I feel bad that it's been so long since we've talked.

You know how summer goes.  It's been busy, busy around here and it doesn't help that a lot of the projects I'm working on lately are ones that I have to keep on the down low.

I am still having a blast on Instagram though.  

If you're an IG-er, you might get more up-to-the-minute posts from me on there.  My username is gigis_thimble if you care to follow.

But today I thought I'd do a stashy kind of post.

I've been told that I don't have much of a stash.  I guess I usually just buy smaller pieces of fabric.  And I try to use what I have.  But my little stash seems to growing lately.  And I kinda like it.

Here's my rule of thumb when trying to decide how much fabric to buy:

When I like a fabric but I don't know what I'm going to make with it, I buy a fat quarter.  If I think a fabric will be a great background then I usually buy 2-4 yards depending on what size quilt it might go in.  If I think it will be a cute binding then I buy up to a yard depending on the size of quilt it might bind and whether it will be on the bias or not.  Otherwise, I try to only buy the exact yardage I need or that a pattern calls for.

Here are some of my grays that I'm collecting 

for a gray and white "someday" quilt. 

I like to keep my fat quarters organized by color (mostly).  You probably do too, right?  However, you can see that my newly acquired Happy Go Lucky pile (on the top right) is still together as a line since it's so new and I have almost the entire line.  I'd like to keep it together in case I make a quilt out of it someday.

Keeping things arranged in color order helps me to know my inventory.  I can easily see what areas I'm lacking in (so I can beef up those stacks when I feel like buying) and for what areas I'm good in.  A lot of my stacks are getting "two deep" now :)

As you can see I don't use a lot of purple.  And, I've got a small little collection of 30's reproductions (which I don't use very much either but I sure do think they're cute).  A few small pieces of my 30's prints are from my grandmother (Gigi) so I'm kind of hoarding those :).

 I don't have a lot of Charm Packs or Jelly Rolls for that matter (but who doesn't love a good jelly roll?!?  They're so dang cute! :)

I do have LOTS of Layer Cakes though!

Above, you can see some of my collection of background fabrics.

And below are some more of my larger, more colorful cuts of fabric.

And here's one more stack of fabric I'm hoarding.  

Some of Tasha Noel's last couple of lines (The Simple Life and Little Red Riding Hood).  And for some reason, I bought third yard cuts of those beauties?!?  Don't ask me why :)  Oh yeah.  It was cause I liked them.

Oh, so here's one of my other rules of thumb:

I only buy the fabrics that I love from a line.  If there are a few I'm not in love with then I don't buy them.  And I'm not afraid to mix and match from different lines too.  I think that's what makes a quilt fun and interesting.  And one of a kind.  And who doesn't like that? 

So that's pretty much my stash.  And my rules of thumb.

I just thought I'd share.  I like to see what people are buying.  Thought you might too.  So.  What are you buying/hoarding?  And what are your rules of thumb?  I'd love to hear...

Happy quilting.

~ Amber

Summer House Hexagon Quilt - Finished

We're into our second full week of summer around here and I am loving it!  And to be quite honest, I'm actually surprised to hear myself saying that!  Usually after a few days of the kids being home all day, I'm sick of listening to fighting and my house looking like a tornado.  But, my kids are growing up (they're 8 and 10 now) and they're finally starting to pull their own weight around here :)

I think this Summer House hexagon quilt is fitting in perfectly with our summer so far - bright and happy!

I decided to make this quilt a few weeks ago so it could be a display in the quilt shop I work at.  We have a Shop Hop going on this week and I thought it would be fun to showcase a project using the Hex N More ruler by Jaybird Quilts. I also thought it would be nice to make a quilt using a black background.  I've done it before (HERE) and the quilt ended up being one of my favorites.  Plus, a lot of the quilts we feature in our store use white and I always think it's nice to mix things up a bit.

