Sue Sweet!! Block 2 of Sue Through the Seasons

Good MORNING everyone!  I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine’s Day.  I tend to celebrate all week.  Mostly food stuff, but the kids like it.  I have a few more of those to post.  But until then……..  Meet Sue Sweet!

Isn’t she cute?   Notice the love letter in her hand!  This applique is a heart topiary, and the second applique pattern features a mailbox.  Once again, Dorothy Gautier did the sample.  I LOVE hourglasses.  And her choice of colors are always spot-on.  You can find the file here———> (Sue is no longer free….please find her at the ETSY store.)

Like last month, we ask that you simply leave a comment if you downloaded our pattern.  This link will be taken down on March 1st.  Since February is a short month, you better hurry!  Share, pin, and let your friends know!  New Sue is available in my Etsy store.

I have 3 big projects going on at the same time, and I hope to have pictures and finished products REAL soon!!  So stay tuned!

peace and pieces,
amy

Happy Sue Year!!

Happy Sue Year!  Isn’t that just adorable?  hehe   Ok, so it’s not showing much.  But I want to let you all know that Stitches and Kisses are still on track!!  Sun Bonnet Sue Through the Seasons will start Tuesday as planned.

Here are the details.

1) Each block will be 12 inch finished.
2) Each block is mostly paper pieced.  The other half will be applique.   It IS possible to only do the paper pieced Sues, but they won’t be nearly as cute!!!
3) We are creating samples from each of the blocks (remember Witchy Sue as a pillow?) but next January you will receiving finishing instructions for a KICKBUTT quilt top.
4) The blocks will be released on the 15th of each month.   You will have access to a free download until the end of the month.  There will be 2 ways to get the free download.   First, I will hook it up through paypal so Dorothy and I can keep track of how many have saved the pattern.  If you do NOT have a paypal account, then please leave me a comment or shoot me an email and I will email you the pattern.
5) All back order patterns will be available for a small price here via paypal.

Does all of this make sense??  I sure hope so!!   I am SOOOO excited about this project.   I suspect Stitches and Kisses will take off with our new enterprise!!   In the mean time, Butterfly Angels is trying to figure out a pattern similar to the Skating Sue…..a scene of sorts.  But I have to decide what I want.   Sew Hooked is an amazing designer.  I managed to expand on her main block.   Time to do my own!!

Here is another shot of the sample.   I LOVE my partner!! 

 

She made mine a Saints Sue Year!!!!

peace and pieces,
amy

GIVEAWAY! Announcements, and more!

GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED!

Thank you for playing!

YAY FOR BLOG HOPS!

Welcome ALL!    I know there are quite a few of you linking in from The Quilting Gallery!   I’m so happy to see all these new and smiling faces!!  

Allow me to introduce myself.  I am Amy Gay; wife for 12 years to a HANDSOME blue-eyed man; mother to 2 blue eyed girls (The Apprentice and WildChild); a Blue-Eyed Boy, and a Brown-Eyed Boy.  I quilt for the public, and am beginning to create patterns.  I can’t go back to my professional life (LONG hours) so I hope that my quilting can be a blessing to my family as well as my well-being.  I tend to like more traditional patterns, but the modern creeps in sometimes.

Currently, my partner Dorothy and I are going to host a Block Of The Month.  Remember the Witchy Sue? 

There will be a Sue for each month.   Starting January 15th, there will be a paper pieced pattern with applique embellishments released each month on the 15th.  The pattern will be free ONLY until the end of the month.   All previous months will be released for $0 .99.  So please PLEASE pop in and get your patterns.

Now, the reason you are here!!   FREE STUFF!   How’s this?

6 Fat Quarters, Valentines stuff!   Perfect for a runner or candle mat kind of mini-quilt.

To win, just comment below.  Maybe you could tell me which of my projects you have liked.  It would GREAT if you followed me on Facebook, or Twitter, or signed up for the blog (email link to the right!)  But none of that is required.  Just comment.  And PLEASE, go take a peek at the rest of the members of the Blog Hop sponsored by Quilting Gallery.  Over 150 other blogs are giving goodies away!   Oh-And I will ship internationally!

Thanks again for stopping by!

peace and pieces,
amy

Glorious Autumn Block Party!

The Giveaway is closed.  But please enjoy the free pattern!!

