I spent part of this evening sewing up nine-patches for the Ugly Fabric Nine-Patch Exchange from the material that started it all: shirtless cowboys from the trove of remnants that I stuffed into my bag at Costume College's Bargain Bazaar.
Like Bonnie Hunter says, if it's still ugly, it isn't cut small enough yet! Amazing how slicing that fabric up into 2" squares did away with the questionableness of the subject. All nipples save one ended up in seam allowances, blessed be! And while a few squares still do have faces, I think I will reserve for myself the block that has a prominently placed belt buckle. :)
I made 20 blocks tonight, and still have a bit left. I think I'll pair the remainder with a different fabric and eke out some more blocks for the exchange, just to have it all done with.
Friday, April 7, 2017
Thursday, April 6, 2017
Whoopa!
Got the sample blocks for the guild done today, as well as the handout sheet. This month (nominally in honor of our guild's quilt show later this month) I'm doing 6" spool blocks!
I added a couple variation options to the handout. For simpler blocks, a solid square in the middle. For more complex (complexer?) blocks, string-pieced centers. I'm hoping the guild will like it and do lots. But then, I always hope that.
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
Lather, Rinse, Repeat
Guild Officers meeting was last night. It kind of felt like we're starting to relax into our roles? Of course, I say that but half of the slate have been going around the various positions for years. (The other half of us being newbies.) Nonetheless, it all went well and I think I've got a handle on it. I turned in four of the five quilts I'm submitting to the quilt show. Just one more hanging sleeve to attach!
Today I've been sewing, as the bitlets have allowed. I've switched gears, as all that hand-sewing was making my lower arm ache. Instead, I cut out the 18 blocks for the Block of the Month (6 for the guild board/pot, 12 for my own quilt) and sewed up my dozen. I think it works, and I've come up with two variations (one simpler, one more complicated) for when I write up the directions sheet.
With luck, I'll get to photograph and sew up those last six blocks tomorrow, and write up the instructions. Then I move on to the Ugly Fabric Nine-Patches, and then back to sewing on that last sleeve. And then I'm all caught up, phew!
(And then, once the guild meeting next Tuesday has passed, I do Block Lotto blocks, and cut out and sew new jammies for Squiddle. And then lather, rinse, and repeat everything else for next month. ^_^)
Today I've been sewing, as the bitlets have allowed. I've switched gears, as all that hand-sewing was making my lower arm ache. Instead, I cut out the 18 blocks for the Block of the Month (6 for the guild board/pot, 12 for my own quilt) and sewed up my dozen. I think it works, and I've come up with two variations (one simpler, one more complicated) for when I write up the directions sheet.
With luck, I'll get to photograph and sew up those last six blocks tomorrow, and write up the instructions. Then I move on to the Ugly Fabric Nine-Patches, and then back to sewing on that last sleeve. And then I'm all caught up, phew!
(And then, once the guild meeting next Tuesday has passed, I do Block Lotto blocks, and cut out and sew new jammies for Squiddle. And then lather, rinse, and repeat everything else for next month. ^_^)
Thursday, March 30, 2017
Playing Catch-Up
Just under the wire (they're due tomorrow by noon), I got my blocks for this month's Block Lotto done:
I think they're kind of pretty, so I'm kind of hoping I win this month. But if not, at least they were both fun and easy to make.
Next, I'm doing a quick kind-of fix. One of the blocks turned in for the Ugly Nine-Patch exchange... well, she misread the instructions and cut her blocks down to 4 1/2". Basically cutting the seam allowance off. So for the one I got, I'm tearing it apart and going to resew it with 1/8" seam allowances and try to make up the difference as best I can. Quick, easy project while I try to figure out what I need to be doing next. Blocks of the Month for my guild, probably....
I think they're kind of pretty, so I'm kind of hoping I win this month. But if not, at least they were both fun and easy to make.
Next, I'm doing a quick kind-of fix. One of the blocks turned in for the Ugly Nine-Patch exchange... well, she misread the instructions and cut her blocks down to 4 1/2". Basically cutting the seam allowance off. So for the one I got, I'm tearing it apart and going to resew it with 1/8" seam allowances and try to make up the difference as best I can. Quick, easy project while I try to figure out what I need to be doing next. Blocks of the Month for my guild, probably....
