Easy Drunkard's Path Method using Lollipops Bindings!

Well, I have never added a video to a blog before - so let's see how this goes!  Many of you have asked me for 'how-to' videos...so here one is!  I know there needs to be more...but for now, in TWO videos I explain how to do the Drunkards Path block the Lollipops way...you will save time, lower your frustration level and won't waste a bit of fabric! 

One thing I will note is that this method is in essence, an applique method - you are sewing the quarter circle to the background square and covering the raw edge with the binding (enveloping it actually).  That being said, if your quarter square is LIGHT colored fabric and your background square is DARK, then you should cut away the background portion so it won't be visible through the lighter colored top fabric.  You will see what I mean after watching this video!  ask me questions PLEASE! 

Lucky Winner of Week 1 of our August FabShop Hop Drawing!

And the lucky winner of our FIRST prize for Week 1 of the FabShop Network August Shop Hop is............. Carrie Donohoe!!!! Congratulations Carrie -   she won a Charm Pack of the NEW (not yet available in stores) Cosmo Cricket Fabric line from Moda!  The good news is we have these in stock now - so if you love Cosmo, click Cosmo Cricket Charm Pack!

Aloha...Hawaiian Quilting is Easier Than You Might Think!

You know, there are a few unrecognized geniuses out there in the quilting/sewing world...people who have great products but never quite hit the Eleanor Burns/Ricky Tims/Alex Anderson Style headlines...one such person is Stacy Michell...owner of Shades Textiles, daughter of Marti (the wunderfrau of template quilting) and a celebrity in her own right in Japan. Her new product, Soft Fuse, is by far the best fusible product on the market for applique! It is wonderfully pliable, can be used for hand applique and works remarkably well with Stacy's Hawaiian style dies developed for Accuquilt. She is best known for her gorgeous softly shaded hand dyed fabrics which, when coupled with Soft Fuse and one of her Accuquilt templates, make easy Hawaiian style quilts that even a novice would enjoy doing. Here she explains what the 2 for 1 Hawaiian applique is...I also make these for resale but with beautiful batiks instead - the results are truly exceptional - and as you will see in the video - really easy to create...the Floating Sea Turtles is a design unique to Lollipops...you can see more on our website...

H-A-N-D is not a four letter word...

I know nowadays we are all so busy and finding time to sew on our MACHINES is hard enough BUT...a few new patterns that sprung up at Spring Market caught my eye and they are so irresistable I just had to try them...Meg Hawkey of Crabapple Hill Studio (from somewhere in Washington State where it DOESN'T rain) is reknown not only for her beautiful hand stitchery designs but also her incredible booths at Market! When you step into her world, you leave the real one behind and I often marvel at her ability to translate me into her world so easily...Her recent Fall patterns are so adorable I had to share them with you and to show you my first efforts at recreating her ideas using my own handiwork...I simply could not wait to start this pillowcase...undaunted by never having done redwork by hand before, no light table - not even the fancy pen you are supposed to use - I wanted to start this right away - of course, it was sold out of the distribution houses I buy from and I had to wait an extra WEEK to get it - here are my first efforts...you can see I do not even have a normal embroidery hoop - I used one of my machine embroidery hoops - and it works great! While my hand work isn't perfect - I love the way this is coming along...

Another of her patterns has me doing something I have NEVER done before as well - working with beads and making jewelry...Quilters, myself included, LOVE jewelry specific and personalized to our beloved hobby...so when I saw these button bracelets - I went nutz! Meg's designs are shown here - she of course hand stitched her buttons and filled in the 'betweener' spaces with beautiful beads...The first thing I did was visit our local beads store - Beadlemania - and got some tips on how to bead (and of course a supply of stuff I had never seen or heard of before...NO NEW HOBBIES - I swore and here I was buying up a storm!)...I already had some embroidered buttons (machine embroidered - yeah!) to use on my bracelet - I fussy cut some nautical fabrics and covered some smaller buttons using Dritz' easy button covers and wallah! I have a Nautical Look bracelet. Making the beads required a short learning curve but YouTube has some great online tutorials and I just Googled them and learned quickly online...already made a second bracelet - with an African theme and am already working on a Halloween one! It is easier than I thought and I love the results...Look for me to demo these at the Jacksonville Show in September 2011! Patterns, threads and kits are available on my website - www.popsbindings.com