Month: June 2018

Fainéant, yes I am..My Hand Quilt Along and One Monthly Goal

Fainéant, means slacker in French.  Yes, I am one.  I totally meant to do my Hand Quilt Along post before and schedule it, but no, that did not happen.  It has just been an insane week at my house.  Kids and sports, spent the weekend with my sister, just non stop.  So I apologize to all my fellow hand quilters for being a Fainéant.  I felt I used the word Slacker to much, so I figured I needed a new term.  I am adding one more block to my underWaterMark_2018-06-03-20-09-20 the sea collection.  This month we have a whale.  I do have to tell you, my last months post brought some criticism form some Facebook followers (my sister mostly).  She insisted that my seahorses were farting.  I tried to explain that it was meant to be swirls of water, but no, according to her it was pretty clear.  Farting Seahorses.  Now I WaterMark_2018-06-16-21-26-44look at my seahorses in a little different light.  Darn it.

Please visit all the lovely ladies in the hand quilt along that are not Fainéants.

Kathy, Margaret, Kerry, Emma, Tracy, Deb, Connie, Susan,  Nanette, Sassy , Edith, Sharon and Bella.

 

So, for June my One Monthly goal was to complete the Star Wars  Quilt Top.  Mission Accomplished.  It needs some ironing, it kind looks all rumpled.  I think this will be a donation quilt.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

 

 

 

I thought Piecing curves was hard?…

So, I have read a lot about piecing curves.  Many people have said how difficult it is to piece a curved seam.  For this reason, I have shied away from it.  Until Now.  I like all kinds of quilts, traditional, modern, weird, you name it.  I saw a quilt a couple of weeks ago and I thought to myself, I want to make something like that.  But Oh No, it has curved piecing.  Yikes! (Me talking in my head) Maybe I better not, that is way too difficult for me.   You always want to try new things, so why not?  OK, my multiple personalities decided that I should go for it.

Here is the weird thing.  It was not really hard.  I did the first one and thought, OK, maybe I got lucky, so kept on.  Surprise!  Not really that hard.  It does take a little more time, because you can’t whip right through it like you would a straight seam.  Here is what I found.

  • I found that placing the smaller piece (the one you are piecing into the other) let’sWaterMark_2018-06-18-17-34-17 call it the outside curve, on the bottom and sewing it like that works best.  So, my outside curve (with the outside arch) was on the bottom.  My photo shows it with the outside curve on top, so you can see it, but when I pin and sew, I flip it over so it is on the bottom
  • watermark_2018-06-18-17-37-03.jpg
    • Pin, Pin, Pin.  I hate to pin, but you really need to.
    • Sew at a slow steady rate. Don’t be a speed demon.

Piece of cake.  You got this.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

Fall into a QAL Block #3

So, I enjoyed block #3 of the Fall Into a Quilt Along.  A little bit of everything, piecing and applique.  It is very cute.  I managed to keep background fabric in this block.  I am hoping I can manage to do this throughout the Quilt Along.

Today was my lucky weekend.  I can home from work on Friday and had a package from Nanette at Chopin-A Passionate Quilter.  She sent me a “Quilters care Package”.  In it she20180615_195721_resized sent me some wonderful batik scraps.  I used some to make the applique on this block.  I had mentioned that I was going to be using batik scraps with my background fabric.  She sent me some other lovely items, that I will show later as I complete them.  She is one of the kindest people I know and it certainly brought a smile to my face.  It has already proven to be a very valuable resource.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

WaterMark_2018-06-16-19-42-48

 

An Oldie but a Goodie

So, this top had been stuffed in a storage bag for years.  I had it in my head that the quality of the maker (me) was bad.  So, I was going to turn it into a Duvet cover, because I could use another one of those.  I had been thinking about it for quite some time.  Decided I would use a flat sheet for the other side.  Spent several weeks looking to buy just a flat queen sheet.  Hardly anyone sells single sheets and I don’t have any queen beds at my house so it did not make sense to buy a set.

Well, found a sheet.  When I got this top out and hung it up, I decided that I liked it.  I even had some backing stuffed in the bag with it.  So, no Duvet cover until I dig up another top.  I will finish this one that is Circa 2002.

This past week at the local guild meeting, they had Lunn Fabrics in to go over how they make batiks.  I had no idea this company that makes Robert Kaufman batiks is right in WaterMark_2018-06-09-21-20-21my backyard (about an hour or so away).  The went over how they design their fabrics and had a slide show of how they are made.  They even make the white fabric.  IT was fascinating. I knew how they were made, but watching the slide show filled in a few gaps.  Then they brought stuff to sell, and surprisingly it was very reasonable.  I bought a 4 yard bag of blue scraps for $15.00 (this is the pile after I washed and ironed them).  There were no little tiny pieces.  I have already cut them all up for a blue batik scrap quilt.  More on that later.

I never get accomplished what I have planned.  My napping schedule is currently out of control.  One of the many side effects of Rheumatoid Arthritis is severe exhaustion.  This was a side effect I had not experienced, until the last few weeks.  I have been coming home from work and sleeping on the couch until I went to bed.  Then, this weekend I slept in both days, which is totally out of character for me. Sleep 12+ hours and still wake up totally exhausted.  It totally messes up your sewing schedule.  Hope everyone has a wonderful week.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

OMG and Fall into A quilt Along

qal_logo_abbie_designSo, I finished block #2 for the Fall Quilt Along.  I am trying to stick with the same background and all my small pieces of batik (AKA scraps).  Hoping it will come out nice.  I enjoyed making this block and find it pretty.  So far, they (partners in Design) are 2 of 2 with me.

For My June One Monthly goal, I am going to finish the star wars WaterMark_2018-06-04-19-54-42top.  It was originally intended as a donation quilt, but we will see what happens.  I found this two yard remnant of star wars fabric for $4.00.  It was all odd rectangles, so the best way I figured was to make odd 4 patch blocks.  It needs some sashing.  It is just sort of hanging there in strips, but I think it will be OK.  I thought about making my goal to complete it entirely, but I currently feel like laying on the coach a lot, so I am going to stick with finishing the top.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

Hand Quilt Along and more side sewing

So, because I get easily bored, I have sort of moved on to another hand project.   I actually finished this piece in just one evening.  I have plans to incorporate this into an under the sea quilt. I think (will have to look) that I have the fabric for this quilt.  I will have to hunt for it.  To see more fabulous hand work, please visit the ladies below:

Kathy, Margaret, Kerry, Emma, Tracy, Deb, Connie, Susan,  Nanette, Sassy , Edith, Sharon and Bella.

I also made these key chains.  My guild attends a festival in late summer that is a bigWaterMark_2018-06-03-20-04-20 fund-raiser for us.  They sell items that the guild members make and donate.  Being in central Ohio, I thought these key chains might be something that could sell.

Happy Sewing
Happy Quilting