Nipping away at Orca Bay

Three things to be happy about:
(1) crunchy peanut butter on raisin bread
(2) plants in a greenhouse
(3) finding two seats together at a crowded movie

The trick, I b'lieve, is to get there before they turn out the lights!

I'm making slow progress on my Orca Bay mystery quilt, while I keep reminding myself "Bonnie said it's not a race... it's not a race..." 

I got three rows pieced, and they look great!

They're not sewn together yet but I like what I'm seeing so far.  I kept getting mixed up with the direction of the blues until I realized the stripes in the blue string blocks follow the uphill/downhill slant of the red string blocks.  After that, it was a piece o' cake!  I like that secondary red block around the black block, it's so pretty.  Looking at a picture of Bonnie's finished quilt is one thing, but when you see your own up close and personal - and you realize you did it?  Man, what a feeling!

I haven't pieced the bits for the border, because after seeing the finished quilt (as gorgeous as it is!) I think I might like to try a different border treatment - we'll see!


I finally got the hanging sleeve sewn on my red and white challenge quilt while I was getting my car serviced... why is it so difficult for me to do that last little thing?  I get the main part done, then agonize over the binding... not because the binding is difficult, but because it's my least favorite part of the quilt!  Go figure.  Then, when I FINALLY get the binding on, I fool around and it takes me awhile to get the sleeve and label on.  What's up with that??  Anyway, it's done - and done is good. 

So that's my story and I'm sticking with it - sew forth and sew on til later; have a great Sunday.

A bit of O'Bay seasoning

We're really starting to mix it up now! 

Yesterday Bonnie released Part 7 of the Quiltville Orca Bay Mystery, and it's a doozie!  Crab soup, anyone?

We're using the units we made in the last step, and also the red strings we made in Part 4 to make flying geese blocks which, if you squint your eyes, look like wee crabs!

There's another step to this part which involves cutting more fabric but I'm not in a cutting mood right now.  They're just neutral half-square triangles that we have to combine with the angles from the last Part, but I don't wanna [whine, whine]. 

So - I've stuck with piecing the flying crabs!  I've only done six so far, but I've had fun arranging them in different ways...

Aren't these great?  They're giving me ideas for future quilt layouts!

That's it for now on these, I can't wait to see the final step that Bonnie will release on New Year's day - almost a week early!

As always, take a look at the Monday Mystery Link Up page for more design ideas.

Sew forth and sew on

Handy at half the price

Three things to be happy about:
(1) Christmas lights twinkling
(2) the feel of fleece
(3) hiding under the covers

If you wake up, turn over and snuggle back under the covers for another snooze, does that count as hiding?  I mean, if you're alone??  Never mind, let's not go there!

Yesterday after my doctor's appointment I was on my way to Wheaton Plaza (they renamed it "Westfield Shoppingtown" but to me it'll always be Wheaton Plaza) when I saw a Dollar Tree and decided to stop in and look for one of those 12x18 activity pads.  Now, some of you know Dollar Tree is my favorite dollar store - you can get some really good junk in there! 

They didn't have the pads, but they were  having a half-price sale on their Christmas stuff.  I'm not interested in getting any more Christmas decorations to dump in my basement, so it was easy to pass by that stuff without looking.  However, I did see something that grabbed my interest... cookie canisters!

These are 5 x 7-1/2, a great size to store some of my quilting notions in!  I picked up 4 of them, at 50 cents each. 

Thread fits in there really well; that 2-1/2" depth is perfect for the small spools of Sulky and Mettler.  Now I can use the container they were in for something larger.

I even put some of the triangular blocks from Part 5 of the Orca Bay Mystery in one, to see how they'd fit...

They snuggled right in; that's just 100 blocks, but I know I can get all 350 inside!  However, I have a "feeling" these will have to come back out on Friday... just sayin'.

I was attracted to these canisters because they're compact and can be stacked atop each other, to maximize my storage space

I think of these as another step in putting my sewing space in order.  

