It's March - New Block!

 I work in retail (Starbucks to be precise), so my weekends aren't regular "weekends". I have two days off in a row, but they just happen to be Friday and Saturday. Sherri over at A Quilting Life releases the blocks for her 2021 quilt along on the first Thursday of each month, so I was very excited to get up today and get to work!

Here's the fabrics I chose for today's twist on an Ohio Star:

Sherri recommended cutting the squares to create the QST a little on the larger side. I cut mine even larger because I ALWAYS mess those up! Something about creating a seam on the bias throws me for a loop. Fortunately, I know this about myself so wasting a bit of extra fabric from the start seems less offensive than having to recut and start the blocks all over again!

The first step today was to complete the corner pieces by using the stitch and flip method to add and extra touch of colour to the corners of the background squares. I use the off-cuts to make four little 2" HST. I'm not sure what I'll use them for, but they sure are cute!

The next step was to create the QST around the centre square:

I did make them extra large and trimmed them down - the result was great! Here's the whole block before assembly:

I stitched all the pieces together and got this:

There's a couple of puckers, but my points are all lined up! And I figure that by the time it's quilted and washed, no one will even be able to see those puckers. I just love the way this block turned out!

What are you working on this week?

Keep your machine oiled and your needles sharp!

Meanwhile...

While I'm waiting for the next instalment of the mystery quilt over at A Quilting Life, I thought I'd check out what was going on over at All People Quilt. They've got a quilt along that just started, so I popped out and purchased the magazine so I could get started!

I ordered some fabric from Lindley General Store that I really liked, but what I REALLY wanted to use was this Print Shop Layer Cake from Sweetwater for Moda Fabrics. When I went looking for it though, I couldn't find it - so sad! I was so happy when I finally found it later this week and will surely use the new fabric I ordered for another project.

Now **technically** we're only on week one which is the week we're supposed to gather fabric. Yep! Did that...and then I started cutting - EARLY!

I thought I was being clever with my cutting and somehow convinced myself I could get enough fabric from one 10" square to make two blocks - OOPS! Not so much! I had to rethink my plan and work to get just one block out of each piece. Fortunately, as I need 30 blocks, there will be more than enough in my layer cake to finish the quilt top.

And once I had done some cutting, I just couldn't help myself and had to assemble a block! And then I just kept going!! And between yesterday and today, I made these:

Seven blocks down and 23 to go! I'm having so much fun! I've also cut the sashing and corner stones, so those are ready to go too!

What's on your sewing table?

Keep your machine oiled and your needles sharp!

HST as far as the eye can see!

I pull no punches when it comes to HST! They are my least favourite part about quilting...especially when I need to cram FORTY-EIGHT of them into a 12" block! As HST are generally a basic part of quilting, I tolerate them as best I can. Once they're all together, they look FABULOUS! When I knit, I'm not a fan of purl stitches, but the end result when they are on either side of a complex cable stitch is SPECTACULAR!!

As I was doing the HST, I noticed my bobbin getting low - quilter's nightmare!

I messaged my friend Joyce and we were stressed out together - LOL! We're both knitters too and we very often play yarn chicken - hoping we can finish the bind off on a project before the yarn runs out!

But I finished ALL my HST before my bobbin ran out! SEE?

I ended up with about 6" of thread when all was said and done - YIKES! That was a little too close for comfort! I loaded my bobbin back up and got set to complete the block.

Here's my final layout before I stitched all the pieces together - SIXTY FOUR 2" pieces of fabric!

And here's the finished block. I am SO in love with this fabric!

The pile of scraps/off-cuts at the end of the day. Not bad for a days work, wouldn't you say?

I'm very much looking forward to March and another block to stitch! Meanwhile...I think I'll make some placemats!

Keep your machine oiled and your needles sharp!

Quarantine Quilt - Day 10!

Welcome to day 10!! At least day 10 of this quilt...it's day eleventy-billion of quarantine, but that's a whole other issue.

I was THRILLED that there were no HST (half square triangles) in this one! Don't get me wrong...they're an effective technique, but I was glad to have a bit of a change today!

I've been loving my time at home, but it's time for me to go back to work. I work for Starbucks and we have LOTS of protocols in place that will keep everyone safe. While I originally decided to stay home to keep my two medically fragile children safe, it's time to look after my mental health and get back to interacting with my peers and customers. I have requested to not be the "door" partner, so I won't really be spending time with my favourite customers (though I'll be thrilled to wave at them from afar!), but I'm looking forward to being in the store environment. My amazing manager and coworkers know my situation and will be taking every precaution to make sure I stay safe. I can't wait!

