2012

Ole Frog Eyes Update!

Happy Sunday Everyone! I know I’m usually not here on Sunday’s but today I just had to come and share something cool and fun with you!  Do you remember back in March I did a review of Ole Frog Eyes web tool?  Well, I finally paid for my year long subscription and just in time too! Guess what was released on Friday?!? The drag and drop feature I recommended was implemented! I know I am not the only person who asked for the feature and I also know that it was something that they had been working on for quite some time and I am just so excited to use it! I have already finished my quilt top from the Sew Happy Geek QAL, but I decided to log in to Ole Frog Eyes and play around with the lay out yesterday…mainly because it was so EASY!

Here is my original – and yes all these pictures will be screen shots so you can see what I did.

Hover over the block you want to move and place your mouse on the green icon (looks like a wrench).

Click on the wrench, hold the button down, and then you can drag you block where ever you want!

and Voila! The block is moved!

I am so excited about this new feature. We head back to Washington on Friday where I have a bunch of purple bee blocks and my month of Sew Bee Blissful waiting to be photographed and loaded up. I can’t wait to start playing with potential quilt layouts – it is going to be a million times easier now!

Thanks for listening Snoodles and the Ole Frog Eyes Team!

PS. This is not a sponsored post – I am posting it because I love this product and wanted to share with all of you!

 

Marsha McCloskey’s Feather Star Ruler Review

Happy Friday Everyone! As you all know I have spent the last 2 weeks working on Feathered Star blocks – I now have 3 completed and with each one I get faster and the look better.  At the beginning of the month Fat Quarter Shop sent me Marsha McCloskey’s Feathered Star Ruler to play with and I have definitely enjoyed it!

So I will start out with, I have NEVER done a Feathered Star block before and all I knew for sure was that there were going to be some challenging seams in this block. When the ruler arrived there were 4 pages of instructions, which I really appreciated, but the one thing I really hoped would be in there but wasn’t is a pattern or block tutorial.  This was somewhat disappointing because as I said…I’ve NEVER done a Feathered Star block before.  Well, you know me…I’m resourceful!  I started scouring the web for tutorials, I found 2 that were excellent (I will share them both with you on Monday), and finally I went to Electric Quilt 7. I went into the block library and found that there were 16 blocks in the library!  I took one and changed it a bit to fit my personal style.

I learned how to make the half square triangles from the 2 blogs mentioned above – they use an awesome technique I had never heard of before, bias strip HSTs. Awesome for small piecing.  The rest I took into my own hands.

The cool thing about this ruler is that it is designed specifically for these blocks. Almost every single piece of fabric you have to cut for this block is an eighth or sixteenth measurement. This ruler has these measurements from 7/8″ to 4 3/16″.

Things I like:

  • There are four sections on this ruler that give you different cutting measurements
  • Each section has a line down the center – this is perfect for cutting triangles – and you have to cut A LOT Of triangles for this block!
  • The included cutting instructions mentioned the bias strip HST method that I spoke of above – because of this I have learned a whole new method that I will use forever!
  • While I could use a regular cutting ruler to cut these blocks, this ruler guarantees accuracy because it has sixteenth inch measurements on it. It is the only ruler I have seen with measurements that small.
  • I see this ruler being useful with lots of different blocks, especially ones that involve triangles.

Areas for Improvement:

  • This is the first ruler I have ever used that did not come with a tutorial or pattern. That was disappointing, but on the upside I have became self-sufficient and figured out a difficult block, pieced it and made it my own.

Final Thoughts:

Ignoring the fact that there is no pattern, this is a good product. It can be used for Feathered Stars and other projects as well.  I would recommend it with the caveat that there is no pattern so you will need to find a tutorial or purchase a pattern if you would like to make a Feathered Star.  On Monday I will have a tutorial for the one that I made above.

If you haven’t already, make sure you go enter the giveaway from Fat Quarter Shop for a Quilt Blocks Layer Cake – it is the same fabric that I used to create the stars above.

Fat Quarter Shop Highlight

Happy Thursday Everyone! I would like to say welcome to Fat Quarter Shop, they are such a wonderful sponsor of me and this blog. Fat Quarter Shop is a leader in the online fabric business. They carry lines that will appeal to every style of quilter. Their customer service and quick shipping is amazing! I have been known to email them and ask for help with color matching – my vision is not the best and trying to color match on the computer is difficult for me, and they always get back to me as quickly as possible. Beyond helpful!

This month they debuted their Little P Patterns. P is for one of Emma’s little brothers, Peyton.  The patterns are mini-sized and can literally fit in your pocket!  Each one is available for digital download and is only $5.99!  These are small projects that are meant to be sewn up quickly. What I like best is that they are perfect for baby quilts! Did you forget to get your best friend a baby shower gift? A Little P can be completed in about 4 hours (quilting and all!).

These are adorable!  Go check them out!

Fat Quarter Shop is one of the most generous shops out there and today they are spreading that generosity to one of my AMAZING readers! A layer cake of Quilt Blocks by Ellen Luckett Baker!

