A Serendipitous Quilt

Serendipitous because I wanted something quick and easy to piece.
So far, I have these:

They began when I saw Leann's post in my early morning feed last Saturday.
Her post linked to a Five Fat Quarter Fun post with a quilt from five fat quarters and three yards of background fabric. (Amber and Amanda have also posted their February Fun, a heart filled quilt, Chains of Love.)

I chose to start with this fat quarter, graciously gifted to me some time ago, but very unlike the fabrics chosen by Leann, Amanda, or Amber.

 I got busy cutting, sewing and pressing.

 Then real life and the work week intervened, although I tied to piece for a few minutes each day.  Hopefully, this weekend will see the rest of the assembly.

 I also want to share how much I love this SteamFast iron that I use in my tiny sewing room.  It heats rapidly and takes up very little space.

It fits comfortably in my palm, and I've been using it for at least eight years.

The updated version features the following and is on sale from Eleanor Burns Quilt in a Day today:
2oz water tank, 3 minute heating time, 8' power cord, dual voltage, 1000 watts. steam burst option, continuous steam, 1 year warranty, easy fill measuring cup, travel bag, Lightweight - 1.32 lbs
While it does make a great travel iron for retreats, sewalongs, etc. it's a great purchase for the home sewing studio.  My older version heats in about a minute and a half!  And it has lasted a lot more than the year or less that is so common with full sized irons these days.

Some friends and I are going to go sing for some Alzheimer's residents this afternoon, so we'll see how much more piecing I can get done. (With a daily commute of 80 miles a day, I like not to drive that far on weekends, but a fellow singer volunteered to drive, so it is our hope to be a blessing to some folks; even if they promptly forget that we were there, they should have an hour of fun with some songs they've stored in long-term memory.)

Happy quilting, crafting, and rejoicing,

Which Flying Geese Method Is Faster?

Because I decided to add flying geese to the fishing panel, I was curious about which of my usual three methods was faster.

I did not try the "four at a time" method, because I didn't think I wanted four of each fabric.

I have Eleanor Burns Flying Geese 3x6/1.5x3 ruler, so I tried that method.  Here are the steps in photos:

 Eleanor's method is extremely accurate and starts with two squares of different sizes.

 Stitching 1/4" on each side of the drawn pencil line.

 Cutting on the pencil line.

 To my small homemade pressing board, which is why there are lavender stripes.

 Pressing seams toward the background fabric.

 Laying them edge to edge and drawing diagonal pencil line.

 Pin and sew 1/4" on each side of line.

 Cut on pencil line.

 Note space between flying geese.

 Align ruler with flying goose and trim.

 Do the same for other goose.  The rotating mat was quite helpful.

The other method I tried was to cut goose fabric into rectangles and background fabric into squares.

 Strips of background.

 Sub-cut strips into squares.

 Align tape with needle.  Ruler helps be sure the tape is perfectly aligned.  (My Jansjo light from Ikea is reflected in the ruler.  Sorry about that, but it gives me a chance to mention how much I love using those lamps; much better than the lights on most sewing machines; of course, there are no lights on my treadles.)

 Place background square on goose rectangle and sew diagonally across square.

 Keep corner of square aligned with the edge of the tape.

 Oops!  Be sure to insert sewing machine needle in the correct place and do not try to just chain feed without lifting presser foot.

 Ripping/frog stitching tip.  Place the red ball of the seam ripper on the underneath side and keep the longer tip on the top of the fabric.  Much faster to rip, and since I don't use dull seam rippers, I don't have to worry about cutting fabric instead of thread. (If you've not tried this, do.  You'll love it!)

Trim seam allowance and sew the second square on. Check against Eleanor's ruler.

Verdict:  The second method saved over five minutes per pair of geese.  The second method also gave me four more half square triangle blocks for some other project.  I make that seam before I press and trim off the excess.

I did sew together too many flying geese units on one side, so I used my ripping technique again.  I think most people have been taught to keep the red ball of the ripper on top, but ripping with it on the underside saves sooooo much time.

The other two methods of making geese are perfectly fine, but now I know which method is faster.

I have the fishing panel with its flying geese borders finished, and am waiting for batting and backing to arrive. While I was hopeful that my college girl would hold it so I could get a photo while she was home for Thanksgiving, that didn't happen, but we had a joyful Thanksgiving.
I need to figure out a way to create a wall for taking photos of my quilts somewhere in this small house.  I've photographed a lot of quilt tops and quilts outside, but with winds up to 55 mph today, the outside is definitely not a choice. (Driving to and from church was a bit unpleasant today; we're experiencing the first of three consecutive storm systems.  Hopefully, they'll be through here by Thursday or so!)

Happy quiltmaking, knitting, sewing, and crafting,

Autumn's Song

I'm still squeezing in time for quiltmaking, knitting, tatting, etc. between therapies for my knee and teaching full time, although that would be difficult to discern from my blog posts.

Yesterday, in addition to physical therapy, I made a quick run to Busy Bee Quiltshop at Edgewood, NM to add some oranges to my supply for autumn quilt blocks. This may be somewhat shocking since I absolutely do not like orange (except in my juice glass and a few other things).

Over the last several weeks my sweet students Maddie and Isabella have worn a some very distinctive clothing in these colors to school. (Isabella even has a pair of amazing heliotrope shoes.)

