Special Delivery

So excited ~ this was dropped at my door today!!

I came across this combo pack on Amazon the other day (which I guess is no longer available) ~ and of course I snapped it up!  I've had the Hex N More and Sidekick rulers by Jaybird Quilts on my wish list since like forever.  :)  The Park Bench pattern was just icing on the cake!  {squeal}

I've been saving all my change for quite a while now, separated into different jars.  So a few weeks ago, I decided that I didn't want to roll up all that change and I took my pennies and nickels to the nearest CoinStar machine and Hallelujah!  They now give you the option to trade in your change for a gift card (without having to pay the 8-10% if you just get the cash).  I chose an Amazon gift card and by the time I was finished dumping my change I had more than $36.00 to spend at Amazon!!  Win-Win ~ especially when it helps me pay for the stuff on my wish list.  :)

Something new

So I took another class on Saturday from Bev, my favorite teacher at Flash Sew & Quilt ~ this is the quilt top we were learning how to make:

Just what I needed ~ another project.  :)  But I learned something new ~ applique!  We did a simple blanket stitch on this one.  I like the way it turned out and it's inspired me to do more.

AND we learned how to use a new tool:  Sue Pelland's Hearts and More template which made the hearts so easy!  (You can see her video here)

AND I tried a new fusible product ~ Mistyfuse ~ which is a very lightweight fusible ~ great for applique.

I decided to go with a totally different color scheme and went with an aqua and green palette and I'm lovin' it!  Fabrics are from Kate Spain's Daydreams, Lauren & Jessi Jung's Chantilly, Stonehenge and Stephanie Ryan's Modern Roses.

Ready for the next border!

Linking up with Anything Goes Mondays and WIP Wednesday.

Quilt tech and some new rulers

I read a blog post today by Alyce of Blossom Heart Quilts in which she talked about this resource which will really come in handy when we're looking for solids to match the fabrics we're working with.  It's called Palette Builder by Play Crafts and all you have to do is load an image of your fabrics and it will give you a list of matching Kona solids.

 So I immediately had to try it out with a photo of my Star Light Star Bright quilt fabrics.  It gave me this:

How cool is that?!  I think it did a pretty good job of matching colors.

And speaking of my Star Light Star Bright quilt, I finally finished the first block ~ all in all, I'm pretty happy with how all my points and corners turned out!

Over the weekend, about 50-some of us from the Naples Quilters Guild took a bus trip to the Sewing & Quilting Expo in Lakeland, FL.  It's the first time I've been ~ and, even though I really wasn't interested in some of the sewing, beading & embroidery vendors, there were a lot of quilt-related vendors and demos that I WAS interested in.

I've heard so much about Bloc Loc Rulers and I was able to see up close and personal how great they actually worked.  They are a little pricey, but I figured if they save me some time (and aggravation!) they were totally worth it.  (Besides, no shipping cost at the show = bonus!)  I bought two ~ the 5-1/2" Half Square Triangle Ruler and the Strip Set Ruler (great for strip piecing).  I've already tried out the HST ruler and it's quick, easy and fun to work with.  :)  (I'm putting the Flying Geese Ruler on my wish list ~ it also does square in a square blocks!)

That's it for my weekend ~ we've got a busy couple of weeks coming up, company coming on Thursday and a short trip out of town, so I'm heading for my pillow a little early.

Linking up with Marelize for Anything Goes Mondays and Alyce for Sew Cute Tuesday.

Monday already?!

Where do the days go?  I guess I've just been busy enough not to notice.  :)

Saturday was our last In From The Cold class, so we got some help with sashing and chain-stitch embroidery.  And by Sunday afternoon I had all of the blocks and most of the sashing done ~ next up: side sashing & borders.

Today was all about Christmas tree skirt #3 ~ binding cut and pressed ~ backing pieced together ~ basting done.  And I finally decided what kind of straight-line quilting to do (my new year's resolution? learn free-motion quilting!).   I even managed to get 1/4 of the tree skirt quilted ~ so I feel really good about today!

Almost forgot to say that I tried out a new tool today!  It's the Creative Grids Non-Slip Bias Binding Simplified Ruler  ~ so making the binding was quick and easy!  The ruler itself has the directions printed right on it for cutting 2-1/2" and 2-1/4" binding, as well as how many inches of binding you get out of 1/2, 3/4 and 1 yard of fabric.  It's nice not having to stop and look up that kind of information online.  I'd highly recommend it!  (Click on the pic for a video.)

Have a good week!

Random Sunday

Yesterday, I met up with a group from the Naples Quilters Guild for a get-together called Gathering Stitches.  It happens once a month and is basically a "sit and sew."  I'm happy to say I learned a couple of things!  Fern, one of the members there, is in charge of  organizing the Raffle Quilt for 2015, so she has put together baggies (lots and lots) of pieces to be paper-pieced and put into the quilt blocks.  She held a mini-class for those of us who are really new to paper-piecing (like me!).  

This is the piecing I finished along with the other half that I still need to do.  Not too bad!  I brought home another baggie of pieces to do as well.  See that little yellow ruler?  It's called an Add-A-Quarter ruler and it's used for trimming the 1/4" while you're piecing.  It just butts up against the paper and makes the trimming so much quicker!

Speaking of Raffle Quilts, next year's quilt  (to be raffled off at the Quilt Show in March) is absolutely gorgeous!  It's 110" x 110" so it's great for a king-size bed (like mine!).  Anyway ~ I'm buying a few lots of tickets and keeping my fingers crossed!  Here's a pic ~

Also on Saturday, I made 24 hourglass blocks for Christmas tree skirt #3.

I'm always debating on which way to press my seams ~ right?  left?  open?  Luckily, Judy (another member) showed me a neat trick to use when pressing the blocks ~ it's called "swirling your seams" ~ and it's absolutely magic!  The seams are all pressed in the same direction and the center where all the seams come together opens up to form a little square and it lays REALLY flat!  Who knew?!  It's one of those little tips that make me happy.  :)  

Finally, I've been looking for a good protein bar to help keep me going with all these projects and found one at Costco that was perfect!  20 grams of protein ~ and only 18 grams of carbs (which is partially offset by the protein) and they're chocolate!  Yummy!

  

So today was just a visit to Englewood to see my mom & stepdad (always a treat) ~ and now I'm lost in blogland being inspired.  All in all ~ a productive weekend!

Sunday playtime and a new tool

I got to play with a new ruler today!  It's the 25" - 10 Degree Circle Wedge Ruler by Phillips Fiber Art.  It makes a 50-inch circle and it's perfect for making the patchwork wedge Christmas tree skirt I'm working on.

I've never used a wedge ruler before, but it's easy-peasy, makes perfect wedges and lots of these: