TGIFF Sept. 29, 2017

Hi and welcome to my blog. If you are a new reader I would love for you to folow me. I have my blog, my Facebook, and Instagram.

Today I want to share a quilt that was fun to make, but that I also tried something different with. 

This quilt is one that will be absolutely perfect in the coming months with the cold weather ahead. I had heard of people backing a quilt with fleece. I decided to give it a try. I did some researching and found that opinions varied as to whether or not I should use batting. I decided to.  So I loaded it on my frame. 

I put the selvage edges going across the width of the frame. Then I layered my batting, I used warm and natural, and then put my top on.  I used a variegated blue thread. Everything for this quilt came from my stash.  

I did feathers and leaves.  Not everything is perfect, but that is okay. 

The quilt is almost ready for using. I work full time and we are on huge overtime. At least I get to sew at my job.   So, please link up your finishes. I would love to see what you have been doing. 

Please leave a comment, I love to hear what you are doing. I read them all and I do try to reply. I recently learned that it is best to reply via email, so that is how I will respond. 

Making Connections A free motion quilting workbook

I have been having so much fun doing blog Hops and learning new things. Today, I get to share with you a fun new book. Dorie Hruska is an award winning long arm Quilter and teacher. This book is fabulous.  It is called Making Connections - A free motion workbook.

It is really written for all Quilter's whether you are a newbie or have been quilting for a while, and whether you quilt on a domestic machine or a long arm.

Dorie takes you through, step by step, building on continuous curves, and sharing ideas for things you can do.   I have a bunch of ideas going through my head for some quilts I will be quilting.

So, let me share with you a couple of things I have tried.

This one I did some curves in the squares and threw in some swirls.  I used a pink thread, not sure of the brand, but I love how it turned out.  I am going to turn this into a throw pillow cover.

This is a view of the back. My quilting is not perfect, but I will improve. This was done on my viking Lily 550.

After doing this, I started looking for more orphan blocks that I could quilt and turn into throw pillow covers. I knew I didn't have time to get a bigger project done.  So, I found this block, and got thinking about how fun it would be to quilt some rectangles.

I took some King Tutorial thread by Superior Threads  that was a variegated and did the same design that I did previously.  I did find that sometimes I got mixed up in what way to do my swirls, but it worked.

Dorie suggests in her book to talk your way through the quilting. That is definitely something I agree with. Also, one of the best things about this technique is that you start and end in the same place. I can't wait to try this on my frame.

How about a giveaway?  WAIT. LET'S DO 2.   1 giveaway will be for a copy of the book, it will be either a hardcopy or an ebook, depending if you are in the U.S. or international. The 2nd, is a throw pillow cover. Either of these 2. Just leave a comment about which color you would like. In fact, I think I will do one in neutrals. So, tell me which colors you would like.  I am going to run this giveaway untilike Saturday, September 16. I will end it at 4:00 pm  MST.   I will pick the winners on Saturday evening and will message you. Please leave your
email address.  Also, I would love it if you would follow  me.

For the pillow cover it will be limited to U.S. only.

If you want to purchase a signed copy from Dorie, you can do that by going to www.forever-quilting.com or you can also get a copy, not signed, from www.ctpub.com

I want to thank Dorie and C & T publishing for this opportunity to participate in this blog hop.

Need more inspiration? Check out Aston at www.quiltingmod.com

This week I am linking up with Free motion by the River at www.conniekresin.com
And Jennifer at www.inquiringquilter.com for #wedwaitloss

Island batiks back to school blog hop

Welcome to my day on Island Batiks back to school hop. I always associated back to school with the weather cooling down, and wearing the crocheted capes and ponchos my grandmother would make for us. 

After I had kids and started homeschooling them, I found the quilts would come off of their beds and be used for wrapping in as they did their school work. It was nothing to find us wrapped in nice soft quilts as we were sitting there reading classic literature. 

The fabric that I get to share with you today, is called lotus blooms. I love it. The purples, blues, greens and pinks. All are favorite colors. As I looked at this fabric, I knew the pattern is choose to make would need to really show it off. I had been working on a metro medallion quilt by Sew Kind of wonderful and really loved their patterns. So, I started looking through them and found metro twist, and knew that was the one I wanted to do.

I had hoped to have the top all the way done, but I have been working long hours at work. So, I would sit and handpiece during my lunch break.

I would sit outside at a picnic table and see howhat fast I could stitch.  Then once I got home, if I had a few minutes, I would do as much on my sewing machine as I could. 

I am really liking how this quilt is turning out. 

I really wanted another picture outside,  but I looked out and it was dark. I will have this top finished by the 29th  which is the last day of the hop. So, please join me then.  I would love it if you would follow me. 

