Fall Leaf Garland

I love using my Shape Cut slotted ruler. It makes cutting much more accurate (at least for me) plus I can make several cuts at one time.

So I decided to make a Fall Leaf Garland. And thought I'd share with you how I made it.

The first thing I did was cut two WOF by 4" to make my own binding type string.

I sewed the two pieces together then ironed them in half, folded them onto themselves...

and fold again to sew. I used a zig zag stitch.

I traced around a leaf to use as a pattern.

And you know those left over pieces of batting?

They will work perfectly for this garland.

Cut 6" x 11 1/2" from several different pieces of fall fabric.

Fold the fabric in half, pin your pattern on the TOP piece of fabric,


and be sure that your stem is on the fold.

Cut around the TOP piece of fabric only. Then place your batting in between the folded fabric, and sure that your string is at the top of fold.....

(showing the piece of fabric for the free form leaf)

Pin.

Sew around the edges of the sandwiched leaf.

Now cut around the edges of the leaf.

I know this is probably a pretty basic way to do this, but I wanted to show you how I made the free form leaf and how it is attached to the string. Making it two sided allows you to use the garland where both sides are finished.

And here is the garland, decorating my mantle.

Thanks for taking the time to view this little tutorial.

Linking up with Finished it Friday

Red and White Quilts

Remember the magnificent Red and White Quilt show in New York City just a few months ago??

Take a look at the Temicula Quilt Co blog for a beautiful quilt show in a Quilt Shop.

Can't get enough Red and White quilts :-)

From across the Big Pond

Sue Abrey has a new book published called Pick Four. I hopped along the blog hop and recently was awarded a copy of Sue's book. So you can imagine my excitement when a package arrived at my doorstep all the way from the UK!

With a lovely inscription -

And one thing I immediately liked about this quilt book is the color options. I always struggle with picking colors for a new quilt, and seeing the quilt made up in different color ways is such a huge help for me.

Thanks Sue! I know I am going to enjoy making these quilts!

I'm dreaming of a..............

........... PINK Christmas!


A gift made for a dear friend :-)
(Sorry the pictures are so shadowy)

79 days til Christmas!

Linking up with Sew Darn Crafty

Finish Up Friday

Sew and Tell

How To Blog - UPDATE

How about that title?? You know how to blog, right?? I mean you are blogging!!!!

I think we all want to have blogs where people feel welcome and at home. Where they want to come back and visit again.

I came across a wonderful tutorial called How To Blog by Cindy Adkins. She is the hostess of Whimsical Musings. And even if you know How to Blog, Cindy has some wonderful insights about blogging. Little hints and tutorials that are most helpful.

Here is the link for her FREE online classes - HOW TO BLOG.

Cindy also hosts Whimsical Musings Magazine, where she shares lots of tutorials and how-to's.

Hop over and see for yourself. If you find something new and helpful, can you come back and share with me what you learned??

Happy Blogging :-)

UPDATE!!!!

You can now have a certificate of completion of Blogging 101 at Whimsical Musings!!

Stop by and pick up your graduation certificate :-)


Believe me I still have a lot to learn about blogging, but Cindy has made this so much fun!!

Good Monday Morning and Winners!!!

What can I say?? September was a great month! It was fun reading all of the comments as you celebrated National Sewing month with me. With almost 500 comments for the 4 giveaways, I could not send a personal reply to each of you. But please know that I am thankful for all of your comments and participation.

I used a new Random Generator this time - Truly Random Number Generator

And so, now on to the winners -

Week 1 - Sandi at crazy'boutquilts

Week 2 - KOcanQuilt

Week 3 - Pat at Sunlight Through My Windows

Week 4 - regan at Floating on a Quilted Cloud

Congratulations ladies! Thanks for following along. Look for an email in your box. Please send me your mailing information and I will get these prizes out in the next few days.

Thanks again for stopping by and sharing this fun month with me. Have a happy quilting day!

Where did the year go??

Can you believe it's October already? Where did the year go?? I know many of you have been so productive this past year. I can't say that I've gotten a lot accomplished this year, but it has been so enjoyable to read and see what everyone out there in blog land has been doing. There are so many talented, creative and giving people, who share their creativity with all of us. It absolutely amazes me whenever I open my google reader. I just wanted to say thank you to all of you, for sharing your time, your talent and your words of encouragement.

So we welcome October as the weather starts to cool, the seasons start to change, and we are heading right smack dap into the holidays! Guess I better get busy :-) How about you??

Happy Quilting!