Loulouthi Love...

I finally cut into my favorite print in Anna Maria Horner's Loulouthi line ~ Summer Totem.The pattern is "Strawberry Fields" from the first Material Obsession book. The pattern uses a wide border on the top and bottom of the quilt only. It's interesting and makes good use of that glorious print.
I did change the pattern up a bit and brought the frame strips out to the right and left sides.
The points are brown and
a variety of reds.
Yes, Loulouthi, you make me happy!

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Sew the Perfect Gift ~ A Giveaway

Martingale released a great new book last week just in time for the gift giving season!

Both my granddaughters have birthdays in October and I love how excited little children are about their ages. Unlike adults they eagerly anticipate their birthdays and proudly display with cute little fingers just how old they are. So I thought the girls might like pillows with their ages on them for their bedrooms and it was the perfect idea for the "Perfect Gift" book.

Here are my projects in the book!
And since the big girl is turning 4 next week, I had to make a new one. You may remember that she asked me to use cuter fabric this time. Do you think she'll like it?
The book has 25 quick, easy gift projects by various designers ranging from pillows to bags to table runners. I love them all and here are a couple of my favorites both designed by Cassie Barden.

City Roses Purse

Gardener's Apron

I need this myself! (Did you notice it's made with laminate?)

So guess what! I have an extra copy thanks to the nice people at Martingale! Leave any comment if you'd like to be entered in the give away. If you can't think of anything to say maybe you can tell me your favorite hand-made gift. I'll randomly draw a winner next Wednesday morning. You really want this book! Good luck!

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Fearless Free Motion Quilting

I could give you all kinds of tips and directions for free motion quilting. But I'm guessing you probably know them all or could easily find tutorials (such as this one) and Youtube videos using a simple search. So I'd just like to take a bit of the fear out of it today!

First I'd like to share this wonderful picture that my almost 4 year-old granddaughter recently created for me. Can you read the name? Six months ago her Es had way more than 3 horizontal lines and you really couldn't even recognize the Y. I'll admit the S needs a bit of work, but do you know how well she's going to do in another 6 months?
Do you think we would ever tell this sweet child that she's a failure and will never be able to write her name?
Why do we feel like failures when we first try something new like free motion quilting? The number one thing to remember is that it is going to take some practice! No one is very good when they first start! So be patient with yourself and practice!

Now that I've talked you into practicing, you're probably wondering when you'll find the time. When we have a little sewing time, would we rather cut into that brand new gorgeous fabric or practice free motion quilting? I know the answer!

Here's how I've done it. First grab some fat quarters and scraps of batting. Take 20 minutes one day to pin baste 6 or 7 little quilt sandwiches. Now you're ready. If you practice for about 20 minutes every time you sit down to sew, you'll be amazed at how quickly you improve. In fact, practicing frequently in shorter spurts is more effective than hours and hours of practice. Once your 20 minutes is up, you can move on to whatever you planned on sewing that day.
My suggestion is to work on a simple design over and over until you're really good at it (and sick of it!). Simple loops are very effective.
Once you have one design down pat, choose another and become very proficient at it.
Keep adding to your repertoire and soon you'll have lots of designs that you're good at.
It gets easier and easier!!
Hope you've enjoyed my month of Quilt School. Let me know if there are any other topics you'd like me to cover in the future.

And be sure to come back this week. I have a super give away coming up next!!

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This one's for the girls...

You may remember when I redecorated my guest room for the girls, it was missing an important element ~ a quilt. Well, the quilt is done. The block is #3160 "Flying Goose" according to Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia. It's very similar to "Birds in the Air".On the back I almost created a second quilt.
"Sherbert Pips" layer cake pieced together.
It makes a nice addition to the room.
And for those cold nights, I found a few coordinating little quilts in the closet.

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It's been a productive morning...

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The perfect quarter inch

Today I've got a tip on how to perfect your quarter inch seam allowance.

I'm sure you know most piecing uses a quarter inch seam allowance. And you may have even heard that, well, it's supposed to be a scant quarter of an inch. You may have purchased a Quarter Inch foot for your machine to find that perfect quarter inch. And you may have measured your seam allowance like this and found that, yes, it is a quarter inch.
So why isn't your piecing turning out as perfect as you'd like? There are many factors that determine the results of your quarter inch sewing. For example how close to the edge of the foot you line your fabric, the thickness of the thread you're using, how you press your seams and more.

