Friday, April 12, 2024

Time for Another Quilt-Along?

Of course it is!  This one hosted by AccuQuilt and APS - it just started so there's plenty of time to join in ALL the quilty FUN ;-)

I will be swapping out the 'default' colors to Patriotic and creating a Quilt of Honor to be Awarded to a Veteran later this year.  Will probly be adding a few more borders to 'bring it to size' but, the interior is a wonderful design and pefect for just such a quilt.

Was able to cut out ALL the pieces in a little over an hour - despite NOT cutting enough the first time and/or mis-counting...Whew!

Pieces ALL cut and Ready to Sew!

I like to keep my projects organized and ready to go to the sewing machine - these baskets also 'stack' so... win/WIN!

They also fit into a rolling cart that I keep next to my cutting station - keeps things handy and organized.


Cutting Cart


I must say - there are PLENTY of ways to cut fabric BUT...AccuQuilt makes it Fast & FUN!

The 10" Cube is being used to cut out most of this quilt:

10" Cube w/Corners and Angles dies


Cutting 'chunks' of fabric to feed into the GO! cutter:

The Quilter's Select/QS rulers are my very fav -
a little more expensive but so worth it - NO Slipping & Sliding around
while cutting w/exclusive NON-slip see-thru coating!



Using the GO! Big for this operation - performed FLAWLESSLY
(An early Christmas present last year w/Saved up points ON SALE during Black Friday - what a WONDERFUL Gift!
Especially since I'd recently broken my right elbow and was having difficulty cranking my hand-turned cutter...the GO! BIG was a lifesaver for my quilting adventures)


Now that ALL the pieces are cut & organized, Time to Sew Mama, SEW!

Chain piecing these pieces together is a Breeze due to the accuracy of the cuts!

I NO longer avoid piecing more challenging quilts w/AccuQuilt cutting system - ALL the pieces are cut uniformly and accurately and fit together like a glove...NO worries getting a perfectly pieced quilt...EVERY time!

Please NOTE:  I am NOT an AccuQuilt paid Advocate and/or Affiliate - I probly should be but, currently just a very happy quilter who LOVES speed & accuracy while having FUN quilting ;-)

Loving how these units are turning out:



Square-in-a-square units sewing together Perfectly!
















Time for MORE Sewing!

Later,
~Deb

Sunday, March 31, 2024

Happy Easter!

 Bunny Bags from Kimberbell are just the cuttest, aren't they?

Lion King remnant

This Lion King remnant is a 'leftover' from my youngest son's 'King' days - how FUN to stumble across it in my latest round of fabric sorting!  I saved it in a bin w/several other fabrics, planning to use in some project 'someday'.  Once I saw this latest Kimberbell Bunny Bag embroidery project, I knew exactly what fabrics I would be using ;-)

I did modify this design a bit to take advantage of my Lion King remnant and I used brown felt for the bunny body:

Brown felt bunny front w/candies

I also inserted some Easter background quilting to stabilize the heavier felt for the bunny body and ears, using Metallic thread for color and effect to stitch-out.




Even though I stitched out the bunny tail - I chose to add a white cotton ball for good measure ;-).  The woven jute ties came with some of my latest plants, and I saved because I thought they might come in handy!

Time to get these Bunny Bags to the intended...

Happy Easter!
~Deb

Monday, February 12, 2024

Happy Birthday, Abe/Tribute Quilt to Our Fallen Marines

This Patriotic Quilt will be quilted/bound/labeled and Awarded to one Our Beloved Area Marines:

Patriotic Quilt utilizing Remnant fabrics w/Abe Lincoln Panel

 This is one of many that are being created incorporating 'remnants' into blocks and sashing, combined with various Patriotic panels to create Beautiful Patriotic Quilts to Honor our Amazing Service Members and Veterans for their Sacrifice and Service for our country.

Here's another recently created Patriotic Quilt from 'remnant binding strips':

Patriotic quilt
 

We fondly refer to these Patriotic 'Remnant' blocks as 'potato chip' blocks, as the Creator of these wondrous blocks/quilts does, too: 

...because once you get started making them, You simply CAN'T make Just ONE!

Not only are they FUN to create - they give us an outlet for our binding remnants that allows us to utilize even the smallest pieces of fabric to create Beautiful Patritic Quilts for our Beloved Vets and Service Members...win/WIN!

