Showing posts with label Quilt Along. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Quilt Along. Show all posts

Saturday, April 14, 2018

When Life Gives You Lemons….

What do you do when life gives you lemons?
I try really hard to make lemonade.
It's been that kind of week…

I've never been a supporter of pre-washing fabric. Do you pre-wash?

Well, I finally learned my lesson the hard way with a piece of "evil" red fabric that bled really badly after it was in the quilt…and yes it was good quilt shop fabric. Sooo, I decided to do the extreme and wash my ENTIRE stash color by color.

stash

I was actually a bit shocked by the Color Catcher sheets from the wash loads!!!
On the bright side this won’t end up in another quilt.

color catchers

Of course the drama continued while pressing and folding my stash ~ a  cringe worthy photo! The lesson here…it’s dangerous to rush this hobby…stay focused. 

arm


Hands2Help Check In

My longarm was sent back to the factory on Monday for a diagnosis and hopefully repair. In the mean time I’ve been a busy "serial topper".

Four cheerful sock monkey tops for the Hands2Help charities are ready for quilting.

sock monkey quilt


Randomness

Are you playing along with the Ostrich Round Robin at The Quilt Pattern magazine? Clue #1 and #2 are sewn and clue #3 is ready to be added. It’s been fun watching all the quilts grow.

round robin


My goals for the 2018 Scrap Attack Challenge

1. Make a string project – (March) 3 tops completed for charity – waiting on quilting  
2. Make a strip project
3. Use novelty scraps
4. Use  batik scraps – (January) top completed for H2H charity– waiting on quilting
Free tutorial HERE


5. Use red scraps 
 (February) quilt completed for Bright Hopes Charity
Get my free pattern HERE

6. Use blue scraps
7. Use red, white, and green scraps together Ho,Ho,Ho
8. Use food fabrics
9. Use pink and brown scraps
10. Use black and white scraps
11. Use a rainbow collection of scraps
12. Use scraps with the GO butterfly die
13. Use sock monkey fabric (April) 4 tops completed for H2H charity – waiting on quilting
14. Use dottie scraps
15. Piece backs for UFO tops
16. Use geometric scraps

 

I hope your sewing week has had less “lemons”
than mine!!!

Sunday, March 11, 2018

Hands to Help Sign Ups and More

Daylight Savings Time and all I can think of is I’ve lost an entire HOUR of sewing time!

shock

Today is sign up day for the Hands 2 Help Challenge. Drop by Confessions of a Fabric Addict blog and sign up. Then pull out those scrappy bins and create. It’s that simple.


Why not “double dip” your effort and join the Scrap Attach Challenge while your making your H2H quilts…

Confessions Of A Fabric Addict

I’m busy working on my March string blocks…80 to be exact …and… Gasp! I’ve never made string blocks before. How have I missed this fun band wagon all these years?!

strings


I can see! I can see!

I’m sooo excited this weekend hubby added LED ceiling lights to my sewing room.

lights


This year the Quilt Qwazy Queens blog hop over at Seams to Be Sew Blog has an UFO theme. Woot! That starts March 15th.

Quilt Qwazy Queens 2018


My goals for the 2018 Scrap Attack Challenge

1. Make a string project – March project coming soon
2. Make a strip project
3. Use novelty scraps
4. Use  batik scraps – January top completed – waiting on quilting - going to H2H

Free tutorial HERE


5. Use red scraps
– February completion – Donated to Bright Hopes

Get my free pattern HERE


6. Use blue scraps
7. Use red, white, and green scraps together Ho,Ho,Ho
8. Use food fabrics
9. Use pink and brown scraps
10. Use black and white scraps
11. Use a rainbow collection of scraps
12. Use scraps with the GO butterfly die
13. Use sock monkey fabric
14. Use dottie scraps
15. Piece backs for UFO tops
16. Use geometric scraps

 

Have a great sewing day!

