Canton Village Quilt Works

Can You Hear Them???

2012-02-27T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

As you know, I have been busy piecing the borders for my Glacier Star quilt to make it a queen size instead of just a wall hanging. In the border you will find quite a bit of these...

flying geese. See all those trimmings, well there wasn't just one set of geese...

no, not one...

not two...

not three..

but a whole flock or gaggle!! Can you hear them now?? I sure can! They were fun to make, but I'll tell you when you make anything larger than a lap size everything gets multiplied by a gazillian!

Now they are all stacked and ready to fly right into the borders of my Glacier Star quilt! Can you tell I LOVE to paper piece?

If you forgot, go get the 6th installment of the Blogger's BOM here. I know you will love it!

Make sure you come back here on Wednesday for a very special announcement!

Until Next Time...

Blogger's BOM Month 6

2012-02-25T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

We are now about half way through our Blogger's BOM and there are some fantastic blocks out there!! Just take a look at the Flickr group. If you haven't added yours make sure you do!!

If you haven't joined in on all the fun, you still can!! Just click on any one of the links below or on my right side bar to get your tutorial for the blocks.

Month 1

Month 2

Month 3

Month 4

Month 5

Now it is time for Month 6 and it is being presented to you by Amy Smart of A Diary of A Quilter. I am sure you are going to love her block and we all can't wait to see your renditions! So don't forget to post them into the Flickr group.

Now... Click here and go get Block Number 6!

Enjoy!

Until Next Time...

Improvi-Robin

2012-02-24T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Today I am sharing with you my addition to the Stephanie's middle block for our Improvi -Robin. She sent me the block that is surrounded by the black that I added.

Because the block that Stephanie sent was truly wonky, I decided to stay within the wonky realm.

I added black and white fabric around the edges and then improvised with black, white, and pink toned "piano keys". Liked it... But I thought that it need just a little more. So I added some Kona Cerise around the edges to leave a place for the eyes to rest. Love it and I hope that you like it too, Stephanie!

Now it is off to have another round added! Check out the other blocks in our round robin by clicking on this link for our Flickr group.

Don't forget to come back here on Saturday for the next installment of the Blogger's BOM!!

Amy Smart from Diary of A Quilter is the featured designer!

Until Next Time...

It Is A Black and White Giveaway!

2012-02-22T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

If you have been reading my blog for a while you know that I just LOVE my black and white fabrics!! Because of that love, 2 years ago I began stocking them into my shop and now have an extensive selection available.

I thought I would share some of them with you and get you familiar with the wonders of black and white fabric! I know you will love them!

This giveaway consists of 8 fat quarters and you can enter to win by visiting my friend, Rachel at Stitched In Color. She is hosting my giveaway. If you have never visited her blog, you must now, she is quite talented and has TONS to offer. You are in for a real treat!

In addition to this giveaway, you can enjoy a sale on ALL black and white fabrics in my shop. They are ALL marked down to $7.95 per yard through Friday, February 24, 2012. Just click here to see what is in store!

Don't forget...

Click here to enter the giveaway!

Until Next Time...

Two Friends

2012-02-21T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

While at Quilt Market I had the opportunity to spend time with friends and meet some new ones. On the way, I sat on the plane with one of my friends, Michele Muska. She is friends of someone that I have admired for years, Darlene Zimmerman.

During Quilt Market both of them agreed to do an interview with me for my podcast!

Michele is quite the talented lady. She is more of an art quilter and works for Simplicity Creative Group. But she also has her own business called Lola Rae. Check it out here.

This is Michele, isn't she lovely.

If you don't know Darlene, you really should. She is a veteran of the quilting industry and is best known for her love of 1930s reproduction fabrics.... which I love! You can find some here.

She has a new book out and I can personally tell you it is fabulous!

Such designs bring back memories of younger days. Darlene is known as the Feedsack Lady and she has a website with the same name. Lots of great stuff there, check it out by clicking here.

