Going Postal…

Well, not anymore, that is!!

My Halloween postage stamp quilt is finally done!!

I named it “Wicked Bits”!! Woo hoo!

I think this type of quilt with zillions of tiny pieces (1,443 to be exact), is perfect to make as a leader/ender project.

Bonnie Hunter’s term for having a stack of little precut squares by your machine at all times and using two of them right sides together in between piecing parts of your current project.

I have always called the little scrap pieces of fabric I used between piecing “tweeners” and they were just thrown away when they were covered in thread…but Bonnie calls them Leaders and Enders and has written two books about them!!

I am thrilled that I finished this quilt!!  Can’t wait to put it our next month!!  YAY! 

It was a great way to use up all those old tiny Halloween scraps!!

Today, I’ve got to start making this month’s Schnibble!!

What are you up to today??

Such Sewing Fun!!

Have you seen this magazine?

This time of year, with the high heat and humidity, I am always longing for autumn!!  Sooooo, magazines with fall themes on the cover… especially anything Halloween, catch my eye and find their way into my home!!

I totally fell in love with the little Halloween tabletopper quilt on the metal stand on the cover.  My experience with buying kits for quilts shown in the different Fons and Porter magazines is that if you don’t order it quickly, they’ll be sold out!!

So I ordered the kit and got it last week!!

I did change one thing, though.  Unless you look really closely, you can’t even tell there is a moon in the orange sky behind the tree… the value of the the two oranges is very close.

So, I pulled a bright yellow batik from my stash and substituted it for their orange moon.

I like the contrast much better, don’t you??

The other interesting thing about this little project is that Patrick Lose, the designer, added a layer of black tulle over the front of the quilt to give it a slightly hazy look.

I was worried how my walking foot would move over the tulle while quilting it… but it was just fine!  I just quilted horizontal lines across it as shown in the photo.

I like the bigger size of the stand, too.  The quilt is approximately 18 inches tall by 12 inches wide.  So, I’m already thinking of other seasonal designs to create using the stand!!

What other seasonal quilts would you use it for???

Another UFO Done!

I made this fall panel quilt top over a year ago, but never quilted it.  So, as I am trying very hard to complete one UFO between new projects, I pulled it out and quilted it on Saturday!

As you know, I am really into Halloween lately, and so it continues with this quilt!

I bought this panel over 5 years ago with my sister, Patty, when we visited a quilt shop on vacation in North Carolina.  It sat in my stash for years! 

Then I saw the border fabric one day when I was browsing at our local G-Street Fabrics and knew it was made to go with this panel!

I just quilted it with a simple meander all over using fun multi-colored thread.  Super quick and easy!!  I finished the binding and label at bee on Monday!  YAY!

Only 2 more quilt tops to quilt up left in my sewing room!! 

Woo hoo!!  Gotta love that!! 

What are you working on today?

 

GO!-ing, GO!-ing, DONE!!

I quilted and bound the tumbler Halloween quilt I showed in earlier posts.  I cut out all the tumblers using my Accuquilt GO! 6 1/2” tumbler die.  And boy, was it quick and easy and TOTALLY pain-free!  I HATE cutting out quilts, so what a joy it was to cut out this quilt!!

I started with 8 fat quarters then added tumblers from stash yardage, and my Halloween scrap bin.  What a good way to use up scraps!!  :-)

It’s only 110 degrees outside here today in the DC area, so photographing this out on the deck is burning my bare feet!!  YIKES!!

And Yogi was quick to go inside this time…the heck with squirrel watching in this heat!!

I do love the backing fabric, too!  I cut out a goofy Jack O’Lantern from my stash and used it for the label!  Gotta love that grin, right?

SOOOOOOOO… ya think you might like to see how easy it is to cut out a quilt on a GO Baby?

Stick around…’cause Accuquilt has given me one to give away! And, three dies, too!!   So, Stay tuned!!

Still GO!-ing Over Here!!

Yogi and I spent a good part of the day in my sewing room working on my Halloween tumbler quilt cut out entirely last week on my Accuquilt Go!

Very easy to assemble! 

Sew the tumblers into rows.

Then sew the rows together!

Just doesn’t get any easier!!

When it was all sewn together, I just trimmed the side to be straight with a ruler!

This is the cool fabric I am using for the backing.  When I saw it online last year, I just HAD to have it!  One of our favorite old Halloween cartoons is “The Halloween Tree” based on a Ray Bradbury book. 

It explains all about Halloween and how it came to involve witches and skeletons and monsters…very cool!!  My students through the years always loved that movie, too!  So the backing fabric reminds me of years of bringing up my sons and students at Halloween time!

I pinned the top and batting together and it is ready to be quilted!!  Hopefully tomorrow!!

Guess what Yogi was doing while I was sewing?

Love My GO!!

I’ve had my Accuquilt GO! for quite a while but have not posted a tutorial or project as there are a zillion around…tons on the wonderful Accuquilt site and even more on YouTube!  And although I don’t do video, I hope you’ll find this tut of still photos instructional!  :-)

Those of you who are teachers or have worked or volunteered in a school- especially an elementary school in the last 10 years or so, have seen and used an Ellison Letter Machine.  And if you have, then you know how to use the Accuquilt GO! and Baby.  It works exactly the same but you use fabric instead of construction paper!

Ok, so meet my GO! and all her dies!  I have three die racks full and already need a fourth.

I keep the die instruction guides that come with the die in a big binder along with some printed out charts from the Accuquilt website

and the Block of the Month instruction sheets that you can get when you sign up for their newletter on the web site.

So, it’s summer and I’m dyin’ to make a new quilt using my Halloween fat quarters and scraps.  And what it realllly HOT right now in quilting???  Tumbler quilts!  And I have the 6 1/2” tumbler die for my GO!

So, I’m starting with one packet of 8 FQ’s.  I press each FQ flat then fold it into thirds and then fold it again into half and cut across the last fold giving me two folded pieces that will make 6 tumblers in two batches of three. Accuquilt suggests cutting no more than 4 layers or less at one time depending on the fabric thickness.  And, to make it easier to see the cutting edges, they suggest you trace the die cutting outline on the rubber with a permanent Sharpie.

I lay one folded piece on the die, making sure the edges completely cover the die cutting marks.

Cover it with the thick opaque plastic cutting mat.

Roll it under the center bar using the handle 

and when it comes out on the other side, remove the plastic mat and VOILA!!!

 

The three tumblers are all cut out 

and you can either throw away the leftover scraps or toss them in your scrap bin.

So, I cut out 6 tumblers from the 8 FQ’s, then I used a few pieces of scrap yardage from my stash to cut some more…

and this is what I’ve got up on the design wall so far!

I want to make it bigger, so will now get out my Halloween scrap bin and use all the pieces big enough to cover the die!!

So, now I’ve got it the size I want- 13 tumblers across by 10 tumblers down.

I hope to sew them all together today, then I will trim the outside edges straight.  I’ll be back soon with the finished quilt!!   Time to sew!!

What are you sewing this weekend??