Text It! Blog Hop - Freedom

Welcome "Text It!" hoppers!

I'm so excited to be a part of the blog hop introducing you to Sherri Noel's new book "Text It!" I received a copy of the book from Martingale when I signed up to do the blog hop. As I scrolled through and came upon "Freedom" I knew this was the one for me.

A few things drew me to this quilt. 1) I love all things patriotic, especially in quilts. 2) I love all things hexagon. 3) I love all things Flying Geese. See, we were made to be, this quilt and me.

Sherri recommended wash away, iron on hexagon papers from Hugs 'n Kisses.  I have never tried these before, I enjoy the EEP that we usually see with paper, but I gave them a try.  I had hoped to have the quilt washed and dried to give you my full experience, but that will have to wait... They were fairly easy to use, but having that paper in there is different, not bad, just different.

I chose not to stitch these together and instead sewed a straight stitch around each one to keep them in place.

For my quilt I used two lines from Moda. One is "Freedom" by Sweetwater and the other is Needle and Thread Gatherings from Primative Gatherings. In Sherri's quilt she uses just red and white/cream, I chose to throw some blue in there.

Confession time: I haven't finished quilting this beauty. This quilt is a bit deceiving in size and I'm pretty sure I never looked at the finished size. I was expecting a nice lap sized quilt, easy to piece and easy to quilt on my domestic machine. One out of two ain't bad. hahahah This quilt finishes at 64" x 80" and while it is super quick to piece, the quilting is a little bit slower.

For this post I'm going to share the quilting side of this pattern, since I'm smack dab in the middle of it. I am loving how it looks though, so look for a finished quilt in the next couple of weeks.

I am using Gutermann 100% polyester thread to quilt both the cream and red. I haven't started on the red yet, but I did find the perfect thread to match it.

I'm also using my handy dandy walking foot to quilt it, which is my go to these days.

I used purple tape to mark the line I needed for quilting the banner. I love the crosshatch look.

For the background of the Flying Geese units I just used the edge of the walking foot as my guide.

This piece along took 30 minutes of steady quilting. You can see why it's taking me a bit to get this finished.

For the goose of the Flying Geese units I'm going to use the purple tape again, but folded in half lengthwise. Variety is the spice of life right? Plus they will be wider stripes that I'm quilting so it will go faster.

The binding will be the blue that I used for the hexagons.

Our snowbanks are currently high enough to comfortably hold an 80" quilt.

I can't wait to finish this one up and get real pictures of this amazing quilt.

Giveaway time! I have 3 giveaways for you. The first two are for US residents only. I know it's a bummer when this happens, but there are so many different laws in each country governing giveaways and prizes, it just makes it too hard to do otherwise. However!! The third is world wide, so hold on a second!  PS Joanne from Quilts By Joanne will have a book giveaway for Canadians on Tuesday, don't miss it!

Giveaway is closed.

Now that you've entered my giveaways you should check out the other bloggers. They all have giveaways, but the blog hop started on Monday so go all the way back. It runs through March 15th so you have many chances to win a book or Aurifil thread! Good luck!

