A few months ago I hosted a quilt along over on The Sewing Loft with Heather.  Yes, it has been that long ago!

Each quilt block  of the block of the month that you sew represented a different method or technique for sewing quilts.  The focus was on the basics of quilt construction making this an easy pattern for beginners.  One that you can try out a few new techniques {dipping your toe in so to speak} without a major commitment to a whole monster sized quilt.

The blocks are 12 1/2″ square and there will be 9 of them.  Together they make the perfect size of quilt for a baby or a snuggle quilt.

Some of the techniques and quilt blocks covered are:

• sewing with a template
• keeping our seams ¼”
• paper piecing
• hexagon 
• sewing with points
• curved piecing
• 3-D quilt block
• making an applique pattern from a coloring page

Some of the blocks that you will sew to practice these techniques are: flying geese, log cabin, dresden plate, hexagons and more.  I have also included one block which has been sewn ‘cranky’ style. This is a style that I have come up with to release you from the guilt of perfect sewing!  This method allows you to purposefully cutting off points, edges… or whatever else comes along in our way.  We will also be making our own applique pattern from a coloring page!

The idea of the Quilt Along was to go through a few different styles of quilt squares- there was keeping your points, paper piecing, sewing with hexis, dresden plate….and an appliqued fox.  What I didnt’ see coming was the wonderful creative spirit you all have!  Each of you chose your own fabrics to work with and some even went so far as to add their own blocks, and even picked out a different character for the applique {instead of the fox}

shared by Ywecker

share by Betty C

Share by Jill

shared by BGK44

share by Mezcat

shared by Toppooch

Shared by Elisabeth Jean

shared by Patchwork Princess

Thanks everyone for sharing your progress with the quilt along.  I check the group around once a week- so if you are still catching up with the two block trailers here at the end– please post the new ones you are working on!  Seeing the quilts finished is such a treat for me.  It is one of the reasons I design.  I love to see what I inspire of others with my designs.

If you are intersted in sewing this quilt along — finished size: around 50″ X 50″

You can follow the origional patterns along here- Quick as a Fox Block of the Month

or print off the whole pattern here:

 Block of the Month Quick as a Fox Quilt

For a list of other Block of the Months happening during 2013 clickety click here.

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Today I am guest posting over on Moda Bake Shop and sharing the latest tutorial- Bucket of Fish!  It’s a toss game and way super easy to sew up and play with the kiddos.  Pack all the little fishies in their bucket for a picnic game.

The fabric used was from the Breezy Batiks Collection. I loved, loved sewing with this fabric.  The prints are fun and don’t get me started on the colors! I don’t use batik fabric too often, but when I do I love them!

The toss game can be sewn however you like.  Matching fish –like 3 per person so you can keep track of who’s is who’s.  You can fill the whole bucket with a ton of fish!  Play house with them.  Whatever.  Make up your own rules and ideas and just go for it.

Because this project doesn’t use a whole lot of fabric {and I had some leftovers after the project was done} I have decided to share the batik love!

 Enter to win:

10 Fat Quarters of Breezy Batiks

Click to enter—  a Rafflecopter giveaway

You will find the tutorial for the Bucket of Fish Toss Game on Moda Bake Shop

What would you make with your fat quarter bundle?

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After digging around in my drawer, I came upon a small group of patchwork quilt blocks that were just the right size for a gift bag.  So– how about how to make a gift bag using your ufo quilt block for today!  I really am kind of excited about this one.  You can totally use up quilt blocks quick with this one.  You will need 2 for each bag you are making.  They will need to be the exact size too {either add a border or cut one down to make them match}.

The quilt block size will determine the size of the gift bag….so obviously the bigger the block the bigger the bag and vise versa.

The ufo patchwork quilt blocks I used for this little favor bag is 6 1/2″ X 6 1/2″  that makes the lining 6 1/2″ X 6 1/2″ also and the chanel rectangles are 6 1/2″ X 2″.  You will need to cut 2 of each.  The ties are 3″ longer than the width of the block doubled {12″} so they were around 15″ long.

After threading them {yes I totally love using a diaper safety pin to do this with} you will tie the ends in a not so they don’t unthread themselves.

This method of making a gift bag is a great way to sew a custome sized gift bag….and it is re-usable too!

This is part of the 52 UFO Quilt Block Pick Up series……need more ideas on what to do with your UFO Quilt Blocks? previous weeks and UFO Quilt Block ideas

If you are sewing along with us and making up something with your UFO Quilt Blocks {even if you find your own way of sewing them together} we would all love a little peeksee!

Post them in the UFO Quilt Block Photo Gallery.  

If you’d like a little reminder in your email for the UFO Ideas and posts-  Sign up for my weekly updates {includes a couple of free patterns right off the bat + anything new that I add.  Lucky you!}   Remind me of the 52 UFO Quilt Block Pick Up and other Sew Alongs!

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Today I am doing something totally different! I am helping out a few gals I met at SNAP and hosting the Lets connect linky party.  They are a bunch of totally talented gals– and I am excited  to be participating.

Welcome to Let’s Connect Thursday!

This week we are linking up to Love Our Blogs!

If you are new this week, WELCOME! If not, then welcome back we are so excited to see you connect with us each week.

Six different hosts means there are 6 sets of readers linking up. Greater exposure and a lot more link ups!

Meet the Hosts!

The Craft Nest //Designed Decor //Swish Printables //Creative Juice // Just Us Four //La Belle Parties

To add to the fun we have a featured co-host. This week the co-host is:

Patchwork Posse

Each week, we’ll have a new social media platform as the main theme of our link party.

This week, we’re linking up to get some more FOLLOWERS to our blogs!

Maybe you use Blog Lovin’, Networked Blogs, Google Friend Connect, Linky Followers or maybe you would like more followers to your email feed. If so link it up today!

Growing your FOLLOWERS = growing your blog following!

Join the party and link up your blog homepage

Your link will automatically appear on all 6 blogs!

Remember: Follow your Hosts and visit the others!

** The BEST way to grow is to spread the love.**

You will automatically be entered into our email reminder list by entering a link. You can remove yourself from the list at any time.

Thanks for stopping by everyone- Can’t wait to see who else I can meet!

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There are really a lot of different easy sewing projects for kids or beginners, and depending on your own kids you might just start off with something super easy and they will learn quickly and move along nicely.  Other kids might really not enjoy it and find that it is no their thing. That’s ok. They have a good start and some day in the future it might hit them that they had tried it and are willing to try again.

These easy to sew patterns are quiet different in subject and sewing level….thinking that you could use these as a basic jumping point.  Give you some ideas on what kind of project the kids might like to sew during the summer– or any other time of year that is!

Ribbon Bugs

Summer Little Travelers

Patchwork Pillow by Julie Rose

wool felt pouch

Fabric Bookmarks on Make and Take 

Little Birdie- A Feathered Nest- perfect for hand embroidery!

Neck Pillow by Mommy Sew Pretty

There truly is no end of ideas when it comes to sewing patchwork projects with the kids.  They can sometimes surprise you in their knowledge and abilities.  What you might think is over their head, might be spot on.  We have found a few sewing books in the library –one was a Star Wars sewing book….Jarom loved it and made 3 projects on his own out of it– he was 10}

The idea is to just expose them to your own world.  Share with them why you spend so much time doing what you do- Sew

And Just in case you are looking for more projects– Amber from Crazy Little Projects is starting a series today!

Head on over and see what simple and super easy sewing projects she will have up–

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