Summer Solstice Quilt-A-Long!!!

Well, you all said summer, and it is now official!!!   Who is ready for the Summer Solstice Quilt Along???   I am so super excited!!   I just love Quilt-A-Long's and I am so loving this pattern!!! We are going to be doing bi-weekly assignments this time around  and of course,  I have written the quilt up in lots of size options, so there is sure to be just the right project to fit your summer time frame ;)

And a quick note . . . I know a lot of you wanted to do a medallion quilt, but after lots and lots (and lots) of work playing with the design and the quilt math, it just kept not turning out.  In order to make the Medallion quilt work in so many multiple sizes, it just had to be so basic, and I just didn't love it.  So I went back to what has been loved in the past and I hope you love the design as much as I do.  And you will notice, it even has a few curves!!  Don't be scared, we will tackle them together ;)

Just like in previous quilt-a-long's, there will be easy step-by-step bi-weekly directions, stunning Quilt-A-Long kits in a range of colors palates that will be revealed next week, fabulous fabric prizes that include bi-weekly progress prizes and Grand Prizes at the end, and most importantly lots of fabric fun with friends!!!   It will run all summer  and is going to be a blast!!!  Here is the schedule . . .

June 9th- Intro, Fabric Requirements, and Prizes Announcement

June 23rd - Cutting

 July 7th - Flying Geese

July 21st - Half Square Triangles

August 4th - Drunkards Path

August 18th - Building Blocks

September 1st - Piecing Top and Grand Prize Linky

September 15th- Summer Solstice Parade and Grand Prize Winners

It all starts next Thursday!!!  So what do you say??  Do you want to Quilt-A-Long with me???  Grab a button and and get ready for some Summer Solstice Quilting Fun!!!

  <a border="0" href="http://www.happyquiltingmelissa.com/p/quilt-longs.html" target="_blank"><img src=" https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvbGRz29YTOUXxN_l83zof7QQu8VBeE3keSB6lMpEs7QBrJuOEq5c0wmj5H-QmYll0Mjy5zMbFscllLZ2K2WgjQZoWY0lBPOS04KDDRdhJDwnqaeGpxoiLfwU81udTBWE4Vxaia8w_Uyw/s1600/Summer+Solstice+Quilt+Along.jpg"/></a>

Oh, and for easy access, I will be updating the weekly links on the Quilt-A-Long Page as well as this post ;)

Intro, Fabric Requirements, and Prizes Announcement

Cutting

Flying Geese

Half Square Triangles

Drunkard Path

Building Blocks

Piecing Top and Grand Prize Linky

Summer Solstice Parade and Grand Prize Winners

Pre-Cut Shortcuts with Amy Smart!!!

It's no secret that I love to collect Pre-Cuts!!!  Jelly Rolls, Layer Cakes, Charm Packs, they are surely stacking up around this place ;)   So if you are like me, and can't help hoarding these lovely pre-cuts, you might find this new Craftsy Class right up your ally.   Pre-Cut Shortcuts, Quilt Tops in Less Time by Amy Smart!!!  And it is even 50% off right now with the above link!!!

I am sure most of you know Amy, from Diary of A Quilter.  Amy and I met several years ago and became fast friends.  We love to chat back and forth on email and always love getting to catch up at trade shows and teaching events.   I love her wonderful style and her focus on making quilts fast!!!  With how many quilts I make in a year, I am all about fast ;)  You might remember her book, Fabulous Fast Quilts. . . well I like to think of this Pre-Cut Shotcuts Class as its video companion and it is every bit as amazing as her book!!!

Amy teaches 7 different quilts in this class, 4 that are exclusive to the class, so yes, it is a really great value!!  You can read lots more about Amy's class as well as see many more gorgeous pictures (Amy is a brilliant photographer as well!!) in Amy's post here ;)    So check it out, I know you are going to love the class and Amy every bit as much as I do!!

And, one last tidbit to take care of before I sign off for the day.  I need to announce the winner of the Happy Quilting Hashtag Giveaway!!!  Thank you to those that left lovely comments and especially to those that started using the #happyquiltingwithmc hashtag!!!  I can't wait to see more and more of your Happy Quilting Projects :)  

So without further ado. . . Let's choose a winner.  I numbered the hashtag entries after the comment entries so there were 300 entries total.   And the winner of the Elizabeth Hartman Paintbox Basics Fat Quarter Bundle is . . . #223 . .  .Congrats to Debbie Sheltered Stitches!!  I have emailed you :)

   

Thank you again for everyone's wonderful comments and I look forward to seeing your pics with #happyquiltingwithmc hashtag in the future ;)

Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day!!!

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

First, we need to announce the winner from last weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway!!   The winner of the  Under the Christmas Tree by Lecien Fabrics  Fat Quarter Bundle  from  Lou Lou's Fabric Shop   is . . .   Number #127 . . . Congrats Nettie!!!   I have emailed you :)    

 

    

And on to today's

Today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway is being sponsored by June Tailor, Inc.  Each time I go to Market, I have a wonderful chat with the lovely ladies at June Tailor.  They are always coming up with awesome rulers and products for quilters :)    Some of my previous projects with them include the T-Shirt Memories Quilt, as well as Shabby Hexie Twist Quilt.   And I just might be cooking up something new from this market that I will be sharing soon!!!  

Today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway is for a Charming Circles ruler from June Tailor, Inc.!!!  I have always wanted to make this fun happy denim quilt using this ruler and have been saving up old jeans for it!!  Wouldn't it just be the perfect summer fun quilt!!!  It's like making cathedral windows but with your jeans, and it is so easy!!!  And one lucky winner is going to get to try it out :)

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  if you have a favorite summer quilt or blanket you use for picnics and trips :)

 ENTRY 2 - Pop on over to June Tailor, Inc. and find a favorite product that you have either tried or would like to try.  Then come back here and leave a comment on it.  

