Cathedral Windows Sew-a-long PRIZES!

So now that ya'll know the basic steps to the Cathedral Windows method and practicing away to get ready for all the fun projects, I would like to announce the PRIZES up for grabs! 

First, SunFlower Quilts has donated numerous patterns from the shop!  Check out all of our patterns HERE.

Second, Fabricworm has graciously donated a fat quarter bundle of  the 100% organic fabric line it's called Mod Squad by Dan Stiles for Birch Fabrics. Details on their website HERE. It looks like a super fun fabric line!

And last but certainly not least, Fat Quarter Shop has generously donated 3-$25 gift certificates to their shop for you to buy whatever your heart desires!

Can you believe all of these prizes?!?!  I am so excited and wish that I could win myself!

Thank you so much to all of these shops for your generosity and donating fun prizes for my Cathedral Windows Sew-a-longers to have a chance to win!!

How do you win you ask, here are the details:

 You must upload a photo to my Flickr Group of any project you make from my Cathedral Windows tutorials.  Or you can link your blog post featuring the Cathedral Windows project at the bottom of that tutorials post on my blog.  It can be from any of the projects over the next week and a half and there is NO limit to how many you can upload!  So if you make 20 pillows, 10 pincushions and a pouch, then you have 33 chances to win these fabulous prizes!

You have until the end of the month (April 30th) to submit photos and the winners will be announced on May 1, 2012!

Confused on Flickr or Linking?  Here are the details:
At the top of my page there is a link for a tutorial on how to start your own Flickr under my tutorials page.  That will take you to a google document showing you step by step how to create a Flickr account and upload photos, it's super easy!  You will need to create a Flickr account in order to add photos to my Flickr Group!

If you don't want to create a Flickr account, which I highly recommend it because it's a whole new world for quilting inspiration, you can also link a blog post from your blog at the bottom of each of the Cathedral Windows tutorials.  It's easy, at the end of each tutorial post on my blog there is a button that says add your link, all you do is click on that and add your information.  You must have a blog and create a post about your Cathedral Windows projects in order to be able to link.  In your blog post, you must include either a Cathedral Windows Sew-a-long button or a link back to my blog in order to be eligible for prizes!

Good luck to everyone and I CANNOT wait to see what everyone creates!

Don't forget to grab a button for your blog!

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Cathedral Windows Basics Tutorial

okay ya'll,

this is a tutorial on the basics of Cathedral Windows.  I will show you step by step how to achieve Cathedral Windows but it will just be a sample and not really a project! This will be our practice windows; you could always turn this into a mini quilt/wall hanging! Tomorrow we will start the projects tutorials and I will teach you how to make an 18" square Cathedral Windows pillow!  Check the schedule HERE for all of the projects we will be doing in the next week and a half!

Cathedral Windows Tutorial

*Before starting the cathedral windows pillow pattern, always remember to PRESS the fabric and not IRON the fabric.  We don’t want the fabrics to stretch.  I suggest not using any steam while pressing as well. Also, make sure the square pieces are truly square. This will help a lot!

Materials:

1/4 yd solid fabric -cut into 4- 10" squares

8- 3" squares for the "windows" (these are a great use for scraps!)

Coordinating Thread (match the solid fabric)

Magic Sizing (or Starch of choice)  *I use the starch on the solid squares while folding, it really helps keep them stable and easier to work with!

Directions:

Folding:
*I spray starch lightly before each step of the folding process and find that it really helps keep the fabric stable and just makes it easier to work with!

1. Take one solid 10” square and fold in half. PRESS.

2. Fold that piece in half again and PRESS.

3. Open up the square and place a pin directly through the middle of the square.  You should easily find the middle by the creases made from folds.    

4. One corner at a time, bring one corner tip to the pin (or the center) and PRESS.  Repeat with all four corners.

5. Again, one corner at a time, bring one corner to the pin (or the center) and PRESS.  Repeat with all four corners.

6. Pin all sides down to hold in place.

7. Repeat with the remaining 10” squares until all your squares are complete.

*This folding step is what will take the longest, now comes the FUN part!