Now, for the fun stuff. Island Batik is giving away 3 fat quarter bundles, so click on the link below for that. 

https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/511f5ed418/

Please join my friends for the back to school hop. You can find the link at

http://www.islandbatik.com/news/index.php/back-to-school-blog-hop-with-the-island-batik-ambassadors/

I am giving away 2 1/2" strips of fabric from this collection and a roll of stash builders (5" wide x 45").  For this giveaway  U.S. residents only. All you have to do is comment below about a favorite subject in school.  I had 2. 1 was home economicso and the other was marching band.  Then for a second chance in the drawing, comment how you follow me. I love comments. I read them all, and I try to respond as quickly as I can. This contest is open until 8:00 am mountain time September 30, 2017.

One last thing. I have a very special offer for you. I have teamed up with my friends from Sew Kind of Wonderful for a special offer.  From now until the 29th of September,  you can purchase the Metro Twist Pattern and the Quick Curve Ruler at a 20% Discount. Just use the code "Connections20off" at checkout. I really appreciate them doing this for my readers.

Thanks for joining me. I have a fun blog hop on Thursday as well,  so please join me then. 

3. Count them 3. 3 blog Hops coming your way

There is a 2 letter word, that I swear is not in my vocabulary. Maybe I need to be a 2 year old again to learn it. But, there is a 3 letter word that seems to come out of my mouth a lot. Have you guessed them?   The 2 letter word is "NO". The 3 letter word? You guessed it "YES".

In all actuality, sometimes I do say no.  I like to stay busy and I like to learn new things. In learning new things, I am participating in 3 fun upcoming blog Hops. 

The first one starts on Monday September 4th, and ends on the 29th. It is an Island Batik hop. Each Ambassador was sent  a box of fabric in February. 1 bundle had to be kept secret until now. There are lots of fun prizes to be given away.
You can follow all the ambassadors by going to Island Batiks blog at www.islandbatik.com and clicking on "blog"

My day to share mine is September  12th. I will be sharing a fun quilt I am making.  This is just a sneak peek of what I am doing.

There is another one that starts the same day. My friend Dorie Hruska of www.forever-quilting.com has written a fun new book called Making Connections, which is about free motion quilting.

Remember, I said I like to learn, right?  I am lucky to have friends who write these books so we can all learn.  The complete schedule for this hop can be found at www.forever-quilting.com or at www.ctpub.com/blog. Each stop on the hop will be giving away a copy of the book. For U.S. residents you get a hard copy of the book and international residents get an ebooknow. My day to share about this book is September 14th. And I just might be giving an additional 1 or 2 items away.

The last one starts Tuesday, September 5th, answer posts will be Tuesdays and Thursdays and goes into October. Oh my word, there are tons of fun prizes. This one is a Christmas Carol row along.

 Each of the designers had to design a row based on a Christmas Carolist. I will be posting my row on October 3rd. You can go to my frieND Marian's blog at www.seamstobesew.com/blog for a schedule, beginning Tuesday, September 5th.  You definitely want to visit each blog, as each person will be giving a free pattern and each of us will have prizes to give away.


I just wanted to make sure my readers and followers knew about these blog Hops. I love doing them.

As always,  I love your comments. I read them al, and try to respond as quickly as I can. So, enjoy your day, and it is time for me to get back to my sewing, so I can have projects ready to share. So tata for now. 

WIP Wednesday 8/30/17

Wow, after doing 2 blogs for a blog hop for Christa Watson's new book Piece and quilt with precuts, you would think I would take a break. Nope. I love being busy. I love sharing with people things that I am working on. Did you have a chance to enter the drawings? There are 2 drawings each on both of the blogs. You can still enter through today. So here are those links. https://kathyskwiltsandmore.blogspot.com/2017/08/arrows-quilt-piece-and-quilt-with.html?m=1 and
https://kathyskwiltsandmore.blogspot.com/2017/08/piece-and-quilt-with-precuts-blog-hop.html?m=1

 So, what am I doing now, you ask. I am glad you asked.

 I have a beginning quilting class that I am teaching for my daughters Relief Society on September 9th. That is also my anniversary.  My hubby and I will be married 34 years. Hard to believe it has been that long. But, it has been wonderful.  So, back to the class. I will teach some things using the walking foot and some free motion quilting. I will have some different projects on display. If I can inspire even just a few people to try this, I will feel like I have done well.

Next up is my blog hop for Island Batik. I am am ambassador for them, and I love working with these awesome batiks.  I am using a great pattern by Sew Kind Of Wonderful. I love the quick curve and mini quick curve rulers. There will be a fun giveaway involved with that as well.  This comes to you on September 12th.  Just look at this awesome fabric.

On September 14th. I am blog hop stop for a new book called Making Connections. A fun book that teaches free motion quilting.  And you will get a chance to win an electronic copy of the book.

