Tis the Season for Skully....suspender fitting gone wrong! :-)

 Hey quilters...happy Friday! I"ve had an eventful week so far. Starting calm...Skully and me planning a fun event coming soon, then my sweet cat Lottie enters the sewing room. I love my sweet Lottie. She usually watches me sew...we have eventful conversations...she plays with my Aurifil thread. All this is normal but yesterday was a different adventure for us. Skully wanted suspenders for his upcoming event. I guess this is normal for a skeleton to look his best??? As I was fitting Skully for his suspenders my sweet cat Lottie jumps on my cutting table and decides to help. I will admit at first it was so sweet...she was trying to help hold the suspenders for me...I think. Then she was maybe getting a bit too close to Skully's neck area. Just so y'all know at this time I couldn't resist grabbing my phone to snap a few pics. But little did I know what was next. I guess Lottie might be a bit jealous of the attention Skully is getting. I don't know you be the judge ;-) Everything seemed so innocent until I heard "crunch." Yup...my sweet almost 90 (in cat years) bit Skully's arm. Seriously! I was snapping a few cute photos then it happened. Wow!!! Lottie bit Skully's arm. First, I didn't know cats could be jealous of a skeleton...right? But...it's on camera! I did laugh then after the fact, but I guess we'll be a bit more careful in the future until they finally bond. :-) I hope! Skully didn't get hurt but his ego was bruised a bit. In the meantime, Skully is preparing for a fun event coming soon so check back for all the details. Wishing y'all a great stitching weekend.

Blessed Quilting from My Home to Yours,

Cat

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Skully's suspender fitting gone wrong!...

THEN...

Tis the Season for Skully..."Spook-tacular Entertaining!"

 Hey quilters...hope you have weekend sewing plans. Well Skully is sharing his first spook-tacular project that will definitely get you in the holiday spirit. Skully made his first hexagon trivet for entertaining & as you can see by picture below, he is very proud. I wanted to teach him the basics of sewing and quilting but on a small scale and techniques that "anyone" can accomplish. He learned to fussy cut using a hexagon ruler...binding with hexagon angles...spider web quilting and quilting in the ditch. Small projects can be sew fun especially when using great quality projects. He has a lot more fun projects to share with y'all so keep checking back to see what's next for Skully. He's even learning time-saving techniques too. Skully may be new to sewing but no bones about it...he's having a blast. Enjoy!

Blessed Quilting from My Home to Yours,

Cat

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Here's all you need...

* Fons & Porter 3" Finished Hexagon Template

* White Owl Textiles "Hauntingly Yours" & Spider Web batik by Lumin Fabrics.

* Aurifil 50# thread (2692 Black)

* Insul-bright

* Pellon 987F (fusible fleece)

* Brother sewing machine

* Oliso iron

* Basic sewing tools

Here's all you do...

* Press fabric using Oliso iron.

* Using a rotary cutter...Fussy cut your fabric as desired using the hexagon template.

Note...

Sewing border strips (you will be sewing strips clockwise starting at top of hexagon

and sewing with right sides together using a 1/4" seam allowance.)

Press and square up after each strip.

Tip...strips are cut a bit longer than needed than squared up...less stress :-)

* Rotary cut border strips 1.5 x 4, 1.5 x 5, 1.5 x 5.5, 1.5 x 5.5, 1.5 x 5.5, 1.5 x 6

* Press and square up.

Tip....Skully used the 30* angles on the cutting mat to square up the hexagon along the way. :-)

* Rotary cut Pellon 987F to the size of hexagon block and fuse to wrong side of block (back) following manufacturer's directions. 

Quilt as desired.

*Skully used Piece n Quilt 4N1 Ruler to mark his lines w/ a heat away pen. You do what's easier for you. He marked his first line than followed the previous lines to create the spider-web design. 

Bind as desired or add my border/binding technique... 

Using the same sewing method as above....

* Rotary cut strips 1 3/4 x 5, 1 3/4 x 6.5, 1 3/4 x 6,5, 1 3/4 x 6.5, 1 3/4 x 6.5, 1 3/4 x 8

* Starting at top....sew strips to center hexagon using the clockwise direction...press and square up as you go.

