a quilters dream giveaway

My blogging friend Polly is giving away an AccuQuilt Go baby cutter.  The winner will also receive three die of her choice.  It is a great tool for any quilter (or crafter).  It cuts out everything from strips to triangles to hearts and a whole lot more.  That's why I signed up!!  Go check it out here. And don't leave her blog without looking at all  the awesome quilts and other projects that she makes.  She is a very creative lady. 

lesson in binding

I  will be so glad when I get my ME (Mary Englebreit) quilt finished.  I’ve had to redo several things more than once with that quilt.  The last (I hope) crazy thing I did was to cut two of the corners when I was trimming some excess fabric after I had sewn the binding on.  On corner was actually cut in half, the other was just sliced and looked like this

Luckily I had used scraps to make the binding and it was a fairly easy fix.
I took out about five or six inches of the binding on each side of the corner

and replaced it with the binding I had left over and voila

four completed corners.  At least “sewing machine” complete.  I still need to fold the binding over to the back and hand sew it down.  Then it’ll be 100%. 
Now I have two quilts to take on my trip with me and finish the hand work.

what do you do if

you have a quilt all basted and ready to quilt (that you want to take with you when you leave to visit relatives next week so you won’t have to mail it) and something goes wrong with the bobbin tension on your 820 AND the bernina shop is closed for this entire week? 
You could get mad and or you could move your Deco embroidery machine and your Activa that goes to class with you into the kitchen so you can watch whatever you want on the big screen and work on turning this stack of waiting to be embroidered towels

into this  -- I’ve done ten so far and have 8 more to go.

and while things are embroidering you work on turning cut out quilt pieces into quilt squares like this

and then into finished quilt tops. 
This is just the beginning folks.  I hope to be very productive doing a bunch of little things so maybe my “works in progress” baskets will be emptied and I can fill them back up again. 
I decided to move out of the sewing room for awhile because it is actually cooler in the kitchen/den  as long as I don’t cook and when I sew, I don’t do much of that.
More later,

want to know a secret?

I have developed a love / hate relationship with borders.  I will be so glad to get this quilt finished.  I completed the top a few days weeks months ago and it has been hanging in the closet.  When I took it out to make the backing and get it ready to quilt I noticed how it seemed to be pulling and puckering around the borders.  After several failed attempts at smoothing all those wrinkles,  I finally removed the two borders and took them apart .  I don’t know what I was smoking thinking the day I put the borders on but the inside (black) border was so short that I was able to add a 1 1/2 inch square in each corner and didn’t trim much of anything off  the length  

…and I had to add a little bit to the outside border too.  It is much better but still not perfect.  Anyway, I’m going ahead and finishing the quilt as is and I think it will turn out ok.  This is the front

and this is the back.
 
I think it turned out pretty.  I love the bright Mary Englebreit colors with the white.  I’m going to use scraps for the binding and then it will be done.  Woo Hoo!!

there’s muslin and then there is really nice muslin

I’ve gotten to where I enjoy using muslin to back quilts whenever it’s an option.  I thought I had enough to use as backing for this quilt     

but I don’t.
I have a good bit of muslin that I could use for backing on a wall hanging or a lap quilt that I’m keeping but my really nice muslin that I got on sale is almost used up so I’m going to have to see if JoAnn’s has some more.  I did finish my embroidery  for the back.

The plan is to place these sort of randomly on the back.  Once I figure out the placement, I will cut strips accordingly and piece it together.  Hope everyone is having a great week.

my front door

My house is red brick/taupe siding , red shutters that melt into the brick and white doors and trim.   B.O.R.I.N.G.  I’ve been wanting to do something to liven it up. Decided to start with my front door.  So I got this paint sample  and painted the top left quarter of the door --- I just didn’t fall in love with it.

… and this paint sample and painted the top right quarter of the door and really liked it but after looking at it every time I drove away or returned home for a couple of days weeks, I realized that it was not going to pop with the red brick.

After several people asked me if I was dcorating early for the fourth with my r/w/b door, I went back to Lowes and looked at paint again.  This is what I ended up with.  The color is evergreen and I liked it so much I didn’t even worry with a sample.  I just got a quart and got busy.  I still have to paint the side lights and I’m also going to take the hardware off and spray paint it with

some Oil Rubbed Bronze.  The guys have taken my shutters down and I’m going to paint those black.  I think it will look very nice.

Then I will move on to phase 2 which is to  build a grand front porch with a swing and …. figure out how to make the steps leading up to the door more inviting.  But that will be for another day.

finished quilt top

I finished the quilt top.  Here it is with one border

and here it is with all the borders.

I'm going to try a new sandwiching technique that I saw here.  I really like how she uses pins to mark the center and corners of her quilt top so she can get the backing on straight and also that she starts with the top and adds the backing last.  So, I'm going to give it a try.

i’m trying a new no-bake recipe . . . .

I got it from the Moda Bakeshop.  It’s called  Boxed In Quilt by KarrieLyne.  You start with 25 pairings of these (I did 30 so my quilt will be 50 x 60 instead of a square 50”) 

“slice” until you end up with stacks of these

and then it’s just a matter of putting them together.  Hopefully I’ll get started tomorrow.  I need to have this finished before the end of July which is quite do-able if I don’t get sidetracked.

maybe I should plan a trip to las vegas

A couple of weeks ago I got an email telling me I’d won a giveaway.  My prize was a jelly roll and a really cute pin cushion.  A couple of days ago I got an email telling me I'd won another giveaway.  This prize -- A charm pack of a new fabric line from Riley Blake called Hoo’s In The Forest ….. Isn’t it cute.  I can make a baby blanket or a girls skirt or some little zipper bags or a table topper.  Can’t wait to get it.   Click here to see the whole line of fabric.
Compose

for jessica

This link is for my neice Jessica. You think you have crazy DYI ideas?? Check this out.

Cherry Hill Cottage - Car Slipcovers


I actually kind of like it. Wouldn't mind riding on those cottagey seats at all:)

recent finishes

Ruffley Dresses for the girls



a quilt that has been sandwiched and waiting for at least 5 months
Front

Back

Just need to finish hand sewing the binding.  Used a multicolored thread with red, blue, green, dark brown and taupe. 

happy quilting has a new sponsor and a giveaway!!

 I love looking at Quilting Blogs.  They are so addictive:)  You can get lots of ideas for ways to use the most beautiful fabrics.  One of the newer (to me) blogs that I 've  come across is Happy Quilting.  This blogger has tutorials for some of the quilts she's made and for some other things too.  You should check it out.  Why . . . you might ask.  Because  . . . . . Melissa  from Happy Quilting  is having a giveaway.   As an introduction  for becoming one of her new sponsors,the Fat Quarter Shop is going to give  one of her readers a FQ bundle of  Patricia Bravo's Natures Elements.

Go on over to her blog and check out the giveaway details and all the other neat things she has.