120 Blocks

Progress of a Different Kind

2012-01-28T23:27:00.000-05:00

Apparently, if I'm not working, I don't blog as much. This does not mean I am not getting anything done, though. Here's a brief list of the things I've gotten done since my last post:

Washed and ironed the fabric for this year's church quilt.
Handed off some of the fabric to Super Cutter Stephanie.
Cut 1280 half square triangles - the AccuQuilt Go! die for that was one of the best investments ever. Also cut setting triangles.
Began sewing half square triangles together. Still haven't decided whether or not to share that job. Probably should.
Managed to sort yardage and put it into rolling carts. (I don't have as much as I thought I did. I wish I hadn't realized that!)

I also did some hand quilting on the Big WIP in the Basement. Today I actually got to roll the quilt and...

In case you didn't notice what I am so excited about, the end is near. Once I rolled this time, you can see the setting triangles at the end of the quilt!!!!!! Yes, there is still a lot of quilting to do, but I am beginning to see the light at the end of this long tunnel. Yay!

Quilt on!

Stash Organization

2012-01-18T12:05:00.002-05:00

These are the before pictures. They are pretty bad and not all of this is my stash. There are random papers of my husband's scattered throughout. I know lots of people hope to get rid of rolling plastic carts and make beautiful studios. I will happily settle for organized rolling plastic carts and less clutter. Especially since at some point I am assuming my husband and I will be downsizing.

Usually there is a quilt on a frame in this space waiting for the hand quilting to be completed.

This is the Big WIP in my basement. I guarantee that progress is being made here.

Some fabric and patterns.

Yes, this is really ugly. I know.

The newish cutting table.

More fabric and batting.

And there you have it. The before pictures. Maybe tonight I will take some pictures of the progress so far. (Not that it really looks much different yet. But at least there are some sorted rolling carts!)

Quick Update

2012-01-17T14:09:00.001-05:00

The verbal, Facebook, and comment votes are overwhelmingly for the lighter setting triangles as shown in the last post. So lighter setting triangles it will be! It is a gorgeous fabric, so I will enjoy seeing some larger pieces of it in the quilt.

In case anyone is interested, the next step will be ironing and cutting, just like in an individual quilt. (I already washed these fabrics.) I will do most of the cutting, because since most of it is half square triangles and I purchased an Accuquilt Go! die for cutting those. I think I'll hand the border cutting off to someone else.

Once the HSTs are all cut, I will make triangle kits to hand out to people to sew together the pairs of HSTs to make 3 1/2 inch squares. Usually we go straight to the block kits, but it seemed to me that maybe we could minimize some of the unevenness of blocks pieced by many different people by sewing all the HSTs together first.

Once all the finished triangle quilts come back, then I'll put together the block kits. These are 9 inch blocks, so we need 72 (I think - I don't have the stats in front of me right now) blocks for the quilt, but we will try to eke out an extra 12 to use for pillow shams. I think we should have enough fabric for that.

Because these blocks are all alike and set on point, my goal is to start piecing the quilt as the blocks come in. We'll see how that works out because I tend to be a procrastinator. Once the quilt top is totally assembled, we will, of course, move on to marking, layering and many afternoons and evenings of hand quilting in my beautiful finished basement. (And, hopefully, it will be beautifully organized by then!

Next December's Auction Quilt

2012-01-14T14:01:00.000-05:00

As readers of this blog may remember, I am sort of the quilt project manager for our church's annual Lottie Moon Auction Quilt. This involves getting started about now in order to have it pieced and hand quilted by the first Friday in December. (Well, I really prefer to have it completed by the Sunday before Thanksgiving so we can show the completed quilt in church.)

Last week a few of us got together to choose the pattern for this year's quilt (and go out to lunch). This is the pattern we chose - Woven Links. Of course, it is not a queen-sized quilt so math is involved. And to avoid having to cut with a template (which we all know I hate) I edited the block so that it is made of mostly half square triangles. And the colors were not exactly conducive to a bed quilt so we will be changing those. And here comes the first question: Setting squares in the light color as in the original or in the border color? Here are a couple of pictures that show the choices (please note that these colors are not the quilt colors.

