Well – I finally opened the box of my new Cricut Maker.
So exciting!
But I’ll be honest – we got off to a bit of a rocky start.
The Design Space app didn’t install automatically and the link to click to continue the installation was a dead end to a nonexistent page. Not a huge deal – I know how to find my files and install them myself, but it’s the kind of thing that really frustrates a person who’s not super comfortable with technology so I thought it was worth mentioning.
They include some materials for your first project (a card) which is great. It let me walk through all the steps of making (not designing) and actual thing.
Designing was TRICKY. That’s going to take some practice – but I managed to get my first project (those bears in the hills) all set up and ready to go.
Time to cut some felt!
Uh oh. That does NOT look good.
I cut it on the felt setting and this was actually the second try with increased pressure. The first try just roughed up the surface of the felt without actually cutting anything.
I decided to lie to the machine and tell it I was cutting heavy fabric like denim. That prompted me to change it to the teeny tiny rotary blade instead of the knife blade.
Much better!
Look how clean the cuts are! And see the eye markings? The machine did that too with the pen attachment. So handy!
After I got the settings figured out I was on a roll. đ
I cut all the pieces for my new Bears in the Hills in about an hour – while I was cleaning my studio. đ
Next week I’ll have a video showing you how to layer all these guys up and prep for stitching.
I can’t wait to try the Cricut on regular fabric for applique quilt blocks – that’ll be my next project with the machine.
For the project I had in mind I needed to embroider a beaver – and I wanted to see him from head to toe.
I sat down to draw some sketches and then remembered that my husband had a whole page of adorable beaver drawings in his airplane sketchbook.
Perfect!
You might think it was hard to choose between all those sweet faces – but I had my favorite picked out with one glance. It’s the one down in the right corner.
Isn’t he a cutie?
Now for a much harder decision. . .
Choosing thread!
That lucky beaver has something colorful to chomp on, so I get to dip into the rainbow. đ So many colors to choose from! And these are only about half of my stash of Sulky Petites 12 wt. thread. (You can read my review of this thread here.)
Final project coming Saturday! It’s going to be a free pattern. đ
For years I’ve had people ask me about adding sashing to a quilt pattern from Shiny Happy World.
That’s an easy question.
Yes!
You can always modify any pattern to add (or take away) sashing.
Sometimes they have another question. How does adding sashing to a quilt change the yardage they need to buy?
Well – that’s a whole other question that requires a much longer answer. đ So long that the best way to give it to you is as a printable download. It has fabric requirements, cutting guides, and assembly diagrams for six different quilt sizes with sashing and borders. Download it here.
First – let me clarify. I say almost any quilt pattern because these measurements will only work for square blocks. If you’re adding sashing to a quilt with double blocks or half blocks, you’ll need to do a little extra math for that. But the measurements in that PDF work for any of my quilt patterns that have 10 inch square blocks – and that’s almost all of them. đ
And one more reminder – all of these measurements only work if you have an accurate 1/4 inch seam. If you don’t have a quarter inch foot on your machine, I strongly recommend getting one. It will make your life sooooooo much easier. đ
Find links to all the posts about pattern size and layouts here.
I’m moving right along on my version of the Noisy Farm quilt with sashing added, and I realized this is the perfect time to share a little tip with you about pinning long seams.
I’m not very bossy about pinning most of the time. Some people pin, some don’t, and I’m mostly a live and let live kind of person. đ
But when it comes to long seams (like the ones attaching those looong sashing strips to rows) you’ll find that pinning – and actually pinning in a very particular way – will save you a lot of headaches.
Here’s the problem. If you just slap a long strip on your strip of blocks and just start sewing without pinning – there’s a really good chance that when you get to the end of the long seam, one of those pieces is going to be significantly longer than the other. This happens even if you use a walking foot and even if you’re really careful about keeping your tension even. It just happens.
You know what keeps it from happening?
Pins. đ
I’ve got a specific method I use to pin longs seams. I call it Divide and Conquer.
Here’s a seam I just pinned. (Actually clipped. When I pin already-quilted layers together I prefer to use sewing clips. They distort the fabric less.)
I loaded up a really large image size here so you can click on it to see it even bigger on your screen.
Those numbers show you the order in which I placed those clips.
First I start by clipping the ends – 1 and 2. That way I know that my ends are going to be perfectly lined up.
Next I want to divide that space in half (Divide and Conquer) and I place the clip right in the middle. That’s #3.
That leaves me with two large spaces – the one between 1 and 3 and the one between 3 and 2. I divide those spaces in half by adding clips 4 and 5.
