One for the baby books...

I'm sitting there minding my own business when Scooby Kid comes up and says in the sweetest four year old voice...

"Mom, I love taking care of you."

Then he starts brushing my hair oh so gently.  How sweet, right?

For some reason I look back at him and notice his "brush."

Moms of boys are probably thinking "omg...the toilet brush."  Nope- Worse.

My sweet little guy is brushing my hair with... a Schick Intuition Razor.  I didn't even get upset.  I mean, how could you? 

In case you're wondering, I can now assure you this razor will remove your leg hair even if it gets up to 6" long.  Comforting, I know.

PS: I wasn't paid by anyone to mention this product in my blog, but if I were I'd be looking into getting extensions with my profits.

GO!Baby...the redraw.

No word from the original winner. I'm gonna call this thing...it's midnight on the East Coast! Our new winner is:
Gayle Himmelwright said... 141

I'm a follower (and I meant 2 and 1/2 inch strips!)

August 17, 2011 10:48 PM

Congrats Gayle...I will be contacting you shortly through the email you provided in your other comment to finalize your die preferences and get your address for shipping.

Thanks to all for playing along and thanks to Accuquilt for giving me a machine & dies to give away. I hope I can do more fun things like this for you all in the future!

My GO!Baby is still unclaimed...

Hey everyone, just letting you know my GO!Baby Giveaway winner, Beautiful Mommy Princess, has yet to claim her prize. If you know her or how to get in touch with her, please let me know. She only left one comment that did not contain contact info and her blog has no posts for me to comment on and no email info. She's also a No Reply Blogger. What's that? It's a person who does not allow responses they have made on a blog to be replied to directly from a blog owner. If you email me a question, I can't respond. If you comment, I can't comment back through email. If you win a giveaway, I cannot find you. There's a great article on how to tell if you are a No Reply Blogger on Pleasant Home. 

I know I originally said Monday was my deadline for a redraw.  I decided to give it until Tuesday morning so that the entire day Monday had passed.  If you know Beautiful Mommy Princess, please bring this to her attention.   I'll draw from the original list of comments if I have to redraw...comments on the original post are closed.  I'm sorry this is happened...I feel like it's hard to be fair to everybody in this situation.

Finish: Xquisite Baby Quilt

 In November, we will become aunt and uncle all over again.  To welcome our new nephew, I made this baby quilt in the Xquisite pattern.  The parents had already picked out themed nursery bedding from a retailer, so I made this stroller quilt for them to use outside the home...this is a winter baby and he's gonna need some extra warmth!

 I mixed in some other prints.  Using those 4 squares of American Jane blue mono pez and blue rulers caused a near-panic attack and an online fabric shopping spree.  I'm sorry, I've got it bad for AJ fabrics...the older, the better!

Final measurements: 30"x38".  When he gets bigger I'll have to make a bigger quilt, but this will be perfect for tucking into a stroller or draggin' around.

PS: A little public service announcement...Target has the DVD of Pride&Prejudice (yes, the Colin Firth one) for $13.99.  My husband hates it but he cut off our cable so I guess he will have to deal with it ;)  Colin Firth in all his Mr. Darcy glory for $13.99...SIGN ME UP!


linking to Fabric tuesdays on Quilt Story

Introducing: Houndstooth MAGIC!

Hey everyone.  Remember Houndstooth Heritage?  It's my no-bias method for creating a beautiful 56"x64"Houndstooth quilt.  Why no bias?  Well, bias edges scare a lot of new sewists.  What about the more experienced quilters?  Well, now I have created an addendum to Houndstooth Heritage which involves SUPER quick and easy piecing.  I am calling it

Houndstooth Magic!

What's different???

     This new addendum replaces steps 1-6 on Houndstooth Heritage.  It also requires less fabric to complete your quilt top.  Because this option involves strip piecing, there will be bias edges.  If you're not comfortable with that, just follow the original Houndstooth Heritage pattern from beginning to end.

What's the same???

    The backing requirements and binding requirements are the same.  The finished quilt size and block sizes are the same.  If you choose to use this option, all you do is follow Houndstooth Magic and pick up on step 7 on Houndstooth Heritage to complete your quilt.  Easy Peasy!

