Isn't it Ironic???

Don't ya think? (So sorry, my Hubbin is absolutely addicted to the 90's on 9 station on our Sirius radio on the TV and God forbid if I change the channel. Another funny story about that, but keep reading for that one)

So, many of you who follow my blog or found me through the Moda Bake Shop have seen pictures of my crazy dogs. Like this one from my last Bake Shop recipe (click here for the recipe if you haven't checked it out already)

Well, here's the ironic part (which I was completely clueless until Hubbin pointed it out, but alas). So let me set the scene for you...

It's Sunday morning. I'm in my pajamas still, I have no motivation to go anywhere or do anything. My hair is in somewhat in the ponytail I went to bed in and I haven't looked in the mirror because I know I look like I've been through a major session of electroshock therapy. Ben and I are talking when I notice Paco acting strange and this mess of goo coming from his mouth. He's not sick yet, but it might be coming real soon.

So I do what everyother dog mommy does and grab my baby and run outside. Leash? No! The dog's going to be sick, how far could he run? (insert cheesy fake laughing here) We've done this before. Paco is a Chihuahua which when translated equals something to the effect of "eats anything that will fit in mouth and decide if it was a good idea or not later". He gets sick occasionally, we go outside, he does his thing, we go inside, no leash.

Well, I took Paco out. He did something, but no sickness. Then he ran to the far side yard and did some "business". I'm thinking maybe that's all it was and now he'll feel better. Well, obviously it must've done something because I called for him to go back inside and he ran right to the door.

Now at this point I'm feeling pretty damn good. I have an elderly partially blind partially deaf (or selective on both when he wants to be) dog that has the memory span of a goldfish off leash and he ran right to the door. Meanwhile I still look like death warmed over I'm sure, but I'm awesome, right? I open the door, the dog is inches away...

That's when the little **** decided to bolt towards the street. Luckily we live on a not so busy side street, but regardless a 5 lb. Chihuahua is no match for a car. So then I ran (kinda) barefoot across the gravel driveway (ouch!) after him. He then ran away from the road and into the yard, which would have been nice but it was the neighbor's yard! I chased, he ran, I chased some more, he ditched me somewhere in the chase around the neighbor's cars and then he bolted again - DOWN THE ROAD!!!

At this point all I can think of is he's running away. How am I going to tell Ben? Speaking of, where is Ben? What if he gets hit by a car? How will I explain that? What if I don't get him back? (I am definitely my own worst enemy, or my mind is)

I finally catch up to Paco and somehow I am able to grab him at the corner of our road and the crossroad. I don't know what made him hesitate. But I got him! Yay!

That's when the realization that I am in my pajamas looking like hell (to put it bluntly) and I just ran down the street barefoot. It's not paved and it's not gravel, but it's that lovely chip & seal crap that smells and it's not so nice on the feet. Not only do my feet start to hurt almost instantaneously at this realization but I also had a few other things come to mind:

1. Who did I just give an entertaining show to this early in the morning? (Oh goodness!)
2. I'm still barefoot and now have to walk back to the house (which hurt worse because now I'm aware of everything I step on, no more adrenaline rush)
3. I am so out of shape!
4. How do I tell Ben this?

So I go inside and spill the news to Ben. I'm a little ticked at the dog and not sure how to react to it. Life goes on...

Then a little later that morning I was working on the computer and somehow the picture above came onto my screen. Ben is standing behind me and starts laughing like crazy. Still a bit ticked, I ask what is so funny.

He points to the picture and tells me that I couldn't have named my quilt better, he zigged and you zagged alright. Paco was free for just a few minutes, but he was free!

I know Ben was trying to make light of the situation, and I have to say it worked. Thought you all might find it interesting. Anyone else have crazy mornings like mine that give you a nice reality check?

p.s. Oh, and back to the Ben & 90's on 9 station. So it's the 90's on 9 station. A song comes on, I can't remember which one, but Ben says, "Wow, this is an old one!"

It's the 90's on 9 station. All the songs played are from the 90's. I could understand if it was a random radio station, but come on! I thought it was funny, I still can't believe those words came out of his mouth. hehehehe

You Zig I'll Zag LARGE

So, yesterday I had this wonderful gal, Jesilyn, contact me about how much she would need to make my MBS tutorial You Zig I'll Zag quilt into a king size. (Hi Jesilyn!)

