Home Town Holiday Samper - Week 9

 It's Week 9 of the Home Town Holiday Sampler Quilt Along hosted by Fat Quarter Shop and I am just having so much fun making these sampler letters!!!  It really makes me want to make another quilt of just the letters, they are so fun and fast to make and I love how everything nests!!  So this week we are making I, J, K, and L :) 

So ya, by now you know I am making a Sweetwater Christmas sampler with a POParazzi Grey Background.  And I am so enjoying using all of the low volumes from the lines.  Sweetwater does such a great job with their low volumes and I can't wait to see them all in a line next to each other!!! 

And that is it for Week 9 of of the Home Town Holiday Sampler Quilt Along!!!   Want to make your own Alphabet . . .  you just need Lori Holt's  Home Town Holiday Sampler Book!   You can see the Quilt Along schedule here and join in the fun.  And check out all the details here to come quilt along ;)    

See ya next week with more Home Town Holiday Sampler goodness!!  M, N, O, P is next, and that is always the fun part of the alphabet to sing so it must be fun to sew ;)  

Happy (quilting for) Halloween!!

 Okay, so I have shared this before, but  I don't make a lot of Halloween quilts, because honestly, I don't like "Scary Halloween".  But I thought today would be the perfect day to share some "cute and adorable and not scary at all" Halloween quilts!!!  

First up . . . my How They Shine quilt I made this year using the oh so cute and adorable  Hey Boo line by Lella Boutique for Moda.   I never get tired of making star quilts and I just love making my How They Shine quilt pattern ;)   I love the alternating of prints and backgrounds in the two blocks that create so many awesome secondary designs.  and isn't it just perfect for a new Halloween Quilt!!  If you want to make your own, you can still find a Hey Boo FQB  in shops, and my How They Shine quilt pattern here :)  

And if you are looking for Halloween that is super simple and super fast and still super cute . . . we can throw back to my Halloween Sparkly Stars quilt :)   Sparkly Stars is Fat Quarter Friendly, making it easy to grab a FQ Bundle and get stitching right away.  This quilt features Halloween Magic by Bella Blvd. for Riley Blake Designs which is way old but still so cute :)  But really, any FQ Bundle would look good in this design. And you can make your own Sparkly Stars Quilt with a free step by step tutorial as well as a FREE PDF Pattern with 6 size options!!!    It is just a super fun and fast quilt to make and pefect in any theme ;)  

And last but not least . . .  this is a new share from Barbara!!!  Mom made this gorgeous Wishes Quilt using my pattern and the Halloween Expressions Batik collection from Riley Blake Designs this year.   I am so loving getting into Batik's, they just make the prettiest quilts!!!   And the colors are just so vibrant and fun, perfect for Happy and Bright and not Scary Halloween :)  Wishes is a Beginner Friendly Quilt that is also FQ Friendly so you can grab a cute Halloween bundle and get stitching!!  

So ya . . . 3 Happy Halloween Quilts made with Happy Halloween Fat Quarter Bundles!!   Really, there are so many Cute Halloween Bundles to choose from that will all make cute and adorable and not scary at all Halloween quilts, my favorite to cuddle up in while handing out candy to happy trick or treaters :)  

I hope you all have a very Happy (Quilting for) Halloween!!! 

October Sew Sampler!

Wow, October is just about finished and that means another .Sew Sampler Box has arrived!!!   It really is my favorite day of the month when this little box arrives in my mail ;)  I just love opening it and seeing all of the quilty goodness!!!   The theme for October was ColorFall and it is so happy making with all of it's amazing colors!!

I love working with Sherri and Chelsi fabrics and was super excited to find a small Fat Quarter Bundle of their new Laguna Sunrise line!!!   You know I am all about the purples in this line, so great!!!   I just love how happy and bright this line is, it is going to make such a pretty quilt, and how awesome is that Splendid Quilt Design!!   I so am going to need to make this (but of course, I will include the purple print :)      

And the notions this month are so super fun!!!  I am super excited for the Sticky Scissor Sheath, because I could so use one of these on the long arm ;)   And the Fat Quarter Pop Up Patterns with Hardware is just so fun!!   Such a great thing to have in your travel sew bag :)   And finally, the Mini Bolts are just to cute!!   Won't they look just so fun on the shelf ;)  

And we are month 7 of the Pieceful Basket Sampler and this months block is cute with all of it's little geese!!!   Got to love this  Kona Lime Background  and Milk and Honey fabrics :)  I am hoping I am going to have enough of the Milk and Honey Fabrics to last to the end of the quilt along.  Some of the last backets might be a little scrappy ;)  

And that is November Sew Sampler Box.

And you know, this time of year, you blink and it will be the end of the month again!!!     

Happy Quilting!!! 

Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day!!!

 It's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day!!   Let's have some fun :)

First we need to pick a winner from last week's TTGD ;) 

And the winner of the $25.00 Gift Certificate from Thousands of Bolts is . . .#53 . .  Congrats Lisa England!!  I have messaged you :)

   

And on to today's

Today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway is being sponsored by Green Fairy Quilts.  Green Fairy Quilts is your home for pre-cut goodness and they always have amazing sales going on every weekend on a selected pre-cut or notion!!!   And did you know that Green Fairy Quilts has a Deal of The Day, I just love these!!!    Green Fairy Quilts is adding A Ton of new Riley Blake Pre-Cuts to their 50% off Page, you won't want to miss these!!! 

