I May Have A Scrap Problem... Great Techniques Make Life Easy!

Hi, all!

It has been a busy week around here, but I did manage to make time to work on all three of the My Small World quilts!  This week I made fifteen orange peel blocks, five for each of the three quilts.  All of these blocks were made from 5" squares I had cut from scraps which made me very happy!

These green blocks will go in Nathanael's quilt...

...while these blue beauties will hang out in Lilli's version.

And for Emmy, whose favorite color is "rainbow", there's a lot of lovely color!

These blocks were quick and easy to make, thanks to a great book I read years ago...

First of all, if you don't already have this book, I highly recommend it - Lara has lots of fun projects in the book that all use her super-easy raw edge appliqué technique.  Her trick?  Using Mod-Podge for fabric to seal the back of the pieces to be appliquéd!  The edges don't fray and can be appliquéd with a raw edge and yet will hold and look good.  Much much easier and quicker than turned needle appliqué!

So that's what I've been working on scrappy this week - I'm almost through the required blocks that are due 11/15, so I'm still ahead of the game!  

What have you been working on these days?  Are you having fun playing in your scraps?  Do tell!

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? New Duds For The Grands, and a Winner!

Hi, all!

Welcome to Friday!!!  It's been a long week, and a weird one here - after lovely warm spring weather, we went back to cool and rainy - bummer!  But it's starting to warm back up and hopefully we'll be past our little spurt of "blackberry winter"!  So - - - are you ready to get your whoop whoop on?  Let's go!

Looking ahead to warmer weather, I made a couple of outfits for my granddaughters from this adorable fabric...

Both girls are HUGE Shopkins fans - Lilli has had them for a while now, and Emmy got some of her very own for her birthday - she was hugely excited!  So when my daughter spotted this fabric at Joann's recently, she promptly texted her mama to make sure that the littles would have something handmade from it!

I don't know about you, but I think they like them!

Lilli is getting so big, and is very much her own person!

Of course, our little model had to pose appropriately to show off her outfit well!

And don't think that Nathanael was left out - he got a new Spiderman t-shirt in his favorite color, red!

So can I get a whoop whoop??

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Hmmm, seems like I'm forgetting something.... oh yeah!  We need a winner for the Crafted Appliqué giveaway!!  

So I consulted Little Miss Random, and she chose....

Monica also hates zippers but she may have gotten past it by making a zipper-heavy bag, and she wanted to know if the next commenter was a traditional or modern quilter!  Congratulations, Monica - Lara will be mailing a signed copy of Crafted Appliqué directly to you!  Expect an email from me hooking you and Lara up so you can give her your mailing info....

And if you didn't win this copy or any of the others so far in the giveaway, here's a reminder that (a) this is a great book that you will want to own, and (b) if you buy a copy, and then win a later giveaway on the hop, Lara will refund your purchase price!  That's a win/win if I ever heard one!

Whoop whoop!!

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And now it's your turn!

What's got you whooping it up this week?

What's making you do a little happy dance?

Share - because we want to dance with you - 

And it's always more fun to dance with friends!

The party will stay open until Sunday midnight - 

Hope to see you there!

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Crafted Appliqué, and a Giveaway!

Hi, all!

Wow!  Can you believe it's Friday again already?  And as always, that means it's time to get our whoop whoop on!!  Are you ready?  I've got something really special to share today, so I know I am!

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Back in December, when I found out that my friend Lara had a book coming out, I was thrilled that she asked me to be part of her book release blog hop!  I love reviewing books for friends, and it's always an honor to be entrusted with the task.

Now, I'll be the first to admit that appliqué is not my first love - in fact, we've had a love-hate relationship over the years.  I know how to do it, but haven't ever really enjoyed it.  But when I looked through Lara's book, all that changed!  She has come up with a fantastic new method for appliqué that makes it all simple, and yields fabulous results!  For example, right after I read her book, I decided to use her technique for this quilt...

...and was SO pleased with the results.  There is no fraying, lovely clean edges, and all I did to secure the appliqués was some straight line stitching near the edge of the appliqué.  

So let me tell you what I really like about this book.  First of all, Lara starts out with an introduction that explains exactly what Crafted Appliqué is, and compares it to other methods of appliqué. She even does a test of several different methods, showing the results after washing, which will completely sell you on the possibilities of her method.  

Then there is a very well-written section on the process, which makes it easily understandable and very clear exactly how to experience great results the very first time you try it.  She's even come up with a method for back-coating fabric so that your background fabrics won't show through! 

And while you can use any of several methods to secure your appliqué to the background, I love that you can simply stitch them down with a straight stitch!  It makes it so much easier and less time-consuming, and you can use much more complex appliqués.  Here's a picture from the book that shows in great detail the stitching possibilities...

And look at how clean those edges are!  I'm telling you, even if you don't think appliqué is for you, this book will change your mind!  

The other day when I was looking over the book again preparing for this review, I spotted this adorable project...

This particular project is a needle case - a really nice one with pockets inside to hold not only hand sewing needles, but sewing machine needles too.  But when I saw it, it made me think of journal covers.  My grandchildren absolutely love writing in journals, so I thought I'd use the technique to make a journal cover.  

