Go! Ahead & Show Some Love

Have you seen the Go! Ahead and Show Some Love Blog Hop? Paulette from Sweet Pea Quilting and Creations is hosting it in conjunction with the Quilters With Modern Tools group. This months blog hop is all about the color red, Valentine Day and the Accuquilt cutting system. And today it's my turn on the hop!







The project I made for this blog hop is my Dresden Love hot pad. It's kinda big for a mug rug, but kinda small for a table topper, but is the perfect size for a hot pad.

This is a simple dresden fan using a 22.5 degree ruler. For those of you that are new to my blog, I do a monthly series on Nifty Notions rulers and the ruler of the month in January was the 22.5 degree wedge. Check out all the ruler tutorials I have done for you here.

You will need
1 - 2.5" x WOF red fabric
1 - 2.5" x WOF pink fabric
1 - 5" square red fabric
1 - 8" square white fabric for background
Steam-a-Seam
1 - 1.5" x WOF pink fabric for border
2 - 2.25" x WOF red for binding
1 - 12" square red fabric for backing
1 - 12" square batting


To make this hot pad you will first need to figure out what size fan pieces to cut. 


1. Decide on the size of the fan/plate you want. For this project I wanted the fan to measure 7" across the diameter. For those of you who failed HS geometry the diameter is the size of the line drawn thru the center of a circle. 

2. Once you know how big of a fan/plate you want you can figure out what size pieces you will need. It's a pretty easy formula:

Take the diameter and subtract 2 and then divide by 2. So if you want a 7" plate/fan it works this way... 7 - 2 = 5/2 = 2.5. So the strip you cut your wedges from need to be 2.5".

3. Now that we know what size strips to use it's time to cut the strips. If you are using 2 different fabrics for the plate/fan cut your strips the desired size and then lay them out one on top of the other with right sides together. Place the ruler on the strip with the Logo face up (so you can read it). Line up the top edge with the line that corresponds to the size of the strip. Trim the left side and cut along the right side to make your first wedge.

4. Then flip the ruler over so the small edge is at the top. Line the left edge of the ruler with the left edge of the strip and cut along the right side of the ruler.

5. To figure out how many pieces to cut divide 360 by the degree of the ruler. In this case
360 ÷ 22.5 = 16. So you will need to cut 16 pieces or 8 sets of wedges. This formula applies to any wedge you are using.

You will now have 16 cut pieces like this. 

6. Once you have all your wedge pieces cut you will be sewing them to make a point at the top. Here's how:

Fold the wedge in half like so.

7. Then sew using a quarter inch seam along the larger straight line

 8. Then turn the piece right side out to form a point. You can use a stiletto or other pointy object to push the point out. Here's what you will have now

9. Then sew the pieces together. Start at the part closest part to the point and sew using a quarter inch seam to the bottom. Sew them in 2's, making sure the same fabric is always on the top.

10. Continue sewing pieces together, pressing the seams open as you go till you have a full circle (made with 16 wedges).

11. Now it's time to put it all together. You will need the 3" circle die, some double sided web interfacing (I use Steam-a-Seam). Following the directions affix the Steam-a-Seam to the back of the piece of fabric you will be making your circle with. In this case the red fabric.

12. Using your Accuquilt cut a 3" circle out. Also cut a 5" circle out of the Steam-a-Seam alone.

13. Affix the 5" circle to the back of the dresden fan. Then take the paper backing off press the dresden fan onto your background fabric.

14. Peel the paper off the back of the 3" red circle and affix it to the center of the fan.

15. Cut the border fabric into 2 - 1.5" x 8" and 2 - 1.5" x 10" rectangles.

16. Sew the 8" strips to the top and bottom sides of the background fabric and the 10" strips to the sides of the background.

17. Make a quilt sandwich with the backing face down, the batting and the top face up. Pin to keep it together.

18. Using a blanket stitch on your machine sew around the circle to finish the edges. Or you can hand sew a blanket stitch if you prefer.

19. Quilt and bind. I quilted in the ditch between the background and the border until I got to the corners. I marked 1" in from each side and used painters tape to show the line to sew on. This gave it a slightly framed look.

There you go a Dresden Love Hot Pad.

I hope you like this tutorial. Be sure to check out all the other blog hop stops in the Go! Ahead and Show Some Love Blog Hop.

If you are looking for the Accuquilt cutting system and dies they can be found here.