Sew forth and sew on

Oh my stars!

Three things to be happy about:
(1) a song in your heart
(2) overnight trips
(3) comments from my readers

Thanks!

Every now and again I have a no-sew day, you ever have one of those?  But I've been plugging away at my Orca Bay mystery bits and pieces and I'm making progress - Part 6 is all done! 

28 stars with light backgrounds, and 28 with black backgrounds for a total of 56 stars, waiting for their next step!

Meanwhile, I'm still sewing anglets for Part 5 and I have a bunch more done.  It helps to pay attention, though - this is what can happen when you sew with one eye on the television

the black is against the wrong side of the HST block!

Then you unsew it and sew it on again, repeating the same mistake at least 3 more times...

See what I'm up against?  That's why I say I'm "plugging away" at these, LOL.  I'll be done tomorrow though, in time for the next part.

Well, it's errands for me today, looks like a nice day for it!  Have a great Wednesday everyone.

Sew forth and sew on

Orca Bay progress

Two things to be happy about
(1) (2) Christmas toes!

I like wearing fun socks at Christmas time, I try to get a new pair every year.  Face it, this is the only time of year most of us can were socks like these without getting strange looks!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends!

I got some piecing done yesterday and Saturday on my Orca Bay blocks!  When I was lining them up I thought these looked like party poppers, so I had to get a shot -

aren't they cute?  I can see how the patterns in my black and neutral fabrics are working this design!

I finished all the stars with neutral backgrounds; here are my black ones so far:

It's almost as if the Ohio Star blocks are wearing tuxedos - moving right along!

You can see my other posts on Part 6 here and here.  Also, visit the Mystery Monday link up page to see other quilters' progress, there's lots to see!

I'm also working on the pattern (still!) for my Wonky House swap, I'll share some pictures next time.

Sew forth and sew on

updates, updates

Three things to be happy about:

(1) a gift for drawing
(2) baked sweet potato
(3) poppy seed pastries

Actually, I don't care for poppy seeds and I since I was in the drug abuse testing pool at my agency, I try to avoid em whenever I can!  However, I do like baked sweet potatoes and I was very disappointed Thursday when I looked for potatoes at Costco ... and they didn't have any!  No worries, I can get some at Giant  :o)

I'm loving these Ohio stars in the Quiltville Orca Bay mystery!  They're so perky with that spark of red in the center, and I like the mix of colors and patterns I used in the neutrals.

I completed this stack of 15 blocks with the light backgrounds for this step - only 13 more lights to go, then I'll do the black ones!

It's interesting that some of the fabrics I used in the hourglass blocks won't work as well (in my opinion) when I cut them as 2-1/2" squares - for example, the blue on white looked a little too "blue" in the larger size, so I eliminated that fabric in this step.  There was also a white-and-black pattern I wasn't too crazy about in the larger size. 

I still have to finish my winglets in Part 5, I'm sure I can do that before the next part is posted.

And now an update on the construction going on in the house next to mine - I live in a rowhouse so I can hear each hammer thud, especially if it's on the near side of the rooms; it's almost like living in an apartment!

At this point they must have finished all the tearing away they have to do, a container was delivered late yesterday morning to take away the construction debris.   

The shear amount of trash surprises me because the house was remodeled top-to-bottom in 2006... so there should not have been that much stuff to deconstruct in that house.  The asking price for the house was $399,999, and if the new owner is a contractor who plans to flip the house, how much is he willing to put into it before he sells?   I'm sure he didn't pay that much because there was a three-week negotiation period, but still...

Who knows what, anyway?

It took three men almost an hour to load up all the trash (along with a little something I snuck in there after they left Thursday night), then the driver returned and lifted it onto the truck with his hydraulic thingie.

He unrolled a canvas over all the stuff and was on his merry way, talking on his cell the whole time.

