Prepping for a Class

 This afternoon I started prepping for an upcoming scrap class.  I am teaching my Geese Migration class in Roseburg Oregon in about a week and half.

I like to take lots of scraps with me to share with students.

When I need to cut my scraps into a lot of 2.5" squares, I love my AccuQuilt Studio cutter.

I can layer the scraps over the multiples die and run it through the cutter and soon have a stack of 2.5" squares.

I can quickly top off my 2.5" storage box.  You can see the squares stand up on end in some silverware trays (Bed Bath and Beyond) that all fit nicely in a project box.  I sort them all by colors too so students can always find the perfect scrap for the blocks they are working on.

The Geese Migration quilt is probably my favorite class to teach.  The class will be Friday April 22nd and is hosted by the Umpqua Valley Quilters.  

It will be part of their annual quilt show held at the Douglas County Fairgrounds. 

 I hope to maybe see some of you there!

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AccuQuilt has lots of styles of cutters to fit your individual needs.  I really like that they now have starter sets for their Go! series.  They always have lots of deals available too!

Another Chaser Block Finish

 Today I thought I would share another finish from the third module of my Scrap Mixology pattern series.  This block design is called the Chaser Block.

This fun 100% scrap quilt is made with two colors of scraps with a bunch of low volume bits to create all that sashing.

You can see all the scrappy goodness a bit better in this photo.  I used red and blue in this quilt but you could certainly use any combination you wanted.

This version of the Chaser block uses all the same sized rectangles.  I used one of my AccuQuilt dies to chop up all of my scraps so the cutting sure went quickly.

Here is the original Chaser block design I shared.  This is essentially the same block design but the color placement and component sizes are different.  That is the great thing about the Scrap Mixology patterns - they show you how minor changes can make a big change to the look of your quilt.

All ready for a snuggle!

You can find my Scrap Mixology patterns in both my Payhip pattern shop and on Etsy.  This one is a 15 page pdf download that shares many block configurations and designs for layouts.

A big thanks to all of you have purchased these patterns.  It delights me to see so many of you that have purchased one design to come back and purchase the others.  I am hoping you are finding them inspiring to get out your scraps and sew!

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Soothing the Anxiety

 Once I finished my client longarm quilting today, I found myself a little lost and feeling a little stressed.  So where did I turn?  To my scraps of course!

I sort all my scraps by color in rainbow order - so I just grabbed the first bin.  Looks Like I am starting a quilt with red.

Cutting is probably my least favorite of all the quilting stages, so I decided to use my AccuQuilt fabric cutter to speed up the process so I can get to the sewing quickly.

I looked through my dies and decided to get out my 2.5" by 4.5" rectangle.  In no time at all, I had about 100 pieces cut.  Next I think I will get out my blue bin and continue cutting.  I should be able to start sewing before dinner time!

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For those of you curious about my fabric cutter, I have the AccuQuilt Studio cutter.  It was the best option for me when I purchased it years ago.  When I am cutting in bulk like today, it really keeps my hands from getting sore...and makes cutting scraps super fast.

I still love my studio cutter, but if I was buying today, I think I would go with the Go! Big Electric.  They now have die starter sets available that are a great deal.

I have been wanting to add a couple dies to my inventory so I was happy to see they have the Studio dies and bundles half off right now.  Just use code 50STUDIO.   Of course, if you are interested in buying one of the Studio cutters, they are on sales for a limited time too.

I am an AccuQuilt affiliate.  When you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you, I may make a commission.  I don't endorse products I don't believe in and I appreciate the siupport!

A Scrappy Finish

I have a lot of scraps....A LOT!  I finish a lot of quilts each year and I have been quilting for decades.  And when you don't throw away much, you end up with lots of little leftovers.

But I don't love all of my scraps.  There are some unloved colors, or fabrics I am really tired of seeing.  So when I see a design that will help me to focus on some of these unloved bits and make something that I think someone will like, I am super happy.

