Hello from Sunny Florida

Hard to believe but it is already the third month of our winter circuit. So far we have participated in 6 shows - and have two more before we head home. We travel from place to place, dragging our home behind us. Its a good life. We have met quilters from all over the country as Florida weather attracts lots of snowbirds.

Our travel trailer has space for my sewing area, although I need to stand to sew. Plus the bed lifts for lots of storage. I have enough material to make a number of quilts but so far only made two.

Tracy Greenlee, the Beachy Quilter in Naples FL was kind enough to rent me time on her Gammill so I was able to finish the quilt that will be in the July 2018 issue of AQ (American Quilter). It is called Loose Ends and I will show you a pic.

In this newsletter you will see some new panel quilts and a few previews. Plus some tips on making the Gridlock pattern.

Happy Quilting!
Carla and Bill

This is how we roll

Discount 15% on all products
Use the discount code SunnyFlorida when you checkout.
This discount code is valid now thru March 31, 2018
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A fitting fabric release for our Florida circuit. High Tide - measures 48" x 64". It is made with Northcott's Seafood Shack Collection. Pattern, panel and kits are available.

This quilt will be in the American Quilter magazine, July 2018 issue. It is titled Loose Ends and is made with alternating Talking Points blocks and a second block that has HST and 4-patch units. Talking Points blocks are made by paper piecing. All the units in the alternate block are made using Shortcut Sheet methods.
This design uses Northcott's Gradation Mixer fabric collection.
For those of you who don't know about Talking Points, check out the info on our website.

**Tips for making the Gridlock pattern**

Gridlock uses the When Push Comes To Shove fabric collection from Northcott.

The panel and kit are available. Each block is made with 4 identical Hourglass units. There are 24 blocks.

Cut the 96 Hourglass units from the same 'sheet' This is made by sewing width of fabric strips for the first 2 fabrics and cutting rows. Repeat for the second 2 color fabrics. Then alternately sew those rows to make this 'sheet'

Line up your 24" quilting ruler through the corners of the brown and yellow squares, and cut all the rows.

There will be lots of rows.

Cut the rows apart into the final units - they are 4-1/2" square, pressed and ready to use.

Check inside the seams for these remnants. Remove by snipping one half, the other pulls out. Note: these are in 2 corners only. It is your choice to remove them - but if you don
t know that they add bulk to the seam allowance when the units are sewn together.

So here are all 96 units ready to be sewn into blocks. There will be extra units to allow for possible miss-cuts.

You will need 24 identical blocks measuring 8-1/2" square.

It is important to square up the panel as they can have quite a skew. You can stretch as you steam press to straighten. But the best way to check is to fold once in each direction and line up the folded edges on the grid lines of your cutting mat. Straighten by cutting the other edges.

For my quilt the trim resulted in an inch difference in the height of the panel. So I needed to add a little to my second border to achieve the correct final size of 48-1/2" wide by 32-1/2" high.

Sew blocks across the top and bottom, then 6 blocks on each side. Finish with a wide border with miter corners as there is a different fabric on each edge. I am ready to quilt as soon as I get home.
Have fun making this pattern!

Now Available

High Ridge Crossing (deer) 42" wide x 28" high
Black Bear Adventure 42" wide x 28" high
Heritage Quilting 42" wide x 28" high

Seafood Shack 24" wide x 42" high
Beyond the Forest (eagle) 24" wide x 42" high

Where to catch up with us....
Sew Expo Lakeland FL March 15 - 17
Champlain Valley Quilt Guild, Essex VT - trunkshow and workshop - Apr 3-4 (see page 6 of the newsletter)
AQS Spring Paducah KY - April 17-21

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