Till Next Time

Welcome to Breast Cancer Awareness Week

This week I have some wonderful guest bloggers who will share with you their projects in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Well really to increase awareness of all cancers. Along with my guest blogger of the day a different web site will be highlighted to educate us all. 

A few weeks ago I asked some friends to make something for this week with ribbons I cut for them with my Accuquilt. Here's the link if you want this die.

To start the week Brie from Little Creatable has a great way to honor all kinds of cancer with a ribbon project. 

Hey Everyone!

I can’t tell you how excited I am to be featured here on the lovely Miss Sha’s blog *squeal*!

As you know its Breast Cancer Month and even if hasn’t affected you directly chances are you know someone who it has affected. Well my 2 {of 5} of my grandmothers have had this strength building cancer. Thankfully they have both lived through it, and I still have them with me today.

So when Miss Sha was asking for volunteers to speak/make something using these super cool AccuQuilt Ribbons I was all hands up in the air.

So when these little ribbons arrived on my door step I knew exactly what to do.

A ring of hope J because really when encountering any kind of Cancer that’s what you need.

HOPE

Unfortunately I haven’t be able to finish it the way I wanted to I’ve spent most of this month trying to reorganise my life, think about what is important and what I want etc.

Have any of ever had to deal with Breast Cancer in one form or another?

How do you cope?

Brest Cancer runs in my family so there it’s high likely I will get it too. I figure CANCER is not a death sentence. So I try and re-evaluate my life as often as possible, live here and now because after all here is all the now you have ;)

Thank you Sha for letting me take over.

Thanks Brie! I love that ring of hope idea. I can see that being made with different color ribbons to support all different kind of cancers.

The link today is the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month page. There you will find info for those who have just been diagnosed, survivors and their families and friends.

Sha :)

A giveaway a day late

Yesterday I showed you my Fall themed project made with my Accuquilt Go! If you missed it here's a pic of the finished project. To see the whole post just scroll down.

I got so many great comments about the mini quilt that I decided to do a little giveaway. I will send the winner 4 fat quarters of breast cancer awareness fabric and 4 appliqued ribbons cut with the Accuquilt die. this will be enough for you to make something special too.

To enter first of all you MUST be a follower.
For your entry please tell me what breast cancer awareness means to you.
There you have it 1 entry per person only.
Mr. Random will pick a winner on Saturday, October 1st.

Today the blog hop is at Sunshower Quilts. She has made a adorable table runner that you won't want to miss!

Sha :)

Here's my Fall Project...

I'm super excited today to be part of the Accuquilt Fall Blog Hop! I'm part of the Quilters With Modern Tools group and guess what? As of yesterday I became a quilter with 2 modern tools! You'll have to wait and see which one I just got :)

The theme for this blog hop is Fall and the only specific instruction we received was that it had to be made with something cut with our Accuquilt Go! or Baby Go! You know me I have to be different so I started thinking. I didn't have to think to much because I know October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and since October is in the Fall and I had just gotten the Accuquilt Go! Ribbon die it was a perfect fit.

I was lucky enough to find some great Breast Cancer fabric for this project, even though I had no idea what this project was until this past Sunday. I was very torn about what to make. First I was going to make a zipper bag, but I didn't have enough fusible fleece and didn't want to go to any store so scratch that idea. Then I decided on a mug rug.

Since I knew I needed a few applique ribbons cut out with my Go! I started there. I used Steam-A-Seam 2 on the back of the ribbon fabric. Its so easy to use, just place the part without the paper on the back of your fabric and press for 10 seconds. Then I simply used the Go! the same way as I usually would and it came out perfect.

That's when inspiration hit me. I decided to make a frame out of fabric and put the ribons in the center. Here's what I came up with for the ribbon layout. Actually I had wanted to use 3 ribbons to signify Mind, Body and Spirit, but that didn't work.

The frame part of the mug rug came together in my mind pretty easy. I fussy cut the words used for the inside frame. Here's a word at the top that has significant meaning to me. My Mother-in-law had breast cancer 9 years ago and was in remission for 8 years before she was diagnosed with lung cancer. We lost her 3 months ago tomorrow (June 28, 2011). Here's one of my favorite pics from June 2010 of my Hub's and his Mom.

Here's my finished project. You can't tell from this pic but I used a curly stitch along the inside of the frame. It was fun doing something different than a straight stitch.It's a bit big to be a mug rug so it ended up being a mini quilt.

Here's a close look at the center of the ribbons. I'm not sure if you can tell but theres a butterfly stitched by machine in the center and the center of the 2 ribbons too. My Mother-in-law loved butterflies.

