Spring Theme Accuquilt Blog Hop

Today is my day for the Spring Theme Accuquilt Blog Hop organized by Darlene of SewCalGal.  Darlene and the other bloggers have done a terrific job of presenting amazing spring projects and tips for working with Accuquilt Go! Cutters and dies. I have a spring block to share with you, and I'll provide links to all the other projects so you can visit and see them all.  There are quite a few giveaways as well...so be sure to enter those! First, though...I just received a new cone of my favorite Aurifil thread...just in time for market sewing.  I go through these pretty fast, and so have decided to mark the cone with the date I opened it so I'll know exactly how long it lasts (thanks for the idea, Amy)!

I filled up a few bobbins today, too...wonder how long these will last?!

Okay...on with my little block tutorial.  First, though, a tip I'd like to share for working with your Accuquilt cutting mats.  Accuquilt recommends you flip the mat each time you cut to increase the life of your mat.  You can see from the photo above that I cut a lot of hexagons with this particular mat.  Notice the letter "A" in the top left corner?  I marked that so I can remember which side I've cut last.  When cutting a lot of shapes I am able to always remember which side I used last; before I labeled it I could never tell, since both sides look exactly the same!

Okay...here's my little spring block.  Everything was cut with my Accuquilt Go! cutter except for the 6 1/2" background square. Cut one background square along with four 2 1/2" squares of coordinating fabrics.  I ironed my small squares in half, right sides out, to press a stitching "line" then sewed each square along the line to the four corners of the background square.

Press out towards the corners and trim the seam allowance to 1/4".

Next, choose something to applique in the center of your block.  There are so many great Accuquilt shapes you could cut out and use...or make a hexagon flower for your block center.  I make a lot of hexagon flowers using the middle-sized hexagons from my hexagon die and 1" paper pieces, so that is what I chose for my block center.

Next, you'll applique' the hexagon flower to the center of your block.  There are so many things you could do with this block--add some borders to make a small pillow.  Or...make a few more blocks for a wall hanging. I'm thinking about making a 9-block wall-hanging with mine....and a pillow...I love little pillows!

And...I have a "spring themed" giveaway to go along with this stop on the tour--6 fat eigths of Sunkissed...perfect for a spring project!  If you'd like a chance to win, just leave a comment on this post!  And for some amazing spring projects, please stop by these other blogs to see what they've already shared (on some of them you might have to go back to earlier posts to find the spring project tutorial and giveaway).

SewCalGal - http://www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com/


Ardea's Nest (Melissa) - http://ardeasnest.blogspot.com/

Bejeweled Quilts (Barb) - http://bejeweledquilts.blogspot.com/

SewCindy (Cindy) - http://www.sewcindy.blogspot.com/

Sunshower Quilts (Katrina) - http://www.sunshowerquilts.blogspot.com/

Just Plain Laine (Laine) - http://justplainlaine.com/

Bits & Pieces (Terri) - http://terriesandelin.blogspot.com/

Rosebud Quilting (Michelle) - http://rosebudquilting.blogspot.com/

Hollyhock Quilts (Glenna) - http://www.hollyhockquilts.com/

Oh, and one last thing...congrats to Mary who won my 101 Patchwork Projects + Quilts magazine giveaway!  I've sent you an e-mail, Mary, requesting your mailing address!  Have a great day!

Edit:  Congrats to Dianne who won this giveaway!