Save the Bees BOM month 5

12 / 3 / 1812 / 2 / 18

The final month of the Save The Bees BOM is here! What a fun block of the month this has been. Jacquelynne Steves has once again been a generous hostess as well as a talented designer. Many thanks, Jacquelynne, for making this all happen. Make sure to visit her here for the latest BOM information. Keep reading to the end of this blog post to find out about this month’s giveaway.

The final assembly instructions are given for this month which include pieced borders and applique. With family in town for Thanksgiving and being sick for two weeks, I have only put together my blocks with sashing. I rarely miss a deadline, but I just have to let this one go. It’s still exciting to see all of my blocks together, though!

They are so adorable all together, don’t you think? Because it’s the holiday season and I’m pressed for time, I’ll forgo the pieced border and use a cute bee print instead. I found this fabric (on sale) at Cherry Moose Quilt Shop in Lincoln, California. It’s by Windham Fabrics and it’s called Bee My Sunshine, Pattern #43314.

Worth mentioning is this cute pillow pattern, All A Buzz Pillow, designed by LJ Simon that is a freebie on Windham Fabrics website. You might need to make this pillow to match your quilt!

Let’s get back to finishing my quilt. I don’t know how I’ll do the applique, but I’m considering using the Pentel Gel Roller for Fabric to write or draw the letters onto my bottom border. You can read more about how I used this pen in my previous blocks here.

Giveaway

This month’s giveaway has two options – one for international winners and one for US winners. If you live in the US, you will receive a fat quarter bundle of Prettiful Posies by Sarah Maxwell for Studio 37. If you are international, you will receive a printed pattern bundle also by Sarah J. Maxwell.

For my blog, all you have to do to enter the giveaway is leave a comment by Sunday, December 9, 11:59 pm PST, on THIS blog post (not from my home page). The comment can be anything you want to say!

To leave a comment, make sure to scroll down to the bottom of this blog post, and look for the rectangle that says “Enter your comment here”. On December 10, I’ll randomly pick one winner!

Here are the giveaway rules:

To enter, leave a comment telling me anything you’d like.
You must comment by 11:59 pm PST on Sunday, December 9, 2018.
There is ONE prize per person per month (in other words, the same person cannot win two prizes within the same month.)
Giveaway is open to everyone.
Winner will be chosen at random.

Due to the high volume of comments, I won’t be able to reply to you (unless there is a direct question), but I will read each and every one. Thank you in advance for your participation and for leaving a comment.

You can visit the other participating bloggers and enter their giveaway for another chance to win AND to see what they have done with their block. Here’s a list of the participating bloggers:

Remember that you can can post photos in the FB group https://www.facebook.com/groups/SewQuiltyFriends.JacquelynneSteves/

Make sure to use #SaveTheBeesQuilt and #SaveTheBeesBOM for social media.

In January, Jacquelynne Steves will have a huge grand prize giveaway to wrap up this BOM. I’ll let you know when that’s available. Thanks for following along and happy quilting!

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Quilts for California Fire Relief

11 / 30 / 18

Most of you have heard about the terrible fires in California – Paradise in particular was hit hard. We live four hours away and woke up to smoky skies for over a week. I can’t begin to imagine what it must be like to wake up to an entire community in ashes.

I have wanted to help with relief efforts in a meaningful way, as many others have. I know that monetary donations are always the most useful, but I’ve come across a few avenues (through social media and connecting with other quilters) that I’d like to share with you. (I love this community of big hearted creatives.)

We Care

An email was forwarded to me from a group called We Care. They provide quilts to kids who have lost their homes to wildfires in California. Let me share the email I received today from Kathy, the coordinator of We Care:

Thank you for your interest in the WE CARE project.

Our group met today (over 50 people attended in horrible weather) and “processed” over 300 quilts and pillowcases which will be delivered to the Paradise School District on Monday. There are many still to be processed. We will be making weekly deliveries as long as we are receiving quilts.

Since it’s beginning in 2015, WE CARE has delivered over 800 quilts to students victimized by wildfires in Northern California. We only work with the school districts to assure that the quilts are delivered to students. We have delivered to over 15 school districts in eight counties. This year alone we provided over 180 quilts to the Mendocino Complex and Carr Fires.

Our current focus is obviously the Camp Fire.

