Hexagon #4 - Tout Finis!

 Hi There!

Still enjoying these cute 6 inch (across) hexagons!

I had a bit of a challenge with finding the correct sizes for Hexagon #3. Finally figured it out and had hoped to work on it, yesterday evening, but I was plum tired!  Had trouble keeping my eyes open to watch TV, even!

Anyhow, here's Hexagon #4, 

in Linda Franz's new Inklingo collection, 

300 Pieced Hexagons.

And here's my 3 cuties,

on my design wall!

What's on my agenda, today?

I'll be working on finishing Bonnie Hunter's latest Mystery Quilt, called "Lazy Sunday".

Will post pictures, in a bit....

Have a Wonderful Wednesday!

Rosa

Hexagons #1 and #2.... Re-Visited

 Hi There!

I've been bitten by the Inklingo bug!

And, the bite was rather severe....

At this point in time,

it has to do with Linda Franz's

300 + Hexagon designs!

Incredibly Jaw Dropping,

that's truly very easy

the Inklingo way!

Well, if you remember, I had started making these hexagons with a dark navy background and Gilbert mentioned that it looked like Halloween blocks.

Soooo, I took the first 2 apart and now can show you the completed ironed cutey...

Hexagon #1

Hexagon #2

I've got my third one finished but not ironed, yet. I just finished it this morning.  

I'll upload its picture, in a few days.

Linda Franz, the genius behind Inklingo, also has a blog, that is also very informative and always has lots of eye candy!

Have a Terrific Tuesday!

Rosa

Hexagon #2 - Let's Sew With Inklingo!

 Hi There!

Important Inklingo links:

Inklingo's Home Page

How Inklingo Works

Inklingo's Quick Start Guide

300 Pieced Hexagons

Note: When you place your Inklingo order, please advise Linda Franz that Rosa Robichaud recommended you.  I would appreciate that.  

*s*

Onto Hexagon #2, with Inklingo!

The 1st hex was easy and.... 

well, let's admit it, kinda boring.

But wait till you see them all, close-up and personal!

I figured these ones were like little pie pieces.

To make Hexagon #2, you will need:

Hexagon .75 (x 1)
Hexagon the Other Half (x 6)
Triangle .75 (x 6)
Diamond .75 (x 6)

I laid the pieces out and this is what it would look like.

Gilbert saw this and said, "Oh, you're making a Halloween quilt?"

*insert LOUD sound of screeching car brakes, here*

HUH?!??!?

I wanted to use a dark navy with different oranges and yellows, to make my hexagon quilt dramatic.  These hexies were too close to my nose, I think. I never realized that YES, these colors did INDEED look like Halloween colors and NO, that's NOT what I wanted to make!

*insert a LOUD and LONG sigh, here*

Soooooo, I took the first hexagon apart as well as the pieces to the 2nd one.  I will replace the dark navy pieces with some various WOW (White on White) fabrics.

In French, there's a saying that says that "Not only fools can change their minds."

Also, I had originally wanted to make each hexagon a different orange or yellow. But, since some of Linda's hexagons have TWO colors, with white, I thought, "Why waste perfectly good pieces?"

I got 2 ziplocks and am putting left over pieces in them, according to "size".  Figured it would be easier to keep track of them, this way.

*grin*

Also, my printer doesn't take different sized paper.  Although, in the meantime, I DID figure out how to use small pieces of fabric, for Inklingo.

You just iron your small piece of fabric to your 8-1/2" X 11" piece of Freezer Paper and you put 'er through your printer!

Easy, eh?

Here's a picture of my 1.50 pieces.

 

Yesterday evening, I was curious as to how many had visited my blog since I posted on my 1st Hexagon.

Lookee, Lookee!

This is THE most viewers I've ever had!

Oh what a fun adventure this will be!!!

Have a Fantastic Friday, everyone!!!

Rosa

Print 'n Sew With Inklingo!

Hi There!

I'm not sure if any of you remember me mentioning "Inklingo"

 before but it truly IS an incredible quilting tool!

