Clementine Quilt Along - Pineapple's Puzzle

It's the 25th and that means it is month 5 of the Clementine Quilt Along hosted by the Fat Quarter Shop!!!! I am having so much fun with these blocks!!!  This month's set of blocks is called Pineapple's Puzzle and talk about your Half Square Triangle goodness!!!

Again, we are making a 20" and 12" version of the block.  That means in the small block, those HST's are finishing at 1 1/2".  Those are some cute little triangles, so cute!!! And I love the movement in this design, it looks like the blocks are spinning ;)

So are you joining in the Clementine fun???  If so, you can download the block pattern right here and  then pop on over and donate $5.00  to the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital  :) I just love doing these annual Charity QAL's!!!    And were getting closer to that goal ;) 

And like always, Fat Quarter Shop has made an super fun  You Tube video tutorials that walk you through making this month's block.  And I just love the peppy little tune they put the tutorial to, so fun!!

Be sure to share all of your Clementine progress on social media with #clementinequiltalong and check out these fabulous bloggers who are quilting along for some Pineapple's Puzzle block inspiration :)  

*April of April Rosenthal (@amrosenthal)

Bonnie of Sunset Family Living (@sunsetfamilyliving)

Cara of That Crafty Cara (@thatcraftycara)
Carrie of Moda Cutting Table (@modafabrics)

Denise of Pieced Brain (@piecedbrain)

Elise of Elise and Emelie (@eliseandemelie)

Gina of Carpe Quiltin (@gina_tell_carpequiltin)

Heather of A Creative Pursuit (@acreativemama)

Hilary of By Hilary Jordan (@byhilaryjordan)

Jan of Cocoa Quilts (@cocoaquilts)

Jen of Heritage Threads (@heritage.threads)

Joanne of Quilts by Joanne (@turtlequilterjo)

Kairle of Kairle Oaks Handcrafted Goodness (@kairleoaks)

Kendra of Good Starter (@good_starter)

Kristen of 3 in the Nest (@threeinthenestraleigh)

Kristina of Center Street Quilts (@centerstreetquilts)

Leah of Ponderings from My Heart (@ponderingsfrommyheart)

Melanie of A Bit of Scrap Stuff (@mellierc)

Melissa of Happy Quilting (@happyquiltingmc)

Pat of Pat Sloan (@quilterpatsloan)

Pat B. of Life in the Scrapatch (@scrapatches)

Patty of Elm Street Quilts (@elmstreetquilts)

Rebecca of One Wee Bird (@oneweebird)

Sarah of 123 Quilt (@123quilt)

Seema of SSK Craft Shop (@sskcraftshop)

Sherri of A Quilting Life (@aquiltinglife)

Sondra of Out of the Blue Quilts (@sondradavison)

Stephanie of Quilt 'n Party (@quiltnparty)

Tanya of Tanya Quilts in CO (@tanyaquiltsinco)

Teresa of Aurea's Kitchen (@aureaskitchen)

Vickie of Crocheting Vixen (@crochetingvixen)

And there is Month 5 of the Clementine Quilt Along which means only one month of blocks left!!!!   Be back next month  on the 25th to share the sixth set of blocks!! There is still lots of time to join in the  Clementine Quilting Along??  We are having much fun!!!

Thanks for popping in today ;)  Have a Happy Quilting Day!!

Red, Black, and Low Volume!!!!

So if you have been around here for a bit, you know I tend to make a few Red, Black, and White quilts each year ;)  I make them for my Alma Mater, SUU, and they are raffled, or auctioned off to raise money for scholarships.   Well, its time to start another SUU quilt, but this time, instead of plain white, I am using Low Volume prints, and I am so excited!!!!  I really am on a bit of a Low Volume kick at the moment and I am just loving it :)  Plus, it really is using up some serious scraps and that is just double bonus!!!

I spent the other day doing some serious chain stitching!!!   I just love this classic color combination, seriously so glad that my Alma Mater has such awesome colors :)   I was blown away to find that I had enough red/white and black or grey/white low volume prints in my scraps/stash for all the backgrounds.  I really think it is just going to be so fun fun when it all comes together :)

And because this quilt is being made using one of Fat Quarter Shop's soon to be released Shortcut Quilt patterns, you know it is coming together super fast!!!  This was the second day of chain stitching and pressing and all my blocks are now done and this is ready to be sewn into a quilt top!!!   So fun ;) 

And I best be off now.  School ended yesterday and the kids are all up and ready for their summer to start!!  

