What do you want from a kit?

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The Magical Unicorn pattern is scheduled for release in August – yay!!! I’ve already had requests for kits and I’m working on it but I need to know what sort of kit you would like.

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There are two block sizes in the pattern (35″ x 35″ and 50″ x 50″). This quilt has the 35″ x 35″ block and 5″ wide borders making the finished quilt 45″ x 45″. The block is constructed on a white base layer that can be cut away after the shapes are sewn down. I machine appliquéd my quilt but you could hand appliqué if you prefer.

If I was buying a kit for this quilt, I would want larger pieces of fabric to work from. There would be fat quarters plus other pieces both bigger and smaller. These cuts would be big enough to allow for shrinkage for those (like me) who always prewash. There would be leftover fabric because of the scrappy nature of this quilt.

The unicorn and flower appliqué shapes could come as fabric pieces OR they could be laser-cut and ready to fuse. The downside to fusing is that the base layer cannot be cut away and the quilt will be a bit heavier.

So my question to you is, what kind of Magical Unicorn kit would you buy? I thank you in advance for letting me know your thoughts.

Wednesday giveaway…

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Congrats to Kathleen Doran, this week’s Wednesday Giveaway winner of The New Quick & Easy Block Tool book.

NewQuickEasyBlockTool

This book, edited by Liz Aneloskie, Kandy Petersen, and Debbie Rodgers, is wonderful! In it you will find 110 quilt blocks. There is a chart with each block to help you create it in five different sizes. I especially like the section of the book that groups blocks by what sort of grid they are built on (2×2, 3×3, etc.)

There is a gray-scale version of each block, and a blank version, so you can design it yourself without regard to the original color placement. On top of that, there is a project for every block! Plus, the editors created an index of these projects that can be made with precut fabrics such as charm packs, fat quarters, jelly rolls, and layer cakes.

Click here to find the Block Tool at Piece O’ Cake.

Leave a comment to enter the drawing. If you can’t find the comment box, you might see a little icon that looks like a thought bubble at the upper right at the top of this post. Try clicking that to open the comment section.

I’ll use a random number generator to choose the winner Thursday, June 1, 2017.

Good luck!

Show and tell…

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Loa Kay Welles made her May Baskets quilt from our book, Curl Up Quilts, for her 6 year old granddaughter. Isn’t it cute!

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Loa Kay changed the pattern, making more blocks and a bigger quilt and it turned out very well! If you would like to make your own May Baskets you can find the ePattern here, or the whole eBook here.

Wednesday Giveaway

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SB-Bento-Cupcake

Congrats to this week’s winner of the Cupcake Bento Box, Connie J. Martin.

If you are not Connie, you can click here to find all of the bento boxes at Piece O’ Cake. It’s not just me who thinks these are dandy boxes. Here is a recent review:

I actually purchased 5 of the Bento Boxes— 3 for grandchildren, one for my daughter in law, and one for me. Most of them are being used for packing lunches, but I will use mine for sewing supplies. They are darling and very well made. I love how tightly they close—no chance of anything leaking out to damage anything else in a backpack.

Click here to find all of the bento, sandwich, and pencil boxes at pieceocake.com.

Leave a comment to enter the drawing. If you can’t find the comment box, you might see a little icon that looks like a thought bubble at the upper right at the top of this post. Try clicking that to open the comment section.

I’ll use a random number generator to choose a winner Thursday, May 25, 2017. It might be later in the day as I will be out of town teaching.

Good luck!

Be nice.

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Dr. Michael Sorrell, president of Paul Quinn College, spoke at the Austin College commencement this year. One thing he said has stuck with me: Be nice.

He went beyond that to say that when you aren’t nice, people won’t like you. And if no one helps you [when you need it], it’s because no one likes you.

That’s harsh! But take a moment to think about people you don’t like. Are you going to go out of your way to help them? Not so much. Which takes me back to the top: Be nice. Build relationships with people. We all need friends.

I could stop there, and would have if I had not read this post from Generation Q yesterday. It appears that there is a ‘secret’ facebook group of quilters that is not being remotely nice to people who are different from them. Who knew?! There are unhappy people on facebook! Deep sighs all round, right?

I shy away from politics and religion online and in classes and I’m not going to spout opinions here. That said, my mom and grandmother taught me early on that if you can’t say something nice about someone, it’s best to say nothing at all. It’s better to make friends than it is to make enemies. It’s never nice to intentionally hurt someone else’s feelings who is doing nothing to hurt you.

So, please, let’s all do what we can to spread niceness in the quilt world, and beyond!

BeNice

Hexie Squeeze Punch

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A student told me about these Fiskars hole punches. Now that I have tried them I can tell you how they work. 


All sizes squeeze easily on card stock if you cut 1 sheet of paper at a time. You are can recycle paper (like heavier magazine inserts) or use pristine sheets. 

  • Medium = 1/2″ on each side
  • Large = 3/4″ on each side
  • X-Large = 1″ on each side

The X-Large grip is too big for my hands so I’ll ask Steve to do those for me if/when I need them. 


The same student also told me that if you punch a hole in the center of each paper it’s easier to remove them with a toothpick or awl which makes sense. I couldn’t find my normal hole punch so I used the one that cuts 1/8″ holes, 1/4″ would probably be better. 

Honestly, I have very little spare time for cutting hexies so I won’t use these often. But I’m happy to have them in my drawer, just in case :-).

FYI: I couldn’t find them from a quilt supplier so I looked on Amazon. 

Wednesday Giveaway

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Congrats to this week’s winner, Shirley Morgan! If you didn’t win, you really should treat yourself to a sandboard. I use a sandboard every time I sit down to my hand sewing. The sandpaper keeps fabric from shifting as you trace or pin and the board itself is handy to set your stuff on, on your lap, as you sew.

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There are 2 sizes of sandboard. I use the smaller Travel Sandboard when I am away from home.  I use the larger, Essential Sandboard at home. Click here to find them both.

Leave a comment to enter the drawing. If you can’t find the comment box, you might see a little icon that looks like a thought bubble at the upper right at the top of this post. Try clicking that to open the comment section.

I’ll use a random number generator to choose a winner Thursday, May 18, 2017. It might be later in the day as I will be out of town teaching.

Good luck!