Marin & Colusa Quilting Blog

Pressing Half-Square Triangles

2012-01-29T10:24:00.000-08:00

To answer Joyful Quilter's question in my last blog: With the pink and green baby quilt, I laid out all the blocks,and then sewed the half-square triangles into four patches, removed the last few stitches in the second seam within the seam-allowance and then pressed in a spiral fashion. That really helps to eliminate bulk. I do this with a lot of blocks. Not only does it reduce bulk, but it lets me turn the block in whatever direction I think looks best.

And then I wanted to make the whole thing a little wider and a little longer, so I sewed the extra rows together, pressing in whatever direction I needed to to make them nestle up with the first section.

In the Blue and Green baby quilt, I skipped all that, and sewed the half-square triangles into rows, pressing all in the same direction. I struggled with the pressing!

It works much better the first way, although, it takes more time. But, I think it is worth the extra trouble.

Another Doll Quilt With Leftover Half Square Triangles

2012-01-26T11:14:00.001-08:00

What can I say. Just too much fun to make!

Leftover Half Square Triangles

2012-01-24T10:03:00.000-08:00

Looking at my blog lately, one might wonder if I have an interest in little babies.
I do.
I have the enviable job of looking after my first granddaughter four days a week. I am sooooooooooo lucky. Plus, I still find time to sew. What could be better!

This week I made a little doll quilt that would fit an 18" doll.

I had a bunch of tiny little half square triangles left over from the last baby quilt I made where I made snowball corners on rectangles. I find it hard to throw the extra triangles away!

The half square triangles were finished 1", a very hard task for me if not for my Stitching Lines.

With a couple of coordinating prints for borders, I had a very quick project.

I simply quilted it with a diagonal built-in serpentine stitch.

Slanted Stars

2012-01-17T15:56:00.001-08:00

How many of you like to sew or make quilts just for the act of doing it, not because you need something?
Raise my hand! I do. I do. I just love the act of sewing, always have and always will.
Sometimes, what I sew never turns into a finished product.
But, I don't consider it a waste of time. I consider all my sewing constructive.

Now, this last week, I actually started and finished a new baby quilt. I had an idea and it seemed smarter to try it out on a very small project than a larger one. I used my Stitching Lines to make a small Slanted Star quilt. It went pretty fast. I chose a bunch of batik scraps, some Kona white and a cute little baby print I found somewhere.

Isn't it funny how the stars look different from various angles.

Then I got an idea to change the border, so I started another quilt.

And then I got a really smart idea.
With this quilt, I need to lay out the colors before any sewing. Each row depends on the colors used in the adjacent rows.
And my floor space was too cluttered.
I don't have wall space for a design wall.
So, I had a brilliant idea. Why not use my closet doors.
Did you know that green Frog tape (similar to blue painter's tape) does not keep batting stuck to the wall overnight?

Yep, this is what I found in the morning. All on the floor. It took me a good hour or so to figure out what I had already done. This time on a flat surface!!!

Pine Tree Mug Rugs

2011-12-16T10:43:00.001-08:00

As promised, here is how I reworked the pine trees from my original poorly designed block.

I made a couple of mug rugs. These hardly put a dent in the available pine trees, but it's a start.

Then I had a bunch of three piece blocks left over from making the border blocks.
So I made another mug rug. It would work better if there was more contrast between the two fabrics.

Wish I had kept all the leftover pieces from the original star points. Oh well!

Now It's a Lattice Quilt

2011-12-15T06:13:00.000-08:00

Remember this basket filled with the unfinished, the orphan blocks, the Starts and Stops, my feeling guilty basket?

I dug in deep and pulled out some more and reworked another set of quilt blocks made way too long ago.

These blocks had already been sewn together into the start of a quilt.
But it never liked me. See, it wasn't my fault!

At the time, I wanted to make a quilt with pine trees and stars. But in my mind, these were walking on the ugly side.
So, this week, I took apart the blocks and used the star points to make something new.

I made a few more squares for a border and then resewed these into something completely different.
This little Lattice quilt is just the size to put over Evie's legs when she is in the stoller. I have to force myself to quilt it. That's just one more step in the process that I procrastinate over! At least it is little and shouldn't take too long.

Tomorrow, I will show you what I did with some of the pine trees.

I am feeling a little less guilty about what is lurking in the depths of this basket.

Baby Dress For Evie Jo

2011-12-08T08:53:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday, I stopped by our local Goodwill shop and found a cute little flippy skirt that had some pretty embroidery at the hem. I should have taken a before picture, but was too eager to start sewing!

After washing it up, I cut off the waistband and ended up with some very pretty fabric for a baby dress

I bought some white eyelet fabric at Joann's and turned it all into a cute little baby dress for Evie Jo

I forgot that pattern sizes run a little larger than ready made, so Evie has to grow a little before this will fit her.

It was fun to get back to my favorite kind of sewing. It's been a long time since I have made any clothes.

Starts, Stops and Starts Again

2011-12-02T11:17:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I haven't blogged for over a month. Boy, I would like to say that wonderful things have been happening to take me away from this! I would like to, but I can't. No excuses here.

Lately, I have been making a few other things besides quilts for shows next year and for my Etsy shop.

I got down a basket full of orphan blocks and started and stopped quilts. This seems like a good place to start my quilting for next year.

This basket is really stuffed!

And with a jump start, I actually reworked some blocks into a little table topper or wallhanging or baby quilt.
I didn't use this fabric for the border.

These blocks were made way back when I was designing my Spinning Tiles pattern. I guess I never made the alternate blocks, or maybe they are in the bottom of the basket. It's a surprise what may be lurking down in the depths!
Tess still likes to pose.

I still have to finish the binding. And then on to another.

Another Blog to Visit

2011-10-27T10:10:00.000-07:00

The other day I found a new blog (new to me anyway).
It is called Quilting Lodge . It is written by a quilting team of mother and daughter, Judy and Vicki.
They had posted about using my Stitching Lines to sew binding strips together.
I also do that, and it's a great way to use up the inside strip that you tear out and toss.
Anyway, they posted a tutorial and you should take a peak.
Leave a comment and tell them I sent you.

PS. for some reason my second link won.t take you to the tutorial. Just arrow done and click on "Joining Strips Together"

Out of the Trash For One More Workout

2011-10-21T16:00:00.000-07:00

I sew a lot of Half Square Triangles together. I mean a lot. Maybe too many.
I like the intersection on the backside to look like this.

But many times the backside looks like this. Darned if I didn't get the underseam going the wrong way.

Leftovers from Stitching Lines to the rescue!

I just tear off an inch or two from the leftovers in the trash and stick it underneath the seam allowance just before I sew over the intersection.
Keeps the seam going the right direction every time.

Oops! I didn't sew that seam very straight.

This is fast. It doesn't slow me down. Faster than ripping out all those messed up seams!

And since I am sewing over the Stitching Lines paper in the same direction as you sew when using it, it tears off easily.

Just one more way to get some more mileage out of your Stitching Lines.

Making Half-Square Triangles Over and Over Again

2011-09-26T09:55:00.000-07:00

I have become obsessed with making Half-Square Triangles.
I finished up two small baby quilts last week, even quilted and bound them and actually got labels on them!

I have cut all the squares I need to demonstrate my Stitching Lines for a quilt show this weekend, and it's all I can do to keep from making them up this week before I go.

I was never a person who liked to make the same quilt over and over again. I had to become that person when I started designing quilt patterns. And sometimes, I really have to push myself to remake a pattern.
But these little squares have become addicting.

I have HST's everywhere........the floor, in baskets, in ziplock bags.

And there are a lot of them that I can't remember what I was going to do with them! These are senior moments that I have. LOL
Sounds like another really scrappy one, and another really big one.

Who else is obsessed with making a certain kind of block?

Dog on Quilt

2011-09-04T09:21:00.001-07:00

Does your dog like your quilts?
Mine sure does. Tess could care less if it is finished.
As I was pinning rows together, she kept snuggling up to the quilt top hanging on the floor. Silly dog!! Good thing I took the pins out of that section!

Sewing rows together is one part of quilt making that I procrastinate about.
And because of that, I haven't had many finishes lately.
But yesterday, I finally completed this lap top.
On to the blocks for the baby and doll versions.

Welcome Home Evie Jo

2011-08-21T08:45:00.001-07:00

We got a new addition to the family on Thursday! Isn't Eveyln Jo adorable? She is the daughter of my youngest daughter, Carol and her husband Doug, and our first grandchild. All are doing well.

Spanish Tile, Again, and Done

2011-08-07T22:14:00.000-07:00

I finally have a finish to show you. I put this Spanish Tiles quilt away for awhile. I was so disappointed with my quilting, I had to take a break. If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know I always say I don't like the actual quilting.

Let me design, pick out the fabrics and piece the whole shebang!

After that, I am wholly incompetent at any decent quilting. Sometimes I can get an OK meandering design using my Grace frame and Juki. But, just as often, I can even mess that up.

I decided to do some straight line stitch-in-the-ditch quilting on this quilt. Fine! Until I started to get major migration of the fabric. Even with the even-feed foot!

Remove 1 mile of quilting!

Then I tried a built-in serpentine stitch. Same problem.

Remove 2 miles of stitching.

Oh, I don't mind removing quilting, but this was ridiculous! I removed enough thread to wind up on a whole "nother spool. Over and over again!!

