Still Halfway Through

But it's a different halfway....if that makes sense. I didn't get much of a chance to sew this week but I was able to cut the setting squares and the triangles.  That was a bigger job than it sounds.  The linen that I'm using stretches and shrinks with ironing and handling .  I'd cut a straight edge, turn it around and my straight edge would have waves in it.  Starching didn't help at all.  I'm so glad that I'm using this for a quilt rather than apparel. I have visions of stretched out necklines and shoulder seams.  It's an apparel quality linen and I've bought it before in other colors and not had these problems.  I know that dyes can make a big difference in the hand of a fabric and since this color is called natural, I'm wondering if this is the reason.

I cut the pieces slightly larger than required and will trim after sewing....just want to make sure that nothing shrinks back in the wrong spots!  I also got HST's made in orange, turqoise, gold and green. I really like the eight at a time method, especially with this fabric and they are easy to trim down with my HST ruler. Hopefully, over the weekend I can have the top finished.

linking with Busy Hands Quiltshttp://busyhandsquilts.blogspot.com/

PLAY part 2

I'm happier with this one....and I will continue on.  The center colors photo'd  true but the two greens are very off.  The inner one is a lime green and the outer is a brighter green than shown,  The photo edit service I'm using doesn't seem to have any adjustments for greens.  I was able to turn the centers a variety of colors.....a good tool for choosing colors in the future.

I did run into an interesting problem.  I like bright colors and while I was choosing the final colors for this, it was bright and sunny outside,  When I finished sewing it had turned grey and rainy and my other choice looked better in that light.  Since I live in the Pacific Northwest grey and overcast is quite common.  My lighting is supposed to be true daylight but the shades may be interfering  with that.


http://www.elmstreetquilts.com/2017/01/introducing-play-improv-qal.html

PLAY part 1

While cruising the blogs, I found an interesting post over at Elm Street Quilts....a new improve group called PLAY.  I've always admired the improve quilts I see on the blogs and read through the posts regarding choices made with lots of interest.  Sometimes I agree with the decisions and sometimes not but it's always a learning experience and interesting.

I waited for the first prompt ....log cabins....OK, I can do that.  But....how much fabric, what size, what colors...what are the rules???  On one of the info pages, it's stated that there are no rules....I want rules for no rules!  Clearly my thinking processes are going to be more of a handicap than my sewing abilities or lack of snazzy fabrics.

Looking through my stash, I decided on greens.  I've got lots of greens and then the purple scraps from my diamond quilt.  I put away the rotary cutters and got out the scissors......this what I came up with...

Frankly, I liked it better before  I trimmed it.   Second try coming up soon........

Happy Valentine's Day

In honor of the day, I decided to pull together all my heart projects....all two of them!!  Actually there are a couple of pincushions given as gifts but I don't have pictures of them.  The large quilt is from Kathy Doughty's book Adding Layers.  It's 84 x 84 and I quilted it in three sections with my 1957 Brother machine.

The heart pillow was inspired by a blog post from Blue Elephant Stitches . My squares finish at 1.5 inches.

I seem to have a problem with seasonal projects....I always feel that it's too early to start and all of a sudden it's too late.  I think that I'll pull out all my unfinished Christmas projects in June so I can have a Christmas in July! Maybe I'll have some finished Christmas quilts in December then.

Half Way Through

I started this bear paw in late October and ran out fabrics.  It got put away and Christmas projects were started.  One Christmas quilt is halfway quilted and the other needs batting and backing....maybe for next Christmas!

The pattern I'm using is from Sherri McConnell's Fresh Family Traditions.  The blocks will be set on a diagonal with setting blocks of plain fabric in between.  The neutral is a off white linen that had been languishing in my stash since I realized I really didn't want to iron it every time I wore it.  After three washings it still wrinkled badly.  The main colored fabric is an ombre that I bought about five years ago. I tend to buy what I love then try to figure out what to do with it,  I do like the way the color changes show up in the paw points.  I was able to get five blocks and the binding from my yardage.  I've been going through my stash looking for fabrics that will go together.

I need a total of 16 pieced blocks....Eight are done, three more cut and waiting to be pieced.  I'll spend some time today sorting and looking for five more fabrics.

Linking up with Em's Scrapbag and Moving forward Monday

February Mini Quilt

I took a break today from my Splendid Sampler blocks and worked on my monthly mini quilt fromSew Can She.  It's called Candygram and a great Valentine project.  Very easy to put together and a great use of small scraps. Most of the scraps are batiks and came from my Diamond quilt. It finished at 4"x 10".  I'm thinking of enlarging it for a pillow cover.

Progress

Some progress has been made on my Splendid Sampler blocks.

The string block is my version of the selvedge block. None of my saved selvedges were attractive or in the right color families for this quilt. The Dresden plate block isn't sewn down as yet. I'm saving that for when I sew down my Quilty 365 circles. I really hate threading my machine with the invisible thread! I took yesterday off from sewing....new book release made it to my Kindle and I spent the day reading it. This is what I woke up to Monday morning...

So pretty...so glad I'm retired and no longer have to deal with getting to work! The remainder is still with us and very slippery. Good day to stay in and sew.

Splendid Sampler Catch Up

or 2 down....about 60 to go!! I've gotten way behind in my blocks and am now realizing that there is only one more week to go. Downloading the blocks first thing on Thursday and Sunday mornings has become a habit that I will miss. Last month I went through my list of blocks still to be done tried to pick out the blocks that I will do from the ones that are beyond my capabilities. I've discovered that foundation piecing is not for me! I have no spatial ability at all and trying to figure out which way to flip the fabric (even though it's numbered) is extremely difficult. That, coupled with no printer, is taking some of blocks off of my to do list. I have been able to trace some of the blocks from my computer screen. This is my second attempt at Whim...block number 48.

My second block is the "measure twice...cut once". Since it's block #19, it will give you an idea of how long I've been looking for that Moda tape!

All of the blocks can be seen on the Splendid Sampler block page. I'll try to do 30 blocks this months and will be linking up with the Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal February Linkup.

Diamonds Finally Finished

My top, started in 2013, is finally completed.....It still has some obvious errors in the joining but since it has all been sewn about three times, I'm going to follow the adage of "finished is better than perfect"  and live with it.  If I started it now, I'm sure my cutting would be more accurate and that that would make a difference.  This turned out to be 48 x 72 before I added a 2" strip to the width edges.  It looked as if thee binding would cut off some of the diamond points.pattern says 55 x 64. I have no idea what happened to the extra width!  I did use some leftover diamonds to add an extra row to the length,  You may notice that it is in two pieces...I'm planning on quilting it on one of my home machines and none of them have a very wide bed.  Hopefully, this will be a finish for the end of the month.  Backing fabric has been ordered.