Fully Stacked Quiz #9

Here is the second to last question in our Fully Stacked Quiz.

Without us you cannot sew. What are we? 

Collect all ten answers and when you place an order online or make a purchase in store between the 3rd-5th October 2015 you will have a chance of winning a Riley Blake Designs fabric bundle. Each bundle has 2 x 30 cm of Riley Blake Designs fabric from the same range. Valued at $14. There is 30 bundles to win over the weekend.
Online put your answers in the comment box as you go through the checkout for your chance to win. In store bring your written answers for your chance to win. It is easy.

Until Next Time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia

Fully Stacked Quiz #8

Question #8 of our Fully Stacked Quiz for everyone.

Most of my kind use electricity to light up your pattern so you can see through it.

We are only 3 days away from the start of our Fully Stacked Weekend there has been lots of preparation happen here. Fabric bundles for the quiz prizes are all ready, new patterns all done, morning/afternoon teas are arranged. So now I have to finish wrapping the raffle prize and Calendar Bingo prizes, hang the new quilts up for display, load all the new stacker packs that arrived especially for this event on the website, blow up some balloons and I am nearly done. I am so looking forward to the weekend. We are going to have lots of fun. Please join us in store or online.

Until Next Time 

Keep Stitching

Cynthia

Fully Stacked Quiz #7

We are up to #7 in our Fully Stacked Quiz. I hope you are collecting the answers, only 3 more to go.
So today quiz question is

I can guide you through your project if you take the time to read me. 

Everyone is welcome to join in our Fully Stacked weekend activities in store and online. You could participate in store and online as there will be a few different things happening between the two. 

In store it is a shop preview weekend so if you haven't visited us on any of our open days this is a great opportunity to take a drive and have a look at what we have on offer in the shop, have a close up look at the new release quilt patterns, meet other like minded people, have a cuppa, play some Calendar Bingo( more details over the weekend), do some shopping- in store specials will be slight different to the online specials etc.

Online we will have a blog post each day featuring the new quilt pattern releases, do some shopping and claim your Fully Stacked Quiz prize,  participate in some Facebook fun, collect some free patterns and who know what else might happen.

So please join in over the October long weekend for some Cynthia's Ark fun with Riley Blake Designs 10' Stacker packs.

Until Next Time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia 

English Paper Piecing Sew Along #1

Over on Instagram the Fat Quarter Shop has been running their EPP Sew Along (English Paper Piecing) and you may of notice I now have a nice selection of these papers, templates and accessories for this technique.  I need to make a few samples for the shop, so I thought I would join in. I have selected the fabrics from Katagami which is in stock at $26 per metre because of it fussy cutting potential.

This is only a mini quilt so it won't take long to make and in between working on the Fully Stacked projects I slipped in  a few minutes here and there to work on it. I cut all the shapes and glue basted them to the papers. Then it was time to play with the layout.

Then last Saturday night  I sewed the star together. I know I should of been finishing the binding on the last Fully Stacked project but I couldn't help myself. The binding did get done on the Fully Stacked project on Sunday. I just need to finish off the lose threads from quilting and it will be ready for it pictures to be taken and I only have to add the pictures to the pattern and it will be finished, ready for printing. Now I have to cut the background fabric so I am ready to applique my star onto it, when time permits me.

If you want to try English Paper piecing I have a little coaster kit on the shop you can purchase with full instructions in it and you will need a glue pen which you will find under the English Paper piecing Supplies tab in the Patchwork section of the shop but if you are already familiar with the technique we have lots of different shapes for you to experiment with.

Fully Stacked is on this weekend so if you want to find out more about English Paper Piecing stop in for a cuppa and I am happy to show you some of the basics.

Until Next Time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia

Fully Stacked Quiz #6.

Now for the 6th question in our Fully Stacked Quiz.

I come in a number of sizes and you need different ones for different jobs. I can be left handed or right handed. What am I?

Only 5 more days and Fully Stacked will start will start on Saturday 3rd October 2015. Full details very soon.

Until Next Time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia

Fully Stacked Quiz #5

We have reached the halfway point of our quiz. So here is question 5 for you.

Make sure you line me up correctly or you block may not come out the size it is meant to be. What am I?

I hope you are collecting the answers for next weekend Fully Stacked Event.

Until Next Time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia

Fully Stacked Quiz #4 & Hot Bolt of the Week #7

Here we are with our fourth quiz question in our Fully Stacked Quiz. I hope  you are collecting the answers ready for next weekend Fully  Stacked weekend.

Question 4 is
What does WIP stand for?