So which do you like better? Care to weigh in? Would it help if you saw a picture of the actual fabric? Here it is:

The top fabric is the fabric for the block center squares and the borders. The second fabric from top is the light fabric for the blocks. Does that help with the setting squares choice?

BOM Block 12 Finish

2012-01-11T16:26:00.000-05:00

Yes, I just finished the American Beauty BOM block 12! This is the last actual block, but there is much sashing and setting triangles stuff to still be completed before the top is completed. Which brings up some questions in my mind. Questions such as: Do I use this as my hand sewing at work project so I can get it done or do I go back to the 120 blocks project? Do I wait and finish it on the machine after I complete the piecing of my niece's wedding quilt? (I do have until the end of the year to complete it after all.) If I go back to the 120 blocks project, do I alternate those blocks with the Fat Quarter Shop Designer Mystery BOM 2011? Or do I force myself to wait until I have really finished the American Beauty BOM? Feel free to weigh in on these weighty questions! Meanwhile, here are the last couple of steps.

Here is the next step. I promise it is different from what follows it!

And here is the completed block - only hand pressed remember!

A Little Progress

2012-01-10T22:04:00.000-05:00

Yes, today was a work day. Yes, I would have expected that I could finish up Block 12 of the American Beauty BOM, but that did not happen! I had a bit of work to do. (Fancy that! At work of all places!) The work day always goes faster when there is real work to do!

So here are the pictures of the progress.

First I finished these sections:

Then these:

And that is as far as I got. Well, not exactly, but I'll wait to take pictures of the next sections until both are completed tomorrow.

Also, the Fat Quarter Shop is starting to take orders for their Designer Mystery Block of the Month 2012. I keep telling myself that I really prefer to pick my own fabrics. I tell myself that I haven't completed the American Beauty Block of the Month so I haven't allowed myself to start the Fat Quarter Shop's Designer Mystery Block of the Month 2011. Therefore, I have no business signing up for this one! But the fabrics are gorgeous and I'll bet I do!

What I like about BOMs is that you only cut one block at a time. I hate long cutting sessions. They drive me nuts. Even with my new cutting table my back gets tired. Grrr!

What I especially like about the Fat Quarter Shop's Designer Mystery BOMs is that the blocks are always gorgeous, the fabrics are gorgeous and you get plenty of fabric in case of mistakes (or hoarding desires).

And no one has paid me anything for this advertisement.

Name Change

2012-01-07T23:39:00.000-05:00

Where are my brains?

I have been calling the quilt I'm handquilting the big UFO in the basement. When I took more than a year off from working on it, that was an apt name for it, but since I've been working on it pretty steadily, it is obviously a WIP.

Now I will adjust the resolutions in the sidebar here!

Quilt on!

End of 2011 and Random Thoughts

2011-12-31T15:24:00.000-05:00

Since this is the end of 2011, it is time to evaluate my 2011 Quilty Resolutions. So, here goes!

Finish the Big UFO in my basement. Good news: There has been significant progress made. Bad news: It is not done yet and becomes 2012 Quilty Resolutions #1.
Finish the photo quilt - Completed last February!
Finish the American Beauty BOM - Well, I am almost done with block 12, the last block - but there is still much to do before it is a completed quilt. This becomes 2012 Quilty Resolutions #2.
Go to the Paducah AQS show - Completed and enjoyed! Due to my work schedule it may be a while before I go to Paducah again, but in 2012 there is a show in Grand Rapids, MI which is not too far away.
Finish the quilt for my husband - didn't even touch it. I have decided that that one needs to wait until I learn something about Free Motion Quilting before I attempt it. I probably won't even move this to the 2012 list. He doesn't really know it exists anyway.
Things I did that were not on the Quilty Resolutions List - started two quilts to go on the twin beds in the guest room and completed one. Organized the two quilts for the church auction. Bought a new sewing machine. Began studio reorganization.

I guess this brings us to 2012's resolutions.

Finish the big UFO in my basement.
Complete the quilt for my niece's May wedding.
Finish the American Beauty BOM.
Complete the studio organization.
Learn something about FMQ and quilt at least one small project.
Complete the second twin quilt for the guest room.