Both are on sale in my my etsy shop for one low price.

If you have purchased Houndstooth Heritage, I have mailed you access to the PDF of Houndstooth Magic.  All future purchases of Houndstooth Heritage include Houndstooth Magic FREE OF CHARGE.  Thanks to all of you who have believed in me and purchased my patterns!

If for some reason you own Houndstooth Heritage but did not receive an email from me about Houndstooth Magic, please contact me marylane_brown at yahoo dot com

rags to...well, more rags!

Ten years into marriage, your towels start looking a little sad. Your washrags have run off to Laundryland to frolic in a mountain breeze scented wonderland with your socks...well, half your socks, anyway.

My husband asked me a couple of weeks ago if I decided to just quit stocking our linen closet with washcloths. The kids have cartoon ones and we have plain ones. We don't share with the kids because well...if you knew what we had cleaned off of them with those washcloths, you'd know.

So I took raggedy, unravelling towels and cut them up into 10" and 12" squares with my quilting rulers and then I serged them all up with my mom's old serger. I feel soooo thrifty!
 

Never mind that I spent $32 to get the serger running :)

And the GO! Baby winner is...

My Roly Poly Owl Block tutorial using a GO!Baby Drunkard's Path Die

I really wish I could give one of these little machines to everyone...especially those of you who said you had physical troubles with cutting- my heart goes out to you.  Thanks to all who played along.  It was nice to "hear" from y'all, especially those who have followed the blog but not yet commented.  Don't be a stranger!  The winner is:

Beautiful Mommy Princess said... 69

Hi, I am a new follower! Your tutorial for the Road to Tennessee is great. Thanks.

August 18, 2011 10:57 AM  

 

Thanks to all who played! 

BTW, if you read this when I did not have a winner posted...well, that was my accident.  I wrote the post up and did everything but pick the winner over the weekend when I had time.  Unfortunately it auto-posted without me picking the winner.  Sorry for the mixup!

thread shred & skipped stitches: problem SOLVED!

Looking for the accuquilt giveaway?  Check HERE

I've delayed 2 well received series on this blog, Batting Battles &
Part 3 of Newbie's Guide to FMQ .  The reason?  Well, my free motion quilting was TERRIBLE!  My machine was skipping stitches and I couldn't go through 12" worth of stitching without my thread shredding to pieces.  I tried everything- better thread, new needles, new brands of needles, oiling my machine, cleaning my machine, slowing down, lowering tension, raising tension.  NO FIX!  I was about to carry it in to my trusty repair guy when I decided to google more throroughly.

Both problems were linked to a dirty machine.  That machine (Juki TL98Q) up there?  PLEASE.  I clean that machine more often than I clean my bedroom.  NO WAY.

Then I decided to see if I could take off the exterior for a look inside...to the parts my short little fingers don't reach.  What's did I find?

A trap door.  DANG...I never knew it!  I took it off and found a wad of lint that looks like a gerbil hide.

NASTY. 
 

I'm back to working on samples for a Batting Battle of Hobbs 80/20 vs Warm.  Getting my busy husband (full time employee, little league prez, cubmaster, choir member, dad of 3) to help me with pics for the FMQ ergonomics post is another story!

Does your machine have a trap door under the bobbin case?

New Moda Bake Shop tutorial- Road to Tennesee

If you are looking for the GO!Baby Giveaway, It's HERE!...(or just scroll down one post)

I wanted to let the regular visitors here at the Tulip Patch know there is a new pattern of mine up at Moda Bake Shop. This is a vintage pattern that might just be the perfect quilt for me. It's very geometric, looks great planned or scrappy, and looks perfect in traditional or modern fabrics. You might recognize it in these fabrics:

But hop on over to Moda Bake Shop to see what it looks like in these fabrics:

I included all kinds of layout options and size options just for y'all!

{ CLOSED } GO! Baby...it's time to deliver the giveaway!

Alrighty everyone...

The time has come.

Accuquilt is giving away 1 GO!Baby fabric cutter and three dies of YOUR choice to one lucky reader of the Tulip Patch.

