Bust Yo Scraps Quilt Along!

I know what you are thinking. Man, I have to clean up my sewing room. I should really sort all these scraps. How on Earth did I get all these scraps? I can’t throw this scrap away, sure, it’s only 2.5″ square. But I might NEED it. And this is good fabric! I can’t just TOSS IT OUT! No! I will keep it for a project one day.

Today is that day! Well, okay, not today. But how about January 12th, 2012? Does that work for you? Hey, that’s not the first of the year! Shouldn’t we be starting then? Maybe. BUT January 12th is a magical day! It’s my birthday! (And, this gives us all time to ACTUALLY sort through the scraps) My birthday gift to you is a super-fun-scrap-busting quilt along with all your Bloggy and Flickr friends! I’m calling it:

Get them out, get ready to sort them and get ready to use them up! Here is the quilt pattern we will be making:

Cool huh? The smallest scrap is 2.5″ square for your reference when sorting. I will be putting the final pattern touches together and of course there will be giveaways and coupons and such from Pink Castle Fabrics!

What’s that? You don’t have scraps? You are still new to quilting? No worries! My shop scraps are OVERFLOWING! I will be making bundles for sale and giveaways. AND this pattern is charm pack friendly! (the lap size shown uses 4 charm packs) Don’t worry if you are a quilting fledgling this pattern is easy enough for a beginner!

I know, I know. You are just as excited as I am! Here’s a button for your blog:

<div align="center"><a href="http://justabitfrayed.wordpress.com/2011/12/29/bust-yo-scraps-quilt-along/" title="Bust Yo Scraps!" target="_blank"><img src="http://justabitfrayed.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/bustyoscraps_150.jpg" alt="Bust Yo Scraps!" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

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Quilt Along Post Links:
Fabric Requirements

Tell all your friends!

My new Multi Tasker Tote!

Sorry for the delay on the Pezzy Prints Jelly Roll winner! Random.org chose #84:

Jacey says:
December 12, 2011 at 11:46 am (Edit)
It’s so great of you to share the Pezzy Prints, Brenda! I’m so excited about this line. You know I follow you here, on twiter and of course, on etsy and flickr!

Congrats Jacey! I know you will love it ! For those of you who asked, yes, it is snowing on my blog. It’s a cool feature from WordPress

I’ve been busy busy with the sewing lately. Working on everything except the Xmas gifts that I need to have finished in…6 days??? Sheesh! I’m sure they will all get done. I actually don’t have a lot to make.

Here are the photos of the finished top that I made from the EQ7 pattern from my last post.

I’m very pleased with how quickly it came together! I just sewed some long strips of the prints together and cut them into blocks and sashed them with a Bella Solids Jelly Roll in Blue. Boy, that made my life easy! I still have half the jelly roll left for another project too! I’m still deciding on a backing but I’m sure it will have to wait until next week.

I got fed up with not having a big enough purse to hold all the of the things that go along with having a 2 year old in tow. So, I finally put together a new bag!

This was made using Anna Maria Horner’s Multi Tasker Tote pattern! It is a nice big size and the pattern is well written and easy to put together. I did it in 2 nights watching TV. I used Freezer Paper to help cut out the pattern too which worked nicely! I would make this pattern again for sure. I think it would also make a perfect diaper bag!

I used Tula Pink’s Frog Prince in Indigo for the front and Ta Dot in Apple for the lining and pockets. Now, I just need to find some stuff to fill it up with! I photographed this with a baby quilt inside of it if that gives you a sense of size! Perfect!

Okay, off to work on Xmas presents! I will have more to show off soon!

Electric Quilt 7 (EQ7) – a mini Review

Well, what a response to the Pezzy Prints Jelly Roll giveaway on last post. It ends in a few days so you still have time to enter!

A few weeks ago I bought myself an early Christmas present. I have been wanting Electric Quilt 7 (EQ7) for a while now so I bought it! YAY! I haven’t exhausted all the options in this program, yet, so I’m only calling this a mini review. For those of you not familiar with EQ7, it’s quilt design software. It comes with an extensive block library and an easy interface to drag and drop and color and re-color. Sounds cool, right?