Finally, I decided to do free motion stitch-in-the-ditch, in the black, with black thread, where it wouldn't show. That worked OK. And besides, I can't see much on the back either.
I followed up with straight line quilting, but not stitch-in-the-ditch,..........a good half inch away from the seam. That worked.

I did make a little change to this pattern. I added the little triangles to the corner of each block and I made the outside sections of each block the same. I think I will write a variation for this pattern as I kind of like this look.

I love this little birdie print.

The quilt is done and I am OK with it.

I've been busy with another design, but, people near and dear to me say it looks like a swastika!
So I guess I need to change something.

Hah, did you think I was going to show it to you, before it was finished!!!

Padded Notebooks

2011-07-13T11:34:00.000-07:00

I finished up two new purse size notebooks yesterday. I wish I could find the dimensions each time I want to make one. I spend more time searching for that little scrap of paper each and every time. And since I had moved sewing rooms since last I made one, I knew it was a lost cause.
So, of course, it took me three times as long to make one. I had to re-figure it as I went along.
I knew there had to be a better way!

And then a light bulb went off! Why not write down the fabric dimensions in a small padded notebook, kind of like a pattern!! Can you say DUH!!!

I really wish I was a more organized person. At my age, though, I don't think that will change.

A Coffee Break

2011-06-30T17:36:00.000-07:00

A pretty white empty bowl.

A pair of scissors.

A large stack of un-trimmed half-square triangles.

Coffee break begins. Sit back on the sofa. Turn on the TV. Put the bowl on lap.

Start trimming dog-ears.

Partly finished.

Only a gazillion more to go!

1930's Doll Quilt

2011-06-26T10:25:00.001-07:00

Today I am showing you my mother's doll quilt. She was born in 1925, so this fabric is right out of the 30's. Although, I have never been a fan of 30's reproduction fabrics, I sure can appreciate how authentic the repro's are. I don't know what my grandmother used for the filling, but it is all lumpy and has shifted all around. It's machine pieced, and very lightly hand quilted along some of the seams, which I only discovered today. It really needed more quilting to stop the shifting of the filling.

I wonder how my grandmother acquired all the little prints. There are 38 prints and non are repeated. I know she wasn't buying Charm Packs. LOL She must have exchanged scraps with her friends, as I can't believe she made that many dresses for my mother, an only child. Although it doesn't show well in my photos, the colors are still pretty vibrant and not worn.

Maybe my mom didn't play with it or drag it around very much. Who knows.

Quilt Storage

2011-06-21T09:54:00.000-07:00

This last weekend, I spent some time moving around furniture in my loft/office.
For years, my computer has been housed in a computer cabinet.

I even made a quilt depicting it. It's a free pattern on my website. You can see a photo of it here.

It is a very pretty piece of Mission style furniture. We bought it years ago when our extra computer was downstairs in the family room.
It was perfect.
I could close it up when not on the computer and everything was hidden away. Then one child moved away and freed up a bedroom for my sewing room, so my loft became my "office" and we moved that heavy, heavy piece of furniture upstairs.
You all know what " musical furniture" is. I am good at it!!

Anyway, as things were updated on my computer, Dave started hating my computer desk. He couldn't get to the back of it for the cords. I wanted drawers, which it didn't have. I never closed it up and the desk top was always a mess.
In the meantime, I have made a gazillion quilts with no place to store them.
Light bulb moment!

I emptied all the computer stuff, set up a new desktop with some file cabinets and turned the cabinet into quilt storage.

I still have more quilts to put in here. There won't be enough room for all of them.
They are everywhere in this house.
In the closets, under the beds, over the banister, on top of quilt racks.

Do you know, I don't have any on the beds! LOL

Zig Zags Are Finished

2011-05-27T09:53:00.000-07:00

I have quilts to show. And they are all finished!
I have been very busy quilting this week!
And enjoying it! Which isn't always the case.

These are the three quilts for Carol. There is a lap quilt, a baby quilt and a doll quilt.
And I only made blocks for the lap.
The other two quilts got their blocks from the not-needed left-overs or the throw-aways.
That made the two smaller quilts really fast and easy.

I had fun shopping my stash.
I only bought fabric for the border and a couple of 1/8 yard cuts.

Here is the lap for Carol.

Here is the baby quilt for Evie Jo.

And here is the doll quilt for Evie Jo's dolly. (Hope she plays with dolls!)

The quilting was so simple. Just straight lines.
With the baby quilt, I followed the zigzags.
Even that took more time than I wanted, plus I had to keep turning the quilt with each zig and each zag.

So, on the lap and the doll quilt I did a cross hatch, and I really liked that.

Here is the last time I will show you this quilt. It is all quilted and bound and it is just for ME!

Now on to quilting my Spanish Tile. Hope to show that next week.

Spanish Tiles Progress

2011-05-20T10:04:00.000-07:00

Remember how I once told you to save the inside strip of the Stitching Lines to use latter when you only need to stitch once.

Well, that's just what I did when I needed to add snowball corners to my Spanish Tiles block.
These were left over from making the blocks.

I trimmed them to size. With these, I was able to get three smaller strips out of each. And just sewed on the solid line.

My Spanish Tiles is coming along. Only a little more to do.

Spanish Tiles Update #1

2011-05-18T08:35:00.000-07:00

It's a dreary day in sunny San Diego. We are getting the last storm of the season. Or so say the weather men!
My photos reflect the lack of sunshine streaming through my dirty windows!!

This is the Spanish Tiles variation I am working on. An addition of small snowball corners is all I am changing. Plus, I am making the third fabric in each block the same.
Still need to add the "grout" between the blocks, plus finish a few more blocks.

Another Quilt and Lots of Machine Frustration

2011-05-16T08:40:00.000-07:00

This is what I am trying to make. I have made lots of Spanish Tile Quilts. This will be a variation of my pattern.

It all started with this cute little Alexander Henry bird print.

It's a little out of my comfort zone, but I thought why not. I need a new Spanish Tile quilt and I wanted something different. Spanish Tile uses Primrose preprinted fusible from Quiltsmart. The process is easy, just a little time consuming.
I picked most of my fabrics to go with this print from my stash. There still is a little fabric shopping that I need to do. Not a bad thing!
My newer machine worked great on the fusible. I love how I can set it so the presser foot lifts up each time I stop sewing, great for sewing curves, how it knots the thread at the beginning and end of my stitching, and how I can set the machine to cut the thread, although the whole operation is slower than I would like it to be.
But, all in all it works good for making appliques using the fusible interfacing method.

I am sure many of you know how this kind of applique works. You place the interfacing on top of the fabric, sew the shape, trim and turn right side out. All the edges are turned under, and the fusible is on the back side.
I made 30 applique shapes and fused them to the black background.
Black!! What was I thinking????

I always use mono-filament thread to zigzag the turned under edges for a permanent application.
First I started with the smoke color. Black----------smoke. It made sense to me. Only the smoke showed too much on the colors. Stupid me. I sewed way too many before I decided the smoke was not right.
Did I think it would get better over time???
So I ripped that out and switched to the clear mono-filament. Much better. Did I mention this was smoke and black thread on jet black Kona solid!!
Ok. That was the easy part.
Even ripping out the black bobbin thread was easier than the /!#@#^*$%^ I put up with before I even got that far. My newer machine kept breaking, clumping and knotting up the thread. I re-threaded a gazillion times, changed the tension and all but gave up. This machine just does not like mono-filament nylon thread.

So what did I do? I got out my old trustworthy workhorse that I bought in the eighties, my most favorite machine of all time and it worked beautifully. Yes, it was slower and I had to cut the threads myself. But it liked my choice of thread and it worked!

My shapes are all made. I need to find the next fabric.

The moral of this story.
It isn't about good machines and bad machines. It's about hanging on to the tried and true. Sometimes all the bells and whistles are not what you need. It's kind of like the turtle and the hare. Sometimes slow and steady can get you where you are going faster than high tech! One machine can't do it all.

You just have to find a place to store them!!

Enders and Leaders

2011-04-24T07:09:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!
As I was sitting at my computer early this morning and surfing the web, I came across a video from Sunshower Quilt Blog.

I love this idea of sewing a useful shape as an "ender and leader". I usually just use a tiny piece of scrap fabric. This is a great idea. I guess it has been around for awhile, but it is new to me. And since I already have the 2" die for my GO cutter, I guess it is time to open it up and use it.

Of course, you could rotary cut any size square from your leftovers and get a head-start on another project.
I am also thinking of making Half-Square triangles with my Stitching Lines as enders and leaders. I guess any shape could work.

Three Leather Flower Pots

2011-04-19T10:31:00.000-07:00

I made this little wall-hanging this morning. The appliques are all leather. Jill and I have made some little kits to sell at quilt shows.

More Notebooks

2011-04-18T09:39:00.000-07:00

Look at what I did on Friday. These are becoming way too much fun to make. I think I finally have the dimensions down in writing. Now, I should be able to make one from start to finish, without taking apart and resewing each time. That's a pain!
Sorry, the photos are bad. Needed to use my phone as I can't find the charger for my camera.

Parallelogram- A New Shape

2011-04-10T08:48:00.000-07:00

I discovered a new shape that I could make with my Stitching Lines.
It's a parallelogram and it couldn't be easier to construct.

I used a 3-1/2" x 6-1/2" brown rectangle and (2) 3-1/2" white squares.
I placed the first square on one corner of the brown rectangle.
I placed the trimmed Stitching Lines strip so that the dotted line on the right side lined up with the corners of the white square and stitched on the dotted line.
Then I stitched on the other dotted line and ripped off the paper.

