Churn dashes, scrappy triangle

Three things to be happy about:
(1) bright colored fabrics
(2) fried cabbage
(3) hand made gifts

I spent part of yesterday working on more of those little churn dash blocks.  There was quite a traffic jam behind the presser foot! 

I like to sew the corners and sides on an entire block layout at once, just string em along.  You're looking at something like 13 blocks, ready to be pressed and trimmed.

These little blocks are easy enough to piece, but I was having backache issues bending over my cutting table to trim that many units at one time.

But yesterday a light bulb went off: why not raise the height of the cutting table, from the surface??  (As opposed to placing risers under the table legs, which don't exist.)

A simple project container, with a spare piece of shelving placed on top for stability!  This works perfectly for my 12 x 18" cutting mat.  In the past I had moved all my stuff to the kitchen counter, which is a little higher and it helped a bit - but this is much, much better!

Cootie trimming!

Clipping those little background bits from behind the green bits got done while catching up on the Outlander episodes I recorded.

And last but not least, block 8 of the Year of Scrappy Triangles sew-along.

This is the first one I made with variations of just one color; interesting but the fabrics sort of bleed together.  Oh well...



We've come to the last day of another month, November just flew by!  Have a great Thursday, do something fun, sew forth and sew on...

Part 1 completed

Three things to be happy about:
(1) a clean kitchen
(2) watching an old movie
(3) a red stapler

One of my favorite movies is Office Space, that came out in 1999.  I still laugh at that movie!  Also, My Cousin Vinnie.

Yesterday I finished up the remaining units needed for Part 1 of the Quiltville mystery...

50 units done, plus a few extras!

I also got a few more of the little churn dash blocks done, with three blocks in the trimming stage.

*******

Last Saturday our bee had it's last meeting of the year, we usually end the year the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

It was a laid back, low key, relaxing kind of  meeting.  There was hand work, some watching of You Tube videos, and just chatting and sharing.

A few quilts were shared:

Pat's colorful curvy quilt

Linda's music inspiration

Loretta's Words to Live By

And I was gifted a very generous bag of scraps -

I can't wait to dig in!

**If you've ever left a comment on my blog and I didn't respond, please forgive me, evidently some of the comments don't get mailed.  I check my email rather than the individual post, and if there's nothing in my Yahoo mailbox I assume there aren't any comments.   For some strange reason Yahoo is rejecting some of the emails.** 

Today will probably be a no-sew day for me, have a great Tuesday!  Sew forth and sew on til later

So far, so good

Three things to be happy about:
(1) falling leaves
(2) triplets
(3) mint-flavored floss

Well, here we are, practically at the end of another month!  Where has November gone??

It's three days since the first clue of the 2017 Quiltville mystery was released, and I dug right in.

I dug right into my what-a-mess bin of 1-1/2" strips, that is!  The only usable strips I found for this mystery are neutrals and maybe 4 dark brown strips.  I want to use up all of these before I cut into yardage, although it means repeating a lot of fabrics.  No worries, my goal is to use up what's already been cut and wallowing around in there for far, far too long.  I have no idea where the first clue will end up in the quilt, but based on Bonnie's previous mysteries I know the repeated neutrals won't detract from it.

I'd really be doing myself a favor it I straightened out that bin, once and for all!

My creative space ...

Oh Santa, please bring me a quilt studio for Christmas with lots of sewing space and a decent design wall that I can actually stand in front of!

And last but not least, my accomplishments since Friday...

I finished 20 of the 50 blocks needed for this first step with more being sewn up.

Is that enough for now, after three days?  Sure it is!  I'll be linking up with the Quiltville mystery page, so you can go see what everybody else is doing.

As for right now, I put on a crock pot of steel cut oats before going to bed last night, they should be just about ready now.  Sew forth and sew on ...

Clearing the deck

Three things to be happy about:
(1) a clean slate
(2) leftovers
(3) NOT shopping on Black Friday

Today, at last, the new Quiltville mystery has started!  I've been looking forward to this day, to the extent that I've been taking little pot shots at  doing everything under the sun, it seems. 

