Star Surround QAL update

We are to the "putting it together" stage in the QAL.  Since I'm doing two pillow tops with my blocks, I just added a small border to make my 16" blocks into 18" blocks.

My current sofa pillows are 18", so why go buy new forms when I can switch out the covers, right?  These days this quilter is all about economizing! Now to practice some FMQ.

Check out some more pretties at Happy Quilting.  It's so fun to see the same block in so many different fabrics, and sizes, too.

Namaste

A Teeny Break! (stash report week 34)

That's what I needed  --- a teensy blog break.  

Well, actually, it was a teensy break from everything.  Thanks to a medication glitch that's about all I was up for last week - a break.  

Now, I'm back!

Got my "surround" assignment done for the Star Surround QAL.

Believe me, they look much better with the centers -  ;-).


Click over to Happy Quilting to see more pretty block components.









I'll show you the finished blocks tomorrow.  With all my UFOs, I'm only doing the two blocks to make into pillow tops.
















And, I believe that now I will not buy any more fabric for a-while.  See, my package from Ozark Fabric arrived last week.  There are 23 FQs there, i.e. 5.75 yards.

Luckily, I just cut up 4 of these FQs and two other yards of stash to send out for the Scrappy Trip Along Flickr swap.  That's 3 yards out!, temporarily.




I also picked up about 1.5 yards in scraps from quilty friends Joyce, Cindy and Cheri.

We picked Cheri's scraps out of the trash can - we'll get her trained some day!







Then, my 25 charms from the Batik Lovers flickr swap arrived - pretty!


I have five more Easy Street block to get together - woohoo!  I miscounted how many red squares I had cut.  I was about 20 off!  Now, I'm ready to get stitching on those again.  Can't wait to see how my colors will look when it's put together because I'm having a hard time visualizing it atm.




Used this week: 3 (out in swap)
Used YTD: 72.91
Added this week: 5.75
Gifted this week: 1.5
Added YTD: 93
Net used YTD: -20.09

Check out some more stash reports at Judy's Patchwork Times.

Have a great week!

Star Surround QAL - Star Centers (& a giveaway link)

This is day two of school for DS.  Boy, is it quiet all---day---long!  I'm going to have to get accustomed to suddenly having all this time.

And our un-August-like weather continues.  It is beautiful!  So pretty that I pulled my yoga mat onto the deck this afternoon and I did a free yoga class from doyogawithme.com.

The Green Bag Lady is having a bag giveaway.  I have two of her bags - they're great!  I keep one with me all the time and use it, especially at Target, where you get $.05 off for bringing our own bag.  Hurry - the giveaway ends tomorrow (Thursday).








Yesterday I finished the centers to the Star Suround QAL blocks.

Nothing hard but after working on Easy Street with all of its pieces, I was glad that I'm only doing 2 blocks.

Check out some more pretty centers at Happy Quilting.

Stash Report Week 32

We are having some rather un-August like weather these days.  It's also the last week before school starts.  This is the first summer I've had to entertain my 6 yr old.  Other mothers must be made of stronger stuff because I can't wait for the first day of school!


Yesterday DH gave me a day off.  He took DS around to his various activities - soccer, gym, and such.  I hung out in the basement with my good friends, Pandora and Amazon Instant Video, and got a few things tidied up.  First was the flying geese for the Star Surround QAL.



Then I got started on the Easy Street star blocks.  The pattern calls for 9 and I had 2 together, after a bit of ripping last week.  Each block has 25 components - that's a lot of seams and a lot of pressing between seams!

And since I'm not the speediest sewer in the stable, it took most of the afternoon, with a few breaks, to get 4 more completed.  Three more to go.


There has been a most welcome stash enhancement.  I won a "tassle" of strips from Pat Sloan's newest line, "Bobbins and Bits."  Pat sent almost 2 yards worth of strips varying from approximately 1.5" to 6" in width. 
There are prints and batiks - yeah!

Used this week: 0
Used YTD: 69.91
Added this week: 0
Gifted this week: 2
Added YTD: 85.75
Net used YTD: -15.84

Check out some more stash reports at Judy's Patchwork Times.

Have a great week!

Star Surround QAL - Flying Geese

Oh  - flying geese....they are my least favorite quilting component.  Until I finally tried the "no-waste" method that I've read about on several blogs. Melissa, our QAL hostess, has a great tute on the method and the math!

Instead of starting with either 3 triangles or a rectangle and two squares, this method uses all squares.

It requires marking of the smaller squares.  So, here's my opportunity to plug another little tool that I really like.   That blue "stick" in the pic above is called the Quick Quarter II.  Now, when I first saw it I thought, "why do I need a special tool to help me draw lines?"

Well, there are two reasons really.  First, after drawing lots of lines for the Fourth of July top, I found that my lines, despite using a ruler, do not always go from corner to corner precisely, oops!  I usually do these types of things with my feet propped up while watching TV with DH.

Second, I love to piece with my featherweight and I discovered in a Bonnie Hunter workshop that the 1/4" foot gives me a teensy too-big 1/4" seam.  It works better if I measure the 1/4" and then use the guide that screws into the machine bed.  (Bonnie had us all test our 1/4" seam by sewing two block pieces together and then measuring the two pieces now joined into one.) So, now I actually do use those two sewing lines for stitching.

I now have the FGUs (flying geese units) ready for my two blocks.  You can see some more FGUs here.

Have a wonderful Saturday!

Progress Made (stash report week 31)

Catching up with last month's BOM.

DS was still at his grandparents' house part of this week, I stitched and pressed and got some blocks done - yeah!!

DH and I are so exciting, not... we spent most evenings watching shows like Grimm and Eureka on Amazon Instant Video.  Well, one evening, I brought the featherweight up to the dining room table and stitched away and finished some blocks.


These are just two of 20 twelve inch Pineapple Blossom blocks that will become a Christmas gift for my MIL.  I'm thinking about doing the sashing and cornerstones between these blocks, following the pattern as written this time.


Each block yielded 4 bonus HST squares which trim to 3.5".  Beside them are the bonus 80 HST squares, at 2.5" from the Fourth of July top.  And then there are the bonus squares from my first Pineapple Blossom, many of which I used in the border and still had leftovers.

The bonus squares could be used in the border, like in my first Pineapple Blossom quilt.  I will defer that decision until I see how the top looks.  Also my MIL likes Amish quilts so a pieced border might be too busy for her taste.  However, I know that I am done with the Fourth of July top, no more additions to it.





Did I ever show you the mini quilt pattern that Cheri passed along to me?

It's from a LQS and it has some teeny pieces - like 104 1.5" HSTs.  They are all squared up, using my favorite specialty ruler (this post). I need to get these pressed so I can put them together leader/ender style.









Also got the first step of the Star Surround QAL completed.

I'm making two 16" blocks that will become pillow tops.  So, by bits and pieces, progress is being made on a few projects.


Nothing has been counted used but the swaps have kept me hopping this week.  I sent 3 yards out for the a "writing surface" swap and 25 batik charms for another, so 3.33 yards are in the "used" column.

I received 2 yards of 2.5" strips from the Scrappy Trip Along Flickr group which add great variety to my 2.5" strip/square stash.


Used this week: 3.33
Used YTD: 69.91
Added this week: 2 (from swap)
Gifted this week: 0
Added YTD: 83.75
Net used YTD: -13.84

Check out some more stash reports at Judy's Patchwork Times.

Have a great week!