“Text It” Blog Hop

My friend Sherri Noel has just published a new book, “Text It”. Sherri and I have been in the same quilt guild for years and have so much in common as quilt designers. When she asked me to make a quilt from her new book and blog about it, I knew I was going to make the “1 Sheep” quilt! After reading all about “Counting Sheep”, tell me the one thing that helps you relax before bed in a comment below to enter the give-away! Tag a friend in the comment for an extra chance to win! Martingale has generously given me one “Text It” book to give away and I’ll also give away a set of my “Hearts & More” tools so you can try making circles my way!

Sherri’s adorable little sheep is so darling! I knew that I could get this quilt done in time for the “Hop” because it is all made of circles. I jumped right in with my Hearts & More templates, the perfect tool for cutting perfect circles!

There were a few fabrics at my Local Quilt Shop (Franklin Mill for all you local girls!) with sheep on them, and a fun border print that reminded me of wooly sheep in white and gray. To keep the quilt soft enough for a baby, I chose Mistyfuse brand fusible web to fuse my sheep and the words. It is so soft you won’t even know it is there! After putting the fusible on the fabric with an applique pressing sheet, it was time to cut all those circles! Here is a link to my video for putting the mistyfuse on your fabric.

I used the Hearts and More large template set to cut 2″, 3″ and 4″ circles using my rotary cutter. No tracing, no scissors, no fuss! Sherri’s circles weren’t exactly the same sizes as mine, but I don’t think it matters!

A Design Wall covered in Kaffe Flannel is the perfect place to start laying out the pieces. I have a Youtube video for that too, if you want to make a design wall for yourself.

Since Sherri had already reversed the alphabet, I traced the reversed letters on to parchment paper (from the grocery store) and ironed the parchment to the mistyfused fabric. Since I’m over 50, my Daylight Magnifying Lamp is the perfect thing for cutting out applique and sewing on my machine!

I decided to spell out the words “One Sheep” instead of using the number one. To center the words on the background fabric I used a ruler and my Iron-off Chalk. Since I am fusing the words, the Iron-off chalk is the perfect marking method! After fusing, all the marking is gone with the heat of the iron.

I opted to omit the pieced border since I had the perfect puffy stripe border instead. Of course a striped border calls for mitering, so that was the final step in making the top. Here is the finished top with the strip border. Isn’t this little guy awfully sweet?

I have been traveling for a bit now, so I haven’t had the chance to stitch the applique down yet. When I do, I will buttonhole stitch the fused applique shapes with a buttonhole stitch on my sewing machine…or maybe I will play with stitches until I find one that looks soft and fluffy.

I hope you enjoy my version of Sherri’s “1 Sheep” quilt from “Text It!”. If you would like your own copy of the book, leave a comment below and maybe you will win a copy! Or follow the links below to purchase the book on Sherri’s website, or on Amazon.

You can read about more projects from this fun book by following the blog hop line up below. You’ll get to see each quilt design made different ways and with different fabrics, you may find some fabric giveaways along the way too!!

Do you count sheep to fall asleep? Do you read, sew or have a cup of tea? Don’t forget to leave your best sleepy time ritual below, give me your e-mail address so I can contact you if you win a prize, and tag a friend in the comment for two chances to win! ZZZZzzzzzz………………………….Sue

Here is the Blog Hop lineup:

MONDAY MARCH 4 – BEE HAPPY

PAMELA JANE MORGAN – http://WWW.MYSWEETLITTLESTITCHES.COM

SHARON LILABELLE LANE – WWW.LILABELLELANECREATIONS.COM

TUESDAY MARCH 5 – INFINITY Quilt

LAURA PILAND – http://WWW.SLICEOFPIQUILTS.COM

LEANNE PARSONS – http://WWW.DEVOTEDQUILTER.BLOGSPOT.COM

KATIE MUTER STARCHER – http://WWW.KATIEMAEQUILTS.COM

WEDNESDAY MARCH 6 – PILLOW TALK

KATE COLLERAN – http://WWW.SEAMSLIKEADREAM.COM

CHERYL DAINES BROWN – http://WWW.QUILTERCHIC.COM

DORIE HRUSKA – WWW.FOREVER-QUILTING.COM