I managed to get another batch of the little churn dashes finished, they work up very quickly.

Two rows added to my design floor, giving me a total of 70 finished.  Hmmm, I see a couple fabrics that I won't use again for this project...

Still don't know what the final setting will be, but I have time.




But in the middle of all that, yet another sew-along caught my attention!

Aren't these just the cutest paper pieced scrappy triangles you ever saw??

These are the ones I've already made, I'm doing a great job of keeping up! 

Leila over at Sewn by Leila will release a new pattern every week on Tuesday, for a total of 52.  I placed a button on my sidebar if you want to check it out for yourself.

Grandma's Kitchen?  Well, now that the mystery has started it's on hiatus (for me) for awhile; my priorities will be the churn dashes and the mystery, with a scrappy triangle thrown in for good measure.  I think Grandma will understand!

Soon as I get back home today I'll jump right in, can't wait to see what the first clue looks like!

Sew forth and sew on

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

However you plan to spend today - be it with friends, family or just doing something you  enjoy - make it a great one!

Showing and sharing at the guild

Three things to be happy about:
(1) fall foliage
(2) choosing colors for a new project
(3) curly fries

It's been quite awhile since I shown any eye candy from our monthly guild meeting!  These beautiful quilts are some of the ones that were shared at Saturday's meeting:

Manger scene

large-scale prints surrounded by a series of frames

half-square triangles!

paper pieced stars

ladies, ladies everywhere

this was part of a red and white display

great use for jelly rolls

African masks

It's always great being there, seeing what everybody has been up to.  And that great "a-hah!" moment when something you see gets your creative juices flowing.  Enjoy your Monday, sew forth and sew on til later ...

Little side trips

Three things to be happy about:
(1) raking leaves
(2) passing thru the bakery section at Costco
(3) finding something you lost

Is change good?  We've been switching between Eastern Daylight Time and Eastern Standard Time for more than 40 years (dare I say more than 50??) and this year it took me longer to readjust to EST.  Instead of waking up at 6:30 am, I was waking at 5:30 for awhile - big yahoo.

I had to curtail some of the little side trips I found myself on so I could knuckle down and finish that small challenge quilt that's due at guild meeting next month.  The Quiltville mystery will start next Friday, I don't want anything pulling at the edge of my mind when I'm piecing the first few clues!

The top has been finished and just lying around for a month, I just needed to go ahead and quilt it, put it out of it's misery. 

But not without a bit of drama...

I broke two needles because I allowed some of the seam intersections to bunch up, too lumpy in a couple spots. The second time I was literally one inch of being finished!

The top thread broke three times: once before I remembered to check the tension and twice because I had sort of a jerky motion when I changed directions - doh! 

You're probably wondering "now why doesn't she use a walking foot?"  I dunno.

Drama comes in threes! 

When I trimmed it - straight - I saw that part of one side shrank more than it should have. 

I went back and trimmed off a bit more, and to be honest, it's not noticeable at all!

So here's the top!

I simply outlined the silhouette and the moon, then quilted gently swooping lines across the blue background.

I meandered the black and white hourglass border, that's all it needed.  The binding has been sewn onto the front, I'll hand sew it down on the back in the next couple days.

That's it for now, enjoy your Friday, we've passed the mid-point of the month.  Sew forth and sew on...

Playing catchup

Three things to be happy about;
(1) gorging on Hallmark channel Christmas movies
(2) catching up
(3) following a good plan

I do it every year; I've seen some of those Hallmark Christmas movies any number of times but I always find myself tuning in anyway.  They always follow one of three themes - girl meets boy through her job, is indifferent to him until she gets so full of the spirit of Christmas that - oh joy! - they fall in love.  Or girl leaves home, becomes a huge success, returns home, finds the spirit of Christmas and discovers - oh joy! - the boy she left behind is the perfect one after all.  Or girl has no Christmas spirit in her heart at all, goes to an obscure little town that's either called Christmastown or Christmasville where all the locals are laughing and jolly, helps them put on a Christmas show and - oh joy! - discovers she has the spirit of Christmas in her heart after all.