Saturday, January 2, 2016

Love Technique Sampler

This is the final installment for the Love Technique Sampler. This is Month #7. I’ve included the block and assembly instructions for you.

month 7 button

 

This last block will be a reverse applqiue. You will use the crazy patch block created last month as the background.

Free PDF can be downloaded from my Craftsy shop HERE until February 1st.

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Love Technique Sampler Month #6

I can’t believe we are almost finished. Are you still with me?

month 6 button small

The last block will be done in two parts. This month we will be making the crazy patch foundation block. Next month we will turn it into a reverse applique.

crazy patch block (2)

Free PDF can be downloaded from my Craftsy shop HERE until January 1st.

 

Monday, November 2, 2015

Love Technique Sampler Month 5

Month #5  is finally here. Forgive me for posting a day late. As some of you may know our town had some really bad weather and a small tornado. The tornado knocked out power and our internet. Luckily this all happened before school and business hours so there were no serious injuries.

month 5 button

Missed blocks can be purchased in my PatterSpot shop HERE

This month we are going to add some LOVE to our quilts. We’ll revisit our piecing accuracy from month #1 and paper piecing skills from month #4. L-O-E will be pieced and V will be paper pieced.

LOVE

Remember it’s important to find and mark the exact 1/4” seam for YOUR machine. I always do this with blue painters tape.

 

Is anyone playing along? I’d love to see your blocks. It's always nice motivation to create new quilt alongs:)

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Quilt Along Month 4

Time is flying by. I can’t believe it’s already fall and month #4 of the quilt along!!! I’d love to see your blocks. You can post them below.

month 4 small button

This month we will be trying some paper piecing. For this technique you will be sewing fabric directly to a paper foundation that has your design printed on the front. Paper piecing lets you to work with odd shaped pieces and create very tiny details with accuracy.

Missed blocks can be purchased in my PatterSpot shop HERE

Two optional but helpful tools for paper piecing are:

Add A Quarter Ruler - a small ruler with a specially designed edge to help you quickly and accurately trim your seams.

Currently 25% off at Craftsy 
(note this is an affiliate link. I may receive a small fee for any purchases you make)

Carol Doak’s Foundation Paper - a light weight, easy to tear paper

It can be purchased from her website HERE


I’d love to see your blocks

 

 

Monday, September 28, 2015

Busy, Busy Beaver

I apologize for the blog silence. I’ve just finished my first vending booth at the San Antonio Quilt Show. Did any of you attend? There were so many details to think about and a lot going on behind the scenes. I started with a sketch and tried to plan out every inch of space ahead of time to minimize any surprises….I hate surprises.
funthreads designs booth
Here’s my booth after everything was moved in. Check it out….my name on the wall!!!
The table was longer than I planned so that was a good surprise. It was sooo strange being surrounded by all my quilts.
funthreads designs booth (2)
Now I have to turn my attention to the Houston Quilt Market. QuiltWoman.com is providing small booth spaces for their designers which is awesome. I still need to print my catalogs and learn how to print a poster. Any know how to design posters?
And on a random note….has anyone else noticed that Oreos are putting less cookies per row in the same packaging? See the gap? The package now weighs 14.3 oz. Just sad:(
photo (2)
Today is week #5 of the Season’s Row Along.

Tuesday, Sept. 29
Mark your calendars for the Halloween hop coming soon!

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Season’s Row Along Week 4

Are you still with us? Having fun? Week 4 of the row along is up and hopping.

 photo EQ Seasons RAL Button_zpsyolsgram.png

 

Tuesday, Sept. 22

 

Monday, September 7, 2015

Seasons Row A Long

 photo EQ Seasons RAL Button_zpsyolsgram.png
Welcome to week #2. I hope you’re having fun. There are lots of great rows still to come.
My season is SPRING!
photo
This is a simple fusible applique design so have some fun playing with your decorative machine stitches around the edges.
♥This pattern is now available in my PatternSpot shop. It is no longer free.♥
row along (1)