Next, I placed the second white square on the opposite corner, just like if I was making a Flying Geese rectangle.
I placed the Stitching Lines strip parallel with the first stitching, lining up the left dotted line with the corners of the white square and stitched. I stitched on the second dotted line and ripped off the paper.

I cut apart between both sets of stitched lines and pressed the seams.

And what I got was one parallelogram rectangle and two half-square triangles.

A parallelogram could be any length. Mine just happens to be a finished 3" x 6".
Just make sure the small squares are the same width as the width of the rectangle.

This is where I put all my used up Stitching Lines. And no, as so many customers at shows have asked, you can't reuse them. But I do recycle this with my newspaper. Well, actually, you could reuse the center strip that you tear out, if you are making a snowball corner and only need one stitching line. See this post where I show how.

A to Z About Me

2011-04-08T17:26:00.000-07:00

I found this on Why Knot. Make sure to visit Wendy's blog.

It's fun to find out interesting or mundane things about each other.

There may be some things here that you could care less about, but hey, it's the ABC's!

If you could copy these and fill in your own info, then post and let me know, I would love to read your own unique facts. I changed up a few letters. You can too!

Age: 59 and holding
Bed Size: King
Chore I Dislike: Vacuum the stairs
Dogs I have loved: Tess (of course, she is sitting right next to me), Buffy and Sundy. Sometimes I loved Katie, but not always. And I was never crazy about my black dog, and oh my, I can't even remember her name. LOL
Easiest Job in the house: Doing the dishes
Favorite Color: Teal Blue
Gold or Silver: Gold
Height: 5'3" My legs are way too short!
Instruments I have attempted to play: Piano, but only for about 10 months
Job Title: Wife, Mother, Homemaker, Pattern Designer
Kids: Two girls, one son, one son-in-law, and a soon to be grandchild
Live: Southern California, a native and I have always lived here
Married: 37 years this August
Nickname: Always wanted "Mare", never got it
Overnight Hospital Stays: 3 for kids, 1 for tonsils, 3 for getting hit by a car, while walking across the street
Pet Peeves:Politics
Quilts I Have Made: Too many to count and no place to put them
Right or Left Handed: Right, completely and utterly
Sibblings: 3 Brothers, 1 Sister
Time I Wake Up: Every day, Thank you God!
Underwear: Certainly not boxers!
Veggie I Dislike: Most
What Makes Me Run Late: Sewing
X rays I Have Had: Very few. I have never broken anything.
Yummy Food I Make: I am not a great cook. Can't think of anything my kids would ever ask me to make! How sad!
Zoo Animal I Like Best: Tigers. They look so soft and sweet! But, oh how deceiving!

Looking forward to reading some of your ABC's!

Garden Story

2011-04-05T07:28:00.000-07:00

There is not much that grows profusely in my garden.

Once in awhile, I plant something that thrives. A couple of geraniums have spread way beyond their expectations, a beautiful plant that has red leaves has grown and thrived in spite of me and just recently, some little miniature bottle brush seem to be fighting for their lives, spurting out red blossoms each year. The palm trees grow tall, the grass grows tall and the weeds grow tall. Not much else.

One plant, though, has stuck with me, through thick and thin, through drought and rain. I haven't killed it yet and I don't think I can.

It's a plain old spider plant! My mother-in-law gave it to me in 1974. It's gone from house to house to house, had green leaves and brown leaves, been neglected and felt dejected and still lives on.

It has a whole family of spiders that have fled the coop and set up housekeeping elsewhere!
It has so many spiders, that I started putting little pots down by the base, and the spiders started growing in the new pots. So easy to propogate!

Last year, I finally re-potted the plant.
36 years in the same house is a long time!
It's offspring needed more room to stretch out!

And it needed a high-rise, so, I stuck it on top of an old strawberry planter.
Of course, that pot was empty. Nothing ever grew for me there either.

My one and only garden achievement! Yipee!!

Anyone need a cutting?

Hexagons Contained

2011-03-29T08:51:00.000-07:00

I bought this cute little container yesterday at Joann's. Hexagons were taking on a life of their own, sitting down wherever they liked, in the most uninviting places.
My hope is that this gets too small very quickly.
That would mean a whole lot of progress. For now, it gets all my hexi's off the coffee table and the side table and the floor and everywhere else they have scattered themselves.

It's got a top tray for threads, needles and scissors, a middle tray for unfinished and not-put- together hexagons and a bottom tray for put-together hexagons. Perfect for now!

I found that EQ7 had a hexagon block layout.
Fun.
Now I have a map of what I am doing.

I divided up my illustration into fourths, to help me see what I needed.
Always easier to see the parts, other than the "Big Picture".

Here is the start of my "following directions". I can do that if I write them! LOL

And I am still working on my zigzag quilt. Borders are coming along.

Note to self: Finish the top today. Looks like all the zigs have zagged in all the right places!

Covered Notebooks

2011-03-25T10:10:00.001-07:00

To keep things interesting in my sewing room, unlike anyone else, I go from project to project, not always with a finish in-between. Today I got a finish. WooHoo! Yesterday, I also finished something, but that doesn't count because I have to scrap it!
I need some more notebooks for my Etsy shop and to sell at shows. So yesterday morning, I made this one. Last night, I tossed it! I made it too short. I should really write down the dimensions. It would make things go so much faster. DAHHHHHH!

See how the cover is too short.

This morning, I started another.

I got out my mothers old button tin. Notice the garter clip. I said "old" tin!

I auditioned a few possibilities, and settled on one combination of black and yellow.

This time I got it right!

Hexgon Progress

2011-03-23T09:06:00.000-07:00

I made some more hexagons. That's my unmade bed they are sitting on.
Fun before work! Once again!

I am liking all the dark centers. My plan is to cut enough for two flowers from each group of six fabrics and make them up. Then cut other fabrics. That way, there will only be two that are alike from any combination. I am itching to start sewing them together, but I need more made up first. Patience!!

Darn it. Now, I have to make the bed.

Hexagons

2011-03-21T10:11:00.000-07:00

This is so not something I have made. But I would like to!!
This Hexagon Quilt by Isabelle Etienne-Bugnot is just my style, or what I would like it to be!

This would take a really large cleared off design floor for me to even attempt it.
And that will never happen.
I mean the cleared off part!

It has taken me a long time to even attempt making hexagons. I think it took off a couple years back. Where was I?? But when Accuquilt came out with a hexagon die for the GO cutter, I bought it. They probably came out with it a long time ago. Like I said, I am behind the times with this. With the die, I can cut the small paper template and the larger fabric hexagon all at once.
Anyway, it came in the mail last week and hexagons have become the perfect little sewing project to fiddle with while Dave watches all the basketball on TV in the evenings. And I don't have to buy any fabric. Is that good or bad?

This is what I have done so far.

I think I will make all the centers with a black print and then I have no idea what I will do. I am thinking this could take a lifetime to make.

My zigzag quilt looked quite different at one point over the weekend.
I put most of the borders on, pulled out my EQ7 design sheet and saw that I had sewn them on backwards. So with some serious un-sewing last night, IT STILL LOOKS THE SAME! I do have some of the rows sewn together. At least I didn't have to un-do that part. Don't you just hate un-sewing...such a waste of time!

This has turned out to be another great way to use up my stash. Good thing I have a stash. I keep hearing in the quilt stores that the price of cotton is going up. Maybe I won't give away anymore of my fabric!

Nevada

2011-03-16T09:29:00.000-07:00

I've got lots of photos to share today. Stick with me.
Finally, I downloaded my pics from the Desert Quilter's of Nevada quilt show earlier this month in Henderson, Nevada. Great show.
Andy went along with me. Of course, we stayed in Las Vegas. He says Vegas was great. Not so much Henderson. He is bored at any show! This may have been the last time I can bribe him into going with me! LOL

Here are some photos of the quilts on display.

"First Nectar Lone Star" by Darlene Finney

My apologies to the quilter. I forgot to snap a picture of the tag. The scotties sure were cute.

"Dragon Star" by Darlene Finney

"Winding Ways" by Sandra Foster

"An Ocean of Stars" by Carolyn Ratola.

"Frosted Pearls" by Terri Baker

Andy sitting in my booth. Very bored! Can you tell?
Andy developed some new software that we tried out at the show. Worked great. We knew exactly what we had sold, for how much and taxes collected. That was great, because in Nevada, I had to write a check for sales tax collected on the spot.
I would have been held captive otherwise, until I paid up!!
Best thing! I didn't have to count up all my inventory when I returned. Woo Hoo!

Besides, demoing ( is that a word???) my Stitching Lines at shows, we set up a lap top and have my Youtube video streaming the whole time. We found out that some people would rather watch that, then come watch me sew. Works either way!!

The flower quilt in the middle and the one to the right are two of the patterns I developed for Quiltsmart. I just recently started taking them to shows. They are Primrose and Tesselation.

And now here is what I have on my design floor at the moment. It's a zigzag quilt made with what else! Half-square triangles. I am still working on the border treatment. You can be sure it will be pieced!

It started out as diamonds. They were all pieced and sewn into rows. Andy said it looked like mud!! It's been reworked and colors were added!

Lots more rows to go!

