The Birthday Girl Strikes!!

Well she is officially 2 so that must mean something "Terrible Two"ish has to happen.  And did it ever!!  I went upstairs yesterday to find my sweet little now 2 year old girl sitting on her sister's bed with crayons in her hand.  This is what she was sitting on.

Instant panic followed by that horrible sinking feeling in your stomach.  I was too late.  It isn't horrible, but it has been colored on none the less.  I set my beautiful little girl in her crib so that I could walk out of the room and calm down / cry.  Anyone have any good suggestions on how to get crayon out??  I am so scared I am just going to set it into the fabric or make it bleed.  Help :)

UPDATE - Thank you all for your great suggestions.  I am trying them out on scrap fabric and will let you know what works best :)    Oh, and I should mention . . . Today is the last day to enter my giveaway if you haven't had a chance yet :)

Birthday Baking and Moda Baking!!

Yesterday by little one turned 2!!!  Hoolay smokes time flies!!  My older daughter saw a picture of one of those cool new rainbow cakes and told me I should make a "girlie" one for Kami.  This was my interpatation of "girlie" version.  I think it looks pretty alright :)

Unfortunatly, I am horrible at stacking cakes and keeping them even, so to help I use extra icing.  I went a little overboard on this particular cake using 2 tubs of frosting.  That's right, that little cake has 2 tubs of frosting.  Can we say sugar headache.  However, I don't think the Birthday Girl minded all that much :)

And since we are on the baking subject, I thought I would give you a little sneaky peek of what will be coming at the end of the month!!  I just love these prints!!  I can't wait to share the whole quilt :)

Oh, and it's the last days to enter the Celebrate Giveaway :)  You can find it here :)

Happy Quilting Quilt-A-Long Finishing Up Instructions

Okay, so most of you probably don't need this last step, and there are several that have already done it, but I figured just to complete it off, I will post some instructions on how to put your blocks together into a top.  So here we go, the last step of the Happy Quilting Quil-A-Long!!

Start by laying your blocks out in your rows.  Go ahead and play with your blocks until you get a look that you like.

Once you get a layout you like go ahead and mark your blocks so you don't forget what goes where.  I usually use pins.  I have a slightly cryptic way of how I place my pins so that I know where they go.  Do what works for you.  You can also just take a picture and then refer back to it.

Okay, so once you have your blocks marked you are going to start pinning them together.  Take Block 1 from Row 1 and lay it over on top of Block 2 of Row 1 with right sides together.  Don't spin it or anything, just flop it over :)  (how's that for a technical term.)  No go ahead and pin your seam line together.  Make sure to pin your seams first making sure to line them up.  After that pin your ends.  If you have any bubbles just smooth them down with your finger and put in a horizontal pin.  

Repeat pinning with all of the first block for all of the rows of your quilt.

Now it is back to some stitching.  Once again, stitch a 1/4" inch seam along your pinned line.  Make sure to remove your pins as you go and smooth out seams from underneath.  Continue to chain stitch all of your sets.

Clip your threads between blocks and then go ahead and press your seams open.  Once again, this is just to help keep the bulk down.

So now you will have a stack that looks like this.  Don't you just love those little "nubbins between the sashing.  (I actually like them so much I made my seams a little larger to highlight that feature, so my nubbins might be slightly larger than yours :)  I love how it makes the diamond sashings in the middle float :)

So now lay your blocks back out with the rest of your quilt layout.  Use your pins or your pictures to ensure you have everything back the way you originally laid it out.

Now it is just repeat.  Go ahead and lay your Block 3 onto your now sewn together Block 1 and 2 in each row.  Pin all of your blocks.  Then go ahead and stitch your 1/4" seam along all the sets, clip your threads, and press.  Repeat this process for however many blocks you have in your rows :)

So now your rows are all put together and now you just have to attach the rows to each other.  And it is the exact same process just on a larger scale.

Lay your entire Row 1 onto your Row 2.  Pin along the seam line.  Once again, make sure to match your seams first.  Sew a 1/4" seam along your pinned line and press open.

