You all amaze me!

I have been surfing all the blogs for all you people in last nights FNSI!! You are all so amazing! All 119 of you!! We all accomplished so much!

I got a lot done myself - can't show you a picture yet because it's quite foggy outside this morning as it is most mornings here (I guess that's because of the water?? That's my guess anyway) But I will be taking pictures later today after a few errands with my husband. (hopefully the Sun will come out)

Now I'm going back to the blog list of FNSI Rock Stars and get some more ideas from all you crafty people!! It will take me a couple mornings to visit all of you though! Pin It

Precut Fabric Reference Guide

Do you love the precut fabrics as much as I do?.. do you get lazy and wish someone else would do all the cutting and calculating? ...are you knodding your head? Then keep reading.. this is for you!!

I have quite a few ideas and patterns that use the typical 5 or 10 inch square. And let's not forget the 2 1/2 inch strip. And sometimes I find fabric that is perfect for a project BUT it's not by Moda.. or I can't find the precut that I want. Have you been there?

Then here is a simple guide that might help you if you decide to cut your own.

5 inch squares (commonly known as Charm Squares)
* Fold your fabric in 1/2 with selvage ends together.
* Cut strips 5 inches by Width of Fabric (wof)
* Cut your 5 inch by wof strips into 5 inch squares
YIELD
8 squares per 5" wof strip
24 squares per 1/2 yeard
40 squares per 3/4 yard
56 squares per 1 yard

10 inch squares (Commonly known as Layer Cake squares)
* Cut strips 10 inches by wof
* Cut your 10 inch by wof strips into 10 inch squares
YIELD
4 squares per 10" wof strip
8 squares per 5/8 yard
12 squares per 1 yard
28 squares per 2 yards (with only 2" of waste)

2 1/2 inch strips (Commonly known as Jelly Roll strips)
* Cut strips 2 1/2 inches by wof
YIELD
1 strip per wof
7 strips per 1/2 yard
10 strips per 3/4 yard
14 strips per 1 yard

Hopefully this will help in your project planning and fabric calculations. Sorry it doesn't help with the cutting part.. you'll have to do that yourself.

Happy sewing!! Pin It

Signup for August Friday Night Sew-in!!

Finally - the signups for August FNSI are here!!!! Bobbi and I are hosting another Friday Night Sew-In on August 20th!

If you are in the "summer sewing slump" then this is the perfect opportunity for you to get motivated!

Most of you already know the drill.. but for any newbies out there.. here is how it works.

1. Enter your blog info below. **If you don't have a blog - you can enter the Flickr group link as your URL.

2. Make a post on your blog - letting all your readers know about the sew-in. Spread the word.. we could all use the virtual sewing support and encouragement.

3. On Friday – 08/20/10 - Get your house settled, put on your comfy jammies.. maybe make a cup of tea.. and sit down to work on some of those projects (or anything else that you want to work on.. maybe you want to knit.. or catch up on scrapbooking).

4. Then, sometime on Saturday - Make a post about what you worked on.. show us a picture or two on Flickr.

And finally - on Sunday 8/22, we will enter all participants into a GIVEAWAY for something fun! (Including our new FNSI Pin Cushion) Bobbi and I both pick winners - so you each will have 2 chances to win!!

What are you waiting for... SIGN UP.. then tell ALL YOUR FRIENDS!!!

Friday Night Sew-in Participants

1. Watermelon Diva 2. Alex 3. Bobbi 4. Bobbi 5. CaraQuilts,July BakeSHop project 6. CaraQuilts 7. Carol L. 8. Marybeth Kufen 9. Geniene 10. Kim 11. Jandi 12. Janet 13. Poppyprint 14. Faye Lewis 15. Jane 16. Gina 17. Rene 18. Robyn 19. Kerry 20. crafty pug 21. Sandra 22. Maria 23. Patchwork Jenn 24. Cheryl 25. Monica-Diary of a Quilt Maven 26. Libby 27. dawn 28. Jill 29. Quilt Hollow 30. Deanna 31. Jackie 32. Jessica 33. Joy P 34. Denise & Mountain Quilter 35. Peg 36. Alethia 37. GrannyJ 38. SheilaC 39. Elena 40. Nato

