Friday Fun!

Don't you just love all that color?  It totally says spring doesn't it.  It finally feels like spring has hit Maine.  Today it is supposed to hit 90 degrees.  I think the hubby is going to spend the afternoon after he gets out of work putting in our air conditioner.  We just have the ones you stick in the window.  I have a love hate relationship with them.  I love the cool air but it really makes our house dark.  

Anyway,  the above picture is my Lazy Sunday Mystery progress.  I took this photo a couple days ago.  This is part two.  I did manage last night to get all those triangles sewn together into hourglass squares but I didn't take a picture as I just wanted to get to bed.  So I now have part 2 completed.  Well except for the dog ear trimming.  There are still dog ears on almost all those loose blocks.  Part three has been released in the newest Quiltmaker.  People are getting them but I haven't recieved mine in the mail yet.  I hope to get it tonight so I can start part 3 this weekend.  

I am really loving the whole mystery quilt idea.  I have never done one.  I honestly didn't think I would like it. I love this one.  It could be that its in my color way.  I love bright colors.  

I did get a little more stitching done on this block.  I have just those little rust colored leaves around the middle left to do and that yellow pieced in the center.  I know, it doesn't look yellow but my camera really had a hard time getting that color right.  Its a really pale yellow.  I hope to get this finished this weekend so I can get started on the next block of the Jingle Belles BOM over at One Piece at a time.

This week I am linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts.   

WIP Wednesday 5/29

Just a short post today to share what I have been working on the past few days.  The end of the school year is so incredibly busy, isn't it?  I have this applique block from the pattern, Baltimore and Bali, all prepped and it is in the process of being stitched down.  I use turned edge applique using an applique foundation I purchase at Purple Daisies.  I love this method.  My applique has gotten so much nicer since I started using it.  

You can see in this close up that everything is stitched down but the rust colored piece.  Sorry for all the fuzzies.  Black picks up everything.  I love how crisp all my curves and points look.  If you have never tried turned edge you should.  

I did get a little bit done on my Lazy Sunday Mystery this weekend.  I have just a little bit left to do before the next part is released in the next Quiltmaker.  (And I just visited Bonnie Hunter's blog and found out she received her copy already!  I better get working on that!)

This week I am linking up to Freshly Pieced.  Click the banner below to head over and check out what everyone is working on.  

And new this week, I am also linking up to Esther's blog.  I just discovered her and WOW, I love her applique!

Friday Finishes

I only had one finish this week.  A small zipper pouch.  I am working on a couple long term projects and I just needed the satisfaction that comes with a finished project.  Does that every happen to you?

It's about 9"x5" and is great to hold pencils or quilting tools.  This is probably about the 5th or 6th one I have made.  It's great because they only take about an hour to do.  Maybe less.  I don't have anything in mind for this bag so I might put it up on my Etsy store a bit later today.  (I just put it up for sale here.)

I did finish my June block of the A Year to Crow About BOM but I forgot to take a picture.  Ooops!  This one was much easier than the last.  

And here is a cute picture of my kitty keeping me company while I made the bag just because this is a short post for me.  Besides, what quilting blog wouldn't be complete without a cute cat picture.  She's such a sweet kitty.  

Voting for the Blogger's Quilt festival has started so head over to vote for your favorites.  I have one is the applique category.  It's number 5.  Its a snowman applique quilt.  (hint hint)  I obviously wouldn't mind if you voted for mine but there are so many cute quilts in every category.  Today is going to be fun to go through and vote!  Good luck everyone!

Today I am linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts.  I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Product Review: SteamFast Mini Iron

SteamFast SF-717 Home-and-Away Mini Steam Iron

• 420-watt mini steam iron removes wrinkles from almost any fabric
• 1-2/5-ounce water tank; heats up in 15 seconds; variable temperature settings
• Non-stick soleplate; 1-touch steam control; dual voltage for travel convenience
• Heat-resistant travel bag and plastic measuring cup included
• Measures approximately 5-2/7 by 3 by 3 inches; 1-year limited warranty

I was searching for a small iron to take with me to quilting classes when I came across this iron on Amazon a few weeks ago. It was inexpensive at 19.99.  I also have Amazon Prime so shipping was free for me.  So I figured I would give it a try.  I was going to a Bonnie Hunter workshop and would try it out there.  

I loved it!  I could not believe how hot it got.  It was the perfect size.  It wasn't too small yet perfect to fit in my bag to go to class.  It came with a travel bag as well.  It also has a switch on it to change the voltage if you are traveling overseas.  The cord was long enough to reach from the outlet and then some.  

My neighbor also shared this iron with me all day and she loved it too.  I have a huge heavy iron at home but now when I am just ironing small pieces when piecing I use this one.  Its lighter and very ergonomic.  I have carpal tunnel and its so much easier on me.  I still break out the big iron for larger yardage.  