Now just repeat the process for each row, adding one after the other.  And there you have it!!!  Your completed top!!!  Yippee Skipee!!!

Alright, Make sure to add your completed top to Flickr.  I will give everyone 2 weeks to finish your tops.  On  March 28th we will have a parade of tops and announce the winner of the Burgundy Buttons Gift Certificate.     I can't wait to see all of your finished tops!!!  I hope you have enjoyed the Happy Quilting Quilt-A-Long.  I know I have!!

Celebration Continued!!!!

Side Note *** If you are looking for the Celebration Giveaway just click here.

So I was just over at Piece N Quilt reading about the new magazine Perfect for Precuts by Better Homes and Gardens.  Doesn't it just look fun!!

Thank you Natalia for allowing me to use your picture

I continued on reading and got to this picture on Natalia's blog!!!!  I am freaking out!!!! Why you ask??  See that quilt up in the top right hand corner?  That is my Sugar Pop N Change quilt and my name is underneath it!!!!  Oh my goodness, Oh my goodness!!!  I am on a magazine!!!  You better believe I have already jumped on-line and purchased it :)  Can't wait for it to arrive!!!  Thanks Moda Bake Shop, you have given me another  reason for my super Celebration to continue!!!  Oh ya, Happy Dances going on here!!!

Thank you Natalia for allowing me to use your picture

Celebrate!!! (With a Giveaway, of Course)

Today is a day for major Celebration, why you ask . . .  Well a few reasons :)

First, we take pictures of our house today to put on the market.  And I am actually  ready for pictures!!   It only took all day Saturday to get to this point :)  I don't want to paint again any time soon, I opened over 20 gallons of paint to touch up every inch of our house :)  (EDIT . . to clarify, I did not paint 20 gallons worth of space, I just had to open that many gallons to touch up all the painting that I did 2 years ago :)

Second, I reached a major milestone in a huge WIP yesterday!!  I will show pictures on Friday as it is not quite ready yet.  How is that for cryptic :)

And lastly, and I saved the best for last, We reached 500 followers at Happy Quilting!!!  Oh my goodness, I am so excited!!!!  I am hoping to get something big in the works over the next few weeks to properly celebrate this massive milestone, but, that doesn't mean we can't celebrate in the meantime :)

And what better way to celebrate than with a giveaway :)  What's up for grabs??  How about some amazing Fat Quarters from Riley Blake's new collection Penny Lane!!!  I just happen to be in the process of whipping up a little something for Riley Blake's Cutting Corners College, (more on that to come) and I am so excited to share some of this lines amazing goodness!!

So How Do You Enter . . . .

Be a Follower (this is a follower celebration after all) and Leave a Comment!!!  That's it . . .Simple Right :)

If you are not a follower already no worries, just simply click on the Follow button either on the left hand column of the blog or on the navigation bar at the top of the blog.  After that just leave a comment!!

One Entry per person, Please :)  You are welcome to Blog or Twitter about this giveaway, Like me on Facebook, Add me to your Blogroll, ect, ect. ect.  It won't get you an extra entry but it will make you and especially me, Very Happy :)

I will end the giveaway on the evening of March 16th and announce a winner March 17th :)

Well that just about covers it - Good Luck and Happy Quilting!!

Happy Quilting Quilt-A-Long Attaching the Corners Instructions

Good Morning Happy Quilters!!  Are you ready for the final step of putting your block together??  We'll according to your Flickr progress I would say you are.  So let's get to it.  Here are the instructions for adding your corner sashings onto your disappearing 16 patch block and finishing up your block :)


So for each block you will need one of your disappearing 16 patch blocks and 4 corner sashings.  The layout is as follows.  As before, try not to stress to much about what fabrics you put where, just keep it fun and random :)

