Sweet As Honey Blog Tour ~ Day 23

 

Hey there!!! Today I get to be part of  Sweet As Honey Blog Tour!!!! I was so thrilled when Bonnie agreed to let me be part of this tour! I had seen all kinds of images of this gorgeous line floating around social media and I honestly COULD NOT WAIT to get my hands on it!
If this is your first time visiting my blog, WELCOME! and thank you so much for stopping by! I hope you'll take a few minutes after reading this post to go check out some of my other work!

Isn't this line just gorgeous!?!?!?! I love the colors and the feel of the line! As soon as I found out I was going to be part of this hop I knew I HAD to make a pillow, because honestly, what's better than a handmade pillow? (besides a quilt) Not much if you ask me! I didn't want to do anything too intricate and take away from the fabrics so I decided to do a simple patchwork design that had been stuck in my head. I was sent 4 Fat Eighths to play with.

After squeeling with delight I decided I needed to go to my LQS and pick up a bit more of this line for the backing and binding and to throw a bit more contrast in my patchwork. So, with the above FE's and the fabrics below I was set!

Like I said I didn't want to take away from this gorgeous fabric and I wanted to keep as much of the design as possible so I decided to go with 2.5" squares for my patchwork.

I love the way these fabrics POP against the Kona Snow background! I am really happy with the way this turned out, these fabrics are a dream to work with! If you've never sewn with Art Gallery fabrics before you need to stop what you're doing and go buy some (this line would be my suggestion) and then just pet them for a while, then you can sew with them. LOL! The hand of these are beyond words....I just love them!

I decided to do straight(ish) line quilting on this and I think it works really good with this layout.

I chose to do an envelope style backing in one of my favorite prints from the line...who am I kidding? They are ALL my favorite!

I decided to snap a photo without the pillow form so you could see the entire design....I absolutely LOVE the way this turned out (have I said that already?) I have an idea for a quilt using this design, stay tuned...I may just do my first quilt tutorial soon!

     Anyhow, I am so honored to be part of this amazingly talented group of blog hoppers! (Click on that link and you will be taken to the entire line up! There is sooo many amazing projects on this line up!) Yesterday Celebrate Life With Us made some ADORABLE pinwheels! I can NOT wait to see what Everyday Miija has made for tomorrow!

I hope you all enjoyed my stop as much as I enjoyed playing with this gorgeous fabric line! I really can't wait to see what Bonnie will design next!

If you'd like to see the swatches of the entire line you can go check them out here!


P.S. Don't forget to go check out my new video on YouTube! Just click right here to see it! (I hope you'll become a subscriber so you don't miss out on any of the videos I've got coming up!)



~Hope y'all are having a GREAT day!!!~

DIY Pressing Board

Hey guys!!! Today I'm going to show you how to make your own pressing board!! This is a super easy DIY project that will really make a difference in your sewing and quilting! Don't forget to check out my video where I will walk you through exactly how I made it! 

The difference between a PRESSING board and an IRONING board is HUGE! The reason you want to use a PRESSING board when quilting is you need a hard surface. An ironing board has to much give from all the cushion the put on it and pressing your fabrics on it can result in warped fabrics, which we NEVER want! The hard surface of a PRESSING board will help you PRESS your seams without having to worry about fabric distortion!

Let's get started with the tutorial:

Materials you will need are:
Piece of Plywood from your local hardware store, in any size that will fit your needs... (mine is 3/4" thick x 25" x 25")
100% cotton batting (you don't want to use polyester batting for this)
Fabric (home decor weight, duck, or canvas is ideal (I'm using duck cloth)
and an electric stapler

Step 1:
Cut your cotton batting and fabric at least 3 inches larger than the plywood on all sides.
Then layer them as follows: fabric (wrong side facing UP), batting, then center your piece of plywood as best as you can.

Step 2:
Start on any side, pull your batting and fabric taught around the plywood and place 2-3 staples along the length of that side. Repeat for each side, leave the corners alone for now.

It should look something like this...

