300 follower Giveaway!!

GIVEAWAY CLOSED :)

I am blown away at how quickly this little blog is growing!!  I started this blog on July 11th of last year.   So just over 6 months and I find there are over 300 people that are interested in my day to day quilt dabbling.  Wow!!!  All I can say is Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!

And the best way to say Thank you is with a giveaway, right!!!  Since we are at 300 followers I figure it is best we have 3 opportunities to win.   I tried to mix it up a bit.  I hoped to find something on our vacation but we never dared venture outside the resort, ah well.  Okay, enough side track, here they are.

Prize 1 - A Holiday Charm pack.  Last week I decided I needed to make something for me and that my house was severely lacking in holiday decor.  So I started cutting up all of my holiday scraps into charm squares.  The result, an adorable charm pack that is perfect for making a table runner or the like for each holiday.  (you can see my post from yesterday for some of the specific prints in the pack)

Prize 2 - Your Choice of Custom Appliqué.  I love the look of appliqué, but I hate cutting it out!!  So last year I bought a slice machine.  Scrapbookers use it to cut  all their paper but guess what, it works for fabric too.  So this prize is your choice of appliqué . . probably 20-ish pieces.  They come out super cute and perfectly cut.  Letters, numbers, trains, frogs, princess crown, reindeer, snowman etc. etc. etc.  If you win, I will send you your options (they are vast.)  Here is an example of it at work.  Perfect letters and a train, car, plane, and bus :)

Prize 3 - 5 Fat Quarters from Robert Kauffman's Zoologie line.  I figured we had to have one prize that appealed to the fabric stasher in all of us :)

Rules Rundown :) 

Since this is a follower giveaway I am going to say that you have to be a follower.  You know, reward those that made this type of thing possible :)  

So if you are a follower simply leave a comment stating - "I am a follower" and then the order of prizes from your favorite to least favorite - ie . . .I am a follower 2, 1, 3

If you are not a follower don't despair, you can become one :)  Simply click on the Follow link or button up on the top left hand of this blog and then leave a comment stating " I am a new follower" and the order of your favorite prize to least favorite - ie  I am a new follower 1, 3, 2

Easy enough right!!!  If you want to be a bit chatty after your required part of your comment  and tell me you love the blog or so on (I know, shameless) that would great but please keep it to one comment per person, duplicates will be deleted :)

I would love it if you added me to your blogroll, liked me on facebook, blogged or tweeted or facebooked about the giveaway, etc, etc, etc, but they won't get you an extra comment for this particular giveaway, but they will make me smile :)

I will close the giveaway Monday night (24th) and use Random.org to choose the winners.  Winners will be announced Tuesday Morning (25th).  

Oh an please, make sure I have a way to contact you :)

Good luck to everyone and have a Happy Quilting day!!!

Holiday Table Runners

So is it just me or has there been some super cute table runners popping up in quilt blog land over the last few weeks.  I have a few holiday table runners that have been made for me and I have made several that I have given away, but I don't have any that I have made for myself.  (Isn't that the way it always is :)  So last week I decided it was time to change that up.

So I pulled out all of my holiday scraps and started cutting charm squares.  I ended up with a rather large pile of prints and several squares of each print.  More than enough to whip something up with.

So I stacked them up in an adorable bundle in order of holidays through the year.  And this is where it gets fun. The goal is to make a table runner (or some sort of decoration for my house) with each holidays square before that holiday. We'll see if I am up to the challenge :)

Could you use some adorable holiday decor??  Check back tomorrow for my 300 follower giveaway where you could win your own Holiday charm pack :)

Featured with an Announcement

Well I am back!!  My sweet husband and I spent the last 4 days in the beautiful sunshine of Montego Bay.  It was a wonderful trip and a super nice way to celebrate our 10th anniversary.  We tried lots of new water activities including snorkeling and sailing which I throughly enjoyed.  And we ate, and ate, and ate!!  It was so nice to just spend time relaxing and enjoying. And now the snow here has kicked me back into reality, so here it goes.

Back to some quilting, Yippee Skippee!!  I really did miss you Bernina :)  I am super excited to say that I got a nice welcome home present from the lovely ladies over at Quilt Story as they are featuring my Nature's Pathway quilt today.  Isn't that fun!!!  Click on over to check it out :)

What is even more fun and exciting, is that you will notice in the write-up a certain mention of doing this as a Quilt-A-Long come February.  That's right, I am making it official!!!  I am planning a quilt-a-long of this quilt, or a similar variation to it some time next month.  I am super excited about this.

What makes me totally super excited about this is that I get to use my Anniversary present to design it.  My sweet husband got me EQ7 and I can't wait to try it out.  So stay tuned for future details.  I am so excited :)

Half Square Triangles - Start to Finish!!

 Half square triangles are such a versatile little piecing block and can give you so many different variations.  This tutorial will go through the basics of cutting, creating, and trimming Half Square Triangles.

Start with cutting your squares.  2 squares of different fabrics make 2 half square triangles.  You want to cut your squares 1/2" larger than you want your unfinished half square triangle or 1" larger than your finished half square triangle. (same thing just depends on how you like to calculate your sizes.)   So in this example, I will be making 2" finished half square triangles so I will cut my squares 3" x 3".  Also, you are almost always making half square triangles in a mass quantity so cut all of your squares to start and then to save time be sure and repeat each of the sub-steps for making your HST's in an assembly line fashion.