Numbers 2, 3, and 6 will be quilted by a longarmer unless a miracle happens and I really take to FMQ. Just saying. I enjoy quilting by hand too much.

On the bright side (maybe) - I only have 6 UFOs! I think that is pretty cool. Unless the Fat Quarter Shop Designer Mystery BOM (which I haven't even started) counts, in which case I have 7. And one of those is a table runner which I am planning to use to fulfill #5. So....

Paper Piecing Tutorials

2011-12-27T10:16:00.000-05:00

Because I must learn to paper piece, I have recently been checking out online tutorial videos. Below is a list of some of the videos I have watched in my quest to learn paper piecing. Please note this is not an exhaustive list, nor is it a list of all the videos I actually watched - just some of the most useful. You can find many more on YouTube. If you find some excellent ones, please let me know!

Crafty Gemini http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uaW26igygE      The instructions and video are very clear - but this method would maybe waste lots of fabric (or make lots of tiny scraps if you like to look at it that way).

Jen Ofenstein of sewhooked.com http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgr5JMxNfow     The instructions are clear but this is not a live action video. This appears to be a movie made with something like PowerPoint (TM), but it is still helpful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sBBNqaK340 Marci Baker gives instruction in this teaser video. She doesn't actually give complete instruction on paper piecing (you have to purchase the full video at http://www.online-quilting.com/landing-pages/foundation-piecing-basics-yt.html), but she does show how to measure the pieces to cut strips for foundation piecing.

YouCanMakeThis.com http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGNYoDRuD8A This is a live action tutorial and is easy to understand, but it ends abruptly at 10 minutes. Maybe there is a part two that I haven't yet found. The demonstrator actually puts the fabric on the printed side of the foundation paper after having drawn sewing lines on the other side. I found that different from the other tutorials I had seen.

Leah Day also has a very good paper piecing tutorial at www.daystyledesigns.com/paperpiecing.htm

Artisiana has a set of video tutorials here. She breaks her tutorial into several different steps. I'm not sure I want to spend as much time as she does cutting out each piece. I like the sounds of cutting strips and using them for piecing. We'll see once I really get started.

Fons & Porter: Sew Easy, Paper Foundation Piecing   This one is a pretty basic tutorial that illustrates sewing together two pieces of fabric on a foundation. The instructions are pretty clear and she encourages fabric wasting, at least in the beginning.

My favorite is the video by overallquilter.com. These were available in the fall of 2010 on iTunes for free (and 7 of them still are as of today), but now this one is only available if you are a member of overallquilter.com. The membership costs $9.95 a month and you can find out more about it at http://www.overallquilter.com/membership/. In this video, the hint that I really liked was to fold your foundation paper along the sewing lines before you do anything else.(Yes, I know the several of the other videos show that also, but I saw it here first.) As far as I can tell, this does two things for you. First, you can see when you are putting your fabric scraps on the back of the paper whether or not they will really fit the space needed. Second, it weakens the paper so that when you go to tear it off, it tears a little more easily. I also felt that the rest of this video was well planned and stated.

It's Christmas

2011-12-25T10:32:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas!

Here I am sitting in my unheated sunroom, drinking a cup of coffee made in my new Keurig (thanks to my sister and brother-in-law - who are probably still asleep on the other side of the country. And I live in Michigan! Yes, since it is sunny and the sunroom faces east, it has warmed up enough that I get to sit in it and drink coffee and read - or blog!

It is not a white Christmas. I'm not complaining. It means everyone can get here easily and my mother-in-law (almost 88) will not be afraid to leave her place to come here. It's all good. I do not need snow for Christmas. (Yeah, I am weird that way!)

Everyone else is sound asleep. (Adult daughters opted to stay up past midnight and open gifts so that they could sleep in this morning. Any of you parents of small children jealou?) Dinner has been started and first kitchen clean-up is complete. And I am sitting in my sunroom drinking coffee.

And sometime tomorrow, I will join the Boxing Day Sew-In! Hope to see you all there! In the meantime, Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays or whatever!

Boxing Day Sew-In

2011-12-22T11:23:00.000-05:00

Check out the Quilting for the Rest of Us blog for information on the Boxing Day Sew-In!

