Keeping Up!

Sometime keeping up is not all that easy.

Blocks twenty one and twenty two prepped and ready to stitch on my Beyond the Cherry Trees quilt.  Only three more blocks and then the borders.

I am up to date with my BOM Comfort and Joy Christmas quilt.  But this months block is ready to be picked up so I guess I need to go get it.

 I managed to complete two tops for Healing Hugs a group that makes quilts for chemo patients.  Only the  quilting left to do.

 This is my progress on my GO tumbler leader and ender project.  Long way to go with this one and silly me I bought cheddar fabric to make the Bow Tie leader ender project Bonnie Hunter is hosting.

Better get off the computer and get busy.
Happy Stitching,
Nancy

Red and White Swap

Several weeks ago I signed up for a fabric swap Sew Many Ways was hosting.  Not that I need more 5" squares of fabric but I do love red and white.  

We all sent in 125 -  5" squares and were supposed to get 125 different ones back.  I guess a lot of people sent in the same fabrics because when mine came back I had lots of duplicates.    I know seperating all these squares was a lot of work and   Sharon always does such a nice job. She always includes a little gift in your return package. This time she  sent everyone a sweet little red and white spool and bobbin holder.  Thanks Sharon.

I picked up my machine yesterday over $400 so glad to have her home.  Please don't unplug your power cord from your machine when you are shutting down.  Unplug or turn the power off at the wall.  I learned an expensive lesson.
Happy Stitching,
Nancy

Rob Peter to Pay Paul

My latest project using my GO is Rob Peter to pay Paul.

I choose to make this a two color quilt and use some of the black and whites I had left from a previous quilt. I wanted all my Peters to be white and the Paul's to be scrappy black and white.  So I began cutting and was able to cut out the entire quilt in just an afternoon using my GO and the Rob Peter to pay Paul dies.

I did starch and press my fabrics before cutting to ensure I would get accurate cuts. You will need to cut at least two paul's of each fabric pattern.  It takes four Paul pieces for each block.

One thing you need to remember when making your paul's scrappy - you are going to have to layout your blocks before beginning to sew.  This way you can be sure they match up correctly.

When I began sewing  the pieces together I soon realized just how important it is to match the ends perfectly.  I fiddled with pins for a while and then decided to try Roxanne's glue.  This worked much better for me.





I know some people sew their blocks together without any pins at all but that method just didn't work for me.

This is a picture before and after pressing. They sure look strange before you press.

I pressed the seams open after I sewed the blocks together to help with the matching and reduce some of the bulk.

A picture of  what I have accomplished so far.  This won't be one of those quilts you make in a day but I really like it and think it is going to be worth the effort it takes.  

Accuquilt makes it much easier because there are little notches showing you where to match your pieces and there are no templets involved in the cutting.

Happy Stitching,

Nancy

Simple Things with Borders

All that's left is the quilting.
Well, I just couldn't help myself.  Knowing myself as I do I just had to remove the brown bits.
If I had enough to put some in the borders I would have left them but since I did not I knew they would drive me nuts every time I looked at the quilt.  Removing them wasn't too bad and I did learn a lesson. Stack all your fabrics together and look at them before starting to see if any one  fabric jumps out at you. This is something I knew already but never seem to remember to do.  Maybe this little quilt will help me remember.
Thanks Kelly for a fun little quilt.

Happy Stitching,
Nancy

Simple Things Quilt Along

This is the latest installment of the Simple Things quilt.  These blocks are for the border.  If you would like to see some of the other quilts people are making in this sew along click here.  We are almost finished and I think it has turned out to be a very cute quilt.  Thanks Kelly for the quit along.

Bust My Stash Photo Challenge

Have you stared at your fabric stash and wished that you had the time and energy to cut up your fabric for future projects?  AccuQuilt has the answer!
 Click here  to participate:  or go to AccuQuilt's Facebook page and click "Like".  
Then go to the "Bust My Stash" tab under their profile picture and upload a picture of your fabric stash.  Submit your photo by Friday, July 22nd and you'll be eligible to win a GO!  Mix & Match 12" Starter Set.  The photo with the most votes by July 31st wins!  Photos will be voted on by the following criteria:  relevance, creativity, and originality.  Share with your friends during the voting period to increase our odds of winning!  

Good Luck

Accuquilt Retreat Quilt

I finished my Accuquilt Retreat quilt.

This was our project at the Accuquilt retreat in June.  It was all cut with the GO using the drunkards path dies.

I can't  believe how easily these blocks went together.  I have always been told to sew your blocks with the pie shape on top but Leslie at Country Traditions suggested we sew with the  L shape  on top and it worked so much better for me.
I did use two pins - some people didn't use any.


Accuquilt already has a little notch in the center of each piece so you don't have to do all that folding to find the center.

One thing I found to be very important with this die is the fabric grain. It is absolutely necessary to place your fabric on the die with the length wise grain of the fabric running along the length of the die.  If you don't your blocks just won't sew together as well and will be misshapen.  Ask me how I know this.
Happy stitching,
Nancy

Accuquilt Rose of Sharon die

I have done a little more work on my new project with the Rose of Sharon die by Accuquilt. I am always amazed at how quickly you can cut out a project using Accuquilt dies.

For this quilt I decide to try my hand at felted wool applique. Never having done this type of applique I didn't have the proper threads and my local quilt shop "Sweet Home Quilt Co" didn't carry them so I had to order on line. This is always a problem for me because it is so hard to choose the right color. Some of the colors I picked were useable but some were not and so I need to order a couple of more. I wonder how you decide on colors when you order on line?

I used the  Rose of Sharon die and the Stems and Leaves die for this project.  First I fused Steam A Seam Light on the back of the wool and then I cut it into small pieces that would just fit the design I wanted .

I didn't want to waste  fabric.  

When I run the die through my GO I only place the mat over the piece I want to cut.  That way your mat lasts longer .Now I have all these pieces ready to place on my background fabric. 

I am using Antique muslin for my background.  This is a new fabric for me and I really like it.  I did a little stitching last night and found it wasn't as easy as I thought.  It's really hard to keep all those little stitches spaced the same especially when you have old eyes.  Five of these little gems to do.  The stitching may take a while but the cutting was a breeze with my Accuquilt GO.
Happy Stitching
Nancy

Simple Things Quilt Along

I finished this weeks blocks for the Simple Things quilt along.  These are the last of the center blocks.

I put my center together and discovered I don't like how all those little brown bits stand out so much.
They were a part of the fabric group but I really wish I had left them out.  I thought about ripping them out and replacing them with another fabric but decide NO too much trouble.
I do like the little quilt even with the brown.
I haven't made very many blocks this size and they are so cute.  There are quite a lot of seams to match up and which way to press the seams has always been a bit confusing to me.  I never seem to have them in the right direction.


Next week we will work on the borders.