Bloggers girls quilt along

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Happy New Year! 
I am happy to be starting the new year with a few friends.
Time to start on a 6 month BOM.
Are you ready?
On the first of each month, 
 we will be posting our “color options” as we participate with
 Monique from 
Open Gate Quilt’s  on her first quilt along. 

 Block 1- color version 1
 Block 1- color version 2
Look how different two of the same blocks can be just by fabric and color placement.
 The fun thing about this project is that it is all about color options
as well as fantastic precision piecing with the use of Monique’s rulers. 
It is 2013  so first thing you should do is 
go out and treat yourself 
to the
 FIT TO BE QUARTER 6.5 & companion ruler.
It changed my life and I am not being over dramatic. 
Accuracy and precision are a breeze with this. I always thought
 I was a pretty good “piecer”, 
but now I am a fantastic piecer!
 My signature piece of fabric is a piece from Edyta Sitar’s Paint Box Collection.  
Stock # 42101-13 color Coco. 
I will be using this as my
border and will also sprinkle it throughout some of my quilt blocks.
I seriously love this print!
This is a fabric that has so many wonderful colors that I could use it for almost any 
project. The possibilities of beautiful colors to coordinate are endless. 
Edyta has a way of doing this with each of her collections. 
I keep a swatch of this fabric pinned to my design wall so I can audition
 fabrics as I make each of the blocks.
For  yardage information, click here.  
Instructions for each block with be posted at Open Gate.
Make a cup of tea and visit each of the Blogger Girls on 
the BLOCK OF THE MONTH LINEUP:
Monique From Open Gate Quilts – opengatequilts.blogspot.com/
Sherri from A Quilting Life – aquiltinglife.blogspot.com
Thelma from Cupcakes ‘n Daisies ~ cupcakesndaisies.blogspot.com
Lissa from Moda  Lissa  ~ ModaLissa.blogspot.com
Denise from Quilter’s  Window ~ Quilterswindow.com/blog/
Nicole from Sister’s Choice  ~  sisterschoice.typepad.com
Lisa from Stashmaster ~ The-Stashmaster.blogspot.com
Follow each of us to see all the color options on the first of each month .
 I will also be posting some of the ways this ruler can help your day to day sewing.

 I hope you enjoy this project as much as  I have already enjoyed being a part of it.
Upload your block pictures on the Blogger Girls Flickr site.
I look forward to seeing your block progress.
 

Thanks Monique for inviting me!

What I learned on my Christmas break

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Each year on the first day of school I always had to write a paper titled “What I did on my summer vacation.”
This morning as the house is quite and thoughts of the new year are swirling around in my head, I started thinking about the things I learned on my Christmas vacation. The list does not include the obvious things about how thankful and blessed I am to have and be a part of a wonderful family.

Here is the list in no particular order.
1. If an early lunch with an old friend lasts all day, maybe we need to get together more often.
2. Picking out just 6 fabrics for a quilt is very hard.
3. No Internet is a very detoxing and therapeutic experience.
4. Baking soda facial helps close those nasty pores. Thank you Pinterest.
5. A simple Christmas meal is just as wonderful as one with all the hoopla.
6. No matter which family member is missing the holiday is not the same.
7. The pounds I have lost….. I have found and they brought friends.
8. Surprising someone with a handmade gift that brings tears to their eyes is so gratifying.
9. Snow in Texas on Christmas is beautiful.
10. My moms vegetable soup is just as good as I remember.
11. My happiness journal brought back great memories from 2012.
12. I am excited for 2013.

Hope each of you had a wonderful holiday and here’s to a blessed 2013.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

BOM coming soon

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Blogger
Girls Block of the Month

I am super excited to be a part of a big event starting January 1st, 2013. Monique Dillard from Open Gate is doing her first ever online Block of the Month. 
 
