Just Let Me Quilt

Sunday, January 24, 2021

New Blog Hop - Salt And Sand - Signups

It's always sad to see a blog hop end, but Carla from Creatin' in the Sticks and I are on top of it with another one or two to join. We love to challenge you (and us) with new ideas. Blog hops are like having an online quilt guild where you get to be inspired, share what you make, and meet new blog friends. We'd love to have you join in!

The March blog hop is called "Salt and Sand" and will run from March 22nd to March 26th. The challenge is to sew something in ocean/sand colors and/or ocean creatures. The beach sounds like a great place to be right now!

If you want to play along, email me and I'll add you to the list. It's always fun to sew together even if it is virtually!

Thursday, January 21, 2021

Day Five Of Hearts On Fire And My Day

Today is the last day of "Hearts On Fire" and it's so sad to see it end. It's a good day, though, for me to share my project along with some really awesome quilters.

The "Hearts on Fire" challenge was to sew something with a heart that isn't red. My "Frankie Loves You" quilt definitely met the challenge with orange and purple hearts!

Frankie Loves You

50" x 62"

Frankie offers his love...

Moda Grunge fabric was my choice for this quilt

There's an orange button on Frankie's cuff!

Cutting out all the hearts was a breeze because I used Crafter's Edge Crossover II and the Nested Hearts 4 1/2" fabric die. I ironed the HeatnBond Lite to the wrong side of fabric and ran it through my machine. Seriously, it was so easy!

Look who's hopping with me! I know they'd love to have you visit and leave a comment.

January 18

Creatin' in the Sticks

Life in the Scrapatch

Freckled Fox Quiltery

January 19

Cynthia's Creating Ark

January 20

January 21

Becky’s Adventures in Quilting and Travel

Ridge Top Quilt

For The Love Of Geese

Sew Many Yarns

Quilting Gail

January 22 - TODAY

Just Let Me Quilt

Karen's Korner

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Quilt In A Not-Shell

Storied Quilts

Kathy's Kwilts and More

Homespun Hannah's Blog

There's a Pinterest page just for this blog hop. Check it out HERE!

It's been a while since I've had a giveaway, so today's the day!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

There are two blog hops coming up...one that was already announced and a new one.

Carla at Creatin' in the Sticks will be hosting a "Stripes" blog hop February 22-25. The challenge is to sew something with stripes. Sounds fun to me! Sign-up info at Creatin' in the Sticks HERE.

I will be hosting the "Salt and Sand" blog hop March 22- 26. The challenge is to sew something in ocean/sand colors and/or ocean creatures. This one should be fun, too...well, I think they are all fun!

Email me if you want to play along.

The Frankie hand and flower applique were so easy with Heat n Bond Lite EZ Print Sheets. I ran the sheets through my inkjet printer...no tracing! Plus, the backing peels off without having to score it with a pin. I love that!

I'm so glad you stopped by!

Friday, January 15, 2021

Where's The Snow Table Runner

There is no snow happening where I live, but with the help of ThermOWeb's HeatnBond Lite iron-on adhesive and Crafter's Edge Dog Eared Triangles and Snowflake, I have SNOW!

Well, sort of snow. A 16" x 46" table runner that says "SNOW" is as close as I can get to the cold stuff right now.

Where's The Snow!

I have shared the how-to-make-this information using the HeatnBond and Crafter's Edge dies on ThermOWeb's blog. Check it out and look around at all the amazing projects you can make.

I love the ease of making triangles with the Crafter's Edge Dog Eared Triangles. They come in lots of sizes! Sewing with a scant 1/4" seam is recommended to get the correct size or use a larger triangle and trim them down. Either way they are awesome to use!

Crafter's Edge also has alphabet dies that are about 3" and make cutting out letters a breeze.

I love my Oliso Mini Project Iron and how easy it is to use. The Crafter's Edge Snowflake die made cutting around all those edges easy, too!

My regular crew was busy, so this Monkey Baby jumped in to help. He tends to get distracted by toys, but he's still fun to have around!

I hope you have a wonderful snow or no-snow day!

Monday, January 11, 2021

Riley Blake Designs Classic Caskata Project Tour

I love black, red, and white/creme fabric so Riley Blake Designs beautiful new line of fabric, "Classic Caskata" is my kind of thing. It is so elegant and would look lovely in any sewing project from quilts to apparel, or home decor. It's 100 percent cotton and is an officially licensed product.

The gold fabrics are a perfect combo to the red, white, and black designs. I think you'll love them as much as I do!

"Caskata" Placemats, 14" x 20"

"Caskata" Napkin, 18" x 18"

Yes, I watched videos on YouTube to fold this...not a pro, but it was an easy one.

My grandmother gave me her gold flatware years ago and I've used it once. I need to get it out more often because it is kind of fun!

Riley Blake Designs "Classic Caskata" comes in gorgeous designs of black, red, and gold. The light reflects off the metallic gold...I love that!

The "Classic Caskata" Birds in any of the colors are totally stunning and detailed. Even the leaves are beautiful!

No matter how amazing a fabric line is, I always think that one of them is my favorite. In this case it would be the Wicker Black. I love it in the scalloped applique in the center of the placemat and as the binding!

The Paisley fabric has so many possibilities. A dress, apron, pillow, or even a tie would look pretty in this fabric.

