Tutorial Throwback Thursday - Four Square

I have had so much fun the last few weeks teaching at two different retreats.   While teaching, I am always reminded of how I got started in this amazing industry with just some simple patchwork ;)   And then I always always think about how fun and great simple patchwork is to sew and I want to add a whole bunch of easy patchwork projects to my to make list!!!  So I thought for Thursday, Throwback that a basic Four Patch quilt would be perfect ;)  So here is Four Square!!!   Just in case you want to make some simply wonderful patchwork as well!!! 

Four Square is such a fun and fast quilt to make!!!  It really is a great project as well for Leaders and Enders. You can make all of the 4 patches that way, and then just simply sash them when they are all done ;)   It finishes at 63" x 78", so it makes a great quilt to cozy up in.  

The Four Square tutorial is written to be use 13 Fat Quarters in Solids, but of course, you could easily just any 13 Fat Quarters you liked, prints or solids!!!  And you don't have to stick to Fat Quarters, this quilt is an awesome stash buster!!!   And if you are like me, I can totally use some stash busting ;)   And if by chance you have the AccuQuilt 3 1/2" Square Die you can cut these scraps so super fast!!  I can Fat Quarters on my cutting mat super fast, but when it comes to cutting tons of scraps, the AccuQuilt is my best friend :)    I am thinking all the shades of blue in prints, because honestly, I can't get the blue scrap drawer shut at this point ;)  

And quilting Four Square is just so fun!!!  I just used 2 free motion designs repeated, but the possibilities are endless.   Squares are just so fun to quilt, and you can have so much fun with this ;)    I also changed thread colors for the sashing, which I think makes those squares pop all the more :)   

And that is my Four Square  quilt.  I hope you have enjoyed today's Tutorial Throwback Thursday!!!    To make your own Four Square quilt  just click on any of the quilt name links for the free tutorial.    And when you are done, I would love to see your quilt!!  You can email me a picture at happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com, post it to social media with #happyquiltingwithmc  or or add it to my flickr group here ;)  I can't wait to see your Four Square Quilts!!!!

Oh and one last thing . . . And super exciting news!!!  My Low Volume Chevron Pillow won in the Semi-Finals round!!!  Thank you so much for everyone who voted!!!!   The Championship Round will be in a few weeks and I will let you know when that voting opens ;)   Queen of Pillows is up for grabs . . . How fun is that!!!   

Thanks for visiting today and each day.   I hope you all have a very Happy Quilting Day!!!  

Work in Progress Wednesday!!!

Wow, Two in a Row!!!  I am on a streak now ;)   So here is what I have been working on since last week ;)

If you remember, I got to take the the Vintage Charm Class from  Sherri McConnell at the end of January.   I finished 3 blocks in class, and it was oh so much fun!!!    I am using Harvest Road by Lella Boutique  and I just love seeing how these blocks came together ;)

Since then, I have been squeezing in some chain piecing here and there.   I have finished all of the Units for the 25 blocks and so now I just need to sew the three rows in the Ohio Stars together, and then just assemble the blocks ;)   This project is going great and I can't wait to put it all together!!!

And then the other day I did some serious cutting!!!  I cut up all of my  Sugarhouse Park  Fat Quarters from Amy Smart and then moved on to squares from the bold Navy background.   Talk about a whole lot of squares!!!!    This is going to be a  Quadruple Ring Around The Rosies Quilt from my (so very) soon to be released Charming Baby Quilts Book.   I am hoping to start some chain stitching on this one today ;)  Can  I just say, I am super glad I have my Clearly Perfect Angles Cling so I don't have to draw lines on all 896 of those small squares!!!!!

And finally, You might recall from last year that I planned to make a Halloween Sparkly Stars quilt . . .  Well the blocks are ready to be sewn together ;)   These stitch and flip corners have been my Leader and Enders project ever since I finished up my Scraptastic Star blocks.   And I just finished the last one yesterday and was so excited to layout all the blocks!!!   Now I just need to make some Star Filled 9 Patches!!!    So fun ;)

Here's hoping by next week, I have a whole pile of blocks finished ;)

Hope you all have a very Happy Quilting Day!!!

P.S.   Speaking of Works in Progress . . . There is still the Semi-Finals of the Pillow Fight in progress!!!!   Today is you last day to vote and tomorrow we will find which pillow moves on and which pillows are knocked out ;) 

Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day!!!

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

First, we need to announce the winner from last Terrific Tuesday Giveaway!!  

The winner of the $30.00 Gift Certificate from Shabby Fabrics is . . .   Number #110 . . . Congrats Tina!!!   I have messaged you :)    

   

   

And 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 . . . here are the latest, aren't they just gorgeous!!!  Along with hosting the giveaway, Jamie is also offering all Happy Quilting readers a special   discount of  20% off  Your Purchase of 3 or more Lou Lou Bundles with the code bundleup!!!  Oh, so much fun shopping!!!

And speaking of Bundles, for Today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway,  Lou Lou's Fabric Shop is letting you Pick a Bundle!!!  That's right, the winner will get to choose any one Fat Quarter Bundle that Lou Lou's Fabric has in stock!!!   Oh my goodness, how will you ever decide :)   What fun the winner will have this week!!!!   

You have two entry chances here on the blog, 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 if you could have a Bundle of anything, other than fabric or cash, what would it be???  

