Hi everyone!  This week I’m doing a giveaway in conjunction with Kelly of I Have A Notion, and she does.  She actually has a ton of notions!  Like most of you out there, I LOVE NOTIONS.  In addition to stocking a rotary blade sharpener that I have been coveting ever since she reviewed it last week, Kelly stocks of ton of Accuquilt dies.  We thought it might be fun to do a giveaway incorporating my patterns and Accuquilt products. 

This past weekend our kids and I cut some fun flowers using the Accuquilt fabric cutter – 20 in Veranda and 20 in Ambrosia.  They are the perfect size for my Village Green quilt pattern.  I’ll be giving away each set, in conjunction with a Village Green pattern.  So, if you follow this blog, leave me a comment (only one) telling me the best handmade project you’ve ever given. 

I’ll start by saying that the best project I’ve ever given was this quilt that I made for my mom.  It was actually going to be her first quilt – I know – she is an overly ambitious person, but she was very distressed to find out how it soon overtook her house, so I inherited it very early on.

It was my favorite because of how much she appreciated the work that went into it.  My friends lovingly referred to it as the “Guilt Quilt”.  Mom even bought a new couch to go with a quilt.  Only a mom buys a new couch to go with a quilt, for goodness sake!  (Not to mention the fact that she is decorating her new house in Swiss Chocolate!)  All year I told her that there was no way I could get it done, even as I was finishing up.  We made her go on an embarrassing treasure hunt around the neighborhood to claim her prize, and when she came back home she was shocked to find it finished on her bed!

My second favorite giveaway is this Amy Bradley quilt I made for my nephew. Unlike his grandmother, he did not reupholster a couch to go with his quilt, which is why this is my second-favorite gift (sorry Ollie!), but he does know all the dogs by name. 

For another chance to win a fun prize, go over and visit Kelly’s blog at I Have a Notion.  She is also offering a great discount on the AccuQuilt GO! Round Flower Die that I used in the above photo and on the GO! Baby Fabric Cutter.

The deadline for both giveaways is midnight Thursday.  We’ll announce the winners on Friday.  Good luck and happy sewing!
Amanda

We had a chance to play with my new Accuquilt Go Baby fabric cutter this weekend.  Fun!  It is really pretty simple.  (Really simple compared to a magazine quitl I have been working on… I can’t give away too, much, but I’m really having to brush up on my piecing skills as each block has an hourglass unit, four quarter square triangles, four half square triangles, 4 flying geese, and four corner blocks… all set on point.  And there are 72 blocks!  Oh my!)
The Go Baby cutter has a very compact design, making it easy to store.

You open up the Go Baby…

Choose your die, and lay an appropriately sized piece of fabric on top.  (Most dies for the Go Baby use a 12″ x 6″ piece of fabric.)  If you only want to cut one shape from the die, just lay a smaller piece of fabric on top of that shape.  Cover the die and fabric with the cutting mat. 

Roll the die through the cutter, turning the Accuquilt handle with one hand and applying pressure on the mat/fabric/die with the other.  More pressure results in a cleaner cut.

When the cut shapes come out the other end, there may be a few threads that still attach them to their background, so keep a pair of sharp scissors nearby. 

Snip the threads and you have a beautiful applique shape.

I think the Go Baby cutter really would come in handy for applique projects, or project with unusal angles that can’t easily be cut with a rotary cutter.  If you only want a few shapes from the die, it is definitely a great way to use up scraps.

First on my wish list for new dies that Accuquitl might create would be one that has leaves – just leaves, in the same style but different shapes.  Or spirals – that would be fun!

I realized that the round flower die (55007) is a perfect fit for Town Square, so our daughter cut two sets of 20 flowers to go with my Village Green pattern – one in Ambrosia….

and one in Veranda…

I think it might be cute to do the flowers in patterned fabric and the squares in solids.

Our son cut a ton of circles for a future project.  I am a big fan of circles!

I’ll have a giveaway for these lovely Ambrosia and Veranda flowers later this week and a little later in the month I will be giving away a Go Baby fabric cutter along with three dies of your choice!

Happy sewing!
Amanda