have both been contacted and I have received their info. Thank you so much to all who entered and commented. I hope Accuquilt keeps making dies for blocks that have curved seams because a lot of you want it for those!

Accuquilt Go! Baby Review and Giveaway!

2011-10-25T13:03:00.000-06:00

Last Fall at Quilt Market I met many of the very nice people who represent Accuquilt. They asked if I would be interested in giving my review on my blog about their newest product the Go! Baby Die Cutter. Of course I agreed, and this is the story of how it went.

I had used the Go! Studio, and the Go! Cutter in the original size and liked both products. I felt they were too large for my needs, and my smaller space. I never bought either one of those. They were out my price range at the time too. I had never tried the smaller more compact version of the Go! Baby and wanted to. So earlier this year the good people at Accuquilt.com sent me the Go! Baby and three dies. They sent the Hexagon, and the 5" Charm Square die. Also one of the dies they sent was for the larger cutter, that was a clerical error when the order was entered. The die was for the 2 1/2" strips, but it was too large to run through the Baby. It took a little while to get the correct die because the 2 1/2" strip die for the Baby is a popular one, and was out of stock at that time. I did receive it after it was back in stock, and was able to test it. They kept track of my replacement order until the item was ready to ship. I have to mention, the customer service at Accuquilt is wonderful. I used the online chat as well as the phone customer service, and both were very helpful and knowledgeable. So if you ever have any issue with an order from Accuquilt, you can rest assured they will take care of you. This quality of customer service seems more rare than common with many online retailers lately, and I feel it is worth mentioning when you have a great experience. So once I had all the dies I was ready to get started and the following is my review.

PRO's:

Love the compact footprint and that it folds up small! This makes it so easy to store on a table or in a closet.
No set-up or build time with this one. The Studio Cutter requires some set-up, but then it is much bigger. The Baby pulls right out of the box and is ready to use.
The handle turns in both directions, so you can feed the dies from left or right. Very good news for Lefty's!
Very affordable at around $140 for the machine. The dies are also a little smaller and thus less expensive than are the bigger dies. Some of them are as low as $20, and Accuquilt.com is always having sales! Some are on sale right now for $17!
Very lightweight and easy to carry to class, or from room to room.
It measures folded up: W 4 1/2", H 8", D 13" , unfolded the W is 17 1/2"
So easy to roll the handle with the dies in there. I found the larger Go Cutter was more cumbersome. I think anyone with Arthritis or Carpal Tunnel in their wrists or hands will find this one very easy to use! You don't have to have a super strong grip to get the dies through.
Love the non-slip feet.
Many of the dies have little triangles that are cut out on the fabric to help you line up your pieces. This was great when sewing my Apple Core quilt because I knew right where to pin. There was no need to fold each one in half to find the center, Accuquilt already had!
They are bringing out more and more dies with fun shapes, and loads of "typical" quilting sizes and shapes.
I already said it, but they have amazing customer service and that goes a very long way with me!

CON's:

Yes there is some fabric waste. Okay I said it, big deal. It isn't as if we aren't all out there buying fabric like crazy anyway! You do need a little extra fabric (maybe a few extra inches for a lot of cutting) to account for potential waste when cutting even simple geometrical shapes. But seriously, if you are that frugal you may not see the need to buy this little wonder and it's dies. I don't get that caught up in fabric waste, so consider the source.
You can only use the smaller 6" wide dies, the larger 8" and 10" ones won't go through this little guy.
Stripes are a potential headache to cut on the Go! Baby in straight style dies. Dies like a Hexagon, or an Apple Core are no biggie. But trying to line up the stripes just right for squares and rectangles could require an Excedrin.
Needs to be used on a sturdy surface that is not wobbly at all. Actually that is just my personal recommendation because I used it on one table and it was really shaking that table a bit. Maybe I am being to rough though-who could say? Those non-slip feet kept the machine in place though.
You have to buy the dies separately, and they can be pricey. Again, look for sales!
Different lengths of dies require different cutting pads. These are the grey mat you place over the top of the die and fabric so it cuts the fabric and gets a good grip in the rollers. So if you need that 2 1/2" strip die, plan on buying the 6" x 24" long cutting mat too. You might to budget more for that one, but if you are cutting 450 2 1/2" strips for a weekend retreat, the Go! Baby will save your blade and your hands a lot of wear and tear!

