Monday, June 25, 2012

Design Wall Monday 6-25-2012


Not much to show when I haven't been able to sew much this past week. The lone finish is this cute little wallet from Atkinson Designs.  I've carried around fabric and pattern to several retreats, quilting days and to Jenny's house more than once.  Finally, this week I made one.  It was easy.  Terry's directions are wonderful.  I may have to make some more and make them bigger which I totally can now that I know how to do the zipper so nicely.   


Week of June 18
Load up the truck with dried red maple wood
Spend two more days with Jenny & Sophia
Pick up tomato plants and shampoo at Kevin’s
Figure out where to put stuff in back bedroom so that Lisa and Kirk can visit
Clean house as much as feasible
Sew if at all possible!
Week of June 25         
Pick up stuff for kitchen remodel
Work on Scrap Squad #3
Draw applique designs on wonder under or the like
Make blocks for Quilting Bee
Make blocks for FCQ Equilters
Fold fabrics from recent shopping excursion

Don't forget to check out Patchwork Times Design Wall links.  

And, here's another Sophia picture... She knows when you are taking pictures and tells you no if she doesn't want you to take her picture.  Hum, perhaps we are taking a few too many?  NAH!
Happy Quilting All! 

Monday, June 18, 2012

Design Wall Monday 6-18-12

My design wall didn't go on vacation with me so today I'll share the fabrics I bought on Saturday in Lancaster County.  Pat took me to 5 quilt stores and I bought fabric from 4 of them.  Yee haw!  I had made a list of what I might look for and brought all sorts of fabric pieces so I could get things to go with  what I already had. 
Hum, lots of beige looking fabrics... here's the run down -- the first three are for this quilt.  I want to make it at least a big lap or possibly a twin size.  It will go to QOV or the Virginia Quilt Project.  I'll decide after I get it finished.  The green is a Moda Marble that I keep using and using up what I have so I got a few more yards.  The black with stars will be the back of the next Scrap Squad quilt.  I bought the beige and the white on white (hey, so my lighting was horrible and it looks beige!) are more for my stash.  The next one is actually black an white for the log cabin I haven't been working on lately... sigh.  Finally the last piece is a blue that I will make into pillow shams for our bed.  
  
But that's not all!  I bought a bit more. The two orange pieces are for backing the last two quilts tops I did here and here. Hum, I may change my mind about an orange with the second quilt.  The far right fabric is a fat backing for the quilt linked above.  And, if not I'll use it for something.  The crazy dinosaurs I'm hoping will work with a stripe fabric I made into blocks at my retreat last October.  We'll see if it really looks ok with it.  The blocks are 8 1/2" finished so I may make big pinwheels of the dino fabric.  

Weekly Goals... every single one of last week's goals was accomplished!  Yippee! 

Week of June 11

Work on Scrap Squad #3

Clear all the furniture off of hardwood floors in preparation for the floor refinishing
Knit on new sweater for Sophia
Help out at Kevin's house for part of a day
Stay with Jenny and Sophia 
Vacation and see the Beach Boys 50th anniversary concert
Shop at some outlet stores
Week of June 18
Load up the truck with dried red maple wood
Spend two more days with Jenny & Sophia
Pick up tomato plants and shampoo at Kevin’s
Figure out where to put stuff in back bedroom so that Lisa and Kirk can visit
Clean house as much as feasible
Sew if at all possible!

Not all that much on this week's list as we'll be gone during the beginning of the week and enjoying company plus Jenny, Brian and Sophia at the end.  It should be interesting with no kitchen and the kitchen stuff all over the second guest bedroom! But we're looking forward to seeing our friends Lisa and Kirk and they are definitely good sports about things. 
I've written this post early and scheduled it to go up Monday morning.  I won't have internet access to link it up with Design Wall Monday right away but hopefully I'll eventually get it up so go the DWM web site and visit design walls around the internet! 
Hum, darn it this didn't post automatically this morning.  So I'm doing it now! 
Happy Quilting All.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Vacationing and Celebrating

Wow, could it be possible?  That young man I met in English class at the University of Southern California has been my friend and husband for 39 years? Yep, we are celebrating 39 years of marriage. Wow, but I thought I was just a teenager a few moments ago! 
We've been having a wonderful time hanging around in Lancaster, Pa after spending a day and night with Kevin and Aimee and another with Jenny and Sophia.  Brian's working in Virginia not far from our home.  Go figure.  

Last night we stayed at the B. F. Hiestand House in Marietta, Pa.  Innkeepers Dallas and Pam were so very hospitable.  We thoroughly enjoyed our visit.  And, Quincy, their beautiful yellow lab was a great gentleman greeter.  If you are looking for a unique stay in the Lancaster area consider visiting B. F. Hiestand House, a wonderfully maintained Victorian mansion.  Pat and I spent a lovely couple of hours on the wrap around front porch chatting with other guests and drinking wine.    


