The Countdown to Christmas Quilt Along - Applique Techniques

Welcome back to the next post for the Countdown to Christmas Quilt Along.  Today, we are talking about applique techniques.  Shown below is a copy of the schedule so you can see where we are at and what comes next:

• August 19th - Announcement of Giveaway and sponsors
• September 2nd - Quilt Along begins:  Choosing fabrics and fabric requirements
• September 16th - Cutting 
• September 30th - Applique techniques (machine, hand, puff-paint, ironed on).  The options are endless for how you would like to add your numbers to the pockets.  
• October 14th - Piecing
• October 28th - Quilting ideas
• November 11th - Binding
• November 25th - The Big Reveal and ideas for what to put in the pockets.

If you want to see more details on the Quilt Along please go here.  Remember you can join in on the fun at any time!

The applique technique I chose to use was machine embroidery.  Now if you would like to see a different technique, Janice from Better off Thread is using felt.  I am very excited to see how hers turned out.  Now back to my machine embroidery method.  The font I used was "Impress" by Embroidery Library, which can be purchased here.  Embroidery Library and Bunnycup Embroidery are two of my favorite websites to get embroidery designs from, which includes fonts.  They both embroider up great for me.  My favorite stabilizer to use is shown below.  It is called Sulky Stiffy Roll - 8" wide by 11 yards.  The machine embroidery thread that my machine likes is Gutterman.  Both of these items I get from Joann's.

Since my fabrics were a little on the busier side I felt that a solid number would be the best for my project.  A place for the eye to balance so to speak.  Shown below are all my squares embroidered and cut down to size.  Remember I had to have them larger so they would fit in my embroidery hoop, which is 4 x 6.  I also chose to use the "Random Number Layout" for my number pattern, which you can see below.  My oldest daughter is in First Grade, so I felt the Random Number layout would be a good learning tool for her.  See, this is even an "educational" advent calendar!

I also took some close ups of my favorite ones, which are shown below.

I just love that countdown fabric.  I think it is my favorite.  The embroidery colors I used was a deep red (4500), black (1000), and an olive green (8870).  Well I can't wait to see everyone's progress.  So far you are all doing an excellent job!  Keep up the good work.  The linkup will be open for the next two weeks.

Happy Quilting!

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A Girly Tooth Fairy Pillow

A really good friend of mine sent me a facebook message asking for help for a "predicament" that she was in.  Her youngest daughter had a tooth hanging by a thread and needed a tooth fairy pillow stat!  So of course this afternoon / evening after I got out of work and picked up my daughter from school, I went home and made this cute little pillow.

I didn't use a pattern.  I just made the pocket similar to how the pockets need to be made for the Advent Calendar I am doing, which you can find the details for that Quilt Along here.

The embroidery design is from Bunnycup Embroidery, which can be purchased here.  They are one of my favorite embroidery websites to purchase from.  Their patterns always embroider up nicely.

I just wanted to show that the pillow has a pocket for the child to put her "lost tooth" in and for the tooth fairy to delivery the money!  The fabric I used was a couple of fat quarters by Riley Blake's Sweetcakes Collection.  I just added 2 1/2 inch strips around the pocket to make it square, so the back piece is 8 1/2 inches.  The mom wanted ribbon attached, so her daughter could hang it from the door.  I would say my impromptu project turned out to be a success!  And I hear that it was just in time because the little girl lost her first tooth approximately 2 hours ago!

Linking up to Sew Cute Tuesday hosted by Janice at Better Off Thread.

Happy Quilting!

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The Countdown to Christmas Quilt Along - Cutting

Welcome back to the next post for the Countdown to Christmas Quilt Along.  Today, we are talking about cutting out our projects.  Shown below is a copy of the schedule so you can see where we are at and what comes next:

• August 19th - Announcement of Giveaway and sponsors
• September 2nd - Quilt Along begins:  Choosing fabrics and fabric requirements
• September 16th - Cutting 
• September 30th - Applique techniques (machine, hand, puff-paint, ironed on).  The options are endless for how you would like to add your numbers to the pockets.  
• October 14th - Piecing and layout variations
• October 28th - Quilting ideas
• November 11th - Binding
• November 25th - The Big Reveal and ideas for what to put in the pockets.

If you want to see more details on the Quilt Along please go here.  Remember you can join in on the fun at any time!

I was excited to finally start to cut into these beautiful Christmas fabrics.  Unfortunately, I had to make my "pocket fronts" a little bit larger in order to fit them into my embroidery machine hoop because that is how I plan on adding my numbers.  I hate the thought of wasting any of this fabric, but hopefully when I fussy cut the pocket fronts out, I will still be able to use up the scraps in a later project!  Since I am going to machine embroider the pocket fronts, I only needed to cut out 3 pieces per pocket.  Now if you plan on appliqueing the numbers on, you will need to cut out the fourth piece.

I decided to mix up my fabric combinations with "solid and print" and "print on print" to give it a nice scrappy look.  I am doing two numbers per fabric combination, so that is the reason why you only see 12 fabric combos.

