Friday, January 31, 2014

February's Block Of The Month 2014


February is here! Everyone's Chilly Silly Snowmen are so stinkin cute! I love them all! The fun thing about this quilt is you can choose to do it scrappy or not scrappy, I'm doing a little of both. It's a great project to use up some of your stash. But remember, tone on tone fabrics will work the best with this mystery design. This month we will work on a block that I have named 'Cozy Cabin'. Imagine, sitting in a nice cozy cabin with the fireplace going.... some chocolate, a good book, maybe a little glass of 'something, something'.... sounds perfect doesn't it. The Cozy Cabin pattern can be found Etsy and Craftsy.  If you missed Chilly Silly Snowmen, it's not too late to get the pattern. It can be found for a small fee on Etsy, Craftsy, and Patternspot.
Here are all of the pieces and parts cut out for the Cozy Cabin block.
Here I am sewing corner to corner to form the triangle square 2 1/2" blocks
It took me an afternoon to complete this block, from
start to finish.

Trim away the excess and iron...
After you piece the triangle square blocks and rectangle square blocks, lay them out
to form the Cozy Cabin block. Take it slow to sew all of the pieces together
making sure to match up seams as you go. It's important to stay
consistent with your 1/4 inch seam allowance from the start to finish of your quilt.
The squares are all sewn together... I made my cabin
scrappy, but you can choose to make it all in the same brown.
Add the 2 1/2" x 22 1/2" cream/white strip along
the bottom of the block. Iron.
Cozy Cabin
(The snowflakes in the picture represent the cream~
white yo-yo's that will be added later on, I have a thing for yo-yo's!)
Quilt Doodle BOM 2014 Quilt Layout
Remember to post your finished Cozy Cabin block onto the Flickr account for a chance to win the prize at the end of the month! If you blog about it, please email me a link so that I can attach it to the Pinterest Board I have going for the BOM 2014. I hope you have fun with this section of the mystery quilt. It can easily be done in a weekend. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's Cozy Cabins! I'll be announcing the prize for this month's block around the 15th and the winner will be announced on March 1st, when the next section is out.

Happy Quilting,
Cindy

Congratulations!!!
Big Lake Quilter!

You won a $20 gift certificate from the Fat Quarter Shop!

I Love My Sponsors

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

She Who Sews Blog Hop

 
It was hard for me to come up with a project this time and I worked on this right up to the wire! After spending the day on Pinterest looking for ideas and then also looking for ideas for a laptop sleeve, voila! I decided to make a sleeve for my new laptop. (Just a few weeks ago I treated myself to a new laptop for designing and also for blog hopping! ) I needed something to tote my laptop to quilt retreat in style!  I find that I refer to websites and tutorials often while sewing along. I buy fabric online, talk to fellow quilters online. So for me a laptop case makes total sense. I found a great tutorial at The Stitching Scientist for a laptop case. Using the blog posting for inspiration and guidance I came up with my new project. So thank you Madame Samm and Carla from Creatin' in the Sticks for organizing this hop!
My adorable bundle of fabric, and the blog posting for the inspiration for my project.
Here's some more of the fabric from this fun collection.
This side of the lap top bag I embellished it with a yo-yo and a button.

On the other side of the case, I embellished it with a bow and button.
I don't think any of my boys will run off with my computer! Not with
my girlie girl bag!
Doing a giveaway is my favorite part. So I will give away to two lucky winners a PDF copy of my new Mug Mat pattern, 'Monkey Love'. All you have to do is leave a sweet comment. For a second chance to win be a loyal follower and then leave me a comment that you do. Now remember, if you are a no reply blogger I have no way to contact you! I'll need an email if you are....

The winner will win a copy of my NEW PDF pattern for 'Monkey Love'
Here's the complete schedule, I hope that you have fun hopping along. Grab your cup of coffee and enjoy and be ready to be inspired!

January 27
Happy Quilting!

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Home Sweet Home

Home is where ever your heart is... or so that is how the saying goes. But for me, home is where my family is. With that said I have created a series of applique designs that remind me of time spent with my family. Fun designs to decorate your home with, be it a house, cabin, camper or tent. Home is where my family is...

Cabin Sweet Cabin

Camper Sweet Camper

A Sweet Little Tent

These patterns are available for purchase on my Craftsy, Etsy stores and also will be making an appearance at the International Quilt Market this spring in the Pattern Peddlers booth.

Happy Quilting,

Saturday, January 25, 2014

A Cut Above...

I ran to the store and bought a NEW one!
Happy Saturday! What does it say about me that I had to clean my sewing room this morning in order to function in my sewing room. It was a mess.  A messy quilter is a happy quilter right?  Not true, I was not happy, I couldn't find anything and I hate cleaning. Well, let me tell you why I had to clean my sewing room, I was looking for my rotary cutter! REALLY looking, searching.... only to find out, I left it at mom's.  I had kits to package and fabric to cut this week. How in heavens name did we ever function as a quilter without the rotary cutter? Really, how did we ever cut those pieces out? I know when I first started quilting there were noooo rotary tools. (This really dates me) I remember taking days to cut pieces out for my quilts and using a straight edge ruler and a pencil to mark my fabric.  While trying to cut fabric for kits with scissors, I found that I cannot function well without my rotary cutter. What takes minutes to cut with a rotary cutter takes hours to cut with a scissors. So let's salute my favorite quilting tool, the Rotary Cutter! 
Hail to this awesome tool!! 

