Blushing Mini Top Finished!!!

Yippee!!!  I finished up my MQG Mini Quilt Swap Top ;)    And I am so, so, so excited with how it turned out.   It's always fun when it comes together the way you saw it in your head ;)

  

You might recall that I mentioned back here that I was planning to make a few of the blocks from the new First Blush book from Fat Quarter Shop and play with the new Starburst Ruler.

Well I have to say, making up these starburst blocks was so much fun!!! And aren't they just so happy in their rainbow goodness ;)   And I just love the mixture of the low volume backgrounds.  Getting those center points to all come together was a bit of a learning curve, the first one was a wee bit off and took a little seam ripping to fix, but after that, I pressed open and more frequently, and the others came together just great!!

And then it came time to make them into a quilt top.  I didn't really have much of a plan here,  I just knew I wanted them to have a "flowing" kind of feel.   So I trimmed all of the blocks down and then used some masking tape on the floor to set the quilt size.  Then it was just playing with the layout until I liked the "flow".  When I was making the star blocks I decided to make some partial blocks, mainly because I had some extra pieces that didn't quite make a whole, and I am so glad I did, because they turned out so fun!!!

   

Once I liked the layout, I drafted it on some graph paper so I knew the size gaps I needed to fill in.  And wouldn't you know it, all of those scraps that I had trimmed down were the perfect filler for those blanks.  Isn't the scrappy low volume just so fun!!!

And then all that was left was to sew the quilt top pieces together.  There was a partial seam in the center that I actually had a lot of fun sewing up.  You don't get to do partial seams very often so it is always fun to see you that I still remember how to do that ;)   And can I just say, I am so loving this !!!!

And I actually had 1 Star left over that I was trying to mash in the top, but it just made it to busy, but I am so excited I decided to leave it out, because it just made the perfect backing and used up all of the last bits of trimming scraps.  happy dance for no waste ;)

Now it is time to quilt it up ;)  I haven't decided how I am going to do that yet, but I know it will be something on a small scale.  Time to sketch up some ideas ;)

Thanks for popping in today and I hope you have a very Happy Quilting Weekend!!!

Linking up to Amanda's, Sarah's, and Myra's ;)

Starting a new Shortcut!!

So I told myself that this month was going to be all about quilting up those quilt tops that are sitting in a pile by the long arm . . . but let's just say, I tend to get distracted easily :)  So when Fat Quarter Shop showed their newest Shortcut Quilt , the Jelly Roll Twist Quilt,  I just couldn't resist pulling some fabric ;)   And how fun to match Sweetwater's First Crush with Sandy Gervais' new #love.   It is going to be happy hearts all over ;)

I mean, how fun is this Jelly Roll Twist quilt!!!  You can find the free pattern for it over at Fat Quarter Shop along with a video tutorial for making it   ;)   And hey, it is a shortcut quilt, so it means it whips up fast and then get right back to some long arm quilting  (after I add this top to the pile, tee hee hee ;)   I plan to add an a few extra blocks to make it just a bit bigger, so it is super snuggly.

And so yesterday afternoon I strip pieced all of my jelly roll strips and then pressed them last night.  I couldn't help but cut them up first thing this morning and now they are ready to be pieced into blocks this afternoon.   Have I mentioned how much I love Shortcut Quilts!!!  So fast and fun!!!

I don't think it will be long before I can share the finished quilt top!!!  Gotta love those Shortcut Quilts!!!!   (Although it might have to wait a bit in the que of quilts that need to be quilted ;)  

Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

   

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day!!!

It's Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day!!!  I love this day!!!  Now I know it's not Tuesday (for those of you who are visiting for the first time, there is a Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day each week at Happy Quilting) but I haven't missed a Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day since I started this blog so it is tradition now.  With that said,  I know you have lots of places to visit so lets get right to it :)

Up for grabs is a Fat Eighth Bundle of Bonnie and Camille Basics!!!  Can I just say . . . I love this bundle!!!  How can you not love that rainbow of goodness ;)  It will make such a pretty quilt!!!  And it is for one of you lucky readers!!!

And along with this bundle, I will add a signed copy of my book, Irish Chain Quilts ;)  

So what do you have to do for your chance to win???  Simple . . . 

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 here telling me what is your favorite basic to use in your quilts.   (mine is grunge :)

 ENTRY 2 - Show your Happy Quilting love. You can follow Happy Quilting on Bloglovin, Email Updates, or RSS to get daily updates.  Or you can like Happy Quilting on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter or Flickr.   Any one way will do . . . Just be sure to leave a comment of how you showed your Happy Quilting Love!!!

