Why I'm going to the Sewing Summit

A few weeks ago I got together with a few quilty bloggers most of whom I'd never met. Amy organized everything and it was so much fun to be a part of.

For names and blogs click here.

We had so much fun we did it again a few days later - with others who weren't able to come the first night.

I had a blast both nights. And it just confirmed my suspicions that the Sewing Summit will be SO MUCH FUN. Meeting up with a bunch of people who have the same interests as me, staying up late to sew, eat, and talk. Not to mention all the fun classes that are scheduled. I cannot wait!

Are you going to the Sewing Summit?

12 inch String X block tutorial

My first real tutorial! I picked this block to do for my local bee. There is a great tutorial here, but it is for a 14 inch block and my block will end up 12 inches finished. Hence - my tutorial.

This tutorial has been edited as of 1/30/2012. Adding the triangle and trimming the block are now more clear.


Step 1. Cut a bunch of strips. Mine are between 1 and 3 inches wide. They need to be about 5 inches long.



Step 2. Sew the strips together into one long strip. Press the whole thing.


Step 3. Cut a section of your strip off at 9.25 to 9.5 inches (depending on where your next seam is).

Step 4. Trim one side of your new strip just barely.

Step 5. Trim the other side of your strip so that it measures 4.5 inches wide.

Here's your trimmed strip. Ready for triangles.

Step 6. Get your background fabric and cut some 4.5 inch squares. Cut these squares in half diagonally. For 1 block you will need 4 squares and you'll end up with 8 half square triangles.

Step 7. Use pins to mark the center of each side of the strip.




Step 8. Place your triangle centered on the strip as shown below and sew them together using a 1/4 inch seam. Place another triangle on the other side of the strip in the same way and sew.


Step 9. Press both triangles to the sides. You'll have a block that looks like this.



Step 10. Trim your square. This can get a little tricky since you need to make sure the strip is centered diagonally in the square. I used a 6.5 inch square ruler I got from JoAnn for less than $5. I marked it with tape 2 inches away from the center diagonal line on each side (for a total of 4 inches) - like shown below.

You do not have to use this type of ruler, just keep in mind that you'll want your row of strips centered diagonally or your block won't turn out right.

Place the ruler over the block and line up your tape lines with the edge of the strip.

Trim around the whole thing.

And there you have your first block!

Step 11. Make 3 more blocks like this. You'll have 4 blocks.


Step 10. Sew your blocks together. Be careful to match the the corners where the strip meets the background fabric.

giveaway!

I'm not doing a giveaway today, but 2 of my quilty friends are. They're each giving away a Go! Baby die cutter to make your life easier. Go over there and enter to win!

Enter Kati's here.

Enter Brooke's here.

how many is too many?

I haven't really done tons of swaps. I'm super picky. So I'm always worried about what I might get. But that didn't stop me from joining a bunch of swaps in the last few months.

1. I already told you about Bee Tweet. I am SO glad I joined it too! Last night I met Amy of amy lou who and a bunch of her online quilty/sewing friends - and we had a blast! More to come when I get my hands on some of the photos she took.

2. I started a local bee within my modern quilt guild. It has 11 members (1 for each month of the year - skip December) and I have the first month! This month! The beauty of this swap is that we see each other once a month anyway - so no shipping (mostly.) Right now it's named La Beeda Loca, but we're accepting new names. Any ideas?

3. I just signed up for the new 4 x 5 modern quilt bee on flickr. I did the 3 x 6 bee on it's first quarter and didn't love it. I did love the people I met and I really did like most of the blocks I received. I think I don't really love sampler quilts. But I joined it anyway because my good friend Amy is running it. And everybody's modern. And it looks like it will be fun! I am sticking to it for a good year so I can have a nice sized quilt. I'll keep you updated.

4. I have started following Bek's blog since she won some Heather Ross fabrics from me. (I met a lot of great bloggers from that giveaway!) And she mentioned the pretty little pouch swap. I think it sounds fun, so I signed up!

5. On Jeni's blog and John's blog I've seen that they've been doing blocks for do. Good Stitches {a Charity Bee} and everything looked so great! All the blocks, all the quilts. And they're all for different charity groups. And you use your own stash. So I joined. And now I'm in charge of an entire group! (coming soon.)

6. This morning I signed up for For the Love of Solids [a modern swap]. It just looked too good to pass up. I thought - maybe I'm already in too many swaps . . . But my solid quilts are my favorite quilts. So I think it will be great too.

So - is that too many swaps? I figure it should be good, because, at least I'll get in some sewing time! Are you in any swaps?

Scrappy

I just came across these photos. I hadn't forgotten about them, just got too busy to blog about them!

This first one is from the scraps of the purple 9 patch quilt that I never really loved. There were tons of scraps that were 2.5 inches wide and different lengths. I really don't think I'll use that purple for anything else so I was trying to get all the remaining scraps into a quilt and then I'll give it away. I used this quilt as inspiration.







This next one was using scraps from a quilt I haven't finished yet! I do have all the blocks cut, just need to sew them together. (I also have extra fabric - just in case you're worried). This particular pattern creates a lot of extra little triangles. I hate throwing them away - so this quilt will also be given away when it is finished. It was fun to put them together in different arrangements and then decide how to sew them together. I will be adding some sort of border as well. I'll be sure to show you the finished products!

a new project

Here is one of the quilts I've been cutting out. I'm loving all the rainbow quilts I've seen all over the place. This one I'm planning is something a bit new. I don't think I've seen a pattern just like it anywhere! So I'm excited about that.