New Pillows and Giant Spiral Video Tutorial!!

I am so excited to share my finish today because it has been on the "To Do" list for some time!!  At the beginning of the year, I put Petal Pop on my bed to lighten things up a bit for the winter :)   And it has been driving me nuts for 2 months that there were no matching decorative pillows to go with it.  And lucky for me, Amy started a Pillow Collective project that was the perfect motivation for me to get this project done.  Yippee Skippee for 2 new Giant Spiral Pillows!!!

They look so awesome at the top of the bed!!  I just love popping in there now just to check out the "finished" look.  So fun!!!

I wanted to keep these fairly simple so they didn't take away from the beautiful bedspread so I decided to just do some basic envelope style pillow cases.  I whole cloth quilted the giant spiral on each pillow top and then added the backing envelope enclosure.  I love how clean and sleek they look.

For the quilting, I used a 12 weight Aurifil thread. (even though I called it 30 weight in the video, don't know where that came from ;)   I love the heavier look and the slight sheen it has.  Perfect for the decorative look I was going for.  And I just about used the whole spool on these 2 pillows :)

Oh, and another bonus to making these pillows, it also crossed something else off my list.  Several of you have been asking for a Giant Spiral quilting tutorial recently and well . . . 

Here it is!!!!  I hope you find it helpful for all of your Giant Spiral quilting projects ;)

**A Little Note - I was having a terrible time saying walking foot in this video.  I kept referring to it as a presser foot and even as a free motion foot there at the end.  So please, just disregard my inability to call the foot by its correct name.  I still get a little nervous when I record these and sometimes the words get a little jumbled up :)

I am so excited with how these turned out and so very happy to have a master bed that once again has some beautiful decorative pillows.  I think I will just go pop back to my room and check them out again :)

Have a Happy Quilting Weekend!!!

Linking these to Amanda's, Sarah's, Amy's, and Fort Worth Fabric Studio's :)  Wow, thats a lot of links, take a second to check them out.  They are awesome!!!

Trim Triminey, Trim Triminey, Trim Trim Trimroo

I spent a good portion of yesterday trimming.  I tell you what, it takes a while, and is quite monotonous, but there is nothing like a pile of perfect HST's.  They just make piecing a breeze :)  And then you get the bonus of the super happy trim pile.  Someone wrote a while back that they keep their trim in jars as decor in their sewing room.  What a fun idea.  I think I need to be on the look out for some cute glass containers :)    I can't show the project these HST's will go in for a bit but anyone want to venture a guess as to what line I was using in my HST's??  Well make it fun and the first per to guess it right will get a pattern of their choice :)  EDIT - First Comment and it was right, Congrats Cindy, it is Daydream by Kate Spain ;)

Oh and I had to share this fun little shot from my trimming session.  Josie was in my sewing room playing behind me while I trimmed away.  I thought she was playing with her toys but upon turning around I found that she would rather play with my thread cones.  Snap Shot time!! (and please forgive the horrible flash on the floor, once I took one shot she wasn't willing to not look at the camera ;)   I asked her what she was making and she said a train.  I tried to join in the train building but she was rather particular about what color order the cones were in and preferred me to just watch.  So stinking cute!!!

Thanks for popping in today and have a Happy Quilting Day!!

Star Light Star Bright Quilt-A-Long - Building the Block Sides

**  NOTE  - This post is part of a series of posts for the Star Light Star Bright Quilt-A-Long.  If you would like to join (and have a chance to win one of 4 of the $75.00 Gift Certificate grand prizes sponsored by The Intrepid Thread and Fat Quarter Shop ) you can find a list of the post links here :)  Here is the schedule

Jan 15 - Intro, Fabric Requirements, and Prizes Announcement

Jan 29 - Cutting

 Feb 5 - Flying Geese

Feb12 - Half Square Triangles

Feb 19 - Building Block Centers

Feb 26 - Building Block Sides

Mar 5 - Building Block Corners

Mar 12 - Piecing Top and Grand Prize Linky

April 2- Star Light Star Bright Parade and Grand Prize Winners

Before we get to this weeks assignment, we need to pick a winner for the Star Centers Assignment.  It is so fun to get to see these blocks starting to take shape!!!  The winner who will receive a $25.00 Gift Certificate from Southern Fabric is . . 