And that's it ;)  The giveaway will be open until Sunday December 11th and  I will randomly select and announce a winner on Monday Morning :)

Oh, and by the Way . . . If you are stopping by for the first time, Welcome!!   I am so glad you visited and hope you will come back often.  I have so much fun sharing my passion for quilting here with lots of  free tutorials, giveaways, fabric eye candy, and of course, general Happy Quilting times!! And be sure to come back next week for Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day :)

Have a Happy Quilting Day!!

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 a Desert Bloom Fat Quarter Bundle from Green Fairy Quilts  is . . .   Number #50 . . . Congrats Gigi!!!   I have emailed you :) 

      

   

  

And on to today's

Today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway is being sponsored by  Lou Lou's Fabric Shop .    There is so much wonderful fabric variety over at Lou Lou's and did you know she also has an amazing Daily Deal!!!  Along with hosting the giveaway, Jamie is having a Huge $6.00 A Yard Sale!!!!  And Jamie is also offering all Happy Quilting readers 20% off Store-Wide including their Holiday gift boutique (excludes sale product and pre-orders) with the code happyquilting!!!  Oh, so much fun shopping!!!

Today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway is for Gift Certificate goodness!!!  Lou Lou's Fabric Shop is offering one lucky reader a $25.00 Gift Certificate to Lou Lou's Fabric Shop!!  Now you can get exactly what you want, so fun!!!!

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 Christmas Ornament ;)  

 ENTRY 2 - Lets show Lou Lou's Fabric Shop some Love!!!!   You can follow them on   Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram.  Or you can follow their blog or  visit The Shop and then share a favorite item ;)   Just be sure to leave a comment of how you showed your Lou Lou's Fabric Shop Love!!!

And that's it ;)  The giveaway will be open until next Tuesday, December 13th  when I will announce a winner at the beginning of next weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Post :)

Good Luck and Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

Quilt with Tula and Anglea

When I was asked by the wonderful folks at F & W Media if I wanted to review their newest release, Quilt With Tula And Angela, it took all of about 2 seconds to say Absolutely!!!!   I am such a huge fun of Tula's amazing work and her beautiful innovated way of playing with color.   And Angela is such a amazingly talented quilter and teacher and a very dear friend.  Remember when we got to share this special little Market presentation , ya things like that just bond you for life ;)  So when you put these two power houses from this industry together, you know you are going to get something amazing!!!  Let me tell you a bit about it ;)

Tula and Angela really are allowing you to Quilt the Rainbow as they break their book out into beautiful chapters each focusing on a specific color, as well as the Warm, Cool, and Rainbow aspects.  There are 17 signature Tula Pink quilt designs and 47 Quilt Design Motifs from Angela Walters tucked in these beautiful pages.  And the illustrations and photography is just stunning.

My favorite thing about Quilt With Tula And Angela is how detailed each chapter is on walking you through how to build your quilt start to finish with the focuses on color and shape.

 Each chapter starts with a title page with a stunning picture of the quilt in that chapter as well as a color narrative that I just love.  You can totally hear Tula's voice in these narratives and they are phenomenal fun way to teach you all about how to understand that color better.   There is also a quick rundown on the piecing techniques you will be using for the quilt.

Following the introduction narrative is a fantastic guide on choosing the fabrics for your quilt.  I absolutely love how Tula shares an in depth view on why and how she picks each of the colors in her quilts.  It really helps you understand her innovative color play ;)

And then, you get to the piecing of the quilt.  And of course, this is done with wonderful graphics that are super easy to follow and lots of little extra tidbits to help your piecing be perfection.  But this isn't where the chapter ends.

After you get your quilt top all pieced, you have a guide on quilting it!!!!  Angela shares pages and pages with wonderful written directions as well as easy to follow diagrams.  With each chapter she shares several ways to quilt each design and lots of options on how to make it your own.   Angela is such an amazing quilt teacher and it comes out so well in her directions, you will feel like she is standing right over your shoulder coaching you along ;)

And you get all of that instruction in each of the chapters, for each of the colors across the rainbow and the combinations of them as well.   It truly is like the subtitle says, "a start-to-finish guide to piecing and quilting using color and shape"  and it is phenomenal!!!

Now the only hard part is going to be choosing which quilt to make from this awesome book first ;)  I love so many of the designs, but I think I will have to start my to make list with "The Hood".  It's scrappy, its happy, its rainbow, and it's adorable little houses.  It just doesn't get better than that ;)

So  to sum it up (if you couldn't tell) I love Quilt With Tula And Angela !!!!!   It really is just an amazing book filled with wonderful insights, gorgeous quilts, stunning quilting, and beautiful photography.   It would make the perfect Christmas Present for your quilty friends, or you can always drop a few hints and hopefully it will end up under your tree with a gift tag for you ;)   I am wrapping mine up so I can open it all over on Christmas Morning ;)

I hope you are having a very Happy Quilting Monday!!!

See ya tomorrow with Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day :)