For those wanting some EQ7 practice I’ve included the tutorials for my blocks.
Symmetrical Butterfly
Set Up Worktable
Click BLOCK >NEW BLOCK>PATCHDRAW BLOCK. Click the Applique Tab at the bottom of the page.
Make your worktable settings…
Block: 7 1/2” X 7 1/2”
Snaps : 30x30
Graph paper: ON
Graph Settings: 2 x 2
Snap settings: same as below. Snap to Grid Points will keep the first set of lines perfectly on center. Snap Whole Patch to Grid Points will allow the second cloned half to snap perfectly in place.
set up 2
Draw Half a ButterflyThe easiest way to get a symmetrical shape is to draw half the shape, clone and flip it.
Select the Bezier toolimage . Starting on the center line of the block draw half of the butterfly. It’s very important to keep the end nodes snapped to the center line of the grid so we can easily match them later.
2
Use the Shape Tool imageto adjust the curves to your liking. You can add more nodes by double clicking on the line. When it’s to your liking save to Sketchbook.
Click the Pick tool image. Hold CTRL key and click “A” key to select all. Then click cloneimage and flip left/rightimage. Move the new shape into place. It should snap to the first half of the butterfly. Remember it isn’t a closed patch yet. The nodes are just overlapping each other.
Select the Shape toolimage and click on each center node one at a time to merge the nodes together and close the patch. Color and move the shapes forward or backward as needed so they are layered correctly.
3
Draw the body or cut and paste one from a library block. Hold CTRL key and click “A” key to select all. Hold CTRL key and click the center of the butterfly to open the rotate feature. Grab the arrows and rotate the design to your liking.Save to Sketchbook.
4


Flower

For the flower let’s learn to import images. Draw a wonky flower on a piece of paper. Scan and save it to your computer.

Set Up Worktable

1. Click BLOCK >NEW BLOCK>PATCHDRAW BLOCK. Click the Applique Tab at the bottom of the page.

Make your worktable settings…
Block: 7 1/2” X 7 1/2”
Snaps : 30x30
Graph paper: OFF
Snap settings: same as below. This time the lines won’t snap to the grid points.

set up 2

Click the Tracing Image tab at the bottom of the worktable.

tracing

Then on the left click the import button import. Find the image and set it on the worktable. Back on the Applique tab you can trace the image.Use the Shape Tool imageto adjust the curves to your liking. You can add more nodes by double clicking on the line. You can toggle the design on/off toggle as you work. When it’s to your liking center the image center. Save to Sketchbook.
trace 1

Click BLOCK>DELETE TRACING IMAGE. Then click Refresh refresh.

dellete

To add the flower center use the Ellipse tool. This is a hidden tool that you have to add to the work table. Click ADD/REMOVE>ELLIPSE TOOL.

ellipse

Using the Ellipse tool, hold the CTRL key and drag to draw a perfect circle. You must convert this shape to a patch convert. Drag it in to place. Color and save to Sketchbook.
flower
Hope you learned something new!!

row



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The designers will be there to help answer your questions

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Northcott fabric One recipient will get 6-8 yards in 1 yard cuts. Only enter once for this week. Do not enter on each blog. It’s the same drawing. Multiple entries will be disqualified. Value $60-$80.
Entries accepted until Sept 15. Winner announced on Sept 16.
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One entry per day per drawing (max of 2 entries per day). Must add a NEW unique block/row to the Flickr group for each entry (max of 2 blocks/rows per day). Duplicate entries will be disqualified.
Entries accepted until Oct 13. Winners announced Oct 14.

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    ♥Full Participant List♥
    Tuesday, Sept. 1
    Tuesday, Sept. 8
    Tuesday, Sept. 15
    Tuesday, Sept. 22
    Tuesday, Sept. 29
    Tuesday, Oct. 6 - SHOW and TELL DAY!! 
    Stop back and see completed quilts using all the rows from the hop.
    This Row Along is being hosted at Seams To Be Sew by Marian Pena