Working on Stars

This week, I worked on my Star Quilt. I ran into a couple of problems. I cut the the pieces for these blocks last year. I carefully put them in a box and was going to get back to them. What I didn't do was put the different size pieces in different baggies.  I had some 2 3/4 in white squares and some 2 1/2 in white squares. Of course since I am just getting back to the quilt a year later, they got mixed together. So when I started making the blocks I was losing the defining points where the star points come together.

At first I couldn't understand it. I had totally forgotten about the smaller squares. I just sort of made up this pattern in my head and didn't write it out. It's still up there in my head but I didn't have instructions to remind me of the two different sizes.  So I pushed on and made another block. On this one the defining points looked better but the length of the star points were different.  Then I realized what had happened. I needed to go back and sort out the different sized white squares.

The only thing was I had already press all them into triangles. I didn't want to undo all of that work. At first I was just going to measure the sides of the triangles. But common sense took over and I pressed them all flat again. Then I measured them. I separated out the squares by size and placed them in baggies like I should have done last year.

I then folded the 2 3/4 inch squares into triangles once again to give me a diagonal mark to sew along.  As you can see in the picture I also decided I needed to pin the square in place. That should help me to keep the piece in place as I sewed. I figured wandering pieces were part of the problem.


I also replaced my 1/4 inch presser foot for my zigzag foot. That helped me to sew down the crease easier.  I had heard that it works better to sew one thread width to the side of the crease. You need to be careful that it is only about a thread width. Too much to the side of the crease you will loose the points as well.

I will need to put the 1/4 inch foot back on to sew the block together but for doing the star points, this just works better.

Another thing I am doing is checking the triangle before trimming and cutting.  I want to be sure that the side of the white triangle come at least even with the 5 inch square underneath. If not, I take out the stitching and redo it. I unpicked several seams this week. Usually because I was not taking the care I needed to while I was sewing. Isn't that usually the case with sewing errors. We are either rushing or distracted.

I was really glad that I started checking the points before trimming when I did this block. Although the pin is still in it, that block is actually sewn down. I went to fold it up and realized that the white triangles weren't meeting. I don't know how I managed to to pin it on the wrong corner but at least I caught it before I trimmed it.

I am still struggling with losing points but they are not as bad as when I first started. I have also figured out that the 5 inch pre-cut squares are not a full 5 inch square. They are about 1/16th of an inch smaller than the 5 inch white squares that I cut.  My friend Cindy did tell me that pre-cuts are not always accurate. Over the years I have found that everyone does not measure things the same way.  So next time I will make sure to measure the pre-cuts.

I have a four more blocks to make and then I need to Square them up.  At that point I will begin working on the sashing and corner stones. I am planning on making the corner stones into stars as well. I know that is a bit ambitious and I am sure it will be challenge but I am trying to get out of my comfort zone.

I still need to dig out the fabric and get the borders on the Christmas Lemonade quilt.  Millie is feeling lonely. Plus I really want to get that quilt done and I don't need to go several weeks without using the long arm.

Where are you with your projects?

A Satisfying Week

It has been a fairly busy week this week. Between work and home I feel pretty satisfied with how I used my time. I came close to getting out of work before I worked 9 hours just about every day except for Friday. I had to cover a line Friday and then needed to meet with my boss to prepare for the coming week. So I worked 11 hours Friday.  But still I worked fewer unpaid hours.  I hope I can keep this up.

At home I actually sewed or studied every day this week. That really helped me keep my spirits up even though my mouth was still sore and my asthma is trying to flare up. I have managed to keep from having a full blown attack and my mouth while still swollen is feeling better. I have not needed pain meds. for the last few days.

So what did I accomplish? This week I made 17 receiving blankets. Yes, I said 17. Now first of all I didn't do anything fancy. I cut flannel to 40 inch squares and then I serged the edges.

