Bright and Cheerful

Hello Everyone,

First things first, a very warm and heartfelt thanks to ALL of you who sent e-mails and commented wishing us well over the last few days. It gives me great comfort to know that many of you understand what we are going through right now. Just know that I have read EVERY comment and e-mail, I appreciate every one.

Our Rolo is no longer suffering and will always hold a special place in our hearts.

So, with that said, I thought you might all like a pick me up blog post. I know that I need one. Do you remember this post, where I gave you a little sneak peek?

Take a look at this quilt top that my friend, Justine, made with those luscious fabrics. Thank you, Justine... you are a peach!

Quick, fun, bright, bold, and cheerful, don't you think? The fabric is Pillow and Maxfield's Gypsy Bandana from Michael Miller and can be found here.

The quilt top is Perfect Ten. Quick and easy to piece and guess what you can get the QUILT KIT here!! Yes, you can make the same quilt and it would be a great gift for that teen in your life or just something to brighten your day like it is mine!!

So now, I just need to quilt this. I think a nice paisley design might just be the thing!

Until Next Time...

Bright and Cheerful

A Heavy Heart

Hello Everyone,

Rolo

2000-2011

He brought us much joy. We loved him. We will miss him.

Until Next Time...

A Heavy Heart

A Terrific Method for Making HSTs

Hello Everyone,

Since I have been making many Half Square Triangles (HSTs), of late, I thought it would be a great time to do a tutorial on one of my favorite ways to create these very versatile beauties. I know that there are many ways to make them, but I tend to like this one the best.

So let's begin....

First, you must have your two strips of fabrics that will make up each triangle in the HST. In this case, I cut my strips to a width of 4.5 inches wide and I have a solid and a print.

The end result will be a 3.5 inch unfinished HST, once pieced into the quilt it will be a 3 inch finished HST.

Next sub-cut them into squares the same width as the strip. Here the are cut into 4.5 inch squares.

Then place them RIGHT sides together.

They should match up on all sides, RIGHT sides together.

Now from one corner to the next you will use a tool, such as the Quilter's Magic Wand, to mark your sew lines.

You will draw them on either side of the wand. I used pencil and this is fine as the lines will not be seen, they will be sewn over and are on the WRONG side of the fabric.

Next you may choose to pin on the outsides of the drawn lines. You don't have to, but if this is your first time using this method you may want to do so.

Then you will sew ON one of the lines.

Then flip the square around and sew on the OTHER line.

Once the lines are sewn, I like to set the seams with a hot iron.

Now take your ruler and lay the 1/4 inch line right on the stitching so that the edge of the ruler is in between both stitch lines.

Then cut, with your rotary cutter, down the center of the stitch lines. This will give your 1/4 seams for both sides.

Now you will press the triangles open by pressing the seams to one side. Voila, you have HSTs, but you are not done yet. They are not the size that we need.

Now take your square up ruler and place the diagonal line ON the seam with the size of the FINAL square inside the edges of the HST. You will see here we have the 3.5 inch lines above the bottom and left edge of the square.

Now trim the right side and top of the HST.

Then flip your HST around and place the 3.5 inch lines RIGHT ON the edges that you just cut. Because we flipped the HST the edges now are on the bottom and left side. You can see how the lines are right on the edges.

Now trim the right side and top edge again.

This is about how much waste you will have. But now you have the perfect size HSTs and any error in sewing that you might have made (although I know you didn't) has been erased... so to speak. All your HSTs will be the same EXACT size.

Just repeat the steps above for many more perfect HSTs. By the way, I like to chain piece these, so you can do each step in multiples so as to speed up the process.

Now onto the possibilities....

You can arrange them like this or...

like this, one of my favorites, a pinwheel! Or like this...

Or like this...

Or like this...

Another of my favorites... the flying geese.

Now that you have all the details, you should go and play!! I would love to see what you all come up with, please share!! I have some photos of a couple of quilts that I made with just HSTs in my Flickr set. Just click here to see them.

PS. All Art Gallery fabrics are marked down to $7.25 through 1/14/11. You can find them here.

Until Next Time...

A Terrific Method for Making HSTs

Loftiness...

Hello Everyone,

Once again, thank you for all your lovely and kind comments and e-mails on my little Rolo! He has been getting lots of love and attention. He seems to be feeling slightly better but it is hard to tell. I will keep you posted.

In the meantime, I promised a quilty post and here it is...

As many of you know, I am one of Stephanie's (of Loft Creations fame) Supremes! I really enjoy testing her patterns for her because it always leaves me with something gorgeous. This time was no different.

I made her Loft Tote! This was a fun one and quite versatile too. I chose to use Brandon Mably's Flora fabric, you can find it here.

I accented it with Kona Cotton Solid, which can be found here.

The back shows the simple quilting that I did. This was done on my home sewing machine not my longarm. For something simple and small like this there really is no need to put it on the longarm.