I hope that you have a wonderful weekend and find some time to quilt. Keep on working on those snowman strips for the Quilt Doodle BOM 2014. I love the results that have been posted so far in the flickr account. It's not too late to join! Remember the pattern is free this month and can be found on Craftsy. 
Join me on Monday for the Handmaids 4 sewing room blog hop. I have an awesome project or two to show you! There's going to be tons of fun and inspiration. 

Happy quilting,

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

BOM 2013 Winners


I want to thank everyone that participated throughout the year. Even if you didn't get your quilt finished. There's still a chance that you will get back to it and finish it up someday. The monthly patterns are still available on Craftsy and also in my Etsy shops if you missed any. I haven't quite decided if I will package up the patterns in one set to be available in the quilt shops or not. It may be just a one time deal... haven't decided, then I need a name for last years quilt and I've certainly haven't come up with that yet. Right now that thought is on the back burner for a while....


 It's time to announce the winners and put the official close on the BOM 2013 sampler quilt. I've bounced around and checked out everyone's postings and comments, compiled names put them all in a hat and Wilson is ready to pick some winners.  So if you see your name please email me your mailing address so that I can get your wonderful prize sent out to you. If I can I will also send out 'you won' emails if I'm able to locate an email address for our winners.

Congratulations!!!

Kathy ~ Hosted by Quilt Doodles Day 1!
&
Michelle 'shellquilts' ~ Hosted by Quilt Doodles Day 2

jmniffer !
Kathy ~ of Qreative Quilt

Everyone who participated in posting for the Quilt Doodle Blog Hop BOM 2013
will receive a PDF copy of 'Stars Over Cedar Creek'. It will arrive in your email!
Thank you again for taking the time to post on your given day.
Happy quilting,

Monday, January 20, 2014

Quilt Doodle BOM 2013 Day 3

It's the last day of the hop and it has been fun seeing everyone's finished quilt tops. I loved seeing the monthly blocks done in  different fabrics and colors. This was the first time that I organized a BOM and I learned a lot from organizing it. Everyone kept me on top of things, like the monthly postings. I learned that not everyone enjoys paper piecing or applique, but everyone was a good sport and did them anyway. I realize it's hard to work on  a quilt without really knowing what it will look like in the end. You all had to have a little faith that it would be awesome in the end. It does make it hard to pick out fabrics, that's one of the challenges of joining a BOM.  Thank you for trusting me along the way. It's the official end of the 2013 BOM and I'm so happy to see many of you are following along for my new BOM.  If you haven't joined yet, you can jump in at anytime. Click on the BOM 2014 tab at the top of my blog for more information. Let me share with you a couple more BOM 2013 quilt tops....

Maureen
"Hi everyone! My name is Maureen, I live in Michigan and I've been quilting for about a year and a half now. First I would like to thank Cindy for putting together a fantastic year of blocks! I have learned so much this past year. I'm a self-taught quilter, so everything I have learned has been from wonderful blogs and tutorials like Cindy's. I'm currently working on the 2014 BOM, and am looking forward to another great year of learning.
This quilt was made with "Jovial" by Basic Grey from Moda, and I'm thrilled with how it came out. I wouldn't have considered "black" a Christmas color, but those are some of my favorite blocks. That's what I love about quilting! It gets me totally out of my box!"

Thank you Maureen for sharing your beautiful quilt!
 Love the fabrics that you used.
Cindy (me)
 Let me share with you my quilt top. I haven't quite decided what I will do with mine. I loved working with this fabric line from Marcus Brothers. (Thank you Marcus Brothers for the lovely fabric to work with.) I'm thinking of adding another border around the outside to help frame it up. Then I think I'll be ready to quilt it. Maybe I will finish it up at Quilt Retreat this spring.


I hope that you have had fun hopping around, please remember to leave some sweet comments as you visit the different blogs. We all love to hear from you! Here's the schedule for the hop.... thank you for joining me on this quilting adventure. (Prize winners will be announced tomorrow)

January 18th
January 19th

January 20th

Saturday, January 18, 2014

A Quilt Doodle BOM Hop day 2

Another day of quilty fun! Today I am hosting two talented quilters that completed the Quilt Doodle BOM 2013. It is so much fun to see the quilts, they are the same design but each one is so different based on the color choices. I love the quilts that let our quilters personalities shine. So fun!

