Bella Skill Builder - Pineapple Block

Oh my goodness, it's April 1st!!!  But no foolin around today, just another happy Bella Skill Builder day!!  I am really enjoying the Bella Skill Builder hosted by the Fat Quarter Shop and Sherri McConnell!!!!  And this month's skill builder blocks are some that I have always wanted to try . . . the Pineapple Block :)

For this month's tone on tone blocks I choose beutiful shades of yellow (because ya know, pineapple :)  and pinky orange shades of coral (they are more orange than they showed up in this picture :)   For the small version of the block I used Bella Yellow and Baby Yellow.  And for the large version of the block I used Bella Coral and Geranium.   

Like I said, I have always wanted to try a Pineapple Block and right out of the gate, I was super glad to have the Pineapple Trim Tool.  It made my head spin a few times, but once I got the general idea down I was flying through this block. I just love all of the fun angles it creates in the piecing, so cool!!  And be sure to have lots of scraps when making a pineapple block, because you chop off quite a bit :)  But I will say, I figured out some tricks of measuring while you go with the first and didn't have near as much waste with the second.  

And I ended up with a beautiful Pineapple block in all of it's yummy yellow goodness.  And yes, now I want to make an entire quilt of these.  No surprise there :)  I just can't get over all of the fun angles!!!   And I veered a little from the original color layout because I wanted to stick with 2 colors and added one extra round on my block as I am making 12" finished blocks ;)

And you know how I am doing a small and large version of each block, well . . . I figured out the Pineapple Trim Tool enough to add a new sharpie line on it and make 1 1/2" finished strips instead of 1" strips.  I just used the back of the centering square and my new line and away I went.  So fun!!!

But wouldn't you know it, I actually ran out of my piece of Coral with one more round to go.  Oh well.  I figured just adding a fun little border works just as well, and makes the two blocks just a little bit different.   And another round would have had to be trimmed anyway to make it 12" finished so it's all good :)  I actually really like the block bordered, gives it a nice finished look!

And that is the Pineapple block, the second set of blocks in the Bella Skill Builder!!!!  Be sure to download  the free pattern and watch youtube video.  And also pop on over to the  Fat Quarter Shop's blog, Jolly Jabber  for lots more Pineapple Block details and wonderful Pineapple Block eye candy from lots more blogger friends ;)  I can't wait to see what next month brings!!!  It's not to late to come work on your skills and join in the Bella Skill Builder fun!!! 

Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

Dutch Tulips

Today I am so excited to share my newest quilt finish, Dutch Tulips.  And I like to call this the "What Little Girls Are Made Of" edition.  And if you can't tell why, I will show you in a minute ;)  How adorable are those tulips!!!!

  

I loved the new Dutch Tulips pattern from It's Sew Emma the moment I first saw it.  So when I was asked by my good friends at the Fat Quarter Shop to Quilt Along with its release, I was so super excited and of course, all over it!!!

I knew that I wanted to make a big baby size quilt, so I added an additional row to the crib size so that it is the perfect size to snuggle up a little precious bundle in.    And the Impressions Templates made quick work of those petals, I just love me so raw edge applique!!!

I used fabrics from Lella Botique's first line, Into the Woods.  I just love Vanessa's fantastic fabrics and I had some leftover from a project a few years back.  I knew right away that those pinks and reds would be the perfect match for these adorable little tulips!!!

When it came time to quilt, I went with a favorite all over design of curly q's.  I just love how relaxing these are to quilt.    And I added a little something fun in that large floating border.

Before loading the quilt on to the long arm, I printed out the words Cuddles, Kisses, Snuggles, and Love  (Because that is what little girls are made of, so cute!!!!)  I put the print out under the quilt top and traced the words onto it using my water soluble pen.   Then I quilted the all over design around the words, brought the quilt back to the house, and with my gorgeous Aurifl Red, I stitched in those adorable words.   Eeeekkk, I just love it!!!   Such a soft little touch, but just so sweet!!!

And now it looks so perfect and cuddly, it just needs to have a sweet little baby lying on top of it.  Who knows, maybe my twin sister will decide she wants this quilt instead of the other one I was working on.    One can never have to many quilt for baby right ;)

And that is my Dutch Tulips quilt :)   And if you love these tulips as much as I do and want to make your own, you can find the pattern right over here ;)     It really is a fun quilt to make and it went together so quick!!!  I pretty much pieced the entire quilt in an afternoon besides stitching down the applique.   So fun!!!

Thanks for popping in today and each day!!!  And hopefully, these little Tulips can bring some Spring with them ;)  The snow had just melted to take these pictures but I can see a few flowers trying hard to poke up out of the ground.  Just waiting for the Tulips to bloom :)   

I hope you have a very Happy Quilting Day!!!

Linking this finish to Amanda's, Sarah's, and Myra's :)

Winner and Update

It's time to pick the winner of the OLFA Endurance Rotary Blade and Splash Rotary Cutter from last week!!!

And the lucky winner is . . .  #192 . . . Congrats jec!!!!  I have sent you an email ;)

And I thought I would add a quick update about my Carpal Tunnel Release surgery from last month.  Thank you so much for all of the kind words over the last month.  I just love the emails checking up on me and figured it was probably time for an update for everyone ;)  My right hand is healing well. The two incision marks are almost completely sealed and will soon fade.  I am grateful that each day I can do a little more with my hand.  Of course, the more I do the more sore it is by the end of the day, but that is all good.  I am told, on average, it takes a good 6 months to be back to 100% .  So I am just taking it day by day and being grateful when I can do something that I couldn't do the week before without my hand hurting.   So yup, moving onward and upward!!!