Keep your machine oiled and your needles sharp!

Quarantine Quilt - Day 8!

It's Day 8 today! That means we're ⅓ of the way through! I lost some of the contrast in one of the blocks, but I'm still pleased with the way they turned out.

Tomorrow, I'll start using a combination of Tree of Wisdom Fabrics and Stonehenge Fabrics  - I'll use those for days 9 through 16.

Keep your machine oiled and your needles sharp!

Quarantine Quilt - Day 7! And a peek at my Kindness Quilt!

It's day 7! That means tomorrow is day 8 and we're ⅓ of the way there! My Stonehenge fabric should be here later on today so I'm pretty excited about that!

Today's block was pretty simple to put together and I'm seriously getting the hang of those HST (half-square triangles) so they're fun to put together now!

Here's a peek at my Kindness quilt!

It's all washed, dried and wrinkly and I love it!! In the evenings, when it gets too dark to sew (let's face it, I'm getting old!) it keeps me warm while I do a bit of knitting. It's just perfect!

Keep your machine oiled and your needles sharp!

Quarantine Quilt - Day 6!

I'm running out of Tree of Wisdom fabric!! Thankfully my Stonehenge fabric should be here tomorrow and then after Block #8 I'll start mixing and matching for blocks #9-16.

I figured out that this quilt is going to be larger than I thought...which bodes well for one of the boys who will now have his very own quarantine quilt! How cool is that?? Not so good is that I didn't order enough backing fabric - OOPS!!! I guess I'll have to make ANOTHER quilt - LOL!

Keep your machine oiled and your needles sharp!

Quarantine Quilt - Day 5!

Another day, another block - heehee!!

My new favourite block! I love the kind of off centre points produced by the HST on these - kind of like pinwheel gone haywire - HAHA!! What do you think?

Keep your machine oiled and your needles sharp!

Quarantine Quilt - Day 4!

Welcome to Day 4 - I'm still using Northcott Tree of Wisdom fabrics and loving it! There's not quite as much contrast as I'd like between these two fabrics, but I still love the way the blocks turned out.

I ended up redoing the QST (Quarter Square Triangles) because they came out just a titch small. I've learned that I prefer to cut the pieces larger than I need them to be and trim to size. It makes for a little more waste, but I'm much happier with the results!

Keep your machine oiled and your needles sharp!

Quarantine Quilt - Day 3!

OOPS!!! I made a little mistake in this one, but I still liked the way it turned out, so I'm keeping it!

The four corner squares should be swapped out for the other block. Does that make sense?? But I really like the look of the blocks, so I'm going to leave it. As I used to tell me card making class participants - no one is going to know exactly what the sample looked like, so if you like what you're doing, keep doing it!

Keep your machine oiled  and your needles sharp!

Quarantine Quilt - Day 2!

Welcome to Day 2 of the collaboration quilt! Here is today's square:

What do you think? I just LOVE the stark contrast between the colours on this one! And I'm wishing I'd ordered more of this fabric!!!

Keep your machine oiled and your needles sharp!

A Quarantine Quilt - yes, another one!

Today is the first day of a collaboration quilt between Figo Fabrics, Banyan Batiks and Northcott Fabrics. Since my first big fabric purchase was from Figo Fabrics, I now get all their emails (this is ok, though my wallet may disagree!) and decided that this would be a fun endeavour when I needed a break from making masks.

This is the first block! I'm using some Northcott Fabric from the Tree of Wisdom line - I love it!! I've also ordered some more Northcott from the Stonehenge line - I think they'll go well together! There will be twenty four block designs in all and each block will be made twice. My plan is to use the Tree of Wisdom Line for the first eight blocks, a mix of Tree of Wisdom and Stonehenge for the second eight blocks and Stonehenge for the last eight blocks. I haven't received the Stonehenge fabric yet (it will be here next Monday), so I'll let you know if it works out!

If you're interested in the masks I've been making, here's a picture:

I'm using the design by Riley Blake and you can find a YouTube video for that HERE. Please keep in mind that this is NOT a medical grade mask! I'm making them for friends and family who want a little extra protection. We are being told as a country to act as if we're infected and don't want to spread the virus, so that's what we're doing. If we have to wear masks at least we'll look cute doing it!

Keep your machine oiled and your needles sharp!