Mini Hexagon Quilt

I'm SEW ready to start sewing!!!!

Aren't you?

FIRST...

You need to see how LITTLE these pieces are!

The Hexagon

The Triangles

These are SMALL!!!

LET'S GET SEWING!!!

I've laid out half of my quilt...

Let me show you how

WONDERFUL

it is to sew with die cut pieces!

Here's 2 triangles...

same size...

from same die...

When I sew them together...

the pieces line up EXACTLY!

It's FABULOUS!!!

Here is the first row... I chain pieced.

And here's the first row completed!!!

The second row is actually sewing 2 rows together.

If you go back up and look at the picture of the layout,

you'll see there's no other way to sew it,

This 2nd & 3rd row has the HEXAGON in it.

Here are some of the pieces sewn together as I was sewing these 2 rows together.

Here is the row completed!

Looking forward to connecting these two sections!

Look how little it is sewn,

compared to the layout!

YES!

These are little pieces!

But really and truly,

they're not so little it's hard to work with.

I thought it would end up smaller...

let's see how it turns out as we sew these rows together.

(It'll get smaller!)

Try something new!

Break out of the same thing every time!

It's FUN!

Sew the pieces of life together!

It makes a BEAUTIFUL quilt!

Nina 

I HAVE to go wrap some presents now...

I hope you're ready for a special day coming up!

I think we'll make a BIRTHDAY cake again!

Accuquilt Die Cutter!

OH MY!

Can you say EXCITED!!!!

FINALLY!

There is time for me to play with my new toy!

Whoohoo!!!

I recently got an

Accuquilt Studio Die Cutter!

There has been a 

MINIATURE quilt in my future for some time now....

and now we're going to cut it out!

I'm making a mini hexagon quilt!

So the dies I'm using are the

Bullseye Hexagons-1"-7" Finished Sides for Studio

            #50362

AND

Bullseye Equilateral Triangles-Odd-1", 3", 5", 7" Finished Sides for Studio
            #50364

And I'm using the SMALLEST size of each die!

The Bullseye dies are different in that you can use any size.

They nest inside each other.

When you use them you need to remember 

foam, blade, foam.

Meaning...

the blade needs to be surrounded by the foam sections so your fabric is supported

inside the blade die and outside!

Since I'm using the smallest size blade...

(1 inch...YES! I'm NUTS!)

I'll only need the outside foam.

Looking at the pictures above,

The sections with the metal line in them

are the blade pieces.

The sections that are solid wood

are the foam sections.

These are the back side of these dies.

Now,

Let's get our die going...

Here is the 1" hexagon die with the blade.

Now I need the foam to go around it to support my fabric.

Then, we nest them inside each other.

Ready to cut!

Let's cut the triangles...

1" blade...

Foam...

Nest them together.

Ready to cut!

AND...

How do you store these TINY 1" triangles so the 

CATS

won't get to them?

In little containers!

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

(I'm so happy when I can outsmart the cats!  LOL)

I'm going to finish cutting ALL these 

1" triangles...

I need a total of 284 grey 

and I'm only about half way there!

I'll show you the design tomorrow after I lay it out!

This is SEW much FUN!!!

I CAN'T WAIT TO SEW IT TOGETHER!!!!

Go have FUN today!

Sew the pieces of life together!

They make a BEAUTIFUL quilt!!!

Nina

31 day blog challenge - Day 1

There is a challenge online from a blogger

to blog everyday for 31 days!

Wow!

I'm a little late on the uptake of this challenge...

it started December 1st...

But I'll still go 31 days blogging 

EVERY 

day!

Are you ready to hear from me 

EVERY day?

I'm teaching at

MQS

Machine Quilters Showcase

In May!

This will be my 3rd year teaching at this quilt show.

Now that my Dad is not under

my 24/7 care, he's in assisted living,

I'll be applying for more quilt show teachings!

This is SUPER EXCITING!!!

I LOVE teaching!

There is 

NOTHING more FUN than to share my passion!!!

Traveling?

I LOVE IT!!!

Quilters are the BEST people!!!

There's NOT another lot of people that compare to

the kindness, compassion, and love of a quilter!!!

The way I teach?

I believe you can do it!

My classes are upbeat, encouraging, and fun!

We do a lot of laughing in class!

Some of the laughter is at mistakes I've made that I share with you!

Yes,

it's funny the mistakes we make...

and YES...

we teachers make all the mistakes, too!!!

LOL!

So...

stay tuned for each day!

Sew the pieces of life together!

They make a BEAUTIFUL quilt!!!

Nina 

Yellow Gradation

I've been having 

FUN!

Gradations have fascinated me for some time now.

Sew...

I thought I'd start small.

Missouri Star Quilt Company had these on sale...

I bought 2 of these CHARM packs!

Small enough?

Yep!

I've already cut it all up...

so here's what the colors look like...

Now...

let's cut it up!

I recently got the Accuquilt Studio Die Cutter!

Whoop!  Whoop!!

Then Accuquilt had their Studio dies 50% OFF!!!

YES...

There was a purchase of dies made!