Also while I am here this week's Hot Bolt of the Week is Flowers on the Green Batik fabric which is $13.00 a metre this week so you save $10.00 per metre. You can purchase some at Cynthia's Ark

 I will share a blog post on Sunday featuring this fabric in a new design that is ready for quilting.

Until Next Time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia

Fully Stacked Quiz #3

We are up to question #3 today of our Fully Stacked quiz.

 

You need me to un-sew if you make a mistake. What am I?

Collect all 10 answers and place an order online over the Fully Stacked weekend and put your answers in the comment box for your chance to win a Riley Blake Designs fabric pack or visit the store in person 7 Wasleys Rd Mallala South Australia over that weekend and hand in your answers with a purchase for a chance to win. There is 30 Riley Blake Designs fabric packs to win over the weekend.

Until Next Time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia

Fully Stacked Quiz #2.

Here is Question 2 of the Fully Stacked Quiz.

I am an essential piece of your sewing equipment but you can still make a quilt without me if you choose. What am I?

You can share your answers or keep them to yourself as you need to give me all 10 correct answers when you make a purchase over the Fully Stacked weekend to claim your prize  either in person in the shop or in the comments box as you go through the checkout.

Until Next Time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia

Back to Quilting

I have pieced the second Fully Stacked project and it is ready for quilting. So it is time to play with my new quilting rulers. I pieced the backing as I like to do. Is that my favourite Extravaganza fabric?

  Pinning it didn't take too long as this project is smaller than Fully Stacked project #1. I also pinned a test sandwich so I can check the measurement of the design I want to quilt. I am testing  Westalee Designs Circles on Quilts Spinning Wheel #36 template ruler I was thinking it is the wrong size but doing a test and seeing what it looks like stitched is the key.

 I was happy with the results. Full steam ahead. Bring on the quilting. I had 18 blocks to quilt and once I worked out a plan of action and not trying to turn the quilt and working in an orderly fashion. I was powering my way through the quilting. It did take me a few hours. Lol

This allowed me to get the binding on the next day ready for the hand sewing which means project #2 is nearly finished and it is time to proofread the pattern and double check the numbers. so there will be 2 new patterns available over the Fully Stacked Weekend and they will be available in print format and in downloadable PDF format. All my new patterns I create will be available in the 2 formats for now on make it easier to purchase. The big reveal is just over a week away. So make sure you pop back to my blog between the 3rd-5th October 2015 to see how these two projects turned out plus there will be more on offer as part of the Fully Stacked Weekend.

Until Next Time

Keep Stitching 

Cynthia

Fully Stacked Quiz #1

Welcome to our first Special Event, our Fully Stacked Weekend starting on to 3rd October. We are kicking things off with our Fully Stacked Quiz. Every day I will release a quiz question for the next 10 days and you need to collect all 10 answers to be able to enter to win a prize. To be in the running to win a Riley Blake Designs/ Penny Rose Fabric prize all you have to do is place an order between 3rd-5th October 2015 on our online store www.cynthiasark.com.au and enter your 10 answers in the comments box as you go through the checkout or visit us in store at 7 Wasleys Rd Mallala South Australia 5502 and make a purchase and give us your answers for your chance to win a Riley Blake Design/ Penny Rose Fabrics fabric pack. I have 10 packs to give away each day over 3 days, (5 online and 5 in store). That is 30 prize packs. 
TIP- There is 10 different answers so think carefully as a couple of questions could have more than 1 answer. No answers are repeated.

Here we go! Question 1.

I am one of your most dangerous quilting tools. You must engage the safety when you put me down.  What am I?

Collect all your answers ready for the Fully Stacked Weekend. Have fun. More details about the weekend on our Facebook page 

Until Tomorrow Question

Keep Stitching

Cynthia.

September Bulletin From Cynthia's Ark

 I have just completed the latest newsletter for the shop and is now available for you to read here. There is a little about upcoming Events and What new products are now available.

Cynthia's Ark September Bulletin.

Hopefully this works. I am going to try to do a better newsletter more regularly. It is just a matter of trying to work out how to cover the most customers as I want it create a better newsletter than I have previously. Another Work in Progress for me. This newsletter will be added to the Bulletin tab for easy referencing.

Let me know if you have any problems or any suggestions to improve my newsletter.

Until Next Time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia

My Farmer's Wife Quilt Update

This one has taken a while to get quilted as I kept chance my mind machine quilting or hand quilting? Followed by the question do it myself or hand it over the the long arm quilter.
I can tell you it was quilted by Valerie from House of Valerie with a beautiful baptise fan all over design.