I hope you like my Fall project. I havent decided what to do with this mini quilt yet, for now its staying with me, but I might donate it at some point to help raise funds for the Susan G Komen Association.

Here's the full list for the blog hop. Be sure to visit everyones blog and tell them Sha sent you!

Monday Sept 26th
Darlene (SewCalGal) - www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

Tuesday, September 27th

Terrie (Bits & Pieces) www.terriesandelin.blogspot.com
Sharon (Craizee Corners) www.craizeecorner.blogspot.com

Wednesday, September 28th
Katrina (Sunshower Quilts) www.sunshowerquilts.blogspot.com

Thursday, September 29th
Connie (Quilting by the River) www.conniekresin.blogspot.com
Mary (the Tulip Patch) http://www.tulip-patch.blogspot.com/

Friday, September 30th
Polly (Polly's Porch) www.auntpollysporch.blogspot.com

Sha :)

My Plans For The Week.....

Happy Monday everyone! I have plans, lots of plans for the week. The beginning is busy, but the second half is almost empty (so far) which will leave me plenty of time to play! I have  surprise for you and me coming (do I hear the G word again?) so stay tuned!

I am so excited about Tuesday, I am part of the Accuquilt Fall Blog Hop! All week long we will be hopping from one blog to another to share Fall ideas. Today Darlene of SewCalGal starts the hop with an adorable quilt made from tumblers (and I heard the G word on her blog today too!). I hope you join me for this fun hop and make sure to check here tomorrow for my special Fall project. If you can't wait that long here's a hint...It has to do with the color pink. Those of you that know me might be able to guess it, but please don't tell anyone.



As for today, I am guest blogging at Sally's Quilting Corner. She has a series on how to organize your sewing/quilting space, no matter how big or small. Go to her blog to see how I fold and store yardage and while your there it would be great if you left her a comment with your organizing hints :)...oh and don't forget to tell her hi for me.




Have you been to Talkin Tuesday's (#Talknt) yet? It's a tweetchat room hosted by the awesome Cara of Cara Quilts. From 9 - 11 EST we all get together and answer questions about quilting. It's a great way to learn new things about your favorite addiction. Tomorrows (September 27, 2011) Talkin' Tuesday is being sponsored by my friend Sally of Sally's Quilting Corner...yup that's the same Sally that I am guest blogging on. I hope you join us, but here's a hint...don't access it thru twitter search, use tweetchat instead. It will make it so much easier. And if you are not on twitter yet, there's still time to join. Once you get on twitter you can find me at @shapernes. 

And to make my life even busier I have 2 classes at The Berry Patch planned, 1 on Tuesday and 1 on Wednesday.

Plus I have to make 2 blocks for 2 special friends of mine that I have to get in the mail by Wednesday morning.

And to end the week I want to finish the quilt I am making for my oldest son by Friday. He's coming to visit this weekend and I want to give it to him.

I'd love to hear what you are up to this week...are you as busy as me? Are you busier than me? If you let me know I will be your biggest cheerleader!

Sha :)

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

If you are looking for the Hometown giveaway click here.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and I want to honor my Mother-in-law and all those who have this cancer, as well as those who we have lost from this terrible disease.

In order to do this I need your help. I have this wonderful die from Accuquilt.

I think it's a great applique to use on so many things. Here's where you come in...
I need 4 volunteers to make something with this on it. I will supply the applique ribbons to you in whatever color you choose and as many as you need. All I ask is that you make something with it and then guest blog the 3rd week in October about what you made. You can make anything big or small, the sky's the limit.

I think this is a great way to honor those who have been affected by this horrible disease. What do you think? Please email me or post here if you are interested or just to say what you think of this project. And please consider joining me for this project.

Come back tomorrow when Sweetwater week continues.

Sha :)

Time for a Winner!

It's 10 p.m. so it's time for the winner of the Accuquilt Go Baby and the Me and My Sister charm packs to be revealed.

