Bee In My Bonnet: Let's Make a SNOWMAN Sew Along

Welcome Quilty friends!!

Today is the day for the

"Bee Prepared"

post that I do in preparation for my

new fabric collections!

This is the point to start gathering

your supplies and order

your quilt kits for the sew along.

This Bee Prepared post is for the

LET'S MAKE A SNOWMAN

SEW ALONG

and I'm so excited for it to start!

We will be making the

LET'S MAKE A SNOWMAN Quilt

which finishes at

75" x 87"

It consists of 22 pieced quilt blocks

for the border which surrounds

the applique blocks in the center

of the quilt.

(There are a few other blocks

that are also pieced)

To make the applique blocks

we will be using my

Sew Simple Shapes called of course...

Let's Make A Snowman!

The collection that we are using

for the quilt is...

HOME TOWN HOLIDAY!!

Home Town Holiday fabric was designed by me...

and produced and distributed

to quilt shops everywhere

by the amazing

Riley Blake Designs

If you would like to know everything about

HOME TOWN HOLIDAY

CLICK HERE

to view the entire storyboard...

to see all of the fabrics close up

and to view the notions and ALL of

the patterns that coordinate with it:)

While we are talking fabric...

a note about pre-washing.

This is a personal choice and up to you.

I do NOT prewash my fabrics.

I did used to years ago

but now we have such nice

quality fabric available to us

I do not find it necessary.

So let's chat about the

LET'S MAKE A SNOWMAN

Quilt Fabric Kit.

Several shops are stocking the kit...

both brick and mortar shops

as well as online quilt shops.

The fabric and notions as well

have already shipped

to quilt shops everywhere

and will continue to ship as

each new item arrives at the warehouse!

So of course if you have not

already pre-ordered

your fabric kit and need one...

it is not too late at all!

The sew along does not begin

until August 26th...

and when I say "BEGIN"

that just means it's when I begin

to do the weekly tutorials.

As always...

everyone sews at their own speed,

at their own time and so it simply

does not matter when you start.

Do what makes you happy

and do what works for you...

because I always keep

each and every tutorial right here

on my blog and it never goes away.

The schedule is NOT to keep

YOU

on a deadline or stress you out ...

it is simply the schedule for

to do my tutorials.

If you will look at my sew alongs that way

hopefully that relieves any stress.

Sewing is FUN and should stay that way!

And if you are just deciding to join in

Just do a quick google search of

"LET'S MAKE A SNOWMAN Quilt Fabric Kit"

to find one...

google is your best friend lol...

easy peasy!!

And speaking of sewing...

like I always say...

you do not need a

fancy shmancy sewing machine

to make the applique circles

or to piece the quilt blocks.

Just a good straight stitching

machine is all you need...

at just a bit shorter than

regular stitch length.

It really is a matter of

personal preference and what works

best for you but I would suggest

doing a smaller stitch

rather than larger.

As usual...

I am using one of my vintage

Singer Featherweight machines

for making this quilt.

With that being said...

now let's talk more about

the quilt and the supplies!

The following are supplies I'll be using

to make my blocks...

Very handy and helpful when cutting my

pieced blocks especially are my

Sew Handy Stickers

Of course you will need good scissors

 and a good rotary cutter.

For pressing I use my 

Quick Press Seam Roller 

and a good iron.

I always use a vintage iron 

which I tell you all about on my

 YouTube channel

CLICK HERE

but of course you don't have to 

use a vintage iron but if you are

 interested you may find my video helpful.

Also...for marking and trimming 

segments during

 the piecing process I use my 

 SMALL Cute Cuts Cutting Mat

These are the sizes of the 

Cute Cuts Trim-It Rulers that 

I'll be using to make blocks in this quilt.

The Trim-It Rulers are the ones with

 the aqua 1/4" around all 4 edges.

Sizes I will use are:

2 1/2"  3 1/2"  4 1/2"  6 1/2" 

7 1/2"  8 1/2"  9 1/2" 10 1/2"  

12 1/2"  15 1/2"   20 1/2"

Some are used more than others

 but ALL are used to square up the blocks 

and to trim them down after applique.

 I use my Cute Cuts Trim-It Rulers 

EVERY time I piece quilt blocks... 

As well as for laying out applique blocks.

Besides my Trim-It Rulers 
for laying out and trimming blocks...
You will need cutting rulers and 
of course a cutting mat
 to cut out your fabric pieces for each block.
I have a variety of Cute Cuts Rulers 
in 3 different colors and shapes and sizes
and the same goes for my cutting mats.
I have a big variety for cutting and of 
course to make your sewing room look cute!

