Two Blocks and a Border...

I said last week that the next thing I was going to work on would be the February Sugar Club block....well, I was wrong...or, more accurately, I changed my mind.  I decided that since I had caught up on the OKC MQG BOM last weekend and a new block came out last week, I should just keep the momentum going and do that block first.  So I did!  It was a fun, easy block to make. 

The instructions said to cut very carefully to ensure your strips lined up.  I think I cut correctly, but I messed up a bit on the stitching.  I haven't quite figured out where my perfect scant 1/4" is yet so my two pieced strips are a little off.  Oh well...doesn't bother me too much....well, just a little...but probably not enough to redo it.

I then moved on to the February Sugar Block Club block.  It was the dreaded paper piecing.  It wasn't too hard - nice big pieces, but I just haven't grasped the concept of knowing where to place the fabric on the back of the paper so that when it is flipped over, it covers the paper entirely.  I ripped two sections out over and over before I finally got it right.  And I think it was just luck.  I am sure there is a way and when I figure it out, it will be a real "Ah ha!" moment.  Can't wait!

After finishing the February block, I proceeded to the March Sugar Block Club block.  However, I had a bit of a problem so that's why the title is 'Two Blocks...' rather than three.  I assembled the various sections and when I went to put it together, I can't find one.  I know it is here somewhere so I have not remade it.  I have looked everywhere I can think of that it might have fallen or I might have carried it, but no luck yet.  If it doesn't show up soon, I'll remake it - and, of course, it will then magically appear.  Oh well...so only two blocks to show this week.

As for the border in today's title, I got out the Civil War quilt I told you about late last year.  Originally, I had hoped it would be a Christmas gift for my Mom last year.  When that didn't happen, I thought it would be a Mother's Day gift (yea, next weekend) or a birthday gift (next month).  I'm thinking neither of those is a possibility; however, I have been working on the dog tooth border - stitching them up in pairs as leaders/enders.  I had no idea how many I had or even how many I needed so I started stitching them together and made four strips.  I got the quilt top out today and layed them out.  I still need to cut/stitch about 30 pairs and I'll be set.  Here's a glimpse of where I am.  Not a great picture, but I am going to put a narrow dark border all of the way around and then the dogtooth border.  The lighting in my bedroom is awful for photography...

So, it's probably time to start winding down and getting ready for bed.  I hope everyone has a great week.  Happy stitching!

Bri

A Little Bit of This...

I think the hardest thing about blogging is coming up with a catchy title for each post.  My blog is mostly about my stitching, but there are only so many ways to say that...What I Sewed This Week, What I DIDN'T Sew This Week, The Beautiful Fabric I Ordered This Week (Riley Blake's Little Red Riding Hood - yum!)...not very catchy....I shall continue to struggle with that one...and not worry overly much about how catchy it is.

This week, one of the ladies on the About.com Quilt Forum challenged everyone to show a picture of their cutting table.  Well, before I could post a picture I had to do some cleaning up.  In the course of cleaning up, I found a bunch of little bits and bobs of fabric that were too big to toss but too small to do much with.  I decided to stitch them together into crumb blocks...I've also heard them called crazy blocks...I ended up making five and plan to continue to make a few each week until I have enough to do something with.  These are 6" unfinished.  I chose 6" because that was the ruler I had in my hand at the time.  Real scientific decision-making going on here...LOL!

These three have fairly large pieces in them.  The other two had much smaller pieces, but I didn't get a picture taken of those.  Maybe next week...

I also made a couple of Scrappy Trips blocks.  You can find the pattern for these on Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville blog here.  I really like the way they turned out, but I didn't really enjoy the process.  I may have to tweak it a bit, and I am wondering how they would look if you used a larger strip - these squares finish at 2" for a 12" finished block.  I have a 12 1/2" ruler for squaring up.  If I made the blocks bigger, would I need to get a bigger ruler????  Or could I just use the lines on the cutting mat?  I wonder how big they make rulers...I bet the bigger ones cost a pretty penny!

I spent this morning catching up on the Oklahoma City Modern Quilt Guild BOM.  I made both March and April's blocks.  I am doing in all solids and am enjoying the look.  I am looking forward to May's block and will try to make it in the month of May - what a concept!

I plan to work on February's Sugar Block Club Block next.  It is paper piecing, and I haven't really done much of that so I have been avoiding it.  But I hope to show a picture of it next week. 

Once I get caught up on the Sugar Block Club, I will start on the Lucky Stars blocks - those scare me.  These stars have about a bajillion pieces.  But I signed up because I wanted to learn how to paper piece.  Should be interesting. 

