Four Chevrons

This project is moving on nicely.  My goal is to try to finish a project instead of shelving it for long lengths of time.  OK .... you can get off the floor from laughing too much!  If anything, I'm good to provide you with your laugh for the day!  LOL

This is my fourth length all trimmed up and ready for final measuring.  Being careful not to stretch the bias edges, my piece is laid out on the floor using the blue tape as a guide for top and bottom and some weights (yellow discs) to keep the length from moving around.  My flooring is also being used as a guide to help keep the piece straight and not wonky.

At the top end, my ruler is used to mark where I need to make the cut.  This is so much easier than trying to measure with a tape measure.

There they are, all four lengths of chevrons.  The vines and leaves that you see are all sewn down.

 My last pile of strips are ready to go to make the final length.

Oops .... how did that machine get in the way?  It will be there for a while as the bedroom adjacent to my studio is getting insulation added to the outer walls and everything in there has been moved out and my studio is now a dumping ground.  So, I will have to find a new place to put my design wall for photo taking.

I have decided to put circles instead of leaves at the end of each vine.   Different circle sizes were auditioned, but this size seems to work the best.

See these rulers?  They are my most favourite rulers at the moment.  They are for cutting leaves but I saw a different idea for their use.  Vines.  The larger ruler was used for the layout of my vines and gosh, does it work really well.

A close-up of the name just in case you want to search them out too.

A few UFO's that need vines in the borders will be pulled out and marked up.  They were stalled because it was just too much work (and it made my head hurt with all the figuring and measuring and uggggh) to try and get the vines marked.  This will now make that job much easier and I will be able to finally get those UFO's done.  Happy dance time! LOL

Have a great day!

Chevrons

So ..... well ..... darn ..... I did it again.  Started a new project.  Chevron Legacy.  I have been drooling over this pattern since I first saw it.  We are talking serious drooling.

It is in McCall's Quilting November/December 2013.

Before my other scrap project even has outer borders on it, I was pulling scraps and cutting to my heart's content.  The cutting took longer because enough strips were cut into five piles for each length in the pattern.  Extra time in the beginning, but quicker later at the sewing stage.  Then the sewing started.

My Strofoam board comes in handy for laying out the strips to see how well they will look before any sewing is done.

Masking tape on the floor is handy for me to see when to stop sewing on strips and the trimming to size can start.  Very handy indeed.

On a good day, a length can be sewn.  A few strips here and there were removed and replaced after they had been sewn together.  The replaced fabric just did not go with the look or it was just too close to the same fabric that was exactly in the same place on another length.  It is a bit tricky to replace one strip in the middle, but it can be done carefully.

After doing this project and the American Wildflowers, my bin has greatly reduced in size.  This bin was full before these two projects even started.  Oh my word, how wonderful to see this.  Is my bin half full or half empty?

Well, it doesn't matter which way I want to think about it, because this trunk that has been hiding scraps has been emptied into that plastic bin and we are back to being full again.

 See .... full again!  I'm sure that another new project will have me dipping into those scraps again.  There are still another three bins of scraps waiting in the wings once this bin has been reduced in size. LOL  The scraps never end and they seem to multiply on their own, but Lordy, what treasures they can be made into.  Scrappy quilts.  Gotta love scrappy!

Before I can even think about playing  sewing, Miss Ashes is on a mission ..... she wants treats!  See the stare.  She is definitely on a mission.

Have a great day, eh!

Nine patch wonder

Well .... I finally got the binding sewn onto this quilt.  The machine quilting was finished back in February 2017.  This is so unusual for me not to get a binding on right away.  Oh well, it is finished and that is all that matters.  Simple nine patches with patch sashing.  Simple as that.

 The backing is made up of three different pieces of flannel.  They look washed out in this photo.

 This is more like the vibrant colours in the one piece of flannel.

For making labels, I stretch and pin my label onto a piece of Styrofoam board and then write my information.  The label doesn't move as I write and I no longer have to use a piece of freezer paper on the back to write.  This way is quicker too.  Just pin and write.

Label sewn onto the backing.

 My machine quilting is just simple straight lines.  Washed and crinkly.  Love it.

 Another view of the stitching.  Simple lines.

Simple patches.  Lordy, as I write this post, the light bulb went on.  That is the name of this quilt.  "Simple Patches".  I will need to get out my permanent marker and add that to the label.

Without further ado, the quilt was stretched slightly and pinned onto my Styrofoam board and the words added to the label.  Done.

I love simple quilts.  Also, complicated quilts.  Makes life interesting.

Quilt info.:
Started - Jan. 27, 2015
Finished - April 5, 2017 (only took 2 yrs. and 3 months to finish) LOL
Top Size - 58-1/2" x 86-3/4"
Finished Quilt Size - after machine quilting and wash and dry - 57" x 84-1/2"
Pattern Source - me, myself and I
Patch size - 5" x 5" finished.
Batting - 80/20 cotton/poly
Machine quilted by me using my domestic sewing machine.

Have a great day!

Fast or what?

While going through books and magazines to thin them out for donation, I came across this pattern in McCall's Quilting March/April 2015.  What a perfect pattern to use up my 2-1/2" scraps!

I started working on this on Mar.22 (I keep a journal, so I know when start dates happen).  A bout with a stomach bug that was going around had me grounded for a number of days.  Then I got back to working on the blocks on Mar. 29 (as per my camera date).  This photo was taken at 10:37 a.m. that morning.

Plugging away at it off and on that day, this was taken at 10:43 p.m. that night.  Holy scrap, this is fast ... fast for me, that is.   I can't believe how much got done in one day!

I thought the blocks were all made, but when I looked at the layout, I was short by 5 blocks.  My husband was in my studio when the shortage was discovered and he asked if I had enough fabric to make the remaining blocks.  Well .... I laughed until I almost chocked.  Did I have enough fabric?  LOL LOL LOL

Then, slowly the setting triangles, corners and flange got made and the rows sewn together.

A week later and borders are being auditioned.

My big scrap bin has reduced in size.  Bonus!  I have almost a top.  Double bonus!

Have a great day!