Sewing:

1  Sew vertically and horizontally across all four points in center to tack down points.

2. Set your sewing machine to have a small zigzag stitch.  (My machine was set to Width-2.5 and Length-1.0 if that helps)

3. Sew folded blocks together by placing two side by side and sewing with a small zigzag stitch together. The windows will cover up those stitches later, so don’t stress out too much on how they look!

4. Sew until you have a 2 X 2 square (looks like a four patch). 

5. Take 3” squares and pin in the center of the newly formed squares, covering up the zigzag stitches and removing all pins.

6. Take the remaining 3” squares and cut in half diagonally.  Next, on both bottom corners of triangles trim off 1/4". Place triangles on the outside triangles and pin in place.

*Trimming off corners isn't mandatory, but it will make it easier to sew.  If you don't trim them off they tend to make ugly little flaps (see photo below).

7. Starting with the center colored square, take one side and fold over towards the center.  Pin in place and repeat with all four sides. Continue until all squares are fully pinned.  The sides should naturally curve on their own, see isn't it much harder than it looks?
 (not necessary to pin before sewing, but highly recommended until you're fully comfortable with the technique. I forgot to take a photo of one fully pinned.)

8. Do the same thing with the outside triangles, instead only pinning down two sides instead of four.

9. Starting in the middle of the project, sew with a straight stitch on top of the solid fabric closest to the color part around all four sides.  Continue with all squares.

10. Do the same with the triangles, only sewing three sides instead of four.

* Here are photos of a way to sew around the entire project without picking up your needle once.  Having the needle down feature on your machine really comes in handy for this!  If you don't have it, no big deal, just remember to stop with your needle down before turning your project.

These photos might be a little confusing, don't let them overwhelm you, but you basically start in the center and go all the way around including the corners and end up back in the center.  It will make a lot more sense once you start actually sewing!  The first photo is if you're right handed and the second photo is if you're left handed.

RIGHT HANDED

LEFT HANDED

Sewing: Embellishment

*Here are directions if you want to add fabric underneath the windows for a little peak-a-boo surprise. See photo: The yellow dot fabric is the peak-a-boo surprise instead of being the solid cream color!

*This would be done before step 1 of the sewing directions above!

1.  Measure your folded square to determine size.  This would be a 5"square if you're using a 10" square to begin with.

2.  Open the top flaps of your folded square and insert your 5" square fabric and pin in place.

3. Then, sew vertically and horizontally across all four points in center to tack down points.

*Then continue on to step 2 of the sewing directions at the beginning of the tutorial!

Well that's it for the basic tutorial of Cathedral Windows! See, I told ya'll it's easier than it looks!  Please let me know if you have any questions!  See ya'll tomorrow!  Oh wait, check back later today for the announcement of all the fun PRIZES!

If you make a sample block from these instructions please add your link here to your blog post and add it to the Flickr Group!

Cathedral Windows Sew-a-long Schedule

Okay ya'll, tomorrow is day one of the Cathedral Windows Sew-a-long!! Who is ready for some fun?  I just love making Cathedral Windows and I hope that ya'll will too after this!  Don't be scared, they are easier than they look, I promise!  You can do it! I am so excited and I hope ya'll are too!

I will post a tutorial for a bunch of projects including a pillow, some pincushions, a pouch, plus more! The basic instructions for Cathedral Windows are all the same but with different size requirements.  The "windows" part are a great use for scraps you have been wanting to use! 

PLUS, later on this week, I will be announcing some huge PRIZES for everyone who participates in the Sew-a-long!  Just a little tease, Fat Quarter Shop and Fabricworm donated some fun stuff (more on that soon). 
In order to win prizes you must submit photos of Cathedral Windows projects either in my Flickr Group or link it back to the blog post of that project (which I will tell you how to do at the end of every tutorial blog post).