I started doing these about 5 years ago.  We had a family move into our branch at church who had basically lost everything. They were expecting a baby boy. A friend had mentioned that you could do large receiving blankets by serging the edges of flannel. I had flannel and a serger so I made some. I used to just serge each side and weave the tails in. Then when my girls started having babies I tried turning the corner, that didn 't work out all that well.

This time I took my circle ruler and rounded the corners. I think they look pretty darn good. I am especially pleased with the bumble bee ones. The yellow edge makes the whole thing pop. My oldest daughter, Chrissy is expecting a baby girl this week. (you know, Aliyah, the one the quilt is for.) But when I started buying flannel I didn't know that she was having a girl. I had the hardest time finding gender neutral baby flannel. The bumble bees were one of the pieces I bought. Later I found out she was having a girl so of course I went out and bought some girl themed flannel. That is partly why I made 17 receiving blankets.

The other reason is I had Tatianna with me, when I found some mother goose themed flannel. She tried to get me to promise that when she was having a baby I would make some receiving blankets out of this fabric. If she was expecting that would have been one thing. but she isn't married yet and in fact she isn't even dating any one. So the likely hood that fabric will be available when she was expecting is about nil. I decided to get double what I needed and make some for her to put in her hope chest. 


Then Tatianna found this really awesome little boy themed flannel. Of course we couldn't let that get away. I asked for enough to make 2 receiving blankets. That was all a couple of months ago.

This week when I started cutting the fabric a strange thing happened. Instead of four receiving blankets from the mother goose fabric I got six. Then instead of 2 receiving blankets from the animal flannel, I got 3. I did some calculations and realized I had gotten at least an extra yard of each one. I called Hobby Lobby to see how we could go about paying for the extra. They were rather stunned. I explained that when we bought the fabric the department was really busy and I think the sales person lost track of how many yards she gave us. I told them I didn't have the receipt anymore but would be more than happy to come in and pay for it. The manager thanked me profusely and said to just enjoy the fabric. So YAY for me.  I get a bonus and my integrity is intact.

Making these receiving blankets accomplished a couple of things. One the blankets are done and Aliyahs box is packed to go. Two, both Tatianna and Perigrine have added receiving blankets to their hope chests. Three, the flannel is taken care of and not cluttering up the studio. That opens up the way for me to get back to some of those UFOs.

I actually started back on the star quilt and finished up the first ten blocks. I hope to work on a block each night and get the blocks done in the next couple of weeks.  Then I am going to do Sashing and Corner stones. Since I want to turn the corner stones into stars, I plan on working on this quilts for a couple of months. I still need to get the borders and back for the Christmas Lemonade quilt so I can get that quilted.

I am feeling pretty satisfied with my month so far. It is amazing how being creative can make things go better. That being said I just found out I need to go into work early and cover a line. So i better close.

How is your month going? Are you getting the stress relief that being creative gives you? What are you working on.

A Week Full of Ups and Downs

Aliyah's Quilt

Wow, this week went by way too fast. I sure had a lot of ups and downs this week. I did not get everything I wanted to done this week but I still made progress. First and foremost Aliyah's quilt is done

 Monday went fairly well.  I needed to leave work in time to pick up Tatianna so she could make it to class. Which means I leave by 3:30 pm. That got me home about a quarter to 5:00 pm.  I managed to get the strips for the binding cut and sewed together.  I also got it sewn onto the quilt. One step closer to having the quilt done.

Tuesday I had to work late. I didn't get home until 7:30 pm. So no sewing or cutting. I did take the time to look through some quilt magazines that had been piling up. and straighten up in the studio a bit.

Wednesday, I didn't get home until after 6:00 pm. I had been having some tooth pain and I was exhausted. Still I managed to get the binding turned and clipped in placed. I love the Wonder Clips. They are so handy. 