I'll be honest I never tried the steam function on it.  I don't use steam when I am quilting.  However, the reviews on Amazon raved about it.  I have only used this lightly over the past month so I am not sure if it will hold up long term but for such an inexpensive price I am willing to take my chances.  

If you are looking for a decent travel iron for classes this is a great one to try out.  

SteamFast SF-717 Home-and-Away Mini Steam Iron

WIP Wednesday 5/22

I am not sure why I haven't blogged about this WIP yet but here we go.  I am working on a block of the month through my local quilt shop.  It's called A Year to Crow About.  It is designed by a couple of local quilters Sue Harvey and Sandy Boobar of Pine Tree Quilts.  They are located in the next town over from me.  The fabric line is from Red Rooster Fabrics and is designed by Jacqueline Paton. 

All the blocks have a small panel with a crow and they all have something to do with the month that it is released.  This one is for May.  See the cute little baby birds.  I have all the blocks done so far except June's and I am getting two more this Saturday so I plan on getting June's done this week as well.  They are released two at a time so I should be done this quilt in just a few months.  I think the aim is to get it done before fall because of all the pretty fall colors.  

I had a hard time with this block and I am not sure why.  Those star blocks are small, 5 1/2".  I had a lot of difficulty with keeping the small parts lined up and sewing over the bulky seams.  My seam ripper got a work out last night.  Everytime I sewed the flying geese to the middle squares and had to go over the point my sewing machine would move the seam over so my fabrics weren't straight any more.  It really didn't like them.  I had to resort to using an elmer's glue stick to glue the seams together.  Which worked like a charm.  Despite all of my problems I am really happy with how this block came out. They all line up and my points are pointy.  I was worried that the finished size would be off.  The block measures 15 1/2" x 15 1/2" and my block came out just a hair larger.  At least its not smaller.  :)  

Today I am linking up to Freshly Pieced.  (Lee actually isn't hosting a link up today after all.  She was at quilt market all last week and has been too busy to get a post ready.)

Want to try Craftsy for free?

On May 18th, Craftsy is hosting Free Class Day to benefit DonorsChoose. For one day only, new members can choose one free course from a selection of favorite Craftsy classes, up to a $39.99 value! If you haven't taken a Craftsy class yet, Saturday is your chance to sign up for your first by choosing from classes in quilting, sewing, knitting, cake decorating, and more.  All you have to do is click the banner above.

If they meet their goal of giving away 10,000 classes, Craftsy will donate $5,000 to DonorsChoose to fund arts education in public schools across the US. Existing members are not eligible for the free course offer, but will still receive a special treat. 

 I can't say enough good things about Craftsy.  I loved them since I first found them.  I have taken 5 classes with them and have loved every single one.  This is a great chance to try them out.  And if you don't happen to see this post today and still want to give them a try they always have free mini classes that are just as great as the paid ones.  Craftsy isn't just for quilters.  They have so much to offer. 

As a disclaimer, I am a paid affiliate of Craftsy.  But only because I am so fond of them.  I would never promote anything on my blog that I wasn't a firm believer of. 

Blogger's Quilt Festival

As I was visiting some of my favorite blogs today I stumbled across a Blogger's Quilt festival that was just starting up!  You can enter a quilt for a chance to win prizes!  I decided that I want to enter my most favorite quilt that I have done so far  I just posted a pretty lengthy post about it awhile back so bare with me if you already read that one.

The quilt I am entering is my Hot Chocolate Snowman Applique Quilt.  It was designed by Pearl Louise.  Its 60 x 60 and is a great lap quilt.




I started this quilt about 8 years ago as a block of the month.  When I started it I was a beginning quilter.  I very quickly got overwhelmed and put it away after only doing about 4-5 of the blocks.  I took it back out last summer and decided to finish it up.  I had a blast doing it.  So different from when I started it.  It was such a fun quilt to make with lots of small cute details.  All the faces are hand embroidery.





It is all machine appliqued with a blanket stitch and it was quilted on my Husqvarna Viking Tribute 140c.  I used Isacord and Superior masterpiece thread depending on the color needed.




I love the igloo.  The blocks were all done free hand.








And a full shot!

You can see more pictures on my flickr feed .

You can visit the Quilt Festival here.  If you click on all the different posts you can vote on all your favorites in each category.


I am entering my quilt in the applique category.  So if you like it and want to vote head over! Voting is May 24-30th.  There is lots of pretty eye candy showing up today!