Updated Website

2011-03-11T12:51:00.000-08:00

Andy redid my website. I love it. Take a look. It's so nice to have my webmaster in my family! The photos change on the home page. How cool is that?

Leather Flower Pot

2011-02-28T18:03:00.000-08:00

Here's a little Leather Flower Pot. Bet you didn't know that you can put leather in the washer and dryer. Daughter Jill and I teamed up to make this tiny little quilt. It was washed and dried after I finished the binding.
Imagine the possibilities! I am selling one block kits at the next quilt show.

New Blogging Friend

2011-02-26T07:52:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I was directed to a blog that I had never seen by three blogging friends. Low and behold I found my Stitching Lines looking right back at me.
Paulette with Sweat P Quilting and Creations posted a very nice blog all about my Stitching Lines. Thank you Paulette and enjoy the gift.

Folding Display

2011-02-25T16:34:00.000-08:00

I drive a Mazda 5. It's smaller than a mini van and larger than what we used to call a station wagon. It's got some room for cargo, but not a ton. So when I vend at a quilt show, I have to really watch what I take. Display baskets can be a real problem. They take up valuable space. I bought a few canvas folding baskets at Target, but those are sometimes too big.
So I made my own yesterday.

These will fold up flat and take up very little space.

And the only cost to me is the ribbon.

Desert Quilter's of Nevada Quilt Show

2011-02-24T08:21:00.000-08:00

I will be heading over to Nevada a week from today for another quilt show in Henderson . Andy is going with me this time. It is a three day show and we are staying in Las Vegas. He never gives up a chance to visit Las Vegas! The good thing about shows so close to each other...........I didn't have to put everything away! I like that!

Desert Quilter's of El Centro Quilt Show

2011-02-21T14:02:00.000-08:00

The quilt show in El Centro is history. My car is unpacked. Nothing is put away. Money is counted and credit cards are run.
For being such an isolated town, the show was not bad. It rained during the drive south, during set up, all night and into the next morning. There were lots of customers in the morning, but it certainly died down in the afternoon. One customer told me all the senior citizens have to take an afternoon nap, so that's why they come in the morning! LOL!! And Sunday was pretty steady. Not crowded but steady.
Here are a few photos of my booth and just a few of the quilts hanging on display. For the life of me, I don't know why so many of the photos are all blurred. I used my iPhone and usually the photos come out better. Sorry.

A very colorful quilt made by Dell Hinshaw using all stripes.

This beauty by Glenda Drown.

This quilt by Sylvia Dupree almost glows.

Very simple but effective by Terri Darr. The white flowers are perfect!

A leather flower pot pillow by my daughter Jill.

Baby Bibs

2011-02-17T10:02:00.000-08:00

I made these two bibs this week. Aren't they cute? I did nothing except add the neckline. The blue one came with the applique and the rickrack. Can't beat that. It was hard to find the ribbing. Joanne's no longer sells a nice t-shirt ribbing. Maybe the days of sewing t-shirts are over. I had to order online from Sew Baby. Their ribbing is nice and soft and was exactly what I was looking for.
My youngest daughter, Carol is going to have a baby this summer, my first grandchild. And she remembers these bibs when I made them years ago for her little niece. So no surprise is spoiled here.

Wallmart used to sell tea towels in every color under the rainbow. But no more. The towels are hard to find. But I found these at Target, already decorated. Perfect!

Another Method-Same Results-Just Faster

2011-02-14T10:12:00.000-08:00

It's amazing how I can overlook something so easy. I have been focused on cutting small squares to make Half-Square Triangles. That's easy and quick. No problem.
It took my friend and long arm quilter, Amie Potter to show me an OMG moment. Amie doesn't get much time to actually make quilts. She is a fantastic quilter. I have shown you much of the spectacular quilting she does for me. But when Amie does put together a quilt, she likes it to be fast!
Over lunch a couple of weeks ago, she told me how she used my Stitching Lines to make her HST's.
I had to say DAHHHH!
This is how she did it.
And I know I have done this years ago, but had completely forgotten all about this method.

Layer two large squares.

Take one Stitching Lines strip. Trim to 1/4" shorter than diagonal.
Lay it on top of squares, corner to corner with the the fabric tips showing.
Stitch on both dotted lines.
Tear off the paper.
Lay another Stitching Lines strip on opposite diagonal. Stitch on both dotted lines and rip off paper. See! Just four lines of stitching!

Cut apart at center of square both directions. Don't shift the fabric.

Cut between the stitching lines.

Two large squares. Two Stitching Lines. Four lines of stitching. Four rotary cuts. Eight Half-Square Triangles!
Easy as Pie!

New Quilt Pattern

2011-02-08T10:58:00.000-08:00

My newest pattern is now up on my website. It's called Diamond Quilt, just because it is a bunch of diamonds! It is a super easy to make baby quilt, and it can be made from all your scraps or it might mean another trip to the quilt shop, which is never a bad thing.
Of course it uses Stitching Lines! What else!!

Another Finish

2011-02-02T08:42:00.000-08:00

Another quilt is finished, this time my Diamond Quilt, quilted by Amie Potter. I didn't want any custom work on this one. I thought a panto would be perfect and Amie chose the right one. I am picky about what I want on my quilts. I don't like to have other objects floating all over the quilt, such as flowers or stars or little animals or anything that I can identify. I just like to have some swirly texture. And this panto was perfect.

This is a really scrappy quilt, my absolute favorite. Don't you find that you still need to buy fabric when working with scraps from your stash? I do. Or else all my scrappy quilts start looking like the same colors. I love the unexpected magenta border. I figure why not! It's a great color! This was another Stitching Lines quilt, all made from Half-Square triangles.

Someone was in the posing mood.

Put Me To Shame Amie!

2011-02-01T16:22:00.000-08:00

Amie returned a couple quilts to me last week. I showed this Jungle Flower before she did her magic. Amie was at the front of the line when God handed out the quilting talent. (I wasn't even in line!) Now the quilt is all bound and signed. (I got lazy with a label and just signed my name on the back)

This quilting blows me away. Just think what Amie could do if I didn't put any restrictions on her!!
Just simple blocks, but Amie puts the WOW in them.
Thanks Amie.

Quilt Show

2011-02-01T08:07:00.000-08:00

Come visit me at the Desert Quilter's of Imperial Valley Quilt show this month on the 19th and 20th. It will be at Southwest High School 10am to 5pm on Saturday and 10am to 3pm on Sunday. The address is 351 Ross Ave,El Centro.

Bad News, Good News

2011-01-19T08:53:00.000-08:00

Bad News first. Our roof leaked.........Again! Six and a half years ago, we had several leaks fixed and they all held until this last winter storm. Four days of steady rain was just too much. Christmas Eve, we noticed a very foul smell in our bedroom. We saw the wet walls and ceiling. The smell got worse. Day four Dave decided to cut some holes in the wall and see what was happening behind the big wet spots. We moved a couple of dressers and found the carpet was soaked. The telltale sign was the brown outline of the dressers. We pulled the carpet up and found the padding was soaked and even the plywood underneath. Dave cut out the padding and turned a fan on the whole mess. Long story short. The smell finally went away, we have a $3700.00 roof repair to take care of and insurance is paying for new drywall, new paint and new carpet. What a mess!

This is what I look at when I wake up in the morning.

Good News. I have a new pattern almost finished. Well, it is finished. Just some more proof reading needed. Of course, it uses my Stitching Lines! What else is new!! LOL I am calling it Diamond Quilt, because, well, that is what it is!
Hopefully, I will have the pattern up on my website with the next two weeks.

Now on to something new. I have an idea for a new quilt that is mostly Flying Geese. And of course I will use my Stitching Lines.

I am giving this quilt to Amie today. She has two more finished quilts to give me. I already know the quilting will be amazing!

All Pieced Together

2010-12-27T09:24:00.000-08:00

Like all of you out there in Blogland, it's been a few days since I have been able to sew anything. But now it is time to get back to quilting.
I finished the last seam this morning on my Diamond baby quilt. I think I may add a narrow border, only because sometimes the points get cut off when I add the binding. I usually use a little wider than a 1/4" seam allowance when I put on bindings. Just have to see if I can find something in my stash that will work. My daughter Jill gave me a machine quilting book for Christmas and it is inspiring me to try something different in my quilting. Can't wait to give it a try.

Blocks On the Floor

2010-12-17T06:51:00.001-08:00

Last post, I showed you all the squares I had cut out with my new GO cutter.

And this is what I have done with them.

Only with my camera, can I see a pattern going on. I hope you can see some kind of order. Once I have all the blocks made, I will fiddle with the arrangement some more.

What is it with a dog and quilt blocks on the floor? Is there some kind of perceived softness? Is there a voice in the fabric saying " Let's cuddle up"?
Because there are other places to lay down in my sewing room.

In the end, the fabric won out and Tess fell asleep.

A New Way To Cut It All Up

2010-12-13T13:30:00.000-08:00

My Christmas shopping is practically done. Yipee! that's a first for me. I usually wait until the last minute. I don't know what inspired me. It's a bit easier this year. Two of my Bah Humbug children decided they didn't want to exchange presents this year. First born Jill to the rescue! They all decided to drastically limit the quantity and the money spent. And I'm OK with that.

So, now I have time to do what I like to do. Make quilts, of course! I bought myself an early Christmas present this year. You could say it is a business expense. I am getting ready for my first show in February, by cutting tons of 3-1/2" squares with my new GO cutter. .
These will all turn into Half-Square triangles made with Stitching Lines.

