I finished the second block of Carol Doak's Radiant Star BOM tonight.  Unfortunately, the block ended up finishing 1/2" larger than it was supposed to.  I'm not quite sure how that happened since I printed it out the same way that I always print off my paper pieced patterns, but it looks like I'll have to re-do this one.  I'm not too devastated that I have to re-do it since I'm not crazy about the dark red on the outside.  I think next time I'm going to put the baby blue on the ...

Warning, this is a long (but useful in my opinion) post.  In my recent giveaway I had asked everyone to comment on their best quilting tip.  I have compiled those quilting tips into this post.  I tried putting them into some categories, but the general category ended up being the biggest.  I hope you find the tips useful. 

General: 

•  Take a break if things arent going your way, it will only get worse if you don't
• Always keep your rotary cutter in the closed position. Learn that from the start, and no accidents will happen. A very good habit ...

Well, I'm enjoying the last day of my vacation right now after a week off of work.  My in-laws came up from Georgia to stay with us for a week, so there hasn't been much sewing going on lately.  I did, however, manage to make the second block from the Fat Quarter Shop's Designer Mystery BOM today after they left to stay with more family this afternoon.


Isn't this santa hat cute?  I think it's adorable.  I'm really loving these blocks.  I can't wait for the next one.    This is going to be ...

First, I'd like to thank everyone for commenting.  I've discovered some great new blogs from some amazing quilters.  Everyone provided some great quilting tips.  I'll post a bunch of them coming up.

Now for what you're all waiting for.  The winners.

The winner of the first fat quarter bundle is: Peaceful Piecer who said, "I guess leader enders are my best tip .... once I got the hang of it I use this all the time."


The winner of the second fat quarter bundle is: MoeWest who said, "This fabulous tip comes from Lois Hallock, author of ...

I made another Fiesta! block, bringing the total up to 6 for this particular block.  Just two more to make and I can move onto another type of block for the Fiesta! quilt.


In other news, we got a new kitten on Sunday.  She's 6 weeks old and is getting along great with our other cat, Bentley.
We still don't have a name for her, but are hopefully getting close.  We didn't have a name for Bentley for about three weeks, so I'm sure once we think of the right name we'll know it.
Finally ...

As I mentioned earlier, I would like to hold a giveaway for my 100th post.  I'm a bit delayed as I had ordered 2 layercakes, one for myself and one to giveaway, but only one arrived.  It took two weeks for the shop to finally respond to me and ship out the missing, but paid, for layercake.

This past year and a half blogging has been a fantastic time.  I've become so inspired from everyone else in the blog world.  It's fantastic.  I also have enjoyed all of the support I've received on all of my ...

So after a lot of debating, I decided to add a border to my scenic BOM.  I brought the quilt with me to several stores, unsure of what I actually wanted to use.  When I came across this one fabric, I knew right away that it was the perfect border.

Now to think about how I want to quilt it (which, given my track record, probably won't happen until next year ) ;o)

I was going through a lot of my photos on my blog, updating photos to my flickr account , when I realized I never blogged about the coupon clutch that I made my mom for Christmas.  The pattern is from the Moda Bake Shop by Julie at www.Jaybirdquilts.com

I ended up making one for myself that I use for my rotary cutter and other tools when traveling.  Both were made using just one Birdie charm pack.  This one is mine since I gave mine to my mom for Christmas and didn't get a picture of it before I ...

I finished another block for the Fiesta! quilt the other night.  I love how the colors work in this block.
I still have quite a few blocks to go, but progress is progress.

I was excited when I saw that the Fat Quarter Shop was using Kate Spain's 12 Day's of Christmas fabric line for their new Designer Mystery BOM this year and immediately signed up.  Well, yesterday I got my first block and just had to make it the same day.  I had already seen some of the blocks popping up around the web, but was still excited.  Here it is:

I'm looking forward to the rest of the blocks.  This means that I have two BOMs in the works.  Fortunately, the Carol Doak one is usually posted around ...

Last week I finished the Milano bag using an Art Gallery kit.  Believe it or not, this was the first bag I've ever made.  I've always just made quilts, but I wanted a quicker project, so I decided to try my hand at a bag.