On the wrong side of the darker fabric using your ruler, draw a pen line diagonally from the top left corner to the bottom right corner.

Lay your dark square on your light square with rights sides together.  Pin both sides of each square adjacent to that drawn line.  Make sure to put them out far enough that your presser foot won't hit them as you sew on by :)  Now stitch a 1/4" seam along both sides of the drawn line (the black lines represent your stitching lines :)  Remember, you are doing these assembly line so go ahead and chain stitch all the sets on the right hand side of the line, and then go back and do all the sets on the left hand side.

Clip your threads and then align your ruler along the drawn center line.  Cut your pieces apart along that drawn line.

Now press towards your darker print.

And now you are ready to trim up your HST.  You will trim to your pre-decided unfinished size. (1/2 smaller than you started with)  In this example I am trimming to 2 1/2".  Start by aligning the 45 degree line on your square ruler with the seam line on your half square triangle.  Make sure that the raw edges of the half square triangle are over the 2 1/2" line's on your ruler.  Trim the 2 sides along the edge of the ruler.

Now spin your block 180 degrees.  Once again, align the 45 degree line on your ruler with the seam line on your half square triangle.  Align the raw edges of the half square triangle under the ruler on the 2 1/2" lines on your ruler.  Trim the 2 sides along the edge of the ruler.

And now you have Perfect Half Square Triangles.  They take a bit to trim but are totally worth it for perfect points!!

NOTE***

If you don't have a square ruler you can use your long ruler to trim like so . . .

Once again, You will be trimming your half square triangle to a 1/2" smaller square than you started with. So, since this started as a 5" square, I will be trimming it to 4 1/2". To do this, align your ruler so that the 45 degree line is along the diagonal seam of your block and that the left side edge is on the 4 1/2" line of your ruler. Trim the excess on the right that is sticking out.

Rotate your block 90 degrees and align your ruler just like before. Trim away. Sometimes, there isn't a whole lot to trim away. Keep rotating your block until you have trimmed all 4 sides and have a perfect square :)

Now just start playing with the layouts . . .  The possibilities are endless :)

Flying Geese - The No Waste Method

Okay, so how many of your get scared and run for the hills at the through of flying geese.  They can be a little intimidating :)   This is a great method of making Flying Geese that have no waste. And you won't be sewing any triangles along the bias which helps to keep everything nice and straight.  It's simply sewing down the center of squares.  Let's get to it!!!

To start you need to cut your squares!!  Each set of squares cut (5 total) will make 4 flying geese.  From your first fabric (the goose or large triangle) you will cut a 1 square that is 1 1/4" larger than the finished width of your flying geese block.  From your second fabric (the sky or small triangles on the sides)  you will cut 4 squares that are 7/8" larger than your finished height of your flying geese block.  Just make sure that when you are picking your sizes your keep your geese proportional to twice the length as the width (ie 2 x 4, 2 1/2" x 5",  3 x 6, ect.

So in this example picture I am making 4 sets of flying geese (12 green geese and 4 red geese).  My finished  geese blocks will be 2" x 4".  By finished I mean the size they will be when sewn into a block.  When I am done making the individual geese block they will measure 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" and are considered unfinished.  (a little confusing some times :)  So I have cut (4) 5 1/4" x 5 1/4" squares (4" + 1 1/4")  and (16) 2 7/8" x 2 7/8"  (2" + 7/8") squares.  I will end up with 16 flying geese unfinished at 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" and when I sew them into a block they will be finished at 2" x 4"

Oh, and one last note before we start sewing, since you are almost always making this block as a flock (aka a lot of them) it is best to save time to do all of your cutting first and then be sure and repeat each of the sub-steps in an assembly line fashion rather than making 1 set of  geese at a time.

With right sides together, lay two white squares onto your large print square as shown.  Using your ruler, draw a pen line diagonally from the top left corner to the bottom right corner.

Now go ahead and pin both sides of each square adjacent to that drawn line.  Make sure to put them out far enough that your presser foot won't hit them as you sew on by :)  Now stitch a 1/4" seam along both sides of the drawn line (the black lines represent your stitching lines :)  Remember, you are doing these assembly line so go ahead and chain stitch all the sets on the right hand side of the line first, and then go back and do all the sets on the left hand side.

Clip your threads and then align your ruler along the drawn center line.  Cut your pieces apart along that drawn line.

Now you will want to press your seam up towards your 2 little triangles.

Now, take 2 more little squares and align them on your two stitched pieces as follows with right sides together.  Once again, draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of the little squares from corner to corner.

Now pin each piece far enough out that your foot will go by and then once again, stitch a 1/4" seam along both sides of the drawn diagonal line.  (Remember to chain stitch to save time :)

Clip your threads and then using your ruler aligned along the drawn line, once again, cut your 2 separate pieces apart.

Press up toward the little triangles again.  Lastly, trim off the little corners.

And you are done!!!  Perfectly precise flying geese blocks without throwing away any scraps and without sewing a single triangle.  Fabulous!!