QAYG Made Modern

 "We’re shining a spotlight on some of our best sellers of all time,

 and this one made me think of you"

That was the happy mail I received from C&T Publishing, the other day.

They asked if I would review the book and do a project to share on my blog.

It just made my toes tingle and only took me 

all of 2 seconds to respond...yes, yes...of course I would!

I love QAYG projects. They are a great way to use up all those batting scraps,

 that tend to build up over time. 

Interestingly enough, this was another QAYG technique that I hadn't personally

tried out myself and I love learning new things.

I found this layer cake friendly project "Ballard Blocks", really spoke to me. 

I don't work with "Modern" fabrics much, but I've got some fun things in my stash, 

that I knew would work great.

The choices were tough...

There were all these fun food/snack fabrics...

 Or my treasured collection of what I like to call, the

"Naked Boys" from "Alexander Henry" fabrics.

LOL!!

Or this fun fat quarter stack of Parisian fabrics...

Decisions, decisions

????

Then, I stumbled on one of my all time favorites

Coffee!!!

Yep, that was it! It had to be a coffee quilt.

I had a panel print with 12 designs on it.

They were not 10" squares...

But, guess what...

This book teaches you how to build out your blocks right on your batting.

Heck ya, you can easily combine techniques from this book.

Adding a little sashing is easy, but they go into piecing 

different blocks, including a star block, too.

With the help of coordinating prints and a fun border...

This is my new crazy and highly caffeinated  QAYG quilt.

:-)

A perfect addition to my kitchen theme.

Sew... what do you think?

If you want to try some fun new QAYG techniques

you can find more on this book...

HERE

A big thanks to C&T Publishing for thinking of me.

This was a really fun, way to play!

til next time...

Keep on Stitchin'

Try It with "Island Batik"

This month the Island Batik Ambassadors trying something new, 

or showing you techniques, you may not have tried before.

This is always one of my favorite challenges.

I inspires me to get out of that "box" I put myself into

 and give something new, a whirl.

Well, not exactly like this though!

No, for this one I'm going to talk about binding irregular shaped quilts.

This is "Hen Party".

And these "Island Batik" fabrics make these "chicks" come to life, don't you think?

I was able to use part of a "stack" of "Paisley Dot" for the background.

This is one of my favorite fabric lines.

These are just a sampling of the beautiful fabrics in this "Stack".

I've used much of it, in other projects.

I've not personally ever added little wings to my quilts before, but

wow, does that give it some pizzazzzzzz!

It's really as easy as stitching your "wings", 

by matching the centers and pressing them out.

Where the trick comes in, is with binding it.

While I took this photo before it was quilted...

You will want to reinforce stitch the inner corner once that has been done. 

Stitch, just a few threads inside of the 1/4"seam allowance.

Then clip to your stitching line.

When attaching your binding, stitch to the center of the clip and stop.

Raise your feed dogs.

Give things a tug, until it's your piece is straight.

Lower your feed dogs and keep on stitching. 

You will want to check that corner once your past it to make sure

you kept that quarter in seam. It's easy to jump in a bit there. 

If so, just go over it again. The second time is usually the charm!

LOL!!

When pressing your binding out, 

press in a little pleat at each inner corner.

Before you start stitching down your binding,

 flip your project over and stitch a tuck

 about half way up from your stitching line

 at each inner corner, on just the underside layer of your binding.

As you can see, you will get beautiful results on both the top and bottom,

at those inner corners.

A big thanks it "Island Batik" for supplying these fabulous fabrics.

As well as to "Hobbs" for their batting. I am a huge fan of

"Thermore" batting. It's great for those project you want to lay perfectly flat.

Of course it goes without saying...

"Aurifil" thread is a must for stitching any project.

:-)

So you love those crazy hens as much as I do?

Well, you can find them and lots of other fun animal projects in this book

from Annie's Craft Store

Animal Attraction

Price: $7.99

Pattern in a downloadable format

• Animal Attraction
• 
• Price: $14.99
• Or in a book format.
• *Please note these are affiliate links*

til next time...

Keep on Stitchin'

A Time For All Seasons-June

The calendar says it's June.

I sure hope the weather knows how to read the calendar.

I don't know about where you live, but here we got snow and crazy cold weather, 

followed by thunderstorms, hail and tornado's!

 So much for planting your flowers after Mothers Day. If you did they likely froze 

or were pounded with hail.

:-(

Come on June, we are counting on you to bring us all,

 some sunshine and happy weather!

Weather nice enough to be able to go sailing.

Don't you just love this block?

June is also the time to celebrate all the wonderful Dad's out there.

I love this guy, who looks confused by all the choices of ties!

LOL!!

And we think, us girls are the only one's making the tough decisions.

HAHAHAHAHA

You can download these patterns free for the month of June only

over at "Just Let Me Quilt"

HERE

But wait!!!!!

