Some of This, Some of That

No Slow Sunday stitching this week as I'm packing to go on a retreat, leaving the guest room and bathroom ready for company Wednesday when I come back and leaving the kitchen ready for DH to be on his own for three days. Phew!  My Mom is going on retreat with me, and then I'll be bringing her home with me for her "clean-up" surgery (that's what the dr called it) on Thursday morning.

So for some stats.  I used a yard for one baby quilt I'm working on and 1.75 on another baby quilt. Totally different quilts. So my total YTD is 38.39 yds out.  

On my design wall - the center of one of the baby quilts:
This is an antique rose star block I read about on Mary Huey's blog. Click here to read about it.  I was so enchanted with it I bought the template set.  It is easier than I thought.  And it makes a big star - 20" point to Point; 18" side to side.  Check it out.  All one needs is one star to make a baby quilt.  Yes, I make smaller baby quilts - not crib quilts - baby quilts.  As a mom and grandma of two preemies, I've discovered that the 30- 36 inch quilts are much easier to use with newborns and under one year olds in bassinets and play pens, strollers or car seats, so that's what I gift to new parents. For this star I'm planning to put rows around it and eventually triangles with a finishing border. And since here in CA we have such hot summers, probably just fabric for the back instead of flannel.

I still havent' done the elephant's eyes so maybe at retreat that will be my applique on Tuesday.  I'm going to link to Judy's Patchwork Times, Lyn's BOMs Away, and Esther's WoW.  See you there for lots of eye candy.

Bye for now!


WIPs Be Gone Week 17

Another WIP done!  This one is #9.
 I started this when our Darling Lily was 2 in the hopes of having it done when she got a youth bed. Well, that didn't happen. Now she has a twin bed and she's just turned 5 April 16th, and I finally finished it.
 Here's the busy back I used for it. The machine worked beautifully for me and it used about 10 bobbins worth of So Fine thread.
I tried different motifs in the sashing strips that formed on two sides when I cut up the disappearing Nine-Patch blocks.  I'm really liking this pattern - it's so easy but seems complicated.  It's about 54" by 68".

Have to go back now and work on #3, 5, 6 and 7.  Not as far along as that #9 makes it look like I am.   How are you doing on your wips?Would love to see - doesn't have to be a finish, but we'll admire those, too.  Linky below - remember it doesn't have to be a new post, just one that shows a WIP.  Ends Monday, midnight.  I'm linking to Sarah's Can I get a Whoop, Whoop?, Amanda's for Finish it Up Fridays, and Richard's Link a finish Friday. And for the FMQ,  linking to Lizzie's fun party FMQ Mavericks.   and Julie for her Pet Project ShowLots of eye candy on the NET.  Bye for now. 



Going Through My Mind This Tuesday


 This would make a good setting for my poppy.

 Would love to make this into a medallion for a 4th of July quilt.

 A scrappy back for a charity quilt

The snack mat I received from the online swap.

'
 Our Darling Lily is 5

 Lily ready to blow out the candles. That's a sucker she's working on.

 Party favors - a good idea for de-stashing.

 Still working on finding a home for this 112 year old quilt.

 Thinking about using this as a quilting motif for my elephant quilt.

  Wouldn't this make a stunning quilt?  Floor at Library of Congress.  So I'm thinking quilting while I'm quilting Lily's quilt, but not much else to show.  Leave me a comment and I'll come see your eye candy.

Tut - Continuously Sewing A Hexie Flower

I recently figured out  how I can continuously sew my hexies when making a flower..  This saves me time as I don't have to stop and start with each hexagon I add.


Here's a few set out to use for this tutorial.
Layering my first two hexagons, right sides together, I first bury the thread knot under the seam allowance at the point where I am starting.. I'll be using red thread so you can see it better. Pardon the blurry photo - forgot to use the macro feature.  At the end of the first seam I make a loop and put the needle through it to form a knot in the two hexagons.  I do this twice. Now I bury the thread under the seam allowance where I finished.

Now I place it back in the donut shape facing up.  

I fold over the next loose hexagon on top of hexie #2  that I sewed together. (disregard the arrows on the paper - that was from another use.
I place an applique pin in the seam allowance of the side I am going to sew. Believe me, I can get easily confused as to which seam to sew.

Going under the right corner seam allowance of the wrong side, I position my needle in the corner. I pull the thread all the way from the old seam to the new one. It will form a triangle with two sides (as seen below). I do two knots here and sew the seam. At the end I do two knots.

 Again,  I bury the thread at the end of this seam, lay open next to my remaining hexagon, placing  it on top of the last one. I clasp the pair in my left hand (as in 5th photo) and go under the seam allowance to come up at the right corner to start the next seam and then do two knots and sew the seam. I always finish with two knots.
 Once I'm all done the back of the hexagon flower will look like this - with thread crossing from one side to the other.
Now I clip those threads right at the seam allowance - that way the tails are hidden.
The back shows no threads. And it was much faster to assemble.  Hope this was clear enough.  It's really just remembering to knot at the start and end of seams to use one thread  to join your hexagons.
Thank you to Karen at Faeries and Fibres for sparking my thinking on this.  You can see how she puts the center in.  Click here to go to her site. 

