Twister is finished! I have so much enjoyed stitching this design (by Patricia Spencer), and I varied the stitches somewhat. The pattern had several repeated throughout the design, but I wanted them all different. In the end I did make the 4 wedges surrounding each centre square the same, for a bit of continuity - but otherwise there are no repeats. All the stitches are diagonals with no crossed stitches at all. And it really is straight and flat, even if it doesn't look it here! Blogged at pinsneedles.wordpress.com/

Tutorial: turtlehillquilter.blogspot.com/2010/01/charmed-whirlgigs-... I added a 4" white border and I could not get it straight. I really need more practice with that because I love the look. The white strips were straight, the quilt was straight, and the seams were straight, but it was so wonky! I could not get it even so I took it off. Good enough! :)

Spending time with guilds is a great source of inspiration especially when I get to teach them a workshop as well as do a trunk show.

I'm trying out a new tool this week called the L'il Twister; it's supposed to make pinwheels easier. Right out of the gate I'm a little skeptical, because how could they be any easier than the half-square triangle kind? But I'm giving it a go with these cute fabrics... lots of polka dot charm squares, some Moda Bleached White solid, and a flower stripe from Michael Miller: Start by making a four-patch unit with charm squares and border it with 3" cut strips on all sides... add this tool... Cut like so... Re-arrange like so... And sew it all back together to make this ultra-cute pinwheel! The finished block is 9" square. As I was going through this process, I was thinking, "this sure is a LOT of seams and cutting to make a 9" block! And this (photo below) is a LOT of waste!" (BTW - I loathe fabric waste, except in the case of paper-piecing New York Beauties... I mean how else are you going to get those super-sharp points, right?) Anyway, even though I was extremely skeptical and so sure that I would not be happy with this tool, I can report that I AM happy with it. Those pinwheels are so cute and the process required little more thought than which charm squares to put together, that I have been won over. I'll keep you updated on the progress of this project; it's going to be a baby quilt when it's finished. Incidentally, there is another Twister Tool sized to use with layer-cake squares and several projects for using both tools in the new book Let's Twist published by Country Schoolhouse Quilt Shop. It seems that quilt shops are having a difficult time keeping these items in stock, so I don't know where to direct you to purchase them. If I get more info I'll pass it on!

Existem diversas formas de se fazer o bloco Dança do quadrados (Square Dance) ou Flic-Flac. As duas perguntas mais comuns na hora de confeccionar o molde são: 1) como eu acho o ângulo de 60 graus e 2) qual será o tamanho dos quadrados para fazer o quadriculado. Vou mostrar aqui que não é preciso saber como achar o ângulo e como calcular, facilmente, a medida do quadrado. Para fazer as linhas diagonais, desenhe um quadrado do tamanho que você quer seu Flic-Flac e acrescente borda para costura (ou seja, se eu quiser um bloco de 20 x 20cm, devo desenhar um quadrado com 21,5cm) e marque o centro. Agora desenhe uma pequena linha partindo do canto superior do seu quadrado. Essa linha será a ponta menor do seu "catavento" (lembrando que o tamanho final da ponta fica 0,75cm para dentro do quadrado, portanto ficará maior do que o que você está vendo). Para 21,5 eu desenhei uma linha com mais ou menos 3,5 cm. Marque essa medida nos quatro lados do seu quadrado. Ligue as pontas das linhas que você marcou, na diagonal, PASSANDO PELO CENTRO. Se ao ligar as pontas a linha não passar pelo centro, significa que as medidas não estão idênticas. Refaça as medidas. Pronto, você já tem as linhas diagonais e não importa em que ângulo elas estão. Se achar que o catavento está com uma ponta muito larga, refaça o desenho diminuindo o tamanho da sua linha. Lembre-se que a medida final da ponta está a 0,75cm para dentro da borda, portanto, um pouco mais larga do que você está vendo. Para ver se o tamanho está bom, recorte as quatro peças do seu quadrado, dobre a ponta à 0,75 para ela ficar com a largura final, monte o catavento e veja se você gosta do resultado. Se não gostou, aumente ou diminua a medida que você usou para a ponta. Agora precisamos saber qual será o tamanho do quadrado que você usará para fazer o quadriculado. Essa medida é muito simples de se achar. O lado do quadrado é exatamente igual ao comprimento da diagonal do molde que você acabou de desenhar mais 1,5cm. Pronto, não há necessidade de nenhum cálculo ou construção de tabela. VEJA a demonstração do Cálculo: Note, no desenho abaixo, que a peça A (azul ) e a peça B (amarela) são iguais e estão exatamente na mesma posição. Portanto, a linha 1 e a linha 3 marcada pela seta em vermelho têm a mesma medida. Se A = B, então, A+C = C+B, ou seja: medida 1 = medida 3 , portanto, medida 1 + medida 2 = lmedida 3 + medida 2 . Ou seja, a diagonal (linhas 1 e 2) do seu molde é igual ao lado do quadrado (linhas 2 e3). Vamos cortar os blocos prontos diretamente do quadriculado. Coloque o molde sobre o quadriculado ajustando as linhas do molde com as linhas de costura e desenhe. Se você cortar os quadrados para fazer o quadriculado exatamente do tamanho da diagonal mais a borda de costura, os moldes irão se encostar. Eu prefiro cortar o quadrado do quadriculado um pouco maior, tanto para facilitar o corte, quanto para que a sobra fique com um tamanho reutilizável. Se a sobra ficar muito pequena, acaba indo para o lixo. Calculando o tamanho da Borda ou Barra do trabalho: Veja as setas na figura abaixo. Meça a distância entre a ponta da peça e a diagonal como mostra a figura. Acrescente pelo menos 0,75 para a borda de costura. Eu gosto de cortar um pouco maior para facilitar o corte. Aqui está o quadriculado com a borda e todos os moldes desenhados sobre ele, pronto para o corte Depois de cortados os blocos, bastará dar um giro e você terá as peças na posição correta para a costura. Primeiramente costure os blocos dois a dois. Depois costure essas peças duplas também duas a duas e continue a emendar as peças formadas seguindo o arranjo de cores do seu quadriculado original. Aqui está o trabalho pronto!

