Mystery solved

It's time for the big reveal. So here is how all the pieces go together, Well, my pieces.

I do recall that I had you cut some extra half square triangles of the light background fabric.  No you don't need to correct me.  I recall that I had you cut too many.  Again sorry about that.  BUT if you would like, and  if you happen to have more coordinating scraps, (and who doesn't?) you could use them for an additional piece border like I did here.   If you would like to add the extra pieced border, you will need a total of 56 half-square triangle units from 3 7/8 inch triangles, and 4 dark squares 3 1/2" for the corners.
 
My original plans were to simply add another plain border and be done with it like I've shown here.

 Of course the center of your stars may be different and you may alternate centers if you've done both options. And because I am all about options, instead of Thirtysomething units in the corners you could just use 4 light background squares like I've shown here.

Now I just need to decide if I like it best with another plain border or not. And do I have the courage to use some jazzy thread on that white background?

Well, I had fun, I hope you did, too.

A clue with an option

Do you ever feel like you are being bombarded with ideas for quilts? It happens to me all the time and I just have to share. That's what I do.  I call this quilt “It’s Getting Late”.  It’s from my book Thirtysomething, too!  I really like these stars and always thought that I would make another quilt with these stars, but rather than arranging the stars the way I did, I thought I would alternate light stars and dark stars and use a completely different style of fabric.  That quilt has been on my to do list for probably 10 years now.

The stars in this quilt were made using some of the same units that we’ve made for the mystery quilt.  I was reminded of this quilt when I played a little with my pieces for the mystery quilt.  I have to admit I never thought to color the stars scrappy like this.

Have you tried different arrangement of the pieces to see what designs you might come up with? I’ll give you a clue.  I thought that I could follow the directions for the quilt I planned without presenting any options.  I find that very difficult to do, so here are your options. You need to join 4 Thirtysomething units to make the centers for 9 stars. 




Option 1 is the easiest and that is to make four-pointed stars.
Option 2 is to sew the units together with the points in the center. 
Option 3 is to make 4 of Option 1 and 5 of Option 2.

I have no preference when it comes to pressing the seam allowances.  My general rule is to press in the direction of least resistance, and sometimes I press the seams open.  That’s what I’ve done here.

Here’s one more quick step.  Sew together pairs of a half square triangles units to make flying geese units with the light background as the geese.
That's it for now. Boy, keeping you in suspense like this has been fun. Next week will be the big reveal with one more option!

Wrinkles impossible to iron out

We had a fabulous time in Pennsylvania visiting my sister and her husband and seeing the quilt shows. And I finally got Carol’s quilt back to her.  Our luggage was delayed, so she didn’t get to see it till the morning after we arrived. I’m pretty sure she was happy with it. I got it quilted in January, and finally put the binding on it last week.  Rather than ship it out ahead, I packed it in our suitcase.  That left lots of room for my purchases on our return flight.

The show was at the new convention Center in downtown Lancaster.  What a beautiful building.  And yes the quilts were beautiful too, of course.  Most of the quilts were not in a style that I would do yet I found plenty of inspiration in all of them. I'm glad I wasn't the judge. The show was spread out over 3 floors.  That was fine, but I didn’t care for the arrangement of the quilts and vendor booths.  Very scattered, in fact, I think I missed a short row.  Halfway through the day we went down the street 2 blocks to the quilt and textile Museum.  (The photo below shows the ceiling in one of the rooms, a former bank and 2 favorite quilts from the show.)  I thought it should have been called the quilt and Christmas museum.  The only textiles I saw there were quilts, but I loved the Christmas display.  I thought it would be a display of Christmas quilts but it was really rooms set up decorated for Christmas over the last century ...
The show at the Host by Quilter's Rule was small, but nice - couldn't get lost. The quilt exhibit by Mary Kerr was great. She challenged quilters to use an antique block in a 24" quilt. 6 different times. 80 of the quilts were there. I loved it, so I got her book, A Quilt Block Challenge, Vintage Revisited.  Parts of the exhibit are traveling, so if you get the chance, try to see it.  We never made it across the street to the other hotel to see the vendors or the Quilts of Valor exhibit. She decided a visit to the doctor was more important.