Saturday, March 25, 2017
Just Keep Swimming
Welp, got Niecelet's dress and the boys' vests done before we left, and they worked very well for the family photo shoot. I still have to finish the matching bloomers for Niecelet and mail them to my sister, though.
Then we got home and one of our cats was collapsed on the floor. I ended up taking her to an emergency clinic and had to make the hard decision to have her put to sleep. I... have spent a lot of time crying the last couple days.
I have to keep moving, though. I have two little boys and project due dates forcing me forward. I've spent some time the last couple days sewing down the binding on the wall hanging, and have got that completed now. Onward to the hanging sleeves for the four other quilts going in the show, and the Block Lotto blocks for this month.
Then we got home and one of our cats was collapsed on the floor. I ended up taking her to an emergency clinic and had to make the hard decision to have her put to sleep. I... have spent a lot of time crying the last couple days.
I have to keep moving, though. I have two little boys and project due dates forcing me forward. I've spent some time the last couple days sewing down the binding on the wall hanging, and have got that completed now. Onward to the hanging sleeves for the four other quilts going in the show, and the Block Lotto blocks for this month.
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
Coming down to the wire
Squiddle's vest done. Niecelet's dress done. Panty covers to go with dress, half done. Jazzy's vest in my lap, corduroy and China silk layers being pinned within an inch of their lives.
I've given up on entering anything but the round robin quilt in the quilt show because I don't have the time to measure and fill out the paperwork right now. Leaving for airport at 2:30 tomorrow, guild tonight, still a hell of a lotta stuff to accomplish.
As the saying goes, hold my beer and watch this.
I've given up on entering anything but the round robin quilt in the quilt show because I don't have the time to measure and fill out the paperwork right now. Leaving for airport at 2:30 tomorrow, guild tonight, still a hell of a lotta stuff to accomplish.
As the saying goes, hold my beer and watch this.
Friday, March 10, 2017
Recalculating
The pattern I was going to use for Jazzy and Niecelet... the instructions sheet has disappeared. Grr. After a good lookabout for it, I decided to spare myself some pain and riffled through my collection of baby girl clothing patterns and found one that had a dress with similar style lines that would work. I'm less sure about the romper in it for Jazzy, but that goes under my whole issue with the paucity of patterns for little boys' clothing.
A tip/technique I don't think I learned anywhere but came up with myself: if you may want to later reuse a pattern in a different size, dry-iron the pattern paper on a low setting to remove folds and wrinkles, then dry-iron a sheet of white tissue paper on top, smooth side up. The two layers will stick to each other. Trace off the size you need. I use a Pigma micron pen and don't even have to move the paper off the ironing board because the felt tip means I'm using almost no pressure. Refold original pattern, put it back in the envelope.
(My grandfather always complained about my grandmother not being able to refold paper maps properly, back in Ye Olden Days before Google Maps. I never understood his gender bias on this, as I was always easily able to refold them. Then I found my friend suffered the same problem with being unable to refold pattern sheets along the original lines. Maybe there's a certain mindset regarding spatial mathematics that makes this skillset easy or not?)
Tomorrow: more cutting and sewing. There's no seam finishes in this pattern, so I think I'm going to use my pinking shears (inherited from that same grandma!) to cut everything....
A tip/technique I don't think I learned anywhere but came up with myself: if you may want to later reuse a pattern in a different size, dry-iron the pattern paper on a low setting to remove folds and wrinkles, then dry-iron a sheet of white tissue paper on top, smooth side up. The two layers will stick to each other. Trace off the size you need. I use a Pigma micron pen and don't even have to move the paper off the ironing board because the felt tip means I'm using almost no pressure. Refold original pattern, put it back in the envelope.
(My grandfather always complained about my grandmother not being able to refold paper maps properly, back in Ye Olden Days before Google Maps. I never understood his gender bias on this, as I was always easily able to refold them. Then I found my friend suffered the same problem with being unable to refold pattern sheets along the original lines. Maybe there's a certain mindset regarding spatial mathematics that makes this skillset easy or not?)
Tomorrow: more cutting and sewing. There's no seam finishes in this pattern, so I think I'm going to use my pinking shears (inherited from that same grandma!) to cut everything....
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