Happy Quilting!!!

** This post contains affiliate links. 

Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day!!!

It's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day so let's have some fun :)

But first, we need to announce the winner from last weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway!!  

The winner of the Vintage Holiday Layer Cake from Fat Quarter Shop  is . . .   Number #117 . . .   Congrats Nancy!!!   I have emailed you :)      

  

     

And on to today's

Today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway is being sponsored by Happy Quilting!!!  Yup, little ole me today ;)  No need to tell you about any specials here, so let's get right to the giveaway ;)  One lucky winner will be receiving their choice of 3 Happy Quilting PDF Patterns.    

You have two entry chances, the second being optional, and please leave a separate comment for each.  All Entries are welcome, including International Entries.  Please just be sure to leave an email address if you are a no-reply blogger ;)  

ENTRY 1 - Simply leave a comment telling me your favorite Pre-Cut  (Hard to choose, but I think mine would be Layer Cakes ;)  

 ENTRY 2 - Show your Happy Quilting love. You can follow Happy Quilting on Bloglovin, Email Updates, or RSS to get daily updates.  Or you can like Happy Quilting on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter or Flickr.   Any one way will do . . . Just be sure to leave a comment of how you showed your Happy Quilting Love!!!

And that's it ;)  The giveaway will be open until next Tuesday, May 29th, when I will announce a winner at the beginning of next weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Post :)

Good Luck and Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

** This post contains affiliate links. 

Traveling Trunk Show Times

Last week was so much fun with traveling to two local quilt guilds and sharing a trunk show of my quilts!!!  Last Saturday morning I got to spend time with the Dixie Quilt Guild in St. George, Utah and these ladies were just amazing!!!  They had so many wonderful questions and it was just great to be there.   And don't they meet in the coolest place!!!   This is the old Electric Theater in downtown St. George and it is is just so neat ;) 

And because the boys and dad were on a camp out, the girls came with me to the Trunk Show ;)  This was the first time I tried taking them along and I am happy to report they stayed nice and quiet just off stage and colored while I presented :)  Maybe it had something to do with the bribe of going out to lunch afterwards, either way, it worked out fantastic!!!

And then on Wednesday, we headed north to the Bryce Canyon quilt guild.  They meet at beautiful Ruby's Inn just outside of Bryce Canyon and even though they are a smaller group of ladies that come from all around the area, they are just amazing!!!    I was thrilled to spend the evening with them and even more excited when it came time for Show and Tell and one gal that was in my class in February shared her finished Moroccan Lullaby quilt top!!!  Isn't it just gorgeous!!!!

Because it was the evening, we spent the night and then the next day hiked in beautiful Bryce Canyon!!!  What a treat :)    And you notice I keep saying we, that's because Jacob came along with me!!!!   This is the first time he has been able to come to one of my Trunk Shows and it was so great to have him along, he even helped and held the quilts!!! 

And then, of course, there is always the unpacking part.   I will admit, I put this off until Saturday.   It never ceases to amaze me how long it takes to get them all put back nice and neat where they belong.  But at least I have learned from experience and now take pictures of the stacks of quilts, so I can refer back to them and know right where each one goes ;)   Ya, I am a neat freak, what ya gonna do ;)

It was such a wonderful time getting to share my quilts with these two guilds.  I know I say it all the time, but there is just so much joy in being able to share my love and quilting.  And these trunk shows are such a wonderful way to get to answer so many quilting questions, whether it is about inspiration, or technique, or color or quilting choices, it is always fun!!!

I hope you all had a very Happy Quilting Weekend!!!  Now that things are all put back together in my sewing room, it's time for me to get stitching :)  See ya tomorrow!!!

Scrappy 4th!!!

You might recall my Scrappy 4th strip sewing session from back here, well today, I am excited to share the finished quilt!!!!   I am just thrilled how a few scraps came together to make such a fun quilt, perfect for sitting out on the grass and watching fireworks on the 4th!!!

