Month: April 2022

Take a Stand Start

Take a Stand cut pieces
Take a Stand cut pieces

Finally, I started the three Take a Stand totes. Yes, I decided to make three.  I had all the supplies and, of course, plenty of fabric, but just couldn’t start cutting. I went on Saturday to sew with a friend and that was the impetus I needed to do the cutting.

One bag is due next month so I focused on making sure I had all the pieces for that. I am just waiting for one piece of webbing for that one, but it is already on its way, so I am not worried.

Take a Stand Straps
Take a Stand Straps

I am not making straps out of fabric.  I am using Tula Pink’s webbing. I wish ByAnnie’s patterns would say “if you are using webbing, start here –>”. Of course, I have only used webbing twice (this time and for the APfE v.2. Still, I am a convert. I really like it. Tula has fun colors, but they are not for every instance. I’ll have to explore some of the other colors available.

I am resigned to all the prep ByAnnie bags take. I am trying to teach myself not to want to get to the end as ASAP as I seem to demand of myself. It is that old problem for my brain of process vs. product. I can’t seem to get over it, though I do try.

I ran out of Soft & Stable so there are a few pieces of that I need to cut. Since I have that deadline, I quilted as many pieces as I could.  I have now started sewing. I want to do the three at once, but have to get the one done.

Swan Gift

Swan Bag gift
Swan Bag gift

I received a surprise gift the other day from my friend, Amanda. She sent me this fantastic swan bag. It is kind of amazing, because not that long ago Friend Julie and I were talking about the plethora of swan fabrics that have recently appeared.

I really like this fabric. The swans are so delicate looking. DH commented that it would be cool to make a bag shaped like the motif of the swan.

The swan’s neck could be the handle and the swan body could be the body of the bag. Definitely something to think about.

Half Hexie Fills in the Gap

Half Hexie to date
Half Hexie to date

Because of the light La Pass month, I have been working quite a bit on the Half Hexie Star. It is not as fun as La Pass, but I do want to get it done. I have put so much work into the piece that abandoning it is not an option.

I looked at the piece on the living room floor and it might almost be wide enough as well as long enough. Both ends need some filling in.  Two columns on the right (photo top left) need to be finished.

Half Hexie column in process
Half Hexie column in process

I am pretty sure it is long enough, but it is definitely not wide enough. First, I assembled as many stars as I could, then I started adding stars to the larger piece. Most of those were foreground stars.

The column on the left (photo right) consists of the stars I have added. The background column to the right of the new stars is pretty complete, so I can add a number of stars and keep my hands busy in the evening.

Half Hexie fill ins required
Half Hexie fill ins required

Soon, I found that I didn’t have any of the white with dots I am using as background stars, so I had to cut more of those. I didn’t have enough paper, which meant I had to remove some of the papers from the larger piece. I like the structure leaving the paper in gives, but needs must. I also ordered some more papers from Paper Pieces.

I started assembling more of the background stars over the weekend. I’ll figure out where to insert them as soon as I get several. I’ll need to cut more fabric and assemble more of the background stars.

La Pass month 10 will be here soon, so I’ll put this back on the back burner except for cutting background fabric.

Clematis Inspiration

Tim's Clematis
Tim’s Clematis

I saw this flower at a friend’s house over the weekend and just loved it.

I really want to draw it and play around with the lines.

I thought it was a Stargazer Lily, but after searching I found it was a Clematis. This one looks a little different than the others on the web, but I still think it is a clematis. I wonder how it would do in my yard, if I would need to pamper it too much. I’d love to look out into my backyard and see these giant blooms.

Thinking about EPP

Green Hills Country Club tile
Green Hills Country Club tile

I went to a luncheon the other day and the restroom had beautiful tile. It was also in very good condition. As mentioned, I am thinking about what project to make after. I am not very inclined to design my own EPP.

However, looking at these tiles makes me think about how I would go about making the design using EPP. It might be fun to make one block.  The single tile would be a great design.

 

Green Hills Country Club tile
Green Hills Country Club tile

I really like the ease of the EPP BOM. Lots of hand stitching, but relaxing, because I don’t have to do much. In an ideal world, they would set up another Wilynne Hammerstein design as an EPP, but who knows? La Passacaglia is the best known.

Charming Donation Finished

Charming donation quilt finished!
Charming donation quilt finished!

As mentioned the other day, I missed the March Guild meeting, but Joelle’s kindness and effort in posting the show and tell PDF allowed me to find a few quilt tops I made that were finished. I mentioned the 16 Patch Plus quilt the other day. I also saw that Joelle quilted the Charming Donation Quilt. It shows up in my 2020 donation quilts and blocks post as well.

