Luminous Field Flowers : :

Today on my table is fun project idea I have for my Quilt Market booth using my GO! Baby fabric cutter, an assortment of Accuquilt's amazing flower dies, and a collection of my wool felt in colors inspired by my Wild & Free Luminous Field print!




I love making felt flowers, and during these busy Quilt Market prep days where I'm behind my sewing machine for hours on end, it's so nice to disrupt the routine with a handcrafted project!



I hope to create several wildflower felt crowns & floral arrangements to have in my booth. For a little bit of picture taking fun & because of the obvious, no watering needed!! Love that! Since felt flowers do last forever, in addition to some of the Wild & Free quilts and pillows I've created, these will make one more perfect keepsake for me to have to remember this first fabric collection experience! 









Since I'm such a fan of my GO! Baby Fabric Cutter, my friends at Accuquilt asked me to share their current sweepstakes! Prizes include their brand new GO! Big Electric Fabric Cutter and FIVE GO! Big dies!!

Enter by simply clicking on the image above and filling out the entry form, which includes just your name and email address, before midnight CST on Sunday October 5, 2014. There is no cost to register or enter. The winner will be drawn at random and announced on Monday October 13, 2014!

Good luck & happy sewing! ♥  Maureen

A Big Winner and A Little Something : :

First, here's a little peek at something new I started this week. Fun, fun!

I ♥ applique and free motion quilting!!! Have any of you tried it?

And now...We have our winner! 

I want to say a big THANK YOU to Accuquilt for offering such an amazing prize!!! From 514 entries Mr. Random says our lucky winner is comment # 39, Hilachas!!! I hope you enjoy your GO! Baby Fabric Cutter and 3 Free Dies! Both Accuquilt and I will be in touch!

Thanks again everyone!!!

Giveaway! Win an Accuquilt GO! Baby Fabric Cutter : :

I have really enjoyed having a GO! Baby these last couple of weeks to play around with! I'm currently using mine for a little cutting help with my Bottled Rainbows Quilt and I just shared a Felt Flower Summer Crown Tutorial using my GO! Baby on Friday. I really do LOVE it and am thrilled to be able to give one away right here to one of my readers!


The Prize!

Accuquilt is generously offering a GO! Baby Fabric Cutter and three dies of your choice with coordinating mats!!!  That's a value of more than $250 to one lucky winner! WOW!!!
  
Enter to Win!

Here's how,

1. Simply add your comment to this post. (one entry)
2. Followers of my blog get a second chance, just let me know that you follow my blog by making a separate comment to record that entry.(one entry)
3. Sign up to receive 22 free quilt patterns from Accuquilt, you can sign up for their emails here, just let me know that you signed up by making a separate comment to record that entry. (one entry)

That’s 3 possible entries! Enter now through 10 o'clock pm (EST) Thursday, August 4th. I will announce the winner this Friday morning here on the blog.

* Note * This giveaway is open domestically and internationally. If you're a "no reply" commenter, remember to include your email address in your comment so that I can contact you should you win!

Good Luck!!!

A Summer Crown Tutorial : :

I have to say that cutting is definitely my least favorite part of the sewing process. How about you? Using a Rotary Cutter set-up is nice, it's fast and much easier on the hands than scissors, but now the folks at Accuquilt went ahead and made it even easier! Enter, the Accuquilt GO! Baby Fabric Cutter. I have been playing around with it for a couple weeks now, and I love it! It does require a little cutting prep work for the projects I've already created, but it's totally worth it!

Today I'm going to share a tutorial with you using the GO! Baby, making a Felt Flower Summer Crown! It's fast, easy, and super cute! If you don't yet own a GO! Baby, regardless of the cutting method you use, you'll be able to make one of these Felt Flower Summer Crowns!

