November Sew Sampler Box!!

I truly love this time of year!!  Everything is super festive and fun, but my oh my, how the day's fly by :)  I figured I best share my November Sew Sampler box before it's the new year!!!   The theme of this month's box is Happiness Blooms Within, and I tell you what.  I just feel happiness from within every time I pull this amazing quilty goodness from my mailbox.   So let's check out the Sew Sampler Goodness for this month, because it is indeed happy making!!  

I was thrilled to find this adorable Fat Eighth Bundle of Forget Me Not by Allison Harris.   I just love Alison's fabrics, the colors and prints always make me feel at home.  And speaking of at home, how cute would that Petals Table Runner be in my dining room.   So fun!!!  Add it to the list ;) 

And I am so super excited for the the notions that  Fat Quarter Shop sent along this month.  I mean, I am always excited for more Triangles on a Roll, but the Triangles On A Roll Washi Tape Stickers, brilliant!!!  My Rolls are all just thrown in a drawer constantly getting tangled up and I try to keep the original tag with each roll so I know the size, but they get mixed up.   Not anymore!!!  So excited!!!    I also love this beautiful Cinnamon and Cream ribbon, it will be perfect for tying up a baby quilt to gift :)  (Does anyone else use ribbons to "wrap" their quilts, super fast and super cute!!)   I haven't tried the Dog Ear clipper tool, but I am interested to see if it will save some time ;)  

And ya, there is no way I am catching up on the Quilt Along.   It just wasn't in the cards this year.  Looks like I will just have to get the  Bliss Quilt Along kit featuring Stitched Fabrics by Joanna Figueroa and add it to my long term project pile, tee hee hee :)  

And just fyi, the Sew Sampler box Subscription now has openings!!!  So there is no wait list, and you can sign up and get a new box next month.  So fun!!!   This truly is my favorite Subscription and I just love when it arrives each month and I get to enjoy all of the quilty goodness in each aqua box!!! 

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

Treasured - Fast & Fun Lap Quilts

 It's Week 9 of my Fast & Fun Lap Quilts Book Tour and today I am sharing a second version of the Treasured quilt! And this week, it is all about Batiks!!! Can you believe I have never made a quilt completely from basics!!  It has been on my list to do for some time and this was the perfect opportunity to cross it off ;)   And I just love the finish!!! 

For this version of Treasured, I was really trying to show how you can make Batik Fabric Collections just shine.  And the cool thing is . . . there are so many  "Layer Cake" of Batiks, to choose from making all of your prints and colors just match perfectly :)  I already want to make this again in Christmas/Winter collections, I think it would be such a pretty Christmas quilt!!! 

  I choose to use the new Meadow Collection of Expressions Batiks from Riley Blake Designs.  (You know I just love all of those pretty purples!!!) I am so excited that Riley Blake is now making Batiks as I work with them a lot and so I see lot's more Batik quilts in my future ;) And the Pale Pink Batik Background just makes all of those jewel tones just pop!!  And once again, you have to love the scrappy binding in all of the colors, it is just so fun!!!  Treasured finishes at 52 1/2" x 68 1/2" so it is a great size for snuggling up in ;)   

Since I custom quilted all the quilts in the Fast & Fun Lap Quilts  I thought it would be fun to do all over designs for these second versions.   For this Treasured quilt, I quilted an all over curly q's.   It is such a fun design to quilt.  And I got back to using my favorite 402 So Fine for this one ;)  

And that is another Treasured quilt, the ninth and final lap quilt in my new Fast & Fun Lap Quilts book !  You can find the Fast & Fun Lap Quilts book in your local or online quilt shops,  C&T Publishing, or if you would like a personalized signed copy, you can order from my Etsy shop.  And if you make your own Treasured quilt, I would love to see it!!  You can share your quilts with me on social media using hashtag #happyquiltingwithmc and #fastandfunlapquilts and tag me @happyquiltingmc or you can email me a picture at happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com.   

Thanks so much for popping in for another Fast & Fun Lap Quilts book day of fun.    And if you haven't had a chance to enter Fat Quarter Shop's Fast & Fun Lap Quilts Giveaway for a Zinnia Layer Cake so you can make your own Treasured quilt just like theirs, be sure and pop on over and enter.  