I think my favorite combinations are the red and black ones.  Don't forget to check out Janice's blog over at Better Off Thread to see see her fabric combinations as well.  I know the both of us cannot wait to see what you guys have come up with, so please link up below to share your progress.  The link up will be available for the next two weeks.

Happy Quilting!

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Auebre's Pocket Pillow - A Finish!

My poor niece!  Her birthday was on April 30th and my daughter went to her birthday party and she ended up only bringing part of her gift, which were two Lego Friends chapter books!  The other part of her present was this fun pocket pillow, which I finally got finished!  Every time I saw her this past summer she kept asking me "Do you have the rest of my birthday present finished yet?"  You think I would have finished this project faster with how often she asked me.  I felt bad, but at least I did finish it right!

I started out with the pocket pillow pattern in Allison's book called "Growing up Modern", which can be purchased here.  I switched the pattern up a bit and just incorporated my favorite block the hourglass block as the pocket front instead of squares.  I really like how it turned out.

The fabric I used was Ombre Dots by Riley Blake, which I purchased from Green Fairy Quilts.  My niece just had her bedroom redone in bedding with white and bright colored polka dots, so I figured that this fabric collection would coincide nicely with her new bedroom decor.

I chose to quilt it with just a simple wavy line pattern.  Next time I think I would use one of Natalia's double bubble pantograph patterns to kind of "match" the dots in the fabric.  However, I still don't have my second set of handle bars to do pantographs efficiently just yet.  However, they are on order and I should receive them any day now!

Finally I put it together using an envelope back enclosure, which is my favorite!  (I have a very strong aversion to zippers.  I hate them would be a nice way to say it!)  Then I topped it off with a lime green and white polka dot binding from my stash.  This is my first time doing binding on a pillow and I will forever do that going forward!  I think it adds a nice touch to the finished pillow!

So I will finally be giving this to my niece the next time that I see her!  I even included some of my old books for her to read as well!  I just loved the Sweet Valley Twins and the Babysitter Club!

Linking up to Sew Cute Tuesday hosted by Janice at Better Off Thread.

Happy Quilting!

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Star Surround Quilt Along - Finished Block

For Week #6, we are to finally put the entire block together.  Yea!!!  You can find the instructions for this week's assignment on Melissa's blog Happy Quilting here.  Mine is shown below.  Isn't it just adorable!  I love it.

Next I will be quilting it up and making it into a pillow.  Finally, we are to my favorite part of the quilting process.  Hopefully what I have planned for the quilting turns out.  Can't wait to show you.  

Guess what folks, this means I am caught up!  Go me!  Yea!  Yea!  Go me!  (This is me doing my happy dance.)  Finally getting caught up with something.  My what a good feeling that is!

Linking up to The Star Surround Quilt Along hosted by Melissa at Happy Quilting.

Happy Quilting!

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The Countdown to Christmas Quilt Along - Choosing Fabrics and Fabric Requirements

Welcome back to the next post for the Countdown to Christmas Quilt Along.  Today, we are talking about fabric choices and fabric requirements.  Shown below is a copy of the schedule so you can see where we are at and what comes next:

• August 19th - Announcement of Giveaway and sponsors
• September 2nd - Quilt Along begins:  Choosing fabrics and fabric requirements
• September 16th - Cutting 
• September 30th - Applique techniques (machine, hand, puff-paint, ironed on).  The options are endless for how you would like to add your numbers to the pockets.  
• October 14th - Piecing and layout variations
• October 28th - Quilting ideas
• November 11th - Binding
• November 25th - The Big Reveal and ideas for what to put in the pockets.

If you want to see more details on the Quilt Along please go here.  Remember you can join in on the fun at any time!  Also be sure to check out Janice's blog at Better Off Thread to see her fabric choices.  She is showing a "more scrappy" version, which I think is going to look awesome.

Now back to the fabric.  Choosing the fabric is my second favorite part of the quilting process.  Nowadays there are just so many beautiful fabric collections out there.  The designers have been doing an excellent job in my opinion!  When I stumbled on this collection I knew that I had to have it.  The fabric collection that I chose was "Countdown to Christmas" by Sweetwater.  I am a huge fan of Sweetwater's fabric if you haven't noticed already!  I just love the deep reds, greens and of course black and white!  I don't even know if you can find it anymore.  I have had mine for over a year now and it was hard to find then!  I have been waiting to use it on the "perfect" project.  I believe this is my project.  Here is the entire fabric collection shown below.

Isn't it cute.  I will show you some other pictures that offer a "close-up" of the different fabrics.  The number fabrics shown below are my absolute favorite part of this collection and the reason that I purchased it!

The collection also includes "Christmas words", little reindeer, snowflakes, Christmas trees, and a few other filler fabrics.

Now that you have seen my fabric choices and the fabrics chosen by Janice at Better off Thread, we would like you to see what fabric collections you guys are using for this project.  The link up will be held open for one week, so you can link up anytime between now and then.  You can also link up your blog post or a picture from you flick account.  We can't wait to see what you have chosen.

Happy Quilting!

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