BEST WISHES FOR A HAPPY AND JOYOUS NEW YEAR from Rossana

My Twisted Valentine table topper. It was fun, easy and quick! For those who have never made one of these fun quilts... Here's how I made it. I raided my stash and found: 25 charm squares 1/3 yard border fabric and of course the 'Lil' Twister" ruler I laid out my charm squares in a 5 x 5 format. They are all sewn together and ready for the border to be put on. I cut three 3" border strips Side borders went on first, then the top and bottom borders next. Of course, I press my seams toward the border. Now comes the fun part of using this cool little ruler. I start in the top left corner. Line up the ruler with the seam lines as shown. Carefully cut around the ruler on all sides, just going past the rulers edge. Don't over cut. Line up the ruler with the next intersection and cut around that piece again just going past the edge of the ruler. Continue to cut out your Twister blocks as shown. Here's the first four Twister squares, laid out and ready to be sewn together. Continue cutting across your quilt top. Lay out the Twister blocks as you go. It made it easier for me to do it this way. I always work left to right, placing the cut squares next to each other as I go. The last row also cuts into your border. Everything is cut out. I got the top row sewn together. (I got excited and couldn't wait to sew things together) Can see the Twister now? The second row is sewn together in 3 block sections. The bottom row is ready to be sewn. You can see how it is put together here. Now the (almost) finished project. I still need to get it quilted. This topper finishes 18" square. You can add more borders at this point if you choose. Now what to do with all the scraps left over???? Hmmmm...I hate to toss them, I mean how un-quilty of me. So I took all those pieces and cut them down to a bunch of 2 1/4" squares and put them to good use. And what better to go with a table topper then a set of Mug rugs! I used some of the border fabric scraps and appliqued the 3 little hearts using Steam-A-Seam fusible webbing. Then I quilted the large hearts in the center. Now for some chocolate! Have a wonderful and Happy Valentines Day!!!

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Well last month's Christmas Quilt Along helped me get ready for the 'HoHoHo Hop' - thank you ladies. Even hid that test piece I did for Bea. This month's hostess is the Jolly Joanna over at NeedleThreadHappiness - maybe you would like to join in and link up this weekend. Yes, my other mini twister tree was a test run of the pattern. Some adjustments were made and I am ready to tackle my Challenge piece this month. That tiny twister takes a lot out of my concentration, so I may only get a third of the cutting/re-piecing done today. I have a secret swap I want to do some work on - that I can't show because I know she reads my blog. And I would like to do some Christmas runners and found this site BayWindow Quilt Shop - and can see a couple of simple runners that I can use some of my holiday fabric scraps. ** I had over 50 no-reply commentors on this hop - way more than I have ever had. It is mostly those who have a Google + account - thus, I have added a button on the side bar to take you to a tute on how to take care of this problem. If you never got a response back from any blogs you left comments on - more than likely you are a no-reply commentor. ** The winner of my HOHOHO Blog Hop give away is sandra said... I love your min-twister Christmas Tree I bought one of those Twister templates but I haven't used it yet. Where did you get the pattern for the tree? Your cross- stitch is lovely. I will be contacting her for mailing information. Sewingly Yours, Sharon

Spending time with guilds is a great source of inspiration especially when I get to teach them a workshop as well as do a trunk show.