Here is a little schedule of how these couple of weeks are going to go:

Monday April 2nd: Basics of Cathedral Windows Step by Step Tutorial (these basic instructions will be used for every tutorial, each tutorial will have different size requirements listed) Prizes announced today as well!

Tuesday April 3rd: Pillow Tutorial

Wednesday April 4th: Pincushion #1 Tutorial

Thursday April 5th: Pincushion #2 Tutorial

Friday April 6th: Coasters Tutorial

Saturday April 7th: Pouch Tutorial  AND (Happy Birthday to my Husband Jon)

Sunday April 8th: Happy Easter!! Jesus is RISEN! Day off so we can all celebrate and eat lots of yummy food and candy!

Monday April 9th: Turtle Pincushion/stuffed animal

Tuesday April 10th: Ornament-guest blogger Jill from Constantly Quilting
Wednesday April 11th: Tote Bag Tutorial
Thursday April 12th: Journal Cover Tutorial
Monday April 30th: Deadline to submit project photos for a chance to win prizes!
Tuesday May 1st: Announcing Winners of the awesome PRIZES!

WOW, that's a week and a half of Cathedral Windows fun I have scheduled with 9 projects! I've been sewing like crazy for ya'll and taking lots of photos! I can't wait to see what ya'll come up with and I can't wait to start, see ya'll tomorrow!

Don't forget to grab a button for your blog and join the Flickr Group so you can add photos of your Cathedral Windows projects!

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Cathedral Windows Sew-a-long

Introducing the Cathedral Windows Sew-a-long!!

I'm sure you've noticed that I haven't posted the Cathedral Windows tutorial yet. Well, that's because I've decided to do it as a sew-a-long!  WOO HOO!  Who is with me? 

It's going to be a very informal, join whenever you want kind of sew-a-long.  I've been busy sewing the past few days and have a lot of fun cathedral windowy (is that a word?) projects to share with you!  We are for sure going to be making a pillow like the ones pictured and a pincushion with full tutorials! Please join my Flickr Group so that you can upload any photos along the way too! This is going to be so fun, I am beyond excited!

We will start next Monday, April 2, 2012.
Now grab a button and tell all of your friends!

There may even be a few prizes along the way! *wink wink* More on that to come later as well as supplies!






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Giveaway Winner!

Jared just went down for his nap....so that means it's giveaway winner time!  Thanks for all who entered!  And thanks to Random.org the winner is.......drum roll please.......

Kelly Smith said...

Hmmm... I love all your tutorials, and understand how it is with a newborn, so I would be happy with everything you post. If you do happen to post a tutorial on cathedral windows... and maybe that awesome pillow... well I wouldn't be upset! Congrats on 300 posts/followers!

And I would like to announce that I will be posting a FREE tutorial on my easy way of doing Cathedral Windows by machine! I will be posting that next week!  I would post this weekend but my cousin Mark is getting married tomorrow so we will be busy with that!  

What I would like to know is that would ya'll like a tutorial on just the basics of making cathedral windows? A tutorial for a pillow like in the photo above?  A tutorial for a pincushion? Or all of the above?  Let me know!

Congrats Kelly, I am sending you an email now!  Please let me know which pattern you want me to send you!  Thanks again for all who entered my giveaway!

Pezzy Print Goodness

I don't know about ya'll, but I just love Pezzy Print fabric! It's such a great basic to have in your stash! I got a bundle of yard cuts back in February and forgot to post about it....oops I guess Jared is a good excuse as to why I have been so busy and blog slacking! Well here is a pretty photo of my stack, before I folded it different and added it to my big stash of fabrics! 

I'm curious, how do you organize your fabrics? Do ya'll have stacks of Pezzy Prints?  Do you organize by color, size, entire collections?  I organize my stash by colors/size.  I have a stack of FQ and then yardage behind it of the same colors.  Does that make sense?  Do you want to see a photo? Let me know! 

