Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 7 Blog Hop!

It's the very first day of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 7 Blog Hop! Yippee! Read to the end of this post to see how to win a copy of your own....

Please check out Quilty Pleasures blog, by the wonderful folks at Quiltmaker Magazine, to see other features regarding this issue and blog hop.

This is the block that I designed for this issue, called Candy Stripe:

For the sample block for the magazine, I used my Fruitful Hands fabric line (shown above). But I also tried making a block using my Oh Holy Night fabric line:

I got the name for the block because it kind of reminded me of a wrapped candy for some reason

and also because, it is obviously striped.

You could arrange these blocks in a couple of different ways:

 All blocks going in same direction.

 Rotating alternating blocks 90 degrees creates a cool pattern.

Adding sashing really looks neat.

Blocks set on point.

Blocks set on point with the addition of sashing.

All of the above designs were done with the Christmas fabric. Here is one done with Fruitful Hands, which is more Spring-y/ Summer-y:

Speaking of Spring-y/ Summer-y things... what did everyone think of our latest e-magazine which went out last week? I hope you tried the cookie recipe- they were so good :)
 Haven't seen it yet?? Click here.

(What? You don't have your free subscription yet? Click here to sign up.)

OK... so I know this is the moment you've been waiting for....

Quiltmaker is giving away a copy of their magazine! You can enter up to 3 times.

• Comment on this post and answer this question-

When do you normally start working on your Christmas/holiday projects:

A) I'm an over-achiever. I start working on them on December 26 and have them finished by June.
B) Slow and steady wins the race. I work on them all year round and pretty much have them done by Christmas week.
C) I start on December 15 and fuel myself with espresso, Red Bull and dark chocolate, baby!! Woo Hoo!!!!!!!!!

• For an extra chance to win, "like" my Facebook page and leave an extra comment here that you are a Facebook fan. 

• For one more extra chance to win, post a direct link to this post on your blog and leave the link to your post in the comments here.

You must comment by 11:59 pm EDT on Sunday, May 5. Winner will be drawn at random.
I MUST BE ABLE TO CONTACT YOU THROUGH AN EMAIL ADDRESS OR GOOGLE ACCOUNT. If I draw your name and you are a "no-reply blogger" and there is no email address in your comment, I will choose another winner.

Good luck!

Child's Play Book is here!

Well, it's only 3 1/2 weeks behind schedule, but it's finally done (big, big grin!)

I am excited about this book for a bunch of different reasons...  The first reason is that this is the first book that I've self-published. (Actually, at first it was just going to be a quilt pattern... but then I started adding more and more ideas until it turned into a 55 page book with about 8 projects and 3 recipes... but that is just like me: I have said it before and I'll say it again, I am definitely a "more is more" kind of girl!)

When you do a book with a publisher, it takes a very long time- a minimum of a year. I was able to put this together and get it published in about 4 or 5 months' time. In working with a publisher there is also a loss of a certain amount of creative control, and depending on the publisher this can be a lot or a little. (When I worked with Kansas City Star for my first book, they were actually really great about including most of the projects that I wanted to do, etc.)

For Child's Play, I designed & made all of the projects & recipes, laid out the book, provided the artwork & illustrations, did the photography... being a "control-freak," it was appealing to me to be able to have everything exactly the way I wanted it (I have a bit of a rebellious streak and sometimes don't like collaboration... I just want to do things my own way...)

It was a lot of work, and a really huge learning curve for me as far as the technical aspects... Many, many times, through tears of frustration, I wondered what I had gotten myself into and swore that I would never do it again. But then I finally got my copy and held it in my hands and it looked so great and I was so proud of it... and I immediately knew that Yes, I will definitely do it again.... hopefully next time I will have figured a lot of it out and it will be a much easier process!

Another thing that I am super-duper-excited about with this book is that I have ventured into the world of video... talk about a learning curve! I had never made a video in my life, but after some trial and error I think the videos came out fairly decent (again, now that I know a little more I think the next ones will be easier for me to do and come out better.) I did 3 videos to go with the book, and with the digital version (which I'll talk about a little later), you can click right on the link and it will take you to the YouTube video. So, for example, if you are making the stuffed animals and would like some tips on how to turn and stuff those skinny tubes for the arms and legs, just click the link and watch my video! Really convenient, don't you think? (If you buy the printed version, you will also have access to the videos, you will just have to type the provided address into your browser instead of just clicking.)

The book is available in both a print copy and a digital copy. I love books- I have many, many in my collection. Isn't it fun to just sit and look at the pretty pictures while enjoying your cup of tea or coffee?

