Saturday, July 17 from 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. I will be signing copies of Fast, Flirty, and Fun. I would love to see you all there.
Quilter's Haven
583 West 2600 South
Bountiful, UT 84010-7717
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Kids can quilt, so can you!
Having a mother as a quilter gives my children an opportunity to catch the quilting bug early. My oldest daughter started with a needle and thread when she was four. Now she is almost 10, and she enjoys spending time with me quilting. Now, my 6 year old is getting started and I am pretty excited to share my love of quilting with them.
Of course, with little ones, allowing for a number of mistakes is always a great thing. Really, anyone starting something new needs to feel like they are doing okay. It's great to give instruction, let them do it, and praise what they did well. Praise goes a long way. Everyone loves to be praised. I sure do!
I have a number of quilting books to review for Martingale publishing, and as part of the
review process I wanted to try out some of these quilt designs....and there is no better way to do it than to use my children in the process. This way I can see how well these books translate to beginners.
Madeline chose a pattern from this book. She chose a simple design that will work great for her. Today we started with piecing the strips together. I have to say, even though the book clearly shows that this is a large quilt, I was rather shocked to be cutting 3 1/2 inch strips, and 9 1/2" blocks. I am so used to using smaller cuts of fabric that this was a little bit of a shock. Of course, I got over it.
We sized the quilt down, and have been working on it this afternoon. I am loving this time I get to spend with her.
My little Lizard wanted to make a quilt of her own. She has a love of all things pretty, and also enjoys looking at and cutting my fabric. Lizard chose a pattern from the book Take 5.
Is it okay to be amazed at the ability of your children? I say yes, my Lizard sewed a pretty great 1/4" seam. Impressive.
Do you know how to quilt? If so, go teach someone you love to quilt!
Do you want to learn to quilt? Grab a loved one who knows how, and start today....or head on over to my house, we can make a party of it!
Friday, July 2, 2010
Are you?
Are you dying for a little push? Some inspiration? Something fun and easy to accomplish?
This summer has been crazy, pushing me out of the sewing room, and into every other room of the house. I spend an inordinate amount of time with my washing machine.
Anyhow....I want to give you guys something fun. Something easy to work on. So here's a twist on the windmill block. All straight edges, strip piecing, and quick. You are going to love it.
These are the instructions for just one block. Make the quilt as large or small as you desire.
1. Sew the strips together, and press to the darker fabric.
2. Cut the strips into blocks. Cut into 4 1/2" blocks.
***What if you want to make your strips different sizes? No problem. Cut your strips into squares by adding the width of the two strips, then subtracting 1/2", that will be the size of block you need to cut.
Super Easy.
3. Arrange the blocks so they look like this. Then sew together, and press!
4. Sew the two halves of the square together, and press.
Happy day, the block is done, and it was easy. You feel happy because it is so cute, you can hardly handle it.
So, what's so great about this block? I love it because it allows you to use a million different kinds of fabrics, and still ties them together. Notice in this quilt (look at the one at the top of the page, or this one...whatever), how I have super modern fabrics, mixed together with very traditional fabric. I simply picked 2 colors as my guide, and let the rest follow. Of course, there are more than 2 colors, but there are 2 "main" colors.
Do you want to try it out? Make a small quilt like this, and email them to me, I'd love to show the world your creations! Do you just want to sew the blocks? Email me the pics of those too!!!
This summer has been crazy, pushing me out of the sewing room, and into every other room of the house. I spend an inordinate amount of time with my washing machine.
Anyhow....I want to give you guys something fun. Something easy to work on. So here's a twist on the windmill block. All straight edges, strip piecing, and quick. You are going to love it.
What do you need?
Solid fabric (white?), cut into 2 1/2 strips
2 1/2 strips of "fun" fabric
1. Sew the strips together, and press to the darker fabric.
2. Cut the strips into blocks. Cut into 4 1/2" blocks.
***What if you want to make your strips different sizes? No problem. Cut your strips into squares by adding the width of the two strips, then subtracting 1/2", that will be the size of block you need to cut.
Super Easy.
3. Arrange the blocks so they look like this. Then sew together, and press!
4. Sew the two halves of the square together, and press.
Happy day, the block is done, and it was easy. You feel happy because it is so cute, you can hardly handle it.
So, what's so great about this block? I love it because it allows you to use a million different kinds of fabrics, and still ties them together. Notice in this quilt (look at the one at the top of the page, or this one...whatever), how I have super modern fabrics, mixed together with very traditional fabric. I simply picked 2 colors as my guide, and let the rest follow. Of course, there are more than 2 colors, but there are 2 "main" colors.
Do you want to try it out? Make a small quilt like this, and email them to me, I'd love to show the world your creations! Do you just want to sew the blocks? Email me the pics of those too!!!
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