So that's my take on the Go! Baby. I love mine and would recommend it to any quilter I meet. By the way if you are making a Grandmothers Flower Garden quilt by hand, the Hexagon Die has 3 of the most common sizes (2", 3" and 5" unfinished size) and it is a life saver when cutting out hexies!

This is my Apple Core quilt and all of the Apple Cores were cut out using the Go! Baby. It took about 90 minutes to cut them all out, but imagine how long it would have taken if I had to trace each one and cut out by hand!

Lastly, here is the info on the giveaway:
One winner will receive (1) Accuquilt Go! Baby die cutter machine and (2) dies of their choice.
1. To enter you have to leave me a comment here on this post about why you need this Die Cutter.
2. For another shot at winning tell all your friends through either a Blog Post with a direct link to my giveaway, or Tweet with a link, or Facebook it with a link. Then come back here and tell me you mentioned my giveaway to all your friends and fans. Easy- two shots at winning. (You don't get extra chances if you FB, Tweet and Blog about this though-- I have to draw the line somewhere.) Giveaway ends Sunday Oct 30th 9PM MST. The winner will be announced when I get back from Houston on Monday Oct 31st.

I would love it if you decide to follow my blog-- but I won't make you do that for this giveaway.

Check the link out at the top of my blog-- 22 free patterns from Accuquilt! Everyone wins with this one!

Here is the fine print: I am not responsible for these items being lost or damaged in transit. You as the winner will need to report such instances to Accuquilt. I am holding the giveaway, but Accuquilt is sponsoring it which means they are shipping the winners items direct. Giveaways are great, but participants must realize I set forth the rules, and I randomly choose the winner. (When I say random-- it is truly as random as it gets and is completely fair) If I have contacted the winner and have had no response from them after 9 days, they forfeit the prize winnings to the next random winner of my choice. I have a life and cannot be expected to chase everyone down. It is a giveaway, not life or death. Basically, I don't want to hear a bunch of griping about how this is run. It's my giveaway, my rules, you don't like it- don't play. Simple.http://www.accuquilt.com/

On the radio with Pat Sloan

2011-10-09T19:31:00.001-06:00

If you missed the broadcast, it is still available at the following link:

http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/radio/index.html

I just realized I was supposed to post this days ago, but better late than never! Actually not late at all because tomorrow at 4PM EST I will be on the radio with Pat Sloan!
She is interviewing me for American Patchwork and Quilting's radio show. We are going to chat about tools and all kinds of fun stuff.

So if you want to listen in, you can link up HERE or at the link below.
http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/radio/index.html

I am still in disbelief that she is interviewing little ol' me, but she and I are old pals and we always have a good time together! These are some of Pat's websites:
http://www.creativetalknetwork.com/
http://www.patsloan.com/
http://www.quiltmashup.com/
If you don't know who she is in the quilty world, her websites and blog should change that. You probably even own one of her books because she's written a bunch!

Don't forget to check back here later in the week because I am posting my review on the Accuquilt Go Baby! I might be having some serious giveaway action going on with it too-- so be sure to check back!

And if you miss the interview, you can always get a listen on your computer or iPod using the links above.

Been away a while.....

2011-09-25T11:49:00.000-06:00

I have been away from blogging for so long, I just couldn't get to it. I assume everyone understands how sometimes life just simply gets in the way of all the extra "stuff" we do. Life definitely threw me some curve balls this summer, both good and bad, and now I am back.

The best curve ball I got was some very unexpected news.....
I am expecting our third baby and am now 3 months pregnant. Our youngest is 9 and our oldest is 12, so you can see why I refer to the news as a curve ball! I feel pretty good now, but the last two months have been challenging. I still have days where I just feel awful, and I assume that will not stop until after we meet our new little one. Late March or early April is when this baby is due and we are all so excited about it. I will be better about sharing updates now that I am feeling better.

As for the bad news of the summer, well I already shared the flooded basement saga. It is mostly back together now. The other news I won't share, because I am back and that is what counts.

This is a new project that uses my Daisy Dance line and it is very cute in my opinion. It is a pattern for a Mug Rug and and Table Topper and the inspiration for the design was SPRING! The pattern is available through a "workshop" that you subscribe to for $20. Really it is a great deal because you get 4 different seasonal table runner patterns and mug rug patterns to match. Where else do you get 8 patterns for 20 bucks? You can find out more info about it and order it here at the Patchwork Posse site.

