May Cupcake Giveaway Day!

So I have loved Sandi Henderson's Cupcakes since I first saw them!! How can you not love such adorable, calorie free, sweets sitting on your table?

These are the fabulous pincushion things I've been working on! Yay!

They turned out so fun I smile every time I see them!

I wanted to give you a little smile at your house too,

so I will be hosting my first giveaway in conjunction with Sew, Mama, Sew's May Giveaway Day and this Orange sherbet looking cupcake is the cupcake you will be receiving in your mailbox!

Along with a Fat Quarter of some Amy Butler Midwest Modern 2 - Ripple Stripe fabric!

To enter-

leave a comment any time from now till May 31st

Tell me your favorite quilty project to receive another entry

Blog about my giveaway and link back here to get another entry

but wait were not done yet!

Get 2 extra entries if you add me to your blog roll or blog list or whatever you like to call it :)

I almost forgot to add that you get another entry for every person you refer back here! Yay!

Just make sure you leave me a comment telling me what you did so I can check it out and give you the appropriate amount of entries. Or shoot me an email at designinghappy[at]gmail[dot]com

So, on top of all that you may be asking yourself where all those other cupcakes have gone, well, 1 went to my sister... let me tell ya, birthday's are special! One is staying here :) since in all my making them I still didn't have one on my table... it's strange how that happens isn't it :) It's really the other 3 that are exciting! 1 is here waiting to be won by some unsuspecting blogger :) 1 will be available soon to be won on the MSQC blog, and the last will be going up for sale on my etsy site!

Hurray for cupcakes!

(by the way if you've never tried this pattern you should know it's fabulous, you can tell she worked hard on this! If you don't win one here you should absolutely track down a copy of her pattern and see just how smoothly it all goes together!)

Woohoo! I'm prepping for several giveaways!!! Yay!

My sister had a birthday! My first blog giveaway! As well as a giveaway for MSQC!
Hehe! Can you tell what they are going to be??

That Crazy Mom is infecting us all!

Yes, I'm joining up to.  Crazy Mom Quilts is infectious I think!  Of course, it could just be that the quilts she works on are gorgeous and we all like getting together for this stuff!  Well, my sister was the one who convinced me finally that I had enough scraps between myself and her and our mother's huge stash to be able to participate and finish this quilt, 

so, *deep breath* here we go.

After starting the project at her house I came home with a whopping 2 blocks done!

Hey! There was a lot of talking going on ok! :) haha! We had a great time talking and laughing and sewing! And I came home with a stack of scraps that promise many more blocks to come till I visit again and share, er, get :) more fabric! 

So this is what I have so far!

My colors are a little off I think but you get the idea :) After my day with Nat and a day by myself... more sewing gets done when I'm by myself (of course by myself is subjective too considering that I have 5 kids :) ) but sewing with Nat is way more fun... I now have 9 blocks done and have the great feeling of being on my way!

that

Log Cabin Suburbia - Quilt Block #2 - Square in a Square

In preparation for the third block coming out this week I thought I'd put up the Square in a Square block instructions originally posted on the MSQC forum. Also, more good news :) , you no longer have to be a member of the forum to see what's going on with the quilt along! Yay! So cruise on over and check out the Sew Together, Far Apart forum to see details on the Missouri Star Quilt Company's first ever quilt along!

OK ladies today we learn my version of the Square in a Square Block!

This is going to be pretty simple since the method is the same as our last block but a little less brain work because you are sewing rings of color instead of having your colors separated corner to corner.


First you'll want to get out your strips from the bag labeled Square in a Square and arrange 1 set of strips as a layout guide.




1. Place the 2" squares right sides together you should have one Secondary and one Primary for each of 7 blocks




Sew and press open



Repeat for all 7 blocks remember chain stitching is helpful!

2. Your Secondary color (the center block) should be at the bottom. Lay a 3.5" Primary color strip on top of your sewn pieces right sides together.



Sew & press open remembering to put all your blocks through facing the same direction!



You can stack and lay them out like we did for the traditional Log Cabin last time if you found that helpful... I do
Your blocks now look like this -





3. Attach the next Primary colored 3.5" strip in the same manner. Sew & press open!



See it's "sew" easy!

4. Attach the 5" Primary colored strip to complete the second row.





5. Start on the third row by attaching the 5" Secondary color strip.





6. Attach a 6.5" Secondary color strip.





7. Attach the next 6.5" Secondary color strip.





8. Finish your row by attaching the 8" Secondary color strip.



Yay! It's looking so cool!

9. Attach the 8" Primary color strip to the top of your block.





10. Attach a 9.5" Primary color strip.





11. Attach the next 9.5" Primary color strip.





12. Attach the last strip! The 11" Primary color strip.





Look at these awesome blocks!



I love doing cool things with cool fabric!