Instead of BOM (block of the month) 
this should probably be
 BGBOM (blogger girls block of the month)
So here is the line-up.
Monique Dillard from Open Gate – opengate.blogspot.com
(instructions posted here on the first of each month)

Sherri from A Quilting Life – aquiltinglife.blogspot.com
Thelma
from Cupcakes ‘n Daisies ~ cupcakesndaisies.blogspot.com
Denise from
Quilter’s Window ~ Quilterswindow.com/blog/
Nicole
from Sister’s Choice ~ sisterschoice.typepad.com
Lisa
from Stashmaster ~ The-Stashmaster.blogspot.com
 and me
Lissa
from Moda Lissa ~ ModaLissa.blogspot.com

 

 
Each of us will be making the same block each month. We are all using different fabrics so this will really give you lots of color choices. There will be 6 blocks posted and you can make the
6 block quilt or make 2 of each block and make the 12 block quilt. There will also be a set of instructions with the finishing options to make either size quilt. 
The instructions will be on Monique’s blog until July 2013.
As soon as you have packed away all the Christmas goodies, get ready, pick your favorite signature fabric for borders and stay tuned for yardages posted soon.
 
 here is a sneak peek at Monique’s finished quilt
Stay tuned…..
 

Travel Pillowcases

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Travel Pillowcases
I have been having so much fun making travel pillowcases. 
All you really need is 14″ of fabric plus a band. 
It is pretty cool how the construction of this pillowcase is done.
 Don’t get me wrong making the standard pillowcases with the
 sausage technique is absolutely amazing. 
The travel pillowcases are made completely different using 1 width of fabric. 
These are fun to keep in the car for road trips or the occasional road side pillow fights!
How about using them as pillowcases/gift bags!

FABRIC SUPPLIES

Body- 14″ by 44″
Trim- 1 3/4″ x 14″
Band- 8″ x 14″

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Trim- Fold in half lengthwise and press
2. Band- Fold in half lengthwise and press
3. Lay the body of the pillow case face up and layer the raw edges of 
the trim and band. Pin in place.
4. Sew along the 14″ side keeping all the layers together .
5. Press
( this is where it can be a bit tricky to understand from written directions)
6. On the opposite end of the pillow case, fold under 6″. 
Press. Fold under 1/4″ of the 6″ and press to create a hem.
look close at the words on picture
7. Fold body right sides together.
8. Fold the flap over the top of the band creating an envelope and pin in place.
9. Sew the 2 side seams.
10. Trim corners to eliminate any bulk.
11. Turn the pillowcase right sides out. The envelope flap will hold 
the pillow in 
place and cover the top 6″ of the side seams.
12. Press and add a 12″ x 18″ travel pillow.
thank you Carolyn Tover for the machine embroidery
Doing some research on travel pillows and found that the size of 
pillows can vary by manufacturer. You may want to decide what size 
your travel pillow is before cutting and vary the  pattern slightly.
For some of the pillowcases I used flannels.
top-Apple Jacks by Tim & Beck
Marmalade by Bonnie & Camille
bottom 2- Cottons from Bear Country School by Berenstain Bears
Sleep tight!
-modalissa

Ombre Jelly Roll quilt

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Have you fallen in love with Vanessa’s Simply Color fabric line?
I know I have.
Vanessa has ombre mini jelly rolls that include only her ombre fabrics.
The jelly rolls are a little misleading because at first glance they look like a nice
little set of spring colors. Once the jelly roll is opened, the colors burst as the
ombre colors flow creating a full pop of color. The quilt shown below
was made from 1 ombre jelly roll and a bella solid background.

ombre nine patch12_6

ombre nine patch12 
 Look how cool the binding and border is using a ombre fabric also.

 

ombre nine patch12_20


Now for the backing…
Just as colorful as the front.

ombre nine patch12_22 
Of course I had to use fat quarters from the Simply color  collections  for my quilt back.
Are you nervouse about just chopping up a bunch of fabrics to piece your backings?
Lynne Wilson has come up with patterns to help you through the process.
Each of the patterns will make a backing up to a certain size.
What a great way to use up your stash! OR use new fabrics like I did!! Ha ha!
I have a reversible quilt that is full of color!
The pattern line is BACK IT UP.