First, I installed the software. No problems there. Next, I purchased some of the Stash updates (which are fabric libraries that come out each season) and began to install those. I had a lot of problems there. None of the discs were loading. I Googled the problem and found little help on forums. I finally decided to call the company. I was expecting to be on hold forever but nope! A nice woman answered and sent me to the tech team who emailed me instructions on how to fix the problem. Worked like a charm!

*** IF you are having problems installing your EQ Stash Packs, try this! ***
*** Remember to install them in order from the earliest date (Spring 2009 – Fall 2011) ***
Turn off User Account Control (UAC):
* Go to START > Control Panel.
* Click “Classic View” in the left column.
* Double-click Users.
* Choose “Turn user account control on/off.”
* Uncheck it.
* Restart your computer, if necessary.

I tried to come up with some amazing quilts all by myself. It was not happening. Computer Programming was my first major in college so, I think I’m above average in computer literacy and I couldn’t figure it out. I then went to YouTube to search for tutorials and there are a bunch that look good but they are in Spanish. The Electric Quilt company has some on YouTube but I think they are more to advertise the product. Then I found the video tutorials IN the program…lol, how convenient! Of course I didn’t think to look there. I watched them all and the program clicked! Believe me, there are still things I have questions about but I was able to mess around with it enough to come up with this quilt:

I was able to put this together in one Episode of Dexter. The thing I liked best was being able to easily change colors. I changed that to this in 2 minutes:

This is great if you aren’t sure what colors to choose. AND if you have the stash packs (or scan and upload fabrics from your own stash), you can use those in the program to REALLY see what it looks like:

This one is using Empire Weave in Dandelion, Dot to Dot in Aqua, Sundae Stripe in Lime, and Free Spirit Solids in Nugray. Pretty cool!

Then, once you have the quilt created you can print the pattern for your reference (which did help) and it will print fabric requirements for the colors or fabrics you chose. Since I ended up strip piecing this top it told me to cut almost twice as much fabric as I needed. So, I’d double check that next time. I did end up finishing the quilt top this weekend but it’s been so yukky out, I haven’t gotten a photo. Here’s a sneak peak of the top in progress:

I will show you the whole top soon, I am really pleased with how it turned out. It was very easy to put together. I used a Bella Solids jelly roll to sash it, which made it even quicker!

SO, bottom line, should you buy EQ7?

Pros:
– Has a block library already
– Easy to use (after watching the videos)
– Can easily resize and change colors if you aren’t sure
– Great if you are making a pattern, even has exporting pictures for publications

Cons:
– Most blocks and appliques included are very traditional
– Fabrics included are very traditional

If you are someone who always improv pieces a quilt, this is probably not for you. EQ7 DOES let you create your own blocks which is very helpful if you are writing a pattern or just like to make your own blocks. It’s MUCH easier than using Photoshop or another program for blocks and changing colors. Here’s an example of a Mega Man block I created for a pillow I’m putting together for an Xmas present:

SUPER EASY. Personally, I love it! I have a few new quilts already being designed. If you like to make modern takes on traditional blocks or create your own blocks and make block based quilts, you’ll love it. I say, Buy It!

There will be more reviews as I use more features of the program!

***
I will be selling EQ7 in my shop. If it’s out of stock, I’d be happy to order a copy especially for you, just send me a convo!
***

Pink Castle Fabrics Giveaway – Pezzy Prints Jelly Roll

Welcome newcomers from the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day and loyal subjects follwers…

Today, I am giving away a Pezzy Prints Jelly Roll from my shop, Pink Castle Fabrics!

This has 40 2.5″ strips of every long awaited color of the new Mono Pez or Magic Bean print by Sandy Klop for American Jane!

The giveaway is closing December 16th at 5pm PST. I am going to draw a random number for a winner. Leave me a comment about anything you’d like! NO hoops to jump through. If you want to follow my blog, of course I would love that, or like me on Facebook of course I’m okay with that too! And don’t forget to favorite my shop on Etsy! (you know, if you want to!)

AND for reading this far down go ahead and take 10% off any purchases you make in my shop while the giveaway is going on! Use the coupon code BLOG10. Treat yourself to something nice for the Holidays.

