My ruby beauty is published

Some of you might remember Ruby Shadow, the quilt I designed for the Year of the Red and White Quilt Challenges hosted by QuiltShopGal last year (she was SewCalGal then).It was a series of design and sewing challenges that went on throughout the year.

There are a lot of things to consider when entering a challenge like this. Time is the biggest issue for me, as well as considering the challenge itself. Red and White? I don't use red as much as other colors and I'm not sure why. It's not because I don't like it...I do. Once I decided to enter, I had to figure out how I wanted to use the two colors to best advantage. I actually designed several quilts, but chose Ruby Shadow to make. 

Ruby Facets, McCalls Quick Quilts Aug/Sept 2015 issue

I'm excited to announce that my ruby beauty, renamed Ruby Facets, is in the new issue of  McCalls Quick Quilts. Not only can you make it, you can make it using any two colors you want! Or use more colors...wouldn't this be pretty in red, white and blue?

To help me celebrate, McCalls has sent me two extra issues of the magazine to give to two lucky readers. All you have to do is comment below and tell me what colors you would use to make this quilt. I will choose a winner on Thurs. evening, July 2.

Yep, your very own copy...chock full of gorgeous quilt ideas!

You can see a preview of the quilts in this issue here, plus info on the designers if you click on the quilts pictured. McCalls has a great online site, with many free projects as well.

I'm really glad that I decided to participate in this challenge. It was fun to design a quilt within the parameters of the challenge rules. I loved visiting the other quilters' blogs as the challenge progressed to see what they were making. I don't have a lot of time to participate in many online challenges, swaps or other group activities with my job and class schedule, but I think a challenge like this stretches us as designers and quilters.

If you are joining the Red, White and True Quilt Along, join my linky party on Friday and post about your progress. If you don't blog, you can add your pictures to the Flickr group page so we can enjoy your progress. There will be a surprise giveaway that day for all who participate.

So....what colors would you use if you made Ruby Facets? 

Red, White and True Quilt Along Sewing #1

Are you ready to start sewing? If you still need to catch up with the cutting, or need other info, go to the Red, White and True Quilt Along page for all of the details.

Let's get started! Today we will be working with the 1 1/2" Background strips and the 2 1/2" Color One Red, and Color Two strips. So get those out to begin. 

Remember, WOF = Width of Fabric

All seams are 1/4".

Take a Bkgd. 1 ½” WOF strip and sew it lengthwise to one of the Color One Red 2 ½” WOF strips.

 Press that towards the Background, and then sew another one to the other lengthwise edge, as shown. TIP: If you sew your second background strip to the Color One strip starting at the opposite end of the stripset than you started on for the first strip, your stripset will lay straighter. Press that one towards the Color One Red.

Make Three (3) stripsets like this if you are making the Throw size, make six (6) like this if you are making the Twin size. Aren't they so straight and pretty?

Now do the same thing with your Background and Color Two strips. Make Three (3) stripsets like this if you are making the Throw size, make six (6) like this if you are making the Twin size.

Press the seams in one direction, so press one towards the Bkgd. strip, and press the other towards the Color One or Two strip. this makes it easier to dovetail your seams later on as you assemble the blocks. You may still have to repress a few.

 Now cut 4 1/2" squares from the Color One Red stripsets. You will get 8 or 9 from each stripset. You need 24 for the throw, and 48 for the twin size. 

Finally,  cut 4 1/2" squares from the Color Two Blue stripsets. You will get 8 or 9 from each stripset. You need 24 for the throw, and 48 for the twin size. 

 Are your stacks really pretty? You are finished with this step! If you would like the free PDF printout, you can go to my Craftsy page and print out the Red, White and True Sewing #1 pattern. Don't forget to add your photos to my Flickr group as well. 

If you need inspiration for fabrics, check out what Karen is using over at Hazel Dell Quilts. She is using all three of this year's IA fabrics. I can't wait to see how it works up. I will be hosting a Linky Party on Friday, so get ready to post about your Red, White and True Quilt Along progress and link up to my post. There will be a little prize involved...more about that on Friday. So get busy and SEW!

 Do you remember my baby quilt fabric cuts from last week. Here are my pretty stacks for that quilt. All ready for Sewing Step #2 next week!

The green is a truer color in the first picture. It just looks weird here. 

Down the road to Muscatine ... next to the other river...

I had good weather for my road trip to Muscatine, IA on Thursday. Muscatine is on the eastern edge of the state, next to the Mississippi River. Since Newton is a little past half way, I decided it would be a good idea to stop there and walk around a little bit. Luckily, there just happens to be a nice quilt shop in Newton...Crazy Redhead Quilting. I didn't take any pictures inside, but there are bolts and bolts of colorful fabrics and a very nice selection of batiks. A few managed to come home with me. 