* Rotary cut your Insul-Bright & Backing fabric to the size of hexagon block.

* Layer backing fabric (right side down)

* Hexagon block (right side up) facing you :-)

* Starting at top in clockwise direction. Fold back the border/binding strip to back...leaving a 1/4" border on the front. Tuck in raw edges on back...clip to secure.

* Repeat same method on all edges of hexagon block.

Tip...double check on back to make sure all edges are secured/clipped nicely.

* Stitch in the ditch on front of Hexagon block to secure binding...removing clips as you sew. 

This method secures the binding on back without the fuss....less stress :-)

Enjoy! 

Perfect trivet for your spook-tacular entertaining.

Talk soon,

Cat & Skully

Tis the Season for Spook-tacular fun!

 Hey quilters...do you love Halloween stitching like me? Well, I have a sweet friend "Skully" that I'm teaching the basics of sewing and quilting. I always say you're never too old to learn. We learned yesterday to always use the best products. If you're going to take the time to create then use items that you know will help your projects last. We're learning Spider-web quilting today sewing on a small scale is the best way to start then we'll get better and then quilting the "BOO-ville." We'll be sharing more fun photos and tips along the way. I just love his enthusiasm to learn sewing and quilting. We're having a blast together and i hope he's a fast learner so we can get my Spook-tacular projects finished :-) Tis the Season y'all for spook-tacular fun! Wishing y'all a great sewing weekend and talk soon.

Blessed Quilting from My Home to Yours,

Cat

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Skully learning the best tools of the trade...Brother sewing machine, Aurifil thread, Lumin Fabrics and White Owl Textiles....

Skully sitting on my lap as I teach him spider-web quilting. We're using Aurifil 50# Black. Sew fun!

"BOO-ville!" Mystery Spook-a-long...Finale!

 Hey quilters...happy Saturday & "BOO-ville!" finale. I'm thrilled to share my final stage of "BOO-ville!" with you. I've had a blast sewing/creating with the BOO BASH collection by Lumin Fabrics. I love it when fabric inspires creativity, but little did, I know what else it inspired. The design is full of fun, family Halloween times with my daughter's family and especially my grandson. He loves Halloween and especially scaring his "Gege"...me! We loved to shop at the Halloween stores together because they always had it set up for scaring Gege. When he was little his favorite thing to say way "it's not going to scare you Gege." Hmmm....yes, I fell for it every time. These fun memories will always be dear to my heart in hopes he continues these memories with his family one day. But little did I know that "BOO-ville!" would be the first of many traditions designed on a quilt. I'm excited to share that starting mid-September we'll be hosting "Traditions" a Christmas Quilt-a-long. I love designing quilts to pass down for generations, quilts that you can personalize to your family traditions is my new series. I hope you enjoyed "BOO-ville!" and you're at the final stage of where you get to put your own spin on the design. You can easily enlarge the design just by adding additional borders or a wide border like I did. I'm currently quilting mine with "spider webs" so wish me luck. My wide border stated additional words "TRICK OR TREAT" and "OCTOBER 31 SPOOKY" all using the Accuquilt Classic 2" Alphabet and Numbers/Symbols die. I've had a blast creating with Accuquilt and will admit using the die cut machine saves sew much time. I thank y'all so much for following a long on my creative sewing journey. Enjoy!

Blessed Quilting from My Home to Yours,

Cat

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"BOO-ville!" finale...

Tip...press your quilt top before you add your borders. Measure the length and width in 3 areas to get the overall size that you'll be cutting your strips. Square up if needed but be careful of not cutting into the design. I always cut my strips longer than what I need then square up after sewing. Less stress. If you need longer strips than what your fabric measures just miter join your strips to desired length. 

My design will have a finished 3" border so I rotary cut my strips 3.5 to the width and length that I needed and the 2 corner squares are 3.5 x 3.5 for a finished 3" square. I joined my top/bottom strips first then added the corner squares to the left and right borders then joined to the quilt top matching seams. All using a 1/4" seam allowance. 