I hope you all have a very Happy Quilting Day!   

Covering the World - One Quilt At A Time

 I was so honored when my friends at Moda and AccuQuilt asked if I wanted to participate in the Covering the World One Quilt At A Time project this year.  This has been such an amazing project to see so many people sharing their love through giving of quilts.  Have you seen the hashtag #quilttheworld2022, absolutely amazing!!!  

I absolutely love to donate quilts.  There is nothing more happy making than sharing a quilty hug with someone or some group in need!!!   While I like to donate to many causes and charities, my absolute favorite foundation to donate to is the Festival of Trees benefitting Primary Children's Hospital.  

You see, in 2013, my sweet nephew David was born.  He is my twin sister's second child and he had a hard first few months of life.  David had to have open heart surgery when he was a week old to correct coarctation of his aorta and two holes in his heart.  He then spent the next few months at Primary Children's Hospital recovering.  I can not even put into words the amazing care and love that he and his family was given while at Primary's.  

So every year since then, I donate a Quilt to hang in their Festival of Trees to be auctioned off and the benefits go to help Primary Children's Hospital.  This amazing foundation allows Primary Children's to not just care for each patient, but make them and their family feel so much love, warmth, and a home away from home while they go through such trying times.  These are some of my favorite quilts I have given to Festive of Trees over the past years.  

But this year was a very special year.  David is continuing to grow, which we are all so grateful for.  But with that growth, his heart was having to work more, and this year, he needed to have another surgery so his heart could keep up with him.  So this year, I gave my Festival of Trees Quilt right to my sweet nephew, David.   He took it with him to the hospital and everyone that helped care for him signed it.  

He choose my See Squared quilt because it reminded him of his favorite Lego's.  And it worked out great as everyone was able to sign their own center square.  David is now 10 months post op and doing super well.  He is back to no restrictions and so super happy to be back to his amazing self again!!    And you can also be a part of the Festival of Trees.  It is open for the next few days, you can go here to see how you can help with such an amazing foundation!!!  

Or find any charity, foundation, or organization in need in your own area. This is such an amazing time of year to share love, and my favorite way of doing that is with a quilty hug!!!    So join with me, lots of blogging friends, and Moda and AccuQuilt  participate in the Covering the World One Quilt At A Time project this year!!! It's not to late to cover the world in one more quilty hug in 2022!!!  

Alabama Beauty Rainbow Solids Quilt and Tutorial!!!

  I am so thrilled to be sharing my newest finish today as well as a new AccuQuilt Tutorial for it.    It's an Alabama Beauty quilt, that has been on my To Make list for quite some time, and I did it in gorgeous Rainbow Solids!!!  Isn't it just so pretty!!  The design reminds me of Holiday Ornaments so it was perfect to go with my happy Christmas Tree ;) 

Like I said, this one has been on my To Make list for some time, but when I thought about making it, I always thought of applique.  But this Alabama Beauty is completely pieced, and let me tell you, it was some curved piecing goodness!!!!  And you all just know, I love making quilts the are done up in a rainbow of colors, and it was especially fun to go through my Solid Scrap bins for this one.   I think the Solids really let the design of the block just pop!!! 

And I just love that I sorted my scraps recently into solid scraps as well.  It made finding all of these scrap pieces so fast and fun.   And cutting it out with the new GO! Alabama Beauty Die was also super quick.  I can't imagine trying to make this without having all of those little notches to keep me perfectly lined up. I just love AccuQuilt for all my "Someday I will Make" Curved Projects!!!! 

The GO! Alabama Beauty Die is a wonderful Block On Board die, so you can cut everything you need for a block in one easy pass.   And again, gotta love those little notches on all the curves!!  After I made my blocks, I just sashed them up and now I have this beautiful 50" x 50" lap size quilt that will be perfect next to my Christmas Tree, as we do our Christmas Tree and the Stockings in a rainbow of colors as well ;)   

When it came time to quilt I decided I really wanted to go super dense :)  I am not gonna lie, all of that curved piecing int the center really adds up, and adding a lot of quilting goodness helps to really flatten out all of those curved seams.   I did all over swirls, curls, paisleys, and pebbles.   It is a favorite of mine to do when really wanting to add lots of quilting goodness!!! 