Which I love. I laid it out on the floor in the shop and it only just fit in the space left. The first thought that crossed my mind was Who the hell was I kidding to consider quilting this myself? I could of had this quilt finished earlier in the year if that thought had crossed my mind earlier. I do like to quilt but looking at all my hand pieced blocks I don't think my quilting skills would of done it justice. Let alone the idea of quilting this monster on my domestic machine. This has to be the largest quilt I have made in my 9 years of quilting. Not a good picture it is just too big to take a picture of it inside and outside has not been suitable to take it out there. I will take it out for a better photo once I finish it to share with everyone.

Now that I have it back and it ready for binding I got caught on a little snag. Where is the binding fabric? Which was followed by Did I buy any binding fabric for this quilt? Oh boy! This quilt is not going to be finished this week.

 Now thinking back I remembered I could only get enough red fabric for the borders and I even made the borders 1/2 inches smaller just to make sure. The sashing fabric is another matter I don't remember if I had planned to use it for the binding or not, either way I don't have enough to use it. I put a call out for help and my friend Maureen who has been stitching her Farmer's Wife quilt along side me has a piece of the sashing fabric in her collection. I'm sure we can do  a trade but it still leaving me 1 x  2 1/2' strip short.

 What I need to know is what would you do?
Option 1 - Go shopping and buy a different fabric to binding it with?
 Option 2 - Should I reduce the width of my strip to 2 1/4' to get the extra strip?
                      or
 Option 3  Use the backing fabric leftovers?
Let me know what you would do to help me out.

Until Next Time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia

My 2015 To Do List Update

I think it is time to check in on my 2015 To Do List and see if I have made any progress or have I wander way off my path.

UFO's from 2014

1. My Pies & Tarts quilt. I am 3/4 through hand quilting this one.
 Completed

2.My Farmer's Wife Sampler quilt. I have finished the top in 2014 so it is ready for quilting. I just have to decide hand quilt it or machine quilt it.

It has returned from the long arm quilter ready for binding..
3. My Double Wedding Ring quilt which has become a bed runner. I have lots to go on this one.
My bed runner is now ready for pinning and quilting.
4. My Disappearing Hourglass quilt. I only have made 6 blocks so far.
Completed.

5. My Wishes quilt. Ready for quilting.
Completed

6. My Pink Dahlia quilt. I need to find the templates so I can continue.
Templates found so I will be able to do some more of this one soon.
7. My Inklingo Castle Wall quilt. I am working on the 2nd pieced border.

Completed.

8. My Inklingo star quilt. All printed and 2 blocks completed out of 12.

Completed

9. Grand Illusion Mystery quilt. I am currently working on the blocks.
Blocks all joined together, ready to do the borders when I have time.
10. My Lozenge scrap quilt. 
Completed

11. My Aurifil Block of the Month quilt.  I am ready to arrange and piece the top ready for quilting.
Still sitting waiting to be sewn together.

12. My Crossroad Quilt. I am still working on the blocks, 12 done and 13 to go if I settle on 25 blocks. I am undecided about a border I may just make some more block to make it bigger.
Completed now called Scrappy Roads.

New things to do for 2015.

Pat Sloan's Vacation Time Block of the month.
 I am working on August's blocks.
Quiltmaker's New Year Mystery Quilt
Blocks made ready to be sewn together.
So Scrappy Rainbow Scrap Challenge 15
I am stuck on this one at June blocks.

Added to this list is
Scrappy Dance Quilt Along
The big reveal has been done I am ready to sew all the pieces together.
Quiltmaker Bitty Blocks
Starting to fall behind I think I am working on July's blocks
Just started Christa's Quilts Paper Piecing Quilt Along
We have sewn the first block. No progress on this one.
Addicted to Scrap Idaho Square Dance blocks have turned into box runners to hide my plastic crates at the fairs.
12 blocks completed and 5 joined together.

Still a lot here to work on. At least 7 of my long term projects are completed with at least 3 more at quilting stage. Plus there is a number of other projects that got started and completed.
 Until Next Time
Keep Stitching
Cynthia

Fully Stacked Quiz

Our Fully Stacked weekend is coming closer. Just over 2 weeks to go, the time has arrived to start letting everyone in on some the activities that will be happening over the 3 days that Fully Stacked will be running. Some events will happen online and in store like our Fully Stacked Quiz. Starting 23rd of September I will release a quiz question each day until the 2nd October there will be 10 questions and you will need to collect all 10 answers and each day the first 5 customers in store hand in their correct answers with their purchase and the first 5 online customers who put the answers in the comments box as they go through the checkout will win a fabric prize. There will be 30 of these prize packs given away over the 3 days, 10 each day.

A little hint just for you! No answer is repeated- there is 10 different answers.

Keep an eye out for the next Fully Stacked Update soon.

