. . . and I would like to hear some advice and opinions!
My cutting mat has seen its better days. Lots of grooves with thread stuck in there, and places where my rotary cutter slips into old ruts.
Ah, me. It's been a workhorse, and I can't complain. We've cut lots of fabric together. But it's time for a new one.
Hence the problem. (Grin) Have you seen all the choices out there? Wow, there is a jaw-dropping array of sizes and colors, and even the rotary cutters are new and improved!
I would really appreciate it if some of you wonderful Lilypadquilters could clue me in on products that have worked well for you.
If a particular brand, size or color cutting mat has helped you, or if there is a shaped rotary cutter that you just wouldn't be without, inquiring froggies and dragons want to know!
I figure this is a relationship that will last for years, so I want to make the best choice!
Love,
We are making preparations for the upcoming Pets on Quilts Show!
Padsworth, DragonDrop, and Snoodles have all been working hard to line
up sponsors and find tutorials that will help you in your quest to have
the cutest pet on the bestest quilt! And also to help you, as you help
homeless animals in shelters near you, by making beds and blankies! We hope that many of you will participate in the Show, and in the Padsworth Project, too!
In the coming weeks we will be bringing these tips and sponsor posts to you, to get you ready for the show . . .
This is our first show post, and we are announcing one of our fabulous sponsors:
Quilt Kit Market!
Just look at the cute things that Michele at Quilt Kit Market is donating for a prize!
Two fabulous books -- Wearable Arf (patterns to make doggie outfits), and the Cat's Meow (quilt and project patterns), and two charm packs of Max and Whiskers by Moda! Woot!
Thanks, Michele, for starting off our Pet Show posts with a flourish!
We'll be announcing more sponsors and prizes, and telling you more about the show in the coming weeks . . . if you'd like to see what some of the entries were from our last year's show, just click here and check them out!
Love,
Yep, some of you sharp eyed quilters guessed it correctly . . . my scrappy project is utilizing some pieces of Apple of My Eye by Amanda Herring of the Quilted Fish!
I also promised to point you to the tutorial that I found my inspiration in -- the oh-so-talented Julie at Jolie Maxtin participated in the April Showers mug rug hop recently organized by Madame at SewWeQuilt. I loved her mug rug, and she offered a lovely tut for her readers.
I asked her about the template that she mentioned in her tutorial, and she is such a sweetheart that she made me one and sent it on to me! I swear, you meet the nicest peeps in the quilting and blogging community, don't you?
This was something brand new to me, and I also was kinda stretching a bit to go a little more modern in this design. I'm really happy with the results!
There (above) is a picture of the template.
There is my mug rug ready for some quilting. I quilted about 1/4 inch from the piecing seams.
Then I got out my "thread buryer" and went to work . . . I had some questions on my tool, so I thought I would show you a close up. It is from Clover, and it's called a Soft Touch Thread Pic, and I seriously love how easily it pulls my threads under the fabric, and doesn't leave a tell-tale hole!
It also comes with the cover for the pointy end, that you see above. That's very important for bleary-eyed quilters who are up late at night and into the wee hours . . . (Grin)
I realized when I got the quilting and thread burying completed that I didn't have enough of that lovely blue to make my binding. Oh, the angst! The stress! Whatever would I do?
Enter the heroine -- Jackie over at Jackie's Art Quilts came to my rescue! She had some Apple of My Eye left over and is sending me some! (Waving) Thank you, Jackie! You're awesome!
When I complete this mug rug, I'll post and show you!
I almost forgot....I'm linking up this week with Katherine's Thursday Favorite Things hop, and with Lesley's Create It Thursday hop, too!
Love,
Isn't the Bloggers' Quilt Festival the bomb? So much fun, hopping around and seeing all of the inspiring quilts . . .
You can click here if you haven't checked it out yet:
And here is a peek at a project I am working on -- can you name the fabrics that these scraps came from?
I should be able to show it to you soon, and I'll tell you whose tutorial I'm using, so you can make one, too!
Love,
First of all, many, many thanks to the talented and creative Amy Ellis of Amy's Creative Side blog....it is a huge undertaking to coordinate this festival, and she is a busy mom and book author, too! (Waving) Thanks, Amy!
Now, down to business . . .
Welcome to all of you who are making your first visit here at the Lilypad! I'm showing (or re-showing, I guess you would say) my Happy Town quilt, made from a panel and an original design topper, from Jacquelynne Steves' fabrics . . .
