Secret Sewing~

I have been doing a lot of it lately! ;-) No sneaky peeks for this one. I hope you enjoy the hop~ the link is in my sidebar. :-)

And then there is sewing for my BOM~

This is our August block.  In case you are new to my blog~ welcome new followers!!! :-)  A little background~ my friend Karen and I are the hostesses for the BOM on the HGTV quilters message board. We chose all of our 12 inch blocks from Quilters Cache (with permission) and we post the main block each month as well as the smaller blocks. Those don't have any links, I've been dreaming them up in EQ7. I know some of them probably have 'real' names, but I don't know what they are, I just play around. LOL Karen is real good about letting me have my fun there! ;-)  I am managing to stay about a month ahead of the ladies who are sewing with us. Oh! And the variety is so amazing! I am making my blocks in my CW stash, but if you log onto the message board (you have to be a member to see the photo's, but joining is free!) you will see all variety of fabric choices! Some are doing autumn quilts, some floral, summer, B&W, Christmas! Just amazing! And so fun to see all the variety!  I am working on the September block today. :-) its a secret! ;-)

I'm also working on a few other secrets! :-o I am on the committee for a special retreat in September called the Circle of Friends~ it is the women of the HGTV quilting message board, meeting to... well, meet! Many of us have never met in real life, but we sure have fun online!  This retreat is going to be a blast! I need to get back to work~~

Until next time~
Happy Quilting!!

Christmas block~ tutorial

Thank you for all the visits yesterday and comments! :-) And welcome to my new followers!!  I really had fun making my block, and many of you asked how I did it, so I made a little tutorial~ but, I got so involved making the block, I forgot to take a few photo's. Sorry! :-/

The first thing I did was cut a red and white strip 1.25 inches by 15.5 inches and sewed them together to get a 2 inch by 15.5 inch strip. Pressing to the red (here is where I forgot a photo, but I think you get the idea). ;-)  Cut this strip into 1.25 inch segments. You will get 12 with just a smidge leftover.

Next cut 12 - 1.25 by 2 inch rectangles of your background fabric. (no photo) Sorry. :-/

 Sew these rectangles to your  little red/white rectangles~

You will end up with 2 inch '3 patches'. **Notice that I sewed the white rectangles to the red square units in two different ways ~ half one way, and half the other way. This is so you will be able to have them appear random in the final block.

Then cut 12 more background rectangles~ 2 by 3 inches and sew your little '3 patches' to them~

Alternate the direction of the '3 patches'~ I sewed groups of 3 in 4 different ways~ photo above. Sometimes photo's speak volumes where words fail me! ;-)

Now sew these together with the '3 patches' on opposite ends (forgot the photo~ but the next photo shows them together) ;-) Clip in the center so that you can press the seam allowances in opposite directions~ away from the '3 patches'.

I just randomly picked rectangles to sew together, so your little red square ends up in different positions. ;-)

Next take your ruler and draw a diagonal line from the corner to the opposite side. It should just pass a hair below the intersection of the 3-patch, so that you will have a nice point later. Draw a second line for the other 3 patch. Photo above. 

 Cut six rectangles from your green fabric~ 3.5 by 4.5 inches. Pair  each with your red/white rectangle. RST.

2~ sew on the drawn lines.

3~ cut apart leaving a 1/4 inch seam allowance for each segment.

4~ you will end up with 2 units, with red square in random spots.

Repeat for all  rectangle sets ~ ending with 12 green half square triangle/red square units. They should each measure 3.5 inches square. I originally pressed all the seam allowances to the green, but once you find a layout you like, you will need to re-press a few segments away from the green so the seam allowances mesh together.

Now for the fun! Arrange them any way you like. :-)
My center square is cut 6.5 inches. I need to embroider it with my stencil yet, but I think you get the idea now on how to make the block. :-)  The finished block is 12 inches square.

All the photo's should enlarge if you click on them. And if you have any questions, please let me know!
If you make a block, please let me know too! :-)

Today the Think Christmas blog hop continues with these bloggers~~

Creations On The Island

Meloree at That Other Blog ( sadly a no show)

Sunshine Girl

Hallbrook Designs

The Recipe Bunny

Sisca at That Other Blog 

Polkadot Classic

Ariane's Crafts

The Cuddle Quilter ~ our hostess :-)

Be sure to visit them and be inspired!!
Have a happy day!