On Saturday, the guys took us at our request to the Train Museum in Strasburg. Then we went to Weaver's Dry Goods and Eldreth Pottery. I think we should start there next time. Maybe even next year.
Before we left, I was determined to get a good shot of our wrinkles. So we spent Sunday morning before our flight with our cameras hitting the delete button. Now, if only we could delete those wrinkles. I guess the cheapest option to minimize mine is to add a little weight to fill out my face and smooth them out a bit.

 All the hassles at the airport both going and returning were nearly enough to discourage me from flying there again.  Our flight from Milwaukee to Detroit was canceled so the airline sent us in a limousine to catch a flight out of Chicago on a different airline.  We arrived on schedule but the luggage didn't show up till 3 am.  Our return flight departed on time, but our flight out of Chicago was delayed because of thunderstorms.  The flight was changed 4 times and the gates was changed 4 times.  Even then we sat on the runway in the plane for half an hour . We arrived home about 2 ½ hours late. I guess it could’ve been worse. It could have been a business trip where I needed my luggage for a program.

New to you?

Is the Thirtysomething unit new to you? It may look like a common patchwork unit based on a four-patch, but it uses 30 degree angles instead. If you are working on the mystery, you have already cut the pieces.   The three pieces in a Thirtysomething unit I have labeled A, B, and C.  The kite-shaped piece in the center (patch C) is trimmed square after it is sewn. I hope after you cut the A and B triangles you took the time to stack the A triangles and B triangles in separate piles. Trust me, it can be confusing if you don’t.
       
Before sewing the Thirtysomething units, check that you are stitching a scant 1/4" seam allowance. Test it by stitching three 1 ½" x 5" scraps together on the long edges. The middle piece should then measure 1" exactly. Adjust your seam allowance till it is!


Place an A triangle and C triangle right sides together,  matching tips precisely. Start stitching at the broad end of the C triangle rather than at the point.  This will place the smaller A triangle underneath. Don't be concerned that you will be sewing through a single layer of fabric (patch C) for an inch or so. You will notice that the C triangle points in both directions. That means sometimes you will start stitching the patch at a 90degree corner and sometimes that corner is a 60 degree angle. Remember, this is the corner that will be trimmed square after sewing the three triangles together.


  The seam allowance must be pressed toward the A triangle for proper alignment of the B triangle.  Hold the point straight while pressing to avoid curving the seams.  Press carefully to avoid tucks, particularly at the point.  Remember, do not trim the point until after the B triangle is sewn on. The point is needed to align the B triangle.



  
 Add a B triangle, carefully matching the raw edges of all three layers at the narrow points. Start stitching at the broad end of the C triangle. The small B triangle will now be on top. Press the seam towards the B triangle. Hold the point straight while pressing.

Most likely you will want to try a few before you set up any chain piecing. After you get the idea, you will end up making 40 Thirtysomething units and get pretty good at it.

A few suggestions:
Pair all the A and C triangles right sides together, offsetting them ½". This will allow you to check that pieces are indeed  RST and that you are using the correct piece. If you are not you will see the square corner of the small triangle instead of the  60degree corner.

Flip and stitch broad end in first. A lot of times in classes the gals will somehow spin the pieces so the broad end is in first with the small triangle on top and then by mistake they sew on the wrong edge of the small triangle.  So, as you pick up each pair and flip them to sew with the small triangle on the bottom, check that you always stitch the long bias edge of the small triangle to the C triangle.

 

Squaring Up
    Use an ordinary square quilter's ruler and position it on the unit so the edges of the A and B triangles are aligned with the 3 ½ " lines of the ruler. The inner point of the C triangle should be at 3 1/4".  Center the broad end of the C triangle in the opposite corner of the square. (The 1 3/8" mark on the ruler should meet the seams at the edges of the 3" unit.)  Trim the C triangle and any excess fabric adjacent to it. Finally trim the points.

The Thirtysomething Square Up tool was designed to trim Thirtysomething units that finish either 3" or 4" including seam allowances. IF you are using this nifty tool, simply align the angled lines marked 3" with the seam lines of the Thirtysomething unit and trim everything extending beyond the edges. Then, rotate the Thirtysomething unit and tool to square up the unit to 3 ½", trimming the points and any excess fabric.