Finish it up Friday 5/17

I only have one finish this week.  I made this tote for my Aunt.  Its just like the one I made a few weeks ago for my daughter.  My Aunt saw it and thought it would be perfect for her to use for Sunday school.  The picture is a little blurry.  I am not sure why.  It looked ok on my camera screen after I took it.

Other than that I have still been busy on my Squirrel wall hanging.  I will spare you another picture of that for today.  I am up to section G.  I think it goes up to section T.  The good news is that the sections are not taking as long.  As I move out of the middle the pieces are getting bigger.  

The plan this weekend is to sew and organize scraps.  I finally ordered some plastic organizers that I blogged about a few days ago.  

Whitmor 6754-491-5 Plastic Document Boxes Set of 5 Assorted Colors and I ordered Whitmor 6754-491-5 Plastic Document Boxes Set of 5 Assorted Colors as well.

Small picture but you get the idea.  I was hesitant on ordering because the reviews were hit or miss.  I am supposed to get them tomorrow.  I will do a review and let you know what I think.  I am using them so that I can start using Bonnie Hunter's method of saving scraps.  

This week I am linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts and TGIFF over at Ms Midge today.

WIP Wednesday 5/14

I don't have a whole lot to show this week but I have been busy working on this Squirrel wall hanging.  It's a Cynthia England design.  I pulled out the center pieces so I could see what his head looked like so far.  I am not sure I like one of the fabrics near his nose so I plan on ordering some fabric markers to darken it up a bit.  And of course, it needs the hand embroidery in the face before it will really start to take shape.  But overall, I pretty happy with it so far.

I am still working on my Jamestown Landing quilt.  I am half way through the 840 HST's.  I am using them as leaders and enders for my wall hanging.  You can read more on leaders and enders on Bonnie Hunter's blog or in her book Adventures with Leaders & Enders: Make More Quilts in Less Time!  It's a great book.  

I also wanted to share a special bonus for my readers today!  If you follow my blog or visited during giveaway week I gave away a Quilt Halo.  So many readers loved it but didn't want to spend the money to try it out.  During the week I emailed Christy at Purple Daisies and asked her if she had a coupon I could give to you when I annouced my winner so those of you who wanted could try it out could at a reduced price.  Unfortunately she was super busy getting ready for Quilt Market so she just got back to me yesterday.  Understandable right?  

But she did give me a coupon!  For 15% off any order use the code, INSPIRING.  Pretty awesome!  She was super nice in her email and very apologetic about missing my giveaway.  I have shopped at her shop before and was very pleased with my purchase.  I buy applique foundation from them that I use for all my hand applique.  Its great for the glue stick method.  I am working up a tutorial on that as we speak.  They are not a sponsor of my blog and I am not getting compensated for this post I just really like them.  Christy's mom is Sharon Schamber who developed the quilt halo and many  more quilting techniques and tools.  You can find the Quilt Halo here.

I hope everyone else is having a great week.  I am off to see my son perform in a school play tonight!  He is very excited and so am I!  I am linking up to Freshly Pieced this week.   I can't wait to see what everyone else is working on.  

And the winner is....

The winner is Mego!  I sent you an email so if you could send me your address that would be great!  Thanks to everyone for entering.  I had a great time during giveaway week.  I am crossing my fingers that I won something as well!


Just a side note, Craftsy is having a great sale for Mother's Day weekend!  If you were ever interested in trying a class out now would be a great time. They also have some great gifts on their site. 

 

PS.  I am an affiliate of Craftsy, which means if you click on the link and buy something I get a small commission.  I don't advertise for them because I get paid.  I love their site and would support them either way.  (And any money I do earn goes right back into supporting this blog and helps me do what I do.)

Finally Friday

Wow.  This week has been crazy!  I usually do a Wednesday post but didn't realize til late Wednesday afternoon that I didn't do it.  Wednesdays are supposed to be about WIPs.  I had already talked about my Jamestown Landing Monday.  I did add about 200 HST's to my count though and pieced some into the bigger blocks.

And then I worked on this project.  It's a paper pieced squirrel by Cynthia England.  It's a commission piece I am doing for a friend who wanted a Squirrel wall hanging to give as a gift.  It took two nights to get that one section done.  Its a good thing there is no deadline on this one.  Its been super fun to make so far though.

This is my little kitty Arya keeping me company while I was cutting some more fabric for Jamestown Landing.  That is the end of my cutting table.  :)  Creative and neat just don't seem to coincide, do they?  I have about 4 projects there that I am currently working on and a stack of fabric that I just bought that needs a home.  The problem is finding it a home.  I am running out of storage space.  I think I am going to order this, Whitmor 6754-491-5 Plastic Document Boxes Set of 5 Assorted Colors,  today and see how they work out for scraps.  They also have similar ones that look like they would work out for fat quarters.  I might get those too.  Here are those, Whitmor 6754-373-5 Plastic CD Boxes Set of 5 Assorted Colors.  Not bad for 25 dollars, huh?

