You Can Quilt Blog Hop

Happy Monday!

Welcome to the You Can Quilt Blog Hop!

Skill Builder Set 5

Wonky Blocks

I am so happy to be part of the You Can Quilt Blog Hop that is to introduce everyone to a fantastic new book written by Marlene Oddie (a fellow Island Batik Ambassador) and Leila Gardunia called You Can Quilt - Building Skills for Beginners. You can find the book at Shopaqs.com or on Marlene's Blog.

I volunteered to make the 3 blocks from Skill Builder 5, Wonky Blocks.

I used gorgeous earth tone Island Batik fabrics from the Fall/Winter 15 Collection called French Roasted to make my blocks. These fabrics will be presented at market so this is a sneak peak.

These blocks were very fun to make. I have never made wonky blocks before and being somewhat of a perfectionist when it comes to my quilting it was an interesting process. The directions were so easy to follow, they were clear, well written and the illustrations were perfect, The blocks came together quickly.

Wonky Long Cabin Block

Wonky Star Block

Wonky Nine Patch Block

These blocks are going to make a beautiful fall table runner. I need to pick up some more of the border fabric to finish my table runner.

I would recommend this You Can Quilt - Building Skills for Beginners for both new quilters and experience quilters as a great resource.  I used one of the foundation pieced blocks from the book for the Teal Mini Swap.  And look forward to making many of the other blocks from You Can Quilt - Building Skills for Beginners too!

Please check out the other bloggers to see more details about the book.

Oct. 9 – Ch. 1. Basics - Leila Gardunia  http://sewnbyleila.blogspot.com

Oct. 12 – Ch. 2. HST - Tammy Silvers  http://www.tamarinis.typepad.com/

Oct 14 – Ch 3. QST - Connie Kresin Campbell http://www.conniekresin.com

Oct. 16 – Ch 4. Flying Geese - Maryellen McAuliffe http://teachpany.blogspot.com

Oct 19 -- Ch. 5. Wonky - Christine McCrann Martinez http://madeinscraps.blogspot.com

Oct. 21 – Ch. 6. Improvisation - Connie Kauffman http://kauffmandesigns.blogspot.com

Oct. 23 -- Ch. 7. Foundation Paper Piecing - Joan Kawano http:// moosestashquilting.blogspot.com

Oct. 26 – Ch. 8. Curves - Marlene Oddie  http://kissedquilts.blogspot.com

Oct. 28 -  Ch 9. One-Patch Blocks - Bea Lee http://www.beaquilter.com

Oct. 30 – Ch. 10. Applique - Barbara Gaddy http://bejeweledquilts.blogspot.com

Nov. 2 – Ch. 11. Inset Seams - Pamela Boatright  http://pamelaquilts.blogspot.com/

Nov. 4 – Ch. 12. Challenge Blocks - Linda Stewart Pearl http:// www.onequiltingcircle.com

Nov. 6 – Ch. 13. finishing – Marlene   http://kissedquilts.blogspot.com

 Click on the Rafflecopter link below to enter to win one of 4 books and some great fabrics.

Rafflecopter Giveaway

I am having a giveaway for those who like, leave a comment and share my Facebook page post of You Can Quilt Blog hop post. The giveaway is for 3 fat quarters from Island Batik.  Please go like my Facebook page, Christine McCrann Martinez Qults.

Thank you for visiting!

Enjoy the You Can Quilt Blog hop!

Christine

My Winner

And the winner is ......

Janie

My winner was picked by Random.org.

Janie won three beautiful Island Batik fat quarters. They are gorgeous! I hope she enjoys them as much as I do sending them to her. 

Thanks again to Island Batik and the other Ambassadors for making this such a fantastic blog hop! 

Thank you for visiting! 

Christine

Summer in the Country Blog Hop

I'm 

 Welcome to my day on the Summer in the Country blog hop with Island Batik. This is my first official Island Batik Blog Hop as an Island Ambassador. I am so excited to have been given the opportunity to create with these beautiful fabrics from the Wishing Well Collection. 

My passion is English Paper Piecing (EPP), so I thought I would share how I EPP  this Hexagon Table Runner which is inspired by Charming and Cheerful from Designer Sherri McConnell (www.aquiltinglife.com)

Hexagon Table Runner

40 - 5” squares assorted prints

40 - 2" hexagon templates (2" is the side length) 

2 – 1 ¼  x 28 ¼” inner border strips

2 – 1 ¼ x 15 ¾” inner border strips

2 – 3 ½  x 29 ¾” outer border strips

2 – 3 ½  X 21 ¾”outer border strips

3 – 2 ½  x 42” binding strips

7/8 yard for backing

28 x 42” batting

First I needed to baste and whip stitch together my 40 hexagons. 