Aside from this, not a lot of sewing has been getting done. I do look forward to finding out the gender of my little one then I can begin sewing for him/her.

What's next for me???? Well here are a few of my plans in the works.....

I have plans to post a tutorial on here about how to do an EASY and FAST Cathedral Window. This one doesn't require hand sewing or waste fabric the way the old fashioned way does!
I also plan some more tutorials as I have been remiss in getting any on here.
I am working on getting my new fabric Daisy Dance on my website and for sale
I am also working on a new and improved website so it is more user friendly and updated! That is sorely needed, so it really is a priority!

Sewing Machine Advice.....

2011-08-04T12:45:00.000-06:00

I just looked at these two really cute small sewing machines yesterday. One is called "Sophia" by BabyLock and the other is "Audrey" also by BabyLock.
I wonder if anyone out there has tried either of these little machines? I say little, because they are compact and so cute. Sophia actually can do a 4" square area of embroidery which is impressive for her size and price.

Audrey has a very small throat, but is only 12 pounds and would be so perfect for taking to classes. I also love that when I think of their name I envision Sophia Loren and Audrey Hepburn-- classic beauties in their own right.

Due to my basement flood I lost my Elna sewing machine in it and will need to replace it. This is the one I took to classes and really used it a lot. In May, I bought a Pfaff Quilt Expression 4.0 from a friend who was trading up to a different fancier machine (hard to believe it gets better than the Pfaff QE 4 right?). It is a wonderful machine, but is huge and heavy. This is not a machine you take around with you to classes.

So I am taking suggestions on a new machine to replace my Elna. I have been told to look at the Janome Jem, the low end Berninas (nice but pricier than I was hoping for), and I will have to check out the Elna's on the Market too. I really have loved mine. I am pretty open to any good brand.

This just like the Classic Elna I just bought, but mine has not arrived yet so I couldn't take my own photo. This one is being sold on Ebay for parts.

As an FYI, I already own a 1957 Singer Featherweight, a 1951 Singer Centennial 15-91, a 1926 White Rotary, we bought my oldest daughter a 1931 Singer 66 in a cabinet, and recently acquired an early 50's Elna Supermatic AKA- the Grasshopper. I pretty well have my classics covered-- I use these but am not looking to take them to classes that I teach. It might be time for me to stop collecting the classics though!

In the Summertime....

2011-08-02T16:12:00.000-06:00

In the summertime I get sort of lazy with blogging. The kids are home which throws off the routine that I normally have. We usually take a vacation at some point, another kink to work around. And inevitably I have some giant problem with my house or a major appliance that manages to complicate things. So this is the story of my summer so far....

Now that the kids are a little older, they are not as much of a distraction as they once were. I just lock them in the closet and tune out the pounding and cries for help! Okay, that is a complete exaggeration. What I really meant is that they keep themselves occupied pretty well now.

We planted a "Victory Garden" for the summer and have enjoyed tomatoes and lettuce so far. Really it's just a raised garden 4' x 8', but during WWII homemakers planted victory gardens to help reduce the strain on the war effort. I just really like the name Victory Garden so I am going with it. I am not deluding myself into thinking this has any impact on the war or our economy. It does help with my own personal economy though, so I figure it counts somehow.
I love these old war posters.

We went on vacation and it was great. We went to Philadelphia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and New York. We spent most of our time in the first three states I listed. We visited as many of the monuments and attractions as we could. We went to Amish Country in Lancaster County, we went to Hershey Park and took the factory tour, we went all over downtown Philly-- an amazing city, and we went to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We saw lots of my family and the kids got to meet their cousins for the first time. My older brother is in the Navy so they have moved a bit, and being so far away makes visits expensive. The girls got to see and hold Fireflies. This sounds like an odd thing to be excited about, but we don't have Fireflies where we live and they are a novelty when you aren't around them all the time. Even my husband thought they were fascinating! My Dad turned 70 so we had a family reunion/birthday party for him and it was terrific. He had all of his blood related Grandchildren there at once, which has never happened before. His sisters were all there and most of my cousins. My sister and I were there, but unfortunately my brother was unable to be there. Again, being in the Navy complicates things sometimes. But his wife and children were there and we had fun with them. We had people from Oregon, California, Ohio, Utah, North Carolina, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. This is why we rarely have family reunions!

