Rags N Quilts

Archive for March, 2009

I can’t believe it’s been this long since I’ve posted!  Well, had to get a new desktop…the laptop just wasn’t cutting it for all the video editing and rendering for my classes.  Got a new state of the art quad core with 8 gb of memory, 750 gb HD  and vista 64 bit.  Dedicated video memory too..This should cut my rendering time by 2/3′s.  

I’ll be back on schedule here soon.  Have a great night!  And enjoy the last night of March.

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Today I finished up the die cuts to send to Mother.  Isn’t this a cute birdie!And I love these whimsical leaves

These flower shapes are great alone or nested…can even be used fun suns!

This flower is a pretty shape too
And last some circles!

It’s all packed up now with the ones I cut yesterday and will be shipped off tomorrow.  That should keep her busy for a while, don’t you think?

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The mailman brought me two new postcards today….this one from Mother.  Look at all those beads!And this one from Mary,  this one sure speaks to me!

Thank you both, I love them!

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I was talking to Mother last night and she had been reading my blog.  She was very interested in the die cutter.  So I promised her I’d do some cutting and send her some.  So this morning I pulled out some wool and started cutting some leaves….a birdie, butterfly and dragonfly….

some hearts….
a few stars….

and some daisies.

I’ll work on a few more shapes tomorrow and get them in the mail on Wednesday.  Do you think that will keep you busy for a while, Mother?  And if there is more than you need, I’m sure Ann would be happy to take some off your hands!

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One of the most incredible things about living in South Florida are the shuttle launches.  From our house, we can see the shuttle in the Northeast sky 1 minute and 10 secs after launch from the Kennedy Space center.

I never tire of sights such as this.

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Here are my postcards for March.  The flowers and leaves are wool….the shapes cut with my new die cutter.  Boy is it fun!Now I’m off to finish the edges so they can go in the mail tomorrow!

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I had all but entered my credit card  in the ordering process for the accu cut studio.  My friend came in just at that time and said Wait!  She asked what I was going to use it for…selling fabric shapes?  I said no…just for me.  So she took me over to her house.  She said she had a better idea.  So I listened and watched and was convinced.  Now I’m ordering the accu cut Go cutter, but  I also bought this.  The Sizzix Big Kick.  And a bunch of dies.  The dies have thick steel blades designed to cut thick things, like fabric, foam, craft metal, chipboard, etc.  It has a 3 year warranty and is on sale right now at JoAnn fabrics for $49.99. It was $59.99 last week when I ordered mine) The dies are also on sale. It is 12″ wide(including the roller handle) and 15″ long.  The rollers are also steel.  It comes with a set of cutting pads, and I bought an extra set (for $5)I bought a total of 15 dies. (For cutting fabric, wool, foam,etc) you need the “original” or “Bigz” dies.  There are hundreds of them.

And then I started cutting.  I fused wonder under to the back of fabrics and left the paper on (though you don’t need too) and cut 3 layers of fabric backed with the fusible and paper at a time.  Perfect clean cuts every time.  Then i took the paper off and cut 5 layers of fabric.  Just look at all my pretty shapes! 

And then there are the cut outs.  how great will these be for postcards!

Next I cut wool felt….no problem with 2 layers at a time.  Notice Harry checking the cuts..lol!

Here is a die after cutting a bunch of wool….kind of fuzzy.

One swipe of the lint roller and voila!  Clean again.

I’m gonna love this! I spent a total of $249 for the cutter, 15 dies, the extra cutting pads and shipping!  Now to order the “GO” for cutting blocks.

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A beauty from Mother!  Just like looking out the window on a spring day.  Thank you Mother, I love it!

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Gayle shared this on her blog.  I tried it…you can too.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Today I loaded a beautiful quilt with impeccable hand appliqued roses and a gorgeous mariners compass in the center.  It’ll be a joy to work on this.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             The other thing I did today, was clean my computer and transfer a lot of files to my stand alone hard drive so I’d have room to put all the video files for my upcoming class.  In the process, I came across this photo.   Care to guess what it is and who it belongs to??  And as to the class… I am starting a new class on custom quilting at MQR. It starts March 16th and runs for 4 weeks. This one is sold out, but if you think it might be something you’d be interested in, I’m doing it again starting April 13th and there a a few spots left in that one.  And MQR premier members get a discount.  

Have a great night!

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