Almost there

I feel terrible for not keeping up with my blog, maybe if I had more followers I'd be more inclined to update *hint hint wink wink*  No but really, I do feel bad specially because I have been working on things.  I'm nearly done with the Summer Breeze quilt although I guess I should call it the modified Summer Breeze.  I changed the layout of it and I think this way complements the fabric designs better.  I'm much happier with it now.  For the back I decided to piece the remaining cut pieces to form a long strip and then I put it off center.  I'm really happy with how the back came out.  The actual quilting, I took the star-burst design my SIL did on munchkin's quilt, I'd have to say it looks good and was much more fun than stitch in the ditch.  Also, to add a bit of interest to it I used a hot pink thread on the top and then just plain white on the bottom.  I made bias tape out of a coordinating green print with the same motif as the pink and white print.  I used my SIL tutorial for making bias tape to refresh my memory.  I attached the binding this morning thinking I got off scott free from any major mishaps.  Boy was I wrong.  I ended up being about 18 inches short of bias tape!!!!  This is when having a quilt shop with a decent  fabric selection would have been helpful.  I can't take the time to order more fabric and I didn't have enough of 1 print to make enough, so I ended up making some quick bias tape out of the pink and white with the same motif.  I think it gives my quilt erm.... character.  Yeah!  That's it, CHARACTER!  Well at least it's all the same pattern!  So now all I have left is hand sewing the bias tape and burying threads, I'll probably give it another wash too to get rid of the lines I used for quilting.  Hopefully I'll get a post up with some finished pictures tomorrow!

Ooo look a giveaway!

Hey guys AllFreeSewing.com is doing another one of their book giveaways.  This time it is Everything Alice by Hannah Read-Baldry and Christine Leech.  This book looks like a ton of fun.  It's perfect if you love whimsy and Alice in Wonderland related things.  It's also a great book for variety offering a bit of everything from sewing to baking in 50+ projects.  I think even if I don't win this I might buy it!  To enter this contest for yourself follow the white rabbit!  Ha ha I couldn't resist, just click here.

Also visit the website of the book EverythingAlice.co.uk.  They have a couple freebies on their site including some delicious looking red velvet cup cakes!

Picture courtesy of  EverythingAlice.co.uk

PS-  Tomorrow there will be a real post!

My back burns like the fires of hell!

The munchkin and I spent the entire day outside today at a pool.  At the community pool.  I'm really glad I can adapt well to different cultures because WOW the pool experience alone is a huge culture shock!  I remembered to put sunscreen on which is a step in the right direction however I didn't get my entire back so now I have a nice large lobster red area.  One step forward, two steps back.....


Today I'm going to share some handy Android apps with you.  These are all free apps.

The first of these apps is the Robert Kaufman Quilting Calculator.  This can be found here or by entering the search terms "quilting calculator" into the search box in the Android Marketplace.  This is by far the best app I own and I use it so frequently when I'm picking fabrics for my next project.  I really like this calculator because it offers so much in just one app.  Here is a rundown of the different calculations it can do.

Taken from the app description

Fabric Measurement Conversion: Converts between measurement in decimals and fractions.
Backing and Batting Calculator: Determines how much yardage from a bolt of fabric is needed to make the backing for a quilt.
Piece Count Calculator: Shows the number of fixed-sized pieces of fabric that may be cut from a larger piece.
Pieces to Yardage Area Calculator: Indicates how much fabric is needed in order to cut a given number of fixed sized pieces.
Binding Calculator: Tells you the amount of fabric required to bind your quilt based on the quilt’s dimensions and the binding strip width.
Border Calculator: Shows the amount of fabric required to create borders, based on a quilt’s dimensions and the width of the borders.
Square in a Square Calculator: Works out all the key dimensions of a square in a square block.
Set-in and Corner Triangle Calculator: Determines the size of the square piece you’ll need to cut in order to create both unfinished set-in triangles and unfinished corner triangles.

 

The next app is the "How Much Thread Does it Take" app by Superior Threads.  This can be found here or by entering the search terms "Superior Threads" into the search box in the Android Marketplace.  This app is only semi useful as it can't tell exactly how much thread you're going to need but it can give you a ball park.  Just follow the prompts it gives you and it might save you an extra trip to the quilt shop for more thread.

The third app is a "Thread Selection Guide" again by Superior Threads.  This can be found here or by entering the search terms "Superior Threads" into the search box in the Android Marketplace.  This app I don't think I've ever used other than playing around but I think this is mostly because I've never used Superior Threads.  I assume this would be a perfect app for beginners and those who don't know one type of sewing thread from another (like me!). 


I also have a color wheel app but to be honest I'm not that impressed with it so I'm not going to take the time to write about it.  There are a ton of color wheel apps out there, I say find one that's the easiest for you to understand.




Are there any other to-die for apps out there on the market?

Where has all the thread gone?

After all the washing, clipping, ironing, cutting, more ironing I go to start piecing and I can't find my thread!  It's missing in action.  Oh well, I guess I'll just have to go to the local craft store and get a new spool! :-)  But the good news is that I did all the washing clipping etc...  The one thing I hate about shopping online for fabrics is that you can't see in large scale with true colors what everything is going to look like all together.  I'm struggling with colors/prints working together in this quilt.  If I had gotten the chance to see everything all together I probably would have swapped around a few of the fabrics.  I'm at a place now where I am OK with them and the layout but by no means am I in love with this quilt.  I'd replace the fabrics I'm not happy with but I'm not trying to wait another 2 weeks for fabric for a quilt that technically needs to be done by the 10th.  Maybe this just is not a good quilt for this fabric.  Maybe it's just going to look terrible until it's done.  We'll just have to wait and see!

Sew Excited

I got my Wrenly fabric and the fabric for the Summer Breeze quilt in the mail today.  They are beautiful!  I ended up having to change one of the fabrics.  The floral print on the light blue background was supposed to be on a white background, but the store didn't have anymore of it.  I'm really not disappointed though it's still really pretty and works very well with the other prints.

Dream a Little Dream With Me for Summer Breeze Quilt

Valori Wells- Wrenly

I also placed some orders for some new things today!  I started with Amazon and got a couple new books including both of Aimee Ray's books Doodle Stitching and Doodle Stitching the Motif Collection.  I then went over to Pinkchalkfabrics.com (who is having a summer sale!) and picked up a couple patterns, some fabric, and a fabulous magazine I can't wait to get!  Any other books I should look into getting?