What you'll need : :

• Wool Blend High Quality Felt in a variety of colors -- 1 piece measuring 2.5"x12" for front, 1 piece measuring 3"x12" for back, felt for your flowers and leaves
• 2 - 22" pieces of twisted or braided fabric or ribbon
• Buttons
• Pearl Cotton or DMC embroidery floss
• Sharp scissors and an embroidery needle
• Accuquilt GO! Baby Cutter/The GO! Rose of Sharon die
• Alternatives : :  purchase or create a card stock stencil of your own flower shapes to use, check out these great Felt Flower Tutorials to create a crown like this one. Again, regardless of the cutting method, you'll be able to make a Felt Flower Summer Crown with these instructions!
• Note * Click on any of my images for a larger picture 

Cutting the Felt Flowers : :

I'm including photos of the step by step for those of you who might be interested in seeing just how this GO! Baby works!  

1. Open that GO! Baby 2. Get the Flower die ready 3. Trim felt to cover each die shape 4. Cover each die shape with the felt 5. Cover with the GO! Baby mat 6. Role the die/felt/mat through the machine 7. Remove the mat 8. Layer the cut-out shapes to create your flower




Repeat until you have the amount of flowers you need.

Assembling the Summer Crown : :

1. Prepare the Fabric or Ribbon Ties by twisting or braiding until you have 2 - 22" strands

2. Arrange the layout onto the 2.5"x 12" piece of felt. 3. Using a threaded needle, come up through the backside of the felt piece and hand stitch each leaf into place

4. Attach your layered flowers -- come up through the backside of the felt piece, through the button holes until the flower and button are securely attached, always tie off threads on the back where they'll be hidden 5. Continue attaching layered flowers with the buttons with each layered flower

6. Fill in those empty areas with the smaller flowers until you're happy with the design

7. The back won't look pretty, but that's ok -- lay the finished front piece onto the larger back piece and all will be hidden

8. Pin the flowers away from the edge. You'll need them out of your way to make room for the presser foot to move easily across the band 9. With flowers out of the way, simply top stitch the top piece to the bottom, back-stitching when you begin and finish the seam

10. Leave those small ends open 11. Insert the prepared ties, pin and stitch them in place, back-stitching when you begin and finish the seam

12. Remove all the pins 13. Trim away the excess felt on each side for a nice, neat look

Finished Front    * * *    Finished Back

Voila! You're finished! I hope you have a little one to enjoy this pretty new Summer Crown!

 * * *    Her Idea    * * *

Which, I think, is just as sweet! In addition to Birthday celebrations, this crown can be a wonderful touch for creative and imaginative dress up play. Perfect for Summer Days!

Stay tuned for a GO! Baby Fabric Cutter/3 die set with coordinating mats Giveaway right here, ON MONDAY!!! You can sign up to receive Accuquilt emails/promotions/sales by clicking on either the Accuquilt Blogger Button or the 22 Free Pattern Button on my right sidebar!

Wishing a wonderful weekend to all!

Busy : :

What a week this has been! I've been spending just about every free moment sewing when I am home, working with these beauties that arrived just the other day -- Don't you just love this color palette!

Unfortunately these are not here for me, but for a custom order for a rather large bundle of pillow covers. I'm half way finished, Hooray!

Once I'm completely done, I hope to find a little more time to play around with my new favorite toy!

It's really a lot of fun and such a time saver! I just wish I could design a few dies for those of us who work with felt. My brain is swirling with ideas!

Gotta get back at it now but I'll be back here after this weekend with a new project! xo

Bust My Stash : :

Just in case any of you haven't seen... The folks at AccuQuilt are currently hosting a Bust My Stash Photography Contest on their Facebook Page. The prize is so amazing that I had to share!

Here is the photo of my stash. I wish I had time to move things around and submit something a little more creative, but I can barely find the time to sew!

I just received my GO! Baby yesterday afternoon and I have to say I am blown away! I chose the Bird and two different Flower dies to go with mine and I cannot believe the stack of beautifully cut, felt applique pieces I had after just about 5 minutes of cutting with this magical machine. Plus I used only scraps! Yuppers, I am in love! Seriously.

So, when I saw the contest and that for the prize they're offering a GO! Mix and Match Starter Set, I became completely overwhelmed with greed and I had to do it! To offset any bad feeling I had from entering after already receiving my Go! Baby from the generous folks at AccuQuilt -- I thought I'd tell you all about the contest too! : )

I do have an actual project tutorial planned with my Go! Baby cutter/dies, as well as a giveaway for one right here soon! Good luck everyone and stay tuned!!!