Finally, I divide all the remaining spaces in half by placing clips 6, 7, 8 and 9.
It’s always the same – I start by securing the ends, then just keep dividing the remaining spaces in half over and over again until my clips are close enough together to take it to the machine.
If you’ve been here for any time at all, you’ve heard me go on and on about how important it is to download your pattern files and save them to your own computer, and to back up ALL your files. It’s in every pattern delivery email and I do a PSA on social media about once a month reminding people to back up their files.
Well – I got an email from someone last week saying she wants to back her files up – but doesn’t know how. In my experience, when one person asks a question it means there are a bunch of other people who really WANT to ask the same question but haven’t done it yet.
So I just made two new videos to help out the folks who are super comfortable with a needle and thread – and less comfortable moving around digital files.
Here’s the first one. It shows (in a LOT of detail) how to download the patterns you purchase – and two ways you can easily back up those files.
See? It SHOULD be as easy as clicking on the download button.
But sometimes things go wrong – and that’s what this video is about. I share easy fixes to a few of the most common download problems.
These videos now live on my FAQ page, so they’re easy to find if you ever need them.
Just to be clear – I’m ALWAYS happy to help anyone who’s having technical difficulties. But I usually step away from my computer on weekends, which means your email asking for help can sit unanswered in my inbox for a couple of days. I’m hoping these videos will help you try some easy fixes yourself when that happens. đ
I’ve gotten a lot of questions lately asking for suggestions for the background colors of the Noisy Farm quilt pattern.
The cover sample you see above is from before I had fabric bundles in my shop, and most of the fabrics I used are no longer available.
One of the things I love about the way I do fabric bundles now is that you can use any bundle for any quilt. Here’s an example of three quilts that all use the Warm Neutrals fat quarter bundle for the animals – but different bundles for the background colors.
Changing just the background colors really changes the whole feel of the quilt – and I love them all!
So when people ask for suggestions for background colors for the Noisy Farm pattern – I want to tell them they can use anything! Go totally bright with the Solid Rainbow! Go a little more subdued with Box of Crayons! Go baby sweet with Rainbow Sherbet! Go natural with Green Batiks! Want even more suggestions? Go to the Noisy Farm pattern listing and look at the additional photos. There are a bunch showing finished quilts that other people have made with different fabrics than my samples.
For my new version of the Noisy Farm quilt I used Rainbow Sherbet for the background blocks. I went totally wild with the animals and using the Gingham Play fat quarter bundle. Gingham always says “farm” to me and I can’t wait to make the animals in fantasy colors.
One more change – I made this one a silent farm. đ I left off the half-blocks with animal sounds and added sashing. I get a lot of requests about adding sashing to a Quilt As You Go quilt. There’s a tutorial here showing how you can reset (almost) any of my quilt patterns with added sashing. I even did the math for you for all the sizes. đ
If you’ve made any of my quilt patterns using a different color scheme – please share! Seeing all the different versions of my patterns makes me Muppet-arms-flailing happy – and it’s a great resource for your fellow makers out there to see different options. đ
Some of my quilts have what I call a “broken grid” layout. You’ll also see it called an “alternate grid.”
Both of these terms refer to quilt layouts that aren’t the standard checkerboard-style grid, with all the seams running in straight, uninterrupted lines from edge to edge.
But I get a lot of questions about how, exactly, I quilt these quilts. Do I quilt around each square individually? Do I turn the corner to go around a block that’s interrupting my straight line?
Nope and nope. đ
At this point in the process I have my entire quilt sewn together and I want to do everything possible to avoid turning any corners while I’m quilting, because that means turning the entire mass of the quilt, and that is not fun.
So what do I do?
I hop over the block that’s blocking my way.
This video shows what I mean by that.
See?
Just hop right over those pesky blocks. đ
Do be sure to backstitch or knot – whatever technique you use to secure your threads – any time you have to stop or start quilting.
Get ready to have fun in the sun with this great stuffed beach ball! This beach ball measures about 4 inches tall when completed with worsted weight yarn – the perfect size for lots of different amigurumi softies. đ
To complete this pattern, you will need. . .
7 colors of worsted weight yarn (assign each a number, C1, C2, C3, etc.)
size H (5 mm) crochet hook – or size needed to get a good tight fabric with your chosen yarn
polyester stuffing
The skills youâll need for just about any amigurumi are. . .
You can go through all those posts now, or just hop to them as you get to those points in the pattern â whatever works best for you!
Yarn
This pattern can be used with any weight yarn! Just use the hook recommended on the ball band, and adjust as needed (see âgauge notesâ below). For a bigger, human-sized beach ball, try a bulky weight yarn! Just keep in mind that youâll use more yardage than recommended. The sample is crocheted in worsted weight yarn, and all yardage/hook recommendations are calculated based on the sample.