Once you have achieved your desired border then do a overall meaure of quilt top for your backing fabric and batting cuts. I always add an additonal 4-6 inches to allow for any shrinkage during quilting.

Once quilted...press if needed and square up.

Bind as desired.

Enjoy snuggling up with your family memories!

Talk soon.

Cat

BOO-ville! Mystery Spook-a-long....Clue #5

 Hey quilters...happy Saturday! Hope you're weekend includes sewing. I hope y'all enjoyed the "Songbird Blog Hop" featuring Jennifer Thomas new collection "Songbird" designed for her by Jerry Khiev for Lumin Fabrics. I fell in love with this collection and I'll be sharing soon a fun and easy project using my sweet scraps. You know me...no scrap left behind :-) Well today I'm sharing the final rows of "BOO-ville!" This design is sew versatile and can be easily enlarge just by adjusting your borders to your desired width. I used the "Purple Branches Batiks" from the Boo Bash collection by Lumin Fabrics for my border and backing. I ordered 2.5 yards and now I wished that I ordered more. I realized after I pieced my borders that I needed a tad but more for the backing so now I'll be doing s fun scrap-strip-piecing on the back. But that's o.k. and why they say..."always buy more than what you need." Or in my case..."what I thought I needed." :-) It happens. One thing I've learned on my quilting life's journey is that you learn to adapt and sew on! Well by now you've probably came up with your own spin on this Mystery design and maybe even your own time saving tips. I've previously shared some tips that I found to help especially when fusing letters. I had fun designing this spook-a-long that it inspired my next Mystery Christmas Quilt-a-long that I'll be sharing soon. As always, I'm sew thankful that you are a part of my sewing and quilting journey. Enjoy!

Blessed Quilting from My Home to Yours,

Cat

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BOO-ville....Clue #5...

Beginner....

Note...prepare letters using same method as previous steps & sewing.

* Row 8...position the word "CREEPY" to left side of top within your squares.

  ... Position the word "HAUNTED" to far right side of quilt within your squares.

* Row 9...position the word "SPIDERS" to left side of top under the word "CREEPY"

... Position the word "HOUSES!" far right of top under the word "HAUNTED"

Row 10....10 scrappy squares.

After you have fused and a-play-qued your letters...press and sew your rows together using a 1/4" seam allowance sewing right sides together...I did clip my rows together one at a time to secure while sewing. 

Press and square up if needed and be thinking what size border you would like. For me it usually depends on how much fabric I have at this stage. I love to do a scrappy pieced border but this time I'll be sharing next week of my advanced border that I had a blast designing. I feel that borders compliment the over all of the design. 

Well, you're almost done!

Advanced....

Note...prepare letters using same method as in previous steps and sewing.

* Row 15...10 scrappy rectangles

* Row 16...1 scrappy corner square. 1 scrappy rectangle...3 orange rectangles with word "CREEPY"...1 scrappy rectangle...3 orange rectangles with word "HAUNTED"..1 scrappy rectangle...1 scrappy corner square.

Row 17...10 scrappy rectangles

Row 18...Same as row 16 but words "SPIDERS" under "CREEPY" and "HOUSES" under "HAUNTED"

Row 19...10 scrappy rectangles

Row 20...1 scrappy square...9 scrappy rectangles...1 scrappy square

Once you are happy with your design then sew rows with right sides together using a 1/4" seam allowance. Press and square up if needed. 

You're getting closer to the finish! Now be thinking of what size border you wish to add. This is when you can easily enlarge the overall size of the quilt and get creative. This is also a great time to use any scraps too. I'll be sharing my advanced border next week too.

