Merry Christmas

May the love of this beautiful holiday season fill your homes and bring peace, hope and happiness!!

From our family to yours - Merry Christmas

Starburst Quilt-A-Long - Coming Soon!!

So do you remember way back when I asked  if you you wanted to do a  Starburst Quilt-A-Long??   We'll it's time!!!   We'll get started  in the new year. I am so super excited!!  I just love Quilt-A-Long's and I really love this pattern, win - win!!!  And remember, you can choose from 3 different size options ;)

Of course we will be having great fabric discounts, fabulous fabric prizes, and most importantly lots of fabric fun with friends!!!   More information on all of this coming soon :)  For now, just get excited!!!

So what do you say??  Do you want to Quilt-A-Long with me???  Grab a button and get ready for fun!!

 

  <a border="0" href=" http://happyquiltingmelissa.blogspot.com/p/quilt-long.html" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrd-RL4KAhDwJLP1u0oEtaWi7ieqYgrxmFr00dkRvFA5n_CMvUH4Dq8ay7Zf8B42TDYwUJJjWZ0poFo0-6wpvnY_gnwCziQN1I9IxHoFeU3pUr1lNagAOF7J8cPEuZ6zBnYoeuLl5_cIw/s1600/Starburst+Quilt-A-Long.jpg"/></a>

Edit  - Here is a quick link reference to all of the posts in this Quilt-A-Long

Teaser Post
Introduction, Fabric Requirements, and Prizes
Deciding on a Layout and Cutting
Goose in the Corner and Half Square Triangles
Flying Geese
Building Blocks - At least 2
Finishing Blocks and Sashing
Baste It, Quilt It, Bind It
Parade and Grand Prizes

Hip to be Square

I am so excited to finally get to share Hip to be Square, my latest published quilt!!!  (Squeal)  This quilt  quickly became one of my all time favorites and I have been dying to share it!!  I used Moda Bella Solids in beautiful earthy tones to give modern flair to this highly geometric design.

The arrangement of colors and changes of strip sizes gives this quilt an endless amount of movement.  I just love how it looks like it is converging on itself in one minute and then the next minute it is exploding outward. So cool!!

You can find Hip to be Square in McCall's Quilt Quilts Feb/Mar issue which is in stores now.

And I can find the original Hip to be Square on my bed!!!  Yup, I finally made a quilt for my own bed, and I love it!!  Now I think some pillow covers are in order.  Another project to add to the list :)

And even though I finished this a long time ago, I am just now getting to share the finish, so I am linking it on up to Crazy Mom Quilts ;)

I Made a Doll Dress :)

Well my first attempt at making doll clothes wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be and I am pleased with the outcome. Now the reason it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be was because of the help of my wonderful mother-in-law.  I still read an instruction and it would go way over my head, but then Mom would explain what part we are adding to where and then the instruction would be a whole lot more clear :)  I think I will need my pattern interrupter for a while, but I am hoping to pick up the lingo with more practice :)  Yup, that's right, I want to do it again :)   I can't wait for my daughter to get to pick out the fabrics and patterns, we are going to have so much fun!!!

Since I was sewing with mom she took some pictures along the way.  Gotta love that tongue stuck out in concentration :)  That ruffle just kept trying to get away from me :)  These are some of my daughter's favorite prints from my stash, I think she is really gonna love it :)

And this picture represents a valuable lesson learned.  When attaching the bodice to the skirt, it is best to pin down and not up.  Pinning up results in a lot of pricked fingers :)

So here she is, ready for Christmas Morning.  I picked this dress because it seemed like the least complicated outfit for my first try.   The funny thing was that as soon as I was done, I started thinking of way's that could dress it up a bit, like a tie in the gathered neckline, or gathering the sleeves, or a ruffle on the sleeves :)  I guess with practice, I will learn to see these things before it is all sewn up :)  But for my first attempt, I am quite pleased and excited for my daughter to find my old doll on Christmas Morning :)

Here's to hopefully a few more outfits next year.  Have a Happy Quilting (and happy clothing sewing) Day!!!

Matching Doll Quilt

So remember yesterday I mentioned I was going to turn these scraps into a new doll quilt??

Well I did, and I am just head over heels about it!!!   I wanted to use all of the prints so I decided to use the star pattern that I used for this block tutorial, I just used solid pieces of fabric instead of scrappy ones and scaled the size down just a bit.  I alternated the darker prints and the lighter prints to really make each blade of the star stand out.

Then to finish the quilt, I added a 1" white border around the star block, added a scrappy tile row to the top and bottom for length, and then one more 1" white border to the top and bottom.  I even had a little bit of the binding left from my daughter's Star quilt, so I used that to bind it.

 I am so excited how the quilting turned out!!!  I really wanted to star to pop so I stitched in the ditch around it and the scrappy tile rows.  I think it really helped to add definition to the blades of the star and I love the bit of puffy!!  (Although, there are a few places that aren't quite in the ditch, I still need to work on that :)

Then I quilted the the background in the same echoed paisley design (see video tutorial here)  that I did on the stars quilt but just did it in a micro size.  Isn't it just so stinking cute.  I love small stitching and I finished at about the same time I was starting to regret doing it so small.  That's such a perk of small quilts :)

So that's the last minute Christmas gift checked off :)  Yippee Skippee!!!

But you know I couldn't leave it at that, tee hee hee.  I am totally inspired.  With this cute new modern quilt the doll needs a cute little modern outfit.  And I talked to my MIL and she agreed to guide me along the way.  So sewing today will be tackling one of these.  Wish me luck!!