I've only made about a million of these things, so I think I have ironed out all the kinks. Literally, I have made over 70 quilts with these units. I occasionally hear from teachers that want to make the pieces bigger somehow to allow for the gals with wider seam allowances.  They invariably change the angle and things don't line up as well then.  I think this is a great opportunity to learn the importance of a scant 1/4" seam allowance. I hope you agree. Happy quilting.


 

A pleasant valley Sunday or Monday

Just another pleasant day down here in the valley known where I live as Skunks Misery. It's spring. I've heard the robins all week and I finally saw one this morning. The red-wing blackbirds are back to the marsh across the street and the geese have been heading north for 2 weeks. That's my definition of spring anyways.

I forgot. Last week between trips to the hospital for my neighbor I made this little top. The little ones sure go together quickly.  No wonder they are so popular. I have a spot on my sewing room wall that needs a few little quilts. This is number 2. The Whig's Rose was number 1. We have been in this house 18 years and they finally got to the top of the list. I have space for 4 and I haven't planned the next 2 yet.

This is my busy season. Now and Fall.  I have to get ready for classes coming up, especially Quilt Festival in Cincinnati in April. Also I am off to Pennsylvania on Wed. for the quilt shows in Lancaster. One by AQS and the other by Quilter's Rule. I'm really looking forward to those, cause I am not working.  It's going to be great. Or at least it better be. I need the break.

Tomorrow is comfort quilting at church. Any photos from that will have to wait till I get back from Lancaster.
Look for the next step in our mystery on Thursday as usual.  I understand I should be able to schedule the post to appear as desired. Like magic. Aren't computers fun?

The next step

I haven’t been able to sew much this week as I’ve spent a lot of time at the hospital with my elderly neighbor.  She’s home now and I hope things get back to normal soon. So I’ll get right to the next step in our Thirtysomething mystery.

Before we do any more sewing, we need to finish cutting our 2 ½ inch medium and dark strips.  Keep the strips folded or paired wrong sides together.  Sub cut the strips into  4 1/4" rectangles then cut the pairs of rectangles in half diagonally just like you cut the C triangles.  Keeping the fabric wrong sides together when the rectangles are cut diagonally will automatically produce triangles and mirror image triangles.  Separate them into stacks with 60 of each.

To help mix up the scraps take about half of the triangles off the top of one pile and move it to the bottom of that same pile.

Using the triangles from the right side of the pile shown in the photo and the light rectangles that we trimmed last week, sew together one of each as shown.  To align the pieces for sewing, offset the half triangle so that it’s 60̊ corner creates a quarter inch wide triangle extending past the light background piece.  Press the seam allowance towards the dark triangle.  Repeat with all 24 light background pieces.




Take a triangle from the other pile and sew it to the opposite side of the light background rectangle.  Offset the half-triangle in the same way so that the 60̊ corner is sticking out 1/4".   I’m showing a pair of these flipped over because you want to sew them with the 60̊ corner going into the machine 1st.  So this is how they will look to you.
Repeat with all 24 light background pieces.  Again press the seam allowances toward the dark triangle.

After pressing, each of these units need to be trimmed to 3.5" x 6.5".  I usually just measure the width, because they were already cut 6 ½" and it was the width that was altered when the triangles were added.  You can measure and trim one unit at a time if you like or stack them up like I do.  I stack about 4 on top of each other lining up the long edge of the rectangle and offsetting them each perhaps by an inch.  Then I measure over 3 ½ inches from the long edge of the rectangle and trim the excess from the small triangles.

I hope you found that easy.  I guess that’s all until next week.  I have to start thinking about getting my taxes done.

True Confessions

I have to admit I'm still laughing at something my husband told me the other day.  He said in the middle of the night, he had jumped up to look out the window to see what was making the noise he heard.  It didn't take long until he realized that it was me snoring! I have a hard time imagining that I sounded that bad, but then, he is a bit hard of hearing. Really.

Well, now I guess it's official.  I quilt for hire.  This is a picture of my 1st customer quilt.  Rita is one of the church ladies that I work on the comfort quilts with. She put these blocks together after she won them at a Crazy Quilters meeting. One of the activities of the guild is where everybody that is interested can make the block of the month and when they're turned in, only those who have made a block have a chance at winning all of them.  I don't know any more than that about this pattern, but it sure is cute.  The coordinator plans the colors. I just quilted it.  I would've had it done sooner if I hadn't run out of thread.