Isn't she just fabulous?

Anyway, now you have the chance to get to know them too!

You can listen into Episode 34 of Jackie's Quilting Chronicles and see what these two ladies have in common. Just click here and you can listen in from your computer or you can go to iTunes and download the podcast for free by searching Jackie's Quilting Chronicles.

I hope you all enjoy getting to know these wonderful ladies! It was fun sitting and chatting with them.

Enjoy!

Until Next Time...

Variations

2012-02-20T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

This weekend was filled with TONS of paper piecing! Some of my own and much of my students. On Saturday, I taught a class for the guild that I am a member. The class that I taught was the Seasonal Table Runner from Judy Niemeyer. You can find it here in my shop.

One of the things that always amazes me is the variations in color and the overall look of a piece from each of my students. I wanted to share with you some that I took photos of during the class.

There were many made from batiks. This one a more pastel variation and she varied the spikes as well.

Although this was batik, she chose to keep the spikes the same as well as the background.

The same theme here with the same spikes and background, but different coloring.

This is a fabulous Christmas version. She will definitely have a "Seasonal" Table Runner.

Beautiful fall like batiks with varied spikes.

Here she chose the same background for both the geese and the spikes, but the geese are from a different batik than the spikes.

Another fall look with varied spikes and geese, but with a twist a darker background along the edge of the geese.

This version was done totally from her scrap bin! The combos are great too!

The same concept here, but a totally different look with some sunny batik and also regular quilting cottons.

Yet another with the same concept, but with traditional quilting cottons. Funny they are the same concept for the layout, but all look totally different.

This one will be lovely when combined with the geese. It is going to be a red, white, and blue version. The geese will be red. You can see more photos from this class here in Flickr.

I was so inspired from my class I came home and continued to work on my geese for my Glacier Star, blogged here.

I was able to get a little farther than this photo shows and can't wait to finish them up!! Once they are done, I will be joining them to the Glacier Star to make them queen size.

A fabulous day all around! Don't you just love seeing all the variations? I know I do!

Until Next Time...

Doctor Who

2012-02-18T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

We are "Whovians" in our house. We love Doctor Who. Have you ever watched the show? If you haven't you must! It has been on TV since 1963!

Anyway, you can imagine how excited I was when I found Doctor Who themed fabric on Spoonflower.

Here are the various designs that I purchased.

My daughter was thrilled with the variety of TARDIS (Time and relative dimension in space) fabric. A TARDIS is basically a time machine the doctor uses for time travel.

Love the character fabric too!

Got to love this Dalek fabric!

Here is a photo of a Police Call Box. This is basically what the TARDIS looks like on the outside... but not on the inside!

Here is our current Doctor Who... Matt Smith.

If you have BBC America or BBC wherever you live you can watch Doctor Who. Or you can download them from iTunes. Are you a Whovian?

Now I need to figure out what to make with the fabric, any suggestions??

Speaking of fabric... ALL Black and White and Australian Aboriginal fabric is on sale this week in my shop! Just click here and here to see what is in stock.

I am teaching a paper piecing class today, so next post, I hope to have tons of photos!

Until Next Time...

Designing A Quilt On A Mac ~ Lesson 4

2012-02-16T06:51:00.002-05:00

Hello Everyone,

It is time for Lesson 4 of Designing A Quilt On A Mac. Please accept my apologies for taking so long to upload this, but I hope that you have all been playing with your Mac and designing lots of fun quilty things! I am curious and would love to see what you all have come up with. Send me an e-mail with the creations you made, I would love to see them!

In the meantime, enjoy Lesson 4!

Don't forget you can also refer back to the lessons by clicking here and going right to my YouTube channel for refresher courses.

You also can find them under the new "Tab" that I created at the top of this blog titled "Tutorials".

Have a great time designing!

Until Next Time...