Here's the lucky numbers Mr Random Number gave me...
Here are your random numbers:

171 128

Timestamp: 2011-09-07 12:02:25 UTC

Free Indeed
Wins the Accuquilt Go! Baby!
She said
As I age, and the family grows in leaps and bounds, I'm finding the stress of Christmas has escalated because of the commercialism. That's why I'm beginning to like Thanksgiving better. I have always loved fall and the colors/scents of the season. I have on a backburner of my mind to make some large dresden plate 'chargers' in fall colors for our table. I also thinking of using Christmas colors on the reverse to get double the use out of them, but as of yet, I have not started that project. :)
I have always wanted a diamond quilt but am too intimidated to cut and sew them. With the GO cutter, that Diamonds to Go quilt would be a breeze (I think?) :)


Tiffany
Wins the charm packs!
She said
Of course, Christmas! I've been wanting to make an advent calendar for along time now - still looking for the perfect pattern!
I might want to try a lava lamp quilt. By the way, how do I know if I am following through GFC? I'm following through my dashboard on my own blog. Is that the same thing? Thanks for the chance to win!

Thanks to Accuquilt and Me and My Sister for sponsoring this giveaway!




I have emailed you both!
Thanks to everyone for playing!
Sha :)

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1...Go!

Can you guess what that countdown is for? Accuquilt has given me the Go! ahead to start a giveaway for an Accuquilt Go! Baby and 3 dies of your choice. I know that you might have seen this coming or heard about it, but I hope you are still as excited as I am about this giveaway!

To sweeten the pot and to celebrate my Crangles quilt I will be giving away some charm pack of Me and My Sister fabric! This will go to the 2nd number drawn.

Here's how it's going to work...

You MUST be a follower thru GFC.
You Must leave me a way to email you, if you are a no-reply blogger just leave me your email address with your post.

There are 2 ways to enter this giveaway
1. Tell me your favorite holiday and what kind of project you would like to do for it (this is a dream project, it doesn't have to be real although it can be)
2. Go to Accuquilts web page and tell me what pattern you would like to make. And while your there make sure you sign up for the 22 free patterns. I found the perfect pattern in the set of 22 to use my Aqua Red fabric with.

There you have it 2 ways to enter!

As usual if you would be so kind as to tweet, facebook or blog this I would be very grateful (even though its not for a third chance it would still be great if you did).

This giveaway will run thru Tuesday, September 6th at 10 p.m.CST, right after Talkin' Tuesday on Twitter. And then Mr Random Number will pick a winner!

And if you really want to win an Accuquilt Go! Baby here's some other blogs that are giving away one: If you know of a giveaway for a Go! Baby please let me know via email.

The Learning Curve, ends September 1st
Sew Sweetness, Ends September 6th

Till next time,
Sha :)

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...

If you are looking for the giveaway you can find it here.

Who said that? I actually thought it was William Shakespeare, but alas I was wrong. It was Elizabeth Barrett Browning. But you are not reading this post for a literature lesson are you?

So let me rephrase the question
Baby how do I love thee, let me count the ways. As any quilter in the blog word can guess the Baby I am speaking of is an Accuquilt Go! Baby.

Instead of doing a 'tutorial' on how the Go! Baby works I am going to show you how many ways I use my Go! Baby.

As you might have read in an earlier post I had this insane idea to make a Crangles quilt. Crangles = crayon + triangles. To read the original post about the Crangles quilt and my inspiration behind it click here. As you might have guessed cutting 2816 2.5" equilateral triangles would take a long time...a very long time. But with my Accuquilt Go! Baby it takes very little time. Here's a pic of some crangles I have put together and a pic of a pile of crangles I have already cut. Aren't they cute? I can honestly say that I would not have attempted this project without the Accuquilt Go! or the Go! Baby.

Another thing I use my Go! Baby for is cutting scraps. I put my scraps in this cute bucket and when its filled I cut them up into 2.5" and 4.5" squares and 2.5" strips. Then when I need them they are all ready to go. This is the bucket I have just filled up. The last one filled this much took less than 30 minutes to cut up. It makes keeping up with my scraps so easy and enjoyable because I like cranking that handle :) And when I crank up the tunes its even faster.


I do have a few favorite dies in my collection. I love tumblers. Here's a small table runner made with a Summer House charm pack and a bit of yardage. I still have to finish it, I have just not decided how I am going to quilt it, anyone have an idea for me?

But my favorite die is a new one. It's the breast cancer ribbon die. I just opened it and used it for the first time today and love how it came out. I am going to make a mug rug with this. Isn't it great? It's a great size to put on a jacket or book cover, really anything that you want to use it on to show your support for breast cancer awareness.

That's just a few ways I have used my Accuquilt Go! Baby. I admit I am totally addicted to my Baby and use it almost everyday! I find myself dreaming up new quilts to make with the dies that I have (I told you I was addicted). The dies cut very evenly and cranking the die thru the machine is fast and easy. Believe me I am a total wimp and if I can use it anyone can.