A CHARM pack is 5" squares,

usually a whole line of fabric and 1, 2, or 3 of each.

In order to made a gradation, 

there had to be more pieces than 5" squares.

Now, how many shapes can you get out of a small 5" square?

1 CHARM pack was left alone,

1 CHARM pack was cut up.

Here is it...

With this die, I could cut the 5" square in half.

Here's a paper cut of the die...

it's laying on top of a 5" square card board.

Then,

with the other half of the square

I used this die.

Here is a paper cut of the die.

If you fold the left over triangle in half, 

You'll get 2 of these triangles out of it.

So,

here's how the whole 5" CHARM piece was cut using these two die.

Then,

how do you put it all together?

First,

with the solid 5" squares, 

I laid them out in a gradation from lightest to darkest.

The grid was laid so there was a fabric 5" square, then an open 5" square.

This allowed the space for the smaller pieces to come in.

Second,

all those quarter square triangles (die # 50274),

were laid down in as good a gradation as there could be 

without colors/fabrics being up against each other.

Third,

the smaller half square triangles (die #50275),

were laid down to fill in the remainder spaces.

Again, with no same colors/fabrics against each other. 

Here's the layout...

Not bad...huh?

Now,

to sew all the pieced squares together!

It actually went pretty fast!

You can see the pieced squares are now 4" squares,

and the CHARM pieces are still 5" squares.

So,

you guessed it...

All the 5" squares now had to be trimmed to make them 4" squares!

Here it is...

all 4" squares!

Let's sew the rows together now!

You can see it shrinks even more when you sew it all together.

And the gradation is truly starting to come out!

And here is the FINISHED piece!

(So far!)

The idea is to applique something on it.

Then,

there will probably be a boarder added.

This was LOADS of FUN!!!

A FABULOUS person challenge!

A FUNTASTIC little project to take on vacation!

(All the pieces actually fit in a quart size ziplock bag!

Handy to travel with!)

You'll see this project again!

Promise!

I'll share the applique as it's created...

Sew the pieces of life together!

They make a BEAUTIFUL quilt!

Nina

Wreath

Ok, Ok...

I KNOW this isn't quilting related...

BUT...

I just HAVE to share this!!!!

I made a new Christmas wreath for my front door 

in 20 minutes today!

And only spent $23 in supplies!

This was SO much fun!!!  You'll LOVE this! 

Here it is!

1. Go to the Dollar General, Family Dollar, Wal-Mart, or whatever you have.

2. Purchase 60-75 shatterproof ornaments in a variety of sizes and colors.

I chose blue and silver.  (I almost did a multi colored one, I think it would be beautiful!)

I bought 4 packages of the smaller size and 4 packages of the larger size.

(I returned 1 of each.  I also had a few left over of the others.)

3.  Take a wire hanger from your closet and reshape it into a circle as best you can.

4.  untwist the top where the 2 ends come together.

5.  Put your ornaments on the hanger 1 at a time. 

6.  As the wreath gets full, the ornaments will bunch together.

7. When your wreath is full, retwist the top two pieces.

8.  Add a bow!

9. Hang your wreath on your front door!

(Mine needs a different ribbon!)

REALLY...it's THAT simple!!!

This is why I did a blue wreath this year....

I thought it would go well with my house.

(I always have a multi colored wreath...and I don't "DO" silver.  

BUT, I like it!)

Super fun!

Super FAST!

Super INEXPENSIVE!!!

Go have fun making one for your front door!

Sew the pieces of life together!

They make a BEAUTIFUL quilt!

Nina

How was your Thanksgiving?

I HOPE and PRAY 

your 

Thanksgiving was peaceful!

Mine was so peaceful and such a blessing!

My husband and I went to St. George Island, FL for the whole week!

It was the MOST relaxing, refreshing vacation I've been on in a long time!!!!!

Now...

Dear husband went to play golf a few times...

and I played, too!!!

I brought a couple of fun projects I didn't seem to be able to get to

at home...

This is 

"My Girl"

She's fusible applique

and it is a pattern.

She's not finished...

there are still boarders to do...

But isn't she beautiful?

I don't have a name for this yet...

This was 2 CHARM packs, they were the same.

1 CHARM pack I cut into triangles,

1 CHARM pack I left alone.

My idea, or challenge to myself,

was to make a gradation.

This is both CHARM packs.

I want to do more with it and have fun playing!

I'll be sure to share!

Don't be afraid to step outside the box!!!

It's actually quiet FUN!!!

Sew the pieces of life together!

They make a BEAUTIFUL quilt!

Nina 

Machine fixed!

YIPPIE!

I got my quilting

machine back yesterday...

After MUCH

frustration

I was 

FINALLY

able to sit down and get some quilting done!

(I've been going through 

WITHDRAWS!)

SO

MUCH

FUN!!!

Beginning Feathers 

Class Sample 

Beginning Free Motion Quilting

Class Sample

Now...

I have 3 baby quilts

to quilt!

All these sweet babies...

Sew the pieces of life together!

They make a BEAUTIFUL quilt!!!

Nina