Today we spent most of the day driving around Lancaster County visiting quilt shops.  I think we hit 5 of them and by the fifth one I was getting tired and Pat was probably exhausted.  I hope he had as good a time as I did.  Monday I'll share my finds with you.  We were also able to find a couple of tables to go with some rockers we ordered at home... same recycled milk jugs.  Once the chairs come in I'll share some pictures.   


We shared the tomato we picked while still green from our lone plant that is growing on our deck.  We figured we couldn't leave the tomato for a week -- the birds would have gotten it for sure.  So the tomato was carefully placed in the back cup holders of the truck, brought in to both Jenny's and Kevin's houses.  We remembered to bring it with us when we left for Pa.  And, it was the highlight of our lunch. A little cheese, a few crackers, the tomato and half a banana... a perfect easy picnic lunch.




We are now up near our house in Greentown, Pa.  We both knew a visit to Kundla's for barbecue chicken was absolutely necessary.  As usual, we had to stand in line for a while.  As we shuffled forward we came in sight of the grill filled with chicken halves. All the meat is barbecued on big grates.  Below is one of the two men it takes to flip the chickens. Another grate is placed over the top of the birds and both the bottom and top grate is turned over.  Yummy stuff!  Can't you just smell that good barbecue smell coming off these grills? 
We added cole slaw and beans with sodas.  Yummy stuff for sure!  There's Pat waiting in the sunshine for our chance to order.  
Thank goodness they give out big napkins and even bigger wet clothes for cleaning up afterwards.  When we lived here we would buy several chicken dinners and freeze them.  They were great to pull out when I didn't want to cook and so darn reasonable.  

Tomorrow we are headed to Bethel Woods, formerly known as Woodstock, to attend the 50th anniversary concert of the Beach Boys.  Should be a lot of fun. Then Monday we're loading up some wood that came from our property here...red maple.  I'm sure Pat will make something wonderful from it.  Hum, maybe a quilt ladder?  Then it will be back to Jenny's for a few days and on to home and newly refinished floors.  

Some knitting is getting done but no quilting although it has been in my mind as I was shopping!  
Happy quilting all! 






Thursday, June 14, 2012

Block of the Month 1800s Quilt June


Block of the Month 1800’s Quilt – June
Unfinished Blocks are 9.5”


This month I’m featuring a Barbara Brackman blog regarding the War of 1812.  It is chock full of the history of the War of 1812 which lasted from 1812 to 1815.  You can visit the blog at http://quilt1812warandpiecing.blogspot.com/.  If you scroll down quite a ways on the right you will find the list of previous blog posts.  If you have the time start at the beginning in September 2011 and read through all the posts.  It is full of everyday life in the early United States.
This month’s block is our center piece – a tree of life block.  Remember I suggested saving some half square triangles (HST)?  It’s time to bring them out.  I’ve broken the block into 5 - 3” finished blocks of “leaves” and a larger block made up mostly of a leaf hunk, background fabric and the tree trunk.  Let’s start with the half square triangles that will make up the leaves. 

You will need 30  1 ½” unfinished half square triangles (this does not include the “trunk” half square triangles.)   I chose to use the same fabric for all of the “leaves” of my tree.  Make your HSQs any way that gives you accurate 1 ½” unfinished HSTs.  I tend to make mine 2 at a time by cutting oversized squares, drawing a line through the center and stitching ¼” on each side of the line.  I then trim the piece to exactly 1 ½”.  Here is some math to make it easier to determine what size squares you need to make 2 half square triangles.  The measurement of the finished HST + ¼” seam allowance + 5/8” = the size of the block you need to cut to make the 2 HST. 
1” + ¼” + 5/8” = 1 7/8”
Remember I said I like to make mine bigger and cut it to the correct size?  In this instance I might cut 2 ¼” squares to make sure I have plenty of room to trim to an unfinished size of 1 ½”.  This would be a great time to use thangles or triangles on a roll if you have the proper size.  To make sure your block all fits together you need very accurate half square triangles and then you must sew them accurately. 

Cutting:
Background and Leaves to make 30 half square triangles using your preferred method. If you already have some subtract that number from 30.  

From Background Fabric:
3 squares 1 ½” each
1 square 4” each cut in half along the diagonal
1 square 5 ½”
2 rectangles 1 ½” x 4 ½”
1 square 2” ((mark center diagonally or choose your preferred method to make 2 half sq. triangles 1 ½” unfinished) to go with trunk fabric
1 square 1 1/2”
From Leaf Fabric:
3 squares 1 7/8” each, cut in half along the diagonal
1 square 4 7/8” cut in half along the diagonal
From Trunk Fabric:
1 square 2” (use with background to make 2 - ½ square triangles)
1 rectangle 1 7/8” x 5 ½”  Mark a line ¼” in from the bottom of the rectangle
Sewing:
Unit 1 
Lay out 6 half square triangles and 3 1 ½” background blocks as shown above.  Stitch into rows.  Iron the seams for the middle row to the left and the top and bottom row to the right. Nesting the seams, sew the rows together.  Set aside.  Wait to iron the seams until you put the whole block together so that you can nest as many seams as possible.

Unit 2 (Make 2 alike.) 
 
