Boys will be boys

Shipped today to my new nephew.  Adapted from Reveille, of "another Bite of Schnibbles", Carrie Nelson's newest book.  This is only my second pattern of Carrie's to attempt.  My first was Sunkissed Sally.   

 This darling fabric is from the Boys Will Be Boys collection designed by David Walker.  You can still find some on etsy.

UPDATE (5/3/12):  Last week I saw some of this fabric in Corn Wagon Quilt Shop, Springville Utah, if any of you happened to be headed there soon.

I used my new circle rulers for quilting.  They took some getting used to.  The pressure point of your machine against the ruler is constantly changing as you go around the circle.   I found that I preferred the 5" and smaller circles, more crinkle after washing.

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Christmas give-away . . .

*** Give-away Closed ***  Danny, I've sent you an email.



Here's a little gift from the last of my Houston Quilt Market finds:

A set of 4 Christmas Cards from Sweetwater.  They still have some in their etsy shop.

To enter, share your favorite gift that you're making for Christmas.

I love give-aways, it reminds me that I'm not just talking to myself.   You have till Tuesday morning.

Have you put your favorite Christmas ingredients in a pot on the stove yet to simmer?

Ruffled Kitchen Towel tutorial

I love this kitchen/guest bathroom towel made with the Sweetwater Hometown line.  They have a great tutorial for it on their blog, Make Life Sweet.  The instructions are in their post, The Fair, at the very bottom, scroll all the way to the end.    

When I finished the towel according to their measurements, it kept falling off the chair.  The weight of the ruffles were pulling it down.   I decided to make an adjustment to accommodate for the heaviness of the ruffles.   I lengthened the main piece from 22 inches long to 30 inches inches long. (pictured above)

My adjustments in the size of the towel:

Cut main piece:  18 in. x 30 in.

Finished product:  16 1/2" x 28 1/2".

Creates towel to be folded in 1/2,  pictured above.

Next time, I want to try making it 2 inches wider, so main piece cut would be: 20 in. x 30 in.

The following is the tutorial from Sweetwater's post, but I've made the adjustments to make the size towel highlighted above.  

RUFFLE KITCHEN TOWEL tutorial 

What You Need:
Canvas Twill Fabric - 18" x 30"   
Ruffle - 3 Prints 2 1/2" x 36" each
3/8" wide cotton twill tape - 1 1/2 yard ( Joann Fabrics)

1.  Cut Canvas Twill fabric 18" x 30"  (I prefer the heaviness of the canvas for a towel)
 

Ruffles - 2 1/2" x 36"
 

2.  On one long side of each ruffle turn under 1/4" and press.
3.  Turn again 1/4" and press.
4.  Machine topstitch the hem in place.
 

5.  On the other long side sew a gathering stitch close to the raw edge.
(set your stitch length to the longest stitch)
6.  Sew another gathering stitch close to the first row of stitches.

 
7.  Pull up the threads to gather the raw edge.
8.  Your ruffle will need to measure 18" across.

**Skip steps 5 - 8 and use THE FISHING LINE METHOD for a faster, easier way to make ruffles.** 

Ruffle Placement
9.  Pin the bottom hemmed edge of the bottom ruffle to the towel positioned 1" from the raw edge of the towel.
 

10.  Place the twill tape over the raw edges of the ruffle and topstitch close to each side of the twill tape.  The raw edges of the ruffle will be under the twill tape and will not show.

 


11.  Position the hemmed edge of the middle ruffle 1" from the bottom ruffle.
12.  Sew the twill tape over the raw edges of the ruffle.
13.  Position the hemmed edge of the top ruffle 1" from the middle ruffle.
14.  Sew the twill tape over the raw edge of the ruffle.  
 

Side&Bottom Hems
15.  Turn under the sides and bottom edges of the towel 1/4" and press.
16.  Turn under again and press.
17.  Miter the corners.
18.  Topstitch close to the turned under edges. 
 

Sweetwater Advent Calendar

One of my latest projects is an advent calendar for our college age student with little treats and love notes from home.   It is a Sweetwater project with their cute labels and fabrics.

You can find the kit in their etsy shop.

Thank you, Quilt Story

Thank you Heather and Megan for your kind words and for featuring my blog a few weeks ago.  And thanks to those of you who hopped on over from their blog, QuiltStory.  What a great way to share the fun!  Go and see the great projects they've found for Christmas.