These rulers are the ones that I use
 to cut all of my fabrics for everything...
including all of my pieced quilt blocks.

I have designed several sets of Washi tape

to use and so I have several to choose from.

Here you can see my new Home Town Holiday set:)

I use my washi tape with my

Easy Trace Light Box

to tape my patterns and fabric on there

when tracing on the embroidery

lines needed for a few of the blocks.

And I also use it every day to

temporarily tape my

Seams Sew Easy Guide

onto my sewing machine.

I use my SEAMS SEW EASY GUIDE

for piecing all of my blocks.

It is an accurate 1/4" seam allowance

essential for me and also

essential for me when sewing

Easy Corner triangles

which we are doing for this quilt.

Also on another note...

for those of you who may not know

what washi tape is...

it was developed for paper crafting

and packaging but I also use it

for sewing and quilting!

Just think of it as cute

miniature painters tape.

It has a low adhesive so that it

can hold temporarily and can be

easily peeled off without leaving

residue on fabric or your sewing machine.

You will need
Bee in my Bonnet Sew-In Interfacing
for the applique blocks.
I will use the package with the 14"squares.

I'll "bee" using
Cute Cuts Marking Rulers

and
Busy Bee Mechanical Pencils
for tracing onto the
sew in interfacing and for marking
the pieced block segments

For piecing the blocks and appliqué
you will need
Bee in my Bonnet Design Boards.
Here are the new Home Town Holiday ones!!

In addition to the
Design Boards when laying out
and basting onto the background
I will be using:

Sue Daley Glue

Clover Point to Point Turner
for shaping appliques

Bee in my Bonnet Pretty Pins
(applique set)

Bee in my Bonnet
Flower Power Pin Holder

Bee Vintage Measuring Tape

Now let's talk thread for applique!

This is my brand NEW collection
of thread for Aurifil called
HONEY BEE ESSENTIALS

It has 32 - 50 wt and 13 - 80 wt
100% quality cotton spools...
both of which I use for
either machine or hand applique.
Either method will work
for the appliqués in this quilt.
CLICK HERE
to watch my video on BOTH methods.
I also use 50 wt. when piecing blocks.

I always match my thread colors
with my applique pieces...
so you will for sure find a color
within this set to use with all
of the Autumn prints we will be using.

If you are going to hand applique
there is sure to be a needle
that you will love in my needle card.

Here is a photo of my NIFTY NEEDLES...
they come in a card with several
of each different kind...
and also come in
individual needle tubes as well.

There are 6 different kinds
for all stitching tasks...
shown in the tubes are
Embroidery...hand sewing...
applique and binding.

You can also use the sewing needles
in one of the smaller sizes
if the applique needles are
too small for you.

It's really a personal preference...
they all work just as well and
there are several sizes
to choose from within each tube.

I will also definitely be using my
STITCHY READERS
I use several strengths of magnification
depending on the task.
Each color is a different magnification:)
I could not do what I do without them!

Okay...for right now just a
few words about the sew along guide.

There is no pattern to purchase...

because basically the

Let's Make a Snowman

Sew Along Guide

AND

My weekly tutorials

are the cutting and then the

instructions for each applique block

are shown weekly here

on my blog with the exception

for week one which will be

on my YouTube channel as

a video tutorial.

My new fabric collection Sew Alongs

always take place here on my blog.

For this sew along each tutorial

will be on Monday's!

I have been so very anxious to sew

with Home Town Holiday and I got a

head start on this quilt by

cutting my fabrics and sewing

some of the pieced border blocks first!

I affectionately

Of course you can sew yours

whenever you would like to

during the sew along...

but you just may want to

do some of them first just like I did:)

I also went ahead and did a

video tutorial for you on my

YouTube Channel

showing you how I made my blocks.

CLICK HERE

to watch my video!!

Let's Make a Snowman

Sew Along starts

August 26th and you are invited!

My wish is that you will join us

in making the quilt!

I have learned at a very young age

that sewing along with others who have

the same interest as we do

is sew much fun...

it makes our sewing time even

that much more special!!

How do you join the sew along?

1.You simply grab yourself a

Let's Make a Snowman

Quilt Fabric Kit

2. You will need the

Let's Make a Snowman

Sew Simple Shapes Set

and of course

the Sew Along Guide

3. Gather up supplies needed

to make the quilt

4. Come HERE to my BLOG every

Monday during the sew along

(starting Aug 26th)

where I will give you the

free step by step tutorial for

applique blocks on each of those days.

