New Book!!!

I think I have finally recovered from getting this book here. You might think that it gets easier with each one, but it doesn't. Yes, I know the process, but there is no circumventing the process. But no matter -- it's here!

The new book is called Simply Charming Circles. All the quilts are made with 5" charm squares. (Of course, 12 charm squares can be cut from a fat quarter, so all the quilts are fat quarter friendly too!) I have always been a little intimidated by circles, so all of these designs are super simple. I use two easy techniques for the circles, raw edge applique and fusible machine applique. If you really like another technique, you can always substitute your own technique in place of mine.

My current favorite is the Charming Bull's Eye quilt. Ages ago I started a bulls eye quilt. I got all the squares cut and then it got put away. I still know where it is. Like I said, circles intimidated me. I couldn't bear the thought of cutting out all those circles with scissors and then sewing around the entire circle before I could do the fun part of cutting them apart and sewing them back together. So why is my favorite in this book the bull's eye? Because I do it differently!

First, there are rulers so I didn't have to use scissors, I could use my small rotary cutter to cut 4 pieces at a time. Second, I used fat quarters and charm squares to create a quarter of the block. There was no need to sew on the entire circle. You just sew a quarter circle at a time, and that is such a simple curve to sew that pinning is optional. So now I have a bull's eye quilt that I love without sewing one circle. Yeah for me!

Here is the picture of the bull's eye quilt.

Ask for this book at your local quilt shop or order it from my website:

http://www.moosequilts.com

My Cupcakes from . . . Antarctica

Wow. So I dropped off the face of the earth for a while. I am back now, itching and sneezing thanks to the good weather we have been having. I think maybe I went to Antarctica, but I am really not sure where I was. Where ever I was, I came back with a book! My printer is so fast that I hadn't even recovered from getting the files to him before a stack of boxes was on my doorstep. The new book is called Simply Charming Circles, but the rest will have to wait until tomorrow because . . . I am determined to be finished forever with these cupcakes!

Here is the picture of my progress:

Now for the story:

Short story -- my book.

Longer story -- You know how there are some projects that you just get really tired of? This is one of those. I only finished it this far because I knew I had to write this post. I never really liked cupcakes, but I started this quilt because of a design challenge. Now, I am sick of cupcakes. The cupcake fad isn't over yet. I keep seeing cupcakes everywhere. They are haunting me.

Okay, so the burning question, who gets the charm pack, after all, I didn't use anyone's ideas? So no one gets the charm pack -- just kidding. That wouldn't be fair after all the fun ideas I got. My first thought would be to use all of them. There are six cupcakes after all. It would be fun to decorate all of them differently. Then reality hit. Before I went to Antarctica, I was going to put the yo-yo on with a button. Then reality hit again, and (now that the quilt is pressed and taken a picture of) I am going to throw it into the UFO pile, gladly.

So, The Wheeler 5, a friend of mine, you get the charm pack! Thanks for all the fun ideas. Maybe you could make your own cupcake quilt and have fun decorating your own cupcakes!

One last thought, I know that whenever I say that I don't like a quilt, someone always says they love it. I am sure that this quilt isn't as horrid as I think it is. What happens to quilts like this is that one day I will get around to quilting it and donate it to a wonderful charity.