It sounds like lots of fun to me!

All's Well That Ends Well!

2011-12-20T23:12:00.000-05:00

Look what came yesterday!

Yes that is my package from Heirloom Quilting with what I purchased with my $100 gift certificate! And the picture below shows exactly what I purchased. Lots of pre-cuts, a yard each of blue and lilac (which I will probably use as if they are neutrals) and lots of batik fat quarters! Yay!

The Fat Quarter Shop enticed me beyond my ability to resist with a big Fairy Frost sale, and 13 one yard cuts of that arrived yesterday also! Now, I just need to start using all of this marvelous fabric!

I was a bit productive yesterday and today, quiltwise that is. (The Christmas tree is still not up and I have not made fudge or cookies or shopped for groceries for the weekend yet!) I put in a few hours handquilting the big UFO in the basement. When my eyes and fingers got tired from that tonight, I actually sorted some fabric into some of the plastic storage drawers I purchased a month or so ago. Maybe I'll get the batiks sorted tomorrow!

Quilt on!

Catch Up Post

2011-12-15T16:35:00.001-05:00

I did get some sewing done the last day or so of work this week, but there was no time for blogging afterward. And I didn't finish the block. Here are the pictures:

There is another set of four like the above pairs sewn a bit differently. They are the ones that were joined to my Drunkard's Path sections below.

The above section is the only one of the four like it that I have managed to complete yet. I will attempt to complete the block before too many more days have passed, but I make no guarantees. Today is busy with my youngest daughter's graduation as she receives the MSW she has been working on so hard. Then cleaning for tomorrow's visit by my great niece and her parents and grandparents. I should probably grocery shop also because we are sadly lacking in food here. And today is our 34th anniversary!

Quilt on!

Today's Progress

2011-12-14T16:56:00.000-05:00

Monday night I cut out the 53 pieces for Block 12 of the American Beauty BOM. Yesterday at work (between helping students, of course), I was able to mark the pieces (and that was it). Today, I started to sew.

It was a little daunting to look at the instructions and see that the very first step for this block was to assemble the Drunkard's Path sections. I have never done curved piecing, but I have set in sleeves. And I am hand piecing so I can take all the time in the world to get things arranged before each stitch. Here was my first one:

I was quite happy with how it came out and went quickly on to sew the other three together.

The other step I got to was the 16 HSTs. This step would have been less boring if I had been chain piecing on the machine!

And that is all I got done today between students!

Quilt on!

I Take It All Back

2011-12-14T00:23:00.000-05:00

Well, I don't exactly take it all back, but allow me to update you on my FabShop Hop prize. Tonight I got the following email:

Gretchen,

First of all, I am sorry that your experience has not been what we would want it to be. For some reason I was under the impression that the shop hop through FabShopNet only did $10 gift certificates. But in 4 shop hops in 2011 they did the $100 gift certificate or kit. I was not aware of this change. I have been very ill and recovering from recent surgery. I had tried to contact FabShopNet to verify, but along with my delay, I had a hard time connecting to them with my schedule. We are not a full-time store. We are online only and it is our second/third job. This made it difficult for me to make connections. Again, I am very sorry.

Please use the "***" code at checkout for the $100 coupon. If you complete your order by Monday morning, we will expedite the shipping, so that you receive your package before Christmas.

Again, I apologize for the problem with the coupon. We sincerely hope that you will give us the opportunity to fulfill our obligation.

Thank you,
Amy
heirloompatch.com

(Yes, I blanked out the code for this purpose.) Needless to say, my feelings about this online shop are no longer totally negative. Actually, having forced myself (dripping sarcasm) to spend that $100, I am feeling quite positive toward the shop.

And guess how long it took me to shop after I read this. Right, not very! At all!!!!

7 Charm Packs!
2 Yards of solids!
12 Batik Fat Quarters!
And no real plans for what I will do with any of them.
But when did that ever stop a quilter from buying fabric with a gift certificate?

Quilt on!

Miscellaneousness

2011-12-12T13:30:00.000-05:00

I would like to thank everyone who sympathizes with my disappointment with the whole FabShop Hop thing. Even if you didn't leave a comment, I appreciate your sympathy or empathy or something.

