Monday, September 30, 2019

Once Upon A Story Row Along With A Guest

Marian at Seams To Be Sew is having her Once Upon A Story Row Along 
and today I'm sharing my blog with Lydia so she can share her fairy tale block.
There's also a giveaway arranged by Seams To Be Sew...thanks, Marian!


Take it away, Lydia!

A big thank you to Marian for bringing us her fifth great Row Along!
And Carol Swift for hosting me.....my first!

 Who doesn’t like fairy tales!?! 

My choice as soon as I heard the theme was Hickory, Dickory, Dock. If you have
never heard of it before, here is the beginning verse by Mother Goose.

Hickory, Dickory, Dock,
mouse ran up the clock;
The clock struck one,
And down he run,
Hickory, Dickory, Dock

I imagined these cute mice running around having a great time just before the clock strikes one.
Although the rhyme refers to a mouse, I needed to have mice having a wonderful time. The
ribbon comes from an experience I had at our camp. In the evening, I was stitching on a project
and left my pearl cotton thread out. When rising in the morning, I noticed a mouse had taken the
end of the pearl cotton and pulled it up to the back of the chair, along the window frame and to
the ceiling beams! What a laugh it gave me! No, I don’t have a fear of mice. 

For the clock it needed to be a grandfather clock with the feel of grandeur.
Can’t you just hear the deep sound as it strikes one? We have such a clock in our home.
My husband says it always strikes so he misses the beginning or end of a T.V. show! LOL
As for me, I feel the clock brings a heart beat to the house.


My block is made using cotton for the background with wool applique. The wonderful
background fabric is from Northcott fabrics. Don’t you think it makes the perfect “wall paint”
for the scene.There are many pages to the pattern so that you would not be confused by all
the pieces for the mice. I have made the pattern giving you easy reverse pieces to trace.
Thank you for downloading my block. Do go and visit the other bloggers who are participating
in this wonderful row along. Get my pattern HERE.

Here is the list of the blogs still to come:

Tuesday, 9/24/2019
Pumpkin Patch BC | Stitchin at Home


Thursday, 9/26/2019
From My Carolina Home | Words & Stitches |Tuning My Heart Quilts


Tuesday, October 01, 2019
Carole Andrews | Charlies Daughter at Just Let Me QuiltMountain Meadow Designs
Seams To Be SewDuck Creek Mountain Quilting


Thursday, October 03, 2019
Clever Chameleon | Sew Incredibly Crazy | Miss Loreens Schoolhouse
Seams To Be Sew


Tuesday, October 08, 2019
Show and Tell Day
TBA


*Lydia shared this amazing quilt she made with me and I had to share it with you. It's beautiful!



Look at these two great giveaways!


a Rafflecopter giveaway



Thanks, Lydia, for hanging out on my blog today and thanks to all of you for visiting!

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

ThermOWeb Chills And Thrills Sew Along Project

A few weeks ago I posted some blocks on the Therm O Web blog for a fun sew along,
"Chills and Thrills." The blocks are still available (and free) and now it's time for the project
to use them in. It's an easy table runner that totally shows off those spooky blocks!

Creepy Bunny loves the "Chills and Thrills" table runner!
15" x 48"


Here’s a list of what was used in the “Chills and Thrills” table runner:

ThermOWeb’s Chills and Thrills Halloween blocks:









Head over to the Therm O Web blog to get all the runner instructions HERE.


Monday, September 23, 2019

Riley Blake Designs Confetti Cotton Blog Tour

The sweet thing about Riley Blake Designs Confetti Cottons is how many amazing colors
they come in. I needed several orange colors for the pumpkins in my project and there
were so many choices! I picked Autumn, Pumpkin, Cheddar, and Riley Orange...perfect!
"Thanksgiving Pumpkin Sale" called for Fall colors and Confetti Cottons had them all.


The other colors I used were Barnred, Treetop, Teddy Bear, and Brownie. 
Confetti Cottons definitely made this quilt look warm and cozy for Fall.
The Barnred and Cheddar gave the truck just the look I wanted.



Riley Blake Designs Confetti Cottons solid fabric is a premium quilting cotton that has a soft hand. 
Use it in your traditional or modern quilts, or on their own for a contemporary quilt style.
Aren't they all so beautiful!



You can find "Thanksgiving Pumpkin Sale" in my Etsy store HERE.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

It's Jelly Roll Day And There's No Jelly Rolling Happening Here

I wanted to sew a jelly roll, really I did, but the Monkey Boys came first.
No complaints there! But I do have a few jelly roll quilts I've made that I can share.

One of my favorite quilts to make when I'm in a bit of a pinch for time is
 the Quilt-As-You-Sew method...it is so EASY!

It takes some strips of fabric or a jelly roll, batting, and fabric for the back of the quilt.
You'll also need spray adhesive, an iron and/or wooden roller, and your sewing machine.

There are so many ways to be creative with this method!
I added a ruffle and some embroidery to this one and loved it!


This one was made with a sweet baby fabric jelly roll...very simple.


Strips at an angle using creepy skeleton fabric gives a different look.


Riley Blake's laminate fabric made this one a breeze, plus there's an added zipper for fun!


Creating strips with smaller scraps made this one a favorite of mine.
I loved sewing all the quilted narrow rows on top before adding the binding!


This one went horizontal with a row of printed blocks to break up the strips.


There are lots of tutorials out there for this method, but this is how I do it:
To make the baby fabric one I used a jelly roll and some yardage for the back.