Thursday, I went to the dentist and ended up having two teeth pulled. I was home by 1:00 pm but sure didn't feel like doing much.The whole left side of face was numb and my left eye was blurry.  But I had a couple of packages that I had ordered in December show up. I got 3 new fat quarter storage bags and a couple of fat quarters. So I spent Thursday afternoon folding fat quarters (some new, some old) and putting them away.

Friday, I cam home from work early. I should have called in. My Hubby dragged me shopping for meat processing stuff. When I got home, I read some more quilt magazines and cleaned up in the studio.

Saturday, I got the quilt binding stitched down in between helping with the deer processing.   And before going out to celebrate our 29th anniversary.  Dinner at Longhorn Steak house and a movie, Paddington 2.   I ate a chop steak to spare my poor sore mouth.

five new fat quarters

Today (Sunday), I slipped up. I went to get a few more supplies for the meat processing and picked up 5 fat quarters. In all fairness I had this Secret Santa gift, a Walmart gift card, to buy fabric with. It was from a non-quilter and was only $10.00. So It really wasn't my money I spent and I used it int the spirit it was given.  Also when I bought the fat quarters, I was thinking about using one of them for a quilt label for the quilt. But in the end, I found my printer sheets and just used the ink jet printer to make the label.

 So much for justifying breaking my resolution. Tatianna didn't let me get away with it either. So back to no more fabric purchases Unless I need it to finish a quilt.

my own design

About the quilt label, I didn't use the CD I bought. I have an Avery quarter fold card template on my computer.  (it is a free down load) I opened that template and added some clip art and made four labels on one of my June Tailor Sew-In Fabric Sheet for ink jet printers.  My label went with the quilt much better than the ones on the CD. Unfortunately, I hit print before I thought to typed in the words, which was really silly of me. But as I said I made a whole sheet and I wouldn't have any words for the other three labels yet. This way my hand writing is there for my granddaughter as well.

New Serger

I also set up my new Serger and watched the CD that came with it. I ran some practice fabric through it and got all the tension straight. Now to switch out the thread so I will be ready to put the edge on some flannel receiving blankets. 

Not a bad week, just not quite what I was hoping to get done.  Still I feel like I am making progress.
How about you?

Quilt Number Six - Aliyah's Quilt

I have quilted my sixth quilt on Millie. By far the best job I've done. It had been a while since I had done any quilting. I had been so discouraged after the Scrappy Braid Quilt that I was a little nervous doing this one. Especially since I had made slight modifications to Millie after the Scrappy Braid Quilt. I know I really didn't do anything that could affect the machine. It is just my silly paranoia.

This quilt is for my soon to be born granddaughter, Aliyah. I had these really cute charm packs and not a lot of time or inspiration. So I simply laid out the charms in a random 10 by 14 grid. I shifted blocks around to try and spread out the colors and prints. My design wall really came in handy for this. (still need to tweak the design wall, that paint can is holding it in place)

Then I got smart and took a picture of the lay out with my phone. Sometimes I get blocks turned around when I sew them together and this helped me keep them somewhat straight. I still managed to flip a set of blocks and didn't discover until a row later. So I rearranged the the rest of the blocks to still make it work. Then I took and another picture and paid closer attention to the lay out as I sewed.

I also was very careful about the quarter inch seam. I have a tendency to let the blocks slide to the left towards the end of the seam. I watched myself for this and my seams were much more accurate. If I did let the block slide, I went back and re-sewed the seam. (Not something I am prone to do.) These precautions gave me nice square blocks.

I also paid close attention to how I pressed the seams. I made sure I would have interlocking seams for the next row. I ended up with a fairly square and flat quilt top. Which made the quilting all the easier. 

Last week I had said I wasn't going to buy any fabric this year unless I needed it to finish a project. I am trying to use my stash and keep expenses down. So when I finished the top on New Years Day, I thought that I would need to buy fabric to finish it. I didn't think I had any pink fabric large enough to do the back. I planned on going to the store after work on Tuesday. I ended working late on Tuesday and went straight home after work. I figured I could get it on Wednesday.