The giveaway is open internationally as well! Good Luck and welcome to all my new friends!

Picnic in the Square Quilt Finished!

I’ve been busy busy busy the last few weeks! As well as having a holiday rush in my shop I’ve been trying to get some of my work in progress’ completed. I’m getting a jump start on one of my New Year’s Resolutions to have no WIPs left by the end of 2012. So, if I want to start a new project, I have to finish a WIP. Basically, I’m going for 2 out for every 1 in.

The reorganization of my sewing room is in order as well. Out of sheer embarrassment I will not show you photos. Let’s just say it looks like a fabric bomb went off in there. My shop is organized and clean but I don’t have a good organization system for my personal stuff, yet. Anyway, so, I have decided to get some clear plastic bins and only allow 5 projects to be going on at a time. That should leave me enough to choose from when I sit down to sew.

I started 2 new projects this week and I have 3 finishes to show off. I will show off the one today and then spread out the other two so it looks like I’m more productive…LOL!

Quilt Stats
Name: Picnic in the Square
Fabrics: All prints are from Denyse Schmidt’s DS Quilts Picnic and Fairgrounds lines. Sashing is Kona White.
Binding: Blue Gingham print from Picnic Fairgrounds
Quilting: Straight line quilting (done by me).

There’s no real pattern to the quilt, I just made something up to feature the fabrics. Although, apparently I was influenced by Emily’s Quilt made with this line. I didn’t even realize I’d sort of copied her until I saw her finished quilt…ha! Oh well, great minds think alike. Or, my mind remembers awesome things and wants to copy them.

After finishing my blocks, I wanted to make the quilt bigger so I added on the scrappy boarder with some extras and I’m really glad I did. I love the size and now it looks nice and framed. I pieced the back with extra squares from the front and some bigger pieces I had from the line. And I wanted a binding to stand out so I chose the blue. I am also a big fan of gingham I was too lazy to measure it so I have no idea the actual size but I’d say, large lap size. I’m glad to have it finally done, I’m very happy with the way it turned out!

Next finish up soon!

Pillow Talk Swap 6

I never got around to posting about Pillow Talk Swap 6! I’ve been pretty busy the last few weeks with Thanksgiving and my shop.

I wanted to pop in and show off!

Look what I got! Amber (One Shabby Chick) made me this awesome Interlocking Wonky Star pillow. I love it so much. Seriously, I love that pattern. She saw that I had Favorited this mini by Faith over at Fresh Lemons. You can also witness another amazing quilt with this pattern by my friend Emily – here.

I didn’t get a good finished photo of the quilt I made for PTS6. My secret partner was Angela. I made her this 24″ pillow:

Well, that’s the top anyway. I backed it with Light Jade.

Another successful swap!

Dreamin in the Meadow Finished!

WOOT! I’m so happy that my quilt is finally done!

I was waiting to get the Picnic Plaid in Pond for the backing for (it seems like) forever!

This was made using Ashley from Film in the Fridge‘s Rectangle Squared block tutorial. All the navy colors on the front are from Joel Dewberry’s Modern Meadow and the green prints are from Jenean Morrison’s California Dreamin. Hence the name: “Dreamin in the Meadow”. The sashing is Kona White and the binding and backing are also Modern Meadow prints!

This was one of the first quilt tops that I have ever made. If you look closely (please dont…!) you can see how the blocks don’t quite fit up everywhere. I learned the importance of a consistent scant 1/4 inch seam and why I should square up my blocks! But I think the pattern is fairly forgiving for a beginner and it looks just fine. Any non-quilter can be fooled I think! This was also the first hand sewn binding I’ve ever done! I have to say that I was intimidated by the whole process but after reading Amy’s hand binding tutorial I felt better. It was rather relaxing and I love the way it looks! So much nicer than the machine binding. I may be hooked. And I got to watch TV while binding. And I love TV (hello! Walking Dead!)…

More Photos!:

I’m happy to be back to quilting things for myself and completing projects! More to come

I’m also excited that it’s Blogger’s Quilt Festival time again! (Speaking of Amy’s Creative Side…)

I’m linking up and I can’t wait to see all the quilts!