So.  Here are my two cents on the Hex N More ruler: 

It's a little pricey but I think it is worth the $24 dollars.  I plan on doing another project with it again soon and it made cutting out the hexagons and triangles - a breeze!  And for a little cost comparison - the cute hexagon pre-cuts that Moda has put out recently are around $17 US dollars so I think the cost of the ruler is definitely worth it.  You can cut several size hexagons, half hexagons, jewel shapes and triangles with it AND you can use your own fabric so the possibilities are endless!  (These are just my own thoughts - not getting paid for this little promo :)

Anyways, it was a fun, easy to use ruler and the project went together really quickly! 

 I chose for my quilter to do my favorite little swirl all over it (in a happy yellow thread).  My backing is black minky - so soft and cuddly.

So, it's confession time. 

I tried to do a machine binding on this.  It was my first time ever.  Seriously - I've never even attempted a machine binding before!  So I Googled, "Machine Binding Tutorial" and Cluck, Cluck, Sew's tutorial was the first one to come up.  Since I love Allison's blog, I read through her tutorial a couple of times.  It seemed easy enough so I decided to give it a go.  Yeah.  I suck at machine bindings.  It's definitely something that takes time to perfect.  I ended up ripping it all out and sewing the whole thing on by hand.  

Yuck.  Props to you people that can do it. I need your tips.

Fabrics used: Summer House collection by Henry Glass, Lime Bunting from Happy Go Lucky by Bonnie and Camille for Moda, Ta Dot (color: Lips) from Michael Miller, plus a few other ones thrown in just for fun.  The black dot background is an Essential Dot from Moda.

Kits are available.  Just call 801-492-7929.

Happy quilting!

~ Amber

The World's Fastest Teacher Appreciation Gifts and a Flimsy

 It's been a great school year and I couldn't have asked for better teachers for my kids.  I'm so thankful for the teaching and love they received every day.  Their teachers really gave 110%! Today is the last day of school and as always, I waited till the last second to put something together to show my appreciation.  So last night I ran down to our local smoothie shop and got them all gift certificates (2 teachers, 1 teacher's aide and 1 bus driver).  

 

With a little graph paper and Washi tape, I attached a little note that says,  

"You've been a real 'SMOOTH' teacher this year!"

and

"Thanks for giving us a 'SMOOTH' ride to school this year!"

(Both of my kids commented on how cool the tape was!  

What can I say, Washi makes everything cute :) 

  

There isn't a gift that could sufficiently thank their teachers but I hope they'll enjoy a yummy treat on us :)  

I also finished this flimsy last night.

I've been working on lots of different projects lately (that I can't share pictures of quite yet :) so it was fun to squeeze in some time to make something for the quilt shop I work at.

This was a fun little project to try out the new Jaybird Quilts Hex N More ruler.  I used Summer House fabrics from Henry Glass + a few random pieces.  I really loved working with the Hex N More ruler!  It was easy to cut with and the pieces went together quickly and easily.  It was a little pricey (about $24) but I splurged because I figured I'd use it time and time again.  After finishing this flimsy last night I started itching to make another quilt with my son's collection of fat quarters!  So I guess that's a good sign!

Well, I'm off to the school now to catch a little of 

the end of year festivities!

Happy quilting!

~ Amber

Today

 I am quilting.

Not pebbles.

 

Not swirls or circles or flowers.

Not feathers or clam shells.

 Not headbands (although those are really fun).

Not leaves or bouncing bananas.

Just some little stars.

I'm not perfect.  I'm just a beginner.  But I'm having fun trying.

My little folk artsy flag is all basted (sorta - I'm too lazy to go to the store to get real basting pins so I'm using straight pins).  It's a small project so I think it'll be okay.

 

Time to dive in.

Wish me luck :)

~ Amber

P.S.  What are YOU doing today?

TO YOU. FROM ME.

I wanted to let you know that I have changed my price on my Sew Classic Sampler.  It's now $29.99 (instead of $40 - that's a big savings!)  AND everything in the shop is 20% off until Sunday!