And that's it ;)  The giveaway will be open until next Tuesday, June 7th when I will announce a winner at the beginning of next weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Post :)

Good Luck and Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

Little Ruby Quilt Along with Fat Quarter Shop

I am super excited to be a part of the adorable summer Little Ruby Quilt Along hosted by Fat Quarter Shop!!!   This quilt was designed by Camille Roskelley for Fat Quarter Shop and is going to be a biweekly quilt along over June and July.   Isn't it just so cute!!!

Today the Quilt Along kicks off over at The Jolly Jabber!!!!   And the assignment for this week is collecting your fabric and cutting!!!   So what do you say . . . Want to join in the fun!!!  Let's Get started!!!!

This quilt has lots of Jelly Roll fun tied up in it.   When I first saw the design it reminded me of peppermint candies at Christmas time, so I figured it was fitting to make my Little Ruby Quilt Along a La Christmas :)   I choose Juniper Berry by Basic Grey and then added some great Grunge's (I love grunge!!!)  for the background ;)    This Quilt Along makes a bonus quilt as well, so I will be using the green grunge for one background and the red for the other.  So fun!!!!

Kimberly has made this wonderful video to walk you through everything you will need to get started.  She goes over all of the fabric requirements and tools you will need.   And then she goes over the cutting and shares lots of great tips on how to make your cutting go nice and smooth with the specialty rulers you get to use for this quilt!!   

And here is my cutting all done!!!  I am just loving those beautiful grunge prints and can not wait to see them with all of the wonderful Christmas prints from Juniper Berry!!!

And of course, Fat Quarter Shop has lined up a great team of bloggers to share their versions of the Little Ruby Quilt Along with you!!!  Guaranteed to be some amazing eye candy!!!   So be sure to pop on over and check out everyone's fabric choices and cutting ;)

Melissa from Happy Quilting

Angie from Gnome Angel

Erin Cox from Why Not Sew

Andy from A Bright Corner

Heidi from Buttons & Butterflies

Pat from Pat Sloan

Peta from She Quilts a Lot

Heather from Quilt Story

Megan from Quilt Story

Amanda from Jedi Craft Girl

Gerri from Planted Seed Designs

Sherri from A Quilting Life

Rebecca from Bryan House Quilts

Sherri from This & That Patterns

Jemima from Tied with a Ribbon

Alyce from Blossom Heart Quilts

Stephanie from Modern Sewciety

Brooke from Silly Mama Quilts

Carrie from Moda's United Notions

 And that's it for today!!! 

Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

Splendid Sampler and Sew Sampler Saturday!!!

It's Saturday and today's Saturday is doing double duty!!!  Not only are we having a   Splendid Sampler Saturday Post but I also got my Sew Sampler Box and am so excited to show you!!!  So let's get to it.

First up, the Sewing Machine block designed by Pat Sloan. And I mean, how much cuter does it get than making an adorable little feather weight.  I just loved putting this little block together and of course, I love that it happened to be one of the purple blocks too ;)

Second is the Scrappy Happy Heart block designed by Christa Watson.  And I am so happy to report that this is the first paper piecing block of the entire sampler that I didn't make a goof on and have to fix.  I think the biggest key that I am learning for me and paper piecing is to not worry about conserving scraps so much and just cut the piece large so I know that it will cover the designated area.   And didn't this just turn out so cute :)

And finally is the Simple Surprises block designed by Amy Ellis.  And I have to say, I just love how Pat and Jane divided up the blocks to give us a mix a different techniques each month and I always love when one of these "simple" blocks pop up.  They are such a joy to make, and this one certainly does have a wonderful surprise, as it creates awesome stars when repeated.  So fun!!!

And that is the Splendid Sampler, so now lets move onto the Sew Sampler :)

Earlier this week,  I received the second Sew Sampler box in the mail!!!  You will remember this first one from here.   And this time, I didn't even hesitate to get right to the goodies.  And my goodness, once again, it was a box just full of amazing goodness at an amazing value!!!

I have been eyeing Lori Holt's Cozy Christmas for a bit now just trying to figure out something fun for Christmas so I could justify getting some, and then look what shows up.  Two adorable charm packs.  And those little buttons to go with it.  Truly, cute as a button!!!  Now I really need to make something adorable for Christmas ;)

And I am so excited about these little Bobbini's.  I had never heard of them before, but they are absolutely exactly what I needed for all of the Long Arm Threads.  I just love that now rather than having a bunch of bobbins loose and trying to keep them lined up with the thread, that I can actually just keep the two together.   Love these!!!

And do you remember last month where I mentioned that I needed to pick some fabrics for the Sampler Recipie Blocks that come with the Sampler Box . . . Well I remembered that I had all of these Bonnie and Camille HST's from a presentation I did, and thought, since these seem to be HST friendly blocks, how fun would it be to make a scrappy Bonnie and Camille HST Sampler!!!!   I am so excited.   Here is Block 1

And here is block 2!!!!   Aren't they just so adorable!!!  I can't wait to see what next month's block will look like!!!

I am just so loving my  Sew Sampler box and am already anticipating next month's to arrive.  And now it's summer time and so the month will fly by even faster.  Yippee!!!  To find out more about the Sew Sampler box, pop on over to Fat Quarter Shop and check it out. They have lots of frequently asked questions there that you might have if like me, you haven't tried a sampler box before.  

And now, Its time for some pool time with the kiddos and friends.   Yesterday was the last day of school and we are going to start the summer with a splash!!

Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!