Well, since I hadn't bought fabric, I thought it wouldn't hurt to look in the stash. I asked Tatianna to go look for some pink fabric. My stash is in her closet and she has rearranged it a few times. I also knew that I had the border fabric and backing fabric for the Christmas Lemonade quilt and I would need that next. The awesome news is that I did have 4 yards of 60 inch wide pink fabric in the stash. I didn't have to buy anything to make this quilt. I was able to make it all from supplies I had on hand.

Once I had the backing cut, I put the quilt on Millie and selected the pattern to quilt it. I chose an edge to edge pattern of 3 flowers that were kind of flowing. It took 5 patterns across and I grouped them in rows of four.  Then I did something different. I chose to quilt it in rows instead of as a single pattern. This made it easier to make placement corrections. I believe I will be doing this more in the future.

I actually did a good job of placement. The spacing looks really good. Plus after quilting all the rows, I had a small space at the end. It was about a third of the space needed for a row. I was able to place a row in the space that cut off the design at the end of the safe zone. So I don't have and blank spaces in the quilt.

This quilt was a pleasure to piece and a pleasure to quilt. I still need to bind the quilt and that will get done this week. But I am thinking I will do another one. I have 10 grand children who need quilts. I also have a bunch of 5" squares. I think I can do a couple more of these over the next few months and gain some more confidence in my quilting ability. But I still need to work on all those UFOs (Un-Finished Object) and NSYs (Not Started Yet), Like the Christmas Lemonade quilt. So I will work in the easy quilts in between the UFOs and whenever I need a win.

What did you accomplish this week?

Looking Ahead in 2018

Over the years I have collected all sorts of motivational/inspirational quotes for the new year. One of my favorites is "it is a universal law of physics, that if you are not growing, you are dying" Or how about the 3 essentials to happiness "someone to love, something to do, and something to look forward to" Or Simply "Show Up" and "Be Present" We can go sappy: "today is the first day of the rest of your life" or "live in the Moment" How about "make today count" or "yesterday is in the past move into the present" An Important one  - "Don't be so hard on yourself" and "Comparison is the thief of Joy" Maybe more practical - "use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without"

While I know these little quotes won't change my life, they can change my perspective if I let them. I have used them all at one point or another to remind myself about what is important. Right now I find them helpful in making my New Year's Resolutions. Better yet my New Years Quilting Goals. 

Let's start with - "If you are not growing, you are dying." It is easy to stay in your comfort zone. However if you don't ever stretch outside you limits you never progress. This year I am going to do at least one new technique. I have settled on paper piecing for this foray outside my comfort zone. I have several of the cake mix and cup cake mix cards and lots of layer cakes and 5" charm packs so this is where I will start.

Still with the growing - I am going to devote sometime each week to learning about quilt path and how to use it better. I expect this will be a Sunday afternoon process but could possibly be a week night. I am going to start with the Thread Waggle quilting blog. Hopefully I will get quilt path camp done as well.

Next let's move onto one of the 3 Essentials to Happiness namely "something to do" - I plan on sewing, quilting or prepping something every night. 20-30 minutes. It can simply be straightening up the studio or reading an article on quilting or studying something new on my machine. Just something to work on. Something that helps me grow and improve as a quilter

Let's pull another essential - "someone to love"; My Family of course.  I am going to show love to my family by quilting for them. Goal is the same as last year 3 quilts for family. I am giving myself a little break here. I did 4 last year but I don't know how things are going to play out at work, 3 is a number I feel I can achieve.

Let's not leave the last essential out - "Something to look forward to". I am going to help a friend make a quilt for her daughter. I am looking forward to introducing her to the quilting process and making an heirloom for her only child.

How about "don't be so hard on yourself" - this one I struggle with. I see every mistake in my work. Fortunately I have a son who reminds me that I am the only one noticing the mistakes. And if some one is scrutinizing my work than they don't need to even see the quilt let alone have it.