For the board to lay flat we will need to trim away excess fabric from the corners. I should've done this before I started stapling the sides down but I didn't think about it until I got to the corners. So, if you want to cut out a squarish piece from each corner before you start you can. But this is how I did it....
I took one side of the fabric and folded it down, like the picture above shows

I started cutting right where the 2 fabrics met, make a straight cut until you reach the edge of the board.

Now, pull that section straight up...

Now cut straight across. You will end up having a rectangular shape cut off.

Fold your shortest side down, then overlap the other side and staple into place. You want to make sure you staple through all 4 layers of fabric, I put an additional staple closer to the corner because I didn't want it to come loose.

Repeat for each additional corner.

Now, flip it over and VOILA you are done! You have made yourself the perfect place to press!!!!

I hope you guys enjoyed this tutorial, if you have any questions make sure to leave them in the comments and I will get back to you!

Don't forget to check out the video for this tutorial (just click right on the image above!) and SUBSCRIBE to my YouTube channel!


~Hope y'all are having a GREAT day!!!~

My YouTube channel is LIVE!

Hey guys!!! I just wanted to let you guys know that I have my introduction video up on YouTube!!! YAY! I am so nervous to be honest with you! But, it's a learning process, right?
Sooooo, go check it out and PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! Leave me tons of comments and give me a thumbs up! LOL! I feel like I'm "pimping" my channel! hahahaha!
Okay, so ya ready for it? Here it is!!!

lol I look like an idiot! Oh well, you guys understand, right?
I hope you will go check it out!



~Hope y'all are having a GREAT day!!!~

2 Finishes and Pretty Fabric

Hey guys!!! How's it going? I've got some pretties to show you! (YAY!!!!)


         OH...let me just tell you, I AM SOOOOO EXCITED! I just got my BRAND NEW camera today! I sold my other one so I could get this one to make it easier to do my videos! The main difference between my new and old camera is the new one has a viewfinder that moves around....yeah...don't know the technical term for it...but at least I'll be able to actually see if I'm in focus now! YAY! lol

okay, back to the scheduled (haha yea right) programming!
First, I'll show you what I've made.....

I made this gorgeous "K" for the background of my future videos! I love the way it turned out and am really excited for what else I've got planned! I think it's going to look really good! (I hope you guys agree!) (I'm not going to show the backing because I just threw a piece of fabric back there since I know no one else will see it!) I got the pattern from Moda's blog hop they did called Spell It With Fabric. I was going to link you to the main page with all the different alphabet links but I can't find it! It says "Sorry the page you are looking for can not be found" so I don't know if they took it down or what? If I find it I will update you guys!

Then I loved my "K" so much I decided to make one for a friend that I'm doing a swap with, but the bad thing is, I think I like hers better! LOL! Oh well!!!! It's pretty huh? I wanted it to be really scrappy and fun and I think I accomplished that quite well!

Here is the back of hers, just something simple!
I quilted both of the "K"s the same way, stitched in the ditch around the "K" and then  just echoed that line with my walking foot. I'd say the lines are a little bit larger than a 1/4". I really love the way they both turned out though!

Now onto my other pretties......
I have been on an EXTREMELY tight budget for the majority of this past year and have not been able to buy much fabric at all! (I know, very sad right?) So with that being said I decided to splurge a little and buy some fabric that I've really been wanting!
Soooo, I hopped over to one of my favorite online shops Westwood Acres and did a little shopping! I don't know why, but lately when I actually get to buy fabric I've just been buying fat quarters instead of actual yardage (unless the fabric is for something specific!)  Wanna see what I got?

Yep, I went a little crazy! I HATE fabric diets!

This line right here is one that I've been really excited about! I absolutely LOVE Lotta Jansdotter's fabrics! Like, seriously L-O-V-E! This is her newest line called MorMor and it is every bit as fantastic as I expected it to be! I will buying some yardage of a few of these prints! (I really want like a yard of each but there's this thing called a BUDGET that I hate! LOL!)

Then I got these beauties! I really LOVE Allison Glass too! And I have pretty much all of the other prints in this line except for Corsage. This is called X and + and is from the Sun Print (I think) collection.