I am also gearing up to start a new project soon - the Butterfly Quilt on Red Pepper Quilts.  This is such a beautiful quilt and will make a wonderful retirement gift for one of my best friends.  Fortunately, I have more than a year and a half to get it done.  I'm going to need it.  By my calculations - which could be wrong - to make the quilt 60" square, I will need 225 butterflies.  And I think it would be neat if every butterfly were a different fabric.  I must shop!!!!  I've also been collecting some text fabrics for the butterfly body here and there - there won't be 225 different text fabrics...Fortunately, I'm not that crazy....But I am going to have to track down a few more.

Have a great week!

Bri

There's a new gal in town...

I don't believe I ever explained the name of my blog, but I named it for my two favorite vintage Singer sewing machines.  Eve is a 15-91, and Ruby is a 404.  I really like the older machines with their ease of use and rare breakdowns - plus I found them very cheap at local thrift stores - and my dear husband can do maintenance on them.  However, I started dreaming about getting a new machine a few months ago - thinking, yea, someday I will get a new one.  Well, someday came last weekend.  YAY!!!!  I got a Janome Memory Craft 6300.  I haven't gotten to use her a lot - and I haven't figured out a good name for her - needs to be a modern, sleek name.  But I am enjoying her so far.  Quiet, fast, does more than just go straight....LOL...

I have only made a few blocks so far but I am having a blast.  I finished up a batch of Farmer's Wife blocks for a swap - but I forgot to take a picture.  I did make a couple of blocks for the April Stash Bee swap - Road to Oklahoma - and I got a picture of each.

 I will be the Queen Bee for next month's Stash Bee blocks, and I have chosen the Selvage Blog's Asterisk Block.  I made a few this weekend and am going to ask the others to make them in red, white, and blue for a USA patriotic theme.

I have one more thing I want to show.  I finished it earlier this month for my guild's Madrona Road Challenge.  I was given a few fat eighths of Michael Miller's Madrona Road fabric and challenged to make a mini quilt.  I chose to make Elizabeth Hartman's Octagonal Orbs pattern.  It's an easy to follow pattern, but I cannot imagine making more than one of these blocks.  It took a while, and I left mine as an octagon rather than putting on the corners to make it a square.  Made binding it a bit of a challenge, but I like it a lot.  I will probably give it to my mom for Mother's Day.

I recently discovered Instagram - so fun!  So many neat pictures posted all day every day.  My user name is bwquilts.  If you are on Instagram, I would love to know your user name so I can follow you too.  Have a great week!  I plan to be back next week with a report on more accomplishments and adventures. 

Bri

Long weekend...no sewing....

I had a long 3-day weekend, but I didn't get any sewing done.  What a shame!  Took a quick road trip on Saturday to see some property my husband and I recently purchased in Sallisaw, OK.  Long drive...but we are making some plans on what we want to do with it....it's 20 acres in the middle of nowhere....perfectly quiet....yummmmm....

Sunday, I sat around and did a whole lot of nothing.  I did play with some fabrics - I never did finish Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street Mystery in December - I got Steps 1 through 7 done and lost interest.  I got the pieces I had finished out and played around with the layout.  Not sure when I will actually get back to doing anything on it...

Monday, my husband and I ran a few errands, ate at a Chinese buffet, and went fabric shopping - OK, I went fabric shopping and he wandered aimlessly around the store.  Bought a few solids for the various BOMs I am participating in.  I made this block last weekend and my husband really liked the colors....I'm thinking I'll do more blocks in those colors for him a quilt.
                 

This is the January block in the Oklahoma City Modern Quilt Guild 2013 Block of the Month.  I am really happy with it.  Speaking of the OKCMQG, it was announced today on the blog that the Red Cross quilt is complete and chances to win it are being sold - not sold actually, make a donation of $10 to the Red Cross or Empire State Relief Fund and get a chance to win.  You can get all of the details on the blog. 

I got another BOM block made last weekend.  This is the January Sugar Block Club block.  I messed it up a bit, but in the long run it came out OK.  She uses odd measurements, and they threw me off.  The center 9-patch was supposed to be 7 5/8".  Mine was 7 3/4", but I got confused on my ruler and thought it was too small - when it was actually too big.  Sheesh!  I ended up stretching the flying geese to fit - by the time I figured out I should have cut down the 9-patch, I had already trimmed the geese.  If I had ripped it apart and tried to fix, it would have been too small.  I told myself I would be the only who knew....now a few more people know....LOL!
                  

