Getting the applique done

Amazing how one border proceeded to two borders done!

Then a third border soon followed.  I am on a mission to get this done quickly.   As I was looking at this photo before download, it was noticed that some of the plain blocks on the outer part may need to be changed around a bit.  In this photo it seems that the right hand side looks a bit darker than the left side.  Best to fix this now before it heads out to a LAer.

In case your are wondering how I deal with the bulk while appliqueing, this is what I do.  The body of the top is folded just shy of the border (so that it doesn't interfere when I'm ready to do applique) and pinned in place.  It is easier this way to tame the bulk and do my applique without shuffling all the top each time I need to move the top in order to applique better.

Have a great day!

Blog break and Miss Hank

I'll be taking a break from blogging and will return in the New Year.  There is just too much going on in my life right now and not much sewing.

Before, I go ... here is just a sneak of my progress with my Angles and Squares top. There is a navy blue border still to be sewn on, but this is it for now.  I'm very pleased with the way this has turned out. 

 

Here is a tip for those of you wanting to have your stripes going the same way (excuse my blurry shot)  for each HST block ....

 

When marking your blocks for HST, just have your lines drawn as shown below (on the cream squares). 

For those of you wondering about the status of Miss Hank .... well, I think this photo speaks for itself!  Miss Hank is back to being the dominant kittie and has put Miss Ashes back in her place with just a stare.

We still need to keep an eye on Miss Hank for any relapses and she will be going back to the vet's for tests in the new year.  Her fur is starting to have a beautiful shine once again.

Have a great day!

An UFO ...

I have never talked much about my Granddaughter's Flower Garden hexagon project, until I was recently asked about it.  So, it is time that it came out-of-the-closet.

The pattern came from an on-line blog and the only link that I have to this pattern is here.  When I tried linking back to the original souce, the link to the pattern has disappeared. 

This is the how my hexagon should look ....

... but knowing me, it got changed.  :o) 

Since moving here, two hexagons got sewn together and the bottom one is almost sewn together.  Usually, one hexagon can be completed in an evening ... if I put my mind to it.

 

These pouches (which were bought at a $ store) hold the workings for my hexagons.

The yellow pouch holds all the basted pieces needed to make one hexagon.  With all the different tabs, this pouch can hold quite a number of hexagons to be sewn.  Yikes .... down to one hexagon .... time to make more.

My green pouch has all the pieces for basting using the English Paper Piecing method and I like how the individual compartments hold the different colours of fabric, the paper templates, etc.  This is a great way to keep me organized.

Also, making hexagons is a great travel project and after the addition of a small pair of scissors, a pin cushion, pins, needle and a spool of thread, this project and pouch is travel-ready.

Have a great day, eh!

Now what?

I have been merrily making templates, basting fabric to them and sticking the pieces onto my design wall. Once the bottom areas get squared off, this section will be 1/4 of my quilt and will measure approx. 40" square. This is going together very quickly.

But .... stop .... how the heck do I sew all those pieces together? At first, I was just sewing pieces together and then had to ask myself if there was an easier way to sew them together. So, a plan was devised.

First, the hexagon shape (with the inside square) would get sewn together. Then I would sew one square to the bottom of the top hexagon and start working my way down one vertical row (see how the vertical rows have been separated on the photo below and, yes, a few squares are missing on the left vertical row). You will have to decide if you want to run your thread (on the back seam allowances) to the next section or secure and break your thread and start on a new seam.


Once a few vertical rows are sewn together, then I start joining the rows together.

Any hand piecing project can be approached the same way. My hexagon star project that you see on the left side (top photo) was sewn together the same way. A method makes the job easier and much more enjoyable.

Once a few sections are together, then I can start to remove some of the basting and paper templates. It makes handling a lot better. The templates on the outside edges are not removed until I'm ready to attach outside borders. This way, the edges don't get stretched.

The large white diamonds as well as the white square in the 9-patch are a variety of white fabrics and the centre of the hexagons are a variety of beige/cream fabrics. A couple of times a year, I buy the Moda Muslims FQ pack of white, beige and cream fabrics. They really help to keep the look interesting and each time I buy, the fabrics are new designs.

My paper templates get re-used a few times before tossing into the recycle bin. They get stored into a small bin and ironed to remove any wrinkles and the iron strengthens them up again for the next round of basting and sewing.

Pretty soon, all my fabrics will be cut out and stored away in their appropriate bins (see my previous post about this) and I can start to clean up my studio again until the next time a new project gets started.

My source for this project is EQ6 BlockBase software program. I will have to come up with a name other then D046 (that is the block name) or Puzzle Tile. Something a little more catchy is required, don't you think?

Do you want to see another version of this block .... go here. Susis made a gorgeous quilt.

Have a great day!

Scrap quilts

Whenever a new scrap quilt gets started, I try to have a game plan so that the overall look of the quilt looks even. I don't like areas where it is too dark or too light.

First off, my plastic cookie containers get pulled (love to recycle), my templates made (for hand piecing projects) and away I go. The photo below shows what is in those containers above.

Usually, my quilt gets broken down into four sections and gets labelled A,B,C,D. Some fabrics will show up in all four sections and other fabrics in just 2 sections (like A and C or B and D) and some sections will have just a single fabric in them so that the look is unique.

Below, the units in the poly bag are all basted up and ready to go. The fabric in the containers need to be basted and they will be perfect for on-the-go work.

My scrap bins and pre-cut strips are getting pulled left and right and my studio is such a mess ... once again. :o)

Wonderful, another quilt from my stash!

Oh yes, happy days are ahead for me.

Have a great day!