So, I had to come home and piece some blocks in honor of autumn.  The little quilt below was made mostly from stash.  Some of you may recognize one of Jinny Beyer's Palette  fuchsia blenders, from the late 1980s, I believe.  It's one of those fabrics I treasure and occasionally add to a quilt.

 I have a good friend with a birthday later this month, so I need to get the binding on this so she can use it to celebrate autumn.

 This was so much fun to piece and quilt!  However, since my happy heart has not yet had enough of these blocks, I've revised it as shown above in the second photo. I'm thinking of making another revision as well.

 The border is adorned with happy feathers and vines, and the next little quilts are expected to receive the same kind of border treatment.

I'm still carrying my tatting with me for when I get stuck in other people's time warps, and since I started a sweater, via Myra Wood's Craftsy class, The Perfect Fit Seamless Crazy Lace Cardigan,
 I usually have some knitting with me.  I seem to get caught in those other-people's-time-warps whenever I leave my knitting or tatting at home!

My daughter has decided to pursue her master's degree in materials science and engineering with an emphasis in metallurgy.  Nineteen years ago today I was in China, frustrated by the things my agency had decided I must see and do before I could actually meet her and hold her in my arms.  She has come far in countless ways.  I admire her determination, her intelligence, and, most of all, her fine character and inner beauty.  In many ways she is a Phoenix. She's beautiful on the outside, but it's the inner beauty that is the blessing she brings to the world.

Happy quilting, knitting, and creating,..

Chop, Chop, Softly!

I thought today might be another PJ Quilting day.  But I received a text from the College Girl encouraging me to go to the post office, so I had to get dressed.  I do see a lot of people wearing PJs at our post office and a few other places, but I just can't bring myself to do it.

However, I did spend most of the day quiltmaking.


The are blocks I began making at our last Victory Prayer Quilt sewing day and finished a few seams at a time over the last few weeks. This is the same piecework pattern I used in the Chop, Chop, Sew quilt. These soft colors created a very different looking quilt.

The fabrics began as squares left over from a layer cake from another quilt. I searched my stash for a quiet, almost-solid, off-white to use for the sashing and border.  The pink corner stones were another left over, and I plan to use the rest of that fabric for the binding.

The white-on-white print is barely visible in the photo; it too speaks softly.

I made this one smaller than the last top because I had only ten patches--so I have one left over for something; it might get pieced into the backing.

This project kept me busy all day, and I haven't yet cut the binding.  The top finished at 39.5 inches, a good size for a prayer quilt for someone to use for napping or reading. I do wish I were capable of cutting and piecing a whole lot faster!

We're having a beautiful spring-like day.  The last of the snow that has lived in my yard since before Christmas is finally melted.  However, we can be pretty sure this is Faux Spring and that we'll see more of winter.  We'll enjoy the sunshine while we can!

Happy quiltmaking,....

January Friday Night Sewing

I've been trying to snatch minutes to piece and quilt and have been almost notoriously unsuccessful.
Last night I worked on these:

I started these at last Saturday's Victory Prayer Quilts sewing morning, and tried to grab a few minutes during the week in the evening to work on them.  However, since I really lacked energy, most of the sewing was done last night.

These are pieced from 10" squares with a quick cutting method that produces a negative and positive block if there is a lot of contrast in the fabrics.

The fruit and veggie fabrics are from a Riley Blake line, if I remember, and were inspired because for years the College Girl has been telling me to make some food-themed prayer quilts for guys "because guys always like food" and because I seldom get inspired by "guy fabrics."

The floral blocks are leftovers from some other prayer quilts and a layer cake that was a big disappointment because I'd ordered it expecting purer colors.  With rare exceptions, peachy pinks are not appealing to me (or on me).  I realized a few months ago that in addition to my being allergic to most orange flowers, my parents often dressed me in orange tones, which were the opposite of flattering with my skin tones.  Seems somewhat comical now.

 We've had a bit of snowmelt since our storms, but probably more evaporation.  There's a crust over the top of the snow, which means it's slowly being absorbed by the earth, and that's a good thing.

With the big snow storms hitting the East this week, I hope all the quilters have plenty of fabric, thread, and, if they lose power, a working treadle machine and a source of supplemental light.

I linked to a Friday night Sew-In earlier this week, then updated my computer (which took hours and hours over the course of a couple of days), and resulted in the link being lost.  So if you've come here from that site, please leave me a comment so I can post the link.

Happy quiltmaking and knitting,

The Quilt - Summer Romance I

Still working on the quilt top from Eleanor Burns' Zoey line for Benartex that began with strips and has now seen the addition of white strips for sashing.  I'd love to get the borders on before the end of the day.  We'll see.


Creating some pieced triangles.....

 That square to the right is a stack of post-it notes that I'm using for a seam guide.

Oops....four patches turned the wrong way!

Time to do some R&R (ripping and resewing)....

 At least I have a wonderful seam ripper!

 Okay, now turned in the right direction.

The next challenge is that I need some really big setting triangles--bigger than the Fons & Porter ruler for setting triangles.

 A little sloppiness here could ruin the entire quilt top--and I'm running out of the white fabric.

I decided to use these pieced triangles as a pattern for the solid triangles.

 I just have to be careful and check measurements correctly.  I guess I could have used a huge sheet of freezer paper, but I didn't.

Just checking to be sure!

Happy quiltmaking,...