Talk soon,

Cat

Songbird Blog Hop..."Day 9" Me! "Heart 2 Read"

 Hey quilters.... well it's my day of the Songbird Blog Hop and I'm excited to share with you my design "Heart 2 Read." First, I want to mention how honored to be part of this inspirational blog hop featuring the "Songbird" fabric collection designed for Jennifer Thomas by Jerry Khiev of Luman Fabrics. All of the previous designs have been absolutely amazing, and we have one more day to go. I just love how fabric inspires creativity. The Songbird collection is full of adorable birds...flowers and foliage on hues of pinks, purple and blue. I will admit. The fabric is so beautiful that I hardly could cut into it. I'm sure we've all been there. I knew from the moment the fabric arrived what I wanted to design with the collection. Showcasing all the collection in a large heart using fat quarters of each print so I decided on large strips for a fun and scrappy design. I fell in love with this beautiful collection that I designed a coordinating bag "Heart 2 Read" to hold reading books. The overall design was inspired by my sweet memories of reading with my daughter as a child. It didn't matter what time of day or location she wanted to read. Even at a very young age she would make up her own stories as she was turning the pages. Once she learned how to read it was non-stop. Those memories of reading with my daughter will be forever in my heart. The Child's throw finishes out to 36 x 39,5 but can be easily enlarged for an adult size throw just by adding borders. I used "flippy corners" on the quilt design and coordinating tote using Foundation Neutrals by Island Batik/Lumin fabrics in Sprinkles and back in Floral Batik. It's a simple design but I love how the stunning "Songbird" fabric collection shows. I hope you're enjoying this inspiring blog hop and you still have time to enter for a fat quarter bundle of Songbird over on  https://curlicuecreations.blogspot.com along with a pattern of your choice by Jennifer Thomas featuring Songbird fabrics. I thank y'all so much for following along on my sewing journey. Enjoy!

Blessed Quilting,

Cat

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Heart 2 Read....

I used Aurifil 50# thread (2520) for the entire process of piecing/quilting and a-play-queing around the letters on the coordinating tote. The color hus compliment the Songbird fabric collection perfectly and it also was a subtle color on the coordinating neutral batiks. I did accent quilting within the individual rows then 1" rows accenting the over all design of the heart. Simple but fun!

I used the Accuquilt Classic 2" Alphabet and Numbers/Symbols fie for the wording coordinating tote.

Thank y'all for joining me today on the Songbird Blog Hop. 

Talk soon,

Cat

 

 

BOO-ville! Mystery Spook-a-long...Clue #4

 Hey quilters...happy Monday to everyone. It's a fresh start to a new week and setting some needed goals for me anyway. Right now...don't laugh or judge but I have 5 projects going on in my sewing room. Yup! Plus, I've been up since 4 a.m. because tomorrow is my day of the Songbird Blog Hop. I am super excited to share my project with y'all but also want to show my gratitude to be part of this amazing team of designers that have already featured fabulous designs. Y'all know me by now...I love to design patterns in hope to inspire others to get the quilting bug. I share techniques from beginner to advance along with tips that might keep you from making the same mistakes as me. :-) My design brain does not stop...it never has but this is what brings me joy. This past week has been a blast seeing everyone's creativity and we're all using the same fabric collection. It's just amazing of how fabric inspires everyone in different ways. You will definitely know what I'm talking about once you see this stunning collection. You can still enter to win a fat quarter bundle of Songbird on curlicue creations blog https://curlicuecreations.blogspot.com. Today features Leah of "quilted delights" www.quilteddelights.com and I can't wait to see what she has created. Well, I hope everyone is have a great time with "BOO-ville" Mystery Spook-a-long and today I'm sharing Clue #4. This clue is also a tip of what I use to help touch up my letters if they don't adhere perfectly. I love the EPP Clear Glue Stick Pen. It's used a lot for paper piecing, but I use it for touch ups. It's perfect for all my designs using fusible letters. I purchased the glue pen from Missouri Star Quilt Company and so glad I did. I think these would make a great gift to a fellow crafter or better yet a stocking stuffer. It's that time of year to start thinking of Christmas gifts. Well...I thank y'all so much for following and please check back tomorrow for my special day of the Songbird Blog Hop. Oh did I mention...you're getting pretty close to finishing the main design of "BOO-ville!" Talk soon!

Blessed Quilting from My Home to Yours,

Cat

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BOO-ville! Mystery Spook-a-long...Clue #4