My biggest issue was that the cording that was supposed to slide into the handles wouldn't fit.  I was even sparse on the measurements when sewing just to make sure it would fit.  Oh well, the handles just aren't as stiff as they were supposed to me.

All in all, I ...

I finished block one of Carol Doak's Radiant Star BOM found on her Yahoo group.  I cracked open my Blush fat quarter bundle for this quilt.  I was slightly hesitant to pull the Moda bow off the fat quarter bundle, but I found the strength to open it up and cut into it.  Here's the first block.

All of the blocks will have the same white background with the pinks, reds, blues, and browns of the Blush fabric line.

Carol also posted a sashing block, but I'm not sure if I'm going to go that route ...

Some of you may remember that I participated in Carol Doak's Scenic BOM last year. 


Well, Carol's back with another BOM on her Yahoo Group.  This time it's a Simply Radiant Star BOM! 


Every month Carol will post a new Simply Radiant Star block in the Yahoo Group.  The pattern is free, so it's a great way to use up some fabric from the stash.  I'm planning on  using a fat quarter bundle for this quilt. 

Let me know if you decide to join ...

I've decided to participate in the Blogger's Quilt Festival this time around.  I've enjoyed seeing all of the great quilts around, so I thought I'd share.








This quilt is still one of my favorite quilts that I've ever made.  I think because at the time that I made it, it was one of the most advanced quilts I've made and I was just in love with the color choices.  Before this quilt I tended to lean towards jewel tones or bright colors.  Now, I have learned to branch out, although I still love jewel ...

I started this blog just under a year and a half ago not knowing where it was going to take me.  My purpose for starting this blog was to share my passion for quilt making with others who shared the same passion.  I started it during a week long vacation after Christmas when I had a bunch of time to quilt.  I didn't know how often I was going to be able to blog, what I would continue to blog about, but I wanted in on blogging. 

Over the past year and a half I have found some amazing ...

I made this baby quilt for a friend with a matching baby bumper and I thought I'd share this quilt as a tutorial.



Materials:
(I used Eden by Tula Pink for this quilt, except for the yellow)

Purple (nine-patch and binding): 1 yard
Green (nine-patch) : 1/2 yard (you'll use almost exactly 1/2 yard, so if you may want a little extra for a buffer)
Purple/Green Vine (blocks): 3/4 yard
Yellow (inner border): 1/2 yard
Border: 3/4 yard (you'll need exactly this, so you may want a little extra for a buffer ...

Here are some more pictures from the MQX show.  Aren't they just amazing?  Love 'em.

Yesterday I went to the Machine Quilters Expo on Providence, RI with Lynn and KK.  We saw some amazing quilts and did a bunch of shopping.  It makes me want to head into my quilting room and practice my machine quilting.  Here are a few pictures of the quilts.

Here's the grand prize winner:

I'll post a few more in my next post... Hope you enjoyed some of the pics.

I've been itching to get into dyeing some of my own fabric lately.  I have a few books ordered and on their way about dying fabrics to learn more about it before I really dig in.

I figured I'd ask here, have you dyed fabric before?  What was your experience like?  Any favorite products?  Any good tips/tricks I should know ahead of time that you didn't learn from a book?

Work has been crazy insane lately, so not much quilting has gone on in my house.  I'm planning on attending the MQX expo on Saturday ...

I'm working on making a quilt for a friend who just had a beautiful baby girl.  She asked me to make a baby quilt and bumper for her crib.  I'm making the quilt out of the Eden line from Moda for the quilt and bumper.  As I started making the quilt I thought that it would make for a good tutorial so I started taking a bunch of pictures of my progress.  I hope to share this tutorial with you in the next month or so.  In the mean time, here's a sneak peak at the quilt ...

A little over a week ago we had our second Fiesta! class.  We worked on another type of block.  First, here's a pic of 4 of my blocks from the first style of block we worked on.  I have another 4 of this kind of block left to make.
Here are Lynn's 8 blocks.  Awesome, aren't they?
KK wasn't able to join us this class as she was traveling for work.

And here's the new block that I worked on during our last class.  It still needs some trimming on the top and left, but ...

I made another 3 blocks for the Fiesta! quilt that I'm making.  I'm loving how these are coming out. 
And here's a pic of the first block that I made...