Happy New Year Quilters!

It's a new year and time for new challenges.  I promised myself I wouldn't get involved in any  BOM's this year so I could finish up the ones I have, but you know how that goes.

I have joined the Building houses from Scraps 2012 challenge.  You are supposed to make a house every day all 365 of them.  The blocks can be  paper pieced,  made by hand or machine.  The block is only 3 inches and if that's too small for you they it be enlarged.
Now, I doubt I will be able to make a house every day so I am thinking about making a smaller quilt.  If you are interested click here to get to the blog.

Sentimental Stitches and Dear Jane have combined to do a red and white mystery quilt. It will be a sampler featuring blocks from the"Infinite Variety" quilt exhibit.

All the information about this mystery can be found here.  This looks like a lot of fun and I like red and white quilts so I joined.

And lastly I joined this BOM at the Temecula Quilt Co.  This one wasn't free but it is very cute.  The pattern came this week and it's just a little scary.  I need to read better before jumping in.  The little applique pieces are so small I can barely see them.  If you want to try this one go here.  So you see I am very weak.  I just can't seem to resist.  I need to join a support group.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

and Happy Stitching,

Nancy

Free Mystery Quilt

I have been working on a mstery quilt going on over at the Temecula Quilt Co  blog.  It's called the Twelve Days of Christmas.  This is not a Christmas quilt and it's only 18 x 24 inches when finished.  It's a real cute concept, block 1 had one piece, block 2 two pieces , block 3 three pieces and so on.

We are on day 4 but since there is only one block a day it's not too late to catch up.
The patterns will be up for a while - maybe you would like to check it out.

Remember Black Friday?

Thanksgiving seems so long ago , but Black Friday the day after when everybody goes crazy for the sales I stay home.
This year while I was hiding at home  Black Friday found me.  I got an email from Martingale about their Black Friday sale.  The prices were just too good to miss so I ordered a few of the books I had been wanting.
Now with the Holidays almost behind me I finally found some time to sit and look through them.

Spotlight on Neutrals by Pat Wys has been on my want list since it came out.  I have a king sized bed and I don't like making a lot of king sized quilts so I thought I would make one out of neutrals and then I could just drape my smaller quilts over the end of the bed to display them.  Or I could make one of those bed runners.

I like Scrap-Basket Sensations by Kim Brackett because most of the patterns will work with my Go Cutter.  Which will make for a lot of quick quilts.

I am very fond of Nativity scenes and there is a beautiful one in Adoration Quilts. When I get brave enough I am going to attempt it. 

 Look it isn't even 2012 yet and I am already behind.

What sewing do you have planned for 2012?

Happy stitching,

Nancy

Christmas Isn't the Same

This is the second Christmas without my sweet Mother. The way you think about life sure changes when you lose your Mother. Mine will have been gone two years in May.
 She was almost 92 and I know she was ready but I was not.
I love and miss you Mom

Nancy

AccuQuilt Christmas Theme Blog Hop Winner!

Good morning everyone and congratulations to the winner of the AccuQuilt Christmas theme blog hop as determined by Random.org.

Vicki said...I am now a follower. What do I like about your site? First off the give-away, second the instructions for the apple core quilt, and also the saying you have about ups and downs being with needle and thread - very nice. I would like to use it.

Thank you so much everyone who entered the giveaway and thank you to everyone who said such kind things about my blog.  I truly wish I could give everyone something.  I enjoyed reading all your comments and hope that you will continue to follow my blog.

Merry Christmas and happy stitching,

Nancy

It's Almost Here!

Well, the day is almost here and as usual I am not ready.

I finished some last minute sewing this weekend.
A Christmas dress for Lillian  and one more stocking.

Remember this quilt from this post?  It  was a Christmas present for my son-in-law last year.  I don't know why I put off repairing it for so long.  It wasn't hard to do I just sewed a new inner border strip over the torn one and put on a new binding.  The most difficult part was remembering to buy some black fabric.

It is happily back home.

Now to the sorting, wrapping and finding out what I forgot.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and don't forget to check back on the 24th to find out the winner of the Christmas blog hop.

Happy Stitching,

Nancy

AccuQuilt Christmas Theme Blog Hop and Giveaway

Hi everyone and welcome to day three of the AccuQuilt Theme Blog Hop so happy you stopped by.

Today I am going to talk about the AccuQuilt Go Baby and the Apple Core die. At the end of this tutorial there is a Giveaway and a link for a chance to win a Baby Go.




 This is the Christmas quilt I made using my Go Baby cutter and the Apple Core die.  One of the quickest quilts I have ever made because of my Go.

Cut your pieces of fabric 6 x 71/2" with the selvedge of the fabric going the length of the die.  This helps  keep the fabric from stretching when it is run through the cutter.  You can cut as many as 6 layers of fabric at a time, but I usually cut 4.

I have really enjoyed using my AccuQuilt Go Baby cutter.  It is so easy and fast it only took a few minutes to cut enough Apple Cores to make this quilt.

When I started sewing the pieces together I decided to use Elmer's glue instead of pins. The pins seem to always get in my way.  I don't know what  I did before discovering Elmer's glue.  It's very handy and it washes completely out of the fabric.












I tried to alternate light and dark pieces when sewing the Apple Cores together so the pattern would show up better in the quilt.

 I  also popped the seams open when pressing so they would be easier to stitch through when quilting.

This is the finished top.  It was very easy to quilt.  I just stitched about 1/4 inch from each seam using the presser foot on my sewing machine as a guide.

            My Apple Core quilt was made completely from scraps and I just love it.  