So here I am at work (actually having a busy day, comparatively speaking) without anything to sew. I think the next block I cut (hopefully tonight) will be the last block of the American Beauty BOM. That way at least I will have all the blocks pieced even if I don't have the sashing done or the whole top assembled by the end of the year. That will at least keep me from feeling like a total failure in meeting that particular goal this year.

If I have some extra time today, I will be checking out videos on paper piecing so that I can get to work on my niece's wedding quilt. I need to get it finished in time to have it longarmed by mid-May, so..... I have never paper pieced before so I am a bit nervous. Add to the fact that the pattern is originally for only a 40" x 40" quilt, and I have been doing some major math since I didn't want to just double the size of the blocks. The pattern is Woven Double Wedding Ring by Linda from Paper Panache. Linda very generously gave me permission to make as many copies of the foundations as I need to complete the quilt in the size I need. You can be sure that if I find I like paper piecing, there are more of Linda's lovely patterns that I may try out! Not only is she generous, but there are several of her patterns that I find very enticing. (Can patterns entice? I know fabric does!)

Quilt on!

Life's Disappointments (Sorry, long post.)

2011-12-09T08:00:00.000-05:00

Here is a tale I didn't want to tell, but I will. I guess I didn't pay anything so I didn't really lose money, but I am still very disappointed.

Back in October I got the following email from the FabShop Hop. (You may remember that I have previously won $10 gift certificates and found some interesting shops along the way.)

Congratulations! You are the prize winner from the August FabShop Hop.

We are proud to announce that you are a $100 Bonus Prize winner from the August FabShop Hop. Nothing makes us feel better than knowing a loyal Hopper such as you was selected as one of our winners.

We have notified heirloompatch.com at http://www.heirloompatch.com that you are the winner of thier $100 Bonus Prize.
They will contact you with instructions on how you can redeem your promotional prize!

Regular shipping charges and any applicable sales taxes apply to your prize redemption and are not covered by the shop.
The $100 bonus prize is non-transferable and has no cash value.

Your bonus prize expires on Friday, Novermber 4, 2011.

You may contact heirloompatch.com with any questions you may have at:

tamipvernon44@gmail.com
http://www.heirloompatch.com

555 Eastwood Circle
Providence, UT 84332

Phone: (435) 881-4198
Fax: Unknown

You will find your name on the list of prize winners at
http://www.fabshophop.com/prizewinners_chop4.asp

Be sure to tell your friends so they can go and see that you are famous! And remind them to participate in the October FabShop Hop,
and of course, we want you to come back and hop again. Our prize drawings are random from all the qualifying entries, so
you have just as good a chance to win again next time.

Please join us for the October Hop taking place right now!

Congratulations!

Laurie Harsh
The Fabric Shop Network Inc.
...the trade organization for independent quilt and fabric retailers!

As you may imagine, I waited anxiously for my email to arrive, but it never came. I went to the store's website and filled out the contact form. Still nothing. I called the store's phone number and spoke to the nicest person - I think it was Tami herself. She said she must have missed the email from FabShop Hop, took my phone number and said she would text me instructions on how to redeem my gift certificate once she had spoken to her tech person.

And that was the last I heard. And, of course, now it is way past the redemption date. I tried phoning again and went straight to voicemail. I left a message. Nothing. I emailed the shop again. Nothing. I emailed FabShop Hop, but have had not heard from them again yet. Sigh.

I am very disappointed!

That's Better!

2011-12-08T15:31:00.001-05:00

Now I just have to decide what I am working on next week. Block 12 or the next in the 120 Blocks project. Hmmmmmmm!

If Only I'd Posted the Previous Post Yesterday!

2011-12-07T21:37:00.001-05:00

Maybe you already read yesterday's post and saw the glaring error in the block. Or maybe you were like me and didn't see it. Anyway, thanks to Pat, I see it now. Unfortunately... Well, see for yourself!

Seriously, how did I not see that?!!!!!!! Anyway, the good news is that I got to do this:

And now I have a little bit of sewing to do at work tomorrow since I didn't get a chance to cut fabric tonight. I may unsew a little more too, in order to really do it right. We'll see how it goes tomorrow! And yes, I'll do the post of shame and show you what all I did.