I am giving you three chances.  It only takes one chance to win, but each additional time you throw your name in the hat will increase your chances of winning.  Nothing is mandatory...do as few or as many as you like.

1) Click HEREand sign up to receive free patterns and info from Accuquilt.  Leave a comment on this post indicating that you did that.

2) Comment on this post and tell me what 3 dies you would pick if you won...and you can be creative and tell me what dies you WISH they made if you want.

3)As always,  I give a bonus chance for people that put up with me on a regular basis :)  If you are a follower, old or new, please leave a comment on this post indicating that. 

Good luck!  I have been enjoying using my new cutter and I am so happy to be able to pass this on to one of y'all.  I will pick a winner 1 week from today, Wednesday August 24.

*Please make sure I can contact you through your blogger profile or leave a contact email OR just commit to checking back here when the winner is announced.  If the winner doesn't claim their prize by Monday August 29, I will redraw from the existing pool of comments.

Accuquilt GO!Baby Tutorial: Tumbler ring block

Alright, y'all...time for my second Accuquilt GO! tutorial.  This time I am using the 3.5"  tumbler die. 

You will need Background fabric (at least 17" square)
Spray adhesive or pins
13 3.5" tumbler blocks cut using the Accuquilt GO Baby.

 Cut 13 tumblers from your favorite prints.  This line is by Ty Pennington.  Sew them together with a generous 1/4" seam.  By this, I mean your seam will be exactly one thread width wider than if you were using a 1/4" foot with a guide.  I find that without a guide, many machines have their presser feet set at a generous 1/4", so if you think that's the case with yours, sew them together first.  If they lay flat then you've got yourself a winner.  If not, just sew another line right by the original seams (farther from the raw edge).  It will help the wreath lay flat.

Adhere the ring shape to your background fabric using spray baste or pins.

 Stitch with a blanket stitch or zigzag around the inner ring and then the outer ring. 

 Baste and quilt.

Now you're ready to turn this little tumbler wreath into a cute modern pillow!

Next week I will try to do a tutorial for the diamond die.  After that...giveaway time!

GO!Baby Tutorial: Roly Poly Owl Block

Somebody left a BABY on my doorstep this week.  Can you believe it???

And this one doesn't cry or cost a fortune in diapers.  Woohoo!  The folks at accuquilt sent me this GO!Baby Cutter and three dies and asked me to do some tutorials.  I love writing tutorials and I have been wanting to try an accuquilt cutter so I was pumped.  Oh, and there might be something for a lucky reader in the near future...ahem, ahem!

This week I will be showing you how I used the 3.5" drunkard's path die.  I have had the acrylic templates to this block for a long time and unfortunately did not get good results with my test block.  I initially did not even consider getting this die because of that, but I saw all the amazing variations and knew it would be worth trying to master this block.  

 Here is what I cut using the die cutter:
3 blue concave pieces
1 blue convex piece
3 convex pieces for my owl
1 concave piece for my owl
Additionally I cut a 1" square of beak colored fabric& 2 1.5" circles for the eyeballs (backed in heat bond) .   I also selected 2 buttons for pupils.

 Sew up your pieces like so.  There is a little divot in the die that helps you line up the centers of the 2 pieces.   I also found it helpful to shorten my stitch length to help the curves go more smoothly.  This is my first successful attempt at curved piecing!

 You see the owl is shaping up.

 I drew a diagonal line on the back of the orange beak piece.  I placed it face down on the bottom of the owl's head and sewed on the diagonal line.

 I then trimmed the excess 1/4" from the sewn line.

 And pressed the beak out.

 Sew into pairs.

 Then sew pairs together to make a block.  The owl block should measure 7.5" unfinished. 

 I ironed on my 2 white circles.  You can secure these with stitching.  I chose not to because I don't plan on this being washed or used...just for display.

 I experimented with eye placement...fun!

 This owl looks like he is something you would find on a drunkard's path ;)

Stitch your buttons where you like.

I had way too much fun stitching this up.  I actually made four more.

 I named this "Hoo's that girl?"  All the boy owls are looking at the girl owl (who could not care less).

Next week I will post a tutorial using the tumbler dies.  I'm not doing a review of the system but if you have any questions feel free to shoot me an email or  leave your question in the comments section.