Market "give-away"

*** Give away closed ***  

The winner is Suz, who wandered over from Quilt Story.  I've sent you an email, Suz.  Hope to hear from you soon.


This is my first official "give-away".  I want to share an item I received at Market.

These charms are from Sweetwater made with their new line coming out this fall, Reunion.  In case you haven't noticed, they're my true love (in the quilter's world that is) at the moment.  I love their fabrics and everything else they do.

If you'd like the long blue charm and a gift bag, leave me a comment on this post.  You have through Monday.  I'll post the winner on Tuesday.

Fall 2011 Quilt Market

Thought I'd share some of my favorite finds from Quilt Market.  I have lots to choose from for a give away in my next post.

Sweetwater

 

 A beautiful quilt by Lucie Summers named "Summersville".

 Moda

(I see a curtain pattern formulating in my mind) 

Quilt Blocks by Ellen Luckett Baker

 Aneela Honey's "Walk in the Woods".

Me and My Sister -  . . . these ladies are always laughing!

 A book signing for "Spotlight on Neutrals" by Pat Wys.

Amy Bradley Designs  . . . cute, just cute.

Carolee at Adorn it had lots of cute quilts, and projects with accessories to match including buttons, and twill ribbon.  They have tons of ideas on their website.  And check out her blog for great scrap-booking ideas.

Kellie at Don't Look Now always has a new beautiful amazing quilt.  Love the Robots.  

I was excited to see that Riley Blake is coming out with "Peak Hour", a line of fabric with Kellie's darling cars from her previous quilt.

These ladies are always so gracious to let me take their picture.  I tell them that it helps us "regulars" see that these marvelous designers are actual people.

More to come later . . . and watch for  my Market give away!

Fall 2011 Blogger's Quilt Festival - Hometown Charm

Here is my quilt for Amy's Blog Festival.  

It is made from Sweetwater's Hometown line of fabric. 

I got the idea for the pattern from "3 Times a Charm" by Me and My Sister Designs.

The ladies from Sweetwater wanted to involve their followers in their "Hometown" line of fabric.  So they asked everyone to send in the name of their hometown.  Here is their post about that.  They have a darling blog, with an etsy shop.

As usual, you can't go wrong with any of Sweetwater's fabric lines.

I planned on this quilt fitting a queen size bed, but with the extensive quilting, it shrank more than I expected.

quilt stats:
78 inches square
25 blocks, measuring 10 3/4 inch each.  Including a 1 3/4 inch strip around each block of Kona Stone.
1 3/4 inch square scrappy border.
I adjusted the pattern from "3 Times a Charm" to accommodate the size of the print in the fabric.
Bamboo Batting.

Comments are loved.
Thank you Amy!!  Click on picture to link back to the blog festival.

YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN:

Sunkissed binding w/ SIMPLI-EZ Bias Ruler

TRICKS/HELPS:
Have you discovered the SIMPLI-EZ Bias RULER by Susan Brown?  You will love it!  I learned about it while browsing through the tutorial videos at Missouri Quilt Star Company.  Here is their "how to" for this product.

It folds in 1/2 for easy storing.  You can adjust it to accommodate the desired width for your binding.   After cutting the strips, I stack 3 or 4 at a time to trim the edges.

TRICKS/HELPS:

My binding preferences are:

Warm and Natural cotton batting:  2 1/4 inches.

50/50 Bamboo, Organic Cotton blend:  2 inches

Bamboo batting isn't as thick as cotton, so you can handle a thinner binding. 

The ruler will give you strips 2 feet long.  Trim the edges as shown, including the flat tip.

Match up 2 strips as shown, and sew along the diagonal with a scant 1/4 inch seam.

Don't worry if they don't match up exactly.  Starch, press and add binding to your quilt.

ADVANTAGES OF BIASED BINDING:
I'm not a big fan of having a ton of tools but this one is a must for me.  A bias binding is no harder to make for me than a straight or cross grain binding.  It takes no more fabric because you don't have to square up your fabric and you can use the trianglar edges for binding as well.

A bias binding gives a little, making it easier to work into your quilt.  If your quilt has curved corners or scallops, you definitely want to use a biased binding.

It adds a diagonal interest to binding edge of your quilt.

A Bias binding will wear longer than straight binding since it has multiple rows to wear through along the edge, definitely a consideration for bed quilts or children's quilts that will get a lot of wear.

I found mine at Joann Fabrics.

YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN:

Susan Brown Bias Ruler