Snapshots QAL - Sew On & Sew On

It's month 2  of the Snapshots QAL and that means that there is a new block to work on!!!  This month, is Sew On & Sew On and how could I not absolutely love this month's block!!!  It's a sewing machine, Love It!!!

Two fun things came about when I was cutting this block out.  First off, I realized that some of the fabric was directional on purpose.  Yup, didn't realize that with the first block and went back to find that my cake stand words were a little askew.  And now that I had realized it, of course it bothered me enough to go back and unpick it and put new pieces in with words going the right way.   So if you are QAL, pay attention to the fussy cut and directional print directions ;)  

Also, I tried something new, marking the labeling letters on my fabric with a Frixion pen.  This got a lot of replies on Instagram and some of them having some scary experiences with it.   But I loved how easy it made finding the pieces I needed, there are a lot of very similar sizes in the same fabrics in this block.  So someone suggested labeling on the back of the fabric, and I figure that will be my win win situation going forward ;)  

So, do you want to make a adorable sewing machine block too??  You can download the pattern right here and then don't forget to donate the $5.00 for the pattern to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital ;)  This is such an amazing cause and it is so fabulous that Fat Quarter Shop and Moda will be matching our donations up to $10.000.00!!  

Kimberly also made putting this block together even easier with this fabulous You Tube video.  Bonnie and Camille start it off with some of their special sewing memories as well ;)  Love It!!!

Be sure to  share all of your Snapshots progress on social media with #fqssnapshots and check out these fabulous bloggers for some Sew On & Sew On inspiration :)  

Camille Roskelley of Thimble Blossoms
Bonnie Olaveson of Cotton Way
Pat Sloan of The Voice of Quilting
Lori Holt of Bee in My Bonnet

Sherri McConnell of A Quilting Life

Melissa Corry of Happy Quilting

Thelma Childers of Cupcakes N' Daisies

Pam Viera-McGinnis of Pam Kitty Morning

Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill Designs
Stephanie Kendron of The Modern Sewciety

Natalia Bonner of Piece N Quilt
Greg Jones of Grey Dogwood Studios
Jessie Fincham of Messy Jesse

Thanks for popping in today ;)  Have a Happy Quilting (and maybe sewing on) Day!!!

Happy Valentines Day!!!

And if today fills you with desires to start some projects in red, white and pink . . . Check out some of these fun filled Simply Charmed projects made by my wonderful friends for my Valentine's Hop 2 years ago.   Each one is Charm Pack Friendly and so fun to whip up ;)  

Melissa from Happy Quilting with the Knotty Little Apron Tutorial

 Heather from Quilt Story with the Heart Garland Tutorial

 Melissa from Lilac Lane with the Be Mine Tote Tutorial

Angela from Cut to Pieces with the Pincushion Tutorial

 Amy from Diary of a Quilter with the Scrappy Nine Patch Table Quilt Tutorial

 Natalia from Piece N Quilt with the Trio of Pillows Tutorial

Jessica from Twin Fibers with the Valentine Card Keeper Tutorial

Katie from Swim, Bike, Quilt with the XOXO Zippered Pouch Tutorial

Jane from Want It, Need It, Quilt with the Circle of Love Tutorial

 Corey from Little Miss Shabby with the Shabby Heart Pillow

Yup, I know I have a few Red, White, and Pink projects on my list for next year ;)  

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Irish Chain Twist Quilt-A-Long - Improvisational Piecing Units

**  NOTE  - This post is part of a series of posts for the Irish Chain Twist Quilt-A-Long.  If you would like to join (and have a chance to win $100.00 or $75.00 Gift Certificate grand prizes sponsored by The Intrepid Thread and Fat Quarter Shop ) you can find a list of the post links here :)  Here is the schedule:

Schedule, Fabric Requirements, and Prizes

Cutting - Feb 5th

Improvisational Piecing Units - Feb 12th
Improvisational Piecing Block - Feb 19th
Twists on Tradition Units - Feb 26th
Modern Patchwork Block - Mar 5th

Appliqued Chains Block - Assembling - Mar 12th

Appliqued Chains Block - Stitching - Mar 19

Piecing Top and Grand Prize Linky - Mar 26th

Parade and Grand Prizes - April 23rd


**You might notice a slight change in the schedule.  Before today, the Twists on Tradition (referred to in cutting as Square Blocks) were first.  But somehow, I got mixed up and thought the Improvisational Piecing Units (referred to as X Blocks) were first and did the work for those blocks this week.   So anyhow, since they are the blocks I have a tutorial ready for, they are now first.  Just FYI, if you are wondering why the change.

Before we get any farther,  we need to pick a winner for the Cutting Assignment.   And great job to everyone on finishing that assignment, I can tell already that this is going to be a great group to quilt-a-long with :)

The cutting  assignment winner who gets a $15.00 Gift Certificate to Green Fairy Quilts is . . .

# 33 -  Just a Mom who Sews !!! - Congrats :)

  

So here we are, ready to start piecing!!! ,I am so excited, Let's get right to it :)  If you are just finding this QAL, it's never to late to join in the fun :)  Just see the schedule above for the posts you missed and start quilting along ;)  

THIS WEEKS ASSIGNMENT - IMPROVISATIONAL PIECING UNITS

So if you have never done Improvisational Piecing before you are in for a real treat.  The fun thing about it is most of the time, you don't have to be as accurate.  Lots of eyeballing and close enough and it still works out perfect.  So just remember, for today, just relax, this is going to be fun!!