I did some quick figuring and this might not be quite King, but it's dang close and depending on the thickness of the mattress you're looking to cover, it just might do it.

So how about we revisit this pattern that you can find on the Moda Bake Shop lap size and here on the blog (under tutorials) mini size?

 Okay so, to make the same pattern into a 97" square quilt, you'll need:

2 Layer Cakes plus 1 additional 10" square
Side Setting Fabrics - 1 1/4 yards
Border 1 - 3/4 yard
Border 2 - 2 1/3 yards (if pieced) or 3 yards (if tearing)
Backing - 9 yards (3 - 3 yard pieces)
Binding - 1 yard

(You'll still need to consult the Moda Bake Shop recipe for the full instructions, but here's the things you'll need to change to make the larger size)

From the 2 Layer Cakes and extra square, follow the cutting and piecing instructions to create 85 blocks.

Lay out the blocks in a 7 x 7 on point setting.

From the side setting fabric, cut 2 strips 13" wide. From these strips cut 6 squares 13" x 13". Cut each square in half twice diagonally. Also cut one 7" strip into 2 squares 7" x 7", cut these in half once diagonally for the corners.

Lay out the side setting pieces and blocks and sew them together in rows, then sew the rows together. The quilt center should measure around 79" square.

From the first border fabric, cut 9 strips 2 1/2" wide. Add these to the quilt, sides first. Then add the top & bottom borders.

Cut the second border fabric into 10 strips 7 1/2" wide (if piecing) or tear 4 strips 7 1/2" wide. Add these to the quilt. It should now measure 97" square.

Lastly, the binding fabric should be cut into 11 strips 2 1/4" wide or whatever width you prefer.

And there you have it! Another size option to the You Zig I'll Zag Quilt.

So which of the three sizes are you more likely to make?

Oh, and by the way, these blocks go together in a jif! I personally haven't made this in the large size, but I can assure you it'd go together super quick. I might just have to make one of these for myself! Now which fabrics to use...

So Excited!

So, last night I got home after another long day of long arm quilting and was just browsing around on Facebook killing some time before dinner was ready and got quite a shock:

Posted on the United Notions/ Moda Fabrics Facebook status was this photo of the booth at the Dallas Quilt Show happening this weekend... Much to my surprise my You Zig I'll Zag Quilt is hanging in the booth! See it in the right corner? Yay!

When I spotted this I immediately jumped up and down and screamed and then followed it up with a long lasting happy dance! I even tried to dance so much Ben tried to calm me down but it didn't exactly work and I accidentally bumped my arm into his beer bottle which was at this mouth... Ooooopppps! Luckily it didn't hurt him at all - that would have been horrible!

And I am sad to say that you got the good news part of the good news/ bad news deal... So I have been quilting up a storm and had permission from my customers to show pictures of their quilts, but someone (me) was so excited to go quilt that I forgot the camera at home... Dun, Dun, Dun...

I am planning on doing much more quilting this weekend however and I plan on taking lots of pictures to share. Let's just hope that I remember the camera this time. So what are you all up to this weekend? Anyone going to the Dallas Quilt Show?

Two Tutorials! BONUS!!!

First off, if you are coming from the first tutorial over at the Moda Bake Shop, welcome!

Secondly, if you are looking for the giveaway, click here. You have until Monday to enter!!!

Other than that I decided last weekend that it would be neat to do a smaller quilt out of the same design and fabric and post them together... and here they both are!

If you haven't been to the Moda Bake Shop yet, click here to go to the larger quilt tutorial.

 Same quilt, same design (mostly), same fabric, just smaller!This design features a Charm Pack rather than a Layer Cake. Here's what you'll need for this darling quilt:

1 Charm Pack (I used Reunion by Sweetwater - love those girls!)

Side Setting Pieces - 1/4 Yard

Small Border - 1/8 Yard

Large Border - 1/2 Yard

Backing - 1 Yard

Binding - 1/3 Yard

So as you can see this doesn't take much fabric at all, so if you happen to have a Charm Pack around, you might have enough of similar fabrics to make one of these up from your stash. Either that or you have the amounts listed so if you need an excuse to go shopping, you just might have to! hehehe!