I debated for a bit on how to finish this quilt up.  I thought about star blocks for a bit, but in the end, decided to keep it simple with the strips concept ;)  And the great thing is, the pieces I added were  scraps as well, so this really is an all Scrappy 4th quilt!!!  I had a large scrap of Overnight Delivery by Sweetwater left over from some secret sewing that matched the Sweetwater Freedom prints just perfectly.    And then I remembered I had a bit of Chambray left over from my William and Jack quilt  and thought it would give the quilt that perfect denim touch ;)

And it all came together so perfectly!!!  It really is just a happy and scrappy quilt that was a super fun and fast one to make ;)  I think I had the quilt top made in two days, and then it just sat in the "to be quilted" pile for a little bit, waiting to make it to the top :)

When it came time to quilt it, I decided to have some fun doing different designs in each of the different strip sections of the quilt.   And of course, you have to add in some stars and stripes!!!!  So wavy stripes in the Chambray and Firework Stars in the tone on tone, and finally, Ribbon Candy and Figure 8's alternating in the print rows.    It really was so much fun to quilt and I just love how it turned out!!!

And talk about some fun texture!!!  And I wasn't through using scrappy bits either :)  I used every last strip of Freedom that I had in the binding and then added some scrappy solid red strips as well.  I had some fun playing with the placement of the print and solid strips.   I have a tutorial here of how I do custom bindings ;)    It really was that perfect little finish to give the quilt that last bit of pop!!!

And that is my Scrappy 4th Quilt ;)  Now just to wait another month of so to enjoy the fireworks!!  Oh, and if you like this quilt and have never made a "jelly roll race quilt" like the center of this one, I explained some of the technique here, and have a similar quilt tutorial right here ;)   They really are so much fun to make!!!

Thanks for popping in today and sharing this finish with me!!!!   

I hope you have a very Happy Quilting Weekend!!!  I know I will love surfing around to see all of the Spring Quilt Market pictures :)  So excited!!!!

Linking this finish up to Amanda's, Sarah's, and Myra's ;) 

Jessi's New WIP

My daughter, Jessica, finished her last patchwork quilt that she was working on over here, and is jsut waiting to get it on the long arm.  So, of course, it was time for her to start a new project!!  (Like Mother, Like Daughter :)   She is planning to make the Easy Stack, Cut, and Sew Blocks using this tutorial by Cluck, Cluck Sew.  And I let her choose a layer cake and of course, she choose my long saved (hoarded) Paradisio Layer Cake by Kate Spain.   Ya, we totally have the same tastes in fabric :)  Good thing this girl is loving quilting, cause it makes it easier to share my favorite fabrics with her, tee hee hee.   

I am loving this design, because it is really teaching Jessi how to use her rulers for measuring!!!  She has pretty much made basic patchwork quilts, which I have helped her cut in the past.  But this tutorial and it's fun improv nature, really lets Jessi play with measurements and change them up.  Rather than just having her place the ruler down and cut, I ask her how much she wants to cut off (1 1/2", 2", 2 3/4" ect. ) and then have her find the measurement and line up the ruler accordingly.  So fantastic!!!!  I helped her with the first 2 sets of blocks, and I was so excited to go downstairs this morning and see her working on her next set all on her own!!!

And she has 3 sets done and is feeling pretty confident that she can independently sew on these!!  And she keeps telling me how much fun these blocks are which of course, makes me just smile from ear to ear!!!   I am headed to Bryce Canyon for a Trunk Show today and she told me she is going to sew while I am gone because in her words "I've got this mom!!!!"   I can't wait to see what kind of progress she makes while I am gone!!! 

School is out next week and this girl let me know this morning that she has some serious plans for sewing together all summer.  I can't wait!!!

Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day!!!

It's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day so let's have some fun :)

But first, we need to announce the winner from last weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway!!  