Indigo

2012-02-15T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

I am so excited to introduce you to a brand new quilt ~ Indigo! Indigo is special because it was designed by my friend Pat Bravo of Art Gallery Fabrics.

It is made with a combination of her wonderful fabrics in teals, greens, and yellows.

Beautiful! I know, I have seen it first hand, I quilted it for her! Very excited to have worked on it.

But I am even more excited to tell you that Pat and I have combined our efforts to bring Indigo to you...

Exclusively through my shop, Canton Village Quilt Works. Yes, that is right, you can buy the kit to make this gorgeous quilt from my shop. The kit includes all the fabric for the top and the binding as well as a downloadable pattern for the instructions on piecing the quilt.

If you are as in love with this quilt as I am, just click here to purchase your kit! Also, make sure you go and tell Pat how much you love her quilt too! You can find her here and here and here.

By the way, if you haven't heard the interview that I did with her at Quilt Market, you can still listen to us on my podcast by clicking here or you can download from iTunes for free. Enjoy!!

Until Next Time...

Sew In Day

2012-02-14T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Happy Valentine's Day to all! May you be surrounded by love today!

On Saturday, the Modern Connecticut Quilt Guild had a sew in day! It was fun to sit with the girls and chat and get some work done! Although, I must confess, I just tore papers off the back of my Glacier Star quilt, no sewing for me.

But I did want to share some of what the girls were working on...

Heather was working on a Christmas Quilt. Really cute and really ahead of time!

Here is Heather with one of her show and tells. This is a sampler quilt that she had created. The colors are very fall like.

This quilt, Heather designed for her father, who is currently in the hospital. Our best wishes for her Dad. Heather, I know he will just love this quilt.

She also showed these bright block that she had been working on, I believe it was as part of an online bee.

Sarah was working on some cute little bibs for her 11 month old daughter. They were so cute and backed with a very soft terry cloth, great for wiping away the baby food on the chin.

Here is Elisa showing her Total eclipse blocks from the class I taught a few weeks back. She has made some terrific progress!! Elisa also has a blog post up about the sew in day. You can read hers by clicking here.

She was also working on these, which will be turned into a pouch for a swap partner. I am totally in love with this color palette!

Maddie made this fabulous pillow.

Susan was making these wonderful placemats. I just love the black, white, and red, but the curves really make them sing.

Michele had made one of these cute little bags for the holidays. She was working on some blocks as well, but I forgot to get some photos. My camera batteries were malfunctioning.

Sue was having fun with some bass fabric and piecing them into circular blocks.

Here are the sets of our pieced and non pieced blocks that we bring to meetings. We are hoping to get them all pieced and quilted, possibly give them to a charity... maybe? Any way here are the orange and teal blocks.

Purple and green blocks.

Blue and apple green.

and red blocks.

So that is a wrap up of our day! It was fun and relaxing all at once.

I also wanted to point out that I have put a new Page or Tab at the top of my blog called "My Schedule". This will be continually updated as new lectures/trunk shows/and workshops are scheduled. If you would like to take a class with me or just come to one of my lectures, you can check here for the information.

If you know of a guild, shop, or quilt club that would like me to come to teach or lecture, just send me an e-mail!

Until Next Time...

It Is A Potpourri

2012-02-12T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

After I finished the Glacier Star quilt middle, it came off of my design wall temporarily until I have the four outer borders complete. In the meantime, I put some projects that need to be worked on up for inspiration and completion.

I think they look all kind of nice up there, don't they?

On this side you have my LeMoyne Stars, H Units for my Glacier Star borders, and my Improvi-Robin middle from Stephanie at Venus de Hilo.

In the middle, I have my airplane block for my "Things With Wings" Challenge, and my flying geese for my Two's Company quilt.

Lastly, this little beauty I had made a while ago needs to be finished pronto. I am thinking of extending some of the half-square triangles into the border and then doing a little modern quilting on it. It just needs to be a little bit bigger. Any thoughts on what you feel could make it sparkle?

