It's so Padsworth!

Have you seen the newest die for the Accuquilt cutters? It's so Padsworth!!

Look at this adorable quilt! (You receive the pattern with the die!)

Now they just need to make one to fit my Go Baby, and I'm all set!

Love,

Occupy - Second Evening

Click here to go to our Penguin Pals fabric giveaway!

I'm participating in CatPatches' Occupy your Sewing Room effort, and I wanted to report on my second evening of fun.

Have you ever worked on a design and it just didn't go right? The pieces didn't play together like you thought they would? The colors just didn't speak the same language? Sigh. I had one of those evenings.

I had made some nice HSTs in Christmas-y fabrics, and was trying to put a border on my Peppermint Popper table topper. (See, Gene, I am using the name you came up with --- I love it!)

This is what I tried initially:

That just didn't seem right, so I tried this:

Those HSTs just were not singing in harmony, so I decided to keep it a two-color project. Quick as lightning, my Accuquilt Go!Baby turned out more chisels (have I told you how quick and easy that lil baby cranks out pieces?), and I made one more braid . . .

Then I put that with what I already had, and here is the Peppermint Popper table topper, ready for embellishment!

Now I can start stitching some snowflakes with the gorgeous Presencia Finca thread I got from Jane, and soon my crystals will arrive so I can finish with some bling!  To keep it in my two-color scheme, I think I'll use some Kona red from my stash to back it, and some scraps from the chisel braid fabrics for the binding.

What do you think? Are two-color quilts something that you like, or do you find them kinda boring, and long for more color?

Love,

Our Winner Is . . .

Wowser!  Over six hundred entries! I think a giveaway this exciting needs a really great introduction, don't you? Maybe some balloons, or fireworks . . . definitely need a drum roll and a trumpet, too!  How about a round of applause for all of you wonderful peeps!!!

OK, OK, I see you coming toward me, ready to shake me till my teeth rattle --- I'm announcing the winner RIGHT NOW!!!

Mr. Random thoughtfully chose . . . 

Number 520!!! 

(I'm sorry, but I am so excited about this giveaway that I clicked away before I snagged the widget to show you)


but here is what Lesley said:

The numbering system starts over again at 200 . . . that's why her comment is numbered 120, but is actually 520! 
Congratulations, Lesley!! So happy for you - you will LOVE the Accuquilt Go!Baby! I'll be sending you an email momentarily . . . 

You'll also receive the three dies of your choice, and the yummy layer cake of Chemistry, by Cosmo Cricket, from the Green Fairy Quilts online store!

Now, let's see . . . we had seventeen bloggers who posted about the giveaway, so let's put Mr. Random back to work --- 

The fourteenth blogger on the list was Jennifer Gail! (I remembered to copy before I jumped off the page, this time!)

You are the winner of the cute charm pack of Chemistry from the Green Fairy Quilts store!

A great big THANK YOU to the folks at Accuquilt, for sponsoring the giveaway, and to Green Fairy Quilts, too, for the fabric!

And thank you, the lovely members of the quilting community for following our blog and entering the giveaway!

We are guest posting on SewWeQuilt on Thursday, and another fabric giveaway starts then, so you might want to stop in again and see what we're up to, here at Lilypadquilting! Just sayin' . . . 

Love,

Two reviews in one!

If you haven't signed up for our bodacious giveaway, please click here --- you don't want to miss the opportunity to win an Accuquilt Go! Baby, dies to go with it, AND free fabric from the Green Fairy Quilt store! 

I realized that I had never actually completed a review of the Accuquilt Go! Baby for you special peeps! Although I bet by now, you know that I am over the top in love with this baby! Hoppy Froggies! I can get more fabric cut FAST and ready to piece with this sweet thing, than I could ever hope to do with my rotary cutter, ruler, and mat (and my achy hands).

Not only does it turn out pieces quickly, it cuts them out in shapes that eliminate the little "ears" that happen with half square triangles -- taking out another time-consuming task for us!

I do have two tips that I think will help those of you who receive a Go! Baby for Christmas. It * IS * on your wish list, right? 

I had heard that if you have dies that are all one color foam, you should mark the outlines of the blades, to help with aligning your fabric. (Ya don't want a chisel piece that's not all there, right?!)  I heartily agree --- the first thing that I did after unwrapping my dies, was to mark them with a silver sharpie marker, so that I could see the outlines of the blades. See?

This makes it much easier when I'm scrap-busting, too, to get the fabric over the correct area, to get whole pieces! I can lay small pieces of fabric over each chisel, and get lots of different, scrappy pieces to make a project! 

The second tip is for your cutting mats. These are the heavy vinyl(?) pieces that top off your die and fabric, so that the whole kit and kaboodle can roll through that baby.  In the manual from Accuquilt, you will read a note that reminds the user to alternate the sides of the vinyl, so that one side doesn't get worn slap out. (You'd get worn, too, if you were being pressed against those sharp blades, time after time!) 

I figured that with my fuzzy brain, I might not remember to flip the mat over each time. (Or I might think I had flipped it over, and I didn't. Or I might think I hadn't flipped it over, and I really had, so then I would flip it again and be right back where I started.)  OK, enough of this flipping!  I took a black sharpie and wrote "A" on one side, and "B" on the other:

Now it's a simple matter to alternate the sides when I am cranking out hearts, chisels, and half square triangles! So you might want to try that, too!

Now, today you are getting two reviews for the price of one, because I'd like to tell you about the Green Fairy Fabric store, too. Many of you already know about them, but for some of you, they may be unfamiliar. Clint and Judi are the kind and gracious hearts behind the Green Fairy Quilts ministry, taking quilts and school supplies to needy kids in Romania. You can check out the videos from past trips right here.

Also, Judi is a genius with her free motion quilting --- you can check out her blog and see numerous examples of her gorgeous work. To me, that would be the equivalent of handing my quilt sandwich over to a Raphael or Michaelangelo . . . no, I'm not kidding. Take a look at this post and you will see! Isn't that awesome?!

Clint and Judi are devoted to their family and so a home-based business was perfect for them. And Green Fairy online store is -- well, how can I say this --- addictive! Go and check out the lovely fabrics that they have there: jelly rolls, layer cakes, bundles and yardage, and even a Pre-purchase section so that you can drool over what will be in the store in the coming months!  I love their selection of charm packs, too.

Right now they have some sale prices that you really should check out, OK? Just sayin' . . . 

Many thanks to both Accuquilt, for the opportunity to give away a Go! Baby, and to Green Fairy Fabrics, for sponsoring a layer cake of Chemistry, by Cosmo Cricket, to go along with it!

Love,

Giveaway starts today -- Accuquilt Go!Baby and fabric, too!!

Update: November 29, 12:01 AM   This giveaway is now closed.....winners will be announced on Tuesday after my first cuppa coffee!

The long awaited day is here! We're starting our giveaway, and one lucky ducky winner will receive an Accuquilt Go! Baby fabric cutter, three dies of their choice, and a layer cake of delicious fabric from the Green Fairy Quilts online store!

Whew! That was a mouthful! Let me grab my cuppa tea and we'll get this show on the road!

First I'd like to show you the tutorial that I made just for you special Lilypadquilters --- the Roanoke Star tabletopper!  Why is it called that? Well, I used to call Virginia my home, and there's a little mountain town there called Roanoke, where a huge neon star has been shining from the top of Mill Mountain since it was first illuminated in 1949. It's huge --- over 88 feet tall! Here's a picture to give you an idea of the size:

And here is what it looks like, all lit up and shining in the night:

So my table topper, even tho the star is a little differently shaped, is my tribute to a wonderful landmark that I remember seeing as a child.

Ready to begin?  I do need to warn you --- this post is full of pictures for the tutorial, so hang in there and stay with me till the end, OK?
First thing you want to do is get out your fabulous Accuquilt Go!Baby and cut some scrappy 3.5 inch half square triangles . . .

Some equally scrappy chisels . . .

And then some half square triangles out of what you might think of as a "background" fabric. You want a pretty sharp contrast between your other die cuts and these.

What? You don't have a Go! Baby?  Hmmmm, we'll have to take care of that later!

Next, take your background HSTs and match them up with your darker HSTs, right sides together:

Sew them in a scant quarter inch seam, and finger press them open, like so:

Aren't they cute?
Now you are going to sew them together with your scrappy chisel shapes, but I'm warning you --- danger ahead! You will have to be careful how you place these right sides together, because if you are grooving to Jingle Bell Rock and not staying focused, your unit will look like this:

Ask me how I know. Well, don't, actually. Just pay attention to yours; you don't want it to look like a pyramid drawn by a tipsy Egyptian architect . . .
You want your completed unit to look like these:

You will actually need eight of these bad boys, and if you want to make them up ahead, that's cool. I made the star in four blocks, and just did these units as I went.
Now, if you want to work with your units and see how they will play together, you can do that now . . .

When you are happy with them, go back to that background fabric, and cut a 6.75 inch square from it --- I like to be a little generous and then go back and square things up.  Cut it in half diagonally, and take one triangle and bring it over to one of your parallelogram units:
You want to match up the sides that you see here in the picture (please excuse the chubby finger). Don't get freaked out because the corner of that triangle extends further than you think it should --- it will all turn out OK. (By the way, a big "thank you" to Sharon of Vrooman Quilts, for her tips on the size of these triangles!)

Now, put these pieces right sides together, pin, and sew!

Make another unit just like the first, and you can lay them out to see what they will look like. Aw, go ahead and sew those together! 

You now have your first block for your star!

A word to the wise here: I found it helped immensely to starch my 6.75 inch squares before cutting them into triangles. They held their shape while I sewed that bias (gasp!) seam.
Now, make another one of these blocks:

. . . and sew it to the first block, to make half of your star. Repeat to make the other half, and then join the two halves of the star.

Now, we're not finished. We want to make a border! Let's get out the Accuquilt cutter again, and make some more HSTs! (This Go!Baby really cranks my tractor --- I've had so much fun with it!) You want some background triangles, and then pick another contrasting color. I was still in my holiday stash, so I chose a pretty holly print:

This time, you are going to chain piece these like so:

. . . and then pin that border, right sides together with your star:

So when you open that out, and iron it carefully, you will be ready to join the borders on the corners, much like you would a mitered border. You'll fold your whole star and the borders on the diagonal, and sew those border edges together.

Then when you open it out, your corners will look like this:

(Trumpet fanfare) And this is what your finished Roanoke Star will look like!

I'm going to hand-quilt mine, and add a narrow red binding. Then it will sit on our table and look festive! At a finished size of twenty-two inches square, it is a super size for a tabletopper, all by itself. But you know me, I can't miss an opportunity to show you how I used it on OleFrogEyes design wall! Look at the awesome secondary patterns this block makes!

Now I can hear what you are saying . . .  this is all very nice, but let's get to the important stuff!

Alright! Your wish is my command --- today the entries begin for the giveaway.   And here are the prizes in this bodacious package!

First on our list, an Accuquilt Go! Baby die cutter!  Whoooo hoooo!

Next on the list, three dies to use in that wonderful Accuquilt machine! That's why I told you to check out this link and this one, and be ready to tell us which three dies you would choose!

Last but not least, some fabric to use with your new cutter! Feast your eyes on the prize that the Green Fairy Quilts store is going to ship to our winner! 

It's the new line by Cosmo Cricket, called Chemistry! Hoppy froggies! A layer cake of yummy fabric goodness, with absolutely no calories or carbs! 

Here is what you can do to enter our giveaway:  

     

           1. Leave a comment telling us what three dies you'd choose with a Go! Baby.
           2. We love our followers, so if you follow here, leave a comment and tell us.
           3. Click on the button on the left-hand sidebar of our blog, and
              get  the free patterns from Accuquilt in your in-box. If you've
             done it before, you can do it again. Leave me a comment and tell me
              that you did. You will also receive occasional emails with awesome
              tutorials and tips from Accuquilt bloggers - some of them are
             geniuses with those cutters!
          4. Go to the Accuquilt Facebook page and click to "like" them,
              but they've asked for me to tell everybody please DON’T deluge
             them with comments there! OK? OK!
          5. Click here to go to Green Fairy Quilts and sign up for their
              newsletter, and leave me a comment that you did (or that you
              already do).
          6. If you are just having dee-duck fits to get your hands on one of
              these babies, then you can tweet or post this on your facebook page
             and leave me a link to say that you did.
          7.  Check out the Green Fairy Quilts PrePurchase section, and tell me which
              one of the lines coming in December has caught your eye.
          8. Are you still reading? Are you a blogger? You'll be glad you are
             still with me here - if you post our giveaway on your blog, you will
             get an extra entry for the cutter AND BE ENTERED INTO A
            SPECIAL DRAWING . . . wanna see what you can win?

           It's a charm pack of Chemistry, by Cosmo Cricket -- our generous sponsors, the folks at Green Fairy Quilts, have said they'll provide this yummy charm pack for the blogger that we pick from that special drawing!  So if you help us spread the word, leave a comment and tell us - and you'll be in that drawing!

Now, I know that some of us are already preparing for Thanksgiving; there's a lot of baking and defrosting and prepping going on. So, we are going to leave this giveaway open for a week --- it will close at midnight (Eastern) on next Monday, November 28, and we'll announce winners on Tuesday! That way everyone has time to enter as many times as they would like to!

Well, there you have it --- lots of ways to get entries into the drawing. And one of you lucky peeps is going to win an Accuquilt cutter, three dies, and some fabric! Hoppy froggies!

Let the commenting begin!!

Love,

Sneak Peek!

Here's a sneak peek at what I've been working on . . . a project and tutorial using the fabulous Accuquilt Go! Baby!

And you know what that means!

Yes, there's a GIVEAWAY coming soon!! Hoppy Froggies!! And the awesome folks at Accuquilt gave their blessing to adding some bodacious fabric to the prize package!

You read it right   --- there will be a Go! Baby, and three dies, and fabric going to one lucky, lucky winner!

Here's another tidbit for you to look at --- lots of holiday colors!

Won't be long now, so keep checking in here at the Lilypad!

Love,

Are you sure that it's legal to have this much fun?

Be sure to click here if you have not entered our giveaway for a free download of the awesome Quilt Album software! You can have several chances to win, so give it a try!

Now, back to my question . . . is it really legal to have this much fun? I'm referring to my new Accuquilt Go! Baby.  I'm having a ball!  I keep thinking that someone is going to tell me I've had enough, and I have to put it away . . . or worse, give it back. Oh nooooooooooo!

When the Accuquilt folks said I could have one, and asked which three dies I wanted to have, I really pored over the choices.  There is a chart that helped with my decision making, and I'll put the linkie here so that you can check it out. There are more dies to choose from, but that first chart is helpful to know which ones play together so nicely.

There might be a reason soon, for you to know which three Accuquilt dies YOU would want to have for your very own. Just sayin'.

Ain't I a lil rascal, teasing you special peeps like this? But I digress.

Two of my choices were the chisel die, and the half square triangle that finishes at 3 inches. Why? Well, that's a very good question, Watson, and I will elucidate, er, illuminate, er explain.

Here is an image of a piece of fabric cut with the chisel die, and another cut with the three inch HST die:

Now that I've shown the basic shapes, I would like to show you some ways that they can work together, OK? Ready? Here we go!

You can put the HST at the end of the chisel piece to make a rectangle,

or a pairelego  a paiwawello  a pair-of-yello  aw, phooey,  it's one of those things we studied in Geometry!

(Parallelogram, I believe.  Isn't that his name? Anyway, we'll get back to him later.)

Now, what this really means is that you can make this star block that Gene Black has illustrated so well, just like this one . . .

On the Sweet Pea Quilting blog I saw that you could use the chisel pieces to make a cool braid, so I tried that:

And you know me --- I couldn't leave well enough alone, I had to try this:

And then this:

See what I mean?  I am having way more fun here than is legal, I betcha!  I took two of the rectangles made with a chisel piece and a half square triangle, and made this block:

And then I just couldn't stop myself . . . I made three more and sewed them all together to make this block:

I took that block over to Ole Frog Eyes, and came up with this quilt: 

I like two color quilts, and I can imagine some cool uses for those center squares, like embroidery or applique . . .

I wasn't finished yet! I dreamed up a way that I could use the chisel and the triangle differently! In fact, I bet they might think it was an incorrect way to use them, but oh, the results are so cool! Here is the layout:

Now, just take it easy. Yes, I see that the triangle juts out over the top edge of the chisel -- it will be OK, I promise! Here is what you get after you stitch them, and lay them out in a block:

And here is the finished block after I made four of those "sub-assemblies" and sewed them all together:

I've seen this block called by several names: Double Windmill, Double Pinwheel . . . I think I'll call it Christmas Candy! It was so quick and easy to cut out the pieces and get it together! And the block will finish at 12 inches! It won't take many of those to make a tablerunner or quilt!

I hope to have another star to show you soon. Right now, you'll have to excuse me . . . I think I'll go back and play with the incredible Go! Baby some more!
And by the way, see that badge on the left hand side? Click there to get 22 FREE patterns from Accuquilt, with awesome blocks that you can make so easily with the Go! Baby!!
While you're at it, check out the Accuquilt Facebook page, and click to "like" them, too!

I'm having such fun with this "me time" that I've chosen this post to link up with Marcia, at Crafty Sewing and Quilting, for the Minutes for Me linky party!! Party on!!

Love,