Many organizations, national and local, have asked to join us in this unprecedented effort. I’m receiving quilts on a daily basis from across the country.

I have been working closely with the Paradise School District. There are currently 4,232 displaced students….pre-school through 12th grade. The number who actually lost homes is not available at this time, but it is unimaginable.

WE CARE has developed a reputation of giving a “gift” to the children which includes a quilt and pillowcase wrapped with a bow. Even with the overwhelming need, we will keep with our standards.

I have a commitment of over 400 quilts right now from many organizations across the country. However, none come with a pillowcase. Our group made over 125 pillowcases today.

Our needs now would be pillowcases and quilts 42×54 or larger for the 950 middle school and 1399 high school students. The best quilts are ones suitable for either gender…..and we always need boys.

We do not have a website, nor do I want one. Our small little WE CARE group never imagined we would be coordinating a quilting family this large. But, we are on it and making it happen.

As of yesterday, our group is the only one working directly with the Paradise School District.

Finished quilts and pillowcases can be sent to my address

WE CARE

co/ Kathy Biggi

14280 Bar Ela Ranch Rd.

Grass Valley, CA. 95945

This is NOT a one-time effort. These children will still be homeless well into 2019 and will need comfort quilts, so we will continue until the quilts stop coming.

Thank you

Kathy Biggi

WE CARE coordinator

My California Home Quilt Pattern

California native, Beth Bryant, has designed a pixelated patchwork quilt called My California Home. Beth is offering this pattern on Craftsy and donating 100% of the proceeds to the California Community Foundation’s Wildfire Relief Fund. Thanks to Instagram and Amy at Diary of a Quilter, I found out about Beth’s story and with Amy’s permission, I’m able to share these words with you.

In Beth’s words, “I’m a California girl, it is my home. And California is hurting right now. I hope that my fellow California quilters – those who live here or those who just love the Golden State – can join together to make a difference in the lives of those affected by the wildfires in California. I’m a little nervous sending this pattern out into the big wide world of experienced quilters – any mistakes are mine, and I apologize in advance. I am so thankful for Amy’s willingness to help use her blog, brand and time to facilitate this fundraising effort. Whether you make it with the blues of the Pacific, the green of it’s verdant fields, the yellow and oranges of the desert, or any other combination that makes you think of your California home, I am so excited for you to make it your own. Thank you.”

My California Home Quilt Pattern by Beth Bryant; All proceeds are donated to the California Wildfire Relief Fund — My California Home, pattern by Beth Bryant

The Day Paradise Burned Down

Finally, award-winning quilter, teacher and Paradise resident Melinda Bula has an amazing story to share of a narrow escape from the fire and how her husband rescued some of her most treasured quilts. You can read about “The Day Paradise Burned Down” here.

Paradise Fire, 2018 — Photo source: Melinda Bula

There is a Paradise Fire Adopt a Family program set up through Facebook. I don’t have a Facebook account, but my good friend does and she hooked me up. I’ll be donating some fabric and notions to a retired woman who lost everything in the fire. She was going to supplement her income with quilting and needs some help getting back on her feet. The other fire victim I’ll be helping is a mother of four boys who lost all of her deceased mom’s quilting supplies and quilts that she had made for her four grandsons. This woman was planning on learning to quilt with her mom’s supplies and now is starting over from scratch.

I’ve focused on the Northern California fires, but I know that Southern California has had their share of tragedy. I don’t mean to leave them out, I just don’t have the resources to share for donations. If you know of anything, please leave a comment below.

My heart goes out to all of those who have lost their homes, their treasures and especially their loved ones. I feel very fortunate to be able to help in some small way. I pass this information along because I know the quilting community cares and has such a big heart. We’re not all in a position to contribute, but for those that want to, I hope this helps you find an avenue that works for you.

Best wishes and happy quilting,

Giveaway winner and Christmas sewing ideas

11 / 15 / 18

Hi everyone! I want to announce the winner of this month’s Save The Bee’s giveaway (in a minute). And I want to give you a few links for Christmas sewing ideas. Lastly, I want to welcome the new followers of my blog. Since posting the 8 Tips to create a perfect quilt block, I’ve gotten quite a few new readers and I’m really glad to have you all!