 

The wonderful Michelle at Quilting Gallery has been giving us a walkthrough to these amazing blocks!  In her words…

“Over 15 weeks, 45 designers will create 12″ blocks for the Glorious Autumn Block Party. These blocks will be featured, three per week, on the Quilting Gallery site starting September 4th. In addition to the blocks, there will be Super Deals for Quilters from our favourite online retailers. Be sure to check each designer’s post, as many will be offering give-aways on their own site that everyone can participate in.”

My bio with some cute pics is on The Quilting Gallery‘s main page.

And now it is MY turn!!   Here in SW Louisiana, teal season has already opened.  Duck and goose seasons will open shortly.  The hunters around here get up before the sun, and sit in their blinds (usually freezing their patooties off) and wait for the sun to rise.  This is my representation of a goose in front of the sunrise.

The base of the block is easy, but tedious.  I used 1 inch squares to make a bargello-ish block.   Took me a WHILE, but they all came from the scrap bin.  Leftovers from strips sets, bits from squaring up quilts, etc.  I sat down and picked out 14 shades.   This was what I had the first time.There was WAY too much pattern.   Soooo, I flipped most of them over!!!!   Yes folks, you ARE allowed to use the backside!  Doesn’t this look MUCH better?

You will need 1.5 inch strips.  I could have used the bargello method-long skinny strips, sewn with strip piecing, etc but I had several pieces that weren’t going to work.   Sooooo, bunches of tiny, 1.5 inch squares!!!

I STRONGLY recommend some sort of labeling system.   I did not, and the cat decided it made a great resting place.   And when she skeddadled, the pieces went everywhere.  Thankfully, I had the above picture to reference!  Darn cat.

This will take concentration.   I recommend a glass of wine, and nobody to interrupt you.  LOL  I used the EQ mockup to keep my rows in order.  You can do one row at a time, or several, or all.   That part is up to you.  Once you have the 12 rows (sorry-forgot the picture) sew them into pairs.

Then put all the rows together and press VERY well!

The take the template plain duck and create your applique.   (Yes, I know it’s a goose.   Not sure why I named it duck)  I used raw edge with a blanket stitch to hold it down.  The pattern is already reversed.

In this picture, I have already added a 2inch border in the darkest blue.

Finish it whichever way you’d like!  I added 3 rows of Flying Geese, and a panel for a Welcome sign.

Next order of business, a GIVEAWAY!!   I hand picked, especially for YOU, 10 Fat 1/8s. 

I visited my local quilt shop, Quilts Bayou, so these are all good, quality quilter’s cottons.   Aren’t these yummy?  I see another wall hanging, or a bag.  Perfect colors for fall!!  To win this bundle, tell me what your favorite fall food is.  That’s it!   No hoops.   I’d LOVE if you’d subscribe to my blog, or visit me on FaceBook, or even Twitter.   I have Flicker too.  And Pinterest!  But the ONLY requirements are that you comment below, AND that I have a way to contact you.   (I have to re-give away a set of mugrugs from 2 weeks ago, because the person who won hasn’t gotten in touch with me.)  A name will be selected no earlier than Friday, October 6, 2012.   For those of you who are NOT quilters/sewers/crafters, I offer you this—if you win, I’ll make a table runner or small wall hanging with these fabrics instead.  Deal??

It would also be awesome if you’d at least check out the 2 other designers this week.  We all worked very hard on our blocks.   Sew Joy creations  and Harding Hill join me this week.  And for the entire list, head to the Glorious Autumn page!

Thank you again for visiting.   I really hope you enjoy my block.

peace and pieces,
amy

Big News #2-FREE GIVEAWAY!

Yup!!  I can give something away!!  I have a subscription to Fons and Porter’s Love Of Quilting Magazine!!   Click and go poke around their website.  I really enjoy this magazine, and I have to renew it.  I get a free subscription to give away, so YOU get to benefit!!!

So, how do you  win??   Just answer this question in the comment section…..

What is your FAVORITE go-to pattern for quick quilt gifts?

 

PLEASE be sure that I can reach you if you win!  If you subscribe to my blog via email, I’ll give you another entry (enter info in the box to the right).   If you “like” the Butterfly Angels Facebook page, I’ll give a third.  Pretty easy, huh?  Let me know which of the above you have done, and I’ll have the slips of paper added to my hat!

(ok, so it’s an easter basket–sue me!)

I will open the comments NOW, and it will close Thursday at 12.00pm CST.

peace and pieces,
amy

Another FREE Paper Piece Pattern!

Yes folks, this is Big News #1!  I have another pattern ready for you all!!  I created an extra just in case I needed it.

Yup!!   The Monarch Butterfly that can go with the Lazy Daisy!  The SewHooked Garden party went SO well that I decided I’d better just release this!  An altered version of this will be a part of the 18″ super block I’m working on.

