Friday, March 20, 2015

Winner of the Charm Square Give Away!

Hi folks!

You are so too funny!  You comments to answer the question "Machine quilting is like..." are hilarious!

Some of my favorite quotes from you are:

Shauna Trueblood said, "hummm....machine quilting is like....driving a remote controlled car through a maze."
Lori Konarske said, "It's like eating potato chips, you can't stop at just one."
 
Eileen Emerson said, "Machine quilting is like a thump in the night.  Dreaded and worrisome until you check it out (aka: Do it) and then you realize there's nothing to it.  Now why did I ever put it off?" 
 
Brenda Hulsey said, "Humm...machine quilting is like trying to catch a greased pig!"
 
Carie Space said, "Like wrangling a small child into a sweater that they're on the verge of growing out of!"

Lori M said, "Am just learning to FMQ...lol   But I will fill in the blank with  learning to parallel park a big car!!!   I know I am a big chicken! lol"
 
Nakeytoes Living said, "...wrestling an octopus. :) Since I'm just learning, that's how I feel some days. :)"

And there were many, many more entertaining answers.  I'm going to have to find another funny quilting related fill in the blank giveaway again.  Thanks for the laughs, folks!

I used a random number generator to find our winner.

And...the lucky number is....

43!  TheGranChris who said, "machine quilting is like doodling in school. You just need to go to another place in your head."

Charm Square Quilt Along Part 8

Welcome back to the Charm Square Quilt Along!  In this installment, we will work on block #7.

Charm Square Sampler Quilt Along

If you are new to this QAL, visit the old posts.  To get fabric requirements and ideas, click HERE.

STEP ONE: Select 16 of your previously sewn HSTs and lay them out according to block #7 in the layout diagram above.
STEP TWO: Sew pairs together in columns.  Refer to previous posts if you are still unfamiliar with the technique.

STEP THREE: Press your seams looking at rows to "nest" and show the "X marks the spot".  Refer to previous posts for a review of this technique.



STEP FOUR: Making the center pinwheel of the block both spin and lie flat.

Next to the seams in the center of the block, make a small nick with the scissors in the seam allowance.  Be careful and do not cut the threads.  This allows the center units to be pressed in opposite directions.

An old friend of mine taught me this trick.  Once it is nicked, place your thumb on the center point of the pinwheel.  Rotate the block a full turn with your thumb pressing down.  This fans out all of those seam allowances in the center of the block, helping seams to align and splays out the bulk.  The center of the block will not be quite as bumpy.  This will reduce the risk of a broken needle when quilting.

Close-up of the center splayed out.  It looks like a rose!

Here we go, perfect points in the center, the bulk is moved around and the center lies flat.

Ta Da!  The block is all done.

I would love to see your progress.  Here is a link party and a flickr pool for your convenience.  Please understand, as I host KISMIF on Mondays, this link party is open only to block progress.  If you would like to share your posts that are not related to the Charm Square Sampler QAL, please share them on Monday on the KISMIF party.

Thanks!

flickrPool


Monday, March 16, 2015

KISMIF 42

Welcome to Keep It Simple, Make It Fun (KISMIF) Link Party.

Thank you for sharing your projects!

Here are two of my latest:

"Under the Nordic Sky" on Make Modern Issue 4

Sweet Sixteen Quilt on Moda Bake Shop--a FREE pattern download.

My favorite project from our last link party was a cute oven mitt made from fabric selvages by Stephanie at Late Night Quilter blog.  Great tutorial!










Now it's your turn to share your work.  Keep It Simple, Make It fun (KISMIF) and share those comments!  Thanks for your participation.