Travelling hand work

Wherever I travel, hand work always comes along with me. This time around, a section of this project has been chosen to accompany me. I just couldn't transfer them onto a piece of batting as it was just too confusing to get them lined up properly. So, the stars and the connecting hexagons all got pinned together while they were still hanging on my design wall. It all looks jumbled and wonky. They got re-pinned and smoothed out onto another piece of batting ...

.... and this is how they look now. Neat and tidy. I will be very happy to finish this section while I'm away.

To all of you that celebrate Easter .... Happy Easter!

Rounding the corner ....

Once this corner is quilted, my klosjes quilt will be close to being 3/4 done. So, for now, I'm just chugging along .... While hand quilting, my thimbles dull my needles and my handy emery board (the kind with foam layer in the middle) is perfect for sticking my needles into to sharpen up and I'm ready to go again.

At the end of every week, I can see progress and the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter!

Have a great day!

Trimming time ...

On my Sweet Dreams quilt, all the blocks are done, the rows put together and it is time now to trim the side and corner setting triangles. Whenever I make a quilt that is on-point, my triangles are always made a tad bigger than what is called for and then trimmed afterwards. Do you see those yellow round things at the bottom of the photo? They are weights and come in handy for holding my top in place while trimming. I bought these weights (pkg. of 4) but a couple of canned goods will do the job quite well too. Here is my centre portion of this flimsy. Just need to add borders to finish this top. Yeah, another flimsy almost done! :o)

Have a great day!

Be gone .... dye bleed-outs .... be gone!

Today, while browsing the web, I came across a post about how to get rid of bleed-outs. This same problem has happened to me ..... even though my fabric is all pre-washed ..... a few times now. It is time to share with you my tips for getting those darn bleed-outs out forever. You may remember seeing this little wall hanging on a post back last December. It was my SSCS scrap gift to Peg in Australia. Years ago, before pulling a trick from my sleeve, this hanging would have ended up in the garbage .... I will show you why. This was the start of my dilemma. I had almost finished hand quilting the centre section but was not happy with the way the borders were marked up and I washed it to get rid of all the markings and laid it flat to dry.

Well, can you see the bleed-outs???

Before .... this would have left me in tears .... but now now! What to do about it? I got some Colour Catchers for an exchange of an item. We can't get any of this product here in Canada and the person couldn't get a certain item in her country. A perfect exchange for both of us.

The area of bleed-out covered so much of the center portion, I took two sheets and basted them directly over the areas that had the bleed-outs. If there was just a small area, just cut the Colour Catcher sheet to cover the area. No sense in wasting a whole sheet, eh (and in case you are wondering, yes, I am hoarding them. They are as precious as gold here in Canada)!

My hanging was washed 2 times and laid flat to dry.

These sheets not only pull out the excess dye from the background fabric, it will also pull out any extra dye in the material (or in this case the wool strands) that will release the next time you wash a quilt or hanging. Depending on the dye colour, you may have to wash more than once. If need be, just replace the Colour Catcher sheets until the dye bleed-outs are all gone.

There were bleed-outs in this quilt .... and it is with this quilt that the solution came to me. I wanted to enter this quilt in my guild quilt show but couldn't because of the bleed-outs. You can imagine my smile when my method worked and I was able to enter this quilt for the show.

While we were getting ready for our guild quilt show, the lady that washed this raffle quilt came to us in tears. This was the quilt from hell and we just didn't need another problem to deal with just before the quilt show. Lucky for us, my method was already put to use and the lady was assured the problem would be solved. I think she was doubtful at first, but the quilt was displayed and raffled.

This method works. Try it and let me know if you were successful. I have given these instructions to others and the feedback has been positive.

Have a great day!

Cabin fever .... be gone!

It truly is amazing what a week in the sun can do for cabin fever! This year, our winter has been long, cold with lots of snow and a week in the Dominican Republic was most welcome. My sister and I stayed at Punta Cana at one of the Iberostar resorts. What can I say, except it was "wonderful".

This post is photo heavy, but bear with me as there is something about sewing at the end.

We stayed in this block of rooms and if only we took our bearings when we first arrived, we would not have roamed the resort trying to find our room later in the afternoon. The resort is huge and we walked different paths throughout our stay ... some more interesting than others. I just loved the wooden planks laying on top of the sand. Lovely colour combinations.

We walked the beach the first afternoon we arrived. Again, my sister and I forgot to take bearings and after 45 mins. of walking we turned around and headed back to our resort. Mmmm .... what did our resort look like from the beach? There were no signs posted and after seeing other people on beach longers wearing the same wrist bands like we had, we figured that was our resort. Phew .... lesson learned.

We walked the resort grounds which were absolutely beautiful. Lots of photos were taken from various vantage points. We had to walk off the wonderful food we ate each day otherwise the plane would never have been able to take off.

A day excursion into the countryside revealed the reality of this island life away from the resorts.

A quick swim at the local's beach was gorgeous and breathtaking. No development here .... just a beach as one would expect.

A day of snorkelling was amazing. Unfortunately, we had no underwater camera to take shots, but the mural on this bench gives a good reflection of what we saw.

We were quite happy to sit under a beach palapa .....

... and watch the world go by ....

.... and take a few snoozes like this trio during the hottest part of the day.

When I least expected it, inspiration snuck in and surprised me.

I did get some sewing done on the beach and late at night in our room. The lighting in the hotel rooms are always the pits, but I brought a book light (the kind that you just clip onto your book) with me and it really came in handy. My light has an adjustable goose neck and it was perfect to adjust to whatever angle I needed to see and sew.

Now, don't laugh ... but I just plunked my book light down the front of my top, adjusted the goose neck, turned on my light and relaxed back against the pillows and sewed away to my heart's content. This book light was under $10 and worked like a charm for me.

My sister laughed when she saw what I was doing but thought that it was a great idea.

Anyway, have a great day!