These are the fabrics I've chosen for the year.  Rather than going out and buying a fat quarter bundle, I remembered I had gotten a bunch of FQs last year in a birthday swap - so I went through those, picked 17-18 I liked and chose the brown for the background.  I think it will be interesting, and I feel good about working from the stash vs more shopping...
                     

The next row of the Bee in my Bonnet Row Along came out - twinkly winter stars.  I did get some of my fabrics cut, but I did not get them all cut nor did I get any sewn.  Oh well....que sara sara!  Whatever will be, will be....I will eventually get there....

I still have pictures to share....see you next week - have a good one!

Bri

Resolutions? Uh, no....

I don't make New Year's Resolutions - mainly because I know I will fail!  A resolution usually requires a huge behavioral change, and I know that's something I am not good at.  However, I do have a goal for this year.  We recently had a conversation on the About.com quilt forum about those special fabrics that we've had for a long time and just cannot bring ourselves to cut into.  I have only one of those, and it's a beaut!



I have two yards of it, and best I can recall - I bought it in either 2009 or 2010.  I've initially chosen it for a mystery quilt a couple of times, but I have always chickened out at the last minute and went a different direction...So my goal for 2013 is to find a pattern for this beautiful piece of fabric.  Wish me luck!

Back to the things I worked on during the Christmas holiday...I have some pictures...

I finished the leaves quilt.  If you recall, all I had left to do was put the binding on.  And YAY!  It's done.  I machine stitched to the front and hand sewed to the back.  I had been machine stitching to the back the last few, but I wasn't really happy with the way they were turning out.  This took quite a bit longer and made my hands hurt for a little while, but I think it was well worth the effort.



I made a few heart blocks from 30s fabrics for a friend who has been sick.  Another friend is putting all of the heart blocks together that she has gathered from several to make her a quilt.  Such a lovely thing to do...



Just in time for the next row of the Bee in my Bonnet row along, I got the mittens row completed.  It went together quicker than I had anticipated.  Wonder what will be next - next clue comes out this Wednesday.  Not too late to join in....



One more picture...This is a small quilt I put together for another friend who is not feeling well.  She is going to get showered with mini quilts over the next few weeks.  I can only imagine how that would make a quilter feel --- to get quilts from friends all over the country when things are looking bleak.  I really hope it brightens her day.



I had made these little 3" blocks in December 2011 when the Temecula Quilt Company hosted a block a day - 'The Twelve Days of Christmas'.  The block for Day 1 had one piece, the block for Day 2 had two pieces, etc.  I had also framed them back then to make them 5" so they went together very quickly.  Used a fat quarter for the backing, used scraps to make a scrappy binding, and just a few hours later - a mini quilt was born! 

I am not only proud of the quilt, but the fact I was able to put it together so quickly with things that were already made.  That is my goal as a quilter - to be able to put something together to brighten someone's day without a lot of fuss.  Now I know why I do all of these block of the day, block of the month, etc.  It's not only the camaraderie of doing something with a group, but it's also having a variety of things on hand that can be tossed together quickly.

Have a good week!  I have a few more pictures for next week.

Bri

Long Overdue Post...

Oh my goodness!  I cannot believe it has been more than a month since I have posted.  I was afraid of that when I started the blog but had hoped to blog every one to two weeks.  Maybe next year...

I have been off work for the holidays and have done a lot of sewing.  I made a list of everything I wanted to accomplish while I was home, prioritized it, and got after it.  I have done real well and have gotten most of it done and am on track for the next step of Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street Mystery that comes out tomorrow morning and the About.com New Year's Day Mystery that is going to start tomorrow evening and go into Tuesday.

I won't try to squeeze everything I did in the last few weeks into one post.  It will give me a good reason to blog again real soon!  I have so many things to share...

My first project was some blue blocks to be sent to a friend who recently became a grandmother.  Her new little man arrived a bit early so she did not have a chance to put a quilt together for him.  Several of us on the About.com forum sent her blocks.  These are mine.

If you are like me, you need more projects for next year!  (Like I need another hole in my head!  But, sometimes, I just can't help myself...)

First I signed up for the Sugar Block Club block of the month (BOM) hosted by Amy of Stitchery Dickory Dock.  Just love her blog!  For $7.95 for the entire year, you get a block pattern each month and a dessert recipe...Amy has set up a Flickr group and folks are already posting their fabric choices.  I haven't posted mine yet...still trying to find one perfect fabric for my background...