The "Caskata" placemats even had me dragging out my Princess House Crystal. In the "olden days" I used it a lot, but now it's just a fond memory that I can't bring myself to get rid of. I think it looks awesome sitting on the placemat!

You can find the "Caskata" placemat and napkin pattern HERE.

Applique is so easy with Heat n Bond Lite EZ Print Sheets. Seriously, they are incredible. You can run the sheets through your inkjet printer...no tracing! Plus, the backing peels off without having to score it with a pin. I love that!

Be sure to check out the Riley Blake Designs blog for more incredible projects.

Thank you for stopping by!

Sunday, January 10, 2021

Feeling A Little "Wickedly Cool" Today

Designing applique and patterns is really fun for me and though I'm not a pro at it, I love it! This is one I shared on our Facebook page, Cackling Stitches. It's all about Halloween over there!

Wickedly Cool 5" x 8" mug rug

You can find "Wickedly Cool" for free HERE. I'd love it if you let me know you downloaded the pattern by leaving a comment here or at Cackling Stitches.

On the "leave a comment" thing...please realize that sometimes I don't have any way to reply to your comment because there is no email address attached and/or you end up in my SPAM because of it. It's a simple fix in your Google settings, so if you want a reply, fix your settings.

Thanks for stopping by!

Wednesday, December 30, 2020

My Stitching Resolutions 2021 In A Blog Hop

I'm the worst at making or keeping resolutions, especially if it involves eating less and exercising more. I definitely fail at those! Carla at Creatin' in the Sticks came up with a blog hop that I think works for me..."My Stitching Resolutions 2021." Thanks, Carla, great idea!

Carla's challenge was -- "This hop doesn't require stitching, it's all about your stitching plan for the new year. Let's share new ideas and inspiration. All you have to do is finish this statement in a blog post:

My stitching resolution for 2021 is _____________________________."

The first would have to be that I will try to keep my resolutions, but I will not beat myself up if I don't.

These are the amazing shelfs in my sewing room. They are begging for some organizations. I will clean and organize these shelfs for sure in 2021!

I will dig out that container of UFO's and decide which ones are worth finishing and which ones aren't. Say "bye-bye" to the not worth finishing things. I had to climb over a few things to get this picture of the container. It's buried way in the back of put-this-away-stuff.

I will get rid of fabric that no longer makes me happy. I tend to hold on to some fabric just because I might need it. After 10 years, I probably don't need it.

I will finish putting away all my sewing items that have been in storage. After moving, some of those boxes are still sitting there. It's not really fun to dig for things when I need it NOW. This is one of three containers that had things thrown into during the final moving days.

I will take time to play with my embroidery machine. I love watching it stitch, but when I'm pressed for deadlines I can't give up my sewing machine to play with it. The embroidery machine has only been out of this container twice since I bought it. I MUST use it!

I will start and finish the Cackling Stitches BOM in March. I'm so excited about this one! I enjoy every minute of the Cackling Stitches group. This isn't hard because it's fun to "hang out" on Facebook with other people who love Halloween as much as I do. Joan at Moosestash Quilting and I are hard at work getting some fun BOM's ready.

I want to/will sew a "Storm at Sea" quilt for me. I've wanted to for such a long time, so maybe, just maybe, this is the year. I even bought the Accuquilt die made for this. The first time I saw a "Storm at Sea" quilt I loved it!

I will keep those blog hops going. I love all the quilty people I've met because of them.

I will teach at least one of the Monkey Boys how to sew. They love to sit on my lap while I sew, but it's time they learned a few things.

Finally, I will do my best to take the time to do all of the above.

Here's the list of more resolution makers...check them out!

Good luck with your own resolutions in 2021!

Saturday, December 26, 2020

The Stockings Were Sewn And Hung

It was just a couple days before Christmas when my daughter decided that her family needed matching Christmas stockings. They were short a few stockings as more Monkey Boys arrived to join the family, and her husband had mentioned (for several years) that he'd like to see them all match. So...we went to work!

My daughter decided to sew them secretly at my house and she let me join in the fun. No complaints from me...I loved helping! I have lots of cool products in my sewing room, including this new one from ThermOWeb, SpraynBond Pattern and Stencil Adhesive.

I love this product! We followed the directions and we were both amazed at the results.

Always pre-test before use and protect your work surface.

Shake Well.

Hold can upright 12 inches from pattern or stencil.

Press spray pad button and apply a light coating of adhesive using a sweeping motion.

Let dry 1 minute. Press pattern or stencil to project.

Reposition as needed.

*My daughter used this easy and free stocking pattern by Orange Bettie.

The Pattern and Stencil Adhesive held the paper in place while she used the rotary cutter.

It didn't move!

The pattern easily peeled off the fabric with no residue left behind from the fleece.

My daughter cut out eight stockings without respraying the pattern.

I think she could have done more!

SpraynBond Pattern and Stencil Adhesive is definitely a winner. No pins, no residue, reusable...love it! This will be awesome on clothing patterns, too, and I can't wait to use it again.

I embroidered names on the cuffs, but here's a photo of the backside of the stockings. They need another hook on their hanger so mom and dad don't have to share a hook.

I was there when the family opened the wrapped box of stockings. They were so surprised! I wish I had my camera because they were REALLY excited! The old stockings came down immediately and these went up on the hooks. My daughter did good with this idea and I was happy she let me help.

I hope Santa filled your stockings with goodies and/or love!