Stars and Hearts in Iowa!!

I've been working and working on all these patterns for the kits.  Finally got all of the Stars In Iowa Tablerunner kits done and almost done with the Hearts in Iowa Wall Hanging patterns.
These all are made with my shortcut methods.

Each Design has 3 levels of kits and the pattern. They all have the pattern directions and the template included.

 Pattern  - just the directions - no fabric included
 Ready to Cut - includes all the fabric you need to make the quilt top for the tablerunner
 Precut - all the triangles are already cut out for you and you then sew them together and make my Boston blocks and HSTs to sew into the quilt top.
 Presewn - all the Boston Blocks and HSTs are already made for you. All you need to do is sew the pieced squares (Bostons and HSTs) into the quilt top.

This is the first tablerunner -  I made the sample of htis one myself. It's the first tablerunner I've ever made.
The quilt shop owner who is collaborating on the kits with me is adding the borders so this is just to get the look of the border/ I don't have a pic of hte completed top yet.

I have the Hearts in Iowa almost all done. Just have to add a couple of small things to the pattern and they are all printed out and ready to add to the kits.

the same levels will be offered in all the designs.

Hearts in Iowa

                       True Blue Tablerunner   

Black and Gold

Hopefully I will have them all ready to offer soon. Right now the Stars in Iowa and Hearts in Iowa are available to sell.

You can find htem on my website soon. I dont' have them added yet but will have them on there soon. In the meantime if anyone is interested you can contact me  at patchesbyr@yahoo.com

Brother 5000

A couple of years ago my dear husband decided he was tired of waiting on me to hem his pants. so when we went to Walmart he asked me to help him pick out a new sewing machine. LOL He was going to hem his own pants!!

so I helped him pick out a decent one not too expensive or too hard to figure out. We decided on a  Brother 5000 or the Project Runway version. When we got it home it sat in it's box for a few months. I love my antique Singer and hadn't any desire to learn a new machine. He didn't hem his own pants I did on my Singer.

well it sat for 2 yrs! I let my grandson use it and a couple of hte other grands have used it some but not alot.
I sat down and played with it to see what stitches it could do when my grandson was using it. but otherwise I really haven't touched it.

I got disgusted with my Singer the other day. It is a 1950's Singer and has lots of idiosyncrasies. One is that it has a knee petal and it is hard to control the speed of sewing.

So I got out the Brother and it is now sitting in front of my Singer on the Singer's cabinet. it fits perfectly and I have been working on a quilt block for a swap! And having a great time with it!!!!

I was used to the Singer with one stitch a plain straight stitch. this Brother has lots of stitches!!
I have a foot on it that the needle sits to the left of center. so I pushed the buttons to use the no 2 stitch. it puts the needle in the middle. But the seam allowance came out more than 1/4"!! I had sewed about half of the quilt block before I realized the seam allowance wasn't going to make a 12 1/2" quilt block!!!

So I got smart and got the book out! Pays to do that sometimes! LOL
I discovered the two buttons I have ignored are the ones that regulate the size of stitch AND the width of the stitch or in other words the size of seam allowance!!! I had been ignoring those two buttons because I didn't know what they did and I didn't want to mess up  anything!!

so this goes to show you do need to read the book first!! LOL
My quilt block is almost done and I love having so much more control over the seam allowance. On my Singer I was doing it by eye and even tho my eye is pretty good it is better when you have a machine that does it automatically for you. I just have to keep the foot so it sits on the edge of the fabric!

Now I LOVE my Brother machine!!! I will be using it alot more now!

So hopefully soon I will be able to show you all some of the stuff I am making with my Brother!

Wishing you all Sunshine and Laughter!!  May God Bless You!

Hope everyone had a nice Easter! We went to my youngest son's for dinner and all 3 of my kids were there. They are all in their 30's now but we did have 7 of my 16 grandkids there. The older 3 grandkids had to work so they didn't get to come. We still had 17 of the 26 us for dinner. Lots of good food and fun getting to sit and visit with my sons and dd as I don't get to see them as much as I'd like. Everyone always leads a busy life nowadays.

On the sewing front I host 3 swaps on the  Quilting Board forum and host the Scrap Club on there. It is a busy thread most of the time. It has been really popular!
  http://www.quiltingboard.com/member-swaps-round-row-robins-f11/quilting-boards-first-scrap-club-t207686.html

I also host a Quilt Bingo game on the Quilting Haven forum if you are interested in checking out that forum. It is an active forum every day and we have lots of fun chatting and supporting one another.
  http://www.quiltinghaven.com/index.php?topic=9351.msg280653#msg280653

I made my first mugrug recently and I think I am hooked on making them! I love the size of them and will be making lots more to sell soon.

 Here is my first attempt:

    
   

I had made a doll quilt using this 3 D technique and I loved it so I used it here for the blue flower again.
The blue flower is not flat against the backing. It is sewn a that bottom only. The petals are sewn with two sides so they can stand free.


Hope you enjoyed seeing my mugrug!

Wishing you Sunshine and Laughter!! 

so is everyone getting any sewing time in lately? I have been working on a mugrug for a swap on the Quilting Haven. I am almost done with it. I thought it would be a quick and easy project but of course I have to make it more complicated! LOL  I think it will be cute when I get it done tho. I'll post a picture when it is done.

I'm not sure what I will work on next. I have some dresden kaleidoscopes in progress that I need to finish and get onto my store but I also want to work on some stock for my store too. I usually use 1 1/2" squares and make small gift items. I really need to get some done up ahead. 

So hopefully I will have some pictures to share soon!

wishing you all a Sunshiny day filled with laughter and good cheer!!