Oh, check this out... it was a little article about me in our local newspaper. Just click here.

Until Next Time...

All Lined Up

2012-02-10T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Yesterday and the day before, I had a little bit of time to sew for myself. So I started on my Queen Size borders for my Glacier Star which I blogged about here.

The border requires more H Units and more curved geese.

You can see here I have all the H Units lined up and ready to chain piece! That is right, with the method I used (Judy Niemeyer's) you can chain piece!! You can see my Paper Piecing Tutorial by clicking here. It goes really quick.

I am using batiks again for the borders, the same colors but different batiks.

By the way, today is the last day of my sale on Batiks... $8.25 per yard... just click here.

I needed to make 8 H Units.

Here they are all done but not trimmed up. Looking good.

Looking much better trimmed.

Just playing with the H Units. A fun layout isn't it? But this will not be how they are on the borders. You will just have to wait and see.

Now that the H Units are done, I can move onto the curved flying geese. I have them lined up and I did start piecing them. However, I have to make 24 of these units. It will definitely take a little longer.

Look who I had to share my sewing chair with, Pavi. I think he looks perturbed that I had to sit on the chair at all. However, I was perturbed that I had to sit on the edge. One plus was, he did keep my behind warm!!

Until Next Time...

What Did I Do Over 3 Days?

2012-02-08T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

On Friday, I took the train into NYC to see my friend Victoria of Bumble Beans and spent the weekend. You probably know that if you read my post on Sunday. But as soon as I got there I asked Victoria if I could make one of her Triangles Galore blocks to add to her growing collection.

We had fun picking the fabrics for the block and this is what I created!

Here it is playing nicely with the other blocks that she made. Victoria has a tutorial for this block if you would like to give it a try. While there we also worked together to turn it into a Paper Pieced block. She now has a PDF available for a free download if you would like to Paper Piece this block.

Just click here for the tutorial and the download.

Also, while there I made my Cherrywood challenge block for the NYC Metro Mod guild meeting. I chose this palette and am happy with how it played with the other blocks that were made! Looks a bit like and Easter egg.

Thanks, Victoria for a great weekend!

But before I left, I made this block for our Two's Company Bee.

This block is for Mary and it was so much fun to make! I really love to paper piece... but I think many of you know that already! Mary it is on it's way to you!

Also, I have another GIVEAWAY going on, yes that is right! If you would like to enter this fat quarter giveaway, just click here for the details.

And remember ALL week long the Batiks in my shop are marked down to $8.25 per yard! Just click here to check them out!

Until Next Time...

Modernology Fat Quarter Giveaway

2012-02-06T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

I would like to invite all of you to become Modern! I am giving away 10 fat quarters of Art Gallery's Modernology collection

If you are not familiar with Art Gallery fabrics they are fabulously soft, silky, and colorful!

I carry many of their collections in my shop too. They can be found by clicking here.

But if you would like to enter the giveaway, you will need to visit my friend Faith at Fresh Lemons. If you have never visited her blog, you really need to quickly. She has so much going on, fun, fabulous, and modern quilty things!

Quick... Click here to enter the giveaway!!

Until Next Time...

Totally Mod

2012-02-05T08:03:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

This weekend has been a blast. On Friday, I came down to NYC to visit my friend Victoria. We did some shopping and eating... Food and Fabric you can't go wrong!

Yesterday, was the meeting of the NYC Metro Mod Quilt guild and it was a blast! I thought I would share some show and tell with you... Enjoy!

Oh, and today is the LAST day for my Super Bowl Sunday Sale in my shop! All Westminster, Art Gallery, and Batik fabrics are marked down!!!

Click here to start shopping!

Make sure you come back tomorrow for something really special!

Until Next Time...

A Star Is Born

2012-02-03T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Back in October I blogged about this quilt here and here. Then it sat on my design wall while I finished up customer quilts for the Christmas rush. Now I can show you how much progress I made on my Glacier Star Quilt.

