Hi ,

It's back to school time and things are getting busy! Last week my son started 1st grade and lost his first front tooth all on the same day. In all the excitement, I forgot to send out the newsletter last week so we have a lot to catch up on this week.

Our first bit of news is really exciting - next week we will be relaunching our piecing ebook!

Stitch It Up a Notch: How to Piece Perfect Quilts is an ebook packed with information about piecing. Inside will learn how to piece your quilt blocks perfectly, to match seams every time and to piece triangles and curves with confidence.

If you've been struggling to piece the Building Blocks Quilt, learn how you can get back on track by preparing your fabric properly, cutting accurately, and piecing with accuracy and precision.

We're finishing up the final touches of How to Piece Perfect Quilts this week so be on the look out for the big launch next Wednesday!

With the start of school, I'm already thinking about the fall and holidays soon to come. Here's three Craftsy classes I've been enjoying this week that are giving me lots of ideas for this time of the year:

The Fashionably Quilted Jacket - Of all the quilts I've made, my quilted jacket has always garnered the most praise. Learn how to make your own quilted jacket with Mary Ray, an amazing teacher who takes you from start to finish through a beautiful jacket project. Click Here to get 20% of this class.

Quick Quilted Gifts - Making quilts for everyone in your family can be a lot of work and very stressful. Find easy, beautiful projects you can piece and quilt quickly in this class. Best of all, the instructor Tammy Silvers will walk you through each project so you're guaranteed success! Click Here to get 17% off this class.

Freeform Crochet - I've always loved the look of free form crochet, but never understood how it worked! This class is answering all my questions and inspiring me to grab a hook and some yarn and attempt my dream project - a freeform jacket! Click Here to get 17% off this Freeform Crochet.

Just in case you've never taken a Craftsy class, here's how it works:

To sign up for the class, add it to your cart and check out. After ordering, you will immediately see the class in your Home area. Click on the class to start watching online!

Classes never expire so you don't have a time limit to watch the class. You can also watch the same lessons over and over until you get the hang of the technique. You can also ask the instructors questions and post your projects to show what you've made from the class!

Yes, you will need high speed internet to watch Craftsy classes. However, if you have an iPad, you can also download the Craftsy App for free and download class lessons to watch offline.

I love taking Craftsy classes and I've taught three classes as well! This is one of my most popular classes on free motion quilting:

Free Motion Fillers Volume 1 - Learn how to quilt 50 designs on a throw sized quilt. This is a great class if you've been wanting to learn how to move a larger quilt over your machine. Click Here to save 50% on this class.

We have loads to catch up on the Building Blocks Quilt Along! Two weeks ago we learned how to quilt this beautifully pieced house block with all sorts of wiggles - wiggly "U" shapes, teeth, and Stippling:

Click Here to watch video #39 to learn how to free motion quilt this block. Also remember to check out Josh's post to see what this block will be like from a beginner's perspective.

This week we're finishing up these house blocks with a final, super cool design:

Don't you just love the smoke coming from the chimney? I love little touches like that, and hopefully by now you can see that adding extra texture and design elements like these are not as difficult as they look.

Click Here to watch my video on quilting Circles and Echoes in a House Block.

Click Here to watch Josh's take on this block too!

I've realized something this week - I really have a lot more to say on any given day and I haven't been saying it. This blog is my place for expression, but I've let it become a little too narrowly focused.

So I'm changing it!

From now on, I'm going to post as many times a day as I feel like - which could be 1 time, or 5. It just depends on how the mood strikes.

I might post only a few photos, or I might post a letter to my future self, or a new design - the fact is (and really I'm just telling myself this to get it stuck in my brain) this blog doesn't always have to be all about quilting all the time.

There is just so much more to my life than quilting! Yes, I absolutely love making quilts, but I'm also a mom, a wife, a passionate cook, a lego fanatic, a spinner / knitter / crocheter, a writer, a designer, and a business owner and I have stuff to say about all of it nearly every day! So from now on - I'm sharing it all.

So here's a few extra posts to enjoy this week:

We're EDITING Finally! - In this post I share a bit about writing and my relief that we're finally in the editing phase of the piecing ebook, which means I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Raising an Active Adult - I want my son to grow up to be an active, healthy adult, but how will be be this way if I don't model it myself?

New Goddess Sketches - I haven't started a new goddess quilt in awhile, but I've been sketching and designing like mad. Only problem now is - which do I pick to work on first?

So that's it for today! I'm off finish editing and testing How to Piece Perfect Quilts. I can't wait to launch this new book next week!

Let's go quilt,

Leah Day