I used a pretty red thread for the quilting to accent both fabrics. A better view or the quilting on the back of the bag.

All in all I think with the combo of fabrics that I chose makes it quite a hip little bag. Great for use everyday or even your favorite teenager!!

Another wonderful bag, by Stephanie!! Be sure to stop by Loft Creations today to see ALL the other versions that were created. I am excited to see them myself.

Also, you can find her patterns for sale on her Etsy site too. Just click here. For those of you who didn't know, I have also begun to sell her patterns here.

Until Next Time...

Loftiness...

Kitty Update

Hello Everyone,

First, I would like to thank each and everyone of you for your kind words, thoughts, and prayers for our Rolo. Not only has this been difficult for us, but our boy is not feeling well at all.

So the update...

After taking him to the vet on Monday, he had a set of x-rays which confirmed that he has an enlarged heart with fluid surrounding it and some fluid entering his lungs. Basically we caught him in the very early stages of Congestive Heart Failure. But with the medicines the vet gave us, we are hopeful that the fluids will drain and he will begin to perk up again.

The vet was pleased that we caught it when we did. Rolo still has his appetite, which is a good thing. However, he has been not moving around too much. Rolo has been hiding out in the basement and his brother Pavi spent the day down there with him. I think he knows that Rolo isn't feeling well. Rolo is only making the trip up the stairs about twice per day as his legs are quite swollen.

Thank you again for all your kind words. Please keep those good thoughts and prayers coming.

Tomorrow, I will definitely have a quilt related post!!

Until Next Time...

Kitty Update

Sick Kitty

Hello Everyone,

If many of you are wondering why e-mails have gone unanswered and my presence commenting and visiting blogs has been so small in this last week, it is because we have been helping our very sick kitty, Rolo.

For those of you who don't know Rolo, he is my sweet kitty who is not only large, but has a large and gentle personality. Rolo is 11 years old and has been with us since he was 7 weeks old.

It all began this week, when I noticed little droplets of blood throughout the house. We needed to find which kitty was bleeding (we have 3). Quickly, we found out that it was sweet Rolo. He was bleeding from his tummy. Interestingly enough, we couldn't find a cut or a visible puncture of any kind.

We quickly called the vet and they were closed. It was after hours, so we needed to take him to the emergency vet. Not far, but because he was bleeding and it didn't seem to be stopping we needed to go.

So my daughter and I went. After examining him and shaving his entire belly, they noticed his belly was extremely red and inflamed. They determined that it must be an allergic reaction to something he either came into contact with or ate. Although this was perplexing to us. He is an indoor cat and nothing in his environment had changed.

Needless to say, he was given an antibiotic shot and we were asked to give him Prednisone to bring the inflammation down. Now with quite a radical haircut and still some oozing from his belly, we took him home.

Much later that evening, we noticed his front legs beginning to fill with fluid. This was around 1:00 am. So first thing in the morning, I call the ER Vet and gave them the update. The tech checked with the vet and this was definitely not normal.

So off went my hubs and son with Rolo. At this point, it was a different vet. He found that Rolo's heart rate was extremely elevated and his blood pressure was very high. Because of this, he ruled out an allergic reaction and gave him some heart meds for blood pressure and to regulate his heart rate.

This seemed to do the trick. The inflammation is coming down slowly, but the vet said that we will need to take him to our normal vet today for a complete heart work up to make sure that is really the cause of his problems.

In the meantime, he isn't his normal self. He is hiding in the basement, comfortably on the couch. We have set him up with his food and water. His litter pan is already there. The good thing is he still has an appetite!

Normally, I don't post about things like this, but I know that many of you out there who have pets know that they become part of your family. You love them and they love you back. I also don't often ask things like this either, but if you wouldn't mind sending good thoughts or prayers (if you are the praying kind) for our Rolo to get well.

We all love him so much!

Thank you!

Until Next Time...

Sick Kitty

Ringing In The New Year With Triangles!

Hello Everyone,

Happy 2011!!

I hope that you all have a wonderful new year! I know that I have a TON of plans and new things coming up all year long. This year will prove to be an exciting one as well adventurous. You will be sure to be some of the first to know throughout the year, right here on my blog!

Also, an apology for being slightly behind on my e-mails. When the entire family is home things tend to get put to the side. But rest assured, I have seen everyone and will answer them all when "regular" life begins again on Monday.

But first things first. I have been very busy cutting 60 degree triangles from this fabric that I showed you back in this post.

Lots of triangles. But these are only a few of them. Many are already on my design wall. No, I can't show you just yet.

But really any way I look at them they look so pretty stacked...

and unstacked.

So now to get these little babies up on the wall. Stay tuned for some more sneak peeks.

For those of you looking for a good deal, don't forget my clearance sale... 25% off everything. Just use the code yearend25 at checkout. Click here to get started.

Can't wait to see all your new 2011 projects too!!

Until Next Time...

Ringing In The New Year With Triangles!