And for today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway, Green Fairy Quilts will be giving one lucky reader an Perennial 10" Stacker by Jill Finley for Riley Blake Designs!!!  This is such a gorgeous fabric line with beautiful prints and happy colors!!!!  

You have two entry chances here on the blog, 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 Would you rather be too hot or too cold?? 

 ENTRY 2 - Show your Green Fairy Quilts love.   You can Sign up for their Newsletter which I highly recommend as it will ensure you catch all of their amazing sales!!  You can follow them on Instagram or Facebook,  or you can visit the Shop and then share a favorite item ;)   Just be sure to leave a comment of how you showed your Green Fairy Quilt Love!!!

And that's it ;)  The giveaway will be open until next Tuesday, November 5th, when I will announce a winner at the beginning of next weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Post :)

You can also pop over to my Instagram and/or Facebook to enter there as well :)  

Good Luck and Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

Dragon Fruit BOM - Month 1

 I just got back from a wonderful week of vacation in Kauai, Hawaii with my sweetheart.   We had such a great time playing in the ocean, hiking, skydiving (kind of crazy) and resting and relaxing.   And wouldn't you know it, when I got home, the first Month of the Dragon Fruit Block of the Month was waiting for me.   So I got busy paper piecing!!!    And here is Month 1 of the  Dragon Fruit  hosted by Fat Quarter Shop and can I just say . . . so much fun!!!  And just fyi . . . It's not to late to join in the Tula Pink Paper Piecing fun ;) 

The Dragon Fruit Block of the Month will run from Oct 24 to June 25.   This month we made 20 Paper Pieced 4" blocks.   And how cute and tiny are those pieces!!  I love that paper piecing makes everything so perfectly precise, because while I love tiny piecing, this would be tricky to piece straight without the foundation :)  And each months pieces are made with Tula Pinks gorgeous fabrics.  This month we were working on the "leaves" so it was all the pretty greens, teals, and citron colors ;)  

Month 1 and I am already in love!!!   I am so grateful that I have become better aquatinted with Paper Piecing.  It is such a wonderful skill to have and it is amazing what you can create with it ;)   If you are new to Paper Piecing, I did a strep by step paper piecing tutorial (for a different block) over here that you might find helpful :)  I am still no expert, but I am enjoying it more and more with each paper piecing project I tackle.   

 

 Thoughts and Tidbits from the First Month . . . 

Just in case you are new to Paper Piecing, here are some thoughts and tidbits that I figured out along the way of Month 1 that I thought would be helpful to share ;) 

First off, this Block of the Month is super easy to follow.   The Pattern is so well illustrated and having the custom Paper Piecing Pads makes it easy.  And I was also pleasantly surprised at the amount of fabric sent in Month 1's package!!  This is the "scrap fabric" that I had after cutting all my pieces.  It is always so nice to know you have plenty of wiggle room for oopsies :)  

And speaking of cutting your fabrics, A lot of the pieces are cut the same sizes.  So I found it helpful to look through the cutting directions first, find the ones that are similar, and then stack up those pieces of fabric and cut them all at the same time.   And cutting 4 of the WOF strips was also a huge time saver as I could sub-cut all the pieces I needed for each of the 4 blocks sets all at once.  

When it came to start paper piecing, chain stitching was key!!!  I chain stitched the 4 Courthouse Steps blocks first, and then went back and chain stitched the 16 Log Cabin Blocks second.   I found doing the four blocks first got me in the groove so I was really flying through the 16 blocks after that.   

And a big help with chain stitching that I didn't realize until I was almost finished . . . change your needle setting to Needle Up.  This way you don't have to hand crank when you need to advance to the next piece of paper piecing clear in the middle of the paper :)  And of course, I am all about a small stitch length (1.5) so tearing the paper will be easier.  And if you have an oopsie and your paper shreds, FQS gave you two extra papers so you can always start over if needed, or you can tape it back up with invisible tape and sew through it again.  

And after the courthouse steps blocks, I realized I needed to be super clean with snipping my threads.  It takes a second longer, but clipping the threads right at the base of the stitching helps keep things nice and tidy and you don't have any threads making their way to the front of the block.   And since I am snipping them so close, I made sure to overstitch my lines at least 1/4" so I didn't have to worry about unravelling ;) 

Once all of my paper piecing was complete, I found trimming the blocks with a 4 1/2" square ruler and a rotating cutting mat to be very precise and quick.  If you haven't tried a rotating cutting mat before, they are just so great for trimming!!  I like the ones with the ball bearings in the middle as they turn super easy.  

And now all that is left is to take out all of the papers from my 20 blocks!!   Good thing I have my handy Pretty Tula Pink Tweezers for getting out those pieces that just don't want to let go ;)   Should be a fun little job to keep my hands busy while watching the World Series Tonight ;)  Go Dodgers!!

And that is it for Dragon Fruit Block of the Month - Month 1    Again, there is still time to join in the fun, but I wouldn't wait long because the other thing I learned with this Month was I better not get behind because this is a lot of Paper Piecing each month!!  

And just for fun . . . here are some snippets my Crazy Adventure from last week!!