I feel so happy when I see the finished quilts which were my tops and backs. Thanks to Joelle for quilting it! She used really intricate and interesting quilting motifs.

16 Patch Plus Finished

16 Patch Plus donation quilt
16 Patch Plus donation quilt

I missed the March Guild meeting, but Joelle was kind enough to post the PDF of show and tell. There I found a finished donation top I made in 2020, the 16 patch Plus quilt. It shows up in my 2020 donation quilts and blocks post as well.

I feel so happy when I see the finished quilts which were my tops and backs. Thanks to Lee Ann for quilting it!

Orange Bullseye

I thought the last bullseye I sewed with Julie and Adrienne was Passionate Purple. I looked back on my blog and found that the Original Bullseye was actually the last one that I finished. I am not sure when I started that one, but from my various blog posts, it sounds like I had stuck it somewhere and then found it again. The Original Bullseye was part of the project with Adrienne and Julie, but it was the kernel that started the whole Bullseye project.

Passionate Purple, Feelin’ Blue (I don’t think I actually wrote a post when this quilt was finished), and Seeing Red are all part of the series.

We are now working on an orange bullseye. We will cut 48 squares of fabric at 10″ and then send them on to the next person, who will add a circle and send it on to the third person who will add another circle. Then the squares will come back to each of us. We will add another orange circle, cut the blocks into 4 and keep two. The other two quarters will be sent to each other.

Orange You Glad squares
Orange You Glad squares

Friend Julie has also started cutting and I think she landed on a good name, Orange You Glad. I have finished cutting my squares, but will press them so the centers are clear and to make it easier for my team members to line up their second circles. I cut my squares bigger so I can square them up, if necessary, later.

I also started cutting the small squares for the last  round. I am getting ahead of myself, but I couldn’t help myself.

In order to find enough squares, I rummaged through my entire fabric closet. I found a lot of orange in random places and will take this opportunity to rearrange it.

I am considering the strip for the binding, though it isn’t quite the right color. I’ll have to see once the top is done.

Orange You Glad?

Entering the Fair

After a two year hiatus, I entered the County Fair. I entered 3 items and hope I get free tickets.

My three items are:

I kind of wanted to enter more things, but wasn’t sure what else to enter or I don’t have the thing anymore. Also, I am busy, I don’t have time to figure out all the divisions, etc, especially now that they are only giving prize money for first place. Phooey on that! I really wanted to enter Flying Around, which has had no outing at all. It was, however, finished in 2019 and that seems like a long time ago in Fair years.

Yellow Improv Donation Quilt

One of the good things about writing my 26 Projects posts is that I sometimes find projects I forgot to write about. This is one of those times.

Yellow Improv Donation Top
Yellow Improv Donation Top

I can’t believe I forgot to tell you about the Yellow Improv donation quilt. Yes! I finished it. I was super happy to do so. Peggy already has it and I think someone already decided to quilt it.

I am not fond of those big chunks on the left, but I used every yellow scrap I had so I had to get some yardage out to use.

The piece turned out ok. I am not a huge fan of yellow.  Still, I am glad I did it.

Easter Napkins

Easter napkins
Easter napkins

The Easter fabric I bought at Just For Fun in Vancouver, Washington (haven’t written about it yet, but have photos) was intended for masks. I bought all the other fabric at Pioneer Quilts. I decided to make napkins instead, because most places want us to wear N95 masks.

I don’t like making napkins, but I made it a little easier on myself by 1) adjusting my attitude and 2) rounding the corners. Rounding the corners meant that I didn’t have to pivot while using a fancy stitch, which made the whole process go faster.

I used the 2.5 inch circle from the Creative Grids Circle Set** to trim the corners of a fat quarter to a round shape. I would have done well to also use a rotating mat** while I cut using the circle, but I didn’t have mine handy. Acrobatics were required.

I found the 2.5 inch circle to work really well. It looks pretty good in terms of shape and size and, as I said, made sewing pretty much a breeze. I don’t know why I didn’t do it sooner.

I used different fabrics on the back, so we can tell them apart. We use cloth napkins all the time, but only change them out about once a week unless something happens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops. However, I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.

Finished Sew Day Donation Top

Sew Day Donation top
Sew Day Donation top

Mary and I did finish the top at Sew Day. I brought it home to make a back and will be handing it in today at the meeting.

I am pleased with how this came out. The ugly bits we started with turned into a really great quilt. It isn’t made from the colors I would normally use, but I am pleased with the result.

I am also pleased with how many of the orphan blocks and chunks we were able to use up overall during Sew Day. Sadly, none of the shards I brought were used. There is always next time.

Mary wants to do another with me next time, which I think will be great fun.