The Great Lakes Professional Longarm Machine Quilters Association met this week.  There wasn't much of a program, but I had a good time anyways.  2 of the new members that day were in the 1st quilting class I took 29 years ago.  After the meeting we went for all long lunch. As usual, they were after me to re-join the Crazy Quilters guild.
There was also a quilt club meeting this week at the Ben Franklin quilt shop. I don't participate in the block of the month, but I still enjoy going. Most of the talk was about the upcoming retreat.  I sure wish I could go with them.  Maybe next year.

Now for the mystery quilt.
I have another confession to make.  I made a boo-boo when I listed the cutting instructions. I was trying to decide between two patterns I wanted to offer for the mystery and by mistake I copied the cutting directions from the wrong file.  The 2 patterns were related so  I am able to make the adjustments needed and will make a note in that post that I've edited it.  The only thing that you should notice is that you have a few extra pieces and there might be a few extra seams. Very Sorry. So let's continue with cutting the rest of the light fabric.

From your remaining light fabric cut 4 squares, 6 1/2 inches.

From the 3 1/2 inch light strips, cut just 24 rectangles, 3.5" x 6.5".  2 corners of these rectangles need to be trimmed at a 30-60° angle.  There are 2 ways to accomplish this.  1st is to use the Clearview triangle 60° ruler. Warning: Not all equilateral triangle rulers measure the same way. Position the square corner of the rectangle along the center line of the ruler as shown below. Measure and cut off a 30 - 60 - 90° triangle 3 1/8 inches tall from two adjacent sides.

The other way is for those of you who do not have the ClearView triangle ruler.  You'll need to make a cutting guide to attach to the bottom of any straight edge ruler.  1st mark perpendicular lines on a piece of paper.  From the intersection of those two lines, measure up along one line 3 1/8" and mark a dot. Use the 30-60° line on your triangle ruler to draw a line from the dot back down to the horizontal line.  The length of the short edge of the triangle should be between 1 3/4 and 1 7/8 inches long. Use your scissors to cut out the paper triangle. Next align the long edge of the paper triangle to the edge of an index card. You can use tape to hold it in place while you cut along the other 2 edges of the triangle. Tape the edge of the index card to the edge of your straight edge ruler, as shown. To use this system the corner of the rectangles should fit inside the cardboard edges of the triangle.  Simply butt the fabric against both edges of the cardboard and cut along the rulers edge.

If the corners of these rectangles are cut correctly, you'll notice that you have a blunted tip at the 120° angle.


Also from the 3 1/2 inch strips, cut only 8 rectangles, 3.5" x 6.5".  The corners of these are NOT trimmed.

One more fussy cut from the 3 1/2 inch light background strips: Cut 20 rectangles, only 6" long. Cut these diagonally to make what I call C triangles. These triangles have 30-60-90° angles.

You can check the angle as you cut these rectangles in half by using the Clearview Triangle or the 60° line on your straight edge ruler. It's not a bad idea either. Often when I teach this, the rectangles are cut longer by mistake, and that changes the width of the angle. You'll need a total of 40 C triangles.

It's my guess that it probably took me longer to write this than it will for you to cut the pieces. Many interruptions tonight. Yes, I checked it over.

For those of you playing along, thanks for joining us. We'd all love to hear from you. And, please write if you have questions.

A new quilt shop & step 2

Well, not exactly a new shop, but it sure looked like it. Sawdust And Stitches, the quilt shop in our little town is in a very old building.  They have needed new light fixtures in that store since day one.  They finally got them over the holidays. What a huge difference! (Yes, it's been that long since I have been there.)  I always enjoyed that store before.  Now I'm afraid with the new lights I'll enjoy it more!  (read: spend more)  Wish me luck. Actually, I was pretty good when I was there the other day.  I went in for some thread and only picked up 3 half yards to go with it.

My scrap box of A, B. and C triangles was stuffed. These are the triangles I use for my Thirtysomething technique.  So I sorted through all the pieces to see if I could come up with anything I could use to make a few more blocks.  I guess this was just for fun, because I have no use for these blocks. They were added to the pile of orphan blocks. Oh yeah, I remember why I went through that box. I was preparing for a class, and made the 6 inch blocks with the equilateral triangles. I call them the Fancy X block.  I made 3 of those and 4 other blocks.