I think I need to cut some orange squares. that's next.
I learned quickly the key to success in cutting with the GO cutter. I have to put the fabric on the die in the right direction. And a piece of paper on top of the fabric seems to be needed to get accurate cuts. But that's a small price to pay for the speed of cutting. I think I really like this cutter.

Thanksgiving and Black Friday

2010-11-24T12:24:00.000-08:00

It's almost Black Friday. And who doesn't like and want a discount. I know I do! Check out my Etsy shop and use the code blackfridayblog when you check out. It's easy and free to join Etsy if you never have. Registration is just your name and email.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I wish I could say I was ready, but I procrastinate way too much, so still have plenty to do. I am cooking gluten and dairy free this year, so I am trying out new things.

I need to keep my hands off of this:
Chex Ginger-Honey Crunch. It is absolutely delicious.

Mug Rug Again

2010-11-19T10:26:00.000-08:00

I finished another Mug Rug.

Peacock fabric for the back and binding.

Two makes a set!

Mug Rug

2010-11-18T10:53:00.000-08:00

I used to put my coffee cup on a coaster. That's what I called it. But someone always comes up with a better name. Now it's a "Mug Rug" and I love that name. I made one today. It's bigger and better than just a plain old coaster. But it also took me a little longer to make. Here are the steps.

I cut 2" squares from three different color families, one from each of 24 fabrics. The photo shows the yellow squares only. I had already made the other blocks before I started this tutorial.

Then I made Half-Square triangles using my Stitching Lines.

I pressed the Half-Square triangles to the dark side. You could press them to the lighter side if you like.

I made the HST's larger than I needed, so then I squared them up to 1-1/2"

I placed the HST's where I wanted them.
The seam on the upper left square is pressed up, the seam on the upper right side is pressed down. the lower squares are opposite. Then everyone is happy and seams fit together nicely!

I sewed the HST's together and pressed them all in the same direction.

I made two identical blocks.

I sewed the two halves together.

And then I removed the last few stitches between first stitching line and cut edge.

I pressed half of the seam one way, and the other half the other direction.
Then I arranged how I wanted the blocks.

And sewed them all together.. Again I removed the last few stitches at each intersection, so I could press the seams all flat.
This photo shows all the seams going every which way. But it makes for a nice flat quilt top.

Here is the front side, all nice and trimmed and squared up.

I added a 1" cut border to the four sides.

I stacked up the three layers.... backing, batting and top.

I quilted it with a simple "Stitch in the Ditch".

Now it is bound and done.
Just big enough for a mug and some goodies.

One Top Done

2010-11-09T14:44:00.000-08:00

I have been sewing away. Still working on two projects at once. Last night I finished the first top and I have been busily writing directions for it. Lots of illustrations to make. How can a simple pattern take so much instruction. I need to simplify!
It looks like this. Ha! Not really. I still don't want to show it to you, but you can see the pretty colors.

Jungle Flower is coming along nicely. Strips and squares are all cut and ready to go. It's just that life gets in the way and these are all the Alternate blocks I have made. I hope that the border fabric will look OK. It's pretty and very traditional, not always my cup of tea. If not, it won't be the first quilt where I have had to replace the border after it is all made.

Two a Day

2010-11-03T16:53:00.000-07:00

Do you do this?
I've got two projects going at one time.
I have set myself a daily goal to work on both each day. Does that slow me down or speed me up? Who knows, but I don't get so bored with my sewing that way!

I am making a new Jungle Flower. After taking the same one to numerous quilt shows, I thought it would be time for something new hanging in my booth. Tomorrow I will start on the Alternate Block.
And I am working on a new design at the same time. So I set up a second machine and am making twice the mess!

Ha! I blurred it on purpose! I don't want you to really see it. LOL

And my phone is working today. After getting a message that it didn't have a SIM card in the phone, I left it plugged into iTunes all night and it worked today. It just doesn't have all the apps back on it and I am afraid to add them back at this point. But at least I have a working phone and I can get my email off my phone.

Bad, Bad Phone

2010-11-01T19:30:00.001-07:00

Has anybody had an IPhone that has crashed?

I am so frustrated with my phone.

My first IPhone lost its Blue-tooth ability. It was under warranty so Apple replaced it. I don't think it was with a new phone, but a refurbished phone. Now this second phone started crashing on me on an almost daily basis. This last weekend, all the apps stopped working. So I did a restore a couple of times, and it actually looked like it was back to working.......for about an hour....then all by itself.....with nobody touching it....it beeped and crashed again. The phone had been working until tonight. Now it doesn't work and I haven't done anything to it. So I am trying another restore as I write this.
I am frustrated. Hope Andy gets over here this week to take a look at it.

BUMMER!!!

Primrose

2010-10-29T15:28:00.000-07:00

Finally. It is done and it is here!

I don't know if I have ever blogged about this before, but the very first pattern I wrote was for a company called Quiltsmart. It was a book called Primrose. There were three patterns inside, one called Primrose, one called Primrose Garden and one called Worms on Parade. I first started working on it sometime in 1999. Quiltsmart makes preprinted interfacing for doing applique patterns. After the company reorganized a few years back, they started changing the book format, into kits that include instructions and the interfacing. Finally, Primrose got its turn and today I received the finished product in the mail.

The cover of the book showed Primrose Garden.

The cover on the kit shows Primrose. And Worms on Parade is no longer.
Hope it does well for them, and me.

On the Wall

2010-10-26T16:41:00.000-07:00

I finished it......My Diamond Quilt.

And it is hanging on my wall. I apologize for the poor quality photos. They are from my phone and it was getting late in the afternoon, so the light was bad. Plus, they look a little blurry, so I guess my hand was shaking.
Anyway, it is so nice to make something just for me.
Once I got it up, I could see that I should have made it a couple rows longer, but what is done is done. And I am happy with it. Amie Potter did a great quilting job as usual.
I used a striped batik for the binding. It was a "bear' to needle through. My finger can attest to that. It is still sore. Sometimes batiks can be like that and then sometimes a needle will just glide through.

Tess is sleeping in her favorite spot. She is on top of her own quilt. I didn't make it for her. It's just an old one that I no longer care about. And she doesn't seem to care what they look like!

Update

2010-10-20T10:36:00.000-07:00

Hello Out there, I am back. Never really went far. I thought today, I would show what I have been working on lately.

This is going to be another baby quilt. The print was just too cute to pass up. So while I was at the last quilt show in Whittier, I made up all the Half-Square triangles, while demonstrating Stitching Lines.

In-between the quilt shows in Santa Barbara and Whittier, I made these notebooks. Another great way to use up scraps. These are all in my Etsy shop.
I have had requests for a pattern or tutorial for making these notebooks. I am still thinking about it.

The other thing we have been working on is painting our master bath.
It still had the builder white paint, and wow had it yellowed, not to mention the peeling paint inside the skylight.
Anyway, we picked out our own white. I know, very creative! It has been a month long ordeal. What with the prep work, weekend commitments and just an unbelievable amount of corners and hard to reach places.
What a pain. This week, I am painting the doors. Two doors, one side each, each day, on top of sawhorses in the room. I swear, my next house will have 8 foot ceilings! And maybe cottage cheese ceilings!
Now off to lunch with my friend

Quilting and Binding Done

2010-09-22T10:08:00.000-07:00

I finished the binding on my Spanish Tiles quilt this morning. Amie Potter did a beautiful job quilting it, as usual. It's so nice to have a wonderful friend who does wonderful quilting. Thank you Amie! I just hand over my quilts to her and she does her thing. Love it!!

It will be nice to have a new Spanish Tiles hanging in my booth. Seems the colors are perfect for this time of year. I am vending at a show in Santa Barbara this weekend and looking forward to visiting the area.

Sorry about the photos. The light was really bad in my house today.

Amie quilted my big Diamond quilt and I have sewn on the binding by machine. I still have to do the hand stitching and then can't wait to post a photo. Maybe next week.

Something Different

2010-09-14T15:36:00.000-07:00

I have been busy making some little padded notebooks. Sometimes I have to get away from quilting. You guys know how that it is. Anyway I listed them in my Etsy shop.

I have made a bunch more. I will be listing those later in the week.

A Tangled Mess? I Think Not!

2010-09-12T10:49:00.001-07:00

Can you believe this mess of thread?

I never have a problem pulling a cut length of thread from this. IT DOES NOT TANGLE.

I love it! It's my very, very favorite thread!

Years ago, I bought this thread along with a few other colors from Quilt in a Day, and they still have it! It will last me a lifetime.

It is sold by a company called Levine Bros. I think it was originally meant for the tailoring industry. But I use it for hand sewing my bindings. It comes already waxed. I just cut a slit in the bag, and cut all the thread in half at one end. Then I just pull a length out one at a time. It absolutely never tangles on me. There are 675 yards in one package.......probably enough to last your lifetime also.

By the way, I have no recollection of why my white thread is not in it's bag. All the others colors are still tucked away in their bags. It is a mystery to me!

And The Winner Is................

2010-09-08T07:10:00.000-07:00

The Stitching Lines Giveaway is now closed.
I am afraid this has been the worst attended giveaway on the internet. BooHoo!
Anyway, Drumroll....... The winner is Joyful Quilter!