I watch that stuff every year!  I guess by now it's a tradition, eh?

Playing catch up on the Grandma's Kitchen sew along!

I had to take this shot to prove to myself that I'm actually getting some sewing done.  I've been so distracted lately with this, that and the other.

I'm using the Simple Folded Corners Ruler that I bought from Bonnie Hunter's shop a few months ago; trust me, it makes sewing accurate diagonal corners so much easier!

I always had trouble with sewing the "scant" or one thread to the right of the drawn line on those angled corners.  It was a good investment!

You have to "stay woke" though - one of these is not like the others!

I cut the corner at the wrong angle on one unit and created a spare for my parts department.

I refuse to call it a mistake - it's a spare to be used later.

So these are the new blocks I finished - Kitchen Table, Sticky Buns and Mending Basket, the latest one.

The one on top - Mending Basket - is my favorite so far.  When I started doing these I just chose some fabrics that were handy, which happened to be black, white, and red.  I added yellow/gold later but I think I like the ones without red a little better.

I'll be linking up with Pat Sloan's Grandma's Kitchen sew along page.  Sew forth and sew on til later...

Silent Sunday

Time for a group picture!

Three things to be happy about:
(1) tuna fish salad
(2) fresh flowers on the table
(3) mixing your own raisin bran

I like buying plain ole store brand wheat bran flakes and mixing in my own raisins, to control how many are in each serving.  I don't need "two scoops," that's way too many if you're watching your sugar!  Toss in a few almonds and it's just as good as Raisin Nut Bran but without all that extra sugar they coat the raisins with.

Churn dashes! 

I laid out all the little blocks that I finished so far, to see how well they play together as a group.  Just short of 50 blocks, more than enough to see what they look like - and I like what I see!

A final layout hasn't been decided on yet - set them side by side, no sashing? or sash them in groups of four?  or set them on point? or ... ?  Who knows?  Not me, not yet!

Some of the background fabrics I used create little shady patches in the quilt, I like that effect!  They're sure to get moved around though.

(These photos were taken in waning daylight, the quilt isn't that grey.)

There's this one little alien in there, where I used a "neutral" background when I first started, rather than the white and black that I'm using now. 

I made a snap decision - he can stay for now!

Now this was too cute not to share - my neighbor biking his kids to school, on the way to his office.  They usually get lots of beeps and waves on the way.

The two-year-old gets buckled in at the back, but his four-year-old brother does a great job holding onto the side rails.

They're off on their day, I hope you enjoy yours!

Sew forth and sew on til later...

Ready to roll!

Three things to be happy about:
(1) a lovely sunrise
(2) spinach omelet
(3) mint-flavored floss

As I'm writing this post the sun hasn't risen yet, but I know it's coming.  The sky has grown lighter, maybe it needs a bit more shut-eye!

Saturday I introduced my friend Felicia, the MIB (missing in blogland) Slow Quilter, to one of my favorite places - Fabric Place Basement!

I'm getting ready for Bonnie Hunter's newest mystery ... I really didn't want to buy more fabrics, thinking I would use from my inventory this year. 

But I didn't have enough of any one colorway to substitute my own fabrics.
 

... so one thing led to another

... and another

and another....

Now I have all my fabrics gathered and boxed, waiting for the first clue!

I bought 1/4 yard cuts from 12 fabrics in the coral/melon/peachy range, and the same for the aqua/turquoise range.  I deliberately got cuts from two dark fabrics that pushed the range a bit.

I already had enough browns, I just cut 1/4 yard pieces and put the rest away.  And my neutrals go without saying, I have a BIG plenty of those!

Meanwhile I'm doing some assembly line work on the little churn dash blocks ...

My Accuquilt die cuts nine 2-1/2" squares at once, so that's a no-brainer!

I kitted up little batches of green scraps for the sides and the corners, I chain sew and string along enough for three or four blocks before I

press...

trim ...

snip ...

One day this will be a quilt!

I'm a poet and don't know it, sew forth and sew on...