I've been DYING to get my hands on this collection from Joel Dewberry's line "True Colors" this is called Herringbone and I absolutely LOVE it! I really wanted to buy yardage of each of these but I contained myself pretty well I think! And then Amanda also sent me a cute little mini charm pack of April Showers as a little gift! I love getting surprises like that!

So, after I did all that damage one of my friends decided to have a "pop up" sale over on IG and I really really could NOT stop myself....

I got these beauties!!!! The new Pearl Bracelets, they are tone on tone and a few metallics too! I know FOR SURE I will be buying yardage of these! LOL! I just wanted a little to be able to play around with! You can find Jen's shop right here it's called Knotted Thread! Jen is really super sweet and her prices are amazing! (No, she did not pay me to say that nor does she even know I'm writing this post, I just REALLY love her shop and her! SO GO CHECK HER OUT! and tell her I sent you!)

Here is another view of the Pearl Bracelets, just because I love them soooo much!

Anyhow, how was your week? Have you got any ideas for videos for me to shoot? If so, leave them in the comments!!! I'm sooo excited about my upcoming channel! You guys just have no idea, seriously it's all I've been thinking about!!!! I hope y'all are just as excited as I am!

~Hope y'all are having a GREAT day!!!~

Mini Swoon Finish

I just finished up another round of Sew Sew Modern (round 4) and am absolutely L-O-V-I-N-G what I received!!! It's one of the best swap packages I have ever gotten! But.... I'm not here to show you that...(yet! I'm a bad blogger and got too excited and forgot to take good pics of my goodies!) But I am here to show you what I sent my Partner!

I had such a hard time packing this up and sending it off! You guys just don't even know!!! Even my husband said he wished I didn't have to send it off! But the good thing about it is I can always make another one! I absolutely LOVE the way this mini Swoon turned out!

It is a lot of itty bitty piecing, but it came together rather quickly once I had all the cutting done.
I love the busyness of the background!

If you guys don't know this pattern is called Mini Swoon and is by the wonderful Camille Roskelley! I've been really wanting to make the large version of this pattern for a while now...I believe I purchased it going on 2 years ago and just have not gotten around to making it yet! It is on my "to do" list though!
I chose to do concentric circles for the quilting, offsetting the circle so it wasn't in the middle. It was such fun to make this mini quilt! I just can't get over it! I hope my Partner likes it as much as I do!

I chose to do a simple backing...the front piecing was enough for me! LOL!

Anyhow, I hope you guys enjoyed checking out this mini I made! I've got some more stuff to share with you VERY soon!!! (promise!)
Oh yeah, a little YouTube update....I have my first video completely filmed and can NOT figure out this dang editing stuff! It's driving me CRAZY!!! I told my husband that if I can teach myself to sew then I can for sure teach myself to edit! LOL! I'm using Windows Live Movie Maker if anyone knows of any sites, tutorials, or anything that will help me learn this stuff PLEASE leave me a comment letting me know! I will be forever grateful!

I'll be linking this lovely up with Amanda Jean for Finish It Friday!

~Hope y'all are having a GREAT day!!!~

Charm Pack Cherry- my version

HEY GUYS!!!! How ya been? I know I've been MIA...computer issues! Hopefully that will all be fixed VERY soon!!! I have decided to do the YouTube thing and will keep you guys updated on that! I've filmed the first video, but I'm gonna try to get a few more filmed before I upload any. 

Anywho, the reason I'm here today is to share this AH-MAY-ZINGLY simple FREE quilt pattern with you all!!!

I chose to make mine out of Sweet Serenade from Moda...I really love this quilt! It takes 2 print charms and 2 solid charms and you can literally put it together in a day! Super quick!!! You can find the free pattern right here! Thanks to the wonderful Fat Quarter Shop!
I'll show you some more pics of my quilt...

They asked me to use the left over charms to help create my backing for this quilt. Y'all know I'm all about a pieced quilt back, so that was no problem with me!