It’s hanging on my front door!  LOVE IT!  When the 4 part series is finished, I’ll release all blocks one at a time, block of the week style.

For the PDF pattern, click here ——————>  Monarch Butterfly

Off to the Long Arm!!

peace and pieces,
amy

SewHooked Blog Hop!!! with FREE paper piece pattern!

I am SO excited to be involved in this amazing Blog Hop!  Sponsored by Sew Hooked in honor of her birthday, this is such a JOY!  Click HERE for the master list.

When I first decided to do this, I asked my girls and my mother what “Garden Party” brought to their mind.  Of course 1 girl said Flower.  Another said Butterfly.  My mom-hehe-said WINE!!  (I love my mom!!!)  So I started a very complex block.  It is gorgeous. And it WILL be released–just give me some time.  You’ll love it!  Until then, here is the one element I am showcasing for SewHooked!

I would like to introduce you to “Lazy Daisy”

This is a 10″ finished block.   Download the PDF file here —–>  LazyDaisy
Put 4 together, with 1/2″ sashing and a 6 inch panel to the bottom and it looks like this!

or add 1/4″ sashing, and 1 inch borders and it looks like this.

This is what I did with it for now!

Now keep your eyes open, because I will release the other elements to create this block.  It’ll be an 18″block.

Put 3 together and…..

Thanks again to SewHooked!!  This has been a wonderful experience, and I’m so glad to have been following the Hop!

peace and pieces,
amy

FREE Placemat Tutorial

I was messing around with a layer cake, trying to throw together something as an Instant Gratification Project.  I managed to make 6 tops and 6 backs in about an hour.  It was AWESOME!!!  So I decided to make another set and show you all how I did it!!  Are ya’ll ready???

Materials list:
1 layer cake, or  24  pieces of fabric, a 10 inch square of each
Binding material
Rotary cutter, ruler, and mat
Batting of your choice

I started out with a GORGEOUS Layer cake from Moda.

I picked out the 12 pieces I want for the fronts-

Now pick out another 12 for the backs. (I know, they are JUST as pretty as the back!!  If you want, go find yardage of something more boring to use and save these for another set of fronts!) 

Now, it’s time for the cutting!!

Take your 12 fronts, and put them in stacks of 6.  I don’t care how you sort, just make 2 stacks.  Stack them NEATLY, and square off the front edge.  Cut a 4 inch, a 2.5 inch, a 2 inch, and a 1 inch.

Take the second stack and also square off the front edge.  Then cut a 3 inch, 2 inch, 1.5 inch, and another 3 inch.

Take a SINGLE fabric from each stack.  mix and match until you like the way it looks.  You can do this any way you want.  In this picture, I only have one piece of each fabric shown.

You can also do it a bit more organized.  In this picture, I picked 2 fabrics from each stack.  Doing it THIS way, you will have 3 sets of place mats that look very similar.

Just be sure you have one 4″ strip, two 3″ strips, two 2″ strips, a 2.5″, a 1.5″ and a 1″.  That is 8 strips in total.

Sew them puppies together!!!!  Iron all the seams in the same direction.

Now you should have 6 completed tops!!  Aren’t they AWESOME???  They finish at approx. 10″ x 15.5″.

Now for the backs.  Take 2 squares of fabric.  Cut ONE in half.

Sew to the sides of the other one.  Iron the seams.  The backs finish at approx 10″ x 19″. Do this 6 times.

There you go!!!  Now go find some scraps of batting.  I’m SURE you have as much laying around as I do!!

Sandwich the 3 layers.  Try to line up the top and bottom edge as best you can.  Baste anyway you prefer. For small projects like this, I love to use a basting spray.

Now, quilt however you want.  I thought a simple grid, or a tight stipple would hold it all down nicely.  Use your creativity and have FUN!

Now to trim up the rough edges.  Square it all up nice and pretty.  Mine ended up trimmed to 9.5 x 15.

You can bind the edges now.  Do that however you prefer.  For true newbies, there are MANY YouTube Videos telling you how to do that.  I’m a “lazy” quilter, and do it all on my Bernie.  In fact, for THIS set, I opted to just use the overlock stitch.  And I LOVE the way it turned out!!  A more casual look is what i prefer, and I think this is perfect.

Here are the fronts.

and here are the backs.

And there you go!!!  6 amazingly gorgeous placemats!!  With enough squares left over to make a matching table runner!!!!!!  Tutorial for that later.

peace and pieces,
amy