We'll start by attaching 2 opposite sides first.  It doesn't matter which 2 corners you pick as long as they are opposite each other.  Lay the corners over onto your disappearing 16 patch block with right sides together.  It should line up pretty close to the seams below.  The edges might hang over a bit depending on your seam allowance size.  Just try your best to keep it centered as possible.  Go ahead and pin along the seam edges.  Repeat with all of your blocks :)

Now go ahead and sew a 1/4" seam along your pinned edge on one side.  It is okay if when you start you are not on your sashing.  It will all get trimmed in the end :)  Continue chain stitching the one side on all of your blocks remembering to remove pins as you go :)

No go ahead and clip your threads between your blocks, and go to the opposite pinned side.  Once again, chain stitch a 1/4" seam along the pinned edge of your blocks.  Once you are done stitching all of your blocks go ahead and clip the threads between blocks.

On to pressing.  I went ahead and pressed these seams out again.  It makes everything lay nice and flat :)  Press both sides of your blocks on all blocks :)

And now you are ready to add your remaining 2 corners.  (sorry, I just realized I turned my block :)  This is done the exact same way as before :)

Once again, lay your corner blocks onto your disappearing 16 patch block and center along the seam lines.  Remember, it is okay if your edge hang over :)  Go ahead and pin all of your blocks.  Now I figure you don't need pictures for the next steps as they are right above :) Go ahead and chain stitch your 2 sets of seam and press your seams out :)

You should have a stack of blocks that look like this now :)  Aren't they just cute!!  Almost done, just a little clipping left.  

Go ahead and clip off the little triangle edges on the 4 sides of your block making everything nice and straight for when you are ready to sew all of your blocks together.  Repeat this for all your blocks.

And there you have it.  A stack of blocks all ready to be sewn into an adorable quilt top.  And this is where my favorite part of the entire quilt comes out.  See where that arrow points.  I call it a "Nubbin".  Totally made up word, but I just love how the sashing "clips" the corners.  It just gives the block a little bit of personality that you don't get with HST's.  I hope you love it too!!!

Alright, so there you have it.  We are getting so close to finishing.  I am just having so much fun and I hope you are as well.  Don't forget to post your blocks to our flickr group when you get them finished up :)  I am just loving watching all of the amazing progress of our group!!  You guys are awesome!!!

Disappearing 16 Patch Tutorial

Today I am guest blogging over at Stash Manicure  and sharing a part of my Happy Quilting Quilt-A-Long.  That is how to make a Disappearing 16 patch block :)  So pop on over and check it out or follow along below.  Either will work!!


Start by making some 16 patch blocks.  (If you have never made a 16 patch block there are excellent instructions on how to make them  here. )  You can make your blocks any size as long as they are all the same.  In the example we are using 5" blocks but I have also made it in 3 and 4 before and they all look great.  You will be able to get 2 Disappearing 9 patch blocks out of each 16 patch block.

Grab your first 16 patch block that you made in the last step.  Lay it out on your mat.  Don't worry to much about lining it up, it doesn't matter.  Now, if you have a yard stick it will probally be easier to use.  Unfortunately, I don't own one.  Crazy, I know.  If you don't have a yard stick use your long ruler and another ruler lined up together.  Lay your ruler diagonally across your entire block.  You want to try and make sure that your ruler is intersecting each of the corners.  Make sure to really smooth your corners out, they will want to creep in on you :)  Once you are all lined up, go ahead and cut along the diagonal.  

Now don't move your fabric.  Go ahead and pick up your rulers or yardstick and align them along the opposite diagonal.  Once again, make sure to intersect all of your points and to smooth out your corners.  Honestly, a lot of times your points will be all lined up and then you will find the edge doesn't line up.  Most often it just needs to be smoothed out.  Once you are all lined up go ahead and slice along the diagonal. 

Now you can go ahead and pull your 4 parts apart.  You will end up with 1 - 2 of these little scrap pieces hanging out either under your square or poking out.  Go ahead and cut them off.  This will help to reduce bulk making them easier to piece in future steps.

So out of each 16 Patch Block you will end up with 4 wonderful, adorable, easy to make, triangles :) 

Continue this process until all of your 16 patch blocks have been cut.  You will have a fun little pile of triangles.