Joy, send me your address and I will send you the Stitching Lines.
Thank you Joy for mentioning my Stitching Lines on your blog. I expect to see tons more Half-Square triangle quilts on your blog!!!
And a Big Thank you to everyone else who blogged about my Giveaway and to all those who came and looked.

This last weekend we spent a few days in Big Bear.

Most of the time my feet were up on a chair out on the deck. I got a lot of reading done.

This was my view when I looked up.

And here is a tree trunk that I snapped a picture of just because I loved all the texture.

Big Oops!

2010-09-07T09:00:00.000-07:00

Oops, If you received my blog about the giveaway winner, sorry, I didn't realize it went through to the end of today. If you don't see it, I deleted that blog. Tomorrow I will announce the real winner.

Great Stitching Lines Giveaway of 2010

2010-08-31T16:47:00.000-07:00

WooHoo! This is my 160th post. Time to Celebrate!

Since I am deep into Half-Square Triangles again, I thought I would give some away.
I will send five packages of Stitching Lines to the lucky winner.
And for those of you that don't know what Stitching Lines are, I am presenting a Slide Show.

Click on the "x" to get rid of the ad below the Slide Show.

So here are the very few rules for the Great Stitching Lines Giveaway of 2010!

1. Become a follower of my blog if you are not already.
2. Post about this giveaway on your blog.
3. Post a link to the Stitching Lines page of my website, on your blog. Here is the link
4. Leave me a comment telling me that you have done 1-3.
This Giveaway is open through September 7.

Getting Off Track

2010-08-30T13:02:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I got a little off track yesterday.

You know how, when you are working on one project and another pops in your head..... and you have to start playing around with that idea, before you are finished with the first one.
Well, I do it ALL THE TIME!

Anyhow, I was working with all my Half-Square triangles, playing with different combinations, when I decided to move a dresser that was in my closet upstairs down into my sewing room downstairs. That's a mess in itself. While in the midst of doing that, I looked in the sewing room closet for a vinyl zipper bag for another project and there I found a Spanish Tile quilt started and never finished. Most of the blocks were already made, just waiting for me. They were calling my name. And I answered. I made it smaller than the pattern calls for, but if it looks OK after Amie quilts it, I will use it for a new sample at quilt shows. It kind of has a Christmas look to it.

Then I got back to my Half-Square triangles. This time around, I am turning four blocks into one block.
Still have a lot to do!

A Change in Direction

2010-08-28T11:59:00.000-07:00

Well, I have scrapped my idea for a new quilt.......the one I showed with just a sneak peak. But,since I had made a bunch of half-square triangles for it and had already picked the borders and all the fabrics, I decided to turn them into diamonds again. This time all the HST's have the same light fabric.

Border Fabrics............I fell in love with the fabric on the right when I saw it while I was up in Big Bear. It's directional, so I passed it up. With a $10.00 price tag on a yard of fabric. I try to only buy what I know I will use and how I will use it. Well, then I found it at another store that was having a $2.00 a yard sale and I bought it up right away. I will only be using a little of it for this project. Someday, I want to make it up with a bunch of batiks.

Sunset

2010-08-25T22:22:00.000-07:00

Wasn't this a pretty sunset we had today?

Jill's Purses

2010-08-25T07:19:00.000-07:00

My daughter Jill brought some of the leather purses and pouches to sell at the quilt show over this past weekend. Aren't they beautiful! She has an Etsy shop. But it has not been updated for awhile.

Disappointing Show

2010-08-23T12:50:00.000-07:00

This past weekend's quilt show was a very disappointing event. What with lack of space planning on the part of the sponsoring club and lack of customers even finding us (too many rooms in a hard to follow floor plan) and a seemingly lack of customers coming through the door, I am lucky to have even come out of it with just a wash! No loss and just a tiny, tiny profit. Won't be doing that show again!

Sneak Peak

2010-08-19T16:39:00.000-07:00

Who says points have to match? Not this quilt police!

Just a little of something I am working on.

I'm Still Here

2010-08-18T15:57:00.000-07:00

Hello. I haven't dropped off the face of the earth! Not yet anyway. I have been working on what may become a new pattern, so I can't show it yet.
This weekend I will be vending at a show in Yorba Linda, CA. I still have not got everything pulled together for the show yet. This little heat wave is slowing me down. It's been a couple of months since I did a show, and everything I need to take has been put away in different rooms.
Got to get my act together!!

Still More

2010-08-03T16:19:00.000-07:00

I haven't hit the bottom of the barrel yet.
I still have plenty of Half-Square triangles laying around.

Today, I made a doll quilt.

I am trying to come up with ideas to use these up!
Do you think Dave would like a work shirt made out of HST's??
I could use his favorite colors! LOL

A Finish!

2010-07-30T17:31:00.000-07:00

It's Done!

Somethings I found out while piecing this:

1. Leaders and Enders are a must. I needed to get a good start at the beginning of each stitching, since I was removing the few stitches in the seam allowance in order to spiral the seams when pressing. Otherwise, I might get a jumble of threads that were a pain to remove.
2. A more contrasting thread would have worked out better. My eyes are too old to see the stitches I needed to remove.
3. Carefully store the Half-Square triangles until needed. Ragged threads are a pain when there are this many seams.
4. The pressing of the first seam between the two Half-Square triangles is the most important. Because I always pressed the first two in the same direction, all my seams fitted together perfectly when I spiral pressed.

And I only used 168 Stitching Lines, less than 2 packages.

Now, on to my quilter!

Diamond Quilt-Almost Done

2010-07-28T16:13:00.000-07:00

I am still working on my Diamond Quilt.
I am almost finished.
Only 2 more long seams to sew.

This is the brown corner.

This is the black corner.

This is the green corner.

And this is the pink corner.

And this is my only oops! Out of 672 HST's.
Two triangles of the same fabric touching each other.
I have one seam ripped out in this picture.
Three to go and then I will put a different HST in it's place.

Call me way too particular!!

Giveaway Day

2010-07-22T08:45:00.000-07:00

It's Giveaway Day! WooHoo

Using Random.org, I have come up with a winner, and that winner is
Candace from Squash House Quilts.
Congratulations Candace.
A big thanks to all my new followers.

Now I am off to sew together some more
Half-Square Triangles.
I am making just a few new HST's for this quilt, all with different blacks, one color that I was really lacking. Otherwise, all my HST's were already made before starting this project.

Diamond Block Quilt Day 3

2010-07-20T16:52:00.000-07:00

I've been moving blocks around. I think I would like some order to these scrappy diamonds.
Of course, I am soooooo not even close to making enough of these four patches. I keep adding new blocks, but it seems that I am still only one quarter of the way done. How can that be?? My biggest problem is not having too few Half-Square triangles to work with. It's having a floor that is too small.

Diamond Block Quilt Day 2

2010-07-16T15:58:00.000-07:00

I am still plugging away on my new Half-Square triangle quilt.

After I pick which four HST's will go together into the Diamond Block, I make sure the seams are going in the right direction. I repress if they don't. That's the trick to making a quilt like this.
All seams have to go the same direction from block to block.
I stack up the squares into four piles as I want to sew them. Then I take the bottom two piles, flip them around and stack on top of the two upper piles. Now all seam allowances are pressed in the same direction in each pile. This makes it so much easier.

After I sew two squares together (one from each pile), I press them all the same direction.
Then I sew the sets of two together, and get ready to press.

I either rip out the last few stitches with a seam ripper, or just tug the seams in opposite directions. The idea is to open up that seam for the final pressing.

I love this technique. I use it a lot.
Not only does it eliminate bulk at the intersection, but it means that I can twist the block any way I want when I place it in the quilt. And since I pressed all the seams the same from block to block, I know the seams will all nest together.

My quilt is growing.
I think I have enough squares for about a fourth of it.

I have had these fabrics piled up on my floor for a little while now (probably since I last cleaned up my sewing room).
Don't know yet what I will do with them. But I love all the colors. Still need some more fabrics.

Don't Go Together Half Square Triangles

2010-07-15T22:08:00.000-07:00

What am I doing with all these unmatched, "Don't Go Together", what do I do with all these, half square triangles"?

I have a gazillion more of these little babies!

I am turning them into four patches.

And then making a very scrappy quilt.

This could turn into something very big!

GiveAway

2010-07-14T09:13:00.000-07:00

This is my 145th post.

It seems as good a time as any to do a "GiveAway".

While I was cleaning my sewing room a couple weeks ago (you wouldn't know it by looking at it now) I came across some wool felt and patterns that I have never done anything with. And I know I never will. But, so many of you ladies like wool applique and are so talented that I would love to see someone else enjoy it.

There are 12 pieces (9" x 12") of wool felt from Color Me Patterns and 2 patterns from Shirley Stevenson. I think I bought this for the Penny Rug Pin Cushions. They were so darn cute.

Anyway, here are the rules.

1. One chance to win: You must be a follower or become a follower and
then leave me a comment that you'd like to be entered into the drawing.

2. Two chances to win: #1 plus.... Blog about the GiveAway and post a link on your blog.

If you don't have a blog, please leave me an email address where I can find you.

I will keep this GiveAway open thru July 21.

Good Luck and thanks for stopping by!

Mount Helix

2010-07-09T21:15:00.001-07:00

Dave, Jill and I went to the top of Mount Helix today. It was beautiful up there.
And the views were wonderful.

Baby Quilt

2010-07-08T18:06:00.000-07:00

Today, I finished up the binding on a cute little girl's baby quilt.
It's all pinks and browns and whites.

