Announcing the Quilty Fun Sew Along and Blog Tour !!! …and a Giveaway...YaY!!!...

Good morning cute people!!

I'm so excited to announce a new sew along...

YaY!

I hope we will be sewing together again!

I designed this

 Quilty Fun Sampler

 using all of the blocks

 in my new book Quilty Fun:)

The Sew Along will be a part of the 

Quilty Fun Blog Tour 

celebrating the release of the book.

It will start this Monday (Nov.4th)

 on Kerry's blog…

She will be doing the 

apple blocks for the sampler quilt.

Every Monday you will

follow along with each blogger

as they show off their blocks

and put their quilts together! 

Every week there will be

 contests…

prizes…

 and giveaways…

YaY again! 

You will need your copy of

 the book

 because it will be 

your instruction manual…

so be sure to keep it handy:)

Next…

you will need to get 

up close and personal 

with your scrappy stash...

and get it organized in 

preparation to make the blocks.

Click here and here 

if you'd like to see how I organize my scraps.

You will use all different sizes of 

scrappy fabrics from

 strips and squares to make the blocks…

such as 1 1/2"...2 1/2"...3 1/2"...

*FYI - You will need 3 yards of

 background fabric for the quilt.

(I used "snow white" from the Riley Blake Blenders collection)

and 1/2 yard for Red inner border…

as well as 1 1/4 yard

 for the outside border.

So besides the background ...

you will only need to purchase

 1 3/4 yards of fabric 

if you are making the blocks

 from your stash.

YaY!!!

If you made some of 

these blocks before when

 you did the row along...

 you can play with them again:)

And if you didn't join then...

now is your chance!

There are however…

a few new blocks in the book.

And I included them in the

 Quilty Fun Sampler:)

Sew…

are you ready for some more

happy scrappy patchwork?

In the Sampler Quilt

 I made the red pieced inner border...

To echo my green outside border

 on the row along quilt...

It's just shorter and not as wide:)

There is a fun mix of a little bit of everything from the book…

which is why it's called the 

Quilty Fun Sampler!

This is the back of the quilt.

Do you like it?

I love pieced backs too:)

I used 24 fat quarters...

and of course I designed a new block for the label…

a cute little

"Bee in my Bonnet" block:)

I'll be showing you how to make it when 

it comes my turn for the blog tour

 at the very end of the Sew Along.

(as well as the borders and pieced back)

Sew…

what do you think?

Are you in?

Do you want to have some more 

 Quilty Fun with me?

I sure hope so!

CLICK HERE 

to go over to the Jolly Jabber 

and to join up today!

Don't forget to leave me

 some bloggy love and 

let me know if you are excited about the 

Quilty Fun Sew Along

and

 if you have joined in!

(*HINT - there just might be a little something like

 a giveaway from me for those who do!)

Have a quilty kind of day…

and sew it like you mean it!

xx

Lori

P.S. There will also be a PDF to download 

each week as a companion to 

the book with sashing measurements 

for that weeks block.

 The PDF's will help to keep you

 organized during the 

Quilty Fun Sew Along!

 Also... the embroidery on the 

bumblebee block and the label will 

be provided in a PDF as well:)

Herringbone Table Runner Tutorial!!! ...

I just can't seem to quit making things with

Gracie Girl!

There are just so many things buzzing around in my head to make...

 in addition to the quilts that I have already made:)

One of the projects that I've been planning

 is a table runner for the desk top in 

Kassidy's room.

I thought you might like
 to see how I made it:)

My friend Nedra works for 

"Triangles on a Roll"

 and she recently sent me some of their product to play with.
Thanks Nedra!!!

I chose to use the

 6" braid paper for this project.

It also doubles as flying geese paper if you follow the black lines...

but if you follow the red lines you will get braids...

aka herringbone design:)

I chose to use this size because it works out perfectly

 for the 5" precut squares of Gracie Girl:)

I also used a few 3 1/2" precut squares...

I cut them in half to use as a starting triangle for each braid section.

On the paper it will tell you what size 

to cut your strips for the braids...

notice on this one that it 

says to cut the 1 1/4" x 5".

It also says light and dark but

 I just used all of the

 Gracie Girl prints on mine.

(by the way...those are the large Clover green clips that I use to keep my rolls together after opening them)

You can get exactly 4 - 1 1/4" x 5" strips

 from one 5" square with absolutely no waste.

YaY!

I stacked my squares 4 deep 

and cut 16 at a time.

I used about 40 strips per paper section.

(That means I used about 70 - 5" squares for the whole runner)

I cut 7 lengths of the paper about 20" long.

I rolled it up and clipped the sides with two red Clover clips

 to make it easier to handle when sewing.

I pinned a fabric triangle onto the paper...

lining it up with the red lines and about 1/2" hanging off the edge like this.

***Before you begin sewing you will need to shorten

 your stitch length so that you also

 perforate the paper while sewing.

