Fabric Pull

Here's the start of my fabric pull for the City Sampler sew along.  Each block is 6 inches finished and some have five or more fabrics so I think I can get by with some fairly small pieces. I've got some larger pieces still in the bookcase but I'm going through all the scrap bins now.

I'm still trying to learn the new camera and now the photo programs aren't saving my crops and other edits!  It's been in the high 90's here the last couple of days.  I don't deal well with the heat so I've no patience with trying to figure out the tech stuff.  In fact, if it's still as hot tomorrow, I may spent the day at the movies!!  Air conditioned!!

Technical Difficulties

Finally...here is my month six of the Sweet Land of Liberty!  This was going to be posted way last week but my pretty pink Samsung camera died.  It was about twelve years old so I should have expected it.  I now have a new Kodiak and it has taken me about three days to figure out how to get the pix from the camera to this page.  I'm still trying to figure out how to use the camera!  Hopefully, the pictures will look better than with the old one.

I need to do some embroidery on my couple block and am planning on spending the next couple of days with the embroidery and adding more bits and pieces to all my other blocks.  For those of you new to this, we are doing this sew along without patterns.  I'm copying  freehand from the blocks and directions posted on Lori's Humble Quilts blog.  About half of the fabrics are coming from my thrift shop shirt collection and the rest are scraps from stash...some quite old.  I'm really enjoying the improv process in this and that the quilt is coming together in layers.  First, the basic blocks then adding small shapes (stars, flags, birds, etc.) and finally embroidery.  Thanx so much for hosting this Lori!

I have some new fabrics coming on Wednesday for the Tula Pink 100days100blocks2018  which starts July 7.  I was planning on just using from stash and trying to it all in purples and greens..with some aquas and pinks.  It's been hard trying to collect them all with the move and I wasn't sure if I would have enough.  Craftsy had a BOGO sale and I was able to get a quilt kit (layer cake) and a set of fat quarters in the same fabric in the colors I was planning on using.  When these arrive, I'll starting cutting the blocks and storing them in baggies until it's time to sew them up.

What's worrying me is not the sewing but the fact that the blocks need to be posted daily on Instagram!  I've opened an account and have 1 follower!  Thanx nice person!  I did figure out how to get my photos on Instgram but I haven't figured out how to write anything or leave a hash tag.  That's next...I am NOT computer literate!

Linking with Love Laugh Quilt for Monday Making
Em's Scrapbag

Snail Trails

Month six of the Sweet Land of Liberty quilt features four Snail Tails blocks finishing at six inches.  I've never done this block and so I googled it under "6 inch Snail trail quilt block".  Absolutely nothing came up.  I tried "Snail Trail quilt block" and got lots of hits although nothing that was 6 inches.  I decided on a 12.5" unfinished block pattern and figured that I could just halve the sizes.  I did so and if the sizes were over a half inch, I increased to the next inch....so 2.75 became three inches.  I cut, pieced, trimmed carefully and pressed and my block came out to a almost perfect six inches!  Which would make it five and a half inches finished.  How do you take a 12.5" block, divide in half and increase some sizes and come up short?  A complete mystery to me.

Today, I tried again...after more googling to find my instructions, a little header came up at the bottom of the page....6 inch snail trail!  It was NOT there yesterday!  After more cutting, piecing, pressing and trimming, I now have a Snail Trail block that required very little trimming to be 6.5". Just three more to go now.  After comparing the two blocks, I found that there is an extra round of triangles that wasn't in the first pattern.  Here are the two blocks together.

Here's the link to the pattern if anyone else is still looking.
6" Snail Trail block

UPDATE...Here is the corrected version of the Snail Trail block.  Even though I cut all my pieces and laid them out in order, I seem to have rotated the center as I was adding another round which gives the little false trail effect in the block above.

Just a hint...it's probably easier to just call any error a potholder and start over! I think it took me longer to take the center out and resew than it would have to recut and sew from scratch!

Sweet Land of Liberty Month 5

This is month five of the Sweet Land sew along started by Lori over at Humble Quilts.  My Lady Liberty still needs her flag and feet and I have some vintage buttons still to sew on the stars.  I did decide to keep my little girls holding hands instead of separating them out with some borders.  This was a tough month as we are not working with a pattern.  Lori and Denise show their finished blocks, give some measurements of the finished block sizes and borders and we copy them to the best of our abilities.It's wonderful to see everyone's interpetation.   I'm still finding it quite fun to do and looking forward to starting on month six.

All my scraps and fabrics are still piled in front of the bookcase where I'm very slowly sorting them out.  Looking forward to finally finishing that job!

For some reason, the needle in my modern Brother has started hitting the bobbin housing.  I broke three needles until I figured that out.  My Featherweight was oiled and ready to go, so that's what I'm using now.  We have a love/hate relationship dating back to when I first acquired it and it burned my hand and left a scorch mark on the table.  It did teach me not to leave vintage machines plugged in until they were thoroughly tested.  Now it has a new foot pedal and cords (which it shares with a Singer 99) and sews quite well with minimal problems.  I'm getting the 99 oiled and ready to go just in case as all my machines always seem to develop problems at the same time.

I'm linking up with Humble Quilts for the month five Linky party