You can also cut strips of fabric from selvage to selvage in 2 1/2" strips or vary them like I did for
this quilt. This is a great way to use up those extra leftover pieces of fabric.


 Cut a piece of batting and fabric for the back to the size you want for the quilt.
Keep the width the same size as the length of your strips...about 44" to 45" including the
 selvage, and the length of fabric however long you want the quilt to be. I like mine to be
about 48" to 50" long for a baby quilt, but I've made them longer for older children.
The selvage ends will be trimmed off when finished to make it about 42" to 43" wide.

Use a spray adhesive to attach batting to the wrong side of the backing fabric,
making sure it is nice and smooth with no extra folds in places that shouldn't be there.
You will be sewing strips to the batting side of this piece, so making sure it is smooth
and firmly attached to the backing fabric before you start sewing is really important.

I always use Therm O Web's Spray n Bond Adhesive because I love it!


 Lay your batting on a flat surface and protect the area you will be spraying (it will over spray
 so be careful!) Place your backing fabric wrong side down on the batting. Begin by spraying
small  horizontal sections (about 10" by WOF) and smooth them before moving to another
small section. I fold a large section of the fabric back and spray small sections, smooth,
and then repeat. Don't try to spray the whole thing at once!

Find the center of your batting on the front both vertically and horizontally (I fold and crease
to find them.) Draw a line both directions with a washable marker.

Lay one strip, right side up, centered on the horizontal line you drew so that it is going the width of
 your quilt. Attach it with adhesive spray to hold in place or you can pin it. Lay another strip right
sides together on first strip and sew a 1/4" seam lengthwise from edge to edge.


Using your wooden roller or an iron, press seams open.


Continue adding strips and make sure to press them open as you go. It's best if you sew
the seams in opposite directions or you'll start to see your quilt curve a bit.
Once you reach the ends of your batting, it is time to trim the fabric sides to square up the quilt.
Be sure to trim in far enough so that your selvages won't show on the finished quilt.
Add binding and it is done!

This one ended up as a Christmas gift exchange quilt.


She loved it as much as her owner did!


The Fat Quarter Shop is having a jelly roll sale until Monday, 9/23...check it out HERE!


Happy Jelly Roll Day!

Monday, September 16, 2019

Just For Fun It's A Mini "Stirring Up Trouble"

I usually like to make things big, big, and bigger, but I had fun making 
"Stirring Up Trouble" in a smaller version. It measures only 16" x 18"!

There's lots of ways to stir up some Halloween fun!

You can find it in my Etsy store HERE.


Feeling like "Stirring Up Trouble" in a big way? Find that pattern HERE.


Don't want to cut out all the pieces? You can find "Stirring Up Trouble" in a laser cut kit
at Quilted Works HERE.


It's definitely Halloween sewing time!

Friday, September 13, 2019

Crazy Busy Couple Of Weeks In My Sewing World Recap

It's been such a crazy busy couple of weeks in my sewing world, but it has been so fun!
There was a lot of overlapping of posts with same day posting...it was totally crazy.
I thought I'd do a little recap with links.

I'm so lucky to work with Therm O Web (love their products, really I do!) and this week
was no exception. I got to design four blocks for their Halloween Chills and Thrills sew along.
So exciting! The patterns are free so be sure to grab them and get busy sewing. There
will be instructions for a table runner at Therm O Web September 24th to put them all together.









Creatin' in the Sticks had the "My Favorite Block" blog hop happening...so much inspiration!
Carla is the best blog hop partner! We alternate months, which makes it easy on both of us.
I'm lucky to have her and all those amazing bloggers who jump in to share projects...love it!

I'm a huge fan of the Dresden block, so I shared my project and a few other Dresden's I've made.
You can find my post and the list of other blog hoppers HERE.


Marian at Seams To Be Sew has her fifth row along happening and I've been a part of all five.
This time it was called "Once Upon A Story" and we all shared a block of a favorite nursery
rhyme, story, or song. I picked "Five Little Monkeys Jumping On The Bed" for my block.
I think it had something to do with the Monkey Boys in my life that made me pick that one!
You can find my block and links to the other blocks in my post HERE.


Those Monkey Boys have so much energy and keep me smiling. 
They had fun at the park during some project photo taking. The loved that water!




Sewing for Riley Blake is another of my favorite things to do. I'm really lucky and I know it.
They make it so easy and let me sew whatever pops into my head using their fabric.
Since there's a lot of crazy ideas in my head, it's a ton of fun!

This week was "Caught Red Handed" with "Cops and Robbers" fabric.
You can find that post HERE.


Sewing is definitely an uplifting and inspiring hobby that makes me feel blessed to be a part of.
I'm grateful to all of you who teach me new things and inspire me with what you make.
You rock my world!

I'm also grateful for Heat n Bond EZ Print Sheets and Aurifil Thread. 
They truly make my applique projects easier!

Heat n Bond EZ Print Lite Sheets – You’ll love these for applique because they are so easy. 
Just run the sheets through your inkjet printer and they are ready for ironing on your fabric.

Aurifil Thread – This thread is amazing for sewing. The applique blocks in these projects were 
sewn using 28 wt thread, but 40wt or 50wt works, too. Use the 50wt thread for sewing seams.

Give It A Whirl Blog Hop Starts Today

It is time to whirl, twirl, and spin with the "Give It A Whirl" blog hop! What was the challenge? Somewhere in or on your project ...