Here's the test. We're going to measure the results.

Take 3 strips of fabric, each cut 1 and 1/2" wide. Sew them together side by side using what you think is your quarter inch. Press. Then measure the width of the strip set. It should measure exactly 3 and 1/2".

If it's too big, you're taking too small a seam allowance and if it's too small, the seam allowance is too big. Make some adjustments and try again and again until it's right. Then do it one more time so you know you've got it!

Be consistent when you're piecing - use the same kind of thread, the same pressing technique, etc.
With a bit of practice and if you stay consistent, you'll get better and better. And your piecing will be almost perfect - because really no one's perfect all the time!

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The result of a rainy weekend...

Some play with Loulouthi (in addition to a nap or 2).Strawberry Fields from Material Obsession.
Nine of twenty blocks {p.s. - the triangles aren't matching perfectly because the block components aren't sewn together yet}

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How things work...

Today was supposed to be a day in the garden, dividing some overcrowded perennials. But the rain came and I'm stuck in the sewing room with a cup of coffee, playing with fabric! The Secret Garden quilt is looking good, but I'm at a standstill waiting for more fabric. I have 2 additional gorgeous lines staring at me that I've been afraid to cut. So here's how my mind is working this morning...

I love my Zig Zags! You may remember my Zig Zag quilt, but you may not know it was inspired by a Massoni pillow. So when Target came out with it's Massoni line this week I was able to snag a storage box to match my quilt. I feel pretty lucky after hearing that the Massoni line flew out the doors!
I've been itching to do another Zig Zag that flows diagonally on the quilt. It's a super easy design made entirely of rectangles. Seeing the Massoni ads made me think of my Heirloom stash ~ maybe it might make a nice diagonal Zig Zag? I need a project for next week's STLMQG Sew-In. This might be it!
I also got out my favorite piece in the Loulouthi line. After browsing through some quilt books, I pulled some coordinates...
I think it's looking pretty good...
And I found a great pattern in this book that will really show off that gorgeous print.
Things are working pretty well today...

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Secret Garden Sewing...

I bravely cut into my Sandi Henderson fabric. The feel of this fabric is amazing. It's soft and silky. I may have to even splurge on a silk or bamboo batting for this one!

My original plan was to use 4 quarter-square triangles in the center, but I tried that and it looked like a jumbled mess. So I ended up cutting it as one square and, wow, it looks much better (Nicky, I think you suggested that!). The block is simple, but will truly show off the beautiful, big prints.
Four done...



Here they are on the design wall (with a little sneak peek at my circling geese). Now I'm ready to order the hyacinth blue for the sashing. To be continued...

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Rotary Rules

I guess I should call them "Rotary Things You Might Want to Try" because the great thing about quilting is there are no rules!

1 - When you're cutting strips, the first thing you have to do is straighten the edge of your fabric. This evens up the edges and gives you a cut perpendicular to the fold - and you'll never have a "V" in your strip.

Here's how I do it - Fold your fabric as it comes off the bolt. You can only have one fold - if you fold it again you're actually dealing with 3 folds and trying to cut perpendicularly to all - impossible!

Place a small ruler on the right, lining up one of the horizontal lines with the fold. Butt your long ruler up to it on the left.
Remove the small ruler and you're ready to cut! (Reverse everything if you're a lefty)
2 - When I'm cutting long strips parallel to the selvedge, I trim about 1/2" from the selvedge and cut as many strips as I need the length of the ruler. Then I scoot the fabric towards me and continue to cut the length of all the strips. I've cut strips across the whole width of the fabric this way!
3 - Do you need to cut a strip wider than your ruler? Just butt up two rulers next to each other to get the width you need. Add carefully!
4 - How about some "Power Cutting". If you need to cut lots of strips one size, instead of picking up the ruler after each cut, just keep adding your strips together. For example - if I'm cutting 2" strips, I can cut at 2", 4" and 6" before removing the ruler and strips. Quick!

5 - You can do the same thing when you're subcutting your strips. Even more powerful is lining up 2 or 3 strips together and cutting them all at once.
Voila! 12 squares in no time!
Thanks for coming to school today!

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