~ Warning Download NOW ~

Things are constantly changing in the online quilting world.  If you haven't heard, Craftsy is changing the way it does business.  They have been one of the hosts for my patterns for a little over a year.  Yesterday they sent out notices letting pattern designers know that some independent pattern designers will be deleted.   I was one of the lucky ones that will be allowed to keep my shop on Craftsy.  However there is no guarantee that all my patterns will stay in my Craftsy shop.  

If you have purchased any patterns on Craftsy whether they are mine or any other designer you should download or print them ASAP.   

The changes to Craftsy will take place starting December 28.  Most of us were blindsided by this change just as you are.  But change is good so we must all do what we can to make this transition a pleasant experience.   Here is the letter I received to help you understand the changes. 

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I would like thank all of  you for your continued support during this change.  My patterns are still available for purchase in my Etsy shop.

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~ A Gaggle of Geese ~

There's not been much time for sewing in the past few days but I've managed to get a few flying geese completed for my On Podunk Pond quilt.  I'm using the 4 at a time no waste flying geese method to make these as quickly as possible.  This method requires drawing a line on all the background fabrics and stitching 1/4" away from both sides of the line.  Sounds like a lot of unnecessary work.  So instead of drawing lines I'm using the same no mark method that I used when making my chevrons and HST's.  

To use this method you will need one of the following or something similar.  Or you could make your own like the one I made here.  You will also need to know what size squares to cut for the flying geese.  Click here for a printable chart for the No waste 4 at a time flying geese.  These geese will not need to be trimmed when finished.  In my opinion it's a lot easier to stitch a little slower for better accuracy than it is to trim down the units after they are finished.  But if you prefer trimming down click here for a chart with larger measurements.  

I've set up my machine with a quarter inch foot and adjusted my needle to make a scant 1/4" seam.  This is the best set up for my fabric and thread.  I suggest you make one set of 4 flying geese to make sure your geese are finishing at the correct size.   Then make adjustments to your sewing machine if needed.  You may notice I've used no pins.  If you are more comfortable with pins, use them.  

The first stitch line is complete and I've flipped my unit around and lined up the edge of the presser foot with the corner.  Stitching another line 1/4" from the center of the unit.

Your unit should look like this. Wasn't that easy?!

Now cut in between the two stitched lines.  Trim off the little dog ears.

Press as suggested in your pattern.  Add a square to each new heart shaped unit. 

Line up the edge of foot with the corner as we did earlier.  Be careful, remember after making that first stitch or two we need to keep our eyes on the line and the tip of the square.

Flip it around, line up the edge of the foot with the corner and you guessed it.....Stitch that second line.

Cut in between the stitched lines, press and trim the dog ears.

 That's it, super easy and quick!  Now it's time to chain piece for the quickest way to fly through these units before Christmas.  Happy Stitching!

#onpodunkpondquilt #onringolakequilt #quiltvillemysteryquilt #flyinggeesequilt #quiltingtricks #podunkpretties

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~ Oh My! OLFA! ~

Have you seen this?!  SQUEAL!  RED!  I've been waiting for this color rotary cutter.  This new color will not be out until February but you might be lucky enough to win one before then.  OLFA is giving away two of these Ruby Red rotary cutters everyday over on Facebook.  Click here.  I love Olfa rotary cutters. I've tried other brands and have been disappointed every time. 

My first Olfa rotary cutter was a gift from my parents way back in the early 90's.  Back then I was a stay at home mom with 3 kids and very little extra money.  I had been making quilted wall hangings and had expressed an interest in making larger quilts and purchasing a rotary cutter and mat when I could find the extra money in the budget.  Well my dad is the best gift giver ever.  He listens when people talk and makes mental notes.  I didn't even remember telling him I wanted a rotary cutter and mat.  But he remembered.  I'm not sure if it was a birthday or Christmas gift but little did I know at the time how this one gift would alter the course of my life.  The quilting bug seed was planted.  The large yellow rotary cutter below has many miles on her and she's still going strong.  Nowadays she rarely sees any action because she is now my paper cutter.  Believe it or not the purple one(I don't like purple) is the one I use the most.  It has an Endurance blade, which is worth the extra money.  The rest of them just hang around looking pretty for the most part.  I use them if the purple one is hiding or as props in blog pictures.   

Olfa products stand up to the test of time.  My first cutting mat was also an OLFA.  It was still going strong when I gave it to a friend in 2011.  She wanted to learn to quilt but did't want to put out a bunch of money for a hobby she wasn't sure she would like.   I've had several cutting mats since.  One or two a year!  Well some of them never even seen my cutting table.  They were purchased online.  When they arrived they smelled so bad I couldn't even take them out of the packaging.  Some I thought were great deals.  Well great deals are not so great if  they don't last.  The mats I'm using now are okay.  Not as good as OLFA but not as bad as others.  When my current mats wear out I going back to OLFA.  