Start by gathering your 2" x 10" X Block Print rectangles and your 6" x 6" Subcut X Block Background Triangles.

Place a Background Triangle on a Print Rectangle with right sides together as shown below.  You want to center the Triangle on the Rectangle so that there is about the same excess amount on the top and bottom.  But remember, you can just eyeball, no need to make sure it is perfectly centered.

Sew a 1/4" seam along the edge.  You will sew from the top of the rectangle to the bottom.   Once again, this is improv, so no need for pins.  Just hold your pieces in place with your hands and stitch away.  If it isn't perfect it is okay.

Now, after you have sewn the first, don't stop ;)  This is where we are going to save some serious time and thread with Chain Stitching.  Meaning, we don't clip the threads between each unit.  So once you get to the end of your first unit, simply start feeding the next unit through your machine.

And just keep going.  You will make a long snake of units behind your machine ;)    This really is some speedy and pretty mindless  so have some fun with it.  I like to listen to a book on CD when sewing like this or you can always watch (aka listen and look up at the best parts) of a favorite DVD.

And once you are done with the last unit you can take your pieces from your machine and see how big of a pile they make ;)

And now, it's tie to stack that pile back up again.  Clip the threads between the units and stack your units into piles once again.

And then it it time to move to the ironing board.   And yes, my ironing board cover is in desperate need of a makeover ;)  I find it is actually easier to press these units face up, so that is what I like to do.  Either way you press, just be sure and press the seam allowance towards the Background Triangle.  And just press, press away ;)

And once you have all your units pressed. you are ready to Rinse and Repeat ;)   Now you will be adding the Background Triangles to the other side of your Print Rectangle.  

So like before, Lay a Background Triangle onto the other side of a Print Rectangle.  Once again, try to leave about the same distance on the top and bottom.  You can also double check that you are centered by eyeballing that the points from your two triangles are lined up ;)   Sew a 1/4" seam along the edge.   Once again, don't bother with pins ;)

And just like before, we are going to Chain Stitch away saving time and thread.  Just keep feeding your units through your machine one after the other.   Remember to keep it fun and relaxed.

And once you are done sewing all your units, again, clip your threads, stack up your units, and move to your ironing board.   And like before, press your seam allowances towards the Background Triangle.  And press, press away ;)

And before you know it, you will have all of your units pressed and you are done with this weeks assignment!!!!    That's right, get to this point and you are done for the week!!!  (But don't worry, they don't get pieced like this, next week we will wonky trim and then piece ;)

And just in case you are wondering, here is how many Improvisational Piecing Units (the wonky squares above) you should have when you are done.  (but you don't have to count them, if you ran out of Triangles and Rectangles, you should be good ;)

And with your Assignment all complete, you are ready to link up for a chance to win the Weekly Prize!!!!

This weeks Weekly Prize is being sponsored by Discover Fabrics and a huge thanks goes to them for their support of the Irish Chain Twist Quilt-A-Long.

This weeks  prize is a My Sunshine Charm Pack!!!

So what do you have to do for a chance to win this Gift Certificate?  Simple . . . Just link up your Improvisational Piecing Units at the end of this post :)  You can link to a blog post, flickr picture, Instagram, Facebook . . .  or whatever.  Just make sure to link up by next Thursday morning as I will be announcing a winner at the beginning of next weeks post :)

If you don't get your improvisational piecing units done by next week you can still link it up :) (just not in time for the prize :)    The linky will remain open until the end of the Quilt-A-Long.  So if your out of town, or just had a busy week, no worries!!!  Just link up when you can :)

And Don't forget to add your sewn units to the Happy Quilting Quilt-A-Long Flickr group and to post it on social media with using #irishchaintwistqal.    I am so excited to see you all get to start sewing ;)

So let's get our chain stitching groove on!!!  And if you have questions, don't hesitate to email me at happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com.  Have a Happy Quilting Day!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Where's the Day Gone

Well, I had hoped this morning to do a post on Leaders and Enders.  Several of you asked about them.  Sadly, between an early morning workout, and then dentist appointments for the whole family the whole morning is gone.  And it's Early Out Wednesday so I have 1 hour to go finish the sewing for tomorrows Irish Chain Twist QAL post ;)

So sorry, the Leader and Ender tutorial post is going to have to wait another week.   But know that it is coming ;)

All right, I'm off to go get my Irish Chain Twist piecing on ;)

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 $25.00 Gift Certificate from Southern Fabric  is . . .   Number 284. . . Congrats Dawn!!   I have emailed you :) 

    

    

    

And on to today's

Today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway is being sponsored by The Scarlet Thread Quilt Co.  Julie is in the process of building a new quilt shop and it has been so much fun to watch the remodeling process on Instagram!!!   We wish you all the best in this new endeavor Julie ;) 

And the Terrific Tuesday Giveaway is for a $25.00 Gift Certificate to The Scarlet Thread Quilt Co.  Yup, we all love a good little shopping spree!!!  Isn't it fun to get to pick out your favorites ;)

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 favorite Valentine's Day Project you have made, and if you haven't made one, what one you would like to make :) 

 ENTRY 2 - Show your Scarlet Thread Quilt Co. love.   You can follow them on   Facebook, Instagram, or Favorite their Shop.  Or you can visit The Shop and then share a favorite item ;)   Just be sure to leave a comment of how you showed your Scarlet Thread Quilt Co. Love!!!

And that's it ;)  The giveaway will be open until next Tuesday, February 17th when I will announce a winner at the beginning of next weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Post :)

Good Luck and Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!