My First Quilt

So I have never really been interested in quilting. Math? Gah... Precision? Eww... And I guess a lot of the old fashioned granny square type quilts were just not my style. That was until I saw this super cute quilt on Craftsy.

It's called a Rag Quilt by Sweetwater and you can find it HERE or on Etsy HERE. Then I started really looking more into quilting and realized it has a lot of similarities to paper crafting. Mixing together papers and fabrics is pretty much the same thing- but you can't snuggle up with a greeting card at the end of the day! Now I am quilting obsessed. I just bought a book Fabulously Fast Quilts by Amy Smart who as an awesome blog; Diary of a Quilter and am excited to start another project out of her book. Another bonus is I have learned SO MUCH MORE about my sewing machine and the different feetr. So far I have used my; walking foot, stitch in the ditch foot, and also figured out what some of the mystery stitches on my machine were! Stitch #39-40 are called Piecing Stitches and if I select those it gives me the perfect 1/4 inch seam allowance using the edge of my foot as the guide- who knew?! Here is my finished quilt, I love it so much.

{I even made my own custom label}

{I cut my own 2.5 inch strips for the backing- didn't want to use all the valuable Moda fabric on the back!}

 I used a Moda April Showers Jelly Roll to make it. Can't wait to get started on my next cozy masterpiece!
-Denise

BLOG HOP Giveaway with The Twinery and Ruby Rock-it

Welcome hoppers hopefully you came here from the Netherlands... or at least from Moniques Awesome blog HERE. Ready for some more inspiration from The Twinery and Ruby Rock-It? I got Ruby's Oriental Chic to play with and the second I saw it I thought of an adorable picture of my friends baby dressed up like a little piece of sushi! Now that's a picture that deserves memorializing in a scrapbook page and here is what I came up with-

{Twine is always a great accent piece, and the metallic copper I used played off the foil in the background paper and the "baby" letters}

{I always look for a place to add an extra little twine and this addition balanced nicely}

{Ruby Rock-it has amazing wood embellishments that are a great contract to the bold colors and metallics}

NOW- how about those prizes???

Ruby Rock-It will be giving away the Essence Empire Bebe collection (Album not included).

The Twinery will be giving away THREE FULL SPOOLS of twine (winner’s choice!) ($45 retail value). Hoppers can visit the Twinery blog and the Ruby Rock-It blog to ​find out how to enter to win.

supply list:
The Twinery- Copper Shimmer Twine
Ruby Rock-it- Oriental Chic Collection Embellishments, stickers and paper pack

Now you are off to visit Rebecca at her blog Hugs Are Fun!

Here's the whole blog roll for today just in case!:

Ruby Rock-It - http://www.rubyrock-it.com/articles

The Twinery - http://thetwinery.com/blog

Jenifer Cowles - http://stitchcutcreate.blogspot.com/

Melyssa Connolly - http://www.fantastink.blogspot.com/

Pattie Beltran - http://www.pattiebeltran.blogspot.com/

Katarina Damm-Blomberg - http://krumeluran.wordpress.com/

Jeanne Jachna - http://akeptlife.blogspot.com/

Monique Liedtke - http://moniquesscrapbook.blogspot.nl/

Denise Hahn - http://www.inmyblueroom.blogspot.com/ <-----you are="" b="" here="">

Rebecca Greco - http://hugsarefun.com/

Andrew Roberts - http://downundercrafter.blogspot.com.au/

Clearsnap and Walnut Hollow Blog Hop- Easy Stencil Tips

My fear of stenciling- real! I always screwed up my project- goops of color in the corners- slippery stencils, color under the stencil. I wasn't about to let stencils beat me, so I practiced. I made a stencil-life-changing-discovery; Respoitionable Spray Adhesive! I use it all the time on my die cut machine carriers- why not on my stencils? And it works- just take a look at my Snapguide at the end of this post and you can see my tips and tricks in action. Today I am playing with some super fun Walnut Hollow French Provincial Signboards. I got a few sizes and when they came, I immediately saw that they needed to be a two tier display tray. First I just base coated them with some white primer, stenciled them with Colorbox Crafters Ink in Aruba and Limon and Colorbox Art Screens Bloom and Rounded  then added in a dollar store candlestick and voila!

Supplies:

Colorbox Crafters Ink in Aruba and Limon

Clearsnap Stylus and Tips

Colorbox Art Screens Bloom and Rounded

Walnut Hollow French Provincial Signboards

Check out How to Stencil With Clearsnap Inks and Walnut Hallow by Denise Hahn on Snapguide.
FOR MORE INSPIRATION CHECK OUT THE CLEARSNAP CREATIVE TEAMS PROJECTS HERE:

Chris Wallace http://walnuthollowcrafts.wordpress.com/?p=2097

Steph Ackerman http://stephaniescraps.blogspot.com/2014/09/clearsnap-and-walnut-hollow-blog-hop.html

Suzanne Austinhttp://whatsinalousyananut.blogspot.com/2014/09/clearsnap-and-walnut-hollow-blog-hop.html

Tami Sanders http://tamisanders.com/2014/09/19/walnut-hollow/

Sara Shirman http://walnuthollowcrafts.wordpress.com/?p=2099

Jennifer Priest http://hydrangeahippo.com/?p=8641

Vivian Keh https://contadinak.wordpress.com/

Meihsia Liu http://meihsia.blogspot.com/2014/09/mixed-media-wall-hanging-with-clearsnap.html

Clearsnap and Fancy Pants Blog Hop Embossed Mini

Oh how I fell in love with Fancy Pants! Today I am working with their Burlap and Bouquets Collection Kit. Visit Clearsnap at HERE and Fancy Pants HERE for more inspiration!

I added to that kit some of their Chalkboard stickers and Tape. The stickers have the texture of electrical tape and I knew right away the best way to use these awesome embellishments- embossing!

I used Clearsnaps Top Boss, White Pigment Ink, White Embossing Powder, and Gold embossing powder. 

{This mini is constructed with drink coasters- the corrugated cover is Fancy Pants Kraft Corrugated Paper}

{This cover is a Fancy Pants Scallop Bracket Chalk Label Sticker, White Clearsnap Pigment Ink and Clearsnap White Embossing Powder- the Stamp is Hampton Art- Footloose}

{For this embossed Bracket Chalk Label Sticker used Clearsnap Top Boss Embossing Adhesive Stamp Pad and Clearsnap Gold Embossing Powder}

Supplies:

Clearsnap Top Boss Ink Pad

Clearsnap Embossing Powder Gold and White

Colorbox Pigment Ink White

Donna Salazar Mixed Media Chox- Butternut

Colorbox Pigment Ink Emerald

Fancy Pants Burlap and Bouquets Collection Kit

Burlap and Bouquets:

Kraft Corrugated Card Stock

Flair

Small Decorative Tags

Toppers

Fancy Pants Resin Flowers- Vintage Hues/Autumn Hues

Other:

Poppy Stamp- Bicycle

Ribbon May Arts

Adhesives:

Xyron Mega Runner

Xyron Create A Sticker Max