 

I took all the pictures (except the first one) hanging out my second story window, who knows what was flying around in the air?  So now you know all about construction debris being piled up, loaded and hauled away, probably a lot more than you wanted to know!   

As you can see, sometimes it doesn't take much to hold my interest, especially if I need a break from sewing.

Sew forth and sew on

While I was sleeping...

"the Bon" posted the next step in the Orca Bay Mystery!   It was her Christmas present to those of us swimming along in the Orca pod - thanks Bonnie!

I'm not done with Part 5 yet but I wanted to get my feet wet in the new step and I'm glad I did!  In this part we're to cut 2-1/2" squares from reds, blacks, and neutrals, then use them with the hour glass units we made in Part 1 to create Ohio stars.  I went to my 2-1/2" strip bin (as if I were going to find anything in there - hah!  I haven't even been cutting strips on a regular basis) and found only a pitiful few strips in black, and even fewer neutrals...

Oh well... I'll have to use what I've got, then cut some more!

I grabbed some scraps and yardage, and started cutting

just enough to get started.

and the blocks turned out wonderfully! 

aren't they the cutest? 

Now that I've got my fix for the new step, I'll continue with part 5...

I still have a number of little winglets to put on my HST blocks. 

I have no idea how many I did or how many are left to do, I'll just keep going til I finish!

You can check other progress by going to the Mystery Monday linkup on the Orca Bay Mystery page.  Lot's of good eye candy to see on there!

I mentioned before that my neighbors on one side had sold their house... so Monday the workmen started doing renovations over there - around 8 a.m., eeeyowww!  

I had gotten in the habit of sleeping til 9 o'clock unless I felt wide awake or had to get up for a specific reason, for pete's sake!  When I saw one of the men going in there on Tuesday I asked him if he knew how long the renovations would take... between his English and my Spanish, I still don't have a clue.

They're doing some heavy duty stuff, there's a lot of debris being tossed out into the back yard; this is what it looks like so far... and you can't even see what's back in the carport area.

Two doors down (see the deck?) they've also been doing renovations, started sometime in late October.  That deck was put in while I was away in early November.  They just put in a sliding door yesterday and they're working on the den and kitchen, who knows how long it'll take.  Bang! ba-bang bang! all day long...

Someone asked how much I spent on my little jaunt to Hancock's... according to my receipts (yep - I got the fabric then waded back in for the other stuff!) I spent close to $54, and saved $99.  I'll use the Sulky thread for quilting, I like the subtle sheen it gives the quilt. 

Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!  Have a great Friday.

Sew forth and sew on

The wings of an angle

Yep, I meant to say angle, not angel ! 

On Friday Bonnie released Part 5 of the Quiltville Orca Bay mystery, we're moving right along!  This time we're to add half-square triangle "wings" to the white part of the black and neutral half-square triangle units we pieced in Part 3. 

I'm using the Easy Angle ruler to make my cuts, I think I'm friends with it by now!  I cut gobs and gobs of HST's from 2" black strips

neatness doesn't count, thank goodness!

I sewed a few units together to make sure my seams are behaving... they are

It feels really really good when my seams are right and things line up!  Look at how straight that long edge is!  As Barney Fife would say "See how Baby just lies in her cradle!?"

So, since Friday I've done about a dozen blocks, only 338 to go - progress is a good thing!

You can visit the Monday Mystery Link Up on the Quiltville blog to see what everybody else is doing, there are probably hundreds of people working on all parts of the mystery.  Some people are using different color combinations than Bonnie used, there are some very pretty combinations to look at!

Sew forth and sew on

Red is busting out all over

More progress on the Quiltville Orca Bay mystery... please also visit the Monday Mystery Link Up to see what everybody else is doing, there are people working on all parts of the mystery!

Now without further ado - here in all their glory are 80 triangles all finished!

I still have more waiting to be trimmed, though.  

There are dots, stripes, stars and swirls

Snowflakes, Christmas lights

And horses with curls...