Before I put the new orphan blocks away, I dug out a few other 12 inch blocks and placed the Fancy X over their centers to see if I could come up with some ideas for some new blocks.  What do you think?


 I put another quilt on the frame and I was sure I had enough thread on the spool.  I was really surprised when at the end of the 2nd row, I ran out of that thread so I had to place an order and have been waiting for it all week. So, while I have been waiting I made myself an apron using my favorite chicken fabric, and a new tote bag.  I made the bag I have been using all these years about 25 years ago. It's my favorite and I still have the pattern. So I made another one. And the apron has only been on my to do list for over 10 years. So I'm feeling pretty good about that

Now to begin sewing the Thirtysomething Mystery.

Step 1.  Sew a light triangle to a medium or dark triangle. Press the seam away from the light triangle. Make 24 half-square triangle units.



 I'm going to bet that won't take you long at all, so here's the next step.


Step 2. Make 12 Square-in-a-Square units. There are several ways to get the pieces lined up correctly for sewing. hopefully these pictures show that. One is to finger-press a crease at the center of the edges to be joined. Then match the creases, and sew. Another way would be to trim the pointy seam allowances using a trimming template. This should make the triangles fit the squares perfectly.

A 3rd way would be to center the triangle and make the little mouse ears sticking out the same size.  This is easier to see when the triangle is on the bottom.


Either way, sew a medium or dark triangle to opposite sides of a 4 3/4" light square; press away from the center.  Sew triangles to the opposite sides; press. Repeat to make 12 Square-in-a-Square units. They should measure 6 1/2" square.

I'm curious. Would any of you  rather make these units with over-sized triangles that are trimmed to size after sewing? Would you rather see directions telling you that? IF so, how much bigger?

Take care and sew long,

The mystery begins

I'll get to the mystery in a minute, but first I will catch you up on the last weeks quilting activities. I got the Whig Rose wallhanging quilted and bound; and I love it. There was quilting at church.  We missed last month due to snow so there was lots of show and tell. This comfort quilt was one turned in.  Most of the blocks are actually leftover from one of the raffle quilts we did for church. Most of the other show and tell was just tops.

 Only 5 of us this time and we never set up a machine or got the iron hot. Some cutting and organizing of the next raffle quilt and layering and basting. Still, it was good to get together again and we got stuff done.
I'm planning to get back to work on the next book soon.  I have mentioned this one before. I am calling it the Thirtysomething block book.  I was organizing my Electric Quilt files yesterday and today.  All 75 of them!. Cleaned out some duplicates, renamed some etc. Still have a ways to go.  I have about 150 blocks I intend to narrow down to no more than 100.  Don't ask me how. Tell me instead.  Please. I've had a hard time deciding how I want to do this book. I've not done a block book before.  It'll be great for anyone that loves to do samplers.

My mind is always racing with quilts I want to do. I have probably 9 piles of fabric for 9 different quilts just sitting around this room waiting for me. I will pack away all but 2 or 3 now so I can focus on the next book. I  am also doing a new class at Spring Festival in Cincinnati in April that I have to prepare for. So putting those things away will mean less distraction.  But Maybe I can kinda kit up those piles first. Sound good?

Now for the Mystery.
At this point I intend to post one clue a week.  Normally that would  be agonizingly slow for me, but as I just mentioned, I will have plenty to do. I don't intend to delete these directions either, so at anytime, even after the mystery has been solved, anyone will be free to get them for free and make this quilt.  If you would like to print the directions, I would suggest that you simply highlight what you want to print then just "print selection".

Today, we will just cut some of the light background fabric.  The medium and dark fabrics needed are the triangles and strips listed last week. I showed you the fabric I planned to work with, but before I cut any fabric for a scrap quilt,  I go through my scrap boxes and find any that will work. I found a bunch of triangles.

So from the 1 3/4 yards light background fabric, cut:

2 strips, 4 3/4" x 42".  Crosscut just 13 squares, 4 3/4".  Trim the remainder of the last strip to
3 ½ inches and cut 4 squares, 3 ½" x 3 ½".

2 strips, 3 7/8" x 42".  Crosscut 12 squares, 3 7/8" x 3 7/8".  Cut each square in half diagonally to make 24 half-square triangles.

10 strips, 3.5" x 42". We will cut  pieces from these later.

I hope nobody needed a picture for that. Happy cutting.

