Charm Square Tree Skirt or Table Topper

So I finally ventured into the pre-cut world.  I have nothing against pre-cuts but when you typically design things outside of the normal sizes pre-cuts don't always work.  I didn't design this tree skirt though, it's from Fat Quarter Shop.  I toyed with joining this sew along because it is outside of my norm.  I don't do a lot of holiday-specific sewing, I don't typically use pre-cuts like charm squares or layer cakes, and it is one of my busiest times of the year.  I decided to join because I know a lot of you do like charm square projects and holiday sewing.  Plus having a deadline meant that I took time for myself to sew, even if it was a "have to" thing.

Union Square Quilt Block

I'm so excited to share the Union Square quilt block with all of you.  This whole project put a lot of things in focus for me.  It made me realize that everything happens for a reason and you have to roll with the punches.  This is not my design, I'm collaborating with Fat Quarter Shop.  It's been a while since I've made someone else's block which was nice.  The Union Square block takes just two fabrics and if you don't want to pick fabrics Fat Quarter Shop is offering a kit.

Using A Cricut Maker To Cut Quilt Templates

This might be the most exciting partnership I have ever done here on the blog.  I knew when I first saw the Cricut Maker it was going to be a great tool in the quilt studio.  When putting together a Christmas wishlist for quilters this was on the top of my list.  Cricut was kind enough to let me play with one and let me tell you, it was everything I thought it was going to be.  It makes cutting odd shapes that we normally need a template for a breeze.  As long as, you can get it to your computer you can have the Cricut Maker cut all those quilt templates for you.  No human error!  9 times out of 10 the problem with a quilt block that uses a special template is we goof when cutting it.

Quilt-Pro Software To Make Templates

I get asked how I design my quilts often.  People aren't wanting to design something from scratch they just want to be able to lay out their quilt blocks and see what they would look like before putting them into quilt form.  I had been using Adobe Photoshop to do this but it's not user-friendly and not what I would recommend for the average user.  I was thrilled when the people over at Quilt-Pro wanted to partner up for a gift guide.  Really, after just a little bit of time with Quilt-Pro, I knew it was a winner.  I love the fact that we can print templates for quilt blocks right from the program, no more buying expensive templates for quilt blocks you'll only make for one project.

Double 8 Point Star Paper Piecing Lesson 1

I'm so excited to be doing an entire series on paper piecing with all of you.  Paper piecing is something that has been requested for years but I wanted to be able to do my own patterns for the lessons.  This first lesson is a simple double eight-point star that I am sure you have seen before.  I find when learning a new technique it is easier to do it on something familiar so that's why I picked the double eight-point star for our first paper piecing lesson.