Of course, maybe this is the post of shame. Or the previous one is!

More Progress

2011-12-06T16:45:00.001-05:00

Well, work yesterday was busier than usual, but I was still able to get some piecing done. First, I turned the chisels into triangles. (Remember, these are only finger pressed.)

Next, I joined the two sets of triangles:

Then I joined the squares with pink strips:

The remaining two strips were joined with a dark green square:

Then the three rows were joined like this:

I know this looks like a finished block, but it isn't one! Trust me!

I hope to finish it today.

Last Week

2011-12-04T18:26:00.001-05:00

I knew this was coming, because this is the busy season for me at work. What does this mean to you? Well, here is all the piecing I got done at work last week:

Yep, that is it! I guess that means, if time permits and I'm lucky, I will finish Block 11 of the American Beauty BOM this week. Then, will I have the discipline to do one of my 120 Blocks project or will I do Block 12 and get it over with?

I guess we will find out!

I Meant to Quilt

2011-11-29T19:50:00.001-05:00

Yes, I went back to work today. And, yes, I spent a good chunk of time last night cutting the 40+ pieces of the next American Beauty BOM block (#11!). And I did get the pieces marked, but apparently working also needs to happen and does take precedence. So there will be no pictures tonight. But tomorrow for sure!

I thought I would just ruminate a bit about my 2011 goals. I have met one of them by completing and delivering the photo quilt. I met another of the goals when I attended the AQS show in Paducah.

I have made significant progress on two of the other goals - the big UFO in the basement and the American Beauty BOM. However, it doesn't look like I will be able to finish either of them by the end of the year.

And the last goal, the quilt for my husband which is my oldest UFO, hasn't even been touched.

I did start and complete two quilts that I had not even imagined were coming. And I started a third and fourth quilt which both should be completed in the first half of next year.

And, of course, I was project director for two quilts for our church's auction.

So, although I may not meet more than 40% of my goals for the year, I have certainly had my most productive quilting year ever. I'll settle for that.

Quilting Closeups

2011-11-28T11:09:00.001-05:00

I just thought I would shoot some closeups of the quilting on Ruby's Christmas Stars. Yes, it is all hand quilted. We also had a wide range of expertise, from beginning hand quilters to someone who has been quilting for many many years. There are pictures from the back and the front - so enjoy!

Two Finishes for the Church Auction

2011-11-27T23:12:00.001-05:00

Friday night is our church's auction to raise money for missions. Each year some of the women of the church make a quilt which is the highlight of the auction. For the past 5 quilts (counting this year's quilt), I have been the "quilt project manager." Most years, this has me recruiting people who have never made a quilt block to sew together blocks from kits, and then hosting hand quilting in my basement/family room.

This year was a bit different. First, the main body of the quilt top was donated by a church member's mother, so no blocks had to be made. We just added borders, layered, and quilted the quilt. This is what this year's quilt looks like:

It is a star sampler quilt in Christmas fabric, which I have named Ruby's Christmas Star, after the woman who made it. It's twin-sized, and I will attempt to take and post pictures of the quilting in a later post. We got quite elaborate with some of the quilting.

In January of this year, one of the coordinators of our church's MOPS program, asked if the women there could make some blocks for the auction quilt during their craft time one day. I had to tell her that we were not making the main body of the quilt, so we decided that they would piece a child's quilt instead. So, the following quilt was hand pieced and then tied (thanks to my friend Maureen). You have seen some pictures of this quilt previously - as I griped about the panel earlier this year.

Quilty Guilty

2011-11-25T13:40:00.001-05:00

As I read the quilty blogs I enjoy so much over the past few days, I have read quite a few posts from quilters lamenting their lack of quilting time and looking forward to lots of time for quilting over the long weekend. This is not one of those posts!

The last couple of weeks have involved some quilting deadlines which meant I spent most of the last two weeks quilting, cutting and binding. Granted, I had several friends helping, but that was still a lot of work! And I need a break this weekend. Yes, a break from quilting.

Once I get home, I will post pictures of the other deadline quilts. (The previous post had a picture of the first one, the baby quilt.)

Until then, quilt on!