  

And of course, it also adds lots of beautiful quilting texture!!!  And that is my Alabama Beauty Rainbow Quilt!!!  And I hope you love it as much as I do ;)   If you want to make your own Alabama Beauty Quilt grab your GO! Alabama Beauty Die and check out the free step by step tutorial!!!     And when you are done, I would love to see it!!!  You can email me a picture at happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com or post it to social media with #happyquiltingwithmc and #AccuQuilt ;)  I can't wait to see your Alabama Beauty Quilts!!!

Thanks for joining me today and sharing this new quilt and tutorial with me ;)   I tell you what, I just love curved piecing!!!!  I hope you find you love it as well!!

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

Treasured - Fast & Fun Lap Quilts Book Tour

 It's Week 9 of my Fast & Fun Lap Quilts Book Tour and today I am sharing the final quilt in the book, the Treasured quilt! And I just love this quilt!!!  It looks a little complicated, but again, it is pretty fast, mostly made with lots of stitch and flip fun.   And all of the angled seams are nested, so you get perfect points every time.    I love how the large sashing just sets off each block, really letting them shine in each of their fabric combo's!!!    And one more scrappy binding to finish it all off, so cute!!!

Here is the introduction I wrote about Treasured in the Fast & Fun Lap Quilts Book.  "When I first designed this quilt, I called it X Marks the Spot.  But when the quilt was finished, it was just way to pretty for that name.  So what goes with X Marks the Spot?  Obviously, it's where you find the treasure.  Then it hit me: this would be a Treasured quilt for anyone!  I hope it's truly a treasure for you or a loved one."

When writing this book, I tried to give you all of the tips and trick that I would share if I were teaching a quilting class.  This is my favorite tip from the Treasured quilt.  I know, we all (myself included) get in a huge rush to finish a quilt when all we have left is just to sew the sashing around the blocks.  But the few extra minutes it takes to align your sashing and pin the intersections it is totally worth the end result.    Straight sashing quilts are happy sashing quilts :)  

Treasured was made using Sonnet Dusk fabrics by Corri Sheff for Riley Blake Designs.  All the quilts in Fast and Fun Lap Quilts are made with 1 Layer Cake/10" Stacker and a background fabric.   You will use 39 of the 10" squares for this quilt.  This quilt finishes at 52 1/2" x 68 1/2", making it great  lap size quilt to snuggle up in.    

I had so much fun custom quilting each of the quilts in Fast & Fun Lap Quilts .  For this Treasured quilt, I quilted feathered swirls in the background.  Then in the block, I did petals, pebbles, wishbones, and straight lines to showcase each part of each block.  And ya know, one last time,  I used 402 So Fine thread to blend perfectly into the white background and all of the prints.   

And that is my Treasured quilt, the ninth and final lap quilt in my new Fast & Fun Lap Quilts book !  You can find the Fast & Fun Lap Quilts book in your local or online quilt shops,  C&T Publishing, or if you would like a personalized signed copy, you can order from my Etsy shop.  And if you make your own Treasured quilt, I would love to see it!!  You can share your quilts with me on social media using hashtag #happyquiltingwithmc and #fastandfunlapquilts and tag me @happyquiltingmc or you can email me a picture at happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com.   

And speaking of making a Treasured Quilt, my amazing friends at Fat Quarter Shop have made up their own Treasured Quilt using Zinnia by April Rosenthal for Moda.    Isn't that just so fun to see it done up so bright and happy!!  And I love how they flipped the sides of the blocks to make it their own ;)   It is such a happy finish!!    You can see all the details at The Jolly Jabber!!  

And while you are visiting Fat Quarter Shop at The Jolly Jabber be sure to enter their giveaway. My wonderful friends are sharing a  Zinnia Layer Cake (which is super awesome as it doesn't release until next month!!) with one lucky reader!!!  How fun is that, you can make a super happy Treasured quilt as well!!!  You can enter the giveaway at the Jolly Jabber.  

And that is it for today, thanks for popping in for Week 9of the Fast & Fun Lap Quilts book!

I am just so happy to share this Treasured quilt and be sure to pop back in on Saturday when I will share a second version of the quilt.  

I hope you all have a very Happy Quilting Day!