Lay out 9 half square triangles as shown above.  Stitch into rows.  Iron the seams for the middle row to the left and the top and bottom row to the right. Nesting the seams, sew the rows together.  Set aside.  Wait to iron the last seams until you put the whole block together so that you can nest as many seams as possible.

Unit 3 (Make 2 alike.) 
Layout 3 half square triangles, 3 leaf triangles and 1 background triangle.  Sew two triangles together as shown. Next, sew a small triangle to the 2 squares. Sew a small triangle to the one square.  Sew the three rows together. Iron the seams to they next as much as possible.  You will always sew one of the short sides of the leaf triangles to the half square triangle pieces. Sew the single triangle to the first two rows. Next fold the just sewn unit in half and mark the center with a small crease at the edge.  Do the same for the larger background triangle.  Match the centers and pin the pieces together. Sew the seam.  Iron toward the background fabric. Set aside.

Trunk Unit:


¼” from the leaf triangle. (Photo below shows the placement after I cut the excess off… sew first then cut!) Trim the excess then iron towards the leaf section tow.     
Mark the bottom of the trunk ¼” from the short edge.  Line the long side of the background triangle to the edge of the trunk rectangle with the end of the point at the ¼” mark of trunk. Sew, repeat with the other side. Notice that the trunk does not go the full length of the diagonal background units. 

Fold in half along the trunk and mark with a crease.  Do the same with one leaf triangle cut from the 4 7/8” square.  


Match the two center points, right sides together. Pin.  Stitch ¼” from the leaf triangle. (Photo below shows the placement after I cut the excess off… sew first then cut!) Trim the excess then iron towards the leaf section. I saved those 2 extra triangles just in case they might be used some where. 


Line up your 5 ½” mark on your ruler with the point of the leaf. Trim the excess trunk and background off.  Turn the ruler around, line up the just trimmed section on the 5 ½” mark and trim the rest of the background off.  Although this may seem like a strange way to make this unit it does work. 

Trunk sides
Using the trunk picture below as a guide make the trunk side pieces. Sew a trunk/background half square triangle to the 1 ½” by 4 ½” background. Repeat. Attach one of the trunk/background pieces to the bottom of the trunk/leaf unit. Iron so that seams are the least bulky. Add a 1 ½” background square to the remaining trunk/leaf unit. Sew it to the other side of the trunk/leaf unit.  Nest seams as much as possible.  This unit should measure 6 ½”.  Trim carefully if it is too big.


Putting it all together.
Lay out the units as shown below. Iron the seams so that they nest as much as possible. 

Carefully trim the leaf units to 3 ½” square.  Be careful not to cut off the points.  If any of the blocks are way too big consider your seams – are the seams smaller than a quarter inch?  Is the block too small – the seams might be too big. Restitch as needed and then trim your blocks. Your goal is to have all of these points showing – none of them chopped off. 
Sew the two side units together, press and then sew to the trunk unit. Sew the three units together, nesting seams as you are able.  3 ½” strip of blocks to the trunk strip nesting the seams by ironing in opposite direction. 
Iron your finished block.  Trim to 9 ½”.  Congratulations.  You’ve just finished the hardest block in the quilt. . . well, I’m pretty sure there won’t be any block harder than this one…. But, no promises. Questions? Email me at brsinstitches@gmail.com

If any one has made any of these blocks I'd like to see pictures and share them on this blog.  Happy Quilting All!

Monday, June 11, 2012

Design Wall Monday 6.11.12

 Yikes! I almost missed Design Wall Monday. My friend Sharon was wondering if anything was wrong since I always post on Mondays.  Nothing really wrong except a cold, company over the weekend, two different groups of men working around my house.  You get the picture?  My normal timing was off! Drat, I actually have something new on the wall today! 


Do you remember this post with these yellow and red blocks? I found this cute tennis shoe fabric in my stash...actually it came from the auction at Country Piecemaker's meeting in November. I am trying to decide if I want to do some borders or whether I'm going to let it go as is.  I might actually have enough fabric to do any of the colors pictured above it.  Do you have any preferences? What looks like yellow is actually a light peachy orange that matches the tennis shoes. Don't forget to visit Patchwork Times to see design walls around the internet.



Week of June 4
Make 1800’s block and write directions√ done
Pick Up sewing machine @ Cottonwood Quilt Shop

Drive home safely from Maryland
Load and quilt a baby quilt on Ruthie
Clean house√ well, got a little done not all that much
Play with dogs
Work on Scrap Squad #3

Week of June 11
Work on Scrap Squad #3
Clear all the furniture off of hardwood floors in preparation for the floor refinishing
Knit on new sweater for Sophia
Help out at Kevin's house for part of a day
Stay with Jenny and Sophia 
Vacation and see the Beach Boys 50th anniversary concert
Shop at some outlets

Not much sewing for this week as we have to leave the house for a week but I might be able to do some hand work if I get any ready.  I leave you with another cute picture of Sophia and Jenny enjoying the pool at the Y this weekend. 
 Happy Quilting All!