I invite you to check out the machines and the great selection of dies they have. To make it easy for you here's the link :) Check out the Daily Deal everyday, I have gotten a few dies that way. And when you order from Accuquilt it gets shipped out right away. I ordered a die on Sunday and received it on Wednesday. I also got my 22 FREE Accuquilt Patterns and am going to use my Aqua Red fabric to make the Star Delight by Alex Anderson Wall hanging (well in my case it will be made bigger into a throw quilt). If you haven't downloaded your free patterns now's the time to do it. In case you missed it here's the link again http://www.accuquilt.com/email-signup

I am proud to join the other Accuquilt Bloggers and hope you found this post helpful.

Come back tomorrow when the Tula Pink series continues.

Sha :)

The Great Green Race

If you are looking for my current giveaway click here. Make sure to scroll to the bottom for it, and remember to enter Shawna's giveaway as well.

Have you heard about the swap a rainbow that's going on?
http://www.flickr.com/groups/1692888@N24/

My color for this swap is green. I have to cut 56 green charms (5" x 5") of each of 2 different fabrics. I found some really cute fabric at the Cabbage Rose Shop around the corner. Since I have an Accuquilt Go! I decided to do a little race to see which method was faster, using the Accuquilt Go! or rotary cutting.  

I started each race the same way, the same amount of fabric (I got 1.25 yards of each) with the fabric pressed, my cutting area clean and ready to go with the tools I would be using and took my time (I didn't rush one way or another).

First up was the rotary cutting method. Pretty straight forward and fast. My time was 5:32:83. I did have 1/4 yard left over with this method so there was a bit less waste.

Next was the accuquilt method. I didn't plan ahead on how to lay out the fabric, I wanted this to be a true race. Even with that little bit of planning time the accuquilt method was faster coming in at 4:23:13. I didn't have any fabric left over, which I am OK with.

So there you have it. The Accuquilt Go! won the race by 1 minute 9.7 seconds! I know this was a very simple race, I can tell you from experience that cutting other geometrics is much faster with the Accuquilt Go!. I have been cutting 2.5" equilateral triangles, something I would never even attempt with a ruler (I need 2816 of them cut). That die alone is saving me so much time and energy. I definitely recommend getting a Accuquilt Go! or Go! Baby. You won't be sorry you did.

Sha :)

Go! Baby and a Baby Quilt

Look what came for me on Friday!

I won this from Sew Inspired  and true to my word the first thing I used it for was to make 2.5" strips for a jelly race quilt. I ordered the 2.5" strip die, the diamond die and the Rose of Sharon die set.

Jeanne Gwin from The Learning Curve has been collecting items for the victims of the Joplin tornado. So my first project was to make a baby quilt for her cause. I had some left over Lily and Will 2, which I though was perfect for a baby quilt. I have to tell you that I wasn't sure how much I would use the 2.5" strip die, but I can honesty say that I will use it a lot!  Yes I could just cut strips with a rotary cutter, but this was so much easier and more accurate, not to mention more fun :).

Here's the quilt I made for Joplin. The fun part of this quilt pattern is that you never know how it will come out. I think this one looks like buildings on a street (crooked ones). I even tried a new way to do binding on a quilt and love it!. If you haven't done so yet you should check out Mauby's series on bindings. This was was so easy and the corners come out great!

So a big Thank you to Vicki at Sew Inspired and Accuquilt! The Go! Baby made today easier and fun at the same time!

Sha :)

Crayons and triangles = Crangles???

Have you ever made 2 quilts at once? I don't mean have several WIPs (Work in Progress) I mean sew 2 at the same time? That's exactly what I am doing. Here's how...

You know when you use a thread saver, startee/stoppee, sew on/sew off or whatever you call it (the little piece of fabric you sew onto before you remove the fabric from your machine)? Well I decided that instead of using that little piece of fabric over and over that I would use that thread and time to work on a different quilt. So instead of those little pieces of fabric I am sewing another triangle onto my 'Crangle' quilt. (this is a great way to work on a tumbler, triangle or scrap vomit quilt too). I am using 2.5" triangles, 2816 to be exact. And that's where I need your help.

I would like to do this quilt totally in fabric by Me and My Sister Designs. I have always loved their bright fabric. I have a bunch and will be buying a bunch of Amelia, but I want more diversity. As you can probably guess 2816 triangles is a ton. So if you have any scraps that you would like to share please let me know. Any size pieces over 3" square will work. Just leave me a comment or find me on twitter and I'll send you my info.

Sha :)