In the Mail

Today's post is all about mail.  Sending and receiving.  Mail - mail that is NOT bills, that is.  The kind of mail that is inherently good.  WH has even begun commenting on the fun little (and sometimes not so little) envelopes and boxes that come in the mail.  Today he greeted me with a big smile and "You got some more fabric in the mail today!"  Fun, fun, fun!

First, the outgoing mail.  I mailed the 27 A Blockwork Orange blocks to the swap mama.  I can't wait to get my 27 different blocks back!  How cool is that?  But, I do have to admit that I liked the blocks I made a lot...  I may have to make some more of them, since I didn't keep any.  I wonder if Elizabeth's pattern works in multiples of 9, or if 27 is optimum?  I'll have to check it out.

I also mailed BD#2's finished Sugar Rush quilt.  It is such a good feeling to finish a project and get it off to where it is supposed to go.  I hope she likes it as much as I do.

And I mailed these little guys, but I can't say where they went just yet.  Let's just say they are now winging their way all over the world.  Literally.

And in today's mail, I got my first two Grandmother's Flower Garden blocks for my GMFG quilt.  Aren't they pretty?

And I received the fabric for the blocks I am supposed to make for spontaneousthreads in the Christmas Fabric Bee.  She wants us to use the mod mosaic tutorial by Elizabeth Hartmann to create her blocks.  I've been wanting to try this, so it sounds like fun!

And a week or two ago, I received the fabric for the other two QBs in the CF Bee.  This one is for Fairly Merry.  Check out the pretty fabric for the center square.  The photo seriously doesn't do it justice.

And this package is for Singings - and has real silk in it.  Oh-so-elegant...  Just lovely!

And I thought it was amusing that when I put the three packages all together, they were in identical envelopes.  Funny, huh?  No wonder WH can tell when I get fabric in the mail!

And I've been neglecting telling everyone about the other cool mail I got.  BD#! sent me the most wonderful package the other day.  It was an assortment of Freebird by MoMo and Garden Party by Anna Maria Horner.  YUMMY!!!  And she also sent me a complete set of templates for my Single Girl quilt.  I really have to get going with that one.  I am so far behind....  It is awfully nice to have the templates cut though.  That much less work to do!

I also received my next-to-last set of charm squares in the Chronic Seamstress charm square swap.  So pretty.  The last ones were supposed to come from Louis in the UK and be Liberty fabrics, so I hope they come.  He said he mailed them way back in February.  I don't know of anyone who got squares from him, though.  Hope they're not lost!

 And I think I mentioned I got my order from Pink Chalk fabrics.  So fast.  And isn't it a great collection???  They were all on sale.  The Spirit charm squares were $4.48 and the other fabrics were all about the same per yard.  I could have bought more (oh yeah!) but I exercised a great deal of restraint and stuck with adding to my collections rather than embarking on something new.  In this lot is the Weekends by Erin McMorris, It's a Hoot by MoMo, and one piece of Central Park, because my LQS doesn't have any of the Lawn Zoo, for some reason.  To me, it's the piece de resistance of the entire collection.  Go figure.

Finally, I "won" this ugly fabric in the Save the Uglies giveaway.  I don't think there were many entrants, but I'm going to go ahead and try to make something beautiful out of this.  I actually think the dark brown is kinda nice, but the orange-ish fabric has Halloween words on it.  I decidedly do not want to make a Halloween quilt.  Do you think I can cut pieces small enough that the words are just random letters, and not words like "trick or treat" or "pumpkins"?  We'll see...

Progress Report

Yesterday's post presented my "to do" list for the weekend.  It was filled with UFOs.  Only 5 items, but one had a deadline and one had been languishing here since Christmas.  Another one was (is) a problem child and the fourth was the simplest of tasks.  The last one (these are how they are now ordered in my brain, but not necessarily in the order I listed them for completion yesterday) is just too creative for an everyday sewing day.  I am afraid this last one needs the extra burst of adrenaline that a deadline presents in order for me to actually get to work on it.

So here is the progress report....

The Central Park Whirly Wheels quilt is finished!!! (Please say "Yay!")  This is the one with a deadline and needs to be at Pensacola Opera by Tuesday.  I thought it would be a simple matter to complete the quilt - after all the top was done, and it didn't take any time at all to fix my mistake with the cornerstones.  But sadly, when I laid the quilt on the floor to start the "sandwich" process, my backing was 2 inches too small all the way around.  I finally decided to piece a center strip for the back.

I used the fabrics I had the most of along with a few random squares to break up the monotony.  I put a Lawn Zoo square smack dab in the middle, just for grins.

