Celtic Solstice and some new accuquilt dies!

It felt like Christmas the other day when the UPS man delivered my package.  I ordered some new accuquilt dies last week.  My main reason for ordering new dies was because I am doing Bonnie hunters Celtic Solstice mystery quilt.  I wanted the dies to use for each clue instead of using the traditional method.  Well I ended up doing clue 1 with the tri rec rulers and I started to do clue 2 but decided to wait for my order.

These are the dies I ordered!  I got the parrallegram, triangle in a square, hunters star, Alphabet letters, log cabin, 1 1/2 half square triangles and I think the last one is a 3 inch half square triangle

The log cabin looks like it will have to be made scrappy which I am ok with.  I just love scrappy quilts!

This alphabet die will come in real handy when I am making personalized hooded bath towels.  Cutting out the letters is time consuming and this will definitely save some time.

I used the parrallegram die along with the 1 1/2 inch half square triangle die to make some of the blocks in Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt.  I found that I liked using  the half square triangle along with the 3 1/2 x 2 inch rectangle.

The hunter star die is one I am most excited about.  I made one using the rulers and the pieces were a little wonky.  I look forward to making one with this die.

Here is my fabric that I cut for my Celtic Solstice quilt.

 Look how perfect these pieces are cut!  I can honestly say that I saved a ton of time by not having to cut these with a rotary cutter.  I am loving my accuquilt more and more each day!

Once I get caught up with christmas stuff, I will do a post on each one of the dies.  Until then, I need to finish my clues for the mystery quilt.

Happy Quilting,
Lynn

Trying out my Sizzix Owl Applique!

I purchased the Owl appliqué die from Hobby Lobby the other day.  So today I took out my Sizzix Fabi cutter and put her to the test.

I chose fabrics from my scraps to use for my trial run.  I added a paper back fusible to each piece and away I went!

The pieces roll through the die cutter very easily and I had no problems with pieces not cutting properly.  It took no time at all to cut out my pieces.

I also used my stems and leaves Accuquilt die for the branch and leaves.   I placed all the pieces on an appliqué fusing sheet and fused all of the little pieces into one appliqué piece.

How cute is this?  Now I can take this piece and iron it onto a pice of freezer paper and put it into a binder.  Then it will be ready for me to use in a future project!

Happy Quilting!
Lynn

Accuquilt 2.5" Strip die review

I had a chance to mark my 2.5 inch strip die today.  I used a silver sharpie and made my line just inside of the blades at each end and 1/4 inch away on each side.  I then marked lines 2.5 inches away all the way down the die.  Because of the length of the die, one of the lines is not quite 2.5 inches.

I prepared my fabric by cutting an 8 inch strip off my yardage.  I starched and ironed it and then refolded.  When placing on the die, I lined up the edge of my fabric with the silver line at the top.  My first cut was perfect!  My second cut was not…..A very important thing to remember, make sure you roll the die through with the side that you lined the fabric up on.  I did it the opposite way and the fabric shifted.  And this is what I got.  The piece of fabric shifted too much and it went off of the blade.

When you put it through the proper way, you get perfect 2.5 inch strips!

I cut up some black strips and then placed them on my horizontal lines to create 2.5 inch squares.  It was so easy to line the fabric up and took less then a minute to get tons of 2.5 inch squares!

 If I had to rotary cut all these squares, it would have taken me much longer.

And this is what I made with my strips and squares

I really don't know why I waited so long to use my strip die.  The strips were perfect and took no time at all to cut.  For those of you who have this die, get it out, mark it and start cutting!  If you are thinking about ordering one, what are you waiting for?  You will love it!

Happy Quilting,
Lynn

Do you have an Accuquilt die cutting machine?

I am one of the many quilters who purchased an Accuquilt machine along with several really cool dies. However, I am ashamed to say that I have not really used it much. I made one tumbler quilt back in 2009 and that was it.

 One of the reasons for this is lack of knowledge on using the machine. It isn't that it is really difficult but you do have to do a few things to make sure your pieces come out accurately. I have been doing a ton of reading and watching YouTube videos to learn how to use my dies. I am determined to use my Accuquilt go and take control of my scraps!

 So my New Years resolution this year is to learn how to use all of my Accuquilt dies to control my scraps and make lots of great projects. I hope you too will dust off your die cutting machines and join me in learning all there is to know about Accuquilt!

 Here is a list of my current dies.   Each number is clickable and will take you directly to the Accuquilt site to show you each die.
#55042 Funky Flowers
#55022 2" Square #55030 Critters
#55012 Circles 
#55010 Square 5"
#55006 3 1/2 Square
#55008 Feathers
#55015 Tumbler 3.5 finished
#55005 Rectangle 3 1/2 x 6 1/2
#55324 Birds
#55331 Stems & Leaves
#55001 Triangle 6 1/2
#55018 Go value Die
#55013 8 1/2 Rag die
#55000 6 1/2 Square
#55020 Tumbler 6 1/2
#55014 2.5" strip diewww.accuquilt.com

 I just ordered
55027 triangle in square
55009, half sq 3
55402 parallelogram
55166 go hunter star 
55092, alphabet set
55319 half sq triangle 1.5 
56349 log cabin

So as you can see, I have way too much invested in these dies to just let them collect dust. We can learn how to mark out dies together and start organizing our scraps!

 Lynn