If you would like to make one of your own and you don't have a GO cutter then leave me a comment about something you like on my blog by Saturday December the 24th and you just might win enough Apple Cores to make your very own Apple Core quilt..

If you would like a second Chance to win just click here to get to the page where you can Sign up for the AccuQuilt newsletter then post about it here.  Even if you have already signed up for the newsletter you need to click this link and sign up again.  You can also get 22 free patterns.

Be sure to stop by and visit the other Blogs in the AccuQuilt Theme Blog Hop to see what's going on and maybe win some great prizes.

Here is the lineup for this blog hop:

Monday, December 12th

SewCalGal

Tuesday, December 13th

Leona's Quilting Adventure

Cherry (Cherry Bossoms)

Wednesday, December 14th

Terrie (Bits & Pieces)

Thursday, December 15th

Katrina (Sunshower Quilts)

Jacque (Lily Pad Quilting)

Friday, December 16th

Darlene (SewCalGal)

Paulette (Sweet P Quilting and Creations)

I want to thank SewCalGal for hosting this Blog Hop  and don't forget to visit SewCalGal's blog for a chance to win an AccuQuilt Go Baby!

REMEMBER BETTER CUTS MAKE BETTER QUILTS.
Happy stitching,
Nancy

Christmas Stocking and Blog Hop

I spent a few days last week making Lillian a Christmas stocking.  I have only had a year to get this made but as usual I put it off until the last minute.  The stocking was very easy to make.  I used a free pattern from Maywood Studios click here to see it.  Trying to figure out the embroidery program on my Pfaff was the problem  since I haven't used it in about 3 years but it's finished and hanging on her mantel and I am on to the next thing.

Every one is invited to come to the AccuQuilt Christmas Theme Blog Hop next week.  You will find lots of tutorials, tips, inspiration and some giveaways too.  There is even a special giveaway by AccuQuilt.
The Blog Hop starts Monday, December 12th over at SewCalGal's blog and continues all week.
Hop by and enjoy some fun holiday spirit!
Merry Christmas,
Nancy

2011 Christmas Quilt Show

Christmas is just around the corner and it's time for  SewCalGal's  2011 Christmas Quilt Show.

Stop by and see all the wonderful Christmas quilts.  It's not too late to enter one yourself.  There are lots of wonderful prizes to be given away. 

My entry is Comfort and Joy a pattern designed by Pat Wys.  

It was a block of the month quilt at Sweet Home Quilt Company.  

Merry Christmas everyone

Nancy

Beyond the Cherry Trees Oh My!

It was a nasty day here yesterday power blinking on and off and I didn't want to use my machines so I decided to square up my Beyond the Cherry Trees blocks...all 24 of them.

Squaring up blocks has always made me a little nervous so I bought a 16 1/2" square up ruler to use.  These rulers are not cheap but I thought if it would make squaring up a little less stressful it was worth it.

The first few blocks were easy no problem even if some of the pieces were just barley a 1/4 inch from the sides. Then I started running into trouble.

The applique pieces were outside the 16 1/2 inches.



 







I thought I was being very careful putting the patterns together just right.  I guess I should have been checking each block to make sure but it never occurred to me they would not be correct and I didn't know what size the blocks were supposed to be until a couple of months ago.  I have 10 blocks to go back and fix.

They say we learn from our mistakes.  I think what I have learned is not to assume a pattern is correct.

To always check to be sure before you just go blindly stitching away.
All this can be fixed with a little time and patience it just means I am not as far along with this quilt as I thought.
I hope your stitching is going better than mine.
Nancy

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing you all a blessed Thanksgiving!

Why didn't I think of that?

I just had to post about this clever idea Nike at Choose to Thrive had.  I think I will start cutting up sheets.
Happy stitching,
Nancy

Beyond the Cherry Trees!

Just completed Block 24 only one more block to do.
I still have the borders but I thought I would wait until I got the center put together so I could be sure of the size.  I always get so nervous when I start squaring up blocks and cutting borders.
You put all that work into the applique'  one slip of the cutter and your starting over.
I wonder how some of you square up your blocks?
Happy stitching,
Nancy

Lucky Number 12!

We have a winner.  Pam lucky number 12 has won the copy of QuiltAlbum.
Congratulation Pam!
Thanks for all your comments.
If you didn't win and would like to have a copy.
Remember there is still a coupon for $5 off on my blog.

FriXion Erasable Gel Pens- Yes or No!

There has been a lot of discussion lately on the Yahoo Groups about 

FriXion Erasable Gel Pens.

The ink disappears when you iron it but comes back if you put it in the freezer.

I am not one to put my finished quilts in the freezer but still I don't like any residue from the ink to be left in my quilt.  Who knows what would happen over time.

So I decided to experiment for myself to see what happens.

 I traced a pattern on some white fabric with a blue FriXion pen.

Then I ironed part of it with a medium hot iron.
It went completely away but I could still see a faint
shadow where the lines had been.

I put the piece in the freezer for a while and all the lines came back so there must be some chemicals left in the fabric.

 I took the piece and washed it with Synthrapol and everything came out.  Back to the freezer it went and the lines did not come back.

I believe I will use these pens to mark my applique blocks because I always wash them when I finish each block to remove any oils or dirt from my hands.  They are less expensive and have more color choices then the pens I have been using.

This is the wool applique quilt I just finished using my Rose of Sharon die from Accuquilt - read more here.

I don't think I would use them to mark a quilt like this one for quilting because I tend not to wash my quilts when I finish machine quilting them. The chemicals would be left in the quilt and I don't want that.
Happy Stitching,
Nancy