March Aurifil Block of the Month - My Turn!!!

The March Aurifil Designer Block of the Month was released yesterday and I am so excited because March is my Month!!!!   And Pat Sloan was kind enough to let me do the month of Purple, because ya know, I just love purple!!!!   And this is my Scraptastic Star block.  Eeeekkk, I just love it!!!

You all know how much I love to design quilts around stars, and of course a twist on an Irish Chain.  And I knew I wanted to make my blocks super scrappy so I could show the vast array all of the shades of purple that I love so much.    And that is how Scraptastic Star came to be.   I just can't get over how much I love the scrappy goodness in this block.

And even though it is a lot of patchwork, it goes together pretty fast as there are only 8 hst's and the rest are just simple square patchwork.  And I had so much fun going through my scrap drawer to find all of those fun purple fabrics.  I used my Aurifil Purple's to make sure I was covering the all the shades of purple I wanted represented in the block :)   I just love purple!!!

So that is my Aurifil March Block, Scraptastic Stars!!!  You can find my  pattern for this block right over here  and then be sure to enter your block a Pat's blog ;)  Every entry of a Scraptastic Stars block is eligible to win a Large Aurifil Thread Kit!!!!!

 Oh, and if you want to read a bit more about me and maybe have a few chuckles along the way, be sure to pop over to the Aurifil Thread blog to read my fun interview.   I had so much fun chatting it up with Pat and getting to share some fun tidbits about all things quilting!!!

And one last thing . . .  I have totally added a Scraptastic Stars quilt to my "To Make Someday" list.   How fun would it be to make up this rainbow goodness while busting some serious scraps while I am at it!!!   (Although, I might change the blocks to 16" so I can use my moda candy, but we shall see ;)  And someone just suggested on Instagram making the original block but using layer cakes to make a giant pixelated Scraptastic Star Block, how cool would that be!!!!

Thanks for popping in today and each day,  I just love getting to share my quilting journey with each of you!!!  

Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

Patchwork Quilt Along - Box in a Box Block

It's the 15th and that means it's time for the third set of  Patchwork Quilt Along Blocks hosted by the Fat Quarter Shop!!!!  Today's Patchwork Quilt Along blocks are the Box in a Box Blocks.  Bet you can see how they came up with the name ;)

This is such a fantastic classic block and adding the tiny factor makes them so much fun, both to piece and to look at ;)  Each row is just 1" wide, which make for some pretty adorable piecing.  And with just a bit of strip piecing, these 6 blocks went together in no time, so fun!!!

If you are quilting along with all of this Patchwork fun,  you can download the block pattern right here and be sure to donate $5.00  to the Make a Wish Foundation for your download  ;)  I am blown away by how much has already been raised, Quilters are the best!!!   

And don't forget to watch the super cute  You Tube video that walks you through making the block and you get to enjoy some  super peppy tunes along the way!!!   

And be sure to share all of your Patchwork progress on social media with #patchworkquiltalong and pop over to all of the fabulous bloggers who are quilting along for some Box in a Box block eye candy :)  

*Bonnie of Cotton Way (@bonniecottonway)

*Camille of Thimble Blossoms (@thimbleblossoms)

Amanda from Jedi Craft Girl (@jedicraftgirl)

Amy of Diary of a Quilter (@diaryofaquilter)

Andy of A Bright Corner (@abrightcorner)

Debbie of Happy Little Cottage (@happylittlecottage1)

Greg of Grey Dogwood Studio (@greydogwoodstudio)

Heidi of Buttons and Butterflies (@buttonsandbutterflies)

Melissa of Happy Quilting (@happyquiltingmc)  (that's me :) 

Melissa of Oh How Sweet (@ohhowsweet)

Pat Sloan of PatSloan.com (@quilterpatsloan)

Renee of Sewn with Grace (@sewnwithgrace)

Sedef of Down Grapevine Lane (@downgrapevinelane)

Sherri of A Quilting Life (@aquiltinglife)

Sondra of Out of the Blue Quilts (@sondradavison)

Taunja of Carried Away Quilting (@taunjalynn)

Tina of Emily Ann's Kloset (@emilyannskloset)

Carrie Nelson/Miss Rosie of Moda Cutting Table

If you have any questions about the quilt along, you can pop on over to the Patchwork Quilting Along page and your pretty sure to find the answer there ;)  And if you haven't started yet, there is still plenty of time to join in and quilt along!!!! 

