Do you like it?

It was very easy. I just sewed together a dozen of these nine patch blocks.

Then added some sashing between and a border.

All of these appliqué shapes (with fusible web) had been cut out with my Go!Baby. So, all I had to do was iron them in place. I appliquéd them by machine with a small zig-zag stitch.

Nowadays, I always try to sew something that I will have a use for, so I have made this for a purpose and I will show you what I have done with it on my next blog post.

To answer a few questions that you have asked about the Go!Baby……

It costs around $140 for the cutter itself and then you purchase the dies (and die mats) separately. The die prices start at around $20. I know some of you have said that it is expensive for the dies, but think of it like your fabric stash. You just buy one now and again and keep adding to the collection. They also make a good item to add to your Christmas/Birthday lists. I have decided to buy some of the most useful sizes. For instance I often cut 2½″ triangles for lots of different projects. So, this would be a useful size to have and would really reduce  my cutting out time. After all, isn’t that the boring bit. I have just ordered a square and triangle die and will update you soon on how I get on with them. There is a huge selection of dies. Strip cutters, geometric shapes, appliqué shapes etc. You can view them at Accuquilt (USA) or Patchwork Corner (UK). It won’t be a total replacement for my rotary cutter, but I will certainly be using it whenever I possibly can, because it certainly will be a huge time saver.

You can purchase the Go!Baby and dies online from Accuquilt in the USA. If you live in the UK you can buy online from Patchwork Corner (a favourite shop of mine) which would probably save you a lot on postage and possible import duty.

I have more ideas for using the Go!Baby and other designs have already occurred to me whilst I have been playing with the cutter. I have already begun to think ‘outside the box’ and I am looking forward to finding some more time to play. I  will keep you posted.

Together with these three appliqué dies.

As you know, I have been very busy and I didn’t want to blog about it until I had time to have a good shot at putting it through it’s paces.

So, this week is the week, at last! I have really enjoyed playing with it and I am going to tell you all about it.

Firstly, here is the Go! Baby out of it’s box and ready to begin.

It is very compact. It only measures 12″ W x 4.5″ L x 8.25″ H (30cms x 11 cms x 21cms) and weighs a very lightweight 8.5 lbs. (5kilos). So it is very easy to manoeuvre and takes up minimal storage space.

Here are my dies out of the package.

First of all I tried the smallest die with one layer of fabric. I spray starched my fabric layer first. I always pre-starch my fabrics for machine appliqué as I find they are better behaved and it made sense to use firmer fabric for the Go! cutter. I also had my fusible web ironed on to my fabrics ready to Go!

I rolled the dye and fabric through the Go! Cutter. Wow! So quick and easy. This was the result.

Encouraged by just how easy this was I then layered up three layers of fused fabrics and rolled them through the Go! Baby.

Wow! That was easy too.

I was so pleased with the results and now I was ready to put the Go! Baby through it’s paces and I was on a roll!

For the Ribbon Twist I layered up three layers of bonded fabrics, but this time I positioned them over different sections of the die. I wanted to see how it would behave with this new challenge of choosing which parts of the die I wanted to use. This was in case I might only want to cut a couple of the ribbon twists and not all of them.

No problem there.

This is the residue of fabric from my cut shapes. Not a great deal of waste I thought.

But then I got to thinking what if I could still use some of the larger areas of these fused fabric remnants. I do so hate to waste anything. So, I cut off a few of the larger bits and layered them carefully over sections of the die.

And Hey Presto!

So, as you can see, minimal fabric wastage. And look what I have now.

So, now I have lots of bonded shapes ready to sew in an amazing record time and it was so easy. Are you intrigued as to what I will do with them?

Wasn’t that easy! Do let me know in your comments how impresses you are with the Go! Baby so far. Don’t worry, I will be blogging about it some more over the next few days. I have lots more I want to try out. I have found it to be very addictive and will need to try out some more dies too. I want to get some geometric shapes for piecing to try next, like squares and triangles. If it is just as easy, think of all that cutting time I will save. I will keep you posted soon.