  

ombre nine patch12_9

 For the pattern to make the quilt top, click HERE.
I also made a version with grey solid as the background. These fabrics are so addictive
 that I couldn’t make just one!!

Berenstain Bears star quilt

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Bear Country School
 Are you looking for something fun and quick to make?
All you need is
 1 charm pack, 
3/4 yd background fabric,
1/3 yd inner border,
 1 1/2 yds for border and binding
The entire pattern is listed below but the following pics are some 
step by steps so you can see how easy this ruler makes sewing “off” corners. 
Blocks like snowballs etc are perfect to use this technique
 and there is no marking involved.
Quilt measures 48″ x 48″
Folded Corner Clipper, Stock #502
Prairie Sky Quilting

 With fabrics right side together, place the ruler on the fabric and trim. 
(the EXTRA trimmed triangles can be sewn together and used for another project.)
see how the ruler lines up at the point and includes the seam allowance
sew 1/4″
this method can also be done on pieces that are already sewn together such as the two squares above.
add the bella solid square
trim
sew
I also sewed all my “extra” triangles together as shown in the background.
To download the pattern to make this quilt, click HERE.
charm pack star12_5
Welcome to Bear Country
by Berenstain Bears is in stores now.
charm pack star12_11
 This is a great pattern to make using any charm pack!!

Have fun.
-modalissa

Friday Funny

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I am checking in after a whirlwind Market and Festival with a lame Friday Funny. I wanted you to know that I was alive and recuperating from a very long and great couple of months!!
I am back in the saddle. 
Here goes.
FRIDAY FUNNY
Check your shampoo bottle label.
I don’t know WHY I didn’t figure this out sooner!!!!
It’s the shampoo I use in the shower!

When I wash my hair, the shampoo runs down my whole body and (duh!) printed very clearly on the shampoo label is this warning, FOR EXTRA VOLUME AND BODY! No wonder I have been gaining weight!!!

Well! I have gotten rid of that shampoo and I am going to start using Dawn dish soap instead.

Their label reads, DISSOLVES FAT THAT IS OTHERWISE DIFFICULT TO REMOVE. Problem Solved!!!

If I don’t answer the phone I’ll be in the shower!!!

Sweet Celebrations blog hop

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Welcome Welcome. I am honored to be one of the stops on the tour along with such talented people. Sweet Celebrations features projects from 21 designers or as we call them chefs.
 Chef is code word so that our families think we are spending more time in the kitchen than in the sewing room.
Why I am on the hop? Because I had the honor of compiling this project. However I did not do it alone. I had lots of help from Angela Yosten and Jenny Garland who helped hatch the entire project.
I also wanted to give a shout out to Chelair Etter who took care of making sure each chef had the ingredients necessary to complete their project. Thanks also to the great crew at Stash Books for putting together such a great book that can be used throughout the year.
The book was started a year and a half ago so to see the actual book and the great projects inside is such a great surprise to see how it all came together.

Throughout the hop you will see a few of the projects in the book so I am not going to duplicate those images. However I am going to show you the pages titled, Celebrate the Designers. That is really what this blog hop is all about, celebrating the designers and all the work they put into this project. I am lucky enough to have my hands on an early copy of the book. I also have many pages flagged for the projects that I want to make!

If you are a storeowner, you can meet some of the chefs at market. They will be there doing a book signing in the United Notions booth.

If you are coming to Quilt Festival in Houston, there will be a Moda Bake Shop booth, showcasing some of the projects from the book as well as all the projects online at the bakeshop.

 Leave a comment telling me what your favorite part of quilting is and I will draw a winner for this little bag of treats that includes 8 different 2 1/2″ charm packs called Moda Candy.

My recipe is from a friend of mine, Debbie Outlaw. The recipe has been around for so long no one knew what it’s original name was…………so I took the liberty to rename it, Outlaw’s Pumpkin Muffins.

here is a link to the recipe.

Hop on over to Little Miss Shabby to see what she is saying today about Sweet Celebrations.