The winner of the Save The Bee’s Giveaway is comment #219, Esther C. In response to the question of whether you have taken an online quilting class or not, she said, “I have never taken an online class. The sound is out on my laptop so until I get a new one it is hard to do! I have watched some tutorials on my phone but I’d rather have a larger screen for a class. I have learned a lot/gotten a lot of ideas from blogs.” Congratulations, Esther! You’ll be receiving a prize package from Olfa soon.

Christmas Sewing Ideas

I know that in the United States, we’re busy getting ready for the Thanksgiving holiday. At the same time, many of us are preparing for the Christmas holidays too. I wanted to give you a few places to visit online that might help inspire you.

I’m so glad to see that Sew Mama Sew is once again hosting their Handmade Holidays series. They do a wonderful job of curating free patterns and tutorials for you, and they do it by categories. So far, you’ll find gifts for babies (and their parents), gifts for girlfriends and gifts for organizers.

If your gift list includes sewists, you’ll love these 10 Gifts to Make for Sewists at A Spoonful of Sugar. These are quick and easy gifts to make for your crafty friends (or yourself)!

There’s nothing like a handmade stocking, and this Christmas Stocking Sewing Pattern Roundup by Nancy Zieman Productions will give you lots of ideas to choose from.

Last year, I did a blog post with Gift Ideas to Make and Give From Your Sewing Room. You’ll find plenty of free tutorials from years past that are still perfect for today.

On a more personal note, I will not be doing any sewing for the holidays. We are about to undertake a remodel of all our bedrooms and bathrooms, so I’ll be living in a state of chaos for several months. I’m cleaning and purging everything – including my sewing room. It’s something that will pay off in the long run, but this is a painful process as many of you know. I am very thankful that we’re able to undertake this, but I’ll be moaning and groaning along the way!

Tomorrow, we leave for Mexico to celebrate a good friend’s wedding. We return the day before Thanksgiving, which I’m hosting (but it’s small and just family). I’d like to wish you an early Happy Thanksgiving and a heartfelt “thank you” for being a part of my online community!

8 Tips to create a perfect quilt block

11 / 8 / 18

Today I have 8 Tips to help you create a perfect quilt block. I know perfection is over-rated, but when it comes to quilting, it sure does help when you’re putting a quilt together.

Now that I’ve been quilting for over 20 years, I can happily say that my quilt blocks turn out just right (most of the time). I pay attention to what works and what doesn’t, and fix the parts that don’t work. I also take lots of classes and watch for new products and trends.

I love being able to produce quilt blocks that are accurate and quilts that are easy to put together because all of the puzzle pieces fit! I hope you find a few good tips in the following list so you can experience that, too.

Starch your fabric before cutting into it. Regardless of whether you pre-washed it or not, press your fabric and use starch to add more stability and control. This will help with all aspects of quilting, from rotary cutting to matching seams. Check out – What type of spray starch to use for quilting – for more information.

2. Make sure your 1/4″ seam allowance is accurate. This is often the hardest thing to get just right. If your quilt blocks are turning out too small or too big, it’s probably because your seam allowance is off. I have a tutorial on the perfect 1/4″ seam allowance that will give you plenty of tips to get yours exact.

3. Use pins to keep pieces aligned that you’re going to sew together, especially at the beginning and end of a seam. (I’ll address seam intersections in tip #5). If you don’t have an integrated dual feed foot, what can happen is the top piece will get pushed by the presser foot ahead of the bottom piece. Kind of like a snow plow. This will shift your fabric and cause the top and bottom of the seam to not line up. Having a pin there will help to keep everything matched up.

TIP: Pay attention if you’re chain piecing; you might need to lift the presser foot just a bit and position the top edge just right. Otherwise, the top fabric will scoot down at the very beginning (even though you’ve pinned).

4. Use strip piecing techniques when possible. This is not only more efficient, but it tends to be more accurate as well. I always analyze a pattern first to see if I can make it more efficient by cutting strips of fabric instead of individual squares, for instance. I just ran across this on a complex block for a BOM pattern where it had me cutting out individual squares for 4-patches. I made them with strips instead and they turned out perfect.

5. Make sure seam intersections are aligned and pin them well. I like to pin most intersections with one pin inserted at an angle. This way I catch both sides of the seam allowance, and I can keep the pin in longer before I have to remove it. For intersections where I have diagonal seams that need to match, I use a setting pin and pin on both sides of the seam allowance. Glue basting seam allowances is another good method and it’s becoming quite popular. I used both of those technique here.