Do any of you remember when you first heard about 

rotary cutters and "self-healing" cutting mats?

HUH?!??!

SELF-HEALING?!?!?

Once you've tried Inklingo, 

you'll understand why Inklingo 

is setting the quilting world on it's ears!

Here's how I can explain Inklingo in a nutshell:

You cut your freezer paper to 8-1/2" X 11"

Iron it on the RIGHT side of your fabric.

With your rotary cutter,

trim your fabric and FP back to

8-1/2" X 11"

Open up your Inklingo PDF.

Select the block you wish to print and ink color.

Put your freezer paper

piece in your printer tray.

Click "Print".

Once printed, remove your FP.

And VOILA!

Your sewing lines are now on your fabric,

ready to be cut 

either with your scissors or rotary cutter

and ready to be sewn....

either by hand or by sewing machine!

And here's Linda Franz's
 Quick Start Guide 
It explains a little more about printing on fabric.

Now, the creator behind Inklingo, 

is always busy creating

new and incredible Inklingo patterns.

She has recently designed over 300 + 

different Hexagon patterns!!! 

And we all know that hexes are the latest craze!

*grin*

My goal is to make all of them!

And to blog about each and every one of them!

I'm making them at 6 inches.

This is Hexagon #1

For those of you that already have this Inklingo pattern,

and would like to follow me on my

Inklingo Hexagon adventure,

you will need....

Hexagon the Other Half, at 1.50

and

Triangle, at 1.50

Did I mention that I'll be handpiecing them?  

*grin*

Here's the back of my hexagon, 

not yet ironed.

And here's the back of my ironed hexagon...

See the nice, neat sewing lines?

When you handpiece with Inklingo,

its almost IMPOSSIBLE to not

make a PERFECT block!

Inset seams are now

NO PROBLEMO PABLO!!!

And.... 

You end up with the cutest "rosettes"

and your block lays nice and flat!

NOTE:  When you finally decide to get OFF the fence and TRY Inklingo, you will be asked where you heard about Inklingo.  

PLEASE click on my name as I'm an "Associate".

Thanks!

Have a Terrific Thursday!

Rosa

Getting Organized - Progress Report

Hi There!

Remember, a while back, I decided to designate certain quilt projects for each day of the week?  Well, here's my progress report and my take on how this "Agenda" has been going.

Yesterday, was my "Dear Jane" day.  

Mind you, I also did errands and did laundry, etc, etc... but managed to finish 3 Dear Jane blocks.

Today, was my "Inklingo" day.

I hadn't done any Inklingo on my laptop, downstairs AND I got a new (Brother) printer in January(?) and had never used it for Inklingo purposes.

Anyhow, it took me about 1 hour to find the Inklingo pattern that I wanted, for my Rose Dream block.  I had to finally write to Linda Franz - I simply could NOT find it!

Soooo, another 1/2 an hour to decide on which quilt I wanted to make...

I mean... HONESTLY!!!!

Just take a LOOK at these gorgeous Rose Dream quilts!!!

And then, ANOTHER 1/2 hour or more, to find the perfect fabrics, in my stash!

By then, it was time for lunch!

Trust me - it never takes this long to print an Inklingo pattern!

Its just that everything that COULD go wrong, went "wrong" today!

*insert wry grin here*

Came back to my Sewing Studio and try and figure out the proper dimensions for this pattern.

Did I mention that I "thought" my ink cartridges were empty and we... I mean Gilbert put in new color cartridges?

FINALLY, at 3h30 I was had printed out a few shapes and managed to finish - almost - 1 of the 4 sections.

I was debating as to whether I should machine piece this quilt or hand piece it.

Hand piecing won!  

I want perfect seams and ... well... 

just a cute and perfect lap quilt!

Here's the pattern that I selected.

Cute, eh?

And who knows, eh?

I just might even hand quilt it, too!

*grin*

As to my feelings about designating certain days of the week to certain projects....  

I'm not really likin' it.  

For the past 2 years I've forced myself to concentrate on ONE project at a time .... 

And now, it feels like I'm jumping from 1 project to the next.  My heart is now yearning to work on and FINISH the previous day's project!