This is how I baste my hexagons, I use plastic templates, but paper ones are just fine too. I like to use coated paper clips to hold the fabric in place while I bast around the hexie to hold the shape. 

Tiny whipstitch the hexagons together about 20 stitches per inch.

Trim the table runner center and stay stitch 1/8" from raw edges. (When I trim the edges, I sew the cut hexie to the other side, to keep the length.  

Add borders.

Layer, quilt and bind. 

I can't wait to hand quilt this! 

My Summer Recipe

Banana Bread

Ingredients:

2 cups of all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup butter

¾ cup brown sugar

2 eggs, beaten

2 1/3 cup of mashed overripe bananas

Optional - walnuts and chocolate chips 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Lightly grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan

Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl

In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar

Stir in the eggs and mashed bananas until well blended

Stir banana mixture into the flour mixture; stir just to moisten.

Pour the batter into the lightly greased loaf pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes.

If you have missed any of the stops on the hop, here is the list.  (There is a lot of eye candy (gorgeous fabric) to see and delicious recipes at each stop.) 

8/17 – Island Batik
8/18 – KISSed Quilts – Part 1
8/19 – Kauffman Designs
8/20 – Adele Mogavero
8/21 – MooseStash Quilting
8/22 – Pamela Quilts
8/23 – Freemotion by the River
8/24 – The Patchwork Pearl
8/25 – Fun Threads Designs
8/26 – For Quilts Sake
8/27 – Lemon Tree Snippets
8/28 – Bejeweled Quilts
8/29 – Tamarinis
8/30 – KISSed Quilts – Part 2
8/31 – Beaquilter
9/1 – Purrfect Spots Designs
9/2 – Maria Michaels Designs
9/3 – Mary Mack Made Mine
9/4 – Made In Scraps                  ME!!!
9/5 – Happy Cottage Quilter

 

I would like to thank you for stopping by so I am having a giveaway of three Island Batik fat quarters from the Wishing Well Collection. 

To enter the giveaway please leave me a comment telling how your summer was. I will pick a winner at the end of the blog hop. I would also love it if you would like my Facebook page, Christine Mccrann Martinez Quilts.

Thank you to Island Batik for arranging such a fun hop! 

Thank you for visiting!

Christine 

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Monday Morning Star Count August 10, 2015

A Monday Morning Star Count on a Tuesday! I have been stitching some 1 inch Hexie flowers for swapping on Facebook and Instagram. 

These 3 are ready to be mailed out. (I mailed out 3 on Saturday but forgot to take a picture before mailing) 

It is a great way to use up some scraps! 

I am linking up with Jessica over at Life Under Quilts

Thank you for stopping by. 

Christine

Monday Morning Star Count August 3, 2015

Happy Monday!

Here is my progress on my baby quilt.

I am linking up with Jessica over at Life Under Quilts

Thank you for visiting! 

Christine

Wednesday Morning Stitching July 29, 2015

Hello everyone!  

Here is an update on my Lizzie * Kate "Forgive Quickly". The design on the left needs to be stitched on the right side but I ran out of the floss, "Cupid" from Classic Colorworks. I see a trip to my local needlework shop in the near future.

Thank you for visiting! 

Christine

Monday Morning Star Count July 27, 2015

Happy Monday!

Here is my progress on my Hexie baby quilt. 

I have 80 more hexies to go! 

I am linking up with Jessica over at Life Under Quilts. 

Happy stitching! 

Christine

Monday Morning Star Count July 20, 2015

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had an excellent weekend. It was hot and humid here. 

Last week,  while I was clean my sewing area for the My Favorite Things Blog Hop, I found a package of 40 pre cut Hexies. I just forgot I had them, so I decided to bast them this past Saturday. 

Now to find some fabric to match from my stash so I can put them together for a cute baby quilt.  Fun! ( I love looking through my stuff.) 

I also sewed another row of flowers to my Grandmother Garden quilt. I am trying to sew a flower a day with the hope of getting it finished by the end of the summer. 

Thank you for visting.