Favorite Tool... of the moment!

OK, so I got very excited a couple days ago when I discovered I had a walking foot! Who doesn't want to find that kind of treasure while looking through their piles and shelves filled with all things sewing!

Here it is!

I have been saying how I wish I had a walking foot for quite awhile now! I had no idea it was hiding tucked away in a drawer! I think it's pretty old, but I love it! So I got very excited, attached it to my machine, and couldn't stop smiling as my fabric went through so much more evenly! I'd been making Square in a Square blocks for the Quilt along and suddenly there was no left over edges all the measurements seemed suddenly perfect! It was amazing! Hehe!

So, there it is my favorite tool of the moment! What's your favorite tool right now? Let's hear it!



P.S. Go check out my new table runner over at the MSQC Blog! It's so cute and has been waiting for weeks to be finished! So go give it some love! :)

Lookin' Sharp For Sunday!

So doesn't every little boy need some full moon forest by Tula Pink! I promise I'll never tell him it had anything to do with Pink!

Isn't it cute though?! My sweet boy is 5 months old and I finally made him a tie! (Don't worry I'm not trying to kill anyone, it's got velcro on either end of a 6" string of fabric so the tie only goes across the front of the collar and is not a choking hazard! :) )

This has been in very slow progress since I finished Bloom by Camille Roskelley of Thimble Blossoms 2 weeks to realize I wanted to do it, 2 weeks to cut the interfacing and iron it on, 2 weeks later carry it upstairs to iron, cut, figure out how to do it, etc., 2 weeks or more of it sitting on the table (back downstairs now :) ), finally sewed it up this morning! Yeah for my cute boy! I dressed him up and spiked his hair and he was the sharpest lookin' little boy at church... if I do say so myself :) Can you tell I'm a mom :D

The Log Cabin Quilt Along

Well I posted the instructions about the Log Cabin Block several weeks ago on the MSQC forum... in fact I've already posted the Square in a Square block instructions there too! As I was getting ready to post them here I realized I'd forgotten to post the Log Cabin instructions. So, I'm posting them now and I'll post the square in a square in a few days :) *oops*

So, Anyway, Here's the log Cabin Block!


This block is fun because basically what your doing is taking strips in graduating sizes and starting from the center you simply add a piece, & turn your block, add a strip, turn your block, add a strip, etc! Really pretty simple you just go around and around the center square until all the strips are on and your block is as big as you want it!



First you'll want to get out your strips from the bag labeled Log cabin

and separate your stacks by size.



I found it helpful to lay out my block on the table in the order that it would be put together. I'll reference sizes in the post but you can use this picture as a reference.



step 1 place the 2" squares from your Primary and Secondary colors right sides together

It's helpful to chain stitch these.

I still have one block laid so I can see what direction my pieces are going together but I chain stitch each group to save time and thread
sew and press open.

Woohoo! Your on your way! Your block now looks like this...

Your primary color should be at the top. Repeat this step for all seven sets of 2" squares. (chain stitch!)



2. Lay the 3.5" Secondary color strip on top of your sewn pieces right sides together.

sew & press open. Repeat with all seven sets. To assist in chain sewing I lay my blocks out in front of my sewing machine all facing the same direction

Then I lay the next piece on top

and send them all through the machine one after the other. This helps assure the they all get sewn facing the same direction. This is particularly important as you get more & more strips on. You want to make sure your pieces are sewn to the correct side
Here we are!




3. Lay the 3.5" Primary color strip on top of your sewn pieces right sides together.

When you lay out your blocks for chain sewing make sure they are all facing the same direction


Lay the 3.5" Primary on top

sew them all to the same side

& press open.

Repeat with all seven sets.



4. This time you'll add the 5" strip to your sewn block. Use the pieces you have layed out to reference which side. From this point on the strip you add will always be added to the side where it touches three strips. All the other sides only have 2 on the outside. (If that doesn't make sense don't worry! Just continue to use your layout and place your blocks carefully ) Your blocks are getting big enough now that it will be hard to lay them out individually for chain sewing. Instead you can simply stack your sewn block's so they face all the same direction & line up the new strip next to it on the side that it will be sewn to.




And just put each set together as you sew them. As long as they're lined up right it works just fine You'll continue adding strips in this manner using the block layout as a reference.
You've now got your first 2 rows of your log cabin up! (I'm including the center square )




5. Add the 5" Secondary color strip




6. Add the 6.5" Secondary color strip




7. Add the 6.5" Primary color strip




8. Add the 8" Primary color strip




9. Add the 8" Secondary color strip (sorry forgot my picture )



10. Add the 9.5" Secondary color strip




11. Add the 9.5" Primary color strip




12. Add the 11" Primary color strip





Hurray! You did it! What do you think of my block? I can't wait to see your's!!!
Let me know if you have any questions!