I'll figure it out.  

At least I'm never bored!

LOL!!!!

Have a Wonderful Wednesday!

Tomorrow's my "Asian Quilt".

Rosa

Inklingo FAQ's

Hi There!

Can you imagine if you were still using your scissors and cardboard templates to make your quilts and someone tried to explain to you, by blog, how easy and simple it was to use a rotary cutter and mat?!?!?

You'd probably STILL be sitting on the fence, with your scissors and collection of cereal box cardboard templates, wondering what the fuss was all about!!!

*s*

In my week's effort to show and share how much fun and how EASY Inklingo can be - how VALUABLE a tool this can be, to make incredibly complicated looking quilts - which are truly very easy to make..... today I've taken the liberty of copying Linda Franz's Inklingo FAQ's, for you.

Here goes....

WHAT PRINTER?
Any ordinary Inkjet printer — like yours! Print shapes on the wrong side of the fabric with the Inkjet printer and color ink cartridge you have already. Fabric feeds smoothly through an Inkjet printer when it is ironed to freezer paper. It prints just like paper.
Any ordinary color Inkjet printer will allow you to print custom sizes to use fabric efficiently.

DO I HAVE TO LEARN NEW SOFTWARE?
No! Pages of Inklingo shapes are organized in PDF files which open with Adobe Reader. There is no software to install. Just enter the page number (or use the bookmark feature) to print the page with
the shape and ink color you need. It’s simple but you will want to read our tips too.

WHAT COLORS?
There are 20 Inklingo colors which are designed to wash out — but even if they don’t, they do not show in the finished quilt. It is simple to choose the page with the best color of ink.

IS THIS JUST FOR HAND PIECING?
No! Sew by machine or sew by hand with a running stitch, or combine hand and machine stitching for a “hybrid.” Inklingo introduces new, simpler ways to stitch. There are instructions for piecing and appliqué on the web site and in the Inklingo Handbook.

CAN A BEGINNER DO THIS?
Yes! Inklingo is perfect for beginning quilters and for children too. Cut with a rotary cutter or scissors. No measuring! Just cut and sew along the lines. There is straight grain on every piece. Inklingo makes it easier than ever to start quilting.

What am I doing today?


Heading off the the fish market to pick up a few lobster and then, heading off to visit my parents and have a lobster feast - my treat!


Wishing you all a

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!


Rosa

Inklingo's Double Wedding Ring Shape!!!

Hi There!

With the wedding season looming in front of us,
have you ever wished you could make

 an (easy) Double Wedding Ring quilt,
for your son/daughter or best friend? 

Inklingo is your solution!!!

Linda Franz even has a

 contest to win this shape collection!!!

(contest ends Saturday, May 12th)

AND.....

She created this incredibly beautiful video.
She's says there's probably over 50 different
Double Wedding Ring patterns in this video!!!

 (psssssssttt.... don't let these beautiful complexe-looking quilts scare you - that's the beauty of Inklingo....  The quilts look complicated but they're actually quick and easy,

with Inklingo's precision lines.

Here's what you'll need to get started.

(I've listed the items from most complicated to the simplest.)

1 - Fabric.

(I always spend a good 1/2 hour 

digging through my stash to decide what I want.

This is the most complicated part.)

2 - Freezer Paper (FP)

(You can buy a box of FP at the grocery store. 

Cut it to 8-1/2" X 11")

3 - InkJet Printer

 (Nothing fancy. If you really MUST buy a new one, get a CHEAP one!  Remember, you don't need a fancy InkJet Printer for Inklingo!)

4 - Sewing Machine or your favorite hand sewing

 needles and thread as well as your scissors.

(Duh!  if you're a quilter, I'm POSITIVE you have one of these)

6 - An iron.

(And again - you probably already have one,

 if you're a quilter.

You'll need to iron the FP to your fabric.)

5 - A computer

(Once again, if you're reading this, 

I'm guessing you have a computer.)

6 - An Inklingo shape collection.

(in this case, it could be the 

Double Wedding Ring!)