I wanted this book to be very affordable- at only $15.00 for a 55 page, full color book with 8 projects, 3 recipes, and several kid's activity pages, this is a fabulous value! 

To order your printed version of the book, click here. This will take you to an outside but fully secure website. I looked into several options for printing the book, and decided on this site for several reasons. First, I could keep the price to a minimum. Second, I do not have to warehouse and ship the books myself. This is huge because right now for my other products, I do all of the order processing and shipping myself, and I am finding it harder and harder to keep up with orders. This website ships the book directly from the printer to the customer. And as I said earlier, the quality of the printed book is beautiful.

Now, you also have an option to buy a digital copy of the book. To buy your digital book (e-book), click here. There are many advantages to the digital book also! 

• First, the price- only $12.00 for all of the full-color content you get in the printed book. That's a lot of content for $12.00- really a great bargain!
• You don't have to wait for the book to be shipped- you should have your link for your book within 24 hours of your order, which means you can start creating right away!
• Especially important to international customers: No Shipping Costs!!!
• You can view it as a "flippable" book (like my newsletter), or you can download the PDF onto your computer or device to read at any time.
• It looks beautiful on the iPad!
• Links are easy to use- just click. There are links to the videos as mentioned above, and also to my social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.
• Print out just the pages you need- maybe a recipe or a pattern page or the kids' activity sheets. So much easier to have a single recipe page in the kitchen to work with than a whole book, right? And you don't have to worry about splatters on your book!
• Never trace a pattern again- just print it out onto inexpensive computer paper and cut the pieces out.
• For those concerned about using up a lot of expensive color ink, you can save ink when you print pages by choosing "grayscale" in your printer options and printing in black and white.

To see more sample pages, click here. (The quality of the sample pages is greatly decreased- the quality of the actual digital & printed books is much better.)

So, just to re-cap, here is what you get for the price of $12.00 for the digital book or $15.00 for the printed book:

• 2 quilt patterns (2 colorways each)
• tote bag pattern
• patterns for 3 stuffed animals with clothes
• 2 embroidered wall art projects
• 3 kids' activity sheets and 2 crafts
• 3 kid-friendly recipes (easy for the kids to help make, fun & tasty)

(And even though the name of the book is Child's Play, the tote bag and Skip to My Lou Quilt would be great in your favorite "grown-up" fabrics! And the recipe for Sloppy Joe Egg Rolls is a great appetizer for any party. Why should the kids have all the fun?)

I hope you will enjoy this book as much as I enjoyed putting it together. It was a real "labor of love"!

I look forward to your feedback- please tell me what you think!

Settler's Pride Wool BOM & Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks

I finally finished the main portion of the Settler's Pride wool quilt that I have been working on since 2009! (Last December I talked about "re-booting" this project- click here for that post and to see the individual blocks.)

(This is the same photo from when I had prepped the quilt- it looks exactly the same now that it's stitched, minus the pins.)

I spent last weekend prepping the top and bottom borders (cut out all the pieces and pinned them to the background). I really dislike the prepping part, but now that is ALL done! All that is left is stitching the borders (the fun part). I told my husband that after working on this quilt for over 3 years, I am limping toward the finish line! (One of the borders has the date on it- and I couldn't decide if I should use the year I started- 2009- or the year that I finished it. I ended up using 2013- so I definitely have to get it done this year ha ha. I'm committed!)

What keeps you from finishing a project? Do you lose interest? Do you have so many things going on at the same time that you forget about them? Do you have a certain part of the process where you get "stuck" and have a hard time moving forward? And what do you do to get yourself to finish up those UFO's (UnFinished Objects)??


Moving on.... Look what I got in the mail the other day- the Spring 2013 issue of Quilts from Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks. 

I have a quilt featured in this issue, called Tutti-Frutti. It was adapted from my Neapolitan block, which appeared in Volume 4 of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks. For the Neapolitan block, I used pinks, browns, and creams.

For the Tutti-Frutti quilt, I used "juicy" fabrics from my Fruitful Hands fabric line (available at Fat Quarter shop.)

Look for this issue on newsstands in the beginning of March! It's a really great issue- lots of pretty, colorful, cheerful springtime quilt ideas! The nice folks at Quiltmaker magazine sent me a couple of extra copies, so stop back soon for a giveaway :)


Daughter & I are starting to talk about the next issue of the newsletter. It will have a spring theme. I have a cute idea for a cookie recipe- do you have any ideas for craft or decorating projects? What would you like to see in the next issue?? Let us know!