I used one of the extra solid charms to make my quilt label...yes I actually did a REAL label for this quilt! You can't really make it out in this pic but it says "Charm Pack Cherry   Pieced and Quilted by Kelie Copas of Craft Nurse Quilt Feb 2014"

I chose to do an all over stipple for the quilting, my go-to! I'm telling you this quilt is sooo easy to make!!!

It looks so much more complicated than what it is! I just love quilts like this!

I machine bound this quilt, and I'm really happy with the way it turned out! I'm getting better every time I do it!

And if you are a YouTube junkie like I am and like to see video tutorials, the Fat Quarter Shop has got you covered there too!!!

Just click right there on the video to watch it! Or if you prefer you can just go to the Fat Quarter Shop's channel and click on the Charm Pack Cherry video! Kimberly is a great teacher and breaks it down so ANYONE can understand how to put this quilt together!

Oh and speaking of the Fat Quarter Shop to celebrate the release of this pattern they are having a sale for you all!!!! *YAY FOR SALES* and you can get your charm packs for this quilt for TWENTY PERCENT off!!! YAY! All you have to do is click right here to see their HUGE selection of charm packs!

So, my wonderful people...hurry up and go download this pattern and make yourself, friend, or family member a gorgeous quilt!!!!


I will be talking to you VERRRRY soon! I've got a few things to share as soon as I get my computer back up and running smoothly! And be on the lookout for my YouTube channel! I'm hoping to start it up by the middle of March! If you guys have any ideas of videos you want to see leave me a comment below letting me know!!

LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!


~Hope y'all are having a GREAT day!!!~

I need some advice.....

YAY! I'm back! I'm finally starting to feel like myself again (thank goodness!) and am back at the machine....kind of! With my new job and working nights again, I'm having a bit of a rough time adjusting, so I haven't been sewing as much as I'd like to, but I have a lot of plans for this year. I'm trying to make a list of what I want to accomplish in the year 2014, and that is pretty hard to do, especially since I want to be as realistic as possible. So, I'm still working on that list for you guys...I've got one made, but I need to make a few edits! It's coming though, I promise!
I also am needing some advice from you all...it's at the bottom of this post!

I've started a new Scrappy Trip quilt, this one is going to be for me though! I love how easy it is, and how quick the blocks come together...I'm planning on making this one queen size which will be the biggest quilt I've made EVER! I'm really excited about the final quilt! I think it's going to be really pretty with all the colors and I'm going to use a low volume print down the center of each block...I can't wait to finish it!!!!

I'm also working on finishing up a mini quilt for my Sew Sew Modern 4 partner! I love these mini swoon blocks!!! I think this one is going to be hard to give away! I'll post better pictures once I get it finished!

But the main reason for me writing this post is I need some serious advice from you. I've been doing A LOT of thinking about where I want to go with my sewing and quilting....I've got high hopes, but I'm also trying to realistic with my goals too. But, I'm really seriously thinking about starting up a YouTube channel. I've got quite a few ideas for videos already (like 2 complete pages worth)!
   Let me tell you what I'm thinking...
I remember when I was trying to learn/teach myself to sew and quilt what kind of things I would look up on google or youtube and not being very successful at finding some of those things or if I did find them, it wasn't exactly what I would call "helpful". So, I was thinking, why not share what I've learned along my path? So kind of like a channel dedicated to mostly learning to sew and quilt and the different things you can make out of stuff...I hope that makes sense. I'm not saying it will be entirely just about sewing since there are other things I enjoy doing too. But, I really love to teach people about my passion and I can't really think of a better way to do that than through YouTube! I know that I am going to be putting myself out there and I'm positive I will be ridiculed and all that stuff that mean people out there like to do, but if I can help at least ONE person then I'd be happy!
  So what do you guys think? Of course, with every video I upload there will be a blog post to go along with it. But I really want to know what you guys think! Would you watch my channel? Do you think it's a good idea? Do you think it's a bad idea? I really really really want your advice!!!!
So I hope you will take a minute and leave me a comment to let me know! Be honest!
I'll be back soon with some pretties to share!!!!

~Hope y'all are having a GREAT DAY!!!~