Christine

My Favorite Things Blog Hop Tour

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog! My name is Christine and I have been quilting for about 7 years. This is my very first blog hop and I am so excited to be particating in the My Favorite Things Blog Hop Tour with my fellow Island Baltik Ambassadors.

First on my list of favorites are my three machines. I am so lucky to be able to have three. I have my Viking Sapphire 830, my Juki TL-2010Q and my little Baby Lock Audrey. Each machine is different and I just love them all! 

My Viking was the first machine I purchased when I returned to sewing.  (Ok, I need to tell you a quick story.) I always had a love for sewing and being creative, and even took sewing lessons when I was a child.  I wanted to embroider or crochet or sew.  Fast forward.  Having a family with 2 children and working didn't leave much time for anything.  One day at work I met a wonderful person, Maryellen McAuliffe, while we were crocheting blankets for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, during our lunch breaks.   We started talking and became good friends.  She brought a mat, ruler and rotary cutter in one day, to cut out a quilt during her break.  I mentioned that I planned to start quilting when I retired.  And she said, "You are starting to quilt tomorrow.  Why wait?"  So, she came over with her Viking Sapphire 850, and I loved it. We went to a local quilt show, and I fell in love with fabric and tested some machines.   She had a contact, and got me a great deal on the 830, and I made a quilted pillow, then worked on some rag style quilts.  And collected fabric. 

 

I purchased the Babylock Audrey as a light-weight machine to take to classes. It is perfect because my mother's name was Audrey. 

And I tried out the Juki at a workshop with Victoria Findlay Wolfe, and love it. It's fast and furious.
 

When I bought my Juki, I needed a more permanent space to sew, so I purchased a table at Ikea. I had been putting my machines away every time I used them, and realized I wasn't as productive. Having to set up anytime I wanted to sew wasn't helping. The table is in front of a window, and has plenty of light.

I love my thread catcher (which was a gift from Maryellen).

My other machines are put away in my laundry closet.

I store my cutting mat under my table cloth on the dining room table. It makes for a nice, big cutting area. We're careful to use hot plates so the mat doesn't warp. 

 

I have a temporary shevling unit I picked up until I can find something I really like, hopefully with doors that I can close the doors to hide the mess. 

The top shelve on the left are "project boxes" which I just started using. I am hoping they keep me a little more organized. On the right top shelve is my pattern basket. On the second shelve is my thread box and some fabric. On the bottom is more fabric. My fabric is not currently in any order since I get distracted easily whenever I try to organize which leads me to another favorite, finding things I have forgotten about. While cleaning up for this blog, I found some books I had wanted to read and a stack of 2 1/2 " squares to be basted into hexies. I love English Paper Piecing! You'll learn more about that in our Ambassador hop in August.  

This is where I keep my fat quarters and charm packs. The baskets have notions in them, small rulers, and more fabric. Under my machine I keep my scrap bin and another smaller cutting mat. The white rolling cart needs to be cleaned out and to find a new spot. It has school supplies in it now.

My Accuquilt GO! cutter and dies are kept in a bin in the garage. It is easy to get to when I need them.

And bins of fabrics are just too messy....

Well, that is my space. 

All of the Island Batik Ambassadors will also be particating in another blog hop which will start on August 17.

I hope you visit all the others Island Batik Ambassadors. All of these women are very talented and 

I am honored to be able to learn from them. 

Here's the full schedule.

July 13:  Linda Pearl www.onequiltingcircle.com
July 14:  Barbara Gaddy www.bejeweledquilts.blogspot.com
July 15:  Maryellen McAuliffe www.teachpany.blogspot.com
July 16:  Christine Martinez www.madeinscraps.blogspot.com
July 17:  Maria Hrabovsky www.mariamichaelsdesigns.com/blog
July 18: Tammy Silvers www.tamarinis.typepad.com
July 19: Joan Kawano www.moosestashquilting.blogspot.com
July 20:  Marlene Oddie www.kissedquilts.blogspot.com
July 21:  Nan Bakerwww.purrfectspots.blogspot.com
July 22:  Adele Mogavero www.adelemogavero.com
July 23:  Pam Geisel www.forquiltssake.blogspot.com
July 24:  Bea Lee  www.beaquilter.com
July 25:  Connie Campbell www.conniekresin.com
July 26:  Pam Boatright  www.pamelaquilts.blogspot.com
July 27:  Connie Kauffmann http://kauffmandesigns.blogspot.com/
July 28:  Patty Bochey  www.lemontreesnippets.wordpress.com
July 29:  Carol Steely www.funthreads.blogspot.com

I am having a small give away to celebrate my first year as a Island Batik Ambassador and for my first blog hop. I am giving away three Island Batik fat quarters. 