TIP: When a top seam allowance is facing down as it reaches the sewing machine needle, it will more likely create a gap at that intersection. When the seam allowance is facing the needle, you’ll get a more snug intersection because the presser foot is pushing the top seam allowance into the bottom seam allowance.

6. Don’t be afraid to use your seam ripper, or might I add, don’t be too lazy to use it (like I was). I’ve finally resigned myself to just do it – and it always pays off. Plus, I’ve perfected the quick seam rip technique. Check out this video; it’s life changing.

7. Trim each sub-unit to the exact size. This has made a big difference in the accuracy of my quilt blocks. I love to make certain units larger such as half-square triangles, flying geese, square in a square, and quarter square triangles and then trim them down to the exact size. But even if it’s just a 4-patch or some other kind of sub-unit, take the time to check the size and square it up if needed. Sometimes that means just shaving an edge, but that’s what I do and it makes a difference.

8. Press carefully and thoroughly as you go along. By that I mean to make sure you’re pressing your seams flat (whether it’s to the side or open). My blog post, Pressing seams open vs. to the side, explores that topic more in depth. Leaving a little tuck at the seam will make your quilt block inaccurate. Make sure you give the finished quilt block a good pressing, too. Sometimes you can shrink or grow a quilt block just enough by pressing. It’s similar to blocking a quilt or a garment.

Hopefully, if you follow just a few of these tips, you’ll find your quilt blocks are more accurate and maybe even perfect! Do you have any other tips that work for you? Please leave a comment and tell us!

The quilt block shown above is the Boundless Flower block, a free tutorial from several years ago. (I know someone’s going to ask). Happy quilting!

Save The Bees BOM month 4 and giveaway

11 / 5 / 1811 / 12 / 18

Today I’m sharing the fourth block of Jacquelynne Steves’ Save the Bees BOM. This adorable block is as cute as can BEE and a great way to practice half-rectangle triangles. Make sure to keep reading to the end of this blog post because there is another great giveaway this month! Update: This giveaway is now closed.

If you’re participating in this block of the month, you’ll be making three different sets of half-rectangle triangle units. Jacquelynne has included a great video on how to make these units. I found that by drawing two diagonal lines on each trimming template (freezer paper), I could use it for both sides (mirror image of each other) of the half-rectangle unit (instead of needing two different templates). This will make sense when you’re making them, I promise!

Make sure to cut 1/4″ beyond each edge of the freezer paper template. This will give you a perfectly sized unit.

For the antennae, I used the Pentel Gel Roller for Fabric as I have in the other blocks. It’s so much faster than hand embroidery. Because it’s permanent, I like to draw my lines with a FriXion pen first. That way, I can erase any mistakes with an iron before committing to it. In the photo below you can see another curve that I drew with the FriXion pen which has since disappeared after ironing.

The buttons will get sewn on after the quilting is finished. Now that all four blocks are made, it’s fun to see them together. I think this is going to be a bee-utiful quilt!

Giveaway

This month’s giveaway is sponsored by Olfa. One lucky winner from each participating blog will receive a prize package of Olfa products. I use Olfa products every time I sew and I love their quality and consistency.

Update: This giveaway is now closed.

For my blog, all you have to do to enter the giveaway is leave a comment by Sunday, November 11, 11:59 pm PST, on THIS blog post (not from my home page) telling me if you have taken an online crafting class. Did you like it? Do you prefer online or in person? I like having both as an option. I like the flexibility of an online class, but I need the accountability of in-person classes.

I have taken many classes through Craftsy and I highly recommend them. They are really well done and you can watch them over and over again. I can also give you a list of other resources for online craft classes if you’re interested; just let me know.

To leave a comment, make sure to scroll down to the bottom of this blog post, and look for the rectangle that says “Enter your comment here”. On November 12, I’ll randomly pick one winner!

Here are the giveaway rules:

To enter, leave a comment telling me if you have taken an online crafting class.
You must comment by 11:59 pm PST on Sunday, November 11, 2018. Update: CLOSED
There is ONE prize per person per month (in other words, the same person cannot win two prizes within the same month.)
Giveaway is open to everyone.
Winner will be chosen at random.

You can visit the other participating bloggers and enter their giveaway for another chance to win AND to see what they have done with their block. Here’s a list of the participating bloggers: