Colorful Kites

I wanted to do something today, a project for the pure pleasure of sewing and playing with bright colours!  I have been playing with this ruler off and on but hadn't quite ever settled on a colour scheme that I really had the urge to play with.  Sew, here we go!  I am a huge Eleanor Burns fan as many of you may know.  I think her books are marvelous, especially for beginners.  She leaves nothing to chance, she goes into great detail about everything from choice of colours and why, as well as all the tools that you will need.  The Quilt in The Day Books show you every step no matter how big or small the steps may be, the books are well thought out and produced.

Here is the ruler I was playing with today, a 4 1/2" On-Point Ruler. You can use either a charm pack of precuts which is 42 5" squares or you can use 10 Layer Cake squares which are 10" square precuts.  I made my own 10" squares as well as a few 5" squares.

Specialty rulers are great fun to have, some are more practical than others but like all tools if you take good care of them they will last forever.  There are people that will tell you that you don't need them, you can use cardboard or paper templates.  After 28 years of doing patchwork, I can honestly tell you that cardboard and paper don't stand up well with a rotary cutter and your finished blocks will be be inconsistent.

I love using a new ruler, it gives me an opportunity to try different shapes and it challenges me to think about all the different uses and the design possibilities.

I decided to follow the pattern on the ruler, a way of testing it to see if I can get the same results that the ruler claims you can get.

Here is a photo of the pieces for the block.  The center piece is the fabric from the Layer Cake or Charm Square.  I chose to use a white on white background fabric since the undertones of the fabrics that I am using are white.

Do you see how I trimmed the 1/4" corner off the white?  This will allow me to line up my triangles with ease without having to figure out if the overhang of the the white triangle is an exact 1/4". Are you confused now... trust me it took me years to figure out that if I trimmed my triangles when working with say a 60 degree triangle, I would get perfect results.

In the above photo the white triangle is right side facing down and the trimmed corner is even with the edge of the brown fabric.  If I had not trimmed off the corner I would have been trying to guess whether the pointed was a 1/4" above the brown and if I didn't get it right! God help us, the seam ripper would be out and I would be losing time with every set of triangles!!!!

When I open up the two pieces I have even sides.  WooHoo!!!!  It's the simple things in life that make me happy.

The blocks go together very fast, I recommend chain piecing.  Life takes on a new dimension when you start chain piecing, don't be afraid to give it a try.  One of the benefits of chain piecing is that you keep your work very organized and therefore you piece quicker but the biggest benefit is you don't waste as much thread!

After pressing my first two pieces open, I add the third piece, then press that open and here we are!  Actually this picture was taken after I used the ruler to trim all four sides down to the correct size.

This is what I am going to leave you with right now.  This is how I left the cutting table this evening.  Will do some more playing tomorrow!  Stay tuned for more.

Tomorrow is a big day, we have a girls u-12 football county final.  Way to go Clonee, you girls are outstanding!!!!!!  And then we are going to watch the All Ireland Hurling Championship, as the granddaughter of a proud Galway woman.... UP GALWAY!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Sewing!
Anne Marie

Sale, Sale, Sale!!!

This week has been crazy here at the shop. Between working on some new projects with the Christmas fabrics that have been arriving, organizing fabrics for our upcoming sale and teaching, I am exhausted.
The sale starts on Sunday, 2 September at 10:00 am. and will continue all week until the following Sunday.
Hope to see you there!

On Monday I made a few coasters or Mug Rugs with extra squares from a really adorable Christmas panel from the Anni Downes Christmas Time Collection from Henry Glass Fabrics. Not exactly rocket science but quick and enjoyable to make up, they would be a great gift at Christmas.
 
I am hoping to make a nice lap quilt for our sitting room with this panel.

The coordinating fabrics and yarn dyes are beautiful.



I have also been organizing all the fabrics that are going to be marked down for a super sale!  We have some beautiful fabrics that are going to be marked down for clearance starting on Sunday.  There are a few layer cakes and jelly rolls on offer as well, Christmas fabrics and other assorted treasures!  A comment I get from customers who read the blog and make a trip down to visit are always surprised at the how big our space is and the photos on our blog don't do it justice.

We have an ever growing selection of Kansas Troubles from Moda.  Probably our most popular group of fabrics.

We also managed to squeeze in a workshop this week, a Free Motion Quilting Workshop!  A great group of ladies from Wexford, Meath, and Louth. That photo is courtesy of my 12 year old daughter and is not the most complimentary photo of moi..... Our Free Motion class is proving to be a popular class and I'm pleased with the response to it.  I will be putting it on the schedule for this autumn so watch for it, hopefully it will be a great start to understanding the mysteries of Free Motion Quilting.

Ohio Stars....Point Perfection

I am desperate for something to blog about. Sew, after the painting workshop last week and questions about getting those all important perfect points, I decided to take some photos and give you some measurements and go over how you construct really lovely Ohio Stars!

This tablerunner was made up of 3 Ohio Stars and 2 - 9 1/2" Squares of the light tan background fabric.  To construct an Ohio Star is fairly straight forward. It is a nine patch with 4 - 3 1/2" squares lt tan background fabric for the 4 corners, a 3 1/2" center square, and last but not last 4 squares that are called a 4 part triangle.  The 4 part triangle is where you need to pay particular attention.

In the above picture my 4-part triangles are made up of 3 colours; green, gold, and lt tan.  Take 1 gold square measuring 4 1/2", 2 green squares measuring 4 1/2" each, and one lt tan background fabric measuring 4 1/2".


Place the lt tan square right side facing the right side of one of the green squares, make sense?  Do the same with the second green square and the gold square. Right sides facing on another.  Now take the two sets of squares and draw your three lines across the diagonal from point to point. Just like the picture to the left.  The middle line is going to be your cutting line so you need to stitch along the two outside lines. Now, here is my trick so pay real close attention; when I stitch along the two out side lines I don't stitch on the line!!!!  I stitch along the line on the seam side, meaning the area closest to the the cutting line.

Cut along the middle line and press toward the dark colour both sets.  You now have 4 half square triangles, 2 are lt tan and green and 2 are gold and green.



Now, take a lt tan and green HST (Half Square Triangles) and a gold and green HST and lay them right sides facing with the two greens facing the opposite colour, huh????

Okay, just pretend that the burgundy is green!! Your next step is to draw your three lines on the diagonal from corner to corner just like you did in the first round of making HST's, only make sure you are going across the square and not along the new seams.  Do your sewing and then cut down the center.

Now here is my second trick, I swear by the Eleanor Burns Square Up ruler. Before I open up the triangle,  I place my square up ruler on the triangle and lay the 3 1/2" line of the ruler on the stitching line. I actually place the line of the ruler slightly above the stitch line.  This gives me a bit of room, a couple of threads of room to be exact! I trim with the rotary cutter on both side of the triangle, this evenly trims the HST so that the dark triangle will be the same size as the light triangle.

See the above picture, isn't that lovely!  After trimming the square you can open it up and give it a light press and measure it up to ensure that the 4 part triangle square is 3 1/2".

Cutting, sewing a straight line and proper pressing are crucial for getting nice sharp points and perfect piecing.  This is a lovely square to make and when it is constructed well you have a gorgeous block, give it a try!

Happy Sewing and don't forget we are having a big sale starting on the 2 September!
Anne Marie

We Have a Winner!

After a super busy two weeks I finally sat down and using a random number generator we have a winner! The winner of the Fat eighth pack is number 7 or rather Elaine Coady. Congrats Elaine and thanks everyone for taking part. Sew, Elaine could you please email me privately with your snail mail address so I can send out your bundle of fat eighths and as a bonus you will be receiving a few yarn dyes from the Anni Downes Christmas Time Collection.

I am relieved to be much quieter this week with the B&B, we had guests from Austria last week (Hi Anne Marie, Franz & Martin).  Anne Marie is a quilter and we had a great time getting to know one another, needless to say we spent time in the shop doing what we all enjoy most and that is picking fabric for a new project. Anne Marie promises to bring some of her Austrian quilting friends with her for a visit, when they do I will have to gather up some of my quilting friends for a little show and tell!

  On Tuesday, 7 August, we are running a fun workshop with a Christmas theme.  I taught this class a couple of times last autumn and it was a big hit!  People who missed out last year are asking me to run it again so here we go.  This is a table runner, quite a big one, with a slight twist to it.  As you can see we have two Ohio Star blocks (the actual runner has three) and in the alternate block is a painted stencil of a Christmas tree just waiting for some embellishments.  The white paper is freezer paper with the shapes of holly leaves cut out and the stencil brushes and paints are waiting for the action to begin.  Painting on fabric!!!!  A great alternative to applique and you look like Michelangelo to family and friends when you tell them that you painted on the Christmas motifs.

And lookey what else you can do!! Yes, the word "Joy" is painted on as well.

This Christmas wall hanging has a painted branch on it, the pathetic pine needles were my attempt at embroidery, I love this piece, it is so unique.

Sew, what do you need?  About a yard of cream/lt tan background fabric, several fat quarters for your three Ohio stars preferably in Christmas colours, and your sewing machine and notions.  I supply the paint brushes and paints as well as the freezer paper.  The price for the day is €40, and as always tea and coffee are on the house. We have a few places still available and I can guarantee this is a very relaxing and fun day and completely different.

Don't forget to mark your calendars, the first week of September is our big sale! Plenty of gorgeous fabrics will be marked down.

Happy Sewing!
Anne Marie

Giveaway!

I have been working several weeks straight without so much as an afternoon off and exhaustion has set in, thank goodness this weekend there are no guests booked and the house is quiet.  We are approaching our three year anniversary and I thought it would be great to have a giveaway! Now, I know that a lot of you read my blog but you never comment so here is what you could win and how you need to enter.

Write a comment telling us what part of quilt making that you enjoy most and why. You have until Monday, 23 July 2012, midnight Irish time. I will use a number generator to pick the winner and here is what you could win! 

A fat eighth bundle (8 fat 1/8's) of Sentiments, Moda's new collection by 3 Sisters. Absolutely scrumptious, don't you agree!

Now stay tuned because there will be other giveaways as we move toward September.

Our Sweet Heart Houses BoM has only one spot left, who will be the fortunate one?  Penelope's Garden has a few spaces left so if you are interested let me know, our BoM programs sell out and so far all of the participants have finished their quilts.  I do my best to encourage and sometimes threaten people into finishing.  Stop in if you would like to see the fabric.

On to other news, we have listed some new classes for the month of August and sew far the free motion quilting class is filling up.  We also are taking names for classes starting this September, with the popularity of patchwork growing our sessions are filling up and I can't emphasize enough the need to get your name in, I hate to see people disappointed.  We are offering a beginner class on Thursday evening and Friday morning. Hop on over to the Workshops and Classes page to see what's on offer.

I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather this weekend, goodness knows we deserve a bit of dry sunny weather after all the rain we've had the past month and a half.  We are attempting to do another youtube video, if only my camera operator would stop laughing everytime I start talking!!!  Sew unprofessional for a 12 year old.

Happy Sewing!
Anne Marie

August Workshops

I have been thinking about classes for August and wondering about the types of classes that would be fun and enjoyable.  The weather this summer has been atrocious and all the familiar faces have been popping into the shop looking for projects to keep themselves busy during all these rainy days!

The Workshop page has been updated with a number of classes in August, both weekday classes and a few on Sundays.  Give us a call and reserve your spot or if you have any questions.

Happy Sewing!
Anne Marie

Christmas.....Already!

Believe it or not, Christmas fabric is arriving in the shop and already I am thinking about possible gift ideas and itching to get started.  We received a shipment this morning from Moda of Sentiments by 3 Sisters, it is to die for it is so gorgeous.  I know, I know; I think everything is gorgeous but trust me it is gorgeous!  This just maybe the collection that will disappear into my own precious stash, lol!

 I have an idea for this fabric and will be consulting with my wee helpers on how to really show this off.  I also discovered that the red and greens in this collection work perfectly with the Yarn Dyes that arrived last week that are part of the Anni Downes Collection.

 In choosing Christmas fabric I try to find collections that will work through out the year but when used at Christmas are Christmasey?! Does that make sense?

Hopefully, tomorrow I will have new classes listed for August and the class line up for this autumn.

 I will most certainly have some lovely sweet dreams tonight.  Speaking of Sweet, the Sweet Heart Houses Block of the Month is almost sold out. As of this evening there were only two places remaining.  Penelope's Garden has several sign ups.  If you are interested please give me a call or email, I would hate to disappoint anyone but I am limiting the numbers and there is a limit with the fabric as well.

Happy Sewing!
Anne Marie