#28 - Lesley Foye!!!! - Congrats :)

  

So now, onto this weeks assignment ;)  If you are just finding this QAL, it's never to late to join in the fun :)  You don't have to sign up or anything, just start following along with the weekly assignments ;)

THIS WEEKS ASSIGNMENT - BUILDING THE BLOCK SIDES

Yippee, I am so excited.  Seeing your stars was so fun and now the block really starts to come together!!

Alright, to start go to your now slightly smaller pile of HST's for your first (or only) block.  You should have 24 HST's now.  For today's assignment you will need the 16 HST's in the black box.  Those are the (16) Diamond Fabric/Background HST's.  The other 8 HST's put aside back in those zip-loc baggies keeping them grouped as a block.

To those 16 HST's you will be adding your Flying Geese. You will add the 8 Geese of the matching Diamond Prints to your HST's.  There will be 4 with the Diamond Print as the goose and 4 with the Diamond Print as the sky ;)

You will be making 4 sides per block.  So for each side you will need to layout 4 HST's and 2 Geese, 1 of each kind, as shown below.  You can sew these together in rows, or columns, but I prefer columns so that is that is how I will be showing it, but if you like doing it a different way go right ahead :)

Quick Note before we start sewing -Just like when we sewed the stars, each time I sew a seam I lay my pieces back out into the layout above, it just keeps from having those little oops moments.  I highly recommend chain piecing your 4 sides, and you can assembly line piece all 4 sides for all of your blocks as well.  Just remember to layout the pieces on top of one another so that you are only ever looking at one side on top, and it has layers of sides beneath it and take care when clipping your threads to always stack your pieces back up in the same order.

Okay, lets get to sewing.  Place the bottom pieces onto the top pieces with right sides together and aligning raw edges.  Pin if you are worried about the pieces slipping.  Sew a 1/4" seam along the edges.  *see next picture for sewing note.

And just like the Stars, when sewing the 1/4" seam you have a little guide in your seam allowance that will ensure you a perfect point.  On your Geese unit, the thread will make an X in the seam allowance. Sew your seam directly through the middle of that X and it will give you that nice perfect point.

Clip your threads and then press the seams open.  I like to press these open to avoid bulk.

And now you have 3 columns or vertical rows :)  They should look something like this :)

Now we are going to sew those columns together.  Place the right hand side column and the left hand side column onto either side of the center column with right sides together.  Align the center seams and pin them in place.  Sew a 1/4" seam along the pinned edges,  *see next picture for sewing note.  Press the seams open.

And again, we have a great guide for perfect points.  The print fabric will make a little V in the center seam allowance, sew your seam directly along the bottom of that V and it will give you that wonderful perfect point.

And your side is complete!!   If you are doing multiple blocks and were assembly line piecing, enjoy all your side units.

If you were doing one side at a time, just repeat the process so you have a total of 4 sides per however many blocks you have in your project :)

And that's it!!    And now you can enter to win the weekly prize :)

The Weekly Prize is sponsored by Green Fairy Quilts and a huge thanks goes out to them for their support of the Star Light Star Bright Quilt-A-Long.

This weeks prize is 4, yes 4 Charm Packs from Green Fairy Quilts.  That is going to be some fun choosing for one lucky winner!!!  Oh, I just love Charm Packs!!!

    

So what do you have to do for a chance to win the charm packs?  Simple . . . Just link up your Block Sides :)  You can link to a blog post or a flickr picture, or whatever.  Just make sure to link up by next Wednesday morning as I will be announcing a winner in next weeks post :)

If you don't get your Sides done by next week you can still link it up :) (just not in time for the prize :) The linky will remain open until the end of the Quilt-A-Long.  So if your out of town, or just had a busy week, no worries!!!  Just link up when you can :)

And don't forget to add your Block Sides to the Happy Quilting Quilt-A-Long Flickr group!!!  I can't wait to see them all :)

So let's get sewing!!  Oh, and if you have questions, don't hesitate to email me at happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com.  Have a Happy Quilting Day!!