A few examples of these blocks:

Blue Center 'Log Cabin/Potato Chip' block


RED Center 'Log Cabin/Potato Chip' block
 
There are MANY ways to assemble these 'remnant/potato chip' blocks - we chose the Log Cabin style to reflect not only our Lincoln Log cabin state but, because of the simplicity of piecing this block.  We use 2 1/2" strips throughout cut to 4 1/2" lengths because once again, that's what we have the most remnants of, because that's the size we typically use for our bindings = simplicity ;-)

2.5" x 4.5" Patriotic Logs

ALL cut from these:

Fabric Remnants
 Turn into these:

Patriotic Logs ready to assemble into blocks


Happy Quilting!

Later,
~Deb


Sunday, December 17, 2023

Clue #4 of Indigo Way Finished!

 Ahhh - it feels so good to FINISH!

Clue #4 of Indigo Way Mystery

While I realy like the Blues in this Indigo Way Mystery Clue:

Blues of Clue #4

I LOVE those Christmas REDS!

The REDS of Clue #4

While cutting out this clue, decided to convert one of my rolling carts into a 'cutting' cart - and it works great!  I can move from pressing to cutting stations w/ease:

Rolling cart using for 'cutting' cart

It can hold two (2) baskets on each shelf.  Once the baskets are full of their cut units, the baskets move easily to my sewing area.  Now my cutting work is much more efficient and organized...win/WIN!


Have a Wonderful Holiday Week!

~Deb


Please Note:  ALL of my Magnificent BH Mysteries are SCRAPPY - including this one ;-)

Sunday, December 10, 2023

Indigo Way Mystery Clue #3 Underway!

 First...the Cutting:

Clue #3 ALL Cut!


Even though 'cutting' is NOT my favorite thing to do - cutting w/AccuQuilt GO! Big is my NEW fav thing!  It makes such light and Fast & FUN work of a previously BORING task...Love it!  (Additional pics of this Fab cutter can be found from Clue #2.)

Next comes a test block...lookin' pretty good!

Clue #3 Test Block



Once the cutting/testing was done, time to sew, Mama SEW!

Chaining the 'first part' of our Clue #3



...then the Final assembly of this FUN block:

Chain piecing the 'second part' of Clue #3


...and the ultimate Pressing:

Clue #3 ready to press

The Final result:

Clue #3 Finished!

Time to get back to finishing up one of our previous mysteries - Grassy Creek.  
And I have a bit of 'Suprise Help' ;-)


Enjoy your week,

~Deb

Please Note:  ALL of my Marvelous BH Mysteries are SCRAPPY...including this one!

Saturday, December 2, 2023

Clue #2 of the BH Indigo Way Mystery is HERE!

 ...and it's ALL sewn/pressed/pruned and ready to go into the Clue #2 bag...Yes!


Clue #2 of the Indigo Way Mystery ALL Finished!


This was a FUN Clue from Bonnie Hunter's Indigo Way Mystery - these Festive & FUN fabrics from Moda made me smile while they were being fed through my sewing machine:

Chain-piecing the first side while singing Fa La La in my head ;-)


Even when I 'Did it WRONG', still had to smile at my zeal to get started sewing these FUN fabrics:

Sewing the units WRONG - notice the piece on Top is UPSIDE Down...OOPS! 
Time for 'ol Jack the Ripper' to make his necessary appearance in this clue...MORE than Once he showed up!!!

Cutting was a breeze w/AccuQuilt GO Big! cutter, Wowza!  

An early Christmas present to self - w/Cyber Monday
72% discount and my Saved Up Points ;-)

A couple of months ago, I broke my right elbow in two places and cutting with rulers and a rotary cutter or scissors has been next to impossible, just too painful after a few minutes. 

But now, I can cut a few chunks of fabric and run them thru this electric cutter:

Fast & FUN - my kinda cutting!

And when they said it was BIG - they were NOT lying...

It can even handle up to two (2) 6" dies at a time and SIX layers of fabrics!

I really enjoy watching the die w/fabric run thru this cutter:

Clue #2 neutral fabric going thru die

ALL perfectly cut units:

Freshly cut units w/little waste

...and here are ALL the units from Clue #2 ready to be assembled - fairly quickly & perfectly cut = a Joy to sew together since ALL the units line up again...PERFECTLY!

Clue #2 ALL cut and ready to be sewn

The die I used helped make quick and pain-free cutting work of this Clue!

GO! die

Some of the FUN/Festive fabric - I love what the selvages have to say:

Christmas Eve by Moda

My very fav:

What a wonderful message!


May your Week be MERRY & Bright!

~Deb


Please Note:  ALL my Magnificent BH Mysteries are SCRAPPY - including this one ;-)

Saturday, November 11, 2023

Thank YOU to Our Veterans!

 A BIG Hearty Thank YOU to Our Amazing Veterans!  

Everyone, Please Enjoy this Historyical Background on Veteran's Day...Fun!


Stay SAFE, Everyone,

~Deb