Until next time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia

Under the Pressure Foot #11

I have been busy working away on the Fully Stacked projects for our Fully Stacked Weekend on the 3rd-5th October. This event will be in store and online so everyone will be able to join in on the fun, with 2 new pattern releases planned, prizes, discounts and a little more. It will be an exciting weekend.
The problem is how much do I share in my blog post when I write them? I want a little bit of a surprise when the big reveal happens. I can put plenty of words on the page but it is not the same without some pictures to go with those words So here goes. This week I started on the second project for the Fully Stacked weekend as the first one  is nearly finished- a little more binding to go. Once again I am working with Riley Blake Designs fabrics as their fabric is the main feature of the weekend.

I spent an evening cutting the fabrics up for all the blocks ready for sewing, including a little bit of fussy cutting. Now I had made a test block a few weeks ago to check the measurement before I cut the fabrics and I have written the pattern ahead of time. So I was happy to cut the fabric for all the blocks. I alway make one block before I cut all the fabric. Mistakes do happen, so it is the safe option to prevent fabric wastage and doing the job twice.

Now I am ready to sew. Yes there is some cut pieces missing from this picture. Remember it is a secret for a few more weeks but I'm sure you will see a little more of this project before then if you pay attention.

Until Next Time

Keep Stitching (You know I will)

Cynthia

Hot Bolt of the Week #6

I can't believe it was 6 weeks ago I started Hot Bolt of the Week. Time is moving very quickly I feel.This week's bolt is from Sue Daley Designs A French Courtyard. It is the Cream Snowflake fabric and is now only $10 a metre for the next week at Cynthia's Ark. It works out to be 52% off the marked price. That is a bargain right.

As always I like to show you something that features the fabric I selected but this week I can't show you much as I would like. I have combined this fabric with the A French Courtyard 10' Stacker pack to create one of the Fully Stacked Quilts. Here is how I cut the fabric for the border on this quilt and a little sneak peek of the quilt.

You will have to wait until the 3rd October when I release this design to see the whole quilt. Not long now  until our Fully Stacked Weekend.

Until Next Time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia

Cynthia's Ark Fully Stacked Weekend

If you saw yesterday's post you would of seen the date release for my Fully Stacked event. So here is the official date release. Cynthia's Ark Fully Stacked Weekend 3rd- 5th October 2015.
Now it is a long weekend here so that is why I have selected that weekend as it gives us an extra day to have fun.
Over the weekend I have 2 new patterns to release plus a re release of a older pattern which I have updated. All the projects will feature 10' Stacker packs from Riley Blake Designs and Penny Rose Fabrics. The best thing  I love when working with the 10' stacker packs is how different a pattern looks when you select a 10' stacker featuring a different range. Now I am running this event in the shop and online so everyone can join in. There will be a raffle for a goodies pack I have put together, discounts, free patterns and instant prizes when you make a purchase and a few more things that I am still working on.  Of course the 10' Stacker packs will be on special for this weekend.

Just a few 10' stackers ready for the Fully Stacked Weekend.

If you visit the shop you will see the progress we have been made on the shop front as well as seeing the new designs hanging in the shop, do some shopping, have a cup of coffee or tea and more.
Online the new patterns will be release on my website/ blog/ Facebook and Instagram with pictures from the shop so you can see what is happening  in the shop each day. You may spot someone you know.
There will be more little sneak peaks over the next few weeks of the new patterns and which fabrics I have selected for the projects, the raffle prize and who knows what else I snap a picture of.

Until Next Time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia

To put a border on or not?

I have been working on one of the Fully Stacked projects and I was very pleased with myself as it only took an afternoon to piece the blocks and sew them all together. Top is completed and I can prepare it for quilting. That is what I thought anyway. The next day I was looking at it and thinking -does it need a border? What! I thought it was finished and now I am thinking it need a border or two. An easy enough task the first border will feature the red from the blocks and it will probably be the binding too.

 The second border had to be the red and grey snowflake fabric. All sorted! I just had to cut and sew them on then and it will be finished. The red border went on with no problems but the second border wasn't gelling as it technically was a directionally print though at first glance you may not noticed and if I just cut the strips the design would be all over the place and it wouldn't flow nicely around the quilt.
Two options presented themselves- change the fabric but the other options were all directionally too or I could fussy cut my original choice. I went with the second option as it was my preferred fabric. A little fussy cutting allowed me to run a row of snowflakes around the quilt.

I wish I could share more pictures on this quilt but you will see it soon enough as part of the Cynthia's Ark Fully Stacked weekend 3rd-5th October where I have lots of fun planned in store and online. Stay tuned for more details.

Until Next Time

Keeping Stitching

Cynthia