Such was the case when I spied a rug I thought could be translated into a fun quilt.

Here is the quilt all finished up!

I was drawn to this design because I knew my brown scraps would be a great way to get started.  As I went through my scraps, I saw a number of them had blue or teal in them.  This helped me to decided to purge out my blue bin next.  Those led me right into those dark golds.

The hourglass blocks were easy enough to pull some black and white scraps for.  I liked the look of them going in different direction.

I thought about adding some of the thin sashing details like I saw in the rug but that meant I would need to cut from some stash fabrics - I really wanted to just focus on my scraps bins for this project.

Many of these squares were cut using my AccuQuilt 4.5" die.  When I am pulling the scraps I want to use, I can press them and lay them right onto the die.  This makes the cutting process go really quickly.

I was really worried about not having a backing for this quilt but I did find this teal blue fabric I had bought from Connecting Threads.  It was perfect!

You can see how I simply quilted in some serpentine quilting along the squares.

The quilt is a really nice size. 52 x 60"

This one will be listed in my Etsy shop.  It was a great way to make use of a bunch of unloved scraps and I think it will be exactly what someone is looking for!

I feel like it has been a long time since I shared a big quilt finish.  Now I have four other projects nearing completion so there should be many to share soon!

Have a wonderful weekend Everyone!

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Another Tumbler Finish

I have made a few quilts using my AccuQuilt 3.5" tumbler die but this is the first quilt I have used using my 6.5" die.  Thanks to all the alignment notches right in the die, this quilt was a breeze to sew!

I pulled a bunch of leftover Parsons Gray/Curious Nature fabrics from my stash and the stash of a friend.  There were a bunch of odd cuts and because we both bought the fabric lines, there were many duplicate pieces.  Anything that was large enough was cut into the tumbler shape.  In fact, some of the prints, I actually pieced some strips together so they would fit the die.  

It was time for this fabric to be used up!

I decided to lay the tumbler shape on its side and sew them up in columns.  I also used the lighter fabrics to form some bowtie shapes throughout the quilt.  

There were some fabrics that I had a lot of pieces and a few I only had a few.  I just tried to distribute them all as best I could.

 For the quilting, I used a pantograph called Ebb & Flow.  It worked really well with the fabrics and the tumbler shape.  I also used a dark gray thread for the quilting.

I still had a few prints that I wanted to use up so I planned those for the back.

I will definitely make many more quilts using this tumbler shape.  I think the size of this quilt turned out to be about 54 x 60.  The smaller size was perfect for color blending but I like this tumbler size because it shows off the fabric prints so well!

Perfect timing!  AccuQuilt is currently hosting a sale on both the Studio model and it's dies (which is the unit I have) and has discounted the Go! dies as well.

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Some Stash Busting

I have decided to focus on using up some of my older stash this summer.  

So I gathered up a bunch of Parsons Gray fabric and loaded my 6.5" Tumbler die into my AccuQuilt cutter and in no time had a stack of pieces ready to lay out.

I am not sure yet on the design - I had only a quarter yard of some pieces and more than a yard of others.  I will have to play with them to see what I come up with.

I also decided to cut up some old numbers fabric into 2.5" squares.  I pulled some odds and ends solids that coordinate nicely and quickly created a framed nine patch block.  I like to have baby quilts on hand and I am down to only a couple. 

 I thought this might make a nice gender neutral project.

I still have quite a few stacks of blocks that need to be sewn into a top and quilted.  I am working though those as a design wall opens up.

Right now, there is no shortage of work in my sewing room!

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I thought this sounded kinda fun.  Connecting Threads is now offering a Stash Up Club.  A fun package every month!

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Scrappy Gray

I decided to start something new!

A few months back, I was going to make a quilt using green/brown staggered 16 patch block.  Well, the design changed and the idea was scrapped.

A few of you requested that I didn't give up on the idea...