See????

How easy is that?!?!?

You've probably got ALL of these 6 items
'cept for the Inklingo shape, right?

When you've decided to get OFF the fence and 

pick up your first Inklingo shape collection,

please tell them that I sent you.

*s*

Or, you can click on this

Double Wedding Ring:

 

Hope you're gearing up
for a Wonderful Weekend!!!

Rosa

Inklingo 101

Hi There!

I don't know about you but I'm the type that needs to SEE things to believe it!  I need to put my hand onto that object, or push the buttons myself, to learn and remember and KNOW how to "do it".

Unfortunately, some of us will sit on the fence and stay undecided - uncertain about the "unknown".  And we sometimes tend to over-think things.

Okaaaaay.... back in November, I started doing the Orca Bay Mystery Quilt with Bonnie Hunter.

When it came time to do the Quarter Square Triangles, the majority of my pieces were done with Inklingo.  I had grabbed my camera and decided to take some pics, of my progress.

Sharing baby-step-by-baby-step pics with you, today, so that, hopefully, your private light bulb goes off in your head and you say, in awe, like me... 

"OH WOW!!!  THAT'S INLINGO!??!?!"

"COOOOOL-NESSS...."

*******************************

 # 1

Get your freezer paper out and cut out a 

8-1/2 "  X   11 "  piece.

My Personal Tip:

This is NOT rocket science and you don't need to sweat if its not EXACTLY those measurements.  Most printers are forgiving on this.

If you've never used Freezer Paper before, here's a suggestion.  The paper itself can usually be reused many times before it stops "sticking" to fabric. 

In other words, if you take the time to cut out a piece of 8-1/2 " X 11", don't throw it out afterwards.  This sheet can be used many more times!

 # 2

Iron your freezer paper to the RIGHT SIDE of your fabric.

My Personal Tip:

Select a white or ivory fabric for your first time.  You'll eventually be able to gauge what color fabrics work best with printer ink colors.

 

 # 3

Now that your freeze paper is stuck to your fabric, trim it down, once again to 8-1/2 " X 11 ".

My Personal Tips

Linda Franz (and others) say the results are better if you pre-wash your fabric.  I've never pre-washed and I've never really had a problem.  

Its your call on this point.

 #4

Go to your computer and select the shape and ink color that you'll want to print.  

Inklingo shapes are in PDF format.

My Personal Tips

You might want to print the shape that you've selected on a regular blank piece of paper.... just to test it out, first.

Did I not tell you I would be doing baby-step pictures????

*grin*

Here's the shapes that I selected and what it looks like on my monitor...

 # 5

Put your fabric/freezer paper sheet in your printer.

Gosh!  I wish you could have seen Gilbert and I do this the first time.  Both of us are Doubting Thomases and NEITHER of us believed it would work, but it DID!!!

 

 Here's the printed result, on my WOW (white on white) fabric.

Since you ironed the freezer paper on the RIGHT side of your fabric, the printed lines are on the WRONG side.

My Personal Tip

These print lines WASH away!

 # 6

For this shape, I needed black and white fabric but I KNEW that the lines would be difficult to see on the black fabric.

Now here's the REALLY neat thing with Inklingo!

You get precision fine lines, for a perfect result and you don't need to sweat and labor to get these perfect results!

See my picture down below?

I just cut an approximate size of "black" fabric and put it underneath my white fabric, stuck a few pins in the corners and then, I started to sew on the dotted lines!

Easy Smeasy!

My Personal Tip

Now, here's the cool thing about Inklingo.

You have TWO choices on how to sew your pieces!

(don't you just LOVE choices?!?!?)

You can hand sew these pieces or sew them by machine!!!

For this project, I chose to machine piece.   I'll show you, later this week, the beauty of hand sewing some of these Inklingo shapes.

 Now, in THIS picture, since I was doing the Orca Bay Mystery Quilt and I needed to use a lot of scraps as well, I just took a piece of leftover black fabric, eye-balled it and placed it under my printed Inklingo white fabric and then, sewed the pieces together.