Anywho....if you're looking for a project to use up your Pezzy Print stash, check out my FREE tutorial over on Moda Bake Shop!  It's called Follow the Pezzy Brick Road and the tutorial can be found HERE!  If you make one, I'd LOVE to see it so either email me or add it to my Flickr Group please!!  Have fun sewing! 

Don't forget to enter my 300th post giveaway!

300th post giveaway!

So I just realized that my last post was my 300th post and I have over 300 followers!  WOW, ya'll are awesome and thank you for following my blog!  Sorry it's been a lot slower around here since Jared has been born (and a little before).  I promise that I will start blogging more, especially now since my little man sleeps through the night and I feel like an actual human being again!

So in honor of my 300th post and over 300 of ya'll being my super rad followers, I thought I'd do a little giveaway!  What's up for grabs?  Your choice of a PDF version of one of our patterns!!!YEAH! Go HERE to check all of our patterns out!   Which one will you choose?

Baby Chains?

Baby Blocks?

Hello Baby?

Can you tell that I have baby on the brain?  The examples of patterns I picked all have baby in the name (hehe oops). We have more than just baby quilt patterns...check them out!

Anywho, how do you win? I'm having a really good day and Jared is napping so I will give ya'll a bunch of ways/chances to win! 

1. Leave a comment telling me what kind of tutorials you would be interested seeing on my blog.  I'm in the process of updating my blog and I've got a few tutorials in the works but I would love to know what ya'll want to see/learn!

2. Become a follower of my blog and let me know you do!

3. Follow SunFlower Quilts on facebook!

4. Follow my Mom's blog!

5. Join my Flickr Group

6. Join the NEW SunFlower Quilts Flickr Group

Okay that's six chances for ya'll to win! Make sure you leave a separate comment for each one and that I have a way to contact you if you win!  It's Spring Break at our house next week so I will leave this open until next Thursday!  I will announce a winner on Friday March 23rd after noon. Good luck!

Oh and because I just can't resist and it's March Madness here is a photo of Jared being really excited about basketball!

New Pattern!

Introducing our newest baby quilt, "Kitties 9 Lives"! The quilt is 50" square and has 9 appliqued Kittie blocks. Choose your favorite method of hand or machine applique. Kittie applique template is provided along with all instructions. Click here to order a PDF Download or paper version today!

Here is Jared on his quilt today at two months old! He is getting so big!

 

STLMQG Pouch Swap

Tomorrow is my STLMQG meeting and I am participating in a secret pouch swap! Everyone that wanted to participate put their name and info into a pouch and we all drew names for our secret partners!  How fun?!? Here is what I came up with...I hope my partner likes it!

I did a little smocking in the main fabric and totally fell in love with it!  I wouldn't go smocking an entire shirt or dress or anything, but this little pouch was fun!  It was relaxing to do some hand work, I wish I had more time to do so! The top fabric is Amy Butler Soul Blossoms and the bottom is a Moda fabric (can't remember what line).  I just came up with the pouch shape myself, I free handed the shape and was please with how it turned out!

Close up of smocking

Inside peek

Close up of the zipper!

If you're in the St. Louis area, come by our meeting tomorrow!  Our meetings are aweomse and inspiring and I guarantee you'll have a good time! Meeting info is HERE.

PDF Patterns!

Hey y'all!

I am so excited to share with you that all of SunFlower Quilts and SunFlower Seeds patterns are available in PDF form! That means for $5 you can purchase our patterns and a copy will be sent to your email for instant sewing fun! There is no shipping charge and the cost for a PDF pattern is only $5.00 each! That’s right a quilt pattern for only $5.00. You can save it on your computer to keep it safe and have it forever. We love this new way to purchase patterns because it is so easy and fast! Try ordering one today, you won’t be disappointed! Check them out!!  If you make something from one of our patterns, please add a photo to my Flickr Group, I'd LOVE to see it!

Click HERE to go directly to our PDF Patterns!

And since it's Rodeo time in Houston and I can't be there this year (insert super sad face here) I thought that the next best thing was a cute cowboy picture of Jared!! Enjoy!