This way...the paper will tear away

 easily when it comes time to remove it:)

I lined up my first strip even withe triangle edges and stitched down...

using a 1/4" seam...

starting from the top and stitching past the edge of the paper a bit.

I did not back stitch.

I finger pressed it back like this...

and added the new strip on the left side ...

lining all edges up again...

stitched and finger pressed back.

If you use a 1/4" seam allowance and your strips

 are cut correctly they should line up

 on the red lines every time.

But sometimes you will notice that they are just a bit short of the red line... 

like this.

But don't worry!

All you will do is place the next strip

 on the red line and it will correct itself.

YaY!

That's what makes this paper so great

 when working with small pieces.

You always have that line as a guide:)

Just keep adding on the strips until it covers the paper.

This is what mine looked like on the back.

One side hangs over more than the other...

no worries!

You have to trim off the edges of the fabric anyway:)

I trimmed off the fabric edges even with the paper on the sides...

and trimmed the ends so that each piece measured 18 1/2" long.

Then I removed the paper by tearing at the perforated lines:)

I cut 8 pieces of Jade (Riley Blake Solid)

1 3/4" x 18 1/2" for in-between herringbone sections...

and 

2 pieces for the top and bottom of the runner...

 1 3/4" x 47"

(i cut 3 - 1 3/4" x WOF and joined on the diagonal to use for the long strips)

Here I am getting ready to pin baste it for machine stitching.

I layered it with batting and backing fabric

 that measures a little larger than the runner top.

(I like to use 100% cotton batting for table runners

 and toppers so that they lay nice and flat)

***When I sewed the runner top together...

I alternated the direction of each herringbone.

I pressed all of my seams towards the green fabric.

Be careful when sewing the herringbone sections...

they will stretch if you let them because when

 you trim them they are on the bias.

No worries though...

remember that 

you are the boss!

All machine quilted and bound:)

I used a walking foot while quilting and used the edge as my guide for the width.

I did not quilt on the herringbone as I did not feel that it needed it...

that is totally up to you!

(however i did stitch in the ditch all the way around each herringbone section...not each strip...but around each of the 7 whole rectangle sections)

I used white thread for around the section and green thread on the solid fabric.

I loved the" triangle on a roll"papers 

because I could cut them any length that 

I needed for an exact fit for Kassidy's desk top.

It looks great in her room and will protect the painted surface ...

it seems to be a catch all place for everything!

I hope you enjoyed my tutorial on how to make a table runner 

with cute and tiny patchwork herringbone sections!

Have a quilty kind of day...

xx

Lori

P.S. I also made a herring bone quilt using

 3 1/2" Gracie Girl strips and no paper.

As soon as I get it back from the quilters next week...

 I will do a tutorial on that too!

All About the Quilty Fun Event... Trunk Show...Book Signing...Luncheon...Giveaways... and an Invite to Come Sew with Me!!!...

Hello cute people!!!

Today I want to announce that on Saturday November 9th...

 there will be an event to celebrate all things

 Quilty Fun!

Hosting this event is 

My Girlfriends Quilt Shoppe 

in Logan, Utah.

This is a beautiful quilt shop 
owned by my friend Kris and her husband Mike.

If you have been to an event there...

you know that they know how to put on a party!

The day will start out as a trunk show where

 I will show all of the projects in the book one by one...

and you will get a chance to see them 

up close and personal.

There will be giveaways also...

YaY!!!!

I will of course have my Bee in my Bonnet row along quilt there 

and I will be talking about how this quilt came to be 

and all about the row along on the blog and finally the book!

I will be doing a book signing while there...

so bring your book or pick one up there:)

Following the signing will be a lovely luncheon 

and then you are invited to stay and sew with me!

I will walk you through each step of making my spool blocks...

and the quarter square triangle blocks...

For the sewing machine mat/cover 

which is one of the projects in Quilty Fun.

You can use it as a mat...

and also tie it on as a cover:)

It fit's a featherweight and also my Bernina ...

so I'm sure that it fits most machines out there.

It's plenty wide but...

You could add a row on the end if you need it taller.

The spools on the front...

are actually cute little pockets ...

to keep your sewing machine notions close at hand:)

You simply tie it on the machine at the sides for a cover.

You can bet that this handy little mat/cover will be

 traveling with me to every quilt retreat from now on...

to use while I'm stitching away:)

As you know...

all of the photography for the book took place in my home...

here are a few shots that you may not have seen before.

I will have each and every project at the trunk show.

So come and join me while I talk about each one of the quilts...

and also the mittens runner...

the cups pillow...

 and the fall leaves quilty...

and of course the sewing machine cover:)

And if you are so inclined...

bring along some bits and bobs from your stash 

to sew along with me!

I promise it will be fun!

For all of the information 

about this event and

 also to sign up...

CLICK HERE

I hope to see you there:)

Have a quilty kind of day...

and sew it like you mean it!

xx

Lori