Have a Happy Quilting Day!!

Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day!!

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

But  before we get to today's giveaways . . . First,  we need to announce the winners from last weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day!!   The winner of the $25.00 Gift Certificate to The Scarlet Thread Quilt Co.  is . . . Number #252. . . Congrats Kirsten!!!!! I have emailed you :)    

    

So on to today's

Today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway is being sponsored by Fat Quarter Shop.   Fat Quarter Shop has everything you could ever want and then some!!!   They always have amazing deals and amazing tutorials.  And they are having a special St. Patrick's Day Sale so be sure to keep an eye out for that come Friday!!!!  

And for today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Fat Quarter Shop is giving one lucky reader a Coney Island Jelly Roll by Fig Tree Quilts for Moda. I got to play with this line for one of those secret sewing projects and let me tell you, it is so Figgy Yummy!!!!  I just love it!!!

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 ride to go on at an Amusement Park.  

 ENTRY 2 - Show your Fat Quarter Shop love.   You can follow them on   Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, You Tube or at their Blog.  You can Sign up for their Newsletter which will ensure you catch all of their amazing sales, or you can visit The Shop and then share a favorite item ;)   Just be sure to leave a comment of how you showed your Fat Quarter Shop Love!!!

And that's it ;)  The giveaway will be open until next Tuesday, March 21st, when I will announce a winner at the beginning of next weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Post :)

Good Luck and Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

Modern Machine Quilting

Some of the most common questions I get asked around here are machine quilting questions, so when I was asked by my good friends at F & W Media if I wanted to review Catherine Redford's newest book Modern Machine Quilting, I totally jumped at the chance ;)    And I have to say, if you are quilting on your home machine, this book is a fantastic resource!!!

The book is broken down into 5 Chapters . . . Getting Started, Walking-Foot Quilting, Free-Motion Quilting, Putting it Together, and Projects.  Each section is jammed pack with lots of amazing tidbits on machine quilting and wonderful step by step pictures that really guide you through some of the quilt designs Catherine shares.

I love the depth that Catherine dives into for each chapter.  There are over 20 pages on "getting started" and she even thought to cover such things as your Chair and the Lighting in your room and how those little things make such a difference.   Ingenious!!!!

The Walking-Foot Quilting and Free-Motion Quilting chapters are just packed with so many wonderful designs.  And the pictures and drawings make it really easy to follow.   I still like to quilt my mini's on my home machine and I am super excited to try out some of the new designs Catherine shares.    But I just had to share this.  At the end of the Free-Motion Quilting section Catherine has these amazing words of advice!!!   So true, so true!!!  And don't you just love the idea of a "stitch vocabulary", what a fun way to put it :)

My absolute favorite part of the book was the Putting It Together chapter.  I think one of the hardest parts of the quilting is deciding what is the "right" design to quilt.   In this chapter Catherine shares pictures of her quilts and with each picture she adds the thought and decision making process of why she quilted each quilt in that particular design.  It was so amazing to be able to follow her design process and incredibly insightful.

Catherine finishes out the book with 3 fun patterns that also include the ideas for quilting them.  It is really nice to be able to see that part of "quilt as desired" stretched out so you can really get a peek into why the quilting patterns used where chosen and how it helps to highlight the design.

 

So, ya, you can say that I am a fan of this book!!!  As I said in the beginning, Modern Machine Quilting is an excellent resource for anyone who is quilting on their home machine and I am excited to continue going through it to pick up more fantastic tidbits on how I can improve my machine quilting ;)

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

See ya tomorrow with Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day :)

Splendid Sampler Saturday

Eeekkk!!!  What a fantastic Saturday morning I am having.  Like I said on Wednesday, I have really been wanting to get my Splendid Sampler quilt top sewn up.  But you know how things get busy.   Well this morning I figured what better day than a "Splendid Sampler Saturday" to set aside everything else on my cutting mat  for a bit and start sewing together my Splendid Sampler rows.   And aren't they just so fun!!!!

They are coming together quick and I love the added sashing and chain!!!  It just frames those happy colored blocks and makes them pop all the more.   5 block rows down and 6 sashing rows down.  Only 8 more of each to go.  They  are coming together at a decent speed, all that shasing takes a bit longer, but so totally worth it.   Here's hoping to have more progress to share next Saturday!!!

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