The winner of the $30.00 Gift Certificate from  Olie and Evie  is . . .   Number #282 . . .   Congrats Pamela !!!   I have emailed you :)      

  

     

And on to today's

Today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway is being sponsored by Fat Quarter Shop.   Fat Quarter Shop is amazing and they never cease to amaze me with everything they have going on at their shop!!!     And did you know they have a 24 Hour Flash Sale every day with 2 Flash Sales on Tuesdays!!  You will find some amazing deals there ;)

And for today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Fat Quarter Shop is giving away a wonderful Vintage Holiday Layer Cake by Bonnie and Camille for Moda to one lucky winner!!!  I just love this line!!!  In fact, you might remember this Christmas Cheer quilt that I made for Market last year using this Vintage Holiday Fabric.  It is just such an amazing collection of pretty prints!!!  

You have two entry chances, the second being optional, and please leave a separate comment for each.  All Entries are welcome, including International Entries.  Please just be sure to leave an email address if you are a no-reply blogger ;)  

ENTRY 1 - Simply leave a comment that tells me what your most hoping to see from the Spring Market social media posts??  

 ENTRY 2 - Show your Fat Quarter Shop love.   You can follow them on   Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, You Tube or at their Blog.  You can Sign up for their Newsletter which will ensure you catch all of their amazing sales, or you can visit The Shop and then share a favorite item ;)   Just be sure to leave a comment of how you showed your Fat Quarter Shop Love!!!

And that's it ;)  The giveaway will be open until next Tuesday, March 22nd, when I will announce a winner at the beginning of next weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Post :)

Good Luck and Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

** This post contains affiliate links. 

I'm Trying Hand Stitching!!!!

Alright, so you all know I am not great at hand stitching ;)   I machine attach my bindings and if they have to be done by hand, Barbara attaches them for me.   I do all my applique by machine, and the little bit of embroidery embellishments in blocks I have done in the past I have figured out how to do on the machine as well.    But Softball season has started, and this year I have 2 girls participating, which makes it feel like I am pretty much living at the softball fiends in the evenings.    So . . . I decided it was probably time I tried a hand project!!!

And what better way to try something new than with the help of Tula!!!!  I love Tula Pink's designs and prints, so when I saw that she had converted some of her amazing sketches into embroidery designs in her new Tula Pink Coloring with Thread book I was all over it!!!   The book comes with a disk that has all of the PDF designs so it was super easy to just print the design on a  Pellon Stick-N-Washaway sheet sheet :)  Way easier than trying to trace it!!!

I let my daughter pick out what design I should try, because they are all so amazing there was no way I could pick a favorite.   Jessi choose the Sea Horse because it reminded her of Spring Break!!    And I realized that I still had my Bonnie and Camille Handmade Embroidery Floss Collection that I got in one of my Sew Sampler boxes, perfect for getting going on this project :)  And the book has an awesome color guide to follow so no hard choices there!! 

There is a fantastic stitch guide in the front of  Coloring with Thread that makes it easy, even for a beginner like me, to see how to make each of the different stitches in the design.  I am starting with the basic outlining because you have to crawl before you can run right ;)   I haven't gotten very far, it is slow going to be sure.   I am hoping as I get better at making my stitch length consistent that it will speed up.   But so far,  I am enjoying it.   It might be several softball seasons before I get it done, but it is nice to have something to keep my hands busy while I sit at the ball park :)  

So what about you???  Have you tried hand embroidery???  Any suggestions to help a beginner???

And crazy thought, this is making me think I might be able to try English Paper Piecing!!!   Any suggestions of where to start there??

Yup, this is me jumping into the deep end of Hand Stitching, well see if I sink or swim ;) 

** This post contains affiliate links. 

Petite Point Finish!!!

I am so super excited to share my newest finish this week!!!  You might recall my dilemma of how to finish this quilt off back here, well, I went with the no borders and finally got it quilted and bound and I just love, love, love it!!!!

This quilt is made of over 600 strings in scrappy reds and pinks!!!   And I can say that my blood, sweat, and tears went into this quilt, because I was actually cutting these strings when I lopped a bit of my finger off ;)  But it's all good, because I was so super excited to make a small dent in my pink and red scrap bins :)  (I think I can say it was totally worth it)     I started this quilt at the Winter Quilt Retreat  and Barbara and I had such a great time taking a class together.  Since then I have been working on this in little bits sewing time between other projects.  (and Barbara just finished her quilt top too, so fun!!!)

