Something Is Missing...

Anyone else miss the Linky Party for the Library Project for November? I did!

Dear lord I seriously just forgot, and I NEVER forget (or I try not to). Not even my super-duper organizational skills seemed to help me this month. I am a Project Manager by day people, this is just downright embarrassing.

So, without ongoing groveling, I am just going to say that I am so sorry to the regular participants of The Library Project for missing this month.

On to the positive! This means that our December wrap up of TLP will be extra special. And by that I mean more prizes! We will have two draws:

Draw 1 -  $50 gift card from Fat Quarter Shop

Draw 2 -  $75 gift card from Mad About Patchwork

So how can you win?
All year long I have been keeping track of how many months each participant has linked up with their projects. For every month you linked up (and I will include your December link up) this will count towards one chance to win the Grand Prizes e.g. if you linked up six times this year you will have six chances to win!

So, hopefully all of this good news can help you to forgive my forgetfulness this month!

The December Link Up will open on December 12th and will close on December 19th. For our final link up I think it might be fun to look back on what you have finished or worked on in relation to TLP throughout the year, or you can just tell us about what you have still going on.

Forever yours, Miss Forgetful
Adrienne

Welcome to the Maritimes!

Well hello there! If you are dropping by from Blogathon Canada, or dropping in just because, I am so glad to meet you!

I just love this Blogathon put on by Sew Sisters. I was one of the Maritime Hosts last year and I met so many wonderful quilty people!

I am not going to keep you here too long, since I know you have a  lot of hopping to do. Quick tibits about me: I am the founder of the Maritime Modern Quit Guild and have been quilting for eighteen years. I'm a self-proclaimed fabric-aholic, wife, mother of three fur-babies, a project manager, a bookworm, a foodie, a righty, a quilting teacher and a fan of to do lists.

And here are some of my creations... obligatory eye candy!

Now it's time for you to check out some other amazing bloggers in the Maritimes! First you must go visit the two Linda's - our fearless hosts at Scrapmaster and Stitch Lines. And then if that wasn't enough, there are so many more!

Sew Karen-ly Created
Sheila's Quilt World
KaHolly
Anja Quilts
On the Tide
Barb Robson
Maritime Modern Quilt Guild
Mahone Bay Quilt Guild
Stamp.Stitch.Create
Twistfully Yours
A Quarter Inch from the Edge
The Running Thimble
Jada's Quilting Adventures
Candy Coated Quilts
The Cuddle Quilter

Have fun and I hope to see you around again!
Happy Quilting
Adrienne

Putting Some Swag in Your Holidays: A Flag Bunting Tutorial

Back in September Sew Sisters invited me to take the Kona Club Challenge! And what a good time I had. The challenge was to make something out of four Fat Quarters. Four FQs of Kona, which is what you would receive each month in the mail as part of their Kona Club. I made flag bunting and now (a bit late) I would like to share the tutorial with you here. I am breaking out these directions to make some Holiday-ee bunting for the house. Now is the time!

Supplies Needed

• Four Fat Quarters of Kona Cotton (or any other fabric of choice!)
• Thread – something that matches your fabrics
• A package of Extra Wide Double Fold Bias tape – totaling 3 yards. (you can make your own of course, but I wanted to make this project as quick and easy as possible)
• The regular stuff – scissors, pins, ruler, rotary cutter and mat, your sewing machine!

Kona Sky, Zucchini, Spring and Lapis were the July inspiration for Kona Club Members

I love that each FQ came with it's own label!

 Cutting

For each flag you need a rectangle measuring 6” x 7”. To get the most out of your FQ, start by folding the FQ selvedge to selvedge and cut three 6” strips.

 Then sub-cut the 6” strips into 7” rectangles.

Your will get 9 rectangles from each FQ.  You’ll need 2- 6″x7″ pieces per flag. This means that you will have one orphan rectangle from each FQ, but have no fear, you end up with 4 orphans, so put them together to make two flags. In the end, you will have 18 completed Flags.  

Now to cut your triangle, simply fold one piece of fabric in half so that it measures 6″x3.5″. Using your ruler, cut across from one corner to the other.

 

This turns your rectangles into triangles and each side of the triangle will measure approximately 7″. Cut all flag pieces this way.

Making the Flags

Take two triangles and put them together. If you were using a print, you would want to make sure you had right sides together.  

Take them to your machine and sew two sides of the flags with a ¼” seam. It does not matter which two sides you sew since they are all the same size!

 

 Once the triangle is together cut the pointy tip off making sure not to cut your thread. This will help you get a sharper point when you turn the flag right sides out.

Turn your flag inside out and use any tool you have on hand to push the point out. Some folks swear by chopsticks for this, I used the eraser end of a pencil - it was what I had on hand!

 

Once your flag is flipped inside out, give it a press with your iron and trim off the little excess fabric from the seams at the top.

Repeat this process, making your 18 flags – you will have four of each color and two with the orphans flags

Turn Your Flags into a Banner

Get out your Bias Tape! Starting 5″ from the end of your bias tape, starting pinning the top {raw} edge of each flag  inside the crease in the bias tape and pin in place. Each flag should be about 1/2″ apart from each other so that it leaves you 5″ of bias tape extra on the other side so you can tie the banner up.

 

Once you have all of your flags pinned in place, take the whole banner to your sewing machine and sew across the edge of the bias tape to close it and secure each flag in place.

And Voila! You are done. Take your fancy new Flag Bunting hang it up and enjoy!

I hope you has as much fun making these flags as I did. Now to pick out some suitable tacky Christmas fabric...

Adrienne