Piecing Together Batting

2010-07-06T14:36:00.000-07:00

Yahhhhhhhhhh! I have a new computer. Life is good.

Today, I needed to piece some batting together,
as I didn't have a big enough piece for a baby quilt.I decided to give the Heat Press a try.
So far, it seems like it worked quite well. Remember I used this to patch up a doggy chewed quilt. But this is what it is meant for.

First thing I did was lay the two pieces on the table, overlapping just a little.

Then, I cut down the middle of both layers.

I removed the top piece from one side and the bottom piece from the other side.

I kept the edges butted up to each other.

I laid down about a 12" strip of Heat Press, right on top of the cut edges. I placed a couple of teflon sheets right up alongside the Heat Press. (I am sure you could cut one long piece)

I pressed the Heat Press in place with my iron.
I kept adding more strips until I worked my way across the whole length.
Then I flipped the batting over and did the same thing to the other side.
This seemed to be faster than whip stitching the two pieces together.

Now I need to quilt the quilt.

New Toy

2010-06-29T16:22:00.000-07:00

Something fun came today. I ordered a QuiltCut2. It looks like it will be very useful in cutting squares for all the Half-Square triangles I make. Already, I cut over 160 squares in very little time.
The cutting guide does not move real smoothly, so I will have Dave take a look at it. Maybe, it just needs to be used more.
I am still finishing the binding on the baby quilt I quilted yesterday. I started coughing so much in the last couple of days, that I thought maybe the unwashed fabric was bothering me, so I put the quilt aside last night.
Looks like it is might be the beginning of a cold. I will know tomorrow if I still feel bad. So today, I pre-washed all the fabric that I cut into squares, just in case.
Still have not bought a new computer.

Bye, Bye Computer

2010-06-28T19:14:00.000-07:00

My computer crashed this past Friday (I got the Blue Screen of Death) and since I don't like working on this laptop, no pictures from me. Lucky for me, my sewing machine still works. I finished two little triangle baby quilt tops, quilted one today, and applied binding on another (still need to do the handwork), mopped three floors, and cleaned the stove top. I get more done when my computer doesn't work! Hmmmm!

After the Show

2010-06-22T09:55:00.000-07:00

As I have told you, numerous times, when I am a vendor at a quilt show,
I demonstrate my Stitching Lines.......over and over and over again. I never thought I would get tired of sewing, but on those weekends I can.
Anyway, before the show, I pull fabric scraps from my stash that go with a particular fabric (something that I can use as a baby quilt). I pre-cut the scraps into 3-1/2" squares and stack the squares neatly in a ziplock bag. That is the end of the neatness!
When I get to a show, I stack the squares into pairs that might look good together. It doesn't really matter, since these will be very scrappy quilts. But, I make an attempt!
I set up my little tiny Janome machine and sew away making half-square triangles and demonstrating how to use Stitching Lines.
At a good show, I will go through at least one package of Stitching Lines.
That means 400 half-square triangles! That is enough HST's for at least two of my baby quilts.

When I get home, I press all of them open and square them up.
Most of the time, I only need to trim two sides. I sew these little babies pretty fast when demonstrating. So they are not always perfect, hence the squaring up!
I love the little 4" Omnigrid Square! Perfect size for what I need.

These are all squared up. Some need a dog ear trimmed off.
Now, if I could only remember what fabric they go with!!!

One side note. The quilt I am designing right now......the one I can't show you, of course, uses half-square triangles.
I am cutting them at a perfect 2-7/8" square and then I don't need to square them up.
I get nice 2-1/2" squares. I love it!

My Spaces

2010-06-20T15:21:00.000-07:00

I took stock of where I'm at.
That is, where I'm at inside my house. I tend to spread out with my stuff.

Going on a little tour of my house, I noticed that I am indeed taking over most of the rooms in the house. Well, why not? The kids are gone! It's better to use the space than have empty rooms. That's my theory anyway. My husband keeps teasing me about using all the rooms in the house for my sewing/pattern design business. It might be true.
I can't argue with what I see as I walk through the rooms.

On to the tour.
Make up your own mind as to whether I have taken over the house.

Downstairs:
Sewing Room........I am designing and working on a new pattern. So the place is a mess.

Entry Way......... Boxes of Stitching Lines. The printer put them in large boxes this time and they are too heavy for me to move.

Living Room....Tables, chairs and grid from last show. They haven't made their way into sewing room yet. Remember, that room is a mess because I am designing new pattern. There is no room until I clean it up. I haven't shown you the dining room. That's where I assemble Stitching Lines when I need more. Yes, I do it all myself!
Right now it is actually picked up, so need to show it.

Upstairs....Extra Bedroom. It has no purpose so I put my Grace quilting frame up. Notice how it is covered with wrapped fat quarters. I keep product in here for quilt shows. And I really am not into quilting that much!
There is a lot of empty space underneath the frame,
because I haven't put everything away yet.
Remember, I am designing a pattern right now!

Hallway.......... This is where I store my quilts between shows. Keeps the wrinkling to a minimum. I still have one bag of quilts downstairs in living room.
I cheated and didn't show you that!

Loft.........This is my computer desk where I design and write my patterns.
Not showing up is another desk on opposite wall where I put patterns together and on another wall is where I package up orders to ship out.
Can't remember when I last closed the doors to this cabinet!

Now, I told Dave he could have the other bedroom and move his computer setup into there. I think that is generous. But, he is not interested in the work involved in moving all his stuff. So I put a small quilt rack in there and
piled up a bunch of quilts in that room also!!
LOL Hey, he has a three car garage!

Bad Doggy, Bad Doggy

2010-06-16T16:43:00.000-07:00

My daughter Carol gave me back a quilt I made for her a few years ago.
It needed some surgery.
It seems that new puppy Ginny likes to chew up quilts, rugs, shoes, grass, socks
and pet toys. There must be more.....I just can't think of them.

She chewed the edge off of their bed quilt.
Ginny has a tendency to stealthily sneak up on their bed at night.

So here is what I did.

I cut a piece of batting, bigger than the hole and pinned it in place on the front side.

From the back, I made a clean cut through the quilt and new batting.

I used some neat tricot fusible to attach the batting to the quilt on the front and back.
I ironed it in place on both sides.

This stuff comes in a roll, about 1-1/1" wide and is meant to use when you need to piece together batting. You know all the pieces we have left over that are two small for the project we are working on. I have tons of left over.
This could be great!

I got this from The Batty Lady at the last quilt show I went to.
I traded my Stitching Lines for her Heat Press!

I made patches out of the front fabric and the backing fabric.
It does come in handy when you buy too much of what a pattern calls for!!

And then my camera died and I didn't want to quit working on this.
So fast forward to the finished patch job.

If you zoom in on this you can see the black zig-zag stitch around the patch.
I figure no one will ever see it. I did sew the backside patch on by hand.
I pieced more binding and finished the job.

This could have been one of those jobs I put off forever, so I am very proud of myself.
It only took me one week to get myself to do it.

Finishing Quilts

2010-06-15T10:45:00.000-07:00

I finished up a new quilt top the other day.

But I can't show it to you.

I am going to make some more changes to the design (this is not the final).
I hope it is going to be my next pattern.
So these are just teaser pics to show that I am actually working on something.
Notice the Half-Square triangles and Snowball corners. You can be sure that I used my Stitching Lines!

I quilted and bound another child size quilt. I made the top years ago, but only finished it up last week (in the interest of getting UFO's out of my closet). It's cute.
It was Moda fabric that I cut up. I think there was a free pattern from Moda.
At the time, I was managing a quilt shop and made it up for a sample.

Dinosaurs in My Bookcase

2010-06-14T18:49:00.000-07:00

I found dinosaurs in my house. I moved two bookshelves from my family room to my dining room today. Whoa! Even with the sliders underneath, one was a real bear to move. I guess I should have emptied it completely!!
But what I found lurking on the very dusty shelves made me take time to ponder.
Back in 1990, as good and thoughtful parents we purchased a very expensive set of World Book Encyclopedias for our kids. And for several years, I dutifully upgraded the set with the yearly Yearbook. And then right afterwards, the internet took off. And nobody ever opened the books again. Some of the yearbooks are still wrapped in plastic. What does one do with these? My friend Amie told me today that Goodwill won't even take them. They are that obsolete! She is thinking of just sticking hers (she has two sets) into the recycling bin on trash day. Oh my, that just doesn't sound right. But, my gosh they do take up a lot of room.

Another couple of books I found were Thomas Brothers map books. When was the last time I used one of those? Helloooooooo! We have Mapquest. The books don't tell us how long it will take to get where we are going. And it is pretty hard to figure the mileage with the books, let alone trying to find the right page to turn to.

So what is the next item that will become obsolete or useless in 20 years?
Our fancy sewing machines. It could happen. My 20 year old embroidery machine is practically useless.......can't get parts to it anymore. We will be laughing at our primitive iPhones. You can be sure of that! Our computers will be so small, we will take them everywhere we go. And our children will be saying "Remember when..."

This and That

2010-06-08T09:20:00.000-07:00

The Beach Cities Quilt Show has come and gone. It was no better and no worse than other quilt guild shows. Except, the guild ladies could not have been more gracious and welcoming to us vendors. My goodness, they provided a full breakfast bar with coffee, quiche, fresh fruit, bagels and more. Ice cold water, cookies and trail mix were delivered to our booths each day, along with lunch from Panera if we ordered. Talk about pampering your vendors. I'll will go back again, that's for sure!