An InLinkz Link-up

I Won Bronze!!!!!

Wow, Wow, and Triple Wow!!! I am just brimming over with emotions right now I don't really know what to say.   I guess I just need to say it - My Back to Basics quilt took 3rd in the Modern Quilt Guild Riley Blake Challenge.   EEEkkkk!!!!  Seriously, I probably sound like one of those stammering Olympians when the reporter asks them how they feel about winning a medal.  I am overjoyed, humbled, excited, honored, and thrilled and I just can't stop smiling.  Is there a word for that??

Thank you so much to the Modern Quilt Guild for putting on such an amazing challenge.  I mean 390 entries, that is amazing!!!!   And oh, it was so much fun.  I loved seeing all of the wonderful projects created with just 6 basic fabrics.  The amount of creativity and all of the entries were just incredible!!    Thank you to Riley Blake for sponsoring this challenge and letting us all work with your awesome basics!!!

And Thank You to each of your wonderful readers who stop by.  I can't begin to explain how your sweet comments and wonderful emails inspire me to keep creating.  You are such a wonderful motivating influence for me and you push me past my boundaries and to greater heights.  Thank you for that. It means so very much thank you are sharing this journey with me.

And one last note,  several of you have asked if I will be making a pattern for this quilt.  The answer is Yes ;)   I have it started and plan to have several size options as well.  I would love to say I will have it done by the weekend but we have friends coming to stay so I know that is probably not going to happen.  So let's just say it is Coming Soon :)

Thanks again for popping in each day and making my day a truly Happy Quilting one!!!  Here's wishing you a truly Happy Quilting Day as well :)

Charm Pack Cherry

At the beginning of the year I was contacted by the lovely folks of Fat Quarter Shop asking if I wanted to take part in another one of their awesome Shortcut Quilts.  Well of course!!!  A few days later I had some beautiful Sphere Charms along with some Bella Solid Navy charms in the mail and since there was no cutting to start with (totally awesome!!!!)   I got right to sewing this Charm Pack Cherry Quilt. 

This quilt is so fun to put together and so incredibly easy.  It really is a shortcut quilt and goes together in a day or two. Don't you just love having a quick "go to" baby sized quilt that you can just whip together when you are in a tight spot for time ;)

And Kimberly of the Fat Quarter Shop has done an excellent video tutorial of how to put the quilt together filled with lots of great tips on pressing, nesting, and just about every little tidbit that will make putting this quilt together a breeze!!

I was super excited to find that my quilt was being used as one of the "backgrounds" for the video.  It was so fun to see it pop in and out of the shot every once and a while.  And here is the fun shot the Fat Quarter Shop took of the quilt. I must admit, a much nicer shot than the ones I have taken on the poor dying grass :)

You can download the free pattern for Charm Pack Cherry right here at the Fat Quarter Shop.  This is such a great little series they are putting on and I am so happy to be a small part of it :)  

Oh, and I quilted mine with al all over swirl design on my home machine.  This is one of my favorite go to designs and I know, I have not forgotten that I promised I would do a video of this swirl quilting.  My tripod is having a few issues at the moment  (the duct tape just doesn't seem to be holding it together) so I am trying to rig another solution.  I will get this done, I will, I will I will ;)

So what do you think??  Ready to whip up your own Charm Pack Cherry's???   Fat Quarter Shop is making it all the easier for you by discounting all of their charm packs by 20% this whole week!!!!  You can see their awesome collection of Charm Packs here,

I think I just might be stocking up and making a pile of these to have on hand, it is always nice to be prepared ;)  You can see lots more wonderful versions of Charm Pack Cherry by visiting the Fat Quarter Shop's blog here ;)  

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a Happy Quilting Day!!!!