Sharing a tidbit- rotary cutter blades

KarrieLynn over at Freckled Whimsy has tips every Tuesday. This Tuesday she shared a tip about rotary cutter blades. There is a cheap alternative!! I am going to try it out.

Her latest Moda Bake Shop project is awesome too!

Choices! Choices!!

It seems hard to believe, but block 9 of the Layer Cake Quilt Along came out today. That means we are 3/4 done. I have been a bit of a square hoarder so I think I may have some left over at the end. A couple blocks ago I kind of panicked and started using as many scraps as possible. I also used a solid that wasn't in the layer cake. I may be able to do a block 5 redo.

There are 4 layout options. I picked my fabrics with a general idea of the shapes in mind. Which option do you think I should go with?

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Option 4

Crossing off the to-do list

One of my goals for 2011 was to 'Start and finish Split Decision quilt'. I picked up a Rural Jardin jelly roll while it was on sale at Fat Quarter Shop. I think the cream, reds and blues will provide a nice contrast for the Split Decision pattern. I am taking a short cut though and just unrolling and dividing the strips up the way they came in the jelly roll. It shouldn't take too long to assemble, but it always takes longer than one expects. This afternoon I start cutting.

Turned out ok

While I don't love it like I love the brown colour scheme, I do like it.

The yellows don't show up very well in the picture, but they are pretty yellows. In the flickr pool, another quilter used gray with yellows and it showed up really well. I would use the same pattern again, making some size adjustments to end up with bed sized quilt.

Quilts on their way

I handed over two table toppers and a quilt a couple weeks ago to Jenny. Well, they are done and while I haven't seen them in person, the pictures on her blog look awesome. I am very excited! Thanks Jenny!!!

Box of chocolates

Everybody uses the word 'yummy' when talking about fabrics and quilts. I greatly dislike the word 'yummy'. This quilt though does make me think of the word 'yummy'. It reminds me of a box of chocolates. I love the colours of this quilt. I think they are rich and caramel-y and butterscotch-y and toffee-y. I should have known that I would like it, because the colours in the quilt are all represented in my living room furniture. I need to stick to what I like rather than trying to go with trends.

I have pictures of the pieced chains, but they would detract from the image of the quilt itself. I did something I shouldn't have. I didn't measure my pieced strips and cut the background strips to size. I went ahead and sewed the background strips on and then cut. You can see the unevenness on the bottom edge. I need to figure that one out.

I adore this quilt. The size also adds to the chocolate charm. Thank you Cherri. So here it is.

If done correctly

If done correctly, you can mis-measure. It happened again. I had a scrap piece that wasn't large enough for Block 8 of the Layer Cake Quilt Along. I needed a 5 inch square, but the strip was only a smidge over 4 1/2 inches wide. I decided to eek it out again. This time I was intentional in my sewing and figured out exactly where I should sew to make it a 4 1/2 inch block. I was right on the edge and I did have to use some fusible web to reinforce, but how awesome am I with my measurements?!

Since the block had two options for arrangements, I did my usual preview.

I went with the first arrangement. I thought it showcased the large floral better. I really like how this block turned out. I am also glad I got to incorporate a couple colours that haven't seen much time in the previous blocks.

Overthinking colours

I went back and forth and back and forth on the Cherry House Quilt Along colour selection. In the end I went with a couple yellows and one orange. I went ahead and cut because I knew if I waited I would have started all over again. The colours aren't showing up very well in the picture, but I am pleased. I have no idea which combination of colours I ended up with. I know Papaya for certain and maybe Corn Yellow.

So after choosing my colours I was left with a pile of peachy looking beiges. I decided I might as well do another one. I went to Hobby Lobby with Emily over lunch today and picked up Caramel and Coffee as the background. One of the other colours is Ocher, but the other two I am unsure about. I haven't cut them yet. When I do, I will post a picture.

Don't mismeasure on purpose

Block seven in the Layer Cake Quilt Along allowed for the use of scraps. The scrap piece I chose wasn't quite large enough, so I decided to eek it out. Yeah, not a good idea. Those measurements are there for a reason. A square of 5 3/4 inch is not the same as square of 5 1/2 inch. It looked like it was working till I had to put the borders on and the block was too small. I had to rip a couple seams and trim down to the block size. It all worked out, but I was a bit frustrated by the end. The instructions though were awesome! The pressing instructions really helped.

I wanted the spin to look really spin-y so I did my usual fabric trial. I thought the brown floral showed up better than the polka dot. Likewise, with the border the cream didn't show up as well as the brown solid. I also used up the green because it is on the 'inside' of the block. The green is my sashing fabric and I have been conscious to not use it where it might be on the outside of the block. Always thinking!

Edit: OK it is black and yellow

So the golds did not work out. My friend Emily (of Emily's deer) said she didn't know why I was re-visiting the black and gold colour scheme. Last summer I tried a black and gold quilt using batiks. It did not work.

So I ran to Hancock Fabrics and picked up all the bolts of yellow they had. I ended up with Papaya, Corn Yellow and Buttercup. I had forgotten I already had Corn Yellow, so I kept one of the previous yellows. My previous cuts didn't come marked so I have no idea which is which. I think it is Daffodil. So here is the current selection. I feel more comfortable with it. The papaya is orange-y, but I think it goes. It is the one 'off' colour to make it unique. Tonight I cut.

On a side note, I was doing some Kona Cotton research last night and there was some discussion on whether the Kona Cotton from a quilt store (Kaufman's) was the same as the Kona Cotton carried by Hancock Fabrics. I have looked at the bolts and some of them do indeed say Robert Kaufman.

Edit: I went to Hobby Lobby and the bolts are indeed marked Robert Kaufman. I bought a couple other yellows- canary, banana and something else. I'm so confused now.

Fabric here!

My fabric for the Cherry House Quilts Quilt Along arrived yesterday. I got 5 yellows/golds, but it looks a bit mustard/tan. There is one very bright yellow. I am not sure if I should include it since it will 'pop' or if I should go with the more subtle/blended scheme.

Suggestions? The colours are pretty true in the picture.

Fabric ordered

I ordered the fabric for the Cherry House Quilts Quilt Along. With the weather though, it is going to take a while to get from Ohio to Iowa. That's OK, because all I have to do is cut before next Monday. Still don't have my Kona colour card, but a kind participant listed all the golds for me on the Flickr discussion board. Quilters are so nice!

I ordered Cheddar, Corn Yellow, Daffodil, Ochre and Sunflower. I wonder if they will come labeled. One lady in the Flickr group suggested making one's own colour card. Just snipping a bit and accumulating colours along the way. The one thing that I loved the most was the price. For the quilt top and binding, it was only $11.69. Got to love Kona Cotton.

Continuing on about Kona Cottons, there was a fabric swap last month. You sent in 12 Kona Cotton fat quarters and you were sent back 12 Kona Cotton fat quarters. The kicker though was you had to pay a handling fee of $6. I was a bit appalled. That was in addition to including a postage paid envelope to have your 12 fat quarters mailed to you. I know it is work to sort through everything, get things mailed out, etc., but I still thought it was a bit much.

This has been a bit of a rambling post. I apologize. It has been a long day already and my thoughts are scattered.