Now let's get started! You'll need to separate the Charm Pack and mix the colors together (you know how they're all coordinated in the pack, well, we don't want that. Just mix them up and put them back in a stack)

 So lay out one (or a few if you feel comfortable doing so) Charm Square on your cutting mat.

 Trim it down to measure 4-1/2" across.

 Then the 4-1/2" width into 3 strips each 1-1/2" wide.  Set one aside, but not too far.

 Trim 2 of the strips to measure 4" long.

 Then from the same strips cut a 1-1/2" segment. This will yield (2) 1-1/2" square and (2) 1-1/2" x 2-1/2" pieces. Set each piece in a pile by itself as pictured below. We need all the pieces organized as you'll see below.

 And the last strip trim to a 1-1/2" x 3-1/2" piece.

 When laying out all the cut pieces, this is what it should look like. 2 piles of 1-1/2" squares, 2 piles of 2-1/2" segments and 1 pile of 3-1/2" segments. Now time to mix it up.

 To get the colors matching in rings, restack the deck leaving one "ring" alone and switching the other two as shown. Maybe take one pile and bring the bottom 1/3 to the top and on the other take the top 1/3 to the bottom so all the fabrics are nice and mixed.

 Start from the center with the smallest pieces. Sew a 1-1/2" square to another 1-1/2" square. Press all seams to the growing "ring" or to the newest sewn piece.

TIP - if you need to change a fabric at all due to pattern, color, whatever - change the oldest or already sewn piece. That way when you sew on the coordinating fabric in the "ring" you can chain piece and all fabrics will be right in order and save you time!

 Sew on the coordinating 2-1/2" segment onto the block. Press to this new piece.

 Sew on the last "ring" starting with the 2-1/2" segment.

 Finish up each block with the last strip.

 You should have 42 block that measure 3-1/2" square. Aren't they adorable?!

 For the side setting triangles, cut a strip 5-1/2" wide from your fabric. Cut 4 squares each 5-1/2". Cut each of these pieces in half twice diagonally as shown above.

Be careful with these pieces. They have just been cut on the bias and bias is a four letter word for a reason. These will want to stretch or warp, but you can avoid that with as little handling as possible or a little spritz of some starch.

 From the same strip cut 2 squares 3" square. Cut each of these in half once diagonally. These are for the corners.

 You will only need 41 of the blocks for this layout. Lay them out however you see fit. I tried this design on the larger quilt, but opted for another one. Looking back at the pictures I took that day I kept thinking how this would turn out so I decided to use it for the smaller version.

Feel free to play around with these blocks, the possibilities are endless!

 You're going to sew the top together in rows at an angle. Above I have row 1 (it's just 1 block) with the side setting triangles already sewn on, but I need to sew on the corner. I have pinned both the centers of the pieces to be sewn.

 Align the pins when placing the fabrics right sides together.

 Repin and sew! You'll see a better shot of this piece once it's sewn and pressed below.

 Here is a shot of all the blocks sewn in rows and then sewn together but 1, pay attention to the direction of the side setting triangles and notice row #5 doesn't have the corners on yet.

I find it easier to sew the corners onto rows after making the rows. On the smaller pieces like shown above, it's easier to handle a smaller piece, so I've already sewn on 2 corners, but the last 2 are much easier to put on after the top is put together. It saves many headaches, trust me.

 So, here's a better shot of the corner fully assembled. If you're piecing and pressing are accurate, the edges of the side setting pieces should all line up perfectly.

To add the borders, first start with the smallest one. You will need to cut 3 strips 1-1/2" wide.

The larger border requires 3 strips as well, cut at 4-1/2" wide.

Quilt how you see fit, add the binding and you will have:

 An adorable quilt that will finish at 31" square! Just darling!

I quilted this almost the same as the larger one, just in a smaller design. I think they both turned out adorable.

So, what do you think? Two quilt tutorials both in the same day? I hope I didn't put your brain on overload - however I think I need more coffee.

Inquiring minds want to know, which size would you like to do? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

If you have any questions at all or finish one of these quilts and would like to send me a picture I will be sure to post it on here, just e-mail me at rubybluequilts (at) gmail (dot) com.

Thanks and have a great weekend!