Slow Sunday Stitching

Another flower made.  I am really liking Karen's method of putting the center hexagons into an open donut or "noodle" as she calls them in assembling this flower.  Went together much faster.  And I figured out how to use a continuous thread on all six of the outer hexagons without stopping and starting for each one. I'll put together a short tutorial on that shortly.
Off to start another one so I can use it in the tutorial.  I'm linking to Kathy's Slow Stitching Sunday. Slow down, pick up a needle and relax with her.

WIPs Be Gone Week 16

Another WIP is gone!  This one I numbered as #8.  Been hanging around for a while and glad it is out the door:
Edging all done and ready to gift. A bit bigger than the usual St. Anne's 36" square, but some Mom will surely like it for her little one.  And I'm quilting #9 now:
Here's when I was SITD the middle row - after that it just got easier.  Here's all the squares stitched:
For novices to FMQ, I do recommend a busy background - you won't see mistakes if you have any and will be more encouraged to keep practicing. And I've started some quilting in the squares:
Here's a donut I started for WIP #3.  I was working on it at my friends house when we had a mini bee. You can see I got distracted. Off to find the seam ripper. 
Lastly, I found some flowers hidden under my climbing Cecil Brunner rose. I rescued them and brought them indoors:
It feels good to have something to show you. How are you doing on your wips?Would love to see - doesn't have to be a finish, but we'll admire those, too.  Linky below - remember it doesn't have to be a new post, just one that shows a WIP.  Ends Monday, midnight.  I'm linking to Sarah's Can I get a Whoop, Whoop?, Amanda's Finish it Up Fridays, FMQ Mavericks,  and Richard's Link a Finish FridayLots of eye candy there.  


Applique Tuesday

I used 4 yards - a front and back of a charity quilt, another charity top which I can't show till May, and a top for a baby quilt which I can't show till I gift it. Also 2 yards of scraps were donated plus I made two blocks for  a VA quilt, so there's another 1.25yards. My new total now for de-stashing YTD is 35.64 yds out.  Nothing in yet this year.  The little I've bought has been used and didn't get counted.

On my design wall is:
I'm going to applique a dot for an eye - that qualifies this post for applique - LOL.

That's it for this Tuesday.  What are you up to?  Any applique? Leave me a comment and I'll stop by, applique or not.  I'm linking to Judy's Design Wall Monday and Lyn's BOMs Away.  I've been trying to do Lyn's method of working on a BOM each Sunday, but it isn't happening - something always comes up, again. And for more eye candy, do visit NTT and Esther's blog - both are buttons on the right sidebar.

WIPs Be Gone Saturday Week 15

Somewhere in all the happenings, I ran out of time on Thursday for posting. So WIPs Be Gone for this week is on Saturday. And as far as WIPs goe, not even got off the starting line this time. But that's how life goes.  I did finish a charity quilt and two other charity tops. Can't show you the tops, but here's the finished one:
 Here it is after I finished quilting it.  Again I used my walking foot for most of the quilting except for a little bear in the center.
And here it is with the binding and washed and ready to given to the neonatal unit.  The block is a traditional block called domino.   I'll post the free pattern on the third Tuesday of the month.

How are you doing on your wips?Would love to see - doesn't have to be a finish, but we'll admire those, too.  Linky below - remember it doesn't have to be a new post, just one that shows a WIP.  Ends Monday, midnight.  I'm linking to Sarah's Can I get a Whoop, Whoop? and Kelly's Needle and Thread Thursdays, Crazy Mom Quilts, and Richard's Link a finish FridayLots of eye candy there.  Bye for now.

Applique Tuesday

Time to get back to my hobby.  This past week I learned I can be less on the computer. Thank you to all who commented on my previous posts and shared Holy Week with me.  I did do some work as I contemplated the events so long ago and still pertinent today.

I finished my block # 3 (to me) of the Benjamin Biggs Wedding Quilt.
I used one of the other blocks for the bud placement and that's what you see underneath.  This was a rather chunky block and I decided to lace it a bit more and made the center larger. I think I'll use it as my signature block.  I also decided to set it on point. Otherwise the corners came too close to the buds for me.

In the garden, some color is showing. Here are some volunteer Evening Primrose:
Also my Cecil Brunner climber is blooming way. They are such a delicate pink:
And ripe now are our Chandler pummelos - Yummy.
Here is one in comparison to a navel orange and a lemon.  Big, huh?
The pummelo is a forerunner of the grapefruit. But it is sweet and juicy, not tart at all.  It has a thick skin:
The fruit is so tasty that it's well worth the time to get at this luscious pink inside.  The Chinese eat these at New Year for good luck.

SAHRR Round 5 and 6

  Ready to show rounds 5 and 6. Actually, the prompt for 5 was make 4 of something. So I chose four patch, and actually since that made my q...