This was such a fun pattern to make!!  The pattern is Petite Point by French General and you use a Creative Grids Hexagon Trim Tool  to trim to the fun hexagon shapes.  It's like making a pineapple quilt gone hexagon, so fantastic!!!  And as you can see from the pattern, I took this quilt in a totally different direction, giving it a super scrappy feel, and I just love how it turned out.   Scrappy quilts are just so much fun!!!

When it came time to quilt it, I decided to just so simple loop de loops.   There is so much piecing in this, I didn't want the quilting to distract from all of those tiny little pieces.   And I just love doing little loop de loops, they are just so fun and relaxing and I don't quilt them as often as I would like to :)

I bound it in the nice dark red I found in my stash and love how perfectly it finishes off the quilt!!!  And I was so excited to have this gorgeous Tula Pink Bumble print in my stash to back it in.  It is the perfect shade of pinks and reds and works so fantastic for this baby quilt!!!   I added a little bit of polka dot's for a fun little bit of interest and to make the backing wide enough.   Love it!!! 

 And that is my Petite Points quilt!!!  I made my quilt smaller than the pattern and it finishes at  45" x 47".   It is going to be the perfect size to snuggle a precious little angel in ;)   I am just so glad that I got to take this fun class, especially with Barbara.  It isn't often that we get to take a class instead of teaching it and it was a super fun treat!!!

Thanks so much for popping in today and sharing this finish with me!!!  I can't say how much I appreciate having this little space to share my love of quilting with all of you ;)  

I hope you have a very Happy Quilting Weekend!!!

Linking this finish to Amanda's, Sarah's, and Myra's :)  

Wednesday . . New WIP :)

I am happy to say that the WIP I started last Wednesday went in the mail Saturday in time for Market ;)  And now I find myself at Wednesday again and sharing another new WIP , which I really shouldn't be starting as I have 7 quilts that are waiting to be quilted right now . . . but, sometimes you just can't resist.    And I am super excited about this new project, because it is going to be my newest Pattern when it is all done!!   And it starts with the gorgeous prints of Sherri and Chelsi's new Clover Hollow line that will be available this August.   My goal is to have the pattern all finished to coincide with the release of the fabric.  I am sure I will have the quilt done well before that, but sometimes I procrastinate the actual writting of the pattern part, it's just not anywhere near as fun as stitching away ;)   

And you all know, I just love stitching away!!!  I did a big ol pile of chain stitching yesterday and it was oh so much fun!!  I am hoping to get some more stitching done on this today as well ;)  Who knows, the quilt top might even be done before summer starts . . . which is good because hey,  it has a line up of 7 quilts to be quilted, tee hee hee :) 

So how about you???  What works in progress are you stitching away on today???

Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day!!

It's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day so let's have some fun :)

But first, we need to announce the winner from last weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway!!  

The winner of the Jelly Roll of their Choice from  Shabby Fabrics  is . . .   Number #209 . . .   Congrats Dawn !!!   I have emailed you :)      

  

     

And on to today's

Today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway is being sponsored by Olie and Evie.  Rhonda has just added a whole lot of inventory so you are going to want to check out the fabric shop.  And of course, there are also great deals on longarm quilting, gift certificates, preorders, and especially the destash page!!    And along with the giveaway, Rhonda is offering a special treat to all Happy Quilting Readers ;)   15% off all items in the shop with the coupon code HQM15.  So be sure to pop on over and check it out!!!

And Rhonda's has a fantastic Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day!!!!       Olie and Evie  is giving one lucky winner a $30.00 Gift Certificate to use in her shop!!!    So awesome, someone is going to get a wonderful shopping spree :)  

You have two entry chances, the second being optional, and please leave a separate comment for each.  All Entries are welcome, including International Entries.  Please just be sure to leave an email address if you are a no-reply blogger ;)  

ENTRY 1 - Simply leave a comment that tells me your least favorite chore to do around the house.    (ya, I just finished dishes and those are my least favorite ;)   

 ENTRY 2 - Show your Olie and Evie love.   You can follow them on  Facebook, Instagram  or Pinterest or you can visit The Shop and then share a favorite item ;)   Just be sure to leave a comment of how you showed your Olie and Evie Love!!!

And that's it ;)  The giveaway will be open until next Tuesday,  May 15th when I will announce a winner at the beginning of next weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Post :)

Good Luck and Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!