Announcing a new Mystery

My 1st cut-and-paste wall hanging is ready to quilt. If you've been following my blog for a while, you should recognize this.  It took me a while to get this far because I wasn't happy with the 1st red that I chose for the appliqué in the center.  Too bad that meant I had to go shopping for more. The appliqué block is a variation of the Whig Rose. Most quilts that I saw with this block have that jagged zigzagging red piece colored green, but it didn't look very organic to me, and I didn't think that the block needed more green so I used red there. I've got this one basted and I'm going to quilt it on my domestic.  It's only about 28" square.

 I have decided to post the next quilt that I'm going to be working on as a mystery!  I have conducted a few mysteries when I 1st started teaching quilting.  I ran those differently than most teachers would have. Basically we all worked on the same components for the quilt, but how you decided to arrange your pieces in the end was entirely up to you.  I did not provide a final plan for those mysteries. They were fun because everybody's turned out different.  I won't do that to you this time, I have definite plans.

There are Thirtysomething units in the mystery quilt. If you're not familiar with those you can follow this link and print off detailed directions on how to make Thirtysomething units. You could make a few before you decide if you want to participate in the mystery. The quilt will finish 48" square. I'll post a new clue once a week.  If your friends like mysteries, invite them to join the fun. Use your medium and dark toned scraps for this one, or do what I did and pull a range of co-ordinating batiks from my stash. Here's the requirements.

Light background - 1 7/8 yards
Medium and dark scraps - 18 strips 2.5" x 20".  Not cut with a zigzag like in the jelly rolls.
And 36 squares, 3 7/8" x 3 7/8". Cut each square once diagonally to make 72 triangles.
Border - 5/8 of a yard for 3 1/2"  border. You can select this when you're through piecing if you wish.
Binding - 1/2 yard
This is what I'll be working with.

 

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Winter wonderland

More snow.  We are lucky we haven't been dumped on too much this winter. I love it. Just hate driving in it.  I'm kinda keeping it to myself around here lately cause Mark is having trouble with his snow removal equipment. Just what he doesn't need. He does 4 driveways.

One thing I like about the snow is that it keeps me home where my sewing machine is.  Those quilt seeds I mentioned last week were the inspiration for this quilt I'm calling Snow Trails. Most might see it as a Jacob's Ladder variation. I rummaged around for old bright scraps to use up to add to that pile of seeds. Below is the block, just different enough from the World's Fair quilt even though they use the same pieces. (Yes, more triangles in this one.)

Yesterday I was called away from the longarm just as I was about to finish a quilt. Just two 4" flowers left. I am going to go do that now. Then it is off to a Super Bowl party.  The Packers are playing. 
Coming up next : bright batiks in a Thirtysomething design.

Quilt Seeds

It didn't take long to get the World's Fair quilt top finished once I finally sat down to do it.  I am happy with it even if it is a little dark.  It gives me a cozy feeling with the snow blowing outside.  Were expecting our 1st big snowfall of the season, and I'm looking forward to being snowed in.   I usually can find lots of time for quilting during a snowstorm.

A lot of times when I make a quilt I just cut and cut and cut some more. Then I end up with lots of extra pieces.  They are usually just filed away in their proper places with my scraps.  Sometimes I have enough similar, left over pieces that I feel it would be enough for the start of another quilt.  That's when I call them quilt seeds. After working with those dark colors and it getting dark early in the evening I need a little something brighter to work on next. Rummaging around in my closet I came across this pile of quilt seeds.

I am not sure but, I think they were leftovers.  I remember the quilt I planned them for. I made them in a workshop I took.  They're nothing but 4" half-square triangle units and 4" four-patches.  I know there were other units made for that quilt, but I don't remember that I ever finished it.  If I made it,  I'm sure I passed it on to church for a comfort quilt.  But if I made it, then why don't I have a picture of it? It couldn't have been all a dream if I have these leftovers. It might have been that at the time I was questioning 'Why am I taking a picture of everything I make?'

I actually have quite a small pile of leftovers, more than this photo shows.  These are the same units that I just got done playing with in the World's Fair quilt and I don't want another quilt that looks too similar.  So I will have to come up with another different block. That shouldn't be too difficult.  There are a number of Jacob's Ladder variations. Maybe I will check the Jacob's Ladder images on the web to see if anything strikes my fancy. I am going to sit by the window and watch it snow while I sew.  It's so peaceful, I just love it. Sew long.

