Monday, September 27, 2010

Stretched Stars To Go Quilt

I just finished the Stretched Stars To Go Quilt. I used a green and orange/yellow fabric pack from JoAnn's. You can find the free AccuQuilt Go pattern over here. This is a great way to test out your 4.5" die that comes with the AccuQuilt Go Cutter. You can also make the entire quilt with a rotary cutter and ruler.
I used a Stars panto from Debra Geissler for the machine quilting. I used a very light yellow quilting thread and Hobbs 80/20 bleached batting.
I love the stretched stars with quilted stars. This is such a fast quilt to make and definitely a beginners friendly pattern.
I used this old green checked fabric from my stash for the backing.
I made the two borders wider than the pattern said. I decided to use the same fabric from the outer border for the binding.
Binding is all done!
I am so pleased at how this simple and fast little quilt turned out.
Here is another blue pack of fabric from JoAnn's. Wouldn't a two colored blue and white Stretched Stars To Qo Quilt be beautiful?
Thank you so much for all the comments on my Go giveaway. I am so sorry for not coming back to all of you. I will use a random number generator...so anyone can be the winner. The Go giveaway will close on Saturday morning. I wonder who the lucky winner will be!

Happy Quilting until next time!
~Millie~

Thursday, September 23, 2010

AccuQuilt Go Cutter Giveaway

Carolyn at AccuQuilt told me I can give away an AccuQuilt Go Cutter and 3 dies.
Do you want an AccuQuilt Go and your choice of three dies? If you do own a Go Cutter, you can give your Go Cutter away and still pick three dies for yourself. Isn't this just great news?
The Go cutter makes cutting pieces faster than a rotary cutter or by hand and it is so easy to use. I'd like to make the giveaway fast, simple and easy.
You have 3 chances to win.
1. Just leave me a comment on this post and let me know which 3 dies you would like to have. Please click here to look at all the dies.

2. If you are a follower of my blog, I think you deserve a second chance to win. Please leave me another comment on this post.

3. If you blog about this giveaway, please come back with another comment for another chance to win.

The winner will be picked on next Saturday morning, October, 2nd.*** This give away is now closed. ***

I hope this sounds easy to enter. Good luck to all of you. Thank you to AccuQuilt for giving me a chance to have this wonderful Go giveaway.

Happy quilting untill next time!
~Millie~

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

AccuQuilt Go Cutter Tutorial

I was drooling over over an AccuQuilt Go Cutter for a long time. Look what came to my front door late yesterday afternoon!
I have been eyeing quilts with rounded and curved edges since I made my first quilt at the age of 24, but I have never made one. It is time to give it a GO.
I have a project in mind to try out my new Go. My entry table is screaming for a new Fall table runner. I am going to give the Robbing Peter to Pay Paul Die a go. Picture taken form the AccuQuilt website.
Place the Go cutter on a sturdy table and open the Go cutter. The cutter is instantly ready to Go...no assembly of any sort needed. Isn't that nice?
Mark the shapes on the die with a permanent marker. This makes it easier to place the fabric directly over the shape.
Place the die with the foam side up on the Go Cutter. I have my Go instructions close by to make sure I am doing the right thing.
Place your fabric on the die.
Place the cutting mat on top of your fabric and push the die and mat against the roller.
Now the magic begins. Turn the handle in the direction you want the die to go (depending if you're left or right handed or just personal preference). The Go is so easy to use and it is for lefties too...Both my two daughters and I are lefties.
Remove the mat and die. Perfectly cut curved shapes ready for sewing. Leftover fabric is on the leftside of the Go.
These are the other cutout templates that go with the die.
There is not a lot of fabric waste. This is not really a waste for me, because I love to make string quilts.
Doesn't this look pretty...even if it is not sewn together yet. I am tracking time with the hourglass. As you can see there is not a lot of sand in the hour glass. The Go definitely makes cutting faster.
The notches match up for easy and acurate sewing...which I was terrified off!
I did put one pin in the middle of the block to help me with the sewing.
I sewed the first block...it turned out very nice. I finger pressed the seams and then took it to the ironing board to press the block. Snip off the little tails on the corners. It is a good idea to make a test block first before you Go crazy and cut the shapes for a whole quilt.
I made a mistake...I switched the colors. I am glad I took my own advice...this does not always happens.
I decided to go with a different color scheme so I made 4 blocks for a Fall table runner. I had so much fun and forgot to turn the hour glass. I just kept on going.
I sewed the four Go blocks together. I added a 2" light border, the same color as the background fabric.

A second 3" border in the leaves fabric frames the table topper nicely. If you have a smaller table, 3 blocks would look beautiful. Try 5 or 6 blocks for a longer runner for the dining room table.
I made the top and did the quilting yesterday. It took me longer to hand stich the binding down then to make the Go blocks. This is coming from somebody who had a fear for curved edges.
Remember your quilt is not done until the label is on, the part I usually forget.
My new Fall table runner is in my entryway. I made this table runner in less than a day. Not bad at all, I think.

This is the back of the table topper. I love to reverse my quilts.

The Go helped me spend less time cutting, so I can have more time to quilt which means more finished projects.
I am 100% happy with my Go. I love my new toy.
Next I am going to give the Winding Ways Die a go. Picture taken from the AccuQuilt website.
Happy Quilting until next time...I have to Go now.
~Millie~

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Coming soon...Go Cutter and 3 dies as a give away

Two postings in one day...so you know it has to be great news.
Carolyn at AccuQuilt contacted me and said my blog was eligible for a Go and 3 dies and I can give away a GO and 3 dies too. I am so excited and will not be able to sleep for a few days.

The GO makes cutting so fast,
It is simple to use...and our lefties can use it too,
No more V's on strips and
Accurate cutting on curves and shapes with rounded edges!!!

I like to thank Mary which helped me win the GO.

Please stay in touch for my
GO give away!

Happy Quilting until next time!
~Millie~