Island Batik Cream Watercolor solid

Island Batik Stone Blossoms

Turquoise Bali Bubble Blossoms 

To enter the giveaway please leave me a comment. I will pick the winner on July 30. I would also love it if you would like my Facebook page Christine McCrann Martinez Quilts  Once I reach 100 likes on my page I will have another giveaway. 

Thank you for visiting! I hope you will visit again soon.

Christine

Wednesday Morning Stitching July 8, 2015

Good morning!

Lizzie * Kate

Forgive Quickly

14 ct fabric

Classic Colors - Cupid floss

What are you working on this cloudy morning? 

Happy stitching! 

Christine

Happy 4th of July

ENJOY! 

Monday Morning Star Count on a Tuesday, June 23

Hello everyone! There was not much stitching going on this past week. I did finish the 7th block for my table topper and now need to continue with stitching the white stars. 

I placed an order for some more paper pieces for the 2 inch diamonds which came yesterday so I can start basting the white stars. 

And looking thru the catalog was so tempting to think about another project since EPP is so very addictive. I have to keep telling myself that I must finish some of my WIP before even thinking about another project.

I am linking up with Jessica over at Life Under Quilts. (Http://lifeunderquilts.blogspot.com) for a Monday Morning Star Count. 

Happy Stitching! 

Christine

Monday Morning Star Count, June 15

Good morning everyone! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. It was a beautiful weekend here in New York. Unfortunately, there was not a lot of stitching going on this past weekend. I have been working on these stars for a table runner. I have one more colored star to finish (the gray boarder) and than I will move on to the solid stars. I am using Ruby by Bonnie and Camille for MODA. 

(Sorry not a good day to take photos)

I am very happy that Jessica over at Life Under Quilts has brought back the Monday Morning Star Count blog post. I am linking up with Jessica today, so check out her blog (http://lifeunderquilts.blogspot.com) and see what everyone is working on in the English Paper Piecing community. 

Happy stitching!

Christine 

Stitch from Stash Update February 2015

Month: February

Spent: $12.68

Earned: 0

Carryover: $12.32

I did much better this month with my budget than last month. I was in the red last month so I didn't spend anything this month and subtracted the overage from last month for the carryover. 

I did finish the JBW Design - French Country Spring Basket, done on 16ct cream Aida fabric with Classic Colorworks - Eve's Leaves floss. I stared this design Spring 2014. I am happy to see it finished. 

Now to pick my next stitching project from my stash. 

Happy Stitching! 

Christine

Stitch from Stash Update January 2015

Month: January

Spent: $37.68

Earned:  0

Carryover: -$12.68

Yikes! This might be harder than I figured it would be. I really need to be stitching from my stash, so I won't give up yet!  

This is my current work in progress,

JBW Design - French Country Spring Basket

16 ct cream Aida fabric

Classic Colorworks - Eve's Leaves floss

Thank you for visiting. 

Christine

The Totally Useless Stitch A Long 2015

This in my first posting for the 2015 TUSAL. The TUSAL is when I post a picture of my ORT jar on the day of the new moon. (I am a day late)  An ORT is a little bit of something left over which for me are threads or sometimes little pieces of fabric scraps. 

I emptied my jar on 12/31/14 and started new for 2015. 

The TUSAL is organized by It's Daffycat and all the rules can be found on her blog. (Http://itsdaffycat.blogspot.com) 

These green and red threads are from a Christmas piece I didn't finish in time for Christmas 2014, so I already have a Christmas piece done for 2015. 

Thank you for visiting.

Christine

Monday Morning Star Count

I am almost finished with my Grant Park hexi table runner. I have the binding ready to go and the backing all picked out. It just needs to be sandwiched and quilted. I find the quilting part to be the hardest decision for me to make when it comes to quilting. I can't figure out how I want to quilt it, free motion, hand quilt, so it will sit around in a plastic bag for awhile. (so sad) 

Sorry for the fuzzy picture, not a good picture day. 

I am linking up with Jessica over at Life Under Quilts for her Monday Morning Star Count, 

Http://lifeunderquilts.blogspot.com

Thank you for visiting.

Christine