Then there was the label fiasco.  I tried to do a label with my Sharpie marker on a piece of white broadcloth, but that was a mess.  I KNOW I bought label fabric, but could I find it???  No, of course not - at least not until I had already done something else.  Said label fabric has since been located and is still in its virgin packaging, waiting for me to lose it again for next time.

Meanwhile, my printer was out of black ink.  I found a tutorial on the net on how to use an inkjet printer to create quilt labels, but it only referenced black ink.  Naturally, this required a trip to Office Depot.  WH says that Wal-Mart is cheaper, but there is no way I would go near that place at 1:00 on a Saturday afternoon!!

I finally created a fabric label with a piece of Heat N Bond, a piece of broadcloth, and (since the printer apparently didn't like the weight of that combo) a piece of cardstock stitched to the top.  That actually fed fine, and my printed labels turned out pretty well.  I used a scrap to bind the edges and sewed them on the quilt before it was quilted.  I'm still not sure I like it, but I couldn't think of a way to sew it on after it was quilted except to hand sew it, and that is always just a last resort for me.

Anyway, once I got the label done, it was on to the quilting.  This quilt is so busy, I thought it really needed a less-is-more approach, so I just quilted the sashing and the main part of the pinwheels.  Still, it took me 3 hours or more to quilt it.  I really hate the quilting part....  Well, no, I love to see a quilt when I'm finished, but I always feel like I just wrestled a bear when I'm done.  There's just no easy way to maneuver all that fabric through the throat of my machine without getting a major workout in my arms and shoulders.

So, I'm glad it's finished.   And I really like it.  I hope the folks at the auction do too - and pay big money for it!

I finished CPWW early enough in the evening that I decided to go ahead and work on project number two.  This is a quilt BD#2 and I started at Christmas.  Santa gave her a Fandango charm pack in her stocking, and she decided to make Camille Roskelly's Sugar Rush quilt with it.  The pattern was designed for jelly rolls - not charm packs - so we had to make a lot of it up as we went along.  BD#2 pieced the top herself up to the 1st borders.  We didn't get to the scallops, so I did those and the 2nd border a few weeks ago after work one night when I was feeling creative.  I think I thought it would be super hard, but it was actually very easy.  I really like doing the blanket stitch on the machine.  It was really fun.

This little baby was already sandwiched, and just waiting to be quilted.  I hadn't made a label yet, so I made it at the same time I made the CPWW label.  I didn't realize until I made the label that Fandango is a Kate Spain fabric too.  I must really like her!

This fabric is also very busy, but the white in the scallop calms it down a lot.  I had fun playing with different quilting techniques.  The squares are done with FMQ in what is essentially a quotation mark design.  I don't know if that's a bona fide FMQ technique or not, but it is what it is.


The gold is FMQ'd around the flowers, sort of.  Or maybe you'd call it a pebble stitch.  Maybe.  The white part of the scallop is loosely quilted in rows that start out echoing the scallop but gradually get to be more shallow.  The green part of the scallop exactly follows the curve of the scallop 1/2" apart.  The bottom has 7 rows and the top has only 5.  Why, you ask?  I don't know, I just felt like changing it up a little.

This photo is remarkably good considering I took it with my phone!  Why is she taking pics with her phone when she has a perfectly good, in fact really awesome, camera?  The battery is dead.  What!  It has to be charged?  Who knew?

The backing is quilter's flannel.  BD#2 wanted it to be WARM.  I can't really blame her considering it was -18 or something in Idaho this winter.  Of course it's a little late in the season, but I think she'll find this baby is warm enough!  Once again, though, the piece of fabric I had wasn't big enough to fit the top, so I had to improvise.  This one has a pieced border all the way around the back. 

Since I mostly had FQs of this fabric, the binding is pieced too.  I got a little carried away when I was making the binding...  I think I could have used it to bind TWO quilts.

The Sugar Rush pattern has 3 flowers appliqued on the front, and I really didn't like the way the flowers looked.  I thought it was just too busy.  To me, the flowers just seemed to blend right into the background, so I was going to try some solids for the flower scallops.  I did have an alternate plan, but in a text message conversation, BD#2 said she liked it just the way it was.  It's her quilt, and who am I to argue with her?

At her request, I stitched them on and another project finito completo!  (Say "Yay!" again, please!)

The third project didn't take long at all.  I got those 27 blocks squared in no time.  Here is my pile of shavings.  They seem almost too pretty to throw away.  The blocks are in the mail tomorrow!!  (Please say "Yay" for the third time - thank you!