The center "feathered" star. I am in love with it!!

The Lone Star portion all complete as of Tuesday. Pardon my deck, it really needs to be re-stained. But it has been unusually warm here the past few days with temps at about 58 degrees so I just had to go outside for photos. We will be re-staining and painting the house this summer. It is one of those things that is on the "to do" list.

Detail of the geese. Love the precision of the paper piecing. So, now I need to set in all the corners and such. That means 8 "Y" seams. No sweat!!

These are the pieces that need to be set into the Lone Star. You can see on the corner pieces I already did 4 "Y" seams.

Close up of one of the set in corners that I joined to the Lone Star.

Close up of one of the side triangles set into the Lone Star portion.

The quilt... AHHHH.... Paper Pieced Heaven!

I just love all the New York Beauties and flying geese. But I bet you think this quilt is done... guess again...

I am making it larger! Currently, it measures 60 X 60 and I will be adding a few more New York Beauties and flying geese on all four sides. It will become a Queen Size quilt.

For those of you wondering:

~I used all batik fabrics

~it is a Judy Niemeyer Pattern

~it is a Technique of The Month

~it is taught only by Judy's Certified Teachers

~I will be able to teach this after my certification is complete in July!!

~you can find more of her patterns here.

Please hop on over to my dear friend Victoria's blog... Bumble Beans! She did a Color Interview with me and posted it yesterday. She what we both have to say about color.

** One last note ~ Pop on over to Quilt Magazine's site to see my newest blog post there. It is all about batiks! Leave me a comment telling me your thoughts. Just click here.**

Until Next Time...

Friends and Quilters

2012-02-01T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

While at Quilt Market in October, I had a fabulous opportunity to interview two very good friends who also happened to be quilters! I think that you may actually know these two also!!

Summer Salsa Lone Star

Does this quilt give it away? If not, then you really do need to get to know this wonderful lady...

Jan Krentz! She is a fabulous designer, author, teacher, and she is also best buddies with my next interviewee. Although they live on opposite sides of the country, they talk almost every day and are great inspirations to each other.

Laura (one of Anita's Students) and her Arrowhead Quilt

This is her Make It Simpler Quilt that she teaches as a workshop. Have you had her as a teacher? If not, I would like to introduce you to...

Anita Grossman Solomon. She is also a very talented teacher, author and designer. Anita lives on the east coast while Jan lives on the west coast.

Both ladies have been featured on the hit quilting show, Simply Quilts with Alex Anderson. But now they have both been featured on...

my podcast! So, grab a cup of tea, sit down and relax and listen into these two friends chat with me! You can listen in from your computer by clicking here and then listen to Episode 33.

You can search the iTunes store for Jackie's Quilting Chronicles and download it for free there to your iPod, iPhone, or MP3 device.

You can read more about Jan by clicking here to go to her website and more about Anita by clicking here for her website.

Enjoy!!

Until Next Time...

Total Eclipse Class ~ Part 3

2012-01-30T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Saturday marked the last day of the Total Eclipse Class that I taught in January. Let me tell you these ladies were great! They were all super talented and willing to learn and most of all they were all fabulous people. Thank you all for being in my class, it was a pleasure.

Onto the goodies...

Sharon's wonderful purple version, love the bright version!

Kathy chose these fabulous fall like colors, a terrific palette.

Rita's version is somewhat of a gradation from darker/brighter to more calm. Love the bright orange!

Joan has this jewel tone version. So different and just yummy!

Barbara hadn't completed all her KM units and really wanted to finish them up before her layout. She was busy working at it... can't wait to see it all done Barbara!

Sally (Grendelskin ~ her blog) was busy joining her H units to the KM units. She has a fabulous bright version going too. You may want to visit her blog and check out some of the photos that she has. Sally took a great photo of her quilt on the design wall at home. It is awesome!