The Great Flood. Five days after returning home from our vacation, I left the stupid garden hose on accidentally and our basement flooded. What a mess! Now it is all torn up down there. The carpet is all being ripped out, the walls are being repaired now, and I lost my beloved sewing machine to the flood. They are just "things", so really it doesn't matter that much. The trouble is I cannot get any sewing done until they have everything put back together. It's been 2 weeks, and I think it will be one more week before it is back to normal again.

This isn't really my house-- I hope that is sort of obvious! But this is sure how it felt to see all that water downstairs!

Two days after the flood, my Daisy Dance fabric bolts arrived! Yippee! But also sort of depressing because I cannot unpackage them until the basement is back in order.

So hopefully next week I can start posting some of the ideas I have for using Daisy Dance! I plan to sell it in my online store too-- but again that has to wait until I have things managed in the basement.

If you can't wait for that, they do have it at Fat Quarter Shop (or possibly your local shop is carrying it!)

Daisy Dance

2011-06-05T11:09:00.001-06:00

Daisy Dance is my second line of fabric with Henry Glass.
I just love it, the colors are bright and crisp and it is "happy fabric"! Daisy Dance was inspired by a small piece of vintage feedsack fabric.

The swirls and daisies in this "inspiration" piece had movement and depth and from there the rest of the designs came very easily to me.

This one is based on the Marguerite Daisy- a flower I fell in love with when I was designing flower arrangements. It isn't often used in flower arrangements anymore because the Daisy Mum is longer lasting and has a stronger stem.

This one looks like little lazy daisies that you often see embroidered on vintage linens. I added the gridded dot for a little modern flair.

This one I call the Tri-Petal, but someone told me they thought it looked like little angels in a row.

These next three are the Master Florals-- one in each colorway

This one is the swirl dot, simple but effective. This was the last piece we designed for the line. There were two other designs that I had wanted to include, but they were not playing well with the other kids. So those were dropped (AKA -saved for another line someday) and this fun dot was created.

To see all the other pieces in the line you can visit the Henry Glass website.

I am expecting the fabric will be delivered in the next couple of weeks-- I will have it for sale at that time!

Wedding Bells

2011-05-28T22:40:00.000-06:00

Our engagement photo18 years ago...He still keeps this in his wallet.

18 years ago today to be exact. The wedding bells rang for my beloved and I. I am pretty lucky, he's really good to me and to our daughters. He puts up with me, my fabric and vintage 40's era stuff obsession, my moody days, my bad days and my silliness. We have a lot of fun together, and we laugh a lot, mostly at ourselves! I put up with him, his obsession with super-heroes, Gi-Joe, action figures, sports, his moody days that I like to call MAN-O-PAUSE, his stupid humor, and he complains a lot sometimes. It could be worse for both of us.

This all begs the question--- how do our children put up with us??? hmmm there is one to ponder. I guess they have no choice really, so we all laugh at each other a lot.

Our little girls- 8 years ago, also in his wallet

Marriage-- definitely not the easiest thing I have done in my life, but well worth the trouble, the trials and the benefits are limitless.

Many of our older friends, say we are nothing but babies still--- oh brother! Gimme a break already. After 20 years together, we are now the same age his parent's were when we met. We have been together longer than we lived before we met. We were 18 and met in college, became friends, then he pursued me, I caved and we fell for each other. Many of our younger friends cannot believe we are this old--Hahahaha! It's not old unless you believe it's old. Fortunately they think we are younger-- but still think it is weird we have been married for so long. I guess I think it is a bit weird too-- seems like a pretty long time 18 years. Sure doesn't feel that long-- I think that is a good sign!

I am blessed, I am grateful, I am humbled daily, thank you Lord.

Help for the people of Joplin Missouri

2011-05-25T08:53:00.000-06:00

My heart goes out to the people of Joplin Missouri as they sort through what is left of their city.

I received an email from Ackfield Manufacturing today and have added it to the end of this post. They are based in Missouri, and are asking their quilting friends and business associates to send the call out for help for the people of Joplin.

Ackfield makes many wire hangers and stands for quilts, mini quilts and stitchery pieces.

If you have a quilt you can part with, they are asking for it to be shipped to them. As you can see these people are left with nothing. Bad weather and tornadoes continue to batter the area. If you can, please consider their request. Consider also how many children are left with nothing, baby and children's quilts would be greatly helpful as well.

