A Time for All Seasons - June Blocks

Today is the last day of June

and I have the blocks finished

for

A Time For All Seasons

Block of the Month.

Our team of designers has been so busy with this

Block of the Month

 and

love showing new blocks each month.

I'm just a touch behind in sharing this month.

Carol at Just Let Me Quilt

is the designer for June

and

there are 2 blocks.

Dad's Tie Overload

and 

Sailing into Summer Solstice

Aren't they the cutest?

Find Carol's pattern information by clicking HERE.

She even has a bonus block for the month of June!!

(I'll have to show that one later...)

You can find a list of the fabric requirements and more information about the

Block of the Month

by clicking HERE.


I love printing the applique patterns right on the fusible adhesive with

 HeatnBond EZ Print Lite 

(no tracing!)

I'm stitching around my appliques for the most part with

Aurifil 50 wt thread #6730

It's a nice neutral color for all the pieces and the thread is awesome.

Join us for this fun Block of the Month. 

 There are over 3000 friends on the Facebook group and we are having a blast.

Everyone is so encouraging.

Come have some fun with us.

Try It! - A Day at the Beach

The June challenge for the Island Batik Ambassadors is

Try It!

Today is my day to show

A Day at the Beach
with a new, to me, piecing technique.

The challenge was to face our fears or sewcrastination and step outside the box to try a technique that is new to our sewing toolbox. There were no rules other than to try something new and use the fabrics that Island Batik provided in the Ambassador Box.

I had bookmarked an article in the May 2008 issue of American Quilter magazine by Scott A Murkin, "Strata Quilts: Layer upon Layer" that inspired my quilt. It's all about freeform curved piecing, a technique I had never tried but had always wanted to.

I started with an Island Batik

"French Blue" package of 10" squares.

Next, the blocks were paired with right sides up and a soft curve was cut with a rotary cutter.

The pieces were switched and stitched with matching Aurfil 50 wt thread. Then the process was repeated.

Each block has 8 curvy pieces and the process was so much fun.

The blocks were trimmed after they were stitched.

They were pretty wonky before they were trimmed to 7 1/2" but that was part of the fun.

The 8" border is also from the "French Blue" collection by Kathy Engle and is Paisley in Sky.

The finished size is about 57" x 57" and is perfect to wrap up in.

The colors of the quilt remind me of the beach and the quilting is just a simple wave design.

A Day at the Beach was too much fun.

I really loved doing this curvy improv technique and really can't wait to try it again.

You can find the full list of Island Batik ambassadors posting for the 

Try It! challenge 

by clicking HERE.

What will you be trying next?

What does the Sheep Say?

It's animal week over on the Thermoweb blog 

and 

I'm happy to be sharing a sweet and soft applique sheep pattern.

Here's my sweet inspiration for the outfit.

She has quite a few of the animals figured out.

It may be her love of all furry creatures.

She's going to love this outfit I whipped up in about an hour

with HeatnBond Soft Stretch Ultra Fusible Web Adhesive.

It's a NO SEW project with soft fleece and a purchased tee and pants.

The complete tutorial and free pattern can be found on the Thermoweb blog today.

Click HERE for the post.

I really wanted to make a black sheep because she loves the song,

but then the Grammie in me just couldn't have her feeling like the

black sheep of the family... lol

Blend Fabrics Spring Quilt Market - Pillow and Round Zipper Boxes

When Blend Fabrics asked if I would make items for their booth for Spring Quilt Market,  I couldn’t have been more thrilled to help.  

Now I am able to share the tutorials to make the Garden Pillow and Overnight Jewelry Boxes.

Anna Griffin has the pretties designs for Blend fabrics and if you have a garden at your home, her newest fabrics, Lila, are perfect for you

I was so happy to get to go to Quilt Market this year and see my items in the Blend Booth.

This pillow is a quilt as you go project with HeatNBond fusible fleece, therefore it has so much soft texture you’ll love lounging with it.

You can find the full tutorial to make this pillow over at Thermoweb.

Blend had originally asked me to make a few of the Round Boxes for market.

These are always perfect for pretty fabrics like the ones Anna Griffin designs.

These were made with a previous tutorial I did for Thermoweb.

Click HERE for that one.

I just didn't add the ruffle and I made a couple of different sizes.

It's so much more fun to create items for Quilt Market when you know you'll be able to go and see the projects in the booth.  I really hope this happens again.  

Crossing my fingers...