MONDAY MARCH 4 – BEE HAPPY

PAMELA JANE MORGAN – WWW.MYSWEETLITTLESTITCHES.COM                            

SHARON LILABELLE LANE – WWW.LILABELLELANECREATIONS.COM

TUESDAY MARCH 5 – INFINITY Quilt

LAURA PILAND – WWW.SLICEOFPIQUILTS.COM

LEANNE PARSONS – WWW.DEVOTEDQUILTER.BLOGSPOT.COM

KATIE MUTER STARCHER – WWW.KATIEMAEQUILTS.COM

WEDNESDAY MARCH 6 – PILLOW TALK

KATE COLLERAN – WWW.SEAMSLIKEADREAM.COM

CHERYL DAINES BROWN – WWW.QUILTERCHIC.COM

DORIE HRUSKA – WWW.FOREVER-QUILTING.COM

THURSDAY MARCH 7 – FREEDOM Quilt

JEN SHAFFER – WWW.PATTERNSBYJEN.BLOGSPOT.COM

LYNN KANE – WWW.PUPPYGIRLDESIGNS.COM

TARA MILLER – WWW.QUILTDISTRICT.COM

FRIDAY MARCH 8 – LOVING YOU Wall Hanging

ELLEN AULT – WWW.HANDMADE3D.ME/MAINBLOG/

SHERRI NOEL – WWW.REBECCAMAEDESIGNS.COM

MONDAY MARCH 11 – COUNTING SHEEP Baby Quilt

DEANNE EISENMAN – WWW.SNUGGLESQUILTS.COM

RAEWYN BARGE – WWW.STITCHINGFARMGIRL.BLOGSPOT.COM

SUSAN PELLAND – WWW.SUEPELLANDDESIGNS.COM

TUESDAY MARCH 12 – HOME PILLOW

JOANNE HARRIS – WWW.QUILTSBYJOANNE.BLOGSPOT.CA

PATTY DUDEK – WWW.ELMSTREETQUILTS.COM

ANDY KNOWLTON – WWW.ABRIGHTCORNER.COM

SANDRA STARLEY – WWW.UTAHQUILTAPPRAISER.BLOGSPOT.COM

CINDY PIETERS – WWW.STITCHINATHOME.COM

WEDNESDAY MARCH 13 – LIFE IS SHORT Wall hanging

BECCA FENSTERMAKER – WWW.PRETTYPINEY.COM

KATIE BOCK – WWW.SEWINGWITHKATIE.BLOGSPOT.COM

ALLA BLANCA – WWW.RAINBOWSBUNNIESCUPCAKES.BLOGSPOT.COM

THURSDAY MARCH 14 – HUSTLE PILLOW

TERRI BANDEN BOSCH – WWW.MEANDERINGSALONGLIZARDCREEK.BLOGSPOT.COM

WILLOW OLSON – WWW.BEARPAWDESIGNBLOG.WORDPRESS.COM

ERIN SAMPSON – http://auribuzz.wordpress.com/

FRIDAY MARCH 15 – SEWING MACHINE MAT

LAUREN WRIGHT – WWW.MOLLYANDMAMA.COM.AU

SANDRA HEALY – WWW.SANDRAHEALYDESIGNS.COM

CHERYL KRISEL LYNCH – http://www.cheryllynchquilts.blogspot.com/

SATURDAY MARCH 16 – WRAP UP

SHERRI NOEL – WWW.REBECCAMAEDESIGNS.COM

If you want a SIGNED copy of Sherri's book you can order it HERE.

Happy Stitching!

Jen

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This and That

Have you ever sat down to write a post and have it just snowball on you? The post that should have happened today has exploded into, what I think will be a fabulous series. However, that means that there is a big blank this week for blog posts. So lets do a This and That Thursday sort of post, shall we?

If you follow me on Instagram you caught a picture asking about how a white with some grey read. Once cut out, it definitely read white. So it was off to find something else. Then, horror of all horrors, I cut some fabric wrong, that pretty gold. )I cannot follow instructions for the life of me. That is why I have testers, because I honestly cut something wrong every time I make a sample of a pattern. Oy.)

So instead of the beautiful gold metallic, we have this gold batik. Still pretty, but I really liked that gold metallic. Please, please read your instructions. (Says the designer who never does.)

If you are at the Puducah Quilt Show don't forget to stop by Cherrywood Hand-dyed Fabrics' booth. They have the lap sized version of Softly Circled kitted and ready for you to take home!

If not for the quilt pattern, do it for the fabric. You will not be disappointed!!

If you haven't heard, Quiltmaker,s 100 Blocks is available May 2nd. There is a huge blog tour planned and it starts next week!  My day is Friday, but make sure you check out each blog throughout the entire week. 

Blog tour

Did you catch that? I am part of the blog hop, Why? I have my first block in the magazine!  Whoop whoop! Get ready for a great week, with lots of giveaways from the designers and fun blog posts. With a theme of "Block Tour Road Rally" how can it not be loads of fun?

Thanks for joining me for a This and That Thursday! 

Happy Stitching!

Jen

Cloud 9 New Block Blog Hop

Welcome to the Cloud9 New Block Blog Hop, hosted by Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs, Yvonne of Quilting Jetgirl and Stephanie of Late Night Quilter. Using the Organic Cirrus fabrics from Cloud 9 (shown here in one of the Christmas gifts my daughter made me, Mom brag!) designers from all over the globe designed a 12" finished block to share with you. 

You are in for a treat!

PBJ is just one stop on this amazing blog hop, so please make sure you stop by the other blogs that will be listed at the end of this tutorial. You will kick yourself if you don't!

My block, Lassi, derived it's name from the first letters of the colors used (yes, I totally copped out on the naming of this block, and I'm not afraid to admit it), Lilac, Amazon, Sky, Shadow and Iris.