Barb (A Corgi To Quilt By ~ her blog) was very please with the color combination of this block, I can see why! Her quilt is going to be bright as well. We certainly have the bright bug and I love it! She also has some blog posts up about the class, so pop on over there too!

Sharon is almost done with sewing the rows together. Doesn't it look phenomenal?

Maria finished all her units and laid out the quilt with one how left in the class and began sewing the rows together. We all were ooooooing and ahhhhhing over her color combinations. She used a lot of coral and teal and it was just gorgeous!

Last but not least, Elisa (Postpartum Quilter ~ her blog) made great strides! She his a few road blocks along the way, but persevered and now has it down pat! You did grew Elisa! I am so looking forward to seeing all the progress on your quilt. Elisa did a fantastic blog post on the last day of class, you can check it out on her blog here.

I also have a Flickr set that you can see ALL the photos that I took during class, just click here.

Sad to see this class end, but can't wait for the next one! Stay tuned!

If you want to learn the basics of paper piecing, I did a step by step tutorial, just click here to see.

Also, don't forget to enter my Batik Fat Quarter Giveaway still going on, but ending soon... just click here.

Until Next Time...

Paper Piecing, A Step By Step Tutorial

2012-01-28T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

This is something that I have wanted to share with you for a long time. Since I will becoming a Certified National Teacher for Judy Niemeyer, I thought I would share the basics of paper piecing with you. As I realize there are always several ways to do various techniques, this is the way that I paper piece and I hope that it is informative and helpful to you!

This tutorial will focus just on straight piecing of flying geese, no curved piecing.

It is based on Judy Niemeyer's pattern, Which Way is North, which can be found in my shop by clicking here if you are interested. This is a great pattern for a beginner paper piecer.

First begin with your paper foundation unit. You will see that each sew line is labeled in numerical order for each step.

For this unit you will need to cut these fabrics from your templates. 8 background pieces and 6 geese units.

These are some of the basic tools that I use to paper piece.

1. Add a quarter ruler

2. Template plastic cut into a rectangle.

3. Microtex Sharp Needles 70/10

4. Purple Thang (acts as a stiletto)

5. Fabric glue stick

6. 50 weight thread for piecing

7. Rotary cutter with a NEW blade

Begin by turning your foundation paper over and placing some fabric glue on the back like so for your first piece of fabric.

Don't wait to long to place the fabric down as the glue will dry quickly. Place the fabric wrong side down. I use the glue so I don't have to pin.

Now turn the foundation over and you will see how much the first triangle will overlap. When the fabric is pre-cut with the template there is an allowance for a larger piece of fabric to assure coverage on the foundation.

Take your template plastic and place on Line 1.

While holding the template plastic in place, fold back the foundation paper.

Place the lip of the add a quarter ruler on the edge of the paper and template plastic as pictured.

Trim the fabric with your rotary cutter down to 1/4 inch seam allowance.

Take one of your background pieces and line it up as shown, right side up.

With right sides together, place it with the first fabric piece, aligning the edges of the fabric with one another.

Make sure your sewing machine is set to a stitch length of 1.5 - 1.8. This allows for the paper to be perforated and peeled away easier and it is also more stable when you are pulling the paper away.

Sew on Line 1.

It will look like the above.

Turn it over and press towards the background.

Turn the foundation back over and place the template plastic on Line 2.

Fold back the foundation paper over the template plastic. Because you have sewn into the seam line the fabric will pull back too. That is okay, because...

While holding onto the paper and the template (firmly), just pull back the fabric from the paper.

Now place the add a quarter ruler on the paper and template.

Trim away the excess to leave the 1/4 inch seam allowance.

Take your second background piece, right side up and aligned as shown...

and place it right sides together with the geese fabric, aligning the edges of the fabric as shown.

Sew on line 2, you will begin this time sewing in the seam allowance.

It will now look like this.

Press the towards the background.

We will now add the next "goose". Place the template plastic on Line 3.