Onto "Comparison is the Thief of Joy" - I really don't have much of an issue with this. Back when I was doing decorative painting, I would have students who were constantly comparing their work to mine. I used to tell them that they were beginners and I had been painting for x number of years. It is not fair to them to compare their work to mine. I am pretty good at judging my work on it's merits. That is when I stop and think about where I started and how I have progressed. Plus I have plenty of friends who encourage me along the way.

Live in the Moment -  for this I am going with doing something that gives me a lift. doing a simple quilt to lift my spirit. enjoying the process of making something instead of forcing myself onto something I am not in the mood to do. I wanted to make a baby quilt for my soon to be born granddaughter. She is due in a couple of weeks. On New Years Eve, I started sewing together 5 inch blocks from some charm packs I had. It was exhilarating, it came together so nicely and I love how the top turned out. It was simple but enjoyable. I truly lived in the moment on this one. Now I just have to finish it.

Lastly "use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without" -  I have such a big stash that I don't even know what I have anymore. So for this year I am going to try and not buy more fabric unless it is to finish a project. I am also going to try not to buy supplies for any new projects. I have plenty to use this year. Bonus points for finding pink fabric in my stash to use for the back on my grand baby's quilt

So let's spell the goals out simply

1. Three quilts for family - can be started, especially finish UFO (UnFinished Objects) or NSY (Not Started Yet)
2. Complete three UFO or NSY - can be used for #1
3. Work on something 20-30 minutes each day. Can be sewing, Cutting, Prepping, Quilting or Studying -  a hold over from last year
4. Use what I have and only buy fabric to finish a project.
5. Document Quilts I have made, this is a hold over from last year.
6. Read The Technical part of the Thread Waggle quilt blog.
7. Try Paper piecing - use the cake mixes you have.
8. Do an easy project now and then. Life isn't all about learning.
9. Clean up after each project. it is easy to let things sit and then I don't get going on the next project.

Nine goals this year, some the same, some different. How about you? What are you working on?

2017 - The Year in Review

It's New Years Eve. Last year on New Years day I wrote about what I had gotten done and what I wanted to change. I set eight goals for the year. I have never been really good at keeping resolutions or even sticking to long term goals. So this is a bit of reckoning for me. 

The goals were:

1. Complete at least 3 quilts for family - can be ones already started.
2. Buy a long arm machine before the end of June.
3. Organize my studio before the end of February
4. Sew/quilt at least 20 minutes a night
5. Work fewer unpaid hours at work so I feel up to quilting
6. Write in my blog weekly
7. Document my quilts and who they were given to.
8. Start signing my quilts using labels.

Let's take them one at a time.

Killian's (Son)

Arianna & Victor's (daughter)

Just for practice

Goal 1 - Complete at least 3 quilts for family.  Accomplished!!!!!! I finished 5 quilts this year. Three were given to my children and one to my brother. One is just for practice.  Of the 5 quilts, two were started and completed this year (both of the around the rail fence quilts). Two were UFOs and I finally finished them after 3-4 years (Arianna & Victor's jelly roll race and Killian's scrappy braid). One was someone else's UFO that I am really glad I bought and finished off (the just for practice). I plan on keeping that one for myself since I didn't piece it but I may donate it to charity. I don't know yet.

Josh & Kara's  (son)

Steven's (Brother)

Millie

Goal 2 - Buy a long arm Machine before the end of June. Accomplished!!!! I purchased Millie at the end of February and had her set up and running by the beginning of April. Millie is an APQS Milineum. I went to on of their road shows in February and the deal they made was the deciding factor. I am really happy I bought her. Otherwise I would not have completed 5 quilts. I still much to learn about using her though.