*remember for week one

I'll be doing a

video tutorial on my YouTube channel

and I will also be doing a

week one blog post here as well.

Please read ALL of the information

within this post telling you all that

you need to know about this sew along.

Once the sew along has begun...

each of my blog posts here will be

tutorials about actually

making the applique blocks and so I am

telling you here all about the supplies

and other things necessary to get started

gathering what you will need.

After purchasing the fabric kit and

the Sew Simple Shapes you will

need to download the handy dandy

Let's Make a Snowman

Sew Along Guide

CLICK HERE

for the free download.

For your convenience you may also

download and/or view a

larger photo of the quilt.

I will be keeping my sew along guide in the

HOME TOWN HOLIDAY

BEE KEEPER BINDER

I use my binder to keep the guide

organized and in sheet protecters

and handy in one place...

all of the info needed at my fingertips:)

Once again...

Let's Make a Snowman

Sew Along Guide

is not a pattern!!

Yes...it is very handy and very full

of information but to find out

HOW TO

make the blocks during the sew along

is when you come here on my blog.

and my YouTube channel

on the first week.

So to re-cap...

the tutorials are the instructions

and the guide is simply a guide.

Why do I create a guide?

It has all kinds of info such as:

In the guide you will have

the schedule of what blocks

we will be doing each week

during the sew along.

Also in the guide you will find

fabric requirements for the quilt...

And notion requirements for the quilt

as well as suggested notions

that I use when making mine.

You will also find several pages of

instructions for cutting each and every

piece of fabric in your kit...

As well as the guide for cutting your interfacing

and tracing your Sew Simple Shapes!

You will find cutting for the

3 sizes of Clover bias tape makers

that we will be using for this quilt:

1/4" 1/2" 3/4" 1"

and any embroidery patterns needed.

Towards the end of the guide you will

find cutting for EACH of the

22 pieced blocks for the border...

AND...

the cutting for EACH

individual applique back as well.

YaY!!!

I hope you enjoy the guide and all

that it brings to this sew along.

All of this is very helpful information

compiled for your use and convenience

to help you to "Bee Prepared"

and stay organized throughout:)

You can cut ahead of time

if you would like to

and make individual block kits for

your quilt and have them all

ready to go for each tutorial!

As with any sew along...

organization is really the key.

I like to have this information

ready for you 3-4 weeks ahead of time

so that you can have each block cut

and ready to go...

So that each week you can

simply make the block or blocks!!

You will also find a diagram of the

blocks in sections

and instructions for the quilt borders

for when it is

time for you to finish your quilt

and sew it all together!

And as always there is a page

for "Notes" so that you can

jot anything down from my blog posts

or video tutorials

during the sew along.

I recommend using these pages to

write down the tips

that I will be giving you during

the tutorials for each block:)

You can print as many

note pages as you would like

to take as many notes as you want

so you could print a page for

each block if you wanted to!

Again...

during the first week I always

do a video tutorial...

and I'll be doing that tutorial on my

YouTube Channel

I'll of course also be posting

all about week one here on my blog

and will have a link to my

YouTube video here for you

on my week one blog post.

***NOTE***

Quite a while ago blogger changed their

format and ever since then

I have not been able

to put a button on my blog

for you to get email notifications

or to follow me here.

But...

just simply bookmark my blog page

or even better...

remember that google is your

best friend and all you have to do

is type in the name of my blog

or the name of my sew along

and it will bring you right here!

I have been using my blog exclusively

for my sew alongs for several years now

except for the week one video.

I like to be able to write everything

down here for you such as the pieced

block measurements and applique info needed

but I also like the visual of

actually showing you how I do my methods.

That's why I do the first week

on my YouTube Channel.

Using both my blog and my channel

for these sew alongs is a perfect pair!

I do many other tutorials

on my channel as well.

So...If you would like to know

what I am up to on a regular basis...

check out my videos on my

YouTube channel.

There I talk about what I've been doing

and new things happening:)

If you are new to my Sew Alongs...

I suggest that you watch a few

of my previous week one video tutorials

because I know that

they will help a you a lot!!

CLICK HERE

to watch week one tutorial for

Chicken Salad Sew Along

CLICK HERE

to watch my week one tutorial for

My Happy Place Sew Along

CLICK HERE