Fold back the paper and fabric.

While holding firmly, pull the fabric away from the paper.

Place the add a quarter ruler on the paper and template.

Trim away the excess fabric.

Take your next geese unit, right sides up...

and place it under the foundation unit aligning the edges of the fabric with right sides together.

Sew on line 3. Repeat the above process until you have all geese and background triangles sewn in place. Once this is done...

Turn your block over with fabric side down. Place your regular ruler...

on the SOLID line on the edge for trimming.

Trim away the excess.

Repeat this on the top...

and the remaining sides.

Once it is trimmed it will look like the above.

The only pieces left are the two strips for the sides.

These will be sewn onto either side of the block. This is the ONLY time we will be sewing on the dotted line.

Once they are on, it will look like the above.

Press towards the sides. Now we need to square up the block.

Trim off the upper and lower edges to be even with the paper pieced geese block.

Like so.

Now take your ruler and align it very carefully with the middle of the flying geese on the 3 -1/4 inch line, as shown above. This is the dead center of the block. Click on the photo to enlarge for detail.

Once it is aligned properly, trim away the sides.

You now have a perfect 6.5 inch block, with perfect points! The true beauty of paper piecing is accuracy.

Repeat to make 4 units... and then... keep on going... fly away! Once you are ready to join the units, make sure you remove the paper!

This is the pattern that I am using. If you would like to give paper piecing a try with this pattern you can find it in my shop by clicking here. You will also find many other paper piecing patterns by Judy Niemeyer there.

I hope you have found this tutorial helpful and informative.

Don't forget to enter my fat quarter giveaway by clicking here.

Until Next Time...

Batik Fat Quarter Giveaway

2012-01-26T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

As many of you noticed, I have been doing a month's worth of weekly fabric giveaways! This will wrap it up for this month. Each week it has been a different type of fabric that I carry in my shop.

I hope you all have enjoyed it! This won't be the last ever though. You will just have to keep on visiting me to see if I do more in the future.

This week's feature fabric is Batiks!!

Pin It

I love batiks for many reasons, color being one of them.

So I have chosen 7 fat quarters in blues, greens and purple/magentas for you. But to enter the giveaway you will need to visit my friend Amy at Amy's Creative Side. If you have never been to her blog you are in for a treat. If you absolutely can't wait to have these batiks you can find them in my shop by clicking here. You will find them amongst TONS of other batiks.

Good luck in the giveaway!

Click here to enter the giveaway!

Dont' forget to pick up Month 5 of the Blogger's BOM, just click here.

Until Next Time...

Blogger's BOM Month 5

2012-01-25T05:45:00.001-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Welcome back to Month 5!!

I am so excited for this month! We have had the following blocks so far...

Sherri's Month 1.

Vicki's Month 2.

Stephanie's Month 3.

Pat's Month 4.

All have been fabulous! I hope you are enjoying playing along because this month we have a super block from my very talented friend...

John Adams, A.K.A. Quilt Dad. Wait until you see his block... oh, that's right you don't have to wait any longer, just click here to see the block and get the tutorial right now!!

Don't forget to post your block to the Flickr group. If you haven't seen some of the blocks there, you just have to check them out!!

Don't forget to come back here next month for Block 5, but I would love to hear from you before then too!

Enjoy!

Until Next Time...

The LeMoyne Star Made Easy

2012-01-22T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

A little while ago, my friend Deb Tucker asked me if I wanted to "test drive" her newest ruler for her. Of course, I jumped at the chance! Unfortunately, I haven't posted this until now. I tested it for her last year in April and she introduced her LeMoyne Star Ruler at Quilt Market in May 2011! I do carry them in the shop, just click here.

Now to show you the magic of of this somewhat difficult block and how nicely it comes together.

This first photo shows how little waste there actually is when you are done squaring up the block.

You can see how nicely the points all come together.