 # 7

Once the pieces are all sewn on the DOTTED line, you cut along the SOLID line.

Once again, I was worried and my Doubting Thomasina was popping up.... but it worked PERFECT!!!

My Personal Tip

You can cut your pieces with scissors or with your rotary cutter.  I prefer the scissors.  More relaxing and I feel there's less chance of making a cutting mistake. *s*

 

In this picture, I decided to show you how to cut and separate these pieces with a rotary cutter.... but I'm positive you all knew how to do that anyhow, right?

*grin*

Just another "Baby-Step" picture...

Here is what the piece looks like.

# 8

Open it up and iron it.

VOILA!!!

 

Now, I'm just showing you ONE pieced half square triangle, but with just one 8-1/2" X 11: sheet of freezer paper/fabric combo, I was able to quickly make ... oh I don't know?... perhaps 80 to 100 of these pieces!!!

Hope this explains what Inklingo's all about!

Linda's recent blog shows you how to machine sew 

the New York Beauty shapes, by machine!

My Personal Tip

I would try out one of her FREE collections first and WHEN - notice I didn't type "if"??? - you decide to purchase one of her shapes, please tell her that I sent you along... it would tickle me pink to know that I've converted you to Inklingo and, as I'm an Inklingo affiliate, I will receive recognition for my efforts.

*s*

You can click on the heart, to go to the Inklingo.com web site. You can also visit Linda Franz's blog, at: http://www.lindafranz.com/blog/ .

Have a great day!

Rosa

Inklingo - The (new) Paperless Piecing!

 

Hi There!

Have any of you ever tried 

Inklingo, before?

No?

Have you ever heard about Inklingo, before?

Well, I'll be blogging about Inklingo in the upcoming days.

Right now, Linda Franz, 

the Canadian designer, creator, owner, 

GENIUS behind this program 

- did I mention that she was Canadian ?!??

  - is having a give-a-way....

Double Wedding Ring Shapes,

with Inklingo

Actually, between you and I,

Linda should have

called her shapes....

"Quilting the Easy Smeasy Way",

but who am I to correct a Genius, eh?

*grin*

Click on the Inklingo "heart" at the top of this blog.

Feel free to browse her website.

Linda Franz was kind enough

to offer a few of her shapes....

FREE!!!

Just to try the Inklingo way of quilting.

Once you've tried it, you'll be hooked!

Trust me!

Well, I'm off to bed....

Stay tuned with more info on Inklingo, 

as well as pictures of my latest Inklingo fun!

G'nite!

Rosa

Last Week's Surprises...

Hi There!

Last week, I received an incredible gifty
from one of my internet friends....

Bonnie Hunter was in her area,
a couple weeks ago
and my friend send me her book....
the one that I was (coincidentally) missing!

I've read most of it and would you believe,
there's already drool marks on the pages?!?!?

LOL

LOVE THIS BOOK!!!



And then, to make this even MORE precious -
she even got Bonnie Hunter, HERSELF, to autograph MY book!!!



And to increase the value of the book by 100% and more....

My FRIEND signed it, too!!!!

*VBG*

That's like getting 3 bonuses!!!!
Great book.
Bonnie Hunter's autograph.
My friend's autograph.

Cyn also included a cute, red heart
that she crocheted and 2 cute cards....
the icing on the cake, as they say!

*VBG*

Thanks my friend!!!!

My second surprise arrived yesterday, via email.

Another good friend bought me
the latest Inklingo collection,
"Rose Dream"....
in the 3 sizes!!!

And although all of the the examples
Linda Franz has on her blog are incredible,
this one seemed to have the "WOW" factor, for me.

The first one that she has posted on here....

Even Gilbert was impressed, I believe....
although he kept asking me,
"Yah, but what size do these quilts finish at?"

I told him,
"Whatever size you want. You don't need to do the whole thing. Or, you can make it bigger. Besides, I now have all THREE size shapes. I, myself, can decide how big I want it."

Seriously, though...
I'm looking for a "WOW" kitchen table topper.

I think this will be the one.

*grin*

Have a great Sunday!

Rosa