Making A Quilt From Leftovers

 I made a quilt recently that I used some bear Minky for the back.

I had some left over so I looked for a pattern that would showcase the left over Minky.  I think this pattern could also be made with a large block for the center and that would be pretty cute too!  

Or Minky squares.  The possibilities are endless! 

The pattern is by It's Sew Emma and it is called Menagerie.  Here are the 3 quilt tops I made using this pattern.

Isn't this so adorable??

I used my Bloc Loc ruler to make the HST for this perfect.

I love my Bloc Loc rulers!

Here is a quick look at how to use them.

The ruler has a channel diagonally down the back of the ruler that locks into the seam as you can see.

I use my rotating mat.

I lock the ruler into the block and trim the top and the right side.

You can see the trimmings here.

Then I spin the block and slice the ruler to the desired size and trim the tip and right side again.

Again you can see the trimmings.

Now you have a perfectly trimmed block to use in your quilts.  

This will make it much easier to make your points line up when you sew them together!

Just a quick shot to show you what I had left over from all my trimmings of all my blocks.

I used the 9" Bloc Loc ruler for this block.  I am hoping I can get the 12" ruler too.

Their flying geese rulers are on my radar too.

I have not tried them but I bet they are as good at the HST rulers.

I have all the HST sizes except the 12" one.

I hope you have found this useful!

Enjoy your day today!

~XOP~

Ocean Waves

I know you all may think I have forgotten about my Ocean Waves Quilt Along but I have NOT. 

 I have been steadily working towards getting all my blocks finished. 

It takes forever just to prep all the HSTs that go into each and every block!

I sewed up three blocks worth of HSTs over the weekend.  

I got one block's worth pressed. 

 Last night I pressed one more set of HSTs and then trimmed 2 blocks worth.  

The pressing and trimming took me an hour. 

 I still have one more set to press and trim!  That's just to be ready to sew. 

 I have had a goal of sewing one OW block per month and so far I have kept to that.  

I have 19/36 completed.

Here is what one blocks worth of HSTs looks like after trimming.

And this is the second block.

All I have to say is THANK GOODNESS for my Bloc Loc ruler!!!  

I would be completely insane without it!!!  

These HSTs are all trimmed to 2.5". 

 If you need a Bloc Loc ruler to make your life easier please go here and buy one!  

Another MUST have is the Clearly Perfect.  

You no longer need to draw lines on your squares.  

Just follow the line and sew!  

Do you have any idea what a time saver this is??? 

 Imagine that I have 24 HST in each quarter of my block.  

That's 96 HST per block and there are 36 blocks, so 3456 HST!!!  

If I had to draw lines on all of those I would be driving further down the road to crazy.  

If you need your own Clearly Perfect, 

go visit my friend, Cori's shop (Crazy Quilt Girl Fabric Shop) and pick one up.  

You can get the Bloc Loc and the Clearly Perfect at the same time and save on shipping too.  

I will have a finish to share with you all tomorrow too.

What are some of your favorite "must have" notions?

~XOP~

Some New Gadgets

I was talking with my friend, Cori, (Crazy Quilt Girl Fabric Shop) 

about some of the things I use all the time when I sew.  

I thought I would share a few of these things with you all.  

I will provide links to her shop if you are interested in purchasing them too.  

I do not receive any compensation for this, 

just her willingness to mail my packages and watch my cats when I go away = )

First up is the amazing Bloc Loc ruler.  

I have the HST rulers in several sizes but find that I use the 2.5" one the most.  

You may remember the Ocean Waves quilt where I am making a BAZILLION HST for each block?  

I would die a thousand deaths 

without the accuracy the Bloc Loc ruler provides me for trimming these units.  

It makes putting the block together 

SO. MUCH. EASIER. 

 Notice I did not say *easy*, just easier. 

 If you want to pick up a Bloc Loc ruler please click HERE.  

I can promise you that you will NOT be sorry!

I used the 3.5" size for the HST on the Chubby Chicks quilt.

Turning mat is also a very valuable tool.  

Use your coupon at JAF and get yourself one of these too!

Another thing that goes hand in hand with making HST is a Clearly Perfect.  

You may have heard me GUSH about these in the past but not understood what I was talking about. 

 I did a video to show you!  

Don't laugh, it's really difficult to sew and film at the same time!

You will have to go to You Tube to view the video as it was too large a file to upload to Blogger.

Click HERE to go to the video I made (you can hear my voice) of how to use the Clearly Perfect.

Please click over and watch it.

It just may change your quilting life forever!

It did mine.

If you want a Clearly Perfect you can click HERE and get one for yourself.  

I forgot to bring mine when I went on my last retreat and I cried!  