Here is the completed block all trimmed. All the points come together without having to set any seams in at all. This block is all strip pieced!

You can see just a wee bit of trimming and you have that perfect quarter inch from the edge of the block. No worries about losing the point of the star.

The back even looks pretty. The nice thing about Deb's patterns is that her instructions are some of the best in the business. The graphics and explanations are impeccable. No stone left unturned. She tells you how to make this block in many different sizes and how to press the seams all along the way so that these points always match.

I don't think that I would make this block any other way. So far, I have made two different sizes and am using my scraps to make a yellow and red quilt. All Kaffe Fassett too!

This is the fabulous ruler, comes complete with instructions! If you ever wanted to try this block, this is definitely the way to go, just click here.

Don't forget tomorrow is the last day to enter my Kaffe Fassett Spot Giveaway! Just click here for all the details.

Until Next Time...

Totally Forgot to Post These Snowballs....

2012-01-20T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

December's Two's Company Bee Blocks were for Helen. I did finish them in December, as well as sent them to her and posted on the Two's Company Blog. But totally forgot to post it here for all of you to see.

Helen requested scrappy whites and reds in the snowball block. To my surprise, I actually had quite a few white on white prints in my stash. I think I had purchased them years ago, but they were totally perfect for these blocks.

How many of you purchase fabric that you totally forget about?? It seems to be a like a little present to yourself when they are rediscovered.

So these four little blocks were sent off to Helen and she really liked them and boy and I glad! Now her snowball fight can begin!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway for 8 great Fat Quarters!! Just click here.

Until Next Time...

Spot The Giveaway!

2012-01-18T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Are you ready for another giveaway?? I wanted to share with you some spots, to be more specific Spots from Kaffe Fassett's Collection.

This giveaway consists of 8 fat quarters...

Colors include: Magenta, Sapphire, Green, Yellow, Red, Gold, Ice, and Midnight.

They all can be found in my shop by clicking here should you need them immediately... ;)

If not, and you want to enter the giveaway, you will need to visit my friend Allison at Cluck, Cluck, Sew! She is hosting my giveaway. If you have not visited her blog you will love it! She is also one of the designers for the Blogger's BOM.

So, please visit and enter the giveaway and tell her I said hello!

Click here to enter the giveaway!!

Until Next Time...

Paper Piecing Class - Part Deux, The KM Unit

2012-01-16T05:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Saturday marked the 2nd day of my teaching the Judy Niemeyer's Total Eclipse Class. When I came in and saw what all the ladies had accomplished over the week, I was ecstatic!! Mostly everyone completed their H units. Those units are the quarter circles. Here they are in all their glory...

Joan's jewel tone beauties.

Barbara L.'s warm batiks. She may have more on her blog too!

Maria's warm batiks too, but she varied the spikes. Gorgeous!

Kathy's autumn like colors (on left) and Sharon's bright batiks (on right).

Rita's Caribbean like colors. I just love the chartreuse batik.

Elisa was working with Kaffe Fassett fabrics and Australian Aboriginal fabrics. I love the combos!! She also has done a blog post with TONS of photos.

Those units were last week's assignment. This class we concentrated on the KM units and then some curved piecing.

Rita's lovely chartreuse and deep blue combo. Love the swirls.

Sally went to town and completed several KM units and we had fun pairing them with the quadrants. You can see more on Sally's blog.

This is Joan's KM unit where I demonstrated how to do a "cut out". You can see we added a second quadrant to the KM unit. There are several of these in the layout of the quilt, but not all.

I believe this one is Maria's. Gorgeous!

Also, Maria's... another great combo!

And Sally holding her block completely pieced together!!

You can also view more photos from the class by clicking here.

Another great day, I am having so much fun! A terrific group of ladies and all quite talented. I am so looking forward to the next class.

If you are interested in the pattern...

it is Total Eclipse and is available in my shop here along with many other Judy Niemeyer patterns. Just click here.

Until Next Time...