Killian's shelf

Goal 3 - Organize my studio before the end of February.  Partially Accomplished!! This has been an ongoing nightmare. While I do have the studio organized, it is needing constant tweaking. Adding the built in shelf was a big help. Thanks to my son, Killian for taking that on. I have also purchased some storage items and made use of some things I had around the house such as baskets and an old gun rack. I expect that I will be tweaking the studio until I get to build one separate from the house.

baskets and tins

re-purposed gun rack

Goal 4 - Sew/Quilt for twenty minutes each night. Not even close. This is one area where I still need to improve. I don't even have a good excuse other than I am so tired when I get home. I started out fairly good but fell off after the third month. Typical resolution failure. Basically after I had the flu. I was behind at work and then dealing with other things and then needing to clean up the studio. It was a never ending cycle. So that will remain a goal this year.

Goal 5 - Work fewer unpaid hours this year so I feel like quilting. Partially Accomplished!! I have cut back on how many hours I work where possible. We now have a full staff. So I am really trying to keep it to 8 hours a day. The biggest issue I have is when people call in sick on second shift.  I have to cover the first half of the shift then my counter part is supposed to relieve me. That doesn't always happen on time. Hopefully there won't be too many days I have to work more than 8 hours. 

Goal 6 - Write in my blog weekly. Partially Accomplished!! As followers of my blog know, I haven't been to good about this. I posted 34 out of 52 weeks. Better than half in fact almost 2/3 of the year. The thing is there were a couple of months that I only posted once and a couple more that I only posted twice. Those were months that I was either very busy or sick or both. As a result I didn't do much in the way of quilting so I didn't blog.

Goal 7 - Document my quilts and who I have given them too. Not even Started. I have actually taken pictures of the ones I've done recently. I even have a book to put them in. I just haven't decided how I want toformat the pages. I will put an effort into getting this started in the first few months of 2018.

Goal 8 - Start signing my quilts and use labels. Accomplished!!!! I have been doing really good on this one. All the quilts I completed this year were labeled even the one I just practiced on. I am still hoping that my son will design a quilt label just for me. One that is more personal and reflective of who I am. In the mean time I will make do with what I have.

So all in all a pretty good year. I haven't decided on the goals for this year yet. That will happen on the first. Which is now! but I need to sleep so I will make those plans tomorrow.

How did you do?

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!!! 

Three Weeks Gone

I can't believe it's been 3 weeks since I last posted. Worst than that it's been 3 weeks since I quilted. Time has flown by and I have been terribly busy. I am currently trying to get my studio put back together. Too many non-quilting projects have been taking place in there.

One of which was a cookbook for church. I gathered recipes from members and former members of our little Cairo branch. The theme was suppose to be foods you use to celebrate. Any kind of celebration. The cook book turned out quite nice even if I say so myself. Plus one Sister gave me the recipes from an old candy cookbook the branch had done in the late 70's early 80's.She gave me a copy of the cover for it as well. I put those recipes in as their own section. I was very pleased with how it turned out. I was able to laminate the cover and bind the book thanks to an old friend who sent me an early Christmas present, a binding machine and a laminating machine, so I could "do it right". The cook book looked so nice that I kind of want to do another one for my family. But that is crazy talk right now.

Kim and a friend managed to get some deer. Killian and Perigrine managed to get it all cut up and in the freezer. We went heavy on stew meat. Tatianna finished up classes for the semester and is busy working. She has managed to get all the presents, we need to mail wrapped and boxed for mailing. But because of delays in things arriving, it looks like the presents will arrive the day after Christmas. Oh well, it just draws out the fun another day.

This past week, All of us in our house have been sick, despite getting flu shots. I am feeling a little better. Others are taking longer to recover. We did a lot of sleeping this week. But that is over now. We all need to be back at work in the morning.

Once I get the studio back in shape I need to get moving on a baby quilt. But that will have to wait for the week after Christmas. This week it's baking, candy making and decorating. Maybe I am over scheduled? Perigrine is going to have to pick up a lot of slack.

I hope my machines will forgive the neglect. Have you been able to keep your machines humming? Or did yours end up on sabbatical for the holidays like mine?