Unless your squares are gigantic, you will be able to make HST without drawing on lines.  

I always oversize mine and then use the Bloc Loc rulers to trim them to the correct size.

Next up is the Grabaroo gloves. 

I am in complete LOVE with these gloves and you will be too once you try a pair.  

They are not very expensive and they will give you a level of control that 

you will wonder how you ever lived without!  

They have little gripper things on the fingers.  

You can put them on either hand and there are grippers on BOTH sides.  

So no wrong way to put them on.  

BONUS

Of course the obvious thing to use them for is free motion quilting.  

They work GREAT for that.  

I hear you say, but I don't do FMQ.  

I feel you.  

I don't do it very much either, 

but when I do any quilting these help me move the quilt 

without the usual tension I seem to get in my hands and shoulders when I work.

Do you remember seeing these?

I dropped my feed dogs, put on my applique foot, and my Grabaroo gloves,

 then I free motion stitched around them.  

I call it scribble stitching.  

The control I had using the gloves made such a HUGE difference in my ability to control the lines and in the amount of time it took me to outline each bird.  

I got them all stitched around in one night, PAIN FREE!  

I have some tendonitis in my hands and I get super tense in my shoulders when I FM stitch.  

The gloves make a world of difference.  

My friend, Crazy Quilt Girl is now carrying these in her shop too!  

She has 3 sizes. 

 I think mine are the small (I have pretty small hands).  

You need a pair of these in your life.

  Click HERE to a link for the small, 

HERE for the Medium and 

HERE for the Large.  

She can get Extra Large if you need them just email her.  

If you are unsure of your size message her and ask!  

She is super helpful.  

You can also call her shop from 9am - 5pm EST at 1-866-807-3776. 

 Tell her Mama Spark sent you!

She just got the cutest Binding Babies in this week too.  

They are from Dohicky Designs and they are so cute!  

I am picking one up from her when I get home from vacation to try.  

I think I need the blonde one.  

She has multiple hair colors too.

I will do a review of these when I get mine and can give it a try.  

If you want to see them and order one they can be found by clicking HERE.  

She currently has them on her home page as they are new.

You can see how to use them in this You Tube tutorial by Dohicky Designs. 

 I can't wait to pick one up and give it a try.  

She currently has the large size in stock.  

OK, I guess this is enough information for one post!  

LOL

Sorry for such a long post but I have been wanting to talk about these for awhile now.

I hope you find these things (and my review) helpful.

If you have not checked out Crazy Quilt Girl Fabric Shop,

you are missing out!

Corina is the sweetest and her service is top notch.

She has super fast shipping too.

That crazy woman ships twice a day most days!!!

Enjoy your new tools and let me know if you have any questions.

I am happy to answer any questions or explain things further.

Please, leave your email in your comments.

I have had several comments lately and no way to answer as they are from no-reply people.

This makes me sad!

If you are ever wondering why I never write you back that's why!

Check the comments later and sometimes I reply back on those when I can't find your email.

OK, go forth and try new things!

~XOP~

Chubby Chick Quilt Progress

I have been working very hard to get all the blocks made for this quilt.  

I had everything all cut out from MANY years ago 

when I made one with the church group I was a part of.  

Theirs got finished, D'oh!

I had this entire quilt all cut out and the chicks were fused.  

I just realized last night that everything had to be cut down though.  

So after I sewed my HST it was time to trim them up.  The size they needed to be was 3.5".

I got out my trusty Bloc-Loc 3.5" ruler and had a trimming fest!  

That set of rulers was the BEST thing I ever invested in!  

Also, the turning mat.  

Such a help when trimming HST.

Of course the other indispensable helper thing is Hallie!  

She doesn't come in the sewing room as much now that the boys are around.  

Cole, especially, likes to tease her and she does NOT appreciate his efforts!  

Just like a boy, right? (or just like MY son, I guess). 

 So I carried her upstairs, put her on my table and closed the door.  

She settled in quite nicely!

After trimming all my HST units I decided that my chicks needed to have eyes.  

I Googled how to make a Colonial knot and decided to give it a try.  

I loved the eye placement on this chick.

I couldn't resist laying out a few with some of the pinwheels I finished.  This is going to be so darned cute!  The chicks can be made using charm squares.  Wouldn't this be darling made with a Bonnie and Camille charm pack and either aqua or red pinwheels?  I think little cat faces would be cute too.  Might need to design that!

So my WIPs are continuing to progress.  

I think having the goal chart with my friends is definitely helping motivate me.

Have a great weekend.

We are getting dumped on by a HUGE winter storm, so maybe I can stay in and sew?

That's my plan anyway, LOL.

~XOP~