This man is at what used to be his mother-in-laws home sorting through the rubble. Her entire neighborhood was leveled.

REBUILDING "ONE PATCH AT A TIME"

Ackfeld Manufacturing is collecting Quilts for the victims in Joplin...... If you have a quilt that you don't have anyone in mind for please donate to the victims of the tornado in Joplin Missouri..... If you would be so kind as to send them to us we will get them into the hands of the Red Cross. Please sign these quilts and let them know where they are coming from so that they can feel the love of the world surrounding them.... thank you all so much Skip and Peggy Ackfeld, Ackfeld Manufacturing, 360 Emerson Road, Reeds Spring, MO 65737

If your company has a facebook, web site, twitter whatever please post. Our friends are hurting and we feel your generosity would be so appreciated. What warmer feeling than being wrapped in a Hand Made Quilt

Thank you All

This used to be a subdivision of homes, all have been leveled.

All Dolled Up in SLC

2011-05-19T14:59:00.001-06:00

I was a part of All Dolled UP in SLC which included many of our local and very talented quilt designers.

We all had to make up a doll block and dress the doll in whatever fashion we chose. We had a very simple template to use as the basis.

Here is my block that went into the quilt that showed at Quilt Market in the Riley Blake Booth. My block was in the quilt with the blue borders.

Good Golly Miss Molly here is my Dolly!

She's my 50's girl who belongs at a Sock Hop! I love her and still have to finish my other block that I will keep in Daisy Dance Fabrics.
If you go to All Dolled Up there are posts about many of the designers who participated.

And here are the instructions for my Miss Molly
Here are the templates for Miss Molly

All the instructions for all the blocks should be up on the All Dolled Up site very soon.

Quilt market Recap coming soon...

2011-05-18T12:19:00.000-06:00

Whew! Been so busy that I nearly forgot!

I am getting the posts ready and will have my recap soon!

This is the Grand America Hotel with the Mountains in the distance-- I snagged these photos from my The Fat Quarter Shop- They are more on top of their blog than I am!

This is Kimberly Jolly from The Fat Quarter Shop with her Freda-- One of my new patterns for market. I sold some shop samples at Sample Spree and this one is in Daisy Dance my newest fabric line! She just loved Freddie and Freda!

APQ was at the end of my row-- I was closer to the back of the row with the Henry Glass crew-- we had loads of fun and I did not get many pictures. My camera was acting up. So this photo I took from my wonderful friend, Pat Sloan's Blog

I did manage to get a few shots at market and will give the recap soon!

100 Blocks Giveaway and my block!

2011-05-05T08:32:00.002-06:00

The lucky WINNERS of the brand new issue of 100 Blocks are.........

~~Sallie~~ Quiltin' Sandy and YummYummz by Patticakes

(Sallie just emailed me and she already won an issue on another blog so we had to choose again.)

I will be contacting you both by email to get your addresses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

PS: My kids choose the random numbers-- I tell them the range and they each choose a random number-- they never choose the same numbers as the time before either! I figure it is the most random way to pick numbers because they don't even know why I ask!

This is my block that is in the 100 Blocks Volume 3 issue, it is on page 49. It is made from my Tidbits line of fabric and is paper pieced. I rarely paper piece anything, because it is not my favorite method of sew a quilt block. This was different though. It was fun to step out of my comfort zone and try something different. That is one of my favorite things about submitting a block to the 100 Blocks magazine. It allows me to do something I wouldn't normally do and still get to share it with everyone.

Though I did add that little yo-yo in the center, because it just looks so cute and that is something I would normally do!

This issue of 100 Blocks has some really wonderful and fun blocks in it. I would love to giveaway TWO of these coveted magazines. But I want to know something about you as a quilter.....

Leave me a comment answering this question and you will be entered in the drawing.

"How do you step out of the box in your quilting art?"

For me it's paper piecing-- but it could be something else entirely for you and I would love to hear about it!
You can enter the giveaway through Saturday May 7th at 9 PM MST

100 Blocks Blog tour!

2011-05-02T09:16:00.000-06:00

It is time for the new issue of 100 Blocks to be out! It should be on newsstands on May 10th-- I will have some copies available for purchase and if you missed Volume 2 I still have a couple of those as well.