It Looks Like Christmas!

The "Think Christmas" Blog Hop is in full swing~ I hope you've been visiting blogs and getting inspired! :-)
I sure have!  Today I am on the schedule and I made a this little quilt~

I had a lot of fun playing around with the design.  The tree is a quilting stencil I traced and then embroidered.
It doesn't really shine in this photo, but I had a ball playing with the bling! LOL All the ornaments are hot fix crystals. ;-)  Playing in my Christmas fabrics is always fun, but especially on these hot summer days.

The hop continues today at these blogs~

Crazy 'boutquilts  (you are here) 

Dexter Days

Cherry's Prairie Primitives

Somewhat Fanciful

Craftluver Marianna

Quiltscapes

Prsd4tim2 

Moments

Ruthanne at That Other Blog

I hope you get a chance to visit each of them. :-)

Many thanks go to Mdm Samm @ !Sew WE Quilt!  who came up with the idea for this hop. And to Lesley @ the Cuddle Quilter who flew with it~ organizing all the quilters in blogland for one of the biggest shows around! Thanks ladies!

Until next time~
Happy Quilting!

Think Christmas Blog Hop

Today starts the Think Christmas blog hop Mdm Samm invented and Lesley at the Cuddle Quilter organized.  Thanks ladies!

Visit the blogs and be inspired!! :-)

July 30

Cotton Addiction

Vroomans Quilts

Kris Loves Fabric 

Moosestash Quilting

Paws for Stitching

Threading My Needles 

Just Let Me Quilt

Living4quilting

Doodling in my Mind

Quilt Doodle Designs

My day is August 3rd.

To see the complete schedule, click the button in my sidebar.

Have a happy day!

A Schnibbling Along~

Sinta and Sherri allowed us to choose what ever Schnibbles pattern we wanted to make for the July 'Another Year of Schnibbles' sew along. I've had 2 charm packs of Prairie Paisley 2 for quite a while, waiting for a chance to make Lincoln~ from the book 'Another  Bite of Schnibbles' ~

I love this one! Pretty easy, yet so patriotic!  Be sure to visit Sinta and Sherri's blogs on Wednesday for loads of inspiration! I can't wait for the parade!

Have a happy weekend!

Oops!

I'm hanging my head in shame. Yesterday was Thimbleberries Sew day~ and I did not. :-( Oh I seriously thought about it! But I just have too many things going on right now to feel very good about starting another project. I hope to be more organized next month. Sorry.

Remember awhile back I told you something was in the mail, but I couldn't show you yet? I made a purse and matching wallet for my Auntie. And since I know she checks my blog~ hi auntie!!~ I didn't want to show it until she received it. ;-)  When we were visiting home in June she asked if I would make her a purse. Since I have never seen her carry a purse, I really had to think about what she might like. She wanted to be surprised.  ~that's almost as scary as reading 'quilt as desired' in a pattern! LOL  Cyndi came to my rescue without even realizing it. :-)  She had made a super cute purse for me last year, so I asked her about the pattern. It is called the Mini Messenger by Darci Wright for Quilts Illustrated. I did change it a wee bit and added a magnet closure and changed the handle to match mine from Cyndi. After I finished it, I decided it needed a matching wallet. Cyndi designed this wallet, she hasn't published a pattern...yet. ;-)

I'm glad I got it mailed off quick or I might have loaded it with my things! ;-)

Have you been following along with the Summer Star Sampler from Temecula Quilt Co?  I finally got caught up~ and tomorrow block four comes out!  They were very quick and fun~

Thanks for stopping by~
I'm off to get back to work.
Have a happy day!

Wednesday~ Thimbleberries Sew Day!

And I think I just might get to sew! :-)  How about you? Can you join us for a sew day?
Use a Thimbleberries pattern and your own fabrics, or use your Thimbleberries stash and any pattern~ just come on over and have some sewing fun!  Let me know if you are sewing and I'll come by for a visit. :-)

Tonight I am going to look through my books.   If you can't decide on a project visit Thimbleberries website.  I found some cute tea towels designs there ~~free! and there are a lot of free patterns too. :-)

See you tomorrow!!! :-)