I've also fallen in love with their new frosted  rulers.  These are awesome!  I recently received this 6.5" frosted ruler as a gift.  I was leery of the frosting, thinking it was going to be hard to see the fabric.  

But much to my surprise I had no trouble seeing through the frosting.  The frosting has a little texture and this stops the ruler from sliding.  LOVE IT!  The lines on the ruler are thin, which makes the cuts more accurate.  I also love that the numbers are not covering up important lines on the ruler.  

So on a scale of 1-10, 1 being the worst.  I give this ruler a 9.  The reason for the 9, there's always room for improvement, nothing is without flaws.  I never give a perfect score on anything.  How could it be improved?   I really can't think of a thing that would make this ruler any better.  But that doesn't mean someone else doesn't have a great idea.  

Does anyone else share my love of OLFA?

#olfacreates #olfaholidays #olfaruby#bindingbabies

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~ Making the cut ~

I find it hard to believe some quilters dislike cutting fabric.  It's one of my favorite things to do.  Petting fabric for hours on end, how can you not like that?   Sure it can be a chore but I never get tired of playing with fabric.  The darling little stacks of fabric below are for my On Podunk Pond quilt.  I'll be making a GAGGLE of flying geese units in red and yellow.  From start to finish it was about 4 hours worth of cutting.  Not all at once of course.  Not that I couldn't cut them all in one 4 hour session. I started cutting late at night and had to call it a night, finishing up the next morning.  Hopefully I can start piecing these sometime today.  

This morning I need to do a few boring chores, laundry and dusting.  Then it's off to the dentist for a root canal.  Oh what a fun day. Merry Christmas to me, huh?  Mr. Podunk has assured me there's nothing to worry about when it comes to getting a root canal.  The dentist told me the same thing but you know he'll say anything to get you in the chair and get paid.  If Mr. Podunk is right I should be able to go the dentist and continue with my day as planned.  The plan is to work on my office today.  We've had a few set backs but with any remodel there's always issues.  So I'm not upset about the setbacks.  The latest issue was flooring.  Here's the first flooring we started laying.  It was given to us by our neighbor.  Everything was going along beautifully....then at about the halfway point the boards start becoming difficult to snap together.  The veneer on the top would buckle and break off.  Now my hubby doesn't get mad very often. He's one of the most happy go lucky people I know.  After several buckling issues he picks up the board and tosses it across the room.  I froze, stood there wide eyed as he ranted for about 5 minutes.  After his rant we decided to rip out this flooring.  No big deal I really didn't care for the color of this stuff anyway, it's a little too dark.  But when it's free you can live with it.  It was expensive flooring so it was a shame to just throw it away.

We decided to use the same flooring that is in our laundry/mud room.  I like this color much better.  I know dark floors are really popular right now but I'm not a fan.  This flooring is also less expensive but rated as more durable.  We've had no issues with the previous installations.  These vinyl planks are a breeze to cut and assemble. So that's what I'll be doing today instead of sewing.  When the floor is done then I can sew.

It shouldn't take too long to finish the last few rows of planks.  The closet will be the hardest but I'm confident in my ability to measure twice and cut once.  Did you see my eggshell blue wall?  I LOVE IT!  The closet will become an office.  There will be a desk, shelves for patterns, paper and shipping supplies.  Having a hard time visualizing this?

It will look something like this but without so much decor.  I need a functional work space for pattern writing and shipping.

The rest of the room will be used for staging quilts for photos to be used as pattern covers.  That's why everything is white.  And I'm considering leaving the windows bare, no window treatments. 

The window trim and new fan light have been installed.

Once the floor is finished he can add the baseboard and trim while I paint the door.  We were planning to paint the old wood trim but he made the executive decision to buy new pre-painted trim.  Good for me because I'm the painter!  I've mention before our home is a Ranch style home from the 60's/70's.  Some of the original wiring still exist.  He wanted to remove the old fixtures.  To me it is  not necessary.  My printer will be in this little nook, so the old fixture won't be visible.

I'm pretty sure most of you will be able to identify this odd plug.  But I bet there's a few that can't.  My kids were clueless. Most people don't even use the newer updated plug.  Well if your still guessing I'll let you in on the secret.  It's a phone jack!  It's seen better days.  Someone has stained it with wood stain.  I got a little messy with the paint, but since it will be hidden I wasn't worried about how it looks.  A fun little blast from the past and believe it or not it still works.

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