I gathered up some supplies - enlarged a picture from my copy of Heather Ross Prints and printed that cute little girl out on some printer fabric.  Grabbed a scrap piece of Essex linen and stitched her onto it, added a lining and a journal and voila!  An adorable little journal cover sure to be well-loved by one or the other of my granddaughters!  This appliqué had a lot of little tiny pieces, the locks of hair and the arms and feet, but I didn't have a single problem with them, thanks to Lara's great new technique!

And there's one more thing I love about this book - Lara is a wonderful writer, with a great conversational style that is easy and enjoyable to read.  Here's an example from the book that made me laugh out loud...

You've gotta love someone who will admit to her "oops moments" in writing!

And now comes the very best part of this book release blog hop - Lara is offering a copy of her book to one lucky reader!!  So how do you throw your hat in the ring for the giveaway?  Simple!  There are several ways you can enter...

1.  Leave a comment on this blog.  Let's make it interesting - answer the question in the comment before yours, and leave a question for the commenter after you.  I'll start with the first question - have you ever made an appliquéd quilt?

2.  Link up for Whoop Whoop Friday!  If this is your first time, it doesn't have to be a finish - it can just be something you've been doing the happy dance about this week! 

No need to leave an extra comment for this - 

I'll get your entry from the linky party!

3.  Be a follower of this blog! I'd love to know how you follow - Bloglovin, email, GFC, or something else!  Let me know in a separate comment.

NOTE:  Please be sure to leave your email address in your comment - because of changes in Gmail and Blogger, many more comments are coming up as "no-reply" and I'd hate to draw a winner, only to find that I had no way to notify them!

Entries will close at 6 pm CST on Thursday, May 19th, and I'll announce the winner next Friday, May 20th.  And if you really want to increase your chances of winning a copy of the book, check out all the other stops on the blog book tour!  The other reviews so far have been excellent, and each offers a chance to win a copy of the book.  

Crafted Appliqué: New Possibilities Blog Hop - May 1st to June 5th

Sunday, May 1 - Introduce the Hop and post the schedule on BuzzinBumble
Monday, May 2 - Valerie Smith - Pumpkin Patch Quilter
Tuesday, May 3 - Dana Gaffney - Stormy Days
Wednesday, May 4 - Lorna McMahon - Sew Fresh Quilts 
Thursday, May 5 - Mary S. - Needled Mom
Friday, May 6 - Heidi Kuntz - Red Letter Quilts
Saturday, May 7 - Alycia Carmin - Alycia Quilts
Sunday, May 8 - Amy DeCesare - Amy Made That
Monday, May 9 - Sherri McConnell - A Quilting Life
Tuesday, May 10 - Lara Buccella - Sew Mama Sew 

Wednesday, May 11 - Christina Cameli - A Few Scraps
Thursday, May 12 - Melissa Corry -  Happy Quilting
Friday, May 13 - Sarah Craig - Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Saturday, May 14 - Soma Acharya - Whims and Fancies 
Sunday, May 15 - Val Reynolds -  Val's Quilting Studio

Monday, May 16 - Angela Pingel - Cut to Pieces

Tuesday, May 17 - Sandra Walker - Musings of a Menopausal Melon
Wednesday, May 18 - Cheryl Brickey - Meadow Mist Designs
Thursday, May 19 - Judy Murphy - Quilt Paradigm
Friday, May 20 - Yvonne Fuchs - Quilting Jetgirl
Saturday, May 21 - Cindy Pieters - Stitchin' at Home
Sunday, May 22 - Susie Zlogar - Susie's Sunroom
Monday, May 23 - Connie Kresin-Campbell - Freemotion by the River
Tuesday, May 24 - Ruth Bourke - Charly & Ben's Crafty Corner
Wednesday, May 25 - Kaja Zieslar - Sew Slowly
Thursday, May 26 - Ann Brooks - Fret Not Yourself
Friday, May 27 - Cynthia Brunz - Quilting is More Fun Than Housework
Saturday, May 28 - Monday, May 30 ... Memorial Day Weekend in the U.S.
Tuesday, May 31 - Jenn Trott-Zisserson - Quarter Inch From the Edge
Wednesday, June 1 - Paulette Horn - The Way I Sew It
Thursday, June 2 - Sandra Jansen - Studio Sew of Course
Friday, June 3 - Christine Sherman - Triangles and Squares
Saturday, June 4 - Darlene Simmons - Quilt Shop Gal
Sunday, June 5 - Announce BuzzinBumble Giveaway Winners - Lara Buccella

And if you just can't wait and want to buy a copy of the book right now (I certainly wouldn't blame you!) have no fear - Lara has offered to refund your money if you win a copy on one of the giveaways!  You can purchase a signed copy on BuzzinBumble, or buy it from the AQS shop or through Amazon.

So - - - let's give Lara a great big whoop whoop!!

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And now it's your turn!  

What's got you whooping it up this week?

What's making you dance a little happy dance?

Share - we want to dance right along with you -

And it's always more fun to dance with friends!

This week, the party will stay open until Thursday, 

May 19th at 6 pm CST.

Hope to see you there!

Hugs!

Sarah