Let me know if you have any questions so far. Or, if you would like to find out more about the Go! Baby then visit the Accuquilt site. I think you will be impressed.

On my next post I will show you what I have done with these bonded fabric shapes.

Go! Lesley Go!

However, here is a catch up of what I have been doing and why I have been so busy. You may want to grab yourself a coffee and sit down. This may take some time!

Firstly, you need to have some pictures to liven up your day. So, I will begin with telling you that I visited my first Spanish Patchwork Show at Sitges a couple of weeks ago.

Here is a window into the Quilt Show.

And this was the view OUT of the window.

That is just to give you an idea of the wonderful setting for this Quilt Show.

And here are a few more images for you, to set the scene.

The Quilt Show takes place all around the town and you walk between the venues to view the quilts on display or to visit the retailer marquees. It was quite an experience made even better by the fact that there was an open air food market along the seafront too with lots of wonderful delicacies. Take a look at this bread oven in the back of a small trailer, where they baked fresh bread.

Then there was the Quilt Show itself. Here is a very small selection of some of the quilts that I took a shine to.

The following Quilt was stunning and certainly deserved all those awards.

I just loved this Snowman Quilt. They were so cute!

And I loved this one for it’s sheer simplicity.

I did of course visit the retailer’s marquees but I was pretty good for me and only made minimal purchases as I REALLY DO NOT NEED ANY MORE FABRIC. However, this is what I bought.

Just because you have to, eh! The reds are for a project I have in mind. The turquoise fabrics are to fill a colour gap I have in my fabric stash and the kit I just took a fancy too.

So, there is a taste of what I experienced at Sitges. It was a wonderful show, in a fantastic setting, which was rounded off by an enjoyable week-end spent with like-minded friends.

On the way back, we stopped at the Cordoniu Cava Caves, which was very interesting. How about these photos (taken at the caves) for some patchwork inspiration.

And of course I had to make some more purchases here. Half a crate of Brut Nature Cava. I love it!

So, that ends the photo display of some of what I have been up to.

But, also there is lots happening in my world. Here it is in a nutshell, because I expect you are getting a little fidgety now with this long post!

We are downsizing our house in UK and so I am working hard on de-cluttering the house ready to put it on the market. Now, you can imagine how much work that involves! Also, busy looking for a small flat or townhouse within a few miles of existing house to move into.

Our daughter Nikki became engaged to Brett last month and is planning an April 2013 wedding at Caerphilly Castle in Wales. So, we are busy wedding dress hunting and everything else that a wedding involves. We are thrilled about the wedding. They are well suited and we love having another edition (Brett) into our close knit family.

We have just returned from a week’s holiday with our son Mark and his wife Donna in Dubai. I say holiday. It was more like a huge foodfest! Kids, don’t they just love to eat! Now, I am trying to lose all those gained pounds.

Also, although you won’t be aware, I have actually been working really hard on this Qulting Blog. Yes, truly! But, it is at the back-end, which you don’t see and is actually very time consuming. I have been working on reducing the load time of the pages and improving my SEO, but I guess that won’t interest you at all. Do let me know though, if you have noticed that the site is loading faster.

I am of course still playing golf three times a week, so that takes a huge chunk of my sewing time. But, I love it!

Finally, to round off and tempt you to look in again soon…….. I will be blogging about my new baby next week.

Yes, the GO! Baby fabric cutter.

I am working on a project with it now and will update you all about it next week.

Thanks for staying with me to catch up on all my news. Sorry it has taken so long. That will teach me for not keeping you up to date sooner. But, hopefully normal service will now be resumed. I am back at the sewing machine!

Have a great Easter!

I am so sorry that I have not been posting any blogs recently. Lots of things have been happening in my world! I am away on holiday at the moment, but will be back next week and will update you with all my news. Hopefully, I will have time to start sewing and inspiring you all again. Bear with me. However, I have managed a little sewing whist I am away.