Materials
Size H crochet hook (or size needed to get a tight fabric)
7 colors of worsted weight yarn (fewer if you’d like to repeat colors)
a couple of handfuls of stuffing
Gauge Notes
This pattern doesnât specify a gauge. Itâs a stuffed ball, and you donât need to be too picky about exact sizing. đ The most important thing is that you use a hook size that creates a nice looking fabric for your yarn. If you use the recommended hook size, and your fabric looks very loose (so that stuffing would show through), then you will want to use a smaller hook. Other than that, no measuring required!
In case youâre curious about getting the exact gauge Stacey does, itâs 5 rounds=2 inches.
Stitch into the Back
All stitches in this pattern are worked through the back loop only. Look at this picture.
See how one loop is highlighted in black? This is the back loop, and itâs what youâll stitch into. Stitching into the back loop creates ridges on the right side of the piece.
Want to see crocheting through the back loop in action? Check out this blog post. It talks all about why Stacey crochets through the back loop and even has a handy dandy video showing how to find that loop. đ
Round 5Â With C2 [sc twice in next st, sc in next 3 sts.] 6 times, each time using a different color C2-C7 (30)
Round 6Â With C2 [sc twice in next st, sc in next 4 sts.] 6 times, each time using a different color C2-C7 (36)
Round 7Â With C2 [sc twice in next st, sc in next 5 sts.] 6 times, each time using a different color C2-C7 (42)
Round 8Â With C2 [sc twice in next st, sc in next 6 sts.] 6 times, each time using a different color C2-C7 (48)
Round 9Â With C2 [sc twice in next st, sc in next 7 sts.] 6 times, each time using a different color C2-C7 (54)
Round 10Â With C2 [sc twice in next st, sc in next 8 sts.] 6 times, each time using a different color C2-C7 (60)
Round 11-20Â With C2, sc in next 10 sts. With C3, sc in next 10 sts. With C4, sc in next 10 sts. With C5, sc in next 10 sts. With C6, sc in next 10 sts. With C7, sc in next 10 sts. (60, 10 rounds)
Snap a photo and share it with us over in the Shiny Happy People group! If you share it on social media, tag with with #shinyhappyworld so I can see it. đ
Itâs a bee⌠but he doesnât sting! Make a cute little bumbler with this free crochet bee pattern!
This is Burnie. (His full name is Vanburn von Bumble Bee.) He’s 3â tall and 4.5â long when made with worsted weight yarn. He’s super quick and easy to stitch up!
The skills youâll need for just about any amigurumi are. . .
You can go through all those posts now, or just hop to them as you get to those points in the pattern â whatever works best for you!
Yarn
This pattern can be used with any weight yarn! Just use the hook recommended on the ball band, and adjust as needed (see âgauge notesâ below). For a bigger, super-cuddly animal, try a bulky weight yarn! Just keep in mind that youâll use more yardage than recommended. The sample is crocheted in worsted weight yarn, and all yardage/hook recommendations are calculated based on the sample.
Materials for this crochet bee pattern
Size H crochet hook (or size needed to get a tight fabric)
two 9 mm black animal eyes
tapestry needle
a bit of stuffing
three colors yarn – black, yellow and white
Find links to sources for all my favorite supplies here.
Gauge Notes
This pattern doesnât specify a gauge. Itâs a stuffed animal, and you donât need to be too picky about exact sizing. The most important thing is that you use a hook size that creates a nice looking fabric for your yarn. If you use the recommended hook size, and your fabric looks very loose (so that stuffing would show through), then you will want to use a smaller hook. Other than that, no measuring required!
In case youâre curious about getting the exact gauge Stacey does, itâs 5 rounds=2 inches. Note that you will need to have this gauge for the yardage suggestions to provide an accurate estimation.
Stitch into the Back
All stitches in this pattern (that are worked in the round) are worked through the back loop only, unless otherwise directed. Look at this picture.
See how one loop is highlighted in black? This is the back loop, and itâs what youâll stitch into. Stitching into the back loop creates ridges on the right side of the piece.
Want to see crocheting through the back loop in action? Check out this blog post. It talks all about why Stacey crochets through the back loop and even has a handy dandy video showing how to find that loop. đ
Here’s a side view so you can see that cute stinger!
I’m so glad he doesn’t sting. đ
Congratulations! Please post a photo over in the Shiny Happy People group! We’d love to see the adorable bumblebees you make with this free crochet bee pattern!