Here is the whole quilt, showing the 'dozer, tow truck, letters and balloons that I designed for the top of the panel:
Here is the back -- charm squares cut from the coordinating fabrics for the panel:
The binding turned out great with the striped fabric:
I loved quilting this on my home machine, making lines in the roadways and stippling in the town areas:
Closeups of the "heavy equipment" for you to see:
This was a fun quilt to make, and it was donated to the Quilts For Kids group, to go to a hospitalized child for fun bed playtimes.
Thanks for stopping by today, and be sure to check out all of the other quilts in the Festival!! You might even want to enter in one of the many categories, and try to win a super prize!
Love,
Yay!! I have five of the nine blocks completed now, on my Swoon quilt! I can't wait to see this completed quilt on the wall at my sweet kiddo's apartment!
I started to say that this block was my favorite one yet, but I realized you may be tired of hearing me say that. You are? OK. (Pouting) Blue is my favorite color, so this one really sings to me!
I lost a couple of my points on this block, but on the whole, I am pretty pleased with it. My pals in the Bestie Quilt Along are zooming along, but I am the "slow and steady" portion of the group!
I'm really glad that I found some time to scoot outside and get a picture for you, with much better lighting... Hope you are finding some time in your busy life to quilt!
Love,
Did you think I had gone to sleep? (Grin)
I've been working behind the scenes and thought I should show you what I've been up to . . .
Here is a portion of my next swoon block laid out:
If I don't lay it out like this I get all confoozled and end up spending some time frogging . . . rip-it, rip-it!
And I have other skills (gasp). I enjoy knitting and crocheting projects as well as my favorite, quilting. I've been working on a portable project to go with my dress winter coat when the weather gets cold again. (I wish it wouldn't do that, but it seems that I have very little to say about it.)
Doesn't this look cozy? It's a yarn called PompADoodle, and I had not seen it before, but then I don't get out much. (wink) There were straight sections of yarn, and every so often a pom-pom.
What have you been up to lately? Do you keep portable projects handy?
Love,
Hasn't this week been a lot of fun?
Hopping around and finding new blogs and bloggie friends?
Many thanks to the folks at SewMamaSew, who organized this event -- it's always a highlight of the year, and we have a winner to announce!
Someone will win this prize package -- FOUR charm packs!
Whew! We were overwhelmed! 508 comments!
Mr Random chose
. . . and that was Happy Cottage Quilter!
Congratulations to Happy Cottage Quilter, and thank you to everyone who entered!
We are thrilled to have some new followers who have joined us, too, and we hope you will visit often. We always try to have something fun happening here at the Lilypad!
Love,
I'm excited to be participating in the Quilter's Favorites linky party! (We'll be announcing our winner for the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day soon -- bear with me as I get that post ready.)
We are all going to be learning from each other as we answer some thoughtful questions provided by our talented hostess, Geta Grama! You can check out her blog by clicking here.
First, she asked us:
List three of your favorite quilting notions --
Well, that was easy. First, my fav Aurifil threads! Next, my Clover "thread buryer" tool! (It's actually a tiny, tiny crochet hook that can pierce the fabric and pull the threads under the surface without leaving a mark!) And third, my Omnigrid 4.5 inch square . . . can't live without it for squaring up my half square triangles!
Next Geta asked:
Any advice for a successful color scheme for a quilt?
I guess what I do sometimes is to look at ones that I truly love; I look at the ones that sing to me, and notice how color is used. Many times that inspires me to use a similar color scheme, and since I liked the first one, I can be certain I will like the colors in mine, as well!
Could you share some tips for easy piecing?
Whoo hoooo! I am ever so happy I got my quarter inch foot for my machine . . . boy, has it made piecing much easier! (Grin) I would definitely recommend to any beginning quilter that they get one, so they can have accurate seams, and the blocks they make will turn out the correct size!
Geta had some great questions on her list, and I had planned on answering a whole slew of them (that's a very precise term for many, many of something) but life has been getting in the way, so I will try to update this post later with some more answers!
UPDATE:
Some thoughts about thread and needles, batting, fabrics ?
I've found that it's important to change out your needle pretty often, especially when working on a free motion quilting project. Don't ask me how I know, OK? It brings back memories that are better left buried, of rats nests, broken threads, and lots of seam ripper time! (Wink)
Do you have free tutorials on your blog? Share the link.
Yep, just click here and you can check it out!
What about modern quilting tools? Quilt software, die cutting systems, other tools? Why do you like them ?
First of all, I love to use the OleFrogEyes site. Here is a linkie to a tutorial that will tell you how it works. I enjoy sharing the progress that I make on my quilts, in a way that is easy for my buddies to access.
Secondly, I enjoy using my Accuquilt Go! Baby, since I can easily turn scraps into a great new project in less time . . . and I'm all for instant gratification!
For now, thank you, Geta for hosting such a nice party!
Love,