This was really fun to design and make, I hope you enjoy it.
To get the PDF version click here.

CUTTING

Shadow - Cut two 4 1/2" squares, cut twice on the diagonal

Amazon (darker blue)- Cut four 4 1/2" squares, cut once on the diagonal

Sky - Cut four 2 5/8" squares

Iris (darker purple) - Cut sixteen 2 3/4" squares

Lilac - Cut eight 3 1/2" squares

INSTRUCTIONS - note: tutorial is in a different order then the PDF file. 

I am using fat quarters for this block. I folded them so that they measured 18 x 11. 

First, I cut a straight edge along the 18" top.

Then I cut a straight edge along the 11" left side ( I am right handed).

All of the fat quarters get squared off like this, and then I cut all my pieces starting from the left.

We are going to start by making the flying geese units. These units will be over sized and we will trim them down when they are pieced.

After I have cut my 4 1/2" squares of Shadow, I need to cut them on the diagonal twice. 

This is my first cut:

Second cut:

When separated you should have four triangles:

For the Amazon square, I will only cut once on the diagonal:

The last piece needed for the flying geese blocks are the Sky squares:

Your first step is to add the Shadow triangles to your Sky squares.

Press towards the triangle.

Add the next Shadow triangle, paying close attention to which way it is turned this should look like a large right triangle. 

Press towards the triangle.

You should have a nice straight edge where the triangles meet.

Next we are gong to add the Amazon triangles.

Flip the pieced triangle over the Amazon triangle, remember these are over sized, so you should have extra fabric on either side. Just eyeball the center, it doesn't need to be exact.

Stitch and press towards triangle.

Add second Amazon triangle.

Next we will trim them down to 3 1/2" x 6 1/2". I use the Wing Clipper. (LOVE IT!) Excuse the freaky reflection, I hope you don't have nightmares!

Next we have our "diamond" blocks. These use the Iris.

We will be marking the diagonal on the wrong side of each square.

We will also be using our Iris blocks.

Sew an Iris square to an Lilac square, stitching just inside the drawn line (so you are closer to the corner then the middle).

If you are interested in using up those extra corners we will be trimming off, follow the next set of instructions, otherwise, press towards the triangle and trim off excess.

Mark a second line 1/2" from the line you just stitched.

Stitch just next to that drawn line, this time closer to the center then the corner.

Cut 1/4" from the seam.

Now you have an extra half square triangle. 

Remember, this is EXTRA. You can use it in another project, or I like to piece a block to add to the back of the quilt.

Repeat with a second Lilac square. Here you can either draw the extra line to get more half square triangles, or just press towards the triangle and trim the excess.

Your diamond block.

Next we will make the block.

The center comes first, and you will use four of your diamond blocks.

Position as shown, you will need two of these.

Stitch down the center and press to the side.

*Hint* Slow your stitching down as you go over this seam. The seams should be going the same direction, so there is a lot of fabric there, but I have found just slowing down allows the machine to walk over it fairly easily.

Stitch the center seam. 

I completely forgot to take pictures as I put my rows together. Whoops! I stitch my block top, middle, bottom and then stitch those rows together. Rows 1 and 3 I pressed out, Row 2 I pressed towards the center. You can do it however you prefer.

LASSI

Don't forget to check out the hosts, because there were blocks shared yesterday, and there are more blocks coming tomorrow!  It's like Christmas, your birthday, my birthday and Santa Claus' birthday all wrapped up in a big fat quilt! Did I mention there are prizes? I told you it's your birthday.

Happy Stitching!

Jen  

Check out today's featured blogs:

Miranda @I Have Purple Hair

Jennifer @The Inquiring Quilter

Sarah @123 Quilt

Leanne @Devoted Quilter

Jennifer @RV Quilting

Amanda @Quiltologie

Sharon @Yellow Cat Quilt Designs

Jen @A Dream and a Stitch

Jen @Faith and Fabric

Carole @Carole Lyles Shaw

Stephanie @Quilt'n Party

Susan @Sevenoaks Street Quilts

Katrin @Now What Puppilalla

Amista @Hilltop Custom Designs

Nicole @Handwrought Quilts

Marla @Penny Lane Quilts

Silvia @A Stranger View

Sarah @Smiles Too Loudly

Carrie @the zen quilter

Mary @Quilting is in My Blood

Velda @GRANNYcanQUILT