 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, February 18th, when I will announce a winner at the beginning of next weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Post :)

You can also pop over to my Instagram and/or Facebook to enter there as well :)  

Good Luck and Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

Renovation - Week 4!!

And I thought  Week 3 of Renovation was starting to look like a kitchen again, this week really has a close to a kitchen!!!   I was out of town for most of the week, so it was so great to get home this morning and see just how much had changed.   But let's take it one day at a time ;)

MONDAY -   The counter tops were installed!!!   And I just love them ;)   It is hard to know what they are going to look like when you are choosing a swatch that is 6" x 6".   To see it in the entire top, is just so fun!!!  And look how great that bar is going to be, so big!!!!

And this will be my computer desk for all things blogging ;)    And again, so big!!!   It is going to be just great to have so much room to spread out, I can't wait!!!

And right after the counter tops dried, in came the back spash!!   And I have to say, I was memorized by watching this back splash go in.   It is a lot like making a quilt, the way it all fits together in tiny little pieces.  Just so awesome ;) 

TUESDAY - And then the next day in the morning, they grouted the back splash.   And I realized the coolest thing!!!  They even matched the tile perfectly in the corner, which of course made my quilters heart just so happy.    That hexagon tile also makes my heart pretty happy as well ;)   What better back splash for a quilter, right ;)  

And while the tilers were grouting, the floor guys were trying to put our subfloor back together.   They had to do some  serious "Patchwork" to fix the holes created when the tile was taken out.   But once it was all one smooth surface again, it was ready for flooring.   And the first part to go in was our cute little entry way :) 

WEDNESDAY - And then close to follow, the Kitchen floor.   And I have to say, when I got the text with this picture, I sqealed right in the middle of my class.  Someone asked if I was okay, and I said back "Oh Yes, I have Floors!"  Which of course, needed a little explaining, but was oh so funny :)  

THURSDAY - Moved the flooring folks to the dining room where they finished off all of the wood floor and then the carpeting folks promptly got all their stuff loaded in to start carpeting the next day.
Things were really hoping!!!

Also, on Thrusday, while the flooring guys were in the dining room, the plumber came and hooked up the kitchen faucet and sink.  So I have water in the kitchen again!!!!    Yippee!!!!!

FRIDAY - And since they were all set, Friday started with carpet !!  They got the living room, and hallways done, and then my family (yes, I was still out of town :) promptly got to work moving everything in the 3 bedrooms into the bathrooms and newly carpeted living room so that the rooms could be carpeted this morning.   And that is what is going on right now!!!   Wow, just so fast!!!

So that is Week 4!!!  And speaking of fast, it looks like Week 5 will be the last week of Remodeling!!!  Our amazing contractor, Dennis from  Precision Development  told my husband yesterday that it looks like everything will be finished up by next Friday!!!  Talk about a super sweet surprise to come home to!!!!!

So I will be back next weekend with hopefully a finish ;)   Of course, everything most likely won't be moved back, but you get the idea!!!  Until next week!!!

And one more reminder . . . My Low Volume Chevron Pillow is in the Pillow Fight Semi-Finals ;)   Be sure to Pop on over and Vote !!!  

I hope you all have a very Happy Quilting Weekend!!!

Baby Dragon Quilt!!!

So this might be the cutest quilt I have every made!!!!   And here is it's story :)   A few weeks ago my twin sister called and said she needed a "Baby Dragon" quilt for her SIL's baby shower ;)   My Sister has been tutoring my daughter for years with her reading so I was so excited that I could do this for her as another Thank You!!!    But I have to say, I was a little nervous about the concept of Baby Dragon.

So I quickly decided I need to do some applique ;)     I started surfing around and found this Shutterstock Image of an adorable Baby Dragon that I knew would work perfect!!!  I used my Complex Layered Applique Technique and made up dragons in the New Mom to Be's Nursery colors ;)     I secured stitched them with a blanket stitch in black and I think it really helped to outline the dragon and make it pop all the more!!!!

I machine stitched the facial features by just dropping my feed dogs and free motion stitching them.    The fabrics are Riley Blake Shades.  I love that they are a little more texture than a basic solid but not so much of a print to distract from the applique.    And isn't that patchwork sashing just precious.  Oh, so cute!!!

When it came time to quilt it, I really wanted to continue to emphasis those adorable dragons, so I did simple pebbling in the background.   Which also made the dragon's pop again almost like a faux trapunto.   And I just stitched in the ditch around the sashing again, as I didn't want to distract at all from the dragons.   And I just love the way it turned out ;)

And so did Mom!!!!!    This is Sarah and from what I hear, she just loves her new Baby Dragon quilt ;)   Won't it be so cute hanging over the crib ;)

And that is my Baby Dragon Quilt ;)  And of course, now all of my kids want a dragon quilt as well, no surprise there :)    Good thing I love applique, because it sounds like I will be appliqueing a lot more dragons in the future ;)    But honestly, I don't think you can get to much of such an adorable thing!!!  

Thanks so much for sharing this finish with me!!!   Have you tried Layered Applique??   It really is a lot easier than it looks and it is oh so much fun ;)    And you can make the cutest appliques!!!


Oh and just a reminder . . . My Low Volume Chevron Pillow is in the Pillow Fight Semi-Finals ;)   Be sure to Pop on over and Vote for your favorite which also enters you into a giveaway for a  Plus One Pillow Talk Kit as well, so double bonus!!!!  

I hope you all have a very Happy Quilting Weekend!!!