"Why?" you may ask.

Because you're awesome :)

Head on over to my ETSY SHOP.

   Shop to your little hearts content and then enter: 
"20PERCENTOFF" at checkout. 
This coupon code is good till Sunday night.

To you.  From me.

♥ Amber

How-To Square Up Half Square Triangles

Most of my friends are not quilters but recently one of them decided to make a quilt for a family member.  She chose two fabrics (grey and white solids) and began to make lots of half square triangles (HST's).  She planned to put them together to create a simple, modern chevron quilt.  After she made all of the HST's she started to sew them together in rows.  Everything seemed to be going great until she started to sew the rows together.  Then, she called me in frustration.  We met up and she showed me how the intersections of the HST's were not matching up, her points were either getting cut off or weren't lining up and some blocks seemed to be bigger than others.  She had pulled, pushed and tucked to try to make them all fit but it just wasn't working!  I could see she was very frustrated and discouraged.  We checked her seam allowances and tried to figure out the root of the problem.  While trying to stay positive and remind her that "finished is better than perfection" I could tell she wouldn't be happy until she unpicked her rows and squared up her blocks.  That was the only, yet critical step, she had missed.  So I told her how to square them up and she went home.  She called me a couple days later asking if we could meet up so I could show her (again) how to do it.

 

 

For a newbie quilter like my friend, using rulers for cutting and squaring up can be confusing.  I work in a quilt shop and I see how intimidated people get by it.  Sometimes they'll even bring their blocks in and ask us to square up their blocks for them! :)  

But it really is necessary to take the time to square up.  Squaring up can help you straighten up (so your diagonal seam goes exactly from corner to corner) and it can help you to size up!  Your quilt blocks will be so much easier to put together if they're all the exact same size!  It will take a little extra time but squaring up is totally worth it in the end!

Then I got thinking, there are probably others out there that struggle with the same thing as my friend.  So I've decided to do a little "How-To" on squaring up HST's.  Of course, there are several ways to do it.  This is just the method I like.  Let's begin, shall we?

 First, you'll need a self-healing cutting mat, a rotary cutter and a small ruler that is at least the size of what you want your trimmed size block to be.  I am not one to have a million different size rulers but I've found that my 6 1/2" square ruler works well for most projects.

Decide what size you want to trim all of your blocks to.  As you can see in the above photograph, my HST was about 3 5/8".  I wanted to trim it to an even 3 1/2".  So that doesn't give me much room to square up (only an 1/8").  I only need to trim off a sliver of fabric from each side.

Note: You don't need to pay any attention to the grid marks on your mat.  We're strictly using it as a medium to cut on.  Only pay attention to the marks on the ruler. 

Step 1: Line up the top and right edges of your ruler on the HST.  Make sure your 45 degree line on the ruler is directly over the seam.  You will be trimming both of those two sides first but make sure that the other two sides extend beyond your desired trimmed size (3 1/2" for this example).  If they do not extend beyond the 3 1/2" mark then you will have trimmed off too much and your block will be too small.

 Go ahead and trim the first two sides when you're sure you have the right ruler placement.  Be careful that nothing slips while you're cutting.

Step 2: Rotate the block 180 degrees to the left so that you can trim the other two sides in the same exact way.  This time you can line up the two trimmed sides on your 3 1/2" marks on your ruler.  Also make sure that the 45 degree line on your ruler is directly over the seam.  When everything is straight and lined up, trim off the top and right sides.

Your block should measure exactly 3 1/2" (or whatever you chose to trim yours to).  The dog ears will be cut off and your seam will be a perfect 45 degree line from corner to corner!

That's it.  It's really quite easy peasy.

I think you'll find that although it takes a little extra time to square up...

it's totally worth it and will save you from lots of headaches in the future.

I hope that helps!

Happy quilting!

~ Amber