Mice dressed as cowboys,

Clocks pointing to '96

Teddy bears, trees,

And a few baby chicks

Wide strips, narrow ones,

patterns galore...

After these are trimmed

I'm done with Part 4!

Sew forth and sew on



Go, Big Red!

When Part 4 of the Orca Bay Mystery came out on Friday, I was excited to see it was red strings!  I've always liked red, ever since I was a kid and mama would dress me in red.  It reminds me of when Nat King Cole would sing Red Sails in the Sunset...

Red strings in the sunset
Way out on the sea (ooh-wee-ooh, wee-ooh)
Oh carry my loved one
Home safely to meeee

I think I've discovered the name of my quilt - Red Strings in the Sunset

For this part we're to make 64, 5-1/2" string blocks, to yield 128 triangles. 

They had me seeing red, I tell ya!

It also made me chuckle because a new yellow pages came on Thursday!  I like using that paper, it's so thin, just as good as anything you'd buy for foundation piecing.  But shhhhh!  Don't tell the telephone people, else they'll change the name to something like "quilter's foundation booklets" and start charging us for em!

Bonnie's suggestion of using spray starch on these before cutting was a good idea, and it also makes me double glad I bought two large refill bottles of Best Prest from Hancocks last week.  Since they're closing that location, it was half price - not a bad deal for $6!  The blocks went together very quickly and trimmed up nicely too!  (I think I've made friends with that companion angle ruler!) 

I don't know how many I've done so far, you'll have to count em for yourself  :o)

I discovered that if I have strings as small as 3/4" wide, I like using them as an accent strip.  After doing a few blocks without thinking about placement, I realized if the teeny strip is about the same color as the one next to it, it loses it's impact so it may as well not be there.  Note to self - because the quilt will be washed, make sure there's a decent seam allowance.

And of course, I put my trimmings aside to dive into later - just can't toss em without looking first!

Now, go visit the Orca Bay Mystery Monday Link Up page to see what everybody else is doing!

Sew forth and sew on

Things that make you go "what the..."

Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't.

This week they're supposed to be collecting leaves in my neighborhood, but what I saw yesterday had nothing to do with street cleaning or leaf collection.  To me it looked like a two-hour joy ride in government-owned equipment.

I heard the sweeper truck go by on my street and I looked out the door because it occurred to me I was hearing it for the third time

I thought to myself  "ah, they're cleaning up the leaves!"  (Notice the pile of leaves near the tree on the right.)

Then I heard the truck come through again for the 4th time.

(Notice the pile of leaves near the tree; the white package truck went away and the red car came and parked.)

I saw them turn at the end of the street and head about half a block to the clinic that's behind my house.  They sat in the parking lot for about 15-20 minutes then they were back again - they must have taken a coffee break. 

by this time my neighbor across the street and another one down the street were standing on their porches looking at the truck.

My street is one-way, so the truck would head to the end, make a right turn and drive through the alley behind my house. This went on about six more times, then they stopped for about an hour - they must have taken a lunch break.

Then I heard the truck yet again and I promise you it was the 14th (fourteenth) time.  Only this time I made it a point to let them see me taking a picture.  (Notice the black car that wasn't there before.)

When they noticed me taking a picture, they very carefully maneuvered the truck to the left and pretended to sweep the curb.  They didn't come back through again, probably picked another street to fool around on.  All those leaves are still there.

Meanwhile I was calling the mayor's citywide call center to speak to their department but I kept getting shuffled from one office to another til I just gave up.  With so many people needing jobs, I hate to see my tax dollars being thrown away!  I wish I had gotten the tag number, I'd have emailed the photo directly to the mayor; and if he didn't address the issue, I'd have sent it to Channel 7 news. 

Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't.

Now that that's off my chest - I finished Part 3 of Orca Bay, yes!!!

350+ half-square triangles!  Looking good!

Sew forth and sew on