Dee
"I decided to join Quiltdoodles' block of the month because I had seen her patterns and loved her style. After I decided to do this, I saw Rhapsody of Reds fabric by Jenni Calo and fell in love with it. I didn't have anyone that I wanted to make a quilt for or any idea of what I would do with it when it was finished but I knew that I could decide later. Now that it's finished (except for the quilting) I'm thinking that I will keep it for myself - I could use something to snuggle up in when I sit on the couch. I'm pleased with the look of all of the blocks and had a great time picking which fabrics to use. I think my favorite block is the paper pieced one - Jumping Jack Blossom. I also like the look of September's End of Summer block and of course Mama's Spools."
Jumping Jack Blossom 
Mama's Spools
End Of Summer
Dee's 'rows' , all reading to be sewn with the rest of the sashing.
Sewing the sashing...

Dee's quilt top without the borders...

So pretty draped over a chair.

Dee's finished quilt top. So lovely!

Dee's Quilt Doodle BOM 2013.
Thank you Dee for sharing your beautiful quilt!
Michelle
"I had so much fun participating in this block of the month!  My goal when I started back in January was to complete each block within the month it was assigned.  Well, I made it with all but 2 of the blocks.  August's block (log cabin) got delayed because of the annual shore vacation and getting ready for school to start.  November's block got put off because I was scared to give it a try.  I've never done machine applique before and I was nervous about it, but I ended up loving it.  My husband has even requested a whole quilt made just of the Grandma's Plate block!


My favorite block of all is the very simple Rail Fence from March.  The first quilt I ever made was a rail fence made for my daughter when she was 4 years old.  She was terrified of thunder storms.  I had just read The Quilter's Apprentice by Jennifer Chiaverini and really wanted to try to make a quilt myself, so I got a bunch of quilting books from the library.  I was looking through one of the books with my daughter and when she saw the picture of the rail fence quilt, she said that it looked like lightning.  She said that if she had a quilt like that, she could hide under it during storms and it would protect her.  So we went to the store so she could pick out fabrics that she liked and made her happy and I made my first quilt.  I made some mistakes and the quilt wasn't fancy, but it worked perfectly for her, especially during bad weather.  The pink in the new block is leftover from the back of her original quilt.  I love that this new quilt has a piece of my beginning quilting in it.  This block of the month quilt may end up in my daughter's room, too!"
Rail Fence 'Lightning' Quilt

March's Block. I love the colors!

Michelle's Quilt Doodle BOM 2013 Quilt.
Thank you Michelle for sharing it with us!

Dee and Michelle share today with a couple of other talented quilters.  Stop back tomorrow for some more quilty fun! So here's the schedule for the hop....

Make sure to also stop at Nanni's and check out her quilt, it's beautiful!!!

January 18th
January 19th

January 20th

A Quilt Doodle BOM Hop Day 1

Oh how much fun! It's time to share and oogle at everyone's Quilt Doodle BOM  2013 projects!  Shhh mine isn't quilted yet. It's ok if you don't have your quilt top quilted... it'll still be fun to see everyone's progress. I am looking forward to a few days of hopping around and seeing some BOM Quilts. I hope that you enjoy them too. At the end of the hop, I have some fun prizes to give away. (Wilson's favorite part of a hop, mine too!) Prizes can be won by leaving sweet comments for everyone and also participating in the hop by posting. Today I am hosting a couple of sweet ladies and their awesome quilts...


Ann
"This quilt started as a learning project for 2013.  I purchased inexpensive fat quarters at Tuesday Morning with the thought if I made errors it wouldn't be that costly.  Little did I know that as the months went along I was enjoying the challenge of making these little finds work. My favorite block was the paper pieced.  Had my head spinning for a couple of days but loved how it finally went together. As you can see I switched out two blocks from the original pattern. As I was going along I made additional blocks as "practice" and found the colors I had taken from my stash worked better than the originals.  Plan to use those two blocks on the back.  
Each month I looked forward to the new block and have to admit I am very happy with this quilt. The borders tied things together and made it more respectable. Thank you  for your part and I am started on 2014 Doodle Design. "
Grandma's Plate
End Of Summer, September's Block
Jumping Jack Blossom, the paper pieced block.

Some of the blocks up on Ann's design wall...
Ann's finished quilt top.
Ann's quilt is so bright and cheerful. I love the fabrics that she used.

Kathy
Kathy is a special quilter, she's my mom. She didn't only do one block a month but she did two! Mom got one quilt put together and is currently working on putting the second one together. (In fact I bet it is all sewn together now)  Her quilts turned out so bright and cheerful! I really like the green mixed with the brown/tan. It's a neat combination. I love how they turned out. I know she wasn't really fond of doing the paper piecing block. The seam ripper and her became good friends while she worked on that block, but she was a real trooper and got two paper pieced blocks done that month. So here are Kathy's Quilt Doodle BOM 2013 results....

Here are Kathy's blocks for the second quilt she is putting together.

She's starting to assemble the second quilt...

Quilt Top #1 all pieced... Love the green. When I was a teenager
I had a bedroom painted bright green, loved it!

Ann and Kathy share today with a couple of other talented quilters.  Stop back tomorrow for some more quilty fun! So here's the schedule....

January 18th
January 19th

January 20th