100 Quilts for Kids QAL!

Happy Quilting's Blog was announcing this upcoming QAL!!!

I just had to share this with you all. 

I will definitely be joining in the fun! 

Lisa S. and I were just talking about this yesterday!! 

100 Quilts for Kids is an annual charity quilt drive co-hosted by Katie Blakesley ofSwim, Bike, Quilt and the DC Modern Quilt Guild.  


The idea is simple: 

Make a quilt or 2. Donate it to a child in need, locally if you can.  

Enjoy a blog hop that runs from July 2-September 25, 2012, complete with inspiration and mini prizes. 

Join in on a 100 Quilts for Kids Quilt Along (Kick-off post on July 15 at Swim, Bike, Quilt)

Have a chance to win great prizes from sponsors, including Moda, Fat Quarter Shop,Westwood Acres, Rowan , Free Spirit, and Ty Pennington Impressions, among others that will shortly be announced. 

Spread the word to family and friends!

and most importantly, Smile, knowing you used your skills for good. 

100 Quilts for Kids Flickr Group 
More information on 100 Quilts for Kids

The Blog Hop Starts on Monday and it will be chuck full of inspiration and ideas!!


100 Quilts Blog Hop Participants

July 2: Lynne @ Lily’s Quilts

July 9: Dana @ Dana and Thread
Sarah @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict 

July 16: Lee @ Freshly Pieced

July 23: Katy @ Monkey Do
Erin @ Sewing Summit

July 30: Dana @ Old Red Barn Co
Heather @ Olive & Ollie

August 6: Jessica @ Twin Fibers
Holly @ Bijou Lovely

August 13: Leigh @ Leedle Deedle Quilts
Heather & Megan @ Quiltstory 

August 20: Melissa @ Happy Quilting    (That's Me :)  

August 27: Jeni @ In Color Order
Miranda @ One Little Minute

September 3: Ellen @ The Long Thread 
Faith @ Fresh Lemons Quilts

September 10: Elizabeth @ Oh, Frannson!
Anne Marie @ Gen X Quilters

September 17 Cheryl @ Dining Room Empire
Jane @ Quilt Jane

September 24: Angela @ Moda Home Mom

September 25: Sara @ Sew Sweetness

Reilly's 4th Birthday Party

My Niece Reilly is so cute! 

We celebrated her 4th Birthday this week at my parents house.

Reilly decided to try the cake first, just to make sure it was edible! LOL

We all got to wear butterfly masks that let us see the decorations in 3-D!(I am getting pretty tanned!) 

I love watching kids open presents.

She was so cute. 

The constant exitement was GREAT!

She loves all things princessy and anything to do with horses. 

She loved this My Little Pony book and playset!

Watching her eat cake was also fun!

The fork was taking too long, so she just bent over and chowed down! :)

She was so excited about her umbrella!She was thrilled that it was raining and she got to try it out right away!

So adorable!

She even got a working cash register...

Corinne decided to buy Jackson.

Reilly didn't miss a beat and rang him up! LOL

I was so proud of how well Reilly shared her new toys with Abby who is only 2yrs old.

Reilly had fun shopping and "working" behind the register!

These girls played with this register for hours!

My Dad joined in the fun and put on the butterfly mask! We had to get proof so that we could make fun of him for years to come. 

Hee hee hee

Reilly and her ponies are too cute!

Alyssa and Kirin playing chess. 

They both made moves that no-one has ever seen before! LOL

Princess Reilly! 

I love her sparkly skirt! 

She had to try out all of her toys and try on all of her princess-y clothes! 

Reilly and Abby decided to play...Puppies!

I played with them for awhile until my knees gave up on me! 

I have bruised sore knees now! 

I don't know how they do it.

So cute! I just love it! 

(and just in case you are wondering, her ringlets are natural!!)

Even Stephen joined in the fun of the cash register!

I love being so close to our family, where we can get together and celebrate birthdays and play!! 

Hugs, 

Lisa 

Nine Patch Quilt-A-Long Tutorial

I have been trying to find new ways to use up my scraps & make fun quilts for my Quilted Hugs Project!

Today I counted and so far I have 13 finished Quilts!!
I also have 18 finished quilt tops!
That makes a total of 31 quilts! WOW! I cannot believe that I have made so many already.
Go me!

After finishing sewing the binding on my last few quilts today I decided to find a way to use more scraps and make some more quilt tops.
I have enough fabric to make another Stringy Quilt.
Those come together soooo fast!

I like changing things up. I can not seem to make more than two quilts in any one pattern or method  before it just seems boring.

SO....
I decided to do a Quilt-A-Long (QAL).
I have tons of strips of fabric in my scrap basket and they seem to be constantly multiplying.
I don't like to use any strips larger than 3 inches, so those tend to sit on the bottom of the basket and just get in my way.
I decided to pull them out and see how many I had.
I was very surprised that I have sooo many large and long strips of fabric 3 inches wide or larger.

SEW... I decided to do a Nine Patch-A-Day QAL!
These are so easy and it's not hard to make one nine patch per day.

The fun will start on July 5th!
That gives you a week to get your fabric together, match up fabrics, cut any scraps to the required size, etc. (Note: If you have a jelly roll feel free to use that. Your blocks will finish a little smaller, but it will still turn out GREAT!!)

Here is a quick tutorial on how to make a nine patch for our QAL...

Materials Needed:
Aprox 3 yards of
Scrap fabric 3 inches by at least 18 inches long
(You can also use a jelly roll and your blocks will turn out smaller. Just make sure to cut your pieces
 2 1/2 inches wherever it says to cut 3 inches in the tutorial.)

1. Sew strips aprox. 9 inches down the length of the fabric, right sides together.

You should end up with this. 

2. Cut sewn strip into Three 3 inch sections.

3. Out of the remaining fabric cut two 3 inch squares out of fabric A and one 3 inch square out of fabric B

4. Sew the 3 inch squares onto your pieces making three alternating sections. (See picture above)

5. Press seams towards the darker fabric.

6. Sew the three sections together to make a nine patch block. Make sure to match your seams.

7. Press open seams.

Your yield should be one nine patch block that finishes at 7 3/4. 

I am going to make one block per day for the next 36 days.
That will give me enough blocks to make a nice lap quilt for my Quilted Hugs Project!

Please join me and leave a comment to let me know that you are playing along.
I would love to see your progress so please follow my blog and then post about this fun Nine Patch QAL!!

I will post soon about how to turn these blocks into a quilt top.

Hugs,
Lisa 

Sewing with Ceceilia & hanging with the Mongiovi Kids!

Mike & Tina's kids came over to hang out this week. 

Tina is packing because they are moving to Tennessee and so I offered to watch the kids to give her some time to get stuff done.

While Ceceillia was here she asked me if she could make a rug for her cat. LOL

Into the sewing room we went and I gave her my scrap bin and scissors and let her go to town!

This is what she designed.

I helped her pin down the pieces and I taught her how to sew them down.

She did most of it herself.

She drew a cat on the "quilt/rug" and lots of quilting designs. 

I quilted it for her, but she did everything else on her own.

This is the "finished product"!

She did such a great job!

The boys played games and hung out with Detto with me and girly worked in the sewing room. Then we all went swimming!

It was such a blessing to be able to spend time with them.

We sure will miss these little wiggles when they move!

Hugs, 

Lisa