I am honored and humbled to see my name on the cover of the Volume 3 100 Blocks magazine.
What a joy it is to be a part of this great magazine, but to be listed on the cover as one of "Today's Top Designers" is just phenomenal.

Stay tuned I will be showing my block on Thursday May 5th!

What's UP???

2011-04-18T11:25:00.000-06:00

This is what's up:

See how it says Fresh Cut Quilts??? Yep I love that! But I also love this:

Because this is my design! I used Barbara Jones' Summertime line of fabric. Just gorgeous fabrics from my fellow Utahan and Henry Glass Designer.

This quilt is fun and easy to make. I love it, and it is hanging in my family room right now.

If you want to order a copy of the magazine, you can get it here:

Quilter's World

It's about 10 bucks because it is a Special Issue, but if you click on the table of contents you can see the other projects in the magazine which are all very fun! There are several I would like to make.

Quilter's World is becoming more trendy and hip than they used to be, and the projects in this issue definitely reflect that. I will also have a project in the August issue of QW in a couple of months from my Tidbits line!

What I have been working on...

2011-03-15T12:44:00.000-06:00

I have a lot to accomplish in the next couple of months but this is what I have been working on this week....

The Apple Core- I love this and am going to do a tutorial on it. I love the lime green and black- they contrast so nicely. Curved piecing is much easier than I thought it would be and easier now that I figured out a few tricks! I will be teaching a class at My Sister's Quilts on this in a couple of months if you live here in Utah.

The kits--- TidBits fabric kits for my shop....in the pattern Sunporch. Oh my they are so cute! These kits will be $33.00 including the pattern! I will send the pattern by pdf and the kit by US mail. Shipping is $5.00.
If you don't want to sign up for an Etsy account just email me and we can arrange the purchase privately for anything in my Etsy shop. I am working on revamping the "real" website and I am not adding new to it right now because of that.

Primrose Baskets in Tidbits got finished a few weeks ago with the cute scalloped edge. This pattern is in my TidBits from Triangles Book. I can make kits for it if I get enough interest- so leave a comment if you would want to buy one or send me an email at freshcutquilts at gmail dot com the price will be $58.00 plus the book at $18.00. Shipping will be $10.

Lastly, this is my Fresh Flower block for the Layer Cake Quilt Along at Moose on the Porch Quilts.

This instructions can be found here.

What do you do with small batting scraps?

2011-03-01T11:19:00.000-07:00

I am always amazed by what others do with their small batting scraps. So I would like to know what you do with yours.

Here are some clever ways to use batting scraps that I have come up with:

They make a great and lightweight packing material in shipping boxes- good filler when the box is too big-- no more styro peanuts floating about
Good for dusting and cleaning- and you can toss it when done
Good for small pet animal bedding stuffed in a pillowcase
Bigger scraps can be used for piecing back into a bigger piece of batt
If anyone else out there does this you have to let me know... wrapping Christmas ornaments and decorations for storage
Dinner plate separators for storing nice dinnerware
I haven't moved recently but I would totally use it for placing around fine breakables, if I were to move
Cutting up for rag quilts-- I donate some of my batting to a friend who does this.
Donating to a refugee group that is learning to quilt and sew for their small projects
This one is an odd one- but it works. Use as a drain filter around the drain at the bottom of the sink or tub when rinsing something that has threads, strings, hair, animal fur etc that you don't want going down the drain. I wrap some small batt around the pop up drain, and push it in place just enough so the batt stays put and so the water filters through. The icky junk is caught by the batt. Then the batt and icky stuff gets tossed.

Free Redwork of the Month Design

2011-02-23T19:51:00.000-07:00

Hello friends. I hope you all know how much I love that you read my blog. I am not sure why you do, but it makes me happy that you do. Okay now on to the info on the redwork:

My cute friend Debbie has an equally cute blog. Honestly everything she does is cute. Some days I want to be as cute as she is, and then I have to lie down and rest because that much cuteness must be tiring.

So this adorable tea towel in redwork is a free pattern she will email you, and she will email more to you in the months to come. I have seen two other towels she made and they are just as fun as this one, but different. I am having redwork love at the moment. But do stop me because I really cannot take on another project right now!

Instead, head on over to Debbie's blog and sign up for her to email you and you too can have this fun redwork pattern. Tell her I sent you, then maybe she will have her husband embroider this towel for me! (his embroidery work is to die for-- and you would never know it by looking at him!)