Andy and his girlfriend Tracy help me with set up on Friday.

I have been working on a new design that,of course,uses my Stitching Lines. This time around, there is absolutely no waste. I use 2 strips that are each 4" long for the half-square triangles. Then I use the remaining 2" for the snow ball corners. And I can use all 3 lines on the 2" pieces. Then, I cut the 4" long center strip left over from the HST, in half and also use them for snowball corners. Can't wait to finish this up and turn it into a pattern.

Looking in my sewing room closet, because I was thinking of cleaning it out, (mind you, I said thinking)I found this afghan that I started years ago. It is just double crochet over and over and over again. Maybe that's why I got bored with it. I can't even remember what crochet hook I used. I know it was purple, but one of these hooks, I don't know. Anyone know a way to figure that out??? I need to finish this up before it gets too warm again to work on it. What with the crummy TV programing on right now, I could actually do this in the evening.

Processes

2010-06-04T10:39:00.000-07:00

I am off to a show in Aliso Viejo today to set up. I've never been to this show, so don't have any idea what to expect. It is at Soka University in Aliso Viejo. I expect it should be a nice location. My car is packed. I am getting good at that....only 30 minutes from start to finish.

I found a website with a very interesting premise. Some of us only like to blog about finished projects. We wait to post until we have a good photo to show. I am guilty.
So in the interest of something to blog about more often, I have taken the pledge to post more often, about the process I go through to get to an end. (Hopefully, a finished quilt or even a pattern)

So this is what I am working on right now.

Can't show you the blocks yet, as I may turn them into a pattern. But this is the mess I work through to find the fabric I want. This pile of batiks may have to be put away before I go much further!

Poor Tessie

2010-05-29T05:49:00.000-07:00

Can you believe this perfectly healthy dog now has to take medication for life?

Poor Tessie is in the middle of a second bout of a bacterial skin infection in just two months. I will spare you a description of the symptoms. Let's just say, she needs a bath every couple days while this occurs because her skin starts to get that "doggy" smell way to quickly after a bath.
Lucky for me, Tess loves a shower. Literally, she actually loves to get one. All I have to do is take a pile of towels from a closet and open the shower door. She practically knocks me down when she rushes into the shower. It is amazing. And I hate that word, it is the most overused word in America, but it really is "amazing". Maybe it is because of all the baby talk she gets while in the shower or maybe, it is the massage, or maybe the warm water. But whatever it is, she seems to really like getting a shower.
Anyway, what Tess now has is low thyroid. The very smart vet tested her as a last resort as to why she was getting these staph infections. Smart doctor. Although, I did look it up on the internet and found that labs and retrievers, 4-6 years old, who have been neutered, get low thyroid the most of all dogs. Tess is a 5 year old, neutered, lab/retriever mix. So there you go. Right on target!

Binding Tutorial

2010-05-26T15:42:00.000-07:00

My friend Candace over at Squash House Quilts posted a nice little tutorial about sewing a diagonal seam to close up the binding strips on your quilt. It's something I should have been doing all along but didn't. Thanks to Candace, she motivated me to do it the right way today. It's easy and looks so much better than just tucking in the end.

Same Quilt as Before

2010-05-26T10:21:00.000-07:00

Talk about the "same ol', same ol'. I just made the same quilt again that I made last week.

I am just so inventive, I really surprise myself! LOL At the last quilt show, I made waaaaaaaaaay to many half-square triangles while I demonstrated my Stitching Lines in one bunch of colors, enough for two baby quilts. And since I was not at all happy with the quilting on Chameleon Critters #1, I made another.

This time I did my world famous meandering quilting all over the surface. Oh, and I didn't do it just one time. I actually quilted the whole darn thing earlier in the week and then ripped it all out.
Did I ever tell you I am not much into the quilting part of this whole thing??? Anyway, my tension was all off and the bobbin thread was just laying there on the surface waving at everybody that walked by! So, out it came. Seems that my Juki runs best on the frame when I use a pre-wound cardboard bobbin. I failed to use that the first time..........and I know better.

And surprise, surprise, I quilted a second baby quilt yesterday.............two in one day....I am very impressed with myself!! I think I have posted this one before. Another bunch of half-square triangles needed to be put to good use.

And again, meandereing all over..............I can't do anything else on my frame.......no talent in that department?

Chameleon Critter Baby Quilt

2010-05-11T10:41:00.000-07:00

I finished up another little baby quilt today. These half-square triangles were made during the demos I did at my last show in Ventura. I had purchased the dark brown Chameleon print last year and was waiting for the right time to use it. It certainly is different from most baby quilts, but that is just why I like it. A perfect quilt for a little baby boy!

Camarillo Was a Good Show

2010-05-04T10:36:00.000-07:00

The Camarillo Quilt Show was a success! It was held at the Ventura County Fairgrounds. Andy helped me this time. I am sure he was totally bored for the whole show,
but he did very well for his first time. And probably his last time.
That's not how he likes to spend his time.

Here are some of the quilts on exhibit. They were all beautiful. Unfortunately, the lighting in the building was horrible and did not show off the quilts to their best advantage. And I used my cell phone for a camera. So believe me when I say these quilts were better than they look in my photos!

This is called "Indecision" by Sharon Norbutas. It is only one block over and over that has been rotated, reversed, reduced and distorted.

"Fun With Flowers" by Vicki Nichols. I love the lattice.

"Scrappy Dresden" by Lynda Blais. Lynda used over 180 floral prints for this beauty.
It's all hand appliqued.

"Christmas Visions" by Saralee Antrim-Salzan.
I love the optical illusion.

"Pinatas de Navidad" by Noreen Arroyo.
The large stars are three dimensional.

"Completely Dotty" by Patti Jacobs.

All the prints are polka dots.

Packing Day

2010-04-29T08:25:00.000-07:00

Today, I am packing up my car for another quilt show. This one is the furthest I have gone. It is the Camarillo Quilt show up at Ventura County fairgrounds. I have no idea what to expect.....size, how many vendors, or what the attendance will be. This show is over three hours away, so obviously, I will be getting a hotel room for two nights. I don't even know what child of mine is going with me. I guess I will find out tomorrow or maybe tonight, if it is Carol or Andy. And Andy is not looking forward to going. But Carol has told him it is only fair that he goes once in awhile. Luckily, I don't need to take my poles and drapes, so I will have a little more room to tuck in more quilts. I never knows if there will be a backside to one of the side drapes, where I can hang more quilts.

Weekend in Big Bear

2010-04-19T13:56:00.001-07:00

I spent the weekend in Big Bear with Dave and Tess.
The weather was perfect.

I took my little itsy-bitsy Janome machine with me to sew some blocks together. That machine is lighter than my small over-night bag. But, I forgot the 1/4" foot and this machine is a bottom of the line model. I can't move the needle. So, I tried to use the markings on the bobbin cover. Couldn't stay accurate.
I ended up sticking a Post-It Note stack unto the machine bed.
It worked and I got my 1/4" seamline!

There may have been an iron up at the cabin, but I was too lazy to look,
so I finger pressed all my seams.
That worked, too!
In the end, I finished 15 blocks.

Dave took Tess on some long walks downhill.
Only problem was, they had to walk back uphill.
Tess knew how to cool down.

I see arms and fingers everywhere in this old wood. What do you see?

Just some pretty little tree trunks.

I like all the short rectangles lined up.

Rip That Stitch

2010-04-08T15:31:00.000-07:00

In my last post I showed you a photo of this Spanish Tiles quilt.

Well, when I looked at it a little closer, I found why I had stuffed it in the back of the closet.
I had plans for it........really Big Plans!

I planned to take out all the quilting stitches! No wonder I had hidden it away.

This is what I do in front of the TV in the evening.

Some of the stitches are fine......that's why it is taking me so long. But in-between the good is the bad and the ugly....large stitches just laying on the backside.
Those are the the easy ones to remove.
Some one once said they had a love hate relationship with their seam-ripper.
I hate to use it, but so glad I have it!

Computer Desk and Primrose

2010-03-31T09:39:00.000-07:00

Here are the photos of my Computer Desk Free Pattern.
Obviously, it is not quilted yet.
It could be just straight-line quilted in the ditch, or I could send it out and have Magic Amie do something with it. I have not decided yet what I will do.
The finishing pattern is written and has been sent to my dear webmaster.
Hope to see it up soon on my site.

A couple weeks ago, I received a rather large package from Quiltsmart.
I opened it up and found all my quilts from my Primrose book. I have not seen them in a long time. Primrose was written in 2002, but I started designing it way back in 1999, so some of these quilts are really old.
Now I have the problem of finding a place to store them!
Anyway, I thought I would show you a few of these quilts.
There were a lot more in the box, but that might be really boring!

This is Primrose.

This is Primrose Garden.

Another Primrose Garden.

And a couple Worms on Parade.

For those who do not know Quiltsmart..............they produce pre-printed fusible to be used with machine applique.
My Primrose shape proved to be fairly versatile.
There were three different patterns in the Primrose book.
Quiltsmart is redoing the pattern. They are turning it into a kit with just the Primrose design.
It should be out for Spring Quilt Market.
And I went on to design Spanish Tile which also uses the Primrose shape.

I found this Spanish Tile in my closet. I think I started to take out all the quilting. For some reason I was not happy with what I had done. Maybe, it is time to work on it again.