Whew! Stranded quilters rescued from Moda Island!!

What a relief that the quilters on the Moda cruise were finally rescued from the island! Everyone should be safely on their way home by now. But really ... how bad can it be if you're stranded with every kind of quilting gadget at your fingertips? And fabric, too!

Now if you haven't been following along ... you'll need to go back here to the beginning of the story. You'll find out what really happened and as you read through each post, you'll see tons of tools that quilters in the industry love.  And you're going to want them all!

One of my favorites are the EZ Brand acrylic mini templates by Simplicity.  I love their tiny size, the built in seam allowance, as well as the blunt edges to get rid of dog ears.

The Fat Cat template fit perfectly on a 2" charm pack I picked up at Quilt Con.

The Fat Cat and the 30 degree triangle work together to make a row. I could have cut a 2" strip and turned the template up and down to cut a bunch from the same fabric if I wasn't working with the charms. OLFA's rotating cutting mat would have been the perfect addition to this photo.

I made a cute little pincushion!

I would never leave home without the Folded Corner Clipper by Prairie Sky Quilting!

I never can get corner flips to turn out exactly right but with this tool, you line up the grid with the size of your square ... trim and sew. The seam allowance is built in to the tool. It is so slick! But ... I've found another use for it that I love, too!

You know how hard it is to get your binding strips sewn together, right? Half the time I have the line going in the wrong direction or the strips don't line up correctly when I sew. Ugh! But with the Corner Clipper you can cut the angles on your strips and then sew them ...  just right each time. To do this you lay both of your binding strips right sides up. Trim the corner.

Turn the top one over and lay it against the bottom strip with the right sides together like in the photo and then sew. So easy! Its a genius product and the package has even more uses. But these are my two favorite because they make my life easier. 

And then there's the new tool that just came on the scene ... OLFA's Splash rotary cutter. You have to love it if for no other reason than the color. Isn't the aqua shade perfect for being stuck on an island? I loved that it perfectly matched the colors of the fabric in Ticklish and Glamping by Moda. It has features that I like too ... specifically the quick blade change so you don't have to fumble with the little screw thingy. And boy ... is it nice to cut with a sharp blade! Need to buy some new ones.

And finally there's the Lollipop Tool! My friend Melisa from Sweet Home Quilt Co gave us these at a retreat I attended. Who knew a Tootsie Roll has so many uses ... plus that chocolate center when you just have to have something sweet! You'll want to put one in  your sewing kit for any kind of emergency.

Tools ... don't you love them all???

Pillow talk!

 

I'm so excited to present my next project for Fabri-Quilt's blog ... Inspired by Fabric ... my pillow that I'm calling Mirror Mirror. I was sent fabric from the Fashionista line to work with ... all red and black and gray and white ... favorites!! You can download the directions at Inspired by Fabric .

I have to admit ... when the fabric first arrived, I had a hard time thinking about what to do with it. Bags seem so over done ... I didn't need another wall hanging ... but gee ... I sure do love pillows! When the mirror idea bounced into my head, I pulled out a little sketch pad and drew out a rough idea. I'm no artist! But generally once I 'see' something in my head, I can get it out into some tangible form.

Once I had that figured out, I drew the dimensions on jumbo graph paper ... then chose where everything should go. I knew I wanted the faces in the mirror because that's what we'd see if we were looking into one. It's all very literal for me! I liked the contrast of the red and the lipstick fabric ... all the rest dropped into place from there and I was off to slice and dice and sew!

The lipstick fabric was directional so when I cut my quarter-square triangles, I put them together like this. If you haven't sewn triangles like this very often, you sew the the two short sides first, press to the dark, then sew them into a square. I like to trim off dog ears as I go. Pin the triangles together before you head to the sewing machine in order to keep them in the right position. It's too easy to get mixed up.

Don't worry if you don't feel comfortable about blanket stitching your mirror in place ... either by machine or hand. I'm a big fan of raw edges showing and I love to stitch with random rows of straight stitching around the edge. I sort of wish I'd done one more row. I love how they criss cross over each other. Lengthen your stitches a bit. And because I'm lazy ... I left on my 1/4" foot!!

I'm not great at machine quilting either but you don't need to be an expert! I like to use the left edge of my presser foot and run it along the seam. When I did the section around the mirror, I did three rows of stitching around the outer seam ... then I began to echo the mirror. It was fun!!

Fold the bulk of the pillow top into a neat bundle while you quilt ... it will be smoother and easier to work with it that way. See how my presser foot is following along the previous row of stitching?

I love to look at the back! I used Aurifil thread to stitch and quilt ... they have a light gray 50 wt variegated thread that was perfect for on top of the shoe fabric! Great for piecing with, too.

To save on confusion for when you're doing the pillow back ... this is the first piece of the pillow back ... the second piece will have the raw edges aligning to the left and covering the first section. I like having a lot of turn under for my pillows ... it keeps them from gapping and showing the pillow form inside. Nice and neat!

Ok ... are you ready to sew? Head over to Fabri-Quilt's blog to download the pattern. And ... they're giving away a prize for some lucky winner! Follow these directions to enter the contest.

1. For one entry, become a follower of Fabri-Quilt's blog (see "Join This Site" on the righthand sidebar) or sign up to follow the blog by email (right sidebar). Leave a comment letting me know that you're a follower, and just for fun tell me which Fashionista print is your favorite. 

*If you already follow the Fabri-Quilt blog, great! Just let me know in your comment.

2. For a second entry, "like" Fabri-Quilt on Facebook. Leave a separate comment letting me know. 

*If you already have, just let me know.

You have until Thursday, March 21 at 11:59 to leave a comment.

I'd love to know what you think of Mirror Mirror, too. Good luck and happy quilting!!

Craftsy Shop Spotlight: Rosebud's Cottage in Minnesota

Join us for another behind-the-scenes peek at an inspirational crafting retailer that we’ve had the pleasure to meet through Craftsy Connect. This week we were lucky to talk with Rosebud’s Cottage owner Roseann Kermes, about the challenges and triumphs of her non-traditional quilt shop in Minnesota, as well as the challenges she faces, changes she’s made since opening, and her fun quilt retreats!

via www.craftsy.com

Moda... the Cutting Table: STRANDED: The Diamond Dunn

via modafabrics.blogspot.com