  Sadly, I did not get to either of my other two projects.  I spent a lot of time thinking about how to finish the Kumari Gardens place mats.  I still really want them reversible.  I kept thinking, if only I had about a yard of a pretty floral, I would just put it on the back and they would be reversible.

Well, lo and behold, what should arrive in yesterday's mail but my Pink Chalk fabric order.  (They were having an awesome sale last week on fabrics I've been eying for months!!)  And what should be in that order but some Erin McMorris Weekends.  And for some unknown reason, I bought a whole yard of it. 

I think this will look durn cute on the back of those placemats.  I was about ready to slice into it when I realized everything else was pre-shrunk, but this wasn't.  I didn't want to take a chance, so into the washer it went.




I didn't get to the mini-quilt at all, but I have the idea rolling around in my head.  Unfortunately, what's in my head doesn't always execute as well as I would like.  Oh, well.  I'll get to that.

What I did do was make 3 of the cutest little hexi needlebooks from this tutorial.  They were easy, and pretty fun! I think mine are a little larger than the tutorial, but I didn't measure.  I just cut down a hexi pattern I had from another project.  The appliques are from some sewing themed fabric I bought a couple of months ago

They were easy, and pretty fun!  Easy as

 One...

Two...

Three!

UFO Weekend

Here is my list for this weekend...

Finish the Central Park Quilt for the Opera - i.e., back, bind and quilt.

Finish quilting and bind the Fandango Sugar Rush quilt.

 Square up the A Blockwork Orange blocks so I can get them in the mail.

NOTE:  A Blockwork Orange is a Flickr group based on Oh Fransson's tutorial found at the link above.

Finish my mini quilt for the Flickr Mini QT swap.

 Finish my sister's birthday gift (I'm fairly confident that Sis is not a blog reader.)






I promise myself that I will not start anything new until I finish at least these 5 UFOs.  I know there were more things on my list, but if I get these done, I can celebrate.

A Mystery Solved

Last weekend in this post, I mentioned that I was making a quilt from Kate Spain's Central Park for the Pensacola Opera's silent auction.  The quilt is a Moda Bake Shop recipe, and it went together like a dream.  Except that I ended up being 3 inches short of enough rick rack to finish the borders.  It bothered me all week.  Everything else about this recipe was awesome.  I bought the materials that were suggested.  Why was I short??

After a trip to JoAnn's on Monday and a couple of evening events this week, I finally got the last border sewn on Thursday evening.  And it bothered me.  It just looked weird.  The rick rack was sewn into the seam and it just didn't look right.  Wish I'd taken a picture.

Naturally, I did what I should have done last weekend when it didn't work - I went back and re-read the directions.  Usually I'm pretty good about this, but apparently not last weekend.  The borders were made to have cornerstones! Lovely little squares set in the corners to accent the borders.   I totally missed that!  My only defense is that I don't have a place for the computer in the sewing room and my printer is out of ink, so I was running back and forth to grab one instruction at a time and remember it long enough to complete the task before I forgot.  THIS instruction, though, I totally missed.  Nothing to do but rip it out and fix it.

And I like it a LOT better!  It's amazing what can happen when you follow the instructions!

The quilt is turning out better than I had hoped.  I only had a half yard of the brown zoo animal border (called Lawn Zoo, oddly enough) so I made a narrow (1-1/2 inch finished) border instead of the 3-1/2 inch border called for in the pattern.  That was a calculated deviation from the recipe.  I hope to get this guy backed, bound, and quilted tomorrow.

So now I have 4 little squares of fabric with rick rack sewn down the middle, another strip about 45 inches long with rick rack sewn down the middle, a little yardage, and the rest of a jelly roll.  And, my LQS carries Central Park.  Maybe I'll make another quilt.  Tonight, BD#! told me that Heather of  {House} of Ala Mode is doing a quilt benefit for Japan.  Maybe I'll make another quilt to donate.  Why not?

A Weekend Blogger

As I approach my 100th post - I think this is #82 - I have been thinking a bit about my little blog.  I think I am mostly writing to myself, my kids, and a few dear kind souls who have become followers, and I am thinking about the fate of this foray into blogdom.  I really want to contribute something to the quilt/craft world.  There are so many talented folks out there who have shared so much with me on their blogs, and I would kind of like to give something back.  The blog is also a diary of sorts of what I've been working on and accomplished.  And it's a fun way to record my swapping "sents" and "receiveds".

But I have realized one thing...  I am primarily a weekend blogger.  I work 40+ hours a week.  And by the time I get home, I am often too exhausted to craft/quilt/sew.  It's a sad thing, but true.  