Then I signed up for the Lucky Stars foundation paper pieceing BOM hosted by Elizabeth of Don't Call Me Betsy.  If you sign up before January 5th, the price is $10.  After the 5th, it will be $15.  She also sent out a practice block a couple of days ago.  I haven't had a chance to try it yet...Oh no!  I'm already behind....Elizabeth also has a Flickr group and many have already posted pictures of their practice star...I'm so jealous...I am thinking I'll go with scrappy red and green for Christmas...

Yesterday I found out about the Skill Builder BOM hosted by Alyssa of Pile O' Fabric.  This was the first time I had seen her blog, but she has some very neat things.  Her BOM is free and will cover a large number of techniques (curved piecing, paper piecing, free motion quilting, quilt as you go).  I haven't committed to this one but plan to keep an eye on it...Of course, Alyssa also has a Flickr group.

I also found out yesterday that my quilt guild - the Oklahoma City Modern Quilt Guild will be hosting a BOM this year.  Not sure of the details yet, but I will definitely plan to be a part of that one.

If you would like to see my first six steps of Easy Street, they are on my Flickr page.

I hope to be back real soon with pictures of some of the other things I've been working on.

Happy New Year!

Bri

5 Days of Stitching...

Yep!  That's right!  I've been off work for the last five days and it has been a wonderful time of stitching, cooking, and reading.  If this is what retirement is like, sign me up! 

I started out by whipping up the 7th row of the Bee in My Bonnet Row Along - leaves flying in the breeze - next to the last row on the right in the picture below of all seven rows together.  They are not sewn together yet - just laid out together.  The next clue comes out a week from Wednesday.  I can't believe I am still staying caught up with this one.  I adore these 30s fabrics and can't wait to see the finished product...this quilt is for me!!!

Next, I stitched up the December Stash Bee blocks for Jackie.  I'm so glad she posted her block early.  Now I am caught up on Stash Bee until January!  These blocks are called Arkansas Crossroads and went together very quickly.  I bet they will make a pretty scrappy little quilt.  She asked for no repeats on the fabrics.  I see that some of those pinks look identical, but I promise you 'They are not!'

After catching up on these two 'commitments', I decided to have some fun and got out the Quick Curve Ruler I had ordered from Sew Kind of Wonderful a few weeks ago.  Jenny Pedigo and her sister, Helen Robinson, are hosting a quilt along with the Quick Curve Ruler.  They are taking traditional quilt blocks and putting a curve to them.  They started a few weeks ago, so I had some catching up to do.

Jenny started with the Churn Dash block first.  Isn't that neat?  I am doing these blocks with 'dotty' fabrics with a solid background.  And surprisingly enough, it wasn't that hard to do.  The curve is not tight, so it goes together pretty easily.  Jenny has some videos on her blog to show you exactly how to do the cutting and sewing.

Next, Helen did the Sawtooth Star block.  It was a little harder than the first one, but it went together pretty quickly.  Minimal ripping and resewing...

After that, Jenny did the Rail Fence.  Now this one was hard!  I ripped it out a dozen or more times and never seemed to get it quite right.  I remembered from Jenny's videos that she said she uses a lot of steam.  I do not use steam - I have a dry iron - so I got the Ellen's Best Press out and pressed it into submission.  It works for me!

I hope I get better at these over time.  The next block will come out on December 8th.  Can't wait...I wonder what it will be...

Of course, Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street Mystery started on Friday morning.  I haven't decided how big a quilt I want to make so I only made half of the units required for Step 1.  The next clue will come out next Friday.  I hope I can keep up with this one.  So far I am liking it....my other colors are orange, pink, and green....

I had planned to work on the borders on my Civil War quilt.  I had figured out what I wanted to do for the borders back in September.  Yesterday, I couldn't really remember what I had planned.  But luckily enough, I had written it down and was actually able to find it.  Serendipitous?  I do believe so!  I made a sample with some scrap fabrics and think I know what I am doing.  It will be a dogtooth border - I saw it on a blog but I can't find the site right now....but I knew the dogtooth border would be absolutely perfect for this quilt.   I had hoped to get this done for Christmas but that isn't looking likely right now...Oh well....Now to cut the fabrics I plan to use and start putting them together. 

In addition to all of the stitching, I did cook the ham and turkey dinner with many of the trimmings.  There are only three of us so we have leftovers...yum!  Plus cherry pie, blackberry pie, oatmeal cookies...sugar, sugar, and more sugar!!!!

Take care and have a great week!

Bri