Lil Twister

Have you tried theTwister Tool? I used the small one and two Holly Jolly Riley Blake charm packs (22- 5" charms in each pack) to make this table topper and enough border fabric for a 3" border as well as the binding. Was a fun project and the best part is my family likes it. The instructions come with the tool but here is the idea.
 1. Lay out 5"x5" squares in any pattern you wish. I used 42 charms and the layout was  7 across and 6 down. Try to have lots of contrast to show the effect well.
2. Sew charms in row using a 1/4" seam and sew the rows together after 'butting the seams together' and pinning carefully.
3. Cut 3" strips from the border material in this case another Rylie Blake fabric and sew to each side using a 1/4" seam as before.
4. Now comes the fun part. Take the tool and line up the horizontal and vertical lines at each junction starting the first one where the left top and side border meet the charm squares. Very carefully cut around the tool. I found using a small rotary cutter worked well. Work across the first row and keep each piece in order. You can sew them together as you go. Once the first row has been cut, drop down to the second row at the left and repeat the process. Continue untill all rows have been cut apart and resewn. Then join the rows together and reveal the design.
5. Your top is done UNLESS you want to use the 2" squares which are left over after each cut, which I decided to do. I used my GO Cutter to even up the squares and sewed them together and attached them to the sides, top and bottom. You may want to trim them down, attach to 2 sides only, save them for another project or discard them (don't do that - send them to me!).
I enjoyed making this but it does waste fabric and your project while interesting, does shrink quite a bit so you decide.

For another example and a visual step-by-step visit Michele at  Michelle's Quilts and Stuff. We both blogged about the twister on the same day and she sent me her link which I really appreciated.
Have a great week and Happy Hallowe'en!

New Give Away From Melissa

A layer cake of O’ Tinsel Tree by Robert Kaufman Fabrics! Hop on over to Melissa's Blog and enter. She is doing a free Christmas Sampler Quilt as well and I like her tutorials - work well for someone at my level.

As for me, had a garage sale this past week-end which was a lot of work and only brought in $200. We were amazed at how little people would pay for some really good stuff. I knew things had to be priced low but really......... Still have lots of 'junk' left (nothing quilty) and will think about having another one or giving to charity as we usually do.

On the sewing front I have made my daughter a pillowcase:

 She loves Hallowe'en! This was fun and quick to do - used my serger for most of it. I bought .7 metre of black and pumpkin and added an 8 " orange flange folded and a 2" green 'piping' folded. I have made her a couple of nice flannel winter themed pillowcases in the past which she loves and now she has a fall one.

I have had some good luck collecting cottons at second hand stores in the area and would love to share the photos with you.

Sophie wants something!

 

 

 

 Have a great week - seriously. hugs, Vicki

Intrepid Threads Giveaway

What yummy flavors for a Friday! Sunni at Love Affair With My Brother (sewing machine) has a give-away, as does Melissa at Bitter Sweet.