So, if you are one of the kind souls who actually read this, check back on Mondays.  It's likely there'll be something new.

And watch for something fun on post #100.

49 Blocks

I am a little bit proud of myself.  Just a little bit.  This was a 49 block weekend.  Let me explain...

I started the weekend with only one goal - to finish the Central Park baby quilt I am making for the Operazzi Ball auction.  One of the other ladies knits a sweater, booties and a hat, and I make a quilt.  This time, I decided to use a jelly roll and a recipe I found on Moda Bake Shop.  It is cheerful and fresh, and I really like it.  There was just one little problem  I ended up about 3 inches short  of enough rick rack to finish the inner border.  So, this little project will have to wait until I can go back to JoAnn's and get another couple yards of rick rack, since I don't want to piece it.

The blocks for this quilt went together like a dream.  I guess that is one of the benefits of using a jelly roll.  It was really fun to make.  it is so much fun to sew on luscious fabric that looks beautiful and feels soft and yummy.  This quilt top took 20 blocks.

On another note....I am participating in a First Time Bee, and this is my month to be Queen Bee (reminds me of a Mary Engelbrite drawing!).  While I was contemplating what to do for "my month", we had an email conversation in the Charm Square Swap about quilts we had known and loved.  Ah, nostalgia!  Which made me think about my favorite quilt of all time - probably because it is wrapped around memories from childhood like the warm blanket it is.

When I was little, my family had a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt that my Dad's grandmother had made for him.  I'm not even sure which grandmother, but the quilt was one of only two that my family owned, and the other was sadly abused (but I digress).... It was made of old shirts and dresses and who-knows-what  and was tied together by the loveliest peach-ish border of hexies between the flowers.  And I loved that quilt. Maybe it's the reason I love quilts and love to quilt.  Anyway, I would have gladly slept under it every night, but my mom only let me have it when I was sick.  Fortunately (well, maybe not - my mother certainly didn't think so) I was sick a lot.

After my mom died, the quilt was lost.  I asked my sister when I visited last summer if perhaps she was in possession of this heirloom quilt, but alas, no. 


Anyway,  at some point in the last month or two, I decided I really wanted to make a GMFG quilt of my own.  So approached the other ladies in the bee and suggested a Grandmother's Flower Garden block and they were willing!  I was so excited!  I'm not sure yet if the quilt will be a traditional GMFG quilt (there is a beautiful example here) or something that showcases the blocks made by my bee friends (maybe like this) but either way, I'm sure I'll love it.  So, since Handsome Son was visiting this past week, I spent more time than usual sitting in the den watching things like basketball.  This was a great opportunity to work on my Grandmother's Flower Garden Blocks.  I managed to get two of them put together this weekend.  I always thought they would be difficult and tedious, but I find I really like making them.  The teflon templates make it so easy to get them exactly the right size, and that makes them a breeze to put together.  Hexies are a great way to use my scraps.  I don't know that the volume has diminished appreciably yet, but I have high hopes.

Two more blocks completed this weekend.

I am also participating in A Blockwork Orange block swap.  This swap is based on Oh Fransson's tutorial.   The idea is that you send in however many blocks you want to get back.  The truth is, though, that I like these blocks so much that I'm tempted to keep them all and make my own quilt.  Hmmmm...

One...

Two...

Three...

So, all in all, it was a pretty productive weekend.

Accomplished:  49 quilt blocks.  Not bad!

Spools

I've been doing a lot of sewing/quilting lately.  When I went to throw out my sewing trash a couple of weeks ago, this is what I found.  That is a lot of empty spools.  I'm pretty sure most were new spools since the first of the year, because I always seem to be running out of white thread. 

Recently BD#1 and I had a discussion about thread.  She got a new Bernina for Christmas (sweet!) and has been taking the classes that go along with her purchase.  She said the teacher had mentioned that thread is an important consideration...  something about European machines doing better with thread that has a left twist and American made thread has a right twist.  Who knew?  Anyway, as you can see, I've been going through  thread like crazy lately, so I decided to take her advice and try Mettler thread.  To me, it's biggest advantage was that it is an 850-yard spool, which is about 60% bigger than any that C&C offers.  So, since JoAnn's recently had a 50% off deal on thread, I bit the bullet. 

Mettler doesn't have as many colors as C&C, but if all I'm doing is piecing quilt tops and making blocks, who cares?  White is white, right?

And I noticed an interesting thing.  I don't get nearly as much lint in the bobbin case with Mettler thread.  That was unexpected.

And I really do like the larger spools. 

Now if I could just get bigger bobbins to work in my machine.