So I am ready to give it another chance.

My gray color bin was stuffed to the gills, so I pulled out my AccuQuilt 2.5" multiple square die and started stacking on the scraps.

In no time at all, I had just under 500 squares ready for assembly.  I think I will need closer to 600 squares for the quilt but I will start here to see what shades I need for the last few blocks.

Sorry my squares are so shaggy - I didn't take the time to clean them up a bit for the photo.

I also really need to break out another plastic cover...as you can see, I use this die A LOT!  Cuts would be a lot more crisper with a less worn plastic.

For those of you who already use this cutter, I have added lines on my dies with a white gel pen along the sides showing me the locations of the blades.  This really helps as you stack up fabric.

Now that I have lots of squares cut, I can start sewing them into the 16 patches.  I will be laying out the squares next to my sewing machine - making sure I have lights and darks, solids and prints.

Time to start sewing!

For those of you who are curious about my fabric cutter, I have the AccuQuilt Studio 2.  I love that it cuts up to 10 layers at a time.  Since I bought it, the pain in my hands has lessened greatly.  I find I mostly use the standard dies and rarely find the need for anything fancy.

It sure makes cutting up scraps quick and easy!

I was happy to see when I went out to the AccuQuilt website that they are currently running a sale on the very machine I have. If you use the code STUDIOBOGO, you can buy a Studio die and get a second one of equal or lesser value free.

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Triangle Quilt Finish

A couple months ago, I decided to start going through all of the project boxes and bags I had stuffed away on shelves and in cupboards.  I either needed to work on the project, make the decision to pass it on or break down and put the fabric in my stash.  One of the boxes I came across was filled with blue and brown yardage that had been passed on to me.

Thanks to my AccuQuilt Triangle Die, I quickly cut up enough pieces to put together a quilt.  I love that the dies have the notches for alignment right in the dies.  It makes assembly so fast and precise.

I was able to get it quilted up and the binding sewn this week.  It is not in colors I like but it is a pretty quilt so I hope I can sell it.  The fabric was pretty much free to me so I should be able to make someone a nice deal. (Email me if you are interested!)

I quilted the quilt with a pantograph called Ebb and Flow in a light blue thread.  I really like the soft curves with the triangle shape of the piecing.

I cut the rest of the yardage up into strips and made a string quilt.  I hope to get the top quilted up soon so I can share this finish too.  

Now I have to deal with the next project box I unearth.  I know there are a number of WIPs that I have completely forgotten about.  So stay tuned....who knows what it will be!

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Nested Dies

After my last post on cutting triangles, I had a number of comments as to how the nested dies work on my AccuQuilt fabric cutter.  I thought I would try and explain that a bit better today.

Nested dies come with two "nested" sets.  There is a set with cutting blades (top left) and one with "blanks" (bottom right).  They are called nested because in each triangle die, there are 4 to 5 pieces nested together.

So once you know what size you want to cut, you pull out that triangle from the blade set and drop it into the blank die.  

So when it all together, this is what it looks like with the 8" triangle die chosen.  You can faintly see the blade tucked down in the foam.

The blank dies help to keep the fabric flat against the die so you get accurate cuts.  I love that all the registration notches and clipped corners are precisely cut into each piece.

But the really great thing about having various sizes in one die, is I can take smaller scraps of fabric and cut them with the 4" triangle die (by swapping out the dies) and then piece them together to make the same size triangle I am using in my quilt.  These nested dies are also cheaper than buying individual triangle dies.  

Having all these options allow me to use the appropriate cut size for the scraps I have - which means I get a great yield from my scraps!

Hope that clears up any questions you have.  I look forward to getting this up onto a design wall soon and get to sewing.  I think I have everything cut and just need time to sew!

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The countdown to Christmas is going on at the Fat Quarter Shop right now.  Every day, there are great deals on various items.  You have been working hard and deserve to buy yourself a little gift!

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