Wonky House Quilt Block Tutorial

wonky  (ˈwɒŋkɪ)
— adj  , -kier , -kiest
1.	shaky or unsteady
2.	not in correct alignment; askew

Happy Valentine's Day!

(OK, now that we've gotten that out of the way...) I have wanted to make a "Wonky House" block for quite a while- I think they are so cute and fun!  I have made just two blocks so far- I just LOVE how they came out! I would love to make a whole pile for a quilt. But if I don't have time, I think this would make a really cute pillow or wall hanging.

I like the extra scrappiness that the Log Cabin block adds to my little house. The Log Cabin Block can be just a little wonky, or super-wonky, whichever you prefer.

This tutorial will show you how to make the Wonky Log Cabin, and then how to turn it into a house block. Let's get started!

This will make a 12 1/2" block (12" finished size.) You will need various scraps of fabric. I used fabric from my Happy Town fabric line. You will also need fabric for the background- I used white but you can use any solid or tonal.

• Scraps- strips should about 2-3" wide. (You can cut the strips ahead of time, or just cut them as you go.)
• Background- 2 pieces 3 1/2 x 7 1/2"
•                       1 piece 7 x 15"
• Roof fabric- 4 1/2 x 8 1/2"

Start with a square about 2 1/2" big- it doesn't even have to be a perfect square. Trim one side off on an angle. (The bigger the angle, the "wonkier" the block will be.)

Sew a strip of fabric to the angled side. Press and then trim excess fabric.

Turn block 90 degrees and sew another strip to the side.

Trim excess fabric, following the edge of the existing block.

I wanted the yellow strip to be a little narrower, and I wanted my block to be a little more wonky, so I trimmed it off at an angle.

Continue turning the block 90 degrees and sewing on strips, cutting edges at an angle as desired.

Continue until block is at least 7 x 8" big. When you get to this point, don't worry about the excess fabric because we will be trimming the block anyway. (At this point- you could just trim it to the desired size and use it as a Log Cabin block, or continue to make the House block.)

Trim the block to 6 1/2 x 7 1/2".

Sew background fabric (3 1/2 x 7 1/2") to either side of the block.

For the roof, start from the bottom corner and cut up to top, then make another cut from remaining bottom corner. (The angle doesn't matter as long as your cuts go from the bottom corners to the top edge.)

Place 7 x 15" piece of background fabric right side up on table. Place roof triangle right side up on background fabric.

Cut the background fabric, using the roof as a guide.

Discard the background triangle under the roof fabric.
Place shape A right sides together with roof triangle and sew together.

Press. Sew shape B to other side of roof.

Press. Trim bottom edge so it is even with roof bottom.

Sew roof to block. Trim block to 12 1/2".

PS Please stop by A Quilt & A Prayer blog- Teresa is giving away Happy Town Fabric- and look what she's been making (didn't it come out cute??):

Wonky Cakes & Wonky Quilt Blocks

Daughter celebrated her 18th birthday over the weekend (18! She's 18, folks! How did that happen??)

She had a party for some of her friends- it was very fun, and very loud. She made a birthday cake, but when she frosted it, it just started to collapse. I guess the icing was too heavy (cream cheese....) We watched it just crack and start to fall, powerless to stop its imminent demise: 

We tried putting skewers in it to hold it together but that seemed to make it worse! 

So we had just an hour till the party was to start... What were we to do?

We picked it up and plopped it into a large trifle bowl, sprinkled it with chocolate chips and sprinkles, and stuck a candle in it. Voila! Cake bowl!

To be honest, I think it was even better this way because the icing mixed in with the cake... We might do this again some time- on purpose!

Today I am working on a Wonky Log Cabin Block. This is what I have so far:

I have never made a wonky block before (well, not on purpose!), but I've been wanting to give it a try for a long time. I'm going to keep on working on it... I have special plans for the block when I'm done, so stop back later this week to see how it turns out.

I tend to be a Type A, driven perfectionist- I like things to be a certain way, and I like everything to go as planned. But Life isn't perfect, is it? Sometimes you have to embrace the wonkiness and just go with it.... And sometimes it's fun to be wonky on purpose, just for fun. What have been some of your best "mistakes"?? Was it a project in the sewing room? A recipe that "failed" but still came out great?

PS Barb at Bejeweled Quilts is giving away some of my fabric- please stop by and say Hi and enter to win, and see the cute projects she has been working on.