Quick Quilting Tip: Quick Curved Seams Tutorial

All this week, to celebrate the release of her new book, Fabulously Fast Quilts, Amy Smart is doing a Quick Quilting Tips and Tricks blog hop.  There's already been so many great tips shared and I'm honored to be able to add one of my own!

Today I'll be showing my quick curved seams tutorial.

Recently I've been working on a few quilts that have curved piecing.  Curved piecing is fairly new to me - I've avoided any curved piecing for years simply because I'd heard that it was a pain.  But one of my goals for this year was to really challenge myself in the quilt-making department so I chose a pattern and dove right in.

And guess what?  The curved piecing is no big deal.  Seriously.  (Or as my nephew says, "silliously.")  Let me show you how I do it.

Now a couple of notes:

First of all, I use a 1/4" presser foot with a metal guide on the right hand side.  I'm sure you can do this technique without that guide, but it sure helps.

Secondly, you're going to want a pair of those handy-dandy tweezers.  My machine came with a pair that work fine, but I LOVE these bent tip tweezers that I found on Amazon recently.  You can get a pack of 4 for about $5!

Want to see more great tips and tricks?  Amy has curated a fantastic board on Pinterest that's chock-full of helpful tips for any quilter.  And you can see the other stops on the blog hop here, with more great ideas. 

And if you haven't had a peek at Amy's new book, you can see some of her gorgeous quilts here.  Fabulously Fast Quilts is a great book for any quilter - from beginner to not-so-beginner like me :)  Not only does it have 12 great quilt patterns, but it has plenty of quick quilting tips and tricks as well.  Oh and see that quilt - bottom row, center?  It's called "Modern Buzz Saw" and it's now on my to-do list!

Thanks for stopping by!

--Andy

American Made Brand Cotton Solids

 So I’m a gardener.  Did I ever mention that?  I love growing things.  Usually by about February I have my garden for that year all planned out.  I’d have a sketch of what will be planted where, I’d have my seeds selected and figured out the dates when each thing should be planted.  I love every step of that process.

Not so much this year.  It’s already nearing the end of May and I have just recently started thinking about what I’m going to plant.  It’s just one of those years.  I did buy a tomato plant the other day, but I didn’t get it in the ground soon enough, nor did I bother to water it.  So I’m fairly sure that it’s dead now.  I have planted some onions and some carrots so far and they’re doing well.  I really do love to grow things.

About a month or so ago I heard about this new American Made Brand of cotton solids from Clothworks.  I was very interested.  As you can see here on their website, this is All-American fabric – not just made here, but grown here as well.  That completely appeals to me. 

I’ve had a fat quarter stack of American Made Brand solids waiting for me in my sewing room for a couple of weeks.  It was just so pretty- I had to let it sit there as I thought about what the perfect project would be.  I love those vibrant colors! 

And now, I finally decided on how I’d like to use that fat quarter stack.  Yesterday I pulled out some low volume prints to go along with the solids:

And I finally cut into those fat quarters!

I’ve set aside some time on Wednesday to start piecing these into squares.  If you follow me on Instagram you might catch a sneak peek or two! 

To read more about American Made Brand fabrics go here, here or here.

Kate’s Big Day in Progress

I decided to write a bit on my blog while I sip away on my morning smoothie.  It’s a strawberry/banana/almond kind of day.  I really need it to be a little warmer outside today.  I would love to go on a bike ride, and I need to get the rest of my garden in.  It’s just been a bit too chilly for me to want to spend any more than a few minutes outside.  Especially when I have this fun quilt waiting for me INSIDE! 

This is a fun one for me – my first quilt with curves.  Can you believe it?  I’ve long admired them, but avoided them thinking it would be hard.  Or frustrating.  Well, it turns out that it’s neither.  This pattern is Kate’s Big Day (purchase here and see more of the pattern here.)

I get to work on this quilt only for about 30 minutes each day and I’m slowly making progress!  My goal is to get this done before my kids are out of school for the summer.  They only have a couple weeks left so the clock is ticking! 

I'm linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced!

Embellished Apron in a Jar

Hey friends!  Mother’s Day is this next Sunday - are you searching for gift ideas?  I have a great one for you that is easy to personalize and is semi-handmade.

How about an apron in a jar? 

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a tutorial for the Therm o Web blog showing just how you can easily make an apron of your own.  Whip one up, add a favorite recipe to the jar (or some measuring spoons, or some favorite candy) and you’ll have a fast and easy, semi-handmade gift for the wonderful mothers in your life.

See the tutorial here

And here are a few more gift ideas!

Easy Hot Pad Tutorial

iPad Cover Tutorial

Pincushion Jar Tutorial

Sprouts Table Runner Pattern