Now, back to more random piecing fun!!!  Go ahead and grab 2 triangles and line them up as follows.  Once again, you are trying to keep it random so don't stress to much about what lines up where.  Just try to avoid having the exact same blocks across from each other :) 

Lay your top triangle onto your bottom triangle with right sides together.  Once again we are going to pin just like you did your 16 patch blocks.  Pin your seams first, making sure they match up.  Then pin your edges.  If you have any bubbles smooth them out with your finger and then put in a vertical pin :)  Continue to pin your blocks until you have done the required amount of sets.  (Once again, remember, if you are required to have an odd number of blocks you will have 2 leftover triangles)

Now it is on to sewing.  Once again, sew a 1/4" seam along your pinned edge.  Make sure to remove pins as you go and to double check your seams that they are laying flat by running your finger underneath the seam right before you sew across it.  Continue to chain stitch all of your Disappearing 16 Patch Blocks.

Go ahead and clip your threads between your sets.  Now, just like before, we are going to press the new center seam open.  Yes, you will have some little overhangs at the edges, we will deal with them shortly :)

Now, this step is not necessary but only takes a second and I like to do it to reduce bulk. Along the corners of the inner squares there will be a small triangle that is "hanging out".  (The little red plaid one)  I like to clip these out in all four of the corners.  Once again, not necessary, it just reduces bulk.

Lastly, turn over your block over.  You will have 4 little triangles sticking out from the center seam.  Go ahead and clip them even with the block.  Repeat for all 4 edges. 

And there you have it.  A stack of adorable Disappearing 16 Patch Block.  So now what can you do with these cute little guys, the possibilities are endless!!

***Note - When you go to sew these blocks together, you will be cropping off the points of the 4 inner squares, that is the way the design works, sadly, I didn't know how to put that in the images below, but you can see it in the actual quilt below.  I really liked the cropped look to give it a blended look with the additional sashing :)  

You can start by simply turning the blocks on their sides and sewing them together in rows to give this look.

Or, You can add some straight sashing cut on an angle and sew the blocks in rows to give this look.

Or, You can add some corner triangles with a “goose in the corner” to give this look.  This is the pattern we are doing for the Quilt-A-Long.  

And for fun, here are some images of the finished quilt from the Quilt-A-Long.  You can get all of the directions on how to make this quilt in the Quilt-a-Long link at the top of the page :)

Happenings in Blogland!

So have you seen what Fat Quarterly is up to??  They are taking two of my favorites and combining them to come up with March Modern Fabric Madness!!!  It is a bracket tournament for fabric!!  So much fun!!  So if you haven't filled out your bracket yet head on over to Fat Quarterly and print yourself one and join in on the fun!  My final four are Parisville, Innocent Crush, Modern Meadow, and Echino.  (Not to say that those are my personal favorites, they are just the ones that I think will go far :)


Also, have you checked out the Moda Bake Shop monthly Contest??  March is Charm Pack Month!!  To find out more about it go ahead and click on the picture below.  There will be lots of fun prizes and a feature on the Moda Bake Shop for the winner!!

And lastly, we are getting close to finishing up the Happy Quilting Quilt-A-Long.  Just one more step (which will be posted tomorrow) on the blocks and then just putting together the rows and we will be done!!!  I am so excited.  Thanks to everyone who is playing along.  It has and continues to be a blast!!

Just Saying Hi

So I don't really have a lot to write about today.  Just wanted to say thank you for all of the sweet comments on my new bake shop tutorial :) So Thanks!!!

We were out of town for the weekend and I have been going a million directions with trying to get the house on the market so my quilting status is about the same that it was last week.  I am hoping to get to my machine at some point but I have 3 meeting in the next 2 days with different moving companies, walls to wash and paint to touch up, a 2 year old birthday to get ready for, and a pinewood derby.  Here is hoping :)

Here is a wish that you have more time to spend in your quilting zone than me :)