Go Figure

 I have hardly had a chance to do any quilting. I thought by now the border would be on my World's Fair quilt.  I added the 1st plain border, arranged the blocks for the border and they didn't fit. I checked the plan that I drew up in EQ. Sure enough, I figured wrong.  There weren't enough blocks in the plan.  So the program stretched them to fit.  This was my fault because my corners turned out just the way I wanted them. I didn't stop to do the math.  I've been doing too much of that lately.

In reality, it didn't work.  So I had to reconfigure the border. The solution was simple enough,but I did have to rework a few blocks.  They're all lined up ready to sew together. Nothings going to stop me now. Stay tuned and you'll see that I'll get it done this weekend.

Time to celebrate

Please consider this a thank you to everyone that's bought my latest book.  I just heard from the publisher that they are already ordering a second printing of my new book, just 2 months old.  How great is that? To keep it going I'd like to see more reviews on Amazon.  So if anybody has a few minutes, I'd appreciate that too.  One gal wrote a wonderful, very detailed review. WOW. Wish I had the time to check out her other reviews.

You can kinda tell by my e-mail that it is January after the release of another book. Tis the season that the requests come in for lectures and workshops and there is always an increase after a new book. So paperwork and responding to those e-mails has taken a bit of time from my quilting.

I hope you all watch the sidebar for new additions. One I need to add soon is a list of corrections to my books.  Few have been reported and I hope you can all understand how they happen.   I only wish I had the opportunity to check over the page proofs one last time before each book goes to press. Sorry for the inconvenience they caused.

One day last summer Lucrecia came by needing an airplane pattern.  So I showed her Electric Quilt and how to draw up a block with it and this is what we came up with. She did a great job. Now I want to make an airplane quilt too.  Isn't it cute? Uh Oh, what is happening to me?  I don't do cute.
Well, thanks again everyone. Haaaaaaaaaaappy Quillllllllllllltig.

2010 Studio Stats

My record-keeping skills aren't the greatest, so I wouldn't be able to give this report if it weren't for blogging. Looking back over the year, I see that in 2010 I have:
quilted 8 tops for church
quilted  and bound 4 of my tops
finished 11 quilt tops or PhD's, new and old
enlarged 7 old top

That leaves me with 100 tops and 24 kits/PhD's.

These numbers don't match with my last report because I have sold and/or given away a few tops or quilts. I've also reclassified a few tops as PhD's, because I decided to enlarge them.  I don't generally like to have quite so many PhD's, but I was in the mood to kit some of my own projects.  I find I really like going to grab a kit when I'm in the mood to sew, and I don't have to think about it too much.   And clearly there are times when I am in the mood to plan and cut quilts.

I just took a load of quilts over to the Transitional Living Center and found that I didn't get a picture of this one I made sometime in 2010. I made this comfort quilt from the orphan blocks at church.  I'm going to be  play with those orphan blocks again soon. First I think I need to work with something a little brighter.  It seems every winter lately I get tired of my dark scraps.

I still haven't decided if I want to weigh all my fabric and figure out how many quilts  I could make with it all.  Laurel suggested that if she knew what she could do with hers, it might make her feel guilty.  I don't think I would have that problem because I feel no guilt about the hundred quilt tops that I have. It might however deter me from buying much more.  Don't know that I want to ruin that fun. Would you? You know I'll keep you posted.

Resolutions, Goals, & Challenges

Well I met my quilting goals for the last couple of weeks. Plan C is now together and I'm pretty happy with it.  And look at that red border.  You don't see that too often here. I'm enjoying it on the flannel wall for now, so I think I will leave it there for a while.

Like I expected, I've  begun work on one of the kits. The block is called World's Fair, it's a Jacob's Ladder variation.  Actually, all one hundred of the blocks are done. I like to arrange them on my flannel wall before I put them together,but I want to enjoy Plan C for a while. Meanwhile I'll do some quilting on the frame in the studio.  I  know how I am going to finish it so it will go together quickly when I get back to it.  And it's going to be a big one too.

