A Bad Choice

I honestly expected to be showing you a completed quilt top today - my 2010 $5 Quilt. It's been laying over the chair in front of my design wall for a bit. It just needed borders. Today I ironed and trimmed it up. Greg helped me measure the width and length in 3 places. I measured and cut the inner border and sewed it to one side. And realized I had made a horrible fabric color choice. I need to use a fabric the same color as the sashing pieces - not the cornerstones like I had planned - to frame the quilt. Greg tried to convince me that it would be "fine". Well, we all know that to a woman "fine" it's generally anything BUT fine. I laid out the leftover sashing fabric next to the top and the difference was dramatic. I found the fabric I needed online and it should be here soon and I ripped that border off!

Here's the quilt where I left it. Right on my ironing board that needs a facelift. I can't believe I'm showing that ugly thing to you. I still have threads to clip but I just didn't have it in me.

I finished up the 4th block of Anniversaries of the Heart. Personalizations to come as with the rest of the blocks. This isn't a block that I think I'll have anyone to commemorate as we have a small family. I think I may stitch my maiden name in the lower right corner and the year completed in the upper left. I used the called for fibers except for the windows. There just wasn't enough contrast.

I'd like to wish my Canadian friends a Happy Thanksgiving and all of you happy stitches!

Cheddar Anyone?

I have another Jo Morton's Little Women Club finish to share with you today. This is the first time I've used a cheddar colored fabric and I like it. I don't know the exact measurement of the finished quilt but if I remember correctly, the blocks in the center finish at 3". I've had the top assembled for a bit but just got around to the quilting.

Amy's Choice

Jo Morton's Little Women Club Project

My LQS isn't renewing this club on their schedule. Our instructor, Jan Vaine, is teaching Prairie Women Sewing Circle at another LQS and I'll be joining them. I hope I'll enjoy this group as much as I did the Jo's group. I've learned so much from Jan and we're so fortunate to have a published author as our instructor.

We're experiencing fall like weather this week in Florida. Our temperatures will be in the low 80's this week and there has been a break in the humidity. The weatherman said that this morning we're experiencing December weather. I'll take it! We even had the windows open for a few hours yesterday. It's hard to believe it's October already and that the holiday season is quickly approaching.

I have a knitting finish but the project isn't blocked yet and I hope to have a AotH block finish soon. I've picked a BIG knitting project back up again and I might have that finished in the next month or so. It's going to be a bear to block it's so large. I'll hopefully have pictures of the shawl for you in the next couple of weeks - there are a lot of activities over the next few weekends for me. Thankfully, next weekend is a 3 day one for me due to Columbus Day. I hope each of you have a great week and I hope your stitches be happy ones!

A Surprise and Progress

Yesterday, I was able to get a chance to stitch for a few hours, knit for a few hours, and quilt for a few hours. I don't quite have any knitting or stitching to show you but I do have some quilting. I was able to finish my last 8 Harvest blocks and play a bit with the arrangement. My design wall isn't crooked, the blocks are on there wonky As you can tell, my design wall is almost completely full.

And at the very bottom are the first 5 blocks for the Cotton Club BOM. These came together really quickly and easily. The instructions are fabulous! All the blocks will be set on point. I'd like to do the one on the far right in more modern fabrics one day and as a larger block. I think it would make a great modern quilt.

I received a wonderful surprise in the mail last week from Catherine. She sent me this cute stitched pillow as a thank you for a chart I'd sent her. It's my first fall stitched small.

Here's a closeup of the stitching. I love the thread! Thank you Catherine!

Wishing you all a good week and happy stitches!

Cotton Club Beginning

Happy Tuesday! Over the weekend, I started the Cotton Club BOM by Bonnie Blue through a LQS. I had hoped to have the first 5 blocks completed (this months installment) to show you but that didn't happen. There has been a flurry of closet cleaning instead. As I mentioned in a prior post, I'm using a Harriet Hargrave tip to get my 1/4" seam more accurate. While not perfect, it's much improved. These blocks finish at 5" and will be set on point. As you can see, it starts simple!

I've been playing around at drafting blocks - the tutorials by Lori Holt really captured my attention. I checked out the Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns and 5500 Quilt Block Designs from my library to see if I could draft a block in a size I wanted. I'm having some success! Both of these books will be purchased as the possibilities are endless!

Question for you all - Do you know how to convert a block sketch/layout to a paper pieced pattern? I'd love to learn to do that as well.

I've also become very enamored of all the Farmers Wife blocks I've seen in blog land. I think I'm slowly losing that battle!

I hope you all are having a great week. Thank you so much for your visits and your comments! I appreciate you and continue to be inspired by you!

Trying Something New

Before I get to the something new that I'm trying, here is my progress on my Harvest Quilt. I placed the blocks on my design wall without much thought so some rearranging is in the cards. In the meantime, I ran out of fabric. I need to check my scraps to be sure.

Now on to the something new that I'm trying. It's no secret that I've struggled with my 1/4" seam. It's not that I want to be perfect, but I do want to be close. The ladies that own my LQS shared what Harriet Hargrave told them she does when she was here last year for a class. It's all detailed in her book Quilters Academy Freshman Year. Page 23. I'd picked this book up earlier this year. I had gotten up until page 21 when I put it down. Go figure.

Anyways, it involves this notion called the Perkins Ruler. A $5 notion!

It has a hole right at the scant 1/4" place. I put my needle down through this hole.

I then put my seam guide through the hole in the back of my #13 foot placing the seam guide tightly against the ruler.

I screwed it down tight so the seam guide does not move.

Here's what it looks like:

This would work with any machine as long as the foot being used has the setup for a seam guide. A Bernina is not required. I still have some work to do but I must say that my piecing has definitely improved. I'm getting pretty close! I've not had any luck with other feet that have seam guides on it. I couldn't understand why I couldn't get it right and was frustrated. I think it's because those feet allow the fabric to slip underneath and this setup doesn't.

Lesson Learned: What works for one person, might not work for another. Keep looking for a solution! One size does not fit all.

Wishing you a week of Happy Stitches!