Getting ready for the take-down!

Hi everybody!  Thank you so much for your comments and concerns, I feel right priviliged to know you care and "right shame" to not have posted for so long! 

This morning just after I got up I received a call from a former co-worker and friend who is still gainfully employed.  I haven't actually seen Lillie in over a year but we talk every so often on the phone, and we've made plans for lunch when sometime within the next couple weeks. 

Anyway, in honor of the event I'm having my morning coffee in a cup I bought before leaving my agency, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.  I really wish you could see it better because it's a nice cup in deep deep blue with the agency name in gold surrounding an eagle.   Ahhh, coffee ... ahhhh those good ole workaday memories - not!

Did I ever mention that I have a few scraps??

These babies are about to be taken down!  Ebony Love at Love Bug Studies is hosting the first ever Die-Cut-Scrap-(Make Later)-Along and I'm getting ready to get ready for it.  It will run for three weeks starting on April 1 (no fooling!), so I've started going through my scraps to see what I can un-earth.  BUT!  After looking at the chaos in my sewing room I decided rather than going through boxes and bins, I'll use the scraps and yardages that are hangin' out in piles and heaps - or heaps of piles - and cut those first.  Just looking at the three photos above it's obvious I have enough to make at least two quilts!

Ebony will be using her Accuquilt Thousand Pyramid die, which is a very pretty design but I don't have that particular die.  So, rather than purchase another one (how many thousand pyramid quilts will I make??) I'll use one of the half-square triangle dies that came with my start-up kit.

This is the 3" finished HST die, I think it will work wonderfully for this project!  And the other advantage is I'll be able to use smaller size scraps, the instructions suggest using a 4-1/2" wide piece.

I marked the lines as suggested by several expert (seasoned?) users to make the cutting lines easier to see. 

At the same time I'll pull yardage and scraps from my African fabrics stash and cut those into submission.  Most African fabrics have very large designs and it's almost a shame to cut them up, because then you lose that fabulous motif.  There are some pieces I had set aside to use in large chunks but frankly - that hasn't happened yet.  I may have to just shut my eyes and cut em up!  Get to steppin!

Well that's all for now, I hope all are enjoying this up-and-down weather, spring is next week!

Have a great Friday, sew forth and sew on...