 

I don't think I have made New Year's resolutions more than once or twice, and I'm not really too big about setting goals, but I do respond well to challenges.  The other day my mother made the comment "Oh,you'll never use all your fabric." That sounded like a challenge to me. I just have to get that notion out of my head because for some reason I'm thinking I'm supposed to do it in the next year,when  I am sure she meant the rest of my life.  Perhaps she would take that back if she knew that I have already made over 350. 

Well, my mind wouldn't allow me to let it go and so I have been curious as to how many quilts I could make with my stash. And I thought of a way I could actually estimate it.  I'd like a volunteer to come and help me though.  How does this sound? Using a baby scale I weighed a completed queen-size quilt top. It weighed 3 pounds.  I could assume that is the average and weigh all the rest of my quilting fabric,do the math and then I would have a good idea. I'm not sure how I would want to factor in estimates for the quilt backs.  Any suggestions? Any volunteers?

And why am I thinking this way? Probably because I know that there are some gals that actually measure and/or track how much yardage they have or use. And some keep a database of their 104 UFO's. I think I would rather make another quilt. But still, it could be fun.  I think I know what I'll be dreaming about tonight.
Sew long and sweet dreams.

Plan C

Years ago I made these blocks and even added a border, but it was never my vision for the quilt.  Later I removed the border to use on another quilt.  It was just perfect for another quilt, even the size.  This first bunch of blocks was called Plan A.

 Then I made another quilt that better fit my first idea and called it Plan B. I put the pattern for this one in Save the Scraps

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Then I decided to make Plan A more to my liking and, of course, had to call it Plan C.  I had to separate the blocks, but that's no big deal. I just put the speaker phone on and let my friend entertain me.  I guess tv would work, too.  I had it all cut out and sewn - even the border was cut!  Then just before I was about to add the border I decided to add another row of blocks.  Can you tell I'm still in that "bigger is better" frame of mind?  Actually, Mark liked this one too, so I thought as long as it's a keeper it oughta be useful.

Life can be stressful at Christmas time so I want to be able to sit down to sew when I NEED to.  This is one top I hope to finish.  And I will probably start work on one of the kits I put together a few months ago.  Sure glad I did that.  Now is not the time to concentrate on sewing.  That mindless sewing will do tons to keep me relaxed.  I hope you can find some time to relax by quilting this season. Happy Holidays.

Tis the Season

Yeah it's Christmas time. Don't you love it? I s'pose many quilters are scrambling to finish up some quilt projects for gifts. I don't make quilts for gifts, but occasionally I make a gift of a quilt I've made. Less stress that way.  I am not done with shopping yet,so I haven't started any wrapping yet. I don't do the cookie thing  but I do like to decorate.  Not doing as much of that this year either.  Christmas will be here and gone before you know it. Don't know if I like that or not.

I've not done much sewing, but I have made these blocks.  Not as colorful as I like. I started this one a little differently than I do most.  Usually I set out to find fabric for a pattern I designed.  This time I started with the gray tones in the quilt and looked for a pattern to use them in.  I had sorted my drawer of fat quarters and once again came across this pile of medium gray toned fabrics.  Much as I like them, I never found a use for them and they have been in that drawer for too many YEARS. I think this might be as big as this portion gets.  I might add a round or two of other blocks or a pieced border.

Instead of quilting I was working for one of my people doing some serious deeeeep cleaning. WOW! 27 hours later, I quit cause they came home. Kitty missed me and I am glad to be home.  Going down to the studio to finish up a lap quilt with a feathered border. Tomorrow is quilting at church. Here's hoping you get all your gifts done and under the tree in time for the big day.
Sew long,

I decided to put an end to this PHD. There wasn't a pattern for this sampler, and I was tired of it sitting on the shelf so after these 12 blocks I decided it was time to finish it.  And as has been happening lately, I am almost sorry already that I didn't make it bigger. But I didn't want to add an elaborate pieced border and I am out of the print I used in the sashing, so that's as good a reason as any to finish it.

Now with so many tops finished, I feel like I can get on to starting something new. I just put 6 kits together in the last month. Yesterday I  pulled one off the shelf and saw that I  already forgot that I started a kit for it. I don't know what  anybody does with dozens of UFO's. With Christmas on the way, I think it will be a while before I can really put some time into piecing again.  I want to focus next on some quilting and before you know it I will be working on comfort quilt kits again.
I am convinced- Whoever figures out how to bottle time will become very rich. Sew long.