Here’s how to enter:
1. Head over to Fat Quarter Shop and tell me your favorite It’s Sew Emma pattern (1 Entry)
2. Go like my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter (1 Entry)
3. Spread the word – blog, tweet, pin or facebook this giveaway. Leave me a link! (1 Entry)

This giveaway will be open until June 7th, 7:00 pm Pacific Time. I will be using the And the Winner Is plugin for WordPress to pick the winner, who will be announced next Friday.

 

Bee Blocks, Blog Hop and a Winner

This month is the first time ever I have waited until the VERY last minute to finish my bee blocks. I’m sure you can understand why, at this point I am just happy I got them done!  I only have blocks for Trust Circle of Do. Good Stitches because for May I was the queen bee of Sew Bee Blissful and I am waiting until June to do my 3×6 blocks (I have until July 15th).

Flying Geese

Flying GeeseWe were asked for flying geese, any block, in Navy, Orange, Gray and White.  I am hoping these hit the mark!

Blog Hop: Beth from Plum and June is hosting the Let’s Get Acquainted Blog Hop!

Plum and JuneTwice a week, 2 bloggers will be featured and they will both have tutorials up on their blogs as well as intros to them and how they got into quilting and blogging.  I am so excited to be part of it! If you are interested you should go sign up, originally the blog hop was going to go through summer, but Beth had so much interest that she extended the hop into fall! Also, Beth has a great guest post on her blog right now from Deborah at Whipstitch Fabrics with a giveaway! Go check it out.

Now for a winner: Last week I announced the winners of the Superior Threads Giveaway. Well…I only heard from 2 of the 3 winners (a first for me). I have given the 3rd winner 5 days to respond and now I am picking a new person.  I decided to pick the first person to respond – everyone once in awhile the first person to respond should be rewarded just for being that on top of things! (I got this idea from Julie at Intrepid Thread)

So the winner is: Kristy! Who said: “Wow! I had no idea what I was missing!! Glowing thread??? How fun! I think the Treasure Hand Quilting threads might be just what I need for something I’m planning….or maybe not….you’ll have to let me know which I need for ties! :)

I will be sending Kristy an email to get her mailing information.  Congratulations Kristy!

 

Blocks, Books and Blueberries

First the Blocks: This month I decided I needed a quilting challenge, something new for me (haha), so I decided to do a Feathered Star.  I will tell you all about the 2 tools I used to make the block in a future post (and if you want a tute, let me know, I will have to make a 3rd block, but hey, 3rd time’s a charm!).  I found a Feathered Star in the Block Library on EQ7 and then I edited the block to make it more my own. I also picked the Quilt Blocks line by Ellen Luckett Baker in an effort to modernize it a bit.

This is my first attempt…

This is my second attempt (much happier with this one!)

Both Stars Together

I’m thinking of turning them in to pillows – but I would love your suggestions too! Wait…it would help if you knew the measurements – 15″ x 15″.

Next the Books: I have received so many touching emails since I spoke of my husband’s deployment. Most about Anne and how she is handling everything.  She is still struggling, but each day she gets a little bit better.  I have been blessed with 2 wonderful book suggestions. The first from my Twitter friend @PhotinaH. She sent us the most wonderful book Hero Dad by Melinda Langdo. If you or your spouse is in the army and you have young children, I highly recommend this book. Anne is only 2.5 and after only 1 week of reading this book, she had the whole thing 100% memorized. She has even “read it” to her daddy on the phone in Afghanistan. She requests this book at least once per day – last night we “read” it without even holding the book. We were in the dark on her bed after she woke from a nightmare and we said it out loud together. She fell to sleep afterwards.

The second book was recommended by my wonderful friend Brandy who writes Bella Bea Quilts, it is called Lily Hates Goodbyes by Jerilyn Marler. The cool thing is that there are two versions of this book, one specific to the Navy and one for all Military.  This book is absolutely wonderful and we have been reading it at least 3 times a week. There are all kinds of suggestions on how to handle the different emotions your child is going through and also different activities you can do, like making a “Memories for Daddy box” – we have done this, I will show you ours on a different post.

These books are both geared towards younger children, I would say 7 and younger, and they are worth every penny. Whenever Anne has nightmares (which is almost nightly), she always requests one or both of these books, she finds a lot of comfort in the, I think they help her feel connected to her daddy and also like she is not alone.

Now for the Blueberries: Anne has a thing for berries. Especially blueberries. My parents have a thing for indulging her…last weekend we went to Ojai to visit my aunts and we learned that one of my Aunts has blueberry plants on her deck!  Needless to say…Anne fell in love.  My parents got up with her on Sunday so I could get some sleep (sleep has been scarce for me since my hubs left) and ran a few errands. They went to a friend’s house to pick up the mail and they went to OSH, Orchard Supply Hardware.  Anne saw a blueberry bush and the next thing I know they come home and she is telling me they bought a “berry pant”!

How was your weekend?

Today I’m linking up with Jenna at SewHappyGeek for Manic Monday and Connie at Quilting by the River for Linky Party Tuesday.

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