41. Sherry Hogan 42. Patty 43. Judy C 44. Jess 45. Littlebook 46. Judy K 47. Becky 48. Debbie 49. Polly 50. Vivian 51. Stephanie G. 52. ulla 53. Amanda 54. Denise :) 55. Cari 56. Cherie in St Louis 57. Stephanie @ Sand and Starfish 58. darby 59. Patty 60. Barb @ DogmomDiva 61. Carolina Moore 62. Debbie S. 63. Crystal 64. Tee 65. Jamie @ modified mix 66. Lana 67. Elizabeth Q. 68. Kay Lynne 69. Jennifer 70. Valerie 71. dianne 72. Melissa 73. Sue Lemke 74. JudyK2310 75. Nicky - Farm Girl 76. Theresa @ The Treehouse 77. Rachelle 78. Dawn B 79. Brenda G 80. Nancy @ Life is a Stitch

81. Balinda 82. Shawna 83. Linda -Texas 84. Oddbjørg 85. Meghan (Thrifty Quilter) 86. Lisa at Sun Naturals 87. Cheryl - Windsom 88. Tina 89. Becca (QB29) 90. Bev C 91. Lisa 92. Tracey 93. WonkyGirl 94. Annette @ Jindi's Cottage 95. Candice 96. Deon @ Sunshine and Whimsy 97. Linda-Wisconsin 98. Elizabeth 99. Jen 100. Clio 101. Jannette 102. Shelly 103. FiberBabble 104. Gail 105. Suzan, Reluctant Quilter 106. Dresden Quilter 107. Teresa 108. Sara 109. Kimberly Mason 110. ChristineB @ Material Girl 111. Kathleen 112. Cheryll S 113. Amy 114. Dorothy 115. Linda H. 116. Colleen 117. Reethi 118. Jacque. 119. CJ

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Quick.. someone get me Miss Pink on the phone!!

As I mentioned Tuesday.. I'm playing with my Neptune fabric and can't wait to show you what I came up with. However... I'm not done. You'll have to wait.

BUT.. here is a little something interesting I thought I'd share. I was fondling studying the layer cake and reading the back information page and everything looks normal right?!!

WRONG...

Um.. shouldn't that say Tula? Not Tura?? LOL

This must have been a 'first printing'. Do you think it's like a rare misprinted coin? Could this layer cake be worth big bucks? Cuz I can get the seam ripper out and put it back together.. it's not too late. Pin It

Close the blinds.. nobody's home!!

It's HOT outside.. and crazy HUMID!!! My hair is a curly mess.. the laundry is piling up... and I have a house full of kids to feed. Let's count em.. My 2 boys, my stepdaughter and her little one... and my teenage niece is spending the week here. That's 10 right?


So today I plan to spend most of my day in the sewing room playing with this little stack of wonderful..

And it helps that my sewing room is right next to the laundry room - so I will be putting a nice dent in the laundry mountain!

Can you believe I was lucky enough to find MORE Neptune fabric!! I found 2 (YES 2) Layer Cakes.. and yardage!! I'm sending one of the cakes to my sewing buddy, Bobbi. Not just cuz she's my cousin.. but because I miss her terribly!

The plan is to make a Queen size quilt for my 10 yr old son. I drew the plans out last night and I'm ready to lay it out and sew today. We'll see how far I get.

And here is a cute picture of the little girl living in our house... (click here for story incase you missed it)

We spent a good chunk of yesterday at the beach.. she get's wet and then rolls in the sand. She's fun.. she's a handful.. and the best part - I don't have to do any of the work! ha..

Her Mom is doing good too. We toured a college last week... and there is a mountain of paperwork to fill out.. but so far so good. Pin It

Treasures....

We spent the day yesterday at my in-laws house. Sorting and cleaning through 40 years worth of memories and more as we try to get it ready to put on the market.

One of the treasures that I came home with yesterday is this little seat. I'm planning to use it near my back door as a place to sit and put your shoes on.

I found it deep in the basement and I plan to recover it. I just need to find the right fabric.... hmm.. that could take awhile. But one thing I can't decide and maybe you guys can help me - Do I use regular cotton fabric - or oil cloth? I found a quilt store here in Duluth that has a fabulous oil cloth selection.

Another little treasure that I found was this little "grease" crock. Not sure what I will use it for.. but I knew I couldn't let it go into the auction pile. 

We are going back to help my husbands siblings again on Friday.. can't wait to uncover a few more treasures! Pin It

My kind of Spiderweb

I finally got around to working on the July Quilter Bees block for Nichole. She sent so many pretty fabrics and requested we each make a Spiderweb block.

I had been looking at them lately and I'm so happy she requested them. It pushed me to step out of the comfort zone and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out.

If you've never seen a Spiderweb quilt before.. this is an example of what it looks like put together...

pic courtesy of flickr

Her quilt is going to be so pretty! What a great stash buster!! Pin It