She gave us a bonus block too!

This one speaks right to my own heart, as

I am celebrating my 40th anniversary this month.

You can find this pattern 

HERE

Thanks Carol, this block is a fabulous addition!

...sew, how is your "Time for All Seasons" coming along?

Don't forget to share your blocks on our Facebook page

HERE

We have sponsors who are providing fabulous monthly prizes.
Thanks to "Island Batik" for these fabulous fabrics.
They make my heart sing!

Here is the schedule for this year...

February

Sew Incredibly Crazy

March 

Just Let Me Quilt

April

Creatin' in the Sticks

April Bonus

Creatin' in the Sticks

May

Moosestash Quilting

May Bonus 

MooseStashQuilting

June

Just Let Me Quilt

June Bonus

Just Let Me Quilt

July

Creatin' in the Sticks

August

Sew Incredibly Crazy

September

Moosestash Quilting

October

Creatin' in the Sticks

November

Moosestash Quilting

December

Just Let Me Quilt

January

Sew Incredibly Crazy

til next time...

Keep on Stitchin'

A Time For All Seasons-April Bonus

I can't believe it's the end of May and I haven't posted my April bonus block,

that Carla from "Creatin' in the Sticks", has done for us.

I love how these "Island Batik" fabrics make the block sing!

This bright and cheery pinwheel block is so quick and easy...

...and the perfect addition to her basket and umbrella blocks.

June 1 is almost here, so it's a good time to remind you to get your May blocks downloaded 

if you haven't already while they are free. 

You can find them 

HERE

and

HERE

The bonus block pattern has been updated to make things a little easier for you.

Make sure you have the most current copy saved.

I am so excited about what Carol from "Just Let Me Quilt" 

has in store for us next month.

I promise you are gonna love em!

:-)

til next time...

Keep on Stitchin'

Bonus Day! (re-release)

There were some issues with the previous pattern.

I've changed up the pattern a bit, to hopefully make it easier for you to manage.

It's been double checked, triple checked and stitched out again.

Please re-download the pattern before you start piecing.

This is "May" Pole.

It's a really fun block, that can present challenges. If you are comfortable with 

the process of paper piecing, I urge you to give it a whirl.

I've included the colors that I used on the templates to hopefully make it a bit easier for you.

(I found color placement the biggest hurdle)

;-)

Pattern now available for $1.50 on link below

https://www.paypal.me/MooseStashQuilts

Please note what block it is you would like sent.

NOTE:  It is crucial that you print out your pattern full size, no paper scaling.

Every one's printer box will look a little different, but hopefully this will help.

"Actual size" is the verbiage on my printer.

On the paper piecing pattern I have drawn a 1" square box. Make sure that

once you print your pattern that the box measures 1" or you will have problems...

Speaking of problems, I've had a few emails about the pieced block this month, not

coming out to size. Again it's crucial that the pattern is printed actual size.

I did put a ruler to my block and it does come out to 10.5"

It's the triangle block that I believe is causing some issues.

I might suggest that you trace your pieces onto Freezer Paper 

Iron them on your block and cut them out that way.

For those of you with Tri Recs rulers, you can tape the pattern to the back of them

and cut out your pieces.

Note: the pattern pieces are not a standard size on the ruler.

(I, for the life of me can't find my triangle ruler)

:-O

But you get what I mean!

The hand drawn directions are included in the pattern because EQ gives them to us.

I personally do not use them, but we all have different ways of doing things, so I included them.

(They are a great reference for double checking the size, 

of each of your block pieces before you start cutting)

Lay piece "C" over "B" and stitch. The corners on the template make it easy to line up.

Stitch and press open

Lay "D" on opposite side, stitch and press open.

As you can see, it is a bit oversize. This allows you to trim down to correct size.

Just watch your 1/4" seam so you don't loose your points.

The 4 patch blocks start out with 2 1/8" blocks. Careful cutting and piecing is a must.

Construct your block in thirds. Each one should measure 3 3/4" square. 

That will yield a perfect 10 1/2" block.

;-)

I do hope this will help you.

Oh my...I inadvertently left off a few of the numbers for a flower on this block too!

Here is an updated page 2. It likely won't print to scale, 

so I suggest you just add the changes to your already printed page

 or make a note of them for future use.

I used a red pen, but it's still hard to see where the changes are...

It's Q1   H2 and I2.

I do apologize for the errors. While I do my best, I am not a pattern designer.

I do not have the knowledge of pattern writing, or the bells and whistles that other designers have.

The BOM is free and we all do our best to make sure it's 100% correct,

but things do happen and rest assure, we will fix it to the best of our abilities.

"Google" is a wonderful resource if your need help constructing a  block. 

I've found a gazillion tutorials, U-Tube videos, etc with a quick search. 

Some days it's my saving grace!

LOL!!

til next time...

Keep on Stitchin'