 Deb from the Melon Patcher's Quilt Guild had invited me to do a trunk show at their guild meeting and teach the Circle and Spin class the next day. So I met her and several other guild members at a local restaurant (that is conveniently next to a quilt shop!) for dinner before the meeting. They were interesting, lively and fun...I felt like I'd dropped in to my hometown by the time dinner was over. We then headed to the church where they meet.

They have many projects going on...there had been a comfort quilt sewing day before we got there. Plus lots to show and tell by the members. One member had made a special dog bed that was too large to bring, so she showed us the picture on her phone! Love it!

 Then it was my turn to talk. I have no pictures of that, but they were a great audience with lots of feedback on my designs, use of color and other quilty things. Many of them came up to me before and after the meeting to chat and two had stories to tell about my hometown, Earling, IA. One has a relative, Jenny, that lives near there who I know through her blog, Down to Sew. It really is a small world!

 The next day we met back at the church for the Circle and Spin class. I would love to have a huge place like this to teach all the time! Everyone was excited to begin and had their squares cut.

 I laid out the three quilts I had taken on tables so they could examine them closely if they wanted to.

 They all agreed that it was easier than they thought it would be and were soon filling up the wall with blocks!

 I eventually laid the quilts on the floor so that we could look at some of the designs you can make with these circular blocks. Since I had recently updated the pattern to include the Circle and Spin to the Moon with smaller circles mixed in, we talked about how they can be incorporated. Some of them were going to add the smaller blocks to their quilts.

Sheryl

Sherry

Deb

Joan

I had a great time with this group and can't wait to see their finished quilts! Send me pictures, ladies!

Kid's Camp, 2015 and sampler updates

I like to schedule a few sessions of Kid's Camp for area kids in the summer. Some kids like to make things for their 4-H groups to take to the fair, some just like to make things! This year I decided to offer a beginning sewing project using a Simplicity pattern for skirts. There were several views, making a short fuller skirt or a longer A-line type skirt. I have had these girls in class before and they did very well.

They had fun and did a great job!

I also had an adult take the class as she is a beginner and wants to learn how to make clothing. I had given 2 pattern options as some kids are adult size, so she chose the adult pattern. Hers turned out well too. I will be offering this class again in July. If you live in my area and are interested, check the Upcoming Classes page for the full details.

That evening I met with the Sampler Pick group. There are four members in this group and they are making three different quilts. 

 Marilyn's Row by Row is coming along nicely! She has to make three of the basket blocks for her quilt.

 Dorothy hung up her finished blocks for the Ribbon Quartz quilt...she didn't have her machine so she cut out both of her blocks during class and will sew them later.

 Christine and Judy are making the Carpenter Wheel Spin...Judy was on vacation, but Christine got both of her Seattle Star blocks finished.

 We had a couple of drop-ins that missed their class this month because of vacations. Deb and Shirley were working on English Ivy for the Point the Way sampler. Somehow, I only got a picture of one.

 Laural was working on the Odds and Ends block from the Sunbonnet Sue sampler. Her group is going to meet next month to get the top put together and finish. This is Laural's second quilt.

I traveled to Muscatine, IA for a trunk show yesterday and am teaching a Circle and Spin class today,  so I will take lots of pictures of their progress. 

A Red, White and True start and a finish...

I love finishing a quilt but also love starting a new quilt. I don't know which I like better. I spent some time yesterday sewing with friends and one of the things I did was the cutting for a baby quilt version of Red, White and True for the quilt along. I'm using these bright, clear solids from the American Made Brand cottons and a cute M'liss airplane print. I will be changing the design layout a bit with this baby quilt...not sure how yet, as it's in progress. But I think it will be so cute with these fabrics!

I finished quilting the Red White and True quilt Sunday night....I was so glad to finally figure out what the problem was and start quilting like normal. I should rephrase that: I messed around several times, changed the needle, re-threaded, cleaned underneath, redoing all of those things until finally it worked right. I'm still not sure what was wrong. But it's running well now!

Close up of quilting

I used the Starburst panto by Clothwerx. Love this panto a lot and thought the intertwining starburst design worked well for this patriotic quilt. I had made the binding last week when I put the backing together, so it was a cinch to put on. I used the fireworks border fabric for the binding.  

Red, White and True

The blue Iowa fabric has a flag border on one side. I wanted to use that piece somewhere on the quilt, so added it to the backing. I still need to make a label, but otherwise it's finished.

I posted the cutting info for the Red, White and True Quilt Along Monday so we are officially started...you can find all the info here, including the Craftsy and Flickr links. There will be a few surprise giveaways throughout this quilt along, beginning next week, so stay tuned! 

Red, White and True backing

I am going to Muscatine, IA tomorrow for a trunk show and class, so I will be spending today getting ready for that. I've been trying to figure out if I can leave early enough to get a few IA Quilt Shop Hop stops in along the way. A girl needs to stretch her legs, after all!