If you haven't read it yet, I am doing a giveaway on my blog.  The deadline is tonight so head over to that post and enter if you haven't already.  You can find the post, here.  I loved doing a giveaway so look forward to some more.  It was a lot of fun hearing about what everyone was up to.  I got a lot of new followers which is super.  Welcome to everyone who is new!

Today I am linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts so be sure to head over there to see what everyone is up to this wonderful Friday!  

What? A Monday Post? A Giveaway?!?!

I don't usually post on Mondays but this week there are several really exciting reasons why I am.  First of all, it is because I had one of the best weekends.  Friday I spent the day at a Bonnie Hunter workshops learning the ins and outs of her quilt Jamestown Landing found in String Fling: Scrappy, Happy and Loving It!.  Saturday I went to our quilt guild meeting and got to hear her talk about her quilts and see her trunk show.  I have loads of pictures to share sometime (if they come out well.)  I took them all on my phone.

Jamestown Landing by Bonnie Hunter

Bonnie was great.  She was so down to earth and I learned so much from her. I feel like I have a better grasp on using her preferred specialty rulers.  It turns out I was using them the slowest way and she really sped up the process for me.  My half-square triangles are more accurate.  We also learned how to string piece.  I have actually never done this before.  I love it!

The picture above is what I have done so far.  This quilt has 840 HSTs!  So I have a LONG way to go. There are 3 sandwich bags there that each have 10 blocks in them.  I am not sure how many squares are in my basket.  I haven't really been counting. 

I will share more about Bonnie another post because I have another exciting announcement.  I am going to do my first giveaway!!

 

I have this Quilt Halo in my desk drawer and its been there for months.  I bought it and only tried it once.  Its a great product but its not just for me.  I have been machine quilting with just my hands for way too long.  I thought it would be a great item to pass along for someone else to try without having to purchase it.  It was an expensive notion so this would be a great way to save a few dollars.  So that means a chance to win for one of you!  All I ask is that you comment on my post about what quilty things you did this weekend and I will randomly choose a winner in the evening of May 10th.  That's the only requirement I have.  I would love it if you became a follower but its definitely not required.   

Since this item is kind of heavy I am leaving this giveaway open to US residents only. (OOOPS, I posted this in the international section so I am opening it up to everyone!) Sorry!  Also, please make sure you are not a no-reply blogger or leave your email address in your comment so I can contact you about your prize.  If there is no email I am going to draw another winner so make sure its there!

I am linking up to Sew Mama Sew for her giveaway day.  Welcome to my blog if you are visiting from there.  If your one of my regular followers be sure to click the link to check out all the other giveaways.  I know I am going to enter a few myself!

Comments are now closed! I will announce a winner tomorrow morning. I spent the night at a mother son dance tonight and my son wiped me out. Bed time for me!

Friday Fun!

On Friday's I usually do a post focusing on any finishes I had in the past week.  I just had one and I already posted about that this week.  Here's the link if you want to see it.  Gift Bags and a Tutorial.  I would really love some feedback about my tutorial.  Its my first one I have done for my blog.

Today I am spending the day with Bonnie Hunter!  I couldn't be more excited.  I have been following her for about a year now and have always admired her work.  I love the scrap quilts she makes.  Scrap quilts have always been out of my comfort zone.  We are doing her Jamestown Landing quilt from the book ,String Fling: Scrappy, Happy and Loving It!  Its such a great book.  I bought it specifically for this class but there are 4 quilts in it that I added to my to do list.  Now I just need a better collection of scraps.  I bought a bunch off one of the facebook swap pages but I still don't think I have enough neutrals.  I am crossing my fingers that I have enough for class at least.

I am going to try to link up to Crazy Mom Quilts today!  I hope everyone has a great Friday and a wonderful weekend!

WIP Wednesday 5/1/13

Last night I worked on getting another applique block prepped.  This is one of the Baltimore and Bali blocks from the block of the month I have been slowly plugging away at.  I can't seem to get a good picture of it. The colors are much better in person and way more vibrant.  I still have to make flowers that go on the end of the stems.  

They only other thing that worked on in the past few days is a few items for my daughter for her birthday.  I made some party gift bags and I made her a new tote for school.  

I posted a tutorial yesterday for these gift bags.  You can find it here.  I am anxious to hear what people think of it.  Its my first tutorial for my blog.

This is the tote I made her.  I learned how to make it in a free craftsy class.  

Bag-Making Basics: Reversible Tote & Zipper Pouch

It was a great class.  I have made several of these bags.  You should check it out.  This bag only took about an hour.

Today I am linking up to Freshly Pieced.