Which is a good thing because tomorrow will be my Left Hand's turn ;)  Good Times!!!

So I best get some serious rotary cutting today as that will be off the table again for a couple of  weeks, although I am hoping not quite as long, as I only have to hold the ruler with my left hand :)

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 winner from last weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day!!   The winner of the Fat Quarter Set of Sugar Pie from Shabby Fabrics is . . . Number #80. . . Congrats RosieGma!!!!! I have emailed you :)    

  

    

So on to today's

Today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway is being sponsored by  Lou Lou's Fabric Shop .    Did you know that Jamie makes a new Lou Lou Bundle every Tuesday . . . this is today's, isn't it just stunning!!!  Along with hosting the giveaway, Jamie is having a  Fantastic Sale with yardage marked down as low as $6.00 a yard!!!!  And  since she know you are loving the Fat Quarter Bundles, Jamie is also offering all Happy Quilting readers has a special discount of  20% off Fat Quarter Bundles  with the code happyquilting good until Friday!!!  Oh, so much fun shopping!!!

Today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway is for some shopping goodness!!  Lou Lou's Fabric Shop is offering one lucky reader a $20.00 Gift Certificate perfect to use on anything in the store, including the awesome Lou Lou Bundle pictured above!!  Just perfect!!!!

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 the best April Fools Day joke you have ever pulled or had pulled on you ;)

 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, April 4th  when I will announce a winner at the beginning of next weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Post :)

Good Luck and Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

Royal - A Cake Mix Quilt and Bake Off!!!

So a little while ago I was asked by my very good friends at the Fat Quarter Shop if I wanted to participate in a "Bake Off" (see more at the end of the post) using Moda's new Cake Mix's.  How fun did that sound!!!  So of course,  I jumped right in ;)  And now today, I get to share with you my finished Cake, I mean Quilt!!!  I call it Royal and I so love it!!!

Have you heard about the new Moda Cake Mix pads??  I hadn't until this, but I am so glad I got to play with them.  They were so, so, much fun!!!  So what are they??  They are a pad containing 45 sheets of triangle papers that are sized 10"x 10" so that you can use them for layer cakes!!!   So perfect since I assume, like me, we all have some stashed layer cakes!!!  

You can see lots more details about Cake Mix's over at Moda's Blog here, and you can check out the fun video Kimberly and Carrie made showing you some great tidbits on how best to use your Cake Mix.  And there are 4 "Recipes" to choose from so the options are endless of what you can create!!

I was using Cake Mix Recipe 1 for Royal.  Each recipe comes with basic block layouts that can help create ideas for your quilt.  I decided to use two of those basic blocks, so half of my papers I pieced into Block 1 and the other half into Block 4 and then it was just sewing them up in this fun layout to create my Royal design.  I love how it created a giant "Star" in the center and then diamond borders coming out from there in layers.   So fun!!!

EDIT - I have been asked if I can share the layout of the quilt broken down and I sure can :)  So here it is.   You will need Cake Mix Recipe #1 and you will be sewing up 32 sets of light and dark layer cake squares.  This will give you 32 Large HST's and  128 small HST's.  On the front of the Cake Mix Recipe #1 you will find 5 Block Layouts.  For Royal, you will need to use your HST's to make 8 of Block layout #1 and 8 of Block layout #4, but notice that the pinwheels in Block 4 are done in the opposite color placement (otherwise you don't get the large star in the center ;)   

  

Now just place your 16 blocks in the 4 x 4 layout as shown below paying close attention to the direction of the blocks and color placement.  Now simply sew your blocks into rows and then your rows into your quilt top ;)     Hope that helps for anyone that wants to make Royal, and if you do, I would love to see a picture!!!

And now, back to Royal ;)  I used Moda Bella Solid Purple  (Hence the Royal name :) and the low volume prints from Basic Grey's Little Black Dress 2 and Maven.  I have been so wanting to make a quilt with a nice deep purple as the "background" and I just love how it sets all of the fun low volume prints to just dance across the quilt.  You know, I love me some purple!!! 

When it came time to quilt it I had to keep it pretty simple.  This is the first quilt I have done on the long arm since my carpal tunnel surgery and I found quickly that it is still a little difficult to grip the handles tightly for long period's of time.  So my left hand was doing most of the driving.  So the ruler was out and instead I went for fun organic back and forth wavy lines and some echoed arches.   I quilted in the direction that helps to play up the star and then diamond borders and am really happy with how it did just that.  But I have to say, it was pretty funny to watch because I had to keep my sketch of the quilt right beside me the whole time and lost track of where I was in the quilt and which way I needed to be quilting a ton of times :)    But so worth it in the end!!!

And that is my Royal Quilt!!!   And I mentioned in the beginning about a Bake Off ;)   Well, the gals at Fat Quarter Shop are always up for a bit of friendly competition.   So each week for the next 4 weeks they will be sharing 4 quilts using a new Cake Mix.    And of course, you get the chance to vote on your favorite!!!  So pop on over to the Jolly Jabber to see, Royal, as well as Kimberly's, Sarah's, and Deborah's gorgeous Cake Mix Quilts!!!  Then vote for your favorite  of this weeks Cake Mix 1 Bake Off!!     This is going to be so fun :)

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