I am currently looking at fabric choices for the quilt I will make, so, I need suggestions. I am using mainly solids but thinking i like the floral print and have found these fabrics in my stash. I need 4 colors. Although I could do more. So look at the 2 pictures and tell me which colors you like best. The only difference is the turquoise fabric 1 is lighter than the other.  The background will be the turquoise.

It is amazing to me, how just the color of the main fabric or background can affect how the other fabrics look.

I post regular updates on instagram, so follow me there at kathyskwiltsandmore.
I am linking up with my friend Jennifer at inquiringquilter.com for #wedwaitloss.

I hope to be back in Friday for TGIFF with a finish of 1 or 2 things from this fabric.

What I get accomplished depends on how work goes.  I love your comments and will try to respond as soon as I can.

Arrows quilt - piece and quilt with precuts blog hop 2

When Christa asked if there were people who wanted to do a blog hop for her new book, Piece and Quilt with Precuts, I jumped at the dance. I did a review on my blog about the book she and Angela Walters had written called "The Ultimate Guide to Machine Quilting: Longarming and Sit down." https://kathyskwiltsandmore.blogspot.com/2016/04/book-review-ultimate-guide-to-machine.html?m=1
 I loved the book. I had also used some of her patterns and know how well she writes them.

When I got the book, I had a hard time choosing which pattern to make. As you know, I chose one, and did the Squiggles quilt, and that post is here https://kathyskwiltsandmore.blogspot.com/2017/08/piece-and-quilt-with-precuts-blog-hop.html, in case you have missed it. I decided this quilt would be perfect as a Christmas gift for a granddaughter.  Well, there is a problem. I have 5 grandkids. My hubby tells me  what you do for one, you do for all. Okay. I will do more. No big deal. So, then my daughter announces another grand baby on the way, and this one is due the first of January. Well, now there are 6 quilts. So, I figured this blog hop would be good motivation.  So, on to the Arrows Quilt.


Again, I used some fabrics from Island Batik.  I love these fabrics and love the fact that you can't tell the difference between right and wrong sides.  I used a few different collections, and I am not sure of where they all came from. The white came from my stash.

This quilt is a fun one to put together. I have pieced by hand and machine on this quilt. I need something to do during lunch, right?

Hand piecing during my lunch break 

I sew at work all day and people are amazed that I want to sew during myour lunch. Oh well.   As with all of Christa's patterns, this one is well written. It is easy to understand and her illustrations are wonderful.

I also like the myriad of Quilting ideas that Christa shares in her book. It gives lots of great ideas and the best part   is that the designs are interchangeable.

As to how I am going to quilt this quilt  I am still undecided. In the colored strips, I think I will do cursive L's. I think I will do Triangles in the arrows. As for the white sections, I am not sure.

Trying to decide on thread color. I have 2 pinks 1 light and 1 dark and a purple variegated.  The purple variegated is king tut by superior threads. Dark pink is Aurifil  and lighter pink is masterpiece by superior threads. These would be used in the colored areas. What do you think?

So, now a question for you. I have 3 grandsons and will have 3 granddaughters.  What have been your favorite quilts you have seen on the hop, that I should do?

Okay, I also have 2 giveaways. One is an ecopy of the book, and@ the other is a stash builder roll that has 4 5" strips of fabric from Island Batik.  For the fabric, U.S. residents only, please. Just leave a comment and you will be entered in the drawing. I will try to respond to comments as quickly as I can.  If you want to purchase a hard copy of the book, you can do that by clicking on this link shop.christaquilts.com Also, for another fun quilt just like this, please visit Lynn  at www.monkeyneedle.com

I have more fun coming up on my blog in the next little while, so stay tuned, because there will be some fun giveaways and great things to inspire you.

Envelope style throw pillow tutorial

This is so fun and so easy to make. For this tutorial I used a 12" pillow form. But, you can use any size you want.

I quilted the front of my pillow using wavy lines. I used the free motion idea in a book from www.christaquilts.com, called Piece and Cut with Precuts. The pattern is also from the book for a quilt called squiggles and I used the cut offs of hst's for the border.

My pillow square is 12". It is the same size as my pillow form, because I like puffy pillows.

I cut 2 pieces of backing at 12 x 8". Along one of the 12" sides I did a narrow (1/4") double fold hem. I did this on both pieces.

Then I put  right sides together on the front of my pillow form, with the hemmed edges overlapping,  pinned it and sewed all the way around.

I trimmed the corners, turned right side out and stuffed the pillow form inside. Then I took pictures of it.

With the pillow sham I made for this post, https://kathyskwiltsandmore.blogspot.com/2017/08/piece-and-quilt-with-precuts-blog-hop.html?m=1, it gives me part of Christmas for 1 grandchild. Now I need to get the quilt done.