I always like to carry a little sewing project with me whilst I am travelling. So, I have brought my Vignette Mystery Quilt Stitchery along with me. Stitchery is a nice easy thing to carry around and whip out of the beach bag when I feel the need. I can’t sit on a sun bed for very long before I need to be doing something.

Catch up with you all soon.

What does this mean? If you have been following my blog by clicking on the Google Friend Connect (GFC) widget I used to have, it subscribed you to my blog and you would receive post updates to your RSS feed. However, as from today if you still wish to follow and receive regular updates, you will need to subscribe by some other method. You will find my direct RSS and email subscription links in the right hand sidebar of my blog, together with buttons to follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus.

It is such a pity that Google Friend Connect has abandoned us. I have worked hard to build up my following. I do hope you continue to follow my blog by whatever means suits you. I love having you to visit!

The method I use for making a cushion is super easy and as promised I have added a little tutorial for you. Go to How to Make a Cushion Tutorial for your instructions.

To purchase the complete pattern for this cushion please go to my Pattern Shop.

OK, maybe this doesn’t give you much time to make it for this year. But hey, you can make an early start for next year. It would also make a great wedding present.

You will find the pattern in my Pattern Shop.

Free pattern no longer available. You can purchase the complete Valentine Cushion Pattern in my Pattern Shop

If you are up to date you can hopefully have this ready for Valentine’s Day next week. On Monday, I will show you how I put mine together to make a cushion. It is a really simple method.

If you have missed any of the parts so far I hope to have the complete pattern for sale in my Pattern Shop this week-end. Remember you have to check in to my blog each week to download my FREE Sewalong patterns. Part 2 will be removed later today.

Today I am guest blogging over at Sew We Quilt who are having a month of tutorials in February with a ‘Heart and Hands’ theme. I have designed this mini Valentine Quilt.

Go to my Free Tutorials for the pattern and instructions.

Enjoy!

Are you keeping up so far?

This week you only have piecing and stitchery.

Part 1 of the Sewalong will be removed from the blog later today. Remember you have to check into the blog each Friday to collect your FREE patterns. The last part of the Sewalong will be published next Friday. Please remember  I will not be emailing out any missed parts of the Sewalong once the pattern is removed (after one week). Sorry, but I do not have time and they are the rules! However, if you should miss any parts the pattern will be available to buy in my pattern shop at the beginning of February. If you are worried that you may forget to check into the blog each week may I suggest that you sign up for the email newsletter (top right hand side bar) and you will automatically receive an email whenever I add a new post.

Part 2 is no longer available free.

This week we will be sewing Part 1 of the SAL. And here it is.

Part 1 would also make a great little wallhanging all on its own.

You will need a selection of small pieces of fabric plus cotton wadding and embroidery threads.

I always use cotton batting for my stitcheries as I find it is soft and very easy to sew through. (I prefer Mountain Mist White Rose, but that is purely my preference). I place the batting behind my fabric before I begin my stitchery. This is because I can carry all my threads across the back of the design without them showing through to the front, so I don’t have to keep breaking off my thread and re-starting. It saves so much time. I also find the stitchery is easier to handle with batting behind. I use 505 basting spray to baste my batting behind my fabric. This provides a temporary adhesive to hold the two layers together and does not gum up the sewing needle. But, you can also tack the batting if you prefer.

Don’t worry about how we are going to join up the three parts at the end. I will show you how I joined my blocks and batting when we get to part 3.

I have used four different thread colours for my embroidery.

You will need to check into my quilting blog for the next two Fridays to download Parts 2 and 3 of the Valentine Sewalong and remember each part will be published FREE on the blog for one week only. I will not be emailing out any missed parts of the Sewalong once the pattern is removed (after one week). Sorry, but I do not have time and they are the rules! However, if you should miss any parts the pattern will be available to buy in my pattern shop at the beginning of February. If you are worried that you may forget to check into the blog each week may I suggest that you sign up for the email newsletter (top right hand side bar) and you will automatically receive an email whenever I add a new post.

Part One is no longer available FREE